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Quiz question.

One ATP player successfully used a unique tactic to reach Slam final multiple times, heck, consecutive times - @ one Slam.

What tactic. Who player. What Slam.

 

HINT: Czech.

Arthur Ashe v Jimmy Connors: Wimbledon Final 1975 (Extended Highlights).

 

 

Djokovic vs Federer after 2022 Wimbledon. Final coffin in someone's nail?

Slams: 21-20 Djokovic.

Masters: 38-28 Djokovic.

WTF: 6-5 Federer.

Weeks @ No. 1: 373-310 Djokovic.

H2H: 27-23 Djokovic.

Career Slam: 2-1 Djokovic.

AO: 9-7 Djokovic.

FO: 2-1 Djokovic.

W: 8-7 Federer.

USO: 5-3 Federer.

Given how pathetically, woefully, heartbreakingly, pitifully.........Raducanu has performed since winning the 2021 US Open, shouldn't there be a point on the timeline where she should politely be asked (forced?) to relinquish her US Open trophy?

The ONLY thing she has done since winning her US Open title is to provide irrefutable and getting even more irrefutable evidence that it was the BIGGEST fluke in the history of tennis.

She has competed @ 15 tournaments since 2021 US Open. Forget winning a title @ any one of them or reaching the final, she has not won more than two matches @ each event.

Click here for those 15 tournaments.

20 years from now (10?) Djokovic will look back at not getting vaccinated as his MOST knuckle-headed decision of his life. And that's if he ends his career as THE GOAT. If not, that decision may also include the After-Life.

Djokovic probably doesn't know that everyone dies - some sooner, some later.

And that's without inserting the FACT that vaccination has NOT killed ANYONE - ANYWHERE (one or two? three?). That's SLIGHTLY less than ones freaking without it.

Given current situation - from inside and outside - Djokovic can EASILY lead the Slam race with sufficient margin to be anointed the GOAT, heck undisputed GOAT just on his lead on the Slam pole - forget weeks @ No. 1, H2h against his two archery rivals, Masters, two (three?) Career Slams etc.

He can STILL be the undisputed GOAT if he gets vaccinated and competes @ at least the next six Slams or so.

Wasn't 2022 AO experience (deportation, Nadal winning and tying his second Career Slam record @ his 'Home' Slam, 10th AO title, No. 21....) not freaking enough of a reminder of how much this decision may cost him - forget about the ABSOLUTE certainty of a day dawning with Djokovic laced with pangs of regret and anguish? How else can this end?

Francisco Lindor's Visit To The Citi Open A Home Run. Major League Baseball star meets several ATP Tour players.

Tommy Paul and baseball star Francisco Lindor meet at the Citi Open early Tuesday.

 

A trip to the Citi Open was a home run in more ways than one for Major League Baseball star Francisco Lindor.

The popular shortstop for the New York Mets met several ATP Tour stars at the ATP 500 event early Tuesday, including Tommy Paul, Hubert Hurkacz and Jack Sock.

“It was really cool meeting him. I haven’t met many baseball players, but I told him I might go to a game if I have time,” Paul said. “I actually played baseball a little bit when I was really young, same position as him, so it was cool. I’ll probably pay attention to him playing a little bit more now.”

^{Lindor chats with Frances Tiafoe in Washington. Photo Credit: Richard Kessler/Citi Open}
Lindor also bumped into Frances Tiafoe, whom he met at last year’s US Open.

“We’ve been cool for a little bit and kept in touch,” Tiafoe said. “The main thing I like about him is I like his swag, how cool he is and how he supports players in other sports.”

After supporting the tennis stars with his visit early in the day, Lindor put his own uniform on in the evening. The star hit a home run in the Mets’ game against the Washington Nationals.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/francisco-lindor-washington-2022-visit

Medvedev On Battle For No. 1: 'For Sure I'm Watching A Little Bit'. Medvedev discusses his return to action in Los Cabos.

Daniil Medvedev was welcomed to Los Cabos by Tournament Director Geoffrey Fernandez.

 

Daniil Medvedev returns to action this week at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel in Los Cabos, where the tournament debutant knows he needs to hit the ground running.

