welshbairn Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 3 minutes ago, eez-eh said: In an era where the 3 above him were by some distance the best that there’s ever been. 11 grand slam finals. Won 3 of them. Umpteen semi-finals. Number one in the world for nearly a year. Aye he was pure shite wasn’t he. I love the guy, I just think he'd be embarrassed by some of the beatification going on. Quote I for one will be raising a glass to not just our best sportsman of all time, but one of the greatest Scots the country has ever produced full stop. He is someone who had to experience an incredibly traumatic childhood, but still went on to achieve more than most of us could if we had 100 lifetimes over. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elixir Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer consider him 'one of them'. I think that's all that needs said on the matter. Anyone saying he's not top 10 ability wise to ever play the game is a cretin. In any other era he wins a similar number of slams to Agassi, Lendl, Connors, Borg, Sampras, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Djokovic wins gold, beating Alcaraz in straight sets in the final. That’s the only tournament that matters that he hadn’t won. Looked like he never would after he blew it in Tokyo, but he’s done it, at 37, against the best 21 year old in the history of the game. His lack of a gold medal was always used by a committed section of detractors that he couldn’t be considered the greatest without it, so that’s that put to bed. He’s the greatest athlete of all time imo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 When did they change the men’s gold medal match from best of 5 to best of 3? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 12 hours ago, Lex said: Djokovic wins gold, beating Alcaraz in straight sets in the final. That’s the only tournament that matters that he hadn’t won. Looked like he never would after he blew it in Tokyo, but he’s done it, at 37, against the best 21 year old in the history of the game. His lack of a gold medal was always used by a committed section of detractors that he couldn’t be considered the greatest without it, so that’s that put to bed. He’s the greatest athlete of all time imo. That's quite a claim. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS_FFC Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 Don’t necessarily think he’s the best athlete of all time or even that athletes in different sports are directly comparable but I do think the GOAT discussion in tennis died along time. It’s Djokovic by a mile. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvio Tattiescone Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eez-eh Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 On 04/08/2024 at 21:06, TheScarf said: When did they change the men’s gold medal match from best of 5 to best of 3? Started in Tokyo. Apparently to help the players that were doing the doubles as well but I don’t see how one game makes a huge difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_MFC Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 Quite incredible 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 5 hours ago, MP_MFC said: Quite incredible Genuinely cannot believe the umpire missed that, but then according to X he has made a few howlers recently. Draper getting lots of stick, but only he knows if he was aware what actually happened. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jives Miguel Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cq5d3nl1pd9o Sinner cleared after testing positive. "The full decision, published by the ITIA,, external states that Naldi cut the finger of his left hand on a scalpel in his treatment bag on 3 March. Naldi bandaged the cut and unwrapped it two days later. Umberto Ferrara, Sinner's fitness coach, recommended the physio use a medical spray Ferrara had bought in an Italian pharmacy in February on the cut. The physio said he did not check the contents of the spray, which he used every morning from 5-13 March, with Indian Wells taking place from 6-17 March. Between those dates, Naldi gave Sinner full-body massages and applied bandages to his feet. He did not wear gloves while carrying out the treatments. Sinner stated that he suffers from a skin condition on his feet and back that leads to scratching and can cause small cuts and lesions in the affected areas." Now what's to stop someone doping and just coming up with the above example as a cover-up plan? Sport needs to have a zero tolerance policy on doping. Why can't they accept his no-fault explanation, but still ban him for a period? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 6 hours ago, Jives Miguel said: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cq5d3nl1pd9o Sinner cleared after testing positive. "The full decision, published by the ITIA,, external states that Naldi cut the finger of his left hand on a scalpel in his treatment bag on 3 March. Naldi bandaged the cut and unwrapped it two days later. Umberto Ferrara, Sinner's fitness coach, recommended the physio use a medical spray Ferrara had bought in an Italian pharmacy in February on the cut. The physio said he did not check the contents of the spray, which he used every morning from 5-13 March, with Indian Wells taking place from 6-17 March. Between those dates, Naldi gave Sinner full-body massages and applied bandages to his feet. He did not wear gloves while carrying out the treatments. Sinner stated that he suffers from a skin condition on his feet and back that leads to scratching and can cause small cuts and lesions in the affected areas." Now what's to stop someone doping and just coming up with the above example as a cover-up plan? Sport needs to have a zero tolerance policy on doping. Why can't they accept his no-fault explanation, but still ban him for a period? Because the quantity was