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Grand Slam Tennis ( updated )


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27 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

Lots of different players coming through for each successive tournament with no one dominating.

 

From what I can tell, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. You've got a whole bunch of very capable players without having any of them streaking ahead or having a game that none of the others can cope with. Raducanu has sprung from nowhere but that's in part due to the pandemic and her parents not wanting her travelling around tournaments, risking picking up the virus. She's clearly a very good, accurate & consistent player from what we've seen at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows. But she's not (yet) head and shoulders above the pack.

 

For tennis followers, it looks good. There will be lots of competition in lots of tournaments without you looking at one side of the draw and saying with almost certainty that, say, Serena will make the final out of that.

 

 

I've been to China three times; all on work and all as a guest of a local host. I've never put my hand in my pocket to pay for a thing. That's my excuse!! :D

 

17 years since we've had a teenager winning a slam. Winning a slam at only the second time of asking. There is something phenomenal about it.

 

I've written earlier that the totally expected British media hype for her is supported by more measured comment from slightly less hysterical and more knowledgeable commentators (such as Hantuchova). These guys reckon that there's nothing to stop Raducanu becoming a top, top player and that she shows sufficient attributes to make it - more so than the player (Gauff) that they'd previously been tipping to make it to the top.

 

Managed correctly, she will have a career to match those you've included in that list.

Bianca Andresscu was 19 when she won the US open in 2019 

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1 hour ago, JamesM48 said:

Bianca Andresscu was 19 when she won the US open in 2019 

That's what I get for paying such close attention to women's tennis over the last 20 years or so :D

 

I've just found out I'm golfing in a four-ball with Andrew Castle next week. Are there any messages that JKB would like me to pass on to him? Should I just go back through the thread to get a "best of" selection from the comments?

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One point of note is Emma Raducanu has developed under the English tennis system. That is the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). 

 

Unlike say Joanna Konta who trained at Barcelona then Texas. Then her LTA funding was actually cut 3 years after she became 'British' encouraging her to move to Spain. Or Hearher Watson who has been based in Florida since she was 12.

 

But Raducanu has had LTA coaches and is very much a product of a system strongly criticised including by the likes of Andy Murray. Though possibly her parents have been a bigger influence.

 

It's a big win for British tennis.

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1 hour ago, Mikey1874 said:

One point of note is Emma Raducanu has developed under the English tennis system. That is the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). 

 

Unlike say Joanna Konta who trained at Barcelona then Texas. Then her LTA funding was actually cut 3 years after she became 'British' encouraging her to move to Spain. Or Hearher Watson who has been based in Florida since she was 12.

 

But Raducanu has had LTA coaches and is very much a product of a system strongly criticised including by the likes of Andy Murray. Though possibly her parents have been a bigger influence.

 

It's a big win for British tennis.

Good points 

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1 hour ago, I P Knightley said:

That's what I get for paying such close attention to women's tennis over the last 20 years or so :D

 

I've just found out I'm golfing in a four-ball with Andrew Castle next week. Are there any messages that JKB would like me to pass on to him? Should I just go back through the thread to get a "best of" selection from the comments?

Ask him if he thinks Monica Seles would have been all time grand slam

champion bar that horrible stabbing ? 

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5 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

Ask him if he thinks Monica Seles would have been all time grand slam

champion bar that horrible stabbing ? 

What if he says "Yes"? Given how poor his analysis can be...

:turmoil:

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1 hour ago, Mikey1874 said:

One point of note is Emma Raducanu has developed under the English tennis system. That is the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). 

 

Unlike say Joanna Konta who trained at Barcelona then Texas. Then her LTA funding was actually cut 3 years after she became 'British' encouraging her to move to Spain. Or Hearher Watson who has been based in Florida since she was 12.

 

But Raducanu has had LTA coaches and is very much a product of a system strongly criticised including by the likes of Andy Murray. Though possibly her parents have been a bigger influence.

 

It's a big win for British tennis.

She's come through the "Talent ID" system which I've had more than a passing interest in and for which I have nothing but criticism.

 

We've had more successful British players who have come through non-LTA routes than those coming through LTA. Raducanu is an exception but they've thrown £millions at thousands of "Talent ID" players (with their parents contributing thousands each year to the LTA). Statistically there was always a chance that they'd find an emerald in a mountain of coal. With the £millions at their disposal, it's shameful that countries like Italy, Spain, Switzerland & Germany consistently produce players who'll be spoken about by commentators outside the UK.

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1 hour ago, I P Knightley said:

What if he says "Yes"? Given how poor his analysis can be...

