Tennis Prose




Nov/19

24

Bunge Blasts Federer Zverev Quito Circus

Former pro Bettina Bunge Is not impressed by the calibre of tennis being performed in Ecuador.

“Is anyone watching the embarrassing charade of a “match” between Federer and Zverev in Quito? First off, Federer is flying back home to Switzerland with $10,282,200.00 more that he “earned” in the last six days. How about income inequality here? And the worst part, the tennis sucks, the crowd laughs at the dumbest things, Zverev cannot get his serve in and keeps double faulting, and maybe the most embarrassing: the crowd peeing in their pants rushing to get a backward selfie (not sure, I have never taken one of those)…like showing yourself and Roger hovering in the background. Can you spell losers? But Roger and his management company, and Zverev who is also managed by same, laughing all the way to the bank. I’m sorry but if I recall any exhibition matches back in the day, when McEnroe played anyone, they really played hard and well, and TRIED. What a joke! Oh yeah, and Ecuador is a socialist country. Who are those idiots in the stands? Who is paying for this crap?”

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28 comments

  • Harold · November 24, 2019 at 9:28 pm

    Bunge won’t be doing any on court interviews at Halle w/ either Fed or Z man next year

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 24, 2019 at 10:15 pm

    Binge do esnt have any interest to do such interviews, she’s happy in coral gables florida.

  • Jon King · November 24, 2019 at 11:33 pm

    Tennis economics is what it is, a few guys make huge money, another 100 or so make a living from tennis, and the 150th best player on earth needs his family to help pay his bills.

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 12:38 am

    Same as show business. No difference that I can see. Economics wins.

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 12:53 am

    Nice to hear from Bettina – I remember her well – very popular player in her day.

  • Jeff · November 25, 2019 at 1:03 am

    Catherine is correct. Was that Bunge or Noah Rubin complaining?

    If Roger and Zverev were paid to dress in clown suits and hit the ball into the net and sold out the stadium in Ecuador, they would do it. Also I don’t think Ecuador is socialist. She is thinking of Venezuela.

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 1:45 am

    Bettina also used that impossible Head racquet I think – love to see modern players struggling to hit the ball with a sweet spot as big as your thumbnail 🙂

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 5:04 am

    Only slightly related here (other thread bit long and this is not DC) – but I’ve noticed the Gauff hype is well on its way, weeks before a ball is struck in Auckland. So Coco may soon find herself playing exhos in some unusual places (Antarctica ? Why not ?) when sponsors see more and more chances of making money out of her. She started exhibitions last summer.

    Serena might also experience the rare feeling of taking second place in the planned Gauff/Serena circus.

  • Hartt · November 25, 2019 at 7:36 am

    Oh dear, it looks like my attempt at being a gossip columnist was a complete failure. Simona has denied reports that she is engaged.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 25, 2019 at 7:41 am

    Hartt, please be careful in disseminating fake news, thank you. How about this for an interesting quote…from Boris Becker from the Davis Cup… “Tennis is, from now on, only business and politics.”

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 8:15 am

    Hartt – where did you read that ? I’ll have to contact my sources – and for someone who’s not engaged she’s doing a very good imitation 🙂

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 8:27 am

    Of course Simona has had a couple of boyfriends in the past, nearer her own age, so maybe she’s just finding out if she prefers older men.

    Are the details about her wedding false too ? Everything seemed so detailed. Perhaps she’ll just elope and leave us all looking silly. (I did look on one website and found all mention of Simona and her nuptials deleted.)

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 8:29 am

    Scoop – Boris is right, but when hasn’t this been so ?

    The DC just confirmed my view – the original Cup should have been retired. Start again in a new era.

  • H · November 25, 2019 at 9:20 am

    Scoop, and I am usually so careful! But even my Romanian source said she was engaged. Then he reported that she had posted on her FB page that this was not the case, and if she does become engaged she will announce it herself.

  • Jon King · November 25, 2019 at 9:38 am

    I really have zero problem with these players cashing in. Just as long as Fed and Djoker do not give lip service about caring about the guys on tour who struggle to make a living. Cash in, that is fine, just do not pretend to care because you are not leaving money on the table. Be honest, you want every possible dollar you can get and the rest of the lower ranked players, tough luck.

