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Post by Panda on Apr 27, 2021 21:35:35 GMT 1
Also confirmed:
The 25-second shot clock will be introduced this year but human line judges will remain. Players won't be allowed to rent houses during this year's tournament and will have to stay at official hotels. The invitational events won't be played this year but all other events will still take place.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Apr 28, 2021 0:03:16 GMT 1
Interesting timing on the announcement of playing on middle Sunday but a decision I think overdue. It eases the pressure on the Monday to get all 4th round matches completed and gives the women a days rest between the 4th round and the quarter finals.
Speaking of Roehampton, I'm hoping the Battle of the Brits will happen later on this year. Hopefully around the same time to coincide with the US hard court season. Thoroughly enjoyed watching it last year and it's something different in the calendar.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Apr 28, 2021 17:22:55 GMT 1
Interesting timing on the announcement of playing on middle Sunday but a decision I think overdue. It eases the pressure on the Monday to get all 4th round matches completed and gives the women a days rest between the 4th round and the quarter finals. Speaking of Roehampton, I'm hoping the Battle of the Brits will happen later on this year. Hopefully around the same time to coincide with the US hard court season. Thoroughly enjoyed watching it last year and it's something different in the calendar. I suddenly thought the announcement may have had something to do with their annual press conference. Had a look and that did take place yesterday. See below, a lot shorter than usual, it's usually about an hour. youtu.be/HVcFtFWqClM
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Post by rubcale on Apr 28, 2021 17:48:17 GMT 1
But the second Monday was brilliant.
Great news on the 25-second shot clock but will it be strictly adhered to? I some how doubt it.
I'd love to see Nadal pulled on it (if he warrants it).
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Apr 29, 2021 1:49:46 GMT 1
But the second Monday was brilliant. Great news on the 25-second shot clock but will it be strictly adhered to? I some how doubt it. I'd love to see Nadal pulled on it (if he warrants it).
I'm sure he's got his pre-serve routine nailed down comfortably to within 25 secs.
The 25 sec shot clock isn't a new concept to the players, it was introduced back in 2018 in the other Grand Slams (not sure on FO) and in some tournaments. So the players should be familiar with it already.
Suppose the only downside is if there's been a 20+ rally in the previous point, it doesn't leave the players with much recovery time.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jun 2, 2021 1:07:44 GMT 1
One of the bigger stories of this season so far is of Naomi Osaka withdrawing from the French Open for not wanting to talk to the media after her matches to protect her mental health that she first experienced since the 2018 US Open.
I say good on her for speaking out and highlighting this. I always thought it was due to her age but she never felt comfortable being interviewed - always quite reserved and quiet when giving answers.
Hopefully the WTA (and ATP) can come up with a resolution in the near future, as it seems really drastic for someone so high profile to withdraw out of a major tournament on something seemingly trivial.
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Post by rubcale on Jun 2, 2021 10:49:19 GMT 1
It's a tough one - what is the happy medium?
Players do have responsibilities but some of the post-match interviews are excruciating and many of the questions puerile.
What is a player going to say when asked "How do you feel" after losing a close match in a Slam?
How much do we really have the right to know about a player's private life?
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Post by Robbie on Jun 10, 2021 20:21:03 GMT 1
This is quite extraordinary. Novak Djokovic is known for his occasional gutteral outbursts at the end of tense matches but this one from last night takes things to a new level
At the after game press conference Novak claimed that "I was liberating the tension through the scream". He sounds like a madman!
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jun 10, 2021 23:57:06 GMT 1
"Wow" pretty much sums that up - more so intensified with the lack of crowd. I'm looking forward to the match tomorrow between him and Nadal. Hopefully a much closer affair than it was in last year's final.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jun 11, 2021 22:38:30 GMT 1
...and it did not disappoint. What a match with Djokovic beating Nadal in 4 sets.
Easily one of the best, if not the best, clay court matches - especially the 3rd set.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jun 13, 2021 20:38:17 GMT 1
Important week for Konta as she won the Nottingham title today.
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Post by rewardman on Jun 13, 2021 21:09:15 GMT 1
It's a tough one - what is the happy medium? Players do have responsibilities but some of the post-match interviews are excruciating and many of the questions puerile. What is a player going to say when asked "How do you feel" after losing a close match in a Slam? How much do we really have the right to know about a player's private life? By all means expect players to talk after matches but the questions should be strictly related to tennis.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jun 15, 2021 1:59:57 GMT 1
To be fair, I don't find the tennis media are that intrusive. More often than not from what I've seen, they keep things on topic and go off topic sometimes as tongue in cheek - like how Serena talks about her daughter Olympia etc.
Also, as rubcale slightly alluded to, there's only so many questions and answers you can ask about a tennis match. So naturally, you want to find a different sound bite.