Medvedev is the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but he is under pressure for top spot. Entering the week, he leads World No. 2 Alexander Zverev by just 775 points. The 26-year-old will also be defending 1,000 points next week in Canada at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

“For sure I’m watching [the battle for No. 1] a little bit,” Medvedev told ATPTour.com. “Depends also the moment because I know at the end of the year, unless I try to win every tournament that is left, it’s probably going to be Rafa [Nadal] for [year-end No. 1]. But at the same time, I can keep it for quite a long time I feel like if I play good here in the [North American hard-court swing].”

This will be Medvedev’s 11th week at World No. 1, and he is currently in the midst of his second stint atop men’s tennis’ mountain. But Medvedev is currently sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Turin, which means five players have earned more points than him this season and could threaten for World No. 1 as the year continues.

Although Medvedev is aware of the situation, he does not follow closely enough to know exactly how many points he must win each week to maintain his place. The four-time ATP Masters 1000 champion is more focussed on the matches in front of him.

“I know that the most important is to try to win tournaments, try to win those points,” Medvedev said. “Then you can keep [World No. 1].”

You May Also Like: Scouting Report: Rublev & Kyrgios Headline Washington, Medvedev Returns In Los Cabos

The top seed in Los Cabos will be competing for the first time since the Mallorca Championships in June. What will be the key for him to quickly regain rhythm?

“Tough to say. It’s always different, but for sure winning matches is the most important,” said Medvedev, who will open his tournament against wild card Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez or a qualifier. “Every opponent can be tough so the more matches you win, the more confidence you gain, the more you start feeling your game better, what you have to do better, so that’s what I’m going to try to do here in Los Cabos.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/medvedev-los-cabos-2022-preview

Raducanu into Washington quarterfinals; Fritz stops in heat.

 

Emma Raducanu

WASHINGTON ⁠— Reigning U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu reached her second quarterfinal of the season Thursday, edging Camila Osorio 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) at the Citi Open over nearly three hours on a hot and humid afternoon.

With the temperature in the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius), the second-seeded Raducanu took a medical timeout late in the second set to get treatment from a trainer for blisters on her racket-wielding right hand.

Osorio was visited by a trainer earlier.

Raducanu’s only other quarterfinal appearance in a dozen tournaments in 2022 came back in April on red clay at Stuttgart, Germany, where she lost at that stage to No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek. This time, Raducanu will face 60th-ranked Liudmila Samsonova for a berth in the semifinals at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 29.

Samsonova came back to get past Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

Raducanu, the British player who won the title at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier a year ago at age 18, kept giving away leads against Osorio, a 20-year-old from Colombia.

Raducanu was up 3-0 at the match’s outset, then needed to get through a tiebreaker to pull out the opening set. She served for the match at 5-4 in the second, but got broken there thanks to three double-faults and a forehand into the net.

Still, Raducanu again was better in the tiebreaker, closing out the victory when Osorio sent a service return wide. Raducanu, who has lost in the second round at each of this year’s major tournaments, dropped her racket and covered her eyes with both hands.

After the players met for a hug at the net, Raducanu appeared to be too exhausted for a full wave to the crowd on what Yoshihito Nishioka called a “crazy hot day” after he beat seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1).

Nishioka now meets Dan Evans in the quarterfinals. Evans advanced when third-seeded Taylor Fritz – the highest American man in the rankings – stopped playing in the third set because he did not feel well.

In other results, lucky loser Wang Xiyu eliminated Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the women’s bracket, and Mikael Ymer defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in the men’s.

https://sports.yahoo.com/raducanu-washington-quarterfinals-fritz-stops-231015179.html

More injury drama for Emma Raducanu as she battles through to reach Citi Open quarter-finals. Emma Raducanu suffered blister problems which left the skin “ripping off” her injured hand, causing fresh concern just weeks before her US Open defence.

 

emma raducanu vs camila osorio live score citi open latest - SHUTTERSTOCK

In furnace-like conditions in Washington and on an eerily quiet court, Raducanu was subjected to the ultimate endurance test in a dogged, second-round win over Camila Osorio at the Citi Open.

