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The 2019 tennis season begins....
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"Laver would have beaten 15 in the 60s had he not turned pro."
Maybe, maybe not. Laver's projected record is really a case of double counting as it pre-supposes that it would only have been him not turning pro. If, however, Len Hoad and Ken Rosewall were also still amateurs then it's dubious that Laver would have won any of the 6 Slams he claimed against effectively depleted fields in '60-'62. Laver only went past those two and started winning pro Slams in 1964, and that limits him to 24 possible shots.
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Originally posted by Jimski View PostLooks as if Djokovic will end up overtaking Nadal for no1 late on again. Thanks mainly to Nadal's weird inability to avoid injury at this time of year.
Talking of injuries, both groups at the WTA Tour Finals ended up with five players as Bianca Andreescu retired hurt after a set of a match against Karolina Pliskova and subsequently withdrew from the tournament to be replaced by Sofia Kenin. Kenin's only appearance was a dead rubber against Elina Svitolina which she lost in two sets (but that she got very well paid for). The other player through from the purple group was Pliskova, who won what was effectively a Quarter-Final against Simona Halep.
In the red group, Kiki Bertens, an injury replacement for Naomi Osaka, got hurt herself in her second match against Belinda Bencic and retired after a set and a game. That made this group also pretty clear cut - Bencic and Ash Barty through. The carnage continued in the Semis as Bencic retired hurt in the third set against Svitolina. Fortunately every other game was played to a conclusion, Barty beating Pliskova in three and then topping last year's champion Svitolina in the final. The Aussie ends the year as French Open Champion, Tour Champion and World Number 1. Some people do breakthrough years better than others... and it's clearly time for the WTA to take some time off to get everyone halfway fit again!
Over in Paris, the other QFs alongside Denis Shapovalov trouncing Gael Monfils saw Novak Djokovic annihilate Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov beat Cristian Garin in an all-unseeded encounter and Rafa Nadal beat Jo-Willy Tsonga. Then Djokovic beat Dimitrov (for the nth time) and Shapovalov got a walkover against Nadal. Which meant a second tour final for the young Canuck just two weeks after his first... only to find Djokovic a rather trickier opponent than Nole's compatriot Filip Krajinovic, who Shapovalov beat in Stockholm. This time it went Serbia's way in straight sets.
And now we are fully into the post-season. Two events this week, the Next Gen Finals for the Men in Milan and the Fed Cup Final for the Women in Perth. The Aussie one. Tsitsipas had qualified as the top ranked player for the Next Gen event, but withdrew to focus on his Tour Finals prep. Felix Auger-Aliassime also withdrew on grounds of being injured, and Shapovalov presumably citing fatigue. The groups are therefore:
Group A
#1 Alex de Minaur (WR:18)
#4 Casper Ruud (63)
#5 Miomir Kecmanovic (55)
#8 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (82)
Group B
#2 Frances Tiafoe (46)
#3 Ugo Humbert (56)
#6 Mikael Ymer (73)
#8 Jannik Sinner (93)
The Fed Cup final teams will be announced later in the week.
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When Federer lost in the first match I thought he looked quite sluggish, almost like a boxer getting old in the ring. However, it looks like he was just shaking off some rust because he looked fabulous last night.
Judging by his reaction at the end, I think he was a little bit surprised by how well he played. His celebration and interview were those of a man who had electrified that arena and fed off that atmosphere til the end.
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I watched a bit of it, even though I was wholly against the whole concept originally. I was less anti than I expected to be.
1. Losing the best of 5 sets matches: it’s a shame, but clearly necessary to play each tie in half a day not over three. Didn’t all of Spain’s matches except the final finish well after midnight?
2. Still don’t like the groups of three format. Canada and someone else iirc compromised the entire best runner up format by forfeiting their doubles at 2-0 up. I’d much prefer 16 teams not 18 and have it as straight knockout from the start. Put relegation play outs into the format for first round losers if organisers want to ensure everyone gets 2 matches.
3. In a tie of three rubbers, I’m undecided if the doubles should come last or in the middle (or even first). But it did seem to lead to some interesting captain’s choices after tough singles which was good.
4. As for outcomes, a home win for Nadal and Spain was overdue and deserved. I hope home advantage doesn’t become the main determinant for the Cup though, and they must think about rotating venues if so. Canada’s run was fun just for novelty, as was a virtually Andy Murray-less GB making semis.
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Extraordinary how much above its weight the GB squad punched to make it to the semi-finals. Currently not a single British man has a singles ranking in the top 40 (yes, i know we are relatively stronger in doubles). There are 12 countries who have two or more men in the singles top 40 (France and Serbia have four each, though to be fair 3 of Serbia's are very much at the lower end of that list), but nine of those countries of course made it less far than GB.
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