2020 Australian Open

[Shadowlight]

Last night it got underway and once again media hero ( times one thousand) Coco Gauff dropped Venus Williams just like she did at Wimbledon. A lot of the black female stars are in the same bracket so they will be knocking each other out and then hopefully they fall after that. Serena looks like a first round defensive tackle prospect at this point.

Federer won in a quick three sets.

The big news is the air quality issue due to the horrific bush fires that have ravaged parts of Australia. They have a few indoor courts of course and the rainy weather keeps the pollutant levels lower.

I think tennis has opted for stricter standards on the air quality than the Olympics and the players lead by Federer and Nadal have made it clear to officials they and other tennis players aren't going to choke to death in a carry on fashion and I don't blame them.

There is also a chance that the air remains good throughout.

 

[Freethinker]

Potential linebacker in training, Sloan Stephens went out in round 1 to a thin Chinese woman.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

It's a very overlooked tourney here in the States. Definitely the most overlooked Major. It should be good this year and the surface always brings out great baseline play and beautiful groundstrokes from the best players. Once again, Fed's time is rapidly running out to win another Major.

 

[white is right]

Potential linebacker in training, Sloan Stephens went out in round 1 to a thin Chinese woman.

Stephens is the daughter of this former Patriot running back........https://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-TOPPS...767017?hash=item213eb1e669:g:jwEAAOSwG-1WwDeP

Also notice she still looks fairly feminine unlike Brutus.......

 

[Don Wassall]

Stephens is the daughter of this former Patriot running back........https://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-TOPPS...767017?hash=item213eb1e669:g:jwEAAOSwG-1WwDeP

Also notice she still looks fairly feminine unlike Brutus.......

What female doesn't look feminine compared to Brutus. . . Stephens always comports herself well on court, but she does have tendencies toward getting borderline obese. I don't understand how a professional tennis player can be anything but lean as hell, like hockey players are, with Brutus always being the (likely juiced up) outlier male/female composite.

Regarding what Shadowlight posted, I like the Australian Open as much as any of the majors, mainly because it takes place in the dead of winter in the U.S. and I usually watch a fair amount of it (haven't yet this year but plan to). The surface makes for a lot of exciting matches, so I need to get focused on it. Hopefully the wildfire situation doesn't prevent it from proceeding on schedule.

 

[Freethinker]

What female doesn't look feminine compared to Brutus. . . Stephens always comports herself well on court, but she does have tendencies toward getting borderline obese. I don't understand how a professional tennis player can be anything but lean as hell, like hockey players are, with Brutus always being the (likely juiced up) outlier male/female composite.

Don, thanks for backing up my point. That’s certainly the critique I was trying to make. I do however want to challenge you on one thing. I think there is one individual who can challenge Brutus in the linebacker department. Taylor Townsend. (Trigger warning below)

 

[Don Wassall]

Don, thanks for backing up my point. That’s certainly the critique I was trying to make. I do however want to challenge you on one thing. I think there is one individual who can challenge Brutus in the linebacker department. Taylor Townsend. (Trigger warning below)

Holy hell!

It's fair to assume the network announcers (Tennis Channel and ESPN), who always are fawning over anything and everything black, won't say a word.

 

[Shadowlight]

The irony of this wide body (Townsend) is she has one of the best serve and volley games going on the female tour perhaps by default though since most of the chicks don't serve and volley anymore. Sadly that doesn't change the fact that she is built like a tomato. So she should stay away from wearing red albeit the color of her outfit has little chance of improving the situation.

Also it was very disheartening seeing Maria go down yet again this time against Donna Vekic who at one time was thought of as the next Maria but she got sidetracked by dating a much older player (Stan W) and her career hasn't fully blossomed. Still trying to figure out if she was 18 when she started "dating" Stan? Don't want to think about it too long. Uncomfortable to think about.

A lonely figure on tour due to the rank jealousy of other female players ( they would kill to have her looks and grace) Maria will fall into a plus 300 ranking now. She just hasn't won any matches and some conjecture her shoulder injury hasn't subsided to the point where she can play effective tennis. Her movement has also dwindled as has her confidence. Very sad to witness and you can't help but feel for her.

Now Chris Evert and others are wondering if she will retire soon?

