You guys could probably say better than me on this since I don't get to watch much of the pros. But I wonder if the backhand is even more of a liability on clay. He keeps it so short and flat that it never breaks down. But on clay where you have more time, it rewards guys that take bigger cuts. I guess I'm thinking about someone like Tsitsipas.
Agree. It makes so little sense that I have to think it's sponsor driven. Someone doesn't want Medvedev holding the trophy in front of a Mercedes logo or whatever.Seems like Wimbledon is going to ban Russian and maybe Belarusian players this year. Complete nonsense IMO. Would remove the mens #2 and #8 and whatever Karatsev is in top 20. On womens side would remove #15 but also #4 and #18 if Belarus banned.
Agree. It makes so little sense that I have to think it's sponsor driven. Someone doesn't want Medvedev holding the trophy in front of a Mercedes logo or whatever.
There you go. Even if you know it's coming, it's still infuriating to read the thing.
Spot on.Yeah, I think a distinction should be made between individual Russian players (Rublev said he was against the war) and what the Russian government and military are doing in Ukraine, which is horrible. In apartheid days, South African teams were banned from international competition, but not individuals like Gary Player. To not make such a distinction muddies the issue. And it removes the possibility of (e.g.) Medvedev winning the title and then making a statement against the war, which would be very embarrassing for the Russian government.
Would take Nadal or Federer starting something on men's side and probably Serena on women's side.Stumbled on this a while back and it seems relevant given the day's news. Not expecting the rest of the tour to respond like this, but it would be kind of cool.
1973: The men boycott Wimbledon and shift power to the players | Tennis.com
Ending the Draft: The Niki Pilic affair changes everything.www.tennis.com
Interesting…I get the opportunity to tell a corporate snob to piss off about 3x a day. I take that opportunity about twice a week.I just have to believe they're able to see that hosting a Russian player in your tennis tournament =/= approval of a Russian military action. Fans are not happy with this decision from what I can tell. Which means it's just an insane level of institutional cowardice. Some stakeholder -- maybe it's the royals or maybe a sponsor -- is agitating behind the scenes and you're not only going along with them, but you won't even make them admit it publicly. Instead Wimbledon takes all the bad publicity for this.
What does this do for Wimbledon? How does it help? I feel like such a cranky old man right now, but you only get so many chances in life to tell a royal or some corporate snob to piss off.