Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XIII

[Tuggy]

Felix will get that title eventually.

 

[Tuggy]

17 year old Leylah Fernandez got through qualifying in Acapulco.

 

[Maestro84]

From 2000 onwards, only Nadal (18 finals) and Djokovic (7 finals) have made more than 5 finals before turning 20, so even though FAA is not winning them yet, the fact that he's one of two men still standing in the Sunday finals is great promise for the youngster

 

[Tuggy]

Federer dropping 500 points this week and not playing, so Thiem will take over the world #3 spot next Monday. New career high for him.

 

[discostu]

In the last 20 years, only Nadal (18 finals) and Djokovic (7 finals) have made more then 5 finals before turning 20, so even though FAA is not winning them yet, the fact that he's one of two men still standing in the Sunday finals is great promise for the youngster

Yeah, it's pretty impressive. Especially since he's been injured for long stretches of his career thus far. That's a concern on its own, but, he's not actually had a lot of opportunities to really settle into his style of play.

Both Denis and Felix will have a lot of points to defend as they both reached the SF in Miami last year, so I can see both having a small dip in rankings this month. But, looking ahead to the later spring, I'm eager to see Felix play at Roland Garros.

 

[Tuggy]

Felix back at it. Just underway in Acapulco against Bolt.

 

[MsMeow]

Felix back at it. Just underway in Acapulco against Bolt.

And it's on TSN's website for those of us who don't have Tennis TV

 

[Tuggy]

Fernandez also just started.

 

[Tuggy]

Both teenagers get straight sets wins.

 

[discostu]

Both teenagers get straight sets wins.

Seemed like a relatively easy win for Leylah against a top 100 player. Hopefully she can make a bit of a run,as the field for this tournament seems pretty weak as the top talent is in Doha.

 

[MsMeow]

Sharapova announced her retirement in Vanity Fair.

Exclusive: “Tennis—I’m Saying Goodbye.” After 28 Years and Five Grand Slams, Maria Sharapova Steps Away From The Game

 

[Tuggy]

Seemed like a relatively easy win for Leylah against a top 100 player. Hopefully she can make a bit of a run,as the field for this tournament seems pretty weak as the top talent is in Doha.

Her and Felix are both up again today.

Leylah will face world #71 Hibino. They've actually played 3 times before with Fernandez having 2-1 record.

Felix up against Edmund. First career meeting.

Pospisil and Schnur are the last two remaining Canadians at the CH in Calgary. They both play tonight.

 

[kihei]

Sharapova announced her retirement in Vanity Fair.

Exclusive: “Tennis—I’m Saying Goodbye.” After 28 Years and Five Grand Slams, Maria Sharapova Steps Away From The Game

I'm probably among the very few around here who is sorry to see her go, but I am.

 

[ZDH]

Dear Kyrgios,

If you're going to just quit after the first set could you do us a favor and just quit when its 5-3 and not 6-3. Thanks.

Sincerely,

All the morons who bet on you

 

[Tuggy]

Edmund simply better than Felix today. Not a great performance today.

Next up is IW.

 

[Tuggy]

No such problem for Leylah. She cruises through.

 

[discostu]

Pospisil out in Calgary. Sucks for anyone attending, as he's probably a pretty big draw for that tournament, but, he probably needs the rest in advance of IW. Schnur won though, so there's at least a Canadian still in the mix.

It's nice to see Leylah doing so well. She's up to 158 right now, but if this is where her game is, where she's beating top 100 opponents with ease, she should reach top 100 pretty soon.

 

[Tuggy]

Pospisil out in Calgary. Sucks for anyone attending, as he's probably a pretty big draw for that tournament, but, he probably needs the rest in advance of IW. Schnur won though, so there's at least a Canadian still in the mix.

It's nice to see Leylah doing so well. She's up to 158 right now, but if this is where her game is, where she's beating top 100 opponents with ease, she should reach top 100 pretty soon.

And she's doing it at 17 years old. She's a September birthday so she's not even 17 and a half yet. I'm not sure what her ceiling is but she's very talented. If Bianca can get her injuries to go away, then Canada will have multiple contenders on both tours for many years.

Agree about Pospisil. Blessing in disguise really. If the Challenger wasn't in Canada then I'm thinking he would have withdrawn. He's played a lot the last month or so. IW and Miami coming up to get ready for.

 

[discostu]

And she's doing it at 17 years old. She's a September birthday so she's not even 17 and a half yet. I'm not sure what her ceiling is but she's very talented. If Bianca can get her injuries to go away, then Canada will have multiple contenders on both tours for many years.

Agree about Pospisil. Blessing in disguise really. If the Challenger wasn't in Canada then I'm thinking he would have withdrawn. He's played a lot the last month or so. IW and Miami coming up to get ready for.

From what I've heard about her game, her biggest issue right now is power, especially with the state of the women's tour right now, but at 17, that's something that will likely improve.

Agreed on Pospisil. If things go well this month for him, he should be able to put the challenger tour behind him for the next little while. He's should be getting into enough main draws, and for those he doesn't (like the Masters events), he should make qualifying.

I do respect the fact that he came out for this Challenger. He's been such a big supporter of all things related to Tennis Canada. I get the sense that he'd be the first guy to get soke sort of post playing position when he's eventually retires.

 

[discostu]

Leylah with another win and gets into the SF in straight sets. She'll move up at least 50 slots in the ranking.

She's got a chance to take this tournament at this point, with her next opponent being lower ranked than her and no really high ranked players left.

 

[Tuggy]

Leylah with another win and gets into the SF in straight sets. She'll move up at least 50 slots in the ranking.

She's got a chance to take this tournament at this point, with her next opponent being lower ranked than her and no really high ranked players left.

Amazing week for her. She definitely has a shot at the title.

She's in qualifying in Monterrey for next week, so she would potentially be eligible for a SE if she makes the final here.

Up to #139 in the live rankings and 3rd highest U18 (Osuigwe and Gauff ahead). She'd move ahead of Osuigwe if she makes the final.

 

[discostu]

Amazing week for her. She definitely has a shot at the title.

She's in qualifying in Monterrey for next week, so she would potentially be eligible for a SE if she makes the final here.

Up to #139 in the live rankings and 3rd highest U18 (Osuigwe and Gauff ahead). She'd move ahead of Osuigwe if she makes the final.

Very impressive, but also speaks to where Tennis Canada is with their program. She'll likely be the fourth player from Canada to be an impact player on tour as a teenager in the last couple of years. For a small population, winter sport country, that's still a mind boggling stat.

She may not reach the same height as the others, but I have to think she'll be rising up the rankings over the summer now that she'll be getting more playing opportunities. Heck, a title win puts her in close position for direct entry at RG.

 

[Tuggy]

Monfils took the first set against Djokovic 6-2 and had Djokovic on the ropes in the 2nd set TB...but Djokovic saves like 3 or 4 MP's and finally takes the second set on like his 8 SP

Not sure Monfils can recover from that.

 

[Tuggy]

3rd set goes about as expected after that finish in the 2nd.

Huge blown opportunity for Monfils.

 

[kihei]

Man, that second set was a beauty, though.