HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022 - Summer Tennis in Australia January 1-9, 2022

ATP CUP - SYDNEY

MELBOURNE SUMMER - ATP

MELBOURNE SUMMER 1 - WTA

MELBOURNE SUMMER 2 - WTA

ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL 1 - WTA

ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL 1 - ATP

Welcome to the New Year. May this Tennis season and the year 2022 be better, healthier than the year we're leaving!  It seems as if it's been months since we last enjoyed tennis, but it's only been about 6 weeks and boy are we ready, right?

It's already January 1, 2022 in Australia🥳 Today the ATP CUP begins in Sydney, then in 3 days competition in regulation tournies begins in earnest for both the ATP & WTA. We have 6 tournaments this week and it'll be very interesting to see WHO was naughty or nice, stayed in shape, in form, who will either continue on their rolls from last year, break out this year, or ... well ... partied too hard or petered out?  So let's get to it and Happy New Year's Eve and Happy New Year MCM from your Sheriff!👍

A 2021 Recap...

Hello MCMers - we asked our researcher extraordinaire, Hartt and two of our Moderators, JoJoDiplomat and Trinigirl to share their thoughts on the past year. Interspersed with the pictures of the 2021 slam winners are Hartt's, Trinigirl's and JoJo's thoughts on the fast waning 2021. Who or what impressed them? Who made an impact - good or bad - hopefully good.

Note:  This thread should take us through until end of December. 

That's a Wrap - 2021

Nitto ATP Finals,
Turin, Italy
November 14-21, 2021

Wrap up - 2021 Season Part 1

 

Stockholm Open ATP 250
Kungliga Tennishallen (Royal Tennis Hall)
Stockholm, Sweden

Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals
Allianz Cloud Stadium
Milan, Italy

Upper Austria Ladies Linz WTA 250
TipsArena Linz
Linz, Austria

Akron WTA Finals
Akron Tennis Stadium
Guadalajara, Mexico

********

LAST TANGO IN PARIS - Rolex Paris Masters - Paris, France

ROLEX PARIS MASTERS 1000

Paris, France

November 1-7, 2021

The last big show for the men is here, Paris in Autumn on the banks of the Seine. A perfect setting to the end of the Masters this season with all but one of the ATP Top 10 men (no Rafael Nadal) and most of the Top 20 (no Roger Federer) contending. World #1 Novak Djokovic and World #2 Daniil Medvedev head the top and bottom of the draw - the 2019 and the 2020 defending Champions.

As much as the ATP has changed with teens and younger players bullying their way up the ladder to the top of the rankings, some top-ranked veterans are stubbornly holding their positions, while other veterans have burst with renewed vitality. This very well may change in Paris, we shall see, so let's get to it!💃

OCTOBERFINALE: ATP 500 Austria, 250 Russia - WTA 250s Romania, Italy

 Erste Bank Open ATP 500
St. Petersburg Open ATP 250
Transylvania Open WTA 250
Courmayeur Ladies Open WTA 250

We're winding down the 2021 Tennis Season for the last four tournaments in October in Europe - two  ATP and two WTA events. 

In November the men vie for the last Masters 1000 - the Rolex Paris Masters 1000, a 250 in Stockholm and the Women will be in Linz, Austria for the last WTA 250 of the season (the women do have five WTA 125s this week through December 19, 2021).

And then, November 7th through the 24th, we're into the Finals: the NextGen Finals Milan, WTA Finals Guadalajara and the Nitto ATP Finals Turin.  And that's a wrap for the 2021 Season! 

One thing most will agree upon is that Year 2021 was much better than the Year 2020. So let's get to it!👇

OCTOBERFEST - WTA 500 Moscow, 250 Tenerife, Spain - ATP 250s Moscow & Antwerp, Belgium

Kremlin Cup WTA 500
Tenerife Ladies Open WTA 250
Kremlin Cup ATP 250
Antwerp Belgium European Open ATP 250

 

Indian Wells is finis and what a two weeks this was! The tournament this year may have been a Sportsbooks' Dream, unless there were a slew of risk takers betting on Underdogs, Longshots, Dark Horses. The Top seeds fell like dominos beginning Week 1. 

