ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI02H22bzRg

http://i.imgur.com/dgbPQtd.png
<3

So this happened yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N22RaHVDRKI

I have never seen a more ludicrous way to lose a final game

classic fog

sharapova is p rattled vs sloane here 3rd set

Okay so if Sloane can reliably take out Sharapova and Serena, her hype may be justified

Well, she'll have to get a win over Serena uninjured and one over Sharapova when she's not playing like complete shit for us to get a good idea, but my instinct is still that she never wins a GS.

She might get a perfect storm situation at a US Open like Stosur did and wind up with one.

the perfect storm scenario could apply to any of about 30 players though. I just see nothing overwhelming about her game or indeed results, she's a talented top 20 player with the capacity to beat subpar top players and I guess Schiavone was one of those for her whole career and wound up with a Slam but it'll HAVE to be a perfect storm.

Sharapova's first match under Connors' tutelage, fwiw

what she's done so far reflects well on her mental strength which is half the battle i guess, i've also not been that impressed by what i've seen of her game though

I know Stosur is usually rubbish, but her run at the US Open is really underrated (though at least partially abetted by some match-up issues). Petrova, Kirilenko, Zvonareva, Kerber, Williams is five players in a row who had been, or went on to be, in the top 10, and she'd done plenty previously to suggest that she could win these matches against non-hobbled opponents. Stephens still hasn't done enough to suggest that she's a particularly likely beneficiary of a perfect storm. If all the multi-slam winners die in a ditch then I'd still be surprised if Stephens was able to get through whoever they face in the final - I would imagine if over the other side of the net in a Slam final there was Radwanska, Stosur, Li, Kerber, Kvitova or even Wozniacki (or Errani off grass), Stephens would be a huge underdog and would be unlikely to win. The development for her to win matches like that hasn't happened yet.

Not just the established top players either - a lot of Stephens' press centres around how young she is and how much she can improve but tbh while she's easily the best of the (generally poor) 1992-93 generation, I think the players a couple of years younger have a much higher talent ceiling - I really doubt that Stephens will end up with a better career than Keys, Vekic or Konjuh, maybe even Townsend (who right now is the real "oh my god so much work to be done but so much talent to be tapped if you do it" junior).

I'm also not sure about Stephens' mentality...OK, she doesn't choke, and in that respect she's ahead of Keys (who can totally melt down) or Vekic (terrible record in finals), but I don't see the champion's instinctive hunger to beat everyone. I've seen Sloane just throw the towel in too much this year. Nerves and choking are actually easier to fix (see: Serena! Justine!)

Bartoli retires! No doubt she's banged up and is being circumspect about it.

Five years time, we see her again as the coach of Kristina Mladenovic as she lifts the dish?

should've retired in the wimbledon trophy ceremony speech though! i'm dissappointed in you, marion! for real though just lol and omg and a whole lot of <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Whoa.

First, I am surprised because Marion has always put a lot of stock into symbolic experiences, so I'd have thought she'd want to coast along and get Slam champ treatment for a year, then open Centre Court play on the first Tuesday of Wimbledon 2014. Even Ivanisevic did this (except still didn't get to do it). I wouldn't be entirely unsurprised if she unretired just to do this.

Outside of that I can understand it. I believe her when she says her body is banged up. And she's not at the zenith of her form - were it not for Wimbledon the "time to retire" mutters would have definitely started this year. Her giant-killing exploits in the past are a handy argument against her win being a fluke but overall, she was in decline. She won Wimbledon less because she was ascending to a new level as a player and more because the draw fell apart and she turned back the clock at the right time.

We talk about "going out on a high" so much, but so few tennis players actually do it. (This has similarities to Graf 1999, peaking in the summer despite the general downward slope of her career, getting to the US hard courts and retiring first from a match and then completely.) So if that's something Cake wanted (presumably eg Fran and Venus don't give a shit), good on her for realising it was time.

i'll really really miss her

Shocked to hear this news and kinda sad tbh! i know she didn't beat anyone too spectacular at wimby but she played so flawlessly, it seems such a dramatic move to suddenly give up forever.

i s'pose there is hope that she can pull a date-krumm / hingis and maybe come back after a few years of respite.

Well her match against Stephens was a long way from flawless, but she was ridiculously good against Flipkens, she'd have beaten nearly anyone on that form.

well yeah, even during Wimbledon she didn't play at her best until the last two rounds - which is to her credit, at that point the title was anyone's and it was Marion who found her highest gear. I've always loved how she could do that.

I'll definitely miss her but it's been 12 years since I first saw her play at a poxy Cardiff 25K challenger and it's been a really good innings. I don't think I ever envisaged her as a play-into-your-30s type, particularly as she's had a very long career without any mid-career breaks.

Sad news to wake up to. I will miss her on the tour.

RT @dougrobson Bartoli in conf call says she first thought about retiring…last night. #wta #cincytennis

She didn't exactly ponder it for very long...

lol wtg Sloane

omg cake ilu

Marion bartoli ‏@bartoli_marion 4m
My last half squat !!!! pic.twitter.com/cCZB1oMz2I

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRzOZt9CYAAca9-.jpg

That is fantastic.

those heels... *applause*

omg lol

http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/9574234/maria-sharapova-fires-jimmy-connors-one-match

fed/nadal p fun so far

rog

wonderful to see Fed play well again, win or lose

really glad i stayed up for this whatever happens

this is incredible

where were these guys at wimbledon

this is great tennis

we're gonna be watching fed and nadal in 2040 aren't we

ballsy smash to the short court on set point

anyone got a link? firstrowsports seems to have kicked the bucket :(

cant give rafa that 4hand

haha ESPN2 going commercial free, real valuable time slot

Fed's level may have slipped perilously here

yeah he's about to get blown out, nothing on his BHs

he really should have stuck with the bigger racket, oh well

lol that swinging volley

ugh really unlucky way to get broken

Rafa's returning has been really wacky

whos a better problem-solver discussion - ok i miss commercials

oh man what a point

Patrick McEnroe praising Rafa's problem solving vs. fed, whom he plays exactly the same strategy against at all times

Fed's movement looks better than its been since the WTF

wtf was that woman doing