OT: Why is Serena putting herself through this?????

[ClifSpliffy]

mebbe she's playing for her own reasons, like fun?
she's done everything already, including meeting everyone else's expectations.
mebbe she's doing it as an ad for her clothes, or gear, or sportsdrink. who knows? who cares? she's earned the right to do any dang thing she wants.
and please, don't turn the subject into another alta cocker fearfest around her potential for injury. she'll heal up right fine.

'mebbe she's doing it as an ad for her clothes, or gear, or sportsdrink. who knows?'

'The reality, actually, has little to do with swatting a furry yellow ball. Williams, who Forbes estimates is worth $260 million and made $45.9 million last year in off-court income, is popping up everywhere: in Hollywood, fashion, publishing, venture capital and more. She has laid the groundwork for a post-sports career that could rival Michael Jordan’s.'

'Asked at a post-match press conference if she’ll ever play tennis again professionally, Williams cryptically said, “That’s a question I can’t answer. I don’t know . . . Who knows? Who knows where I’ll pop up?”
Why Serena Williams’ big Wimbledon loss is actually a huge win

i think that i counted five articles in that paper aboot her yesterday.

dis place should hire a kennel full of beagles to chase down all the thieves stealing my stuff here on an all to regular basis. lol.
signed, former Captain of the Bridgeport Central tennis team, a squad that would party like it's 1999 whenever anyone would win even one set against our fairdale county comp. kinda ruff when we'd see the opponents show up at matches with fancy bags full of extra rackets, and personal trainers. our 'sportdrinks' were the water fountain.
i never liked tennis, i just had an ad who was dedicated to 'broadening' my cv for college purposes. to be fair, playing tennis was not as mind numbingly boring as my stint as 26th man on the 25 man soccer team.
got lucky on that one as that team was a top nationally rated squad, tho u needed a un interpreter to understand many of my mates.
i think my job there was to just lumber and hulk around as we got off the bus, and give menacing glances at the comp when we went on the road. after the matches, i would try to shake down coach 'hey! i did my job! we won - u owe me a sammich!' good times.
all of this cut into my hoops playing time. "no, i can't join the crew today to head over to wash park to house those Harding clowns - i gotta play watch soccer.' somebody has to carry the clipboards. yup, clipboards in one hand, sammich in the other. what teams am i on this semester? repkiller, i tell ya.

 

[UHF]

Mother Time takes her toll on everyone!

Father Time is literally taking its time with Tom Brady's aging.

(Brady has been intelligent with his contracts, which helped secure OL protection and TE/WR/RB weapons.)

 

[Stymie]

Neil

"It's better to burn out, than to fade away....."

Highlander?

Neil Young

 

[Blakeon18]

Tan advances to the 3rd round.....6-3, 6-4...over 32nd seed Sara Tormo.

 

[meyers7]

She has always been super egotistical. Happy to see her lose.

 

[Cuango]

Actually, she doesn’t have to do, say or announce anything. She plays when when she feels like it. She doesn’t owe an explanation. I see some past their prime golfers who enter a Major tournament with zero chance of winning. Is anyone demanding that they announce their intentions?

Sure, I see those players too. They don’t go on talk shows etc and declare they’re intent to break records that they clearly are incapable of breaking. I could care less what she does, I’m simply pointing out the ridiculousness of her oft-stated intent and suggesting that she adjust those statements to somewhere on planet earth! She is one of the three greatest player to have ever played (likely the best in most people’s eyes) but, her competitive days ( in terms of winning more than the occasional match) are over. Time to morph into the beloved elder stateswoman and move on to different goals.

 

[Beemer]

She has always been super egotistical. Happy to see her lose.

