The Tennis Thread

[highthief]

I hope it's not one of those injuries that causes a permanent drop in form - a lot of people have commented that the way he pushes himself and his body he was always going to have a shortened career.

[dlish]

with nadal out, that leaves the door wide open on that side of the draw...

on paper it looks like a federer vs murray final

[Strange Famous]

From now until the end of Wimbledon Murray should be known exclusively as "Prince Andrew of Murrayfield"!!

You can only see it as bad news that a great champion isnt going to be there to defend his title... but from a partial point of view, of course this increases Murray's chances. But there is still a certain Mr Federer in the equation.

[Jetée]

Well, Wimbledon has been under way for the better part of this week, and it's going as routine as one could expect.

Today's earlier matches were great to watch live, especially Cilic v. Haas (which is to be resumed later, I guess, since the day's over), and Vardasco v. Montanes.

I'm saddened to see Tsonga leave early this year, but he was so evenly-matched with his opponent today that neither set played had any less than 12 games throughout. Great third round matchplay.

[Strange Famous]

Ar you serious?

Seeing a 6 10 carthorse hammer down 50 odd aces, seeing 38 second games an games won with straight service winners... thats hardly my idea of a great match.

Tsonga himself said afterwards he didnt play badly or well, he simply didnt play.

You cant knock Karlovic, he does what he does and its up to the opponent to ocnter, but its bloody boring to watch

[Jetée]

I was being half-sarcastic. I'm not very good at it in real-life, either, so, that's my fault.

I thought it was unbelievable at how some players let vicotry slip from their hands, just two points shy of winning the match, and they go and blow it.

I haven't been thoroughly surprised thus far into the tourney; it's going "routinely", you know? The good advance, the inexperienced lose, and the shaky ones, they struggle along the way. Perhaps I should stop expecting better things from Tsonga until further notice.

[Strange Famous]

Karlovic is a beast and no one wants him. I guarantee that all the top players are begging someone else to knock this guy out... he cant return and cant really play, but he is almost unbreakable on grass.... becauce at least 1/2 serves is unreturnabl and he is also a great volleyer.

I think Tsonga didnt let himself down, but against Karlovc at the end of he day its the best of 5 tie breakers....and thats always a lottery.... I made a mistake and he "only"hit 46 aces btw...

I bet Federer is desperate for someone else to knock him out. Although the great one should have too much, I dont think there is anyone he wants to meet less in the Quarters.

[Strange Famous]

magnificent win for Andy Murray!

But you have to worry how much a war like that will take out of him for the next round.

[Daniel_]

Originally Posted by Strange Famous

magnificent win for Andy Murray!

But you have to worry how much a war like that will take out of him for the next round.

He looked totally shattered afterwards.

[dlish]

i totally agree. theres some big names in the quarters, so any mammoth games with show up a round or two later. and against quality players, it'll show.

in saying that hewitt pulled a 5 setter yesterday too coming form 2-0 down.

interesting to see that it was the first time in its history that a full match has been played under the roof and after 9:30pm

[Jetée]

I usually glaze over women's matches: maybe I'll be writing a bit in another room, and I turn the volume up, allowing me to listen to the commentary broadcasted; or I settle down with some podcasts, turn on the closed-captioning, work on the computer, and occasionally look up if there's a nice rally going.

But at this point, I am beyond glad right now that ESPN is re-broadcasting the semifinal match of S. Williams v. Dementieva. Not only are they top-5 players and at least display nice female forms/faces, but the match was great. As competitive as you'd want in men's match, but actually played by women. Wow. Just wow.

[dlish]

ive always been fond of the female form. \

...especially the tennis one.

i as good as they are, is no one sick of seeing the williams sisters in the wimbeldon finals?

does this show the lack of depth in womens tennis?

[Strange Famous]

Tough game... Roddick deserved the win I think he played a bit better. Very sporting crowd applauding Roddick at the end. Murray just sat back a bit too much I think and let Roddick take the iniative on some key points.

Now its just a case - can Roddick get any closer to Federer than he did in their previous finals... to be honest its hard to see.

[Jetée]

Originally Posted by Strange Famous

Tough game... Roddick deserved the win I think he played a bit better. Very sporting crowd applauding Roddick at the end. Murray just sat back a bit too much I think and let Roddick take the iniative on some key points.

Now its just a case - can Roddick get any closer to Federer than he did in their previous finals... to be honest its hard to see.

I agree with you, on both points.

I guess we are just left to wait two more days to see what the eventual outcome will be, but if anything, it will be a true test for both players to break history and do what was previously thought to be impossible. [whether that means shattering Sampras' open era record of 14 slams (Federer), or actually pushing through his old rival to obtain his first grand slam title since 2003(Roddick).]

[highthief]

Glad to see Murray out. Can't stand him, just a punk.

