Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[Owendonovan]

He can never be the ambassador to the sport of tennis the greatest should be though.

[ponchi101]

But that is a completely different conversation.
However.
Despite some rocky things in his private life, and that is between Jelena and him, he has been a good person. No scandals of relevant magnitude, and he seems to be well liked back home. His dedication to the sport cannot be denied; he has given everything.
He is an icon for the alternative-medicine camp, so he has his crowd there.
And. If Agassi and Connors could become later in life icons for the sport, Novak can certainly change that too

[nelslus]

But that is a completely different conversation.
However.
Despite some rocky things in his private life, and that is between Jelena and him, he has been a good person. No scandals of relevant magnitude, and he seems to be well liked back home. His dedication to the sport cannot be denied; he has given everything.
He is an icon for the alternative-medicine camp, so he has his crowd there.
And. If Agassi and Connors could become later in life icons for the sport, Novak can certainly change that too

OK, THIS is straining to go too far to play any kind of devil's advocate concerning Novak. At the very least, his COVID stance and COVID-inducing private event is of "relevant magnitude". (And, Connors especially is no kind of icon to many of us.)

[ponchi101]

He was not unique in his COVID stance. He was part of a large group of people that went the witchcraft route (see, RODGERS, AARON; IRVING, KYRIE, and many other). So he cannot be held responsible as the sole person that pushed false ideas (and I said he is an icon to the alt-medicine crowd, which I am always against).
About Connors. He is a respectable elder of the sport now. But you are assuming that everybody has YOUR memory. Sure, I do recall the Barrazzutti event at the USO, but remember: we are the geezers here.
About Agassi. I guess that to say that everything was forgiven is very close to the truth. Imagine anybody else saying what he said after his first Boris Becker victory nowadays. In how many ways could a person be crucified?

Listen. I will never like Novak. Not in my blood. But a good PR firm can turn that image around in a couple of years, and people will be crying their eyeballs out when the GOAT retires, playing his last match in Belgrade at age 42, in front of his loving crowd.

[ti-amie]

I know you don't use Elmo's site but the response to Djokovic achievement was underwhelming from tennis fans, non media, from what I could see. A PR firm has a steep hill to climb to turn that around.

[ti-amie]

Just - whoa. That backhand.

[ponchi101]

Biomechanical perfection.

About Novak. Yes, the response was muted; I would also want to see the ratings for the final (remember that for the Aussie, the final was the least watched final in ages).
And, I will admit: Agassi and Connors had the advantage of being Americans (that counts) to then overcome their initial "these punks" hurdles. AND, they retired not being dominant, and people will always fall for the "Former Champion in his last legs" tale.
Remember the standing ovation Pete got AFTER he had announced retirement, in that ceremony at the USO. Sure, he was never disliked, but he was not the people's favorite (JazzNu and myself not withstanding )

[nelslus]

He was not unique in his COVID stance. He was part of a large group of people that went the witchcraft route (see, RODGERS, AARON; IRVING, KYRIE, and many other). So he cannot be held responsible as the sole person that pushed false ideas (and I said he is an icon to the alt-medicine crowd, which I am always against).
About Connors. He is a respectable elder of the sport now. But you are assuming that everybody has YOUR memory. Sure, I do recall the Barrazzutti event at the USO, but remember: we are the geezers here.
About Agassi. I guess that to say that everything was forgiven is very close to the truth. Imagine anybody else saying what he said after his first Boris Becker victory nowadays. In how many ways could a person be crucified?

Listen. I will never like Novak. Not in my blood. But a good PR firm can turn that image around in a couple of years, and people will be crying their eyeballs out when the GOAT retires, playing his last match in Belgrade at age 42, in front of his loving crowd.

Dude. WHO is saying that Novak is the SOLE person pushing false ideas?!?! I mean, for sure, Aaron Rodgers is a fellow a-hole. I don't know Kyrie Irving- so I'll let others judge his a-hole worthiness. So, sure, there are clearly tons of a-holes in the world- and, if they want to worship at the Shrine of Novak- have at it. But, he is an especially huge champion and influencer, who very well may have done a ton of damage. President of Serbia, pushing the red button to end the world eventually- could be. So, I think that many of us will always be disrespecting Novak.