And congratulations in order: Women's Champion Spaniard Paula Badosa and RUP Belarusian Victoria Azarenka; Men's Champion Brit Cameron Norrie and RUP Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili. Both Finals were down to the wire - 3 sets - multiple changes in momentum, exciting, and well worth the Finals for a Masters 1000, especially in "Tennis Paradise" in the desert of Indian Wells, California!

But, there's no crying in Tennis and "no rest for the wicked." We're traveling well across the Pond to Europe for four Fall tournaments 2021 - October 17 - 24th in Moscow, Antwerp and the Canary Islands, so let's get to it!

2021 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells - Week 2

BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells Tennis Garden,
Indian Wells, California USA
ATP1000, WTA 1000

Do you know that there is an Angel naturally carved into the San Jacinto mountains above Palm Springs?  The black and white image is below

  

2021 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells - Week 1

 

BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells Tennis Garden, 

Indian Wells,  California USA 

ATP1000, WTA 1000

Fall lineup ATP and WTA, USA and Europe

 Fall Tournaments, Sept. 27 – Oct. 3, 2021

WTA 500 - Chicago Fall Tennis Classic, Chicago, USA
WTA 250 - Astana Open, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
ATP 250 - San Diego Open, San Diego, USA
ATP 250 - Sofia Open, Sofia, Bulgaria

ATP & WTA Europe + 3 Days in Boston, The Laver Cup

 September 20-26, 2021
Ostrava, Czech Republic
Metz, France 
Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan 

September 24-26, 2021
Laver Cup
Boston, MA, USA

Welcome to the 2nd week post US Open. The buzz is still strong surrounding the darling of this year's US Open - "CinderEmma" - Emma Raducanu the Women's Champion. And not only in the Tennis press, but major news and social media. 

The appearance of more than a few Tennis names  at this year's Met Gala in NYC added glamour and fashion to the Tennis buzz. Has Tennis and its personalities and celebrity officially crossed over into mainstream media? We shall see ....

Meanwhile on tennis earth, we travel to Europe and Central Europe for three events. The women headline a WTA 500 in Ostrava, Czech Republic, while the men compete in two ATP 250s in France and Kazakhstan.  

And for ATP star power, invited men will participate in Roger Federer's baby - The Laver Cup - for 3 days this weekend hosted by the famous venue TD Gardens in Boston, Massachusetts.

We're "Shipping Up to Boston" - So let's get to it!.

FELIX AUGER ALIASSIME & NINA GHAIBI
Night after US Open - The Met Gala - NYC - Sept. 13, 2021
(a 🎁 for Shirley)

POST US OPEN - EUROPE - 2 WTA 250s

 September 13-19, 2021
Back to Europe
Luxembourg Open, WTA 250 

Portorož, Slovenia WTA 250

We're finally through the US Open 2021 and what a Slam this was to behold.  Record-breaking on the Women's side. The WTA is refreshed and we all need some refreshment after a horrid one and a half years of Pandemic life and still counting. Few will forget two teenagers - Brit Qualifier Emma Raducanu - Winner, nor the RUP Canadian Leylah Fernandez!

On the Men's side, it was a full plate of new faces too, and like the Women, many knowns and heretofore unknowns jumping up the rankings in a fortnight. 

I.JUST.CAN'T talk about the Final.  Clearly you all watched it. There was a record to be broken, alas, not to be this year.  Sincere Congratulations to Daniil Medvedev, Titleist, and of course, RUP Novak Djokovic.

One thing I can say, tennis fans and MCM will not forget this year's Open (if they do, they're casual fans, that's ok too)!  Tennis moves on quickly, and today we have a week of 2 WTA 250s - so let's get to it!

US Open 2021 - Week 2

  

US Open - ATP / WTA
Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, New York
August 30 – September 12, 2021

Lady Liberty - still going strong

US Open 2021

US Open - ATP / WTA
Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, New York
August 30 – September 12, 2021

LAST CALL TO USO in USA - WTA Chicago, WTA Cleveland, ATP Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem ATP 250
North Carolina, USA

Tennis in the Land WTA 250

Cleveland, OH USA

Chicago Women's Open WTA 250

Chicago, IL, USA

 

Ladies and Gents this is it until the USO. This week are the last three warm-up 250s before USO starts Aug. 28 - are we happy?  Yes I am!  Two of this week's WTA events are firsts.

