What happen to all the top players.

[Grossefavourite]

WTA is a mess since Covid. It became clear when Krejikova, doubles specialist, rose up the ranks and won RG. Followed swiftly by Raducanu's almost impossible USO win all the way from qualifiers. Then comes Barty's shock retirement, leaving only one decent player, Iga Swiatek, to clean up, while the rest of the field meander from one woeful loss to the next, from illness, to injury, to mental health decline, etc. Iga's 'reign' will be remembered for Covid and mental illness. Sad.

[Ace2Ace]

Halep lost in R2… it looks more and more that she will never get to the level she once was.

Swiatek on the other hand: had no mercy with Riske (only lost two games) and is now on 30 wins in a row. 4th longest win streak in the 21st century. Henin is at 32, Serena at 34 and Venus at 35.

So if she wins, she equals the record.

fantastic !!!!!! I love it when 1 or 2 players dominated the whole field, crushing everyone mercilessly.

[Grossefavourite]

I wasn't aware...

_____________________

Simona Halep has been praised for being “brave and honest” after revealing she had a panic attack during her French Open defeat on Thursday.

The Romanian called for the trainer and had her pulse and blood pressure taken during her 2-6 6-2 6-1 loss to Chinese teenager Qinwen Zheng in the second round at Roland-Garros.

Although she was given the all-clear to play on, she continued to have trouble with her breathing and the trainer came out for a second time.

'I expect much better from myself' - Halep's coach apologises after her shock exit'I expect much better from myself' - Halep's coach apologises after her shock exit

“I was playing well at the start,” Halep said. “I had a break in the second set, but then something happened. I just lost it.

“I didn't expect because it was just a panic attack.

“I didn't know how to handle it, because I don't have it often. Yeah, I don't really know why it happened, because I was leading the match. I was playing well. But just happened, and as I said, I lost it. I couldn't focus.”

[Grossefavourite]

French Open director calls it 'tough' to find women for night session, says men's matchups appeal more


New French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo says nine of the 10 night session matches at Roland Garros this year involved men because women's tennis currently has less appeal.

Mauresmo said at a news conference Wednesday that she tried on a daily basis to find a women's pairing that had the star power or matchup worthy of being highlighted in the separate session that began at 8:45 p.m. local time in Court Philippe Chatrier.

"I admit it was tough," said Mauresmo, a former No. 1 player who is overseeing the clay-court Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

The only women's match that got the prime-time treatment was Alize Cornet's victory over Jelena Ostapenko.

"In this era that we are in right now, I don't feel -- and as a woman, former woman's player -- I don't feel bad or unfair saying that right now you have more attraction, more attractivity -- can you say that? Appeal? That's the general [factor], for the men's matches," Mauresmo said.

Mauresmo won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. After retiring as a player, she moved into coaching and worked with Andy Murray, among others.


Wolf

[Joylan1]

There were plenty of open seats for the mens matches. Nothing has matched the Nadal /Federer lovefest.

There are no rivalries on the woman's side.

[Graveller]

The idea of having potential 5-set matches scheduled at 9pm on week-days.... Maybe Mauresmo does not have to work anymore, but the majority of tennis fans do have a job during the day (and if they don't, they can't afford a ticket anyway). So sitting there in the cold well past midnight is asking too much (was the Nadal-Djoko match not finished until 2 am?).

As for women rivalries: the ingredients are there, it is simply waiting until they reach peak age an fulfilling their potential. In the mean time, we can enjoy the Swiatek-run.
Consecutive wins:
1. Venus (35)
2. Serena (34)
3. Swiatek (33 and ongoing)
4. Henin (32).

For today's SF: my brain says Swiatek, my heart wants Kasatkina (though her serve-speed is junior-level, so she needs a choking Iga, I am afraid.

[Grossefavourite]

As expected, Amelie had to apologize for stating the obvious challenges.

[Grossefavourite]

"To be honest, she kind of plays like a guy. And, I mean that as, Ash was a similar way, where they don't play like a typical girl where they hit kind of flat and the ball kind of goes through the court. She plays a little more unorthodox in the fact that she has, like, a really heavy forehand,'' Pegula said about Swiatek, "but at the same time she also likes to step in and take it really early, and I think clay gives her more time, and I think it makes her forehand even harder to deal with.''

[Graveller]

It was an interesting final between two players that likely will meet often in slam finals again. Cori lacked experience but showed evidence of top quality. A player that I will enjoy in the future as she seems to have every shot in the book, combined with sufficient power. Similar to Swiatek, but the main difference is that Swiatek dominates with a ripping FH, whereas Gauff has -at times - an amazing BH. And somehow I prefer BH-players (blame Justine ).
Both are not afraid of throwing in a slice or a drop shot, keeping it interesting.. and have a serve that is thankfully better than that of Kasatkina.

Iga now at a 35-match winning streak (equalling the record of this millennium) and 6 titles in a row: Doha, IW, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, Roland Garros.