Maria Sharapova, Bryan Brothers To Be Inducted Into Tennis Hall Of Fame

It was great the Bryan Brothers were so good for so long, because American men’s talent had such a long drought after Sampras and Agassi. Roddick had talent, smart as a whip, but aside from a Slam, underperformed despite his talent and couldn’t fix his basic flaws. The only player with a career positive H2H over Djokovic, though I think Carlos and Sinner will end up on the positive end as they now can beat up on the old goat.
And, speaking of GOATS, the Bryan Brothers – greatest doubles team ever. Hal of Fame is a total “duh!”.

I heard and saw some whining about Sharapova getting in the Hall, but seriously? Most was related to her playing for Russia or the meldonium use she had taken since she was a kid or just that she turned out to be Doormat-topovia against Serena (2-20). Not that she was a 5 time Slam winner, 5 RUP. Olympic silver medalist and Sochi Games Icon. Highest earning female athlete in the world 9 straight years until the meldonium mess.
Never liked her much for the screaming, the hostile game attitude, often mindless Smash-n’ Bash game strategy. And playing Russian Queen despite living in the US as her permanent residence since childhood. (Partially on IMG who rep’d her since she was 9 saying keeping Russian would make her attractive to sponsors that wanted an exotic Glamazon from the Far North.
But I respected her fighting spirit, rags to riches arc, and many other personal attributes people that liked her might bring up.
1. She was great for tennis and it’s growth.
2. She brought glamour and helped sponsors see other women in tennis with game and beauty, had marketability. Obviously not the 1st in tennis history, but her exposure and return on ads featuring her made other sponsors look harder in the women’s WTA ranks as a source of eye-pleasing, globally recognized product pitchers.
3. Maria, BTW, also had easy Hall Of Fame numbers.
4. Few people who follow sports are death penalty lovers, in the sense that they want a positive drug test to be a lifetime banishment, a stripping of all past medals and records. Total career death. It’s often a gray zone. You have some “Rules are Rules!” fanatics saying Sinner, who did not know, should be Banned for Life and be stripped of his AO title! for a “nanoscopic” level of a steroid product that had absolutely no impact on performance. Ridiculous. Same with Sharapova. She earned all her money and trophies while Meldonium was legal.

October 26th, 2024 at 3:58 pm

Just goes to show, with beauty and good looks, you can get away with anything, it’s the world we live in

October 27th, 2024 at 6:49 am

Well deserved for the BBs. They were blessed with a righty and a lefty In doubs that can be an advantage. They brought tactics to another level, and were very smart players. They were entertaining to watch, and were always fan friendly and gave back to the sport a lot.

October 27th, 2024 at 11:01 am