It's great to see the Birmingham Classic being shown on the BBC red button / website this year, which was quite a surprise given they were already showing Queens.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jun 15, 2021 8:07:43 GMT 1
It's great to see the Birmingham Classic being shown on the BBC red button / website this year, which was quite a surprise given they were already showing Queens. Yes, surprised me too when I read about it during the French Open, had to double check last week! They also showed Nottingham last week too apparently, though I couldn't find it on there so for the one day I watched it I used the LTA YouTube channel. I suspect its only because of the pandemic, Amazon Prime are still covering these events as well. I did wonder whether Konta had won Nottingham before. Well she was the first Brit (female) to win a British title since Sue Barker 40 years ago!
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Post by rubcale on Jun 15, 2021 18:40:37 GMT 1
Nottingham should probably be enough to see Johanna Konta creep into the bottom of the Wimbledon seeding list.
Welcome relief for Andy Murray as he beats Paire 6-3 6-2 at Queens Club.
You've got to woder why he is putting himself through trying to continue at the top level - sadly despite my initial optimism it's apparent he's never going to reach the same heights.
Biggest regret will probably be never winning an Austalian Open - I still feel Djokovich cheated him out of one.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jun 15, 2021 19:14:36 GMT 1
Nottingham should probably be enough to see Johanna Konta creep into the bottom of the Wimbledon seeding list. Welcome relief for Andy Murray as he beats Paire 6-3 6-2 at Queens Club. You've got to woder why he is putting himself through trying to continue at the top level - sadly despite my initial optimism it's apparent he's never going to reach the same heights. Biggest regret will probably be never winning an Austalian Open - I still feel Djokovich cheated him out of one. Andy was asked in his post match interview why he still wanted to continue and said its because he loves playing tennis and got emotional. Personally I'm not fussed about whether he can win GS titles, those days are gone, just having him out there winning matches is enough, it's happened so little for a long time now. And tbh it wouldn't surprise me if he retired at the end of the year, so got to enjoy him while he's still around. I was staggered by how well he played today, first match on grass for 3 years and he's barely played this year anywhere. Doesnt sound like he's had much practice on grass either. But then he was playing Paire, someone who hates playing in the bubble so much he said his aim was to lose first round of every event so he can get out of it. As a result the French have kicked him out of their team for the Tokyo Olympics! Superb win for Dan Evans today too.
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Post by ManicKangaroo on Jun 17, 2021 14:14:51 GMT 1
World number three Rafael Nadal has pulled out of this month's Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who won the Wimbledon titles in 2008 and 2010, says he needs to "recuperate after a long clay-court season".
"It's never an easy decision but after listening to my body and discussing it with my team I understand that it is the right decision," said the Spaniard.
"The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy."
The 35-year-old added: "That is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition."
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Post by rubcale on Jun 17, 2021 18:45:30 GMT 1
World number three Rafael Nadal has pulled out of this month's Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympic Games. The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who won the Wimbledon titles in 2008 and 2010, says he needs to "recuperate after a long clay-court season". "It's never an easy decision but after listening to my body and discussing it with my team I understand that it is the right decision," said the Spaniard. "The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy." The 35-year-old added: "That is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition." Wasn't expecting that.
Wimbledon was never his favourite event although on the whole he's done well there and I suppose having won the Olympics in 2008 he doesn't feel the same urge to wn it.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jun 17, 2021 22:10:44 GMT 1
I was half expecting Nadal not to compete at Wimbledon this year - given the short grass court season and he looked like he was struggling physically especially in the final set at the French Open last week against Djokovic.
I am surprised he has pulled out of the Olympics though, possibly nursing an area where he's had surgery or an injury too?
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jun 18, 2021 0:27:15 GMT 1
Nottingham should probably be enough to see Johanna Konta creep into the bottom of the Wimbledon seeding list. Welcome relief for Andy Murray as he beats Paire 6-3 6-2 at Queens Club. You've got to woder why he is putting himself through trying to continue at the top level - sadly despite my initial optimism it's apparent he's never going to reach the same heights. Biggest regret will probably be never winning an Austalian Open - I still feel Djokovich cheated him out of one. Andy was asked in his post match interview why he still wanted to continue and said its because he loves playing tennis and got emotional. Personally I'm not fussed about whether he can win GS titles, those days are gone, just having him out there winning matches is enough, it's happened so little for a long time now. And tbh it wouldn't surprise me if he retired at the end of the year, so got to enjoy him while he's still around. I agree, just seeing him play a bit at Queens today against Berrettini (before he lost) shows he's still got that wow factor and is still a joy to watch, probably better now the expectation for him to get to the latter stages of a tournament isn't as high.
Saying that, I've always said he should play doubles if he wants to prolong his career. Maybe not the route he wants to go down but you'd think it will ease the pressure off that hip.
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