SMB Tennis thread (note there is a specific Wimbledon 22 thread)

Blue_Monday said:
Sounds like Nadal isn't bothering with the US open due to it clashing with the Madrid Masters, strange one.
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Could be a few things to be fair. Being sensible and staying in his home country, playing on clay rather than going straight to hard court, or unless I've read it wrongly then he's got the chance to make more ranking points by playing Madrid than he does by playing the US Open.

Still, the chance of another Slam would have topped most of those things probably.
 


MarcoG said:
Could be a few things to be fair. Being sensible and staying in his home country, playing on clay rather than going straight to hard court, or unless I've read it wrongly then he's got the chance to make more ranking points by playing Madrid than he does by playing the US Open.

Still, the chance of another Slam would have topped most of those things probably.
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Yeah, it looks like you can keep your 2019 ranking for each tournament, and 2020 will replace it if you better it, so Nadal can't better his 2000 points at the 2019 US Open, but he could add 640 extra points by replacing his 360 Madrid semi final with 1000 by winning it. However, it's kind of swings and roundabouts because it's basically just Djokovic that he has to be concerned about regarding #1, so if he played the US Open then he'd have it in his own hands (admittedly with a hell of a lot of work to do...) to potentially stop Djokovic in the US Open final, so if he did beat Djokovic in the final, Novak would just get 1200 points instead of the 2000 for winning it, so that 800 off Djokovic's total would be worth more than the 640 extra that Nadal would get for winning Madrid, if that makes sense.

It's going to be pretty confusing, but I personally think it's the best scenarionwith the rankings so if anyone doesn't feel comfortable, or if they actually can't physically make a tournament due to restrictions, their ranking won't totally plummit in these strange times. Plus, as you say, it's still a Slam at the end of the day.
 
I think Nadal probably knows that he can't beat Djokovic on a hard court anymore and that will have been a big factor is missing the US, I doubt for instance if roles were reversed he would be dropping out the French Open for another tournament to protect his ranking points.
 
The Bridge Lad said:
Yeah, it looks like you can keep your 2019 ranking for each tournament, and 2020 will replace it if you better it, so Nadal can't better his 2000 points at the 2019 US Open, but he could add 640 extra points by replacing his 360 Madrid semi final with 1000 by winning it. However, it's kind of swings and roundabouts because it's basically just Djokovic that he has to be concerned about regarding #1, so if he played the US Open then he'd have it in his own hands (admittedly with a hell of a lot of work to do...) to potentially stop Djokovic in the US Open final, so if he did beat Djokovic in the final, Novak would just get 1200 points instead of the 2000 for winning it, so that 800 off Djokovic's total would be worth more than the 640 extra that Nadal would get for winning Madrid, if that makes sense.

It's going to be pretty confusing, but I personally think it's the best scenarionwith the rankings so if anyone doesn't feel comfortable, or if they actually can't physically make a tournament due to restrictions, their ranking won't totally plummit in these strange times. Plus, as you say, it's still a Slam at the end of the day.
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Reckon it'll probably him just being sensible with Covid more than the rankings, I reckon rankings mean more to Djokovic than they do Rafa.

Giving Djokovic an extra chance at catching his Slam titles however, a little more surprised at that.
 
See Djokovic has thrown his toys out the pram.

He literally ignored every rule put in place to stop spreading Coronavirus to play a daft tournament and go night clubbing , yet he thinks he has been subject to a "witch hunt".

Then he gets massively wound up when he dosnt get the love Nadal and Federer get, the bloke is an absolute tool.
 
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Washington cancelled. US Open's not gonna happen is it?

The year's probably just gonna be seen out by Dominic Thiem playing exhibition matches every day until 2021 starts whilst everyone else rests.
 
There should be a pretty cool, fun event starting on Monday (running through to the Sunday) at the National Tennis Centre next week. It's a mixed team tennis event featuring the biggest names in British tennis (26 players in total, and 4 team captains), and will be in the style of the Ryder Cup / Laver Cup. A mix of single's and doubles matches in a race to 60 points.

