TENNIS THREAD- We bid farewell to SW19 for another year (along with AC the butterfly fancier), and prepare for the hard courts, after a detour on the European clay.

[Raahh]

Who will be the champion? Will Andre and Tim muzzle AC?

Will Eva Asderaki Moore muzzle the spectator in the crowd?

It's all coming to an end<sob>.

I see that Lore was unable to get his revenge- the men's draw is looking wide open now with all the big losses.

In Toronto, the women are doing a bit better, with only 2 top 20 women losing so far.

Some good matches scheduled- won't get to see Casper /Joao- again a late one. That could be tricky for Casper, who obviously lost to Fonseca at RG.

I really want to watch Casper/Joao, their match at RG was great. I haven't seen either of them play at this tournament yet so not sure what to expect.

Hubi has got the trainer out. Seems to be a problem with his forearm but he didn’t get any treatment

Well done Tallon

I meant Botic! Always mix those two up.

Congratulations to Milkman who has become a daddy to a baby boy called Mats!

That's really lovely- tennis babies springing up all over!

Jannik won’t be playing Cincinnati due to a knee injury

I saw that earlier, Jane- I feel like I jinxed him now . I know I said at the beginning of the year the Jannik / Carlos winning everything was getting boring, but I didn't mean that they both had to get injured and disappear! I'm a bit worried about whether he will return for the US Open- and with Carlos out (possibly), we will again have to put up with the 'big opportunity for Djok' crap.

So many players out injured/or playing well below their best at the moment, across both the men and women's side.

When did he get injured, he hasn’t played since Wimbledon?

There’s speculation that his fall against Kecmanovic caused it but who knows?

I’m finding it hard to get interested in the Canadian Open - probably because most of the matches are on too late to watch. There have been some surprising results though.

It is worrying how many players are injured at the moment. Hopefully they all recover soon. Especially worrying for those out for a long time like Carlos and Jack. Fingers crossed for them.

Oh I remember that, it looked really nasty. But he went on and won the tournament, how bad could it be?

I’m the same Chessie. I don’t think it’s helped by the silly extended Masters format, there just aren’t enough matches each day, and the ones I want to watch are always the late ones.

I was thinking about Holger today as well.
Part of me is glad he hasn't rushed his return- but I have missed him.
Given all the other big names who have suffered this year, he isn't that far behind (although players like Fonseca and Jodar are gaining ground).

DS has informed me that it's the first time in a Masters 1000 that all four quarter finalists have been born in the 2000s.
Not a great start to the week, reminding me how old I am!

Blimey , that is a depressing thought!

Yes I started feeling old when a lot of the players were suddenly younger than my youngest DS

I haven’t watched much of the Canadian open - most of the matches are on too late for me

I agree that these extended Masters don’t really suit anyone - the players don’t seem to like them, they seem to go on forever with a sprinkling of matches and then cram loads of matches in at the end, the empty seats seem to show that the fans aren’t too keen either

I never really know what stage they’re at - bring back the one week tournaments that start on a Monday and finish on a Sunday!

I hope that Carlos and Jannik will be fit for the US Open - although it would be a big ask for Carlos to go straight into a GS with no preparation - so many injured players on the men’s side

The “big boys” being out injured probably makes it easier for Holger to delay his return plus he’ll have seen Jack’s sad comeback. I’m glad he’s doing the right thing even though I really miss him.

Something needs to be done about the schedule. Everyone is wrecked!

I haven't watched any tennis since Wimbledon! As we've all said many times before, these long drawn out Masters 1000 events are just bollocks! There's hardly any scheduled matches each day atm in Canada, even if the time difference made it easy to watch. What is the point of having the cost of a venue, the staff, etc etc and only using it for a few hours a day (slight exaggeration, but you get the point!). Just revert to 7 days, with lots of matches every day to keep people occupied, then move on to the next tournament and repeat!!

Another tennis question on only Connect this week- this time involving the Big 3 (but including Murray to make the big 4).

it could have been a Big 3 question (but I suppose they needed to include Murray ).

I got that one before the tennis clue popped up! Think that was the only one I got though.

I actually got the music clue this week.

I did a lot better on the wall than they did in the studio.

Some weeks are like that

Very good start for NuRafa against Fils, 4-1 up in 20 minutes.

I have jinxed NuRafa.

This is a really good match.