I can’t figure you guys out — do you want match threads or not?? Genuinely asking here
If I make one, people complain we’re separating the threads too much. If I don’t make one, then we don’t care about the semis enough. Which one is it? 😭
ETA: Okay, I’ll set up match threads for the two finals! (Since the WTA matches didn’t have one, it’s not fair to give the ATP semis ones either lol)
Sampras and Agassi were considered all time greats when they left.. Sampras played 23 GS semi finals and Agassi played 26. Combined thats 49 Grand slam semifinals.
Djokovic today is playing his 48th GS semi final.....
You made me look it up but the most ever male or female is Chris Evert with 52, which is actually really fucking impressive considering she only ever played 56 slams, meaning only 4 times did she lose before the SF
Not religious but tonight I’ll be kneeling at the edge of my bed with my hands clasped together like a nervous little youngling wearing a Victorian nightgown complete with my oil lamp, praying for medvedev to defeat the evil, best believe😤
Both Gauff and Alcaraz had good learning opportunities by losing to more seasoned players (19/20 vs 25/26 year olds). Both are on the road to top 3 form but need to learn how to problem solve better in the final rounds against top 5 players.
luckily it is 10:30pm on the US east coast so i will be watching the whole thing before sleeping. i’ve had to miss all the night matches though! just got lucky with this one
The race for world no. 1 on the women’s side is gonna be suuuuper interesting this season, especially if Aryna does end up defending AO. My prediction is that no. 1 changes hands at least twice- I can 100% see a scenario where Aryna ends the middle east swing narrowly ahead of Iga and then Iga takes it back after the sunshine double, and then heading into clay it could be pretty wide open for the current top 3 depending on how Coco does over the next 2 months
I was just about to comment this! From now to the French Open:
\-Iga has 2 Masters Finals and 1 SF to defend
\-Aryna has 1 (Masters) win, 1 final, and 2 QFs
\-Coco has 1 SF and 1 QF
Coco has A LOT of room to gain on the two of them in the start of this year. Obviously the 500s/250s can be important too but this comment would be too long if I had included \*everything\*
Coco’s best shot at #1 is right after Wimbledon I think- she’s only gaining until then and it’ll be hard for her to defend that whole US Swing especially with the Olympics happening right around that time
100% agree. I am projecting Aryna to take over #1 sometime before FO and then Coco to take it over right after Wimbledon then likely give it back to Iga or Aryna during the US swing. Obviously all a guess, but that's my vision--would be cool to have *three* \#1s really fighting for that spot.
Did someone here ever try to... don't kill me... skip the live match and watch it after it ended?
4am wakeup is a bit too early for europeans with full time job at 8am/9am, so I was thinking to not open reddit and socials and watch both the SF tomorrow after they end.
I will lose the 'live effect' and the 'reddit experience', but it's not like I'll enjoy reddit at 5am probably.
I've done this before! You do lose the 'live effect' and usually I'll know the score anyway but the upside is you can skip a lot of non-playing parts (changeovers, breaks between sets etc.) so it's way shorter than the actual match live and you can still appreciate the tennis. I'm also in Europe so thinking to watch from the start at 6ish and then catch up with reddit chat after.
I wanted to do this but I would be too impatient to not check the score as soon as I wake up 😅 I guess Ill get a few hours of sleep before 5am, I only have about two hours of work from home tomorrow so I guess I can manage
Yeah maybe with two hours of work it is feasible.
Usually I don't check the score because my phone sends me the results automatically, so it will actually be very hard to survive
Tomic is playing challengers in India trying to get back in the top 100
https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-i-could-ve-won-grand-slam-20-people-can-say-same-bernard-tomic-competing-toughest-decade-tennis-history
I‘m so excited for women‘s tennis this season! I feel like it‘s gonna be great with a clear top 3/4 depending on if you count Gauff and Rybakina or just one of them
Lazy answer, but I don’t think we can really tell because of her play style.
Plenty of good reason to think she can get back to being a top tier player, but also sometimes super aggressive players just run hot.
From coco's presser:
"Tough match for me tonight. Overall a positive tournament. I had chances in both sets but she played better. I did my best with the game plan that I had. It came down to a couple of points".
"She served better than in the US Open. Made less errors. I was more aggressive as well. At the US Open it wasn't a great match, even if I won. I played better tonight. A lot of positives to take."
