TENNIS

Brothers of Briar

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To quote or paraphrase David Foster Wallace, tennis is a combination of chess and boxing. The constant strategy mixed with the extreme athleticism makes it a joy to watch.

I play infrequently now. I watch when I can, but since Fed retired, some of my fanboy joy has gone away. I need to get over it, but I deeply enjoyed the grace with which he played and carried himself.
 
Zeno Marx said:
If you aren't watching Jasmine Paolini, you're missing out. She's 5'3" or 5'4", depending on the source, has great hands, with a wide variety of shots, and is similar to Daria Kasatkina, but with a lot more power and speedy court coverage. She's not quite as chess-like as Radwanska or Hingis, but she doesn't have to be because of how quickly she moves. She's a ton of fun to watch. She's also evidence that playing doubles really pays off. Seems to be a super nice person as well.

Time for a little Europe lesson...Jannik Sinner is from the northern most province of Italy. Here's the weird one, at least for me: most people there speak German as their first language. I had no idea that part of Italy was a German region. I wondered why his accent didn't sound Italian. So many tennis players have lived all over the world, I guess I never was curious enough to find out why. That province is also the richest in Italy and is allowed to basically act autonomously, though still contributing tax wise. Europe is such a strange and complicated place.

Emma Navarro's, the new USA phenom, father is a billionaire and bought her a tennis academy where to train. Of course, she still had to put in the work and effort, but it does go to show you how much money is in tennis. I heard yesterday that it costs around $100K/year to train in development for kids in Europe. I'm sure it isn't much cheaper here in the States at one of the academies either.

Djokovic...oh, the ol' joker. He really rubs people the wrong way, and his little post-game performance, after beating Ruud, is a prime example of it. And directly after the last point, playing the racket like a violin to the crowd? This guy could win 40 Grand Slams, and he's never going to be warmly embraced by most crowds. And heck, the British crowd is generally warm to the greats, but he is not a likeable character. They just wanted more tennis and were rooting for the underdog. He tries to be fun and funny, but you can tell. Watch it on youtube. He also walked out of the press conference because he was asked about his post-game speech. Didn't like that he was being asked about his own words. Just an abrasive fella.
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Regarding the northern part of Italy. That is the Tyrol region. Pre ww1 is was split between Italy and the Austro Hungarian empire. After WW1 the AH part was ceded to Italy.
 
fireman11 said:
Regarding the northern part of Italy. That is the Tyrol region. Pre ww1 is was split between Italy and the Austro Hungarian empire. After WW1 the AH part was ceded to Italy.
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I recognized the word, and I think it was through hiking gear or surplus. A Tyrol backpack/rucksack style? Something like that. As for a region? Me dumb American.
 
talk about hands and variety and doubles skills...Krejčíková. If the nerves don't get them, it's going to be a great match. Had to feel bad for Vekić. She's always been an emotional wreck and had problems finishing matches in the latter rounds. Comes from that generation that needs a sports psychologist as much as any other part of their team.
 
The US Open Tennis Tourn. began this morning.

Looks as if Jannik Sinner is receiving preferential treatment over his banned substance violation (steroids). They come down hard on recreational drugs, but then give this guy a pass on something that falls under performance enhancing. To me, that makes zero sense. And, as usual...and not to get political...if you have the money for good lawyers, the rules get twisted and mushy and unequally applied, just like everywhere else in life. The top five players make A LOT of money, while everyone else is grinding out a living. And I have nothing against Sinner. I actually enjoy watching him play, and he seems like a good person off the court. Other players who do this get 18-36 month suspensions, and their infractions aren't kept hush-hush either. This Sinner thing was from March.
 
I'm not sure how I feel about ESPN/ABC giving Nick Kyrgios a primetime analyst spot. The guy was a disrespectful asshat as a player, and he was open about hating playing tennis. Lleyton Hewitt, one of the toughest straight-shooting short players I've ever watched, couldn't stand coaching his nonsense for the Davis Cup, and I'm not even much of a Hewitt fan. Just have a lot of respect for Hewitt's tenacity and work ethic. Giving this guy a spot means one of the great women analysts are pushed out of the room, and the women's game has even better commentators than the men. Just one of those cases where the person is clearly blessed, because I'm not sure he has earned it or deserves it. I don't hate the guy either. He could be fun to watch, but he was also a poor sport almost every match. A guy with natural talent and athleticism out the bum who showed no humility or reverence for the game. His fellow players did/do like him though, so he had some kind of charisma and likeability. I don't know. Like I said, I'm conflicted. It's not a big issue, but I have thought about it this US Open.
 
Each of the Grand Slams has such a unique flavor. I love the US Open for the late nights. They didn't end play until 2:15AM Eastern time last night. And there's nothing in tennis like a NYC area crowd. Party mode that respects the traditions while establishing its own traditions and atmosphere. I've been waiting for one of these really late nights. It's been ending disappointingly early the first week. Such a fun tournament. The organizers should be congratulated for being so successful making it what it is. The rock bands and huge kids day pre-tournament might seem unnecessary and over the top, but it sets a great tone for both the players and event.
 
We used to go back when it was held at Forest Hills. Mom and my little sister were big into tennis. Sister played in college. We also used to go to the Longwood Cricket Club to watch the tournaments.

Somewhere around here, I have pictures of us hanging out with Roy Emerson and Rod Laver.
 
Great US Open so far. While he's not a favorite player, I love watching Medvedev. I know I've waxed poetic about this guy's huge, sweeping strokes, playing almost up against the back wall, his temper, and so on. I appreciate that the crowd also has this kind of love/hate/weirdo relationship with him too, because they love to wind him up and watch his temperament spiral. One of those cases where someone isn't trying to be funny, but they are, so they end up being some level of likeable or of service to the seat price and/or time investment.

It's interesting that both American women in the semifinals are daughters of billionaires. Both are fighters. Nobody is handing them matches, but we're back to being a country club sport (daddy buying a tennis academy to have a place to practice and develop), the reversal of what the Williams sisters did for the sport.

I'm not sure it is worth Sinner winning this tournament after the drug stuff. I won't talk about all that again, but it might be a better diplomatic move for him to not win this thing. It's all too fresh. The Aussies are an unforgiving sports-obsessed nation, so even the Australian Open 2025 might be too soon to throw up a Grand Slam win. It's one thing to beat Medvedev, but beating one of the Americans, especially if it is the greatly beloved Tiafoe, would not sit well with a lot of people.
 
The Pegula/Muchova match last night was fantastic. Muchova has always been an exceptional player; the kind of player I love to watch because she has every shot in her arsenal, has extraordinary instinct for the game, and plays smart. That first set was embarrassingly great for her. She was smack-dab in the middle of The Zone. And then after a 6-minute set break, and a single unlucky shot, everything turned. One of the many things to appreciate about tennis is how quickly things can change. Someone with all the momentum and everything working for them, makes one poor shot, nudges themself out of the highest level of concentration, and BAM! It's like a different day and time has began again. Like life, the situation is utterly fragile like that. And Pegula managed to take advantage of it, which is the other part of that changing equation. The absolute brilliance of that first set was almost nowhere to be found in the 2nd and 3rd. It was there, but not strung into 30-40 minutes of near perfection like the 1st. Still, a very high level of competition until the end. If I'm honest, I would have preferred Muchova to win because I love her style...and that 1st set was a tutorial on how to play tennis...but oh well. Pegula had a stronger overall mental game, and tennis is a mindfvck. That's how you win.
 
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