Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[Suliso]

Just as a reminder Bencic played no Slams last year so this year for sure if at all. It's Osaka instead who came back last year (all Slams).

[Suliso]

There is of course no such category, but who would be our disappointments of the year? I would propose Medvedev and Zheng.

[ashkor87]

There is of course no such category, but who would be our disappointments of the year? I would propose Medvedev and Zheng.

a bit hard on Zheng.. she was injured, surgery etc..I certainly didnt expect much from her after all that..
Medvedev yes, but I would say Sakkari

[ponchi101]

How about Zverev? Started the year reaching a slam final, made that silly statement that he was in the second tier of players, and then he played awful for the rest of the year.
Medvedev was not a disappointment. He did exactly what I wanted him to do.

FAA as comeback? Uhm, a player that came back into the top 20, that is a bit lax to me. I would not hand out that award.
How about Mensik for newcomer? Sure, only one tournament, but a much bigger one than Fonseca's.

[Suliso]

How about Mensik for newcomer? Sure, only one tournament, but a much bigger one than Fonseca's.

Mensik finished the last year in the top 50. Maybe the most improved?

[skatingfan]

FAA as comeback? Uhm, a player that came back into the top 20, that is a bit lax to me. I would not hand out that award.

FAA should be back in the top 10 by the end of the season.

[ti-amie]

[Suliso]

You want a complicated name? Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah is approaching the top 100.

[meganfernandez]

You want a complicated name? Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah is approaching the top 100.

This name is fairly easy for English speakers because the syllables are straightforward. You can sound it out easily - just have to get used to it. Do you know if she goes by that full name?

[Suliso]

I believe she goes by just Rakotomanga Rajaonah, but I only know whatever is written on Wikipedia (French of Malagasy descent, 19 years old). Just noticed her name in a lower level tournament.

[ponchi101]

Let's get prepared.
She is Tiantsy from now on. Dear ol' sweet Tiantsy.
I do like the last names. Formidable, to say the least.

[ti-amie]

Marta Kostyuk interview: Why Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have a big advantage over me
Kevin Palmer
19 Oct 2025 2:00 PM


Marta Kostyuk sat down with Tennis365 for an extended interview at the Wuhan Open, with her honesty shining through as she reflected on the highs and lows of her 2025 season.

In this slice of our exclusive interview, Kostyuk talks about her battles with Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek and the advantages she feels the highest ranked players in the women’s game have over her.

Are you satisfied with your season?

Not entirely. You know, I will see where the year comes to an end, but this is the time when you look back at all the things you have done and what you could have done better. I think this year there are a lot of improvements outside of the court in the way I live my life, the way I approach life. So there is a lot of positives from this year but also some problems like injuries and defeats in close matches.

You seem to have a few regrets from the 2025 season?

I just feel like I was hitting the wall a lot of times this year, losing a lot of matches to top 10 players. In a lot of matches I was really close and I couldn’t get over the line. So as the year comes to an end, I have some frustrations. I feel like I need to take the last few steps to overcome this. It’s important that you really believe in what you do and believe it will happen for you. This year, it has felt like there was obstacle after obstacle at times, I wasn’t very lucky with the draws. Somehow, I ended up where I am. It was a decent year, but not good enough for me.

What separates you from the players at the top of the rankings?

Against Iga (Swiatek), when I have played her, I wasn’t ready to play her at all. I played her over a year ago and she was very strong. With Aryna (Sabalenka), I know it is a tough battle. I have my own skills, but at the end of the day, they are all much bigger than me, much taller than me, much stronger than me.

Do you feel intimidated by players like Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka?

We all have our own biological structure. Some have a higher level of testosterone, some have lower. It’s just natural and that definitely helps. I feel smaller than them. I try to see how I can beat these players with the tennis skills I have, but I have to work harder to win the points. I have to run a lot more than them to win points.

How can you bridge that physical gap?

I cannot make myself 10kgs bigger or five centimetres taller, so I have to use everything I had at 100 percent. For other players, they have more of an advantage in other things. This is just the way I am. I look at the photos when we shake hands at the net and I look so much smaller than some of my opponents. It’s just part of the sport and a very cool challenge for me to take on these players. There are many, many things I can do to be better, but they have an advantage on me.

Are these champions mentally stronger?

Their confidence is just different. I have played some close matches against Aryna and you see how she plays the break points. She just doesn’t care. She has no doubt that she will save them. She hits a big serve and hits the forehand. No doubt. She is No 1 in the world, she has played a lot of finals and she has that confidence. That helps her to have no doubts. For me, it is not so easy for me to play without doubt. It is an interesting sport and I’m enjoying the journey of trying to figure it out.


https://www.tennis365.com/tennis-news/m ... -advantage

[ti-amie]

[ashkor87]

Saw a quote by Fritz where he says it is not the courts that are slower, it is just that the balls fluff up too soon, and get slower. Medvedev, for one, struggles because he cannot generate power on his own - same with Pegula, for instance. The simple solution (assuming people want it!) is to change balls more often- not as big a change as actually changing the balls used, or the courts (which is much harder).

[ponchi101]

A testable hypothesis by Fritz. If the balls fluff up too soon, measuring the speed of the balls from game 1 through game 9 should be measurable. Not just an average over the course of the match.
Would like to see it.
Also. Did manufacturers change the way they manufacture the balls?

Changing the court speed is indeed asking for a lot, but it was done already. The graph we shared recently showed that even W has become a slow court. It could be the one court that would be easy to speed up: let the grass grow a bit more. At RG, take a bit of clay off.
Anyhow, I don't think the tours want the courts to be faster. It would mean shorter rallies and that was the reason they moved to slower courts in the first place.