Is Raducanu Contagious? Unranked Player Wins in Davis Cup

[jimlosaltos]

Not that way! Did Raducanu start a rebellion by junior players? Or, is it this guy's first name? Or the end of days?

Unranked 18 yo Daniil Ostapenkov upset Diego Schwartzman, 15th in the world to give Belarus the first rubber in its Davis Cup match with Argentina?

ITF profile, Ostapenkov has never played a match at a professional tennis tournament, not even qualifying at the weakest M15s. His only pro level match was a 60 62 defeat v Dominik Koepfer at Davis Cup in March 2020.

https://today.in-24.com/sport/News/141725.html

[jimlosaltos]

I'm telling you, it's catching. 18 yo Clara Tauson, the last player to beat Emma Raducanu ( Chicago WTA 125) just won Luxembourg.

She had earlier pulled "The Raducanu" before it was a thing -- coming from the qualifiers to win Lyon in her second tour-level main draw.

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2262530/tauson-ends-ostapenko-title-defence-in-thriller-to-lift-second-trophy-in-luxembourg

Per WTA: "She is one of four 2002-born players ranked in the Top 100 along with Raducanu, US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Marta Kostyuk, and will now edge closer to joining Raducanu and Fernandez in the Top 50."

Now, if I can just figure out what part of a speech a "The Raducanu" is. A metonym? Hmmm, it's not a synecdoche. ...

[glacierguy]

Fifty keels ploughed the deep.

[jimlosaltos]

Fifty keels ploughed the deep.

Points! "An example of a single sentence that displays synecdoche, metaphor and metonymy would be: "Fifty keels ploughed the deep", where "keels" is the synecdoche as it names the whole (the ship) after a particular part (of the ship); "ploughed" is the metaphor as it substitutes the concept of ploughing a field for moving ...

[glacierguy]

Thank you, I am always on the lookout for points . I use that phrase, and remember "smm" to get them right.

[arturohernandez]

I'm telling you, it's catching. 18 yo Clara Tauson, the last player to beat Emma Raducanu ( Chicago WTA 125) just won Luxembourg.

She had earlier pulled "The Raducanu" before it was a thing -- coming from the qualifiers to win Lyon in her second tour-level main draw.

https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2262530/tauson-ends-ostapenko-title-defence-in-thriller-to-lift-second-trophy-in-luxembourg

Per WTA: "She is one of four 2002-born players ranked in the Top 100 along with Raducanu, US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Marta Kostyuk, and will now edge closer to joining Raducanu and Fernandez in the Top 50."

Now, if I can just figure out what part of a speech a "The Raducanu" is. A metonym? Hmmm, it's not a synecdoche. ...

So now we go back to my wanting to put the Big 3 in the dustbin. It is not so much that I want them in the dustbin. It is just the idea that when the young guard believe they can win, they begin to win. Thiem was so close against Rafa and Djokovic. Tsitsipas so close against Djokovic too. Something held them back from just taking one step to beating one of the big 3 in a important match in best of 5.

Now Medvedev wins the final against Djokovic. Suddenly, they stop thinking there is this huge brick wall that won't let them through.

The belief begins to appear in matches. And Voila it is like an avalanche.

We are seeing it in the women's game and I have a feeling we are about to see it in the men's game. Christopher Clarey said in a podcast that he does NOT think that Djokovic will win 26 majors. Maybe 1 or 2 more.

It's not the health or any tangible drop in Nole's game. It's not that Rafa and maybe even Roger will reach the level that they were at before. Or even threaten for a title.

It's that the young guard will believe they can win and outlast them.

One match can start a fire. The younger women players are on fire and the Medvedev just lit the match on the men's side.

Of course the proof is in the pudding. Will the pudding catch fire?

Not sure it has any sophisticated metrics associated with it. Oh and I mixed my metaphors too.

[don_budge]

Did Raducanu start a rebellion by junior players?

Not buying into the rebellion angle.

https://www.wtatennis.com/players/32...ducanu/matches

But statistically speaking you would have to conclude that Raducanu's win at the 2021 U. S. Open was a rare event. If you look at her match history there is no way that you could have predicted that outcome. I wonder if there was a big payout anywhere. It is so statistically improbable I find it somewhat suspicious...but that is without having watched any of the play. Even so...she never had to play someone ranked in the top ten. What the hell happened to the rest of the field? She played a couple of players in the top twenty but the rest of them were basically outliers.

On the other side of the draw, Leila had to power through the #2, #3, #5 and #17 ranked players. She probably would have rendered Raducanu a non story or at least a story about a runner-up if she hadn't been depleted by the four three set matches in a row.

It will be interesting going forwards to see how Raducanu reacts to her unlikely win at the Open. The attention that is going to be bestowed upon her would make any human dizzy. The media attention. The expectations. Perhaps she will join Osaki in the mental tennis ward. It is going to be a tough act to follow.

[jimlosaltos]

So now we go back to my wanting to put the Big 3 in the dustbin. It is not so much that I want them in the dustbin. It is just the idea that when the young guard believe they can win, they begin to win. Thiem was so close against Rafa and Djokovic. Tsitsipas so close against Djokovic too. Something held them back from just taking one step to beating one of the big 3 in a important match in best of 5.

