Tennis Talk 2025: Vol 25 (Cincinnati)

Carlos fitness 100%. Brain 1%.

His team gave Sascha the towel. Thought that was symbolic, but he's hanging in there.

vivi @channelserve
· 25m
zverev half given up on the match and visibly struggling meanwhile president of the make a wish foundation, carlos alcaraz, has decided to gift him a break

so well put

starting to think i agree with you caramba. carlos 1% brain or less. just plays however he wants to play without much thought if any at all

A bit older, but

25 June 2025

Brazilian-born former player Christian Lindell, who represented Sweden, has been suspended for a period of seven years after being found to have committed four breaches of the TACP, relating to one fixed match, by AHO Diana Tesic, following a hearing.

33-year-old Lindell, who reached a career-high world singles ranking of 177 in July 2015, was linked to the criminal case involving a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium. In addition to the ban, the player has also been fined $10,000. The sanction commenced on 10 June 2025 and will expire on 9 June 2032.

https://itia.tennis/news/sanctions/four-players-sanctioned-tacp/

In their first match this year, Tatiana and Jessica Pieri finished the first set (6-0) before Jessica retired.

In their second match, they got to 4-3 before Tatiana retired.

Their third match didn't happen as Jessica withdrew beforehand.

Tatiana went on to win the title. A few integrity questions imo as it obviously allowed Tatiana to be fresher for the remainder of the tournament.

The reason one of them withdrew for the first time after one of them had either tanked hard or retired in the previous five meetings was probably that this was the first time they weren't scheduled to meet in the first round. I. e. a lucky loser/alternate would have stepped in for the withdrawee in the earlier meetings.

Polina and Veronika Kudermetova Meet & Greet
By W Hotels of New York
Join us for an unforgettable and intimate meet & greet with the dynamic tennis sisters Polina and Veronika Kudermetova.

Date and time
Friday, August 22 · 6 - 8pm EDT

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/polina-and-veronika-kudermetova-meet-greet-tickets-1567187242229

I know where Carlos and Holger will be next Friday late afternoon.

Rich Emma pulling out of the mixed doubles to play Monterrey and Jannik apparently not re-pairing is like throwing a lit match into a barn full of straw. Navarro had put out a funny video on Social Media wanting Jannik to pull his socks up to be ready for the event. She was clearly engaged with the concept and being paired with the form ATP player. It would seem an abrupt direction change.

If Jannik and Carlos play out the Concinnati final at reasonable intensity then Carlos fulfiling playing the mixed doubles advantages a resting Sinner going into the US Open proper. The Carlos/LRE pairing is the showpiece pairing on which most of the pre event publicity has been built. The event could probably survive certain withdrawals (eg Venus/Opelka) but not Alcaraz/Raducanu.

I've seen suggestions of a domino effect of withdrawals but surely guarantees of participation have been made. It would help if the US open website was actually updated on the subject. They still have Draper playing with Badosa!

I think it's very possible that Navarro got the signal from Sinner that he would withdraw from the mixed if he made it far in Cincy. So she went ahead and accepted the wild card in the knowledge that Sinner and Alcaraz always make finals (outdoors in Alcaraz's case).

If that's the case it doesn't match up with the narrative on tennis media sites which is Jannik 'scrambling' for a replacement.

Rising tennis star Jannik Sinner has been left scrambling for a mixed doubles partner at the US Open after American Emma Navarro withdrew from their planned pairing to compete in another tournament instead. The unexpected snub has thrown a wrench into Sinner’s preparation for the final Grand Slam of the year.../... With Navarro out of the picture, Sinner’s options are limited. Potential last-minute partners could include
Anna Kalinskaya – The Russian has experience in mixed doubles and is already entered in the women’s doubles draw -
Storm Hunter – The Australian doubles specialist could be a strong fit if available.
Mirra Andreeva – The teenage sensation has shown interest in mixed doubles before.
However, scheduling conflicts and existing commitments may complicate Sinner’s search. "It’s not easy to find a top-tier partner at this stage," a tournament insider noted.

Source - Letsplaytennis

Something is a bit off about all of this. Why would Jannik have committed to this high profile highly publicised relaunch if he was intending to pull out if he reached the final of a warmup tournament when he is usually reaching finals.

Anyway maybe the short term effect is that the phone suddenly starts ringing in the Demon household!

failla at it again. having beaten a player just outside the top 100 in the last q round she's now up against one inside the top 100. huge underdog again and has just broken in the first set from 40-0 down. jacquemot could be about to outdo sasnovich in the mugging stakes

this df madness must be catching. jacquemot has 7 already in three service games. serving at barely 40 percent doesnt help. why cant these players get their serve over the net and into the service box. ridiculous

on course for about twenty at this rate. would make gauff proud

I haven't heard anything about this, but Rich Emma feeling she needs some singles matching after flopping in singles in the last months, most recently to Ella Beermug of all people, would make sense to me.

