Time and time again I'm surprised by how many place all the blame on Wimbledon.
Those players couldn't realistically condemn the war without endangering their families. So of course they're not going to.
You can say all you want about "love, peace, kindness", but at the end of the day, literally none of them were/are going to come out and say "this war is horrible and Putin is fucking up", because the Russian dictatorship has shown it will assassinate/imprison dissenters.
If the Ukranian Government, Ukranian players, and British government are all telling Wimbledon to ban Russian/Belarussian players, who the fuck are they to disagree?
Yeah it makes no sense and sucks for tennis, but why would you ignore your government's advisement and that of they aggrieved country?
Not like Wimbledon decided to strip the ranking points either; that was a WTA/ATP decision. Players miss tournaments all the time. Djoko not allowed to play Aus Open? Better strip ranking points. Couple players injured? Better strip ranking points.
> In tennis, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Womenās Tennis Association (WTA) suspended the 2022 Kremlin Cup on Tuesday. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) also announced the suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation from its membership and from participation in international team competitions. Players will be allowed to compete in professional matches, but not under their national flags.
That happens via the ATP/WTA/ITF, and yet it's such a transgression what Wimbledon did? The stripping of the points was a completely separate decision with 0 input by Wimbledon. Acting like it was the only choice is absurd.
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sport-part-state-propaganda-system-russia
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1128500/exclusive-ukraines-guttsait-issues-warni...
https://www.mic.com/impact/russia-athletes-putin-ivan-kuliak
Easy to sit here and whine about "but my tennis!" when we can go to sleep after watching tennis in the comfort of our homes without being worried about bombs being launched at us.
> Players miss tournaments all the time. Djoko not allowed to play Aus Open? Better strip ranking points. Couple players injured? Better strip ranking points.
I'm not even going to waste my time deconstructing this atrocious false equivalency.
I didn't see Wimbledon banning ethnic Serbs during the Yugoslav Wars and American players (or British players for that matter) after the US-led invasion of Iraq (even after it became clear that it was knowingly initiated under false pretenses). Why not ban the Saudis as well for bombing Yemen into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis?
The fact remains that it was a meaningless gesture meant to earn brownie points with the public. There is nothing practical the players could have done to dissuade Putin from calling off the invasion. Rublev already demonstrated his opposition in Dubai right after the invasion started. He was even willing to sign a declaration denouncing Putin's invasion and donate his prize winnings to humanitarian causes; what more could he have possibly done to compete (other than change the country of his birth)?
Why didn't the British government just step up and outright refuse visas to athletes from Belarus and Russia rather than strong-arming Wimbledon into banning them. Why didn't AELTC push back with this exact logic?
> In tennis, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Womenās Tennis Association (WTA) suspended the 2022 Kremlin Cup on Tuesday. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) also announced the suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation from its membership and from participation in international team competitions. Players will be allowed to compete in professional matches, but not under their national flags.
Suspending a national team and a competition is Russia is completely different than banning specific players, especially when you consider that tennis players are independent contractors. Should the WTA have banned Chinese players from competing in WTA events because of the Peng Shuai controversy?
It's ironic and hilarious that, in the end, the woman champion was Russian anyway.
> Easy to sit here and whine about "but my tennis!" when we can go to sleep after watching tennis in the comfort of our homes without worried about bombs dropping on us.
Yes, let's please award AELTC the Nobel Peace Prize for singlehandedly foiling the Ukraine invasion.
Yeah, I think stripping Wimbledon of all tournaments of ranking points was a massive knee-jerk overreaction by the ATP and WTA.
Just doubling down on the whole fiasco and making sure that everyone loses out. Utterly pointless.
in her press conference she literally said she wishes there were linespeople and the hawkeye challenge system still there because she feels it's more accurate. i don't think she understands what electronic line calling is.
she also said the court feels too empty without them. that i can understand
Why do you have to be that person?