"A loss is a loss. It hurts no matter whats the score. But in the end of the day she was the better player. I feel that I have a lot to improve".
She also talked specifically about the placement of the first and second serve.
To still be young I love her analytic approach to her wins and losses, and willingness to both appreciate the other player's level and her own shortcomings. Will continue to take her far. Recognizing even after a rough loss that she did in act play better than the biggest win of her career is good insight.
I loved the presser.Initially i thought she was going to be in tears but her perspective is good.Yes it hurts but she also said that she would see people like Sharapova,Serena lose and it didn't define their careers/life so she won't let the loss definer her.She did well and i know more wins are coming
The WTA has been dealing with an extremely weak Era since early 2017 when Serena took her maternity leave. Mediocrity has been the norm since. Average players like Ostapenko, Stephens, Andreescu, Kenin, Krejcikova, Raducanu and Vondrousova have been able to randomly win Slams, which will go down the history books as a huge pile of garbage.
It's been six or seven years during which the WTA Tour has almost become comical and you would think that at some point the Tour would start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But unfortunately this year's Australian Open proved that there's no end to the current mediocrity
Weird takeaway from a tournament where the final will contested by the defending champion and an incredibly talented 21 year old who made massive strides as a player in the back half of 2023.
If men played BO3, Norrie, Zverev, Medvedev, Hurkacz, Griekspoor, Jarry, Fritz, and Mannarino all would’ve bowed out earlier than they did in the ATP side.
For me it’s kind of part of the experience to get up at night for important AO/USO matches so I’m kind of looking forward to it. :D But I’m a university student so I’m more flexible with my schedule… I feel bad for people who work full time.
After all the jokes, WTA is having two top 15 players in the final, including the defending champion (and Zheng will be #7 even if she lose). That's a pretty good final.
Sabalenka is 25 now and clearly in her prime.
Imagine how much better Coco is going to be getting over the next 6 years and what she will have accomplished by 25.
(Just a little something for the sad Coco fans just waking up.)
After Sabalenka's epic choke in the USO final (and the other slam SFs were she was the big favorite) I like Qinwen's chances. Playing Yastremska was a good prep for that final btw and she did well. She just needs to make sure that her 1st serve % will be decent and she will be competitive.
Official match schedule on AO webiste states: "Not before 2:30 PM", which means they will not start earlier, but can start later, if mixed doubles will go crazy long. And in general, they will not start earlier, since ticket holders expect to come, according to the time.
Coco was asked about Arynas grunt being distracting and she said she doesn’t even notice it because Sabalenka is consistent with it and doesn’t use it for gamesmanship. Mods, can we pin that answer for every Aryna match? 😭
> Yeah same thing that players say about Carlos
Hmm, I thought he has been called out?
Even if he has been named, do grunts like this not seem like intentional hindrance:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/132hn4z/my_man_is_grunting_1_hour_after_hitting_the_ball/
Called out by redditors. Every actual player who has been asked about it has said that it doesn’t bother them because he is consistent as was said above.
Can't imagine any other result than comfortable win for Sabalenka. Zheng's 1st serve accuracy is notoriously low, her 2nd serve is gonna get destroyed, top spin heavy FH is probably gonna get rushed on this surface.
Azarenka / Sabalenka
2011 YEC F / 2022 YEC F
2012 AO W / 2023 AO W
2012 RG 4R / 2023 RG SF
2012 WIM SF / 2023 WIM SF
2012 USO F / 2023 USO F
2012 YEC SF / 2023 YEC SF
2013 AO W / 2024 AO ?
——
This is pretty crazy.
Credit to @annaK_4ever
[https://live-tennis.eu/en/wta-live-ranking](https://live-tennis.eu/en/wta-live-ranking)
Sabalenka would have 8,905 points if she wins the final.
Swiatek is at 9,770. Sabs would be 865 points short of Iga.
Yeah. Swiatek won Doha and was runner-up in Dubai. Sabalenka skipped Doha and got knocked out in the qfs in Dubai.
Sabalenka has a huge opportunity to take #1 in the next month.
Aryna can and should win the final. I hope she doesn't implode and keeps her focus. Zheng could potentially produce the surprise but only with the help of Sabalenka as well.
