OT: Wimbledon Finals
Tennis fans, lots of interesting matchups this weekend
Ons Jabeur is one of the most loved people on the tour and she has an amazing variety of shots to be a champion. I’d love to see her win her first slam.
Djokovic vs Kyrgios. Two controversial personalities. I think Djokovic will win. And Djokovic isn’t such a bad guy as much as he’s made some stupid egotistical decisions that gave him a bad image. If Kyrgios wins, he may find the focus and confidence to be a dominant force on the tour for many years to come.
There are Americans in both the Women’s and Men’s junior finals. Do I dare say girls and boys? Hovde, only 16, is one to watch. She has shot up the junior rankings to 4 and could be a force, along with Anisimova and Gauff, in the future. Let’s see if she gets a wildcard into the main draw at the US Open.
Sorry Doubles. I actually love playing doubles but I don’t know who is who in the finals.
Kyrgios is 2-0 lifetime against Djokovic, should be a good Championship!
But both wins in best of three matches. It's a completely different animal to beat Djokovic (or Nadal) in five sets.
Idemo Nole!
Djokovic is one of the best ever and should demolish Kyrgios. Kyrgios only in the finals because he got a free ride in semifinals due to Nadal being forced to pull out due to injury. GO DJOKER!
Hard to believe that Joker will be the crowd favorite on Fed's court. I feel like the time off is just too much of a benefit to bet against Kyrgios.
Women's tennis is just so boring now to me. It used to so interesting to follow.
This particular Women's Finals has been anything but boring, IMO.
"If Kyrgios wins, he may find the focus and confidence to be a dominant force on the tour for many years to come." I will take the under on this bet. Kyrios doesn't lack self-confidence (like Zverev may) such that a win in a major would mentally toughen him so he goes on to dominate tennis. What he lacks is the drive and will to win. He has the attention span of a gnat. He prefers basketball to tennis. He may win Sunday but that will not lead to sustained dominance.
I was so looking forward to a Nadal Djokovic final. It would have been epic.
Maybe I'm alone, but I wasn't- I'm just tired of seeing the same cats in the finals over and over again.
It has been a historic run, but I'm ready to see something new.
This for me exactly, fresh blood please.
Djokovic sealed his fate with me when he submitted false information re Covid and was disqualified from playing in the Australian open not too long ago.
Strawberries and cream, anyone?
Washed down with a Pimm's.
If Kyrgios can just play tennis and stay focused on tennis he can win. If he gets distracted by line calls and other issues, he'll lose and lose badly.
Congratulations, Elena!
Not the best played women's final, but an interesting and unpredictable women's tournament overall. Hope to see Williams get in shape before the US Open for a last championship run. Will be interesting to see how Rybakina's career and life changes moving forward.
Djokovic is the most hated player on the tour. Players and the tour hate him.
He’s as big an ahole as the fans think he is.
He’s as big an ahole as the fans think he is.
Nole has a pretty large fanbase that loves him. Myself included, though I'm not a fan of his vaccine stance.
I admire him for all of the things that he's had to overcome. Just look at where he came from: playing tennis in an emptied out swimming pool because because NATO bombs destroyed Belgrade tennis courts. Having to interrupt practice to take cover in bomb shelters. Etc.
As for his haters, I think there are a number of things at play here.
- Some are upset that he had the nerve to crash the Federer-Nadal party.
- Others didn't like his impressions (even though he was egged on to do it by the interviewers) or that he speaks his mind. Take the Roddick controversy, for example. Roddick was a prick, but when Nole retaliated he was considered the asshole.
- His parents made some stupid comments early on in Nole's career, but this was not his fault. Did anyone blame Rafa for some of the stupid shit that Uncle Tony did or said?
- His vaccine nonsense probably hurt him recently.
- I think there is also a degree of anti-Serbian attitudes left over from the 90s. But again, this has nothing to do with him.
Somehow you seamed to come up with a list that has nothing to do with why Djokovic earned the hate over the years. You even tried to play a racism/ethnicity card. Everyone loved Monica Seles.
