TENNIS THREAD- we're moving on to the Hard Courts and the North American Swing. With a quick clay pit stop to win a cow or two. .

[Raahh]

I think this thread may take longer to fill than the last one.

.

I was just watching Harris and Norris, looked at my phone to check the other scores and now it’s Lumberjerk Opelka … and now it’s an interview with Venus Williams who has got a WC - Sky really does like to confuse us

As much as I like Venus- enough is enough.

There are many players who deserve a wild card now more than she needs one.

Oops

Oh dear, Dick lost the doubles. Time to get a new partner Gael.

I completely agree re Venus. Much as I admire her for staying so fit in her 40s, I would rather see WCs go to young players or those with a realistic chance of rebuilding their ranking.

I’ll never get the American habit of using surnames as first names. Imagine calling your baby Murphy. Or Reilly. Or Jenson.

The thing with Irish surnames is that they would originally have been first names and then you got O or Mc added to mean son of but then they got anglicised and often dropped the prefix and now the yanks have gone back to using them as first names

Oh that’s interesting Jane, I didn’t know that.

Caroline Garcia got married. The photos are lovely. They look so happy. But be warned if you’re taking a look Raahh they are set to a soundtrack of Sweet Caroline 😂

I suppose I can forgive her .

Anywhere else though...

Well done Yannick. He seemed to get some support even though he was playing an Austrian. Guess the bar isn’t open yet.

She looked stunning in the photos- and very happy. Many congratulations to her.

Ofner and Struff are due to play in Austria soon. I'm bracing myself for whatever the Dj comes up with today.

Are the crowds going to support all the Austrians the way they supported Joel yesterday? Struffy will have his work cut out if they do.

That was what I was wondering .

Neumayer was also slightly ungracious in defeat. They do realise that the WC only guarantees them a match, not a win ?

The heavens have opened here- I had thought about going out. I have now decided not to. After getting caught in one of yesterday's storms I've just dried out.
Typical, isn't it? 7 weeks of last term, it was so hot, DD2 was melting in school.

Now she needs flippers and a snorkel.

I’d like the heat wave back please. We’re on day two of constant drizzle but other parts of the country have awful flooding so I probably shouldn’t complain too much.

There’s more Austrian players than I realised!

There does suddenly seem to be a lot of them.

Seb looks a bit menacing with that beard. Has he always had that beard? I think he might have had some facial hair , but not as much.

Clearly this is very important

Hot and wet is a horrible weather combination. Makes it very tricky to work out what to wear.

I am now being forced to take dd2 shopping.

Come on Struffy.

Why is Sky punishing me by making me watch Heather Dart? (Although we have just had a whistle stop tour around the other tournaments without any explanation )

Even before the Lois Boisson deodorant gate I’ve just never warmed to Harriet - doesn’t look as if she’ll be around for much longer in this tournament anyway

Harriet reminds me of Max Branning off Eastenders

you need to press the RB Fizzy!

Yes, Caroline looks stunning and very happy!

Max Branning

Fizzy I never warmed to Harriet - feels like karma now that she's rapidly dropping down the rankings and Lois is now well into the top 50, higher than Harriet has been , and just won a tournament.

'Is this the way to Amarillo' in Austria.

And banjos!

We're getting a bit of Strauss now in Austria.