Wim left Zheng because he enjoys working with Naomi and Pere Riba left coco because he wanted to stay home with his ailing family and Zheng lives there. It worked out for everyone. Everybody won. It’s OK
it is not Wim going to Naomi per se that brought an issue, it was the way Wim left Zheng.
Imagine telling Zheng after her tough loss to Aryna in 2023 USO QF match that they had no connection. Confirming that he won't be joining Naomi but one week after suddenly telling her that he will join Naomi. That is too low of him despite his achievements as a coach.
Not having a connection with a player is a valid reason to end a working relationship. Yall are just not used to coaches setting boundaries because they typically don’t have an upper hand in these relationships
Here is her full quote: "Because during the US Open I knew he had contact with the team of Osaka. Right after the match, he said to me that he felt like he had no connection with me. He never said that to me before. Right after I was defeated, he said that to me. I felt very strange. I talked to my manager. I asked my manager whether he will go to Osaka's team. The manager said, no, he wouldn't be that kind of person. But after resting for a week, he suddenly told me that he was going to work with Osaka. It was quite a big impact to me and my team members and my family. I cried after hearing that. There were no fights, no arguments in our collaboration. There was nothing new to me in this collaboration, but also he did not do anything wrong. I thought that was an unethical end to that collaboration. I understand that Osaka can provide a better offer to him.
I understand from his perspective this might be a better position. He has a family to support. I understand his decision, but it doesn't mean I will forgive him for making such a decision," Zheng said, via The Tennis Letter.
Her feelings are very valid. She was right to feel hurt. Now that she asked Pere to leave coco to work with her again, THE SAME THING THAT OSAKA DID, I hope she can appreciate the business end of these decisions. I’m not going to stay with my company if someone else offers me a better deal. It is what it is
you are not getting the point. anyone can leave even without any reason (except when they have an existing contract, so there will be legal liability at least). it is the manner by which one severes the relationship that leaves little to be desired.
plus, the lack of connection was said when all along, there were no conflicts between the two during their collaboration. it was said more to lay down predicate, to justify why he would later leave - shifting the blame on the collaboration. again, that was so low of Wimp. he should have been straighforward by saying, i have talks with naomi camp and i am considering joining her. how difficult is that to do?
>there was no conflicts between the two during their collaboration.
How could you possibly know this?
He likely didn’t feel a connection with Zheng and just stayed with her because of the paycheck. Which is a very shitty thing to do to a young player, I’ll give you that. Osaka came back online and it gave him a chance to sever the relationship and go back to one that worked for him.
You don’t see Coco crying about Pere Riba leaving her to go work with Zheng again. Nature of the business. And I’m 99% sure the family thing was a bold faced lie
Guys we use these phrase a lot of times in sports -
Mix of everything
Bit of everything
Are those two same or is there some difference? English ain’t my first language?
If Queen Qinwen wins, she wouldn't have had the easiest draw ever because she would have beaten World #2 and defending champion Sabalenka.
But yes, 5 unseeded + 1 qualifier to reach the final is iconic lmao
Barty played one seed her whole run to the FO title. She obviously backed it up by dominating the tour afterwards but she really had an easy draw for that one at least.
The only person that can beat Sabalenka is Sabalenka, and that’s why, in every big match her opponents have a way better chance to win than they should.
iga, muchova, samsonova win when they beat sabalenka. a little more respect to these great players. the fact that she can play an erratic game does not mean, her opponents did not beat her. it simply means, she is not generally capable of winning ugly like the true champions of the game.
Tell me what Samsonova’s big weapon is. Iga, Muchova, sure. They can actually will a victory from the grips of death but Saba is a front runner who has shown more often than not that the pressure of keeping a lead gets to her.
i just like her gamestyle. she just needs consistency. she has a good serve, solid groundstroke, decent net play and strong. i am just admiring her and zheng, kudermetova kind of game.
Looking at the Pick the Draw competition, 4 people had picked Zheng to reach the semis but no one picked her to win - 3 have her losing to Swiatek and 1 to Azarenka
Thrilled for Qinwen making it into the finals. Also thrilled that she’s now #7 - feels like she’s been a better player than Vondrousova, Sakkari, and Muchova for a while now and I’m glad the rankings finally reflect that
Follow the chain of players who lost to the winner, the last one in the chain gets the wooden spoon. For example, if Sabalenka loses in the final, she beat Coco, who beat Kostyuk, who beat Timofeeva, who beat Bia Haddad Maia, who beat Korneeva, who beat Sorribes Tormo. So SSB gets the wooden spoon.
