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Okay, what can we learn about the results at the French Open?  Never trust the "experts."  

There were fifteen so-called experts on ESPN panel's that picked the winners at the French Open, for a total of thirty picks.  

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/31532712/french-open-2021-experts-picks-our-gurus-see-rafael-nadal-coco-gauff-ash-barty-making-big-runs

Of the thirty "expert" picks, guess how many were correct?

Zero!!!  

Here's something to ask:  If Player X, who is clean, loses a match to Player Y, whom he suspects is doping, should he say something to the press after the match??

Probably not.  Well, why not?  Because he looks like a sore loser.        Let's ask another question:  If Player X had won the match, would he still have said something about Player Y possibly doping?  We all know the answer to that.  

So, if Player X would only make such a statement if he lost the match, then what would be his motive for making it in the first place?  Self-interest.  In other words, he's only complaining to deflect the blame for his loss.    

Now, let's look at what Tsitsipas had to say yesterday about the French Open final:
 

[Djokovic] left the court after two sets to love down, I don't know what happened there, but he came back to me like a different player suddenly.  Felt physically, anticipation maybe, just movement on the court, everything felt much more fresh and much better than before.  I don't know. I kind of felt like he could read my game a bit better suddenly. Good for him. He did well to get there.

Is he implying that Djokovic was doping?  Most likely.  And some people are lauding Tsitsipas for his "bravery" in making such a statement.  Well, why was he doing it?  I think we all know the answer.  

Now, do I think it's possible that Djokovic took some banned substance after being two sets down?  Yes, I think it's possible.  But such an accusation would carry much more weight if it had been made by someone neutral, such as another player who doesn't have strong feelings about either Tsitsipas or Djokovic.

Anyway, I'm certainly not saying that Djokovic is innocent, because I have no way of knowing that.  In fact, what Tsitsipas may be implying could well be true.  But it seems pretty clear that if you just lost a match, even if you thought your opponent was on gear, you should just suck it up and hope that someone neutral eventually comments about it.  

Just learned this—apparently Tsitsipas took a loooooooooong toilet break against Isner about a week ago in Paris, and then came back a different player almost, winning the next three sets.

Maybe someone needs to hand Tsitsipas a mirror.  

Let's see—just a couple of days ago, Tio Toni said this concerning the next two Grand Slams:

I do dare to maintain the confidence that it is my nephew who raises one of the two.

Well, now that el sobrino has announced his withdrawal from Wimbledon, maybe Toni would like to rejigger his "confidence level."  

I saw this recently and it's so good, I just had to post it.  Credit goes to a guy named Johnny Groove (not sure if he actually created the image or not).

Regardless of what you think of Djokovic, this clever "skit" shows how conventional wisdom is often just plain wrong—right in line with the failed predictions of the ESPN "experts" mentioned above.       Have to disagree with the final observation, though—I really don't think Djokovic will ever be as popular as Federer or Nadal, but who cares??    

Johnny should probably call this "The Making of a Clown."    

Read this elsewhere on the Web today (text unedited, but emphasis added by me):

I have a physical therapist who works with top tennis players, olympic athletes, and teams like the atlanta Braves, Boston Bruins, etc. and he is convinced tennis players are doping.

As a staunch Nadal fan, she also offers this about Djokovic:

It's also possible in the case of Djok he has an entirely legal mix, which he drinks when he is low on energy. Brad Gilbert has referred to Djok's "mixologist" many times, and Gilber, working for ESPN or NBC would never make allegations of anything illegal. Perhaps Djok's drinking something that is legal, that works, and may eventaully get banned, like Meldonium was.

And just yesterday, I read that infidelity was the main reason for Djokovic's two-year slump, and that he allegedly got caught red-handed with Genie Bouchard right before his loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon in 2016!!    

Recently, I read something interesting about Federer.  Apparently he behaves completely differently when the cameras are on than when they are off.  Here's a firsthand account that a tennis fan wrote about him, and it's absolutely shocking.  In fact, at first I had a hard time believing it.  This shows that the entire media portrayal of him as a "classy gentlemen" is a total fabrication, just as it was with Tiger Woods.  

