2017 Tennis Thread

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Another fairly humiliating loss for Genie, barely over 50% of first serves in, didn't win more than 50% of either first or second serve points, allowed a 70 MPH second serve ace against and generally struggled with a very weak first serve from Beck, and 67 unforced errors to only 30 winners. But hey at least she's now got two weeks to party it up in Miami before another first round loss.

I'm not even convinced that partying off court can be blamed at this point.

Her game is so stagnant now that I don't think she has any interest in doing what it takes off the court to be a top player on tour. She reeks of a player simply going through the motions and getting the odd match win on talent alone.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The problem is she's really not that talented. Her success in 2014 was all about will and grit, but her overall game has never blown you away, it's just in womens tennis will and grit can go a long way (see Maria post injury). But that was when Genie was a nobody with no photo shoots and no sponsor contracts. Now she's a somebody, even as irrelevant as she is on the court she's still probably one of the top 5 most well known female tennis players. And even that 2014 season was a bit of a mirage, her non-major performances that year were not that great.

I suspect we might finally see her show some dedication again when she's truly irrelevant both on and off the court, but she's social media savvy so I suspect she keeps finding ways to stay in the limelight even as her ranking plunges into the triple digits. I mean outside Serena winning the Aussie Open, Genie has by far the most well known moment for a women's tennis player this year, her Super Bowl bet. She can find ways to stay in the news, even if it's not for her on court play.

[GirlySports]

If you're in Gatineau there is a good QF lineup today

All times ET

Bossel, Adrien (SUI) vs Sakharov, Gleb[3] (FRA) 11am
followed by
Barrere, Gregoire[4] (FRA) vs Schnur, Brayden (CAN)

Corrie, Edward[1] (GBR) vs Auger Aliassime, Felix (CAN) 6pm
followed by
Lokoli, Laurent[5] (FRA) vs Shapovalov, Denis[2] (CAN)

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

The problem is she's really not that talented. Her success in 2014 was all about will and grit, but her overall game has never blown you away, it's just in womens tennis will and grit can go a long way (see Maria post injury). But that was when Genie was a nobody with no photo shoots and no sponsor contracts. Now she's a somebody, even as irrelevant as she is on the court she's still probably one of the top 5 most well known female tennis players. And even that 2014 season was a bit of a mirage, her non-major performances that year were not that great.

I suspect we might finally see her show some dedication again when she's truly irrelevant both on and off the court, but she's social media savvy so I suspect she keeps finding ways to stay in the limelight even as her ranking plunges into the triple digits. I mean outside Serena winning the Aussie Open, Genie has by far the most well known moment for a women's tennis player this year, her Super Bowl bet. She can find ways to stay in the news, even if it's not for her on court play.

I don't disagree, however she certainly has the tools to defend against some of the top players on tour. Over the last few tournaments she's actually shown glimmers of putting things together until it inevitably comes crashing down again with mental lapses a complete loss of drive on court.

She clearly has not put in the time to improve her ball striking and serving over the last 2 years and the added distractions provided by her social media accounts and modeling make it crystal clear where her priorities lie. The real problem will be whether or not the sponsors give a damn about a tennis player that isn't really playing high level tennis in a year or two if she doesn't turn her attitude around....which is what I truly believe is keeping her from being a top 25 player, even if she isn't winning events.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

The problem is she's really not that talented.

I just don't know - some observers thought she outplayed Coco, and could have reached the fourth round in Melbourne. Maybe she is not a top 10 player, but is top 20 out of the question? Seems her level of commitment is not where it needs to be. She is making a fortune without winning.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/20...enie-bouchard/

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

I don't disagree, however she certainly has the tools to defend against some of the top players on tour. Over the last few tournaments she's actually shown glimmers of putting things together until it inevitably comes crashing down again with mental lapses a complete loss of drive on court.

She clearly has not put in the time to improve her ball striking and serving over the last 2 years and the added distractions provided by her social media accounts and modeling make it crystal clear where her priorities lie. The real problem will be whether or not the sponsors give a damn about a tennis player that isn't really playing high level tennis in a year or two if she doesn't turn her attitude around....which is what I truly believe is keeping her from being a top 25 player, even if she isn't winning events.

Really the only time she showed the consistent ability to compete against other top 20 players was in that first year, when her approach was to take the ball very early. Once everyone else figured that out about her, it seems like she simply had no other ideas to win matches. Then she lost her confidence with that Wimbledon/Montreal stretch. I'd argue she's never actually recovered from that.

