Tennis Talk 2011

[curlywhirly]

I think both tours could use more hot rivalries where there are known personal differences or a history of catty comments-- it would spice things up a bit. Shrieky-Janko was interesting because you knew each would hate to lose to the other specifically. The tennis was kinda sucky but the drama was high. I get the same sense from Fed-Djokovic matches. Serena-Capriati was one of my favorite rivalries because you just knew those two could. Not. Stand. Each. Other! There was even more at stake-- every one of their matches was a grudge match. I'm not an advocate of conflict between players but I do find such match-ups much more compelling.

[lt]

falafaclese, are you okay? We felt the earthquake all the way on the 29th floor in a skyscraper in New York City. (I thought I was having some drunk reaction to my kombucha but then you could hear everyone asking if anyone else had felt it.)

eta: So, since the qualifying for the Open is going on right now--if you are in the middle of a point when the ground starts shaking, is that a let. . .

[falafaclese]

We're on the 15th floor, and we felt it here too. Apparently it went at least as far south as Virginia. They evacuated all the buildings where I am, and we were standing outside for about half an hour until they let us back in. Everything's fine here. I heard it went all up and down most of the east coast, and if you felt it all the way up in NYC, the person who told me that must not have been exaggerating.

So, since the qualifying for the Open is going on right now--if you are in the middle of a point when the ground starts shaking, is that a let

I was just wondering that! I was also wondering if the New Haven and Winston Salem tournaments were affected.

[lt]

Good, I'm glad you're okay. Since you were wondering the same thing about playing tennis in an earthquake I checked US Open's twitter and they said that play was not interrupted. Meanwhile, Hewitt had to pull out of the Open with a bad foot.

[falafaclese]

I had just pulled up Blake/Haase on my computer when it started, and they were in the first set. I came back just in time to see Blake lose 6-4, 6-1, so if there was any delay there, it couldn't have been much.

eta: I just read that they evacuated the New Haven event when the quake happened. The center of the quake was in Virginia, but it seems like it was felt much farther north of the center than south .

[acre]

Thanks breezy, fala. I understand that the Slams othe- than Wimby just seed by ranking, and I do get whey they don't want to go th-ough all the convolutions of accounting fo- top p laye-s who have been affected by inju-y, etc, the way they do it is completely logical but, but, but - you end up with foolish situations like Serena seeded 28, and Venus actually unseeded. That's just not realistic, and it hu-ts the field mo-e than it hu-ts the Williams, I think. Of course, Se-ena is at 28/29, but that's just a number, nobody thinks it honestly rep-esents who she is, the dange- she poses, he- chances. I'm not su-e what the best solution would be, but I'd lean mo-e towa-d a Wimby calculation whe-e you facto- in a playe-s histo-y, talent, demonst-ated results. 13 time Slam champion, back f-om looong inju-y and not notably on the decline? 28 makes no sense.

[falafaclese]

Venus and Serena are on the cover of the latest Hamptons Magazine. its a great cover shot. They interviewed each other for the feature inside. It's kind of fun. The most trivial exchange that somehow still comforted me was:

SW: Are you ever going to redo the Wimbledon outfit? That one was probably my favorite.

VW: That’s interesting, because I think people either loved that one or they hated it. I loved the idea, but when it actually got made, I really didn’t want to wear it. I didn’t even like it until you said you loved it, and then I felt confident to wear it.

Somehow it made me feel a little better that she didn't actually like that outfit she wore at Wimby. It also kind of explains some of the other recent designs she has been wearing on court. I'm surprised she doesn't get a preliminary sample that she can edit/rework before she has to actually wear it.

Anyway, there's plenty of more interesting stuff in the article. Like the following:

SW: I definitely thought Pete was very handsome, but around 1996 I thought he was really hot—but I also think everybody is hot, so I don’t know if that is saying much. I think the most random people are really hot. And the first thing I remember about me playing the Open was obviously you playing the Open.

VW: I knew it! I knew you were going to say that!

SW: You got to the finals, and honestly, I was so happy. Every match I lived and died. I wasn’t cute at the time—I really was going through an extremely awkward period in my life, to my dismay when I watched the film. My best memory was when you were playing Sandrine Testud: You were running out of position at this backhand cross-court for the winner, and it was the shot that changed the match. The next match, you did it again against Irina Spîrlea, and I just remember thinking I was going to have a heart attack. And I remember my failure in doubles. [Laughs]

It must be such an amazing experience to have a family member who has that level of success in such a high profile endeavor. Then to be so successful yourself just increases the experience tenfold.

[tikigirl]

Glad you all are well -- heard from a friend in western NC who also felt the earthquake. How funny is it that I first heard about the earthquake from this?!

Just got a new contract editing job, btw -- so exciting, and it won't interfere with my tennis watching!

[roseha]

Congrats on the new and convenient job tiki! (the best kind )

Glad everyone is okay after the quake. It's very strange because everyone I know who was inside felt it, especially my co-workers but I don't start till 2 pm so I was eating lunch and/or on my way in. I felt no tremor at all.

But someone did up in Toronto!

[oopssorry]

Way to go, tiki -- and I heard from all my PA/NC folks about the quake, but it was mostly joking. I think the serious stuff seemed to be DC.

As for crashing the images of serious, the WS are at their best in those moments. "I think everyone is hot" - wonder if she would like us??

[falafaclese]

They do seem like fun when they are together.

Wow, Toronto?? That's the farthest North I've heard by far. Someone in my office told me she had heard that someone in Georgia felt the quake too, so I guess it did get pretty far South.

Congrats tiki!

[tikigirl]

Slate has a short piece on the history of grunting in tennis. I say ban it!

[roseha]

Thanks tiki, great article!

As has been mentioned before it certainly affects the opponent's ability to hear the way the ball has been hit. When I watched Fed and Tsonga I could sometimes tell by sound whether one of them had mis-hit a ball, or hit it cleanly. No way will you hear that with a grunter!

[lt]

Thanks, tiki, very good article. This is the line that I most agree with:

Navratilova also complained that Seles' intonation changed throughout the match. In that sense, the Seles sound was arguably a hindrance

You know how in a MRI you can't just daydream or zone out because the noise the machine makes keeps changing? Same thing. As the opponent, you can't turn the grunting into white noise if it changes pitch/tone/loudness.

[mooncreek]

While Roger gets his ass kissed by the Aussies for actually making the trip, Novak and Rafa (and their DC coaches) decide to play guessing games. Both are slated to play their first matches on Friday but I seriously doubt Novak will actually play (he's only just arrived in Serbia today) while Rafa is just that committed (or realizes by France not initially putting Tsonga in singles that it's worth giving it a go).