Since the Asian Fall swing is/was in upheaval due to Covid, the WTA had room to fit in two new tourneys in Cleveland and Chicago.  All three tournaments (Winston-Salem, Cleveland, Chicago) are all within a map's stone throw from 1) Cincinnati and 2) NYC - East of the Mississippi .  

Let's see what's happening this week and who's playing. No surprise there are some named names. 

"WSOP in Cincinnati"** - Cincinnati Masters 2021

Western & Southern Open
ATP/WTA Masters 1000
Cincinnati, Ohio August 15-22, 2021

**For those who don't immediately recall the reference, "WSOP in Cincinnati" in  the Title is the W&S Open in Cincinnati, and is a throwback to "WKRP in Cincinnati" - the eponymous, fictional radio station sitcom running on TV from 1978-1982. I can't imagine anyone in 2021 who hasn't heard reference to the sitcom or hasn't seen reruns.

After a one-time stint in New York City last year, the tourney has returned to Cincy. It is played in 

Mason, a suburb of Cincinnati.

O Canada - the Road to the USO

 

The Sprint to USO begins...

Olympic tennis is over but there is still plenty of tennis leading up to USO

Citi Open, Washington, DC, ATP 500
Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, San Jose, CA , WTA 500
Winners Open, Cluj Napoca, Romania, WTA 250

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - 2 ATP 250s

Olympic Tennis, Tokyo, Japan (Hardcourt)
Truist Atlanta Open, Atlanta, Georgia ATP 250 (Hardcourt)
Generali Open, Kitzbuhel, Austria, ATP 250 (Clay)

Games on! No secret I was concerned the Olympics would be cancelled any moment, up until I saw the Opening Ceremonies. Praise Sweet Baby Jesus the links and the work held fast or I might have blown a Gasquet!

 
For those not competing in the Olympics this year, there’s 2 ATP 250s - details below. There’s also 2 WTA 125s - not detailed below in Belgrade, Serbia and Charleston, South Carolina.  So let’s see what’s happening this week in Tokyo Tennis, Hardcourts and Clay!

Olympics + Four 250 Weddings (Clay) & A Funeral (HC)

Plava Laguna Croatia Open, Umag Croatia ATP 250
Mifel Open, Los Cabos, Mexico ATP 250
Swiss Open Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland ATP 250
BNP Paribas Poland Open, Gdynia, Poland WTA 250

32nd Palermo Ladies Open, Palermo, Sicily, Italy WTA 250

For players who did not qualify for the Olympics, or who chose not to go, there are 3 ATP and 2 WTA 250 level tournaments available. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics (officially referred to as #Tokyo2020) begin Opening Ceremonies Friday, July 23, 2021.  Let's see what's happening this week:

After Wimbledon - A return to Clay, mostly

ATP 500 - Hamburg European Open, Hamburg, Germany
ATP 250 - Hall of Fame Open, Newport, RI, USA
ATP 250 - Nordea Open, Bastad, Sweden
WTA 250 - Hungarian Grand Prix Budapest, Hungary
WTA 250 - Livesport Prague Open, Prague, Czech Republic
WTA 250 - Ladies Open Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

No time to mourn the oh so short soothing sight of the green grass of Wimbledon.  If you are a tennis buff there is tennis enough this week to prevent withdrawal symptoms.  

WIMBLEDON - WEEK 2

The Survivors!

"Well, the names have all changed
Since you hung around
But those dreams have remained
And they've turned around"

We were treated to a great week of tennis at Wimbledon, complete with thrills and, unfortunately, spills. We had some SURPRISE departures, some not so surprising. Let's see what's going on for this year's 2nd Wimbledon Week.  Also tucked in this week, at WTA 250 on Clay.  We'll quickly deal with this INTERLOPER first, then get to what everyone's actually interested in!

