Tripp’s Tennis Talk

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 Kokkinakis 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. I don't think I said that on the air. No Drama Nick! I didn't even think about him much today! Nick Kyrgios, TCB… Thanks for listening.

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 week. Plus - I read US Open advertisements! Also the schedule for qualifying week. THANKS for listening. Time for a few days off.

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 Nature 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Stefanos Tsitsipas saluted Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 3-6, 6-3. The (Borna) Coric Train rolled right past Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4.  Ram/Salisbury and Puetz/Venus advance to the finals. Ostapenko and Kichenok are the women's doubles champions. Will there be tennis on Sunday? Get the squeegees ready.

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 last few rounds.

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-match press conference audio in its entirety. Also on today's pod: Paul and Shapovalov played a strange one. Jabeur escapes McNally. Raducanu rolls. Swiatek gets back on the horse. Stefanos Tsitsipas finally at long long last won a sporting contest that involved hitting a little yellow ball back and forth. 7 of the 8 Canada singles semifinalists are gone; only Pegula remains. Go Gators.

3 players who made the semifinals or better last week are already out this week; Pablo Carreno Busta, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Dan Evans. Tennis is hard, you know? Meanwhile, Anett Kontaveit won a professional tennis match. Naomi Osaka did not win a professional tennis match. Simona Halep gets another W. Coco Gauff takes a tumble. Meddy didn't look great doing it, but he won a big-tournament professional tennis match for the first time in a while. The Williams sisters go 0/4 in sets won today and only one of those sets reached 5-5. Time marches on. If you get the title reference in the quotation marks, you get a cookie. And a cheese coney.

I predict the 2022 Western & Southern Open, recap the Monday scores, and look ahead to Tuesday's order of play.

Matt Zemek of Tennis With An Accent joins me to discuss the 2022 National Bank Open / Omnium Banque Nationale.

Jessica Pegula was in a winning position in one of the biggest matches of her career and then hit 5,000,000 unforced errors. Simona Halep started negative and ended positive; she's now back in the top 10. Casper Ruud will not be world #2. Hubert Hurkacz wants to join Medvedev, Alcaraz, Tsitsipas, Zverev, and the Big 4 as active 2x Masters 1000 champions. Pablo Carreno Busta is in his first 1000 or Slam final. Dan Evans is not in his first 1000 or Slam final. Pliskova did not get back to the Canada final. Haddad Maia got into the Canada final. Aren't these descriptions awesome? Match audio is courtesy Tennis TV.

We have bleary eyes here in the podcast booth. Pablo Carreno Busta is good at making semifinals of hardcourt 1000 events. Evans and Paul provided a surprising entertaining and compelling match. BHM is for real. Pliskova's path is a long and difficult one but it once again results in victory. Simona holds off Coco. Pegula is into her third Masters semi of the year. Ruud is rude to Canada and Felix is inexplicable. Nick's hot streak gets iced. The losers today were all tired.

Belinda Bencic could be a 2-time Canadian Open champion. Gael Monfils makes and breaks your heart. Nick Kyrgios is engendering trust - for now. Gauff and Sabalenka practiced their faults and ball tosses in a match situation. Bia Maia atones for Wimbledon. Iga Swiatek does not atone for Wimbledon. 8 of the 16 singles matches went the distance today. Three top-8 seeds into the Men's Quarters and one into the Women's. It's been a good Wednesday and Thursday for watching tennis. Canada is the land of opportunity this weekend for the players that are left. Who will earn the trophy?

It was a day of upsets at the Canadian Open. 7 of the 14 top-8 seeds lost their opening round matches today. Iga Swiatek is the exception that proves the rule. Carlos Alcaraz couldn't handle the pressure (his words). Stefanos Tsitsipas needs a new coach. Nick Kyrgios is the best player in the world right now. Daniil Medvedev is not the best player in the world right now. Coco Gauff needs to work on her serve. Serena is a legend.

Originally published August 9, 2022. Recapping the scores and stories from Tuesday in Canada.

Originally published August 9, 2022. I read the Vogue piece out loud and react to Serena Williams' retirement.

Originally recorded Sunday August 7, 2022. My picks for the 2022 Canada events.