This was widely discussed in another post but here are a couple things:
- it’s not the vaccine stance as much as his trying to cheat his way into Australia. And when tennis was rightly canceled, before any vaccines he not only decided to have his own tournament but he threw in a super spreader party. That’s not anti-vaccine that is a complete disregard for the rules
- Seems like most of the hate has to do with his disregard for rules. There was his smacking balls in anger, then actually being quoted in an interview that he thinks it doesn’t matter he’s never hurt anyone, and then of course hitting the line person and rightly getting dq. And there were the history of strategically timed bathroom breaks and medical time outs right when he is about to get knocked out. Players didn’t like this part of him . I think he has cleaned up his act this year though
By the way, and this has nothing to do with Nole, but when you discussed his story surviving Nato bombs you conveniently avoided the fact that Serbia and serbs supported by Serbia were the aggressors back then and were convicted of war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. Nato only went in at the end to stop them. What Serbia did back then in trying to build a greater Serbia went beyond what Russia is doing today.
Holy shit, dude. Overreact much? I was simply stating a fact that many people still remember the Yugoslav wars and Serbia's role in them. That is not playing the ethnicity/racism card, so get out of here with that bullshit.
In terms of your other points:
Everyone loved Monica Seles.
Monica Seles was an ethnic Hungarian.
but when you discussed his story surviving Nato bombs you conveniently avoided the fact that Serbia and serbs supported by Serbia were the aggressors back then and were convicted of war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.
I wasn't making any statement about whether NATO was right or wrong, so there was no reason for me to mention Serbia's role in the aggression. I was making a point about what Nole had to go through growing up. I think we can both agree that, whatever the actions of the Serbian government and paramilitaries, Nole had nothing to do with it but he suffered through the bombings nonetheless.
In terms of the convictions for war crimes, ethnic cleansing, etc., yes many Serb (para)military commanders were convicted. But they were far from the only ones responsible for atrocities in the wars or the only ones convicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity, etc. The ICRC called the expulsion of the Serbs from Croatia (ethnic cleansing) one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of the wars.
There was his smacking balls in anger, then actually being quoted in an interview that he thinks it doesn’t matter he’s never hurt anyone, and then of course hitting the line person and rightly getting dq.
Serena did the same thing, but there is much less vitriol directed toward her.
And there were the history of strategically timed bathroom breaks and medical time outs right when he is about to get knocked out.
And Federer has done this too, but he's still beloved.
Your/this latest excuse for his behavior is the old bs response of “yah but what about the other guy”
And Monica Seles? You had tried to suggest Nole isnt liked because he is Serbian, which is ridiculous. And when I simply point out there are other players from Serbia that are all liked, Monica the most obvious, you come up with some remote insignificant fact. If you asked 100 people where is she from they will say Serbia. If you did a hundred google searches or asked the players on tour. They would all know her as Serbian. The fact that she had Hungarian parents isn’t even remotely related to the point.
This all follows from your first set of excuses for his hate which were all about blaming others while not once mentioning one of the things that he did that people actually dislike.
Look dude, there are good reasons he is disliked. I was just communicating them since you seemed to skip over them. If you want to keep ignoring them thats fine.
It doesn’t really matter if Federer got away with one of these early on. Or Serena, who really didn’t get away with it early on. They both cleaned up what behavior they had long ago. But with Djokovic, it wasn't just one thing it’s the whole package. I do think with the Australia experience, the US Open dq, and the negativity he got for years with the MTOs he is now trying to out behavior behind him. The guy definitely wants to be liked.
“Monica Seles is ethnic Hungarian”. Oh my god that has to be the most ridiculous points of the year. Only because the anti vax arguments are behind us.
How about Ana Ivanovik. Everybody definitely loved Ana. ;)
Your/this latest excuse for his behavior is the old bs response of “yah but what about the other guy”
You’re the one who brought up the wars (of which you seem to know very little). But yes, by all means, let’s pretend there was only one guilty party. I too like sticking my head in the sand.
My point was about the historical memories of others not involved and whether this influences perceptions of Nole. But I’m glad that you are so tuned into the minds of all other people around the world and could share with me their thoughts about why they dislike Novak, where they would say Seles is from, etc. Perhaps you could also tell me how they plan to vote in 2024 as well.
You could’ve just added to my original list without being a prick because some of those really are reasons some people dislike him. I’ve heard them say it myself. But you be you. You seem like a very reasonable and levelheaded person. Good luck in life.
How about Ana Ivanovik.
I don’t know anyone with the name Ivanovik.
;)
Silly. You say that as though you grew up with him. Very classy and gracious in his victory today.
So a Russian woman won the women's championship, even though Russians were not allowed to play! And a Serb with natural immunity won the men's! Great day for the East! Proof that God does have a sense of humor.