Running tennis thread for 2023

Damn Tsitsipas was leading 1-0 with a break in 2nd when I turned it off. Yeah his one hander tales a long time but when I was watching he was smoking his FH and taking advantage of Murray’s 2nd serve.

 

Well, so much for that — demolished in the second round by Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

 

A couple of nice comeback stories collide this afternoon in Round 3.

Elina Svitolina, two-time major semifinalist (including Wimbledon in 2019), on the comeback trail after having a baby (with Gael Monfils), faces Sofia Kenin, who won the Australian Open and made the French final in 2020 before injuries and weirdness with her father/coach sent her over a cliff.

 

Unfortunately “…weirdness with father/coach “ isn’t so weird hearing. Too many times .

 

Well, they had a falling out but apparently are back working together, and she has been steadily getting better this year as her health has improved. Her biggest win this year (before beating Gauff in the first round this week) was over Sabalenka on clay. Her ranking has improved from the 400s to 128 coming into this week, and will certainly rise a bit more after her two wins.

 

Is the baby's last name "Tonfils?" "Monpetitfils?"

 

Murray and Tsitsipas in the fifth set after Tsitsipas wins set 4 in a tiebreak.

 

She's a girl. So . . .

Safille.

 

Tsitsipas wins. The old man ran out of gas.

 

Nicolas Jarry giving Alcaraz a bit of trouble.

 

Story of the day from Wimbledon is Chris Eubanks, the last American man standing, who outlasted Tsitsipas in five sets to get to the quarterfinals.

Eubanks is a former Georgia Tech All-American who had tried and failed to qualify for Wimbledon four times before and proclaimed just in the past few weeks that he hated playing on grass, calling it "the stupidest surface to play tennis on." Then he won a Wimbledon tuneup tournament and has now won nine consecutive matches on grass, beating two top-12 players in the process.

ESPN LOVES him, and not just because he's American. He is clearly enjoying every second of this, racing around and playing with abandon while wearing a big smile and playing to the crowd. Plus, he's done commentary recently for the Tennis Channel, so he's polished in front of the camera, and he knows what interviewers are looking for -- and gives it to them.

He's a smart guy, living his dream and having a blast.

Medvedev is up next, and it could all end right here -- or he could pull off another shocker. Either way, it's been very fun to watch his run.

 

Wow, Svitolina's comeback is in high gear. She just got what Brad Gilbert calls the "trunk slammer" -- up a set and two breaks -- on Swiatek, the No. 1 player in the world.