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Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

7 Jun

https://twitter.com/amigatehouse/status/1401918164888342531

People find that satisfying? A super-talented young player emerges and plays 2.5 hours of jaw-dropping, world-beating tennis…and then enough time passes for regression to the mean and normal programming resumes, and it’s deflating. Djokovic earns the win, sure, but yawn.

https://twitter.com/amigatehouse/status/1401918164888342531

Part of the appeal of sports, I truly believe, is that anything can happen. The any given Sunday principle that sees things like Mickelson winning in his 50s.

In men’s tennis at Slams, the margins are just too big to ever derail the top guys, and it’s cruise control to a fault.

Thankfully for tennis, the ATP and ITF have seen the light here, retiring the obsolete best-of-five format at Olympics, ATP finals, Masters finals, and Davis Cup.

When the best deal Grand Slam tennis can get is Peacock, it’s time for the Slams to see the writing on the wall too.

Read 4 tweets

Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

7 Jun

Djokovic 6-1 in the third with some ease, upping his level after an off-court break and running away with it. #RG21

And now Djokovic already up a break in the fourth. #RG21

And now Musetti can’t even win points.

Djokovic halfway to a golden set in the fourth, 12 points to none.

Mamma mia.

Read 5 tweets

Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

14 Oct 20

OK, so here is the story of Sam Querrey fleeing Russia after testing positive for coronavirus:

[thread]

49th-ranked Sam Querrey entered the ATP 500 St. Petersburg, and was slated to face second-seeded Denis Shapovalov in the first round of the main draw.

Before that match, however, Sam tested positive for coronavirus.

So, too, did Sam's wife, Abby, and eight-month-old son, Ford.

The three Querreys were instructed to quarantine for 14 days at their hotel in St. Petersburg.

As the St. Petersburg Four Seasons is famous across the tour for being fancy as all heck, this was something the Querrey family was purportedly very ready to obligingly do.

But then,

Read 13 tweets

Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

28 Jun 20

Sascha Zverev six days ago after Adria Tour coronavirus cluster:

“I deeply apologize to anyone that I have put at risk...I will proceed to follow self-isolating guidelines...stay safe 🙏.”

Sascha Zverev four hours ago:

This is my concern with tennis attempting to come back mid-pandemic: not that precautions can’t be taken, but that too many tennis players are conditioned to be wildly self-centered and have no concept of how to act for the greater interest of a larger group.

Philipp Plein has already deleted the frame of his Instastory that most clearly showed Zverev partying today.

No matter how lazy, sloppy and selfish players are about following public health guidelines mid-pandemic, they sure can spring to quick action to cover their asses.🥳😐

Read 10 tweets

Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

7 May 20

Undaunted, ATP #1 Novak Djokovic continues to give his big platform over to some truly nutty pseudoscience blabber.

Not as potentially dangerous as being anti-vaccines, but NO, you cannot change the molecular structure of water with your emotions, ffs.

And by big platform, look at these numbers Djokovic has already gotten for this content.

That’s why it matters what he puts out and espouses and endorses.

To be clear, Djokovic himself was the one who first introduced this stuff about water changing from emotions into the conversation on his Instagram, saying that mindfulness can make unhealthy food more nutritious, and that dinner table arguments can make good less nutritious.