A. Zverev Looks to the Majors

Not many pictures of A. Zverev shirtless (I’m thankful for that). So here’s one with his brother, M. Zverev. Will his being the cover boy of this thread jinx him?

After winning the year-end ATP Championship, does Sascha of the non-existent ass have the form and mental game it takes to win confidently and consistently in the later rounds? Can he beat the oldsters on the four biggest stages of tennis?

News bulletin in case you hadn’t heard: Serena had a baby.

Damn. I forgot to link the picture of the shirtless Zverev brothers, A. and M.

My mum, who has been an Extreme FederLoon for the past decade, is apparently transferring her affections to Sascha following his performance at the ATP Finals. He needs to be afraid for next season. She's capable of anything.

In response to R585 on the other thread, it's true that it's just too widespread in Russia for Maria to get away with it. I remember Daria Kasatkina (who is only about 20) brushing it off, saying young child athletes in Russia take Meldonium all the time. I was so disappointed.

I recall Dinara Safina suddenly retiring too (though i'm not sure hers was quite as suspicious as Henin's), only shortly after making a few slam finals (in which her performance was largely tragic). She's best friends with Yelena Isinbaeva, the violently homophobic Olympic pole vaulter [possibly greatest female pole vaulter of all time] who fully endorsed state sponsored doping in Russia and harshly criticised Yulia Stepanova and others for whistleblowing.

I don't really think any of the Russian tennis players are immune to taking something that's not on the banned list, except for maybe a few of the older ones like Ekaterina Makarova.

R3 Kasatkina saying taking Meldonium in Russia was like taking Aspirin was not her saying doping was OK. It was her saying the medication was very widely available and not seen as a PED.

Safina had major back injuries.

R591: But having a satellite boyfriend/girlfriend at 21 is not an option, at least for someone with a brain. And no youg guy/girl with some inteligence wants to be some kind of payed scort for a player (unless they are all for a lush life)

One thing is a wife or a longtime girlfriend travel with a player for a while and other thing do that at the beginning of a relationship.

People get suspicious of Nadal for his relationship, but i think that's way healthier, with room for each other's lives than being stuck like glue since teenagers

Vesnina gave birth to her baby ... in Miami. I guess for citizenship reasons.

This thread needs to be redone with a proper OP. Tsk tsk.

I SO want Nadal to win the AO.

I hate the yuppie generation so much, most dlers are terrible creatures.

Re. [R10], like the mentions of the Maldives and Dubai in the previous thread, why would JMG want to holiday with his BF in Jamaica???

They’re risk takers, R12! That’s what JMG was known for in his career (oh and yachting with Elton John and other assorted gays).

JMG still works in tennis doesn't he? Is that why he's still not come out publicly?

JMG was coaching head case Jared Donaldson whose family is ultra conservative.

Love pics of JMG and Malek. You can feel the love. Wish they'd post one of them kissing to seal the deal.

I think JMG's posted enough pics of him and his boyfriend for it to be clear enough to anyone with eyes. The comments have rainbows in them all over the place.

In comparison, the Zverev/Melo comments seem to be tongue-in-cheek (like Jamie Murray's 'Love is in the air'). If they were known to be a couple in insider circles, someone like Murray wouldn't post something like as it's so outing. While I'd love for a couple as high profile as Zverev and Melo to be a thing, I'm starting to think they're just close friends.

Thank Christ JMG lost his shirt.

R16 That's what I tend to think (re: Zverev-Melo), the comments are more like the ones you make when you want to tease two friends about the possibility of them being a couple when they are actually not. Though maybe the insider circles don't know they're a couple ;)

Someone in the previous thread mentioned "Melo's queeniness", what do you mean by that?

He’s a good kid and hard worker. But his game is thump thump from the baseline, not so adept at the net.. one note samba. He’ll improve but I don’t see talent on the level of Fed et al over time. Fed, Nadal and Nole May be the best three ever-

Though I have trouble understanding how a 21 year old would call a 35 year old his best friend unless they were lovers or had some kind of mentor relationship, which would have been documented if that were the case.

It's really confusing.

The closest to a new Fed would be Tsisipas with his all around game. A Zverev does seem a bit one dimensional. Djoker was sick with a cold last week and once A Zverev outlasted him in those long base line rallies in he first set, Djoker became too winded to compete.

R20 Sascha's brother is 10 years older, so he's used to be around older people; and Melo seems to be an immature 35 year old. Even so, at 35, a person has built some kind of life, and usually wouldn't have the time and inclination to spend it with a 21 year old. It's the amount of time that they spend together that has caused the speculation. They're together virtually all the time: playing the same tournaments; practicing together; Melo attending most of Sascha's matches, vacationing together.

Is Melo the top? I am guessing he would be even though Sacha is probably more hung.

R20, when I was 21 my best friend was 33. I have a lot of good friends older than me- always have. When I was a teen (and a ranked tennis player) I became friends with a lot of older adults who I played with- in fact I think my most important emotional confidence developed then as I got to befriend adults through tennis. And now that I am older I have several good friends who are 10- 30 years younger than I am.

R25, were you friends with Bill Tilden?

R16: Even themselves tease each other that way.

Frankly i don't think there's nothing but friendship there, and probably they are not gay either. That kind of behaviour generate gay rumours, of course some people (and we have the OD guys as example) like to tease fans, but then they react bad when the rumours stay.

Frankly, i don't think tennis enviroment is that homophobic at all. We have several players who are pro gay rights even from countries that are not gay friendly at all. It's an individual sport. I understand that for a young player could be a distraction, but i highly doubt it would be remotely as risky as it would be for a soccer player. In fact, if he player coming out is reasonably handsome and with potential the sponsors will love him for sure

R566 from the previous thread

That's rich. You're calling me insane when you're the one claiming to know the future ("she clearly would have" won the 2008 FO) and exactly what's going on in other people's minds! No, Henin most likely would not have won the 2008 FO because she WASN'T EVEN MOTIVATED ENOUGH TO PLAY HER FAVORITE TOURNAMENT, hence, the retirement decision. I don't find that hard to believe at all. She retired on top, as the #1 and defending FO champion, just like you said she should have. It makes more sense than the failed drug test cover up you're suggesting. Just because she removed herself from the rankings didn't mean that she couldn't be exposed. Why wasn't it brought up when she returned to the tour? Why has no one leaked it now? There's no reason to protect her. You're not making any sort of compelling argument...all speculation.

And you've seriously got to learn to use Google. From Wiki: "Henin mentioned seeing Roger Federer finally complete the grand slam of titles by winning the French Open in 2009 had been an inspiration,[52] as had Kim Clijsters' return to the tour and her victory at the US Open.[53]" (you can go to wiki for the links to those citations). She realized she wanted to win Wimbledon and complete the career slam, so she came out of retirement. Again, not hard to believe.

To counter some of your other points: Henin was 63-4 in 2007 while she was already 16-4 in 2008 (poor in comparison, with bad losses against Sharapova and Serena and first-ever losses against Schiavone and Safina) The two tourneys she won were both lower level (tier 2) She would've stayed #1 even if she hadn't played for months, so that said nothing about her 2008 level of play She withdrew from the Italian Open citing fatigue after only 20 matches so far that year and then retired

It's still my contention that she was basically burnt out and playing uninspired tennis -- her superior talent was enough to get her past most opponents even while unmotivated.

Also, YOU mentioned Henin cheating Serena in at least two of your posts (439/550). It's a bit of a trigger for me, and Henin detractors are usually Serena apologists. So I responded and got a few jabs in. Big deal! This is EXACTLY the outlet for that -- a tennis thread. What are you suggesting I do? Club a baby seal?

^^^^^^^^ That counterpoint section didn't break up as expected...you'll figure it out.

[quote] What are you suggesting I do? Club a baby seal?

A seal had a baby?

R29 that’s Richard Gasquet?

R29 What is the point of this? It's just a man feeding another man at a dinner. It's hardly bareback creampie action.

[R31] It looks like Richard Gasquet fooling around orally with Benoit Paire.

If bareback creampie action is the level of proof required to show a tennis player is gay or not, we might be waiting for a long-ass time :P

R34 Ha! Of course, but I still need more than a man feeding another man with a fork at dinner. I don't think there's a man in the Western world who's not done the same, even as a joke.

The SM presence and interaction between Sascha and Olya reminds me a lot of his interactions with Melo online. Sometimes I think Sascha is deliberately teasing the fans with the possibilities. Not very nice of him , haha.

R32 we all know that feeding another man is a gateway to more dangerous homosexual activities such as barebacking and rimjobs.

R27 Well of course she said that.... was she going to come out and say "I came back to the anti doping program exactly 12 months after removing myself from the rankings and suddenly retiring from the sport a week before my favourite and biggest event because I received a silent ban for doping"??? I'm sorry but I don't buy that at all. Just like I don't buy several other lies she's told over the years (that Clijster's dad was mean to her, that Pierre Yves Hardenne is heterosexual, that she had a debilitating illness and had to retire without any warning signs from the AO final when she was getting clobbered by Mauresmo, but happily sat on the court through the trophy ceremony and never even requested a bathroom break between sets).

In her press conference she was saying she would never return, never go back on that decision, that she was done with tennis and going to move on to a different chapter in her life. All of a sudden a year passes and she thinks 'hey, maybe I can win Wimbledon!!!' Like I said, she had already re-entered the doping program before Clijsters started winning matches. She didn't come back because of some friendly competitive drive lol. She had already put in her paperwork. I wouldn't be surprised if she had it ready to go as soon as she removed her name from the rankings, knowing she'd come back.

Also what? There was plenty reason to protect her. She had just won most of the last few slams, was the #1 player in the world. Even if it came out now it would be a huge blow to those events, to the tour, to the people in charge who had been covering it up (if they were). It's not even just about her as a player, tennis has a reputation as a clean sport and i'm sure they'd rather not drag it through the mud if the player is willing to sit out. Like the other examples I mentioned, why did they do nothing about the anabolic steroid usage of Wayne Odesnik? He didn't mean anything to the tour.... and re: form, Sharapova had been playing pretty poorly compared to her standards too when she was exposed for her Meldonium usage.

I never said I had concrete proof at all. I don't have a cup of Henin's urine from the mid 00s. But the timing and nature of her retirement (and perhaps even more so her return) are suspicious, silent bans are known to happen, and the tennis media and other players have cast suspicions over her. Something in the water ain't clean. The doping allegations were only brought up by me in a larger conversation about her long history of poor sportsmanship. I never claimed to have WADA's hidden and long-since-destroyed tests kits lol.

Did Henin ever provide evidence that Haley Joel Osment and her are not the same person?

R38 Doping accusations are thrown at every player who takes time out for whatever reason. Name a single decent player who's taken time out who's not had doping allegations thrown at them.

Do you suspect every other player on the tour with the same kind of fury you point toward Henin? Do you find the outed retroactive TUEs Serena and Venus applied for as suspicious? Nadal? I'm not saying you're wrong or right as I have as much proof as you do, but I'm interested to see if you apply your same logic to other players.

[quote] saying young child athletes in Russia take Meldonium all the time.

[quote] Kasatkina saying taking Meldonium in Russia was like taking Aspirin

Next time I see him, I will personally discuss with President Putin the epidemic of heart conditions in Russia, especially among children.

R40 Yes, I do apply that to other players. Did you somehow miss that I brought up several players (like Odesnik, Bethanie Mattek Sands, Petr Korda, Nadal, Sharapova, Cilic) in my posts with examples? Even posted the article speculating about Federer. Your obsession with Serena is coming out again.....

R42 I think you might have me confused with another poster. I'm not obsessed with Serena at all.

You do seem to be obsessed with doping however.

Barebacking in the desert.

R44 Oh, there's someone who is replying to every Henin post with 'BUT SERENA....', very 'But Hilary!'. Apologies if that wasn't you.

And I posted more about the early 2000s WTA era in the last thread (Capriati etc.), and certainly much more about both the WTA and ATP finals, than the doping allegations. Nobody responded about Nicolas Mahut but this Henin conversation has kept going, so i'm only responding. There are no more matches for the rest of the year though, and I think it's an interesting topic.

R47 It IS an interesting topic and I'm glad we're having it. I've tried having this conversation on tennis forum before but the rival Serena and Henin gangs made it unbearable.

I'm a Henin fan but I respect your opinions. I don't agree with a lot of them which is why I keep bringing up the burden of proof. I agree Henin's actions re her retirement were odd, weirdly timed and seem to support the 'silent ban' but I think there just isn't enough evidence to 'prove' a silent ban either.

I suppose we could all go on arguing about this until the day someone comes out and officially says she was doping or not. Sorry for being a reasonable drip y'all.

Yes R48, I guess we'll never really know. You just have to believe what you believe. For me it's enough, I can kind of understand why it isn't for other people. But there's so rarely proof in these situations anyway. They all get away with a lot. In no sport is it more apparent than womens track (especially 200m and 400m sprint). Marita Koch put in years of steroid abuse before winning gold, maybe 5x as much proof of its use than in the case of Flo Jo who herself was so unlikely to be clean. They don't even bother stripping the grand slams, world records, and Olympic medals or whatever anyway. You can get away with it.

As more WTA money moves to China (in those empty smog filled stadiums lol, the country STILL isn't interested in tennis even after Li Na), and their players eventually start rising through the ranks, i'm sure it will only become even more widespread. Russia has a major problem with doping and Maria Sharapova is just one example of that, but i'm sure it's happening elsewhere too. There were even rumours about Martina Navratilova back in the day (but she always had such a tall and masculine build which attracts more attention to it, and was the first female player to really weight train).

Hopefully one day someone does an 'Icarus' style documentary specifically on tennis. The excuses particularly are bad... Errani accidentally taking steroids from her mama's cancer-medication-infused-tortellini, Sesil Karatancheva lying and saying she was pregnant at 17 and needed the drugs medically which they found she never actually was, Richard Gasquet's 'cocaine kiss' in the club. And i'm sure a LOT of retired or semi retired players would relish the opportunity to sit before a camera and accuse their fellow players lol. Jankovic and Hingis in particular would be very keen i'm sure.

