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Post by falafaclese on Nov 18, 2010 16:08:40 GMT
Although I am jealous that you're getting to go see it in person (get lots of pics!), I'm not as excited this year about the WTFs. Maybe because the season seems extra long this year since the women have been done for weeks now? I don't know. Don't get me wrong, once play starts, I'll be all about it, I'm just not feeling the anticipation.
The most interesting thing to me right now, is the possibility of a Rafa/Fed match. I'm also kind of looking forward to the Soderling/Murray match on the first day. That could be very good since Soderling is probably showing the best form out of all of them right now, and I'm sure Murray really wants to follow up his last loss with some strong play. I'm expecting nothing from Berdych, so the Djoker/Berd match has very little interest for me. I think over all the groups are fairly even, however, Nadal's group has more question marks since Nadal has been out for so long, and it's unclear to me how well Roddick is playing.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Nov 18, 2010 19:20:28 GMT
Ah, Roddick. I have never gone back and forth on a player so much in my life. According to his Twitter he's been in London preparing for quite a while already. I love that. And he really loves this tournament. When he couldn't play last year because of injury he still came out to the O2 to watch. And, hell, Feli even tweeted him to wish him luck in London! It's just so weird. Yeah, me neither. Maybe he'll surprise me? But of the first four singles matches, that one interests me the least as well. However, it's Max and Mahesh starting that day so that's where all my attentions are lying. I know from last year that the photos will suck. It's an indoor tournament, cannot use a flash and the only lit part is the court itself--and even that isn't all that brightly lit (not as dark as the Giants' game last week but still dark). The videos come out okay so I'll try to get videos of everyone and maybe some practice pictures. Since all the players seem to be healthy (thank goodness) I don't think there will be any alternates but that's okay. I don't need to see Fer. . . I just want to. Strangely, I'm almost happier seeing Roddick since he's showing how much he wants to be there. I won't root for him to win the whole thing but I'll be home long before it gets to that stage anyway. eta: Hey, lookey here--ESPN2 will be airing the Roger/Rafa exhibitions in late December. |
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Post by breezybee on Nov 20, 2010 3:58:56 GMT
So lt, I assume you`ve seen that Verdasco is in London. Let the stalking commence. Don`t forget to take pictures. Ohhh, maybe you`ll get to sit beside him in the crowd. He`ll have to be there watching with Nadal and Ferrer both playing.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
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Post by mooncreek on Nov 21, 2010 17:22:06 GMT
Andy Murray decided to come in disguise for his match at the WTF. Absolutely no blue in sight.
That and he actually won easily.
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Post by breezybee on Nov 21, 2010 17:34:11 GMT
Personally, I was happy to see Murray in black shorts as it prevented us from having to view his ass sweat. They seemed shorter than usual though.
He did a really good job of exposing Soderling's weaknesses on the court. In particular, the volleys.
ETA - does anyone know if lt was there today?
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Nov 21, 2010 23:49:57 GMT
I was! Day and night. And I recorded the entire Moya ceremony. Did they air that on TV? I'll put it on my flickr when I get home if they didn't. It was really sweet. And the crowd went WILD when they saw Rafa come out first as one of the players there. Boy, he looks awfully good in street clothes. I didn't know Fer was in London until he waltzed out. So cute. I looked for Fer later during the Ferrer match but he wasn't in the box although Costa was there. I did get to see Richard Branson walk right past me going to his seat during the Murray match. He was shaking everyone's hand and clapping people on the back. It was really funny.
My next statement needs a disclaimer: I love argyle. I just do. It's my preppy past. I don't know. So this won't come as a surprise: I LOVED Murray's shirt. He really had no problem with Soderling. And Roger really had no problem with David. Darn for that. Actually, darn for both. I wanted Murray to win (and Roger as well) but not that easily. There was really nothing concerning in Andy's play right now. He was in the zone. Roger, on the other hand, kept losing concentration. David tried to take advantage but his play (all those double faults!) was not up to snuff today. I hope David gets it together when he meets Soderling next. I was really thinking (and hoping) that Andy/Roger would be the Tuesday night match (that's my bonus ticket) but it's the afternoon. Oh well, I love Robin and David so hopefully that match will be a killer. But the crowd for Roger/Andy will be nuts. I thought they were pro-Roger and pro-Andy last year--this year they're bonkers. Strangely, the crowd went more wild for Rafa in that Moya thing and Roger before his match than they did for Andy. But that might be the British phlegm because the fact is that after the finals, the first session to sell out was today's day session and everyone has known that was going to be Andy from the moment he qualified.
