The 2017 In Between Grand Slam Thread

yerwanthere123 · 16-05-2017 6:28pm

No RG WC for Sharapova, not even for qualies. Embarrassing for her really.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 16-05-2017 6:45pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

No RG WC for Sharapova, not even for qualies. Embarrassing for her really.

Don't see how it's embarrassing for her. Disappointing maybe. Kind of dumb of them not to even give her one for the Qs. She'd have guaranteed crowds for them.

yerwanthere123 · 16-05-2017 6:57pm

Well it's still a little embarrassing, she flew to Paris to try and persuade them and they still said no. God knows who'll win the French now, the most open it's been in years. She's already ranked high enough for Wimbledon qualies and can make the main draw by reaching the semi's in Rome. She also has a wc for Birmingham, personally I hope applies in Nottingham and Eastbourne as well, she needs matches.

Rjd2 · 16-05-2017 10:11pm

"There can be a wildcard for the return from injuries - there cannot be a wildcard for the return from doping," French Tennis Federation chief Bernard Giudicelli Ferrandini said.

"I'm very sorry for Maria, very sorry for her fans," added Giudicelli Ferrandini.

"They might be very disappointed, she might be very disappointed, but it's my responsibility, my mission, to protect the high standards of the game played without any doubt on the result."

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/39932614

Very impressed with Ferrandini there, I assume there was plenty of people putting pressure on him to do the drug cheat a favour, but he has shown great integrity by not bowing down to them. Salute that man.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 16-05-2017 10:12pm

Rjd2 wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/39932614

Very impressed with Ferrandini there, I assume there was plenty of people putting pressure on him to do the drug cheat a favour, but he has shown great integrity by not bowing down to them. Salute that man.

They've given a WC to a French player who served a ban for illegal betting on tennis matches. So not sure how much integrity there is there. Bet it looks good for the Paris 2024 bid though.

mickmackey1 · 16-05-2017 10:16pm

Sharapova pulled out injured in Rome tonight anyway.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 16-05-2017 10:17pm

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Sharapova pulled out injured in Rome tonight anyway.

Which puts Wimbledon back in doubt. A SF, I think, in Rome would have been enough to get her into the main draw there.

lostcat · 16-05-2017 10:24pm

Murray in a spot of bother here against Fognini in the first round...

Floppybits · 16-05-2017 10:38pm

Murray has been knocked out by Fognini. Some bad run this for Murray

jr86 · 16-05-2017 11:09pm

Murray really is in some slump altogether. Has completely lost hunger and interest and to be honest will probably exit the French week one at this rate.

I'm sure he'll be back to his best again some time before the year is out though but he's not there at all at the minute.

lostcat · 16-05-2017 11:27pm

I feel bad for Murray to be honest (well, as bad as I can feel for a multi millionaire no 1 tennis player etc.)

I posted a few weeks ago that he must be the worst no 1 since whomever, and someone pulled me up for being anti murray. I'm really not, but the way he is playing since turning no 1 is, it has to be said, pretty crappy. He could actually loose No. 1 in the next couple of months if he doesn't start to defend a few points starting from the FO.

In hindsight, and seeing how Djokovic has continued to struggle, Murray could have taken it a bit easier late last year (where he probably picked up a niggle or two in the dash for year end no 1) and still have gotten there by now, but in better shape.

Floppybits · 17-05-2017 9:33am

To be fair to Murray I think the effort he put in to get to Number 1 last year has now cost him this year. The elbow injury is not helping either. I do wonder if he is a 100% and is playing tournaments because he is the number 1 rather than take the time out to get an injury sorted. Maybe losing the number 1 spot might be a blessing in disguise for him.

jr86 · 17-05-2017 9:26pm

Murray is actually 21-7 since becoming world number one with four of those losses on his worst surface.

Also taking into account the effort it took to get there and the knock on effect from that.

To say hes anywhere near the worst number 1 is complete hyperbole

yerwanthere123 · 17-05-2017 9:34pm

In hindsight, I wish Murray hadn't chased the #1 ranking, it hasn't been worth it.

jr86 · 17-05-2017 11:22pm

In 20 years time no one will remember anything he did in 2017 but he'll always have X weeks at number 1 to his name. It looked extremely unlikely even this time last year he'd ever do it

Murray will be fine, he'll win a few more slams yet as will Novak. the field is awful at the moment

jr86 · 18-05-2017 8:45pm

Stan really is a holy show in masters, yet I can't shake off the feeling it's set up for him to smash and grab the French

I just have a feeling nadal will be caught somewhere, bar the AO where he had a very favourable draw and plenty of good fortune, he's been a non-entity really in slams since this time 3 years ago.

