The Bridge Lad
Striker
No surprise, but Andy Murray has officially withdrawn from the French Open, but the good news is, his place has been taken by Cam Norrie. Looks like Naomi Broady has decided not to bother with qualifying.
SMB Tennis thread (note there is a specific Wimbledon 22 thread)
- Thread starter The Bridge Lad
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MarcoG
Striker
Norrie actually had a decent win yesterday against Haase, match wasn't up to much but Haase was absolutely seething at regular intervals with Norrie and the umpire. Was quite entertaining.
Saw some of that McHugh kid's match earlier as well, his serve motion is the worst thing I've seen in my life.
Saw some of that McHugh kid's match earlier as well, his serve motion is the worst thing I've seen in my life.
chopsfc007
Striker
What channel is this on
The Bridge Lad
Striker
Yeah, I caught bits of the McHugh match after work, I was quite impressed with what I saw as that's the first time I've seen him. James Ward flying the flag for the Brits there now. Jay Clarke lost a challenger match within the last 20 odd mins.
Tennis on UK TV
Useful website there mate - has all the channels the men and women's matches are on. No TV coverage of any men's stuff this week, 3 250 tournaments on Tennis TV subscription channel. The British players matches in Glasgow were on the British tennis Facebook page. BT Sport as usual has full coverage of the 2 WTA events.
The Bridge Lad
Striker
Cracking little run from young Tsitsipas of late. He was obviously overwhelmed by Nadal in the Barca final last week (particularly the 2nd set) but he's made another semi final this week and that's 9 wins in his last 10 (Nadal defeat) and has beaten Thiem (on clay), Anderson, PCB, Ramos and Andujar on that run. Provisionally up to 40 in the rankings.
Madrid Open starts tomorrow morning.
Madrid Open starts tomorrow morning.
Another Everton Fan
Midfield
Monday surely?
Still three tournaments ongoing this week
Still three tournaments ongoing this week
The Bridge Lad
Striker
The main stuff starts tomorrow
even though there are still 2 finals to play as well.
Another Everton Fan
Midfield
Qualifying is the main stuff?!The main stuff starts tomorrow
The Bridge Lad
Striker
Na, was meaning the women's first round starts tomorrow with the likes of Svitolina, Ostapenko, Garcia and Venus in action.
MarcoG
Striker
Worst I've seen Edmund play in a long time yesterday. Really should be beating players like Joao Sousa especially on clay. Another decent chance for his first title gone. Should beat Medevedev in Madrid but then Nishikori / Djokovic > Goffin in the rounds after so he'll do well to pick many points there.
Anyone backed any winners for French Open yet? I've got Schwartzman at 100's from back in February (it'd be seriously appreciated if he fancies winning a match anytime soon) & Djokovic at 15's on the men's side and then Muguruza at 10's & Bertens at 50's on the women's. I'd quite like Halep to win it but can't be backing her as the favourite to win a Slam.
Anyone backed any winners for French Open yet? I've got Schwartzman at 100's from back in February (it'd be seriously appreciated if he fancies winning a match anytime soon) & Djokovic at 15's on the men's side and then Muguruza at 10's & Bertens at 50's on the women's. I'd quite like Halep to win it but can't be backing her as the favourite to win a Slam.
Benjamin
Central Defender
Got Nadal to win without dropping a set at 6/1.
The Bridge Lad
Striker
What happened in the last set? Some were suggesting injury as it was strange winning the 2nd set comfortably to being 5-0 down and only winning 5 points - any hint of injury?
I'll wait until the draw as usual, but temped by Garcia at 40/1. Don't necessarily think she will win it and she's playing nothing like she was at the back end of last year, but she is at home (with big crowd support), highly seeded, did well last year and I think they look long (was expecting circa 20s). Halep is a good shout but as you say 4-6s are far too short.
I'll probably do a few very small outside bets where I see massive discrepancies in odds. For example Osaka is as short as 20 and generally 25s, but you can get her at 66/1 and there are a few other examples like that. Of course if someone has a decent Madrid and/or Rome tournament then their odds will come in if you wait.
scotch
Striker
Think this is a cracking bet given last year at the French and how he's playing this year plus the competition is poorer
The Bridge Lad
Striker
Coco Vandershiteonclay has just cost me a 6 fold acca. She was odds on vs Kiki Mlad and after a good showing in Stuttgart the other week, reaching the final, I fancied her here but she has gone from 5-5 to 5-7 0-4 in about 20 mins . Awful that when you watch all the results come in and even had a evens shot to boost the odds and it's going to fall at the final hurdle.
. Awful that when you watch all the results come in and even had a evens shot to boost the odds and it's going to fall at the final hurdle.
MarcoG
Striker
Not injured, he's playing in the dubs final now with Norrie. Just seemed to go back to Edmund of last year, shrugging his shoulders, giving up as soon as he goes behind and hitting shots that quite clearly aren't on. Hopefully just a one off.
JL1985
Striker
Why has Naomi Broady not bothered with FO qualifying? Not suited to clay. I'm surprised with that. Surely a player should always give qualifying a go.
The Bridge Lad
Striker
I'm with you on that, it's pretty poor. Had she have been in the top 112 or so (and qualified directly) she would almost certainly have played, but she must have thought the chances of winning 3 qualifying matches on clay would be beyond her and she may as well stay out in the far east picking up cheap points in limited fields and then prepare for the grass season starting in early June whilst the FO is still ongoing. Boulter is still on the Q list but isn't 100% going to play either, Taylor is though.
JL1985
Striker
I'm of the opinion that you learn the game on clay then adapt to other surfaces. Easier said than done in Britain because of the weather and facilities. The best 2 British players of recent times, Murray (trained in Barcelona on clay during his teenage years) and Edmund (played 90% of his futures and challenger events on clay)
The Bridge Lad
Striker
I'm going to go all Andy Murray on you and say 'best 2 British male players...'
For me it's more that the Grand Slams should be the absolute pinnacle of a tennis players career and if you are ranked circa 250 then your main aim is to crack the top 220 or so to get into qualifying, or if you are 130ish in the lead up to a slam then you're main focus is to crash the direct entry list whichever slam it is.
I don't particularly like it, but you can kind of understand Federer at this stage of his career and if he did retire, tennis would be in a worse place but I'd hate it if picking and choosing which slam you want to play in became the norm.
The Bridge Lad
Striker
Some interesting last 16 matches in the women's side of Madrid:
Goerges vs Garcia
Sharapova vs Mladenovic
Stephens vs Azarenka/Pliskova
Wozniacki vs Bertens
And that's just the top half - Muguruza, Svitolina, Halep, Kvitova and Konta all in action tomorrow for their 2nd round matches.
Goerges vs Garcia
Sharapova vs Mladenovic
Stephens vs Azarenka/Pliskova
Wozniacki vs Bertens
And that's just the top half - Muguruza, Svitolina, Halep, Kvitova and Konta all in action tomorrow for their 2nd round matches.