So many question marks about this US mixed event. Carlos, Jannik, now Zverev, on top of those having already withdrawn. Will Rybakina or Swiatek be all that keen to play after playing a Monday final here?

Rybakina looking very very solid indeed.

Looks like Vukov’s return has had the desired effect for her

Woah. Rybakina looked in control then Swiatek runs off four games in a row to take the set.

Iga changing shirts on court again and just did the "No, don't film me" sign to the pervy cameraman who had to cut away to something else.

Aug 17, 2025 -- 6:56PM, Journeyman wrote:

Woah. Rybakina looked in control then Swiatek runs off four games in a row to take the set.

Not the first time this happens with these two.

She has to do better than serving for the set at *5-3 on a hard court against Swiatek and losing three of the first four points
Whatever happens here she's reached the semis of three 500+ events in a row beating Aryna along the way. that's great preparation for a slam. Can she provide some resistance here to an Iga runaway sprint

Aug 17, 2025 -- 6:57PM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

Iga changing shirts on court again and just did the "No, don't film me" sign to the pervy cameraman who had to cut away to something else.

Some parts of the USA need to get a grip regarding their humidity.

Some parts of the USA need to get a grip regarding their humidity

It could all have been played somewhere else with more reasonable conditions but Madison Keys claimed in a post match interview she had marched in and told them it had to stay in Cincinnati.

Can she provide some resistance here to an Iga runaway sprint

No is the answer. Iga on a tear 4-1* up in set 2, taking eight of the last nine games. She's the game's best momentum player regardless of surface and this all stems from one of the best hard court players on the planet not being able to serve out in game nine.

if she is one of the best hard court players and im not saying she isnt, then theres a lot of room for improvement because the best should be a lot better than she is

It's funny because against most opponents, Iga starts imploding when behind, but against Ryba she doesn't and instead plays herself into form.

iga even saving bps now

Poor 1.4x Ryba backers. That felt destined for a very long time

saba was so poor against ryba. swiatek dealt with her pretty easily in the end

Jannik 1.58 tomorrow. Hard court of course, but quite the contrast to the previous two meetings where it's been pretty much evens. My wish is a gruelling three setter that causes both of them to withdraw from the US Open mixed nonsense.

I'm beginning to think that Jpeg being so vocal about the issue has provoked a change of heart about their mixed doubles involvement among the players involved.

It's possible, but I think more and more are realizing that a 1/16 shot (slightly bigger for the better teams) at a million USD is not worth messing up your US Open preparations for. Like Coco Gauff realized very early on and was the reason she didn't enter.

Aug 17, 2025 -- 2:36PM, edy wrote:

Polina and Veronika Kudermetova Meet & GreetBy W Hotels of New YorkJoin us for an unforgettable and intimate meet & greet with the dynamic tennis sisters Polina and Veronika Kudermetova.Date and timeFriday, August 22 · 6 - 8pm EDThttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/polina-and-veronika-kudermetova-meet-greet-t... know where Carlos and Holger will be next Friday late afternoon.

VK's hot husband is fine with this?

what happens to the intimate meet if Polina goes deep in Cleveland?

Kartal prices constantly getting decimated. Will they ever learn

Latest on US Open mixed from US Open.
https://x.com/usopen/status/1957221447488721405/photo/1

Siniakova is in! But with Sinner who plays Cincy final tomorrow.
Kyrgios is replaced by Gael who will now partner with Naomi.
Zverev still listed after looking half dead in hiw last two matches.

Ok, maybe, potentially under certain circumstances, from a specific angle Journeyman was right that it was not Sinner who told Navarro to go to Monterrey.

USO qualifiers absolutely packed with forgotten flags! However Laura (with more talent than 100 of the 128 in the draw) not to be seen

Noskova is really going to have to give maximum effort in Monterrey. It's a weak field and an opportunity to win a 500+ and surely at the start of the year when setting out her goals one of them was to break the top 20. Fernandez is obviously a Mexico specialist but she's won her big title for the year and will be very focused on the USO. Her competitive instincts will have been heightened by recent weeks.

Otherwise there's nobody in that draw that a dialled in Linda N should be losing to on a hard court.

all fair points journey. but you have to think noskova is more interested in the us than this which means an unexpected loss is likely

Aw look, the W60 Saskatoon gives a framed picture as its trophy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNfxUv0J9Wc/

Sinner vs Alcaraz time!

