Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[Suliso]

Osama and Muguruza are the only two notable female players not signed up to play anywhere before AO. Do we know why and whether we can expect them at AO anyway?

[ponchi101]

Great for FAA, but doesn't it kind of indicate lack of success last year by other Canadian athletes? Other than Davis Cup Felix didn't really win anything significant.

But he did get into the top ten, which is an accomplishment.
You and I had him winning the ATP Finals and he disappointed. But he was moving forward.
About Osaka, who knows what she is up to. But I suspect that Mugu is just slowly fading away from the sport. I think she is satisfied with what she has done. She knows she will forever be famous in Spain, no pressure anywhere.

[Suliso]

Great for FAA, but doesn't it kind of indicate lack of success last year by other Canadian athletes? Other than Davis Cup Felix didn't really win anything significant.

But he did get into the top ten, which is an accomplishment.
You and I had him winning the ATP Finals and he disappointed. But he was moving forward.

Yes of course, but isn't Canada having some other stars in other sports who became World and/or Olympic champions this year? Or maybe someone instrumental in winning a Stanley Cup? FAA had a breakout season, but he'd be nowhere near top athlete in quite a few countries.

[ptmcmahon]

You will hardly ever see a NHL player win mainly for helping his team win the Stanley Cup... it's a team sport and usually there's at least 10 of the 20 active players who are Canadian. If a Canadian player wins it it's for having a great overall season. Connor MacDavid did lead the league in scoring, but not by a lot. There's only been one hockey player winning award in last 12 years, and it was Carey Price the year he was so good he won league MVP, which goalies don't usually do. And he did NOT lead my Habs to the Stanley Cup that year!

Alphonso Davies, who played at Bayern Munich and was the star of the World Cup team and scorer of our first ever World Cup Goal, was second. He probably would've been my pick.

And... checking who was third... it was Cole Makar, defensemen on Colorado. Who won the Conn Smythe for MVP of the playoffs ... helping his team to win the Stanley Cup. Let me wipe the egg of my face now.

I will say FAA winning this year looks a lot better than when Shapovalov won in 2017 - without even making a final. FAA did have four titles which is pretty good.

[Deuce]

Yes... there are many fine Canadian athletes playing team sports, but, as pt says, it's much more difficult to get individual recognition for this award in a team sport than it is in an individual sport.

Also, with players like McDavid, etc., they are expected to do great things - they have done great things throughout their careers, going back to when they were 6 year old kids. So when they do great things, it was completely expected, and so it really isn't noteworthy.
For someone like Felix, who has been rather stagnant on the ATP tour for a few years, this past year was a significant improvement on that, and so it was more noticeable.

So, in the end, I think the award is less about 'who had the greatest year', and more about 'who improved the most at a high level' - because the latter gets you more noticed.
Keep in mind that we're mostly talking about well known sports (if a Canadian won the World Championship of darts, for example, I doubt they'd win this award).

[dave g]

I don't know where to put this, so I am putting it here.

While preparing my AMITS team, I noticed a bunch of ATP players scheduled to play more than one tournament the first week.
Anyone know what is going on? Here is my list of players scheduled for more than one tournament:

Holger Rune, Sebastian Baez, Jenson Brooksby, Alex Molcan, Pedro Cachin, Jaume Munar, Marcos Giron, Pedro Martinez, Quentin Halys, Constant Lestienne

I found the problem: the WTA Auckland is played the first week, while the ATP Auckland is played the second week.

[ashkor87]

Osama and Muguruza are the only two notable female players not signed up to play anywhere before AO. Do we know why and whether we can expect them at AO anyway?

They are both entered in the AO, good sign..

[ashkor87]

Rafael Nadal's son is also named Rafael Nadal.. or at least Rafael Nadal Perrello.. the tennis world must be trembling at the thought of two Rafael Nadals walking the earth!

[skatingfan]

Rafael Nadal's son is also named Rafael Nadal.. or at least Rafael Nadal Perrello.. the tennis world must be trembling at the thought of two Rafael Nadals walking the earth!

Well the second one can't walk yet, so the world is safe for now.

[ponchi101]

And the chances of becoming a great player when you are the offspring of a great player are super slim. Regression to the mean kicks in.
He will go and be successful in some other field.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

That's still a better FH volley than mine...

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]