Talk About Tennis 2.0

Serious question. Yes, Kyrgios' behavior is far from exemplary. But, is he a bully? You could make an argument that he is, towards the officiating crew. He certainly is NOT to the ball kids. He may play psychologically with you, because he is so talented he will play silly points and still beat you. But I am not sure if bully is the adjective.

Put me down in the "They're Both Wrong" category. It's a real shame. In spite of the shenanigans, it was a really outstanding match from both players that has been jaded by the behavior of both during the match and after it. The only question is who is more egregiously wrong between the two. For me, during the match, that's easily Kyrgios. After the match, I'll call it a draw. I don't know how to properly rate "sour grapes" vs the "when bad things happen to me, someone else is always to blame" default orientation.

And for the record, and this in no way excuses anything Nick has ever done, if anyone was probably bullied as a kid, it was probably Kyrgios who was on the receiving end of it.

They are both bad, but Tsitsipas' is far worse for me. Hitting a tennis balls at the crowd is big no-no. Could cause serious injury and should be a default Amazed the UK commentators downplayed that incident just because they all hate Kyrgios.

And no Kyrgios is annoying and unsportsmanlike but bully is the wrong word. If he got bullied by those tactics, Tsisipas is a loser and will never win a slam.

I dislike both of the players really and think they are both wrong for the way they acted on the court today. This is a freaking tennis match so go out and play freaking tennis. All that other crap is total nonsense. Yeah what Tsitsipas did was extremely wrong and should have never happened. He is a professional and should never let the frustrations of another idiot player get to him. He made himself look like an idiot by hitting that ball into the stands and almost hitting a fan which should never happen and something should have been done in that case.

As for Krygios his carrying on and acting like an idiot pretty much the entire match is also uncalled for. Go out and play tennis. He is also a professional tennis player and the display I saw him put on today and many other times is far from that.

Both of these players are extremely talented but I hope someone takes down Krygios in the next round or two because his display of unprofessionalism is ridiculous.

jazzyg wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 8:04 pm Halep/Rybakina

Jabeur/Ostapenko.

(But I know someone who loves women's tennis who insists Neimeier will get there)

It's not out of the question if Jabeur gets jumpy and Ostapenko goes off the rails. Mertens and Garcia are both looking strong, but they are both in Jabeur's quarter, so Neimeier would only have to deal with one of them. Wouldn't it be wild if Heather Watson made it?

Not going to click 4 THANKS buttons, but thanks for the input on Nick and Steph.
Could have the first time to kindergarteners played a match at Wimbledon.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 10:56 pm Serious question. Yes, Kyrgios' behavior is far from exemplary. But, is he a bully? You could make an argument that he is, towards the officiating crew. He certainly is NOT to the ball kids. He may play psychologically with you, because he is so talented he will play silly points and still beat you. But I am not sure if bully is the adjective.

They were both wrong, but Nick is far worse IMO. I absolutely consider him a bully. Not of his opponents, but the umpires and media. At one tournament this spring, he was an outright bully to one reporter. Even called him names. His habit of relentlessly verbally abusing people and causing disruptions on the court -- unprovoked - is the worst thing I have seen in the last 20 or 30 years. It's constant, and it's wildly unprofessional and disrespectful to the opponent, umpires, linespeople - everyone. I didn't see Stef hit the ball into the stands, but unless it was a line drive that could have nailed someone, it's not in the same category of behavior as Nick's rampages. (But Stef should have received whatever penalty is in the rule book.)

The Stef hit into the stands was not a little lob but was also not a line drive screamer into the stands. He did apologize to the guy it almost hit and the guy seemed fine with it. It wasn't the right thing to do for sure but after the fact Nick talked about it for over a game later. The constant chattering whether it was with his box or with the chair umpire and the language he used was out of control. That is disruptive. You come to play tennis. Not to do that sort of crap the entire match and it was pretty much the entire match. So yeah what he does acting like an idiot benefits him and gives him an advantage.

My problem is what you said before: the inconsistency. Foki got a warning for also a ball that was not a screamer into the stands. (We know what happened and how it all snowballed). So, ok, let's for a moment grant the Chair some discretionary powers. But in this case, at a minimum, a warning was warranted. Yet nothing was said or done to Stef.

Come on. Tsisipas hit to crowd is pretty much a line-drive and missed a spectator head by 10cm! In fact the ball hit him on rebounce. Watch it on Twitter it is very clear he hits it hard.

Bottom line is this is actually worse than what get Djokovic DQ.
If that is a default, so should be this. The fact the spectator got lucky and avoid a direct hit by 10cm is irrelevant.

You can see why the crowd totally turned against Tsisipas after that.

Kyrgios are certainly bully to officials etc for sure.
But if I am sitting there watching the match I will be more pissed at the guy hitting at the crowd for sure.

I am not saying at all that what Stef did was correct and the inconsistencies of calls like that are terrible and he should have been defaulted for it, but if you see him gesture and apologize to the guy that he almost hit the guy responded to him like it was no big deal. The stroke was also definitely not as hard as he could have hit it into the stands for absolutely sure. Like I said he didn't lob the ball into the stands but he didn't scream the ball into the stands as hard as he could for sure. I also never said that the ball didn't come very close to hitting that fan because it did and that no matter how hard the ball was hit was absolutely wrong. The thing is he apologized to the fan and the fan accepted that and didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal. The player that made a huge deal of it was Nick Krygios for over a game or so after the fact with his constant bickering which was nothing more than a nuisance because the situation was squashed and over. That is how Nick Krygios keeps the agitation and frustration going in matches and he does it with pure brilliance and he knows he is doing it. He keeps things going that are long over with just to keep the agitation going.

I am not a fan of either of the players and will be extremely happy with Nick Krygios exits the tournament as well.

There has never been a player even remotely like Kyrgios, who disrespects the game, his opponents, the chair umpire and pretty much anyone he comes into contact with on the court to the nth degree.

That said, I was still pulling for him today because I love his tennis when he is focused and believe he would have a better chance of beating Nadal if they played than Tsitsipas would. And in the unlikely event he reaches the final, I would love for Djokovic to beat him for the first time there, although I'm not assuming Djokovic will get to the final like everyone else is. He could have a tough match with the Alcaraz-Sinner winner in the quarters.

Stef should've been disqualified full stop.

Did anyone hear what Nadal said to Sonego at the net? Did he call Sonego up to the net for a chat at some point? Friend was texting me about it, I wasn't watching. Then Nadal talked to him for awhile at the net. Then said in press he was wrong to call Sonego to the net during the match. Some are saying it was about Sonego's grunting during the point, which Nadal complained to the umpire about. Sorry if this has already been discussed. I wasn't on the thread this afternoon and skimmed it.