Talk About Tennis 2.0

A visual recap of tennis in 2021. It's a long thread of images by various photographers



It's threaded.

(I think she's wearing a FFP3 mask. They're said to be better than the kN95's)

ti-amie wrote:

(I think she's wearing a FFP3 mask. They're said to be better than the kN95's)

Glad she is competing.


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ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 8:06 pm A visual recap of tennis in 2021. It's a long thread of images by various photographers



It's threaded.

Some of these photos are too good.


Christophe Archambault


Corrine Dubreuil

January 2, 2022

The women’s circuit is ‘no longer the domain of Serena,’ claims Garbine Muguruza

Garbine Muguruza thinks the women’s circuit is more competitive than ever before and feels no one player will be able to dominate in the same way Serena Williams did.

Although the Spaniard has gained a reputation for being inconsistent, two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza showed glimpses of what she is capable of last season.

She won the Dubai Tennis Championships, the Chicago Falls Tennis Classic and the prestigious season concluding WTA Finals.

As such, she finished the year ranked third in the WTA world rankings behind World number one Ashleigh Barty and World number two Aryna Sabalenka.

Over the past few years, the women’s tour has been tightly contested and extremely competitive, with each of this year’s four Grand Slams being won by a different player. This has happened every year since 2017, with no one player winning more than one Slam per year.

This season Naomi Osaka won the Australian Open, Barbora Krejcikova took the French Open, Ashleigh Barty claimed Wimbledon and Emma Raducanu shocked the world when she won the US Open as a qualifier at just 18 years old.

23-time Slam ace Serena Williams was ruled out of the second half of the season through injury. As a result, her best Slam performance this season saw her reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Moreover, Serena has not won a Major since 2017.

Muguruza told Spanish sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo that she thinks no one player will be able to dominate in the same way as Serena due to the tough competition on the WTA tour.

She said “it’s tough, there is a lot of competition, each tournament is a little bit that you never know who is going to win.

“If I am good with myself, I think I am a very difficult opponent to beat, but [even when I am] feeling good I have also lost because the others also play very well. There is more competition than ever.

“There is no longer the domain of Serena [Williams] or something like that, now it is like each tournament that plays the best that week is going to take it away,” Muguruza claimed.

“Because I also don’t see that anyone is regularly winning titles. Out of thirty tournaments this year, almost all of them are different champions.”

https://tennishead.net/womens-circuit-n ... x_dN9klXQU

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"I define success as me enjoying the sport, enjoying my time on the tennis court."
- Leylah

According to tennis.com Carlos Alcaraz and Clara Tauson are the most likely teenagers to break through this season.

https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/mo ... on-atp-wta

Hard to disagree, and not a farfetched prediction.
You called it too, right?

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 9:08 pm Hard to disagree, and not a farfetched prediction.
You called it too, right?

Yes, I would have gone with the same two. It's indeed a rather obvious choice if you are looking for teenagers which haven't truly broken through yet, but likely will. We could still be surprised, though. I bet no one picked Raducanu a year ago.

Raducanu is the prototype of a concept that you and I agree on: The Black Swan. Just remember that she caused havoc in our SP from last year because everybody kept betting against her, and they all lost.
But "she" will not happen again. No way another player comes out from the qualies and wins a slam, in the spectacular fashion that she did. And also, that final was also a Black Swan. A totally statistical fluke, somewhere out there in the 5 sigma realm.

I agree, but a lesser black swan could still happen. Say a Slam QF and few small titles out of the blue.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 06, 2022 5:09 pm Raducanu is the prototype of a concept that you and I agree on: The Black Swan. Just remember that she caused havoc in our SP from last year because everybody kept betting against her, and they all lost.
But "she" will not happen again. No way another player comes out from the qualies and wins a slam, in the spectacular fashion that she did. And also, that final was also a Black Swan. A totally statistical fluke, somewhere out there in the 5 sigma realm.

10 matches, 20-0 in sets. That probably won't happen again in our lifetime.

Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:01 pm I agree, but a lesser black swan could still happen. Say a Slam QF and few small titles out of the blue.

Oh, sure. But remember, prior to Emma, the only Qualies-to-QF that I can remember was Mac's run to the QF's at Wimby 77, which rocket him to fame (and everybody said immediately that he was destined to win it one day, which of course came true).
And with today's parity, man, Qualies to Champ at ANY tournament looks difficult. I did say that she will win more slams (all teenage winners have won more than one) but if she never does, it is Black Swan all over, at 6 Sigma.

Who do you think will be this year's newcomers of the year? Please pick someone with a career high ranking no higher than #80 and no ATP/WTA titles.