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Post by acre on Jan 31, 2015 17:22:58 GMT
Damn, Hingis. I mean that in a good way, completely. Double damn Paes. Talent will not be denied I guess.
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Post by lizm on Feb 9, 2015 17:37:31 GMT
Was watching some Krakow Fed Cup. Sigh, Radwanska was NOT being gracious to the ball kids. She stalked over, grabbed the balls she wanted out of their hands and then tossed the rejects at them while their hands were still full.
She was frustrated with the game but... I wonder if she would've acted that way outside of Poland - behaving badly cuz you're with 'family' who will unconditionally support you.
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Post by roseha on Feb 12, 2015 23:25:49 GMT
I know some of you have given up cable here, and I just wanted to alert you (if you're in the US) that I've gotten Sling TV which streams certain channels, including ESPN and ESPN 2, for $20 a month. I realize it doesn't cover everything, but I am really happy to be able to watch the slams without paying my escalating cable bill (I've just downgraded to basic). I think you can even use it to get watch ESPN, but I haven't checked on it yet.
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Post by breezybee on Feb 22, 2015 16:21:46 GMT
Good Lord. Is there anything more boring than a Monfils/Simon match? I like watching them play anyone except each other. It's just a series of slow motion 45 shot rallies. Monfils in particular changes his game complete when he plays Simon. That final in Rio this afternoon between Fognini and Ferrer better be a little more exciting. During the Ferrer semi-final yesterday, he had a slow start and then picked up his game. One of the commentators, don't know who, said "you know things are working for him when the tongue comes out!" Which is true.  |
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Post by lizm on Feb 24, 2015 2:29:37 GMT
OK how confusing is it that there's a Joao Sousa and a Joao Souza?
(Maybe I'm not following tennis as closely as I should but... yeesh!)
I liked how the Rio cameras didn't shy away when players were changing their shirts. Ferrer has quite the superhero bod. /shallow
The second set of the final was pretty fun to watch.
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Post by falafaclese on Feb 25, 2015 0:28:38 GMT
Did anyone see the stare-down Venus gave Strycova after their match today? They shook hands at the net after Venus won, and then as they walked toward the umpire, Strycova said something that caused Venus to stare at her like she wanted to beat her with her racquet. I wish I was a fly on the netpost for that exchange.
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Post by harry24 on Feb 28, 2015 20:14:28 GMT
I didn't see this, fala, but prompted by your post I just checked out the vid on YT: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDgm2GhS_wMA poster on YT wrote the following explanation: "Earlier in the tiebreak Strycova hit a ball out that the linesman called in, giving her the point. Venus challenged the call and the Chair umpire allowed the challenge. Strycova argued with the Chair that Venus' challenge was "untimely," and therefore should not be allowed. The umpire disagreed. Whether the challenge was or was not timely is debatable, as timeliness is always an umpire discretion call and frequently varies. Upon review, the video showed the ball completely out by 3 or 4 inches. Strycova later evened the tiebreaker at 3-3, but when she eventually lost, she gave Williams a nasty stare at the net, as if Williams did something wrong. Williams was on point to check the attitude from Strycova. Strycova's beef, if she wants one, was with the Chair umpire who made the call. Williams is merely doing her job by asking for the review. Williams was correct - [if you want to stare at someone go stare at the Chair ump, don't try to intimidate me with your stare-down. You can solve the problem next time by simply hitting the ball in bounds. Then you won't have to stare at anyone if you lose.] Well done by Williams." Way to be tough but keep your cool, V. I can't believe Roger beat Djoker again today. I'm looking forward to watching the match on DVR. And re Simon/Monfils, I know. Those matches are unbearable. Although I've really come to like Simon and enjoy his game. But he said or did something gross/douchy/ignorant sometime ago, didn't he? |
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Post by harry24 on May 13, 2015 15:37:12 GMT
Hi, everyone (everyone ... everyone ... every ... )
Boy, it's been a long time -- Just thought I'd drop in and see if anyone was interested in talking about the lead up to RG. I'm just watching McHale take it to Errani at Rome, and had a couple of questions if any of you guys has thoughts/answers:
1 - Why did Errani and Vinci break up?
2 - WTF is going on with Rafa? Anyone have any inside info or insights?
3 - Anyone else as happy as I am to have a non-Wimbledon example of Kvitova's breathtaking, lights-out form? Seriously, I haven't enjoyed beatdowns like those against Serena and Sveta so much since Roger's heyday. The tennis is just so GORGEOUS. (Although I didn't like seeing Sveta on the receiving end. I adore her and hope she's more or less permanently back to form.)