The day doubles match was really good. Shorter than I'd like, but some great shot making. Damn those stupid Bryan brothers for winning. I did get a kick that I didn't have to listen to those horrible Bryan Brother fans in the crowd though. The crowd was behind Melzer and Petzschner--but that was because they wanted the match to go the distance. The night match had Paes and Dlouhy and I can honestly say I have never seen Leander play so badly. And he knew it. When it was over he made a point of thanking the crowd. I think it was part apology for playing like crap. 'Cause he did.
Meanwhile, if anyone is thinking about coming to London at any point--I am staying in a great hotel. Reasonably priced (for London), big (especially for London) room, nice people, free gym, etc. etc. It's a little out of the way from Central London but I'm really liking it.
Okay, I'm going to sleep because I have to wake up nice and early so I can get to the O2 early. I'm not missing a minute of Max tomorrow.
eta: oh, one more thing: the crowd was so excited to see Judy Murray and Kim Sears. I even heard a "we love you Kim!" from the crowd. hee.
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Post by breezybee on Nov 22, 2010 1:20:42 GMT
Thanks lt - loved your report I don't have tv coverage of the event until tomorrow but I watched online. I think the Moya ceremony was shown on tv as it's already on Youtube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy3InUqnboMWould it kill Andy Roddick to take off the beanie for a few minutes? Enjoy tomorrow lt! I'm sending Max good vibes. |
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Post by tikigirl on Nov 22, 2010 15:49:04 GMT
So is any of this on a channel other than TTC? Because I'm sick and tired of them hogging the tournaments and preventing many of us from seeing much. Sure, I have the option of upgrading my satellite package, but I already pay a fortune. If TPTB want tennis to become more popular, putting half the fucking tournaments on TTC is not the way to do it. In fact, I'm starting to not care -- feeling like, [shrug] I can do without tennis. They really shouldn't be going down that road...
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Post by whyistherumgone on Nov 22, 2010 19:32:17 GMT
So is any of this on a channel other than TTC? Because I'm sick and tired of them hogging the tournaments and preventing many of us from seeing much. Sure, I have the option of upgrading my satellite package, but I already pay a fortune. If TPTB want tennis to become more popular, putting half the fucking tournaments on TTC is not the way to do it. In fact, I'm starting to not care -- feeling like, [shrug] I can do without tennis. They really shouldn't be going down that road... TBQH, I don't know that they have much (if any) of a choice. In order to get these tournaments on ESPN, USA, or even Fox Sports Net, there has to be a demand. It's highly competitive between all the sports to get their events on TV. Channels like ESPN, understandably, are going to give the time to sports that will bring in the ratings. And tennis just doesn't do that as much as it used to. Then it becomes a 'the chicken or the egg' type of thing. Are tennis tournaments relegated to TTC because they no longer get high enough ratings to be put on larger networks, or does tennis no longer get high ratings because the majority of the tournaments are relegated to TTC? Either way it really doesn't matter. The result is the same - less interest in tennis in the US. |
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Post by breezybee on Nov 22, 2010 19:46:14 GMT
It's on TSN here in Canada. I had assumed they were picking up an ESPN feed because they don't often pick up TTC feed. They could be picking up Eurosport though.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Nov 23, 2010 0:45:58 GMT
And I can tell you from the battle between Cablevision and TTC that TTC wants to be on basic cable or at least the basic digital package everywhere but the cable/satellite companies are forcing them into a premier sports tier. So, they're screwed and that makes the viewer screwed. ESPN is still committed to tennis--they added something (brain too addled to remember) from FOX sports just recently. . .
On to the actual tennis: after loads of good match ups and not great matches I finally got to see a doozy. Thank you Rafa and Roddick. That was fun. And thank goodness Rafa finally got to win a match at the finals. He was very excited. Practice wise, I've only seen Melzer/Petzschner and Dlouhy/Paes. Melzer and Petzschner were practicing with a doubles pair and they were actually playing a set. Dlouhy and Paes were just fooling around and it was hysterical--all the way to the classic "whoever loses this next rally has to stand with their butt to everyone while they aim for it." It was nice to see all the laughter.