Monica Seles got 8 slams before she even turned 20, I guess Iga's 3 slams by the age of 21 is a great achievement too..
Did I say that I am hating her?or belittling her achievement anywhere you blind fan, in fact in the end I added it's good for her. And you are talking about Monica? Someone like Monica we see once in life time, and specially we won't get Someone that young a champion like Monica,hingis,sharapova in today's time, so of course what iga achieved by the age of 21 is absolutely phenomenal, and being a multi slam winner by the age of 23 is not that much of a big deal,many have done that.
The way I have got downvoted and how people were not able to digest the fact that there are better achievers than her, clearly shows your level of sensibilities.
Really it was so ridiculous every single time her ball was called out she had this look of incredulousness on her face. Rybakina ball being called out? Nothing from her! If she was consistent on calling it both ways then I can understand her distrust in hawk-eye! By the end of the match I wanted Rybakina to win just to shut Ostapenko up! Good lord
Come on Lena!!! Serving masterclass! Clutch aces when needed and sealed it with one! Played like a slam champion! 11 Aces! And 87% first serve points in the first set! Sensational display!
Definitely a possibility. Annoying that if the rain delay was visible on the radar, why the roof was reopened after the doubles match that was first on Rod Laver today?
AO organisers decision making really baffles the mind in 2023ā¦š¤·āāļø
Usually Ostapenko either plays like trash or wins, but Rybakina was just too good - sheāll take some beating and has the best serve in the WTA at the moment! The second set was especially good quality tennis.
Oh yeah, while she wasn't close to her best today, she was far from being trash and simply gifting points to opponents. She played rather well in the second set.
Rybakina was simply too good today, just like she was against Iga.
one of the rare matches where the outcome wasn't on penko's racket. off the baseline they were pretty equal. rybakina's far superior serve won her the match (and will win her mannnny more)
Her serve was amazing today and so was the return. Which is good that this is all that was required to win this match. Rybakina can play way better from the baseline than she did this match which she is going to need for her next matches.
Second set was better because Ostapenko played better since she was awful in set 1. But the thing is, Rybakina wasn't even great so to win in straight sets is good for her.
This was all just serve/return difference, nothing else. Rybakina wasn't great in the rallies and luckily for Rybakina the Ostapenko who faced Gauff did not show up.
Hopefully with Rybakina not playing great this match, she does show up great in the SF and F and wins it.
We need another multi Slam winner who's young and can have a long career.
Why was she not at the WTA Finals? Does the WTA not do it where if you are a Slam winner you make it in? Or do you still need to be high enough rank to make it in?
Since winning Wimbledon, these had been her 1R opponents: Kasatkina, Samsonova, Keys, Bouzkova, Kvitova, Sherif (all have at least 1 title in 2022), Ka.Pliskova, Danyell Collins, Burel, Siegemund.
Shocking luck
I genuinely believe Elena is snatching the crown this year. Maybe not as dominant as Iga was last year but I can see her winning this and defending her Wimbledon title
Choked them both very hard though. Swiatek had a shockingly bad US Open run and was bad in the final also and yet Jabeur could not stop hitting errors.
They wonāt be enough to snatch the crown unless Iga goes out early in the tournaments. Sheās almost 24 so you could say that sheās nearing her peak she needs to be more consistent in tour events tho
I like this kid so much. I love my fiery tennis ladies, but there's something so _cool_ about soft-spoken tennis women blazing aces and untouchable returns, and then being sweet and friendly right after. Venus, Naomi, and now Elena. That's the level of cool I aspire to lol.
Not gonna take the points away from her this time. Rybakina on a mission to right past wrongs, and even though she took out Iga I hope she wins it now... unless by some miracle Linette makes the final lol
If Linette wins against Pliskova and Vekic doesnāt win against Sabalenka then Sabalenka is going to beat the shit out of Linette in a similar fashion to Djokovic beating down De Minaur and I donāt want to watch that.