4 - A comment: I think I find Errani's bark* almost as hard on the ears as Sharapova's scrowls (I combined screech and howl. Somehow that ungodly sound deserves its own verb)
5 - Most important: WHY did Sasha leave Serena's team? I thought they were really tight. And not just leave but start working for Azarenka? That just seems like a betrayal
*Glad Kvitova's barky yelp wasn't in evidence in Madrid.
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Post by falafaclese on May 24, 2015 18:17:49 GMT
I've been most interested in the women's tour this year (although i guess that's been the case for a while) because of the possibility of Serena making some history in the next year or so, and Halep and the potential of the younger American women. With the men, because I can't seem to get behind Djoker, and Rafa is struggling a bit, It wasn't so interesting until Murray showed the possibility of getting back up to slam-winning form. We'll see how the next couple of months go. It's nice to see Petra doing well, but she is so up and down, I need a little more time to feel like she is a consistent factor. There is something pretty extraordinary about her when she puts it all together though.
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Post by harry24 on May 25, 2015 6:02:26 GMT
Like you, falafaclese, I'm more interested in the women these days. Djoker is great but un-exciting, particularly compared to Fed and Rafa's thrilling styles. I feel the same way about Murray. Will be interested to see how Thiem (who just won his first tour event this weekend), Coric and Kyrgios do. I wish I could like Kyrgios more, but he bugs.
I'm very interested in seeing how Tiafoe does against a grown-up. I remember seeing a charming interview with Federer from years ago discussing how he felt when he was first on the tour. He talked about how weird and intimidating it was playing men instead of boys, saying, "I mean, they had beards!" Then they interviewed Rafter, one of the Bearded Men intimidating Fed, and he was saying, "We were intimidated by HIM, but it took him a while to realize it."
So, anyway, I'm wondering if young Francis will be intimidated by Klizan's "hirsutitude." But I hope he does well.
It's such a shame Venus has to play Sloane in the first round.
How scary was it to see some random person come out from the crowd and run up to Fed on court? Thank goodness it was a very harmless-looking young man looking for a selfie. But, Jesus Christ, RG security, WTF is wrong with you? Why are we still having these incidents?!!!!!
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Post by roseha on May 25, 2015 22:10:50 GMT
Absolutely agree about the security issues Harry,
What is wrong with RG?
I hope the commentators had something to say about this but when I turned on ESPN/2 there was no tennis today. I really think tennis is crazy giving all their slam rights to a channel that won't even show the early rounds.
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Post by harry24 on May 26, 2015 6:37:21 GMT
Well, ESPN2 is broadcasting five hours per day (5am-10am) on weekdays, so that's not quite accurate, roseha. But it certainly is frustrating having to chase our favorite sport over three or four different channels!
Too bad Venus and Sloane were matched up today, but it was nice seeing Sloane look so much more engaged, purposeful and confident than she did earlier in the year.
I'm bummed that three of my favorites, Kvitova, Keys and Townsend, are all in the same eighth!! of the draw. Dammit.
Interesting that Kyrgios is playing dubs with Bhuphathi. Also interesting that Patrick Mouratoglou was in Venus's box during her match with Sloane. Who is coaching Venus these days?
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Post by roseha on May 28, 2015 14:30:25 GMT
D'oh sorry Harry, I didn't realize that ESPN2 was doing the handoff to Tennis Channel at 10am. Apparently it's due to the National Spelling Bee. Anyway I caught some action today and was very happy Schiavone pulled out that incredibly long match against Kutzy. I was a little surprised Serena was struggling so much against a player who had only won, what was it two matches all year? But not surprised she won. I see that Woz is out already.
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Post by falafaclese on May 30, 2015 4:58:11 GMT
How scary was it to see some random person come out from the crowd and run up to Fed on court? Thank goodness it was a very harmless-looking young man looking for a selfie. But, Jesus Christ, RG security, WTF is wrong with you? Why are we still having these incidents?!!!!! The lack of urgent (or really any) reaction by the security staff was pretty disturbing. He hung around next to Roger for a really long time, and even after the interaction between the two of them was over, the kid just sort of strolled aimlessly around the court without any intervention whatsoever. It was completely unacceptable. Now on to better news: Gael Monfils played like a mad fucking genius in the second half of that match today. I feel bad for Cuevas, because he did all the right things, and was the more consistent of the the two, but when Gael went into high gear it was pretty stunning. I think in one game he won points with two drop shots, a two-handed half-volley off a sneak approach. and a back-hand cross-court drive that landed in the corner within inches of both lines. He was everywhere at once. I ran out of profanities to describe what I was seeing. |
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Post by GrandSlamGuru on Jun 1, 2015 11:08:18 GMT
Just watched Lucie Safarova take it to Maria. Although to be fair, Maria looked sluggish. But Lucie kept her nerve and poise to prevail.
Looking forward to Roger and Gael, part deux. Yesterday was as entertaining as you might imagine.
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