I'm still fascinated with the ball kids. They are better this year but since they are new at this they know what to do but they aren't thinking too much for themselves. For some bizarre reason the O2 has a problem with confetti drifting down from the ceiling (they had the same problem last year). The confetti comes down and the ball kids just stare at it until the chair umpire tells them to grab it. At one point Rafa picked one up and tried to give it to a ball kid but the kid just kept throwing balls to Rafa. Rafa finally walked over to the wall and tossed the confetti over. All the kids have a number on their baseball cap. I don't know if they were given randomly or if they were numbered as they were picked. If it's the latter, poor #30. Always known as the last one picked. One kid, #16, looks like a young Tsonga and is very energetic. I'm keeping my eye on him.
Fer still isn't sitting in the player's box. Moya was in Rafa's (and Kylie Minogue--boy, she got a huge cheer. I like her, when they played one of her songs she danced along. Very much like Justin Timberlake did at the US Open. I like that.) but no sign of Fer for me. Are they showing him on TV? I think they showed the guy who plays Arthur in the BBC's Merlin but it went by too quick for me to tell.
I'd like to say something about the Beaker/Berdych match but it was too annoying to watch. And stupid Berdych lost so quickly that Beaker has the fewest number of games against him right now. Damn. Oh, and Beaker is skinny! Skinny skinny.
We all know that Beaker's family can be quite annoying. Same with the Bryan Brothers' people. And, of course, the J-Block. Well, they all have some competition. The Marach/Kubot group were so bad--rhythmic clapping before serves, chants and clackers! Yikes! Even if I wasn't fully rooting for Max and Mahesh I would have rooted for (almost) anyone playing against them.
On a completely non-tennis note--I have the worst sense of direction ever. No one gets lost as much as I do (and I spent college breaks delivering pizza!). So, with that in mind, I decided to take a completely different way back to the hotel after the match (boat instead of tube). So there I am, wandering the streets of London around midnight. Completely lost. And I knew I was going to get lost. I actually sat on the boat berating myself for being such an idiot for taking a new way at night. *sigh* Thank goodness for the nice police officer who pointed me towards the right direction. Well, off to sleep--I've got shopping to do tomorrow before Ferrer/Soderling. I think I'm skipping the doubles match--I'm happy that Ferrer and Soderling are the two single players I get to see twice but I don't want the Bryan Brothers to be the doubles pair I see twice.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Nov 23, 2010 10:46:16 GMT
Oh, two more things about the Rafa/Roddick match: 1) Rafa needs to learn that matching your clothing to random colors in your shoes doesn't work. Not one thing on his body matched. Add in the black socks and he looked like a pensioner (I am in England, after all) grabbing some clothes for a quick hit. 2) This was a match of the nether regions. Rafa with his picking at the back and Roddick with his picking at the front. It would have been funny if it wasn't so squicky.
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Post by falafaclese on Nov 23, 2010 13:17:39 GMT
ESPN is still committed to tennis--they added something (brain too addled to remember) from FOX sports just recently. . . You're probably referring to the fact that ESPN2 will be carrying the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments next year here in the States instead of Fox Sports (thank you) so the matches may actually be aired. I haven't gotten to see much play from London so far, but I was surprised that Soderling went down that easily. It seems like most of the matches so far haven't been all that competitive other than Rafa/Roddick, but I'm sure things will heat up like they did with the women. |
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Post by breezybee on Nov 23, 2010 23:55:26 GMT
Can't wait for lt's report. Unfortunately I think she said she was skipping the doubles match which means she didn't see the Loser Brothers lose. Darn. I wanted to hear about their crestfallen faces.
Question lt about the Soderling/Ferrer match. On tv Ferrer looked dressed for Halloween and Soderling for Easter. Were the outfits that bright in person?
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Post by roseha on Nov 25, 2010 4:46:06 GMT
tiki, there will be coverage of the finals on Sunday on ESPN2 according to what I am seeing - you might want to check this site, titantv.com, you can look up anything there - apparently they will replay the men's semis Sunday at 7 am and then the final at 12:30 pm and around 3 pm? All Eastern time. Hope that helps. Not sure if they are showing any doubles.
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