In the latest pod we review Madrid and look ahead to Rome with @adbtennis.bsky.social @tennis-skip1515.bsky.social and @mattzemek.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

NIce piece abt something players are entitled to, no? Not to be a nattering nabob of negativism, but "placate" seems harsh (dictionary: To allay the anger of, especially by making concessions; appease... Similar: to pacify; to concilate."). It's a legit dissatisfaction, no?

Yes. Momentum is as momentum does

That was as tight as a straight-set victory gets. In front of a Davis-Cup like atmosphere (says my friend @saqiba.bsky.social who is on site), #Vacherot upsets 4th-seeded #Musetti 7-6 7-5 📍 #MonteCarloMasters

The increased use of camera-level tv/broadcast cameras is nothing less than wonderful. It comes as close as possible to letting someone who's never seen live professional tennis understand, feel, what's being done on the court (which is to say, unbelievable hitting)

Bad form, for me.

I don't mean to be puritanical about it (but maybe this is), but given the scourge online betting is becoming (is?) i don't see why it's okay for @tennischannel.bsky.social to not only be promoting but *explaining* the betting line for matches. Is it me?

No one on tour hits the ball harder than Rybakina or Baptiste. Aside from Baptiste's minor squeak-y grunt on her serve, those two put paid to the idea that grunting is a necessary component of big hitting.

That is just tough tough tough tough tough from Gauff. You have to believe that were the situation reversed and Gauff had had to hit the forecourt/volleys Bencic hit, that Gauff would have put one of them away given her superior comfort up front

The problem for Bencic in this match vs Gauff is that, unlike Belinda's matchup vs Anisimova, Gauff moves better than Anisimova & as well as Bencic. Plus Coco moves up and volleys better. Versus Gauff Bencic won't be able to open up the court for finishing shots the way she could against Anisimova

@bretthaber says Korda "took out" Alcaraz. 100% accurate, def not a bad day at the office for CA that Korda took advantage of, but a competition Alcaraz could not get on top of.

If I had a nickel for every time I've seen that and they're barely inside the service line as the pass rifles passed them I'd be in my 2nd (or, 3rd) house in the Bahamas. Mid-court and hard? Put it away cleanly shd be the M.O. of choice. No time to close w/hard and crosscourt 2/2

At some stage I *have* to believe players will learn that hitting a mid-court ball hard, and crosscourt bc you need the space for a hard hit ball to drop into, leaves then far more vulnerable to the pass than hitting it slower but dtl. 1/2

#sheesh in three points Ostapenko just caught four ball tosses on her serve. That absolutely ridiculous

(3) Certainly I could be, but I still think that’s true. And if as Tignor says the USTA has moved away from developing pro players the current onslaught (sic) of Americans in the top 100 on both tours suggests that support wasn’t really needed. (end)

(2) When I was there (once, in 2019) it was clear there were Aussies who paid to get into the tournament but never went to watch tennis. I commented then that Yanks would never do that. Wrong?

(1) I certainly don’t wish Tiley to be anything less than a success here. Having said that, his goals for the USOpen will be hampered, imo, by Americans’ disinterest in attending the Open as a festival, which they definitely do in Australia. www.tennis.com/news/article...

Another great podcast hosted by @saqiba.bsky.social with ex-top 10 players Tim Mayotte and Gene Mayer -- focus on US men's depth in tennis 👇🏻 open.spotify.com/episode/2vY2...

Middle East tourneys using court level cameras far more than has been the norm & it’s great. Don’t know if it’s the world feed or just these tourneys but seeing what players see – speed, dif heights, spin, distances run – and not from on high is great esp for those who’ve not seen live pro tennis

Yup, great fh. But what he actually did that's unusual is he hung on his bh side to lure Fils to go to CA's fh. After faking the stay on his bh CA sprinted to the open court where he'd suckered Fils to hit. Sampras would've made the fh, prob many others too, but the trap CA laid was what's unique

Although he lost 7-5 in 3rd to Tiafoe in Delray Beach today, 23-yo Zachary Svajda breaks into Top 100 in ATP live rankings with a 1st rd win. Moving ATP article on coping with his father Tom's death last fall: www.atptour.com/en/news/svaj... #tbt to his 1st of 2 Kalamazoo 18s titles in 2019:

There is a lot to talk about re Swiatek’s game, in a variety of areas, but seeing her now vs Janice Tjen I will say this: she has the most impressive footwork since Graf. I’m getting foot blisters just watching

For all the noise about #DavisCup playing to small audiences (a debatable knock), T2 is now showing Alicial Parks vs Daina Shnaider (#s 85 vs 16), live in Qatar 250, playing in front of about 27 people.

