Dear friends and tennis fans,
Following a three-month-long absence on new posts (because of an important period in my “other life” that ended with great success I shall add), I am back to dedicating my time to tennis, the sport that I love. I planned trips to big tournaments this summer, and I may add more depending on my schedule. I will be happy to share my thoughts as much as possible on MT-Desk.
Here is what you will find on Mertov’s Tennis Desk during the next 2 months:
– Frequent comments and updates from Roland Garros 2016 on Twitter and MT-Desk, throughout the three-week period (Qualifying and Main Draw).
– Frequent comments and updates from Wimbledon 2016 on Twitter and MT-Desk, throughout the three weeks (Qualifying and Main Draw).
– Match analysis, tactical comments,and pictures from the world of tennis…
– More chats with players for the “Sitting Across Mertov’s Tennis Desk” series…
– I will, at some point, probably at the start of Wimbledon, post the English version of my article/story on Cagla Buyukakcay, the 2016 Istanbul Cup winner, and her trials and tribulations during the pre-2016 period that will appear on the upcoming issue of Tenis Dunyasi, Turkey’s number one monthly tennis magazine.
And later in the summer —> Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (ATP Masters 1000 and WTA Premier 5), and more…
As always, keep your comments and feedback coming on Twitter, or here in the comments section, or by email.
Can’t wait to read more updates!
Thank you Alison !
Hi Mert,
Nice to hear from you 🙂 Thought you disappeared and went to the moon 🙂
To be honest I’m not that excited regarding men’s tennis for this summer because there is no one to challenge the joker.
With Fed’s back injury he is just about to pull out the walking stick, re Nadal he definitely is carrying injuries without telling anybody and re Murray, I think changing nappies with his newborn has screwed him up mentally more than ever 🙂
Hopefully Cagla can show everyone that her success at the Istanbul Cup wasn’t a fluke and ends up winning a few matches at the French Open.
Looking forward to your updates.
Umit
Thank you Umit! You’re right, anyone challenging Novak is a rare case nowadays.. Cagla’s success is actually a trend in her game in 2016, not a fluke, but you’re right, the only way to prove that 100% is to sustain the level.
Earlier rounds always provide exciting matches, stick with tennis 🙂
Best
Hi Mert,
Today I came across some interesting info and below is the write up. Now you know why men’s tennis isn’t as popular as the women’s because there’s no new faces popping up in the men’s game and its starting to get boring and that’s why I mentioned in my previous post, I’m not that excited regarding men’s tennis for this summer because there is no one to challenge the joker.
INTERESTING INFO BELOW
In the 44 Grand Slam tournaments since Nadal’s 2005 French Open victory, only three players outside the ‘Big Four’ of Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have claimed a Major title.
Wawrinka has done it twice (at the Australian Open 2014 and French Open 2015), while Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic won the US Open in 2008 and 2014 respectively.
In comparison, over the same 44 Grand Slam period of time, 16 different women have claimed a Major tournament win.
Yes, however, there is also an argument to be made for the fact that strong rivalries at the top of the game increase its popularity (ex: Borg-McEnroe-Connors, and then now, Federer-Nadal-Djokovic).
I am not sure which one matters to whom the most. The way you approach it (unpredictability, surprises, constant injection of new names), it definitely makes sense.