I have been to Wimbledon since 2011, [and] there’s one time (during one of my first years there, cannot remember which year) Federer came out after practicing at the Aorangi Park. There were like 4-5 cameras waiting for him already, so we knew someone big was coming out. Then he came out, smiling, taking a pen from a fan and signing for the people there. Then 3 mins later, when those cameras turned off after filming enough, he stopped signing immediately, THREW THE PEN TO THE GROUND and walked away without looking back. Y’all can only imagine the awkward silence after that. All of us was just shocked that he did that in front of so many people, the fans, the journalists, cameramen, staffs, security guys, just so many people. F*** the elegant classy gentleman image of him. I was neutral towards him before that incident, after that, I became a hater until the day he retires and surely even after that.

A fantastic player, a genius on court, but a classless guy off court, hidden behind the gentleman image the media made for him. . . .

[By the way, w]e were all showing our things waiting for him to sign (and I got mine, in case you’re gonna say I did not get it so I was just salty).

Urgent injury update:   

Surprisingly, Djokovic and Gomez Herrera made it all the way to the doubles' final in Mallorca, but couldn't participate because the latter got "injured."  Wow, isn't it odd the way injuries happen just when you need them?  

And now Guy Forget is saying that Nadal was injured in the semifinal against Djokovic.     So, it took them almost two weeks to come up with this?  






Not the world's quickest thinkers, are they?      Obviously, this tragic injury is preventing Nadal from competing at Wimbledon as well.  ¡Lo siento!  

Interesting how Federer is now saying he'll wait to see how he does at Wimbledon before competing in the Olympics.  Translation:  I never planned to compete in the Olympics in the first place because of their stricter drug testing.  

Also, it's pretty funny to see how the cult of Fed is hyping up his chances at Wimbledon, some wondering if he could even win the title without dropping a set (no joke)!!!  🤪  Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he fails to even make the second week.

Basically, his winning Wimbledon again is just a big pipe dream.     Not impossible, but I'd say his chances are at most 5%.  Djokovic, who I would guess has about a 60% chance of winning, would have to be upset for that to ever happen.  Besides, I think plenty of the younger players like Berrettini could give this out-of-shape Federer a quick boot from the tournament too.  🥾   Actually, it's kind of sad—if you're still desperately hoping for a nearly 40-year-old player to win one more Slam, you must lead a very empty life.   

Anyway, there's a great slang term for this kind of delusional thinking:  hopium.  

Hey, give me my hopium, dude!!!    

Let's see—even though the Wimbledon authorities tried their very best to rig things for King Rogie, it still wasn't good enough.    






1) Medvedev confirmed in Russian that he was basically told that his match with Hurkacz would resume the next day—and wasn't aware that he really had any other options.  

2) Hurkacz prepared Rogie his first "bagel" ever at Wimbledon.  🥯

3) Hurkacz also handed Rogie his first straight-sets defeat there since 2002, even though about 70% of the voters on a popular tennis forum picked Rogie to win the match.    

I wouldn't be surprised if, in a few days, we hear something about him having an "injury."  

The Olympics?  Does anybody really expect him to go Tokyo?  Since he would have to stop his doping regimen well ahead of the Games, I'd say there's a 95% chance he just stays home.

Anyway, no biggie.  In the thinking of some of his most delusional fans, he could always try again in 2024.  

I don't expect Novak or Federer to play at the Olympics.

They cannot avoid the strict drug testing at the Olympics

Hi, KCshore.  Long time, no see.  

Well, apparently now they've announced there will be no crowds in Tokyo.  If that's accurate, it could affect their decisions as well.

Djokovic has already committed himself to going.  If he pulls out now, he'll look foolish.  But you may be right.  We'll just have to wait and see.  If he wins Wimbledon, I guess he could cite "fatigue" or something like that.  

According to this article, Djokovic is now undecided about whether to go to Tokyo:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/57799371

Djokovic had always planned to go to Tokyo but the fact it was announced last week that fans would not be allowed to attend because of a spike in coronavirus infections has affected his thinking.

"That was really disappointing to hear," he said. "I also hear that there's going to be a lot of restrictions within the [athletes'] village. Possibly you would not be able to see other athletes perform live.