That would be the logical conclusion, but any time I expect Sabalenka to win at the business end of a tournament she finds a way to surprise me... usually behind an error-fueled meltdown. Her play style is very much like Garcia's, so if Caro found a way to lose, I'm pretty sure Aryna could too.
Exactly. Don't know who to root for. JPeg hasn't won a major so I want her to win, but then Elena is just on a huge Wimbledon points revenge tour, so I wamt her to win š
Rybakina played like a Slam champ is meant to. She was very solid on serve, and played very clutch points when she down break points. Ostapenko only broke her once in the entire match.
Itās cruel that sheās seeded 22nd and is now 12th (equaling her career high) on live rankings. We know Rybakina has been playing top 10 level, yet the rankings havenāt shown it. Had those Wimbledon points counted, she would have definitely been top 10 right now, so Iām hoping she finally gets there very soon.
I thought after one of her shots hit the net cord on the way over on Rybakina's first? match point, if she lost it because of the net she would've been so frustrated, but it would be such a great expression
Power groundstrokes both wings on a lanky player and emotionally stoic is the WTA archetype I do enjoy. Not sure if they're even in the same half of the draw, but Pliskobot vs. Ryba semi match-up would be ratings death, hah! *Š£ŃŠ°, ŠŠµŠ½Š°!*
I was initially very nervous about this one since was rooting hard for Ryba out of these two and knowing full well how unpredictable Penko matches can be, but Elena may be the one to beat now. As an American, I will naturally be rooting more for Pegula (or the largely Americanized Vika, in the less likely chance she pulls through Pegula at this point, imo). Save for any unexpected chokes, Pegula vs Rybakina should be epic and close.
Sabalenka and fans: āAm I a joke to youā? No, but I have less trust in the mental composure in her case. If she is facing Rybakina or Pegula in the Final, then I think she would most likely lose that based on the mental game. Ditto for Pliskova (and I frankly donāt think she has anything Elena doesnāt, in addition to being a lot older) and, in Vikaās case, Iām a bit concerned about her age holding her back at this point by the time the latest stages come around. Still, Iād be thrilled to her win again though.
If Rybakina serves like she did in the beginning of that 1st set Pegula will have no chance. Rybakina wasnāt playing great in Guadalajara and still had match points against her in Pegulaās only big tournament win.
Rybakina was the only one who got match points on her in that tournament, she is more than capable of not just beating Pegula but destroying her at her best.
I mean, that sheās lived in the US for 10 years, has a son who is a birthright American citizen, and even her accent sounds at least partially Americanized at this point too. Sheās pretty much American in all but name. Almost as much as Sharapova and Osaka are.
Elena is now number 12 in the live rankings. If she had Wimbledon points, she'd be number 6.
Still Not counting extra pts from WTA finals
That is true.
Time and time againā¦weāve been shown just how much weāve been missing out on rankings due to Wimbledonās silly choicesā¦
Rafa would have better chances in keeping his top 10 streak going
Not if he loses in Roland Garros he wonāt even if Wimbledon counted.
Time and time again I'm surprised by how many place all the blame on Wimbledon. Those players couldn't realistically condemn the war without endangering their families. So of course they're not going to. You can say all you want about "love, peace, kindness", but at the end of the day, literally none of them were/are going to come out and say "this war is horrible and Putin is fucking up", because the Russian dictatorship has shown it will assassinate/imprison dissenters. If the Ukranian Government, Ukranian players, and British government are all telling Wimbledon to ban Russian/Belarussian players, who the fuck are they to disagree? Yeah it makes no sense and sucks for tennis, but why would you ignore your government's advisement and that of they aggrieved country? Not like Wimbledon decided to strip the ranking points either; that was a WTA/ATP decision. Players miss tournaments all the time. Djoko not allowed to play Aus Open? Better strip ranking points. Couple players injured? Better strip ranking points. > In tennis, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Womenās Tennis Association (WTA) suspended the 2022 Kremlin Cup on Tuesday. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) also announced the suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation from its membership and from participation in international team competitions. Players will be allowed to compete in professional matches, but not under their national flags. That happens via the ATP/WTA/ITF, and yet it's such a transgression what Wimbledon did? The stripping of the points was a completely separate decision with 0 input by Wimbledon. Acting like it was the only choice is absurd. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sport-part-state-propaganda-system-russia https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1128500/exclusive-ukraines-guttsait-issues-warni... https://www.mic.com/impact/russia-athletes-putin-ivan-kuliak Easy to sit here and whine about "but my tennis!" when we can go to sleep after watching tennis in the comfort of our homes without being worried about bombs being launched at us.
