OT: The Tennis thread

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Bianca - Barty final on Saturday after last night's tremendous match against Sakkari.

 

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Bianca forced to retire with an ankle injury trailing 6-3 4-0 to Ash Barty. Hope it's nothing serious, but a heck of week of tennis for Bianca.

 

[puckhead]

That's a shitty way to lose a final.

 

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That's a shitty way to lose a final.

That same ankle was heavily taped prior to the start of today's match. Hopefully, it's nothing serious, but Bianca can't catch a break as far as injuries are concerned.

 

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Big day for Polish tennis as Hubert Hurkacz wins the first ever Masters 1000 tourney for that country defeating the young Italian kid Jannik Sinner in the final.

 

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Oh man, Bianca just tweeted out that she has tested positive for COVID-19

/She did say she's feeling fine, but of course this forced her to withdraw from the Madrid WTA tourney.

 

[puckhead]

pretty amazing story

 

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@jstewismybastardson , not sure if you're watching, but this is a terrific tennis match between Djokovic and Italian Lorenzo Sonego. Currently in the 3rd set.

 

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Sonego played great, but Djoker was just too good today. Rafa vs. Novak in the Sunday final.

 

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[puckhead]

Another injury for Milos

 

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Another injury for Milos

Dimitrov hurt his back today, but soldiered on and was one point from winning the match, but ultimately had to stop...

 

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Bianca just bowed out in Paris losing a tough match against Tamara Zidansek (9-7 in set 3 after splitting two tie-breaks).

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

On the one hand, I don't think there's a sports media out there that asks dumber questions than tennis media. Maybe limiting the number of questions players have to take early on is the way to go here.

On the flip, attributing this to a mental health issue is a stretch. Losing in a match would likely do 1000x the mental health damage to a dedicated professional than one dumb question from a reporter and she is going to lose matches at some point that make her hate life. If this isn't something she can handle she needs to take a step back and focus on her before continuing in such a spotlight.

Media engagement is important in sports. It helps keep the money coming in. That money may not shrink much for the superstars of the game like herself but it means the world to players just trying to compete, to win a round or two to get money to pay their coaches and trainers which comes from their own pockets.

Naomi Osaka fined $15,000 and threatened with suspension for avoiding media at French Open

Osaka had previously announced she would not participate in media appearances at the tournament, citing a need to protect her mental health.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[puckhead]

On the one hand, I don't think there's a sports media out there that asks dumber questions than tennis media. Maybe limiting the number of questions players have to take early on is the way to go here.

On the flip, attributing this to a mental health issue is a stretch. Losing in a match would likely do 1000x the mental health damage to a dedicated professional than one dumb question from a reporter and she is going to lose matches at some point that make her hate life. If this isn't something she can handle she needs to take a step back and focus on her before continuing in such a spotlight.

Media engagement is important in sports. It helps keep the money coming in. That money may not shrink much for the superstars of the game like herself but it means the world to players just trying to compete, to win a round or two to get money to pay their coaches and trainers which comes from their own pockets.

Naomi Osaka fined $15,000 and threatened with suspension for avoiding media at French Open

Osaka had previously announced she would not participate in media appearances at the tournament, citing a need to protect her mental health.

www.cbsnews.com

hopefully this starts a movement to have tennis reporters stop asking really really stupid fucking questions
i've heard pretty offensive shit from british, french and australian reporters - not sure if there are others.
"great match, can you tell me if you would like to date justin bieber?"
"congrats on the win, can you tell us about your outfit?"
"boy that was a tough loss, can you tell me about Serena Williams' outfit?"

 

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I'm torn on this one, on the one hand, the press does have a job to do and I think every tennis player knows it's part of the job, but as both BBB and puck have said above, they do ask some of the worst/dumbest questions imaginable. Also, who am I to judge what may be causing mental stress/anguish for another person? One thing I'm pretty confident of is that bullying someone by fining them and threatening to default them from the tournament is not the answer.

Edit: Naomi has withdrawn, well that stinks.

 

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Imagine if Serena loses later today, you could have Bianca, Naomi, and Serena out of the ladies draw.