Nice grass-court wins for Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Garcia on the eve of Wimbledon. Plus a whole lot more BELOW.
Earlier I was in shock that the censors hadn't gone after ESPN for broadcasting James Duckworth's ass in mandatory-white shorts!
Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose grass game hasn't been looking good, edged Roberto Bautista Agut in Mallorca to claim his first tour-level title on the surface. In a topsy-turvy encounter, Tsitsipas was broken when serving for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set, but the Greek held firm to claim a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) win and clinch the ninth tour-level title of his career.
Taylor Fritz outlasted 5-inch-shorts-wearing Maxime Cressy 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) Saturday in an all-American* men's final for his second Eastbourne title. Was bummed because grass is probably the *Franco-American's best chance at a title, yet he came up a little short(s)
Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic completed a British trophy double on Friday, following up last week's triumph at the Queen's Club with a successful title defense in Eastbourne. The Croatians defeated Matwe Middelkoop and Luke Saville 6-4, 6-2 to win their fourth title of the 2022 ATP Tour season, all coming in the past two months. They did not drop a set this week and will now look to defend their 2021 Wimbledon title.
In probably the biggest surprise of the weekend, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova overpowered the overpowering Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 to win the Eastbourne title on Saturday. I'd like to think this means the Czech doll will be in fine form this week at Wimbledon, but you never know which Petra will show up to play
And the biggest disappointment saw Caroline Garcia coming back from a set and a break down to beat 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday in the final in Hamburg. Nice that the Frenchwoman won her first title in three years but really would like to see Bianca return to form. The bad news for Emma Raducanu is that she'll play Garcia in the second round at Wimbledon
Elsewhere around net:
Andy Murray returns to the scene of two of his greatest triumphs
The oft-injured Christian Harrison qualified for Wimbledon for the just the second time at age 28
Bad luck for Marin Cilic, a former finalist who was having a great grass-court season
Jack Draper reached the semis in Eastbourne, losing in a jizzfest against Cressey
The Dominican Republic has a hot export in Nick Hardt
Cam Norrie having some fun in Eastbourne
Hot box alert
I'd sure like to play with James McGee's pickle, balls
This is what Vasek Pospisil looks like when he's struggling
Carlos Alcaraz and Stan Wawrinka hit the practice court
Queen's Club finalist Filip Krajinovic cleans up nicely
I believe it, Doc
Little brother Christian made it into Wimbledon, but Ryan Harrison is looking equally fit
Hungry man dinner
Liam Broady and Andy Murray need to get a room
Marcos Giron's run to the quarters in Mallorca included one of the most erotic unforced* errors in tennis history
Of course, that ass kind of forced it ... threw off his center of gravity! Watch HERE.
David Vega Hernandez is giving me daddy issues
Did you remember that Thomas Fabbiano once beat Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon?
Kevin Krawietz enjoys some fresh fruit
How do you say manspread in German?
Adam Jones gets around: Here he is with Diego Schwartzman
And Stefanos
This is what all the excitement is about
Dominic Thiem isn't there, but Austrian Dennis Novak qualified for Wimbledon and will face Facundo Bagnis of Argentina in the first round tomorrow
Daniel Masur fell in five to Christian Harrison in the final round of Wimbledon qualies, but looked awfully fetching doing so. He'll play Bernard Tomic tomorrow in a Challenger
Hot couple alert: Albano Olivetti and Santiago Franchini
Franchini with Boris Petrovic
Team Garin
You can always count on The Championships for hunky officials and grounds crew
I don't know what's going on here, but I'm awfully glad Alex Rybakov shared it
Mate Pavic celebrates with Coach Miki Jankovic
Jan-Michael Gambill has been branching out with his wardrobe ....
And his designer jackets can barely accommodate his ample bosom
But I was bummed to see that foxy Frenchman narrowly lost to John Isner earlier today, 7-5 in the fifth
Sporty Eduardo Nava
... cleans up nicely
Jannik wants to be a sinner with Filip
Lloyd Glasspool always has his eye on the mancandy
Doubles partners Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons looking good
Wimbledon's 2002 finalist David Nalbandian with star pupil Miomir Kecmanovic
How do you say "thick" in Serbo-Croatian?
Team Tommy Paul
Mackenzie McDonald and his coach at the straightest event on Earth
Hubert Hurkacz came up short in this photo with John Isner ... and in his first round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
I could get into this Cam Norrie - John Millman sandwich
Matt Ebden at your service
Lloyd Glasspool and Co.
Looks like I picked the wrong weekend to go to Chicago ...
J.J. and the Wolf pack invade the Windy City
I wonder if any of them got a lap dance at the Old Horseshoe Lounge?
Since he's not much of a tennis player, I do appreciate Karen Khachanov's interest in being the next Thor
Joe Salisbury is also a do-gooder
Big Joe hanging with his favorite Mick
A win for Ben Patael
And a winning friend, too
Michael Venus joins the Christian Harrison posse
Yet he still seems to be playing with longtime partner Tim Pütz
Casper Ruud and Carlitos
Loved the French Open finalist's support for gay Norway
Kramies all grown up
Team Shapovalov looks a lot better than he's been playing of late
Enzo with Arthur Rinderknech
... and Andrea Vavassori
Doggy style with Jonathan Eysseric
Jack Sock qualified for Wimbledon. He'll take on Bernabe Zapata Miralles tomorrow morning
What about French-on-French violence? Quentin Halys defeats Benoit Paire
Tim van Rijthoven's winning streak continues
Tommy Paul gets his first win at Wimbledon
This is how Robert Farah carries on in the gym
It was a shame that Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur had to pull out of the doubles in Eastbourne when the Tunisian twisted her ankle. I was hoping if they kept winning I would find out who the guy coming between them was
And last but not least: Who do you think will win this year?
I'll start with my men's prediction, done using the mindset of a Nadal fan when he's playing the French: Ohmygod. The three-times-defending-champion Novak Djokovic -- who hasn't lost to Rafael Nadal on grass since 2008 -- is clearly the absolute underdog. (I'm surprised they even let him play -- he's barely won one tournament this year and looked incredibly shaky in his first-round match today.) If he can get a set off Nadal it will be an absolute miracle. (Please God, let him UPSET Rafa!) Prediction: Rafael Nadal -- who is going for the Grand Slam(!) and has beaten Djokovic in four of their last five matches -- will win it all.
This one's very unpredictable, but it will be fun to watch. Iga Swiatek is playing head and shoulders above the rest, but has little experience on grass. Serena Williams can still hit the ball as cleanly as anyone, but her inability to move has been costly since the birth of her daughter. Whether her agility -- at age 40 with a year off -- has somehow improved will be the key to her success. If I had my way, Jabeur would be crowned queen. But I have never have my way, so let the suffering begin.
1 comment:
The Duckworth behind is always must see tv!!!!
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