Tennis Talk 2023: Vol 25 (Kitzbühel, Prague, Washington, Los Cabos)

Good for WTA that no Ukrainians are good at football. Don't see them wanting to be on the same team as Dasha or Vika.

Bektas won. 8/9

n88's Yue Yuan let you down though

Sakkari might win this now.

who's the brunette between Donna and the mascot?
https://twitter.com/OBNmontreal/status/1687905632861540352

someone I should know?

Isn't @'ed, so can't be famous.

it's not some Canadian tennis hipster that only you would know of?

wow, Maria Sakkari won a semifinal!

what a coach Tom Hill is!!!

Maybe it's Marina Stakusic, but I can't really find a lot of off court pics to compare.

Sakkari is an excellent athlete. if she could improve her mental she'd be a force. today she let Jess back into this from nowhere and if Jess wasn't running on total empty she would have won this today

Aug 5, 2023 -- 9:24PM, SamuelMertensBertens wrote:

what a coach Tom Hill is!!!

Aug 5, 2023 -- 9:24PM, edy wrote:

Maybe it's Marina Stakusic, but I can't really find a lot of off court pics to compare.

not her

don't think this person played the match

Soccer wasn't the only thing they played in Montreal. Bouzkova, Muchova and David Lee's wife played hoops.

https://twitter.com/OBNmontreal/status/1687552209398202368

when will it change from twitter to x in the URL?

didn't know basketball was popular in Denmark and Czechia.

Aug 5, 2023 -- 9:53PM, wisewords wrote:

when will it change from twitter to x in the URL?

wouldn't AI confuse it with porn?

Czechia hosted the women's FIBA Euroleague finals a bunch of times and als won it.

Their national team has also won the Eurobasket and finished runner up at the worlds.

just got a really strong feeling that Coco Gauff is gonna win US Open in the next few years

Cressy with 14 aces and 14 double faults.

Is Linda past it and will never win another Chennai?

Vickery won. 8/10

I'll have to settle for 14/16

imagine it ends on 13

that should be the stip for the Zuckerberg/Musk UFC fight, loser has to get rid of the Meta/X name.

14/16 is pretty good for almost hipster tennis.

I didn't factor in that Vickery and Bektas aren't as much total no-hopers while playing in North America as they are when playing outside of North America

Linda would have beaten her if this was WTA Warsaw

who do you wanna see Woz against?

and I do have a bit of a weakness that I don't know the true abilites of the Chinese players

it's hard to be super interested in them when they're so boring

and so inconsistent/erratic with form and results. the only ones I really know right now are Qinwen and Zhang

Xinyu was just a gimmick?

twitter is really bullying Sakkari!
https://twitter.com/TennisPodcast/status/1687921911970308097

there's Xiyu Wang or Xinyu Wang and anyone seen Q Wang? then there's Lin Zhu and Yafan Wang and Yue Yuan from today

don't forget about PTPA's Saisai!

they're so inconsistent. Walking in a Xinyu Wonderland?

Saisai retired I thought?

Aug 5, 2023 -- 10:08PM, SamuelMertensBertens wrote:

who do you wanna see Woz against?

Danielle

Danielle won. 9/11

Xinyu's greatest accomplishment is still that she made Sharapova realize she wanted to become a mother!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spexVafPE6o&ab_channel=WTA

KT Boulta won (hi Toad!). 10/12

Aug 5, 2023 -- 10:16PM, wisewords wrote:

Saisai retired I thought?

apparently she did. Why does PTPA need ex-players?

oh kamm on KT, stop this mugging!!!!!

5-0 lead becomes 5-3!

this fake Mirjam needs to go away

Aug 5, 2023 -- 10:19PM, wisewords wrote:

KT Boulta won (hi Toad!). 10/12

.

Has SaiSai really retired? Wikipedia is lying by calling her a former player imo.

I don't see her announcing her retirement anywhere, nor is she on the official retirement list.

I was just trusting ww and wiki.

She is on the player executive committee of the PTPA, which sounds like something for non-retired players too.

PTPA would give her any spot just to fill the quota of Chinese players/women.

most recent match Nov 21. Sounds retired to me.

Brady had last played August '21.

dental work requires two years away from tennis.

Raonic July '21, Nishikori October '21.

Aug 5, 2023 -- 10:33PM, edy wrote:

Has SaiSai really retired? Wikipedia is lying by calling her a former player imo.I don't see her announcing her retirement anywhere, nor is she on the official retirement list.

cool. just assumed she was because she hasn't played for ages

Putintseva is working on the upset of the year.

Also, the women's Montreal streams have been horrendous all evening.

Poots doing Poots things

Bassols wins. 11/13

https://twitter.com/OBNmontreal/status/1687908025200259072

pause at 2 seconds in! Leo with an open goal and Osty goes for the finish herself! Was a good finish though to be fair. Someone else pointed out it looks like she has lost weight, I thought so too. Or maybe it's just she wasn't wearing her own outfits here.

https://twitter.com/SportsHorn/status/1687893188546105345/video/3

DashaK also with a good opportunity to pass Leo and doesn't At least this confirms they made the right choice by going for an individual sport.

Not Marina Stakusic doesn't play in the game, so likely not a tennis player.

Aug 5, 2023 -- 9:20PM, edy wrote:

Isn't @'ed, so can't be famous.

wta@WTA
·6h
Title number 4!

@laurasiegemund & Vera Zvonareva win the Washington, D.C. title, defeating Guarachi/Niculescu, 6-4, 6-4!

