The Tennis Thread

[McGee_22]

Back when Steffi was playing the women used to play 5 sets in their year end Finals competition- by all accounts the games were very exciting.

[cherryowen]

cerb4.5lee said:

Petrus1983 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

It did surprise me how humble and gracious he was at the end of the match though, but I think that is just a front to be honest.

He's one of the great champions - of course it's a front - he'd have been shocked and fuming as per a champions mentality. However I'm glad he was gracious as it made for a special tennis moment. Crazy to think only 4 people until now in the men's game have won since 2003!

That is mad I agree. Nice to see a new name on there for sure.

It is; very much so.

It's also a reminder that for the last 20-odd years - in the men's game - we have been treated to the most incredible tennis no matter who one's allegiance is with. Off the top of my head, stuff like Fed's missile backhands down the side lines / Rafa's cross-court forehands / Djokovic returning winners against shots that no-one has any right to even reach.

Carlitos does, however, look like the real deal for the next round of greats. Djokovic asked a lot of questions yesterday, and Alcaraz had the answers (well, apart from set #1)

[JNW1]

Skeptisk said:

Sorry but your comment is rather stupid.

You may believe that women should get paid the same and maybe for political reasons or ideological reasons they should, but it is also a sound argument to link prize money to income generated. That is how it works in most sports. Minority sports that people don’t watch have small prizes. Popular sports see stars getting paid huge amounts. It isn’t fair. That is how capitalism works.

Exactly so.

To me it's nonsense to suggest players who participate on a tour which generates (relatively) modest revenue should be paid the same as those who participate on a tour which generates a much larger revenue. And of course for most of the year that doesn't happen, it's only when the tours come together at the grand slams and one or two other events (such as Indian Wells) that the prize money becomes equal. So in reality it's the grand slams and those other few select events that are out of step in offering equal prize money and (IMHO) it should never have been allowed to happen; there's no reason why the women's game suddenly becomes as valuable as the men's just because it's (say) Wimbledon or the US Open.

But it isn't going to change and actually the likelihood is other sports will start pushing for equal prize money as well (witness the discussion that's happening around the women's football World Cup at the moment).

[North West Tom]

If women played 5 sets, it'd have to be a 4-week tournament instead of 2. Scheduling would be a nightmare.

[abzmike]

6 grand fine for Djokovic for smashing his racquet in the final - honestly what is the point…

[AlexRS2782]

RichB said:

g4ry13 said:

RichB said:

g4ry13 said:

What is the reasoning behind making the women's game 3 sets rather than 5?

Smaller serve so points last longer + more running around?

and yet from what I've seen there is less 'running around' in the ladies game.

After a little research, it seems that women playing 3 sets instead of 5 is in keeping with tradition. The idea at the time being that women were weak and fragile so were spared playing 5 sets. It's a bit strange that modern women have not rejected this sexist notion and campaigned to play 5 set matches

Of course it's only in slams that men play 5 sets, the rest of the time on the ATP tour it's 3 sets.

Yep, loads seem to forget that the male single events during the year are best of 3 unless it's at the majors (even though it should be easy to remember when they normally broadcast some of those best of 3 set events in the weeks before - such as Queens, Nottingham, etc, before Wimbledon)

Even now in the slams it's just best of 5 in the mens singles as the mens doubles at the slam events (like it was at Wimbledon this year) have all been changed to best of 3 - although it appears part of that decision does seem to be linked to tournament scheduling conflicts, overrun, etc, at the slam events.

[cerb4.5lee]

abzmike said:

6 grand fine for Djokovic for smashing his racquet in the final - honestly what is the point…

Agree, but at least he got a fine though. I would have expected because it was "Djokovic" that it might have just been brushed under the carpet and forgotten about to be fair. He usually gets away with everything that he does wrong normally from what I see, and he is a bit untouchable if you know what I mean.

[Leithen]

abzmike said:

6 grand fine for Djokovic for smashing his racquet in the final - honestly what is the point…

It could pay for a new net post. It won't of course, but if I was Alcaraz, I'd being asking for it to mount on a wall alongside the replica Men's trophy.

[Blackpuddin]

Leithen said:

abzmike said:

6 grand fine for Djokovic for smashing his racquet in the final - honestly what is the point…

It could pay for a new net post. It won't of course, but if I was Alcaraz, I'd being asking for it to mount on a wall alongside the replica Men's trophy.

It's 1/172nd of his prize money for Wimbledon, or 1/5000th of his estimated annual income. The equivalent in other words of someone on £30k a year being fined £6. If the LTA is pursuing fine-based punishments they really need to bring in a Finnish-style motoring offences fining system based on income.

[RSbandit]

Seems a few of the more virtuous posters are oblivious to commercial realities of professional sports!

[nickfrog]

RSbandit said:

Seems a few of the more virtuous posters are oblivious to commercial realities of professional sports!

Who do you mean?

And what do you mean?

The commercial reality of the grand slams is that the income is not gender sensitive, whether tickets, TV rights or sponsorship.

In fact I suspect sponsorship revenue would suffer from a differential in prize money between men and women.

[McGee_22]

Well done Dan Evans on winning his first ATP500 title at the Washington Open.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/66424666

[Blackpuddin]

McGee_22 said:

Well done Dan Evans on winning his first ATP500 title at the Washington Open.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/66424666

Well done, but not much respect.

[nickfrog]

I like Evans. I met him this year at Gare du Nord hours after he was knocked out of the French in the first round. He was waiting for the same train as me with his GF. No one knew who he was of course. Had a good chat, he didn't have to talk as he would have been annoyed at his exit, but he was really friendly and approachable.

[McGee_22]

What an uplifting night for British Tennis.

Following Lily Miyazaki’s maiden Grand Slam 1st Round win the previous night, all the six other Brits won their US Open 1st round matches yesterday starting with Katie Boulter, then all the chaps with Cameron Norrie, Andy Murray, Dan Evans, Jack Draper and finished with a straight sets win by Jodie Burrage.

Well done all!

[Blackpuddin]

Murray dealt with that French fruit loop pretty well. Hope they provide more effective security for him after his next one vs Dimitrov.

[North West Tom]

For those like myself unwilling to fork out for Sky Sports - Bet365 show all the matches live. There is no commentary/build-up/interviews, and the feed is cut straight after the match is over. Their video player is a bit crap as well. You may need to deposit £5 into your account - better than the £30+ Sky want!

[abzmike]

Murray bowing out after a rather disjointed display against Dimitrov. He seemed to by struggling physically, not sure if he’s carrying that groin strain, but not really able to mount a proper challenge. Dimitrov was decent to be fair.

[Blackpuddin]

Hope for his sake that this is Murray's last season, there's really no point putting yourself through the wringer for early exits.

[UTH]

Blackpuddin said:

Hope for his sake that this is Murray's last season, there's really no point putting yourself through the wringer for early exits.

One last stab at Wimbledon must be his aim really. Fingers firmly crossed he can end with one last 'deep run' there and end on a bit of a high.