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SOG53
·My tennis watch
Maybe the next to come out of retirement?
Brothers vs sisters doubles?
Maybe the next to come out of retirement?
Brothers vs sisters doubles?
Tennis Anyone?
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Archer
·FAA first Canadian to make quarters of all the majors. Hopefully he can take down Cobolli who is certainly on a run. Lots of Italians still in! FAA was not playing particularly well coming into this, but he has shown some good tenacity in these matches.
Played my men's league doubles last night. On the 2nd from top court so playing with a lot of very skilled players. We have a system where you play one set with each of the other thee players on your court. You move up or down courts by either being the top on court of the lowest on court, so I had worked my way up to the second highest court early this year (I also got there last year but it was later in the season).
Right near the end of the second set my opponent (who up until that moment had been hitting firm but mostly spin-type serves) hit a flat bullet serve to the body. I thought I had a handle on it until it hit the service line and skipped instead of coming up to belly button height, where my racquet was ready to take the serve. Hit me square in the frank and beans. The frank was stinging like crazy from a direct hit, and after about 30 seconds the beans started to really ache. They immediately called a time out as I was doubled over for a time...I've been hit in this area 2 times previous, but this was by far the most direct and significant impact.
I recovered, sort of, and we played on. In the 3rd set I was at the net and got tagged squarely in the chest. I admit my footwork was lagging a bit more than normal since the beans (particularly the left one) were aching and no doubt swollen. Then on what turned out to be the last point of the night, I was poaching a shot through the middle, it caught my racquet a bit wrong, and hit me squarely in the right eye. Thankfully my glasses took the brunt of it. Rough night on the body, but it was good competitive tennis! Beans still aching today, but the swelling has gone down...
Played my men's league doubles last night. On the 2nd from top court so playing with a lot of very skilled players. We have a system where you play one set with each of the other thee players on your court. You move up or down courts by either being the top on court of the lowest on court, so I had worked my way up to the second highest court early this year (I also got there last year but it was later in the season).
Right near the end of the second set my opponent (who up until that moment had been hitting firm but mostly spin-type serves) hit a flat bullet serve to the body. I thought I had a handle on it until it hit the service line and skipped instead of coming up to belly button height, where my racquet was ready to take the serve. Hit me square in the frank and beans. The frank was stinging like crazy from a direct hit, and after about 30 seconds the beans started to really ache. They immediately called a time out as I was doubled over for a time...I've been hit in this area 2 times previous, but this was by far the most direct and significant impact.
I recovered, sort of, and we played on. In the 3rd set I was at the net and got tagged squarely in the chest. I admit my footwork was lagging a bit more than normal since the beans (particularly the left one) were aching and no doubt swollen. Then on what turned out to be the last point of the night, I was poaching a shot through the middle, it caught my racquet a bit wrong, and hit me squarely in the right eye. Thankfully my glasses took the brunt of it. Rough night on the body, but it was good competitive tennis! Beans still aching today, but the swelling has gone down...
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Archer
·Well, that was interesting - FAA is very good indoors, but won the first set in some hellish wind. Once the roof closed, Cobolli took over. I certainly didn't expect that...
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cverstegen
·So many interesting results in this tournament! It has been very entertaining, though I wish FAA would have made the final. Chwalinska put on a tactics masterclass yesterday.... I don't think she can pull that off against Andreeva, but boy would I like to see it.
@Archer - hope you have fully recovered.
@Archer - hope you have fully recovered.
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Archer
·So many interesting results in this tournament! It has been very entertaining, though I wish FAA would have made the final. Chwalinska put on a tactics masterclass yesterday.... I don't think she can pull that off against Andreeva, but boy would I like to see it.
@Archer - hope you have fully recovered.
This has been a strange event for sure. Chwalinska was throwing everything at her opponent - it was very fun to watch. The kind of player I hate playing against! She is my hope to win the final, but it will be tough against Andreeva. I see so many try to hit Andreeva off the court without success, so maybe this style of play is what will upset her, not give her any rhythm, etc.. Andreeva also has a ton of expectations on her, so we'll see if the mental side holds up.
Pretty interesting that Chwalinska was running out of money for her hotel bills part way through the event!
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Archer
·Ladies final was okay. Chwalinska had Andreeva quite out of sorts to start the match, but more and more started to play Andreeva’s game instead of her own, and it went downhill from there.