Now Medvedev wins the final against Djokovic. Suddenly, they stop thinking there is this huge brick wall that won't let them through.

The belief begins to appear in matches. And Voila it is like an avalanche.

We are seeing it in the women's game and I have a feeling we are about to see it in the men's game. Christopher Clarey said in a podcast that he does NOT think that Djokovic will win 26 majors. Maybe 1 or 2 more.

It's not the health or any tangible drop in Nole's game. It's not that Rafa and maybe even Roger will reach the level that they were at before. Or even threaten for a title.

It's that the young guard will believe they can win and outlast them.

One match can start a fire. The younger women players are on fire and the Medvedev just lit the match on the men's side.

Of course the proof is in the pudding. Will the pudding catch fire?

Not sure it has any sophisticated metrics associated with it. Oh and I mixed my metaphors too.

Well, "Flaming Christmas Pudding" is actually a thing, so perhaps your metaphor is not so stirred up <g>.

I've got mixed feelings. I miss Fedal, but Novak's grinder ball not so much.

And it would be exciting to feel that titles are truly open contests. Plus, tennis is at its most entertaining when there is a mix of styles of play.

Medvedev brings that. Maybe Alcaraz? Maybe Korda?

Still, my emotional side wishes for one, last however improbable, glorious burst from Fed ... like NBA's Larry Bird staggering off after slamming his head hard on the Boston Garden parquet court only to return in the final minutes and drain 3s. "Can he even stand up? Barely, but lord he can still shoot !!! " Heroes (even sports ones) should be able to ride off into the sunset.

[arturohernandez]

Well, "Flaming Christmas Pudding" is actually a thing, so perhaps your metaphor is not so stirred up <g>.

I've got mixed feelings. I miss Fedal, but Novak's grinder ball not so much.

And it would be exciting to feel that titles are truly open contests. Plus, tennis is at its most entertaining when there is a mix of styles of play.

Medvedev brings that. Maybe Alcaraz? Maybe Korda?

Still, my emotional side wishes for one, last however improbable, glorious burst from Fed ... like NBA's Larry Bird staggering off after slamming his head hard on the Boston Garden parquet court only to return in the final minutes and drain 3s. "Can he even stand up? Barely, but lord he can still shoot !!! " Heroes (even sports ones) should be able to ride off into the sunset.

Me too! He was maybe two inches away from winning that match. I always wonder why he didn't serve and volley on those match points. Now that I am reading the new Federer book, I am starting to realize why. Federer really played most of his youth on clay. The odd thing is that he is considered one of the best volleyers in singles.

It is just not second nature to him even though he is very good. My feeling is that Sampras with those match points would have put the screws on Djokovic to pass him. Of course, Federer doesn't have Sampras's serve. But still.

I don't know why Shapo seems to be the heir apparent to me for a Fed like style of play. His touch is not good and he needs to learn how to slice and volley. But if you read The Master, you can see that people worried about Federer. Then he put it all together.

Maybe Shapo will find a way to put it all together and will surprise us. He could hire Federer as an adviser. Why not?

[stotty]

I think Emma Raducanu's peers will be thinking if Emma can do it, so can they. After all, not 6 months ago they were nip and tuck with her in matches and doing just as well. They would be wrong of course. Emma has simply taken off and left the rest of them standing. Her rise started at Wimbledon where she reached the 4th round. She then continued her run at the US Open and won the whole thing. She's a tad better than Fernandez and led throughout their match at the US Open. She took the lead and stayed there. She’s technically a better player…and athletically better than Fernandez (I like Fernandez’s fight, though, which is equal to anyone’s). Emma has no discerning weaknesses I have noticed so far. I can only see her getting better.

Emma has been coached well and that is going to stand her in very good stead going forwards. She’s one up from Gauff and Fernandez in that regard. There’s mounting evidence the Brit coaches seem to be getting better technically. Coaches have no excuses when working with juniors who are world-class material because they are getting so much to work with. Technical weaknesses and things missed will catch up with any prodigy eventually; think Zverev’s second serve or Raonic’s backhand. All too often on the forum we notice both development and tour coaches who should have spent a bit of time on Tennisplayer.net instead of stuck up their own ignorance….or worse, stuck up their ego...or worse still, stuck up their own arse.

You would expect Emma to have a dip in form and a brief reality check before marching on to get better and better. It wouldn’t be human to simply pick up where she left off and walk off with another slam. But if she can handle the pressure, which is currently greater than any other man or woman who has ever played the game, then she could become really great.

Emma, just 18, will be carrying so much. Vogue and the like have latched on to her because of her looks and personality. Fashion brands are queuing up from London to New York to sign her up. She’s making millions upon millions already and in the space of just weeks. On top of this she is going to have to go on court and live up to expectations. Now that is pressure beyond most of us will ever experience. But somehow, just somehow, I am expecting Emma to be able to deal with it. There is something about her that tells me she can. Only time will tell.