On another note, is this the first time ever that for a joint event, the men's singles final have been played before the women's singles final? I can't recall it ever happening before.

Yeah I don't think Sinner will play mixed in New York tomorrow.

Poor Siniakova.

tapping ??

Don't hug an ill dude ffs.

doing it again!

tbf the illness part came from Lahyani! He always says illness when someone retires.

Poor Sinner hope he's okay soon enough

If Siniakova's fast she could rope in Hanfmann who's just lost in qualifying but will be available and feeling a bit sorry for himself

haha the Sky commentator just called US Open Mixed a glorified exhibition

Aug 18, 2025 -- 8:39PM, Journeyman wrote:

If Siniakova's fast she could rope in Hanfmann who's just lost in qualifying but will be available and feeling a bit sorry for himself

not sure she is still in. Sinner was the one they wanted for that team. They don't need Siniakova and some no-hoper to win the whole thing.

unlucky for the Carlos backers here. The one set rule Betfair has is such nonsense these days. They need to get with the time and not stick with a rule that was only implemented over 20 years ago due to match fixing concerns.

Why are Draper/Pegula 1.4x to beat Alcaraz/Raducanu tomorrow, surely any price like that is utter madness in a format like this, and what is the basis exactly?

Surely that's down to Pegula playing far too much doubles over her career and Less Rich Emma playing almost none?

It's a mad price to be that short in such a crapshoot format. I'd have it virtually 50:50, I feel like laying the ridiculous low odds in this mugfest will be the play. Like I can't see a good reason why this isn't basically a 50:50 match. Alcaraz has significantly more doubles experience than Draper does, and the thing is the team chemistry for both will be zero so that's not a factor either, I'd have it 50:50 so the current prices are mad.

Don't tell Carlos team chemistry will be zero!

Alcaraz has significantly more doubles experience than Draper does

agreed with your analysis though for these random teamings.

More volleying experience maybe because that's how he owns the folks standing 10 m behind the baseline.

Given the format, all the short prices are a lay I think. Like I semi understand the thinking behind Errani/Vavassori being 1.5x, but I don't buy either. Fritz/Rybakina have never lost a mixed doubles match, Fritz will be unbreakable, and Rybakina's serve a big asset in mixed.

Alcaraz played more doubles than Draper has. With Carreno-Busta.

will we get womens final before next 2hrs

no, it's a NB start.

Carlos found some good voodoo strategy after his QF. Two virtual WO's after that.

This mixed doubles mugfests will be interesting at least, want to see some markets settle here.

all fair points journey. but you have to think noskova is more interested in the us than this which means an unexpected loss is likely

I just don't think she can afford to phone it in. She's not played enough competitive tennis at the business end.
Rybakina has had perfect preparation for the USO. Three 500+ SFs and Noskova hasn't even had one

Aug 18, 2025 -- 9:01PM, n88uk wrote:

This mixed doubles mugfests will be interesting at least, want to see some markets settle here.

liquidity will hopefully be a little better, but I don't see the market makers going near this, especially not in-play, as they would need to put together new models for such a format which I don't think will be worth the effort for a three-four day event which could be a one-off. Lack of liquidity could mean some silly prices though.

Even proper mixed doubles is mostly dead.

Even proper mixed doubles is mostly dead.

It has soldiered on because a push to make changes has never happened. Now that that push has happened it would be a mistake to think this will be a one off. If it has traction then the Australian Open will follow

Aug 18, 2025 -- 9:13PM, edy wrote:

Even proper mixed doubles is mostly dead.

you are referring to betting here?

I agree with you (from market makers pov), but I don't think the event will be a one-off, I don't see them going back. This will be a big success monetary wise which is all that matters to them.

Expect prize money of this to dwarf regular doubles within a few years, given it will bring in far more money from TV, ticket sales etc.

I think the interest from fans is there, but not sure if top players will commit and they will need to for it to work. Even here they have been dropping as flies, and that's for the inaugural event which has lots of hype and intrigue. Like I said the other day: "I think more and more are realizing that a 1/16 shot (slightly bigger for the better teams) at a million USD is not worth messing up your US Open preparations for. Like Coco Gauff realized very early on and was the reason she didn't enter."

Yes, caramba. Even for the proper mixed doubles betting is usually a big struggle on the exchange.

That's what I thought you referring to, but then JM's response made it sound like you were talking about it from a non-betting perspective.

No no, it was purely a betting comment.