My hope is that when she does decide it will be at least on a more upbeat note than this. She has had a remarkable and fruitful HOF career ( 5 Majors). A great player in her heyday and easily one of the most sexiest and beautiful woman to ever play tennis on the big stage.

 

[Freethinker]

I feel badly for blinding everyone. Maybe 1st round winner and Italian beauty Camila Giorgi will make up for it.

 

[Shadowlight]

I have seen Giorgi up close and in person and she is stunning. Has a great body to boot. Hits the ball with ferocity. One minor problem. She plays brainless tennis. Sees ball hits ball and not much more beyond that. Don't think her long haired nutty father is her coach anymore but he was of little help.

 

[Shadowlight]

I remember sitting in a pub with a friend watching 15 year old CiCi Bellis beat a top 20 opponent at the US Open. This was back in 2014. Coco anyone? Yes there was some hype for this young American but nothing compared to the Coco Gauff mania that has exploded over the past year.

While Bellis looked like a 15 year old and was smallish Coco has that typical black ready made mature build at 15 being 5' 10" tall. Bellis has grown some but has topped out at 5'7" tall.

Whatever happened to Bellis then? Well she did get voted in as WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2017 and then for the next two years suffered through wrist and elbow injuries that required multiple surgeries. What a shame. She was on an upward trajectory but now 20 she still has time to make a mark.

I caught the end of her match last night/early this morning and Bellis beat a ranked opponent to advance to the third round. Good for her. Bellis is cute and has a nice slim body. She has great legs.

So move over Coco. Here comes CiCi!

 

[Shadowlight]

My streak of predicting Serena won't win a major stretches further back then any media outlet that I can think of and it remains alive. Serena went splat against Chinese Wang Qiang in three tight sets. Amazingly this is the same player who Serena pasted in the US Open 6-0 6-1.

The big question I have now is whether Serena plans on entering the NFL draft as a DT?

 

[Don Wassall]

Yes! Qiang Wang, the 27th seed from China, just beat Brutus in a three set pressure cooker of a match that took almost three hours. Wang might weigh half as much as Brutus. She won the first set, Brutus came back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, then Wang kept playing tough and outlasted her obese opponent in the deciding set.

On a sad note, the lovely and graceful Caroline Wozniacki lost her final competitive match after announcing she was retiring after the Australian Open. She won 30 singles titles and her win in Melbourne two years ago was her first and only Slam title.

 

[Freethinker]

Yes! Qiang Wang, the 27th seed from China, just beat Brutus in a three set pressure cooker of a match that took almost three hours. Wang might weigh half as much as Brutus. She won the first set, Brutus came back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, then Wang kept playing tough and outlasted her obese opponent in the deciding set.

On a sad note, the lovely and graceful Caroline Wozniacki lost her final competitive match after announcing she was retiring after the Australian Open. She won 30 singles titles and her win in Melbourne two years ago was her first and only Slam title.

Once more, a thin Chinese woman has taken out another American Water-buffalo. Asians have really showed they are not so intimidated by hulking blacks. Good on them.

As for Caroline, she had a good career that she can be proud of. It’s too bad she couldn’t perform better in the grand slams. Anyway I hope the retirement leads to lots genetically gifted babies with her husband David Lee (former NBA Star).

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Thanks Don and Shadowlight for the updates. Those are great news items to hear and the bittersweet part is Wozniacki going out for the last time. But Williams losing a close match, split sets, is making my night knowing she is out of another Major. Great posts, guys.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Broken English, but she's a sweetheart. I tend to like all these young girls that beat the Linebacker. She's not even gonna have a celebratory drink for the Chinese New Year's tonight. Good on her. She's nice and VERY determined:

 

[Don Wassall]

Broken English, but she's a sweetheart. I tend to like all these young girls that beat the Linebacker. She's not even gonna have a celebratory drink for the Chinese New Year's tonight. Good on her. She's nice and VERY determined:

I like her physique, looks like what a female tennis player should. Lean and attractive, not muscle bound and/or fat. And her serves on average were only 2 mph less than Brutus's.

 

[referendum]

Whats great about the latest defeat of the linebacker, is that so many different women are beating her, not just one rival, so any opponent that she faces can now be thinking that I too can win over the Steroid queen.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Good points guys. I'm glad we can all enjoy the new faces on the women's side starting to finally replace the Linebacker in temperament and appearance of course.