R50 The cocaine bans are the most ridiculous thing to ever happen to tennis. As if anyone was going to snort a couple of lines before a match in order to get their mind into a fit state to concentrate on the game in hand. The only thing I can see it being good for is not letting an argument with the umpire go.

Not to beat a dead horse, but doping proof could come out about any major player, in any sport, and I would not be surprised. It actually surprises me more that people ARE surprised when something comes out. It's like nobody has been paying attention in the last 40 years to professional sports.

R52 It really just comes down to belief. I believe the majority of sportspeople go by the rules. I believe WADA etc are doing a good job. I'm embarrassed just typing this but I believe these things.

I'm a huge pessimist in every other part of my life so I've no idea where this comes from.

[quote] The only thing I can see it being good for is not letting an argument with the umpire go.

Thief!

R54 OMG SERENA WAS HIGH ON COKE

I admire your optimism R53! I'm not necessarily saying that all athletes cheat (although I do think most push the envelope as far as they can), just that it wouldn't surprise me if another Sharapova is suspended, no matter who it is. When there were a bunch of swimmers and track stars who were claiming asthma - and therefore presumably had TUEs - I remember thinking that world-class athletes had to be the unhealthiest people around. I feel like I got my cynicism honestly.

If anyone needs a cup of Justine's urine, please let me know.

[quote]Name a single decent player who's taken time out who's not had doping allegations thrown at them.

Sara Errani, obviously.

[quote]I remember thinking that world-class athletes had to be the unhealthiest people around. I feel like I got my cynicism honestly.

Not only, but these sickly athletes sometimes have “ailments” (including very serious autoimmune diseases) that would have most anyone in bed for weeks on end—if not in a wheelchair—and yet here they are, having some of the best results in their 24-year career.

I always thought he was a douchebag.

R60 he was always such a piece of shit. And a terrible interviewer, I don't know how him and Mardy Fish got commentary jobs other than them being American. His biggest claim to fame is Venus literally carrying him on her back to two mixed doubles slams. I remember the two of them playing Graf and McEnroe at 1999 Wimbledon in the QF (they'd already won the French and Australian and looked good for a 'boxed set') and Venus was acing both of them, hitting winners off the McEnroe serve, diving for volleys at the net, and then an easy Graf slice backhand would come to Justin and he would just pound it straight into the net lol. I would have been pissed.

Venus got knocked out by Graf that Wimbledon in singles too (ouch) in a tough 3 set QF fight. And Justin Gimelstob's career was effectively over. That was the bizarre year where Alexandra Stevenson became the first woman to win 8 consecutive matches at Wimbledon (beating another qualifier, Jelena Dokic, to get that SF spot). Dokic herself knocked out Hingis (then #1) who hadn't lost before a semifinal in a slam in 3 years, in the opening round no less! One of the biggest upsets ever. Teenage Mirjana Lucic (who seems to be retired now?) also made the semi final, beating Seles on the way after Seles had won her prior match 6-0 6-0. She wouldn't make another slam semi until 18 years later.

On the mens side, Pete Sampras (then #1) played arguably his best tennis ever in the final against Agassi and won yet another Wimbledon title. Cruelly, the next day Agassi was crowned the new world #1 and Sampras bumped down to #2, because with the added final points and his French Open win Agassi now had enough to overtake him. That Wimbledon was filled with so much drama and all the teen queens coming out to play. One of the more entertaining and memorable slams.

R60, my gimel stobbed when I read that.

R60 That is disturbing stuff.

omfg! I mean I always hated Gimelstob but never realized he was so deranged! So the domestic abuse claim by his wife has to be true. I wonder if The Tennins Channel will fire him now. This is crazy

R60: That's because he always was in fact a douchebag, and an homophobic one

Via Melo's IG story. Yes, that's Sascha, with the dumb emoji covering his face.

It appears both he and Melo have gfs now. This should quash those rumours, right? I'm trying really hard not to be too cynical.

Wow, they are really syncronize, getting gf at the same time. I thought videogames were consuming all their time. But hey, i suppose now the Sascha got the spotlight he needs soemone by his side to cheer him on the tournaments

Actually the woman next to Marcelo seems to be this Brazilian personal trainer it looks like they met there. It's possible Marcelo knows from before her but he doesn't follow her on Instagram. She did a lot of activities with them though. It's all a bit weird honestly if they really both have girlfriends all of a sudden... And Sascha was clearly lying before then, based on the way things are unfolding on this holiday. I feel like my intelligence is being insulted...

and will Isner fire Gimelstob too? I wouldn't want my coach to be someone who gets arrested for violence and who has a domestic abuse claim against him

I know Isner is a MAGA dumbass but hopefully he has some decency

R68 "I feel like my intelligence is being insulted..." I feel exactly the same way.

Well, celebrities do that all the time and most people bite it (even i think it worked better in the past than now).

To be fair, for a gay athlete (and i'm not talking about Sascha, i don't know him enough to guess anything) is quite difficult even being on the glass closet. Lately being single is enough to fuel rumours (and for a tennis player being single would be the most natural thing given they are constantly traveling which is not the best way to have a serious relationship) and being questioned

Random question: Does anyone feel like Novak often looks sad in spite of the great few months he has had? I can't quite explain it... Maybe it's more world-weariness than sadness.

Back to Sascha: I could actually "understand" bearding in his situation (if he is in fact gay) but this gf introduction has been handled rather amateurishly, regardless of whether it's a real or fake relationship.

The problem is that he was on Shawn Mendes mood denying dating her, the she is only my friend make the rest pointless.

Suddenly being single is like a disease. El Pais article about Marc Márquez fifth championship in Moto GP and one of the first things on the article is that he is single (something mentioned almost everytime lately). Someone more insecure would find a model, take a few pics and let the press speculate.

Nobody is going to ask Sascha if he is gay, sports journalist don't do that and in the long run a fake relationship (even if he is not gay) could make way more damage than staying single

R74, that looks good on him. He now looks less like Janice from the Muppets.

He's not the best looking dude though. Felix is much prettier.

So the personal trainer has joined them for the Maldives leg of the trip. Well then, there goes any interest I had in keeping track of Sascha/Marcelo there. What a farce.

I don't think Shapo's looks are the problem but his personality. But he looks better now for sure (it's difficult to look good with his former haircut)

Shopbottom also seems as dumb as a dryer sheet.

R79: That test about canadian/american celebrities was terrible for him. All the rest did way better, and he failed on some of the most known canadians. Maybe it's true that he would prefer to be russian.

I doubt he'll do well in a general culture test either.

And i think he'll be one of those child prodigies that peak too soon. He has a beautiful and interesting game but he has a good bunch of weakness (starting with his serve) that will cost him a lot of painful defeats in the future if he is not able to correct them

Sasha loves to troll DL

No one wants to know what happened after this conversation right @marcelomelo83 ?😜

R81 He really seems to enjoy the innuendo. Strange kid; he likes teasing the fans. There's something hostile about it, imo. Or maybe he gets off on the power of manipulating the fans' emotions.; amounts to the same thing.

On the other hand, Marcelo is now saying those who think there is more to them than friendship have an active imagination...to paraphrase. So both are going about this in the wrong way but from different angles. Disappointing.

Melo/sasha spent together

R82: Teasing the fans and make fun is perfectly ok if you are able to deal with it. Louis Tomlison loved to grab his fellows on OD asses and make jokes but when the gay rumours spreaded he became all offended. And Sascha has enough gay rumours around him, and they don't come from fans

If you don't like the heat don't get close to the fire

Melo has said in the comments on that Instagram photo that they're "just good friends and that's it", so at least one of them has addressed the question publicly now.

R88 But hasn't Melo done that before ( on some of his own IG posts during the past year)? Lightheartedly deflecting, denying, or gently poking fun at the rumors. It's a little too late to do damage control, imo. The past couple of days, I feel a corner has been turned. I'm not sure if Sascha"s life can ever be the same again. There were always some dumb or bullying comments left on his IG posts, but yesterday was different, almost every comment had something to do with his sexuality. The gossip and speculation have reached a fever pitch. It's really unsettling; and now with the attention-seeking Olya thrown into the mix, it doesn't look like it's going to die down any time soon.

R89 Yes but a lot of the speculation/excitement has been that Zverev and Melo are basically coming out by posting these photos. That isn't the case if Melo is denying they're a couple at the same time.

R89 I see your point; but the denials seem to be falling on deaf ears ( understatement). Unless they have conflicting desires: one wants to come out, the other doesn't. Or it's a big joke that has gotten really out of hand. As a fan, I hate the thought of this just dragging on and on...it has become a spectacle. I don't know where this will all lead. I'll be glad when the holiday is over, and Olya hopefully goes home. Those personal, unguarded photos that she posted of Sascha will be on the internet forever ( did we really need that shot of them in the bathroom together)! Forever. Those are the implications that Sascha should be considering.

R91 Mistake. Post 91 is in response to post 90

R91 What bathroom photo? Didn't see any on her ig.

R94 It was in her story. It's probably still on twitter, no doubt.

R96 That's the one! Immortalized forever on the internet.

Is that Olya, the one who Zverev said was a family friend and not his girlfriend? The one who's also said to be a personal trainer? She's said she's not dating him because he's an asshole?

Someone explain for this simpleton. TIA!

R99 Olya is Zverev's family friend; real or fake gf, or however you want to label her.

The personal trainer is the woman accompanying Melo on this holiday.

The rest is all very strange and baffling. I'm warning you: don't get in too deep,lol. I've regretted that I did.

R100 haha, yes I'm finding the same. The more I've tried to find out what's going on the more I'm confused by the whole thing. I've tried just settling with the idea they're both straight and just close friends but it seems to just make everything even more bewildering. I don't quite buy the idea they're a couple either, but there seems to be enough 'evidence' for that to be the case. I've become one of those people I used to sneer at!

R101 Haha, me too. I never thought I'd have this much interest in anyone's personal life; I'm embarrassed. I don't know if the boy is making a fool of himself, or making fools of us. Bewildering!

Some Jack Sock news since I know he has a lot of fans here ;)

I think Zverev is going to realize the mistake of thinking he can joke and tease on internet like he could do on real life the hard way.

A lot of straight guys joke with other fellows, specially the ones who are close to each other, but Sascha is famous (now more than ever), he is supposedly the heir of the throne (i have serioius doubts about that) and joking and teasing is a bit like gaybaiting on tv shows, people find it funny till they start to find it annoying.

I get that young players have it difficult right now, they are expected to have twitter and instagram, and share their lives with fans. And they are very young (and most of them are very dumb too) so the probabilities of having and internet controversy every five minutes is high.

I still think the worse thing Zverev could do (no matter if he is gay or straight) is bearding. That has all the number to explode in his face. And of course he better be ready to deal with gay rumours. Most athletes deal with gay rumours spreading homophobia, and that could work 10 years ago, but not anymore

R104 Great post. I feel for the kid. I feel as if I'm watching him self-destruct before my very eyes. I hope he can right things before there's too much damage.

The whole thing just doesn't make sense though. If his "best friend" is 15 years older than him why make it even weirder by pretending they're a gay couple when they're not? Why continue the silly game to the point Melo has to explicitly state they're just friends?

If it was all a joke all along it's an odd joke to make and a tone deaf one at that. If it wasn't a joke and they did have a relationship, it's an odd thing to tease the public with if they're just going to go on to deny it.

I suppose if it was all attention-seeking then they've got what they wanted. No-one's talking about any of the players as much as we are talking about Zverev/Melo.

I know I will get flak for this but: I really enjoyed the numerous topics discussed in the first half of this thread, but the latter half has bored me to tears with the same endless speculation about who Zverev is or is not fucking.

R108 It's the off season and there's no tennis to talk about apart from the boring Davis Cup. You could excuse us talking about tennis player instagrams and the games they seem to be playing on there. A top five player suggesting to the world he's in a relationship with another high profile player is worthy of discussion.

Though we have also said we're not proud of ourselves for discussing such a basic subject so, like, lighten up maybe?

lol Katie Boulter is a player from the UK trying to get to the WTA level consistently. She's young and around #100 now...so even someone as ugly and fat as Sock can hook up with multiple girls at the same time. I find him physically repulsive yuck

[quote] Some Jack Sock news since I know he has a lot of fans here ;)

He has fans here?

[quote] . I find him physically repulsive yuck

What specifically about Sock do you find physically repulsive (not that I disagree)?

R114 his face and body. There's really nothing about him that I think is attractive. Doughy body, beaver face...

He looks like the late, beloved tennis sage Bud Collins in the face. Gnome like. That’s not a flattering comparison.

They did a cartoon version of The Bradys on CBS Kids Morning and it just didn't work.

and also I think Sock looks like his breath stinks and that he probably has B.O.

Jack Sock's biggest problems: 1) over weight 2) huge horse teeth 3) he can't breath through his nose; he's a mouth breather

[quote] and most of them are very dumb too

Exhibit A on the left.

Take load of this lovely couple

Sock's neckbeard thing is also really ugly to me. But not as much as his personality.

Re: The Melo/Zverev stuff, I think a whooole lot of tennis gays just got themselves a bit overexcited about them potentially being a couple, when really it was just typical 'boys being boys' (aka lame gay jokes). The poster who said he's learning that he can't get away with the same amount of gaybaiting on the internet as in real life is correct. Remember when Tyler Posey said 'i'm gay, i'm so totally gay' or something on his snapchat, and millions of gay fans got excited, articles were written etc. He had to make an statement that he was 'just messin' around!!' and punctured that balloon. This feels like the same situation.

And yes, i'm glad Shapovalov cut the Navratilova Wimbledon '86 hair.