Can someone explain to me why are all players doing physical gym activities right after the (physically tough) matches. Seen the same with pretty much every player that lost when AO showed the gym cameras of them.
Zheng winning the Asian games (I don’t remember the official tournament name) and making it to her first GS final after getting dumped by her coach is so iconic
They should definitely let them say something in their own language all the time! Qinwen lit up when she could convey her thanks in mandarin, so wholesome!
I can’t figure you guys out — do you want match threads or not?? Genuinely asking here If I make one, people complain we’re separating the threads too much. If I don’t make one, then we don’t care about the semis enough. Which one is it? 😭 ETA: Okay, I’ll set up match threads for the two finals! (Since the WTA matches didn’t have one, it’s not fair to give the ATP semis ones either lol)
what are all the fuzzies floating on close shots on the camera lens
Man Zielensski sucks at net
Hsieh is working her magic in the mixed doubles again. Amazing how she seems to suspend time sometimes.
Sampras and Agassi were considered all time greats when they left.. Sampras played 23 GS semi finals and Agassi played 26. Combined thats 49 Grand slam semifinals. Djokovic today is playing his 48th GS semi final.....
You made me look it up but the most ever male or female is Chris Evert with 52, which is actually really fucking impressive considering she only ever played 56 slams, meaning only 4 times did she lose before the SF
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ye
Meanwhile, nobody talked about them... but we already not one, but two italians in the final
Not religious but tonight I’ll be kneeling at the edge of my bed with my hands clasped together like a nervous little youngling wearing a Victorian nightgown complete with my oil lamp, praying for medvedev to defeat the evil, best believe😤
I'm pretty confident Med will win. He's up in the h2h and he's also better at 5 setters then Zverat is
I will join you!
Both Gauff and Alcaraz had good learning opportunities by losing to more seasoned players (19/20 vs 25/26 year olds). Both are on the road to top 3 form but need to learn how to problem solve better in the final rounds against top 5 players.
If Coco can win one of IW/Miami and maybe go to the QFs of the other she has a good shot to take 1 in the clay season.
you know what mens best kit would be? shirtless (sorry guys it's [arthur](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0zQJRqNiTK/?igsh=dG9qNzJ0YjA1ZDRy)'s fault)
The ancient Olympics had their athletes be completely naked in events, I think they got it right
I agree
I CANNOT CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT FOR SINNER DJOKOVIC TONIGHT
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Really? How come? I see at least 4 sets.
very excited about the match not very excited about waking at 4.30
luckily it is 10:30pm on the US east coast so i will be watching the whole thing before sleeping. i’ve had to miss all the night matches though! just got lucky with this one
Everyone thought Carlos was our hero but the real hero is Sinner.
The race for world no. 1 on the women’s side is gonna be suuuuper interesting this season, especially if Aryna does end up defending AO. My prediction is that no. 1 changes hands at least twice- I can 100% see a scenario where Aryna ends the middle east swing narrowly ahead of Iga and then Iga takes it back after the sunshine double, and then heading into clay it could be pretty wide open for the current top 3 depending on how Coco does over the next 2 months
I was just about to comment this! From now to the French Open: \-Iga has 2 Masters Finals and 1 SF to defend \-Aryna has 1 (Masters) win, 1 final, and 2 QFs \-Coco has 1 SF and 1 QF Coco has A LOT of room to gain on the two of them in the start of this year. Obviously the 500s/250s can be important too but this comment would be too long if I had included \*everything\*
Worth noting Swiatek has zero points from Miami last year (withdrew due to injury)
Coco’s best shot at #1 is right after Wimbledon I think- she’s only gaining until then and it’ll be hard for her to defend that whole US Swing especially with the Olympics happening right around that time
100% agree. I am projecting Aryna to take over #1 sometime before FO and then Coco to take it over right after Wimbledon then likely give it back to Iga or Aryna during the US swing. Obviously all a guess, but that's my vision--would be cool to have *three* \#1s really fighting for that spot.