> Players miss tournaments all the time. Djoko not allowed to play Aus Open? Better strip ranking points. Couple players injured? Better strip ranking points. I'm not even going to waste my time deconstructing this atrocious false equivalency. I didn't see Wimbledon banning ethnic Serbs during the Yugoslav Wars and American players (or British players for that matter) after the US-led invasion of Iraq (even after it became clear that it was knowingly initiated under false pretenses). Why not ban the Saudis as well for bombing Yemen into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis? The fact remains that it was a meaningless gesture meant to earn brownie points with the public. There is nothing practical the players could have done to dissuade Putin from calling off the invasion. Rublev already demonstrated his opposition in Dubai right after the invasion started. He was even willing to sign a declaration denouncing Putin's invasion and donate his prize winnings to humanitarian causes; what more could he have possibly done to compete (other than change the country of his birth)? Why didn't the British government just step up and outright refuse visas to athletes from Belarus and Russia rather than strong-arming Wimbledon into banning them. Why didn't AELTC push back with this exact logic? > In tennis, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Womenās Tennis Association (WTA) suspended the 2022 Kremlin Cup on Tuesday. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) also announced the suspension of the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation from its membership and from participation in international team competitions. Players will be allowed to compete in professional matches, but not under their national flags. Suspending a national team and a competition is Russia is completely different than banning specific players, especially when you consider that tennis players are independent contractors. Should the WTA have banned Chinese players from competing in WTA events because of the Peng Shuai controversy? It's ironic and hilarious that, in the end, the woman champion was Russian anyway. > Easy to sit here and whine about "but my tennis!" when we can go to sleep after watching tennis in the comfort of our homes without worried about bombs dropping on us. Yes, let's please award AELTC the Nobel Peace Prize for singlehandedly foiling the Ukraine invasion.
Yeah, I think stripping Wimbledon of all tournaments of ranking points was a massive knee-jerk overreaction by the ATP and WTA. Just doubling down on the whole fiasco and making sure that everyone loses out. Utterly pointless.
The ATP/WTA did the correct thing. The only ones in the wrong were Wimbledon for discriminating against players based on their nationality.
Long rant, but I THINK you supported Wimbledon?
That wouldve put her in Sakkari's spot
11 aces by Rybakina š„
3 real aces, 8 hawkeye aces. Highway robbery!!
Did she really complain during the match about that?
She complained about every call that went against her that was remotely close to the line. She needs therapy.
in her press conference she literally said she wishes there were linespeople and the hawkeye challenge system still there because she feels it's more accurate. i don't think she understands what electronic line calling is. she also said the court feels too empty without them. that i can understand
What does this mean?
It's a joke.
rybakina win another grand slam!
Being a multi time slam winner at age 23 would be an incredible achievement
Whoa she's only 23? Theres a very bright future ahead for her
Woah same. I honestly thought she was a year younger than Ash. Damn she's only 2 years older than Iga
I guess iga got 3 slams by the age of 21, ofcourse in her case it will be a great achievement too.
Why do you have to be that person? Monica Seles got 8 slams before she even turned 20, I guess Iga's 3 slams by the age of 21 is a great achievement too..