#MubadalaCitiDCOpen

When will Prague open their eyes to reality?

Saw on reddit yesterday that Iga is practicing with her mouth taped shut, presumably to practice nose breathing for that bit of extra power and recovery.

Signs of a true champion that wants to improve on even the detail.

Aug 6, 2023 -- 12:22AM, SamuelMertensBertens wrote:

Not Marina Stakusic doesn't play in the game, so likely not a tennis player.

WTA photographer Jimmie48 also didn't name her in his photograph database, so probably really not a player.

The WTA125 in Kozerki, Poland gave Chwalińska, Lincer, Kubka, Ewald main draw wild cards over Ula. That's just scandalous.

Aug 6, 2023 -- 10:48AM, edy wrote:

Saw on reddit yesterday that Iga is practicing with her mouth taped shut, presumably to practice nose breathing for that bit of extra power and recovery.

Funny if this became a trend. No more shrieking in women's tennis.

Aug 5, 2023 -- 12:11AM, SamuelMertensBertens wrote:

Aug  4, 2023 --  8:11PM, wisewords wrote:oh no, orange tainted big tennis ballswonder if there will be some muggery like this at the US Open.

https://twitter.com/DC_Draino/status/1679453781627478016

I'm positive their hands will survive. People like that should stop spreading the stupidest myths.

Just noticed Noskova is in in the Montreal draw, good luck with that.

Albeit weather in Montreal is awful most of the week too.

In fact next week looks a very frustrating week looking at the weather at all the events, as Toronto is bad, this event in Kozerki also looks bad.

Wait it's actually not raining in Prague?

Aug 6, 2023 -- 12:22PM, n88uk wrote:

Just noticed Noskova is in in the Montreal draw, good luck with that.

more like no showa, eh?

Kozerki qualies are being put indoors (apparently with no video).

In Prague they are keen to not get the towels wet, so instead of using them directly on the court, they use the towels to waggle air towards the surface.

Aug 6, 2023 -- 12:22PM, n88uk wrote:

Albeit weather in Montreal is awful most of the week too.

https://youtu.be/Dt81Y1Mpv7w

Ruud got to throw the first pitch in a Blue Jays game.

'Thundery showers and a moderate breeze' forecast for tomorrow in Prague

But it looks like if it's dry in the morning and Hibino wins the SF game she needs they're going to crack on with final within half an hour.

weather.com doesn't have any dry windows at all in Prague tomorrow.

...but maybe winds change and carry the rain elsewhere for a few hours. Happens all the time.

Aug 6, 2023 -- 7:08PM, edy wrote:

https://youtu.be/Dt81Y1Mpv7wRuud got to throw the first pitch in a Blue Jays game.

and Ben was impressed.

Weren't we all? It wasn't in the strike zone, but he did get the ball to the pitcher successfully with his bare hands. Monica Puig needed a racquet back in the day when she (literally) served the first pitch to her then boyfriend Derek Dietrich.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6eCUw8xqA0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ_t3HcSSWM

and this was Serena's attempt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jCE9clKsZY

This video of the worst opening pitches features Carly Rae Jepsen, John Wall, Conan McGregor and a pitch straight into the nutsack of a bystander.

I even forgive you for throwing in a Darth Vader there for some of those funny pitches. Can kind of be expected by CRJ, but how does John Wall throw it that badly? I think I would thrown similar to Casper Ruud. And I didn't even grow up in a baseball culture.

https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1688286150589292545

Maybe a PG's (or at least Wall's) muscle memory is highly trained on throwing basketballs (two handed) to the point that he can't really do other throws and loses every snowball fight.

E.g. coincidentally pitchers in baseball are often utterly horrendous throwers regarding everything that isn't a high velocity throw to the catcher. Ask a pitcher to field a ball and throw it to base and they often look like they have zero control over where the ball is going when the assumption should be that they are somewhat able to throw a baseball around the field. I've never looked for an explanation from experts, but I assume it's simply because they, their brains, their muscles are so specialised in throwing to home base from a specific position and a specific, highly controlled stance.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/15j1qw4/baez_unintentionally_roasts_thiem/

Baez might want to prepare his winner's speech more carefully next time, even if everyone had a good laugh and they didn't take it in a bad way.

Aug 5, 2023 -- 9:22PM, SamuelMertensBertens wrote:

wow, Maria Sakkari won a semifinal!

Sakkari has a message for you

https://twitter.com/TheTennisLetter/status/1688169198764306432

I'm not even gonna look at that but if it's something that's going to make me feel bad, I already am. I will never fall for peer pressure again and join in the Maria Sakkari bullying, I am so sorry.

Aug 6, 2023 -- 9:48PM, edy wrote:

Maybe a PG's (or at least Wall's) muscle memory is highly trained on throwing basketballs (two handed) to the point that he can't really do other throws and loses every snowball fight. E.g. coincidentally pitchers in baseball are often utterly horrendous throwers regarding everything that isn't a high velocity throw to the catcher. Ask a pitcher to field a ball and throw it to base and they often look like they have zero control over where the ball is going when the assumption should be that they are somewhat able to throw a baseball around the field. I've never looked for an explanation from experts, but I assume it's simply because they, their brains, their muscles are so specialised in throwing to home base from a specific position and a specific, highly controlled stance.

Interesting. I would have thought if you're good in one ball sport you're fairly competent in most. And in particular John Wall who must have thrown lots of baseballs/softballs during his childhood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s-CggQ2xIE

Tom Brady also with a less than ideal first pitch.