Monday, June 25, 2018

Weekend Tennis Roundup


If you'd told me five years ago I'd be OK with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both losing in finals on the same weekend -- and that's I'd be ecstatic about one of them -- I'd have thought you were nuts. But it was hard not to be thrilled watching young gun Borna Coric dismantle the GOAT -- on grass in Halle where'd he'd won nine times before -- to capture his second title to date.


He also embarrassed supposedly #NextGen superstar Alexander Zverev (again), 6-1, 6-4 in the first round, which prompted Justin Gimelstob to go on and on about how the young Croatian is better developed in "the lower region" than Sasha. Haven't heard him get this excited about someone's "tuchus" since he jerked off over Dominic Thiem in April.

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This point summed it up perfectly ...


The loss also tipped the No. 1 ranking back to Rafael Nadal, although Wimbledon still gave the No. 1 seeding to the King of Grass. The women's will be out tomorrow, perhaps held up by the tournament's history of using its discretion to seed people, namely seven-time champ and (World No. 183) Serena Williams. 


I wasn't exactly thrilled that Marin Cilic beat Novak Djokovic for only the second time in 16 tries. But I like Cilic and especially like that he isn't exactly a one-Slam wonder four years after winning his one Slam. Djokovic was up a set and 4-0 in the second-set tiebreak before double faulting and completely going away. Still not sure if Djokovic can regain the mental toughness he once had, but can't really be that disappointed that he reached a final after many previous early-round exit or losses to unexpected players.


In more erotic news, Nick Kyrgios, who defeated Andy Murray in his comeback match (at Queen's Club) before eventually losing to the eventual champion in the semis,  was fined $23,590 for pretending his water bottle was a penis, wanking on it and MAKING IT "EJACULATE" on live television.


As she did going into Roland Garros, Petra Kvitova made herself a favorite at Wimbledon with her second consecutive crown in Birmingham. (The Fucking Crumbs Everywhere Nature Valley Classic.)  The two-time Wimbledon champ fought back from a set down to beat Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. 


"Can I win Wimbledon [this year]? Well, why not?" Kvitova said afterward. "But many things can happen. You can get injured. ... It's a little bit of a different mindset with a Grand Slam, and I will try to set up my mind for this tournament." It was Kvitova's fifth title this year -- more than any other player on the tour -- yet her ranking still languishes at No. 8. 


And in the smaller Mallorca Open, Tatjana Maria -- who hadn't won back-to-back matches all year and was 3-15 coming in -- beat Kontaveit, Witthoeft, Safarova, Kenin and Sevastova for her first WTA singles title. In December, The New York Times said of her that the "WTA's busiest player is a glove-trotting mom."


Perhaps Serena Williams (and her fans) should follow her lead instead of whining about the rules.

1 comment:

BosGuy said...

I watched this match partly because it was such a great match and partly because how can you not watch Borna Coric?