TENNIS - high on a mountain in Torino the season comes to a close

[JaneJeffer]

It did- Strictly is not the same for me (and I never dare venture onto the Strictly threads )- I did one year - many, many years ago, but never since.Andrew Castle was on it- so that is definitely going back a while

Hope they let you back on the doctors thread soon Raahh - I used to quite enjoy it years ago but then it went a bit strange!

I can’t be bothered with Strictly this year - I’d forgotten that Andrew Castle was on (hope this doesn’t wake magi up - I don’t want to see any more of THOSE pictures! )

Well Rafa looks as if he’s having a whale of a time with Casper in South America but I think it’s probably time for him to go home now to spend some time with his wife and baby Rafa!

Fizzy it's still strange. .

I wonder when Rafa signed up for the tour thing- if it was before he found out about baby Rafa,and couldn't let them down ? I'm sure he will want to get home quick- because if he is doing the team thing in Australia, that starts at the beginning of January- so only a few weeks break.

There’s a video on Instagram of Rafa and Casper playing keepy-uppy over a very fetching wooden coffee table. It’s very impressive!

Well you've flipping gone and done it now Fizzy 🙈

Sorry Jane

I saw that video Chessie - I was thinking Rafa was probably the only person who could get away with playing keepy-uppy in what looked like a nice pad! (Hope they didn’t do any damage!)

Anyway can’t quite believe that Christmas is 4 weeks on Sunday

Chessie** I went flying over to Instagram and look what I found

I've just thought of poor Boris spending Christmas in prison

Yes that is sad actually - I’m still imaging him having a sort of Paddington experience but I’m sure that’s not the reality

That's my handsome boy

Ooh, lovely Maxime. .

I try not to think about ( our) Boris. It makes me a bit sad..

Also saw a pic of Simon Cowell on insta. Bloody hell what has he done to his face 😱

Just googled Simon Cowell - omg! He’s unrecognisable.

I was going to say when we were reminiscing about x factor yesterday that Simon isn't very Simon like anymore. Ever since he lost weight/ danaged his back ( was that him?,) he has gone down a scary botox /filler route and he really is starting to look very strange indeed.

You will all be no doubt very glad to hear that a new Doctors thread has solved my posting issues. So phew!

In tennis news , I saw that Rafa has said he will not be defending his title in Acapulco, and he would be unlikely to return to Mexico after the exhibition match there (2024 is a long way off, he said). Which is a shame a couple of levels- he usually does quite well there, and it means by March, he could find himself falling down the top 10- having coming so close to the number 1 again, -(he is defending nearly 3500 points from the start of the year to his final at IW). He probably did too much at the start of last year though, and the injury in IW almost
stopped all his clay season, plus his foot, so maybe he wants a last hurrah/attempt at Miami after Australia.

Annoyingly, I get the feeling it's all going to be business as usual for Djok. I just hope there is someone who can stop that.

Xisca must have had enough of his gallivanting.

It occurred to me I could have asked the doctors thread people to make a new thread for you Raahh!

Jane I managed to post from my phone and someone started a new one.

Yes, I imagine Xisca has decided it's time he started to reduce his schedule a bit- and it makes sense- if he keeps fit, he can focus on the bit of the year he does best,(and play all the clay tournaments) and then when it all goes south again after that, it won't matter so much!

I really hope he gets another RG. It's probably boring to non Rafa fans - but one more at RG for Rafa (at least) would be a real kick in the teeth to Djok.

Get a room. Jeez

I've just read that it looks like Boris could be deported back to Germany in time for Christmas, on the early release scheme. Will be nice for him to be back with family- but I suppose the UK has been 'home' for a long time. Apparently he won't be able to return her until the date he should have been released as per his original sentence.

And Nick Bollettieri has died, who helped develop many players over the years- and was Becker's coach , briefly.

( I am not saying the 2 things are linked - Boris has been in enough trouble. Nick was 91 )

I saw that about Nick Bolletieri Raahh - he’s been unwell for a while I think (in fact his death was reported a few weeks ago but he hadn’t actually died then - eek)

At least Boris will be out of prison for Christmas

Raahh**

That's good news for Boris. I wonder if someone has to make sure he gets on the plane?