With as many players commenting abou how it's tough to play against Rybakina because she gives you no indication of her mental state – "stoic" is probably apt – you'd think more players would adopt the same demeanor intead of continually chirping (and worse0 to their box/team

Looking back at the #AusOpen that was with the Tennis with an Accent crew -- hosted by podmaster @saqiba.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/1UMQ...

Other than maybe one or two of them (ahem, jmac) I can be agnostic re who's doing commentary. But jeez, this move away from the teams that called matches earlier in the #ausopen are *not* outdone by the "star" teams #ESPN has brought out for the semis. Where are the Aussies and others?

No feet forehand. "Out!"

Very passive play from AZ in trying to fend off break point at 30/40. It's so hard to play against type.

Look, I know *what* ball you come in on matters, and that no one can go the the net as often as players did decades ago, but these two are at 78% and 75% points won at the net (CA/AZ). You'd think you'd consider coming in a *little* more often with those success numbers

Apologies: Sascha

Jeez louise it's so painful to hear him murderize AZ's last name. #sparemeplease

If Alcaraz had hit that fh return Zverev struck at 15/40 JMac wouldn't have talked over the point. #sad

Watching pro golf with my dad once, when I was a kid, Dad told me how a player was going to miss a putt. "He's taking far too long." See: Zverev's double on ad/in

What is it with JMac? The H2H between Alcaraz and Zverev is 6/6, the last 6 matches were split 3/3, and Sasha was up 2 sets to 1 in Paris. Yet JMac says Zverev "is a heavy. underdog." I'm all for opinions, but having *some* solid backup to them is a basic requirement for professionalism #ausopen

RE the ESPN commentators' talking about Novak complaining to Keothavong about the point warning re the time ND was taking, and did/didn't ND deserve a warning: attend an ND match & you see how he continually stretches the clock, really makes matches molasses-like. This was not an outlier situation

1928 Davis Cup final, USA vs France, René Lacoste's strategy developed by the team was for him to keep Bill Tilden on court for as long as possible. Winning wasn't the goal, working Tilden over was; the French knew Tilden wld play the dubs & the reverse singles. France won the tie. Musetti vs Novak?

Just once, once, I'd love to see a player call for a hindrance when the server catches a toss for the umpteenth time

So tough, grabs a game from 40/15 down.

bad footwork

Pegula not accelerating through the ball, not nearly as crisp, as she was in the first set (when she was stellar, tbh). Too careful? Tough to maintain that level, or Anisimova hitting bigger w/more focus? Chicke/egg, but as Pete Bodo wrote, you can only play as well as the other player lets you

it's not an accident that we see the most confident overheads from the WTA singles players who have real doubles experience and success

I've always believed one has to make opponents pay for missing first serves. That can be hitting big returns, or chip-and-charge, or especially sharp angles. But, as you suggest, that means nothing if you don't do the most basic way to make them pay: get the damn ball back in play

She's been one of the two dominant players of the past few years, so this is no dis, but once again Swiatek's lost at sea when up against a big hitter, with a clearly "what should I do?" look on her face as an opponent isn't yielding to Iga's narrowly defined (however potent) style of play

It's worth nothing that while giving Rybakina higher boucing balls *does* make her deal with a different look, as Ian Eagle pointed out, Elena is 6' tall, not esp bothered by that. OTOH slice is not aSwiatek strong suit, so making Rybakina hit low balls isn't so much of an option (sadly for Iga)

100%. In the 2/1 game (Rybakina serving) Swiatck manged to get more depth on her groundies, and drew errors or was able to out=position Rybakina. But pulilng opponents *up* is not esp in Swiatek's quiver of weapons, while having a big serve like Rybakina is a very, very good thing.

On court coaching is just sad. Not to be old fart-ish about it, but it was a unique feature of tennis in the world of sport. Players w/good at on-court analysis had an advantage, those without had one less weapon. Yeah, yeah, boxers get coaching, etc., but why not keep tennis as unique as possible?

Not to say it's easy to exploit, but the fact remains that when your opponent is all about hitting the ball as hard as they can, as often as they can, their potential reasonable targets are fewer in number; they need space for the power/speed. Musetti runs for that forehand knowing Fritz is going cc

Just out of a perverse curiousity, I wonder who (if anyone) would win if the ITF were to put up, say, $100k to any pro who went an entire match without one fist pump or look to their team. 😀

Did someone just pass Lerner Tien a note saying his pet goldfish had died or something? Very, very weird service game at 1/2, which he lost w/multiple doubles and UEs. #outoftheblue

Holiday tennis listening advice: Earlier this month, podmaster Saqib hosted 80s tennis greats Mark Woodforde, Tim Mayotte and Kevin Curren to discuss the transition of the #AusOpen from Kooyong to Flinders Park (now named RLA). Outstanding insights ⤵️