Tennis Talk 2013

[falafaclese]

Great pics as usual, lt! Thanks. It's interesting that Djoker/Haas and Marray/Gasquet each practiced together at some point prior to their semifinals.

It was an entertaining women's final yesterday. Maria really had the game to win it for the first set-and-a-half, but as soon as Serena's forehand started showing signs of life, I knew it was going to turn around. I was surprised by how dramatically it turned though. I wasn't expecting Serena to run the last 10 games though. One thing you can always say about Maria is that she does not go away mentally. And yesterday it didn't feel like she went away, it just felt like she was bewildered by Serena's turnaround.

[lt]

I was surprised by how dramatically it turned though. I wasn't expecting Serena to run the last 10 games though.

Maria should know, never underestimate Serena--that should be in the WTA bylaws.

Meanwhile, this men's final is horrific. The tennis is bad, the commentating is bad. Ugh. Just too yucky for words. Oh, to have had Haas/Gasquet. . . it could have been just as bizarre, but it wouldn't have been as ugly.

eta: Wow, that is some serious disrespect. Sending the end of the match over to TTC at the very, very end--I wonder if they'll wait until the end of this 6-5 game. . . The tip for the basketball game isn't for 15 more minutes!

[tikigirl]

Ugh. I'm innocently waiting for Opening Night (hi, lt!), tune into tennis, and this is what I get?

ETA: and yeah, I don't know if TTC is even part of my lineup. Ridiculous on every level.

[lt]

DAMMIT! There isn't one tiny iota of me that wants David to win this match right now--I want Andy to win but more importantly, I do not want CBS to eke their way out of this situation. I want them to stew in sending a final-set tiebreak on to a cable station most people don't have.

eta: tiki, my Brewers don't start until tomorrow so I'll be Doctor Who'ing it up this evening (BBC America is up to the 3rd Doctor in their monthly retrospective).

[tikigirl]

Fuck CBS, but more so, fuck the tennis PTB for letting this absurdity continue all these years.

I'm rooting for Ferrer over Mangy, umm, Murray, but they have both been so chokey, I'm not sure I really care.

[tikigirl]

Ewww. Just, ewww.

The White Sox don't start till tomorrow either, lt, but I am so excited for baseball to start up again, especially after catching a couple spring training games in Phoenix.

On topic -- what a pitiful match. One of my biggest problems with Murray is that he doesn't seem to have the killer instinct to be number one, at least not most of the time.

[mooncreek]

What a bizarre final fifteen minutes. Wonder what the college basketball fans, tuning in for the pre-show, thought of this mess.

That said, I never thought I'd see Ferrer cramping up as the way he'd lose the match. Never.

[falafaclese]

I can't believe that of all people to ultimately lose because of cramps in a relatively high-profile match it would be Ferrer. I guess Murray is one of the very few who is fit enough to outlast him.

[lt]

Wonder what the college basketball fans, tuning in for the pre-show, thought of this mess.

moon, don't make the mistake I did and start googling to see what they thought--our poor sport gets the sad end of it again. I said it during the Aussie Open about Mike & Mike and I said it during the World Cup. . . the people who bitched and moaned about LIVE SPORTS happening instead of SportsCenter, Mike & Mike, pre-game shit, etc. are not sports fans. They might be fans of a specific sport, but they can't call themselves sports fans. I don't watch soccer but I would never think live soccer wasn't way more preferable than some people gabbing. So it angers me (obviously) to see all the "CBS can't be serious airing tennis when basketball will be starting (in 15 minutes)!"

I missed the tiebreak (by the time I got through the ads on livescorehunter it was pretty much over), did David cramp his way through it? For no one to hold serve until 4-4 in a set is just annoying. They both served so poorly, and it wasn't even that they were returning super well, it was the server who was messing up. But all my anger dissipated when I saw that ABCFamily was airing the 1951 "Alice In Wonderland." That's my favorite Disney animated movie and hearing all the flowers sing made me feel much better. . .

[mooncreek]

lt - David actually fell to the ground due to the cramping at either 4-1 or 5-1 point in the tiebreak.

Whoever clued Ferrer to this collage (cuz no way did his people do that) is not a good person:
[url=

]

[/url]

[lt]

On a completely different note and a callback to our eagle cam viewing: did anyone see this eagle vs. hawk at Duke farms video? You don't really see the hawk (so if you, like me, don't want to see the death of an animal it isn't bad) but it is so cool to see an eagle prepare for battle and how quickly it takes care of business.

[mooncreek]

Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonijc being on the winning end of 15-13 sets - in which both had blown a 2-set-lead - on the same day! Watched the last two sets of the USA-Serbia tie and I still cannot believe that was Ilija Bozoljac looking like a sane tennis player the entire time.

[skyz]

I hope that none of our small group was in Boston or had family at the marathon, but if so I hope everyone is safe and unharmed. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston.

[roseha]

My thoughts and prayers also to Boston.

I had relatives there, they are fine. They were a mile away from it.

You keep hoping each time will be the last.

[tikigirl]

Thank you, skyz and roseha. I have family and friends in the area, several of whom were near the finish line, but all of whom are well.

Peace and love to all.