Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️
Today’s tennis mood: Thinking about the end of eras and also celebrating longevity.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 On tap: Too many good matches. That’s what’s on tap. It’s the women’s semis in Ningbo and Osaka and the men’s quarterfinals in Almaty, Lyon, and Brussels. In action: Leyla Fernandez, Ann Li, Elena Rybakina, Arthur Fils, Taylor Fritz, Alex Michelsen, Brandon Nakashima, and Tommy Paul, among others. More on today’s rundown of matches below.
🎾 The end always ends: David Goffin retired at the age of 35 on Thursday after losing to Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-4. It was quite a career for Goffin, who reached a career-high ranking of seven and reached the quarterfinals of all the majors except for the U.S. Open, where he landed in the round of 16 four times.
What he said: “It’s not easy,” the teary-eyed Goffin said during his post-match comments. “First of all, I want to say thank you for all these videos, and to all the people my friends, my family, my opponents — who appeared in them.” He added: “I want to thank them all; the messages are truly wonderful. And looking back at all these images, I realize that… it all went by so fast. When I watch these points again, it feels like it was just yesterday. I remember everything — the sensations, the court, all those moments. And now, here we are, at the end.”
🎾 One to watch: Alexander Bublik vs. Karen Khachanov (Quarterfinals - ATP 250 - Almaty): Watch this one for the pure entertainment between two players who know each other well.
The record: The head-to-head record between Alexander Bublik and Karen Khachanov is tied at one apiece. Bublik won the most recent meeting on the grass of Halle last year by an extremely narrow margin.
On the line: Both players are climbing back up the rankings after some serious drop-offs earlier in the season, so reaching the semis or better would be a boost in that endeavor. For Bublik, there’s an additional consideration to win in Kazakhstan after some heartfelt words for the country ahead of the tournament this week.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 83% of you called for Stan Wawrinka to defeat Flavio Cobolli. Cobolli won 6-2, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
