TENNIS THREAD- We've mowed the grass, and now it's onwards to the hard courts!

[Raahh]

Quite neat timing for a new thread really.

We can only hope Jane.

I'm not watching him anyway.

Hopefully it will a long term injury thst keeps him out for a while.

There's bound to be some excuse.

I’m not watching him, but he often seems to suddenly develop an ‘injury’ when he happens to be losing.

Really impressed with Shelton.

Oh I see he beat Casper Ice. I really enjoyed watching him last night. He was enjoying it so much it was contagious.

Well done Emma!

Come on Taylor!

I still haven’t seen Shelton but looks as if he won quite easily against Casper

Taylor is back on form.

Yay!

Well done Taylor!

Taylor is not easy to rile Greg

Hmm not sure about Stef’s top - it’s very jazzy!

Thats good news about Domi getting a wildcard into the us open - hope he manages to have a good run

Well done Taylor!

I had a rubbish night and wasn't very well- saw the scores on the Rafa match when he had lost the first tight set but looked to be winning the second, but I missed the end.
Good win for Doris afte all his injury set backs, but for Rafa.

I woke up a few times in the night to check the scores - the match seemed to be going on for ages but I think there was a rain break

Poor Rafa - are there any other tournaments he could play before the us open?

I think he was serving a lot of double faults so don’t know if his tear is still bothering him or if he’s just out of practice

I woke up and checked scores during the night and all matches were suspended. The Badosa/Tomjlanovic match was still going when I woke up at 6!

Fizzy it's possible the tear could be affecting his serve.

I think Winston Salem is next week. I doubt he'd play there- I remember an article once saying that the appearance fees for Rafa/Roger or Djok were too high for a tournament like their's. PCB will be the highest seed (and was probably ranked a bit lower when he was first entered).
It's a shame about Rafa- not the first time he's entered a slam with little preparation- but it's sad when you look at how the year started , and the great run he had. Then things kept going wrong.

Hope you are feeling better Raahh

Seems to be a fair few withdrawals across the men and women, both before and during matches. A bit worrying for some of them so close to the US Open.

Thanks for the good wishes. DS achieved 2 A* and an A and is accepting his offer from Exeter University. Very proud parents here at Kazza Towers!

That is brilliant news kazza Very well done to your Ds! You must be so proud.
Exeter is lovely, though it's a very long time since I went.

I'm still feeling very wobbly. and have no idea what is making me feel so rough. It's an effort to stay awake

Well done kazza’s DS!

Well done to your DS kazza - you must be very proud

Hope you feel better soon Raahh

Feel a bit flat now that Rafa is out (and I didn’t even get to see him!) Hope he lasts a bit longer in the US Open!

Winston Salem always reminds me of the witch trials - I’ve got no idea where it is so don’t really blame Rafa for not playing there!

Congrats to your DS kazza and good luck for his future.

I saw a little bit of Rafa but my concentration wasn't up to it and then the rain delay put a halt to it. I enjoyed Mo flapping around and being very dramatic about the rain

Raahh hope your malaise goes away. I hate that feeling of not being right but can't really say what it is!

Fizzy I always think of the witch trials when they say Salem even though it's a different one

I always feel a bit flat when Rafa loses early- I didn't even expect him to play though, to be honest, I was waiting for a last minute drop out . it would be nice if he could end the year as number 1again- and a good run in Cincy would have given him that chance. I think it will be a big ask next year to replicate the start to the year that he had this year.

Taylor is playing Rublev, lost the first set won the second.

Kvitova just got a great result against Ons Jabeur, always have a soft spot for Petra.

I read that the Aussies might allow Djok in next year and he's only delighted. He'll be determined to win it.

Will they letting other people back in who have been deported then? I am so tired of the Djok stuff, it has really ruined the past year. No-one would be be bending over backwards this much for alow ranked, relative unknown player, slogging through qualifiers week in, week out. If they decided to not have the vaccine, it would be career over.

What we need now- in a warped twist of fate- is for Aus to let him play. But ban Russians. The ATP would be force to withold points. So Djok might win- but he'd get no points. And would be no better off in the rankings- and that matters to Djok.

I’m no fan of Djok and think he’s an idiot for his stance on vaccination, but it does seem a tad unjust to ban him from Australia for 3 years or whatever the standard rule for deportees is. He was clearly misled by the Australian tennis federation into thinking he had a valid exemption and the decision to deport him was highly politicised. If Australia have now changed their rules to allow unvaccinated folk in I do feel he should be allowed to play.

Women’s draw looking wide open now with all of the top seeds gone!