Did I say that I am hating her?or belittling her achievement anywhere you blind fan, in fact in the end I added it's good for her. And you are talking about Monica? Someone like Monica we see once in life time, and specially we won't get Someone that young a champion like Monica,hingis,sharapova in today's time, so of course what iga achieved by the age of 21 is absolutely phenomenal, and being a multi slam winner by the age of 23 is not that much of a big deal,many have done that.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The way I have got downvoted and how people were not able to digest the fact that there are better achievers than her, clearly shows your level of sensibilities.
They said āan incredible achievementā, not āthe greatest achievement of all timeā.
I can't wait to see Rybakina's signature look of complete and utter euphoria when she wins: š She's truly the Zoolander of tennis.
Raises a single clenched fist slightly above her waist
She's already won Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament in the world. I think she has the tools to do whatever in this sport
Penko boutta quit tennis, become a chair umpire, and overrule all of Hawkeye's calls.
Total chaos ensues. Can she choose her own outfits?
She was probably behind the Hawkeye snowplough "accident".
Really it was so ridiculous every single time her ball was called out she had this look of incredulousness on her face. Rybakina ball being called out? Nothing from her! If she was consistent on calling it both ways then I can understand her distrust in hawk-eye! By the end of the match I wanted Rybakina to win just to shut Ostapenko up! Good lord
Come on Lena!!! Serving masterclass! Clutch aces when needed and sealed it with one! Played like a slam champion! 11 Aces! And 87% first serve points in the first set! Sensational display!
It's so refreshing to see a WTA player who can servebot her way out of trouble when needed
I wish the rain delay didnāt happen, she would have blown Penko off the court.
Definitely a possibility. Annoying that if the rain delay was visible on the radar, why the roof was reopened after the doubles match that was first on Rod Laver today? AO organisers decision making really baffles the mind in 2023ā¦š¤·āāļø
I was wondering which Lena are you talking about.
Lena Dunham, star of the hit series Girls, decided to take her skills to the tennis court. (oddly enough she's kinda similar in appearance to Penko?)
nooooo, not at all :D
The perfect game.
Saved 7/8 break points. Clutch performance.
Usually Ostapenko either plays like trash or wins, but Rybakina was just too good - sheāll take some beating and has the best serve in the WTA at the moment! The second set was especially good quality tennis.
Oh yeah, while she wasn't close to her best today, she was far from being trash and simply gifting points to opponents. She played rather well in the second set. Rybakina was simply too good today, just like she was against Iga.
You should see post match interview from Penko. As always she was gracious in defeat and had high praise for her opponent */s*
What did she say
She just basically said that Rybakinaās win was pure luck
She served much better against Ostapenko than she did against Iga.
one of the rare matches where the outcome wasn't on penko's racket. off the baseline they were pretty equal. rybakina's far superior serve won her the match (and will win her mannnny more)
Her serve was amazing today and so was the return. Which is good that this is all that was required to win this match. Rybakina can play way better from the baseline than she did this match which she is going to need for her next matches.
nah according to ostapenko, rybakina was lucky in many moments.
Ostapenko is completely full of shit Her game literally relies on luck.
Haha
Second set was better because Ostapenko played better since she was awful in set 1. But the thing is, Rybakina wasn't even great so to win in straight sets is good for her. This was all just serve/return difference, nothing else. Rybakina wasn't great in the rallies and luckily for Rybakina the Ostapenko who faced Gauff did not show up. Hopefully with Rybakina not playing great this match, she does show up great in the SF and F and wins it. We need another multi Slam winner who's young and can have a long career.
Rybakina could end up winning 2 of the last 3 majors. Wild stuff and sheās playing so well
Rybakina is far better than her current ranking. The lack of Wimbledon points have masked how dangerous she's been.
+2000 (Wimby pts) + at minimum 375 (WTA finals apperance) Make her already in top 5
Why was she not at the WTA Finals? Does the WTA not do it where if you are a Slam winner you make it in? Or do you still need to be high enough rank to make it in?
