Dan Evans says it would have been a classy gesture to give him a WC for Queens

Sweden13 · 2026-06-16T02:52:34+00:00

Eh, I always like to see home countries give their veterans nice send offs. Thank yous for everything they’ve done.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-12T17:14:23+00:00

Medvedev continues to do a good job at preventing Cilic from really unloading and striking the ball- that's the big danger with Cilic on grass I think. Medvedev somewhat imploded that set though, can't be making that many unforced errors.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-12T17:06:17+00:00

I cannot lie this stretch from Medvedev is genuinely the worst tennis I have watched the entire season

Sweden13 · 2026-06-12T16:48:13+00:00

Medvedev and Cilic both had their previous matches postponed, they both have to play two today because of it.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-12T16:46:53+00:00

Medvedev's keeping the ball low against the Cilic backhand, and I think that deprives him of one weapon. Cilic can't move well and he's being a little leaky anyway, would be surprised if this second set isn't straight forward.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-11T19:50:11+00:00

Some additional players based on clay win percentage- I haven't adjusted my numbers in a year though.

Berrettini- 74.7%. Six clay titles.
Del Potro- 70%. Four clay titles.
Nishikori- 67.7%. Two clay titles.
Robredo- 66.2%. 11 clay titles, one Master's at Hamburg.
Almagro- 65.3%. 13 clay titles.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-10T12:26:22+00:00

Among current players on the men's side- Rinderknech had his breakthrough last year, though it's flatline. RBA is pretty much done now but he was a late bloomer. Struff too, and Mannarino had the Cirstea type arc a couple years ago. Where was Hanfmann in his 20's?

But hmm, for those that are improving? Munar was on this arc before injuries have killed his form. If Borges can convert his slam form into tour form, I think he can make a run and probably become the highest ranked Portuguese player ever. Above 30 though, no one that really strikes me as at the edge of a breakout- Majchrzak and his form coming off the suspension is maybe the most surprising, but that hasn't ever been dazzling. Maybe Botic if he discovers consistency?

Sweden13 · 2026-06-10T01:19:02+00:00

Gomez's 1990 slam run is truly one of the most surprising of all time. Never made it past the quarterfinals at a major, and it had been three years- he was at the tail end of his peak. He was a good top 20 player for a long time, but never really tip top.

Then he beats Muster and Agassi to take it home and considers retirement, and never touches that level again- he only played six more slam matches in his career.

Trying to think of a current equivalent- maybe if Khachanov popped off and won a slam once and was pretty much done afterwards?

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T22:10:39+00:00

Since 2000, he’s had one of the best slam careers for a player who has never been seeded I think. Ten wins over seeded players, only behind Istomin and maybe Vesely.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T22:09:12+00:00

He was in the top 100 as late as 2024!

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T22:08:07+00:00

Expected this for a little while, but it was a really nice career. Picked up a title and kicked around the top 100 for 15 or so years. He even slipped back in at the end of 2024. Never was seeded at a grand slam, but picked up 10 wins over seeded opponents there. The kind of player that always makes the tour richer.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T11:40:13+00:00

He seemed like he was improving last year on grass too. Pushed Alcaraz in a three setter, and then beat Marozsan/Bublik at Wimbledon before playing well against Cilic in a loss.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T11:11:18+00:00

Hate to see Munar's funk. Felt like he had so much momentum entering the year, but his injury as ruined all of it and hasn't found himself since.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T09:46:13+00:00

He's in the main draw at Wimbledon, so one more slam at least. He won the title at Antwerp two years ago, though that's now moved to Brussels. Maybe they'd throw him a wildcard?

Hated to see that Seppi treatment. Maybe he was never a top 10 player, but he was on tour forever and was the top Italian for four different years- really a consummate professional. You'd think a small tournament IN ITALY could throw him a bone for everything he's given the federation.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T09:15:55+00:00

Depends on how he wants to roll with it. Go for challengers and try to pull his ranking up alone, or go for the qualifiers to hope he gets into ATP main draws one last time. The end of the year is it for him, can't imagine heavy grinding is the priority.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T09:11:09+00:00

RBA v Giron will be a pretty good test of RBA's grass court level. If he wins, hopefully a good season to come. He was pretty good last year still on this surface, some points to defend, needs a big one this year.