Honestly, while it would be cool if he's gay, I don't find it offensive if he's not. Peripherally, he's signalling that there's nothing wrong with being perceived as gay, and further that there's nothing wrong with being gay. Tennis can use that. I wouldn't be surprised if one or the other but not both were gay, or if a gay player might come out to him as 'friendly'.

[quote]Some Jack Sock news since I know he has a lot of fans here ;)

R103, could you translate that series of tweets into English for me? And who are these people, and why didn’t they get any schooling???

As for the question upthread about why some people find Sock repulsive, it’s all to do with the beaver mouth. It looks like he’s wearing a knock-off pair of dentures, or they’ve got his caps all wrong. Whatever it is, like somebody else said, he certainly looks as if his breath is rank. I don’t know whether he’s cut or not, but if he isn’t then he’s probably got a cottage cheese industry going on down there. And you just know he he only cursorily wipes after a shit.

Croatia leads 2-1 in Davis Cup final

today Cilic faces Pouille. And if needed Coric will take on Tsonga.

I would be surprised if France can win both of them today. I would put Croatia favorite in both matches

R125: That's not necessarily true. One thing is joking around and other the way he will react when the gay rumours will hit him (and they'll do). Reacting to gay rumours could be way more dangerous for his career than the gay rumours (who he fueled) themselves, specially on a player whose court behaviour didn't make him that popular between viewers

One can say a lot about Maluma, but he never reacted bad to all the gay rumours around him, but sports and music are not the same even in a sport that is more about gentleman than being all macho (curiously one of the most macho sports, rugby is clearly the sport team with more openly gay players, probably because there's a lot less money involved than in other pro sports)

And i don't found Sock repulsive at all. And frankly Katie Boulter should focus on her career instead of trashing her ex boyfriend. Maybe doing a little research before dating another tennnis player will help her in the future.

There was an interview with former basketball player Joe Arlaukas on the paper last week and he explained that most athletes are really insecure people, the odds are always against having success but when the success came they are usually very young and with the success came the girls, but they are still insecure so they need always validation what ends in patterns of constant cheating and messy llives

R127 I wish the Tsonga v Coric match was first. Cilic will absolutely throttle Pouille (unless the latter pulls out a miracle for the home crowd) and it'll probably be a no-contest. I know he's been injured and out for pretty much a whole year but J.W put up a great fight against Cilic and I think he could potentially take it to Borna.

But we'll see. Now that Croatia has two great singles players in Cilic/Coric, AND two amazing doubles players with Dodig and Pave, they're going to be very tough to beat at Davis Cup for the next few years.

Still it's nice that France were able to get the dubs win.

I just hope for a Croatia win. I can only watch DC matches with the sound off. The crowds are disgusting. And I have always liked Cilic and Borna is easy on the eyes.

I'm rooting for Croatia too, although i'd like it to go the distance and see Borna win it for his country. Plus i'm hot a huge fan of Cilic... aside from the doping thing mentioned upthread, his game simply bores me and he just has this morose attitude on court. And a propensity for choking. But he's almost 2 sets up so it'll be hard for Pouille to come back now.

It's true that Davis and Fed Cup matches make you realise how lucky we are that the regular tennis events haven't become that kind of a 'spectator sport' like soccer and football. The hooligans are truly out in full force. The worst crowd I ever saw in tennis was in this match in Israel where Anna Chakvetadze gave a whole lot of attitude right back to the crowd.

I think rooting for Croatia would be easier without the ultranationalist message. Their president is a cheering lady but that doesn't change the fact that her politics suck

Chakvetadze reaction is a classic. It's a pity her peak lasted that little, she had a nice game to watch. Davis Cup and fed cup are generally excuses for the crowds acting like jerks, and in south america is even worse. I still remember the final Argentina - Spain where the press was mocking spanish players the whole week and creating an hostile enviroment (like argentinians need that). The fact that Nadal didn't play made them the clear favourites but they end losing anyway

R126 I don't speak twitterese either but I gather from other comments I saw that Boulter is saying she dumped his cheating ass... And I was kidding about him having fans here (although a few people have mentioned liking his ass). Me, I dislike him because he's the kind of person who sucks up hard to top players while treating those he considers below him with contempt.

Victory cerimony

There are Croatian players I've never seen

[quote]Chakvetadze reaction is a classic.

It's "CHAKVEDATZE".

The Zverev/Melo Saga has finally made it to menstennisforum (Off Topic).

This doesn't sound like there's any behind-the-scenes knowledge of Melo-Zverev relationship.

R141 That tweet was dripping in faux naïveté. As if there's a gay tennis fan on the planet who's not heard the rumours about those two.

R139: To be fair it's difficult to know because shw was one of those players whose last name suddenly changed when she became profesional (like Olga Govortsova who was named Volha Havartsova all her junior career).

R140: They are really slow on tennisforum (the wta forum) are way faster for that kind of gossip. Anyway, i think Zverev better think what he is going to say when he is questioned, probably not a direct approach to the matter at least not from sports journalist but if Nadal was questioned (and he didn't have a nice reaction) i don't doubt sooner or later Zverev will face the same fate. Better be ready for a charm answer that doesn't say anything at all

Novak said that he would respect a player coming out, that would be a courageus move

Rafa is on holidays with his family. Xisca is nowhere to be seen (at least not in the pics)

Xisca has a job and she's a student. Stop implying this is a bearding relationship.

R147: Nobody implied that. They have a very particular relationship that goes beyond that fact that she is not his satellite (and never was). The truth is he spent a lot more holidays with friends than with his girlfriend, very Cristiano Ronaldo style (in the past, now he is a family guy). The truth is he is quite lucky in that department because that made explode gay rumours about Cristiano, that never happened with Rafa (at least not remotely at that level)

They have a very independent relationship and it seems to work for them

What the fuck is Xisca been studying all these years? She's been a "student" for the last decade and a half.

R149: I supposed she ended her studies long time ago. She must be working but she is very discreet so who knows

Closet case Kat Adams OUT as USTA Prez. The Serena Williams chief apologist was heralded for 'diversity' but she really was a junket queen who loved flying all over the world rep'ing the US and getting free dinners. Her behavior at the US Open awards ceremony was cringe worthy.

Jim Pugh's ex doubles partner Patrick Galbraith (who?) to be new USTA prez.

Welp, since it's so quiet here...

R153 lmao I'm glad he's got Murray's old trainer and is lifting weights because he has 1 of the most beanpoliest builds ever. He definitely needs to gain some muscle but to his credit he;s putting in the work.

I remember seeing on The Tennis Channel Isner's lame ass routine a year or so ago and he doesn't do deadlifts or anything that is difficult. He only does preventative work with very light weights and it shows as he's a very average build.

Why are we talking about Jack Sock? It's only Gramps, Nadal, and Nole that matter.

Jack Sock will go back to being a doubles specialist where he belongs.

R158: And Sascha, we care about Sascha at least till he goes all Shawn Mendes and rant about being perceived as gay and the pressure he feels for that

Has Sascha publicly commented on the rumours like Melo has?

If he is smart he will avoid the subject. He is not going to be questioned by sport journalists so there's no pressure

[quote] It's only Gramps, Nadal, and Nole that matter.

Pardon?

[quote] It's only Gramps, Nadal, and Nole that matter.

Pardon?

R161 No; but he's been showing off the (supposed) gf every chance he gets. He hasn't had to do too much, though; because she, the supposed gf, is definitely a self-promoter and attention seeker.

Shapo’s mother looks like Martina Navratilova had she been put through a pencil sharpener.

That Shapo he’s so dumb!

What i don't understand is how such irrelevant player who never was known for being likeable got so much power on the atp.

He had some homophobic and misoginist incidents in the past so that's not surprising

Was Gimelstob journeyman?

I think he was supposed to be a promising player when he was young, but he was never top 50 , never reached a 4th round on a GS and never won an individual torunament so yes, he was basically a journeyman (and not even one of the good ones).

I remember him being pressed with the possibility of a gay player on the circuit because the guys need to be relased and talk about girls and all those things, and of course he mentioned the showers. He is a first class jerk

[quote] r168: Julio Rivera, another player who was spectating, said: “They gather around the centre of the court and Gimelstob is like, ‘That’s a pretty haircut, nice outfit, did your boyfriend buy you that, faggot?’ Then towards the end of the match he came around the net and tried to grab Drew by the throat. He missed and gave him the elbow. It was scary, completely surreal. A melee broke loose, and he was neutralised.”

I hope this finishes Gimelstob as a TV commentator. I would be very happy if I never saw his sorry ass face again.

Not sure if this has been posted. Didn't read the whole thread.

He hit some guy 50 times? they counted? wow?!

Gimelstob has built his entire career around the wins he had with Venus where she carried his useless arse.

Didn't he talk about raping Kournikova during commentary once as well? Or wanting his friend to rape her? He really is the biggest piece of trash. They need to ask top ATP players about his views come January like they do with the players whenever Margaret Court does something repulsive. Why is he so untouchable? Venus needs to smack some sense into this piece of shit.

If he had this reputation why did Tennis Channel hire him? It’s not as if people tune in to watch for his scintillating commentary and good looks.

here are the details of Kournikova comments. The way he talks about women resembles Trump

Justin is/was a joke. Margaret Court at least won. Still hate her.

Let's get back to Gramps, Nadal, and Nole.

[quote]Let's get back to Gramps, Nadal, and Nole.

I have no hate for Murray, R181. He can't beat my beloved Nadal. But Stan has won as many Slams.

[quote] Let's get back to Gramps, Nadal, and Nole.

Again pardon.

Gimelblob had a chip on his shoulder because he was a great college player but it never came close to translating on the pro circuit. I never knew he was this aggressive and offensive during and before matches-clearly he was trying to give himself an edge by intimidating opponents. I was disappointed to read Navratilova's tweet in the thread acting like it wasn't a big deal but maybe that was before she read all the details

Is Gimelstob still working with Isner?

Gimelstob got drunk at an ATP function in Shanghai in 2007 or 2008 back when the ATP finals were held there and had to be ushered out of the room after going off on a loud racist rant and embarrassing ATP officials. Can't believe the players have kept him as their board rep for so long.

The Players Council which elect the Board representatives is composed by

Djokovic

Anderon

Isner

Querrey

Pospisil

Haase

Jamie Murray

Soares

Lu

Travaglia

Daniel Vallverdu representing the coaches

Colin Dowdeswell representing the former players

Oh wow just read the full article now...so those incidents were in the last 2 years! Table tennis and at a restaurant, not during his tennis career. What idiot is still saying the f word in 2017? The most disturbing of course is the domestic abuse and harassment of his now ex-wife.

How can the Tennis Channel and Isner still employ this piece of shit?

Well Isner's employing him is no surprise. I do wonder about the Tennis Channel though.

He's LA based and Tennis Channel is based in LA. Plus there were few bigger self-promoters in tennis than Gimelstob.

Gimelstob has always been an asshole. This is absolutely no surprise.

Is this where we discuss 2019 Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-Off?

It's a little to soon to discuss that.

December is always a boring month

December is the worst month for a tennis fan, but I guess Christmas is great.

Do we know who's playing the WC playoff yet? Is Sock?

The final for the Asia Pacific WC playoff is Zhe Li vs Zhang Ze

oh wow I see Peng has been allowed back to play. SHe's in the women's playoff final

Sock and Whitney Osuigwe are the winners of US wild card challenge. Bercy points counted towards the WC Challenge and Sock took the lead because of these points,.

lmao so Sock didn't have to go out of his way really...pathetic. I hope he draws Djokovic in the first round

The events were 1 among ATP Paris, $75K Canberra, $75K Charlottesville, $75K+H Shenzhen

1 among €106K+H Bratislava, €85K+H Mouilleron-le-Captif, Knoxville

1 among $150K+H Bangalore, $150K+H Houston, $75K Champaign and $50K+H Kobe

Sock used the 180 points from Paris

Opelka was second with 80 points from Knoxville and 80 from Champaign–Urbana

Does Sock have a doubles partner since the Bryans are back together? With how bad he is in singles and no one to play doubles with, how is he going to pay his monthly rent?

I will be shocked if Peng loses the WC. She looked surprisingly fearsome in her recent ITF back. I will DIE if she draws Allyson Van Uytvanck in R1.

I realize some probably here have already lost interest in the whole Sascha and Melo saga; but their holiday in the Maldives has ended. What's more newsworthy is the behavior of Sascha and the assumed gf. She's been posting personal, intimate photos of Sascha; and now there is a video on Twitter ( taken from her friend's IG story) of them in bed together. They're dressed and nothing sexual is going on; but it still feels so weird to see this personal video of him. In fact, it feels plain awful; I feel his personal life is coming off the rails, and possibly his career, if this continues. Even if a person weren't a fan of his, I'd think they'd have to admit he usually came across as someone who possessed common sense and intelligence; which is why this is surprising and sad. I don't understand the inaction ( I assume) of his parents and team. I'm sure his luxury sponsors aren't too thrilled ( although that should be a secondary concern).

R202 None of it makes sense. I was ready to go with the whole 'Zverev and Melo are a couple' thing until Melo explicitly denied it and said they're just good friends. This girl posting pics of herself and Zverev all over the internet would be fine if Zverev hadn't explicitly said he's still single. It's like no-one has made their mind up which angle they're going to go with so are going with everything they can think of. It's an absolute mess.

Zverev isn't doing himself any favours right now in the publicity department. He's being talked about for all the wrong reasons.

R202 It's a huge mess. I did feel deeply uncomfortable seeing those very personal shots of Sascha; but as you said, their relationship is still publicly undefined. For instance, I've seen pics Fognini posted of him and his wife in bed. It didn't bother me. I understand the context. But boy, I wish I could unsee those pics of Sascha; and the bed video, especially.

post 204 replying to 203, sorry

[quote] ve seen pics Fognini posted of him and his wife in bed"

I have a name. And I am more important than him

R206 Haha Sorry, Flavia. Hey, you won a Grand Slam; you certainly do deserve to have your name mentioned.

