Talk About Tennis 2.0

Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: On Raducanu, what sort of similarities you might see in your trajectories? You've been around a little bit longer than she had when she won her first Grand Slam, but you both kind of got shot to stardom by these U.S. Open wins. What have you made about her journey and struggles once you win your first slam and stuff like that? Do you see some similarities or differences in your overall arcs with her?

NAOMI OSAKA: I won my second slam after I won my first slam.

And she lost today after that

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 24, 2025 8:17 pm Notice how few members we have.
Tennis is no longer a mainstream sport. In the US, where does it stand as an spectator sport? 6th or 7th, at best.
So yes, for us tennis fans, we know who Katerina Siniakova is. Make a poll in NYC the week before the open and most people won't know.

And yet tennis is doing just fine financially. The coverage is better, the attendance at major events is higher, the prize money more lucrative. More people are attending the U.S. Open than ever before and paying top dollar to do so...far more than when Connors and McEnroe were household names. If it aint broke, don't fix it.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 23, 2025 12:53 am So what do folks here think of the new mixed doubs format at the USO? I love to watch mixed doubles but this is a shocking travesty..the #1 woman and the #1 man can't get in because entry is by singles ranking...

It's an exhibition. Make it 32 teams, top 16 by doubles rank and the top 16 by singles rank and I'll go with it. As they have it planned, its an exhibition. That being said, I hope it does get more singles players to compete in doubles.

I'm surprised the ITF is going along with it. You'd think to maintain grand slam status, you would have to include a men's, women's, and mixed doubles competition... and not the BS exhibition version, but the same versions that the other slams have. It's one of the things that sets the grand slams apart, and has been a part of the U.S. national championships since 1892.

ITF: "You can't do that. There is considerable tradition in holding a mixed doubles tournament!".
USTA: "Our lawyers say we can give you 40% of the revenue."
ITF: "O......... K?"

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You are right.

The Montreal court speed rating is 0.78, Toronto is 1.07... much faster. That was last year, and things could easily have changed. But if this holds, look for players like Anisimova and Swiatek to do well, Pegula not... and folks like Medvedev to like the Toronto conditions.

Re Osaka, Andreescu etc ..I wonder if they were successful because it was an interregnum ..Serena and Venus were at the end of their reigns and the new Queens- Swiatek, Sabalenka and Gauff, had not come of age..the only players left were good, not great players like Bencic, Halep, Muguruza...so maybe we should not expect them to return to that level of dominance and challenge for the throne.

But isn't that almost by definition? Like when you have a truly dominant player, everybody says it was a weak era. It is circular.
I can agree that Bianca maybe was just lucky for a while, although beating Serena, at any slam, was never because of luck. But Naomi was a force. 4 slams make you that.
And I am not expecting Naomi to become as dominant on hard courts on those days. But I would like her to be in the mix for slams on hard courts. She was good enough, at her peak, to challenge the top players now.
Notice that she still has more slams than anybody except Iga (and Venus, but that is a different story). And she is still 27, the same age as Aryna.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 29, 2025 12:35 am Re Osaka, Andreescu etc ..I wonder if they were successful because it was an interregnum ..Serena and Venus were at the end of their reigns and the new Queens- Swiatek, Sabalenka and Gauff, had not come of age..the only players left were good, not great players like Bencic, Halep, Muguruza...so maybe we should not expect them to return to that level of dominance and challenge for the throne.

Good point

I can only imagine the sound of the ball there.

Yes and hitting overheads would be no fun

JTContinental wrote: ↑Wed Jul 30, 2025 5:41 am Yes and hitting overheads would be no fun