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Tight shorts Machac with his biggest win ever over Alcaraz, stopping the Alcaraz 12 match winning streak. He certainly deserved it. He was asked post match about his last 2 wins over Paul and now Alcaraz, and how well he is playing. He said he has to play at that level, or go home with a 6-2, 6-3 loss.
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"Tight shorts Machac", I like that. But are they shorter than Holger Runes'?Originally posted by stroke View Post
Back to tennis, got to watch the recorded Shelton-Sinner match last night. I can't recall the last time I saw a serving exhibition like what Ben put on.
Against a very good returner in Sinner, Ben got 21/22 first serves in and won 17/21 first serves -- as well as winning "all" his second serves, 1/1.
I think Ben won something like 16 straight points behind his first serve ( can't recall the exact number) and the one loss was a spectacular point for the only break of Ben in the set. Ben clubbed a mid-court overhead, which Sinner retrieved with an artful, wristy shot from above his head, lobbing the ball back to Ben's backhand corner. Hitting an overhead from behind the baseline there, Ben clubbed one, like a flat 140 MPH serve perhaps, almost on the baseline and somehow Sinner actually took a swing on that, hitting a forehand cross court. Ben missed a drop shot after running diagonally to the net.
Just awesome play. Ben talked about how he's a different player now, and he looked it. Not just the strokes, he seemed more focused, more serious. I have to remind myself he's only been on tour for two years and was late committing to tennis. 2025 could be when he comes to the fore?Comment
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The outburst from Francis Tiafoe has largely been ignored or otherwise covered up. From the ATP to all other media sources. The demographics involved approach an interesting limit to what is printable. A Chinese venue. A Russian opponent. An American perp. What makes the entire thing unmanageable in today's climate of what you can say and what you cannot say is that Francis Tiafoe is what is now referred to as "African American". I'm not one hundred percent with this. I think it should just be "American". For instance...I don't expect or do I want people to refer to me as Columbian American. American would do just fine. Or even Swedish American now that I have dual citizenship. Or European American since I have EU membership. It will all be simpler when it comes to this and I predict that one day it will. Or else.Originally posted by don_budge View Post
Censorship... Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information.This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient".Censorship can be conducted by governments, private institutions.When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of their own works or speech, it is referred to as self-censorship.General censorship occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, pornography, and hate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel.Specific rules and regulations regarding censorship vary between legal jurisdictions and/or private organizations.
The ATP has ignored the seismic event at the tournament in Shanghai the other day. Acting like it didn't happen. Tennis metaphoring life. It's inconvenient. Francis went off the rails in a public setting. Is he getting preferential treatment? Certainly other players have been made an example of for lesser outbursts. Remember Novak accidentally hitting the linesman with a ball. Remember his stand against vaccinations. He was vilified. What is the difference between these two players? One warrants expose coverage and the other gets the code of silence. What is the difference between the two? Do we see this same sort of bias in society today?
It slipped out...then it became a torrent. I don't believe I have ever seen such an outburst from a professional tennis player. John McEnroe had some rather tense moments. Ille Nastase had his turn. They got lots of attention from the press. Francis Tiafoe goes full volcano and not a peep. Even coverage in other media is rather silent in comparison to the noise he made.
The ATP has censored the event up to this point. Damage control. Image is everything. Fake news. The suppression of information. Most interesting.
You have to very careful with this incident now because of this. Francis seems to be on a mission to bring an "NBA" feel and attitude to the game of tennis. His demeanor and his movement suggest this. Even the outfits. Now this. Maybe the powers that be in the tennis world want NBA attitude and Francis just took it a bit too far. Who knows? I have been saying forever that more and more the whole thing starts to resemble Big Time Wrestling and sure enough...it does.
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Czech Mate...Alcaraz the Hot Dog
Tomas Machac in a ridiculous takedown of the ATP number two ranked player...Carlos Alcaraz. The best thing to happen in tennis in a long, long time. Perhaps since Roger Federer, The Last Living Proof, disappeared from the stadium. The tennis media machine has been touting the Dynamic Duo of Jannik "Doper" Sinner and Carlos "Hot Dog" Alcaraz ever since it became feasable. Machac may have just thrown a monkey wrench in the machine. Next up for Machac...Sinner.
