ATP World Tour Masters/ WTA 2017 - Rogers/ Cincinnati

[PKBasu]

Good to see Jeevan/Rungkat hold their own against Kyrgios/Reed, although they went down in the STB.

[PKBasu]

This evening (around 7:30pm IST), DiPu play their R1 at the Lyon ATP against Benoit Paire and Thomas Paire (32 year old, Benoit's brother, who beat Rohan Bopanna at St Remy in 2009 in singles, but had a career-high of only 1111; he appears to be semi-retired, but must be playing club-level tennis locally).

[jaydeep]

Prarthana-Vera failed to score back to back wins in this WTA tournament ... This was an upset loss as their opponents were lower ranked, so missed an opportunity for Prarthana.

At $226K Internationaux de Strasbourg 2017, France

[QF] Vera Lapko (BLR)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l Chantal Skamlova (SVK)/ Eva Wacanno (NED) 36 57

[jaydeep]

Lee-Scott scored a tight comeback win over Spanish pair in the first round ... After losing the first set, Lee-Scott fought back to win the second set in the tie-break ... But they dominated match tie-break from the start ... Next, they r facing another unseeded pair, who scored an upset win over 4th seed.

At €540K Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open 2017, Switzerland (Red clay)

[R1] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (PR) David Marrero (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP) 67(3) 76(3) 10-4

[QF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA)/ Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)

[PKBasu]

Good win for Leander/Scott over a tough Spanish pair on clay.

[jaydeep]

But this was a tough loss for Sania-Yaroslava against Doi-Chuang in straight sets.

At €226K NÜRNBERGER Versicherungs Cup 2017, Germany

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) l Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Misaki Doi (JPN) 57 26

[jaydeep]

Disappointing loss for Purav-Divij against Paire brothers, one was an amateur player, after their last week's title win.

At €540K Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon 2017, France

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Benoit Paire (FRA)/ Thomas Paire (FRA) 63 26 2-10

[PKBasu]

Awful defeat for DiPu.
Both DiPu and Sania-Yaroslava fell to pairs that included a 32 year old. But Chia-Jung Chuang remains an active player (ranked 42 in doubles), even if she's no longer quite the player who made the Australian and US Open finals ten years ago.

[rajitghosh]

Time for Sania to retire?

[prasen9]

As long as she is getting entries, she should keep playing. If her ranking goes down and she is not good enough, then automatically she will not play. Whether to retire or not is largely based on a person's mental motivation. In a team sport, retiring may make sense. Dhoni is blocking a youngster. So, we can replace him with someone who can possibly play better. In individual sports, the onus is on the other players to displace Sania in the rankings and show her that they are better. Let them fight to take her place. It is phenomenal to see Lee still chugging out in the Challengers trying to make it. This never-say-die attitude is what made him a legend and brought him an Olympic medal against all odds. Mere mortals got bored (at the prospect of playing challengers or futures) and dropped out. Demi-gods like Borg got bored and dropped out. Hats off! This is also what sets Federer apart from the others. I believe his win % in grand slams is possibly slightly worse than that of Nadal and somewhat less than Bjorg's. Yet, Bjorg could not survive (or did not care) mentally. Federer's longevity (as well as ability to play at a high level in all surfaces) is phenomenal. Leander's is too. Sania should play as long as she wants and can.

[PKBasu]

Agree completely, prasen9! Isn't that a rarity ?
To be ranked in the top-10 in the world in any endeavour is pretty remarkable, especially at Sania's age (she is 30+, and still ranked #8 in the world, with a reasonable chance to be ranked higher if she hits it off with a partner). Interesting that Martina Hingis is ranked slightly higher (6) at the moment.

[prasen9]

I think fundamentally we agree on a lot of things (maybe except Indian politics). Wrt sports, we like to quibble at the margins.

[Sin Hombre]

Sania's age is irrelevant from a doubles perspective. 6 of the current top 10 are above 30.

Agree with prasen on general theme, Sania may yet find another partner who can combine well with and become a GS winner with.

[jaydeep]

Lee and Scott r in the semis without hitting the ball as they received walkover ... Next, they r facing top-seed pairing of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.

At €540K Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open 2017, Switzerland (Red clay)

[QF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA)/ Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) w/o (Dutra Silva: Right Ankle)

[SF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (1) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

[arjun2761]

Time for Sania to retire?

Why? Clearly this is an absurd question from a tennis perspective as elegantly outlined by many above. Do you have other considerations that are in your mind?