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Post by whyistherumgone on Oct 29, 2010 16:22:12 GMT
I've never really cared about Dementieva. She's just been 'The Demented One' to me. I threw my hands in the air in regard to her a long time ago. Which is odd, considering I'm a huge Boston Red Sox and Phil Mickelson fan. But at least in those two cases they finally figured it out and got over the hurdle.
I do feel for her, but I think it was inevitable. There's a lot to be said for her perseverance, but she's human. All the 'close but no cigar''s just chip away at you until there's nothing left. There comes a point in every athlete's career where dusting yourself off and giving it one more try just isn't worth the potential devastation of coming up short once again. Unlike a lot of the women who announce their retirement, I don't see her changing her mind and coming back.
She's always seemed like a sweet girl. I wish her well.
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Post by breezybee on Oct 29, 2010 17:17:27 GMT
Damn. I'll miss her. I loved her upbeat spirit on the court and I think she is really a wonderful lady. I really wish she had won a slam.
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Post by falafaclese on Oct 29, 2010 17:42:26 GMT
While I always hoped for a major title for her, I stopped being emotionally invested in it a long time ago. I just loved watching her game though. I'm a sucker for the athletic efficiency of her movement, her defensive play, and her mix of power and consistency.
ETA: I heard a short interview with her, and in response to being asked why she would retire when she's still a top player and still in the top ten, she stated that she just needed to think of other things besides her career ambition. She said that if she were a man, she probably would never retire, but as a woman, she needs to start thinking about the next stage of her life. I bet she's thinking about having kids. Or maybe she's already expecting but didn't want to announce it? I can't think about any other reason why her being a woman would make any other difference, but being a guy, that could just be my ignorance.
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lt
Semi Finals
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Post by lt on Oct 29, 2010 20:33:39 GMT
Sad. Very sad. I really love that gal.
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Post by acre on Oct 30, 2010 0:42:00 GMT
Well, damn! She was such a fine player - given her service problems and "dementedness" it's amazing that she did as well as she did, a testament to what a great athlete and player she was. I'm sorry she never got a major, but at least she got the Oly gold. And yeah, I think pregnancy (current or hoped for) is the difference for male and female players. Only reason I can think of anyway.
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Post by acre on Oct 30, 2010 19:00:51 GMT
Well I'll double post since it's been nearly a day since my last ... busy time in women's tennis news. Clijsters getting in a car accident on the way to her semi, oh my. Uninjured, and went ahead and won her match anyway, she certainly is a much tougher competitor mentally since her return.
And she'll play the winner of the other semi between "world #1 Wozniacki and world #2 Zvonoreva" - I'm sorry, that just seems wrong to me! They are the 2 best players in women's tennis? I don't think so. Yes, I know the rankings and results support that, and I really have no better suggestions to offer(except Clijsters!!) considering how little Serena has played. But I would make a strong, strong case for Clijsters being the actual best active tennis player. Seriously, who's better? A healthy Serena perhaps, but she's not healthy very often, or at all lately.
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Post by breezybee on Oct 30, 2010 21:28:19 GMT
Wow. I just cringed watching Vera today. She was serving at 5-4 for the first set and just folded. She didn't win another game in the match. She looked mortified when it was over.
Looking at some pictures of Dementieva today. I can never get over how she looks so fabulous in her photo shoots in clothes that really show off her smoking hot bod and then wears potato sacks to play tennis. I really will miss her though.
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Post by tikigirl on Nov 2, 2010 1:54:17 GMT
So Clijsters beats Woz for the championship and no one cares? I guess the curse of Wozzzzzzzzzzz lives. I think I read that she has never beaten the Williams sisters, nor the Belgian sisters. That makes it hard for me to take her seriously, though certainly she earned her year-end number one. Sorry, but what a sad statement about women's tennis this year.
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Post by acre on Nov 2, 2010 2:35:30 GMT
Oh, I care but I didn't get to see it (was it on Tennis channel I guess?), and figured my last post pretty much summed up my reaction to the match and Clijster's win. To me it's like naturally Kim won, she's better. Not that a Wozniacki win would be inconceivable or totally shocking, but to me this was the expected result, regardless of who had made the final out of #1 and #2.
I agree, they earned their top 2 rankings, but I will never actually consider them the best players. And I don't expect either of them to ever be great. Maybe one Slam, possibly, unlikely, 2. I mean, hey please surprise me, be great and win like crazy, I'd love to see more real quality players, I just don't anticipate it from them.
I am about ready for some more tennis - are the men's year end championships gonna be only on TC, anyone know? That would suck for me.
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Post by falafaclese on Nov 2, 2010 3:59:14 GMT
It was actually broadcast on ESPN2 here in the States, however, they aired it on tape delay (cue the groaning and eye-rolling)at 1pm ET rather than live as it happened. I ended up watching it live on my laptop. It was actually an entertaining match with some pretty high quality, competitive play (as were most of the matches that didn't feature someone named Jankovic), but after assessing everyone's form, I was expecting Kim to win too.
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lt
Semi Finals
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Post by lt on Nov 2, 2010 14:47:40 GMT
Ahhhh, Murray vs. Lopez. I'm watching a Spanish feed but it's so nice to see these faces again. . . eta: Hee, Maria Sharapova--never not thinking of her endorsements. She'll be designing her own wedding shoes and they're going to be Cole Haan because she wants to be comfortable. |
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lt
Semi Finals
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Post by lt on Nov 3, 2010 15:00:20 GMT
Did Youzhny have to withdraw in Valencia today? It's Ramos-Vinolas playing Cuevas instead of Mikhail. Not good for Youzhny--he went to the finals last year.
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Post by breezybee on Nov 3, 2010 15:09:33 GMT
lt - yes, Youzhny withdrew. That pretty much ends his bid to make the finals in London. I'm not sure what's wrong with him though.
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Post by mooncreek on Nov 3, 2010 18:43:55 GMT
Tsonga is now done for the year as well - including the Davis Cup final.
Youzhny is out this week with a back injury, but not out of Paris yet so still has an outside chance at WTF.
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lt
Semi Finals
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Post by lt on Nov 3, 2010 20:20:36 GMT
Dang. I'm really not going to see Fer in London, am I? I would root against Roddick so Fer could move up but Fer is playing so sucky that it isn't worth it to hope Roddick loses.
I'm going to concentrate all my good thoughts on Max/Mahesh. They're one spot out of the finals right now. Weirdly, this will be only my third time going to the finals, but I've seen Max both the previous two times (with Bjorkman in Houston and Andy Ram in London last year). I'd love to make it a three-peat. . .
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