ATP Tennis/Non-India Davis Cup

[Atithee]

Arjun, you’re the man!

[jayakris]

But I love those snippets on ethnicity, the history of that country, etc, that PKB weaves into some of his posts. History matters, though many people get scared about thinking of history - as they fear it would lead to their having thoughts that might be race-focused. PKB doesn't seem to have any such worries and would say what he sees/knows/thinks - right or wrong!

[sameerph]

Yes, I too like those history details from PKB.

Djoker will beat zverev in 5 sets after losing the first two sets. He will then beat Medvedev in 4 sets after losing the first set.

Medvedev will win in straight sets in his semis.

Dot on your first part of prediction, Kumar although it was not after losing the first 2 sets. Now only Medvedev left between Djoker and calender slam.

[S_K_S]

Come on Medvedev. You are our only hope!

[prasen9]

Everyone [minus the Djokovic fans} is now a Medvedev fan! Djokovic winning a GS will be a blot on the inept juniors who have failed to really displace the old guard. Mother nature took care of Fed and Nadal and thereby we have a GS.

[Kumar]

Finally the new gen beats the big three in grand slam finals

Djoker lost in straight sets and Medvedev is the new US open champion

[Kumar]

Congratulations Medvedev who will probably be a favorite for US open every time going forward

[PKBasu]

So, channeling PKB here, the women's final is between 19-year old Canadian Leylah Fernandez who is half-Ecuadorean, half-Filipino and 18-year old British qualifier Emma Raducanu who is playing her 4th tour event and is also Canadian-born and is half-Romanian, half-Chinese.

We are now seeing an explosion of immigrant (and mixed-ethnicity) kids taking over WTA (Osaka is half-Japanese, half-Hawaiian) and also the ATP to a lower extent.

The other interesting thing about Emma Raducanu's mother is that she is from Shenyang (one of the major cities in the region that used to be called Manchuria). The old Manchu name for Shenyang is Mukden. It is theoretically possible that Emma has some Manchu blood -- although the Manchus have been almost completely wiped out of that region now (having suffered severely from Mao's 1960-62 famine).

[PKBasu]

Belated kudos to Medvedev. It'll be poetic justice if the trio are permanently stuck at 20 Slam titles.

[jaydeep]

The other interesting thing about Emma Raducanu's mother is that she is from Shenyang (one of the major cities in the region that used to be called Manchuria). The old Manchu name for Shenyang is Mukden. It is theoretically possible that Emma has some Manchu blood -- although the Manchus have been almost completely wiped out of that region now (having suffered severely from Mao's 1960-62 famine).

Karan also shared interesting post on twitter about Emma's ethnicity claim.

[PKBasu]

The absence of Djokovic probably benefits Gael Monfils most -- he (seeded 17) is drawn to play 16th seeded clay courter Cristian Garin in R3, and 25th seed Lorenzo Sonego (rather than Novak) in R4. In the QF, he (rather than Novak) would likely meet Berretini. In the other quarterfinal in that half of the draw, Zverev is drawn to play Nadal.

The bottom half has 2-Medvedev and 4-Tsitsipas drawn to play each other in the SF. Medvedev (who will likely have to beat Krygios in R2) is drawn to meet 5-Rublev in the QF, Tsitsipas to meet 8-Ruud. The top half looked tougher with Djokovic and Nadal in it, now it looks a lot lighter.

[prasen9]

So now that the idiot/selfish guy is out, I was thinking about whom to support beyond Nadal, if he loses. It seems that the tennis players perhaps got influenced by Novak or some other source. Many of the top players have been idiots or selfish. None at the Djokovic level, but here is the list:

Novak - anti-vaccine
Medvedev - initially reluctant to be vaccinated, supports medical information privacy
Zverev - lobbying for Novak to play, raised concerns about vaccines before.
Tsitsipas - anti-vaccine but took vaccines(?), thinks Novak should not play
Nadal - many people have died, took vaccine
Berettini - backs mandatory vaccine
Ruud - ban the suckers from entering Australia
Dmitrov - played in Adria tournament
Fed - good guy
Thiem - vaccinated late, Austrian Health Minister asked him, etc., not anti-vaccine but a bit crazy

=======

Sabalenka - against vaccines

So, Novak, Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Dmitrov and Thiem are out for me. Nadal, Ruud, and Berettini are in. Chances are high that a vaccine skeptic or at least a vaccine hesitant will win although most of the young guys are not so cultish as Djokovic and took the vaccine at the end.

[Kumar]

French open announced vaccine mandate for participation in french open. Essentially this just makes Wimbledon the only grand slam he can participate, unless he decides to get jabbed.

Serbia can issue a vaccine certificate if needed
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sport ... 022-01-17/

[Sin Hombre]

I think Alcaraz is almost certainly going to be the next big star in tennis.

Best teenage prodigy since Nadal himself almost 2 decades back. No real weakness in his game, except inability to win free points on serve, and has a strong mentality and head.

Going to call it that he is going to usurp the Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Zverev generation within 2 years. Timing wise, Nadal and Djokovic will likely stop winning GS by then.

[sameerph]

Yes, Alcarez looks a phenomenal talent. He is the only in top 50 who is still in his teens. Eariler I thought he is usual clay monster type from Spain. But, he is showing he is equally good on clay as well.