TENNIS- Who will win the Sunshine Double? Look out for the Bees! It's IW and Miami

[Raahh]

Come on Matteo!

That's an understatement Raahh
7 British men in 5 doubles pairings, 3 of which were seeded, and they all lose! Some to opponents I haven't heard of. Fair enough that Draper and Machac lost, they were against the top seeds, but the others
Let's hope Jack does better in his singles vs Fritz today. I'm afraid I don't hold out much hope for Sonay continuing her great run vs Sabalenka though.

It would be a great win for Sonay if she could beat Aryna- but I agree, it's a massive ask. She has a good attitude though, sees each big match as something to learn from.

Unusually, for recent tournaments, the latter end of this one is very light on Italian players. I think maybe only Paolini has survived?- and she's not playing as well as she was towards the end of last year. She should beat Samsonova, but I have a feeling she might struggle.

I think Jack has a good chance against Taylor, who has been injured and looked pretty ordinary in the bit of his last match I saw. Sonay beating Aryna would be the upset of the year.

Pleased to see Daniil made short work of TP. His kit was always weird but looks even worse with the base layer.

Agree that sadly Sonay probably doesn’t have much chance if Aryna plays at her usual level - but if she’s having an off day there’s always a chance of an upset. It is a shame about all the doubles - at least Jack can focus on the singles now.

True, Jack can focus on his singles. I'm not a fan of top singles players playing doubles -and ditching doubles when they have a deep run. Machac is a decent doubles player usually, it would be unfair to him if they had got further, and Jack had dumped him because he was closing in on the singles final (maybe).

It's a difficult one. I'm fuming about the way doubles players seem to be cast more and more like second class citizens, almost to the point of extinction if some people had their way, given the bollocks ideas being put forward recently for "progressing" the doubles game
And yes, it's not right that singles players withdraw from doubles, at any stage of a tournament, at the drop of a hat because they (quite understandable at times) want/need to concentrate on singles. Especially if they took a place in the draw from a doubles specialist.

But Jack has said that he wanted to play doubles to (hopefully) improve his net game, which is a perfectly valid reason.

Yes, Jack's reasons for playing were sound, and some players do it for the right reasons- and do well. Others (like when Djok's name appears on the doubles schedule)- not so convinced.

It's not fair to doubles specialists to be pushed out by singles players who are being encouraged to take part in doubles just because. The game is very different to the 80s- it's almost impossible to perform well in all 3 events in slams (as Mac or Martina were able to do).

Agree Raahh
It* *is easier on the women's side, Coco for example, but not the men's. As Stefan said in the ATP video, he was one of the few who was No1 in both singles and doubles but couldn't continue with both, given the way the men's singles game was going, and he doesn't think it will happen again, being No1 in both.

Yes, Coco is a notable exception- and Kreijikova ( though really she is much more successful as a doubles player than singles).
Paolini has done OK the past year- but apart from maybe Jordan Thompson and Tomas Machac ( at the olympics mainly)- over the last 12 months top male players who have been successful in both are thin on the ground.

Just checking scores and surprised to see Coco’s been beaten. I know you can never write Belinda off but would have thought Coco would have got through, especially having the ‘home’ crowd on her side.

Unfortunately both Jack and Sonay’s matches will be on too late for me to watch but hope they both play well.

I was surprised by that too- Belinda has had some good results, but yes, with a home crowd, I expected Coco to come through.

I’m not too surprised that Belinda beat Coco, she’s been on an amazing tear since she came back from maternity leave. And Coco has had a pretty average start to her season.

Having seen a couple of Coco's matches I'm not surprised at all. I was more surprised that Maria didn't beat her because she's playing so badly at the moment.

I’m frustrated by the order of play today, I’m far more interested in watching Jack vs Taylor and Carlos vs Dimi than whatever this mess is between Fran and ADM. Fran has finally taken the first set after about 99 breaks of serve.

Wish Tennis TV had the women’s matches.

I'm stuck watching football. Rafa won't be happy is all I'm saying!

OK now he's happy

Well done Jack!

Well done to Jack, good win over Fritz. Bad couple of days for the tennis girlfriends. .

I'm glad Madison Keys is backing up her AO result with a good run . Not so good for Poalini, who was resoundly beaten but I did expect it, really. Good night for Mirra Andreeva - second tournament win on the trot over Rybakina.

Carlos and the windy

Got to be better than bees though, eh?

Bees and the windy would be a bad combination

Why has the Mumsnet layout changed? I think it’s just to confuse me!

It seems the same on my laptop - although now I can't block the ads it's annoying.

Haven't looked on my phone yet though.

Bees and the Windy would not be a good combo- a scary Swarmy.

I think they’ve released a new app so if you use the app that might be it Fizzy? Looks the same to me but I don’t use app.

Looks the same on my phone, apart from the bloody ads which can't be blocked

I'm trying to avoid the new app until I have no choice in the matter. I don't like the look of the screenshots on site stuff.