Tennis Talk 2010

[tikigirl]

I'm on a break too, but I saw this article and had to share it with you all. Time to ban grunting!

[falafaclese]

Hoo boy. Woz just won her match against Petra Kvitova to take over the number one position. Let the media henpecking begin. Sadly, I'd like her to drop back down to number two just so she won't be Safina'd for the next 4 months. I'm already annoyed in advance by all the "Does she deserve it?" and "The rankings system sucks" articles we'll be seeing for the foreseeable future.

[mooncreek]

At least this time, you certainly can't say Serena deserves #1 if she's only played 6 tournaments all year. When Safina was #1, Serena was actually playing near the required amount of tournament (playing well at the smaller tournaments, that's a different story). This year, Serena missed 3 months in the spring plus this stretch since Wimbledon. Of course Serena is the more feared player but does Caroline deserve #1? Yes.

Then throw in that Venus will have played one tournament the last six months of the year (and 9 for the year) - and she's right now #3!

[apocalipstick]

I watched the Japan final. A few notable observations.

What the fuck is Monfils thinking with the headband holding down the dreds? Combining that with the mismatched plaid shorts and odd sleeveless shirt with shoulder stripes and he looks like a dirty hippy stoner. Not in the good way either.

The songs they are playing between points are cracking me up. Final Countdown by Europe. Owner of Lonely Heart. It's like 80s stadium rock week in Tokyo.

[mooncreek]

Del Potro pulled out of Shanghai. Not because of the wrist but, essentially, poor physical conditioning and the hype about his return.

It was pointed out somewhere that Shanghai will be the first tournament of the year with all of the Top 20 able to play and it's a sharp contrast to the ladies' side, where it seems like there are exactly two healthy players (Wozniacki and Zvonareva).

[mooncreek]

Anyone else been watching this week?

Verdasco (except for that match against Ferrer at the US Open) has been tough to watch since around the French Open. All I know is that he was on that great run of matches during the spring clay season, then the poor attitude returned in France and hasn't really left.

Berdych showed remarkable maturity against Robredo. The last few games of the match, he looked ready to keel over - in fact collapsed in the chair after match point and could barely lift the pen to sign the camera. I know he's been in a slump but this was a good obstacle to overcome - he couldn't get a first serve when he was healthy in the first set and still easily bagelled Robredo.

If Isner ever had a chance to beat an elite player, it's right now with Federer's first match from vacation.

[breezybee]

I'm watching. I watched Tokyo and Beijing too. I am also tired of watching Verdasco implode.

There seem to be a few sick in Shanghai so hopefully there isn't something making the rounds. One good thing thouhg, Monfils went back to his old hairstyle.

I've really got my fingers crossed for Ferrer here. I'd like to see him go to the finals in London again.

ETA - Nestor and Zimonjic are splitting after this season. Zimonjic will play with Llodra and Nestor with Mirnyi. This does not surprise me as they did not look too friendly when I saw them at Roger's Cup.

[mooncreek]

I never thought I'd say this but this is one match Gulbis needed to overuse that damn drop shot! It's the only shot he was hitting well - certainly better than his serve, which was being feasted on when he even got a first serve in - and I know that not one drop shot was even touched (some went into the net). I was laughing when the commentators spent a five minute stretch talking about Monfils' hair from last week then jumped to an anime-style drawing of Gulbis that didn't really capture his hair (it was blond and not particularly curly).

While Tennis Channel is forced to replay yesterday's matches since the Stadium is the only televised court (it's raining so they've moved matches to another facility), I watch the scoreboard, see another bad loss and wonder what has happened to Cilic.

[falafaclese]

Another Verdasco/Lopez honeymoon pic. I was hoping Verdasco would finish strong and make it to the YEC's but he's definitely struggling right now.

I saw most of Rafa's loss this morning against Melzer. Melzer came to play for sure, and Rafa looked listless in the first set, and then frustrated in the third. Losing these matches as he gears up for the end of the year isn't a great sign, but I still think Rafa can finish the year strong. It's also kind of odd to see Rafa playing this much at this time of year. he's usually completely banged up and trying to save himself. Fed looked good, but then he always looks good against Seppi, so I'll be interested to see how he does against Soderling, and potentially Djokovic if he gets that far. Soderling is looking good, and Djokovic seems like he might be awakening from his long sleep.

[lt]

Busy, busy, busy right now (October is one hell of a month) but I want to thank:
Breezy--I had no idea about Max going with Nestor and that makes me happy. I knew he wasn't going to stick with Mahesh for long so I figured this year was a precursor to retirement. Knowing he is going with a new partner is good news for me. Now I just have to hope that Max/Mahesh can hold on and qualify for London (they're currently tied for 8th).

Falafaclese--that picture is another priceless one in the list of true love pictures. I'm still holding out hope that Fer can get his act together and qualify for London but I liked the guys on his tail (no pun intended. . .okay, maybe intended) so I won't be heartbroken if it is Youzhny or even Melzer.

