OT: Wimbledon 2019 - Gauff (15 yr old girl)

[DaddyChoc]

defeats her idol Venus Williams! 6-4 6-4

 

[Dooooooomed]

The future of USA Women's Tennis is very bright.

 

[JordyG]

The future of USA Women's Tennis is very bright.

Now as for men's tennis....

 

[eebmg]

I was lucky enough to watch the match in real time (Boss is away ) on WatchESPN. She is a real treat to watch. Very composed player with above average serve, real nerve on her second serves, strong ground strokes with nice clearance from both wings (not sure of her winner / undfoeced error numbers but I am sure they are at least 2 to 1) and tactically strong.

She also was unbelievably gracious on the handshake. She teared up and told Venus that without her, she would never have had this opportunity. Apparently, she was a qualifier and went roughshod through her 3 qualifying matches.

Oh and catch her post match interview. Unbelievable maturity for a 15 year old.
Very straight forward answers without trying to be too cute.

and apparently, she is being managed by some version of the Federer Management team (from 13 years old) so I am sure she will continue to
learn from the best.

and on a day where Osaka just crumbled.

 

[triaddukefan]

I had forgotten that Wimbledon had started until I got an alert on my phone. I'd heard about this Gauff kid for a few years.... wow... what a way to introduce yourself on the big stage.

Now as for men's tennis....

about as bright as men's soccer?

 

[eebmg]

Mens's Tennis

The only 2 players I care to ever watch on the Men's side are Federer and Nadal. When they retire, the men's side will be limited of a bunch of cookie cutter ball whackers with very little tactical acumen.

 

[DaddyChoc]

The future of USA Women's Tennis is very bright.

seems that way but Sloan, Keys and the current #1 (lost in first round, forgot her name O-something) get hyped up then fizzle

 

[DaddyChoc]

Mens's Tennis

The only 2 players I care to ever watch on the Men's side are Federer and Nadal. When they retire, the men's side will be limited of a bunch of cookie cutter ball whackers with very little tactical acumen.

The Joker is good too

 

[eebmg]

seems that way but Sloan, Keys and the current #1 (lost in first round, forgot her name O-something) get hyped up then fizzle

Well, Osaka already lost her #1 to Barty but she did crumble. Keys to me has unbelievable talent but no courage and just does not have good tennis feel. I think you are a bit too harsh on Sloan. She is a top player with some conisistency issues and her defense is always best style is frustrating but I think she will get better at offensive tennis.

The Joker is good too

Yes, the Joker is great but I just do not like his robotic play. Just a personal preference.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I like his defense

 

[JordyG]

Mens's Tennis

The only 2 players I care to ever watch on the Men's side are Federer and Nadal. When they retire, the men's side will be limited of a bunch of cookie cutter ball whackers with very little tactical acumen.

The inevitable evolution of tennis which began with the deemphasis of concrete and other hard courts and the emphasis toward slower and synthetic courts. It also destroyed much of the serve and volley game. It made for better all around players and, to me, far more boring matches. May as well watch someone play against a wall.

 

[triaddukefan]

Mens's Tennis

The only 2 players I care to ever watch on the Men's side are Federer and Nadal. When they retire, the men's side will be limited of a bunch of cookie cutter ball whackers with very little tactical acumen.

I'll watch Isner (cause he is from Greensboro) and the players who have one handed backhands.

 

[iri10]

seems that way but Sloan, Keys and the current #1 (lost in first round, forgot her name O-something) get hyped up then fizzle

Minor correction - Osaka is not really American in a tennis sense (though it's complicated). Born to a Haitian father and Japanese mother, grew up in the US I think, but represents Japan. Sort of like Sharapova, I guess, who represents Russia even though she spent most of her young tennis years here and still lives here.

 

[eebmg]

I'll watch Isner (cause he is from Greensboro) and the players who have one handed backhands.

I will never watch Isner and his serve only game. Not sure what is attractive about one handed backhands?

 

[iri10]

The inevitable evolution of tennis which began with the deemphasis of concrete and other hard courts and the emphasis toward slower and synthetic courts. It also destroyed much of the serve and volley game. It made for better all around players and, to me, far more boring matches. May as well watch someone play against a wall.

I would say it's more the marginalizing of grass, the original fast tennis surface. It used to be that 3 of the 4 Grand Slams were on grass.

So that's half. The other half is the transition away from wooden rackets. Today's rackets let you fire topspin bombs and rockets with an ease that was impossible with wood.

 

[triaddukefan]

I will never watch Isner and his serve only game. Not sure what is attractive about one handed backhands?

The one handed topspin backhand is simply the most beautiful stroke in all of tennis.

Love watching this guy

 

[Beemer]

The inevitable evolution of tennis which began with the deemphasis of concrete and other hard courts and the emphasis toward slower and synthetic courts. It also destroyed much of the serve and volley game. It made for better all around players and, to me, far more boring matches. May as well watch someone play against a wall.

God do I miss serve and volley tennis. Today's players hit the ball as hard they can then pray for two things: A) that the ball stays in and B) their opponent hits it out. If B doesn't happen both players whack the ball at each other over and over and over...boring as you say. Clay court tennis on grass? Count me out.

 

[triaddukefan]

God do I miss serve and volley tennis. Today's players hit the ball as hard they can then pray for two things: A) that the ball stays in and B) their opponent hits it out. If B doesn't happen both players whack the ball at each other over and over and over...boring as you say. Clay court tennis on grass? Count me out.

I used to love watching the French Open back in the day.... especially when the fast court players (Becker, Sampras, Stich, et al) were playing.

 

[Checkmate 2.0]

Gauff is going to have a great career. She has a big-time first serve (110+ mph) and a strong second serve too. She is steady on groundstrokes, as well as very athletic.

 

[DaddyChoc]

where is Wire Chief, did I miss anything?

 

[eebmg]

If Men's tennis is not bad enough, you now have Kyrigios contaminating the grass with his antics and questionable effort and listening to the announcers trying to justify it (Just to sound hip I believe) .

Not to waste a post, Sloan easily beats Bascinszky 6-4 6-2 but she is not playing her best tennis. Very inconsistent.

 

[VAUConnFan]

We need The Chief's threads for these Grand Slam tournaments. And we miss his off season quizzes as well.

 

[eebmg]

Just announced. Serena Williams / Andy Murray will team up for mixed doubles. Very cool. Andy is such a nice dude. Hope he can handle it physically.

 

[bbfanLA]

I wonder if their first match will be on Centre Court? Andy Murray and Serena Williams will be one of the rare times an early round mixed doubles match will be played in front of a sold out show court. The British press will be all over it.

 

[eebmg]

Gauff second round match tomorrow 1PM EDT.

Her opponent info