WIMBLEDON - THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

"Welcome Back

 Your Dreams Were Your Ticket Out

To The Same Old Place You Laughed About"

All England Lawn & Tennis & Strawberries & Cream & Great Britain

June 28 – July 11, 2021

It is now time to welcome the Granddaddy of tennis tournaments, Wimbledon, officially The Championships, Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world, having been held at the All England Club since***

Final Warm-up for Wimbledon 2021

 ATP 250, Mallorca, Spain 
ATP 250,  WTA 500, Eastbourne, England
WTA 250, Bad Homburg, Germany

Yeah!  I did a map.  Just FYI the blue pin on the map denotes joint WTA/ATP event.   

We continue with the buildup to Wimbledon with four grass tournaments in the coming week.

Post-French Open Impressionism 2021 Grass Open For Business

ATP Halle, Germany + London, UK

WTA Berlin, Germany + Birmingham, UK

Those players who aren’t keen on clay, and getting their socks dirty, will be excited about going to the cool, green grass of this week’s tournaments. Although, what about grass stains? In any case, this week’s tourneys will provide a welcome change and should bring us many entertaining matches.

Roland Garros 2021 - Week 2/Moving onto Grass

RG, Stuggart, Nottingham

 ATP WTA French Open, Paris, France

ROLAND GARROS, THE MAN

 ATP 250 Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany

 WTA 250 Viking Open, Nottingham, Britain

Roland Garros 2021 - Week 1

 ATP, WTA French Open, Paris France

Look Ma there is a picture.  Yes well it is a slam after all so I figure I can change my mind about no pictures for a slam for goodness sake.  Besides blame it on Hartt who is like a kid in a candy store about RG as evidenced by her enlightening narrative below.  Yep division of duties and knowing when to delegate is definitely a thing.   Thank you Hartt and take a bow!!!  I think you should apply to become a tennis announcer - yes!!!👏👏  Just don't let us spoil them though.

Sigh! I wanna be there......lovely aerial view of wonderful Paris

Getting ready for RG (part two)

ATP Parma, Belgrade; WTA Strasbourg

      ................................................MESSAGE ALERT........................................................

       Look Ma no Maps.  Well dear there is always Professor Google  who has all kinds of Maps.

 Queue mournful music 🎵🎵🎵       It is with a sad and heavy heart that we advise that our erstwhile, irreverent, Faradubii has retired from the position of Match Calling Migrants' editor and administrator.  Basically he is sick of us all........Just kidding .....  sorta.......Can we offer him a pay raise ya think? 

Getting ready for RG (part one)

 ATP Geneva, Lyon; WTA Belgrade, Parma

Four little ones. Two ATP 250 and two WTA 250. All on clay. All four fit in a 1200km diameter circle. Rome just ends today, and kinda strangely the situation is pretty much split. For the women the big guns (top 20) will have some rest (unless you're named Serena). The lower ranked will battle for the scraps. For the men it seems they're more antsy and we get ten of the top 20 showing up, including four from the top 10.

All Roads Lead To It

 ATP+WTA Rome

The most important clay tournament that is not RG. For both the women and the men. I think it qualifies. Madrid is trying but still doesn't have the panache. And MC is just for the guys. Almost everyone is here. From the top 20 we have just Andreescu (last minute withdrawal due to C19 policies in Italy, with her just having it not long ago) Serena, Azarenka and Federer, Raonic missing. I'm not sure what's the C19 approach in Rome, I suspect they will allow some crowd, maybe 25%? We'll see.

Madrid (2nd week)

 ATP+WTA Madrid

So the men are now in Madrid too. And the women are already in the R16. Let's see who and what.

Madrid (1st week)

 WTA Madrid; ATP Estoril, Munich

So Madrid starts a bit earlier for the women as it expands into a two week event, and being a WTA 1000 it means nothing else is going on for the WTA this week. Hopefully the draw will appear soon, the official starting date is April 29th. For the men we get two 250s crammed in this week, for them Madrid starts just on Sunday, May 2nd. Everything is on clay, outdoors. Spring is truly here.

Not Madrid, not yet!

 ATP Barcelona, Belgrade; WTA Stuttgart, Istanbul

This week we get a very balanced assortment: Both tours give us a 250 and a 500. All on clay, naturally, but not all outdoors. There were some withdrawals, but overall the top players start showing up. Very probably all venues will be without crowds, which is sad, but Europe is not in a good shape regarding C19, so it's understandable.

