General Tennis Discussions

[jai_in_canada]

Even sania should. I mean singles

[jai_in_canada]

...
it really sucks that you can be among the top 200 tennis players in the world and still struggle to make a living.

And what sucks even more is that in India AFTER someone achieves success politicians and companies fall over each other fighting to give huge financial awards to the athlete. GVK supported Sania when she was an unknown youngster (thanks to her Dad's clever lobbying), and now it looks like the Virat Kohli Foundation is supporting Sumit Nagal. We need much more of this if India wants to have a hope in hell of producing successful tennis players going forward. Otherwise talented young players are left on their own. How many talented youngsters are we missing out on because their families can't afford to finance their development and fledgling careers?

[Atithee]

JIC—How is India any different than Eastern European nations, South American nations, even Russia and China in this?

[jai_in_canada]

JIC—How is India any different than Eastern European nations, South American nations, even Russia and China in this?

I don't know how India is different from those countries in terms of rewarding already successful players versus supporting promising young players - cuz I don't know about those countries. However, right now most of the ones you mention seem to be having more success than India in tennis singles.

On a side note, tomorrow (Sun, Sep 15) they're having a big celebration for Bianca Andreescu. Nice to see her massive achievement being recognized and celebrated in this hockey-mad (more recently basketball-mad) country. I will try to be there.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.5282268

Tennis Canada has definitely done a good job of making a concerted effort to find & develop junior tennis players. Other Canadian sports federations have done well too. Great financial support for athletes and coaches from the likes of Petro Canada and Royal Bank of Canada. It is showing in the results in tennis, swimming, track & field, gymnastics etc.

[RohitG]

Some good news for our players. 5 days hospitality minimum for singles players (Sat-Wed) and an ATP grant of $4k in two installments (YTD ranking and ranking after Roland Garros)

[prasen9]

The hospitality is useful. The $2k grant is very small. Hey, it is better than nothing. But, they should have maybe not spread it so thin but given a bigger grant to the top players who are running a loss. For example, give more to #150-200 or #150-250, etc.

[Sin Hombre]

Medvedev continues his crazy run on hard courts.

Washington: F
Canada: F
Cincinnati: W
US Open: F
St. Petersburg: W
Shanghai: W

With Thiem now firmly establishing himself as #2 on clay, we are finally starting to see the next generation players competing with the big 3. Can they do it in grand slams in 2020?

[RohitG]

Medvedev looks like someone who can. Tsitsipas following him, Zverev still needs to improve his 5 set record. Thiem on clay and Berretini as the dark horse. All of them have the tools, interestingly, the new 3, Medvedev, Tsit and Zverev all are taller than 1.92m. Nadal and Djokovic are breaking down with some fitness issues after another. So anything is possible. And of course you also have these others who can spring upsets from time to time: Cilic, Dimitrov, the 2 Canadians, the other 2 Russians etc. I guess it's going to be a loaded year.

[jayakris]

Yep, it is going to be an interesting time. I am reminded of the time when people were asking, "after Agassi and Sampras, who?"... There was even talk of tennis and ATP dying a slow death, etc. Haha. Not sure if this crowd can keep it going as long as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic did, but it will certainly be interesting to see how things transpire in the next couple of years.

[RohitG]

Sandgren has reached AO QF for the 2nd time in his career after that splendid run he had in 2018. His next best GS result has been reaching 4R at Wimbledon. At the age of 28, with a career prize money of just above 2 million, currently ranked at 100 and with a career high of 41, he still managed to make a run into the 2nd seed. For someone with his career stats, he has a good record against top players.

Federer tour strategy works wonders for Tennys

He is 10 years younger to Fed but has had injuries during his career. Taking a cue from Fed's tour strategy, he schedules it smartly, playing hard in big tournaments if and when he gets in and ensures proper rest before the next. I hope Yuki and others follow similar strategies and achieve better results in their career,

[prasen9]

Yep, it is going to be an interesting time. I am reminded of the time when people were asking, "after Agassi and Sampras, who?"... There was even talk of tennis and ATP dying a slow death, etc. Haha. Not sure if this crowd can keep it going as long as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic did, but it will certainly be interesting to see how things transpire in the next couple of years.

Tennis does not need legends dominating. Look at women's tennis. In the last two years, there have been a host of grand slam winners. Does anyone think that the game is not interesting? By some measure, women's tennis is more uncertain than men's and is more interesting that way before the semis. Besides, players such as Thiem, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Zverev, etc. play high quality, breathtaking tennis. Once the oldies fade and these guys start winning, the world will salute the new winners. As people still pay to watch Halep, Osaka, Muguruza, Kerber, etc. You don't need to have an all-time great. Great enough is good enough.

[rajitghosh]

https://m.rediff.com/sports/report/see- ... 200612.htm

Finally some good news on Indian tennis players returning to court

https://m.rediff.com/sports/report/see- ... 200612.htm

Also shooter Manu Bhaker has an indoor shooting range for practicing

[prasen9]

I found a nice article on the evolution of tennis. Evolution of tennis. Was reminded of the article by Rajiv's post in the RK thread. Enjoy!

[gbelday]

I couldn’t find the right place to post this. I just came across this piece on Fazal. I sure quite a few of you here remember Fazal. We used to discuss him in the forum many years ago.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1166864/7189 ... N-U4lPpBdQ

[rajitghosh]

His father Syed Nayeemuddin who was part of the India football team that won an Asian Games bronze in 1970 and also coached India is facing a lot of financial distress. Fazal's brother Saif was also a decent junior level tennis player. They used to play at South Club and were contemporaries of Leander and Zeeshan Ali though younger. Both of them never made it to higher levels. Fazal had a decent serve and volley game but like many other Indians lacked power.