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May/18

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Roland Garros Talk: Is Serena Breaking The Rules?

serena

WTA player Arina Rodionova asked a very good question on Twitter.

Nothing against Serena’s outfit, looks pretty cool actually. But just wondering how is that allowed by the rules if we are only allowed to wear legging until the middle of the calf the longest, and ALWAYS have to wear skirt/shorts on top of the leggings. Were there any rules changes?

If there were no rules changes, why is Serena getting special privileges? Her catsuit leotard looks more appropriate for a yoga or ballet class, not a Grand Slam major.

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Guess which nation has the most tennis players ranked in the ATP top 1000…

ATP players in the top 1000:

US 84
FRA 82
ITA 64
ESP 58
GER 55
RUS 46
ARG 45
AUS 39
JPN 36
BRA 29
GB 29
CZE 26
NED 23

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Last year Ryan Harrison and Donald Young contested the Roland Garros doubles final with different partners, with Harrison and Michael Venus defeating Yuong and Santiago Gonzalez in the final. This year both Harrison and Young lost in the first round of Roland Garros doubles.

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Novak Djokovic is the fourth male player in the Open Era to win at least 13 times in the Roland Garros second round, after Roger Federer (14), Guillermo Vilas (13) and Rafael Nadal (13, excl. 2018).

 

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Novak Djokovic defeated  Jaume Munar 76 64 64 to reach the third round of Roland Garros but is not overly thrilled with the level of his game: “I went through my ups and downs. I’m not really satisfied with the performance but I just played enough in the right moments to win the match—hopefully the level will increase and will get better in the next match.”

 

Djokovic has won six of the last seven matches he’s played on red clay.

 

Serena sculpture by artist Barrymore Alan Moton.

 

 

 

 

 

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65 comments

  • Hartt · June 2, 2018 at 11:40 am

    Scoop, you are one of the few non-Canadians who is familiar with Gabriela Dabrowski, so I will report on her FO results. I find her interesting because she is one of those players who flies under the radar for years, and now, at age 26, started to have some good results in the last couple years.

    In the recent Fed Cup tie she and Bianca Andreescu played a terrific doubles match against a Ukrainian team that had won 12 Fed Cup doubles matches and had never been defeated in FC. They sealed that crucial tie for Canada, allowing Canada to stay in the World Group.

    Gaby and her partner Xu are seeded 5th at RG and today had an easy win (6-2, 6-2), over Christian/Witthoeft. They move into the R16. Gaby is seeded No. 1 for mixed doubles, as the defending RG champ (with Bopanna) and winner at this year’s AO with Mate Pavik. She and Pavik won today over the French team of Parmentier/Barrene. She had to play that match, (completing yesterday’s match that was suspended in the 2nd set), shortly after finishing her women’s doubles match. The mixed went to a match TB, so it was a tougher win.

    It would be great for Gaby to win another mixed doubles title, but I really hope she can win the women’s doubles at this year’s RG.

  • catherine · June 2, 2018 at 11:54 am

    Not strictly doubles, but you mention Christian/Witthoeft – I really don’t know what’s happened to Carina – she won Luxembourg last year and seemed promising but has hardly won a match since, singles or doubles. Must be discouraging.

  • catherine · June 2, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    Frustrated Youtube comment on RG highlights: ‘ Why don’t they just show the handshake ?’

  • Hartt · June 2, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    Catherine, see that Kerber did win today, even if Goerges and Petko didn’t manage it. It was a shame that Petko was injured in the 2nd set, she had played pretty well in the first. I was disappointed that Goerges couldn’t make it more competitive, but Serena was in control throughout the match.

  • catherine · June 2, 2018 at 3:17 pm

    Hartt – yes, Julia’s not made for these matches I’m afraid. The nerves kick in. Still, I like watching her play, even if she’s only going to do well in smaller tournaments.

    Saw a split-second of Andrea (thanks RG) and thought she did well in the first set – Simona had to pay attention.