Monte Carlo and BJKC and Charleston again

 ATP Monte Carlo; WTA Charleston 2; ITF BJKC playoffs

Here comes the first big one on clay for the men. The Monte Carlo Masters. The women have a Fed Cup Billie Jean King Cup appointment - the World Group playoffs (I think), and Charleston was nice enough to warrant another week there, but this time just a WTA 250. I'm gonna start with the grand!

Onto clay!

 WTA Bogota, Charleston; ATP Cagliari, Marbella

Clay season is here! I know the lads had already that South American thing going, but this is the real deal! The women have it better this week with a WTA 500, while the men go just for ATP 250s. That reflects in the draws too: we get just two top 20 guys showing up this week, while from the women we get nine from the top 20, including the #1. Obviously, I'm gonna start with the ladies.

Miami 2021? Yes!

 ATP, WTA Miami Open presented by Itau

Here we are, Miami is happening. Sadly, a lot of no shows on the men's side (no Big Four Three Four in Miami, which is a first since the Precambrian). Some are already gearing up for the clay. Some are feeling uncomfortable about the whole C19 thing. Some have health issues due to the weirdness of these last seasons. For the women is better - just Serena is out from the top 20.

Getting in Gear for Miami

 ATP Acapulco, Dubai; WTA St. Petersburg, Monterrey

Indian Wells is a no go for the 2nd year, so we're left looking forward to Miami. This week is the last chance for the players to get some matches. I'm talking here mostly about the WTA top tenners. But they kinda don't care... Understandable, maybe, with everything going on in the world.

Normal Tennis Week?

WTA Dubai, Guadalajara; ATP Doha, Marseille, Santiago

Five tournaments this week. I don't know about you, but I feel like we're slowly getting back to normal tennis? I know, no crowds, but still... grampa is back!

So the women have a big one this week! And a little one for the lower ranked. The men have three ATP 250 on three continents. Everyone can play! That WTA 1000 says we gonna start with the ladies!

Good Bye Australia!

 ATP Rotterdam, Buenos Aires; WTA Doha, Lyon

We're no more Down Under. Wich means we're back to normal bubbles and quarantines and more risks for the players, because, let's face it, C19 is still going strong. So both tours have a 500 and a 250, very nicely balanced. Gonna start with the ladies.

On Four Continents

 WTA Adelaide; ATP Cordoba, Montpellier, Singapore

OK, AO was a success, let's see how the normal touring resumes! Vaccines are rolling out all over the world so maybe, maybe we can be a bit optimistic? In any case the men move out of Australia for a bunch of ATP 250s and back to the various bubbles/quarantine protocols each country has to offer. The women stay one more week in Australia for a pretty juicy WTA 500.

AO - 2nd Week

AO 2021 - The Second Week

We're in the middle of the 4th round right now and the draws hold up pretty well. We got some upsets, but nowhere near any disastrous stuff.

AO at last!

Australian Open 2021

Here we are, the first major of 2021. Tennis Australia did the unthinkable: managed to get something like more than 1000 people into Australia and not cause a major health crisis in one of the very very few places on the planet that can say they keep the whole C19 shit really and truly under control. Kudos to them! Sadly the situation also exposed a few of our persons of interest (the athletes) as being, to put it mildly, a bit out of touch with the current reality. But we're over that! Two weeks or more have passed, so let's forget all the hoopla and focus on the task at hand: AO! Yeah baby!

Busy Ozzie Week!

 AO Prep in Overdrive

At last, after two tough weeks of quarantine (with all the hoopla that entailed), every player can go wherever they want no masks no nothing. Yep. Australia has zero local C19 spread and all their cases are coming from abroad and are in isolation instantly. Normality never looked stranger!

Welcome to 2021!

 This is a reboot!

Phew! 2020 is in our rear view mirror. Tennis starts again, but it won't be normal business yet. So the tournaments this week start on Tuesday or even Wednesday. And also end somewhere in the middle of next week. Do not ask me why. We get two for the men and one for the women. But! The WTA is a 500 while the ATPs are both just 250. You do the math!