TENNIS thread-Au-revoir Paris- it's all about the Race for Turin. Who will be the last man and woman standing in 2025?

[Raahh]

So much going on at once!

It’s lovely for Lorenzo S, he gets overshadowed by all his fine looking compatriots

I do like t'other Lorenzo. He his is more than capable of producing decent results.

Neal and Joe are having a number of lengthy chats with Aurelie about bathroom breaks.

Their bathroom breaks or their opponents Raahh?

Either way, very happy to see they progressed as the only doubles pairing in the tournament with a 100% win record.
I really don't want them to split up!!!

I’ve just said the exact same thing Tim has said

Sascha having a meltdown - checking his blood sugar

I’m flicking over between the darts and the tennis

Jonathan’s commentary gets on my nerves

I want to tape his mouth closed

Well done Felix

I've just got in , in time to see Felix win. Well done to him. I'm glad to see one of the later entrants made it to the semi finals.

kazza it was their bathroom breaks they were concerned about- not sure why. I was so glad to see they won.

Jane Jonathan's commentary is very annoying at the best of times. And he's unbearably fickle.

Tim is basically saying what about Sascha what I've been thinking. I think his chances to be the '3rd man' might have gone. Unless he changes something in his game. He might be third in the world- but he's 3rd, by a big margin.

I’ve never agreed more with Tim than I did tonight. I was shouting at Sascha to play his own game and stop looking at his box. I think like Stef his family is holding him back which puts them in such a difficult position.

It really does seem to be the case, he needs to cut strings- even though it's hard. They are really doing him no favours at all.

It's very different to Rafa, and Uncle Toni, for example. He was a great coach for Rafa- until he wasn't, and it was really time for Rafa to branch out. But they were ok for years. Sometimes- family works. But temperament plays a part- and let's be honest, Sascha, Stef and Rafa have very different temperaments.

It must be disheartening for Sascha, he has been soclose (US Open 2020 was most likely the one that really got away- sorry, Domi). And it's not going to get easier.

And Stef's personal life has absolutely been a factor in the ups and downs of his game.

I didn't see last night's match, so don't know what was happening with Sascha, but whenever I've seen him in the last year or two in the bigger matches, his problem seems to be between the ears. He doesn't seem to be mentally strong enough to close out matches or to figure out a plan b or c, when plan a isn't working. He just looks helplessly at his box for answers, like a little boy asking his daddy for help!
Another big match that might have gone his way, of course, was the French Open vs Rafa, when he had that horrific injury.

That injury was awful. I felt so sorry for him.

kazza even as the Rafa fan girl that I am, I think that match was decided by the injury. It was horrible.

I had the Felix/Sascha match on in the background while I was doing other things. Every time I gave it my attention the point would be decided by an unforced error. I'm pleased for Felix to have made the SF, but I'm not sure it was a high quality match.

I don't think Sascha has been the same player since the injury. But I also agree with Kazza that he has mental issues. It's probably a bit circular - he has mental scars from losing so many big matches and then at some point the mental scars become the reason he loses the next one. I think he and Taylor Fritz both showed this week that they can push Jannik and Carlos, but in the end the difference was they both played it safe on critical points where Jannik and Carlos were brave.

Ugh Jonathan again

'Crush and rush'

Tim is very fond of that.

This photo came up on Instagram 😂

Come on Jannik!

I've got to go out.

I think he and Taylor Fritz both showed this week that they can push Jannik and Carlos, but in the end the difference was they both played it safe on critical points

I read an interview with Federer where he said the only reason Zverev hadn't won a Slam was that he was too passive in the big points - didn't fully commit.

That is funny.

Alex’s legs will fall off

Nice shot

“They know good tennis when they see it” yeah that’s why they’re there Jonathan