Yup, WTA exclusively top 8
Since winning Wimbledon, these had been her 1R opponents: Kasatkina, Samsonova, Keys, Bouzkova, Kvitova, Sherif (all have at least 1 title in 2022), Ka.Pliskova, Danyell Collins, Burel, Siegemund. Shocking luck
She looks real good out there.
She is in the top 10 now.
Sheās 12 in the live rankings
At least that is her career high again.
Yeah bug she should be top 5
She will be
I genuinely believe Elena is snatching the crown this year. Maybe not as dominant as Iga was last year but I can see her winning this and defending her Wimbledon title
Especially if she beats Sabalenka at the Australian Open. Sabalenka will be her main competition in Wimbledon unless she is banned again.
Ons is pretty good on grass too
She played pretty badly against Ons. Sabalenka will destroy Ons on grass also.
Ons is trash lol she aināt winning a slam.
she got into two slam finals back to back
Choked them both very hard though. Swiatek had a shockingly bad US Open run and was bad in the final also and yet Jabeur could not stop hitting errors.
still
Do you mean Iga dominance in first half (maybe 3/4) of 2022 in general? Iga has never won AO
She got to the semifinal, that is still dominant.
They wonāt be enough to snatch the crown unless Iga goes out early in the tournaments. Sheās almost 24 so you could say that sheās nearing her peak she needs to be more consistent in tour events tho
Itās lovely to see Elena playing so well after her up and down season last year. Excited to see if she can continue her great form.
Ice cold from Elena!
Get that trophy Elena, and also those points, every important
I have nothing to say except LETS GO RYBA!!
Iām starting to think this Rybakina person is pretty good š
Elena gives me Ash Barty vibes, all business on court and so endearing off. Netflix better keep their paws off Elena!
Rybakina will probably tell them to screw off.
Exactly she doesnāt need Netflix or anyone to promote her, her game is doing that all on its own thankyouverymuch
Sheās actually very shy. Unlikely sheāll do it
Holy shit, Rybakina is ON.
I like this kid so much. I love my fiery tennis ladies, but there's something so _cool_ about soft-spoken tennis women blazing aces and untouchable returns, and then being sweet and friendly right after. Venus, Naomi, and now Elena. That's the level of cool I aspire to lol.
Karolina Pliskova.
Her too!
ostapenko is such a dick on court. the constant line call questioning makes her look like an idiot. even her coach looks embarrassed by it.
Not gonna take the points away from her this time. Rybakina on a mission to right past wrongs, and even though she took out Iga I hope she wins it now... unless by some miracle Linette makes the final lol
If Linette wins against Pliskova and Vekic doesnāt win against Sabalenka then Sabalenka is going to beat the shit out of Linette in a similar fashion to Djokovic beating down De Minaur and I donāt want to watch that.
That would be the logical conclusion, but any time I expect Sabalenka to win at the business end of a tournament she finds a way to surprise me... usually behind an error-fueled meltdown. Her play style is very much like Garcia's, so if Caro found a way to lose, I'm pretty sure Aryna could too.
If Linette beats Sabalenka then Rybakina is definitely going to get her 2nd slam.
I really wish Pegula and Elena were in different halves. That deserves to be a final
Exactly. Don't know who to root for. JPeg hasn't won a major so I want her to win, but then Elena is just on a huge Wimbledon points revenge tour, so I wamt her to win š
Luckily for you, you donāt have to choose between those two anymore
True, easy pick now š
Premature you all discounted Vika
Ostapenko accept an automated line call against her challenge [V V HARD]
Queen.
Rybakina played like a Slam champ is meant to. She was very solid on serve, and played very clutch points when she down break points. Ostapenko only broke her once in the entire match. Itās cruel that sheās seeded 22nd and is now 12th (equaling her career high) on live rankings. We know Rybakina has been playing top 10 level, yet the rankings havenāt shown it. Had those Wimbledon points counted, she would have definitely been top 10 right now, so Iām hoping she finally gets there very soon.
