What Else Is There To Moan About?

[Bert45]

I just wanted to get this off my chest. Wimbledon. Why do tennis players need to be given three identical balls to choose two from? And when they reject one they drop it on the ground behind them so contemptuously, with the subtext: "Hey, you, ball boy, get this!" And now that Spanish No.1 (Number one jerk, IYAM), Alcaraz, needs to be given four identical balls to choose from. And one more thing, the narcissists who think the crowd is not cheering them loud enough and wave their arms in a gesture that says "More! and Louder!"

[ladybirder]

All part of the fun Bert.

[brainiac]

I agree - and Djokovic incessantly bouncing the ball before he serves (I've counted 13 a number of times) is even more annoying than Nadal with his OCD tugs at his pants, hair etc

[MargoTester]

The loss of Sue Barker

[ladybirder]

Why are you watching it if it annoys you so?

[MargoTester]

Who do you mean?

[ToraToraTora]

Have you got one of those TVs that you can't switch off Bert?

[choux]

Bert, perhaps if you looked at it from the point of view of the tennis ball - Please, not me again!

[Bert45]

I only watch for a few seconds if it happens to be on when I switch the TV on. Then I change channels. But sometimes it is part of the news, so I become aware of it then. The arm waving is not confined to sportsmen (I've never seen a woman doing this). Some entertainers do it too. Robbie Williams for one. For Margo, no one in particular. They all seem to do it, men and women, but Alcaraz is the only one I've seen who needs four balls.

[Old_Geezer]

Oh, there's an awful lot more than that to moan about, if you've a mind to.

Consider, you've been dumped in a place where individuals abuse each other, and there are horrendous natural disasters you might get caught up in to boot. And for what, exactly ?

[ladybirder]

You seem to know one heck of a lot about it considering you don't watch it Bert. Come on, admit it, you're loving it really;-).
Did you ever play tennis in your youth?

[ClareTG0ld]

Tennis (all sports really) is about entertainment. These days, that includes crowd involvement (don't believe me? Watch the 2013 final but without any crowd noises, or just watch any match played in 2020). So I don't have a problem at all with players who try to egg on the crowd. It builds atmosphere, so why not?

As for the ball selection, it's been a routine for, I think, decades -- not sue how much rhyme or reason there is to it, but generally players might try to look for the properties of the ball fluff and pick one that's more or less fluffy depending on what they hope for it to do in flight.

But the main reason, I suspect, is just pre-point routine. You want to focus, get back into the moment, put the previous point out of your mind, etc -- a pre-serve routine about ball selection acts as a handy "reset" in that regard, since you're doing it each point.

Also Alcaraz is cool and is the most exciting player of the next generation. But he'll (probably) lose tomorrow.

[Moorea7]

Hope Ons Jabour wins today - here we go!

[Moorea7]

^^^ Jabeur.

[andy-hughes]

I agree, the ball selection is about the quality the player wants, and can recognise by sight.

Dropping the ball for collection saves time. Seconds taken to locate a ball person and pass a ball, add up to wasted minutes, and disturb concentration. The ball is easily scooped up when the player has moved to their serving position, concentration maintained.

[andy-hughes]

The ball bouncing is about getting the player's mind in the zone, ready to unleash the serve, and be ready for the return.

[douglas9401]

Funny old game, the tennising.

Dropping the ball saves time only for that saved time to be wasted on bouncing a ball a particular number of times otherwise bad luck may descend upon the 'bouncer', perhaps even a curse on their family down the ages.

[Arrods]

I once remarked that Serena (I think) Williams was one of the few players who didn’t go through the 2 of the 3 ball routine.