Tripp’s Tennis Talk

ATP #5 and BNP Paribas Open reigning champion Taylor Fritz opened his title defense with a challenging 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Ben Shelton in which the serve and forehand figured prominently for both players. It was their first career meeting in what has the potential of becoming a long-running rivalry. Meanwhile, #1 seed Carlos Alcaraz returned to big-tournament tennis with a breezy 6-3, 6-3 strol...

Oasis (n.) "a fertile spot in a desert, where water is found." There was enough water today to cause a rain delay! Is Daniil Medvedev back? It certainly appears that way. First, he's back in terms of results; today he won his 15th consecutive match, beating Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-3 in a fun one with several long exciting rallies, one of which featured a Nakashima tweener. Second, it sounds like...

In another kiboshed performance, 2020 US Open Champion and former ATP #3 Dominic Thiem squandered a set-and-break lead to Adrian Mannarino, falling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 to the Frenchman. It was 5-5 in the final set tiebreak. Thiem's tantalizing failure punctuated a horrid start to his 2023 campaign (1-7 match record). Thiem's body language was visibly anguished throughout the match. The former Indian Wel...

Gael Monfils returns to tennis after an injury layoff as a new dad. La Monf's comeback ended swiftly at the hands of Jordan Thompson but Gael feels "blessed" just the same. Yibing Wu had an encounter with the net on match point. Jaume Munar noticed. Aurelie Tourte did not notice. Yibing Wu was awarded the victory. Two Wus won today: Yibing and Tung-Lin. That must be a first. Plus - a journalist as...

Shaking off the cobwebs for sure. It will take a few pods to get the rhythm back. Music - Earthbound track arranged by Jorge Fuentes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBhyhRCYQvk

Novak Djokovic overcame the deportation saga and eight tennis players (seven opponents and himself) to win a record-tying twenty-second grand slam Sunday night in Rod Laver Arena. Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 in the Men's Singles Final. The day before, Aryna Sabalenka outslugged Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win the Women's Singles Championship. Let's talk about all that and mo...

On Thursday, Rybakina beat Azarenka 7-6, 6-3 and Sabalenka beat Linette 7-6, 6-2. Let's talk about it.

Novak Djokovic crushed Andrey Rublev 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 Wednesday night in Melbourne. Earlier in the day, Tommy Paul ended Ben Shelton's run 7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, Aryna Sabalenka crushed Donna Vekic and her serve 6-3, 6-2, and Magda Linette upset (30) Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 to reach her first career major semifinal.   Topic List: What happened in the quarterfinal matches? What do the results mean for...

"It could get a little bit raucous."

It was a highly enjoyable Day 7 from Melbourne. Every match had something interesting associated with it. I focus mainly on the day session matches, including Deep Dives for Swiatek-Rybakina and Khachanov-Nishioka. Jessica Pegula feels like the favorite now. Tsitsipas solidified his "contender" status; he's 1B to Djokovic's 1A. Rybakina may be legitimate after all. Oh, Felix; same old, same old. A...

It's a bunch of set scores and frosting-level-froth-on-the-top freezing cold barely-takes. Stay away!

Sir Andrew Murray beat World #14 Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6 on Tuesday for his best win at a major in six years. That and more on today's brief voice note.

It was a fairly standard day of grand slam tennis to open the season. Some contenders dominated, some contenders survived, but each of them got through. Some matches not so interesting, some much more intriguing. The top-line result of the day is certainly Rafael Nadal's 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory, but there were plenty of protracted matches around the grounds; shoutouts to Rinky Hijikata, Lloyd H...

Today on TTT, I preview the 2023 Australian Open. I break down the draws by quarter, give my second week picks, shoutout the grand slam debutants, provide the TV schedule, and take a live look at the Day 1 OOP. Player audio timestamps: Coco Gauff 18:25, Iga Swiatek 26:43, Rafael Nadal 38:05, Nick Kyrgios 55:16. Hype music is from old ESPN tennis broadcasts. Let's enjoy the first major of the year!

On today's podcast, I break down Alex De Minaur's 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory against Rafael Nadal, examine Alexander Zverev's psyche and Taylor's Fritz's form in a 6-1, 6-4 rout for the American, read all the January 2 scores, preview the January 3 schedule, and struggle mightily to pronounce the names of players.

A short update to preview both the week ahead and tonight.

"Who wants to spend Christmas in a tropical climate, anyway?"

Tripp and Bill preview the 2023 tennis season live in-person. Topics discussed include our predictions for Year-End #1, who will win majors and how many will they win, breakout player of the year, and some prop-bet-style questions, such as guessing if The Big 2 will still be playing in 2024.

The exits of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz, and Simona Halep, among others, signal that many players have a genuine chance to win this tournament. Serena Williams looked very comfortable tonight and she gets at least one more singles match. Thiem isn’t quite ready to come out of the oven yet but he can get there. It’s Day 1 in New York and major tournament tennis is back! Kyrgios beat Kokkinaki...

Who will prevail in New York? Bill comes on to talk tennis.

Borna "Born Again" Coric and "Sweet" Caroline Garcia are your singles winners for Cincinnati 2022. I apologize for the obligatory puns and will do better next time. Borna Coric absolutely punished the yellow spheroid this week. Stefanos Tsitsipas has some issues he needs to work out. Caroline Garcia exhibited a great deal of poise. Petra Kvitova didn't leave with a trophy but still had a great wee...

Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day (actually please don't). Showers and thunderstorms impacted the Western & Southern Open on Saturday but in the end, the tournament completed the entire order of play. Awesome! Petra Kvitova came back to break down Madison Keys' game 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a high-stakes, high-quality, and rain-uninterrupted match. Caroline Garcia beat Aryna Sabalenka and Mother...

Tennis is better than Kings Island.

153 combined quarterfinal appearances from the 16 remaining players (9.56/player) set up a great weekend of tennis in Cincinnati. The top 2 WTA seeds are out, but 3 of top 4 ATP seeds are still around. Six of the eight ATP players have won a 1000 already. Four of the eight WTA have won a 1000 already. An established field of experienced players that have won big tournaments before take us into the...

On Wednesday at the Western & Southern Open, Borna Coric defeated the #2 seed Rafael Nadal 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3. How did both players look during the match? Where has Coric been the last few years? Why is Nadal's Cincinnati record so poor and what are his worst tournaments on tour? Is Nadal healthy? What happens next in "El Race?" I discuss all the angles from Nadal's match today and play Rafa's post-...