2022 ATP General News

[Fiero425]

Ok enough about Djokovic, he's finished just like Federer... Let's focus on the future with Nadal and Alcaraz battling it out for the next few years...

Oh honey, seek help! The grouping's so out of whack w/ Rafa having tons of mileage on that body! It's supposed t/b only a yr. older > Djokovic!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Play suspended for the day in Barcelona with heavy rain,
Unfinished matches will resume tomorrow,
Tsitsipas v Ivashka 5-1
Dimitrov v Coria 4-6, 6-3, 4-3
Ram/Salisbury vs Lopez/Lopez

 

[Kieran]

It doesn't appear that Novak regrets much! It may have something to do with growing up in a war torn country! He takes a stand, sometimes not so popular! He's probably the most misunderstood so it has & will cost him! He's willing to stand his ground! So far he's still #1 in the world w/ a possibility to hold onto it even longer than expected if events start barring the Russians and Belarusians! Needless to see the players are staying away from the topic! They don't want to seem hypocritical when they proudly compete in those "said" events like Wimbledon!

I agree with you about the players being quiet, though it’s early yet. The ATP is still the players union, right? They represent the players? So let’s see if they grow a pair and defend their members.

I agree also that Novak has grown up in a tough place, but I disagree that this makes him tough enough that he doesn’t care. This is still Sally Field we’re talking about, right? Bloke needs to feel the lurve.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I don't know if Vajda made the trip to Australia...I feel like I've heard he didn't. But no one ever seems to mention that Novak's entire team made it through customs in Australia when Novak was stopped while his visa and lack of vaccination were questioned. The fact that the rest got in implies that they were all vaccinated. Just interesting. Supposedly they also disagreed on his participating in the Olympics. Anyway, looks like he'll be cleared to play RG...and Wimbledon, unlike the Russians and Belarusians. But I don't have a strong feeling that he'll get into the US for the Open.

Vajda did not make the trip to Aussie, correct the rest of Novak's team made it through customs.
As we have learnt after the AO debacle Vajda and Novak parted ways late last year

 

[Fiero425]

I agree with you about the players being quiet, though it’s early yet. The ATP is still the players union, right? They represent the players? So let’s see if they grow a pair and defend their members.

I agree also that Novak has grown up in a tough place, but I disagree that this makes him tough enough that he doesn’t care. This is still Sally Field we’re talking about, right? Bloke needs to feel the lurve.

I didn't say he "doesn't care!" I just say he makes a decision and sticks to it! I think he's probably the most thoughtful and honest of the Big 3 BTW! His philanthropy's legendary, he takes time to learn other languages (up to 11 w/ Chinese?), & stands up for other players! How many times have players "gushed" after losing to Novak about how he spoke to them when they 1st got on the tour, asked about family, practiced w/ them, & answered their questions about the tour?

 

[Moxie]

I didn't say he "doesn't care!" I just say he makes a decision and sticks to it! I think he's probably the most thoughtful and honest of the Big 3 BTW! His philanthropy's legendary, he takes time to learn other languages (up to 11 w/ Chinese?), & stands up for other players! How many times have players "gushed" after losing to Novak about how he spoke to them when they 1st got on the tour, asked about family, practiced w/ them, & answered their questions about the tour?

Realistically, you can say the same of all the Big 3 being generous and kindly towards other players. Of the 3, Roger is likely the most reserved, but Rafa has an academy which seems to have a pretty open-door policy to players, and he is known to mentor. As to philanthropy, they are all famous in their foundations, but giving away money is easier when you tax-shelter outside of your home country, isn't it?

In terms of making a decision and sticking to it, Novak didn't stick to his guns against Oz and their vaccination mandate. He looked for the work-around, and thought he had it. Sure, he's good at languages, which is a gift, but he's not necessarily good at the empathy of reading cultures, which is the more important part about learning languages. Not just having a good ear and memorizing a few phrases. He certainly got the Australians all wrong when he crowed about his (supposed) exemption into Australia. (And let's face it, he doesn't speak 11 languages. His English is excellent, his Italian is pretty good, and his French is more than passing, but not by much. How much Chinese does he speak, really?)