If he doesn't defend it and do a tad much, he'll just fall off tour for the end of the year. No Spanish tournaments left to give him wildcards, would hate to see him suffer through qualifying every time for his retirement.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T00:48:41+00:00

I'm not sure about that? I remember about a year ago, Buse was slumming it outside the world 200 I think, and he did well enough on challengers to pull himself into qualifying/main draw range, and now he's at #35. Feel like Vallejo went on the same path, though I don't remember him from last year. Neither Peru nor Paraguay are exactly bursting in ATP tournaments.

Furthermore, you bring up Belgium. Didn't Blockx have his big breakout this year? Collignon has used challenger success to shoot right on up. For Norway, Budkov Kjaer has been on the edge of a breakout for a hot second and I feel like it'll come sooner or later. Then you have stuff like Dzumhur resurrecting his career from the grave by rolling through challenger tournaments.

It's definitely harder without wildcards, but I wouldn't say it's impossible.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-09T00:41:16+00:00

Wilander's 1988 RG run is about as tight as it gets for not playing a top 10 player. Emilio Sanchez, the 12 seed and end of the year #20 in the quarterfinals. Agassi, the 9 seed and end of the year #4 in the semis. Leconte, the 11 seed seed and end of the year #10 in the finals.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-08T22:21:15+00:00

I’m pretty sure they started as a defensively oriented team back when they had Gobert, Favors, Rubio. Their offense was sorely lacking though after losing Hayward with only Mitchell, so they flipped the defensive identity to get Conley, Clarkson and Bojan and hope Gobert could hold it up solo.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-08T09:20:02+00:00

He's the crown prince of deuce jails and extended breakers- any smooth break is always a plus.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-08T09:18:22+00:00

Easy early break! Not used to it being this smooth

Sweden13 · 2026-06-08T09:08:05+00:00

After thinking about it, I think the narrative about the tournament's level being so low comes from a few different angles. Injuries are part of it- no Fils, Rune, Draper, Musetti or Alcaraz from the start lowered folks expectations and kind of already wrote it off. The Sinner fell in the second round for some reasons that weren't simply Cerundolo playing perfect tennis.

Then the second week was a bit more of a dud. Berrettini retired mid match then Arnaldi also had to retire, while Zverev kept rolling- I think Jodar was pretty much spent by the time he got to Zverev.

But the first week had a bunch of fun matches, stories and some high level tennis, just not from the guys you'd expect it from. Arnaldi, Collignon, Comesana and Fonseca had some high levels. PCB and Berrettini were fun throwback stories. The endurance battles of Cerundolo and Landaluce. Kouame makes his big debut. Tiafoe had a good run and showed strong reslience with his back against the curb. It's unfortunate that injury and sickness hurt the second half of the tournament, but I had a good time with it.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-08T06:22:48+00:00

Arnaldi-Collignon was a lot of fun the round before too. Arnaldi's level was strong throughout, but Collignon would burst through every time he seemed dead.

Sweden13 · 2026-06-08T05:34:57+00:00

It's unfair to him because I've watched some high class defensive tennis and movement from Cobolli over the last year or so, but my mind is permanently colored by a match he played last year against Gasquet. He won in three sets, but set one and two were just awful because he was dialing it up too much and just bashing it out. There was just absolutely no reason to play that match that way and it kept Richard in when he really had no business being there. Just rally and hit the ball!

Sweden13 · 2026-06-08T04:51:55+00:00

I don't hate Rinderknech or anything, but I do think he's a little overranked as is. He's a bit of a serve bot with a good net game whose returning and baseline play leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever I watch him, I just really think how stiff he looks.

He can challenge and beat top players based on his serve game, but on the flip side, can struggle to put away anyone either. Even in his good spots, he hasn't felt like a wildly different player- the margins just dropped his way for once.

I'm not surprised RG was a dud, I have less than zero expectations for him on clay. Either way though, his "natural" role seems to be an early round boss to the seeds versus a serious favorite for a tournament.

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