TENNIS: all to clay for

[JaneJeffer]

sorry

Missed all today’s finals but saw a picture of Elena looking very pleased with the Porsche to add to her collection!

Thanks for the new thread Jane

I haven’t seen any tennis this weekend as we’ve been away at the seaside celebrating His Lordship’s big birthday!

Well done to all the winners - really pleased for Arthur after his injury (I also like his hair) I haven’t seen NuRafa yet but he sounds interesting - there’s an OldRafa doc coming out on Netflix soon

Is it Madrid this week?

I think that Madrid is one of those annoying 2 week tournaments that takes ages to get going and then there always seems to be a rush on at the end - I much prefer the one week tournaments where there are good matches every day - they start on a Monday and have the final on a Sunday!

Looks as if Jack Draper's withdrawn from Madrid

Yeah I really dislike the extended Masters. The first couple of days are just qualifying, and then all the seeds have first round byes. Yet they still end up with a situation where some players have to play back to back days at the business end of the tournament and some don't.

Sonay Kartal is also out for the rest of the clay season. At this rate there'll be nobody but Cam Norrie to carry British hopes and dreams

These extended Masters really annoy me (and the players don't like them much either).
The only player who is probably a bit grateful for the extra week (doesn't play til the end of the week) is Casper. That is, if he is actually fit enough to play, and not yet another one to withdraw. He has a bit of a tricky draw, coming back from injusy and really needing the points.

I'm just waiting for the first mention of 'altitude'.

Ons Jabeur has had baby boy . Which is really lovely.

Congratulations to her

That’s lovely news

Nice news to wake up to.

Lovely news.

I am so pleased for Ons- I think starting a family was the thing that was holding her back for a long time. Yes, she wanted to win big titles,and came so close, but it was coming at the expense of other things.

Players like Elena Svitolina and Belinda Bencic have shown that it's possible to come back after having a baby, and get back to a hgh level- if that's what she wants. She might not - her priorities may change.

I think today is the day the men's bit of Madrid starts properly (the women's draw already has) - but who knows
I know both Berrettini and RBA are in action. Also, NuRafa, and Marin Cilic.

Congratulations to Ons!

Very pleased for Ons

Marin seemed to be in trouble earlier, but won the second set, and is a break up in the 3rd now against Bergs.

Well done Marin.

I do like Marin- but the ball bouncing is getting worse I think

I saw Ons post this morning, lovely news.

Well done Marin but that's not good news if his ball bouncing has got even worse!

I see Venus lost again in her 1st round singles match yesterday, to a Spanish wildcard. Why....??!! She's also playing doubles.....with Katie Boulter! Heaven knows how that came about

kazza I honestly don't get why Venus is still continuing- I know players pay a lot of tax on their winnings, but she must have made some money! At this point it's getting a bit embarrassing- and she's taking up a spot that should be for someone else. How did she even get in to the tournament? She's lost 10 matches in a row- surely they didn't give her a WC? (Madrid are usually pretty strict about giving them to home players).

She's turned down a WC for Rome, however. As she should, imo.

(Her reason for not going to Rome, is she will be at the Met Gala- to be honest, I can't see why she would get a WC in Rome anyway).

Going with serve for Matteo .

Well, that says it all about where her priorities lie! A young, up and coming player, struggling to make a living, would snap an Italian Open wc up!!
I know Venus has done a lot for tennis and achieved much but it's gone beyond farcical now.

Why doesn’t Venus do some coaching if she needs money?

Matteo looks very negative here

It's not going well for Matteo, is it? It started off steadily enough. Though Prizmic is going off the boil a bit on serve now.

As for Venus- I just don't get it.

Oh dear.

Forza! Matteo.

Though I think it's a lost cause.

Shame. Well done Dino

Struff is going good. Last time I checked he was 0-3 down in the first set

Well done Dino- hard luck Matteo.