A mere eight months after last year’s COVID-delayed installment, the LIFT HEAVY OR GO HOME BULLDOG T-Shirt Also,I will get this 2021 French Open tennis tournament kicks off today at Roland Garros with a limited number of (tested and/or vaccinated) fans and—at the beginning, at least—no fans at night sessions due to a COVID curfew. Here’s who—and what—to keep an eye on:Naomi Osaka has been all over the news lately after stating that she’s done with post-match press conferences—she considers them detrimental to players’ mental health—and will face whatever fines are levied on her for doing so. It’s a stance that has garnered both widespread acclaim—for shining a light on a system, or a custom, badly in need of reform—and some difference of opinion voiced by several players, including Rafael Nadal, who noted that without the press, players like himself wouldn’t be nearly as well-known around the world.Let’s put that aside, though, and restrict our focus, for the time being, to on-court matters. Clay—the surface upon which the French is played—is, simply, not Osaka’s favorite surface. Though she’s the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion, and boasts two other Slam titles, none of them were on clay. And while no one would want to count out the second-ranked woman in the world, her battle here would seem to be an uphill one—though she may not face a formidable opponent until 6-seeded Bianca Andreescu in the quarterfinals or 3rd-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the semis.Serena Williams? She’s—maddeningly—still looking to tie Margaret Court’s longtime record of 24 Grand Slam titles, and with her only recent outings resulting in a first- and a second-round loss to relatively unheralded players, it wouldn’t seem like she’d be a title threat. She could face a challenge from 26th seed Angelique Kerber as early as the third round, with Sabalenka, Osaka, and 1st-seeded Ash Barty still potentially in-between her and a title. It’s a high mountain to climb. Again, though: Would you want to bet against Serena?2019 champion Barty—who opted out of last year’s delayed tourney—has been back with a vengeance, winning Miami and Stuttgart and making the finals in Madrid. But if she stumbles early and Osaka makes a deep run, Osaka becomes the world’s number-one-ranked player. (Barty would likely have to defeat Coco Gauff and rising American Jen Brady en route to a final appearance.) In short, there’s a lot at stake for both players here.Bold prediction: Watch Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, seeded third. Aside from seeming to peak at the right time—she just beat Barty in the finals in Madrid—she’s got the kind of draw that would seem to favor her (provided she can get past Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, Serena, and Petra Kvitova—no easy feat). Sabalenka plays hard, goes for the big points, and is generally a gutsy joy to watch—provided she doesn’t get in her own way with unforced errors.As for the men—well, that’s easy. There’s one big story here: Can Rafael Nadal win a record 14th French title—thus passing Roger Federer for a record-breaking 21 Grand Slams? Nothing, of course, is guaranteed in a gruelling, two-week-long best-of-five-sets slugfest on clay—but if one single thing were guaranteed, it would likely be that Nadal would take home another title. He seems to dispatch even younger, fitter rivals like Novak Djokovic, with ease. (Rafa is 13-0 in French finals—but also 13-0 in French semifinals.) Due to an odd draw though, Rafa—because he’s ranked a “lowly” third in the world—is, bafflingly, seeded third at a tournament that he virtually owns, meaning that Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer, aka the Big Three of tennis, are all on the same side of the draw. With Federer still rediscovering his form, particularly on clay, look for Nadal vs. Djokovic in the semifinals. (Need a spoiler—or simply a rising phenom to keep an eye on? Look to 18th-with-a-bullet seed Jannik Sinner from Italy, who made it as far as the quarterfinals last year, to put a scare in a few steps this year.)As for that other half of the men’s draw? It’s the future of men’s tennis, or the next Big Three, or something: Zverev, Thiem, the on-a-roll Sebastian Korda—and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The only player Tsitsipas has to worry about in his quarter of the draw would seem to be second-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who’s been, diplomatically speaking, less than stellar on clay lately.So let’s call it right here and now: Nadal defeats Tsitsipas in four tough sets, becomes—on paper at least—the Greatest Of All Time… and all eyes then turn to Wimbledon, which just so happens to be Federer’s favorite Slam.And we’re off to the races. Enjoy the tennis.
LIFT HEAVY OR GO HOME BULLDOG T-Shirt, hoodie, tank top, sweater and long sleeve t-shirt
This week marks the LIFT HEAVY OR GO HOME BULLDOG T-Shirt Also,I will get this return to tennis of one Roger Federer—you’ve heard of him, perhaps?—he of the 20 Grand Slam titles and the impossibly elegant moves both on and off the court. After more than a year away from the game due to surgery on both of his knees, Federer resumes play at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, squaring off against Dan Evans in a round-one match (Federer has been given a bye into the second round).His comeback (scheduled for tomorrow morning) comes at an interesting time: Amidst Federer’s absence from the game, his legendary competitors comprising men’s tennis’s so-called Big Three have drawn even with him in different ways: After winning last year’s French Open, Rafael Nadal has tied Federer’s Grand Slam record—and just yesterday Novak Djokovic broke Federer’s almost preposterous record of 310 total number of weeks ranked No. 1 in the world.Returning after such a long layoff—for someone who has played the game about as well as it’s ever been played—won’t be easy, or instant: He’s planning a slightly lighter-than-usual schedule which includes the French and U.S. Opens but prioritizes Wimbledon in hopes of adding to his already-record eight championships there. But first: Doha. Assuming he shakes the rust off against Evans (Federer’s sometime practice partner), his first real test will likely happen in the quarterfinals, when he could face the 24th-ranked Croatian Borna Coric. After that, it’s likely that only Canadian Denis Shapovalov and fellow Swiss player Dominic Thiem would stand in his way of what would be an incredible comeback title.Doha also sees Federer debuting a new look: His new Uniqlo Game Wear pieces, designed by Christophe Lemaire (who, in addition to designing his own line since 1991, has headed up collections for Lacoste and Hermès, among others), are made from Dry-Ex material, a moisture-wicking fabric which Uniqlo developed using polyester fibers from recycled plastic bottles.Like the changes in Federer’s game throughout his storied career, the look is an evolution, not a revolution. “We moved around the placement of the seams for easier movement and added mesh panels for enhanced breathability,” Federer says, before noting how happy he is about Uniqlo’s ability to turn reclaimed plastic bottles into comfortable and functional activewear. “And after being away from competitive tennis for over a year, I’m looking forward to wearing these new items—and am very excited to make my return to the sport I love.”It seems his comeback was so anticipated that his new collection, below, is all but sold out online. Though the items can still be found at several Uniqlo locations, online inventories will soon be replenished. (The good news is that you can get notified as soon as the tennis goods are back in stock.)
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