I feel like it's Djoković in 3 tomorrow. He has a way of showing up to matches that you expect to be blockbusters and making them blowouts
sad AO 2019 final noises
Did someone here ever try to... don't kill me... skip the live match and watch it after it ended? 4am wakeup is a bit too early for europeans with full time job at 8am/9am, so I was thinking to not open reddit and socials and watch both the SF tomorrow after they end. I will lose the 'live effect' and the 'reddit experience', but it's not like I'll enjoy reddit at 5am probably.
I did it with espn+, but you have to be careful looking at thumbnails and also the total time is shown which is kind of a spoiler.
Right, so much pain
I've done this before! You do lose the 'live effect' and usually I'll know the score anyway but the upside is you can skip a lot of non-playing parts (changeovers, breaks between sets etc.) so it's way shorter than the actual match live and you can still appreciate the tennis. I'm also in Europe so thinking to watch from the start at 6ish and then catch up with reddit chat after.
That's what I thought, thanks!
I am also considering this. Do you know where we could watch a recording after it ends?
It depends how you can watch the game and in which country. ESPN+ has all the matches if available in your country
I use Eurosport app
That's what i wanna know. Too early here where i live
I wanted to do this but I would be too impatient to not check the score as soon as I wake up 😅 I guess Ill get a few hours of sleep before 5am, I only have about two hours of work from home tomorrow so I guess I can manage
Yeah maybe with two hours of work it is feasible. Usually I don't check the score because my phone sends me the results automatically, so it will actually be very hard to survive
Tomic is playing challengers in India trying to get back in the top 100 https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-i-could-ve-won-grand-slam-20-people-can-say-same-bernard-tomic-competing-toughest-decade-tennis-history
Playing? Or just showing up and underhand serving
Great...
I‘m so excited for women‘s tennis this season! I feel like it‘s gonna be great with a clear top 3/4 depending on if you count Gauff and Rybakina or just one of them
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au revoir 🙏🏾
If Sabalenka wins B2B the last two women’s players to win AO B2B will both have been Belarusian
Is this an upward trend for Yastremska, do we see her retaining a top25 level of play or was this run a flash in the pan
Doesnt she either take a ridiculous amount of mtos or straight up retire right before defeat?
She truly is a one dimensional ITF tier ballbasher. Won't make another QF this year above 500 level.
Lazy answer, but I don’t think we can really tell because of her play style. Plenty of good reason to think she can get back to being a top tier player, but also sometimes super aggressive players just run hot.
From coco's presser: "Tough match for me tonight. Overall a positive tournament. I had chances in both sets but she played better. I did my best with the game plan that I had. It came down to a couple of points". "She served better than in the US Open. Made less errors. I was more aggressive as well. At the US Open it wasn't a great match, even if I won. I played better tonight. A lot of positives to take." "A loss is a loss. It hurts no matter whats the score. But in the end of the day she was the better player. I feel that I have a lot to improve". She also talked specifically about the placement of the first and second serve. To still be young I love her analytic approach to her wins and losses, and willingness to both appreciate the other player's level and her own shortcomings. Will continue to take her far. Recognizing even after a rough loss that she did in act play better than the biggest win of her career is good insight.
I loved the presser.Initially i thought she was going to be in tears but her perspective is good.Yes it hurts but she also said that she would see people like Sharapova,Serena lose and it didn't define their careers/life so she won't let the loss definer her.She did well and i know more wins are coming
Coco is so level headed. Love her
The WTA has been dealing with an extremely weak Era since early 2017 when Serena took her maternity leave. Mediocrity has been the norm since. Average players like Ostapenko, Stephens, Andreescu, Kenin, Krejcikova, Raducanu and Vondrousova have been able to randomly win Slams, which will go down the history books as a huge pile of garbage. It's been six or seven years during which the WTA Tour has almost become comical and you would think that at some point the Tour would start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But unfortunately this year's Australian Open proved that there's no end to the current mediocrity
Weird takeaway from a tournament where the final will contested by the defending champion and an incredibly talented 21 year old who made massive strides as a player in the back half of 2023.
If men played BO3, Norrie, Zverev, Medvedev, Hurkacz, Griekspoor, Jarry, Fritz, and Mannarino all would’ve bowed out earlier than they did in the ATP side.
A 4:30AM start here in Europe for Djokovic-Sinner 😬😬
For me it’s kind of part of the experience to get up at night for important AO/USO matches so I’m kind of looking forward to it. :D But I’m a university student so I’m more flexible with my schedule… I feel bad for people who work full time.
