Running tennis thread 2021

I used to love it 30+ yrs ago when I had the time (or patience?) to watch a match for 3+ hours. Kids, life, man thank goodness for DVRs.

 

I actually watch more of the Aussie Open than any of the others because when I’m stuck in the ass end of winter I want to see somewhere warm and lively to give me hope.

 

Serena likely won't catch Margaret Court. Just a handful of players have won a Slam after giving birth.

 

That's not the issue. It's that Serena is 39 and on the way down, while other players are already as good (or in the case of Osaka, better) and on the way up.

 

I think she can luck into one as long as she wants to keep playing.

She made the semifinals and probably lost to the eventual champ, this isn't three straight second-round exits stumbling around.

And honestly, the fact she's doing this is either extremely impressive or an indictment of women's tennis.
Here is the live top 10 rankings, no names just ages:

1. 24
2. 29
3. 23
4. 22
5. 26
6.28
7. 39
8. 20
9. 22
10. 30

She should have no business doing what she is doing.

 

Bears repeating, she doesn't have "39 years" of tennis mileage on her.

She has played fewer career matches than Steffi Graf, who retired at age 30 (with 22 Grand Slam titles, nine more than Serena had won by that age).

 

Serena is still the mentally strongest and most fearsome player out there. She can definitely win the US Open with a favorable draw.

 

(not named Osaka)

 

Serena can win the US Open BUT her serve was off in the 1st set and her forehand was vastly inferior compared to Osaka. I saw the stat that on both the FH and BH, Osaka was hitting it about 3 MPH faster than Serena. That's not going to get it done unless Serena can serve.

 

Serena can still win a match against any player out there.

The problem is, she doesn’t seem to be able to win six or seven in a row anymore. In just about every tournament she’s played since, she reaches a point where she’s made to look old and slow by a younger opponent (which is all of them) and/or shots that used to be rock solid suddenly become erratic (like her forehand against Osaka).

 

And I’m not sure Serena is still the mentally strongest player out there anymore. Opponents aren’t nearly as afraid of her as they used to be. I’d posit Osaka is now at the top in that area — her 11-0 record in major championship matches from the quarters on attests to that. Andreescu (assuming she gets her form back post-injury) has the mental strength to will her way to wins (saw her win a number of matches without her A game in 2019). In fact, I’ve seen Serena beat herself by getting frustrated and rushing on several occasions over the past two or three years.

 

Serena is toast