Tennis Talk 2014

[falafaclese]

I'm really gonna miss her. not only was she a great personality and a ground-breaker, her game is so aesthetically pleasing to me. I loved her movement, that backhand was always sick, and lately her forehand was deadly too. I'm glad she hung around long enough to win two majors after all those years of being in the mix at the big tournaments but never having a breakthrough. It just felt right to me when she finally won. Did I mention I will really, really miss her?

And I'll miss her husband too.

[falafaclese]

Fantastic final in Valencia today. Murray saved 5 match points to win in a third set tiebreak. Then Robredo was doubled over at the net, but had just enough energy to flip him a (good natured)double bird before shaking hands and patting him on the back. The two of them were exhausted at the end. Murray jumped up to number five in the year-end race, but I hope he didn't tap the last of his reserves before the championships. I can't imagine he'll do much in Paris.


Also, an impressive win by Serena after almost being sent home early this week in Singapore. I continue to be impressed by Simona. Even though she ran out of answers today in the second set of the final, she really is fun to watch, and she has a great fighting attitude, confidence, and really good movement on the court.

Has anyone followed the situation between Tarpishev and Serena and Venus? I'm glad he apologized without to much of a fight, but still, I can't imagine what was going through his head.

[lizm]

OMFG, my broadcast crapped out right at ATP Finals Fed/Waw 6-6 tiebreaker and didn't show the result! W.T.F.

It was a crazy match too.

Also, the London linespeople are distractingly beautiful - there's a blond and dark haired guy that I'm tempted to take screenshots of.

EDIT: as if it couldn't get more WTF, Roger had to withdraw from the final before playing...

[lt]

there's a blond and dark haired guy that I'm tempted to take screenshots of.

I'm here in London and I've been noticing the same thing. My favorite line judge (yes, I have one) was promoted to chair ump earlier this year but he's line judging here.

I was at the Stan/Roger match last night and it was a doozy. Roger really didn't look thrilled when he won last night and we were discussing how happy the French Davis Cup team must have been watching those two beat each other up. Sky Sports said that Stan could barely get out of bed this morning either. The Swiss physios are going to be busy this week.

Cannot compliment Andy Murray enough. They called him at 2 pm today to say there was a "chance" they might need him to play an exo so he came out and just played a best-of-8 set against Novak and is now going to play doubles with John McEnroe against Tim Henman and Pat Cash.

2015 is the last scheduled year for the finals to be held in London. They are going to decided early spring if it's going to move or not and I hope this no-final doesn't hurt London keeping it. The head of the ATP has said he isn't going to "chase money" to a place that won't attract people showing up and I hope he sticks to that. The O2 has gotten to 1.5 million attendees this week for the past six years and they do a remarkable job. I know Shanghai never attracted a great number of fans and the Houston event (the only other place I've gone to for the finals) really stunk. I read that North America (they didn't say where) and Abu Dhabi are both interested.

eta: Heh! Andy just said he was playing Mario Kart when they called him in. And it has been fun listening to the ex-players on Sky Sports talk about exos. My two favorites was Annabelle Croft talking about agreeing to play an exo when Martina N asked her to play a "15-year old Spanish player" even though she hadn't picked up a racquet in a week and had a late night before. She said she got destroyed in the exo and the young Spanish player? Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Peter Fleming told a story about John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors playing a best-of-five exo to 7-5 in the fifth because "they just hated each other that much."

[breezybee]

I haven't watched my recording from yesterday yet but look forward to the exos. Did they televise the doubles (Bryans and the exo)?

This year's finals were certainly not what we are used to. So many lopsided matches. Even Djokovic's semi-final match, while going three sets, was lopsided. Most days I didn't even bother watching what I had recorded. The exception was Federer's beat down on Murray. I had to watch that to see what went so very wrong.

I too hope they keep the finals in London. They get fantastic crowds and the venue is really spectacular.

[harry24]

I was wondering if you had gone to the WTF this year (I love that anagram!), LT and am so glad to see that you did. It sounds like such a fun event, although this year's singles event was a bit of a dull downer. That is hilarious about the Martina-Aranxa and Connors-McEnroe exhibitions.

I'm feeling so blue about Switzerland's chances at the Davis Cup now that both Stan and especially Roger are physically compromised. Plus, according to McEnroe, Stan and Roger had a set-to in the locker room after their match. It could hardly have gone better for the French team. Sigh.

[roseha]

I finally got to see Roger win the deciding match for the Davis Cup final tonight and was so happy for him and his team. I know he said the "this is for the boys" statement, and it was nice he gave so much credit to Stan (who did contribute a lot) but Roger was just such a joy to watch in the match against Gasquet and to see him play like that and win the Davis Cup (and get so tearful) after all this time was so wonderful. I couldn't help thinking that in a way the victories of his that stand out for me were both on French red clay - the 2009 French and this one - because they were such a long time coming and so great to see. And full credit for the team as well needless to say.

[harry24]

I'm excited by two of the new celeb coach-player pairings, this time on the women's side: Navratilova-A. Radwanska and Davenport-Keys. Three of the four are favorites of mine, and the fourth (Radwanska) I like a lot.

[breezybee]

Has anyone been watching the IPTL? I am really enjoying the format and the players seem to be having a blast while still playing high level tennis.

[acre]

Belated 2014: Not to be a dumb sentimental softie, but yeah I am, and for good reason. I miss my Dad. He was always and ever my introduction and link to tennis, all the way since 1980, and though I surpassed him in interest in the Tour, I don't know if I will ever be able to disentangle the two. I still love and care about tennis, I think, but it's so theoretical now. You people are awesome and knowledgeable and respectful and have given me so much, in interest, in lively discussion, in everything.

But, damnit, not one of you is my Dad and of course I wouldn't expect you to be but ..... tennis just ain't the same without him. Nothing is, at 95 that was ok, but tennis was our thing. Our special bonding ground. I miss my Dad and tennis will never be the same without him. Maybe it will be great again, I hope so, but it will always be different.

Forgive me if I've been maudlin, I know the board is quieter than it used to be, but I feel I made friends here, at the least, people with a common interest, mutual respect, and civilized standards of behavior. My thanks for your indulgence.