[quote] Hey, you won a Grand Slam; you certainly do deserve to have your name mentioned.

Automatic Hall of Fame entry as well.

The Pennetta-Vinci in final in what should have been the Serena's Grand Slam tournament is still a remarkable WTF moment

Fabio looks fab in the new Armani underwear campaign.

He looks even better out of the underwear...

Zverev doesn't seem to be any less of a self-aggrandizing asshole than he's ever been, if this IG post of his is indicative.

R211, Rafa totally did that on purpose because he wanted to see Fabio's peen

Sassha is again trollinng DL

I suppose Sascha prefer being perceived as exhibitionist than gay.

Having an attention whore (girlfriend or not) on your entourage is never a good idea. It's only a question of time a pic generates controversy.

And even if she were his girlfriend, bed pics when they are just starting a relationship is a big no

So immature, both of them. Therefore seemingly a match made in heaven.

I don't know, He is playing with fire and he'll end burning.

There are some players that can do and say anything and people don't get upset, he is not one of them. People already dislike him for his on court behaviour acting like an idiot outside court won't help him either.

And by the way, he was the one who said they were just friends, the rest probably don't care about what they are at all

oh please, he's young, give him a break.

I'm past caring about Zverev's antics now. If he and Melo were just close friends they could have come out and said so. It would have been good to have two high profile players talk about a close platonic relationship. Instead they've teased us with the suggestion they're a couple, knowing full well what they were doing.

If Zverev were a child I'd perhaps think he was just being silly but he's in his twenties. I feel slightly sorry for Melo that he's had to deny the rumours that Zverev so actively took a part in creating.

R17 Awful. These two deserve each other.

R219: Yes, he is young and he is very childish too but we all know how this will end with him being so angry because people believe the rumours he created.

There's one thing that a like from Maluma (and it's not his music or his misoginistic lyrics) and it's the fact he never went full homophobe to deny the gay rumours. Gay rumours are tricky, if you are not careful you will come out as a full homophobe (with the gay rumours staying).

he is playing with fire because he is fueling the rumours, and people don't like to be fooled.

Last years operación triunfo (a talent show in Spain) was very very gay. Three constestants were gay, one of the girls was bisexual and all of them were very gay friendly. Two of the straight males had a tendency to show the same kind of behaviour than Sascha has with Melo. People didn't react well to that (and even knowing both of them are very gay friendly).

If Sascha is straight, he better keep the jokes private, there's no need to share everything with the world

R223 I didn't necessarily believe the rumors. I didn't know what to believe! ( I did lean on the side that maybe Zverev and Melo were a couple, though.)

I see a pattern emerging with Sascha: He taunted the fans with Melo; now he's doing the same thing with this young woman. He still refuses to be direct and call her his girlfriend ('apparently we're just friends"). He's had opportunities where he could've have confirmed the rumors; and even today's post could have been an opportunity to introduce her (properly) to the fans. Usually I don't care about a player's personal life; but he's the one that put it in the spotlight. His behavior has really turned me off. I know he's young; but the gaybaiting with Melo, and taunting the fans with this girl, has led me to believe that the guy has a mean streak. Or maybe he's as much of an attention whore as the gf.

I think you're all taking the Sacha / Melo thing WAY too personally. It's not the end of the world, and his reputation will be exactly the same as it always was. He's a young jock being silly on social media. It's literally not any deeper than that. Y'all got way too invested.

yeah this is ridiculous. I always had a feeling there wasn't much to the Zverev/Melo thing except a friendship between a teen and a very immature adult. Some of you just willed yourselves into believing they were a couple

I don't think anyone was wrong to think they were a couple. Take any of Zverev's peers and none of them hang out only with one other bloke and have a poodle. All of his social media has involved Melo until the past few weeks with this new girlfriend.

He's young and having fun. You were young once. You didn't care about what anyone thought. Did you forget already? Dementia? Get a brain scan folks.

That girl is not his GF because it's a casual relationship, he travels a lot and meet lots of girls. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a girl in every country just like other pro sports players.

I don't think his family cares as long as he keeps winning.

As expected Peng win the Australian Open wild card challenge

Zhe Li gets the male wild card. He is 32 year old and he has only played 6 ATP matches so far (all thanks to wild cards in Chinese tournaments)

So I take it that this is where we discuss 2019 Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-Off?

Sascha should adopt Prince's Controversy as his theme song; have that played every time he takes the court, haha.

Zverev will be 22 in April. His age doesn't excuse his assholery. Coric, Tiafoe, Tsitsipas, Fritz, Chung, De Minaur, and Auger-Aliassime are all around the same age or younger and haven't demonstrated anything close to Zverev's level of arrogance and wrongheadedness. They may occasionally break rackets or have minor meltdowns, but none has achieved the level of manipulation. petulance and narcissism that seems to have become Zverev's trademark.

I've been a big Zverev fan the past couple of years (but no more). I liked his game, I liked his swagger ( I don't mind a little arrogance). Lately, he has revealed himself to be a major creep (or maybe it just took longer for me to admit it). The level of manipulation is bewildering to me. I'm surprised he has any fans left due to the total disdain he has shown towards them. I hope he has lots of competition in 2019. Coric, Tsitsipas, and Khachanov already have wins against him. I hope they knock him off his throne.

His gay-baiting has lowered my opinion of him. I found it quite exciting to have two high profile tennis players to be in a relationship so openly and it not to be a problem. It’s a shame it all turned out to be some kind of joke to them. Zverev got a load of attention from gays because of his social media posts. We’ve been waiting a long time for an openly gay male player and he made fun of that.

He is not gay-baiting guys. He is just having fun at the rumors. Many straight guys find it extremely amusing if someone assumes their friendship with another straight guy as anything other than good friendship. So instead of clearing things they just double down or even triple down to troll those who do this.

I am sure Sasha knows rumors about him and Melo and he does have fun keeping these rumors alive.

I am one of few devoted Melo/Sashaa shippers on this thread. But you guys need to understand it's not real and he is just having fun and so do we[in shipping them and keeping the rumors alive. Even Misery sometimes does this

Melo and Sasha are a very close friend and he has become part of his family. A very close friendship between ATP players is not uncommon

WTA is another story.

Manipulation? Major creep? Total disdain for fans? Waiting a long time for an openly gay male player and he made fun of that?

Jesus. You queens sound SO hurt personally by this. HE POSTED A FEW BRO-ISH PHOTOS WITH HIS BUDDY!! That's genuinely all there is to it. Have any of you ever met a 22 year old jock before? There is no controversy to even speak of. Just a few overly sensitive eldergays who read too much into something and got caught in their feelings. This obsession is so embarrassing, step outside yourself for a second and think about how you sound.

Imo, Zverev has shown disdain for his fans, gay and straight. This isn't just about his gaybaiting; it's about his behavior in general. There are other young players to support and watch, and they don't engage in these antics. I don't need to invest anymore of my time watching his matches. It's as simple as that. For me, at least.

I follow tennis pretty closely, but with a heavy attention on the on court action, or off-court action related to play(coaching changes, injuries, suspensions, etc.). In other words, I don't pay much attention to their personal lives unless it might somehow tie into results. I've skimmed through the Zverev-Melo posts, so I'm aware of it, but not particularly interested or following closely.

If I weren't reading DL, I'd have no idea these events were even happening. It's not mentioned much on broadcasts, I've never read about it in the press or heard anything on podcasts. Is this one of those things that people who aren't on DL would be completely unaware of? Is it just DL and the rabid Twitter fan base making this into something?

He seems like kind of a douchebag regardless of this specific situation.

R239 I think it's a mixture. He's been criticised in the past for his on-court antic (arrogance, outbursts etc) but seems recently to have gained more attention for his instagram posts with Melo. People seemed to be waiting for him to come out about the relationship they seemed to be teasing us with.

It's probably true a lot of it was wishful thinking on behalf of us gays. It probably wasn't reported in the mainstream media or podcasts (I follow those too) because how would they report it? It would come across as either outing them or making too much of a few photos or videos. I'll admit I got caught up in believing there was something more to their relationship and do feel a bit 'baited'.

There's a difference between 'shipping' two friends together, and this delusional obsession. People feeling personally betrayed by a professional athlete they've never met who would never have considered them anyway? The fact that you guys even think he was targeting YOU with his posts at any point just shows how deranged you are. Nobody has 'jilted' you but yourselves.

None of you even cared about his bratty on court antics as long as your insane fantasy of him being an alpha gay tennis star in an open gay relationship was alive. And now he's gently put that to bed by his vacation simply being over, and he's back to being an asshole and a terrible person? The desperation is really sad.

As someone who thought there could be more to Sascha and Marcelo than a close friendship, I have no problem accepting that that is not the case.

It is actually the way he handled the introduction of his gf that I find quite ridiculous, especially his apparent amusement at people taking him at his word about her.

It's so silly, because the pictures etc...were enough to confirm, so his post and her comment just seemed childish. And I say that as a fan of his...but one who was ignoring a lot of his behaviour, feeling he was misunderstood. I am not so sure now.

R242 Hey, you're being awfully hard on the fans. I freely admit I hadn't had this kind of emotional investment in a public personality since I was a teenager. Yes, it's embarrassing, I admit it. I don't care that he has a girlfriend. It doesn't bother me. What bothered me, as a fan, was the teasing. First with Melo, now with this girl ( he still hasn't referred to her as his girlfriend). His inability or refusal to be direct is frustrating. You're right, of course, no one should take his behavior personally by allowing themselves to feel too offended. But as a tennis fan, I have a choice on how I want to spend my money and time. Maybe when he grows up and stops with the sm nonsense, he'll regain my interest.

Re Sasha: tempest in a teapot on DL. What else is new? Not much "proof" of anything for me- and Sasha does not ping. But hopefully a big male star will come out some day.

I went to an interesting discussion panel last summer before the US Open at House Works in lower Manhattan on being "out" in pro tennis. There were two recently retired players on the panel. An Australian woman and an American guy. Neither a big star, or even near star as I cannot remember their names. The impression I got was that some women are more or less out on tour and it is not a big deal. The women's tour is quite insular- players are very much more to themselves than the men's tour. The men's tour remains homophobic in action- no one is out and those who are gay- are very closeted. In part because they are obsessed with the tour- travel, training, practice etc and in part because there is a delicate balance among the pros in that they are dependent on each other to practice, share trainers etc- to cooperate and thus upsetting the apple cart is risky. Whether this is true or not remains unknown.

Interesting tidbit: the only pro to release a recorded statement (and all the big stars were asked) for the panel was, ta da, Roger Federer, who said it would be fantastic if some guys came out and he would be supportive. All other turned down he request!

R244 If I am harsh on the fans (read: the obsessives on DL), it's because you lot need it. Just read over some of these sentences that have been written and try be objective. How do they sound to you? Feeling betrayed because of 'the way he introduced his girlfriend'... what on earth? You call his refusal to be direct frustrating but... he doesn't owe you anything? Directness, personal information, his sexuality or relationship status, etc. None of it is your business, but you've all taken it as such and are now acting extremely embittered. It's bizarre. You were the ones who reached, and you hurt yourselves. Not him. For posting a few pictures and being silly on SM. Just step back and think about it.

The suggestion that you're going to boycott his matches or whatever ('money and time') just seems indicative of the one-sidedness of the obsession. It's going to make literally zero difference whether you watch his matches, or maintain interest or whatever. Tennis is based on wins and rankings and titles. It's a sport. This isn't like refusing to buy the Dixie Chicks album or not giving a Roman Polanski movie your money. It didn't matter whether Navratilova or Billie Jean King were gay, or out, or controversial, or annoying, or held the public's interest, or whatever. It wasn't going to stop them winning Wimbledons.

It's crazy you tell HIM to 'grow up' but YOU'RE acting like a jilted 10 year old girl obsessed with some hunk's social media and reading too much into everything. I'm trying not to be mean here but the irony seems lost on you.

[quote] The impression I got was that some women are more or less out on tour and it is not a big deal.

They’re ALL lesbians! All of them! They’re recruited until all of them are snatched into their cult of perversion!

R245, I remember Kevin Anderson posting about that event a few times, being quite supportive. And Novak was just asked about his thoughts about a gay player coming out and was very positive/encouraging about it, saying it would be courageous, so I think there would be support from top players.

I never thought he was gay. He was treated since very young like the next best thing which explains his arrogance and i think if he were gay he would be more careful.

But he knows there are people who think he is gay. The first time i heard about it was with an homophobic comment on youtube (so it's not only gays eager to have an openly gay tennis player) and now he thinks it's a good idea to tease fans.

It's not. He is not popular enought to wide audiences care about his personal life, but teasing being gay when you are not came with steady gay rumours and backlash. People don't like guys who mock their sexual orientation. For some people accept they are gay was difficult and not easy and the fact that a straight guy think is a laughable matter don't get positive reactions.

There are players on the circuit who are very supportive of gay rights, some from countries that are not gay friendly at all. Sooner or later there will be an openly gay player (maybe not openly since the beginning of his career because you need to test the waters first) just because young people came out the closet younger. And with a little luck it won't be an issue

R246 Look it, I"m trying to do exactly what you are suggesting: I"m trying to take a step back. I wasn't attempting to imply that I was waging some campaign or boycott against him. I'm simply saying I need a break from the kid, that's all. There are other things to with my time. For some reason, this kid elicited a lot of emotion in me. So I need to ignore him for a while while I regain my perspective and composure. ( Btw, I wasn't the one who said I felt betrayed.)

R242: Sorry but that's simply not true. Zverev was trashed here for his bratty behavioiur a lot of times. He is not liked by audiences and he won't be unless he takes Federer advice and start to care about how the public want him to behave.