"I can't even have my stringer that is very important part of my team. I'm limited with the amount of people I can take in my team as well.

Right now I'm a little bit divided. It's kind of 50-50 because of what I heard in the last couple days.

And now that he won Wimbledon today, he may be even less inclined to attend.  On the other hand, someone wrote this today on another board:  

Djokovic is Serbia, he cried after losing in Rio. He wants that Gold medal so badly, I'd say he is even desperate (in a good way). Played Tokyo for the first time in his career, 2 years ago, just for the sole purpose of getting used to the conditions. His rivals are not there, his chances to win are 95%.  If you believe he will miss out on what looks to be his last chance of winning the Gold medal for his country (not really, considering he can win Wimbledon while playing at 10% and the state of the upcoming players, but that's a personal opinion), you must have less than 3 braincells in your skull.

As for the U.S. Open, it's funny that Nadal is trying to get a head start on that.     Whoever wins the U.S. Open, I doubt it will be him.  If not Djokovic, then probably Medvedev or another of the younger guys.

Concerning Federer, if he wants to ever win a Grand Slam again, then he'd better hope that they add "evening wear" and "interview" segments to the competition!    

OK, didn't I tell ya??  I was pretty sure an "injury excuse" was coming.      Apparently Princess Rogie experienced a "setback" during the grass-court season with his knee, so now he "must withdraw" from the Olympic Games.   

This handy-dandy "injury" does two things:

1) Excuses his poor performance at Wimbledon.
2) Makes it seem like he has "no choice" but to withdraw from Tokyo.  

Interestingly enough, this completely contradicts what he said at the press conference right after the quarterfinals:

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/roger-federer-wimbledon-2021-quarter-final-press-conference-transcript

We all decided we only go on to the next step once it’s really solidified, so we don’t have any setbacks, and I’m happy we went that route, because I did not have any setbacks.

You know, maybe Federer should pick up a copy of Lying for Dummies.  

Well, a princess has gotta take good care of herself—perhaps now Princess Rogie can get plenty of manicures while resting that "bum knee."  

Delayed excuses?  When it comes to this tactic, apparently Rogie is king.     After reading the article below, you'll know that you can never take anything he says about "injuries" at face value.  







https://bleacherreport.com/articles/448795-roger-federer-getting-the-mental-edge-by-all-means-necessary

Federer has the occasional habit of delaying making excuses for a loss, sometimes for months.

This, in my opinion, is done to suit his particular needs with regards to getting some sort of edge over his opponent, or bolstering his waning sense of security before the Grand Slams.

In a recent interview before day one of the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, Roger Federer announced he had a variety of ailments during his run at the Masters event in Toronto in early August. . . .

These are, in effect, carefully planted insinuations as to why he lost to Andy Murray in the final of Toronto and are designed to get into the mind of his recent and subsequent opponents.

Federer has a history of blaming past losses to Murray on illness and injury.

At the beginning of the current season, he pinned his defeats at the hands of the Scot in 2008 on "mono" and a back ailment. This is an example of Federer's 'delayed excuse' tactic that he sometimes implements before important matches at the Slam events, and will be discussed later.

In his post-match interview after the final match, he praised Murray's new-found aggression and made only minimal excuses for his loss.

One could have deduced from these words that Federer was starting to have respect for his young rival—a player he is known to dislike simply because the talented Scot is one of the very few who has the resources to take him apart, not by brute force, but by tactical cunning.

Federer's respect, however, was short-lived, and as is so often the case before the majors, he needs to resort to explaining past defeats to strengthen what he perceives as his fading court presence, especially in the eyes of those who have dealt him heavy blows in the past.

Here's another article—by a different author—about Federer's clever excuse-making, this time concerning his bout of mononucleosis in 2008:   


https://bleacherreport.com/articles/609550-roger-federer-and-the-mono-myth-of-2008

Mononucleosis is a serious thing, or at least it can be. However, there is a big misconception among most people that having mono means a year-long fight filled with debilitating fatigue, fever, weight loss, etc.

Most people are wrong. Not about the symptoms or their debilitating effect, but about the length of time that most bouts with the virus last.

