let's see what's coming

tennis side blog, of the lenghty variety

[swaghassian]

if sinner's mother is the reason why jannik likes his women blonde and model-like, then who's responsible for him favouring guys that are dark-haired, tanned and slightly macho-looking? alberto tomba?

[swaghassian]

i sense a pattern here

[swaghassian]

hundred of photos with a blonde girl, kissing, pinching cheeks, on a yacht, in a villa, going international no thanks to deuxmoi, are these stolen, are these staged, is this a pr thing, and in the end the protagonist of the tennis gossip of the season is matteo berrettini

[sconewithcarbonara]

The apparently jannik inspired plushies hit the shelves of Shanghai Masters online store

[sconewithcarbonara]

Lmao actually they do have a carlos animal plushie this year (and even for novak and roger!) but I’m afraid the meaning underlying them is a CN specific thing because of their nicknames in Chinese fans:

Roger: “The Cow” because of the cow he was gifted in a Swedish tournament.

Novak: “The Chicken”. When Novak was young, coming after to challenge Roger, our newspaper called him a “fried young chicken” (当红炸子鸡）which is a phrase to describe a rising star. So in China Novak always has the chicken as his nickname.

Carlos: “The Duckling”. Since Carlos was also a fried young chicken to challenge Novak in the early years but the chicken nickname was occupied, so he was automatically assigned to a fried young duckling to represent his rivalry with Novak lmao.

[yuex10]

matching 🍍

[mylittlewoodstock]

2020 Rio Open

[swaghassian]

[swaghassian]

“Points, tournaments and all the talk aside, it’s simply wonderful to have Carlos Alcaraz back on the circuit. Tournaments are less exciting without him and his approach to tennis – like a virtuoso’s long solo. And besides, I’m sure Jannik Sinner misses him a great deal too, despite what his absence means for his chances of winning a Grand Slam. Given that we are in ‘Odyssey’ times, as Achilles says to Odysseus in Book VII, ‘I would rather be the humble servant of a poor and dispossessed master than reign over all the dead’.”

(source: ultimo uomo, of course)

[matteoberrettini]

well congrats to spain on winning the world cup and to carlitos alcaraz for winning the world face card cup

[toyotathonics]

messi in the last 10 min is like an old dog experiencing a sudden burst of youth in the days before its death

[carlicos]

Carlitos + Delpo!

[tieheartbreaker]

sorry I keep thinking about that post. I've always felt that carlos doesn't mean to spain what jannik means to italy. that has many ramifications

[tieheartbreaker]

to expand on this, and to echo what some of my italian moots have been saying about it: jannik in italy is a star, mainly because italian football has been going through a rough era for quite some time now (they're flopping hard) so there's a kind of void in the country's sports landscape. but what do they have? jannik. a lot of the attention that would've naturally fallen on different football players has instead been absorbed by him. that's why we see italians saying hat his face is everywhere and that everyone seems to talk about him

on the other hand, carlos in spain isn't a star with capital s. he's a famous athlete, a great tennis player. but he doesn't carry the same degree of importance and stardom in the public's collective imagination as jannik does in his home country

this is partly because spanish football captures most of the attention (football players are the real stars of this country). and partly because spain has known what it is to have a tennis legend already. we had nadal

I believe that if nadal had never existed, carlos would be perceived as a greater phenomenon. it feels like, for many people here, there are two bars carlos has to clear to deserve their admiration: one is tangible — the historical tennis achievements he's been accomplishing. the other is abstract — he has to surpass what nadal meant to spain. what he is as a symbol in the collective imagination

there's a kind of distrust towards carlos. a desire to compare him to nadal not only as a tennis player but as a person. to constantly remind everyone: "no le llega ni a la suela de los zapatos" — that's a comment you can count on finding in almost every post about carlos, no matter the content. it's a spanish expression, the literal translation is "he doesn't even reach the sole of his shoes". he doesn't hold a candle to him, he could never be on his level — you get the idea

so I think those are the two main reasons why carlos doesn't mean to spain what jannik means to italy. they're both incredible, brilliant tennis players. but their contexts aren't the same

[mmmngoc]

brother he’s your rival, stop looking at him like he hung the moon and stars 🤦

[gamesetandmath]

carlos getting a gf right before he has the chance to reheat the nadal nachos of getting passed around like a blunt porro in the dressing room after conquering the wc…

[gamesetandmath]

should not have doubted him

[swaghassian]

the three musketeers feat. american men's tennis reboot: taylor fritz as athos, frances tiafoe as porthos, tommy paul as aramis and ben shelton as d'artagnan

[swaghassian]

ohhh carlos being sick of the wholesome cute boy next door teen star image he kinda has...

yess i think that might be the case, actually. men athletes are simultaneously expected to be heartthrobs and scolded if they seem to be too distracted by women, and the tennis world is among the most conservative in that regard. the general idea is that you can't be a champion if your personal life isn't stable. roger rafa and novak were already committed with their life partner when they were carlos' age. jannik changes girlfriends every two years but is almost always seen in a serious relationship. for carlos and his camp, the pap photos and the authorised rumours could be a way to create an off-court image that suits best his current needs. because the news is less “carlos is dating a woman” and more “carlos is seeing people, you might see some photos of these girls with him sometimes, but don't expect for them to show up at his next tournament because it's not that serious”. in a way, it seems coherent with the newly adult, sensual image of him portrayed in the vogue spread: someone who's having fun, and doesn't want to justify himself for it.

[swaghassian]

btw i don't think these pr-approved indiscretions about carlos' love life are a way of countering the gay insinuations. if anything, they seem designed to create an image of him (carefree, unattached) that defies the constant criticism of carlos' lifestyle and the looming comparison with rafa the stable monogamist, especially in spain

[toyotathonics]

jet skis being foundational to the carlos alcaraz sexuality lore

[swaghassian]

top players get one week of rest after wimbledon and immediately proceed to get married and/or get papped. and now we've got a very confused-looking telenovela that somehow includes julio iglesias and jlo