    Angie probably played one of her best matches – she must be feeling good – Bertens is a tricky opponent for her. Really kept fighting. Two t/bs and both won the same number of games I think.

    I hope there’s some highlights but I’m not betting on it. Angie has won 3 matches and I’ve yet to see her hit a ball.

    As someone commented, RG are really not doing themselves any favours shutting off highlights. Some people depend on them to see matches and it’s not good publicity. I’m in favour of free access – that’s how you promote the game 🙂

    In Britain Wimbledon is considered one of the ‘crown jewels’ of sport – that is the tournament should be free to air and not sold to Sky etc although I should think in the end it will be. The cricket bigwigs made a disastrous decision to sell big matches to Sky a few years ago and have regretted ever since. Interest and participation plummeted.

  • catherine · June 2, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    No highlights of Kerber v Bertens – unbelievable.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    Hartt, Dabrowski is the most accomplished of the Canadian players now, with Nestor fading fast and not a factor in majors in years, Dabrowski actually is the best, most decorated Canadian right now and she is consistently putting up big results in the big events. Raonic, Shap, Felix are riding on Dabrowski’s coattails 🙂

  • Hartt · June 2, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    I don’t think my TV carried any of Kerber’s match. I have recorded every thing they did show, and will look through the recordings before I erase them.

    They did show Kvitova, Halep, and of course Serena, and at least some of Sloane vs Giorgi (maybe all, I wasn’t paying much attention to that one).

    I agree that it is bizarre that they don’t have decent highlights. Once the match is over, what is their problem with letting people see at least parts of it?

  • catherine · June 3, 2018 at 3:34 am

    Of course I don’t have a TV, for several reasons, mainly because I wouldn’t watch it and in Britain you have to pay a licence fee and it’s just not worth it just for casual tennis viewing. So I’m dependent on the odd free stream – which you can usually get for smaller tournaments, and highlights.

    People crop up doing odd highlights at RG but I notice they are swiftly removed. I’ve also noticed some sites, WTA included, aren’t using clips, just still photos.

    Very poor show all round. And if this becomes the norm then I’ll have to stop following the game – not much point if you can’t see the players play 🙂

    Someone at RG will need to cover Kerber’s next match. She’s playing Garcia.

  • catherine · June 3, 2018 at 6:36 am

    Apparently Tennis Channel have all the rights to RG sown up.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 3, 2018 at 8:14 am

    Maria vs Serena could be the most fiercely hated match up in tennis history. Beyond McEnroe vs Connros and Lendl. I know they both conceal and disguise their disdain for each other but it’s not hard to sense it underneath. I think a good press conference question for both could be, Do you remember what the last personal conversation you had with her was about? Or when was it? 🙂 Right now this is the match of the tournament and one I’m really looking forward to. The mental and physical warfare between these two is as good as it gets. It’s like Ali vs Frazier, Miami U vs Notre Dame, Dr Jekyll and Mrs Hyde all wrapped in one. I think it’s funny how Serena is trying to say all the nice right things regarding Maria when we know what the truth is. Let’s see if Serena puts her nice talk into actions, like a friendly hug or a nice conversation in the locker room or asking Maria if she’d ever like to play doubles together – don’t count on it.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 3, 2018 at 9:02 am

    Kozlov loses 6160 in 1R qualies of Surbiton to Dan Evans. Grass is his best surface. Tough loss.

  • catherine · June 3, 2018 at 9:12 am

    Maria v Serena is being all puffed up like a pre-fight thing. I’m surprised no one’s thought to pose the two like that.

    Truth is, Serena is a much better player than Maria, who doesn’t have a lot of variety in her game.

    Serena in SS.

  • Duke Carnoustie · June 3, 2018 at 10:18 am

    tennis channel has no youtube highlights so I hate it.

  • catherine · June 3, 2018 at 10:24 am

    TC having the rights means no one else can put up highlights. It’s disgraceful and not good for the game. A monopoly.

    I suppose they’ll have the rights to W’don and USO.

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