While there are certainly extreme cases of Mono causing lasting effects for many months or even years, these cases are extremely rare. Nearly all cases are mild, and all effects are gone in the matter of a few months.

So why am I giving this lesson on the so-called "kissing virus?"

Because once and for all I would like to put to bed a common myth that many fans of Roger Federer have been using to justify an abnormally unsuccessful 2008 campaign in which he lost to Rafael Nadal in both Roland Garros (a lopsided affair) and Wimbledon (a razor-sharp one). . . .

I don't doubt for a moment that Federer had mono. You won't hear me argue that it probably contributed to his demise at the Australian Open that year. I might even go as far as to agree that the last vestiges of the fatigue may have also hurt him during the spring hard court season, but that would be as far as I am willing to budge. . . .

It's these reasons [that are responsible for his losses] and not some lingering fatigue from an illness that by all accounts should have been out of his system for a couple of months by that point.

Wimbledon should have been a big indicator that everything was just fine considering the high level of play, and yet still it's mono that cost him the title and not Nadal's level of play.

There are reasons why we should know that Roger was perfectly fine come the clay season. One is that he himself said he was perfectly fine. . . .

A person with mono, especially against Nadal on clay could not play to that level; in fact, it could be argued that to play tennis at all, your mono cannot be that severe.

Apparently Djokovic really is planning to go to the Olympics after all.  So if he's doping, he'd better stop very soon!   

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/djokovic-olympics-2021-news

In Tokyo, apparently Djokovic will also be flirting—er, playing mixed doubles—with Nina Stojanovic, who's ten years younger.    

Dude definitely knows how to cover his bases.  






https://firstsportz.com/tennis-novak-djokovic-expected-to-play-mixed-doubles-at-tokyo-olympics-with-nina-stojanovic/

World No.1 Novak Djokovic will ‘most likely’ be seen in action in the mixed doubles event at the Tokyo Olympics too. This would give Djokovic another shot at an Olympic gold, which is still missing from his elusive cabinet.

He will be seen partnering Nina Stojanovic, Serbia’s No.1 doubles player. Speaking to the Serbian media, Nina reveled [sic] her excitement going into her first Olympics and revealed she would partner Aleksandra Krunic in the women’s doubles, and ‘most likely’ play the mixed doubles with Novak Djokovic. She also said that playing with Djokovic would help her learn a lot.

Interesting how Djokovic fell apart at the Olympics again.  Is this related to the stricter drug testing?  Just like Nadal last time, he ended up fourth.  

And now he just gave a "walkover" in his mixed-doubles match.  Frankly, that's really lame.  If you don't plan to finish what you started, don't enter the tournament!!       Nadal also did this in 2016, but right before the mixed doubles even began.

Overall, he looks severely drained, both mentally and physically.  If he's smart, he'll take at least a week off before doing anything else.

Here's something to think about:

1) Federer pulled out of the Olympics because of a "knee injury."  That's also the official reason he gave for withdrawing from the French Open.

2) Nadal says he was "injured" during the French Open semifinal, which is also why he couldn't attend Wimbledon or the Olympics.

3) Djokovic said he had a "shoulder issue" during the Olympic bronze-medal match, so that's why he had to withdraw from the mixed doubles.  

See a pattern here?  

As former ATP pro Wally Masur put it:  “Tennis players, and I guess this goes for a lot of sportsmen . . . cocoon themselves with excuses, lies, fabrications to protect their ego.”    

Someone wrote this perceptive comment on another board recently concerning Olympic tennis and doping:

1. Best-of-three format eliminates much of the advantage of blood doping, because clean opponents can play three strong sets just based on conditioning without EPO.

2. Testing is decent at the Olympics and horrible at ITF events. The only juice that can elude Olympic testing would be either micro-dosing of EPO or an EPO regimen that was ceased well in advance.

3. Djokovic’s ordinary secret sauce prospectively (just conjecturally based on common PED patterns across sport, and drugs that could help in tennis) could include EPO and/or blood transfusions, testosterone, corticosteroids, anabolic steroids (cycled on and off, and used particularly in the break before the Australian Open), and stimulants. It would be extremely difficult to beat the Olympic testing regimen while using testosterone, corticosteroids, anabolic steroids, or stimulants. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), those are the drugs that would help in a tournament of three-set matches.