Jannik Sinner continues to play under some rather dubious circumstances with a doping accusation against him. Apparently it is not completely resolved to everyone's satisfaction. It seems that many of the players are rather leery of a multiple tiered system of justice. What do you know...more of tennis metaphoring life. I never get tired of saying that although it is surely going to get me banned from this website as politics invariably overlap tennis in obvious manners. Nothing could have pleased me more than watching the latest chosen one go down in flames. I think that his hand to ear gesture begging for more audience participation when he makes a good shot is just hideous. The sleeveless shirts are just another look at me attention getting device as well. Big Time Wrestling anyone?
Fascinating observation from don_budge...Tomas Machac's playing style bring to mind a rather amazing tennis player of Czech lineage. Anyone? Can you say Miloslav Mecir? The movement and grace are eerily similar. A number ot times it seemed as Alcaraz had Machac standing flat footed only to see the Czech dash at the very time Carlos was executing to anticipate exactly where he was going with his put away to the precise spot where Alcaraz was gunning. Mecir had the mercurial ability and catlike grace in his movement. Just a subliminal impression. No statistics here. Just a very human like observation. No computers. No graphics. Just words painting a picture. Remember Mecir? This Czech mate might just be on to something here.
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Good observation. The Big Cat one of my all time favorite players. Machac does have that beautiful movement of the Big Cat. So graceful. Maybe not quite as pretty as the Big Cat. but definitely in the conversation.Originally posted by don_budge View PostCzech Mate...Alcaraz the Hot Dog
Tomas Machac in a ridiculous takedown of the ATP number two ranked player...Carlos Alcaraz. The best thing to happen in tennis in a long, long time. Perhaps since Roger Federer, The Last Living Proof, disappeared from the stadium. The tennis media machine has been touting the Dynamic Duo of Jannik "Doper" Sinner and Carlos "Hot Dog" Alcaraz ever since it became feasable. Machac may have just thrown a monkey wrench in the machine. Next up for Machac...Sinner.
Jannik Sinner continues to play under some rather dubious circumstances with a doping accusation against him. Apparently it is not completely resolved to everyone's satisfaction. It seems that many of the players are rather leery of a multiple tiered system of justice. What do you know...more of tennis metaphoring life. I never get tired of saying that although it is surely going to get me banned from this website as politics invariably overlap tennis in obvious manners. Nothing could have pleased me more than watching the latest chosen one go down in flames. I think that his hand to ear gesture begging for more audience participation when he makes a good shot is just hideous. The sleeveless shirts are just another look at me attention getting device as well. Big Time Wrestling anyone?
Fascinating observation from don_budge...Tomas Machac's playing style bring to mind a rather amazing tennis player of Czech lineage. Anyone? Can you say Miloslav Mecir? The movement and grace are eerily similar. A number ot times it seemed as Alcaraz had Machac standing flat footed only to see the Czech dash at the very time Carlos was executing to anticipate exactly where he was going with his put away to the precise spot where Alcaraz was gunning. Mecir had the mercurial ability and catlike grace in his movement. Just a subliminal impression. No statistics here. Just a very human like observation. No computers. No graphics. Just words painting a picture. Remember Mecir? This Czech mate might just be on to something here.Comment
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Novak is of course the favorite vs Fritz with an implied probability of winning at 71.4%. Fritz of course has a terrible record vs Novak at 0-9, but I do think he has a legitimate chance to win. I would not bet on it though.Comment
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His defense and offense off the backhand is something.Comment
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The injection of pace on the forehand is something, so Federeresque.Comment
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Tight 2nd set late, physio called.Comment
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Nice to see a bit of genuine humour in the game. Massive hitting. One wonders where this all going. How much harder can the ball be struck!Originally posted by stroke View Post
I think Novak has changed his mind and now fancies making the ATP finals after all.StottyComment
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When Alex DeMinaur, who was ahead of Djokovic in the rankings, pulled out of the Asian swing with an injury, Djoko entered Paris. Not coincidental.Originally posted by stotty View Post
Rublev, who is also ahead of Djoko is recovering from a mystery injury that put him "7 hours from losing a limb". My completely unsubstantiated guess is that Rublev gave himself a thrombosis by savagely hammering his own thigh with his tennis racket after bad points. Just a guess.
Djoko served lights out against Fritz, not being broken once in the two sets and winning the decisive tiebreak.Comment
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