Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[ti-amie]

Maybe the Chinese are really serious about selling tennis to their populace? They've just released a TV drama centered on the sport.

Nothing But You

Song Sang Chuan (Leo Wu) is a budding tennis player in his twenties. He used to play badminton, but has recently turned his attention to tennis after his career stalled. Liang You An (Zhu Yu Tong), meanwhile, is a professional woman in her thirties. Her own career has also taken an unexpected turn – and she decides to take up tennis at a new club in a bid to make a change in her life. She happens to join the same club as Song Sang Chuan…

It's on the Asian focused streaming app Viki.

[ti-amie]

[Deuce]

Has anyone ever noticed that Gauff hits her forehand and backhand with the same side of the racquet (strings)?

[Fastbackss]

I have noticed that before. I have wanted to check out her "handwork" and that's part of the reason why (the other why her forehand takes so long to develop)

[JTContinental]

Muguruza has announced that she will be skipping the clay and grass court seasons to spend time with family.

[JazzNU]

Yeah, I saw that. Seems like a good move for her. She's been very, very quiet on Instagram, which is the opposite of her normal, so along with not playing lately, I had a feeling she was going to announce she was either retiring or taking some time off.

Can't post her announcement because it's on IG Stories for some reason, not a regular post, but she might eventually put something there as well and I'll post it if she does.

[ponchi101]

Let's hope there is nothing wrong with anybody in her family.

[JazzNU]

Kaja Juvan stepping away from tennis to grieve the loss of her father.

[ponchi101]

We have seen the same mechanics with other players. Seles and Anisimova come to mind.
Take her time, return when she feels like it.

[Deuce]

Having lost both my parents less than one year apart a couple of years ago, I hope I see Kaja at a tournament this year and have the opportunity to talk with her.
There are no absolute or universal answers on how to handle the death of your parents, but just sharing thoughts and common experiences can be a positive thing (for both parties).

[ti-amie]

I think Tiafoe pissed Serena off once too and for the same reason.

[ponchi101]

How about the opposite? The doubles players that want to play the qualies or main draws of tournaments? Would that be bad then?

[ti-amie]

[Fastbackss]

I just listened to interview with Reilly Opelka (Shapiro) and he had some pointed comments on doubles. Needs to be blown up as is - had a suggestion of a format that for most tournaments is just 3 days.
Said it doesn't justify the costs and that go into it (for lesser tournaments like 250's) and that doesn't sell tickets.

Not saying I agree but it was interesting to hear his opinion (on many subjects, frankly). Was a good listen

[Deuce]

Doubles was doomed when they went to the idiotic new scoring system 15 or so years ago.
At the time, I asked many of the doubles players what they thought of the new scoring, and to a person, they all said they hated it.

At the same time, I had an hour long discussion with Gayle Bradshaw (head of ATP officiating) about the new doubles scoring (and about HawkEye/ShotSpot), and he was saying that the new doubles scoring will bring big name singles players like Nadal and Federer into playing doubles. I told him that's total BS - that those guys will play doubles for a couple of token months because Bradshaw would ask them to, then they'd disappear. And that's exactly what happened, of course - it was very predictable.

It's a damned shame, because doubles was a lot of fun in the '70s and '80s, with a lot of top players - both men and women - taking genuine pride in their doubles game.