I know she's never been gracious in defeat. It's always "well I wasn't on my game today" or some other BS. I've never heard her say "so and so was the better player, she deserved to win". And don't get me started on her meltdown vs Naomi Osaka at the US Open. I've always thought that was more of a tactic on her part rather than a genuine going off on the official. Osaka was completely outplaying her at that point of the match, Serena had no clue how to beat her.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Not s class act in Tan's part and I really feel for her ex-partner. I'm thinking that they'll not ever be doubles partners and that one day they'll meet on opposite sides of the net, a match I want to see.

I have nothing against Harmony and know little about her. I have watched her play a few times and I knew what to expect in her Serena match. She has no real weapon - low-average serve, no power on fore or back hand, just ok quickness. What she is is a finesse player, otherwise called a junkballer. That's nothing to be ashamed of but isn't the kind of game that gets a lot of wins. Her high ranking is about 90 and she was 113 going into Wimbledon, which seems about right. In her hay day Serena beats this caliber player 6-0, 6-1.

So Tan is now going to get herself into the quarters just to make me look like a dope. A tip of the hat, Harmony, if you can pull that off. And buy something nice for that doubles partner you shafted!

Harmony just beat #32 ranked player just now. You are giving her no credit. As someone who plays a lot of tennis, she got great all around game. Her forehand slice and net game are an asset, and she is a great counter puncher who is very smart around the court.

If anything, her game reminds me of grand slam champ Ashleigh Barty. They play similarly in many ways, and I can totally see Harmony frustrate many other players with her game.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I don't know that I agree with you about her game not being the kind of game that gets a lot of wins. Right now tennis is a power game and a player with her game can drive a power player nuts. I see it a lot in baseball- guys who just murder high speed pitches tie themselves in knots when a pitcher throws off speed or knuckleballs. I think a junkball player can win a lot matches if she (or he) has better weapons than Tan possesses. I'd like to see someone try, I'm sick of the power game.

never heard it called that before, but it's perfect, and describes my game exactly -junkball. i figgered out quick, especially in high school, that spinning balls mess people up. seriously, at that level, it can make an opponent throw their racket. i spin/spun everything, and would practice that almost exclusively. id regularly spend an hour or two just messing with the ball, slicing, dicing, chopping, and hacking it, and really worked on the spinning serve. it's great and pretty easy on the system since you don't have to spend hours in a match always trying to hit it harder. on the udder hand, and when getting a ball closer to the net that i could get an overhead whack at, i almost always wound up, and rocket fired it directly at the feet of the opponent. sometimes my aim was a bit off, and it headed a bit higher. either way, it usually worked.
come to think of it, i saw a lot of dropped/thrown rackets back then. the soft spinner just barely over made more than a few bumble and stumble into the net.
pretty funny for high school daze. as a mostly righthander, every so often id hit the left handed spinner, especially at crunch time. unfair. sweet.
as a pitcher, greg maddux is an alltime favorite. the things that he could do with a ball, and seemingly in slow motion, were epic.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

if the ball comes in soft enough, and u can get a wristy 'U' shaped swing on it, it'll go over and immediately exit stage right, or left depending on which arm used, and bounce with a quick trajectory down. nasty.
makes opponents nutz with frustration.

 

[huskyblooz]

You worry about you. Let her do what she wants. It's her life. Not yours.

 

[The deacon]

Sure, I see those players too. They don’t go on talk shows etc and declare they’re intent to break records that they clearly are incapable of breaking. I could care less what she does, I’m simply pointing out the ridiculousness of her oft-stated intent and suggesting that she adjust those statements to somewhere on planet earth! She is one of the three greatest player to have ever played (likely the best in most people’s eyes) but, her competitive days ( in terms of winning more than the occasional match) are over. Time to morph into the beloved elder stateswoman and move on to different goals.

Serena as 'beloved elder stateswoman?' That would be a remarkable makeover for one of the past generation's most talented yet classless athletes.

 

[eebmg]

and now Venus.

Venus in Mixed Doubles wins in 1st round. She looked pretty good and hs an excellent teammate in Jan Murray. The fact that it seems Wimbledon Temperatures are so cool is also good luck