I think he's doing very well now taking care of a weak clay field, but Novak, Stan and murray have beat him on clay in the past two seasons. if they step it up (which they probably all will do given it's a slam) it'll be interesting

Floppybits · 19-05-2017 10:27am

I can only guess that Stan is more concerned with Slam wins than over all career titles. The only ATP event I can remember him winning was Monte Carlo when he beat Federer.
Hard to gauge Nadal at the moment considering the complete drop in form of both Murray and Djokovic and the real lack of competition for him during this clay court. Is it just me or is it just Nadal that seems to be the only one going out to win these events and the rest seem to be just playing the tournments and if they do well then so be it and if they get knocked out no big deal. The whole clay court season this year has seemed lackluster from most players on the tour except Nadal.
Looking forward to the Del Potro vs Djokovic match this evening. I was at the Murray vs Nadal in Rome a couple of years ago and it was a great match hopefully this one can be the same.

infogiver · 19-05-2017 10:37am

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Don't see how it's embarrassing for her. Disappointing maybe. Kind of dumb of them not to even give her one for the Qs. She'd have guaranteed crowds for them.

I don't imagine WC are depending on Sharapova, or anyone, to b a crowd?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 19-05-2017 10:43am

infogiver wrote: »

I don't imagine WC are depending on Sharapova, or anyone, to b a crowd?

I don't understand what you're saying here. WC is short for Wild Card. Do you mean RG?

yerwanthere123 · 19-05-2017 5:01pm

Sharapova playing Wimbledon qualies, won't be requesting a WC.

paulie21 · 19-05-2017 5:07pm

Thiem beats Nadal

Floppybits · 19-05-2017 5:09pm

Great result for theim

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 19-05-2017 5:30pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Sharapova playing Wimbledon qualies, won't be requesting a WC.

Good for her. I hope she slaughters everyone.

infogiver · 19-05-2017 5:30pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't understand what you're saying here. WC is short for Wild Card. Do you mean RG?

I'm sorry I'm not used to your abbreviations here.
I thought WC was Wimbledon Championships!!!
My bad!!!

lostcat · 19-05-2017 5:31pm

Floppybits wrote: »

Great result for theim

didn't see it but Thiem has been knocking on the Nadal door for a few weeks now and was getting close. he has a pretty good all round game and he can run.
I thought he would do some damage last year which didn't happen, but he looks good for am impactful season this year...

this makes the French Open a bit more interesting anyways..

infogiver · 19-05-2017 5:31pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Good for her. I hope she slaughters everyone.

It's certainly the best year for a long time to be trying to qualify

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 19-05-2017 5:39pm

infogiver wrote: »

I'm sorry I'm not used to your abbreviations here.
I thought WC was Wimbledon Championships!!!
My bad!!!

That's okay.

mickmackey1 · 19-05-2017 5:50pm

lostcat wrote: »

didn't see it but Thiem has been knocking on the Nadal door for a few weeks now and was getting close. he has a pretty good all round game and he can run.
I thought he would do some damage last year which didn't happen, but he looks good for am impactful season this year...

this makes the French Open a bit more interesting anyways..

hmmm I'd still be sceptical of his chances over 5 sets. If Nadal had swept the boards he wasn't going to get much credit even for winning RG, so secretly he might not be too disappointed about this.

Rjd2 · 19-05-2017 6:22pm

Pleased to see Svitolina do so well at the moment, my pick for the french, probably loses to Laura Robson in the first round now:pac:

https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/864794112121335811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fbaseline.tennis.com%2Farticle%2F66078%2Fkristina-mladenovic-interview-maria-sharapova-new-column

Yes Maria you are the victim:pac:

Can't blame her, she knows a lot of people are prepared to ignore the fact she cheated for so long, but still pretty depressing attitude to have. No wonder she is disliked so much on the tour.

Credit where its due to Lucic Baroni the other day.

Mirjana Lucic Baroni recently criticized much Maria Sharapova, beaten in Rome as the Russian player was forced to retire in the third set. The Croatian had strong words about Sharapova, who came back accepting wild cards from events. 'I feel the same way everybody else feels: You know the drill, you know what happened, you know what it is. Some people are forcing us to say everything is great, and blah blah, but it is what it is. I don?t much care for it', Lucic Baroni. 'Every player who isn?t doping is against it. I mean, it?s not surprising. I don?t care for these things. I know the way the real world works, and this is the way the real world works. Money and everything speaks for itself. Maybe they should give a wild card to Lance Armstrong, too? He?s won the Tour de France a few times. How is it any different??

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/news/news/Maria_Sharapova/43464/mirjana-lucic-baroni-compares-maria-sharapova-to-lance-armstrong/

Pleased also that Mlad continues to take no prisoners, tore into Garcia the other day also.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 19-05-2017 7:23pm

Rjd2 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/MariaSharapova/status/864794112121335811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fbaseline.tennis.com%2Farticle%2F66078%2Fkristina-mladenovic-interview-maria-sharapova-new-column

Yes Maria you are the victim:pac:

She's taken the punishment she was given and is now taking excess punishment and she's doing it without mouthing off or having a go at other players.

Credit where it's due to Lucic-Baroni the other day.

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/news/news/Maria_Sharapova/43464/mirjana-lucic-baroni-compares-maria-sharapova-to-lance-armstrong/

Pleased also that Mlad continues to take no prisoners, tore into Garcia the other day also.

Players are entitled to their opinions on it all but it's absolutely ridiculous to compare her situation to what Lance Armstrong did.

As for Mladenovic, she's a real piece of work. Implying her former doubles partner is a lesser person to her because she can speak 5 languages and had a formal education is about as classless as you can get.

The 2017 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Comments