Talk About Tennis 2.0

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024
LADIES' SINGLES

SWIATEK, Iga POL [1] vs KENIN, Sofia USA
JONES, Francesca GBR (W) vs MARTIC, Petra CRO
PUTINTSEVA, Yulia KAZ vs KERBER, Angelique GER (W)
STAKUSIC, Marina CAN (Q) vs SINIAKOVA, Katerina CZE [27]

GARCIA, Caroline FRA [23] vs BLINKOVA, Anna
PERA, Bernarda USA vs POTAPOVA, Anastasia
DODIN, Oceane FRA vs SNIGUR, Daria UKR (Q)
TOMLJANOVIC, Ajla AUS (W) vs OSTAPENKO, Jelena LAT [13]

COLLINS, Danielle USA [11] vs TAUSON, Clara DEN
SHERIF, Mayar EGY vs GALFI, Dalma HUN (Q)
OSORIO, Camila COL vs DAVIS, Lauren USA
FRECH, Magdalena POL vs HADDAD MAIA, Beatriz BRA [20]

KREJCIKOVA, Barbora CZE [31] vs KUDERMETOVA, Veronika
CARLE, Maria Lourdes ARG vs VOLYNETS, Katie USA (Q)
BUCSA, Cristina ESP vs BOGDAN, Ana ROU
BOUZAS MANEIRO, Jessica ESP vs VONDROUSOVA, Marketa CZE [6]


RYBAKINA, Elena KAZ [4] vs RUSE, Elena-Gabriela ROU (Q)
SIEGEMUND, Laura GER vs BAINDL, Kateryna UKR
WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN (W) vs PARKS, Alycia USA (Q)
BRONZETTI, Lucia ITA vs FERNANDEZ, Leylah CAN [30]

KALINSKAYA, Anna [17] vs UDVARDY, Panna HUN (Q)
BOUZKOVA, Marie CZE vs RIERA, Julia ARG
KALININA, Anhelina UKR vs AVANESYAN, Elina
MASAROVA, Rebeka ESP vs SAMSONOVA, Liudmila [15]

JABEUR, Ons TUN [10] vs UCHIJIMA, Moyuka JPN
MONTGOMERY, Robin USA (Q) vs GADECKI, Olivia AUS (Q)
GOLUBIC, Viktorija SUI vs NIEMEIER, Jule GER
LINETTE, Magda POL vs SVITOLINA, Elina UKR [21]

BOULTER, Katie GBR [32] vs MARIA, Tatjana GER
DART, Harriet GBR vs BAI, Zhuoxuan CHN (Q)
WANG, Xinyu CHN vs TOMOVA, Viktoriya BUL
KRUEGER, Ashlyn USA vs PEGULA, Jessica USA [5]

BOTTOM HALF

ZHENG, Qinwen CHN [8] vs SUN, Lulu NZL (Q)
VAN UYTVANCK, Alison BEL vs STARODUBTSEVA, Yuliia UKR (Q)
BEGU, Irina-Camelia ROU vs ZHU, Lin CHN
TOWNSEND, Taylor USA vs PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia [25]

ALEXANDROVA, Ekaterina [22] vs RADUCANU, Emma GBR (W)
HIBINO, Nao JPN vs MERTENS, Elise BEL
RUS, Arantxa NED vs YUAN, Yue CHN
KESSLER, McCartney USA (Q) vs SAKKARI, Maria GRE [9]

KASATKINA, Daria [14] vs ZHANG, Shuai CHN
KORPATSCH, Tamara GER vs MIYAZAKI, Yuriko Lily GBR (W)
BADOSA, Paula ESP vs MUCHOVA, Karolina CZE
FRUHVIRTOVA, Brenda CZE vs ANDREEVA, Mirra [24]

YASTREMSKA, Dayana UKR [28] vs PODOROSKA, Nadia ARG
TSURENKO, Lesia UKR vs GRACHEVA, Varvara FRA
VEKIC, Donna CRO vs WANG, Xiyu CHN
BEKTAS, Emina USA vs SABALENKA, Aryna [3]


PAOLINI, Jasmine ITA [7] vs SORRIBES TORMO, Sara ESP
MINNEN, Greet BEL vs WATSON, Heather GBR (W)
ANDREESCU, Bianca CAN vs CRISTIAN, Jaqueline ROU
ERRANI, Sara ITA vs NOSKOVA, Linda CZE [26]

