ATP/WTA 2?: Unchained Meldonium

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(09-07-2023 01:54 AM)venom1976 Wrote:  Hope Frances keeps getting better and we keep seeing him in the late stages of Slams.

It would be nice, but the more he seems to disappoint (poor results overall in the majors this year, plus poor results in Masters Series events), the more it feels like his time is passing by. Still, with as long as careers go these days, I guess he can still turn it around in his late 20s.

Meanwhile yet another women's QF is a disappointing match.

It's wild that Sabalenka is in second place by winning her first 7 QFs in majors but that first is Chris Evert who won her first 48 QFs in majors. That's absurd lmao.

[Dr.ciski77]

I absolutely adore everything about Rublev but he needs to get over this inferiority complex if he wants to win one of these

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Yeah it was sad how he went up a break in every set but still lost every set. He's now 0-9 in QFs, so he clearly has a mental hurdle to get over there.

[Dr.ciski77]

Has Vondrousova ever seen Keys play? No? Ok

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Well this tournament has been a bust in general, and the QF matches are a prime example. Of the 8 QF singles matches, 7 were won in straight sets. The other one was a 4 set win. It has been this way all tournament, with very few Ashe matches being competitive. I don't remember the last time it was this bad.

[Dr.ciski77]

I feel bad for Keys because I was really rooting for her out of the people left in the semis but she served for it and completely shat the bed. It's like she Sabalenka'd herself out of that final.

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Shelton's game is way too hit-or-miss to challenge Djokovic, and it's a minor miracle he made the SFs.

Djokovic is into his 36th major final out of 72 played - so, exactly 50%. That is insane.

[Dr.ciski77]

While I find Gauff a better athlete than she is a natural tennis player, which I don't think can really be helped, surely there's a way to improve her forehand by changing her grip and opening it up just a little bit, because at the moment it is just an absolutely awkward, constructed shot that cannot hold up like that against players who put her on the defensive. I don't even know why anyone would teach her that extreme a western grip to start with.

[Dr.ciski77]

Anyway Sabalenka being her, she can't keep a forehand in play anymore. This is a pretty bad final quality-wise but alas

[Dr.ciski77]

Evert really just said with a straight face that Sabalenka played really high quality tennis in a match where she went -21 between winners and unforced errors. She's really on her last two brain cells.

That said, this is really the best possible outcome. The geopolitical optics of a player from Belarus holding the #1 spot and two slams would have been just a bit too uncomfortable for me.