Anyone like Tennis?

Yeah! No worries.

Just have to work out the technology....not my strong point!

Just a bit, looking at the first set ...

Finished: you were correct, engineer

Seems to be a quick match between Djoco and Federer ...

Is Federer unwell, or something?

I'm not seeing the usual Fed brilliance.

That's what the missus said as well.

He's well again

I think there is no doubt that Federer is bringing it at age 34, but there is also no doubt that Djokovic is the best on the tour right now by a fair margin and he's doing it on all surfaces. Federer has always been weaker on clay, Nadal on grass (although "weaker" is a relative term). Djokovic just doesn't seem to care what surface he is on, what the temperature is, how many sets you need to play, whatever you want to throw at him. He's the best everywhere right now. It's not as pretty as the Fed, it's not as brutally aggressive as Nadal, but it's very, very effective.

Looking at the numbers for that Serena smackdown last night (this morning for those not in the Western hemisphere.) Serena made a statement. The score was not close and the match wasn't as close as the score looks. Radwanska is the number three player in the world and would have been number two if she could have won this match. She won the WTA championships at the end of the year and hadn't lost in 2016 ... and Williams completely ripped her apart. It's not the best matchup for Radwanska, she is small for a tennis player and relies on her phenomenal shot making to make up for her lack of power, but Williams has shot making and power. Kerber will be a better matchup, but if Williams plays like she did in this match, it's going to be fast.

And then there was that payoff for Radwanska to tank for us to consider.

Based on their previous eight matches, I doubt anyone felt they needed to pay Radwanska to lose. We do need a match fixing thread though. A2K has been completely silent on it.

Seriously speaking, I think the likelihood is that a lot lower-ranking players would be more susceptible to such payoffs.

As for anyone facing Serena Williams, I pity the poor fool.

I saw an article recently that said that an active pro has around $160k/yr in expenses for travel, coaching, etc. You essentially have to be in the top 100 in the world to manage that. Get injured and you are out for six months. Here is an article discussing it.

Boy, that article (even though it's 2-yrs-old) is an eye-opener.

Unless you're the elite of the elite, it doesn't really pay.

If you can turn $20-$100k for some acting and losing a match, it might be hard to turn that away. There has been a movement recently to move some of the prize money down the ladder. Not surprisingly, the top players with the most pull are generally not for it.

Pretty hard to picture the bribe-money from disappearing totally...unless they really investigate and then enforce. For how long was the soccer scandal going on- more than 20 years?

Since they played football: it is a known fact that quite a few football matches were lost for couple of beers, in the 1920's, in my native town. And today, it's the betting mafia.

I'm rather sure, you'll find such in any team sport's history.
And with betting becoming more and more popular ... in any other sport as well.

Gambling is certainly gaining popularity in tennis circles!

There has been considerable discussion here about the appropriateness of having an official gambling sponsor. Especially as the game-fixing business break.

Australians will bet on anything, but usually don't need the intermediary of a paid gambling company.

Congrats to my countryman, Andy Murray,
on coming back from 2 sets to 1 down in the semis,
to capture yet another runner's up trophy.

All together now...

♫ Land of Hope and Glory,
Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee... ♫