Men’s final was good but far from the epic of last year. I’m not a huge Zverev fan, but kind of happy to see him finally get a slam. Cobolli struggled first set but found his footing, but ran out of gas in the 5th.
Now grass season starts!!!
Men’s final was good but far from the epic of last year. I’m not a huge Zverev fan, but kind of happy to see him finally get a slam. Cobolli struggled first set but found his footing, but ran out of gas in the 5th.
Now grass season starts!!!
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cverstegen
·Pretty interesting that Chwalinska was running out of money for her hotel bills part way through the event!
Not a big Zverev fan either, but not too upset about him winning. I hope Cobolli gets another shot at some point; he's still pretty young. I would have said that this would be Zverev's only chance, but now that Sinner's weakness in heat seems evident and Alcaraz is dealing with injury, perhaps he will have more chances soon.
Serena and Mboko playing doubles at Wimbledon!! I would think they have a good chance at winning.
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Archer
·Well, in the lead up to the big W, some interesting things.
Vondrousova (2023 W champ) gets a 4 year ban for a whereabouts failure. She claims that the doping control officer didn't properly identify themselves, and didn't follow the protocols, so she refused to let them in her home at night when she was alone, which is sort of understandable just on a human level. I've also read (but not confirmed) that it was outside of the agreed upon window of time for the test. She apparently took a test 3 days later that came back clean, and has never had an infraction.
Back in the day I was heavily involved in this stuff for archery - both as an athlete and from the standpoint of leading the high performance aspects of the sport for Archery Canada, and having to deal with the issues surrounding doping controls and their results. The rules are there for a good reason, and a missed test pretty much has to be treated as if you doped for any of this to be effective.
I guess my issue is they appear to be penalizing someone (who didn't fail a test - didn't get an "adverse analytical finding") far more harshly than some others who actually did fail tests. So some were banned for 1 or 3 months, where this one is for 4 years, which could end her career. It all seems counterintuitive, in particular since this is all based on strict liability - if you have something in your body that shouldn't be, you are guilty, period. All you can do is argue that it was inadvertent, and hope for a reduced ban. But in this case there appears to be no argument you can make that would reduce the ban.
She can always appeal to the CAS, and I suspect she will. I do like her as a player, but have no real preference for this to go one way or another, but just for it to be fair in the context of other decisions.
Serena gets a wildcard for Wimbledon in singles...hmmm...
Vondrousova (2023 W champ) gets a 4 year ban for a whereabouts failure. She claims that the doping control officer didn't properly identify themselves, and didn't follow the protocols, so she refused to let them in her home at night when she was alone, which is sort of understandable just on a human level. I've also read (but not confirmed) that it was outside of the agreed upon window of time for the test. She apparently took a test 3 days later that came back clean, and has never had an infraction.
Back in the day I was heavily involved in this stuff for archery - both as an athlete and from the standpoint of leading the high performance aspects of the sport for Archery Canada, and having to deal with the issues surrounding doping controls and their results. The rules are there for a good reason, and a missed test pretty much has to be treated as if you doped for any of this to be effective.
I guess my issue is they appear to be penalizing someone (who didn't fail a test - didn't get an "adverse analytical finding") far more harshly than some others who actually did fail tests. So some were banned for 1 or 3 months, where this one is for 4 years, which could end her career. It all seems counterintuitive, in particular since this is all based on strict liability - if you have something in your body that shouldn't be, you are guilty, period. All you can do is argue that it was inadvertent, and hope for a reduced ban. But in this case there appears to be no argument you can make that would reduce the ban.
She can always appeal to the CAS, and I suspect she will. I do like her as a player, but have no real preference for this to go one way or another, but just for it to be fair in the context of other decisions.
Serena gets a wildcard for Wimbledon in singles...hmmm...
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TimeODanaos
·Wimby qualies always a fantastic value ticket, and always something for the album. Already great to see Andreescu, B. on the comeback. Crazy hot weather, more associated with NYC or Melbourne, and because the qualies are not held at the main venue, for the fans there is nowhere near the shelter or AC cooling you would get there.
