Weeks 22 & 23 - French Open, Paris - Clay

the addict · Tennis legend

Weeks 22 & 23 - French Open, Paris - Clay

Miriambee · Futures level

women's doubles start on the 29th.

flamingowings · All-time great

Sorry, seem to be getting my days mixed up -blame starting a new job!

indiana · Tennis legend

flamingowings wrote:
Sorry, seem to be getting my days mixed up -blame starting a new job!

Probably better that your new job distracts you from the tennis rather than vice versa. All the best.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Julia Carrot wrote:

How come Heather didnt get the lucky loser spot when Kvitova pulled out ?

-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Monday 27th of May 2019 07:40:53 PM

She lost in QR2, not FQR

Thanks. I should have checked that before asking. Am away at the moment and just dipping in and out of action from my phone. (As many here also Im sure but dont ask such daft questions !!)

the addict · Tennis legend

Lol, np Julia, we all ask daft questions at times !

ROSAMUND · Futures level

indiana wrote:
JonH wrote:
Davis feels like a match she should win ? American, clay, outside top100?
Does feel very winnable.
Though Davis at her best is good. Now 25 yo, she is a former JWR 3 and generally spent 2013 through to 2017 solidly in the top 100 with a CH 26 from May 2017.
I recall watching her epic Australian Open L32 match with Halep ( final set 15-13 to Halep ) which wasn't just ultimately survival of the fittest, it was largely a very good match. For whatever reasons the rest of her 2018 was awful and she seems to have been active.
Picked up a bit again this year and has had US clay ( green clay? ) 80K RU and 100K winner results in the last couple of months.
Leads Jo in overall RG MD wins, err 2 to 1.

From a British point of view it is to be hoped that Lauren Davis does not repeat the scoreline when they last met on clay.When they met on US Clay in a 25K. tournament at Innisbrook Florida in early 2012, Davis won the match 6-1 6-0 which was one of the heaviest defeats in Jo's career.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Very unpopular opinion on here, but I hope Heather loses her doubles R1 match, for a number of reasons. I'm not a doubles fan and am much more into the singles, so it wouldn't necessarily give me any joy if Heather has a bit of a run here, but from a general GB singles fan perspective, it'll be better IMO if she goes out:

If Heather won one round again and lost in R2, like last year, and was therefore automatically withdrawn from Surbiton, it could waste a Surbiton MDWC again, which would potentially make the likes of Katy have to go through qualifiers
Bar last year, the grass is usually a great opportunity for Heather to pick up valuable points, and as a high seed in Surbiton (with more rest / practice than last year if she goes out early) she would have a good chance to do well
Looking at the Manchester entry list as it stands, there's only 4 players there who are in the Wimbledon draw (excluding the Brits) and while Diyas will likely be one of the favourite, there's obviously a very good chance that that event will be won by a non Brit / already qualified - potentially losing a Wimbledon MDWC, so having Maria and Watson in the draw, likely as seeds*, would help to keep that Wimbledon MDWC in-house. The likes of Jodie, Naiktha and Katy will likely be relying on these ITF WCs staying in house to get a Wimbledon MDWC of their own.
A bit extra money would be nice for her, but she'll get plenty more doubles opportunities at Wimbledon, including mixed, where I'd be more for a run, as long as it didn't interrupt her singles.

I am aware that she wouldn't have entered doubles if she didn't want to have a bit of a run there, so it would probably be another blow to her confidence, but with all the above in mind, I'd prefer her to go out.

*Maria would almost certainly be a seed, but Hev probably wouldn't - it would depend on how the likes of Zhang (seeded with Stosur), AVU, Rodina, Rybarikova etc. all got on in the doubles. The current top 8 seeds are all involved in women's dubs along with Hev and Babos, so the chances are some of those will be automatically withdrawn from Surbiton, which would move more Brits up entry lists and weaken the field for more chance of home wins, but also increasing the likelihood of a Wimbledon WC going elsewhere...

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Tuesday 28th of May 2019 12:46:27 PM

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Is anyone else a bit annoyed with the coverage? ITV and ES1 are understandably covering Evans (although it would be nice if they could liaise and cover different matches) and, although it would be nice, you can't really expect ES2 to run dedicated coverage all day as well, but it's a real shame, you've got the world #1 and back to back major winner in big trouble, yet it's buried on the Player without commentary, so just doesn't feel the same. It's a shame with all those dedicated ATP and WTA commentators out there, a lot of them probably won't be a part of one of the biggest events. There's not even any world feed comms on the betting sites.

At least with the US Open, Amazon had the 3 main courts with world feed coverage as well as the main channel and special pick channel, and Wimbledon obviously has dedicated coverage throughout. It will be less of a problem later in the tournament when there are less matches, but it has definitely spoilt my enjoyment a fair bit.

-- Edited by Ace Ventura on Tuesday 28th of May 2019 03:18:11 PM

JonH · All-time great

Does heather start doubles tomorrow? Good luck to jo today

the addict · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
Does heather start doubles tomorrow? Good luck to jo today

Must be tomorrow as I can't see her on the OOP. They are playing half the first round today, plus some mens and mixed

Mervatron2 · Futures level

I'm a bit annoyed with ITv4 and Eurosport showing the same matches ALL THE TIME!!

good to see two different ones this morning but then now both showing Nadal

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

It really is annoying Mervatron. It would be good if they could sit down and say, you show Nadal today, we'll show Djokovic tomorrow etc. I know nothing about cycling, but that Giro de Italia thing on at the same time is unfortunate as I've seen Eurosport pretty much dedicate 2 channels to tennis before.

Not everyone has access to the Eurosport Player, but even if you do, it's just not the same for me without commentary. Pretty much every sporting event has commentary, so seeing big matches without it just seems wrong.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Ace Ventura wrote:
It really is annoying Mervatron. It would be good if they could sit down and say, you show Nadal today, we'll show Djokovic tomorrow etc. I know nothing about cycling, but that Giro de Italia thing on at the same time is unfortunate as I've seen Eurosport pretty much dedicate 2 channels to tennis before.

Not everyone has access to the Eurosport Player, but even if you do, it's just not the same for me without commentary. Pretty much every sporting event has commentary, so seeing big matches without it just seems wrong.

Really? I love it without commentary.

I always choose the 'without' option on Tennis TV.

However, I do like Jim Courrier. Who generally speaks only at the change of ends and doesn't seem scared of 5 seconds silence.

As to scheduling, Eurosport shows every match, doesn't it? (Mine does).

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Ace Ventura wrote:
It really is annoying Mervatron. It would be good if they could sit down and say, you show Nadal today, we'll show Djokovic tomorrow etc. I know nothing about cycling, but that Giro de Italia thing on at the same time is unfortunate as I've seen Eurosport pretty much dedicate 2 channels to tennis before.

Not everyone has access to the Eurosport Player, but even if you do, it's just not the same for me without commentary. Pretty much every sporting event has commentary, so seeing big matches without it just seems wrong.
Really? I love it without commentary.
I always choose the 'without' option on Tennis TV.
However, I do like Jim Courrier. Who generally speaks only at the change of ends and doesn't seem scared of 5 seconds silence.
As to scheduling, Eurosport shows every match, doesn't it? (Mine does).

I much prefer commentary, especially if you're keeping an eye on other scores on your laptop as it's easier to zone out, and to me, just makes the experience feel bigger. Eurosport do have every match on their platform via the Player (as do the likes of Bet365), but a lot of people will just have access to ITV4, Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 and at the moment you have a choice of Nadal, Nadal and cycling, whilst the Tsonga-Nishikori match, which is much more competitive, is buried away.