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Post by prettyvacant on Jun 9, 2008 17:51:56 GMT
What the heck is Davydenko doing playing Warsaw? He's not a grass fan at all but last year he got to the round of 16 for Wimbledon-that isn't too shabby. One of the grass warm ups might improve his chances.
I see Coria retired in the first round of Warsaw.
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Post by admin on Jun 9, 2008 17:56:01 GMT
That was my favourite win of all time. The monday final, the majority of the crowd being normal people, just crazy enough to queue all night, the amazing atmosphere, the drama, the Pat Rafter! And the Goran! It'll never get better than that for me.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Jun 9, 2008 18:07:24 GMT
Okay, you know what's funny about that? When I worked in the music industry and wrote about metal acts there was a glam metal act called Jetboy. Imagining Rafa as a member is cracking me up. Check out their look and their sound. (I will say that they are almost always on my iPod--good gym music.)
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Post by ilsabing on Jun 9, 2008 23:28:50 GMT
I am a Nadal fan (shocked, aren't you?), but I prefer Ass-Picking Bandito to JetBoy. Personally, I have always loved the Brit-speak "knicker-picker" for Nadal.
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Post by oopssorry on Jun 10, 2008 6:02:31 GMT
The Goran-Rafter conversation made me wonder if we've ever done a question/survey to find out people's favorite matches of all time. We all know there are classics, and then there are what ESPN thinks are classics. But I guess I'd want to know all the nuances of why certain matches have meant more to us than others.
I'll go first: I think the Venus-Lindsay Wimbledon match had to be one of my favorites, both because I was watching it with some of my favorite people and the whole day was lovely, though hotly contested because my husband and a friend were eager to switch over to the Tour de France first stage, and because of the exceptional quality of the match.
Anyway, having loved tennis my whole life, I'd never seen women OWN the court the way those two did that day.
Others?
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lt
Semi Finals
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Post by lt on Jun 10, 2008 12:58:24 GMT
Great question. I have so many, and so many that I loved but can no longer remember the details of, but I'm going to have to go with the 1986 Wimbledon final between Becker and Lendl. Before that I watched and played tennis because my parents watched and played tennis. I remember watching that match as a camp counselor while everyone played Capture the Flag (which we always did on the July 4th weekend) and I was guarding the flag? ignoring my kids? hiding from the heat? in a counselor's cabin. I fell for Boris right there (and Lendl too) and tennis became my thing.
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Post by apocalipstick on Jun 10, 2008 13:28:47 GMT
The Goran/Rafter match would absolutely be my all time favorite. I fell for Goran in probably the second round of that tournament and there was no turning back.
There are many matches I loved, the Venus/Lindsay especially. I remember being little and watching the classic Borg/McEnroe matches. There was a player by the name of Slobodan Zivojinivic that I loved watching. He was a big Slavic guy who just hammered aces and not all that much else. I had a crush on Llendl back in the day too.
I can't help it, I adore last years French Open semi between Djokovic/Nadal. Rafa just hit so many amazing shots. I actually enjoyed JMac's commentary as well. I flipped it on again while I was cleaning house last night. Although Nadal was GOOD in that match, damn good, his improvement this year was clear.
Matches I hate? That Agassi/Connors match where they kept talking about passing the torch. Was it Wimbledon? USO? Andre was wearing jean shorts? When was that? I can't remember. I've blocked it. I wanted to punch Andre for being a disrespectful turd and Connors for being Jimmy Connors.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Jun 10, 2008 14:22:03 GMT
Verdasco and Ancic are battling out there at Queen's--I wish I could see it.
And Gorgeous vs. Alien going into a third set. Poor Mahut just double faulted his way out of the 2nd set tiebreak. I love that guy, but I'm going to have to pull for Lopez.
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Post by amarathe on Jun 10, 2008 16:21:02 GMT
Re: classic matches. I was just thinking about this recently, because I was browsing for some tennis matches on dvd at this website. The Venus/Davenport and Goran/Rafter Wimbledon finals were on my short list of favorite matches as well, but they're not available (from that site at least). I remember Venus' sheer joy after she won where she was hopping around like a kid on Christmas morning. I wish I could see that match again. I ended up ordering the infamous underarm serve matches (Graf/Hingis and Lendl/Chang at the French), because everyone always talks about those matches and I haven't seen them. Also, I ordered the Mauresmo/Henin Wimbledon final. Mauresmo was my favorite player and Henin my most hated player, so I was completed invested in the match. After the debacle at the Australian that year, a lot of people doubted Mauresmo's chances (myself included). Up until the final point, I was sure that Mauresmo would choke and Henin would pull off a comeback. When Henin dumped that backhand into the net on match point, I screamed and jumped all over the room like a fool. My friends thought I was crazy, but that match just made me so happy.
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Post by apocalipstick on Jun 10, 2008 17:40:19 GMT
I have a monster heart on for Janko Tipsarevic, but a gag reflex to the Djock-Itch. And they are playing doubles. Together. I hurt.
Mahut just won't quit!
ETA: Mahut beat Feli. Not as surprising as this...Haas over Stepanek in Halle. The Worm can stay off my TV screen. Forever.
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Post by whyistherumgone on Jun 10, 2008 17:56:28 GMT
Ugh. I'm used to seeing Feli lose, but that sucked. Steve Ulrich is an idiot. He screwed Feli out of that point to start the TB. That emergency notice didn't go off until after Feli had hit the winner. Mahut had zero play on the ball. Total bullshit. I was surprised Feli shook the asshole's hand after the match, because I wouldn't have. The commentators were surprised as well, but I agree with them that it speaks well on Feli that he did it. He played quite well, though, and at least he still has a doubles match to get some more grass practice before Wimbledon.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Jun 10, 2008 18:02:20 GMT
You mean I could have watched it somewhere? Awwwww. . . . I was looking at the scoreboard.
eta: There is a picture in today's gallery of Gonzo shaking Bloomfield's hand at the net. It looks like Gonzo is trying to comfort Richard and it is adorable.
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Post by tikigirl on Jun 10, 2008 18:36:46 GMT
I guess this is a big UO, but I hated Ivanisevic. I thought he was a homophobic prick. But man do I miss Patrick Rafter. Great game; even better body.
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Post by falafaclese on Jun 10, 2008 18:38:32 GMT
Just an FYI (I swear this is not a paid endorsement), The Wimby website Wimbledon.org, offers a multi-court video feed here for $24.99. If you feel like spending the money, I highly recommend it. I have gotten it the last two years and it was great. They have feeds from 8 different courts, and if it's like it was last year, by the end of every day, they upload matches from that day that you can watch on demand. This is the first year that I'll be able to watch Wimby on TTC and I may still get it for the multiple courts.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Jun 10, 2008 19:21:06 GMT
I would totally buy that package except:
AARRGHHH! No TTC and I'm on a MAC.
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