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Post by mooncreek on Feb 17, 2011 21:06:01 GMT
...and the Milos train keeps going. Fer being more pissy about losing to him the second time. Followed up with 38 aces against Stepanek. Del Potro beat Isner rather quickly. I know Juan Martin has been playing well but I'm wondering regarding Johnny. Maybe he hasn't recovered from Petkovic laughing at his flirting. |
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Post by falafaclese on Feb 17, 2011 21:58:08 GMT
I saw that flirting. I assume it was all in fun, because John really put himself way out there. I mean Avril Lavigne? Really? If not, I'm rooting for his chest to do the trick at IW. I hate to see Johnny getting dissed regardless of his taste in music As bored as I am with the "Who's the real #1" debate, I am still interested in the discussion about the rankings system on both tours. It always puzzles me why so many people (especially tennis journalists, who should know better) act as if the ATP system is any better than the WTA system. The only reason there appears to be a difference IMO is because Rafa and Fed have been so dominant for the past 5-6 years, and the women with the best grand slam records during that same time period (Serena, Venus, Kim and Justine) don't play full schedules. Steve Tignor and Kamakshi Tandon have been having an interesting discussion about it at Tennis.com. Most interesting to me was the breakdown of how the 2010 WTA year-ending rankings shook out last year compared to how they would have looked if the WTA had used the points-average system or the cumulative-points system they have used in the past: Serena, who seemed to get the most credit for being "The real #1" last year would not have even been top four under the points-average system which I think most strongly awards quality over quantity of play. I'm fine with the current system myself, except that I think adding bonus points for wins against highly-ranked players could be a good addition. |
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Post by breezybee on Feb 19, 2011 19:42:57 GMT
Raonic just took our Fish in Memphis. He'll be ranked 37 after this win. Hard to believe he was out of the top 200 in October 2010. How does someone improve that quickly? Really happy for him but I hope he doesn't have a big crash and burn coming.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Feb 19, 2011 23:34:43 GMT
Well, I'll be rooting for him whole-heartedly tomorrow. And Max and Daniel have finally made it to a final. I guess I have lots of rooting interest in Memphis tomorrow.
I guess when you are a giraffe (so aptly put by falafaclese) once you figure out how to make your legs work, you can go far. He can't keep this up all spring/summer (no one could) but I'd guess he's the real deal.
I love kittens and puppies, sick animals and people who are bullied. In other words, I'm only loving John a little more now and I want to give him a big hug. The big doof.
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Post by breezybee on Feb 20, 2011 19:46:48 GMT
Kuznetsova was replaced with some sort of pod person today in her final against Woz. Really, really bad.
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Post by mooncreek on Feb 20, 2011 20:30:52 GMT
Realistically, I don't see Milos making a dent on the clay season. If he's already in the top 40 after this week, it's a decent guess he'll be seeded for the French and Wimbledon. His game seems suited for the grass so the hype will grow again.
It's not as if Milos is the first to do something like this. The last young player to make a significant jump like this is likely del Potro, when he won his first 4 titles in a row in the summer of 2008 but many of the big names did a huge leap first.
In lighter news, Djokovic and Murray are playing doubles in Miami. I guess they were looking at those photos from when they played in 2006 and want to recreate it with better hair.
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Post by falafaclese on Feb 20, 2011 23:43:39 GMT
I'm very curious to see how he does on clay. The game he's playing right now is clearly a good fast court game, but he trained a lot in Spain, and evidently is pretty close with Almagro with whom he has trained, so who knows? I don't expect him to be dominant, but if he can even just play a little above his rank (he'll be at least mid 30s next week), it will make a big difference going into grass and the North American summer.
I'm impressed by his poise even if he doesn't beat Roddick right now. To be down a break in the third against arguably the best server on tour, and manage to break back especially after the first two sets went to tiebreaks is a very good sign.
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Post by falafaclese on Feb 21, 2011 0:04:48 GMT
Great point to finish off that match. Congrats to Roddick. Both players held their nerve right to the end. Actually, if my math's right, Raonic will be low 40s, high 30s next week. And unless he decides to pull out, he's scheduled to play on clay in Acapulco next week.
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Post by breezybee on Feb 21, 2011 0:07:09 GMT
I think the difference is though that a year before del Potro made the leap he was ranked 59. A year ago Raonic was ranked 374. That's just such a massive leap. I think it's been quite a while since we've seen something of that magnitude. Agreed though I don't think he's going to be reaching the finals in many clay tournaments. Curious to see where he'll be in a year.
Cilic lost to Soderling in France today which does not make me happy but I am glad Cilic seems to be getting a bit of form back.
Am I the only one that thinks Memphis is not what a 500 tournament should be? It's venue is smaller than Delray (a 250), it doesn't even have hawk-eye and the whole set up looks very thrown together. Maybe after the 35 years or whatever it's been there, the owners should put a bit of money in to it? I don't know, maybe it looks better in person.