Roddick is playing really well, this won't be a coronation for Federer, I expect a tough final.

[dlish]

as much as i wanted my prediction of a murray/federer final to be true, deep down i was hoping for a roddick win. purely because murray is more of a threat to federer than roddick ever will be.

i cant wait to hopefully see history. i do hope pete sampras makes his way to wimbeldon for the finals

[Strange Famous]

Women's final on in the background, couldnt care less who wins, I expect the two finalists have already agreed between themselves who it is, so cant see any point in watching.

[KellyC]

I'm amazed at how well Roddick is playing. I've never seen him play like this before. I'm rooting for Roddick this time. Go Roddick!!

[Bear Cub]

Federer FTW. What a ridiculous match.

[KellyC]

Roddick threw everything he had at Federer and still not enough...That guy's a beast.

[Glory's Sun]

amazing match..

I thought Roddick was going to pull it out.. disappointed he didn't.

[Strange Famous]

It was certainly an exciting game, but I dont think the standard was that great. Certainly great serving from both men, esp Roddick.

But at the end of the day Roddick played one of the games of his life, and Federer never quite got into top gear, and it wasnt quite enough. Thats the reason Federer is the best ever. You have to feel for Roddick - if he had taken the second set there might well have been no way back for Roger.

But thats the mark of the greatest champions in any sport, finding a way to win when you arent quite at your best.

[dlish]

Originally Posted by Strange Famous

Women's final on in the background, couldnt care less who wins, I expect the two finalists have already agreed between themselves who it is, so cant see any point in watching.

are you saying the match was rigged?

if so, the onus is on you to prove it. it'd be the same for say....me accusing usain bolt of taking steroids wouldnt it?

[Jetée]

Originally Posted by guccilvr

amazing match..

I thought Roddick was going to pull it out.. disappointed he didn't.

QFT... As much as a fan I am of Federer for the better part of this past decade, it does seem heartbreaking to see Roddick get to so few finals and subsequently fall short in all of them to the greatest player in the game.

If you don't feel for Roddick, you're stone cold. I felt McEnroe's interview with Federer after the match hit the topic quite poignantly and candidly, asking if Federer would "give the guy (Roddick) a bone in another Final later, seeing as you have already have all the records, championships". (/end bad paraphrasing)

---------- Post added at 04:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Strange Famous

It was certainly an exciting game, but I dont think the standard was that great. Certainly great serving from both men, esp Roddick.

But at the end of the day Roddick played one of the games of his life, and Federer never quite got into top gear, and it wasnt quite enough. Thats the reason Federer is the best ever. You have to feel for Roddick - if he had taken the second set there might well have been no way back for Roger.

But thats the mark of the greatest champions in any sport, finding a way to win when you arent quite at your best.

I think it was as exciting as last year's Wimbledon championship finale, but for different aspects of the matchplay, and wholly-more encompassing repercussions. Federer was going for history in front of all the world and nearly all of the greatest players of the eras before his, and Roddick was there to prove that he elevated his game enough over the past 3-4 years that he deserved to be in the finals.

I agree with the serving points, but in the final set, it seemed that Federer was holding his serve with far greater ease than Roddick was able to do. It was routinely Roger holding his service game at love, or Andy just getting one point off; conversely, Roddick's serve was more open to be exploited and broken, due to the fact that if Roger could return it and rally the point a bit, he could force Roddick to misfire and/or come to the net, only to error. Roddick's serve is a massive cannon, but somehow Federer can stand up to it. On the other hand, Federer has a much more dynamic serve that whizzes nimbly past you, and you're just left in awe of what you had just missed.

[highthief]

Originally Posted by Strange Famous

It was certainly an exciting game, but I dont think the standard was that great. Certainly great serving from both men, esp Roddick.

But at the end of the day Roddick played one of the games of his life, and Federer never quite got into top gear, and it wasnt quite enough. Thats the reason Federer is the best ever. You have to feel for Roddick - if he had taken the second set there might well have been no way back for Roger.

But thats the mark of the greatest champions in any sport, finding a way to win when you arent quite at your best.

The standard was very good - both just have such overpowering serves that there were a lot of short points, but not because of a lot of unforced errors. Neither one is a scrambler like Nadal so you may see fewer spectacular recovery shots but other than that, both were in excellent form.

As for Roddick - 3 finals, 3 times against Federer, 3 losses. He probably feels the Federer did against Nadal at the French the past few years. If it was anyone other than Federer in the final, he might have 3 titles by now.

US Open next. Much as I hate to admit it, it's that fool Murray's best chance to win a major.

[Jetée]

Originally Posted by highthief

The standard was very good - both just have such overpowering serves that there were a lot of short points, but not because of a lot of unforced errors. Neither one is a scrambler like Nadal so you may see fewer spectacular recovery shots but other than that, both were in excellent form.

