I think her fair target for this season should be getting nearer to 20 than 50 in the wta 2023 race, which should mean she is right on track to become a reliable pro for the future.I’m not saying it just because of her nationality. I’ve been following tennis for over 40 years and you can pick out the great players because it just seems to come so easily for them. Whether it was McEnroe, Samprass, Federer, Serena, etc., they all stand out. Even when I first saw Murray I knew he’d win slams. The same can be said about Radacanu. Physically she’ll get stronger & fitter. She’ll probably struggle the make much gains in the rankings the next 18months or so, then suddenly break through dramatically as her fitness reaches a certain level. That’s if she really wants it that is, but the World is her oyster.Ok I am forgetting I am on a UK forum sometimes and clearly Emma is the brightest prospect, which is fair enough.
I think that is a fair and realistic aim for her for this year, the reality is due to the pandemic and then injuries she still hasn't had a proper season on tour playing regularly.Ok I am forgetting I am on a UK forum sometimes and clearly Emma is the brightest prospect, which is fair enough.
Agree, they've something like 15 players in the top 100, and a chunk of those are 25 or under. Zverev 2-1 down
When I talk about depth and competition, I’m not just focusing on the players competing for grand slams, in the top 10. I’m focusing on the top 100 overall (to me that’s a big deal as those are the players who qualify directly for grand slam main draws and other tour events. I watch as much ATP tennis as time permits including smaller events, and I think tournaments like Rotterdam, Estoril etc. were far more interesting in previous eras than they are currently, and the same goes for early rounds of grand slams and masters series events. There was more variety in terms of playing styles and surface conditions in previous eras (things have become more homogenised over time). I mean reverting back to that 1992 US Open, Edberg beat Krajicek, Lendl, Chang and Sampras in succession to win that tournament, 4 players with noticeably contrasting playing styles. 2 years earlier, Sampras beat Muster, Lendl, McEnroe and Agassi to win the title, again beating players with a wide range of different styles. Modern day players certainly don't have to worry about that.
Medvedev is the only with any chance whatsoever of slightly challenging him and I don't even trust him to navigate through the draw.
Fritz is a big one, as looking at that bracket of the draw it looks incredibly week and we'll certainly now have a surprise semi finalist up against Djokovic. It's actually presented a great chance for Murray if he can get through today.
Rune is the one to watch out for Djokovic, he already beat him in Paris finals.
He's only started struggling in his last service game, Couacaud played some inspired tennis to keep pace in the set. He (Couacaud) got injured in the first as well, and had a long time out.
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Knowing Djokovic, it goes like this: a little injured, massively injured, half dead, nearly dead, just about dead, totally dead, wins the tournament.
Okay that one is even worse.
Playing way past midnight is unfortunately way too common in tennisIt's ridiculous that they're still playing though. The comms team mentioned that after midnight public transport is a bit rubbish; I wonder at what time it starts up again
I’d completely blanked about the time difference. Mental really.It's ridiculous that they're still playing though. The comms team mentioned that after midnight public transport in Melbourne is a bit rubbish; I wonder at what time it starts up again
It is, but it's still nuts. Haven't Wimbledon and the French Open got sensible stop limits these days? And it's rare to see a normal ATP/WTA event played into the small hours, I think - at least, I've never noticed it and I watch most tournaments.
Scheduling is a bit mad. Ruud said he wasn't in bed until 4-5 AM after very late night R1 and then he had to wake up 24h later for his early morning R2 match. Bit shocking that a professional sport shows so little regard to sleep wake cycles.It's ridiculous that they're still playing though. The comms team mentioned that after midnight public transport in Melbourne is a bit rubbish; I wonder at what time it starts up again
I think the whole back end of tennis can seem a bit amateurish for such a rich sport, and the laissez faire scheduling only adds to that. The TennisTV app for example is pretty crap, but the WTA option is even worse.
Wimbledon is the only slam without the very late finishes now that Roland Garros has night sessions and even at Wimbledon it's only due to Merton council not allowing such events to go past 11. It's not necessarily a weekly occurrence but it's not that unusual on the tours for matches to be going until very late. It makes the sport look pretty amateurish and isn't fair on the players.
Wasn't sure about RG, thanks. It is very unfair on the players - not only the finish, but not knowing when they'll start (since there's no deadline really). Norrie was late yesterday, and for these two the best they're going to get is a Saturday night match, and they're not guaranteed that.
