OT: Aussie Open, Sandgren into QF

Submitted by uncle leo on

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/22178518/australian-open-stakes-g…

Sadly, not a story that people get to see because these matches are happening at 3 AM in the States. 

Tennys Sandgren, ranked in the low 90s and has never won a GS match before, is into the QFs. He was chugging beers at a bar a couple years ago watching these tournaments on TV. Pretty crazy he's the last US man left standing in the draft. He's taken out Wawrinka and Thiem on his march through the draw.

FYI, he's playing Hyeon Chung in the QFs, who took out Djokovic. 

Too bad our highly ranked Americans (Sock, Isner) can't seem to play with this type of poise and intensity in the tournaments.

LJ

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^

He has a decent shot at the semis, and then I give him about a 0.01% chance against Federer. Some really good matches to come in the upper half of the draw, and least.

uncle leo

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:05 AM ^

I have this odd feeling Berdych is going to beat Federer. He's had a decent amount of success against him, probably more than most pros. He's not being talked about at all this tournament and he's had a very clean run.

I'd be surprised if that didn't go the distance.

Jmer

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^

The Sandgren story is pretty awesome, played a great 5 set match against Thiem. With facing and unranked Chung in the QF, he has a good chance to make it to the SF but Roger will most likely be waiting for him there. The bottom of the draw has been a mess and with both Thiem and Djokovic losing yesterday, Federer will most likely breeze his way to the final in a straight sets fashion. The top of the draw though, with Nadal, Cilic and Dimitrov still alive, could set up for some really good QF and SF matchups. 

Jmer

January 22nd, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^

Certainly not an easy match. Chung is young and on the upswing but he finished last year ranked 58. At least at this point in his career, he is not a world beater. Of course Sandgren is also out playing his ranking by a lot. Should be a good match.

ak47

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^

Apparently the dude is kind of an asshole. Can't say I really care about nationality in an individual sport. Probably rooting for Federer to get another.

ak47

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^

I mean yes and from some people in the industry.  I don't care about political affiliations and I don't think most people do, but thinly veiled racist attacks on a black tennis player, islamaphobic remarks, etc. get you put in an asshole category regardless of your political viewpoints.

ak47

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^

Brother is invovled with the citi open (tennis tournament in DC). He's not the worst person in the world or anything and he is plenty nice in person but he spreads things like pizzagate (not political, if you support that rumor you suck) and promotes a lot of hate filled things.  Think a fair amount stems from being a deeply religious person in a very traditional sense which is in someways incompatible with views I hold.  I can understand where a person is coming from but still think you are a shitty person because of those views but its more the islamaphobia and racism that cause problems. Just don't retweet white supremacists on the regular, it doesn't seem that difficult to be conservative and not do that.

remdog

January 22nd, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^

You know him personally, it seems that you are calling him an asshole purely because you disagree with his politics. Looking at some of his tweets, he seems to be politically outspoken, not extreme, but willing to take on politically correct dogma. Unfortunately, that usually gets somebody inaccurately slandered as "racist, Islamophobic, etc.," as you put it. But I don't know him and I'm not an expert on his views, so he could be an asshole.

ak47

January 22nd, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^

I don’t consider pizza gate or re-tweeting and liking avowed white supremacists to be a political view or railing against pc dogma. When someone is out there saying trump is a better steward of Christian values than Obama that also raises red flags that your views aren’t driven by any actual facts or reason. You can line he policies of trump think he is a better president but lol at claiming he is a better Christian to justify it. That’s not politics in my book, maybe it is in yours.

ak47

January 22nd, 2018 at 1:30 PM ^

I mean he believes the stuff he posts about on Twitter and isn’t shy about it, what he does on Twitter is a reflection of him. But not worth going deeper into this on this board. Was just saying not going to root for him just because he’s an American in an individual sport.

L'Carpetron Do…

January 22nd, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^

I'm watching the exchange he had with a reporter yesterday who called him out on it. He dodged it and the reporter didn't ask him a follow up about the crazy stuff he's put out there.

If you're a public figure who posts this stuff, you should be able to handle the heat.  If you tweet or retweet something controversial then you should expect some backlash.  And you shouldn't hide behind 'its just social media' or whatever.

robpollard

January 22nd, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^

Anyone who says:

- about "Pizzagate" that "It's sickening and the collective evidence is too much too ignore" and

- also backs the "Spiritcooking" hoax with "People don't know what to do with it. Or they are concoting a way to make it not sound so bad" while replying to alt-right conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson complaining there hasn't been mainstream media coverage on it...

can lose every match 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, I had my way. 