As for Roddick - 3 finals, 3 times against Federer, 3 losses. He probably feels the Federer did against Nadal at the French the past few years. If it was anyone other than Federer in the final, he might have 3 titles by now.

US Open next. Much as I hate to admit it, it's that fool Murray's best chance to win a major.

In fact, of the five times Roddick has reached a grand slam final, he has only won one of them. In the other four, (three of which were at Wimbledon) he faced Roger Federer.

The other loss for Roddick against Federer was at the 2006 US Open. That's why I always regarded Roddick's greatest rival/obstacle as Federer, since before he won his 2003 US Open title (the one he was lucky to obtain because Fed was knocked out early), he never got another taste of a championship without having Roger waiting for him, just to ultimately smack his delicious winning ice-cream cone down.

[Glory's Sun]

We're starting to see a new Roddick though. For years, he was all serve or setup forehand guy.. now we're starting to see him pick angles and lines with his backhand.

While Federer had a massive lead in aces today, I felt Roddick was the better server, especially considering he broke Roger twice. I thought for sure he was going to break him in the 5th, but once again, Fed came through with phenomenal shots.

If A-rod can finally put together a solid all around game around his serve, he will be on top again.

[powerclown]

Granted the level of play was high in the mens final but it gets boring when neither player shows any emotion for 4+ straight hours. I prefer a 2 setter with Nadal over this type of match. Best part was the coverage of Federer, Sampras, Borg, Laver and McEnroe chatting inside the clubhouse afterwards. On the other hand Serena Williams' semifinal was one of the best womens matches ive seen in a long time, just a superb, passionate, entertaining tennis match. I do think something was 'arranged' between the sisters in the women's final (and not just this one between them), their matches together seldom live up to the hype.

[Strange Famous]

The thing about Federer isnt just the sheer class when he is in his pomp, its how tough he is to beat, and how deep he will dig in, and how hard he will fight, when he isnt at his best. Thats why he's won more grandslams than anyone in history. Roddick was in the ascendancy for parts of that game, and in the last you thought - he hasnt been broken yet and Federer's bee broken twice - but Federer just kept coming and coming and in the end Roddick couldnt hold him off any longer.

It was exciting stuff but I would still say it wasnt a great game - a lot of great serving rather than many great rallies - but every now and again even now Federer pulls out one of those shots that you just cant understand how the laws of physics allow.

Roddick's been in 5 Grand Slam finals. 4 of them against the greatest player in history. I like the guy personally. He can be a bit abrashive but he wears his heart on his sleeve and seems like a decent guy outside of the heat of battle (same as Nadal)

[Jetée]

Well, I totally slept on the Legg Mason Tennis Classic this year. I'm so embarrassed. This used to be one of my favorite mid-tier events in the ATP tour, and I didn't watch a single minute of it. The only news that I had heard about it is that it was recently bumped up a notch in the lower-tourney hierarchy from a 250 to the 500-pointer series. Also, via wiki, the winner of the tournament was Juan Martín del Potro, in a tie breaker third set match against Roddick.

This is a good segue because I caught a glimpse of the rounds now in Montreal last night, and it was once again Del Potro against Roddick, with Del Potro advancing this time as well. He had also defeated Rafael Nadal in the round prior to this match.


Final tennis talking point for today (via SI.com): "The Great Eight"

Thanks in part to the comebacks of Roger Federer (from paternity leave) and Rafael Nadal (knee tendinitis), history was made at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. The eight top-ranked players -- Federer, Nadal (pictured), Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Porto, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko -- reached the quarterfinals of a tournament for the first time since rankings started in 1973.

[Jetée]

Another Tennis Talking point (or three): please discuss any or all of these lob-ball dicussion points in our journey to the final Grnad Slam of this year, The US Open.

Kim Clijsters

It's like she never went away in the first place. The 26-year-old former No. 1 looked so good in her first tournament in more than two years that some observers are predicting that she could contend for the U.S. Open title next month. Clijsters defeated top-20 players Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in Cincinnati before losing to Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals.




Venus and Serena Williams

The error-prone sisters crashed out of the third round of the Cincinnati Open in sloppy fashion. Venus (38 unforced errors) lost in straight sets to Flavia Pennetta, while Serena (44) later fell in two sets to Sybille Bammer.




Monica Seles

The nine-time Grand Slam winner is playing an exhibition doubles match Monday at the women's Rogers Cup event in Toronto, where she's being inducted into the tournament's hall of fame. Seles won a record four consecutive Canadian titles, including in 1995 in her first tournament back from the stabbing incident.




