By Chris Oddo | Sunday January 8, 2016
Each day Odds and Sods will take the pulse of the tennis world and share what is trending on the internet. Here's what we're reading on Monday January 9:
(Above Video : Serena's Non-Taco Engagement Bling).
1. Kyrgios Tweets
On Saturday we saw first-hand the power of that a Nick Kyrgios tweet can generate. The 21-year-old retweeted our post of a Novak Djokovic highlight, in which the Serb hit a ball into the crowd during his Doha final with Andy Murray. Kyrgios hinted that he would “have been defaulted and suspended until 2025” if he had done the same thing. No surprisingly, Kyrgios’ tweet has garnered a lot of attention from fans and non-fans alike, and ESPN had a write-up of Kyrgios’ tweet almost immediately after it came out (what is he Trump?)
Anyhow, you guys can judge for yourselves. Was what Djokovic did in Sunday’s final worthy of a disqualification? And, would other players be treated differently if he had done the same thing, as Kyrgios hints?
2. Speaking of Kyrgios
Tennis great Rod Laver says that the Aussie has what it takes to be the best of his generation.
"Ability-wise, he could be the best tennis player in the world, only he is the one that gets in his way," he said, according to Reuters. Here’s some more:
"He plays some magnificent tennis but then something gets in the way and he finds himself being challenged by other things, whether behavior or whatever seems to come up. Looking at maybe maturity ... he's still very young on the world tour. I want him to be the best player in the world. We need another great Australian champion."
3. David Kotyza primed to tap into Karolina Pliskova’s “inner champion”
The former coach of Petra Kvitova wasn’t expecting to be coaching this season after he parted ways with Caroline Wozniacki after a brief spell. But he’s with Karolina Pliskova—and excited about it. Of course, the pair are off to a good start after Pliskova blasted her way to the Brisbane title. Here’s what Kotyza told WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen earlier in the week:
“I followed not only her results but also her style of the game and personality a little bit, because I knew her from Fed Cup also. For me, she's an interesting person and I feel she can really be a champion. So that's what's interesting for me, to work with such a great personality. We just started. We'll try to get to know each other better, but...I feel something.”
4. Serena's Ring Does not have a Taco on it
File under: Very Important!!! Thanks to Reddit, we can all see Serena Williams’ engagement ring, writes USAToday’s For the Win: And apparently there is no taco on it.
5. Tennis.com’s Steve Tignor previews Madison Keys’ 2017
She hasn’t taken the court yet this season, but will Madison Keys be ready to step into the limelight when she does? Our friend Steve Tignor says that Keys has a lot of work to do in finding balance in her game.
“Just because she can hit winners from anywhere doesn’t mean she needs to try to hit winners from anywhere,” Tignor writes. “Can Keys find a way to be aggressive without going for broke? Her record against the Top 4—Angelique Kerber, Serena, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep—is 3-19. The climb only gets steeper from here.”
6. Nadal Rues Missed Opportunities vs. Raonic
When all was said and done it was a good first week on the ATP Tour for Rafael Nadal. And, there’s lots to improve upon as well. Nadal felt that he could have managed his opportunities better during his three-sets loss to Milos Raonic at the Brisbane International quarterfinals.
"Matches are decided by just a few things," Nadal said. "Probably if I make that cross-court forehand passing shot, I would've had the break in the second set; there's a big chance that we will be here [in the media room] one hour before with a victory, maybe 6-4 6-3, or 6-4 6-4. That's tennis. That passing shot was long, and that's it. Then he had the break and the match changes.”
Links and Dinks
17-year-old American Kayla Day signed with Octagon Tennis. The 2016 U.S. Open Girls Singles champ is the youngest player inside the WTA’s Top 200… Jerzy Janowicz is back on tour after knee injury… ... Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis makes his return to tennis by winning the doubles title in Brisbane with Jordan Thompson. Kokkinakis will play singles at Sydney this week.
From the strong headline department: Forget about Andy Murray being No.1, Novak Djokovic is the man to beat in Melbourne: