TENNIS: Onward to the US Open. Take your seats quickly please.

[IceandIndigo]

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Oof- Come on Joe and Neal.

Bloody awful! The toys and the British play atm!

Arghh.

I feel like they are doomed to make it to semis /finals this year- and not win.

I know they haven't actually lost yet, but...

Unfortunately, they've near as dammit lost Raahh. They're* *being beaten at the net and Joe keeps double faulting, so can't see them coming back from a set and a break down

Well done Joe and Neal!
(Oh me of little faith )

I have annoyingly woken up at 4am - but it does mean I get to watch the rest of Amanda and Naomi’s match! Close so far. I do like Naomi but would like Amanda to win.

Well done Amanda!

The second set was really close until the tie break when Amanda ran away with the lead and Naomi never really got back into the match after that. She did have her trainer out at one point so not sure if she was affected by an injury.

It would be great if she could win this now.

I woke up early and must have mis-read the scores, because I thought Joe and Neal had lost, so when I realised they had won it was a nice surprise.

I'd love them to win the tournament- especially for Joe, it must feel like he can't get over the final hurdle without Rajeev. And he would have 4 US titles- surely he would get some recognition then!

I'm glad Amanda won, hard loss for Naomi I imagine.

I don't see the final going the same was as Wimbledon, scoreline wise at least, unless Amanda gets nervous in big finals. She will have the crowd, and Aryna can get tetchy in that kind of atmosphere.

But I am not sure who will win at the moment- Aryna wants a slam this year desperately.

It sounds like both women’s semifinals were really good matches, which is good for the sport. I’m not sure who will win, particularly as I haven’t seen any of Aryna’s matches, but I hope Amanda does.

Carlos better bring his A game this evening.

Just flagging that as well as having Brits in the men’s doubles final, we also have Brits in both the girls’ semi finals so there is the possibility of an all British girls final which would be lovely!

Amanda winning would be prove the doubters wrong. (who may have thought herWimbledon final undeserved) . Even getting to this final ought to do that.
It would be great for the sport too, since what the US wants (in terms of entertainment/broadcasting) drives everything it seems. It could be the boost that the mixed doubles wasn't.

I really hope Carlos can beat Djok tonight. The crowd will be a big factor- Carlos is now very popular, and even with Djok's usual rent-a-mob, I think there might be a bigger support for Carlos. I could be wrong.

Place your bets now on 'ailment of the day'

I've seen the advertising pictures for this years 6 Kings Slam. After last year's wierd Game of Thrones style whatever it was, they have gone for a kind of European monarchs kind of styling. I did find individual pictures of them -and then promptly forgot where .
They have given poor Jannik an unfortunate Hapsburg jaw..

Was it on Netflix last year ? I'm not sure it was.

Sasha and Jannik’s pictures look nothing like them!

I know- I struggled to make out that it was Sascha!

Oh dear God! Definitely a Hapsburg jaw

Why is Djok there at all front and centre?

Will Jack be fit in time? (The money might help him recover )

I did notice that Djok had the biggest crown and was at the front.

Not sure whether Jack will be there- but yes, the vast amount of money on offer is a big incentive.

Jannik looks fresh from getting his wisdom teeth removed.

It does disappoint me that so many of the top players are willing to play in Saudi. The only one who I’ve heard voicing doubts about it is Casper. I doubt he’ll be getting an invitation any time soon. I wonder who will step in if Jack withdraws?

I'm glad Casper is sticking to his guns about it. He speaks out about a few things.
I was disappointed Rafa was involved, and signed up as an ambassador.

Well done to Aryna and Amanda for getting to the final - I quite like Naomi’s labubu dolls (I only know about them because I’ve got an 11 year old niece) - I’m sure that Naomi’s are worth quite a lot (I’ve seen some knock off ones here on holiday)

So they’re doing the Saudi Kings thing again this year? The bit I saw of last years was all a bit distasteful and no atmosphere - I see that Daniil hasn’t been invited back - it’s difficult to accept players saying they’re burnt out and then signing up for this type of thing $$$

I also saw that Aryna and Kyrgios are supposed to be doing a battle of the sexes type thing which is depressing - don’t do it Aryna!

Wish they would just stick to proper tennis!

No, the 'complaining about the schedule' and then 'adding to their schedule' thing doesn't really help their cause , does it?

Kyrgios will do anything to keep himself in the limelight. Aryna is a fool to go along with it.

I wish they would just stick to proper, old school tennis.

And no singing.

The women's doubles final is later. I am going to try and time it so I avoid the National anthem, every note warbled 3 times over.

( and I got Dd1 a labubu balloon for her birthday- from dd1- as a joke, because she finds them creepy)

It's still floating around the living room.

She was 19 .

Those balloons can hang around for a while Raahh - I bought my DSis a poo emoji one about 8 years ago (really) and it’s still going strong! We have a very mature relationship

I am really disappointed Aryna is planning to play Kyrgios. I'm not against a fun exhibition match between a male and female player - I remember Andy once offered to play Serena - but Nick only wants to do this because he's a raging misogynist wanting to prove a point. And earn some dosh, probably.

I saw that Ben and Tommy have withdrawn from the Laver cup, to be replaced by Alex Michelsen and Lumberjerk

[Grin] they do last for ages.

( I got dd2 a poo emoji one after her stoma surgery. She forgave me eventually)

Ice Laver Cup is in danger of becoming increasingly pointless.

They seem to find it hard to fill the world slots, and I'm not convinced the Europe team put too much effort in. It's another thing to fill up the schedule.