TENNIS thread- The Asian swing limps to a humid close- let's chuck away the ice towels and head to Europe.

[Raahh]

Via a couple of Exhibitions in Saudi Arabia.

Thread was coming to an end (if I can work out how to link it!).

Very moving camera message.

Aww, look at them sitting together.

There should definitely be a cow as a prize. Roger sort it out

It was.

And seeing them sitting there , with Arthur holding back tears, I'm getting Roger/Rafa flashbacks.

Yes!! They are missing a trick here.

Every time I think of Roger and Rafa in Shanghai I picture them giggling together when the interviewer asked them to repeat something in Chinese

How many people? Get on with it!

Arthur has been sitting down so ling now, I'm surprised he hasn't cramped up.

Looks like he's getting a disc for the biggest selling Album of the year.

I love the posy

Yes the flowers are a nice touch.

😭 stop it

Oh
That's it, I've gone.

I'd be wiping my snotty nose on a flag by now.

There will be puddles.

Arthur doesn't want to stay like that- he might not be able to get back up.

Oh! He's collapsed!

Uhoh major cramp

Well, this took a dramatic turn.

Hope Arthur is ok!

Maybe it's time to wrap up the speeches now.

I love this family. What beautiful young men.

My red button went off,

And now Shanghai has disappeared.

Ahh well. Well done Valentin. Definitely one of the most emotional finals- hope Arthur is ok. And they all manage to stop crying long enough to enjoy a bit of a celebration.

They are a lovely family - and all seem very close. I hope we see a lot more of Valentin now, and Arthur can build on this week's success. Move's him into a seeding position for slams if he can slay inside the top 30. Very successful week all around.

Over in Wuhan, Jess is a head in the second set, and could push it to a 3rd set.

As often happens with Coco, doubles faults are creeping in. 3 in this game.

Well done Coco

Got back about 10 minutes after the Shanghai final finished. Is this the record for the longest time for a presentation ceremony Even without the translations, the two of them had a lot to say
Yes, I did wonder about the wisdom of Arthur crouching for so long! I bet the ATP physio thought his job was done for the week

kazza- it defintely went on for ages. . I don't begrudge either of them- and no-one seemed to want to step in.
But when I saw Arthur crouching, I could already see it was a bad idea! The physio probably was putting his feet up.

The week was poorly organised for some reasons- the way they dealt with the humidity and injury issues, and the fact the top players shouldn't be in that position at this stage. But it's such a great story, and it was a really well played final- I think everyone watching enjoyed it. I doubt the organisers will have ended up disappointed that they didn't get a Sinner or Djok final- the story they got more than made up for the lack of 'big' name.

I think the 6 Kings Slam thing starts this week sometime. Wednesday? Will all the affected players be fit for that ? It's a lot of money - and Djok knows where the magic painkillers are stashed...