ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

there were some incred matches today & cilic/zverev 3d set rn is a battle, also stan/paire going 3

great win by paire

rafa/novak tomorrow

novak hasn't dropped a set to rafa since 2014, though still is (probably correctly) roughly a 2/1 or 2.5/1 betting favorite

rafa is the fav i phrased that poorly

First ATP top 100 player to come out as gay: Brian Vahaly

http://www.outsports.com/2017/5/12/15626904/former-pro-tennis-player-brian-vahaly-talks-about-being-gay

I remember him from some mid-00s draws but not much beyond.

Gambill hasn't technically come out I guess?

thiem rn hits the most/cleanest winners on clay possibly? dude is impressve

Vahaly beat Gonzalez, Ferrero and Robredo at Indian Wells in 2003 - which is a hell of a run - only to lose to... VINCE SPADEA in the quarters.

Also beat Michael Chang in a Challenger in Tazana, CA the previous year, but Chang was just about to slip out of top 100 for the last time.

murray out 2 and 4 to fognini @ roma

is anyone good at tennis anymore

Nadal

i just looked up fognini because it feels like he's been on tour for 20 years and i was surprised to discover that he's actually younger than murray

It's kind of remarkable how Murray and Djokovic are slumping simultaneously. If I had to guess I'd say it stems from Djokovic taking his foot off the pedal after holding all 4, plus his personal life issues; and that Murray weirdly thrived on being the fourth wheel of the Big Four and hasn't adjusted, or can't adjust, to being the nominal leader.

FFT coming through with that moral guardianship of the sport and DENYING Sharapova even a qualifying WC for RG! I cackled when they read out 14-year-old unranked Yasmine Mansouri's name in the QWCs and not Sharapova's.

thiem/nadal again tmorrow

plus delpo/novak & zverev/milos are v juicy

3rd time's a charm for thiem, hope they play again @ the french

Zverev! Youngest Masters finalist in 10 years (since Djokovic won Miami 2007)

novak is destroying thiem

supposing this continues & he beats zverev 2morrow, this is a nice run to become a def factor @ roland garros, whereas like a week ago it wasnt so clear

Great to have a new, young champion at this level in the week the entire ATP top five goes 30something.

#MercedesCup 2R @TommyHaas13 (39) vs @RogerFederer (35) is oldest @ATPWorldTour match since 1982 Vina del Mar R. Cano (30) d. L. Ayala (49).

how is Hass only 39

wtf *Haas

of course haas wins

lmao murray/raonic/stan all upset @ 1st rd queens club

Watched all three (thanks BBC2!) - not exactly classics I have to say. Only Deliciano looked in any decent nick (his tennis was alright too, hur hur)

lol my friends mom calls him that also, id love to see him make a deep run @ wimbledon

Same! He did a couple of really lovely volleys against Stan (who looked pretty sluggish).

Any excuse to roll out my photo of Felle Fel from London 2012...

(I hope he wins this)

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8159/7680196476_325ee3c8aa_b.jpg

strong field in dc this yr

kei v del potro tmorrow 3rd rd & likely kyrgios v sasha zverev also

bhambri/monfils is really entertaining

yuki!

mens side dropping like flies, stans 2017 is over also :(

thiem/schwartzman has been really interesting

diego w two great loong defensive rallies to save set pts 2nd set

diego back from 2-5 down to now be serving for the match 3d set

ppl have been really critical of thiem on twitter this match but imo it more shows how slow these hardcourts are that he cant hit thru diego when he can hit thru p much anyone; his 2nd serve has also been p bad tho tbf

ok that was dreadful lmao

sasha saves match pt vs gasquet in 49 shot rally

wow ferrer is 0-17 v fed

nadal/shapovalov may be fun

wow dennis gets a break

dennis has got a lot better since last yr

3rd set !

tenth deuce !

this set is insane

there have already been a shit-ton of sick matches on the mens side rogers cup

shap is so impressive rn

what a fucking match

Amazing result. Certainly a step up from trying to decapitate Davis Cup umpires. I was kind of shocked he beat Del Potro - figured he was at least another 12 months away from that sort of performance.

A L16 Nadal exit - along with a deep Fed run - was kind of what I was hoping for here, to set up Cincinnati next week as a straight shootout for #1. Better if Murray was still in the mix too, of course. He'll likely be #3 by Aug 21. Still, he gets to edge ahead of Nastase in the all-time list by being spared the drop this week.

he answered every time it looked like rafa had him in trouble, his composure was almost more impressive than his shots it was truly crazy

semis now