The 7-6, 7-6 win set up a quarter-final against Liudmila Samsonova today and the question is how Raducanu will be able to recover from her callouses, described as “pretty ugly” by on court interviewer Rennae Stubbs after the match.

Witnessed by only a sparse crowd in the US capital, temperatures peaked at 35 degrees with many spectators sheltering under umbrellas and towels because of the fierce heat.

In a measure of her resilience, Raducanu was twice pushed to a final set-tie break. Twice she pulled through to close out a victory in this marathon match, which descended into a battle of the blisters in the suffocating heat. After two hours and 50 minutes on court, an exhausted Raducanu admitted she “died about three times.”

“It actually came out of nowhere to be honest,” Raducanu said of her calloused hands. “At the beginning of the match it was alright, it was just the normal callouses, but then throughout the match my skin was just ripping off. At the beginning it was just a flap but the flap got ripped off and it was pretty raw and open.” Worryingly, she also revealed she was battling blisters on her feet.

 

Emma Raducanu of Great Britain in action, during her women's singles match against Camila Osorio - SHUTTERSTOCK

Osario’s movement was derailed by a blister on her foot, while Raducanu’s sores on her racket hand played a part in her tired service game late on as she eventually closed out the 7-6, 7-6 win.

It could have so easily swung the other way, but the Briton, whose second-round exit at this year’s Australian Open was also hampered by a hand blister, dug deep to claim a memorable victory and progress to the quarter-finals, where she will face Liudmila Samsonova.

It seemed strange that not even tennis’ golden girl, nearly a year on from being catapulted into the history books, could pull in a full-house for her DC dress rehearsal ahead of the highly anticipated defence of her US Open crown later this month.

Perhaps it was synonymous with the mixed fortunes that the 19-year-old has endured since her momentous Flushing Meadows success last year. Raducanu has struggled to string any real consistency together in 2022, having registered a 10-12 win-loss ratio, and that theme played out in this enthralling tussle against world no. 67 Osario.

Raducanu appeared very much in control before her game spectacularly unravelled as Osario grew into the match and the pair became locked in an engrossing battle.

The US Open champion flew out of the blocks before Osorio had time to settle into a rhythm, but the South American rose above the heat and humidity against the run of play to claw her way back. The 20-year-old, who is something of a rising star on the Colombian tennis scene, bided her time at 4-2 down to eventually break Raducanu at the fourth time of asking.

 

Emma Raducanu of Great Britain reacts during her women's singles match against Camila Osorio - SHUTTERSTOCK

Osario then went on to win a dizzying game on serve and capitalised on the momentum shift. It was certainly a test of character for Raducanu. Having started the match so serenely, she was completely thrown off balance by her opponent’s sudden resurgence. Was it the heat? Or was she frustrated by the fact there was simply no energy to harness from a non-existent crowd?

There was a palpable sense that, in a huge month when Raducanu will look to defend the 2040 WTA ranking points she collected from her historic win in New York last year, this was suddenly a huge match. That much might have been sensed by Dmitry Tursunov, the Russian coach that Raducanu is trialling, who was part of the handful of people speckled around the court.

She did, however, have enough in the tank to string some consistency together and close out a gusty final set tiebreak. Yet it did little to galvanise her, and she was forced to weather storm after storm in the second set.

Yet unlike Osario, Raducanu kept her cool in crucial moments, and got the better of the South American in the second final-set tiebreak and let out an exhausted scream after extracting an error from her opponent at 6-6. These are the ego-boosting wins that Raducanu will thrive off as the pressure is cranked up on her young shoulders later this month.

Earlier this week, after admitting she was no “wizard” in her opening-round victory over Louisa Chirico, she was asked by reporters what Hogwarts house she would be in. “I'd be in Slytherin, for sure,” replied Raducanu promptly. “They have got a, just mysterious sort of side to them, and I like that.”

