2016 Tennis Thread

[Senator Clay Davis]

"Going backwards yet again" is a pretty odd statement. She's basically been somewhere between the low 40's the mid 50's rankings wise for more than a year now. She's going nowhere if anything, not backwards. She's stuck in perpetual mediocrity at this point, she puts together a few good matches and then its back to square one.

[GirlySports]

Quebec City tournament just became a free for all, no seeds in the quarters!
http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-A...16/656/MDS.pdf

some unpronounceable name is going to have a career defining win. It's CC Bellis' first professional tournament. ESPN would go berserk if she won.

[Inglewood Jack]

if Genie never made the 2014 Wimbledon final, is she still ranked where she is today, or higher? or...lower?

[Senator Clay Davis]

I think the Montreal disaster had a bigger impact on her than Wimbledon. That was truly embarrassing. Wimbledon she simply ran into a buzzsaw and not even prime Serena would have won that day. I would think she'd be right in the same spot whether she made it or not.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

if Genie never made the 2014 Wimbledon final, is she still ranked where she is today, or higher? or...lower?

she made the 2014 Aussie final too. It was a big year that go her up to top 10.

[Inglewood Jack]

I'm pretty sure it was Aussie semi, FO Semi then Wimby final. the reason I singled out Wimbledon is because I feel that was the tipping point where the fame and hype shot through the roof and her eye got figuratively and literally taken off the ball. the tennis world was clamoring for the next young pretty blonde champion and I think it completely derailed whatever natural progression she might have had. kind of like an Oilers draft pick getting a 6x6 contract and 1st unit PP time out of the gate.

to me the Rogers Cup debacle and everything that followed was the sadly predictable result of an Icarus who flew too fast and too close to the sun.

[Senator Clay Davis]

But that was always going to happen, as soon as she made any kind of decent result she was going to be overhyped. It started right away at Aussie, as soon as she made the SFs the WTA had her flying to Singapore right after to be the face of the new (at that time) year end tournament, and she was immediately plastered all over the WTA website. She was pushed as the de facto face of the tour well before she earned it. But as you said, a pretty blonde is always going to get that in tennis. So the hype train was already strong by Wimbledon. I just think her confidence was totally shattered by Wimbledon and Montreal. Montreal was worse to me because she was the biggest Canadian sports star when that event happened, and she totally flopped and melted down against an easy opponent, at home. I also think we all rushed to overrate her based on those major performances, when really the rest of that year outside the majors was about the same as this year (and actually she might be doing slightly better this year). She wasn't a consistently strong player all year, she was just at her peak at the majors, which overshadowed her performance the rest of that year.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

I'm pretty sure it was Aussie semi, FO Semi then Wimby final. the reason I singled out Wimbledon is because I feel that was the tipping point where the fame and hype shot through the roof and her eye got figuratively and literally taken off the ball. the tennis world was clamoring for the next young pretty blonde champion and I think it completely derailed whatever natural progression she might have had. kind of like an Oilers draft pick getting a 6x6 contract and 1st unit PP time out of the gate.

to me the Rogers Cup debacle and everything that followed was the sadly predictable result of an Icarus who flew too fast and too close to the sun.

yup but it's happened to everyone not named Serena.
Kvitova has won two Wimbledons and is ranked #15. Wozniacki is ranked in the 60s. Ivanovic is barely #32. Mugaruza won the French and lost Wimbledon 2nd round and US Open 1st round! She's in for a drop when those French Open points come off.

[polak]

Ivanvoic was also a pretty, young champion (oh man I was in love with her), she hit a higher peak but she managed to turn it around.

I've been saying Genie is done for a while but it's not impossible for her to bounce back. Just unlikely.

[Inglewood Jack]

I blame that one Aussie interviewer who asked her to do a twirl. that's your TSN turning point.

maybe then that's just women's tennis: random, silly and not worth getting upset over when your favorite player's career goes belly up.

[Senator Clay Davis]

As I mentioned earlier about Kerber and Stan as late bloomers, Kerber was not even ranked until she was 24, and even at this point last year you would have got absurd odds that she'd win two majors and be #1 (like 200-1 at least). Genie is still only 22 and women's tennis is still women's tennis. We just gotta hope she eventually snaps out of it and finds that confidence again. Not like she was a great player when she made those 3 SFs in 2014, she did most of that on grit and fight.

[GirlySports]

well Kerber finally figured it out this year at age 28 so there's still lots of time.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Not like she was a great player when she made those 3 SFs in 2014, she did most of that on grit and fight.

Absolutely.

And right now, that part of her game is non-existent. Everything rattles her and getting jeered in her home province won't help.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Del Potro just beat Andy in 5 hours and 5 sets at Davis Cup. So since coming back DelPo has beaten Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka and Nadal. A healthy DelPo next year should make things really interesting.

[Mango]

Canada vs Chile getting under way on Sportsnet 360.

[GirlySports]

im more shocked that the Brits aren't playing on grass.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Mango

Canada vs Chile getting under way on Sportsnet 360.

I recently changed my Shaw channel package and I no longer get SN360.

[GirlySports]

Dancevic up a set and a break

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by polak

Ivanvoic was also a pretty, young champion (oh man I was in love with her), she hit a higher peak but she managed to turn it around.

I've been saying Genie is done for a while but it's not impossible for her to bounce back. Just unlikely.

I don't like her chances. IMO her looks have been a detriment to her career as she's not good enough to have the distractions her fame has brought. Really though there's nothing really special about her overall game as coming out of junior her strength was mental toughness but I don't think that's enough against the best in the world week to week. She doesn't have a big serve or power game to ride out when she's not at her best and she needs to play 100% match to match to win and that's simply not reasonable to expect. Maybe if she can improve her serve and regains some focus as she matures she could move back into a top 20 player but I don't think she has top 10 skills right now.

[GirlySports]

Dancevic served for the 2nd set twice and blew it. off to the tiebreak