As to being the most "honest and thoughtful," well, surely that's a fan's perspective. Sometimes he's honest to a fault, such as exposing his vaccination opinions before he needed to, then wondering why he kept getting asked about it. Unforced error. But "thoughtful?" Go back to the tape on when he hit that lines person in the throat, and it was all about HIS USOpen. And how "at least she didn't need to go to the hospital." Nice. Yes, he thinks a lot about his New Age concepts, but some of them are pretty weird and misguided. (IMO.) Having a thought in your head doesn't actually make you "thoughtful." Flinging his racquet around in anger is not the action of a thoughtful person. He's an egotist who likes to "think" of himself as a nice person.

 

[don_fabio]

Well, at least Novak didn't run out of gas in the 3rd set.

Report from the match says Novak was playing a kind of tennis where he just decides to put a ball in play and wait for opponent to do the rest. He was doing a similar thing last year in Belgrade when I watched him. Seems like he is doing this on purpose to play longer, get in tough positions in games, work on mental and physical strength. Yes, the good news is he was not gassed out after 3 and half hours.

Actually Djere had some put out winner opportunities in both 2nd and 3rd set and the match could have easily gone the other way. Let's see how the match with Kecmanovic will go, but I think Novak will have to be more agressive if he wants to come out as a winner.

Btw people say it was freaking cold in Belgrade yesterday.

 

[Moxie]

Report from the match says Novak was playing a kind of tennis where he just decides to put a ball in play and wait for opponent to do the rest. He was doing a similar thing last year in Belgrade when I watched him. Seems like he is doing this on purpose to play longer, get in tough positions in games, work on mental and physical strength. Yes, the good news is he was not gassed out after 3 and half hours.

Actually Djere had some put out winner opportunities in both 2nd and 3rd set and the match could have easily gone the other way. Let's see how the match with Kecmanovic will go, but I think Novak will have to be more agressive if he wants to come out as a winner.

Btw people say it was freaking cold in Belgrade yesterday.

Surely you're not going to downgrade Djere's performance by saying that Novak was just looking for more batting practice? That wouldn't be the match I watched.

 

[Kieran]

Vajda did not make the trip to Aussie, correct the rest of Novak's team made it through customs.
As we have learnt after the AO debacle Vajda and Novak parted ways late last year

Well, we were told this by their press release, but I wondered at the time of that press release why they didn’t announce it late last year. I suspect they split up this year.

Just read an article on tennis.com about the banning of players from Wimbledon and I’m thinking, this year could be a quiet one for Novak if the players decide to boycott Wimbledon. It’s possibly unlikely they will, but if they do, and if the US keeps its entry requirements the same, he’s facing a very strange season, with regards to the slams…

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Well, we were told this by their press release, but I wondered at the time of that press release why they didn’t announce it late last year. I suspect they split up this year.

Just read an article on tennis.com about the banning of players from Wimbledon and I’m thinking, this year could be a quiet one for Novak if the players decide to boycott Wimbledon. It’s possibly unlikely they will, but if they do, and if the US keeps its entry requirements the same, he’s facing a very strange season, with regards to the slams…

I suppose we will never know when the actual split took place.I read a statement from Marian stating 'that Novak wont be able to compete in all tournaments in 2022 given the countries and their COVID vaccination rules.Marian dosent always travel to the AO as Goran usually takes on the role of head coach at the AO.

As I said yesterday when we were both discussing the possibility of Wimbledon banning Russia and Belarus players in 2022.,to me this is a sad day for tennis and I would 100% be behind the players both in the ATP and WTA boycotting Wimbledon in 2022.

 

[Kieran]

I suppose we will never know when the actual split took place.I read a statement from Marian stating 'that Novak wont be able to compete in all tournaments in 2022 given the countries and their COVID vaccination rules.Marian dosent always travel to the AO as Goran usually takes on the role of head coach at the AO.