Juan Carlos Ferrero

The former No. 1 has turned back the clock in his 11th season, winning a title in Casablanca, reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the finals of the Croatia Open. This week, the 29-year-old Spaniard defeated No. 40 Lleyton Hewitt and No. 13 Gael Monfils in straight sets at the Rogers Cup before falling to No. 3 Andy Murray.




Billie Jean King

King's resume includes 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 in doubles and 11 more in mixed doubles. But the longtime champion of gender equity issues added yet another honor to that list Wednesday, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the country's highest honor for a civilian -- from President Barack Obama.




all via SI.com -- ( http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mul...content.1.html )

[Jetée]

MONTREAL (AFP) – Andy Murray has seized the momentum a fortnight before the US Open, the Scot exploding into form with his fifth title of the season Sunday at the Montreal Masters.

Murray Masters Montreal, US Open momentum builds - Yahoo! News

Besides starting the week with a freshly minted world number two ranking, the only British man to ever lift a trophy in Canada will surely be wired for his title defence at the Cincinnati Masters.

Murray celebrated his ascent to the second spot, sandwiched in between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, by fighting back in just under three hours to overhaul Juan Martin Del Potro 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 for the Canadian title.

His fifth title of the year pulled him level with Nadal for most in 2009.

While victories mean the world to him, there is no denying that Murray is pondering the important marker he passed by moving to his best-ever ranking.

"I love winning tournaments, every player will tell you the same," said the Scot. "But I've never been to number two before, that's all new to me.

"I've won a couple of Masters events and that still feels great. But maybe getting the new ranking means a little bit more right now."

Del Potro, winner a week ago in Washington, looked strong to start, but needed treatment on a shoulder problem in the second set and took an off-court injury time out to start the third before fading.

"I was so tired," he said. "I felt my chances in the second set tiebreak, but I didn't take them.

"I was trying until the last but it was so complicated for me," the South American added.

Murray lost a 62-minute opening set, but levelled by winning the tiebreaker in the second, then dominated in the third.

"I had those three aces in the (second set) tiebreaker to get back into it," said Murray. "Juan Martin served unbelievably in the first two sets. I tried to stay in it to the end. It was tough conditions for both of us out here.

Murray said his next goal is winning Cincinnati again, where he will begin at mid-week after a first-round bye.

"I wanted to get matches this week, that was important," he said.

"The US Open is still a couple of weeks away, I'll focus on Cincy now and try to play well there. Each week is different."

"I don't want to get too far ahead of myself," added Murray. "Becoming number two didn't distract me, I played well and put it to the back of my mind. I'll enjoy it over the next few days."

[KellyC]

A somewhat interesting development on the women's side in the US Open--a bunch of top seeded players are getting knocked out. I was disappointed that Jankovic couldn't win the match after all those chances. And Ivanovic is such eye candy, I'd love to see more of her. Kim Clijsters is making a good come back run so I'm rooting for her, as well as Sharapova.

[dlish]

the way im seeing it, there's only 1 real number 1 player in the world this year and its venus. safina has struggled in the first 2 rounds, and i doubt will make it past the quarters the way she's been playing.

her form coupled with the fact that she's yet to win a grand slam, means she's far from being the #1. the points system needs and overhaul

[KellyC]

Yet another interesting round on the women's side. Oudin upset Sharapova. #1 Safina lost to #72 Kvitova. Venus just got eliminated by Clijsters. For some one who's been away for two years, she's doing remarkably well. I thought it was odd that they bageled each other though. Anyway, I'm excited to see who the winner of the tournament will be.

And Roddick lost...damn...

[Jetée]

Oudin upset someone before Sharapova, perhaps even ahead of Sharapova in terms of skill, though I can't remember the name right now.

Her rise in this tourney is starting to resemble what Sharapova achieved at Wimbledon a few years back to win her first major at only 17-18. (I think Oudin is only 17 at this point). Let's see how far she goes.

[KellyC]

Wow, she's done it again. I'm starting to like her.

[dougalputt]

Murray was a complete let down! Was hoping for a good run and possible final appearance from him this year.

---------- Post added at 01:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 PM ----------

Who's this young American lassie that's taking the tournament by storm - where's she from and what's her story?

[Anormalguy]

Any thoughts on Serena's outburst? I hope that she realizes and admits that she totally lost her cool and should not have.

[dlish]

Clijsters wins the Womens US Open!

i never really did think much of Clijsters before she retired. i saw her play at the australian open almost 3 years ago before she went into retirement, and i wasnt really impressed.

after winning her 2nd US Open crown today, my RESPECT level just went up a few notch.

this would do the world of good for womens tennis. in a time where serena has brought the game into disrepute, this is something that shouldnt be forgotten.

the first Woman since Yvonne Goolagong Cawley to win a grand slam after having a baby. Kim, i salute you!

---------- Post added at 11:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 PM ----------

nadal humbled by del potro... match fitness?