hypotemuse

A Israeli soldier who was attached to the GHF "relief" operation, and was ordered to shoot at the crowd:

"The officers would shout at me: take them down, take them down. I shot 50-60 bullets per day, I stopped counting the kills. I have no idea how many people I killed, lots. Children".

Haaretz.

True. Just seeing it have such a vivid impact against his high octane rival on the biggest of stages gives one whiplash. Scary if he wields it with consistency.

Shouldn't be surprised I suppose, and he obv brought it in other spheres too, but I didn't forsee the Carlos serve emerging as such a main character today. Huh.

she spoke of w/the lights phaps touches on something deeper. Even elsewhere she doesn't imv get free pts she could. Height doesn't always=big serves (her deliveries~103-106mph) - but being somewhat sub-optimal here seems less about speed/mechanics than a measure of how confidence-driven she is.

Blinding Lights: Amanda Anisimova rues missed opportunities, serve woes after US Open final | Tennis.com The American was broken five times by Aryna Sabalenka, and said the closed roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium made it impossible to see her serve.

Remain invested in Anisimova's game(her ball striking will hopefully enthrall indoors at WTA finals),& altho the nerves & many errors req work,it'd be a mistake to ignore headway already made in bouncing back from Wimb double bagel. That said,the ball toss struggles 1/
www.tennis.com/news/article...

Iga's ability to get players off balance, and then press home the advantage is top drawer. She needs it with the firepower Anisimova is bringing.

I'm going to need Amanda to further up the thunderous ante on her BH. Early signs are promising.

1/14 games Amanda. We have lift off 👍🏼👍🏼

state w/the work going on on her serve/fh, but this (together w/Osaka's aggression) phaps also accentuating more organic concerns. Said this once b4, athleticism doesn't always confer instinctive movement, timing, positioning (irresp of any FH issues), & these are likely to remain works in progress.

Osaka v evidently more mentally grounded than she's been past months (big contrast w/ her reactions to losing at RG/Wimbledon); that confidence saw her hitting recognisably freely, but more notably w/a patient, controlled aggression (a few hints of fragility remain). Gauff seems in a transitional 1/

Hard to describe how utterly cataclysmic Petra winning a title at every level (Slam, 1000, 500, 250, as well as the WTA finals, & the 1st of 6 Fed Cups) during her 2011 season was. One of my most vivid memories of past 20 or so yrs, that's endured for a reason.

Henman sounding off re her "positivity" "even the way Emma walked out on court" is putting me in mind of Murray's 2012 final when the suggestion was Lendl wearing a red shirt on the practice court with Murray is "sending out a message ahead of the final". 🖍️

Players charting their own abilities (for better/worse) in simple, unadorned terms, often make for the best reads, as they acnt for their temperament in ways those rather ornate dissections by outsiders never can. Retirement obv allows more freedom but you can rly feel her personality coming through

Yup. It's everywhere. Sub-optimally for the most part.

The continued "quick hits" sports climate of shortened formats and above all crude *maximising of earnings opportunities*, means a tug of war between profit + retaining dubs history is inevitable. But the #goodfortennis moralising might then at least not sound so empty.

ways. Either own the profit driven nature & let it play out as the lavish exho we all know it is (ensuring cont existence of already curtailed subsidised dubs). Or else consult w/ & bring in genuine dubs teams to compete alongside big names in a true slam. 2/

Talk of US mixed doubles getting 'eyeballs' seems an obv distraction. With those appearance fees+ prize pot, top singles players showing up was never in any doubt. But inviting us to believe the resulting cash cow "Slam"—sidelining+'de-eventing' dubs players—is #goodfortennis
is having it both 1/

Dzumhur hand skills never disappoint.

Finally caught up on Montreal final, & this is v true re her pace.

Usual caveats for 18yo breakout, but Mboko has sound foundations. Her superpower for me is how controlled her aggression remained all event - increasingly stifling opponents w/pace, neat redirects, or else trading freely as need be.

A question of intent On Israel and Gaza.

"The most plausible explanation of current Israeli policy is that its object is to induce Palestinians as an ethnic group to leave Gaza Strip for other countries by bombing,shooting & starving them if they remain.
A court would be likely to regd that as genocide"
www.newstatesman.com/world/middle...

UK opinion on Gaza war (YouGov, July 2025)

18% support Israel’s actions in Gaza, 55% oppose
81% of those who oppose say it’s a genocide

Large margins in favour of:
- trade embargoes (48% to 20%)
- financial sanctions on individuals (52% to 19%)
- suspending arms exports to Israel (57% to 18%)

They pass the fish-out-of-water awkward test. Winners only genuinely soar to new heights with me if they pair clinical on-ct excellence with ballroom awkward. And these two stepped up to the plate..awkwardly.

In fact overcoming the mental battles/on ct anxiety she's very visibly struggled w/over past few yrs arguably more important.

Besides, the 'Iga can't play on grass' stuffwas always an overstated, overstuffed talking point. Nobody should be surprised that a player of her innate rich variety, movement, and timing should eventually optimise her game here as elsewhere. 1/

(1) Anisimova's freezing up, and (2) Iga's well-documented grass ct adjustments (& overall improvement that were more than evident in the 6 matches she played prior): in my view it's more instructive/useful to decouple the two events from one another.

Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK Bluesky users in the UK can verify their age using their face, ID, or payment card.

Starting July 25, Bluesky will require users in the UK to scan their face, upload an ID or verify their identity with a bankcard.

I realize that platforms feel they have no choice but to comply with the government surveillance schemes, but shocking nonetheless.

The telling aspect of the quality of this match isn't the raw shotmaking and power we associate with both Sabalenka and Anisimova, but the smart reactive/improv nature of the rallies: the redirects, the slicing, the brinksmanship with lines, the net play.
Still, Anisimova's BH in a class of its own.

There's a magnificent irony in jitter merchant *Pavlyuchenkova* of all players steeling up after being robbed by ELC and seeing out the match as robustly as she did. Weirdly dialled in even before the incident. 👀

I dunno what i expected with SwansongFabio. Mellower at 38 perhaps, but still a multiverse of chaos.
Strip away the slapstick, and his loose, uncomplicated ball striking was always an underrated asset.

Lol bbc Wimbledon subtitling rendered Henman's ref to Federer/Nadal retirement as 'Fedora and Adele'.
We are all post-Fedal now.