I doubt the audience will show preference for him on a GS even if he is the underdog

And by the way, the problem is not the gay baiting (which is annoying) the problem is what he will say when the gay rumours hit him, because i highly doubt he'll show some class and respect if he is questioned about them

R245 Interesting, did they say who else besides Federer was asked? Anderson and Isner expressed support for the event on twitter.

[quote] an American guy. Neither a big star, or even near star as I cannot remember their names.

Brian Vahaly!! How you dare not to remember me! I was at number...erm...64 in 2003!

US player Tommy Paul is grateful for gay support 🌈 (from his IG story)

I didn't read the article but it seems players were questioned about who is the most handsome player on the circuit.

Rafa said Dimitrov

R257 Grigor is the default answer for almost all the players.

All the players are wrong. [R258]. Feli still wipes the floor with them all, with maybe the exception of Damir Dzumhur

[quote] I didn't read the article but it seems players were questioned about who is the most handsome player on the circuit. Rafa said Dmitrov

I only judge players, including young Grigor, based on their playing ability and skills rather than their strong thighs, bulging biceps, full and round buttocks or their ripped abdomens. I only judge those areas as they impact playing ability. Is it getting hot for anyone else, or is just me?

R246, you actually are the one who seems inordinately invested in your derision and antipathy toward anyone making anti-Zverev remarks. What are you, his agent?

I couldn't care less whether Zverev fucks boys, girls or trees. I just know that's he been an arrogant jerk since the days of "this is my fucking court", and he's done very little since then to change his tune. And, yes, tournament directors and his sponsors do pay attention to what the tennis public thinks of him since products are often bought and tickets sold based on a player's popularity, especially when it's plummeting.

^ He's actually my least favourite of the next gen, go at him if you will, but it's ridiculous to go at him for going on vacation with his mate and posting a few jokey bro-ish photos. I just think the sudden vitriol and pearl-clutching-in-betrayal is extremely embarrassing from the grown men here and I think a lot of you need to realise how delusional you have been.. He didn't even throw any particular bait out there, it's just that everything has been read into with alarming depth. It's giving me Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal vibes where she takes all of Cate Blanchett's simple behaviour as 'signals' and even takes it all super personally. Some of you are either desperately lonely or have never seen a young jock's social media before. Diego Schwartzman used to post similar photos with his trainer and nobody wet their panties over it. So did Kokkinakis and Kyrgios.

It doesn't matter now because your fantasy bubble has been burst, but the continued anger and bitterness about it is strange to me as an observer.

Grigor D. said F.Lopez was the best looking player on the tour. He was jealous of his legs.

B. Becker has said F. Lopez and F. Verdasco have huge cocks from what he's seen in the showers.

Murray said he’d be gay for Feli.

Does Judy approve?

Link please, R264. I'm intrigued.

Judy allegedly coined the nickname 'Deliciano'. She approved so much, she bought a hat for their wedding.

Murray on who he would date if he were gay.

Are any of you on Zverev team?

Feliciano Lopez is hot but I don't think he's the hottest or close to the "most handsome" on tour. He's got a huge nose and from certain angles he can look fugly. I think the photo has been scrubbed from the internet but around 10 years ago there was a pic of him trying to look sultry and he looked like a bad pre-op transwoman

Feli is objectively gorgeous. I've seen him up close on court at Wimbledon over the years and he exudes a masculine intensity. (I know: 'MARY!')

Rafa still has the best legs.

Feli is going to retire at the end of next season.

Zverev gay baiting is not okay. I was your fan because of your views on LGBT community and how much respectful of gay fans you were even as a 17 year old young player. How nice you were to a gay fan you met in citi open but this is not acceptable .

A. Zverev is not A. Ashe.

I thought Tsispas was gay. A Zverev isn’t too bad physically but his canines are too long. Liked Zverev much more until his reaction to losing to Tsispas. I think Balishvali from Georgia is crazy sexy as is Kachanov.

Feli is off the scales hot- in person more so. Did you have to add big dick R263? He's also got a great game to watch- all court, serve and volley etc.

Charlie, how does Feli compare to Big Bill Tilden in your eyes?

R262: None of them had gay rumour around them.

Zverev knows what people think about him and he decided to troll everyone and that's dangerous specially for someone who is not exactly beloved. I said it before and i repeat it, if you do those kind of jokes you should be ready to respond with grace when someone ask for your sexual orientation. Because everybody seems to think it's very funny to fake being gay but when the questions come the tune changes, and from being rumoured gay to be labeled a rabid homophobe are only one step

Yes, Dimitrov was the standard answer, Isner and Zverev chose him too. Grigor is cute, but he is not aging well. I would chose Tiafoe who is handsome and seems to have personality (something that's not that common on the circuit)

R270: Other thing that makes Feli attractive is the fact that he is confident. His ex wife insinuate that he is into guys (she was on trash tv all the time lately), his response, saying that he received a lot of proposals from guys the following days and saying how happy he had so many options open.

Basilashvilli is pro gay rights which being from a country very homophobic shows some personality

R278 Oh my god he hasn't even had to respond to anything yet. And you're already pressed? "He decided to troll everyone and that's dangerous!!!!" PLEASE get a grip. You are an embarrassing representation of the gay community with this whiny schoolgirl obsession. If I were another player thinking of coming out and I saw this strange vitriol, invasion of privacy, and entitled sense of ownership over a player for literally *having a male friend* i'd go right back into the closet lol.

To the other question, Basilashvilli is gooorgeous but never smiles. Coric is classic matinee heartthrob hot and he will only get hotter with time. Very sexy voice too and great personality. Fognini is hot in a douchey, 'he knows it' kind of way. I love Damir Dzhumhur and his overly gelled hair, he's a cutie. I think Kokkinakis will be hot in a couple years time, Verdasco has an awesome body but has spent too much time in the sun, he has that saggy neck happening, and Nishikori is actually very handsome since getting his teeth fixed - amazing skin and boyish face. Tiafoe has an amazing booty but his skin is really spotty a lot of the time, Malek Jaziri is hot in the way a lot of Arab guys are. I don't mind Joao Sousa and Victor Troicki. Jordan Thompson has grown into his looks a lot and was looking very sexy during the Australian swing this year.

I get why people find Feliciano hot but he screams 2000s Eurotrash to me. His schnoz has gotten huge over the years and one of his eyes is a bit wonky.

R280: You are the one who is pressed, come on nobody can say anything about him without you being all fangirl on him.

And no, nobody is obsessed on Zverev and i doubt nobody will be obsessed with him in a near future. I doubt he will be one of those players who has a big following. He is a good player but his game is not that attractive and his on court behaviour is off putting. So you can keep him all for yourself.

But you better relax a bit because people are very soft on him here, i read way worse on youtube videos. He is probably the less liked top player

Lopez's ex-wife said he was into threesomes and hinted he wanted to move beyond 2 guys + 1 girl. But this got swept under the rug.

R282: It was swept under the rug because she is not believable at all.

I remember her when she was in a model talent show, she was very unlikeable then and she didn't get better with age. I suppose Feli was an awful husband but she and her mother are unbearable

R277, why did you ask that question? Because I'm 65 and you therefore think I am less than (you?) or younger posters? Do you think you are funny?

F. Lopez has a nice serve, forehand and volleys but his backhand is SHIT. It's what has held him back from being a top player. Opponents pick on it relentlessly and it pays off for them

It has gotten better with time and his slice and chip backhand is pretty good. He loses usually because of errors, off both sides. Also the slowing down of courts has not helped him. By the way, I did not know he got divorced (really?) He only married a little while ago. I'm gonna Google him.

What a surprise. Isner has defended Gimelstob and accused Hewitt of arrogance over his calls for Gimelstob to be suspended from the ATP board.

R287: Isner should be careful. This could end very badly for Gimelstob.

What it's ridiculous is that a guy like Gimelstob (who has a past as mouthy misoginist and homophobe) can represent the players

R281 Yes... I'M the one who's obsessed with him, for telling posters to get over themselves and their fixation on his private life and how it has "totally victimised them". Oh his poor "misled" fans. It's funny how much you have all changed your tune when you scroll up a few posts and look in the last thread. Giddy with excitement like a 3 year old for Christmas. You act like i'm posting on behalf of his team or his press or something when I haven't even given him any positive word at all. It's just because I called you fraus out.

The truth hurts. Anyway the other discussions are much more interesting.

And the reason Gimelstob has so much power is because of the massive US player contingency that are all conservative republican douchebags who secretly (or not so secretly) agree with him and his behaviour. I don't know when they took over American tennis, but they cover the whole spectrum, from the more 'harmless', simply hyper Christian players like Steve Johnson, Taylor Fritz, Sam Querrey, and the Bryan Bros, to the more conservative folks like Jack Sock and Jared Donaldson, and then extreme right wing (limp-dicked John Isner, Ryan Harrison, and Tennys Sandgren who is probably more violently homophobic and misogynistic than Gimelstob).

It's very telling that the only ones who aren't republican are the non-white players like Frances Tiafoe, Michael Mmoh, and Mackenzie Macdonald. And then you have Noah Rubin who is extremist Zionist Israel-obsessed Jewish New Yorker.

It's like the pre-Arthur Ashe days of all-white, country club conservatives owning the sport. And Gimelstob represents that.

R289 do we know Fritz is a conservative?

Do we know Jack Sock is a conservative?

R289: And who do you think you are to tell anybody what they have to do?

Sergei Stakhovsky was repeatedly reelected to the players council even as he gave more and more misogynist and homophobic interviews (i.e., women are terrible tennis players, 90% of the WTA is lesbian). I think he only left the council after his ranking plummeted outside the top 100.

I chatted with Gimelstob at the open a few years ago. He did not seem homophobic to me. He was nice. I am not effeminate, but I am 65, in shape, well dressed and all the other signals that most can pick up as "aging gay man". He does have a hot head. Did not know he was conservative etc. if indeed he is.

[quote] 90% of the WTA is lesbian

Only 90%? I doubt it. Must be much higher.

R294: When people say he is homophobic is because he showed that in the past. It's not something people project.

Isner or Querrey can be conservative but nobody can tell they are homophobic

Gilles Simon is a sexist too. Not sure if he's homophobic though

Only Isner, Harrison and Sandgren have let their MAGA freak-flags fly out in the open. People just assume (perhaps correctly) about the the rest.

But Noah Rubin is a radical, zionist, Israel-obsessed? Did you on a birthright trip with him or what????

R298: Hey he can lecture anyone of us on Zverev so he can know Rubin's radicalism for sure. He is very good at sound very secure at things he has no idea

Somebody estimated that around 85% of the ATP locker room opposed male and female players being paid the same at the Grand Slams.

And about 65% were opposed to the joint tournaments (Indian Wells, Rome, Madrid, etc.) because, they say, the women are holding the men back, they take up space, they shouldn't be playing tennis in the first place. The MAGA-tards aren't the only right wingers on the tour.

All of this information has been out there, on social media, on forums, in interviews, etc. Some of it more 'gleaned' than actually outwardly stated by them. But we'll never see their actual voting records or CCTV footage of them bashing some gays lol.

R299 Rubin has shown up at a lot of NYC pro-Israel (and anti-Palestine) events, talks about his Jewish faith constantly in interviews (he frequents The Times of Israel), and is deeply involved in the Israel Tennis Centers organisation, visiting there many times and donating/raising lots of money. He even did something like that for his mitzvah project. At Wake Forest he did a thesis or large project on modern day persecution of the Jewish people. This is all google-able. Try again.

R300 I think that's a big part of it, the opposition to equal pay (I think Nadal made some comments earlier this year about it).

R293 He got elected again in 2016 in the "at large" section after he fell out of top 100

This year he wasn't among the elected for the at-large section but maybe he didn't stand

ok, I found the list of candidates

Stakhovsky didn't stand again this summer

1-50 Single: Kevin Anderson, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Robin Haase elected unpposed

51-100: Yen-Hsun Lu, Vasek Pospisil elected beating Mischa Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff and Marius Copil

Double 1-100: Jamie Murray, Bruno Soares elected unopposed

General: Novak Djokovic, Stefano Travaglia elected beating Marcelo Melo, Artem Sitak and Rajeev Ram

Coaches: Daniel Vallverdú elected beating Frederico Marques

R280--Nice mention of Jordan Thompson. I've been watching him become hotter and hotter.

[quote]Nice mention of Jordan Thompson. I've been watching him become hotter and hotter.

Too right, mate. I’d root him from here to Bullamakanka and back again. Fair dinkum I would.

december is such a boring month.

This year in Spain we have out own version of the next gen tournament. It's good the spanish federation start to do something because in a couple of years the situation could be very different with Nadal retiring and no young players.

Munar is the top player on the tournament, probably with wimbledon junior champ Alejandro Davidovich as main rival (Nicola Kuhn is not playing the tournament). The younger player is european champion u16 Carlos Alcaraz (with the danish Holger Rune, the best european 15 yo). I remember watching Carlos with 11 and he was amazing

Are any of them good looking, R307?

I dropped The Tennis Channel from my Spectrum package since they won't fire Gimelslob.

R308: Munar is not, and Davidovich and Kuhn are very german looking (they don't look spanish at all maybe because Kuhn was in fact german and Davidovich parents are not spanish either). I don't know the rest and Carlos Alcaraz is a kid

It's surprising how attached they are to Gimelstob. maybe it's because he is not a high profile because frankly others were fired for way less important things

I would be surprised if they do not fire Gimelstob. His behavior is appalling, from what has been reported. He has to go.

Perhaps they're just waiting until Gimelstob either admits guilt or is convicted of something? Isn't it all still allegations, or has something been proven?

More accounts of bad behaviour from Gimelstob at this link (incl comments). There have been previous articles. Clearly he has a history of bad behaviour that tennis journos are comfortable ignoring because he's one of their own. See also Jon Wertheim's pathetic excuses in his mailbag as to why they are not talking about this.