It sounds strikingly similar to the Raducanu who rocked up to this topsy-turvy battle. One moment cruising, the next, her game peppered with mistakes. Essentially, a bit of an unknown quantity.

https://sports.yahoo.com/emma-raducanu-vs-camila-osorio-175132432.html

Unvaccinated Novak Djokovic pulls out of Montreal tournament. Novak Djokovic withdrew from the upcoming hard-court tournament in Montreal on Thursday because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and is therefore not allowed to enter Canada.

By the same reason, as things stand now, he also will not be able to compete in the U.S. Open later this month.

Djokovic, a 35-year-old from Serbia, has said he won’t get the shots, even if that means he can’t go to certain tournaments. He missed the Australian Open in January after being deported from that country and needed to sit out two events in the United States earlier this year.

He did play in the French Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Rafael Nadal, and at Wimbledon, which Djokovic won last month for his 21st Grand Slam title — one behind the men’s record held by Nadal.

Unvaccinated foreign citizens can’t go to Canada or the U.S, so Djokovic pulled out of Montreal a day before the draw is scheduled to take place for the tournament and is expected to have to sit out the U.S. Open, which starts in New York on Aug. 29.

Last weekend, Djokovic posted on social media that he was holding out hope of getting the chance to play in the U.S. Open, writing: “I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to US. Fingers crossed!”

After beating Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final on July 10, Djokovic said he “would love” to participate in the last Grand Slam tournament of the year at Flushing Meadows, but also acknowledged, “I’m not planning to get vaccinated.”

Djokovic is a three-time champion at the U.S. Open. His loss to Daniil Medvedev in last year’s final there prevented Djokovic from becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win a calendar-year Grand Slam.

Oscar Otte also withdrew from Montreal on Thursday; Kyrgios and Benjamin Bonzi moved into the bracket.

Four wild-card berths went to three-time major champion Andy Murray, David Goffin, Vasek Pospisil and Alexis Galarneau.

Nadal, who pulled out of Wimbledon before the semifinals because of a torn abdominal muscle, is still scheduled to play in Montreal.

https://sports.yahoo.com/unvaccinated-novak-djokovic-pulls-montreal-202249877.html

Medvedev makes triumphant return in Mexico with landmark 250th win. World number one Daniil Medvedev, playing his first match in six weeks, beat Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday at the ATP hard court tournament in Los Cabos, Mexic

It was a milestone 250th match win of the reigning US Open champion's career.

"Someone told me this a few days ago," Medvedev said after the match. "Otherwise I would not have known. That's nice, a milestone in a way.

"I want more victories, but that's nice to have 250. We'll try to get more."

Medvedev is playing his first tournament since bowing out of the quarter-finals at Mallorca on June 23. He missed Wimbledon because of its ban of Russian and Belarussian players in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Medvedev gained the first break of the match to claim the opening set.

He saved the first break point he faced in the opening game of the second, and gained the break he needed for a 4-2 lead against Hijikata.

The 21-year-old Australian world number 224 put up a fight, fending off a stream of break points before Medvedev closed it out after 90 minutes.

"It's definitely not that easy to play after you stop for a while, especially (playing my) first match on hard courts since a long, long time -- since Miami," Medvedev said.

"Sensations were not bad. I could have just broke a little bit more, but when you win everything is fine."

Medvedev next faces Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, who beat Argentina's Facundo Bagnis 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Second-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime also advanced, beating Mexico's Alex Hernandez 6-3, 7-5.

https://sports.yahoo.com/medvedev-makes-triumphant-return-mexico-050239582.html

Head-to-Head: Coachship - Norrie & Facu. First in Coachship series - we test the coaching relationship and friendship between Cameron Norrie and his coach Facu.

 

 

50th Anniversary Ep 3 - Rivalries. As we continue to celebrate 50 years of the ATP, re-live a few of the best moments from the incredible rivalries!

 

 

Travel Like A Pro- Dominic Thiem. Dominic Thiem shows off his travel essentials, with a special focus on sustainability.

 

 

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario vs Jana Novotna Extended Highlights | Australian Open 1991 Semifinal.

 

 

Cancer survivor and tennis luminary Carla Suarez Navarro praises Hologic and the Women’s Tennis Association for teaming up to champion greater women’s health.