As I said yesterday when we were both discussing the possibility of Wimbledon banning Russia and Belarus players in 2022.,to me this is a sad day for tennis and I would 100% be behind the players both in the ATP and WTA boycotting Wimbledon in 2022.

Same here. And isn’t this a pity for Wimbledon too, because they also couldn’t hold the tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic. Two Wimbledons out of three negatively affected by a pandemic and now this. They couldn’t do anything about the pandemic, but this? It’s not good for them. They’d be wise to rethink this quickly…

 

[Front242]

Same here. And isn’t this a pity for Wimbledon too, because they also couldn’t hold the tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic. Two Wimbledons out of three negatively affected by a pandemic and now this. They couldn’t do anything about the pandemic, but this? It’s not good for them. They’d be wise to rethink this quickly…

I hadn't checked tennis.com for the last 2 days or so and only heard it announced on the radio in work cos I had to go to the office 3 days this week (torture). A shocking decision when you have the likes of Medvedev vocally seeking peace, Rublev signing no war on the camera after matches and Azarenka who wants none of this to name just 3 high profile players who don't deserve this bs treatment. Would be great if players boycott Wimbledon or leave the draw so depleted that one legged Roger can return to beat the world number 996 in the final

Seriously though, awful decision to use guilt by association. How about they lock up George Bush Jr. and Tony Blair while they're at it since they're far worse war criminals than Putin. Bs snowflake world right now.

 

[Kieran]

I hadn't checked tennis.com for the last 2 days or so and only heard it announced on the radio in work cos I had to go to the office 3 days this week (torture). A shocking decision when you have the likes of Medvedev vocally seeking peace, Rublev signing no war on the camera after matches and Azarenka who wants none of this to name just 3 high profile players who don't deserve this bs treatment. Would be great if players boycott Wimbledon or leave the draw so depleted that one legged Roger can return to beat the world number 996 in the final

Seriously though, awful decision to use guilt by association. How about they lock up George Bush Jr. and Tony Blair while they're at it since they're far worse war criminals than Putin. Bs snowflake world right now.

Well, whether the details can be agreed, the point is still a good one. We don’t bring politics into sport because certain countries are at war, but not others. We’ve ruined sports when we start to dabble in this way. International sports is diplomacy by other means. It’s an acknowledgement that despite differences, we can come still together, even if the commonality is a game.

I don’t know what will happen now, because of course, a boycott is politics too, but in this case it would be a justifiable defence of solid principles. But I said above, Shahar Peer wasn’t allowed to compete in Dubai in 2009 because she’s Israeli, and tennis not only ignored this, but competed in Dubai. The WS are quick to cite racism where it suits them, but they both played each other there in the semis, and Venus won the final. Other top players played too. Tennis players are, after all, about themselves first and foremost…

 

[don_fabio]

Surely you're not going to downgrade Djere's performance by saying that Novak was just looking for more batting practice? That wouldn't be the match I watched.

I don't undermine Djere in fact I've said it he came very close to finish line on a few attempts. I am simply saying that Novak is doing some stuff on the court deliberately to find his game and that has nothing to do with Djere.

 

[Front242]

I don't undermine Djere in fact I've said it he came very close to finish line on a few attempts. I am simply saying that Novak is doing some stuff on the court deliberately to find his game and that has nothing to do with Djere.

He was Djereking him around or worse.

 

[Kieran]

Elina Svitlona - who I think we all sympathise with - has said that Russian and Belorussian tennis players should say the right thing to be allowed to play at Wimbledon. A purity test, of sorts. I think she’s wrong but obviously she’s speaking from a very stressful position. She has nothing against Russian players personally, and she probably is expecting a little too much from them, if they have family in Russia who could be negatively affected by anything they publicly say.

But we also have people in the west who are openly supporting Russia, suggesting that their aggression is “more nuanced” (I’ve heard identical words used by 3 different friends on 3 occasions when they’re supporting Putin - “it’s a little bit more nuanced” - and it didn’t take long to instil some small measure of doubt in them on that score, let’s put it like that), and we allow people to freely hold such views, and it’s imperative that we do. It’s also imperative that we allow visitors to the west (and some of the players live in the west) the same courtesy, and rights.

