Explorers Grand Slam Puns

Let’s set the stage here.

Kuerten was a 20-year old who had, in his ATP career, only played 19 tournaments. He had never held a winning streak of more than 2 at the highest level of the tour. He had never even made the final of an ATP Tour event. However, he had just won the ATP Challenger event in his home country of Brazil. Still, this only being his third Grand Slam appearance and his never having made it past the the second round of a slam before, he was no threat to any of the top players in the world, or so it seemed.

Ranked 66th in the world, Kuerten was placed directly into the Roland Garros Bracket, though unseeded. His first round match was a relatively straightforward sweep of Ctislav Dosedel, a Czech player whose best result at a Grand Slam was reaching the quarterfinals of the 1999 US Open. Kuerten defeated him 6-0, 7-5, 6-1. Yes, he both bageled and breadsticked him in a single match. Pretty dominant performance, I would say.

Following this, Kuerten faced Jonas Bjorkman, a Swedish tennis player who reached a peak of World No. 4 in singles and World No. 1 in doubles during his career. He reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2006 and 2007 respectively and also managed to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open twice, in 1998 and 2002. Though he never made it past the fourth round at Roland Garros, he had a long and prolific career, winning 9 slams and Career Grand Slam in doubles and actually joining Andy Murray’s coaching staff post-retirement in 2015. And yet, Kuerten took care of him in 4 sets, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

Then came Kuerten’s toughest test yet: World No. 5 Thomas Muster. A former Roland Garros champion in 1995, the highest-ranked Austrian ever when he hit No. 1 in the world, and one of the most prolific clay courters of the 1990s, he was colloquially dubbed the King of Clay at his peak. He was also the only Austrian to ever win a Grand Slam singles title until Dominic Thiem won the 2020 US Open. Kuerten struggled against him but eventually came out with an epic victory, probably the upset of the tournament against the once-dubbed King of Clay: 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

And just when you thought it would only get easier from here, Kuerten’s next round opponent turned out to be Andrei Medvedev (no relation to Daniil Medvedev). With a career-peak ranking of 4, the Ukrainian became another one of the most prolific clay-courters in the 1990s, reaching the final of Roland Garros in 1999. Though he wasn’t at

#Card Info

##Announced segments:

• CM Punk interviewed

##Venue Info

• Arthur Ashe Stadium, Flushing, NY
• Pre-show Tickets Distributed: 18,924/20,303

##How to Watch

US: TNT

Canada: TSN

Latin America: Canal Space

ROW: Streaming on Fite

Stick around for the Post-Show Thread for show ratings and discussion!

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/59458511

So I just realised Novak won’t be able to play at the US open either You cannot enter the USA (unless you’re a US citizen which Novak isn’t) if you’re unvaccinated and yiu can’t go into the work force or to a gym/sports field in New York State if you’re unvaccinated. Since the tennis court is both for him as well as being in New York State he won’t be able to play.

Macron said his plan is to piss off the unvaccinated so he probs won’t be able to play in the French open either.

Honestly Novak has 2 options at this point. Get vaccinated or retire

• Other notes:

• No other announced segments

##Venue Info

• Arthur Ashe Stadium, Flushing, NY
• Pre-show Tickets Distributed: 20k+
• Tonight's show is Pre-recorded

##Where to watch:

US - TNT

Canada - TSN’s website and on the TSN Direct streaming service. (Check the bonus streams if you can't find it)

India - Jio/Eurosport

Other - FITE TV via AEW Plus

VPN

This means, given the current covid travel restrictions, would he be allowed to enter France, Great Britain or the US? Just curious. Thank you for any answer!

With his win today he overtook Nadal who has only 20 Grand Slams and 36 Masters as well as Federer with only 20 Grand Slams and 28 Masters.

View Poll