She would have been no. 8 before the tournament I think
[Uhm does Ostapenka have problem with her eye sight or sth?](https://imgur.com/a/BbzpmgN)
So many people complaining about Ostapenko. I think sheās funny š¤©
The way she is skeptical of every hawkeye live call is the funniest thing I've ever seen
Rage against the machine: Latvian edition
Never gets old! Need a Penko face compilation ššā¹ļøš¤š”š¤¬
I thought after one of her shots hit the net cord on the way over on Rybakina's first? match point, if she lost it because of the net she would've been so frustrated, but it would be such a great expression
She was definitely getting ready to let rip! š
Scenes if she becomes a chair umpire in the future. She'd definitely overrule Hawkeye 90% of the time.
CORRECTION!! (For a call that was made against me 14 years ago)
Sheās def entertaining and is needed
No cap she's adroable
Hoping for a Rybakina-Sabalenka final š¤
I would hate to be the ball in that match
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Without the grunting
Its so refreshing watching a wta player who doesnt grunt at all not matter the situation...
or the bitchiness
Power groundstrokes both wings on a lanky player and emotionally stoic is the WTA archetype I do enjoy. Not sure if they're even in the same half of the draw, but Pliskobot vs. Ryba semi match-up would be ratings death, hah! *Š£ŃŠ°, ŠŠµŠ½Š°!*
Ryba is red hot. She destroyed penko.
I feel like I just watched Bowser get defeated by Princess Peach. Those āwhaaap!ā grunts were right out of Super Mario World for SNES.
Watching Penko play always reminds me of the old Chinese Kung Fu movies... Very entertaining match, one sided though.
And the Russian tennis federation didnāt want her lol. Maybe that rejection added a little extra chip on the shoulder?
Robo-kina really looking like the favorite to take it all
Looking forward to rybakina vs pliskova in the final, will be a match full of noise and emotion.
Elena made her look incredibly average today
Elena is scary good.. Holy damn.. she is going to win all majors this year if she can keep this up
Roland Garros will be tough for her.
Big Fish
I was initially very nervous about this one since was rooting hard for Ryba out of these two and knowing full well how unpredictable Penko matches can be, but Elena may be the one to beat now. As an American, I will naturally be rooting more for Pegula (or the largely Americanized Vika, in the less likely chance she pulls through Pegula at this point, imo). Save for any unexpected chokes, Pegula vs Rybakina should be epic and close. Sabalenka and fans: āAm I a joke to youā? No, but I have less trust in the mental composure in her case. If she is facing Rybakina or Pegula in the Final, then I think she would most likely lose that based on the mental game. Ditto for Pliskova (and I frankly donāt think she has anything Elena doesnāt, in addition to being a lot older) and, in Vikaās case, Iām a bit concerned about her age holding her back at this point by the time the latest stages come around. Still, Iād be thrilled to her win again though.
If Rybakina serves like she did in the beginning of that 1st set Pegula will have no chance. Rybakina wasnāt playing great in Guadalajara and still had match points against her in Pegulaās only big tournament win. Rybakina was the only one who got match points on her in that tournament, she is more than capable of not just beating Pegula but destroying her at her best.
>or the largely Americanized Vika What does this mean?
I mean, that sheās lived in the US for 10 years, has a son who is a birthright American citizen, and even her accent sounds at least partially Americanized at this point too. Sheās pretty much American in all but name. Almost as much as Sharapova and Osaka are.
š Rybakery out for blood
Clown down
Elena vs J(Elena) battle just didn't become what most of us were hoping for. Ryba simply too good.
rybakina is serena's daughta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABKDfxJfTYg&ab\_channel=RolandGarros
ŠŠ¾Š»Š¾Š“ŠµŃ!