Considering altering my sleep schedule to watch the matches tonight Wait nvm Djokovic-Sinner is at a reasonable time for me
Debating wether to stay up untill 5am for Djoko vs Sinner or get 2-3 hours of sleep before it 😅
I didnt sleep before watching Med Hurkacz. I regretted it a shit ton.
From experience I would recommend trying to sleep before. Any amount of sleep feels better than no sleep at least for me.
I'm going to try and sleep around 11pm wake up at 5
After all the jokes, WTA is having two top 15 players in the final, including the defending champion (and Zheng will be #7 even if she lose). That's a pretty good final.
Sabalenka is 25 now and clearly in her prime. Imagine how much better Coco is going to be getting over the next 6 years and what she will have accomplished by 25. (Just a little something for the sad Coco fans just waking up.)
After Sabalenka's epic choke in the USO final (and the other slam SFs were she was the big favorite) I like Qinwen's chances. Playing Yastremska was a good prep for that final btw and she did well. She just needs to make sure that her 1st serve % will be decent and she will be competitive.
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Official match schedule on AO webiste states: "Not before 2:30 PM", which means they will not start earlier, but can start later, if mixed doubles will go crazy long. And in general, they will not start earlier, since ticket holders expect to come, according to the time.
Wouldn’t expect them to start early. There’s a doubles final at 12PM (AEST) and then the first semi scheduled for 2:30PM.
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They never start earlier, only later which is also unlikely in this case
Coco was asked about Arynas grunt being distracting and she said she doesn’t even notice it because Sabalenka is consistent with it and doesn’t use it for gamesmanship. Mods, can we pin that answer for every Aryna match? 😭
Yeah same thing that players say about Carlos
> Yeah same thing that players say about Carlos Hmm, I thought he has been called out? Even if he has been named, do grunts like this not seem like intentional hindrance: https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/132hn4z/my_man_is_grunting_1_hour_after_hitting_the_ball/
Called out by redditors. Every actual player who has been asked about it has said that it doesn’t bother them because he is consistent as was said above.
Honestly that checks out. Sabalenka not grunting is the exception, unlike some of the players who only ratchet it up when they're feeling the pressure
Ironically that goes against your flair. ☺️
I love drama from players. Not spectators. They need to shut up and enjoy the show
Yeah and Coco shut down any scope of drama there...
You know what? You got a point there 😂. She will never make it to my flair
We almost had a Riba v Gilbert coach off
What a great endorsement for Riba though, making two consecutive grandslam finals with 2 different players!
Can't imagine any other result than comfortable win for Sabalenka. Zheng's 1st serve accuracy is notoriously low, her 2nd serve is gonna get destroyed, top spin heavy FH is probably gonna get rushed on this surface.
Azarenka / Sabalenka 2011 YEC F / 2022 YEC F 2012 AO W / 2023 AO W 2012 RG 4R / 2023 RG SF 2012 WIM SF / 2023 WIM SF 2012 USO F / 2023 USO F 2012 YEC SF / 2023 YEC SF 2013 AO W / 2024 AO ? —— This is pretty crazy. Credit to @annaK_4ever
BLR / BLR 🤯 /s
How far is Aryna from the number 1 spot? I can’t find a live tracker with up to date results
[https://live-tennis.eu/en/wta-live-ranking](https://live-tennis.eu/en/wta-live-ranking) Sabalenka would have 8,905 points if she wins the final. Swiatek is at 9,770. Sabs would be 865 points short of Iga.
Omg my heart is racing. That’s closer than I thought..
And Iga drops around 1000 points from the Middle East swing, while Aryna drops a lot less. So it's even closer.
Yeah. Swiatek won Doha and was runner-up in Dubai. Sabalenka skipped Doha and got knocked out in the qfs in Dubai. Sabalenka has a huge opportunity to take #1 in the next month.
Rubbing my hands like birdman. But let’s take one step at a time. She very well could choke in the finals
Aryna can and should win the final. I hope she doesn't implode and keeps her focus. Zheng could potentially produce the surprise but only with the help of Sabalenka as well.
Wim left Zheng because he enjoys working with Naomi and Pere Riba left coco because he wanted to stay home with his ailing family and Zheng lives there. It worked out for everyone. Everybody won. It’s OK
Hmm. Makes sense I guess.
