Mpol
3rd Round
Posts: 444
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Post by Mpol on Feb 21, 2009 2:50:21 GMT
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Post by falafaclese on Feb 21, 2009 4:03:07 GMT
It was quite a good match, actually. I missed the first set, but I saw everything else. I saw the tail end of Serena being completely off her game, and watched her slowly get it back. She looked much better midway through the second set, and then it took a bit for Venus to steady the balance. I thought Serena had it, but then during the 6th game of the 3rd set, Venus' successful challenge really made the difference. I had the sound down, and before Venus challenged, I thought Serena's lob was in for sure. I hope Venus serves as well against Razzano as she did at the beginning of the match today. I like Razzano, but I want Venus to win handily. I don't want her to have the opportunity to go on walkabout. As for the Peer situation, I saw an interview with Larry Scott, and apparently UAE expressly guaranteed that no player, Israeli or otherwise, would be denied entry into the country for the purpose of playing, so at least the tours weren't completely craven when they agreed to let Dubai have the tournaments. Also, apparently He called Venus right after talking to Peer and hearing from her that she wanted the tourney to go on, which is good, because I was a little bummed about her "We have to look at the big picture" comments. I understood what Venus was going for, but I thought the occasion called for stronger support for Peer. It appears, though that at least some of the players knew early on that Peer was okay with having the tourney continue. ETA: The WTA has decided on sanctions for the tournament, including $300,000.00 worth of fines for the tournament, some of which will go to Peer and Anna Lena Groenefeld (her doubles partner) for prize money. |
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Feb 24, 2009 17:06:15 GMT
I would love to go to this (and I stole the story from Down the Line). Steffi, Andre, Tim and Kim? I want to go. |
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Post by breezybee on Feb 25, 2009 20:27:14 GMT
David Ferrer and Marat Safin are playing doubles together in Dubai. They took out Ram/Ullyett today. I always think it's strange when two seemingly random players join up and play doubles. Like Nadal and Hewitt a couple of years ago. I wonder how that happens?
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Feb 25, 2009 21:07:35 GMT
I actually know the answer to that--well, at least how it happened a long time ago, but it's probably the same. For players who don't have regular partners, they just ask around the locker room to see who might want to play. Easy.
Speaking of doubles partners: with Verdasco out of Davis Cup (I've been going on and on about his training so I really hope this ankle injury isn't because of training) it is going to be very strange to see Lopez play doubles with Robredo. Oh well, still a lot of pretty on that court.
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Post by falafaclese on Feb 26, 2009 17:42:28 GMT
Bad news. The Indian Wells and Miami tournaments are being carried by Fox Sports Net again this year, so unless you've invested in an online feed that covers those tournaments, expect to see none of them.
Lindsay Davenport and Gimelstob will be commentating.
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Post by breezybee on Feb 26, 2009 20:12:46 GMT
There is always so much pretty when the Spanish boys play. With the exception (for me) of Dkjoker, there'll be lots of pretty on the Serbian team too.
Speaking of pretty, Ferrer and Safin won their double's match again today and move in to the semi-finals of Dubai. They look so cute playing. Safin just towers over Ferrer.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Feb 26, 2009 21:05:43 GMT
While the second part doesn't thrill me (although maybe Lindsay will be good) the first part is actually good news for me. I don't get TTC and, since ESPN2 didn't appear to be in the running, FSN would be my only TV option. I guess I'm one of the few who gets FSN but doesn't get TTC (stupid Cablevision).
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Post by francienolan on Feb 27, 2009 0:30:25 GMT
I get both FSN and TTC and if I remember correctly from last year FSN's coverage was a blink and you missed kind of thing, both erratic and abbreviated. Awful from day one.
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Post by chestylarue on Feb 28, 2009 16:55:41 GMT
FSN is utterly horrible. They don't have a unified feed but just have regional feeds. And last year less than half (and maybe even less than 25%) of those regional feeds actually showed the matches. The rest chose to show something else. I get about 12 FSN feeds (including FSN- Southwest) fom Direct TV and none of those darned feeds showed it. Just because someone has FSN- there are slim chances that a second of the tournament will air. I will have to watch online again because I imagine even with my 12 FSN feeds no one will show it. Instead I will get crap like20 repeats of Houston baseball previews.
Nole just beat Ferru for Dubai. Meh....
I swear Dubai has the longest speeches by the organizers every single year.
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Post by skyz on Mar 1, 2009 2:40:12 GMT
I hate that I can't see Miami unless I get Direct TV's sports package which is what I did last year just to see some freaking tennis. And you're right FSN is awful and it's so hard to find a channel that has it and for a decent amount of time.
Venus played a hell of a tournament in Mexico beating some solid clay court players and Flavia for the title. I'm so happy to see her healthy and playing so well! I was nervous with all those hours out on the court in those three 3 set matches but she showed that she's in great shape and healthy and it's been years since she's won back to back tournaments like this. I'm so proud of Venus! I'm grinning my head off here but I've always been a fan of Venus and it's awesome to see these results so early in the season.
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Post by falafaclese on Mar 1, 2009 21:34:29 GMT
Venus looked surprisingly sharp considering she was playing Pennetta on clay. I thought that if she won it would be a 3-setter, but she really never gave Flavia a chance.
So far Venus has won 4 of her last 5 tournaments, and her team won the Hong Kong exo she played in January pretty much thanks to her. Not a bad several months.
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Post by curlywhirly on Mar 1, 2009 22:32:43 GMT
Venus has really been doing her thing out there for the past 6 months. She's won 20 of the last 21 matches. I just wish her one bad match hadn't happened at the Australian Open!
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Mpol
3rd Round
Posts: 444
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Post by Mpol on Mar 1, 2009 23:43:57 GMT
It was only oe bad match wasn't it! I didn't manage to see the last set and a half but in that first set in her third round match, she looked VERY sharp. God knows what happened after...
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Post by admin on Mar 2, 2009 15:10:45 GMT
Andy Murray is out of his Davis Cup tie now. They're all crocked!
I'm pretty bored with tennis at the mo. I could happily scrap a quarter of the calender and add another slam in there instead.
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