Tennis: Welcome to Miami

[JaneJeffer]

Noticed the last thread is almost full

Poor Delpo is putting such work into his recovery. Stan seems to have recovered well.

Vitamins? Honestly, Rafa, your idea of an exciting announcement sucks mate .

Poor Delpo- I saw a video of him training. I do hope he can come back and at least play a bit again. I'd love to see him back.

Vitamins! I definitely need more excitement than that Rafa! I thought it looked a bit like a plastic surgery clinic - the translation doesn’t really make it clear

Poor Delpo - I would really love to see him play again

I see the French Open has been postponed for a week.

Postponed a week isn't so bad- kazza- but poses a problem if quarantining between countries is expected- since there will be the old 2 week (?)gap between RG and Wimbledon.

It seems to be more to allow fans to attend, rather than to benefit the players though. I appreciate they need the revenue, though.

Having said that- do you have to isolate if travelling here from France?
The rules change so often I can't keep up.

Yes, Raahh And 7 days hotel quarrantine if you go to France.

The way things are going in France atm I wouldn't be surprised if the Open is put back even further........................

Yes magi I'm not sure a week is going to make a lot of difference, restrictions and spectator wise, for the foreseeable future.
And by postponing for a week, it affects the British grass court season, which was obviously non-existent last year.
It looks like the French are unilaterally doing what they want to do, again Although I could be wrong

Hmm will be interesting to see what happens with the French Open

There’s a video on Instagram of Rafa wearing high vis and a hardhat inspecting the extension to his Academy - I think he’s trying to outdo Tim Henman

fizzy
Is he building an underground car park aswell?

magi thanks- I knew you would know the answer!

Underground car park .

The thing with RG, they have proved it can be played later in the year- but they might not want to that again. The weather was dire.
Postponing grass is not an option- and the Olympics start not long after the end of Wimbledon don't they? (I'm still a bit unsure about the wisdom of the Olympics going ahead- one sport, limited athletes, is one thing- multiple sports , thousands of athletes- it still seems too soon).

The quarantine issue might sway some player's decisions, though. I keep reading about Federer in connection to RG- that he sees this as his last chance to beat Rafa there. I'm not sure he really is thinking this, to be honest, I think it's the media trying to drum up a bit of drama. But anyway- I can see why he might want to do it- but with limited time left (realistically) to play, in his shoes, I would be prioritising grass. If he's going to win anywhere, it's Wimbledon.

I am utterly bored of Covid now. .

in his shoes, I would be prioritising grass would those be the gold monogrammed ones?

Jane definitely . I wonder if he will ever bring back the cardigan ?

I can't believe how long ago the cardigan was now, to be honest.

And here we are nearly 13 years later, talking about the same players. .

.

Amazing when you think about it!

Yes Roger should definitely wear the monogrammed cardi and long trousers for his finale . I think he will definitely be prioritising Wimbledon and the Olympics (if they go ahead) - Surely even Roger doesn’t believe that he’d beat Rafa at Roland Garros?

Everything is still up in the air isn’t it? I thought things would be more straightforward this year

Fizzy I would be very surprised if Roger really thinks he can beat Rafa at RG. I'm sure all players go into a match believing they will win it- not muh point playing otherwise- but Rafa at RG (especially if you've lost to him half a dozen times there , and have barely played in 18 months) that's a different prospect for any player.

It's impossible to plan anything. There's a concert in Belfast in August that DS1 wants to go to but he's afraid to book for it because we don't know what restrictions will still be in place. There seems to be trouble kicking off in the north as well which is terrible

Jane I saw that on the news.

It's rubbish not being able to plan things- not that I have anything to plan - but I really feel for people who keep having to postpone things.

The signs that things are slowly getting back to normal (what passes for 'normal' in our house) is I have a calendar full of hospital/dentist/orthodontist appointments over the coming weeks. The dds schools are going to get sniffy about how much time off they will have. It's not my fault everything has been on hold for over a year! .

DS2 is hoping that school will be cancelled before Monday

It seemed daft that mine only went back for 3 weeks, and then were off again- but at least they went in. Next half term is a long-ish one, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. DD1 brought home testing kits for herself.

He'll only be in until 28th May and then off again until the end of August!

It's crackers, really, isn't it!

I've just seen that Felix AA has brought uncle Toni onto his coaching team. That will be interesting if he plays Rafa .

Wow! I like Felix.

I do too- it's probably a shrewd move.
All the training Jannick Sinner did with Rafa, certainly paid off recently.

I always wonder, when big players team up with younger ones to train like that, if they hold soemthing back- in case they meet in competition? Don't want them knowing all your secrets .
And will Uncle Toni give Felix tips on how to beat Rafa?