:turmoil:

Well he would be right this time 😂

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27 minutes ago, jonesy said:

Just ask him to start at page 1 of the Covid thread and see if he can make it to the end...

Oh no make sure he doesn’t mention that ! I’ve an image to maintain 😎

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14 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

That's what I get for paying such close attention to women's tennis over the last 20 years or so :D

 

I've just found out I'm golfing in a four-ball with Andrew Castle next week. Are there any messages that JKB would like me to pass on to him? Should I just go back through the thread to get a "best of" selection from the comments?

How does he feel about the BBC giving Paddy, Sue's job on QoS.

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

Thanks for helping me win a Slam.

 

Now piss off as I need someone else. Hope he got a decent golden hand shake. 

Well, he got rid of Andy Murray's father in law after he helped her to the 4th round at Wimbledon. They reckon that Richardson might just have put in a silly high financial demand since he has other projects that interest him. But the line is that they want someone with more high level experience. 

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35 minutes ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

Yes I see that was the line. During the US Open I heard that her coach's son was a promising player and that he would possibly want to spend more time working with him.

Yup. That's the 'project' I heard about. Also, Richardson had been instructed that he was not allowed to do any press. An odd set up altogether. It sounds as though her dad is a wee bit radgey. 

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3 hours ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

Thanks for helping me win a Slam.

 

Now piss off as I need someone else. Hope he got a decent golden hand shake. 

He did, the dad literally pissed on him too.

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On 24/09/2021 at 17:43, I P Knightley said:

Raducanu's dad has fired her coach. I reckon she'll struggle at her next tourney.

 

She's had 5 or 6 changes of coach. This one started 3 months ago. 'Fired' as in 'end of temporary contract'. Mostly been working with Lawn Tennis Association coaches. 

 

She wants someone with experience of working with top players. Starting to go her own way. 

 

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On 24/09/2021 at 17:45, jonnothejambo said:

 

Thanks for helping me win a Slam.

 

Now piss off as I need someone else. Hope he got a decent golden hand shake. 

 

It's a strange decision. There must be something else involved as I personally would have thought that he had easily earned the position to carry on as her coach. She has to watch out - it's not unknown for someone to be flying high, sack their coach, lose form and find it difficult to recover, as Konta found out.

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9 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

It's a strange decision. There must be something else involved as I personally would have thought that he had easily earned the position to carry on as her coach. She has to watch out - it's not unknown for someone to be flying high, sack their coach, lose form and find it difficult to recover, as Konta found out.

Just like getting rid of George Burley when you're at the top of the table?

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2 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

Just like getting rid of George Burley when you're at the top of the table?

 

:( Yes, just like that.

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On 24/09/2021 at 21:28, I P Knightley said:

Yup. That's the 'project' I heard about. Also, Richardson had been instructed that he was not allowed to do any press. An odd set up altogether. It sounds as though her dad is a wee bit radgey.    
 

 

 

Steffi Graf had tons of bother with her dad I recall ? The Williams sisters too . I seem to recall Monica Seles too ? Anyway the point being it doesn’t seem to end well at times . The protégée grows up , gets angry realises they didn’t have much of a childhood and sacks their

mentor ( dad ) 

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7 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

 

 

Steffi Graf had tons of bother with her dad I recall ? The Williams sisters too . I seem to recall Monica Seles too ? Anyway the point being it doesn’t seem to end well at times . The protégée grows up , gets angry realises they didn’t have much of a childhood and sacks their

mentor ( dad ) 

Jelena Dokic was the poster child for mental dad tennis girl but the list of female players with overbearing dad's is a long and slightly worrying one.

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1 minute ago, I P Knightley said:

Jelena Dokic was the poster child for mental dad tennis girl but the list of female players with overbearing dad's is a long and slightly worrying one.

Yes it’s rather creepy in fact 

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Certainly not Her Glorious Royal Highness Emma Raducanu MBE, who finished her Auzzie Open preparations by being pumped 6-0 6-1 in under an hour.

 

:gok:

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12 minutes ago, Cade said:

Certainly not Her Glorious Royal Highness Emma Raducanu MBE, who finished her Auzzie Open preparations by being pumped 6-0 6-1 in under an hour.

 

:gok:

I know . Talk about being overrated . ! She won the us open by mostly missing any top players . In fact only played 2 in the top 40 . Lucky her really . 

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24 minutes ago, dobmisterdobster said:

It's not her fault the insufferable media hyped her up as the second coming of Jesus.

 

You must admit that what she did was quite remarkable.

 

I don't know the background of course, but I think that immediately parting company with the coach who helped get her there because she needed someone with more experience on the tour was a mistake however.

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17 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

You must admit that what she did was quite remarkable.

 

I don't know the background of course, but I think that immediately parting company with the coach who helped get her there because she needed someone with more experience on the tour was a mistake however.

Yes it was a great achievement but like i said she had a great draw .  Dumping her coach was a terrible error and very disloyal but I assume there must have been some reason but I cant for the life of me think why if he had just coached her to a grand slam? 

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I P Knightley
1 hour ago, JamesM48 said:

Yes it was a great achievement but like i said she had a great draw .  Dumping her coach was a terrible error and very disloyal but I assume there must have been some reason but I cant for the life of me think why if he had just coached her to a grand slam? 

I was golfing with two very knowledgeable and well-connected tennis folk on the day the separation was announced. Neither was at all surprised by it.

 

One of them knows Andrew Richardson very well and said that he (AR) was a bit of a reluctant coach and the Raducanu appointment was only temporary to the end of her stay in Flushing Meadows. He has a teenage son who's a promising player and wants to oversee the son's development so he either didn't negotiate an extension or asked for a ridiculously high retainer for it to happen.

 

The other has a close eye on the junior tennis circuit and has met the Raducanu family on a few occasions. He didn't have particularly nice things to say about Papa Raducanu. Like many tennis parents, he's pushy and has unrealistic ambitions for young Emma. The US Open would have cemented in his head that he was right all along and that she deserves to be working only with the best. So he wouldn't want some no-name coach for Emma and would have been happy that AR wasn't too interested in playing on. At the time, Darren Cahill had just become available (can't remember who he'd just split from - was it Halep?) and there was a chance that he'd join team Raducanu. If Cahill was approached, he probably took one look and thought "Eff that!" Tennis is littered with fine coaches who couldn't bear working with their players' families - not naming Judy Murray's name at all here.

 

I said before - Raducanu seems a lovely girl, it was joyful watching her play and I would have no complaints if she came home on the arm of Knightley Jr. But I think that Flushing Meadows 2021 was her 1902 and she is destined for a long and tiresome haul before she reaches those peaks again.

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8 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

I was golfing with two very knowledgeable and well-connected tennis folk on the day the separation was announced. Neither was at all surprised by it.

 

One of them knows Andrew Richardson very well and said that he (AR) was a bit of a reluctant coach and the Raducanu appointment was only temporary to the end of her stay in Flushing Meadows. He has a teenage son who's a promising player and wants to oversee the son's development so he either didn't negotiate an extension or asked for a ridiculously high retainer for it to happen.

 

The other has a close eye on the junior tennis circuit and has met the Raducanu family on a few occasions. He didn't have particularly nice things to say about Papa Raducanu. Like many tennis parents, he's pushy and has unrealistic ambitions for young Emma. The US Open would have cemented in his head that he was right all along and that she deserves to be working only with the best. So he wouldn't want some no-name coach for Emma and would have been happy that AR wasn't too interested in playing on. At the time, Darren Cahill had just become available (can't remember who he'd just split from - was it Halep?) and there was a chance that he'd join team Raducanu. If Cahill was approached, he probably took one look and thought "Eff that!" Tennis is littered with fine coaches who couldn't bear working with their players' families - not naming Judy Murray's name at all here.

 

I said before - Raducanu seems a lovely girl, it was joyful watching her play and I would have no complaints if she came home on the arm of Knightley Jr. But I think that Flushing Meadows 2021 was her 1902 and she is destined for a long and tiresome haul before she reaches those peaks again.

Reasonable explanation. Yes she's a fine player but I cant see anything outstanding in her game to say she had another slam in her. Still an achievement she can dine out on for many a year though. Unsure if the draw has been made at OZ yet. Be interesting to see who she is up against. 

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I P Knightley
2 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

Reasonable explanation. Yes she's a fine player but I cant see anything outstanding in her game to say she had another slam in her. Still an achievement she can dine out on for many a year though. Unsure if the draw has been made at OZ yet. Be interesting to see who she is up against. 

She's seeded at 13 so will probably come up against someone just like her :)

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I P Knightley
17 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

She's seeded at 13 so will probably come up against someone just like her :)

Raducanu v Sloane Stephens.

Both US Open champions. I hadn't realised that Stephens's ranking had dropped so that she's outside the seeds. She's another who showed huge promise and was going to be the next big thing after Serena but has fizzled out.

 

Andy Murray has been drawn against Basilashvili who he beat only yesterday. Murray's now in the semi of the Sydney tournament as his QF opponent, Goffin, pulled out injured. Goffin has been drawn in the Oz Open against Dan Evans.

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I P Knightley
18 minutes ago, Sooperstar said:

Taking such joy in a teenager, who seems from what I have seen to be a nice enough individual, getting beaten. Very strange.

To be fair to most posters, the issue is not with Raducanu (or any other British tennis player) but the way in which the media, most of whom follow tennis for two weeks of the year, pile in with hyperbole.

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Oh, I have nothing against Raducanu as a person or as a player.

She's a nice lassie and a half decent player who got a very fortunate draw and pulled off a famous victory.

 

I do take issue with the media and other slavers hyping her up to be the new Serena Williams and banging on about how she could earn a billion quid(!)

She's been given an MBE ffs.

 

 

 

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I P Knightley
1 hour ago, Cade said:

Oh, I have nothing against Raducanu as a person or as a player.

She's a nice lassie and a half decent player who got a very fortunate draw and pulled off a famous victory.

 

I do take issue with the media and other slavers hyping her up to be the new Serena Williams and banging on about how she could earn a billion quid(!)

She's been given an MBE ffs.

 

 

 

She might start by getting a few bob for the medal on eBay. :biglaugh:

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3 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

Raducanu v Sloane Stephens.

Both US Open champions. I hadn't realised that Stephens's ranking had dropped so that she's outside the seeds. She's another who showed huge promise and was going to be the next big thing after Serena but has fizzled out.

 

Andy Murray has been drawn against Basilashvili who he beat only yesterday. Murray's now in the semi of the Sydney tournament as his QF opponent, Goffin, pulled out injured. Goffin has been drawn in the Oz Open against Dan Evans.

Oh dear. Shes out. Mark my words. As you rightly said Stevens was the next new big thing. However hasnt really fulfilled her potential but Im positive she got to a grand slam in the last few years? Anyway its gonna be a tough one for Rad

2 hours ago, Cade said:

Oh, I have nothing against Raducanu as a person or as a player.

She's a nice lassie and a half decent player who got a very fortunate draw and pulled off a famous victory.

 

I do take issue with the media and other slavers hyping her up to be the new Serena Williams and banging on about how she could earn a billion quid(!)

She's been given an MBE ffs.

 

 

 

Shes nae Serena Williams. In fact Serena would beat her in straight sets even now she is 40 

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I P Knightley
14 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

 Im positive she got to a grand slam in the last few years?

 

2 finals, one win. 2017 US Open winner; 2018 French losing finalist. Pretty poor record in Oz, plopping out in the first round 5 times out of 9 attempts.

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1 minute ago, I P Knightley said:

2 finals, one win. 2017 US Open winner; 2018 French losing finalist. Pretty poor record in Oz, plopping out in the first round 5 times out of 9 attempts.

Weird Oz record as I thought that was similar surface to the US ? 

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  • davemclaren changed the title to Grand Slam Tennis ( updated )
2 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

2 finals, one win. 2017 US Open winner; 2018 French losing finalist. Pretty poor record in Oz, plopping out in the first round 5 times out of 9 attempts.

The title of the thread has now been changed to reflect a more general discussion of the slams. 

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I P Knightley
2 hours ago, JamesM48 said:

Weird Oz record as I thought that was similar surface to the US ? 

Flushing Meadows is a faster surface. You wouldn't get the 5 and 6 hour humdingers that you see at Melbourne Park.

 

10 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

The title of the thread has now been changed to reflect a more general discussion of the slams. 

What happens when we get to the Masters 1000s or Queen's Club? :devil:

 

 

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Just now, I P Knightley said:

Flushing Meadows is a faster surface. You wouldn't get the 5 and 6 hour humdingers that you see at Melbourne Park.

 

What happens when we get to the Masters 1000s or Queen's Club? :devil:

 

 

im sure we can still comment on them. I can never watch them anyway as they are never on council telly. Ill struggle to find any links to Oz but i think highlights will probably be on BBC

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I P Knightley
1 minute ago, JamesM48 said:

im sure we can still comment on them. I can never watch them anyway as they are never on council telly. Ill struggle to find any links to Oz but i think highlights will probably be on BBC

Prime video is the devil on my shoulder. Choice of matches live and then all the other matches available for catch up.

I don't think that they've got Oz, though.

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1 minute ago, I P Knightley said:

Prime video is the devil on my shoulder. Choice of matches live and then all the other matches available for catch up.

I don't think that they've got Oz, though.

Yes i used that for the US open then cancelled it. :) 

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47 minutes ago, JamesM48 said:

im sure we can still comment on them. I can never watch them anyway as they are never on council telly. Ill struggle to find any links to Oz but i think highlights will probably be on BBC

 

Think it's live on Eurosport this year

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