 

remdog

January 22nd, 2018 at 4:49 PM ^

you've lumped in his preference for Trump over Obama with white supremacism?   I'm not religious but people can legitimately disagree over whether Trump or Obama are better in terms of their religious faith.  As for the link to "avowed white supremacists,"  I really don't know enough to debate this point.  But people throw the label "white supremacist" around very recklessly these days so I personally will reserve judgement.  FWIW, he's apparently denied any support for such ideology.  Look, you're entitled to your opinion and have some legitimate concerns.  But you might benefit from a little more openmindedness and skepticism before judging people.

 

BK-bloo

January 22nd, 2018 at 6:30 PM ^

Sandgren lumped himself in with white supremacists by, among other things, retweeting crap from Charlottesville organizers and following a number of other avowed racists. Of course he's trying to walk it back now that he's getting exposure; but the guy is another embarrassment to this country, and I'll be rooting against him.

remdog

January 22nd, 2018 at 7:31 PM ^

I would reserve judgement until there's more credible proof of his views. Unfortunately, the labels of "avowed racist" or even "white nationalist/supremacist" have been so dishonestly applied to people that they have lost almost all meaning without details or context. And what does "following" somebody on twitter even mean? In one interview, he disavowed such views himself and I can't find a single quote suggesting any such views. Nothing, nada, zilch. But whatever. I can understand not wanting to root for somebody with such concerns. I just think there's a rush to ostracize and condemn people for just about anything these days.

Occam's Razor

January 22nd, 2018 at 9:33 PM ^

Are you purposefully dense or just stupid? The dude actively re-tweeted white supremacists. That actually takes frontal lobe involvement, which clearly his is lacking in development. 

No shit the dude will deny and backtrack when the media calls him out on it. 

 

remdog

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:57 PM ^

A thread about assholes actually attracted an asshole, a gullible and not so sharp one.

What does "actively re-tweeted" even mean anyway?  Can you passively retweet?

Here's some advice for free.  Don't be an asshole.  Don't be so gullible.  Don't believe everything you read.  Learn to be a little more skeptical.  I repeat for emphasis.  Don't be an asshole.

 

 

Chiwolve

January 22nd, 2018 at 8:02 PM ^

https://deadspin.com/what-does-pizzagate-truther-tennys-sandgren-find-i…

 

Includes more details and direct social media activity. Uncle Leo and all the others defending this guy, should at least take a look.... One doesn't need to be a politicla junkie to understand why many Americans may not be full-throated in their support of him and/or view this guy as the best representative of our country

uncle leo

January 22nd, 2018 at 8:26 PM ^

I don't agree with his political beliefs. I'm not arguing that. I just think a ton of this is all based off social media, and nothing good or truthful ever comes out of that. 

I'm not some lifelong Tennys Sandgren fan. I think the TENNIS story is fantastic. And I want to see an American win a tournament, since it's been an eternity.

Let's not get it twisted. If people here knew what their heroes and people they look up to were ACTUALLY like outside of the public eye, they'd all be grossed out.

Chiwolve

January 22nd, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^

Fair enough -- and upon reviewing my comment it does seem like I was calling you out (unfarily). I agree that nothing good comes out of social media, but I also agree that social media is pretty much the best view we (normal people) have into people's personalities and/or the personalities they choose to portray, particularly celebrities / public figures. Therefore, from the limited view I've seen of Tennys, he seems like a pretty dog-shit person.

And I wholeheartedly agree that most "heroes" are just as deeply flawed and gross as the rest of us people. Any adult who elects a role-model based  solely on how well they can play a sport or sing and dance has some deeper issues to address

remdog

January 22nd, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^

anybody here made any posts "defending" Sandgren, only questioning the condemnation of him based on a very "limited" view from social media, apparently a handful of tweets or links.  Some here are much more cautious in forming such views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jinjooappa

January 23rd, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^

So you're saying that because some heros don't publically project their ugly side that it's okay for Sanderson to tweet what he did? 

Why the need to delete a bunch of tweets? I supposed his homophobic tweets were okay because he's a "Christian" and, well, we Christians know gays are abhorent and are all going to burn in hell. Give me a break.

And how do you defend his tweeting pics of Serena Williams and captioning "disgusting..."? 

uncle leo

January 23rd, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^

Never heard of him.

Hey man, said it a million times in this thread, I don't agree with his social media beliefs, if that is truly what he believes. Social media is not real life. 

Honestly, I've never seen so much straw manning and putting words in someone's mouth more than this post. 

Actually, plenty of our national icons have said and done much worse. I don't put these people up on some moral high ground. 

Relax.

Pepto Bismol

January 22nd, 2018 at 1:48 PM ^

Nothing to add, just wanted to make it known to any gun-shy thread-starters out there that apparently I'll read absolutely anything posted to the MGoBoard.

Good luck to everybody with the tennis.