The tennis news (but not only) of the week: Halep on holidays.

Monday, October 15th

The sporting comeback of the year? Maybe. Having come back from his long bad spell, Novak Djokovic is already back at the world number 2 spot, behind Rafael Nadal, but in front of Roger Federer. The updating of the ATP ranking benefited Borna Coric, who had the best progression of the week (+6, now world number 13), with Lucas Pouille having the worst fall (-4, now world number 22nd). There are no Frenchmen in the top 20 anymore. In the WTA ranking, Caroline Garcia won four spots and is now the world number 12. On the menu this week, the Kremlin Cup for men (Cecchinato, Medvedev, Kyrgios…) and women (Pliskova, Stephens, Bertens…), the Stockholm Open (Isner, Fognini, Tsitsipas), the European Open in Antwerp (Schwartzman, Edmund, Raonic…) and the Luxembourg Open (Görges, Muguruza, Suarez Navarro…). Outside of tennis, the cute video of the day included a 10 year-old kid playing a Metallica song on stage with the Foo Fighters. Let’s end this day with, unfortunately, some bad news: global warming could drive up the price of beer.

Tuesday, October 16th

Simona Halep has two ways of seeing things. The positive one: she’s guaranteed to finish the year as the world number 1, just like in 2017. The negative one: she’s injured for the Masters, and has to end her season prematurely. On her side, Angelique Kerber took a flight to Singapore with big ambitions but without her coach, Wim Fissette, with who she decided to split. French players also had a great day (like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who won a match in Antwerp, 249 days after his last win on the circuit) or a horrible one (it’s already over for Pouille in Stockholm). But the real good news of the day is for the New-Yorkers, as for the first time in 25 years, a weekend went by without a single shooting. 

Insérer photo

Wednesday, October 17th

The surprise of the week comes from Tunisia and plays in Moscow: as she came from the qualifying rounds, she won a few matches and even defeated Sloane Stephens. Still in Moscow, but in the men’s tournament this time: another top-seed fell, as Cecchinato lost. The Antwerp tournament turned into a clinic for recovering French players: just like in the old times, the four Musketeers Gasquet, Simon, Tsonga, and Monfils all qualified! In Belgium, it’s however already over for Raonic, who’s having a hard time coming back after his injury. The Canadian can now go home and relax a little, now that his country has become the second in the world (after Uruguay) and the first country of the G20 to legalize recreational marijuana! 

Thursday, October 18th

A performance, a debate, a controversy, a scary moment and a WTF moment on the menu of this October 18th. The performance? Jabeur is carrying on with her wonderful tennis in Moscow, as she qualified for the semi-finals. The fight? Won by Monfils against Tsonga, despite throwing up in the middle of the match. The debate? Launched by Patrick Mouratoglou, who, in a long article posted on Twitter, asked for coaching to be authorized during matches. The controversy? Djokovic and Nadal’s approval to play an exhibition match in Saudi Arabia next December 22nd, in the middle of the Khashoggi scandal. The scary moment? In Greece, a spiderweb measuring 1000 meters-long has been found (!!!). And finally, the WTF moment of the day? An american woman has incorporated her grandfather’s ashes into her recipe before baking cookies. 

Friday, October 19th

France is feeling emotional! Johnny Halliday’s posthumous album has been released and is provoking the tears of many hardcore fans who still haven’t ended their mourning process. Still with tears, but tears of joy this time: the next winner of the American lottery will earn 900 million dollars, a record. In tennis, the quote of the day came from Rod Laver: « Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have revolutionized tennis. » We all agree. But the major news of the day and even of the week came from the organizers of Wimbledon. They have announced that a tie-break will be played at 12-12 in the 5th set, and this new rule will apply to the 2019 edition. The record of the match played by Isner and Mahut will remain forever. A nice picture to end the day: the classic selfie of the players of the Singapore Masters. 
 

Saturday, October 20th

Mannarino, Khachanov, Gulbis, Tsitsipas, Edmund and Monfils: here’s the list of the six finalists of the tennis week. In women’s tennis, it’s already over with the results of the finals in Moscow and Luxembourg coming in: Kasaktina defeated the surprise Jabeur and the top-seed Görges defeated another beautiful surprise, the revenant Bencic. The Masters became more concrete with the draw setting up the groups: Kerber, Osaka, Stephens and Bertens in one, and Wozniacki, Svitolina, Pliskova and Kvitova in the other. Some nice tennis news, but nothing compared to the start of the new NBA season, with a tensed match played by LeBron James at home with his new Lakers jersey, which ended with a good fight on the court to spice things up.

Sunday, October 21st

Edmund, Tsitsipas and Khachanov: three wins which each time came with a picture of the winner kissing the trophy. Someone should analyse this ritual someday… The Russian won the third tournament of his career at home in Moscow, but it was a first for Edmund and Tsitsipas, who respectively triumphed in Antwerp and Stockholm. The Greek has improved a lot this season, and should be a serious contender in the future. Let’s follow him closely. And next week sounds thrilling with the WTA Masters and King Roger Federer’s return at home, in Basel. Yummy!