Roger Federer retires

14th French Grand Slam title, that's crazy. Bjorn Borg won six French Open and five consecutive Wimbledon titles and everybody at the time thought those feats would never be matched. Nadal, Federer, and Novak are clearly a cut above. Just imagine how many titles they would have if only one of those Tennis players was playing and didn't have to compete with the other two.

Probably 30-40 majors. Lord knows Federer would have easily done that if Nadal had not arrived on the scene.

I may have been busy, but I still kept up with the tennis.

Rafa sort of won this tournament by default. He was taken to 5 sets by clay mug Auger-Aliassime, and Zverev choked in sets 1 and 2 of the semi (before injury). His only impressive matches were against Novak and in the final against a weaponless opponent. The opponent Casper Ruud is a solid player and probably the 3rd best clay court player in the world, but his gamestyle is a cakewalk for Rafa. Rafa won the last 11 games of the final.

Novak losing here was a devastating blow for him though. He served for the 4th set against Rafa in the quarterfinals and had 2 set points, but couldn't take it to a 5th set. Even though he will win Wimbledon, he'll still be 2 slams away from taking the lead.

In the womens, new world #1 Iga Swiatek destroyed the field. She has now won 36 consecutive matches and 6 consecutive titles. That's her 2nd French Open title now. Coco Gauff was the runner up, but had zero chance.

Other meaningful headlines/events while I've been gone:
- Rafa's foot is screwed. His medical team is trying everything and anything to find short-term solutions. Retirement will be immiment if they can't find a solution
- All Russians and Belorussians have been banned from Wimbledon. And there are now no ranking points on offer at Wimbledon, so Novak will lose 2,000 points and fall further down in the rankings
- Former world #1 Ash Barty retired from the sport
- Daughter of the Buffalo Bills owner Jess Pegula has made the top 10
- Carlos Alcaraz has comfortably made the top 10, and is one of the best players in the world
- Roger will be back later this year, but will not play Wimbledon
- Serena is not on the entry list for Wimbledon

I remember Nadal being writ off about ten years ago Matt, they said he had bad knees and will need to retire. The has gone from strength to strength holding his own against the best the sport has to offer.

Novak will win Wimbledon, unless its Nadal or Federer his opponents will be intimidated before they even set foot on the court.

I hope Nadal can somehow win Wimbledon, that would so get in the head of Novak. But like Matt said, his foot is a major concern. Can it heal in time? Not sure.

If Nadal's foot is not 100% he has no chance against Novak on grass. I can see Nadal getting knocked out in the quarter-finals, the Wimbledon grand slam is brutal, it's the middle of summer in the UK and you are playing every other day. I can't see Nadal's ankle holding out.

Well Rafa's foot seems fine.

The women's draw is falling apart as usual. Serena Williams lost to a player outside the top 100 in the 1st round after failing to serve for the match and leading 4-0 in the final set tiebreak. World #1 Iga Swiatek got destroyed in the 3rd round and ended her 38-match winning streak. Her game is not made for grass. Emma Raducanu also lost early on, albeit to an in-form player.

Nick Kyrgios has made his second ever grand slam QF, where is is the massive favourite to move into the semis. Unlike the rest of the field, he is dangerous because he does not choke vs the big 3. He owns a 2-0 H2H over Novak and has beaten Rafa several times.

Novak is currently losing as a type this, and was at one stage 2 sets to love down. But make no mistake, in a few hours he will be victorious. And he has a cakewalk draw in the semi final.

I hope Nadal can do it.

Novak came back, of course. Dang.

I saw that, Novak came back from two sets down. His legacy has the competition so spooked they fall apart when they get into a winning position playing him. I've seen this happen several times with different players now.

I'm rooting for Nadal.

Nadal had to withdraw from the tournament. Abdominal tear.

Looks like Novak will be one back now.

I'm not discounting the other guy just yet. He's had a couple of extra days rest not playing a semi-final and he's got that 'I don't give a fcuk' attitude. He knows it's his chance to shine on the big stage, hopefully he won't be intimidated by Novak's reputation.

I hope he can pull the upset, but I think Novak has this one.

You are absolutely right Warrior13, it would be an upset. I don't like either guy to be honest. Just want Nadal to retire as the greatest of all time.

Elena Rybakina has won her first GS title, beating Tunisian world #2 Ons Jabeur from a set down, 3-6 6-2 6-2. Interestingly, she plays for Kazakhstan, but played for Russia up until 2018. They refused to provide funding & didn't think she was good enough, so Kazakhstan bought her. Ironically, Russians were banned from Wimbledon, but an ex-Russian who still lives in Russia has played and won the tournament.

Novak and Nick will be on tonight. I think Novak will win (probably in 4 sets), but Kyrgios has had extra days rest which he desperately needed (he is very unfit for a professional athlete). Unbelievably in the 1st round, Kyrgios was taken to 7-5 in the 5th set against a British wildcard who has achieved very little in his career, and now he is in the final.

And the Aussie guys have won the mens doubles final . They saved a combined 8 match points in the tournament, twice came from 2 sets to love down, and played five 5-set matches. One of the guys knows one of my close friends, so that's cool as well.

Kyrgios won the first set against Novak and then succumbed to the pressure he was put under. Novak played some out of this world shots nobody on the planet could have defended against. In two previous meetings Kyrgios was the winner. I guess Novak raises his game when there is a grand slam at stake. That's seven Wimbledons now.

Kyrgios tried everything he could, and played a pretty good match considering it was his first GS final. He repeatedly got angry & was yelling at his box. This is a common occurrence, but it was different than usual, & you could tell how much he wanted to win and was frustrated by Novak's very high level.

It all started when highly-rated youngster Jannick Sinner choked a 2 sets to love lead over Novak in the quarter finals. He trailed 1-4 40-Ad in the 1st set, before turning it around & leading 7-5 6-2. You just cannot lose 3 sets in a row after you've won 12 of the last 15 games. So many players (especially young ones) have choked against Novak in grand slams. Sinner at Wimbledon, Tsitsipas at 2021 French Open, Mussetti at 2021 French Open, Zverev at 2021 Australian Open, Fritz at 2021 Australian Open, Thiem at 2020 Australian Open, Federer at 2019 Wimbledon.

The only players not to choke were Rafa in 2022 French Open (Novak served for the 4th set & Rafa broke back) and Medvedev 2021 US Open (did not choke when leading 2 sets to love, & finished it off in 3 sets).

I got Medvedev winning the US Open. Joker probably can't play without vaccine, and Rafa will likely still be injured.

Rafa should be fine for the US Open. To put it into context, Rafa had a 7mm abdominal tear. Novak had a 2.5cm tear during the 2021 Australian Open & played 5 rounds 'injured'. From what I understand, Rafa could've finished Wimbledon, but didn't think he could play at 100% and beat Kyrgios & Novak, therefore took the conservative approach.

Well then?

Rafa ftw!!!

This will be an interesting Grand Slam if they both make the final. It's basically worth two Grand Slams and neither has many more left.

Why is Novak being compared to Mumammad Ali?

Ali didn't go into the Vietnam War because of his belief, all Novak has done is avoid a needle.