WTA 2017. Premier 5 Wuhan & Int. Tashkent

[I Am Finnish]

Mladenovic wins the wooden spoon thanks to García

 

[I Am Finnish]

 

[SpecialGunpowder]

Really happy for Caro, she wasn't letting that one go. Some nerves and inexperience for Ash, but what a great run for her, keeps building this year. Keep forgetting she's still a relative youngster.

 

[SpecialGunpowder]

Mladenovic wins the wooden spoon thanks to García

Life is beautiful.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Ugggg. Nothing more annoying than a player doing all the hard work only to lose in the final.

Anyway, congrats to Caroline Garcia.

 

[ScentOfDefeat]

Great stuff by Caroline Garcia.
Very happy for the least hyped French player.

 

[ScentOfDefeat]

I'm not one to usually root for French players, but this was a great win.
She really took it to her opponent when her back was against the wall.
Huge improvement in the mental department for a player who was suspect in this area.

 

[NaomiKonjuhPotapova]

Lovely Garcia finally got the break that she deserved! Although I must say Barty was more impressive throughout the tournaments, beating 3 top 10 players! (Almost 4 as A-rad is 11th).

 

[FakeEmpire]

You can have a good run with things going your way. It happens most of the time, in fact.
Most champions need some degree of luck, unless of course you're Nadal at Roland-Garros or Sampras/Federer at Wimbledon.
Regarding the bolded section, I say both. I don't have to adhere to your dichotomy. It's a good run that isn't as impressive as it could be (like many other runs).
Does that change anything on paper? Not at all.
Does Seles being injured change anything on paper in terms of Graf's achievements? Not at all. Would Graf's accomplishments have been even more impressive if she'd had Seles as a full-time rival and still managed to concoct a career like hers? Absolutely.

Saying "freaking Vesnina" and in the same breath talking about "amazing Barty" - because one is a fellow countrywoman and the other isn't, because one is younger than the other and seems to "promise" more - is perfectly understandable, as I mentioned before, but only if you have a certain bias. A bias that I think is understandable, I'm not disputing the fact that bias is an integral part of sports and fandom. I don't see a problem there at all.

However, as I'm sure Aussie_Darcy doesn't want to be misapprehended as an overreacting Orville (I just made this one up), I sure as hell don't want to be misconstrued as the opposite, a "buzzkill", just because my approach in these matters is on the cautious side. I wouldn't be quite ready yet to say "Barty is the next GOAT" (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...rty-is-the-next-federer.600765/#post-11665925).

What you see as "passive-aggressive" behaviour might just be the expression of doubt or ambiguity. Something that is very rarely expressed when people are engaged in debate.

I don't have the time (nor the patience, to be honest) to discuss this at length right now.
I might have come across as too harsh in some parts. Sorry about that.
Of course luck plays a role. But if you feel the need to stress it so vehemently, it kinda defeats the purpose of saying it was a great run previously. It resembles more an oxymoron than an expression of ambiguity to me. And if it's true that you don't have to adhere to my dichotomy, it is also true that I might have a different conception of what ambiguity is and, as such, I might read your assertions as a half-hearted devaluation instead and criticise them on that capacity.
I was feeling all sad and gloomy about my sucky memory, but you really don't remember the jokes you've once said... I'm feeling much better now (if I offended you with that, sorry again).