Connors? You think that Barazzutti is his only time being an a-hole on the court?!?!? He was often a very poor sport, with plenty of poor sportsmanship activity, for a long time in tennis. Google it- plenty of YouTube examples- including calling Lendl, of all people, a "f***ing f**got playing pusher"- "f**got" being a charming term he used over and over again during his career, among other curses and insults. In his own 2014 autobiography, among other gems, he outed Evert for her abortion (which apparently was done before they were supposed to get married)- as he never consulted with her about writing about this. He was deeply disrespectful about Ashe in his book- proving that he has his head so far up his own a**, that he has no insight or self-awareness to even consider that, regardless of their animosity (and Ashe, to be fair, had some very problematic views about women and female tennis players, btw, until he had some daughters), Ashe did a ton of good and humanitarian efforts- which Connors has not. Connors' only "recent" contribution was to coach Roddick to be a Connors-lite failed braggart for a time in his career. I'd argue that, Connors, very understandably, is a forgotten champion, especially with the youngsters. But, for anyone who takes any kind of true look at Connors- they'll see a lot of ugliness. Keep in hibernation, Jimbo.

Agassi also had some time using the charming "fa**ot" comment, and other early really, really bad moments. And, I know Connors has a lot of animosity about Agassi. But- regardless of whether or not Agassi truly is a "good guy" or not- he did behave much better in his later career, and he's made a lot of charitable efforts.

[ponchi101]

I brought up ONLY the Barrazzuti event as a ONE EXAMPLE thing. That Connors behaved, through his career, like the boor he was is not what I am questioning, because he was a boor. His behavior on court was terrible.
But, my point is: ALL THAT HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC. Not you, not me. To the general public, he is "Jimmy Connors, Tennis Legend, 5 times USO champion". I told you above: do not expect the general public to have the same memories of Connors as you do because the general public is not as detailed as you are.
So, I say: a good PR agency can regenerate Novak's image, IF HE COOPERATES. Will YOU ever come to his side? Hard to see, right? Nor will I. At the moment, he seems to me to be a player that, the moment he stops playing, will be dropped by several endorsements (not all).
I am talking about PR here; spins and BS. Those people are good at that. I am not saying that all of the sudden Novak is going to become everybody's favorite player EVER, because there are some people like you and I that will remember all the bad stuff. You are making the case yourself: Agassi did a lot of charity and I will believe he is honest in that, because he still does (with Steffi), so following a similar path, Novak can ingratiate himself to more people.
All I am saying.

[ti-amie]

Paywalled. Those who have read it say it's pretty much an ad for Dior so maybe we're not missing much?

[skatingfan]

Even the King asked her about her coach?

[ti-amie]

Even the King asked her about her coach?

Look

[ti-amie]

This started out as a very interesting conversation between Andy Roddick and Big Sascha (Bajin). Then fans got involved and they stopped talking publicly. UGH.

[ti-amie]

Bagels and Breadsticks 6061
@Anthony606061
Why is effort as a player a prerequisite for being an effective coach, Andy?
What about coaches who are great at conveying and implementing technical information? For example, one of my sons has an ex-pro coach who is a stickler for technique, and has really helped my son with technical execution. He pinpoints problems and is really meticulous. But I have no idea what his work ethic was as a player. He might have been lazy as hell!

The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast
@Shaptennispod
Xavier Malisse and others on my show said something similar, that he realized he didn’t max his potential and feels that he has a lot of knowledge and wisdom to impart on today’s players.








Then fans wanted names named.

[ponchi101]

I have always felt that the super talented make bad coaches.
How can Pete teach that serve? It was completely natural; he could unleash it at will. How about Roger teaching a FH? "Oh, do it THIS way". How? It was something that belonged to him.
The great coaches, I think, have to know, beyond intuition, how to hit a stroke. And for that, you need to have learned it, not be born with it.
Look at Ferrer. I think he would be an excellent coach: he was made in so many ways.