KOSTYUK, Marta UKR [18] vs SRAMKOVA, Rebecca SVK
SAVILLE, Daria AUS vs STEARNS, Peyton USA
SCHMIEDLOVA, Anna Karolina SVK vs WANG, Yafan CHN
TREVISAN, Martina ITA vs KEYS, Madison USA [12]

AZARENKA, Victoria [16] vs STEPHENS, Sloane USA
PLISKOVA, Karolina CZE vs SHNAIDER, Diana
OSAKA, Naomi JPN (W) vs PARRY, Diane FRA
WANG, Qiang CHN vs NAVARRO, Emma USA [19]

CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU [29] vs KARTAL, Sonay GBR (Q)
LYS, Eva GER (Q) vs BUREL, Clara FRA
COCCIARETTO, Elisabetta ITA vs TODONI, Anca ROU (Q)
DOLEHIDE, Caroline USA vs GAUFF, Coco USA [2]

Poll started. 6 votes spread between 3 players.

Lots of health questions among those contenders. Which of them will be 100%?

First Grand Slam Main Draw

Marina Stakusic, Canada (19)
Anca Todoni, Romania (19)

First Wimbledon Main Draw

Daria Snigur, Ukraine (22)
Maria Lourdes Carle, Argentina (24)
Julia Riera, Argentina (22)
Elina Avanesyan, Russia (21)
Moyuka Uchijima, Japan (22)
Robin Montgomery, United States of America (19)
Olivia Gadecki, Australia (22)
Ashlyn Krueger, United States of America (20)
Lulu Sun, New Zealand (23)
Yuliia Starodubtseva, Ukraine (24)
McCartney Kessler, United States of America (24)
Brenda Fruhvirtova, Czechia (17)
Rebecca Sramkova, Slovakia (27)
Diana Shnaider, Russia (20)
Eva Lys, Germany (22)

my 'other' is not
Really 'other'...,it is Andreescu

My upset special would be Kenin to beat Swiatek in the first round...she had sent Coco home last year...

Face it. We all should put 6 down for Ms. I Don't Have a Damned Clue.

Sabalenka has been strangely fragile these few weeks .she would have a good shot at the title but doesn't seem fit and healthy..With Rybakina, it is impossible to tell..is it just a one time stomach bug or something more lingering? Vondrousova was injured recently ..only Coco seems healthy, apart from Iga .maybe it is Coco's turn to win ..her forehand grip is still a problem but maybe she can manage somehow .

My other is Osaka and Andreascu

IMO Iga is a main contender. The variation between surfaces is not what it used to be. It is much smaller, because frames and strings advanced so much that their influence on the game covers larger share. At the same time the habit of winning that Iga possesses might just carry her through.

The surfaces are more similar, but it is a myth that there is not much difference. The difference remains tremendous, particularly in the footing and the way the serve goes through the court. The varying results of multiple players on clay and grass prove it over and over again.

Swiatek is very good, but her exaggerated swing on her forehand will give her problems on grass for her entire career, just as Gauff's forehand grip will be a detriment. It amused me that Wertheim's pick for the final was those two, although who knows, he may turn out to be right.

jazzyg wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 5:16 pm The surfaces are more similar, but it is a myth that there is not much difference. The difference remains tremendous, particularly in the footing and the way the serve goes through the court. The varying results of multiple players on clay and grass prove it over and over again.

Swiatek is very good, but her exaggerated swing on her forehand will give her problems on grass for her entire career, just as Gauff's forehand grip will be a detriment. It amused me that Wertheim's pick for the final was those two, although who knows, he may turn out to be right.

"Smaller than it used to be" and "not much difference" are not equivalent statements. Nobody denies that surface dictates style variations. At the same time those style variations are noticeably less extreme than 20-30 years ago. Nadal had quite an extreme grip on his forehand. And his swing was a prototype for Swiatek's swing. It did not prevent him from taking a couple of titles. And he did not have to switch his style completely for grass, like Bjorn Borg.

Nadal stood on the baseline or close to it to return serve on grass and had a very short stroke on his lethal backhand. He also was one of the two or three best players ever.

Obviously everyone plays the same baseline style, negating that huge difference between the surfaces, but the difference is still gargantuan in my view. The old Tennis-x site used to spew the garbage that Wimbledon played like a clay court, and it was a laughingly stupid assertion. Jack Draper could play Alcaraz 100 times on clay and he would win zero times.

Potential Swiatek-Ostapenko Round of 16 match. Swiatek's worst nightmare.

IF Ostapenko gets that far. I give 20% for that.