![\"2024](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screen-Shot-2024-08-21-at-2.06.24-PM-e1724483281428.png\")
<\/a>2024 Wimbledon Champions, Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova, at their Champions Dinner after that tournament in July.<\/p><\/div>\n
As always, I\u2019m grateful for any opportunity to lay my eyes on the gorgeous Matteo Berrettini<\/strong>, after he did not qualify for the Paris Olympics due to his low ranking this year due to injury. But he\u2019s on the way back! (From my mouth to God\u2019s ears!) So let\u2019s go, Italian Stallion!<\/p>\n So much seems to have changed in the world of tennis in 2024, (as I mentioned above, Andy Murray retiring, and also poor Rafa Nadal<\/strong> being only a shadow of his former self, and therefore, not competing at the Open,) but a few other parts have stayed the same, (such as creepy Novak Djokovic<\/strong> still being at the top of the game, much to my annoyance.)<\/p>\n Photo by Victor Villegas, of the 2022 US Open, as is the one at the top of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n I\u2019m also soooo sick of the women\u2019s defending champ here, Coco Gauff<\/strong>. I was never a fan of hers to begin with, (except when her fifteen-year-old self beat the pants off Venus Williams at Wimbledon five years ago,) but now she\u2019s just proving herself to be a consistent bad sport, mainly by arguing with umpires over calls and also by not being gracious to her opponents at the net when she\u2019s defeated.<\/p>\n Iga \u015awi\u0105tek. Photo by Victor Villegas.<\/p><\/div>\n And World #1 Iga \u015awi\u0105tek<\/strong> of Poland is sort-of doing the same as Coco recently, to a lesser level. When she lost shockingly, (in the third round!,) at Wimbledon last month, instead of praising her opponent, she said, \u201cAfter [the French Open,] I didn\u2019t really rest properly; I\u2019m not going to make this mistake again.\u201d (I honestly think she was talking about that she had gone to the Taylor Swift concert during the few days between the two tournaments.)<\/p>\n And then I just watched Aryna Sabalenka<\/strong> make mincemeat out of both her last two opponents\u2014Iga in the semis, and then Jessica Pegula<\/strong> in the Final\u2014of the pre-Open Cincinnati Open last week. And she looked pretty unbeatable. But you never know. Just look at that almost-unknown Zheng Qinwen<\/strong>, (but she is<\/em> #7 now,) of China winning the Gold at the Olympics just a few weeks ago!<\/p>\n I always root for Elina Svitolina<\/strong>, not just because she\u2019s married to charming Gael Monfils<\/strong>, and I love that family unit, but mainly because of her wonderful and touching devotion to her home country of Ukraine. She uses most of her time and tennis earnings to help her people, which is beyond admirable.<\/p>\n Jannik Sinner. Photo by Victor Villegas.<\/p><\/div>\n On top of all that, there are some troubling first round matches for the ladies, such as\u00a0Jasmine Paolini <\/strong>v. Bianca Andreescu<\/strong>, Naomi Osaka <\/strong>v. Jelena Ostapenko<\/strong>, and Emma Raducanu <\/strong>v. Sofia Kenin<\/strong>, the last five of them all\u00a0Majors winners<\/em>!!! All half dozen of those women deserve to make it to at least the quarter-final; however half of them will be out right at the beginning of the tournament! Shame.<\/p>\n On the men\u2019s side, we have a bit of a controversy brewing regarding World #1 Jannik<\/strong> Sinner<\/strong>. He tested positive for a banned substance\u2026twice<\/em>! Yet the International Tennis Integrity Authority decided to not<\/em> suspend him, and rather to believe his explanation for the incidents. And that is that he got it into his system accidentally because his physiotherapist had it on his own<\/em> hands when he gave Jannik a massage. It was such a tiny amount that it is<\/em> very possible that\u2019s how it happened, but many people in and around the sport feel that that grace would not<\/em> have been extended to lower-ranked players.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>