I feel sorry for Vondrousova, but I get that you can't allow dopers to game the system by flushing their stash (as it were) then taking a whereabouts rap to gain a lesser penalty. I think though there may be some genuine human vulnerabilities in her case that affected her judgement, and CAS might look at whether the penalty could be abated a little accordingly, perhaps with some "seek help" conditions attached. Certain other players have indeed received much lighter penalties, but it's for the authorities to stand those up separately - if they can
I feel sorry for Vondrousova, but I get that you can't allow dopers to game the system by flushing their stash (as it were) then taking a whereabouts rap to gain a lesser penalty. I think though there may be some genuine human vulnerabilities in her case that affected her judgement, and CAS might look at whether the penalty could be abated a little accordingly, perhaps with some "seek help" conditions attached. Certain other players have indeed received much lighter penalties, but it's for the authorities to stand those up separately - if they can
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Archer
·Wimby qualies always a fantastic value ticket, and always something for the album. Already great to see Andreescu, B. on the comeback. Crazy hot weather, more associated with NYC or Melbourne, and because the qualies are not held at the main venue, for the fans there is nowhere near the shelter or AC cooling you would get there.
I feel sorry for Vondrousova, but I get that you can't allow dopers to game the system by flushing their stash (as it were) then taking a whereabouts rap to gain a lesser penalty. I think though there may be some genuine human vulnerabilities in her case that affected her judgement, and CAS might look at whether the penalty could be abated a little accordingly, perhaps with some "seek help" conditions attached. Certain other players have indeed received much lighter penalties, but it's for the authorities to stand those up separately - if they can
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Tony C.
··Ωf Jury memberAnyone seen the Nadal documentary on Netflix? Wow. I knew that he fought through physical issues, but had no idea just how serious they were.
On one hand, it's easy to be impressed with his toughness, fortitude, desire to repeatedly challenge himself under adverse conditions, and ability to meet most of them. On the other, it's quite clear that he is already paying a stiff price, and at the tender age of 40. Was it really worth it?
A classic, and to my mind mostly sad tale of the choices made by a top-class professional athlete, and the potentially frightening downside to the "warrior" mentality.
On one hand, it's easy to be impressed with his toughness, fortitude, desire to repeatedly challenge himself under adverse conditions, and ability to meet most of them. On the other, it's quite clear that he is already paying a stiff price, and at the tender age of 40. Was it really worth it?
A classic, and to my mind mostly sad tale of the choices made by a top-class professional athlete, and the potentially frightening downside to the "warrior" mentality.
Edited:
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TimeODanaos
·Are you there? If so, please share some photos! Bianca is such a great player - good first win but today playing Jill Teichman will be tougher as she has also had some success, albeit a few years ago now. I really thought Teichman was going to be a contender but after going deep in a few events she seemed to disappear.
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Archer
·Anyone seen the Nadal documentary on Netflix? Wow. I knew that he fought through physical issues, but had no idea just how serious they were.
On one hand, it's easy to be impressed with his toughness, fortitude, desire to repeatedly challenge himself under adverse conditions, and ability to meet most of them. On the other, it's quite clear that he is already paying a stiff price, and at the tender age of 40. Was it really worth it?
A classic, and to my mind mostly sad tale of the choices made by a top-class professional athlete, and the potentially frightening downside to the "warrior" mentality.
The particular style of tennis he played was a very tough on the body, and of course he was the kind to leave it all on the court. His foot problem was well documented but I'm sure that is only one of many things that were issues for him. Tennis is a tough sport at that level, and almost everyone is playing with some sort of small injury all the time. You only hope the big things are infrequent and not long lasting.
There have been a lot of very talented players that were not able to reach their full potential due to injuries - some career ending and some just frequent enough to kill the progression through the rankings and build momentum.
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Peemacgee
··Purrrr-veyor of luxury cat box loungersI have my reservations about Naomi Osaka’s ‘walk-on’ outfits but - regardless of the principle - it’s difficult not to say that she looks fabulous in her latest Wimbledon offering.
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Archer
·She does, but is this a fashion show or a tennis tournament?
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Archer
·Anyone seen the Nadal documentary on Netflix? Wow. I knew that he fought through physical issues, but had no idea just how serious they were.
On one hand, it's easy to be impressed with his toughness, fortitude, desire to repeatedly challenge himself under adverse conditions, and ability to meet most of them. On the other, it's quite clear that he is already paying a stiff price, and at the tender age of 40. Was it really worth it?
A classic, and to my mind mostly sad tale of the choices made by a top-class professional athlete, and the potentially frightening downside to the "warrior" mentality.
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Archer
·Totally agree - hence my initial comment about reservations - but I’ll give her a pass on this one occasion.
These are the racquets my wife and I played with…
I was surprised at how heavy these were even with the small head and sweet spot.
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