The sponsors care about her being in the news. Whether that's from winning events or being a socialite, they don't particularly care. Anna K was still the most searched female athlete in the world seven or eight years after she retired. Serena has been the best women's player in the world for years, yet it's Maria who rakes in a lot more sponsorship money. And so far Genie appears to be a good brand ambassador, makes the plugs and does the PR asked of her. So if she can stay in the news and keeps representing the brands well, she'll be fine.

Ultimately I think her best case scenario is probably a floater, a player who is somewhere between 20-40, who occasionally breaks the top 20 and occasional falls out of the top 40. Might make a few more quarters in majors, but probably never wins one. I worry more she'll just totally lose interest if she ever has to start qualifying to make every Premier event. That's where it becomes a grind just to try and become a top 60 player. Not sure she has the will to fight through that situation.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

If you're in Gatineau there is a good QF lineup today

All times ET

Bossel, Adrien (SUI) vs Sakharov, Gleb[3] (FRA) 11am
followed by
Barrere, Gregoire[4] (FRA) vs Schnur, Brayden (CAN)

Corrie, Edward[1] (GBR) vs Auger Aliassime, Felix (CAN) 6pm
followed by
Lokoli, Laurent[5] (FRA) vs Shapovalov, Denis[2] (CAN)

Schnur won 61 63 woo!

[GirlySports]

Denis and Felix win as well!

Felix plays Schnur and Denis plays Sakharov. Rematch of last week's final

[killer_carlson]

I think Genie will be a player who only really hammers her focus in majors.

She'll make more in appearance fees than winnings in the regular tour, but also knows those appearance fees go up if she increases her publicity with runs at majors.

And as far as whether the sponsors will stick around, they haven't dropped Kyrgios, so Genie has a long rope to hang onto.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

I think Genie will be a player who only really hammers her focus in majors.

She'll make more in appearance fees than winnings in the regular tour, but also knows those appearance fees go up if she increases her publicity with runs at majors.

And as far as whether the sponsors will stick around, they haven't dropped Kyrgios, so Genie has a long rope to hang onto.

Genie and Kyrgios are very similar in that their common weakness is lack of focus. When both are engaged and mentally present, they can battle with the best in the tour.

Genie is young, and has time, but her focus isn't there. Until either someone can inspire her, or she finds it herself to give more dedication to tennis, and improving her game, she's gonna be silent on the tour.

[CedarMeter]

Wow. Pops won the 1st set on Murray. Pospisil broke Murray 3 times in the 1st set

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[CedarMeter]

Pops is playing well. He just broke Murray in the 1st game of the second set.

[CedarMeter]

Back on serve. Murray looking more like the world's number 1. Playing much better.

[CedarMeter]

Guess I'm just talking to myself. Goodnight CP

[CedarMeter]

Wow. Pospisil just beat Murray at Indian Wells in a tie break 7-5. Murray is off to Miami. Pops is playing on.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by CedarMeter

Guess I'm just talking to myself. Goodnight CP

I witnessed it too. I'm amazed at the clutch Popsicle showed, and equally amazed that the guy across the net can be even called World #1.

[CedarMeter]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

I witnessed it too. I'm amazed at the clutch Popsicle showed, and equally amazed that the guy across the net can be even called World #1.

Murray didn't look himself. Maybe he thought this match would be a cake walk. Vasek's return game was unbelievable. And his short game to the net killed Andy. He didn't know what hit him. He was clearly frustrated.

[browna]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

and equally amazed that the guy across the net can be even called World #1.

Maybe Genie tweeted him a date request for Saturday night?

Good for Pospisil. Something cool to do no doubt. But a fluke none the less, though for the next two or more years, many stories about him will allude to the fact that he "needs to regain the magic that pushed him past the World #1 in March 2017"

[Senator Clay Davis]

Too bad Vasek couldn't do this at Wimbledon to Murray, but still the best win of his career, and the draw is doable to make the quarters maybe.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Too bad Vasek couldn't do this at Wimbledon to Murray, but still the best win of his career, and the draw is doable to make the quarters maybe.

I'm shocked he was able to pull it off. Awesome for the guy after such a brutal stretch of tennis. Here's hoping he isn't content with what he's done and is ready to take advantage of now having Murray's draw the rest of the way.

It would be swell if TSN would pull their heads out of their butts and show some of this tournament....maybe that is too much to ask when all 1-4 are wrapped up with showing the same brier match.