    Anisimova got a $80-100 mil deal from Nike recently. Gauff will be financially set for life. The risk of injury is always there, cash in if you can.

    But speaking strictly on the court, with such parity in the women’s game, and neither being heads and shoulders above a bunch of other good players….odds are neither will win a Grand Slam. Odds of either winning multiple slams is very low.

    So thats whats fascinating about marketing. How Nike and others make money over a long term contract, if neither player becomes more than just another perennial top 20 player.

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 25, 2019 at 10:09 am

    Federer just earned $10m in seven days. Imagine how many more millions he will make in exhibitions over the next five years before he retires?

  • Scoop Malinowski · November 25, 2019 at 10:10 am

    H, Halep has officially taken over as the new drama queen of the WTA, Andreescu is free from the label now.

  • Hartt · November 25, 2019 at 10:25 am

    The latest on the WTA coaching carousel:

    “New coach for Karolína Plíšková: Dani Vallverdu.
    Vallverdu worked with Murray, Berdych, Wawrinka, DelPotro or Dimitrov. Never coached on WTA Tour. Couldn’t help Berdych win the grandslam. Now he’s hired to push another Czech star to the trophy.”
    (Karel Knap tweet)
    I do hope this guy is reliable! 🙂

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 10:42 am

    Hartt – I was just about to post this myself. It was on T-tonic so I can’t vouch for reliability but probably true. It was Dimitrov he coached. Of course Pliskova is not likely to get THE Grand Slam (was Berdych ?). Even Serena missed out on that.

    I wonder if any coach these days will have a long term coaching stint with any player – that is, their playing life. Cahill and Simona come to mind.

  • Hartt · November 25, 2019 at 10:56 am

    Vallverdu coached both Berdych and Dimitrov. He was with Berdy throughout 2015 until May, 2016.

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 10:58 am

    Someone better tell Kerber that Bianca is no longer the DQ. Just in case she forgets.

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 11:04 am

    Hartt – the tweet made it sound as if it was DelPotro or Dimitrov. I didn’t think he coached Del Potro.

    My view is that Karolina has reached her peak. Too many new ones around.

    Note on hype – I think that Naomi, having taken Japanese citizenship, is going to escape a lot of the hoo ha which was beckoning when she was the ‘second Serena’ – that mantle will now fall on Gauff.

  • Hartt · November 25, 2019 at 11:14 am

    Catherine, I totally missed the Delpo reference. I think you are right, that Delpo is one of the few players Dani hasn’t worked with! 🙂

  • catherine · November 25, 2019 at 2:48 pm

  • Andrew Miller · November 25, 2019 at 2:50 pm

    Those contracts have clauses! Beware…

  • Andrew Miller · November 25, 2019 at 2:57 pm

    Always worried tossing that kind of money at a young player. And it’s true, if a company is placing chips on one, five players, they miss out on a ton of players. I feel like guys such as Esco could really benefit from some sponsor cash.

  • Andrew Miller · November 25, 2019 at 3:04 pm

    Jon King would like Jelena Gencic. I hope Dan, Jon consider looking her up. She was the primary influence on Djokovic. She and Niki Pilic after her, who must be extraordinary because they train super champs.

  • Hartt · November 25, 2019 at 3:35 pm

    10sballs.com also has an interesting piece on the new DC. The last couple paragraphs are a funny and then poignant.
    https://www.10sballs.com/2019/11/24/experimental-davis-cup-kosmos-kup-%e2%80%a2-tennis-in-madrid-is-won-by-rafa-and-his-team-and-home-ground/

    “As a last farewell to the Caja Magica, the phone buzzed. It was a message from that infernal app informing us that we could follow Spain against Canada via the new (and, you could only hope, improved) app, available now from the Google store. At the time, Spain had won the first rubber of the final and Rafa was 2-1 up in the second. It was 7.30pm on the last day. Somehow it seemed like the perfect end to Kosmos’s week.

    So, we have survived the inaugural event but the question remains whether the Davis Cup will do likewise. Will it be overtaken in a merger with ATP Cup? Will it stand alone with its proud history and put the ATP Cup to shame? Or will it just fizzle out thanks to ineptitude and incompetence, a lack of fans and a lack of interest? We wait to see.”

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