tennis, life and a few sports in between

Gosh, an idiot chair empire called the winning match point IN when it was two inches OUT, robbing Czech player Barbora Krejčíková her win!!! Thanks lord she held her cool and won eventually. I can’t image if the out come was different. Her opponent the Greek player Maria Sakkari was annoying toward end of the match, challenging every line call when it was clearly  three inches OUT.

What’s wrong with the French when Hawkeye is available?  This French Open is ladened with bad line calls, one after another. In this semi-final match, the idol made at least two wrong calls!!!

Fire him!!!

想象: 你第一次赢大满贯的半决赛 满心欢喜 … 但是你的对手不甘心 说 “俺的🎾没有出界.” 裁判从高脚椅爬下来 左👀右👀 然后曰 “没有出界.” 简直是放p: Hawkeye 重放 🎾落在线外足足有两寸. 有现成精准的方法为什么不用?! 这个混账裁判不应该再用 炒他鱿鱼🦑.

进半决赛 的四个娃都没有赢过大满贯 说她们名不经传 一点都不过分: 平均年龄25.5; 赛场上收入29岁的俄国娃最多$10m 最年轻23岁只有$1m. (39岁的小威$94m – 不要忘记她开始时的奖金没有现在多: 1999年她18岁赢第一个大满贯美国公开赛冠军奖金$750,000 而2020年美网是$3m.)

四娃三个非常安静 第二对打的挺紧张 需要第三局一决胜负. 土耳其娃长的像关公 行动像男人 哇啦哇啦叫的像男人. 她的品行差. 第三局最后不停挑战球线 明明出去一球之多她也敢挑. 讨厌鬼 好开心她输了. [鼓掌]

斯洛文尼亚🇸🇮 妞沉得住气. 赢回本来已经赢的赛事. 新鲜事 日日有 [晕]

Look dad I just won! -:)

Björn Borg’s 18 years older son Leo won a junior match on he day exactly 40 years ago his father won his last French Open title. Sweet.

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, advanced to semi. Tsitsipas said in the past that Medvedev’s game is boring -:). He has won Monte Carlo, Monaco this April, interestingly, the same tourney his mother had won in 1981, exactly three decades ago, pretty cool. Serena’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou has been busy. For the past few years, he has taking on more players as her career winding down. Tsitsipas is one of them.

🎾腰酸背痛🎾 5am-5pm 朝五晚五
不知道一老太婆怎么会老觉得时间不够用

今天12 小时连轴转 结果挺满意
Stefanos Tsitsipas beat the craps out of that gangster looking Russian
西西帕斯 (?) 击败了那个看起来像黑帮的俄罗斯人

西西的妈妈也是打网球 1981年赢了蒙特卡洛赛 (法网热身赛) 今年西西布老妈后尘也赢了 好巧合 恭喜喔 [Party]
最近最忙的就是小威的教练 小威来日方短 所以他几年前就开始收其他学生 西西是其一. 双方都挺合适 祝合作愉快有成果 [Party] 🏆

In the video, Serena’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou says, “Champions are never scared to make changes and bring evolutions to their game. They know that it is the only way to keep being competitive and stay at the top. Tennis should have the same attitude and accept to move its format.”

He’s so right. 10 years ago the average fans’ age was 51 years old. Today is 61 … so it’s like the classical music – no new blood. IF you still think to hang on to your so called tradition, you’ll be dying very soon. Champions reinvent themselves all the time.

Recently, Naomi Osaka decided to forgo the press conference and was fined $15,000. She then quitted French Open altogether, citing her mental health. I remembered that she describes herself as an introvert. 

Funny, in one of New Yorker’s recycles, I saw this one, “Now when people tell me, ‘Hey, you’re kind of an asshole,’ I can just smile and respond, ‘No, I’m an introvert, and that means I can do whatever I want.'”

Perfectly fitting.

Venus Williams responded to the topic by saying, “For me personally how I deal with it was that I know every single person asking me a question can’t play as well as I can and never will. So no matter what you say or what you write, you’ll never light a candle to me. That’s how I deal with it.”

