Tennis Talk 2013

[falafaclese]

Thanks for the court reports from Miami, lt!

I really never get tired of watching Li Na play. Have i said that before? There's something about the aesthetics of her game that I love. She almost always seems to be in position, she's almost never off-balance, and her strokes (especially the back hand) seem so efficient. She's playing well since she came back.

[lt]

I'm going to jinx it because: 1) I just turned it on and 2) I'm saying it out loud but. . . is Tommy Haas going to beat Djokovic? He's currently up a set and a break. Has anyone been watching from the beginning? Is Novak okay or is Tommy just playing really well?

eta: woot! I thought I was jinxing it when Djokovic broke back but Haas pulled it out. Phew! I love Ferrer but I'm hoping Melzer can beat him and Haas can beat Simon so that half of the the semis can be a battle of the guys in their 30s.

I don't watch Game of Thrones but this Nikolaj Coster-Waldau really looks like our Ferru. I love that people think this fellow is hot because I figure that means they're saying David is hot.

[oopssorry]

Wow! And yay to your non-jinx, lt, though I am noting for the record I did not post my comment. You're welcome.

[apocalipstick]

Haas was amazing. It was nice to see.

What's not nice to see? Verdasco trying to look like Marcelo Rios.

[breezybee]

Jankovic and a teeny tiny monkey boxing?

I love Ferrer but I'm hoping Melzer can beat him and Haas can beat Simon so that half of the the semis can be a battle of the guys in their 30s.

Well, Ferrer is 30 so even if he beats Melzer it will still be the battle of the guys in their 30's.

Verdasco trying to look like Marcelo Rios.

THAT'S who he looks like. I've been trying to put my finger on it since I watched that video.

[harry24]

I'm so grateful you guys posted about Haas's win. I didn't watch the tournament yesterday, but made a point of DVRing the repeat broadcast and am looking forward to seeing Tommy take out Djoker. So impressive.

[mooncreek]

I'm in Chicago for a few days but I woke up to the news about Tommy beating Novak and was quite happy.

With each painful loss, I feel more and more for Nicolas Almagro. The tag team of the Davis Cup final and the Ferrer loss have really done a number on him. He's actually playing well this year but the close sets are quite shaky. It's bad when I noticed Almagro's match against Gasquet got to a third set tiebreak and, without any other information, I was confident Richard would win (just think about that one for a second, then shudder).

[lt]

Well, Ferrer is 30 so even if he beats Melzer it will still be the battle of the guys in their 30's.

He is? I don't know why that is surprising to me, and with Melzer not even 32 yet they are pretty much the same age but I'm looking at this tournament as the Melzer Miami tournament so I hope he does make it to the semis.

I guess ESPN2 has the coverage now because ESPN3 has PMac/Chris/Brad instead of TTC team that I was listening to yesterday.

moon, I don't know if this will make you feel better at all but when I was uploading my photos yesterday I realized that Nico has shaved a little pattern into his hairline. It looks as ridiculous as you would imagine.

eta: Here is a description of the updates they are going to make to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne for this tournament. Yeah, the most outer courts have some poor seating so I understand and I really do love this tournament but it is frickin' expensive. They started this really annoying practice of adding $10 to the ticket price every single day. A day session ticket was more expensive than a US Open ticket before the first weekend even started. I'm guessing next year will be even worse with the renovations starting as soon as the 2014 tournament is over.

[mooncreek]

Wow. Berdych is not looking good - and I mean both his H&M attire and his game.

[lt]

his H&M attire

Yeah, when did that happen? Did I miss that H&M is doing tennis clothes? Did they start after they saw the success UniGlo had with Djokovic?

I full on love all four semifinalists on the men's side so yippee!!! I'm fine with any final but I'd dearly love to see Haas/Gasquet.

[breezybee]

Yeah, when did that happen? Did I miss that H&M is doing tennis clothes?

He's been wearing them since the Australian Open.

Lt, I'm with you today. I love Ferrer but I'm pulling for Haas. It would be great if he won the whole thing.

[mooncreek]

Berdych has been wearing H&M since the Australian Open but I think it was IW when the logo actually appeared.

lt - third the comment about liking all four SFists. If Murray wins today's match, I pull for him to win the whole thing so he'll be #2. However, I've accepted as a Murray fan that there will be a big match where Gasquet beats Murray because Andy is frankly fortunate to have a positive H2H. This would definitely qualify as a big match, given how Andy feels about Miami and Richard's past, ahem, adventures here.

I'd also have no issue with Haas winning a Masters title but I can't actually root for him in a final against either opponent. Ferrer hasn't been playing well so it's easier to accept him not winning.

[lt]

However, I've accepted as a Murray fan that there will be a big match where Gasquet beats Murray because Andy is frankly fortunate to have a positive H2H.

They were talking yesterday during Gasquet's quarterfinal match how hard it's been for him to close out matches and that the way he kept his eye on the ball is promising. I wonder if that will come into play for this match.

Richard's past, ahem, adventures here.

After the match when Gasquet was getting to ready to leave I suddenly thought, "I wonder if someone will kiss him." It was in Miami, wasn't it? It was a Pavlovian reaction to seeing him for that thought to pop into my head but I wasn't sure it was Miami.

I'm not saying that Ferrer won't come back and win this match (so I'm not jinxing Tommy) but the thing I've absolutely loved about Tommy this tournament is not only his net play, but his willingness to hit another ball. He isn't assuming a good shot will be a winner or that a good shot from his opponent will result in an error from him so he's getting back into a ready position to stay in the point if the ball comes back to him. He's been getting a lot of "wow, beautiful" points in this tournament because of that.

Oh, and I can't believe how much I'm agreeing with Brad this match. They were talking about whether this run back into relevance for Tommy is more impressive than his #2 in 2002 and Brad said what I think--that tennis in 2013 is being played at a much higher level with better all-over play than it was in 2002.

eta: I forgot to mention this before but I'm hearing them in the background of this match so I'm remembering: during the Verdasco/Marrero vs. Peya/Soares match a bird sat on one of the light stanchions and started looking down at the match. The entire time it's going "uh uh". Hysterical. The people in the stands were cracking up.

eta2: ARGH! I did not mean to jinx Tommy! But I obviously did.

[mooncreek]

...and yet again, Murray gets good fortune in this H2H because he turned out to be the choker when he served for the first set, got outplayed in the tiebreak and then the toe/blister issue started for Gasquet.

ETA: Mind you, the first set had some amazing moments. I seriously think Murray was broken at that point due to Gasquet yelling at the chair umpire during the previous changeover regarding the way a time violation was enforced. He had appeared to be fading out after being broken the second time but came back into the match at that point.

[lt]

CBS has the men's final which means we better hope it doesn't go long since we all know they'll go straight into the NCAA basketball pre-game show even if the tennis isn't over. . . I didn't realize they had the women's final today--when it wasn't on ESPN2 I just figured it was on TTC. Oops.

I uploaded some photos from the Sony Open. Lots of Tsonga smiling (and I was good about not uploading nearly all of the the ones I took.)

eta: DAMN! It's Mary Carillo. ARGH! Why won't she go away?