Indian Wells - thoughts so far...
Medvedev is looking awesome again and is on a winning streak. He was particularly impressive in his match with Zverev when he twisted his ankle and then adapted his playing style to win the match. Mentally he is exceptional even if he has regular childish outbursts e.g. arguing with the umpire over when the balls should be changed when he is totally in the wrong! Like many tennis players he can appear unbalanced during the battle and then become calm and composed when off the court.
Cam Norrie will be extremely disappointed in the way he played against Tiafoe last night especially after his demolition of Rublev in the previous round. Just shows how difficult tennis is and every day is a new one especially there in the desert with changing conditions. Tiafoe is good news for tennis though and great to watch, so it could be an interesting match with Medvedev in the semi final? Interesting how much Tiafoe puts his improvement down to his growing maturity, but not surprising.
In the top half we have 4 of the world's top young players and all good role models with Alcaraz v Auger-Aliasime and Fritz v Sinner, so tennis is in good shape even without Novak and Rafa playing! I'd love to see Alcaraz play Fritz but any combination here for the semi will be good viewing.
Raducanu is rightly pleased with her efforts and would seem to be on the right track. If she can stay
injury-free for a decent spell, I would be surprised if she doesn't begin to make serious inroads to most tournaments. Patience is required from the general public and she will flourish, in my opinion. I love watching her style of play although I wish that she would come to the net more often as she has such good volleys and gives herself lots of possibilities to do so!
Swiatek - thoughts on Ukraine
In terms of big picture stuff it was very interesting to hear Iga's thoughts on the support that should be given to Ukraine players, especially in light of Lesia Tsurenko's (Ukraine) withdrawal from the women's singles when due to play Sabalenka (Belarus). Her withdrawal came after a panic attack induced by the lack of sympathy she received (in her view) from Steve Simon, the WTA chief executive when discussing Ukraine and Russia.“A few days ago, I had a conversation with our WTA CEO, Steve Simon, and I was absolutely shocked by what I heard. He told me that he himself does not support the war, but if the players from Russia and Belarus support it, then this is only their own opinion and the opinion of other people should not upset me. At the same time, he noted that if this had happened to him and he had been in my place he would have felt terrible.”
Swiatek contributed to the discussion with the following:
“There is a lot of tension in the locker room" said Swiatek following her last-16 win over Emma Raducanu.
"Obviously, it's going to be there because there is a war. But maybe it would be a little bit less if the WTA put some action at the beginning to kind of explain to everybody what is right and what is not.
I totally understand why she [Tsurenko] withdrew. I respect the Ukrainian girls so much because if a bomb landed in my country or if my home was destroyed, I don't know if I could handle that.
I feel there should be done a little bit more to help Ukrainian players because I feel like everything we discuss in tennis is more about Belarusian and Russian players and if they should be allowed.
I don't think that's right because we should focus more on helping Ukrainian players and providing them everything that they need. They basically have to take care of like all their families, and there's a lot of baggage on their shoulders."
Swiatek was also critical of Russian player Anastasia Potapova for wearing a Spartak Moscow football shirt ahead of her loss to Jessica Pegula at Indian Wells.
"To be honest, I was surprised," she said.
"I thought the player realised that she should not, even if she is a fan of the team, show her views in this way at such times.
I've talked to the WTA, and in a way I found out that there should be less such situations because they will explain to other players that you can't promote any Russian teams these days, which reassured me a bit."
Wimbledon and the Olympic committee now have to make their mind up soon re the participation of Russian competitors at this year's events, so the debate will continue.....
Medvedev is looking awesome again and is on a winning streak. He was particularly impressive in his match with Zverev when he twisted his ankle and then adapted his playing style to win the match. Mentally he is exceptional even if he has regular childish outbursts e.g. arguing with the umpire over when the balls should be changed when he is totally in the wrong! Like many tennis players he can appear unbalanced during the battle and then become calm and composed when off the court.
Cam Norrie will be extremely disappointed in the way he played against Tiafoe last night especially after his demolition of Rublev in the previous round. Just shows how difficult tennis is and every day is a new one especially there in the desert with changing conditions. Tiafoe is good news for tennis though and great to watch, so it could be an interesting match with Medvedev in the semi final? Interesting how much Tiafoe puts his improvement down to his growing maturity, but not surprising.
In the top half we have 4 of the world's top young players and all good role models with Alcaraz v Auger-Aliasime and Fritz v Sinner, so tennis is in good shape even without Novak and Rafa playing! I'd love to see Alcaraz play Fritz but any combination here for the semi will be good viewing.
Raducanu is rightly pleased with her efforts and would seem to be on the right track. If she can stay
injury-free for a decent spell, I would be surprised if she doesn't begin to make serious inroads to most tournaments. Patience is required from the general public and she will flourish, in my opinion. I love watching her style of play although I wish that she would come to the net more often as she has such good volleys and gives herself lots of possibilities to do so!
Swiatek - thoughts on Ukraine
In terms of big picture stuff it was very interesting to hear Iga's thoughts on the support that should be given to Ukraine players, especially in light of Lesia Tsurenko's (Ukraine) withdrawal from the women's singles when due to play Sabalenka (Belarus). Her withdrawal came after a panic attack induced by the lack of sympathy she received (in her view) from Steve Simon, the WTA chief executive when discussing Ukraine and Russia.“A few days ago, I had a conversation with our WTA CEO, Steve Simon, and I was absolutely shocked by what I heard. He told me that he himself does not support the war, but if the players from Russia and Belarus support it, then this is only their own opinion and the opinion of other people should not upset me. At the same time, he noted that if this had happened to him and he had been in my place he would have felt terrible.”
Swiatek contributed to the discussion with the following:
“There is a lot of tension in the locker room" said Swiatek following her last-16 win over Emma Raducanu.
"Obviously, it's going to be there because there is a war. But maybe it would be a little bit less if the WTA put some action at the beginning to kind of explain to everybody what is right and what is not.
I totally understand why she [Tsurenko] withdrew. I respect the Ukrainian girls so much because if a bomb landed in my country or if my home was destroyed, I don't know if I could handle that.
I feel there should be done a little bit more to help Ukrainian players because I feel like everything we discuss in tennis is more about Belarusian and Russian players and if they should be allowed.
I don't think that's right because we should focus more on helping Ukrainian players and providing them everything that they need. They basically have to take care of like all their families, and there's a lot of baggage on their shoulders."
Swiatek was also critical of Russian player Anastasia Potapova for wearing a Spartak Moscow football shirt ahead of her loss to Jessica Pegula at Indian Wells.
"To be honest, I was surprised," she said.
"I thought the player realised that she should not, even if she is a fan of the team, show her views in this way at such times.
I've talked to the WTA, and in a way I found out that there should be less such situations because they will explain to other players that you can't promote any Russian teams these days, which reassured me a bit."
Wimbledon and the Olympic committee now have to make their mind up soon re the participation of Russian competitors at this year's events, so the debate will continue.....
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