Well said, with one correction: it should be hold the candle to me, which means you’re not as good. 

Below was a 1995 or 1999 interview of Venue (1980-) who was only 14 at the time. There are video clips on the Blavity, text are repost below:

Venus Williams’ 1999 Interview Is A Reminder She’s Always Been The S**t And She Always Knew It

The game may have changed, but not Venus’ confidence.

by DeMario P. Smith
June 02, 2021

Tennis star Venus Williams entered the limelight of the athletic world as a young girl, breaking barriers as she and her sister Serena dominated the sport. Venus, however, is no stranger to the demands and rigors of being a young athletic star, consistently expressing her confidence in her winning ability.

In a resurfaced clip from a 1995 ABC News interview, an adolescent Venus is drilled with questions about her views on her competition by a reporter. After Venus shares that she feels “very confident” going up against a competitor, the white reporter asks her where her confidence might come from.

“You say it so confidently, why?” He asked.

“Cause I believe it,” Venus responded flatly.

Her father Richard ultimately stepped in and checked the reporter about trying to jeopardize the image of a 14-year-old girl.

“What she said, she said it with so much confidence the first time,” he began. “This child is going to be out there playing when your old ass and me are gonna be in the grave.”

“You’re dealing with a little Black kid and let her be a kid, leave her alone! She done answered it with a lot of confidence. Leave that alone!” Richard added.

With her father handling the ABC reporter, one Twitter user said Venus is shown on the video diverting her attention away from the conversation as if to express “daddy’s got this.”

Another user wrote that situations like the one shown in the clip happen far too often for Black youth, many of whom do not have the constant protection of their parents.

“The subtle pathological questioning, undermining, and demeaning of black children goes unchecked far too often. Too many parents can’t be there to do just this. How fortunate they were to have such a fierce and competent protector.” they wrote.

Venus echoed her confidence yet again during an interview after a first-round loss at Roland Garros.

The 40-year-old former No. 1 WTA player was asked by reporters how she copes with the media, to which she emphasized her greatness and purpose. She said that the people who critique her will never be as good as her on the court.

“For me personally, how I cope, how I deal with it, was that I know every single person asking me a question can’t play as well as I can and never will,” Venus said. “So no matter what you say, or what you write, you’ll never light a candle to me. That’s how I deal with it. But each person deals with it differently.”

Venus made the remark following fellow tennis star Naomi Osaka’s announcement to boycott media interviews at the French Open, which she has since withdrawn from.

Patrick Mouratoglou has been posting short videos on FB that I found very useful. Here is one:

” … they all tell you ‘I want to be number one in the world.’ How many believe it? They all wish to be #1 but very few want to be #1. To be able to want it, you have to first believe it. 99% of the players they wish and they don’t believe. So, they don’t do everything on a daily basis to become #1 because they don’t believe deep inside. There are so many doubts. If you let the doubt take you, you’re done. Serena and Venus’ father says, ‘Never let the doubt enter your house’.”

• on change

Tennis elbow and bad knee, maybe it’s just simply the old age symptom. Went to see my doc who gave me a bright yellowish box, Tibetree pain relieving plaster. Inside, it has 5 single plasters. “Change every eight hours.”

Inside each plaster, there is a pat and a tube, the size of soy sauce from the fast food. Pour it over the pat and stick it on.

After I posted this on WeChat, a friend said she had huge allergic reaction after using it. My reaction? Nothing. I felt nothing and feel it did nothing for me. Eagerness to return to the court keeps me using it.

$15 from my doctor but on their web site, it sells for $18.70. I called their (800) 360-6219, after a few rings, a woman answered it casually, as if it’s her home phone. They don’t sell to retail stores and for individual customers, we should buy it online. For whole sale to the doctors’ office, the package contains 36 at $421. “We’re running 15% discount currently,” she said, which comes out about $10 per box of five. It may not be a bad idea.

Ok, it’s the linecall again.

My partners second serve. The net person called it out  and the receiver called it in but failed to return. She immediately said, “serve again.” Then they both said, “second serve.”

In league play, it was our point.

Regardless they knew the rule or not, it seemed gracious-less.