It just shows you how engrained he is behind the scenes because it's not like he's a big or recognisable name to the GP, and it's not like he's known or acclaimed for his commentating or journalistic abilities.. even fans of the service can probably agree he adds little to nothing to the channel. But he's still there despite decades of horrific comments and unprofessional behaviour.

The 'boys club' is clearly still alive and well here.

Is it a boys club, or an American boys club?

A few years ago, Roddick tells the story about throwing Djokovic up against a locker after one of their US Open matches. The general response from the tennis world? "Oh Andy... tee hee, you're such a passionate player!"

I get that Roddick was pissed about some medical time-outs by Djokovic, but that response was hardly on par. But again, Roddick can do no wrong.

One last comment on Gimelstob: the article linked above has several accounts of Justin being a jerk. But nothing listed there is criminal. The recent charges of attacking someone and abusing his ex-wife are very different. And really, there's no conclusion you can draw from him being a jerk. You could probably find examples of insensitive or cruel behavior from just about anyone, inside and outside of tennis, but that doesn't mean they beat their wives.

I'm not denying or excusing the fact that Gimelstob is an asshole, but you have to treat assholes (and asshole behavior) differently from criminals, otherwise we'd have very few people walking free right now.

R316 Sure, but the tennis journos have no problem at all with heavily calling people out for less than that. There was also the bit (I think from a tweet/quote from an article posted somewhere up-thread) about Gimelstob berating someone with homophobic language, with witnesses to it. I highly doubt this was the only time he did so. These guys must know what his character is like and yet choose to be friends with and defend him. Shows that all their anti-sexist, anti-homophobic proclamations are nothing but hypocrisy.

Ben R and Courtney N addressed the Gimelstob issue vaguely in their recent podcast. Well, I say 'addressed' - they touched upon the tennis world's silence by basically saying nothing. The upper level of tennis is so incestuous it was obvious they were afraid to say anything as it might affect their career. It was painful to listen to, and I usually enjoy their podcasts though I know they're not very popular on DL.

When we have a player as high profile as Isner publicly siding with Gimelstob, there's something wrong. If it were down to their religion or their political affiliation or something like that then perhaps I could see why they'd side with them, but this is about someone bringing the game into disrepute by being charged with assault ffs. There is nothing they can say that justifies siding with him.

"Hate’s a very strong word, I just despise her to the maximum level, right below hate. I think she falls into the Marcelo Rios ‘Scumbag’ category….And this whole bluff about her retiring because of her back? She had the yips on her serve, she can’t get her serve on the court. Wait until you see on July 23, she’s gonna be serving 40 miles an hour and I’m gonna be just plugging it down her throat….We do exhibitions together and I’ll mock her, and make fun of her. I’ll just make her know that she’s stupid."

(Gimelstob’s team will play Kournikova’s team in a World Team Tennis match on July 23rd.)

When asked if he’d date Kournikova he said:

"Definitely not. I have no attraction to her because she’s such a douche. I really have no interest in her … I wouldn’t mind having my younger brother, who’s a kind of a stud, nail her and then reap the benefits of that."

R319 omg do you have a link to that?

R319 did he actually say that? Holy shit!

There are several links if you google it. Someone had a radio broadcast back in the day where he said similar stuff. This is what I was saying earlier (re: the mostly republican American players) where there is heaps of proof out there in interviews etc., a lot of you aren't looking hard enough. Some other choice quotes from the same broadcast:

"Female tennis players lack the social skills; they don’t go to high school, they don’t go to parties."

He labelled France's Tatiana Golovin, ranked 21 in the world, a "sexpot", described the Czech Nicole Vaidisova, seeded 18th at Wimbledon, as "a well developed young lady" and called France’s Alize Cornet, number 17, "a little sexpot".

Mr Gimelstob — a former Australian Open and French Open mixed doubles champion — said there were fewer lesbians on the women’s tour than 15 years ago.

"That’s because they’re all Russian chicks [now]. And there are some other cute ones out there. There’s some talent out there."

He said he wanted to hit her hard in the midriff when serving at her: "If she’s not crying by the time she walks off the court then I did not do my job."

[quote] Mr Gimelstob...said there were fewer lesbians on the women’s tour than 15 years ago.

Lies!

Exactly, there's enough documented douchiness out there about this guy even without this assault case. For these tennis journos/players/ATP honchos to hold him in high regard means that they tacitly approve of his attitude, they're just smart enough to claim otherwise in public.

Gimelstob has always had an off-putting, aggressive and offensive demeanor. I remember when Mary Carillo moved from ESPN to The Tennis Channel several years ago. The first time she was paired with him to commentate on a match, things got awkward and tense. We know those booths are small but he kept invading her personal space and touching her with his hand when making points. She had to check him and let him know that behavior wasn't OK. My point is if that's how he behaves in front of the camera just imagine in his everyday life.

I hope eventually he is fired from The Tennis Channel and removed from the ATP board. If Isner wants to keep him and face backlash, so be it

I think he made most of those comments on a time way more permissive with that type of douchebagery, but even with that he must have some powerful friends because frankly he is a nobody

It is interesting how Wertheim will point out other conflicts of interest within tennis yet takes pains to avoid saying anything of substance in this case. He knows he's a party to the hypocrisy - he seems to admit as much, yet he tells everyone not to rush to judgment. He has no problem though standing on his soapbox complaining about the sin of the 180th ranked player getting a wild card at a Grand Slam over the 110th ranked player, as if there was much to distinguish between either player. The only thing that really surprises me is that the Tennis Channel didn't wash their hands of Gimelstob long ago. His career was not that distinguished on the court, let alone off the court with his antics. He's the male version (career-wise) of Joanne Russell, who lost her commentator job when Chris Evert retired and became available. There are tons of other players with Gimelstob's credentials who bring less baggage.

He should've been fired for the Kournikova comments. But he was only suspended.

"I don't think [Justin] should take a leave right now," Isner said, "We don't know the facts yet. Hewitt doesn't know the facts, either. He's the guy who was involved in his own nasty situation with James Blake [at the 2001 US Open], and I'm not calling for his head, or for him to step down from working with Tennis Australia. He's being arrogant."

A visual representation of how much more Venus did to win those two slams than this lipless homophobe did...

It makes sense that Isner and Justin work together and stand by each other. Assholes stick together.

R330: Well, nobody is asking for his head for what he did ages ago so the comparission with Hewitt is absurd

As is pretty much everything Isner says: either bland, banal, Trumptarded or otherwise absurd.

Align your money with your opinions and subscribe to tennis media outlets other than The Tennis Channel. Let those advertisers who advertise on Tennis Channel know how much you support Gimelstob's involuntary or forced departure. I'm watching all of the matches that I want to catch via Tennis TV, ESPN, Fox Sports or source other than The Tennis Channel in the meantime. I've cancelled my subscription to Tennis Channel Plus. Because The Tennis Channel already has a comparatively small viewership, a collective effort along these lines may actually work toward ousting Gimelstob.

Gimelslob, Gimelknob, Gimelsnob, Gimelblob

Shapo mugging for the cameras.

Speaking of creepy coaches ... Rob Steckley. Ewww.

R151 Good riddance! Let's all sit back and watch Taylor Townsend's ranking plummet next year. And now I suppose Serena won't be getting the top seeding at the Aus or French either. Adams got her moved up 150+ spots last year, so what's another 15? She had a baby after all!!

Did you guys know that?

Adams failed to organize a televised tribute to the 50th anniversary of The US Open. Despite the appearance of several surviving champions there was nothing. She even failed to herald the unveiling of a new statue of Althea Gibson. Just what was this bitch doing?

Amelie Mauresmo withdraws as France Davis Cup captain to coach Lucas Pouille

[quote] Did you guys know that?

I, myself, did not.

God knows Pouille needs the help. He's kind of the male Mauresmo: super-talented, but flakey. Not sure if she's the one to turn him around, tho. It didn't really work out with Andy Murray.

I thought Mauresmo was the male Mauresmo.

Not only has Grigor's game deserted him but his hair has too. I didn't realise he was this bald.

I noticed when he clipped it short...he went from a sort of combover (well disguised because his balding pattern's a bit unusual) to right in our face thinning. Age gets us all!

R345 so if Djokovic and Dimitrov had a baby together he'd be cute. The rest of those combos not so much

Djokovic is not attractive at all in my opinion.

Yeah to me Djokovic looks like a cross between a smug smarmy rich adult, and that psycho kid on the playground with crazy eyes who gets way too violent when playing sports. Those are his two facial expressions. Couple that with his string bean figure and moley skin...

R345: It's not only the hair, he is not aging well (and he is still very young)

well it's clear Dimitrov doesn't wear sunblock. His skin is awful and so wrinkly. Nadal with his age spots is bad too.

Federer has actually taken pretty good care of himself. He doesn't look that different from 10 years ago. A little older yes but not a super wrinkled, spotted mess. I don't think he's sexy at all but he's aging decently

[quote] It's not only the hair, he is not aging well (and he is still very young)

Yes, young Grigor is indeed still young.

Just saw where Ekaterina Makarova won a $15k Challenger last week. I thought, why the hell is she playing in $15k events...is she that desperate?

Turns out there's two Ekaterina Makavova's on tour. Go figure.

Should we refer to them as A. Makarova and B. Makarova to distinguish them?

R354 Yes. Ekaterina Makarova will be A. Makarova and Ekaterina Makarova will be B. Makarova. Brilliant!

The savage realisation of Zverev's heterosexuality seems to have killed off many of the contributors to this thread.

Now watch them come back to argue he is clearly bearding ;)

Australian Open Men entry list

Cut off is Fabbiano

Coco is last woman in at the moment

How far has Coco fallen! I knew she had a crap year but I didn't realise. She was in the AO semifinal last year and at the US Open as well. QF at Wimbledon and ended the year around #10. Now she's barely getting direct entry to slams 12 months later? Sheesh. Even Genie is ranked higher at the moment.

there are usually some main draw withdrawals though so the top 2-3 people on the quailies list usually get in

can't believe fucking Tipsarevic is back. I thought that idiot retired

Tipsarevic probably needs more money to build that gigantic sports park he has been doing for years. It always seemed way over ambitious. I used to find him kind of cute so i'm not mad he's back.

Venus split with her coach of 11 years (David Witt) which is a pretty big deal, I wonder if the end is near? His comment on it sounded a little hurt to me, simply saying 'it was a great run'... maybe she's hired someone else? Sloane Stephens is also having a break from Kamau Murray apparently. Perhaps she's mad he didn't show up to Singapore to help her.

Ugh now Mardy Fish has stepped in to make a statement to the court in support of Gimelstob.

I wonder if any tennis fans would protest or confront Gimelstob the next time he's seen at a tournament. It would be great if tennis fans held up signs during Isner's matches

Ew Mardy Fish.

I'm seeing a few tournaments in January including the AO and i'd seriously consider taking anti-Gimelstob sign if I get it through security. The only problem with that would be having to stay awake through one of John Isner's matches to hold it up...

I humbly suggest "Gimelphobe!"

Justin Gimelstob has blocked me on Twitter.

He apologized for his comments about wta players but they show his true character. He's a douche and an asshole. It also comes across. On the tennis channel shows he does commentary for.

R370 I replied to his post saying I didn't believe his stupid statement protesting his innocence. It got a few likes from people I don't know so I can't be the only person to dislike him.

lmao. The tennis world is so lucky all this blew up in the off-season. Hopefully the fans won't let up and keep the pressure up the day the new season begins. We need this piece of shit gone from the sport.

Some off-season underwater Borna for you...

Mmoh now sponsored by Adidas! big deal

No excuse for Tennis Channel keeping Gimelslob.

Tennis Channel has accommodated Gimelstob's brand of misogyny and homophobia for over a decade. Unless we start a collective effort to boycott and notify their sponsors, it'll continue unchecked.

How did we get from Justin’s marital fracas to homophobia and misogyny? I watch TC on a daily basis and I’ve watched and seen Hustin call matches and interview female pros for years. I’ve not observed either homophobia or misogyny- in fact he regularly works with gay female ex players calling matches. And as I’ve said I’ve spoken with him at the US Open and he is charming- Idont have a tattoo on my forehead that says gay, but...

Maybe since those comments he's reigned it in but he probably still views most wta players the same way underneath the facade.

Read the related links that have accompanied the posts on this thread to substantiate the allegations, R379. It doesn't take a quantum leap.

The above link is from 2008. Male tennis jocks often trash talk the women a bit- especially when young- and context is important. One can quote practically every male pro on the tour saying something disparaging about the women's tour. My God the shit directed against women and effeminate men on DL could fill the entire board.

I still think Justin is one of the better commentary former players on Tennis Channel. He is arrogant- but he has learned- and he is bright and has a great knowledge of the game- the entire game (men and women.)

I wonder what Lesbians Mary Carillo and Martina think of working with Justin? Mary seems to only tolerate him.

Gimelstob homophobia deets (repost from a few weeks ago)

I couldn't disagree more, R382. Gimelstob is almost 42 and was over 30 when he made the 2008 remarks, compounded by the much more recent actions and comments per the R384 link. Gimelstob wasn't young when he made any of the referenced remarks, nor was he just disparaging the women's tour. His remarks are blatantly, ignorantly sexist, misogynistic and homophobic. Just because others are mean and stupid doesn't make him any less so. And I doubt I'm the only one on this board who finds him smug, self-satisfied, and full of himself on the air. Paul Annacone is far more knowledgeable about the sport, and Lindsay Davenport is as well. They're a credit to Tennis Channel. Gimelstob is a huge, obnoxious liability.

Doesn't anyone want to discuss the new WTA return-from-pregnancy ranking rules? I just find it to be odd timing. It's not like anyone has recently given birth in the last 18 months, have they?

Not that I know of R388. Perhaps Gimelstob has and insulted the baby or A. Zverev has but is teasing us about the birth.

