Tennis: French Open 2021
- Thread starter Tuggy
- Start date
Zhao is the last Canadian standing in qualifying. She just won and moved into the final round of qualifying. She got a WC into qualifying.
It's been a comeback year for her, she missed a lot of time from injury. It would be pretty awesome for her to qualify for her first GS MD.
It's been a comeback year for her, she missed a lot of time from injury. It would be pretty awesome for her to qualify for her first GS MD.
I'm picking Nadal, too.
My degree of certainty is closer to 50% than the usual 100%, though. How it inches up closer to 100% depends on the draw. He is a year older, and, except for Rome, really, he did seem to show more signs of his age this spring. And at 34-years-old he will run into the problem that Roger ran into--being consistent through seven best of five matches is a lot to ask. There are more people who can make his life challenging in the early and mid-rounds, and two "next gens" have beat him on clay this year, plus there is Tsitsipas, Thiem and Djokovic, who have also beat him on clay. Though Roland Garros are his equivalent of "home courts," I'm really curious to see that draw.
My degree of certainty is closer to 50% than the usual 100%, though. How it inches up closer to 100% depends on the draw. He is a year older, and, except for Rome, really, he did seem to show more signs of his age this spring. And at 34-years-old he will run into the problem that Roger ran into--being consistent through seven best of five matches is a lot to ask. There are more people who can make his life challenging in the early and mid-rounds, and two "next gens" have beat him on clay this year, plus there is Tsitsipas, Thiem and Djokovic, who have also beat him on clay. Though Roland Garros are his equivalent of "home courts," I'm really curious to see that draw.
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MsMeow
Registered User
- Nov 4, 2005
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Osaka has announced that she won't be doing media interviews post-match for mental health reasons because she thinks they're only done to kick people when they're down. She's asked that her fines be put towards mental health. I like her but think this is ridiculous.
I don't. Her task is to be physically and mentally able to step on the court with as few distractions or anxieties as possible. If this helps her do that, I'm all for it. I've never seen the need for a media scrum after every single GS match anyway. I hope she continues this policy in England as well, where the media is so jackal-like.
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
Come on. The tennis media is about as cream puff as it gets. This is just another dart Osaka is throwing at the board. One of the more disconnected from reality athletes in recent memory.
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
I find a lot of what she says and does to be tone deaf. She lives in her bubble and it comes off false to me. Not a fan of her persona.
I just see an athlete with an unconventional (by conventional sports standards) personality trying to alter her environment so that she feels comfortable in it. I don't have a problem with her at all.
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
I don't see it that way but different strokes. She's not great on clay anyway so more than likely it's much ado about nothing. I can see this being a long term issue though if she pulls this stunt with any kind of frequency.
Hadoop
Registered User
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Journalists also have a job to do. If she doesn’t like the media attention, she can quit being a professional athlete making millions per year and take up a job that pays a lot less. The media responsibilities come with the territory. The mental health reason she gave seems like such a facade. She’s the best player in the world. Aren’t her expectations for herself and her own self criticism worse than anything a journalist throws her way?
MsMeow
Registered User
- Nov 4, 2005
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Athletes speak after games and matches in every single sport. It's just as important for us to see them speak after a crushing defeat as it is a big win. I
MXD
Original #4
- Oct 27, 2005
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Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
That's not true at all and the WTA reminded her of that. When you are a pro athlete, in particular in a sport like tennis that is many ways on life support, it is your job to do interviews and face the music. This "mental health" angle is nonsense. What's next-she doesn't want to play in front of spectators?
MXD
Original #4
- Oct 27, 2005
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If you say so, it must be true.
(Notice that I have no issue with Osaka "suffering" whichever consequence comes from her choice. More importantly, Osaka doesn't really care about these either, considering she knowingly took that stand and has no issue paying the fines. She isn't having the cake and eat it too.)
Novak Djokovic had this so say.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-naomic-osaka-fench-open-skip-press-1.6043764
Which is, come to think of it, a pretty solid endorsement if I ever saw one.
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Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
So, you don't think it's part of a professional athletes job (in this case tennis) to face the media and do interviews? Well, the WTA disagrees with you! Shoot, Osaka disagrees with you because she acknowledges potentially hefty fines coming her way. As for that link, are you saying Djokovic endorses her position? It doesn't read that way to me.
Beau Knows
Registered User
Why would any fan even care if she doesn't speak to the media? Outside of the odd Roddick press conference, I don't think I've ever been entertained by those.
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
It’s entitlement to feel like you don’t have to speak with the press and others do.
She makes 50M per year. A few hundred thousand dollar fine would amount to nearly nothing. Suspending her would be a real consequence.
She makes 50M per year. A few hundred thousand dollar fine would amount to nearly nothing. Suspending her would be a real consequence.
MXD
Original #4
- Oct 27, 2005
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Well, you do have the odd tantrums. And also the odd empty rooms.
But, out of the 3 or 4 sports that I follow quite seriously, Tennis is, by far, the one where media pressers are the least covered by the press and the Organizing powers (in that case, ATP/WTA). They aren't part of the show, the same way pressers and interviews are a part of the show in F1.
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