TENNIS- The tour of Europe continues- next stop- Paris, as we head for the Finals in Turin

[Raahh]

Just noticed thread was running out. So - thought I might be organised for once.

And well done to Joe Salisbury And Rajeev Ram (who have had a rubbish year)but have just won in Vienna.

Grrr

Hard luck Holger.

Knobhead

Boo! At least everyone still seems to hate Djok apart some weirdos in the crowd!

I liked how Holger went for the Haribo instead of the bananas

The Djok match got me more and more annoyed. And it was certainly proof that no, not everyone loves him, or falls for his antics. For someone who apparently (according to some reports ) spent 3 days on the loo- he recovered very well. Most people would be pretty drained. Not sure how he fit all this bathroom activity in between matches.

I was happy to see Andrey won- and I hope he has his positive head on today. He's been in a good place recently, for the most part- and if he can play how he played in Vienna, he has a good shot. Hopefully the crowd will be on side.

Grigor and Stef should be good- Stef probably has the edge, but Grigor has been playing really well, seems pretty laid back about it all, and hasn't got much to lose. I suppose looking ahead (and assuming Andrey loses) the question is- who is more capable of beating Djok . Indoors. They have a similar (losing) hth against him (11/2 Stef, 11/1, Grigor). It's 10 years since Grigor beat him.

Bloody Beelzebub

Good start for Grigor - 5-2 up already in the first set.

Yes it doesn’t seem to be going too well for Stef today

Really hope that Andrey can win against Beelzebub later

Last night some of his ‘fans’ were wearing T-shirts with his face on which looked positively demonic!

I just don’t believe anything that he says or does

It’s very rainy here - I’ve invited some of my family over for (low noise!) fireworks and sparklers later - think it’s going to be a bit soggy!

The rain seems to be coming in fits and starts today-just as I think there's a break, it starts again.

Well done Grigor- first set.

The idea of a t-shirt with Djok's face on it is a bit scary- bit of a late Hallowe'en costume.

It was very Halloweeny Raahh

Yikes Grigor nearly did the splits then!

I can’t see any of the remaining players beating Djok, honestly. Feel like Grigor has the best chance.

I was very impressed by Grigor's splits!

Photo of the tour finalists is out- what happened to Jannik's hair- he looks like an alpaca!

And why is Djok looming large in the centre?
The tour finals is the best 8 players- they all start from 0, in theory. It's a round robin. I know he's the number 1 and will end up the number 1 most likely, but really they should all have equal billing on the poster.

At least Djok looks vaguely human this year Raahh. I guess that’s why Jannik wears a cap on court, he wouldn’t be able to see otherwise. Andrey looks stoned.

WTA finals seems to have turned into a bit of a farce, the court in Cancun is obviously completely unsuitable.

Ice Poor Jannik I sympathise, having curly hait that has a tendency to grow up and out - I look awful in hats, though.

Abdrey does look like they caught him at a bad time.

Even Carlos is only half smiling.

Why do they have to look so serious? It's not the Hunger Games.

And as for the WTA finals- I always think often the women's stuff is an after thought- and so long as someone is raking in the cash, why should they care if the conditions are probably unsafe? It's baffling how often recently, big events have come around and venues have not been ready/fit for purpose. It's not like they haven't known they were coming (I know covid happened- but if something is not going to be ready- admit it).

Yes he does look a bit like an alpaca

Oh dear no-one comes out well in that photo really - it is quite worrying that Djok looks the least scary - I think they need a new photographer!

No the WTA finals haven’t been going well Raahh - apparently there have been lots of unpredictable bounces (probably due to the court being laid the day before the tournament started)

I think the weather has been quite bad as well with lots of (evil) windy!

I agree Raahh - it always seems to be the women who get the rough end of the stick! I think a few have been speaking out about the conditions though which is good - hopefully someone is listening to them!

Stef seems to have woken up in the tiebreak and Grigor has gone off the boil

I'm sure they could have moved the event somewhere else, with a bit of forward thinking. And most venues decent venues have a roof. I get that tickets will have been old etc- but it just seems really shoddy.

For years, the men have played indoors, why are the women playing outdoors anyway ?(even if it is Mexico).

Stef in is control in this tie break then.

The ATP photographer is rubbish. if they are going for mean and moody , they are just getting scruffy and cross.

I've just realised Sascha's hair looks odd too - with that head band he looks like Lady Edith out of Downton Abbey.

it's a terrible poster

🦙

Holger looks like he's thinking WTF is this poster

It looks like Holger was photoshopped in at the last minute… which he probably was.

Grigor will be hoping this tiebreak goes better than the previous one!

Ooh- tie break.

Don't really know who I want to win, though i suppose if it came down to it, Stef has a slightly better chance of beating Djok (not that I've written Andrey off completely yet).

The crowd sound like they are very pro Grigor.