In other news, today Fognini played with a rainbow headband and two rainbow wristbands during his match in Toronto.  Apparently he did so because he was afraid he might've "offended" homosexuals by using the Italian word for fa**ot during the Olympics.  Although I don't approve of the use of coarse language on the court, which is inappropriate and unprofessional, to call his outburst "homophobic" is ridiculous.       It's also interesting that Holger Rune got fined heavily for the same behavior about a month ago, whereas the ATP did absolutely nothing to Fognini.  

It seems that he's now actually being criticized by people who doubt his sincerity.     Well, if you give an inch to radical groups like that, they'll take a mile.  Trying to appease them is a huge mistake.  Anyway, Fognini comes across as a total suck-up and wimp.  

Finally, Djokovic has now withdrawn from Cincinnati. That might actually be for the best, since he seemed so worn out in Tokyo.

neptune wrote:Hi, KCshore.  Long time, no see.   

Well, apparently now they've announced there will be no crowds in Tokyo.  If that's accurate, it could affect their decisions as well.

Djokovic has already committed himself to going.  If he pulls out now, he'll look foolish.  But you may be right.  We'll just have to wait and see.  If he wins Wimbledon, I guess he could cite "fatigue" or something like that.   

Hi I havent checked the forum for awhile.

Interesting to see Novak struggle at the Olympics and have a meltdown, we didnt see any super hero displays at the Olympics.  

Disappointing, he couldn't commit to the mixed doubles bronze medal match.  Obviously, he only cared about himself and winning gold in the singles.  Now the pressure is on for him to win the US open.

KCshore wrote:
Hi I havent checked the forum for awhile.

That's okay—you're not the only one.  

Interesting to see Novak struggle at the Olympics and have a meltdown, we didnt see any super hero displays at the Olympics.

Well, he was impressive in the early rounds, as well as in the first half of the match against Zverev.  Then everything just fell apart.  

Obviously, he only cared about himself and winning gold in the singles.

Right—and that's why you should never play doubles with a superstar.  Chances are, they'll treat you like a rag doll, and just dump you if the conditions don't suit them.     I'm not sure if Federer has done this too, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Now the pressure is on for him to win the US open.

True, but probably less than there would've been had he just cleaned up in Tokyo.  I suspect that he'll be more focused now.  I'd give him about a 50% chance of winning.  Nadal, no more than 10%.    

As for the latter, he just pulled out of Toronto and Cincinnati, citing an "injury," I believe.     He's like the boy who cried wolf—I mean, he's lied so many times, even if he did have a real injury, why would you ever be inclined to believe him?   Apparently, since 2009, he's pulled out of zero clay events that he's entered, but about 35% of hard-court events!  

Athletes and doping?  Well, that's just another day at the Olympics!!   

It seems that most recently, around 1.5% of Olympic athletes get busted for doping, with half of them getting caught years later.  For instance, a whopping 42 medalists from the 2012 Olympics were disqualified, 18 of whom were actually gold medalists.       There's now a ten-year window for testing Olympic athletes, so we won't know the official medal count for Tokyo until 2031!!    

The article below discusses this and more:

https://theconversation.com/doping-has-become-inevitable-at-the-olympics-and-who-wins-gold-in-tokyo-might-not-be-certain-until-2031-163881

There have been doping scandals at every Olympics in my lifetime and a few before, reaching back to the middle of the 20th century. Now, because of the lag between new drugs coming into sport and the development of reliable drug tests, there’s a 10-year retrospective testing window. This leaves the question of exactly who wins what an open question for a decade.

With the testing window used for the 2012 London Olympics now closed (it used to be eight years), we only now have a final account of both medals and doping at those games. . . .

Because doping has become so much a part of the Olympics, one wonders whether the inevitable doping scandals in Tokyo will be as earth-shattering as they once were, or whether the public will merely shrug.

This year's Olympics saw a number of Records and Personal Best broken in the track and field and swimming events

UK Sprinter in the relay team has tested positive to performance enhancing drugs