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lt
Semi Finals
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Post by lt on Feb 23, 2011 14:18:14 GMT
What is going on with Fer? That one screaming fan seems to have broken him. I'm thinking about going to Indian Wells this year and at this point I don't think I'll see him if I don't go to the second round. . .
It's kind of shocking that Memphis is a 500. It seems so rinky-dink.
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Post by tikigirl on Feb 23, 2011 15:40:45 GMT
TikiBoy suggested that we go this year too, lt, but I shot him down. I forget why! And yes, seeing anything about an M. Texeira would make me think baseball. Yay, baseball!
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Feb 23, 2011 16:25:37 GMT
Tiki, change your mind! I just booked my hotel and flights (in and out of Vegas. . . thank you Packers) and I'm going to go to the tournament on Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15. C'mon. . . it'll be grand fun. (yeah, that's third round which means if Fer can't win one match I won't see him but I'm just not a fan of how crowded tournaments are on the weekends.) eta: on a different note, I'm sad about sweet-faced Mario Ancic retiring. Really goes to show how an illness like mono will just take hold and never let go to an elite athlete. Glad he has his law degree to fall back on. Roger is just like us. He gets songs stuck in his head just like real folk. I realize that I'm just linking to a bunch of Federer stuff but he's being quite chatty in Dubai and this is cute. And I'd gladly play some ping pong with Fed. But I'd lose. . .
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Post by falafaclese on Feb 24, 2011 21:29:29 GMT
There has been a flurry of tweeting from Serena over the past week or so. Most of it I haven't understood/wasn't interested, but today she announced that she's out fo the boot. I guess, assuming everything goes well, she'll start training soon. Maybe she'll be ready for Miami? Probably not. I guess she'll start with a US clay court appearance before heading over to Europe. Also, she made a comment about Justine's recent admission about that whole raised hand controversy at the '03 French Open. Justine seemed to admit what everybody already knew. I say "seemed to" because it was in French, and I've only seen translated excerpts. I really wish my French was better. Then, Lindsay Davenport retweeted Serena's tweet, and added: "OMG - luv it". I don't know why I found Lindsay's tweet amusing, but I did. It's like the two of them are gossiping with each other. ETA: Lindsay followed up with a pic of her son and his friend dressed as Batman and The Dark Knight.. Too much! EATA: So as I'm watching the Acapulco match between Almagro and Giraldo, one of the commentators made this comment as chair ump Carlos Bernardis got down from the chair to to check a mark: "And umpire Carlos Bernardis is obviously enjoying the South American swing for the ATP . . . by going to a lot of restaurants." I assume they're friends, because otherwise? Wow. |
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Post by chocula on Feb 25, 2011 1:54:40 GMT
Here is a translation that I found on-line of Justine's comments about the Serena-French Open incident. If this translation is accurate and this is the gist of what she said, then she didn't admit a damn thing. She basically reiterated the same garbage she said right after the incident which is basically that she did nothing wrong because it led to her own victory...so what if I screwed my opponent. After all, I WON! communities.canada.com/montrealgazette/blogs/opencourt/archive/2011/02/24/justine-spills-her-guts.aspx
2003 French Open semifinal
Serena Williams, one set all, 4-2
"No, I haven’t forgotten, of course. It was an important moment. Perhaps, in truth, I could have said I raised my arm, although to be honest, that didn’t change the outcome. If I had been convinced that she had seen it, had been bothered by it, I might have reacted. But you react on instinct. ... It’s not my best memory. I don’t know if it was the turning point of the match, I hope I’m not saying that in bad faith.
Maybe it was a way to get respected. I know that the Williams had attitudes that were sometimes difficult. Today, it doesn’t scare me any more. They played at the intimidation a lot, when they walked on the court, the other one was already there at her side. ... It was a big moment in my career, in the history of Roland Garros too
That handshake (a weak one), the start of a long story between us, but I think we kept mutual respect. Not one of the warmest moments in the history of tennis, but still remains a great memory ." I was so prepared to finally let go of my grudge against Justine. She has such an intriguing personal story that would ordinarily pull at my heart strings and make me root for her. She is such a talented player, and I so covet her beautiful backhand. Unfortunately, her recent comments have pretty much sealed my image of her as a petty, vindictive, selfish bitch who thinks she did the world a huge favor in stopping the Williams sisters' dominance. In fact, I dislike her even more. She basically has now admitted that she KNEW full and well that she raised her hand but that she had every right to lie about it because she wasn't all that convinced that the truth mattered anyway. So apparently, she only tells the truth if the algorithm she runs in her head says she should. Otherwise, it's perfectly reasonable to lie. I know this is harsh, but I'm glad that she retired without that precious Wimbledon title. As far as I'm concerned, "Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish!" |
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Post by breezybee on Feb 25, 2011 3:33:46 GMT
I don't know what to say about Justine. Much of what she said in her interview indicates that she is not a particularly nice person. Way to leave the sport with a good impression.
I'm very sad about Ancic. Between his back and the mono he never stood a chance. He's only 26. Damn.
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