Thanks for the summary! I grew up with tennis being pretty popular but sadly with the decline of US competitiveness near the top (primarily on the men’s side) it is much more difficult to even find coverage.
The Open is almost wrapped but it's been filled with excellent play, particularly on the men's side of the draw. The top seeds are pretty much all playing to form which has led to an exceptional QF round - all of the top 6 seeds plus 9 (Hurkacz, who benefitted from an early Holger Rune upset but may have beaten him anyway) and 12 (Fritz, who I think may be better right now than #7 Tsitsipas anyway). Fritz took a set off Djokovic (and had two set points in another that Djoker fended off) before fading late. Sinner made efficient work of Rublev to set up a 1 vs. 4 matchup in one semi. Medvedev-Hurkacz and Alcaraz-Zverev figure to be high quality quarters tonight, too - personally, I'm rooting for the favorites so we get Alcaraz-Medvedev and a 1,2,3,4 semis.
The women's side has been (as usual) much more wide open with most of the top seeds eliminated before even the quarters. But Gauff has continued her scintillating post-Wimbledon play and Sabalenka looks on a mission to defend her title. It's a shame that the two of them have to meet in the semis while one of Linda Noskova, Dayana Yastremska (a qualifier), Anna Kalinskaya, and Qinwen Zheng will get a spot in the finals, but those are the breaks of the draw. I'm rooting for Coco, but also have a soft spot for Zheng who has really come up over the past couple years to be a top flight player. Sabalenka is also in her 6th straight major semi which is a very impressive run of consistency, particularly since just two years ago she came into the Australian Open with a giant case of the yips in her serve - enough so that she was serving some points underhand.
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke
Thanks for the summary! I grew up with tennis being pretty popular but sadly with the decline of US competitiveness near the top (primarily on the men’s side) it is much more difficult to even find coverage.
Do you mean coverage in terms of reporting and commentary, writeups, etc.? Or actual televised matches? I feel like there's as much of the latter as there ever was back in the 1990's heyday of American tennis. Maybe just due to the emergence of a broader spectrum of cable, where we have several ESPN's plus an entire network dedicated just to tennis, but I've never been unable to find plenty of slams matches on TV, and Tennis Channel carries pretty much every other tournament year-round, including multiple tournaments at a time when the tours split and/or when there are several lower level tournaments happening the same week. Maybe it's just that there's less network coverage.
Totally agree if your point was just that it seems like off the court coverage of the game gets lost in the now endless sea of sports media, though. Few outlets seem to care about tennis the way they did in the age of Sampras and Agassi. ESPN still has a comically rudimentary tennis page that feels like 2005, with atrocious live scoring and the like (atptour.com is waaaaaaay better, would recommend), and outside of the last 4-6 days of the slams, you pretty much never hear of what's happening at a tennis tournament in legacy sports media, at all.
Yeah, if you're an ESPN subscriber, the major tournament coverage is basically everything you could want. Live coverage every day pretty much the entire run of play on either ESPN or ESPN2, plus you can watch basically every match on the streaming platform (French Open somewhat excepted - there you need to be an NBC/Peacock/Tennis Channel subscriber, but then the same coverage description applies).
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke
Interested to see if Sinner can be the one to solve the current Djokovic at a slam puzzle. He's been building toward it and just beat him twice at the end of last season, but those were in best of 3's. Looked like he'd get there soon when he lost in 5 at Wimbledon in '22, but he might still be scarred from losing a 2 sets to love lead there. Definitely on form, though - hasn't dropped a set in Melbourne, so tomorrow night could be must-see tennis.
Kinda feel bad for Rublev, who Sinner took out last night. He's now 0 for 10 in major quarterfinals. He's just somehow not built to get past the very top guys in the game in best of 5 set matches, but has still managed to give himself double digit opportunities, which is 40% of the slams he's entered. Might just be bad luck, too: his opponents in those 10 grand slam quarters have been Nadal, Medvedev (x3), Tsitsipas, Djokovic (x2), Sinner, Cilic, and Tiafoe. You'd think he'd have gotten an unseeded guy or some low seed who took out one of the favorites at some point, but he's been the underdog in 8 of the 10, with a 9th chance being against a red hot, sentimental favorite American at the U.S. Open. He probably rues losing to Cilic on clay as much as any match in his career. That sort of record is, I guess, a testament to a player's consistency and ability to get the most out of his game, but I'm sure he'd give up half of those quarterfinals appearances for one win.
Last edited by Mal; 01-23-2024 at 06:51 PM.
I meant analysis/reporting although promotion is lacking too.
