Talk About Tennis 2.0

I seriously hope that there is an off-season story on this.
Nothing makes sense.

Did Novak get told to keep his mouth shut about not playing TF because there was intrigue for the 8 spot?

Did he truly decide after Athens?

Did he play Athens only because he lives in Greece now?

I frankly am annoyed because I allowed myself to get sucked into the intrigue when one story said Novak was playing ((that he then backed away from).

Thank goodness next year points end at Paris.

Ps - poor Musetti. The alternate better get some reps in

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 1:19 pm

JTContinental wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 7:23 am Is Novak racking up the tournament wins, though?

ETA: in great tennis journa(i)lism, when I did a Google search to see what tournaments ND has won this year, the AI bot told me he won the 2025 AO

Just numbers since that is what tennis accountants watch...he has 101, Fed has 103.

Yes. Just numbers. 24 slams, the sole winner of at least 3 of each slam (in the ATP), the sole winner of every MS1000, and at least twice.
Those are only numbers. But I would say that almost every great athlete looks at numbers and then sets a goal. Kobe Bryant was fixated with winning a sixth NBA championship, just to catch Jordan. Novak was, and I say still is, fixated with overtaking Roger's figures. Pete retired "early" because he thought that his number of slams was safe. Remember his maniacal drive in 1998 to reach end the year as #1 so that he could get a sixth such year.
And I say that Novak is driven to match every one of Roger's records. He will never be able to swallow that Roger was and always will be more popular.

Although FAA probably is a bigger threat in Turin, I am glad Musetti got in. He simply had the better, more consistent year, point total be damned.

And of course you can win a tournament while nursing an injury. It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

No, it is not disingenuous. You can win a tournament having an injury, but not one that forces you OUT of the next tournament when that next tournament is way more important than the one you just won.
Disingenuous is believing that a player with the history of retirements that Novak has was really still debating on going to the finals. He simply never meant to go.

Monday 10 November, 2025 (Day 2)

Inalpi Arena Starts at 11:30 am

RR
M. Arevalo/M. Pavic (4) Vs (5) J. Salisbury/N. Skupski
Not Before 2:00 pm
RR
L. Musetti (9) Vs (6) T. Fritz
Not Before 6:00 pm
RR
H. Heliovaara/H. Patten (2) Vs (8) C. Harrison/E. King
Not Before 8:30 pm
RR
J. Sinner (2) Vs (8) F. Auger-Aliassime

‪The Tennis Letter‬
‪@thetennisletter.bsky.social‬
· 5h
2025 ATP Finalists group photo for GQ Italia.

Jannik Sinner.
Taylor Fritz.
Alexander Zverev.
Alex de Minaur.
Carlos Alcaraz.
Ben Shelton.

John Russo

The ATP gets tailored matching outfits for GQ, and the WTA had the players bring their own gowns.

Men don't mind being dressed the same. Women do.
Don't they?

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 10, 2025 3:02 am Men don't mind being dressed the same. Women do.
Don't they?

They don't have be identical, but they could have been coordinated, or at least created specifically for the event, and having the photoshoot done by a major fashion outlet.

Agree about the photoshoot being done by a major fashion outlet. But maybe they liked it better that way.

Tuesday 11 November, 2025 (Day 3)

Inalpi Arena Starts at 11:30 am

RR
M. Granollers/H. Zeballos (3) Vs (7) S. Bolelli/A. Vavassori
Not Before 2:00 pm
RR
C. Alcaraz (1) Vs (6) T. Fritz
Not Before 6:00 pm
RR
J. Cash/L. Glasspool (1) Vs (6) K. Krawietz/T. Puetz
Not Before 8:30 pm
RR
L. Musetti (9) Vs (7) A. de Minaur

Felix looks injured. And Bublik is such a wildcard that he can be the first in YEC history to make a semis as an alternate that joined after 1st round of play. Or lose 1 an 0.

I said this before. Bublik is the sole guy that can challenge J/C. He has touch, power and variety.
He has a solid 25% chance of beating them when he plays them. 27% when he plays Sinner on anything other than hards.