 

[Don Wassall]

I caught a brief snippet from the Hulking Linebacker's post-match press conference, and as usual it had everything to do with her and nothing to do with her opponent; she even called herself "unprofessional" a couple of times because of all her unforced errors. But Wang forced her into those errors. There's an established template now for beating Williams: get her serve (her best weapon) back in play as much as possible, and then keep the ball in play, with pace, as Williams will in most cases be the one who blinks first and loses the point. Wang simply played an outstanding match, highly accurate with pace and a strong serve. Williams tried hard to will herself to victory but Wang never faltered other than shanking her first two match points.

Back in college when I was a half-decent player, I remember an instructor saying that exact thing -- just keep the ball in play and you'll win a lot of points against most opponents, and there's a lot of truth to it even at the pro level. Brutus dominated for so many years by having a great first serve, almost unreturnable when she was on, and then winning ground stroke points on sheer power. But now her serve isn't as fast or accurate, and she's always been prone to hitting a lot balls out or into the net. Add to that her morbid obesity approaching age 39 and she's also very slow on the court now.

Last night one of her ESPN cheerleaders, aka Chris Evert, Mary Joe Fernandez and Crissie Fowler, mentioned that Williams is now trying to think strategically for the first time, yet they were also (delicately) critical of a number of decisions she made against Wang. She still has a lot of power (thanks to her likely off the charts testosterone level), but her lumbering court presence combined with being unable to think strategically very well is finally catching up to her as she ages.

I agree with Referendum that her "intimidation factor" is now gone and has been for several years, much the same as what happened with Tiger Woods. An obscure Korean golfer named Y. E. Yang went toe to toe with Woods down the stretch of the final round at the 2009 PGA Championship and beat him, stunning Tiger's media worshipers. Tiger never had the same intimidating presence after that and of course went 11 long years without winning a major, with his personal scandals, injuries, and the aging process also factoring in.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Federer barely escaped the third round and it took a 5th set tiebreaker to do it 10 - 8. Millman has given him trouble before I think knocking him out of the US Open two years ago. If it's this tough in the third round just imagine going forward against these young guns!

 

[white lightning]

I'm so happy Fed survived. I still dream about him winning another major. As much as I liike Nadal, I don't want him to catch Federer for the career grandslams title. As great as Nadal is, he is still 75% a clay court specialist. Roger Fed. is so much of a better all around player in my opinion. He is the greatest I've ever seen. I would rather have Jokovic pass him if someone does.

This is for Shadowlight. Keep jinxing the Linebacker Bro. I don't know how it works, but keep it up. Would prefer to see Court keep the record as do the rest of us here. She is just such a cry baby and
sore sport. He sister is alot more well behaved. I hate seeing anyone male or female be hot head. Guess that's why I preffered Connors to McEnroe back in the day.

 

[Don Wassall]

I'm so happy Fed survived. I still dream about him winning another major. As much as I liike Nadal, I don't want him to catch Federer for the career grandslams title. As great as Nadal is, he is still 75% a clay court specialist. Roger Fed. is so much of a better all around player in my opinion. He is the greatest I've ever seen. I would rather have Jokovic pass him if someone does.

This is for Shadowlight. Keep jinxing the Linebacker Bro. I don't know how it works, but keep it up. Would prefer to see Court keep the record as do the rest of us here. She is just such a cry baby and
sore sport. He sister is alot more well behaved. I hate seeing anyone male or female be hot head. Guess that's why I preffered Connors to McEnroe back in the day.

Hey White Lightning, your memory of Connors is different than mine. He and McEnroe were both punks, though McEnroe was more of one. I rooted for Connors too, but he could be a real a-hole. Connors had many blow-ups like this one:

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Connors was a jerk and McEnroe was an even bigger jerk. I actually hated them both and was a big Borg fan way back in my kid days.

 

[icsept]

McEnroe, Agassi and Federer are my absolute favorites. Djokovic, Connors and Boris Becker get honorable mention. I never liked Sampras or Nadal. I hated Ivan Lendl - his racket, his wrist bands, his face, lol. I never liked the big guys with the huge serves that would just hit tons of aces at Wimbledon. A couple of great serve and volley athletes I enjoyed watching were Patrick Rafter and Stefan Edberg. A lost art, for sure.