2023 Tennis Thread

[GirlySports]

Pretty poor tourney by FAA. Cupcake draw thus far and couldn't get to the QF. Add in his loss in Adelaide, it's been a slow start to the year

[Nadal Fan]

Tsitsipas takes out Sinner in 5 sets. Didn't watch the match but sounds like it was a good one.

Tsitsipas vs Djokovic final looking very likely now

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Pretty poor tourney by FAA. Cupcake draw thus far and couldn't get to the QF. Add in his loss in Adelaide, it's been a slow start to the year

Watching FAA last night, he looked like a more mobile version of Milos. Served great, but really struggled with putting returns in play and some inexplicable unforced errors. Lehecka has beaten Coric, Eubanks, Norrie, and now Felix in his AO run, that's playing some pretty fine tennis.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

Tsitsipas takes out Sinner in 5 sets. Didn't watch the match but sounds like it was a good one.

Tsitsipas vs Djokovic final looking very likely now

Well, if we're going by recent trends, Greek Yogurt is going to win the whole ball of wax...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1617134319276883969

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Watching FAA last night, he looked like a more mobile version of Milos. Served great, but really struggled with putting returns in play and some inexplicable unforced errors. Lehecka has beaten Coric, Eubanks, Norrie, and now Felix in his AO run, that's playing some pretty fine tennis.

Still it's a match Felix has to win. It's not often you will get such an easy road the the 4th round in a grand slam and he failed to take advantage. He was so good in the fall but it's like he's totally reverted back to the struggling player he was over the summer. It just goes to show how consistency separates the greats from the really good players.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Still it's a match Felix has to win. It's not often you will get such an easy road the the 4th round in a grand slam and he failed to take advantage. He was so good in the fall but it's like he's totally reverted back to the struggling player he was over the summer. It just goes to show how consistency separates the greats from the really good players.

Yeah, totally agree EE that it is a match he needs to win. Based on his form though, very unlikely he gets by Greek Yogurt to make the semi-finals.

/Still would have liked to see that matchup, though.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Yeah, totally agree EE that it is a match he needs to win. Based on his form though, very unlikely he gets by Greek Yogurt to make the semi-finals.

/Still would have liked to see that matchup, though.

Yeah I agree given his play this tournament he would have been in tough against Tsitsipas but if he gets there he at least has the opportunity to raise his game and make a run at it. Oh well. Good to see some other young players taking advantage of some rusty high seeded players.

[dash_pinched]

Hugh Clarke has a very good breakdown of the Lehecka - FAA match. It focuses mainly on the clean technique of Lehecka (both forehand and backhand), the dominance he showcased once the rally when past 5+ shots, and taking time away from FAA.

https://hughclarke.substack.com/p/ji...m_medium=email

[Inglewood Jack]

You can almost sense Clarke’s frustration with Felix’s flippy strokes, like if he just simplified them he has the physical tools to be a top 3 player. Unfortunately at this age it’s likely too late to make any fundamental adjustments, so the most we can hope for is tweaks to cut down on the long stretches of wild hitting.

[GirlySports]

Bencic and Sabalenka are wearing the exact same outfit.

[dash_pinched]

Belinda is stealing Aryna's thunder with the double faults today...

[dash_pinched]

Magda Linette wins the opening set in a tie-break over Caroline Garcia

Edit: Linette dispatches Garcia 7-6 6-4. Also, Donna Vekic got past the 17 year old Linda Fruhvirtova in three sets

[dash_pinched]

Rublev about to go up two sets to one on Rune - The kid from Denmark is very talented, but he needs to cool down as he basically lost two games in about three minutes being a hothead.

Edit: Three sets done and dusted and still 10 minutes shy of 2 hours.

[GirlySports]

Ben Shelton is an amazing story. 20 year old NCAA champion with the Florida Gators. Made the top 100 playing only in the US, in fact has never been out of thr States.

Won two matches as a wildcard in Cincinatti, including a win over Ruud, then 3 challenger titles

Now going toe to toe with JJ Wolf in the 4th round of a major.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Ben Shelton is an amazing story. 20 year old NCAA champion with the Florida Gators. Made the top 100 playing only in the US, in fact has never been out of thr States.

Won two matches as a wildcard in Cincinatti, including a win over Ruud, then 3 challenger titles

Now going toe to toe with JJ Wolf in the 4th round of a major.

In October 2022 at the Fairfield Challenger, Ben Shelton was beaten by the tall Canadian Gabriel Diallo. Diallo went all the way to the Fairfield final where he lost to Michael Mmoh. Amazing what a few months can do for a guy.

[dash_pinched]

Rublev throws up a bad service game and Rune breaks. This match is going the distance.

Edit: Not so fast, Rune coughs up a bad service game of his own and we're back on serve.

Edit 2: Oh no, Rublev misses a swinging volley and Rune steals set 4. We're going five.

[dash_pinched]

Rublev holds from love-40 down winning five straight points.

Edit: Andrey gets broken in his next service game though and Rune leads 4-1 in set 5.

Edit 2: Rune blinks serving for the match at 5-3 and is broken at love.

[dash_pinched]

Meanwhile, JJ Wolf and Ben Shelton are going five sets.

[dash_pinched]

Rublev saves two match points and we need a super breaker.

[dash_pinched]

Oh man, what a shot by Rune - It's 9-9 in the super breaker.