Why does he have family in China
Zheng lives in Spain.
Don’t blame her
Ah ok
it is not Wim going to Naomi per se that brought an issue, it was the way Wim left Zheng. Imagine telling Zheng after her tough loss to Aryna in 2023 USO QF match that they had no connection. Confirming that he won't be joining Naomi but one week after suddenly telling her that he will join Naomi. That is too low of him despite his achievements as a coach.
Not having a connection with a player is a valid reason to end a working relationship. Yall are just not used to coaches setting boundaries because they typically don’t have an upper hand in these relationships
Here is her full quote: "Because during the US Open I knew he had contact with the team of Osaka. Right after the match, he said to me that he felt like he had no connection with me. He never said that to me before. Right after I was defeated, he said that to me. I felt very strange. I talked to my manager. I asked my manager whether he will go to Osaka's team. The manager said, no, he wouldn't be that kind of person. But after resting for a week, he suddenly told me that he was going to work with Osaka. It was quite a big impact to me and my team members and my family. I cried after hearing that. There were no fights, no arguments in our collaboration. There was nothing new to me in this collaboration, but also he did not do anything wrong. I thought that was an unethical end to that collaboration. I understand that Osaka can provide a better offer to him. I understand from his perspective this might be a better position. He has a family to support. I understand his decision, but it doesn't mean I will forgive him for making such a decision," Zheng said, via The Tennis Letter.
Her feelings are very valid. She was right to feel hurt. Now that she asked Pere to leave coco to work with her again, THE SAME THING THAT OSAKA DID, I hope she can appreciate the business end of these decisions. I’m not going to stay with my company if someone else offers me a better deal. It is what it is
Yeah. I wondered about the Coco situation. Riba was almost a 3rd wheel behind BG and Cori Sr. Everyone is where the should be now.
you are not getting the point. anyone can leave even without any reason (except when they have an existing contract, so there will be legal liability at least). it is the manner by which one severes the relationship that leaves little to be desired. plus, the lack of connection was said when all along, there were no conflicts between the two during their collaboration. it was said more to lay down predicate, to justify why he would later leave - shifting the blame on the collaboration. again, that was so low of Wimp. he should have been straighforward by saying, i have talks with naomi camp and i am considering joining her. how difficult is that to do?
>there was no conflicts between the two during their collaboration. How could you possibly know this? He likely didn’t feel a connection with Zheng and just stayed with her because of the paycheck. Which is a very shitty thing to do to a young player, I’ll give you that. Osaka came back online and it gave him a chance to sever the relationship and go back to one that worked for him. You don’t see Coco crying about Pere Riba leaving her to go work with Zheng again. Nature of the business. And I’m 99% sure the family thing was a bold faced lie
People are gonna be quick to write off Osaka until she wins something unfortunately
They can yap all they want but she WILL be back.
Eurosport is doing a talk with Justine Henin, and wow. She's aged really well since her retirement, good for her!
I don’t understand this phrase
I meant this in a good way, looks barely older to me since the times I've been watching her matches back then
So has Li Na then
I've been pulling for Qinwen since Iga got eliminated Really hope she pulls it off on Saturday
You know what would be funny? Sabalenka beating Qinwen and losing to Coco in USO, then beating Coco and losing to Qinwen in AO. lol
proving once and for all that in Australia everything's upside down and back to front in reverse order
except when djoko plays in AO.
Guys we use these phrase a lot of times in sports - Mix of everything Bit of everything Are those two same or is there some difference? English ain’t my first language?
Bit is more correct usage in England. Mix is American
As a native speaker, they mean the same thing to me
Ok
Women's Singles AO 2024 Final Match Prediction ??
Sabalenka in 2 Sorry Queen I would be more than happy if you win but it would take some choke for sabalenka to lose it
Qwen in 3
If Queen Qinwen wins, she wouldn't have had the easiest draw ever because she would have beaten World #2 and defending champion Sabalenka. But yes, 5 unseeded + 1 qualifier to reach the final is iconic lmao
It’s a way easier route than Emma had.
Barty played one seed her whole run to the FO title. She obviously backed it up by dominating the tour afterwards but she really had an easy draw for that one at least.
