Olympic Tennis 7/24 - 7/30 2021

[JazzNU]

In case you missed it, this happened during the Bronze Medal Match.

[JazzNU]

Not happy with Belinda winning. Would've been happy. But then the obvious coaching during the match. And then the thing that was the worst, calling the tactical MTO before Marketa's serve, and it was the game to set her up to serve for the match. It worked. I'm not surprised by any of it from her, seen it before, but it feels worse at the Olympics to me. Feel bad for Marketa, even though I'm very neutral on her as a player in general.

[Suliso]

I think I'm happy about Belinda winning anyway.

[JazzNU]

[Suliso]

Olympics clearly meant a lot for Bencic. She has a chance of another gold, albeit I think much less likely than in singles.

[ponchi101]

I guess the umpire accepted that Novak throwing his racquet into the stands was simply part of the Olympic spirit. In a sense, he did not abused it, he simply sent it packing.
I was unable to finish the match, as it was 03:00 here. Saw the first two sets; I thought that after PCB won the first, Novak would pack it, but of course he did not. Good for him.
He says he suffered an injury and therefore could not compete in the Mixed Doubles. Let's see how it affects it for the upcoming hard court season.
And although I like that Belinda won, the MTO thing has to be regulated. That was tactical, and it was excessive. I think the best solution is what we have said here: you want a MTO in the middle of the set? It costs you 1 point per every 5 minutes of MTO, starting at 0.

[dmforever]

I'm the biggest Nole fan here I think, but honestly, the racket throwing and net bashing is pathetic. And did he really get injured? If not, he's just amazingly selfish. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm not a huge sports fan in general and haven't been watching any of the other Olympic events, but I can't remember athletes in other disciplines throwing equipment or fits when they lose. It seems like the Olympic spirit is lost on Djokovic (and Bencic as well, given her MTO).

Kevin

[ashkor87]

i am very interested to see what happens in the mixed doubles.. one school of thought has it that the team with the stronger player (read male) will win, theory of constraints says the team with the better weak link (read female) will win..! very few opportunities to test these theories of course because mixed is so rare - it is tactically so different from doubles, too - male or female.. very sorry to see Hopman cup die out..

so now Vesnina and Karatsev should beat Rublev and Pavlyuchenkova, if the theory is right - Vesnina is surely a better doubles player than Pavly..

[ponchi101]

I'm the biggest Nole fan here I think, but honestly, the racket throwing and net bashing is pathetic. And did he really get injured? If not, he's just amazingly selfish. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm not a huge sports fan in general and haven't been watching any of the other Olympic events, but I can't remember athletes in other disciplines throwing equipment or fits when they lose. It seems like the Olympic spirit is lost on Djokovic (and Bencic as well, given her MTO).

Kevin

Tears and crying I have seen a lot, at the Olympics. Both joy and sadness, so your point about the racquet bashing may be right. Then again, ours is one of the few sports in which you keep the equipment after the point, so other athletes may express their frustration in other ways.
The injury, as reported, is to the shoulder. I did not see any diminished power on his serve, and he actually saved a MP in the second set with a wickedly angled serve out wide, and a solid volley. I actually think he served and volleyed way more than usual.
For Nole, this is menial. He will be back on court soon, winning a lot more. But for his partner, an Olympic Bronze would have been a career pinnacle. So not taking the court must have been a bummer for her, to say the least.

[ti-amie]

Sometimes you need to visit other fan sites to appreciate this site. I had to come here to find out what happened during the matches played today because every other site seems to be composed of a bunch of juveniles flaming each other.

Thanks for the information everyone.

[ti-amie]

I'm not surprised at all about Bencic being walked through her match. It happens all the time with her and if it's not allowed she collapses in tears.

I feel bad for Stojanovic.

Congrats to Elina Svitolina.

Very happy that PCB finally showcased his best tennis here.

[mmmm8]

I don't know... I think you use the tools available to you... as long as that MTO option is available to both players and the injury is not entirely made up (she had a blister), the strategic timing of the timeout is fair game, even if not great sportsmanship. This should be regulated better, but I don't blame Bencic.

I feel stronger about the coaching. I didn't think it was THAT egregious from Belinda in this particular match, at least from what I saw, but it's still problematic.

[ti-amie]

I don't know... I think you use the tools available to you... as long as that MTO option is available to both players and the injury is not entirely made up (she had a blister), the strategic timing of the timeout is fair game, even if not great sportsmanship. This should be regulated better, but I don't blame Bencic.

I feel stronger about the coaching. I didn't think it was THAT egregious from Belinda in this particular match, at least from what I saw, but it's still problematic.

What Carlos Rodriguez was to Henin Bencic's father was to her. I guess she's found someone to take his place?

[mmmm8]

I don't know... I think you use the tools available to you... as long as that MTO option is available to both players and the injury is not entirely made up (she had a blister), the strategic timing of the timeout is fair game, even if not great sportsmanship. This should be regulated better, but I don't blame Bencic.

I feel stronger about the coaching. I didn't think it was THAT egregious from Belinda in this particular match, at least from what I saw, but it's still problematic.

What Carlos Rodriguez was to Henin Bencic's father was to her. I guess she's found someone to take his place?

I think her dad was there.

[JazzNU]

Egregious? Maybe not. But definitely getting coached in that final set when she was struggling at a few points. She was getting frustrated and who knows what happens if she's not aided in those moments, she's spun out with lesser stakes when frustrated. Marketa heard all of it and was none too happy that Belinda was getting an assist. Marketa straight stared down the Swiss box a few times.