[breezybee]

Carlos Moya sent out this picture of his little girl with her new tennis coach!


Lt - I'm happy about Daniel and Max too. I hope they kick the weirdo bros. butts.

Fala - did you read Fer's tweet with the picture?

Finally I have twitter again after 10 days! I'm so sorry and to reward u all I send u this picture!

I'm sure he doesn't mean to sound that pompous but it's pretty funny.

My absolute favourite "person" to follow on twitter right now is Maggie - Andy Murray's dog. She's priceless

twitter.com/maggiemay_hem

[falafaclese]

I'm sure he doesn't mean to sound that pompous but it's pretty funny.

Yeah, I read the twitter first, and I was happy to see that it wasn't referring to another shirtless pic.

I've also been sorta checking out Maggie's tweets, but I think I need to go ahead and follow her. I normally don't fall for cutesy, but she's got the meter pinned. Plus she's quite clever.

I'm bummed that Serena had a setback in her recovery. When I heard early on that she might have severed a tendon, I was concerned that it might end up having a lasting effect on her movement and hence her game. Not that there's been any evidence of that, but it's still in the back of my mind. She hasn't officially dropped out of the YECs, but I expect she will. On the plus side, although Venus and Serena won't play, it looks like Vania/Yaroslava and Renae/Lisa will both make the YEC doubles event. It's still a major hit to the YECs to not have the Williamses, but at least I'll have a couple feel-good doubles teams to root for.

Ana's continuing to show signs of life. I'm wondering if she couldn't make it all the way to being a top 16 seed by the Aussie Open. Now if Dinara's back would just cooperate . . .

[acre]

My usual grumbling about no Tennis Channel here. It's been awhile since the Open and I'm ready to watch some more tennis damn it! I'm not surprised about Rafa, this isn't generally a good time of year for him. I'd have to think there's some kind of let down after his phenomenal year, particularly winning the Open, which was such a big goal and achievement for him. I know these are big Masters tournaments, but really - after winning the last 3 Slams, who could blame him if he can't quite get psyched up for this? Plus, usual wear and tear, long season, physically demanding style of play, etc, etc.

Conversely, of course I'm pleased that Roger seems to be playing well. Not that I put that much weight on any tourny taking place in Oct, I don't care about the point value, this just isn't the right time of year for important tennis matches, other than the year end tourny. But always nice to know he's in form - blew out Soderling(who must have been off, given the score), and beat a very in form Djokovic. Well, lately: of course I don't know how Djok actually played that specific match cause .... I don't get the damn Tennis Channel!

Hmm, what is going on with Safina lately? She's been invisible, she hasn't been playing at all recently, has she? Would be nice if Ivanovic could be genuinely competitive at the top again, the women's tour can certainly use more real threats to win big matches.

[breezybee]

Hmm, what is going on with Safina lately? She's been invisible, she hasn't been playing at all recently, has she?

She's pulled the plug for the year. It's her back again. She's joined the growing list of WTA women that are done for the year due to injury.

I watched the Roger/Djoker match live online this morning and it was quite enjoyable. Djoker played very well in the first set but Roger was too good. Djoker's level dropped for most of the second set. It was some good tennis though.

I recorded the Murray/Monaco match and I'm watching it now. I really like Murray and I want him to win a slam one day but when I see him on court he gets on my nerves. It's the clothes that not only don't fit but look sloppy and slouchy (is that a word?). Even his socks slump. They never even look clean for some reason. The thing that really does me in? It's that he gets a big patch of sweat on his ass crack prior to getting it anywhere else on his clothes. I have to avert my eyes.


ETA - speaking of Monaco - here he is with Carlos Moya's baby girl Carlita. That little girl is certainly making the rounds!
twitpic.com/2y3pd9

[acre]

Thanks breezy. I think I must have known that about Safina, but with all the injuries and other women who've basically ended the year already, I guess it slipped my mind. In fact I actually forgot about her entirely until fala mentioned her. And I like Dinara, but damn it's been so long since I've seen her play. The repeated choking in big finals worked my last nerve and I'm no longer invested in her, don't have faith, but I wish I could. Love to see her actually win a damn Slam, she's top of my wish list along with Dementieva. But I don't believe.

It would be great if Serena could get healthy and play in the YEC. Hell, all of them, even Henin. Will we ever see all the top women healthy and in the same tournament at the same time? Doesn't look that way.


Yeah, Murray's annoying as hell - to me, anyway. Great game, creative and interesting, and I know he's lost most of the surly/sulky behaviour(right, I think?), but I still see him that way, I can't help it. His neutral expression looks glum and irritated, even when he's not behaving like that. I want to like him more than I actually do. Agreed, I want to see him win a Slam, I certainly think he should based on talent and overall match history.

I'm happy to hear it was a well-played match(set?) between Roger and Novak, they combine to create great and exciting play when both on. Sniffle - just wish I could have seen it. I'm not up to watching online at 4:30am - looks like an even 12 hour time difference to EST?