My favorite player goes down: Carlos Alcaraz beaten by Alexander Zverev in four sets this morning in the quarterfinals.
This makes me sad. 😞
Right there with you, not happy that he lost. I'm not a big fan of DJoker (game is amazing, personality of an injured rattlesnake) so with tournaments like this I'm just all in on 'the field' and Alcaraz is about as talented as they come (without the rattlesnake issue).
On a more general note, I really prefer to watch the women play and I'm hoping Coco can continue her run!
Lol, “injured rattlesnake”. That about covers it in regard to Djokovic. I respect his game, his unshakable dedication to being the best, and his awe-inspiring nerves of steel on the court. But I don’t especially enjoy his style of play, his on-court demeanor, or what I know of him off the court. I ALWAYS root against him no matter who he’s playing. If the Devil were actually real and he was playing Djokovic I would still be rooting against Novak.
All eyes are now on the young Italian, Jannik Sinner. He absolutely has the game to beat Djokovic (and everyone else, for that matter). But can he come through in the pressure of the moment on Djokovic’s favorite court surface? I seriously doubt it. But I’ve been wrong once or twice before.
And I too enjoy watching the women play. I don’t necessarily prefer them over the men, but I can get just as into a women’s match as I can a men’s match. The women don’t hit nearly as hard, so they are able to construct points in a bit more thoughtful manner. They play closer to the way I play — though they would still beat me soundly; I’m not THAT delusional.
But the top men play a game to which I cannot relate. It looks like a high-tech video game out there. They are simply on another level entirely. It’s so fast and so powerful that it’s honestly kind of scary. If you’ve recently been on or near court level for a matchup of worldwide top 100 men you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Mostly under the radar, but I think it's very cool -- on the women's side, Dayana Yastremska, a qualifier from Ukraine, has made the semifinals. I'll be pulling for her.
That first paragraph is spot on WRT to Djoker.
Ironically what you like so much about the men is what I don't like as much. So many of the players are big tall guys that pound the ball. Truth is I should be a big DJoker fan considering how that makes for boring tennis for me sometimes. Note, the speed is incredibly impressive, and other worldly. The fact that they can even return those serves is amazing.
I missed her Quarterfinals match vs Noskova. Watched her play vs Azarenka and loved her post match interview. With what's going on in her country and with her wonderful, refreshing personality, I'm also pulling for her.
Actually, I don’t especially enjoy watching the men play modern-day power tennis. I’m amazed and awed by it, but it’s often not such a great watch. If it’s Federer or Alcaraz I enjoy it, but more because I appreciate their unbelievable level of skill and their feel for the game.
Honestly, though, I would prefer the men play with wood racquets or at most the racquet technology that was available in the early 80’s, and gut strings rather than today’s polyester strings (which allow for dramatically increased topspin). Also, I would prefer they play with the balls and on the court surfaces that were available back then. However, I would allow them to use the shoes and clothing of today. 🎾
Sabalenka with a huge effort against Coco to reach the finals. Well that was probably the de facto final.
My favorite major! Been some really great stuff again.
On the men's side, Djoker seems a bit more gettable than he usually does in Australia. Kind of think it will have to be Sinner though. Medvedev and Zverev have been really impressive in their toughness, but they've been on the court a lot. Zverev had been on the court 6 hours longer than Alcaraz. Then again, Zverev served so, so well and played a remarkable match knocking off Alcaraz. Medevdev could barely move in the fifth set of his quarter, but he picked his opportunity and got the one break he needed. He's been run ragged too though. Djoker usually wears anyone else out, so I fear the final, if its Djoker, might not be much to watch. Would be great to see Sinner get him. Excited to watch both semis. Should be some great stuff.
I wasn't surprised Gauff lost in the semis, either. Her quarter was one of the weirdest matches I've watched in a long time. Coco was awfully pedestrian, and by the end of the match had no confidence in her forehand at all. I think she would have lost to a lot of other opponents. Sabalenka has been really good, so Coco at less than 100% wasn't going to beat here, and her game just wasn't there. Sabalenka's in a really good place to win another major tomorrow night.
The Jannik Sinner v Novak Djokovic match just started. Sinner held serve in the opening game with both players moving really well and hitting impressive shots, particularly Sinner.
In the second game Sinner hit some beautiful shots and broke Djokovic’s serve. This could turn out to be a great match. Jannik is playing at a very high level right now, looking focused and intense, yet loose and comfortable at the same time. He might actually have a legit shot to win this.
Loooong way to go, though. But still, a great start for Sinner. This is encouraging.
Amazing comeback by the Octopus, and it's always nice to see Zverev lose, especially like that.