In 2019 and beyond, any WTA player who is a mother can count any point they have won in a match twice. If the match features two mothers playing each other, the doubled points advantage will go to the player who claims to have almost died in childbirth.

[quote] Vesnina just gave birth.

What a rare occurrence. The stars must have been in alignment.

Outside grand slam Makarova can't even win 15 k tournament

R398, I was suspecting the same thing.

Rico Bellotti is trying to make Domi jealous ;)

Is Rico not on any social media?

Is Rios not on any social media?

R409 That photo was immediately liked by Domi ,

I follow Domi on insta so I know that

Thiem even commented on R402 photo in German

domithiemSind die Körper in Ordnung? @moritzthiem @dennisnovi

Thiem is on Tenerife as well, I guess they're all training there

Sock posted videos of Isner and him working out yesterday.

R410 what kind of workouts were those 2 soft-bodies doing?

R411, something like jumping side to side trying to get past each other.

For athletes they are both very doughy.

Please god, let Shapo have shorter hair this year.

He cute his hair a few weeks ago, R414. I hope he keeps it that way. Otherwise he looks like Janice from the muppets.

Isner looks like he has no muscle tone at all and has dead eyes. Sock is flabby and misshapen. He has nice eyes though.

Are Sock and Isner working out at some Trump property?

R417, I think it was at a facility near or at Isner’s residence in the Dallas, Texas are.

Probably not the best advice for ESL, r401:

[quote]In consequence, any error in this area will be very noticeable in an text as a mark of non-native writing.

Joao Sousa needs to be in my bed.

It's not much of an endorsement for CUNY School of Law either, R419. I was remiss.

I always appreciate Verdasco being such a slut on Instagram (see figure A).

But is he in actual blackface here? (Figure C below)

R426 lmao

Coric, Verdasco and some others have nice bodies. I don't understand the tennis players who have average bodies with all the time they spend on court. Even for the ones who don't have rigorous gym routines, they should be somewhat toned. Sock and Isner are gross. They must have poor diets

I'm the last one to defend Sock and Isner, but even the best workout can only transform a body so much. If you have a naturally mesomorphic build like Coric and Verdasco, then you're already a step ahead. Endomorphs and ectomorphs, not so much--of course a bad diet would only worsen what was already a bad start.

I'm starting to think Borna might be one of us gurls

Oh, no, R429. That's a sure sign that a gf will start popping up on social media.

You know what, r429? I’ve been thinking the exact same thing.

He's super close to his sister. Like almost creepy close.

Oh it's like that is it, Zverev crushed your dreams and now you're ready to move on to Borna. So fickle.. ;)

Borna is way hotter than Sascha, adn frankly Sascha simply trolled everyone (or just fool himself).

I hope this year will get new faces on the big finals. I don't mind Federer, Nadal, Djokovic (or even a Murray come back) but i want a new generation fighting for the big titles

Any idea when Berdy is coming back ?

Borna used to have a trashy blonde girlfriend with not so good plastic surgery. That is his type

[quote]Borna used to have a trashy blonde girlfriend with not so good plastic surgery. That is his type

Andy Roddick's type, too, apparently.

sorry Mirka, but I don't look so trashy!

So Marcelo Ríos is back. In his last interview he insulted Jim Courier and Santiago Giraldo. He seems to have a great concept of himself, for some reason peole who know him seem to not share his love for himself.

For someone who was a joke as number one and blowed his only chance to win a GS one could expect more self awareness.

Well at least he didn't went in Kafelnikov route of labeling Federer, Nadal and Djokovic's games as boring (frankly i don't remember Yevgeny being very exciting back in the day, and his Roland Garros title was once in a lifetime oportunity with a court that was as fast as hard courts that year)

we have a week left and then tennis comes back! For Americans, play begins Saturday night (as it's Sunday in Australia)

the gf @ R438 looks like a dude

just sayin'

Verdasco is so desperate for attention. What other player posts crotch first photos on Instagram?

R442 he probably misses his underwear modeling contract from several years ago when he was briefly a top 10 player

Watch out for Genie!!! it's just an exho but in Hawaii today she defeated Muguruza 7-5 6-1...Genie is now working with Sharapova's' original longtime coach, Michael Joyce. Her serve was much more steady

Garbine gurl you should be mad at yourself though

Muguruza has everything to dominate the circuit but she seems more than happy with doing red carpets and winning from time to time. Most players with GS right now would be slamless in the 90's. I would love a new Serena, Graf, Seles to appear and block these players who are being rewarded for playing well a couple of weeks per year

One of the byproducts of skyrocketing prize money over the last 20 or so years, in my opinion, is that the incentive to be great weekend and week out is diminished. I just checked the all-time prize money list and Muguruza is 18th with a little more than $18 million in earnings. She's ahead of the likes of Seles and Sanchez-Vicario, who won more and had longer careers, and didn't exactly play in the Stone Age. If you can make that kind of living based on two or four weeks of success a year, then why put too much effort into improving?

I agree that the massive prize money has made the players lazy and petulant. I kind of understand Venus and Federer et al conserving energy at their age but even the young successes feel like they've made it. Sloane Stephens tanking every single match outside of the slams and US tournaments is the biggest current example. How do you lose to Coco 6-0 6-1 on clay in Stuttgart just 3-4 weeks before making the French Open final? Shameless.

Muguruza is particularly lazy and petulant. She's also very up herself. It's apparent in those on court coaching interviews, her attitude towards other players, and what has been said through the grapevine (like Alize Cornet all but calling her a bitch). I don't even know what her game is like out of her random 2 good weeks per year. Because in 95% of tournaments she just smacks them straight into the net and grinds and grunts. She's only won like 6 tournaments, yet two of them are Grand Slams. Bizarre career.

JMG said Merry Christmas to fellow gays

R453 from that post jmgambill@coach_taroli wtf you are going on about this time is beyond me. I know why it’s cold and I am certainly not a republican.

Young Grigor with Agassi and Dani V.

All the qualie draws are out for the first week. Remember there's a scoreboard app you can download on your phone if you don't already have it. If you prefer following scores on your computer, favorite this link (you'll have to enable flash for it to work)

Any chance that Margaret Court Court will be renamed by this Aussie Open?

Rafa is ready to play the Aussie. C'mon Rafa!!

Eurosport ad for Australian Open is awful

R458 Rafa needs another AO! I’d almost rather he won that than the French.

i doubt he has a chance. AO was always his worst GS and he came from injury.

On clay he is simply the best, if he is in good form he will be the favourite.

But i think the dynamics can change at any moment, it could be like when Nole won in 2011 and suddenly became the dominant force. None of the young players showed that potential but they could replace the big 3 (4) if they are not at their best level

Auckland draw is out. Wozniacki is the top seed. Venus draws Azarenka rd1

Hopman Cup also starts today. Here are the teams

R464, is this where we talk about Hopman Cup?

Brisbane ATP & WTA draws are out. Both have a bunch of great players

In Brisbane, Nadal is top seed. Murray is also playing. Nishikori, Raonic, Dimitrov, Kyrgios

Ladies feature Svitolina as top seed, Osaka, Stephens, Kvitova and Pliskova

R466, are you Ben or Courtney?

Hopman Cup upset: UK (Norrie/Boulter) def. Greece (Tsitsipas/Sakkari) 2-1 Tsitsipas lost his singles and then of course the mixed.

Nadal has withdrawn from Mubadala with an injury so his chances of winning the AO are slim.

Shenzhen and Pune draws are out.

Shenzhen is headed by Sabalenka who could face Sharapova in the QF...that would be fun viewing. At the end of 2016 when Sabalenka started rising she almost won that match. She might destroy her at this point Garcia, Ostapenko, Wang are all there and Peng was given a WC following her weird suspension last year

In Pune (formerly held in Chennai) Anderson is the top seed. Chung is #2 and other players are DL fave Jaziri, Paire, Simon

Nadal has not withdrawn from Brisbane so far

What’s the matter with Nadal? I thought he’s fully recovered but now I’m hearing otherwise.

I don't knnow, the way it ended his match against Anderson tell me he is not fully recovered,he totally tanked in the last few games. When he is totally fit he is mentally strong as a rock

Is this where we talk about Mubadala?

Granny Vee vs Azarenka is a cruel opening round draw for both. Big sis looked fit again in her exhibition with Serena so i'd put her as the favourite. If Wozniacki - who is in the same quarter - goes early too (i'm assuming her focus is the Australian Open right now?) Auckland could be without any audience draws.

old man Ferrer took Zverev to a third set tiebreak at the Hopman Cup. It was surprisingly close. The doubles was very interesting to see Zverev/Kerber vs. Ferrer/Muguruza.

As expected Federer and Bencic destroyed the no-name Brit team (not sure how they got in).

Tonight's match will be USA (Serena/Tiafoe) vs. Greece (Sakkari/Tsitsipas). Looking forward to that one

Wow Tiafoe's ass and legs look bigger! He must have been training hard the last several weeks. He's got a nice bulge too. He and Tsitsipas are going at it now

Auckland: DL fave Puig def. Mattek-Sands

So who’s the hottie in Tiafoe’s box?

R479 he's been with him for a couple years now. He's either a trainer or partial coach

Here he is with Team USA at the Hopman Cup

Bouchard wins her first match of the year over Brengle!

[quote] Auckland: DL fave Puig def. Mattek-Sands

Puig!

R482, Wow, amazing, incredible. I'm totally thrilled.

Thanks, r480. Love the Instagram shot of him in front of the Trevi fountain wearing an equality t-shirt.

Tsitsipas def. Tiafoe in a fun but inconsistent match by both

Mladenovic continues her losing ways of last season...losing to Aussie WC Aiava

balding Dimitrov def. Nishioka

Kasatkina shocking loss to Aussie WC Birrell (who?)

this is from a couple months ago but James Blake is a great guy. Too bad he didn't win any big titles or slams during his career. 1 of the few over 25 American male tennis players I liked

Serena def. Sakkari. Onto mixed doubles now. It'l be interesting to see her against Tsitsipas

Serena probably should have been bageled in that first set. I've never seen someone play such garbage tennis and be rewarded for it over and over. Truly mind boggling. Of course, Sakkari helped her every chance she had -- started four games in a row DFing. Need I say more? Why can none of these bitches serve?

Oh please, R490. Sakkari should have won that first set but Serena actually stepped it up near the end of the first set. Sakkari played really well through most of the match. She can continue to rise up the rankings if she keeps improving.

R475 I hope Azarenka wins. She seems to be consistently screwed by draws. Too bad no one decided to give her seedings at slams when she returned from pregnancy. She'd most likely have a much higher ranking now. Oh well. If she gets past Granny V she has a good shot at the title. Although, Lauren Davis is no pushover in round 2.

Back at you with the "oh, please!" How many fortuitous net cords, off-balance mishits (such lazy footwork), and DFs won her games she had no business winning? Somehow the worse she plays the more she gets rewarded. It's unreal. Not to mention Sakkari's 3 horrendous drop shots (all on big points -- choke!) and then Serena's BS volley on set point. I think I threw up in my mouth a little. At least she apologized because she knew it was trash. The only thing Serena is the queen of is cluster luck.

And that was the second worst match I've seen Sakkari play -- she couldn't play worse than that final against Buzarnescu last summer. I don't know why you think she played well.

ok Tiafoe is going to have to improve his net play. That cost USA the mixed doubles match more than anything

Tiafoe is a player who’s quickness has allowed him to be lazy. No racket prep at all. It lost him his singles match and the doubles match. I hope someone tells him. That was embarrassing. Not to mention him serving to Sakkari and approaching to just no man’s land so he could lose point after point. No court awareness at all.

And we have tennis in Qatar, complete with Novak. It's across the street from my office. Fun first day for all of QR 25, aka $7.

Berdych returns from surgery with a win over Kohlschreiber

JMDP is out of this year’s Australian Open.

R502, isn’t that Federer and Celine Dionne?

R505 shame but expected. He most likely would have won at least 1 more slam if not for all those injuries

Venus def. Azarenka 6-3 1-6 6-3 very up and down. Some amazing points and some sloppy points. The player whose forehand was firing took the momentum. Azarenka hit 3 forehand errors in the last game

Does Tiafoe actually know how doubles works???

Tiafoe is looking like an amateur.

He’s easily the worst player out there, r511. I’ve seen club doubles players with better court nous than him. Serena must be fuming inside. She desperately wants this.

Tiafoe better learn a new forehand. The take back swing is amateurish and just creates time for the top guys to him pay.

"We lost our fist match of the year."

Sloan Stephens

Visa Azarenka

Caroline Garcia

Helena Ostapenko

Daria Kasatkina

Since you’re being critical, R515, you’ve misspelled three of the five names on your list. Not to mention, you’ve typed “fist” when you meant first.

Wawrinka starts 2019 with a 7-6(7), 6-4 win over #11 Karen Khachanov in Doha

R509 As usual, Azarenka double faults away a lead multiple times. Then the doubles started affecting the forehand. She really needs to stop doing that shit -- it's frustrating to watch. Especially when she mangles a 40-0 lead by not hitting the serve. In that position she should just take an aggressive mindset and go for aces on 1st AND 2nd so she doesn't start decelerating and pushing the serve. Just pick your favorite serve and give it a wallop. It's not rocket science. You've 6 chances before you're back to deuce. The odds are in your favor that you'll make on for two of them and have a good opportunity to finish the damn game!

^^^^^^^^^

*make ONE OR two of them -- the autocorrect on here is so random

It was fun to finally see Serena and Federer on the same court in a non-charity match. Tiafoe is not a good doubles player at this point and desperately needs to improve his volleys/net movement. Both Tiafoe and Bencic seemed to have a lot of nervous energy and made easy mistakes which is understandable since they were playing both with and against a legend at the same time.

I enjoyed seeing Federer and Tiafoe whack each other with the ball lol First Roger hit Frances in the left pec and then Frances got Roger in the head shortly after.

