French Open 2021

Pigeon_Killer

Pigeon_Killer

Pigeon_Killer

Caporegime
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The French Open started yesterday and we've already seen a couple of seeds, including Thiem (4) and Dan Evans (25), eliminated.

This year, Djokovic (1), Nadal (3) and Federer (8) are all in the top half of the draw so Djokovic could meet Federer in the quarter finals and Nadal in the semis if they all make it that far. No Murray this year, he's saving himself for the grass season although a poor showing at Wimbledon could see him retire this year imo.

On the women's side, Osaka has dominated proceedings so far having refused to speak to the media. She's not great on clay and appears to dislike the fact the media always ask difficult questions when she loses. She was fined $15,000 after her first round win yesterday and has now been threatened with expulsion from the event, as well as Wimbledon and the US, if she continues to shun the media which she's contractually obliged to do.
 
Withdrawing is the correct decision for her health but she's not done herself any favours with the way she's handled things this week. She's always been very open about her battles with depression, since her US Open win in 2018, yet had continued to play and honour her contractual obligations with the media until last week so other than trying to give herself a mental advantage over her competitors on her weakest surface, I'm not sure what she was trying to achieve this week.

As it is, she's received little to no support from the other players, who all know dealing with difficult questions before and after matches is part and parcel of tennis, and backed the tennis authorities in to a corner. The sensible thing to have done would've been to drop out of the tournament before it started and taken an extended break but her actions have so far done nothing more than rile up social media. Ultimately, without the media there are no sponsors, there is no money and there are no tournaments or tennis stars so if she's hoping to avoid the media in future, tennis isn't the sport for her.

https://sports.ndtv.com/tennis/with...e-rafael-nadal-on-naomi-osaka-boycott-2451428

In other news, Konta lost in straight sets and Federer won in straight sets. Djokovic and Nadal both play tomorrow.
 
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I'm sorry to say I still think her original intention was to give herself an advantage over her rivals on her weakest surface. Her original, and frankly petulant, Tweet was sent before she contacted Roland Garros about her intentions to boycott the media and she 'apparently' ignored Roland Garros when they reached out to her. Those aren't the actions of someone who wants to address mental health in sport, they're the actions of someone who think's they're bigger than the sport. The subsequent media and player backlash, as well as the fine she received, forced her to pull out and it's very clear her PR/marketing team were involved with the second Tweet.

Unfortunately, ever since that second Tweet, everyone appears to have forgotten what she was initially trying to achieve and is now tiptoeing around her because the words 'mental health' were spoken about in greater depth. Despite that fact, a number of media articles aren't even addressing mental health in sport but are instead focusing on the perceived racism towards black women in tennis. Not really surprising given Osaka's a big advocate of BLM but she had a chance to use her voice to positively improve tennis and has instead caused far more damage.
 
Federer vs Cilic today at 3PM, could be a cracker.

mid_gen said:
That's my view. I want to see the best sportspeople competing, not just the ones that can manage the utterly tedious media guff. If the media work detracts from their game, then let them pass on it.

Has anyone ever listened to a sports press conference without nodding off?
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Andrew Castle suggested allowing them to compete as amateurs if they wanted to forgo their media obligations. No prize money but they wouldn't have to speak to the media before or after games.
 
omnomnom said:
So others profit off her success?

No thanks
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Only 10% of her income is from tennis, the rest is from sponsorship.

It makes complete sense if social media stars that have millions of followers that worship the ground they walk on, live in LA and are happy to milk attention whenever they're seen out with their rapper boyfriend can't cope with being in the spotlight.
 
Federer pulled out this afternoon, said he was using the French to regain form and fitness but wants to protect his knee ahead of the grass season.

https://www.skysports.com/tennis/ne...lls-out-of-french-open-with-wimbledon-in-mind

Not sure if that was always the plan but having to play a night match, that only started at 9pm and finished at 12:45am, knowing your next match is less than 36 hours later is crap scheduling that'll hurt a lot of players.
 
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Djokovic looks like he's really struggling with Musetti's ability to stay in rallies, made a lot of tired unforced errors. Also struggling with his serve and could've been warned already.

Edit: The commentators were talking about their fastest serves earlier being around 200 km/h. Gauff was regularly hitting 190 km/h serves earlier and she's only just turned 17.
 
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Medical timeout can't be too far away :D

Edit: Wow, 2-0 and he dominated that tie-breaker. Even if he wins in 5, Djokovic has got to be looking at a minimum of 4-5 hours before his match with Berrettini who had a walkover.
 
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Disappointing to see the French Open getting attacked again, this time for the lack of equality in tennis.

https://www.skysports.com/tennis/ne...ck-of-equality-in-scheduling-at-roland-garros

Obviously equality in sport would be nice but the night games are specifically chosen for the TV audience and based on what could be the best match of the day/the most popular player to watch. As most of the top women seeds exited the tournament early, are people more likely to watch the best men or lower ranked women play?

Add the fact the women generally spend less time on court yet earn the same amount, which I don't consider equal, and a lot actually earn more because they compete in doubles as well, again not equal, I can't help but think it's just a player that lost trying to gain attention by **** stirring.
 
Somnambulist said:
The women’s French Open is always a lottery most years. Half the time the winners are hyped up as Wimbledon contenders or future serial slam winners then get dumped out in the early rounds or go on to not do a whole lot.
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It's good in way because it's not as predictable and even Swiatek has looked ropey at times.

Edit: Just saw she lost the opening set against Sakkari.
 
marc2003 said:
And how much money are you putting on him dropping 2 of the next 3? :p
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Not sure, Schartzman's playing incredibly well and seems to be having the better of the rallies atm.

Edit: Actually the rallies aren't even a contest at the moment, he's dominating them and holding his serve easier. Has to be the favourite for this set as well.

And with that, Nadal takes in a bit of energy and starts smashing bombs :o
 
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I'd love to know the amount of topspin Nadal has used ever since he was 4-3 down in the third, Schartzman's hitting them noticeably higher up his body and can't dictate rallies anymore.

Edit: Well that's just plain unfair, utterly destroyed after it looked like Schwartzman was well on top.
 
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