Talk About Tennis 2.0

Hingis is number one on my list. Maybe it was her dismissal of Graf as as someone who's time had come and gone before Graf kicked her butt in the RG final. Or maybe it was her homophobic remarks about Mauresmo at the Australian Open. And then there was this, in Jon Wertheim's column this week. I thought it was about all good experiences fans had had with pros, so when I saw Hingis's name, I thought, OK, here's a chance for me to see another side of her. And...no.

• Richard Wolf of New York: About 15 years ago, I went on a vacation to Key Biscayne the week when the Miami Open was going on. The hotel was filled with many pros and the hotel’s courts were used by many to practice. I had a court reserved to play with my 14-year-old daughter. Martina Hingis had just returned to the tour after an absence and was suddenly doing very well and was in the top 10. She came to the court we had reserved with her mother to practice. Even though it was our court, we gave it to them and as Martina went on the court, I said to her mother that Martina was doing very well. The mother’s response: “You Americans think everything is always great!” Evidently being ranked anything other than No. 1 was not good enough. And there was certainly no thank you for giving Martina our court.

I really should start a GoFundMe page for Iva Majoli.

Kevin

Hingis will always be my favorite player to watch. But I used to adore her all around when I was young and then that of course slowly dissipated over time based on some things said and done off-court. That said, the above example is more a commentary about Melanie Molitor who is definitely not winning congeniality awards any time soon!

Fun fact: Those courts at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne are operated by Cliff Drysdale's company. I didn't realize just how many tennis resorts Drysdale's company runs/operates until I saw that - it's a lot. He certainly isn't in the commentator business for money.

Anyone vocally against equal prize money - Stakhovsky and Simon are the ones I think of first. Simon is a shame, because I had a fun Simon story from 2008, when he won Indianapolis, and he ruined it by campaigning against EPM. And yesterday I saw a video of Stakhovsky practicing with Kostyuk (both Ukranian), whose quarantine videos I was enjoying and I was thinking I'd start watching her, maybe become a fan. Ugh. Kinda put a damper on that.

dmforever wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 5:12 am

I really should start a GoFundMe page for Iva Majoli.

NOW
Konta - To borrow from Mr. Cowell, 'it's a no for me'.
Cornet - If tennis ever experienced a storming of the Bastille, I'm coming for her first!
Isner - Ace robot that can't break serve is an affront to tennis itself.
Kyrgios - I have never come across a player that complains about the sport more than actually playing it.

THEN
Davenport - See Konta.
Bartoli - Service motion, end of.
Rusedski - TRAITOR!
Roddick - Cap on backwards and too easily perturbed.

Gee, which CURRENT player may end up in this list like, soon, really soon? I wonder...

By and large, the current crop of players are all very well behaved. Example, I really dislike Medvedev's STROKES, but the guy is alright. Can't talk smack about him.
For loath I believe I need to go back all the way to Rios, and I don't mean I did. But he had zero friends in the tour because he was despised by everybody. Story:
Jakob Hslazek was scheduled to play Rios, and he was having a rough time on the tour; thoughts or retirement were present. But, as he walked to the court, the other players lined up and started telling him to kick Rios' butt, to crush him, to play really hard. Fed by this frenzy, indeed he went out and beat him, returning to the locker room to resounding applause. Hlasek said that gave him the confidence to play one extra year in the tour.

Edit: Ok, while I wrote this, such player was mentioned. Joke spoiled...

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 3:49 pm Gee, which CURRENT player may end up in this list like, soon, really soon? I wonder...

By and large, the current crop of players are all very well behaved. Example, I really dislike Medvedev's STROKES, but the guy is alright. Can't talk smack about him.
For loath I believe I need to go back all the way to Rios, and I don't mean I did. But he had zero friends in the tour because he was despised by everybody. Story:
Jakob Hslazek was scheduled to play Rios, and he was having a rough time on the tour; thoughts or retirement were present. But, as he walked to the court, the other players lined up and started telling him to kick Rios' butt, to crush him, to play really hard. Fed by this frenzy, indeed he went out and beat him, returning to the locker room to resounding applause. Hlasek said that gave him the confidence to play one extra year in the tour.

Edit: Ok, while I wrote this, such player was mentioned. Joke spoiled...

I don't think anyone mentioned Rios. Love that story!

mmmm8 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:17 pm Hingis will always be my favorite player to watch. But I used to adore her all around when I was young and then that of course slowly dissipated over time based on some things said and done off-court. That said, the above example is more a commentary about Melanie Molitor who is definitely not winning congeniality awards any time soon!

Fun fact: Those courts at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne are operated by Cliff Drysdale's company. I didn't realize just how many tennis resorts Drysdale's company runs/operates until I saw that - it's a lot. He certainly isn't in the commentator business for money.

I agree that it's also about Molitor, but Hingis could have easily said thanks to either of the people whose court she had just been gifted. But I'm sure she expected to be deferred to, so why thank someone for that, right?

And thanks for that info about Drysdale. If he's not doing commentating for the money, then I really really hope that whatever is motivating him goes away and he throws in the microphone.


Kevin

Sorry Kevin. ESPN just gave him a one year extension on his broadcasting contract. He could never tell Venus and Serena apart. I wonder how he's doing with Naomi and Cori Gauff?

LAURA SIEGEMUND

That is all

JTContinental wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 6:37 pm LAURA SIEGEMUND

That is all

I always loathed Carla Suarez Navarro-lovely woman but she has knocked me out of more SPs, contests etc than I care to think of, and lost me a good few quid with the bookies over the years!

In seriousness I don’t think I dislike anyone enough nowadays to say I loathe them. Maybe Tomic and Errani

The title, technically, DOES NOT say loathe. It says something milder.
So, go ahead. Sure you do!

Tennys Sandgren. Did not need to think too hard about that.

ponchi101 wrote:Gee, which CURRENT player may end up in this list like, soon, really soon? I wonder...

You know who I could write pages about. But since I’m trying to stay positive, I won’t. You’ve all heard it before.