Unfortunately I heard Carillo say the other day on The Tennis Channel that this could be the last year for Hopman Cup as they're going to use the week for another event.

Personally I only like watching doubles and mixed doubles when there are good singles players playing. I never watch 4 doubles specialists. That's what makes the Hopman Cup so fun.

Bencic played well today. She completely held her own against some potentially stiff competition.

Tiafoe is just braindead out there.

[quote] She completely held her own against some potentially stiff competition.

Did one of those lesbians bring a tool of the devil - a dildo!?

I really like Tiafoe and think he's got a lot of potential but he needs better court awareness/sense and tactical improvement to go to the next level. He's made the top 40 on just tennis skill and athleticism alone. If he can improve mentally he'll be a big factor

and of course his volleys

Unless he makes some improvements Tiafoe will end being a journeyman, which is a pity because he has potential to way more.

I have lost some faith in Vika, since her return she is totally inconsistent, she is able to play incredibly well for a while only to gift her rivals a lot of points in pointless mistakes. Maybe if she remains healthy that could change.

And Zverev was charming when he praised David Ferrer. Of course he was telling the truth, Ferrer fight till the end, and he has high energy.

Thiem starts the season losing to Herbert. Should we add Domi and Kiki's losses?

Add Edmund to the list of 1st match losses. He was upset by #185 Uchiyama

once again Sharapova gets lucky. She was getting beaten by a 17 year-old 6-7 0-2 then she got back on serve 3-2 at which point her opponent had her leg treated. She started cramping and then forfeited 2 games to get more treatment. She then retired. Sharapova has a date with Sabalenka next round though. If Sabalenka plays well and is healthy, she should win handily

Nadal is out of Brisbane.

Well, Sharapova is only lucky that most women on the circuit are head cases. I never liked her game but she is a fighter and that means a lot of come backs when your rivals stumble at the oportunity to win

I think Nadal is simply not wanting to take risk. He said he doesn't want this year to be like the last one and he will only play is he is 100% healthy

PHH is hotter than Domi. Go, PHH!

Isn't PHH the one who is working with Mauresmo?

Hmm, I didn't know that. He's a dubs specialist (plays with Mahut) and he's super cute.

[quote]Isn't PHH the one who is working with Mauresmo?

that's Lucas Pouille (who tried some surfing in Australia 🍑)

[quote] Murray lost to Medvedev. Kyrgios lost to Chardy

The giants are being felled.

Serena must be wondering how she got paired with Tiafoe in this competition. Probably the only time someone wished Isner was around.

You speak the truth, r539. Tiafoe is just terrible at doubles. Finds ways to lose when he’s in a winning position.

And he just double faulted to lose the match.

More like Tiawful.

I remember his Wimbledon match against Khachanov last year. Tiafoe was up 2 sets to 0 and playing well, loses the tiebreaker in the third and then proceeds to just tank the final two sets in a pathetic display. Who tanks a match when you're winning? Kyrgios doesn't even do that.

Nadal has withdrawn from Brisbane with injury. I knew he'd withdrawn from that exhibition but perhaps it's a real injury after all.

R541 'Tiawful' haha. That mixed doubles match was good fun but he was painful to watch. Surely the US could have found a better player? Yes he might be up and coming and young but he had no place in that company. Even Bencic made him look like he'd never seen a racquet before.

I read that Nadal just wants to be 100% for Melbourne. It's a minor injury - his thigh I believe - that needs a bit more time. It would blow if he doesn't play in the AO.

Tsitsipas still is not therre. He had all in his favour in the first tie break just to let Federer come back

still not ready to break into the top players. He has the game, but he needs some wins before believe he can really do it. At least he improved his performances because the defeat against Norrie the first day wasn't a good sign

Sakkari was awesome against Bencic, and what a win with Tsitsipas for Greece against Federer/Bencic in the mixed! They were really targeting Sakkari at the start but she got them for it. The Greek pair should consider signing up to the AO and Olympics, great chemistry. If they weren't so bad against Great Britain (Tsitsipas especially losing to Norrie, and choking a 3-0 lead in the final set of mixed) they could be in the final right now rather than Federer/Bencic.

Maria got another day to rest for Sabalenka as Shenzhen is all rained out. I hope the young beast bullies her tomorrow.

In Auckland, defending finalist Wozniacki lost to injured qualifier, world #184 Bianca Aandrescu (CAN) in straight sets. Not looking good for her trying to back up her fluke AO title. Also in Auckland, Granny Vee got through Lauren Davis, both have won the event before. Big sis looks much fitter than last year, maybe firing her team has helped her in the end.

In Brisbane Grigor was up in set 2 against Kei Nishikori but shit the bed and DFed a lot, Kei pulled through in straights. Tsonga also won against Daniel, Osaka beat Sevastova in 3 sets, and will meet Tsurenko in the SF. I don't know if it was posted but Sasnovich also got a good win against Svitolina, revenge for last year's Brisbane final where Svitolina demolished her 61 61.

[quote] Bianca Aandrescu (CAN) in straight sets. Not looking good for her trying to back up her fluke AO title.

Future hall of fame member Bianca Aandrescu.

I'm expecting a down year for Wozniacki, who revealed she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis last fall. Also engaged to be married, has been a pro for over 13 years, and may be less motivated since achieving the Grand Slam title she had long strived for.

R549 Yes, I feel as though she's very likely to flop out rather early in Melbourne, which will kick off a year of disappointments for her. Since she won last year she hasn't seemed to want to win as much, or to fight as hard (despite some titles). But being like a dog with a bone is the most crucial part of her game.

Remember Wozniacki had a great draw at the AO last year AND got the benefit of a tired Halep in the final (she had that marathon SF win over Kerber)

Didn't Jana Fett ace her on match point in like R3? The umpire overruled and called it out and Fett bizarrely didn't challenge? I'm pretty sure TV played the hawkeye anyway and they showed the ball was in. She lost that match.

She also got Mertens (lol) in the semi final, and didn't have to face a single top player until the final (after Halep had spent more hours on court than Federer). And she STILL needed to pull some of her dirty tricks - like a perfectly timed medical time out when Halep had the momentum - to get there.

Of course the only time she won a grand slam it was a grand sham.

Jana Fett is just a simple woman trying to make her way in the universe.

We shall never forgive Jana Fett for her sins.

R556: I was thinking the same. I remember Jana from the U14 and U16 in europe, but i lost her trace long time ago

Auckland: Goerges def. Bouchard 6-3 3-6 7-6(6)

R560, Damn, damn, damn, damn

This Sabalenka-Sharapova match sounds like a couple of feral cats trapped in a potato sack fighting to get out.

Her sins are that she didn't challenge her ace on match point that was clearly in!! And changed the course of tennis history forever, not closing the match out and allowing Wozniacki to continue through a cakewalk draw and become a GS champion. She is now out of the top 200 I think after that implosion. I hope she saw the replay and saw that her serve was IN!!! I can't remember the last time a GS champ was beaten fair and square in one of the earlier rounds but still walked away with the trophy due to their opponent's inexperience with challenging.

Is anybody seeing Sharapova getting slaughtered to pieces by Sabalenka? Literally bullied around the court. 6-1 and took a LONG medical time out after the first set (typical Doper move). Aryna is going to be so scary these next few years. Built like an ox, never has the dial turned to any other level than 11, doesn't seem to get fatigued, enormous power on both wings *and* the serve, great touch and surprising variety from other areas of the court, AND is willing to come to the net. She plays like a young Venus a little bit, and she's only a teenager. I would hate to be in her half of the draw.

aww shame that Sharapova retired. I wanted her to be healthy and get a proper beat down. I can't believe Sharapova got a lucky cramping retirement from her would-be victor in the last round, then an extra day off due to a rain delay and came up lame today. Hopefully her collapse is complete. I want to see a healthy Sharapova get destroyed by Sabalenka at some point this year. We saw what Osaka did to her last year at IW

No Popsicle. :-(

I always love his eye candy for a round or two...

Age of Pune semifinalists

Karlovic 39

Darcis 34

Simon 34

Anderson 32

Aryna has everything to be a top player (and she is a Kvitova type that came out of nowhere after a not so steller junior career) but she is not mentally strong. Maybe big wins change that

Nice to see Tsonga seemingly back in the groove.

[quote] Popsicle is out of AO.

Sad. :(

Andreescu outsts also Venus

Final 4 in Auckland: Andreescu, Georges, Hsieh and Kuzmova

Vecik-Pliskova and Osaka-Tsurenko are the semifinals in Brisbaine

Sabalenka, Wang, Riske and Zvonareva left in Shenzen

Bautista Agut upsets Djokovic! turns things around in the second set tiebreaker

Bianca was a very promising junior but injuries made her transition to pro player very difficult, i'm happy she is doing well

I saw the Venus match and Andreescu was incredible. Venus was randomly much worse than her previous matches against Azarenka and Lauren Davis, but this girl was playing like peak Clijsters. So many winners and moving easily around the court. Such a 'where did she come from?' moment, even if Vee put up a great fight in the end, and she still needs to work on her serve a LOT. Very interested to see if she can hold this up, but she's still young anyway. She gets Hsieh next, who is arguably the trickiest player on the WTA (even if she can be hit off the court sometimes).

Aryna's beatdown of Maria was so entertaining, sad that Sharapova's pride deprived us of the full show. The funniest part was when Maria took a massive off court break after getting thrashed in the first set (obviously to try and interrupt Sabalenka's momentum), and even though she was so called 'injured' she came out running like a rabbit, hitting harder than ever, breaking serve, etc. Sabalenka quickly put an end to that and continued crushing her hopes. Maria was forced to play like a pusher lol. People like to make a lot of her grunt but I don't think they realise how scary this girl is going to be. She already killed off most of the top 10 in a few short weeks last year, and looks ready and hungry to do it again.

In other WTA news Zvonareva is back in the top 100! Feels like it's been forever. She plays the Shenzhen semifinal on the other side of the draw, a match between her and Sabalenka could be fireworks.

I think Venus got tired after the first set. Remember she's 20 years older than Andreescu who is like a little energizer bunny out there! She had a tough match the day before against Wozniacki (straight sets but lots of long games) so it's all the more impressive she could win against Venus too.

Berdych def. Cecchinato to reach the Doha final

next week's Sydney combined, Auckland (men's) and Hobart (women's) draws all out

Former top 10 Mladenovic already beaten in Sydney qualies by Aussie Kimberly Birrell, who is ranked around #300.

Funny because last week in Brisbane Birrell beat CURRENT top 10 Kasatkina. I don't know who this girl is but I love her for exposing all the fakes at the top of the game.

Sabalenka is our first title winner of 2019 as she wins Shenzhen over Riske in 3 sets. She turned the match around with the second set tiebreak

Zverev doesn't seem remotely ready to be a challenge for the top 3 on his match against Federer. Unless he is able to rise the level on AO we'll get another season of grandpas getting the GS. And i agree with Marat Safin, yes, Nole, Rafa and Roger are amazing but they only last so long because the younger generations are unable to rise the level (and they are not mentally strong)

[quote] Zverev doesn't seem remotely ready to be a challenge for the top 3

Pardon?

R583 Did you not see the tour finals in London?

R584: Judy, are you there? Sorry but Murray is not a challenge right now (and he won't be there for a while)

R585: Yes, i watched it, and i watch his last match too. One thing is defeat grandpas at the end of the year when they are tired and other very different defeat them at the beginning of the season. Zverev was not even a challenge to Roger in the Hopman Cup

What's tricky about Hopman Cup is that it's a glorified exhibition. I'm sure some players are giving it 100% and full intensity as a warm up to the AO, just as I'm sure others are still working on their games, and treating it as practice. To draw any meaningful conclusions from it would be silly, IMO.

The Hopman Cup is of course a glorified exhibition but it's a lot of fun. I've been very impressed by Bencic.

[quote] R584: Judy, are you there?

Yes. I forgot to sign my name because I was so incensed at the “top 3” implication.

Did anyone watch the match between Nole and RBA?

To continue on from the last thread, I actually found Bencic less impressive this year. Last year she went 3-0 in singles in the RR stage, was returning the Zverev serve with interest, and only fell to Angie in the singles final. She had won three big ITF events in a row beforehand and was on something like a 20 match win streak heading into the AO, where she got that big 'upset' (depending on how you look at it) win over Venus.

This year she's been all out of sorts. Absolutely useless in the mixed doubles, and the only singles match she won was against world #100 Katie Boulter, getting thumped by Angie again, Serena, and Maria Sakkari. She was really held up by Roger this week, and even in their winning speech she accidentally said "Thanks to Roger for playing for me..... I mean *with* me" lol.

On the other hand Kerber was playing well. Impressive like she was last year and took her all the way to a Sydney title and an AO SF.

This girl Andreescu seems so unstoppable, beating Venus/Wozniacki/Hsieh, all of whom have entirely different styles of play. I'll be watching the final tomorrow against Goerges (who I think will finally end her run). Hopefully it's as entertaining as the Shenzhen one, Sabalenka truly is the next big thing. I'm less interested in the Nishikori v Medvedev / Pliskova v Tsurenko finals in Brisbane.

Here are some short highlights from the great match Bautista Agut played to beat Novak. I'm sure the latter is still the favourite for the Australian Open, no matter how much special treatment Federer gets this year, but wow the Spaniard hasn't played nearly this well in a long time.

Bautista usually plays Djokovic tough. The H2H was 7-1 in favor of Djokovic, but the three times they've played in Slams have all gone 4 sets. I was expecting it would be close, and wasn't completely surprised by the win.

I actually think that Djokovic, while he is the favorite for AO, is being over-estimated. I wouldn't be shocked to see a new Slam winner at AO.

RBA defeats Berdych in Doha

Anderson edges Karlovic in 3 tiebreak sets to win Pune. Karlovic seemed like he was ready to retire last year after falling out of the top 100 and playing a lot of smaller ATP events with numerous losses but this week he almost wins a title.

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