Talk About Tennis 2.0

skatingfan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 02, 2025 3:02 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 02, 2025 2:18 pm I really would like to hear from the old guard, playing 20 tournaments a year, and flying in commercial airlines, about the length of the season.
And I do mean it. Not being sarcastic. I would love to hear what Vilas would say about the long season nowadays.

How many of those flights were domestic within the US? There used to be a lot more tournaments in the US, and players would go to Europe for a few months or less, and then back to the US.

Absolutely. The US summer circuit was there for a reason.
But the US is not a small country. It is not France, where you cannot fly for more than an hour without leaving the country.
You know my position. Carlos has played 74 matches this year, which is a lot by modern standards. He may finish the year around ... 90? That is 54 matches less than Vilas' record.
Really. I would like to have a glass of wine with Vilas and talk about that.

Friday Order of Play

Capital Group Diamond
Starts at 1:00 AM

Quarterfinals
SVK Mihalikova /GBR Nicholls vs TPE Hsieh /LAT Ostapenko (4)
Starts: 13:00 (Venue) 01:00 (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
GBR S. Kartal vs CZE L. Noskova (26)
Not before: 15:00 (Venue) 03:00 (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
USA E. Navarro (16) vs USA J. Pegula (5)
Not before: 18:00 (Venue) 06:00 (Your time)

Hoping for a Noskova - Pegula semifinal.. Noskova is one of my favorites, young player with great potential.. Anisimova - Coco will be a great semifinal too.. I still expect Anisimova to win this title but it is getting very tough now. Coco is defending champion after all.

well, that worked out. I hope Noskova gives a good account of herself.

Saturday Order of Play

Capital Group Diamond
Starts at 1:00 AM

Semifinals
TPE Hsieh /LAT Ostapenko (4) vs ITA Errani/ITA Paolini (2)
Starts: 13:00 (Venue) 01:00 (Your time)
Semifinals
Upcoming
USA A. Anisimova (3) vs USA C. Gauff (2)
Not before: 15:00 (Venue) 03:00 (Your time)
Semifinals
Upcoming
USA J. Pegula (5) vs CZE L. Noskova (26)
Not before: 18:00 (Venue) 06:00 (Your time)

On a relatively slow court like this one, there are only 3 ways to win:
1. blast winners - for which you need to be able to generate your own power, lots of it.
2. go to the net and put away volleys - you need foot speed to get there, court sense to know when to go there, plus touch and feel to put the volley away - Paolini, Pegula, did that here.
3. it is theoretically possible to just wear your opponent down, by returning everything, redirecting the ball, creating openings and then hitting through them.Navarro did that against Swiatek. Bencic does that too. Mertens is another.. Sloane used to be great at it.
The trouble with method 3 is that you will, sooner or later, come up against a good practitioner of methods 1 or 2, in which case you cannot win.
which is how people beat Medvedev these days - they dont try to rally with him - Zverev tried and it didnt work.

In general, women who have the power to blast winners are not many but there is a handful - Sabalenka, Anisimova, Noskova, Rybakina, Keys
Great Practioners of method 2 are Pegula, Paolini, Muchova, Leylah. Maybe Krejcikova.
Not sure about Swiatek and Coco..
Wuhan is the last test of the season (the Riyadh court is similar, too, I think).

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4375475/ ... eakthrough

I am not the only person who thinks these slow courts are not to Pegula's liking .. Pegula says so herself.

Anisimova just beat Coco 1 and 2

being greedy, I now want Noskova to beat Pegula..or, at least, do well...

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 10:53 am being greedy, I now want Noskova to beat Pegula..or, at least, do well...

NOWWWW i am happy. This court suits Noskova, doesnt suit Pegula. Not that I dislike Pegula, just that I am happy to see my conjecture proved right. Too many people here think court speed is a myth, of no consequance.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 12:40 pm

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 10:53 am being greedy, I now want Noskova to beat Pegula..or, at least, do well...

NOWWWW i am happy. This court suits Noskova, doesnt suit Pegula. Not that I dislike Pegula, just that I am happy to see my conjecture proved right. Too many people here think court speed is a myth, of no consequance.

You can call me by name. No issues there. After all, I have put that in writing. And it is not TOO MANY PEOPLE. I have yet to see somebody else talk about court speed. Certainly not with the frequency that you bring it up.
But, if you don't mind, the next time that your predictions do not pan out, mention that too. Otherwise, It is called confirmation bias.
Also: good calls.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 8:08 am Anisimova just beat Coco 1 and 2

Wholly unsurprising.

Sunday Order of Play

Capital Group Diamond
Starts at 4:30 AM

Final
JPN Kato /HUN Stollar vs ITA Errani /ITA Paolini (2)
Final
Upcoming
CZE L. Noskova (26) vs USA A. Anisimova (3)

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 1:35 pm I have yet to see somebody else talk about court speed. Certainly not with the frequency that you bring it up.

I only do it because nobody else seems to bring it up. As I said below, if nobody is interested, I am happy to stop posting.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 1:35 pm the next time that your predictions do not pan out, mention that too.

I do, often. You may not have been noticing.
anyway, it is not the prediction that matters - I am not betting after all (illegal here anyway!) - my point is my discussion of what happens when the court is slow, which is a more general discussion about tennis. I would have expected more people to comment, but nobody does.. except you, and your main point is it doesnt matter (which I dont agree with).
If nobody is interested, I am happy to stop posting. I do not need anybody's endorsement.