2 teams - Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jo Konta, Heather Watson, Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu among many others, and it's being covered extensively on the BBC's digital platforms. They've got hawk-eye and all sorts set up, so it should be really fun. Bar a few doubles men who are currently in the US, and a couple of injured 175-300 women, pretty much everyone is there who you'd expect:

www.bbc.co.uk

Murray & Konta to play all-British event

Andy Murray and Johanna Konta will both play in next week's Battle of the Brits Team Tennis tournament in London.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
www.lta.org.uk

Teams announced for the Battle of Brits Team Tennis

The team breakdown has been announced for the Battle of the Brits Team Tennis, with 13 players representing each side. The event will showcase the best of British tennis, as the top men's and women's players join forces into one of the two teams - the Union Jacks & the British Bulldogs.
www.lta.org.uk www.lta.org.uk
 
The Bridge Lad said:
There should be a pretty cool, fun event starting on Monday (running through to the Sunday) at the National Tennis Centre next week. It's a mixed team tennis event featuring the biggest names in British tennis (26 players in total, and 4 team captains), and will be in the style of the Ryder Cup / Laver Cup. A mix of single's and doubles matches in a race to 60 points.

2 teams - Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jo Konta, Heather Watson, Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu among many others, and it's being covered extensively on the BBC's digital platforms. They've got hawk-eye and all sorts set up, so it should be really fun. Bar a few doubles men who are currently in the US, and a couple of injured 175-300 women, pretty much everyone is there who you'd expect:

www.bbc.co.uk

Murray & Konta to play all-British event

Andy Murray and Johanna Konta will both play in next week's Battle of the Brits Team Tennis tournament in London.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
www.lta.org.uk

Teams announced for the Battle of Brits Team Tennis

The team breakdown has been announced for the Battle of the Brits Team Tennis, with 13 players representing each side. The event will showcase the best of British tennis, as the top men's and women's players join forces into one of the two teams - the Union Jacks & the British Bulldogs.
www.lta.org.uk www.lta.org.uk
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I'm having a few days in York might stick it on whilst I'm in hot tub with a few beers
 
The Red Telephone said:
That's good timing- just flicked the channel on and Boulter's game has just started.:lol:
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I know that's probably more in relation to Katie's looks, ha, but with Andy and, to a lesser extent, Konta potentially struggling to be in grand slam contention going forward, the opponent here is possibly our most realistic hope, on either side, to make the latter stages of slams in the next 6 years or so. A really good prospect. You just need type 'Raducanu' into the search bar to see how much I've been bigging her up over the past few years, ha.
 
I enjoyed that, good win for Emma. It's a great opportunity for some of the younger players to compete on the BBC platform, and the bigger names presence will probably ensure more watching eyes. I'm enjoying the whole team environment. Senior Muz and Watson teaming up next against another Grand Slam (doubles) winner in Joe Salisbury.
JL1985 said:
Who are the British youngsters to keep an eye out for in the next few seasons?
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Of those 16-19 year old, Raducanu, Banks and maybe Bissett on the women's side, probably Draper and that Anton lad who pushed Edmund reasonably close earlier today on the men's side. That NCAA college winner Paul Jubb is now 20, but I'm not really sure of his ceiling. Jodie Burrage, who beat Konta earlier, could make the top if she stays injury free, she was looking on course last year but did her ankle during the grass season and was out for a while - she's worryingly had a few ankle issues already. Quite a few U16 on the women's side who seem more promising than what we've been used to from similar ages gorups in the past, but it's pretty hard to tell at that age.

Raducanu will likely be the most interesting one to follow in the coming years, she made the final of that Sunderland ITF event in February, won a similar event at the back end of last year and looked really set to push on this year, then Covid...
Meant top 100 for Jodie, not 'top' unfortunately.
 
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evh78 said:
J Murray/Watson were 8-2 up in the final tie break and lost 8 points in a row to lose the match to Salisbury/Dart.
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Indeed, ouch.

Fun first day, a few decent matches, some upsets, and the players seemed to enjoy it. There doesn't seem to be any reason for how the teams were decided, and some of the difference in points per match is a bit random, but it's still a good idea, and it's really good how pretty much all the bigger or relevant names (including the 4 captains) in British tennis are there. Decent coverage by the BBC as well.
 

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