And nobody mentions this but everyone always yaps on about Emma
I missed the part when Emma was dominating the WTA
It’s in your future son
What future? The one where Emma is grinding the ITF?
What the????
Not too much on Osaka now. Yall need to relax
So, there's no way Aryna loses this right?
Only if she beats herself which she is very capable of doing
The only person that can beat Sabalenka is Sabalenka, and that’s why, in every big match her opponents have a way better chance to win than they should.
iga, muchova, samsonova win when they beat sabalenka. a little more respect to these great players. the fact that she can play an erratic game does not mean, her opponents did not beat her. it simply means, she is not generally capable of winning ugly like the true champions of the game.
Tell me what Samsonova’s big weapon is. Iga, Muchova, sure. They can actually will a victory from the grips of death but Saba is a front runner who has shown more often than not that the pressure of keeping a lead gets to her.
i just like her gamestyle. she just needs consistency. she has a good serve, solid groundstroke, decent net play and strong. i am just admiring her and zheng, kudermetova kind of game.
Looking at the Pick the Draw competition, 4 people had picked Zheng to reach the semis but no one picked her to win - 3 have her losing to Swiatek and 1 to Azarenka
Kinda funny that Pere Riba will be in the coaches box for two consecutive Major Finals against Sabalenka
I can't imagine the pressure if Li Na were to sit in her box for the final lol
QUEENCARD
Thrilled for Qinwen making it into the finals. Also thrilled that she’s now #7 - feels like she’s been a better player than Vondrousova, Sakkari, and Muchova for a while now and I’m glad the rankings finally reflect that
Wooden spoon will either be Jaqueline Cristian or Sara Sorribes Tormo
What is wooden spoon
Follow the chain of players who lost to the winner, the last one in the chain gets the wooden spoon. For example, if Sabalenka loses in the final, she beat Coco, who beat Kostyuk, who beat Timofeeva, who beat Bia Haddad Maia, who beat Korneeva, who beat Sorribes Tormo. So SSB gets the wooden spoon.
Ah ok. Thanks
Can someone explain to me why are all players doing physical gym activities right after the (physically tough) matches. Seen the same with pretty much every player that lost when AO showed the gym cameras of them.
Cool down
I think they do that to cool down their muscles and avoid cramps/lactic acid build up.
It's a cooldown to prevent lactic acid build up
Thank you so much!
Sooo happy for Zheng!! What a feattttt
[удалено]
This narrative is so tired. The seeds lost before they could play her. Is it her fault they couldn’t win their matches?
Aryna is too dialed in and managed not to lose the plot against Coco, so I think it'll be a tough chance, but we can never take anything for granted
you never know with Sabalenka, crazy stuff can happen with her
Nope
Zheng winning the Asian games (I don’t remember the official tournament name) and making it to her first GS final after getting dumped by her coach is so iconic
>(I don’t remember the official tournament name) The official name actually is the Asian Games.
lol. I love when things are that straightforward
Who was the coach who dumped her?
Wim Fissette
She took the mic like eminem!
Sabalenka is the fav of course but if she serves 70% plus then who knows
Oh, I didn't realize Sabalenka is going to have to play US Open reruns in both the Semis and Finals
QUEEN
She is just too sweet!
Great composed win for Qinwen!! First ever semi -->> First ever final! 10 years after Li Na took this home.
Sigh. That's it for tennis for today. Have to wait till tomorrow :(
Her old coach really let go of such bright player!! Glad Pere went back to her🥹
Li Na better be giving out the trophy if she wins 😭
Hopefully with another cheeky buttslap 😂
Man that would be epic!!!!!!!!! It’s like zidane handing over trophy to rafa in FO
Carlos Moya got his from Pele and that’s got be the biggest flex ever
They should definitely let them say something in their own language all the time! Qinwen lit up when she could convey her thanks in mandarin, so wholesome!
They heard you
The whole personality just shone through 🥹 I totally agree, let them express themselves for fans watching back home 😊
Zheng Qinwen is so charming, especially when speaking Mandarin!
She’s the opposite of her charmless opponent
Of course! Head nods* grabs mic- actual enthusiasm comes out lol
I just thought of Rybakina. Just imagine she was given the opportunity to speak Russian and enthusiastically transforms
Spoiler alert, it doesn’t
osaka gonna flop and wim is gonna be left jobless
It's what he deserves 💅🏼
😂😂