No Russian player as far as I know has come out in support of the war, but even if they had, we need to finally bin this nonsense activist motto that “you can have free speech but you can’t have freedom from the consequences of free speech.” This is illogical, and the only way we can fully display our free societies is to make them actually free. It’s no example to Russia if we behave like hypocrites.

I don’t blame Elina for this but it’s an example of why somebody too close to a terrible situation is often the one with the worst view, if you get me.

Wimbledon: Elina Svitolina says Russians who denounce Ukraine invasion should play

 

[kskate2]

Well, whether the details can be agreed, the point is still a good one. We don’t bring politics into sport because certain countries are at war, but not others. We’ve ruined sports when we start to dabble in this way. International sports is diplomacy by other means. It’s an acknowledgement that despite differences, we can come still together, even if the commonality is a game.

I don’t know what will happen now, because of course, a boycott is politics too, but in this case it would be a justifiable defence of solid principles. But I said above, Shahar Peer wasn’t allowed to compete in Dubai in 2009 because she’s Israeli, and tennis not only ignored this, but competed in Dubai. The WS are quick to cite racism where it suits them, but they both played each other there in the semis, and Venus won the final. Other top players played too. Tennis players are, after all, about themselves first and foremost…

I don't think that's fair brother Kieran. Because they didn't boycott the tournament? Just a few things to note that I remember about that time. The tournament deliberately waited until all the players had arrived before they made the announcement to ban Shahar. By doing this, they were guaranteed it would be too late to have movement from the WTA. Venus did speak about Shahar's treatment in on court press conferences. As well, she spoke to the players council and pretty much hinted that the WTA would take a stand against any other tournaments that would ban her.

 

[kskate2]

I don't know if Vajda made the trip to Australia...I feel like I've heard he didn't. But no one ever seems to mention that Novak's entire team made it through customs in Australia when Novak was stopped while his visa and lack of vaccination were questioned. The fact that the rest got in implies that they were all vaccinated. Just interesting. Supposedly they also disagreed on his participating in the Olympics. Anyway, looks like he'll be cleared to play RG...and Wimbledon, unlike the Russians and Belarusians. But I don't have a strong feeling that he'll get into the US for the Open.

I mentioned it back then, but then I'm not that important. You're right though, the governing bodies, media and especially his fans don't mention it unless they want use it to denigrate Aus (he was separated from everyone and made to spend the night at the Roach Motel).

 

[Kieran]

I don't think that's fair brother Kieran. Because they didn't boycott the tournament? Just a few things to note that I remember about that time. The tournament deliberately waited until all the players had arrived before they made the announcement to ban Shahar. By doing this, they were guaranteed it would be too late to have movement from the WTA. Venus did speak about Shahar's treatment in on court press conferences. As well, she spoke to the players council and pretty much hinted that the WTA would take a stand against any other tournaments that would ban her.

I take that comment on board, and I agree that Venus did speak about it, but I think that all players - male and female - should have downed tools immediately when they heard. It was never too late. If it was a player excluded because they’re black, there would have rightly been an international uproar and the players reaction would have been different. But they let this one slide and played on. Once the WTA handed in the list of entrants, no players name should have been removed by the tournament organisers..

 

[kskate2]

I take that comment on board, and I agree that Venus did speak about it, but I think that all players - male and female - should have downed tools immediately when they heard. It was never too late. If it was a player excluded because they’re black, there would have rightly been an international uproar and the players reaction would have been different. But they let this one slide and played on. Once the WTA handed in the list of entrants, no players name should have been removed by the tournament organisers..

Agreed. But I can see how it would be more difficult to get everyone to agree when they are onsite and ready to play. By making this announcement now, AELTC and the LTA are guaranteed to get some activity from the governing tennis bodies. And who knows, maybe this is their intent all along by drumming up drama that will lead to some kind of negotiation.