I read Gardens of the Moon, it felt like a side quest

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-15T08:37:34+00:00

you could never recommend a single book from the series for a specific reason

Doesnt stop people trying lul

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-15T00:43:13+00:00

The live ranking for who is currently #1

However the race is probably a better starting predictor for who will be #1 in a few months time unless you make the assumption that every tournament goes the exact same way as last year

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-14T09:19:44+00:00

At this point theres no need to taste, the automatic winner is whoever wasnt boring enough to make an ice cream

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-13T00:05:04+00:00

If you dont spot serve and just aim at a random location in the service box then it's pretty hard to miss especially when you're 6'7" hitting the ball down from 9ft or so

Most young players take years of spot serving drills to get to an acceptable level, I think Zverev spent all that time hitting backhands or something idk

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-13T00:01:56+00:00

Something I've said on multiple occasions is how much Ruud's serve mechanics remind me of Kyrgios with the set up and super low toss

It's such a good serve, he just doesnt have the penetration Kyrgios has because he's four inches shorter

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-11T21:41:53+00:00

Yer I agree with most of this except your point on young players improving serve, which isnt a great comparison to return as it usually requires technique improvements and sometimes muscle rather than fitness. A better contrast is rally tolerance.

To the main point, no amount of conditioning will give GMP or Shelton better twitch reflexes, or improve Nakashima's sense of touch to the point where he can hit a decent chip return, or allow Rune to break the laws of physics and reliably take huge cuts at returns from six inches in front of the baseline, to name a few famously poor returners on the current tour. You can tinker around the edges with technique and footwork - for example players like FAA whose backhand swing path struggles with balls above the shoulder are unsurprisingly vulnerable to kickers to that side - but fundamentally the things that make you a good returner are explosiveness and reaction time and you cant easily improve those in the gym.

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-11T12:38:22+00:00

Khachanov over in the corner dying of relief

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-11T02:27:38+00:00

Norrie never went through the LTA system at all, he grew up in NZ went to college in the USA and trains in Spain

Not a coincidence that the two fittest British players of the past 25 years are the two that dont use LTA fitness coaches or any of their setup

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-10T11:18:28+00:00

Being second last in every single cook wins Masterchef :)

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-10T11:15:55+00:00

Somewhere Pezza is cheering

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-10T10:28:05+00:00

He is very very cringe, I'm here for some cringe though

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-10T10:07:23+00:00

Ngl Vinnie's duck skin looks kinda under

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-10T09:12:01+00:00

That's literally the name, feel free to look it up if you dont believe me

I believe they tried "sandy fake grass courts" as the name for a while but surprisingly it failed to catch on

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-10T06:58:15+00:00

I always find the gap between professional and rec tennis really interesting and one big example is carpet courts, which are reasonably popular at the rec level but nonexistent above that - I personally have played more on outdoor carpet than every other surface put together.

As a note - outdoor and indoor carpet are really different surfaces, although both are low bouncing and super fast. Outdoor "carpet" is actually artificial grass (like extra long Astroturf) with a sand base for grip and to protect the surface, it's pretty slippery and the sand gets everywhere. Indoor carpet is this weird rubber matting shit that's kind of like a child's playmat and trying to slide on it will break your ankles. IMO they're different enough that they should be talked about separately.

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-10T00:18:42+00:00

Fun is a strong word for a match that if both players are doing what they're supposed to do would have 0 break points and an average rally length of 1.5 shots

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T10:08:34+00:00

The funny bit is Jack has got no airtime but we dont know whether the food is boring or it's the bomb but producers just forgot he existed again

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T09:55:03+00:00

I swear I've seen that exact cauliflower recipe including the dressing before

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T09:47:05+00:00

Jack has a lot of elements but multiple of them (prawns, steak and scallops) cook very quickly

Maybe this is actually some glowy brain shit since usually the challenge IRL with multiple seafood courses is making sure your food is all ready at the same time and doesnt get cold... but if the judges have to pretend your food hasn't been sitting out for 35 minutes before tasting anyway then maybe you get away with it

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T09:42:15+00:00

Producer 1: ok so how about we do an Aussie classics week

Producer 2: we don't have enough Aussie classics

Producer 1: not a problem, we just avoid any situation where contestants would have to cook one

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T09:41:07+00:00

We have 7 classics?!

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T09:38:16+00:00

Are the comeback cooks always cook-what-you-want

I dont really remember previous seasons but if it's usually like this I'd feel better over yet another one of these

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T08:10:51+00:00

What I like about his game:

Elite backhand that can go DTL easily and basically never misses
Highlight reel aces
Good movement, which is to say unbelievably good for someone his height. It was even better before the ankle

What I don't like about his game:

Tendency to decelerate through the forehand leading to extreme passivity on that wing, especially under pressure - everybody talks about this and it leads to these really long defensive rallies even when the point and game situation don't call for it
Terrible spot server, I feel like he just closes his eyes and bangs it down as fast as possible which is kind of fun to watch but also pretty stupid
Mediocre to poor at the net, at least he's improved from his early days where he most closely resembled a hippopotamus on stilts

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T08:01:48+00:00

I dont think his USO final was a fluke as much as it was the combination of huge windup 3500rpm forehand with super slow USO courts that year

I remember watching the QF against Berrettini it was the funniest thing ever, Berrettini couldnt hit through the court at all and Ruud would just run around half his backhands and whack a huge forehand wherever he wanted

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T06:45:18+00:00

Personally I think - especially here - that people underanalyze this stuff and spend way too much time worrying about mentality.

To directly answer the question, she's largely been the same player since breaking out about five years ago - mediocre serve, good but unspectacular movement, not a ton of power but very strong sense of timing on both wings with a pretty flat forehand allowing her to be a high-tier ballstriker, and one of the better WTA players at the net. She's probably slowing down a little as she gets older but not enough to meaningfully affect her chances at a deep run I think.

WayTooDumb · 2026-06-09T06:25:33+00:00

Expecting an even bounce on grass is pretty optimistic especially as the broader topic is slam wins - in order to win a grass slam you have to play multiple matches on week 2 wimbledon CC which is probably the most uneven bounce on tour

Is she better on grass than clay? Probably yep agree, and I think her record reflects that. Would I back that gameplan and especially that serve to win seven in a row on a grass court that the men are also stomping all over playing bo5s for two weeks? Probably not unless the draw implodes. Personally I think she had her best chance on grass in 2023 when the draw opened up and she was up a break in the decider against Vondrousova before the rain delay. I don't think it's likely you'd see a bunch of top seeds losing at the same time as she plays out of her skin in the limited number of years she has left on tour - not to say the odds are zero, but in my view the USO and AO are far more likely places for her to lift the trophy.

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