really, really small and previous testing, which happened on average once a month, didn't show anything. There would be no benefit from taking such a small dose and if it was a larger dose making its way out, it should have shown up in an earlier test. The facts were given to three independent experts without telling them which athlete was involved and they all accepted the explanation. As for why remove his points and prize money from Indian Wells, the fact remains that they know for sure that he was doped during that period so his results from then cannot stand. That said... His defence looks a lot like Sara Errani's and she was banned for two months. Her mother was on cancer medication and did what I do with pills - popped them from the pack or bottle onto the kitchen worktop. She prepared food in the same area and that's how Errani ended up ingesting a trace amount. Prior testing made it clear there couldn't have been intentionally doping but they still suspended her anyway. I thought that was harsh. They distinguished Errani because she knew her mother took that medication and where she stored it, but Sinner could not have known about his physio using that spray, especially as he asked him about it the first time he saw him after the cut had happened and the physio said no. Sinner was not held responsible for the astonishingly cavalier behaviour of his fitness coach (Ferrara, where have we heard that name before in a doping context) and his physio. The physio was held not to meet the definition of a "personal physician or trainer". What's a bit worrying in his case is that this is what a quality cover-up would look like too. https://www.itia.tennis/media/yzgd3xoz/240819-itia-v-sinner.pdf 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jives Miguel Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 8 hours ago, GordonS said: Because the quantity was really, really small and previous testing, which happened on average once a month, didn't show anything. There would be no benefit from taking such a small dose and if it was a larger dose making its way out, it should have shown up in an earlier test. The facts were given to three independent experts without telling them which athlete was involved and they all accepted the explanation. As for why remove his points and prize money from Indian Wells, the fact remains that they know for sure that he was doped during that period so his results from then cannot stand. That said... His defence looks a lot like Sara Errani's and she was banned for two months. Her mother was on cancer medication and did what I do with pills - popped them from the pack or bottle onto the kitchen worktop. She prepared food in the same area and that's how Errani ended up ingesting a trace amount. Prior testing made it clear there couldn't have been intentionally doping but they still suspended her anyway. I thought that was harsh. They distinguished Errani because she knew her mother took that medication and where she stored it, but Sinner could not have known about his physio using that spray, especially as he asked him about it the first time he saw him after the cut had happened and the physio said no. Sinner was not held responsible for the astonishingly cavalier behaviour of his fitness coach (Ferrara, where have we heard that name before in a doping context) and his physio. The physio was held not to meet the definition of a "personal physician or trainer". What's a bit worrying in his case is that this is what a quality cover-up would look like too. https://www.itia.tennis/media/yzgd3xoz/240819-itia-v-sinner.pdf Ultimately its still his team, his employees, his responsibility to ensure stuff like this doesn't happen to him, and his fault that it did happen to him. As you say, this is a defence that's been used countless times before, and saw others banned for it. I think he's very lucky I'd be banning him personally. Absolutely zero tolerance for any doping violations. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 Just now, Jives Miguel said: Ultimately its still his team, his employees, his responsibility to ensure stuff like this doesn't happen to him, and his fault that it did happen to him. As you say, this is a defence that's been used countless times before, and saw others banned for it. I think he's very lucky I'd be banning him personally. Absolutely zero tolerance for any doping violations. They found that he had taken all reasonable care in hiring people with good anti-doping credentials, citing in particular Ferrara's background in pharmacology. I can't help thinking that's a bit double-edged. I think he was lucky too. Athletes can be exposed to banned substances by accident - like Richard Gasquet kissing a woman who had used cocaine - but when it comes so negligently from inside the athlete's own team... my question is, has Sinner fired them, at least the physio? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 Polish/German/ British player Jan Choinski comes through US Open qualifying, it's his first main draw appearance at a slam outside of Wimbledon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 20 odd minutes ago Khachonov was 4-0 up in the 5th against Dan Evans with 3 break points to go 5-0. Now he's serving to stay in the match at 4-5 down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 3 break points for Evans now. Bonkers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 Evans wins! 5 hours 35 minutes, longest match in US Open history. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 Great effort. Can't believe it's the longest ever match, though. When were tie-breaks invented? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 3 minutes ago, Bully Wee Villa said: Great effort. Can't believe it's the longest ever match, though. When were tie-breaks invented? This was the previous record. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.