Andy Murray A Champion Again In Antwerp

Dominic has watched the Vienna tourney since he was a small boy and was desperate to win it. This was his 10th time playing it, and winning his home tourney was huge for him. He was also very anxious to win Kitzbuhel, and mentioned having won that title a couple times in his speech today.

I hope he can take that same determination to the Slams, because I think he has the ability to win one in the near future.

Thiem may have learned the dark art of how to win a crowd. He was all fist pumps this week (along with inspired tennis when he needed it most). He has played like this before but he had a little more edge here, both the leaving everything on the court plus patrolling like a lion in his den. It was a ferocious performance.

He had the crowd on his side of course, but he kept pumping himself up and that raised everything. The guy deserves it.

Andrew, Diego does get crowd support. Even in Vienna there were shouts of “DIEGO” all week, and he thanked those fans in his RU speech. I think fans appreciate the way he gives absolutely everything he has in a match. And of course his skill. Plus, he seems like a likeable guy.

Thiem talked about how important a home tourney is to him.

“There are so many things that make a home title special: the mood of having lots of close friends and family, I’m glad I’ve improved and how I focus my energy on what’s important, so that’s the title the one I give the highest priority.”

Hartt, Schwartzmann deserves it! I am glad he has fan support – like Gauff in Linz, Schwartzmann should put Vienna on the calendar for the future. He is easy to cheer for.

Federer, 75-9 in Basel, 10 titles. One handshake with Stich.

Hard to overemphasize how crazy this all is. Federer is old for top shelf all time great pro tennis, and is beating guys he’s older by at least fifteen years. Doing it all over the world. Every year.

I hope Federer gets the all time records beyond slam count, he probably sees he’ll likely be number three there when Nadal, Djokovic are done. But the Connors records look very doable. One day Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, they will retire and will be names like Laver etc, guys that fans won’t remember as new fans join the sport. They’ll be like Michael Jordan. Always the best but can’t see them play anymore. That’s life!

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/federer-basel-2019-saturday-reaction

Simona bts Bianca in 3. I predicted right but would’ve liked to see an Andreescu win.

I can’t take credit for comments about the Sabalenka vs Muchova match, did not see it.

But I did watch Simona vs Bianca today and it was a good match overall, with Simona taking it in 3 sets. Unfortunately, Bianca was having back problems and needed a MTO. You could see that it affected her movement in the third set, so I hope she will be able to continue in the tourney.

However, Simona raised her game as the match went on and deserved the win.

Sabalenka’s admission pre Tursunov that she played with no strategy was a shocker. But given other players with no discernible strategy I shouldn’t be shocked. Or that it makes a difference when used. How well a player knows the game matters and whether they’ve been putting that knowledge to good use

Nobody changed the game Scoop, certainly not someone as recent as Hingis. Think of all the great players of the past – seriously, did they all play with no strategy or have no thoughts about the game ? I’m not even going to begin to name names.

Sabalenka was pretty young. she only just 21 now, and she found it easy to win a lot of matches with just brute strength and then, when her opponents figured her out, she had to change and Tursunov helped her do that.

The Tennis With an Accent site has a piece on something we’ve discussed here, the empty stadiums in China. It is called “WTA Finals – Anybody Home?”

“This was a blockbuster match between the last two women’s major champions, in the year-end championship tournament! Stop for a second and absorb that!

Great players, prestigious event, high stakes… and practically no one was there in the third set?

Do people in positions of leadership care? Sadly, I don’t think they do…

and that is part of the very big deficit in “tennis leadership,” which is one of the world’s great oxymoronic expressions.”

Hartt no kidding and excellent that site picked up on “nobody in the seats” for many Zhuhai matches. I think it was Catherine that first said there were a handful of people to watch some stirring tennis for a few matches. Anyways Shenzen has more people in attendance.

If I were tournament director I’d find a way to increase attendance, maybe lower cost tickets.

Wta finals, high quality! The purple pink court is a little much, but the play from the players is wow. Maybe it’s the slower court. Pliskova vs Svito was a fine match, Svitolina somehow won it. She’s like Michael Chang 1989, no one knows how she’s winning but there she is winning.

Andreescu was playing amazing. I have no idea how Halep pulled this off. I was surprised Andreescu didn’t volley more, close out the match like Catherine said. Put some pressure on Halep from inside the court rather than mostly from the backcourt

Halep was relieved. It really is a nightmare for players to play against Andreescu. The top players are up for it but they may need to reinvent or add to their games a bit to handle Andreescu.

She’s crazy good. Good for Halep to realize with Cahill’s help that if she could gut out the second set she’d break Andreescu’s spirit and that’s kind of the only way to beat her, make her feel like she’s close to winning then dash her hopes. Otherwise she’s going to terrorize.

Fine way to play. Halep was very fortunate to get herself into a third set.

The WTA finals is what a bit showy! The court is totally purple, it’s like a big glamour event, the images that pop up on the court are huge billboards of the players, and then the reality that even if there are more fans than Zhuhai that’s not a great comparison…it looks like matches are around forty percent capacity?

Andrew – I think something which was (is) important when Simona plays Bianca is that both have back problems and know how important that kind of injury can be in deciding a long match – it’s a psychological thing: ‘can I finish this or is that twinge going to end my career ?’ It’s like a presence on the court plus the two players.

And the lack of match practice is important too. Simona had time off and so did Bianca but Simona is just that bit older and has had a few more years to get used to the whole injury issue – she’s had quite a few. It might seem as if I’m going on a little about Bianca and injuries but there’s something about her body build which suggests to me this might be a real problem in the future – obviously I hope not.

I assume Coco isn’t in China – the trip across the Pacific would be tough on the dog – which is a pity because Bianca says she finds being able to look at Coco relaxes her. Get more dog coaches ! If and when Kerber starts playing again she should have a Dachshund
in her box. The possibilities are limitless. Dogs don’t care if you swear at them and they’d love occ.

This isn’t going to improve attendance – Osaka withdraws from Shenzhen with injury. I had her down to win it so now I’ll go for Halep or Svito (long shot).

We’ve discovered the way to make women’s tennis more popular! More players’ pups in attendance. I think this is brilliant! Many players already have small dogs, like Serena’s Chip, and those who don’t could acquire a dog. The Tennis Podcast’s Catherine Whitaker is mad about dogs, and maybe should could take this on. 🙂

I also had Osaka winning, and now have to find a new pick.

That Bianca may withdraw is bad news.

In Paris Gasquet withdrew, which must be difficult for him since it is a home tourney. This time of year the successful players don’t so much win, they merely survive.