Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[ponchi101]

I hope people take time to notice the difference in prize money between the ATP 250's and the WTA 250's coming up next week.

Roughly twice the purses in the ATP.
What could be done?

[ashkor87]

Rybakina reminds me most of Sampras..when I first saw him beating Lendl at the USO, I said to myself- no way he can keep hitting so flat and hard and still keep them in..of course that was Landsdorp..taught Sharapova and Davenport too, I believe..Rybakina is like that ...may her tribe flourish

[ponchi101]

Robert Landsdorp. Legendary.
Was super, super briefly with Sharapova, which I think was a mistake by her. But yes, he taught that flat, pure ball. He called Pete "The last of the Mohicans".
Now, somebody has to teach Rybakina how to play INSIDE the service boxes. The number of missed shots there was horrendous.

[ponchi101]

I really, really, really don't like Mondays after a slam. They feel so flat.

[meganfernandez]

I really, really, really don't like Mondays after a slam. They feel so flat.

For Slam withdrawal, there's Wertheim's 50 Parting Shots.
https://www.si.com/tennis/2022/07/11/wi ... ck-kyrgios

and a bonus dose
https://www.si.com/tennis/2022/07/11/st ... y-now-2022

[ponchi101]

Reached the limit for SI. But thanks for the 50 parting shots; that was the last I read. He always have interesting points.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

What I think has to be super weird for the players who have played at Wimbledon and then are playing at these tournaments is I am currently watching this Ladies Open at Lausanne and even though the two players are relatively unknowns they are playing in front of about 25 people. That is about the amount of people that come and see me play a match.

What is also really weird is they look like they just brought their own chairs and are sitting on the side of the court watching the match.

[meganfernandez]

Unlimited challenges in Bastad. Curious if this is universal at all ATP events. It's clay and they have linespeople calling the lines, but electronic backup and they're letting players have unlimited challenges, and the chair isn'g going to check marks. Also, the chair gives instructions for coaching thoughout the match. Talking when you're on the same end as your coach, otherwise hand signals.

[ponchi101]

I can understand the UNLIMITED challenges; it is basically that way on clay. But the rest is going to be odd.
Will Apostolos really be able to control himself and not yell something in Greek to Stefanos when he is on the far end of the court? I say: no. He will know almost nobody will understand him and will get away with it.
That man lives his tennis life so vicariously through his son.

[ponchi101]

I kept looking at RETIREMENTS data.
I have posted here that I feel that grass has become the most dangerous surface to play on; with the injuries suffered by Roger, Serena and Delpo, I feel that the slippery surface trends to cause more injuries, and more serious injuries.
The data for retirements in the WTA DO NOT back me up.

rets_by_srfc.jpg

There seems to be very little variation in the rate of retirements related to surfaces. There was a considerable dip in 2020, easily explained because most players had limited schedules, but other than that, the three major surfaces behave roughly the same. In fact, the AVERAGE number of retirements per surface favors grass as the one with the lowest rate:
Clay: 3.27%, Grass: 2.37%, Hard: 3.01%
All fairly close but grass is a bit lower, over the 2007-2021 span.

The ATP data also shows not pattern regarding surface:

rets_by_srfc_atp.jpg

[meganfernandez]

I can understand the UNLIMITED challenges; it is basically that way on clay. But the rest is going to be odd.
Will Apostolos really be able to control himself and not yell something in Greek to Stefanos when he is on the far end of the court? I say: no. He will know almost nobody will understand him and will get away with it.
That man lives his tennis life so vicariously through his son.

Heard on Twitter that they are using linespeople and unlimited challenges at Bastad because Hawkeye (or whatever they are using) is still so new on clay, they want as many data points as they can get right now. Not sure it's true. You're right that players have unlimited challenges on clay, unless the chair umpire won't budge. And unlimited correct challenges everywhere else.

[Deuce]

I guess that's why they never use that silly automatic elevator chair for the umpire at clay tournaments - it would take an eternity for the umpire to come down, go back up, come down, go back up, etc. that many times per match.

Unlimited challenges will slow the match down significantly, I would think. Unless they create a condition like unlimited challenges, but if HawkEye shows that you're wrong, you lose a point. That would keep the number of challenges down considerably in an unlimited scenario.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

Unlimited challenges will slow the match down significantly, I would think. Unless they create a condition like unlimited challenges, but if HawkEye shows that you're wrong, you lose a point. That would keep the number of challenges down considerably in an unlimited scenario.

This is the first thing that popped into my head as well. Players are going to challenge anything that is somewhat close. Unless they have the electronic system to show if the shot is in and out quickly and not having to rely on the chair umpire having to get down from the chair every time it is going to add a lot of time to the matches.

[ashkor87]

Being old-fashioned (and old) I prefer the norm we all grew up with- if the ball is not CLEARLY out, it is in.. except for the serve . No Hawkeye, no challenges ..oh well, those days are gone, I know.
Challenges undermine our trust in the game..if the umpires are fallible, what is left? And so on...!

[Deuce]

Being old-fashioned (and old) I prefer the norm we all grew up with- if the ball is not CLEARLY out, it is in.. except for the serve . No Hawkeye, no challenges ..oh well, those days are gone, I know.
Challenges undermine our trust in the game..if the umpires are fallible, what is left? And so on...!

I agree ^.
The game functioned fine without all these bells and whistles.
The best description of HawkEye/ShotSpot I've heard was that it's an "inaccurate cartoon estimate".

Sadly, though, it's done for the fans, to add 'drama' and 'entertainment value' much more than it is a legitimate attempt to get the calls right.

Give me the days of live linespeople on the court any day over this entertainment circus...