Aug 18, 2025 -- 9:28PM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

I think the interest from fans is there, but not sure if top players will commit and they will need to for it to work. Even here they have been dropping as flies, and that's for the inaugural event which has lots of hype and intrigue. Like I said the other day: "I think more and more are realizing that a 1/16 shot (slightly bigger for the better teams) at a million USD is not worth messing up your US Open preparations for. Like Coco Gauff realized very early on and was the reason she didn't enter."

The schedule will change from this year, this year is the worst scheduling I've ever seen, but Cincy's Monday's final will be dead within years, no way they persist with this.

I mean tennis is heading for some kind of civil war I suspect, these 2 weeks Masters are going to cannabilise themselves. The Toronto TD was already not happy with Sinner and Alcaraz no showing his event, but the schedule is just too much with everything 2 weeks, not enough weeks off, no player is going to play virtually every week from Indian Wells to USO. Something is going to have to give eventually.

And it's about to get worse, because the big Saudi event is getting announced soon, and it will be a Masters 1000 minimum, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's some new category like Super Masters 1500.

Literally nobody likes 2 weeks Masters, players hate them, fans hate them, amazing tennis has put itself in this position. It was also sold on a lie which I think pissed players off even more cos it was sold on you will earn a lot more money, but as has been pointed out you don't actually, because your expenses are significantly higher, and prize money has hardly gone way up to compensate.

I see your point about Gauff but otherwise the big names haven't really been dropping like flies though.
The only two that have effectively pushed back are Pegula and Navarro coincidentally the two least dependant on the tour for their livelihood.

The crowd will be buzzing anyway and that will get their competitive instincts racing

Former British top14 player Kyle Edmund announced his retirement.

A young career destroyed by injuries.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNgGQi2KLmI/

It's also very to unite all the players against something, albeit the reasons are different, because the reasons I gave have become from top players. But if you're a low ranked WTA player, how can you be happy the last few weeks, if you can't get into Canada or Cincy, or say lost in qualifying, where are you meant to have played? 0 WTA 125's, 1 $100k in like 3 weeks? Just diabolical for players hoping to get ready for USO qualies. Players ranked 100 want to play every week, not once every 3 weeks.

Aug 18, 2025 -- 9:39PM, edy wrote:

Former British top14 player Kyle Edmund announced his retirement.A young career destroyed by injuries.

Trying to find the chest bump GIF from Laver Cup, but no luck.

Aug 18, 2025 -- 9:42PM, n88uk wrote:

It's also very to unite all the players against something, albeit the reasons are different, because the reasons I gave have become from top players. But if you're a low ranked WTA player, how can you be happy the last few weeks, if you can't get into Canada or Cincy, or say lost in qualifying, where are you meant to have played? 0 WTA 125's, 1 $100k in like 3 weeks? Just diabolical for players hoping to get ready for USO qualies. Players ranked 100 want to play every week, not once every 3 weeks.

Didn't you hear! They'll have 50 WTA 125's next year!

Aug 18, 2025 -- 9:42PM, n88uk wrote:

It's also very to unite all the players against something, albeit the reasons are different, because the reasons I gave have become from top players. But if you're a low ranked WTA player, how can you be happy the last few weeks, if you can't get into Canada or Cincy, or say lost in qualifying, where are you meant to have played? 0 WTA 125's, 1 $100k in like 3 weeks? Just diabolical for players hoping to get ready for USO qualies. Players ranked 100 want to play every week, not once every 3 weeks.

Don't worry PTPA will take care of it!

Aug 18, 2025 -- 9:45PM, TheCarambaExperience wrote:

Aug 18, 2025 --  9:39PM, edy wrote:Former British top14 player Kyle Edmund announced his retirement.A young career destroyed by injuries.Trying to find the chest bump GIF from Laver Cup, but no luck.

Saw it on Twitter today, 1 sec.

https://x.com/Vickesh/status/1957490979235328296

That's the one thanks

Kristina Dmitruk is wearing thin black bands around both her knees. I'm not sure I've seen these before.

Seems to bring her good luck.

Once again Bet365 have failed to offer live streaming for Slam qualifying. At least it's on Betfair this time.

do we think vukic isnt that bothered about winston salem. currently heading towards a straight sets loss to the world nearly 500. just dropped serve immediately at the start of the second set. big flashing sign saying i dont give a toss about this match strapped to his head all thats missing

gets the break back only to go down a break again immediately from 40-15. seriously if you dont want to be out there then why turn up.

Iga gets it done. Not the usual bagel style win, but most be nice to know that you can win even when not firing at all cylinders.

dostanic's first tour level match. embarrassing from vukic this

if this isnt tanking from vukic i really dont know what is

6-4 5-2 down. about to lose 6-4, 6-2 to a guy playing his first tour level match. shameful from vukic

that absolutely stank. wheres the tennis integrity unit when you need it