The Tennis Thread

[Scott]

typical espn articles. sorry but what are they trying to insinuate by that? that vera didn't deserve to be there just because she doesn't have the buzz factor? sorry but players aren't given free passes to a final in a major,just because they're "popular",you have to win them. if people are that disappointed,well,they shouldn't blame that on vera because she whipped everybody that came into her path before the final. she just played too good the entire event. and the truth is in this final vera couldn't do anything because of kim clijsters. she just brought her A game and her experience for that final. i think had kim dropped her level vera could have found her way back but kim just stayed too strong.

and what makes them think had it been wozniacki,kim wouldn't have done the same exact thing?

it was nice to see that vera was able to gather herself and regain her composure for the presentation. even injecting a little humour. as disappointed as she is,i'm sure she's still absolutely delighted by her performance at this event. she had never been past the r16 so to me that's a tremendous hurdle already.

 

[Scott]

btw,talking of the rankings earlier,did you know that kim will actually drop back to 5 in the world? i just don't get that at all. i know it has to do with she defending her points and others accumulating points but something is seriously wrong when you fall in the rankings after winning a major?? she's at 3 now but she should be 2 in the world,imo.

 

[maxlinden]

typical espn articles. sorry but what are they trying to insinuate by that? that vera didn't deserve to be there just because she doesn't have the buzz factor? sorry but players aren't given free passes to a final in a major,just because they're "popular",you have to win them. if people are that disappointed,well,they shouldn't blame that on vera because she whipped everybody that came into her path before the final. she just played too good the entire event. and the truth is in this final vera couldn't do anything because of kim clijsters. she just brought her A game and her experience for that final. i think had kim dropped her level vera could have found her way back but kim just stayed too strong.

and what makes them think had it been wozniacki,kim wouldn't have done the same exact thing?

it was nice to see that vera was able to gather herself and regain her composure for the presentation. even injecting a little humour. as disappointed as she is,i'm sure she's still absolutely delighted by her performance at this event. she had never been past the r16 so to me that's a tremendous hurdle already.

While i must admit Vera played an amazing game, she was playing NO WHERE NEAR as good as Wozni or Venus(who most thought would have made the finals). Case-In-Point she destroyed her in a lackluster 6-2, 6-1

 

[AnaBGD]

So the men's final is postponed...at first I was annoyed but now I think it's actually a good thing, Novak will have a day to recover so now we can actually expect a good match.

Women's final was beyond disappointing, I know being in the final of a major can be emotional but I was really surprised by Vera, it's not like this was her first final.

 

[Scott]

^i think it had a lot to do with kim just keeping the pressure on her. it's not completely her fault,i don't think.

maxlinden,do you know why she played better? she didn't have to face any player above 60 till she met sharapova. meanwhile,zvonareva had to face former top 20 player lisicki in the second round,25th seed dulgheru in the 3rd,andrea petkovic in the 4th and 31st seed kanepi in the quarters...all before she faced woz in the semi. so comparatively she did have the more competitive road.

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

Congrats Rafa!!!
The seventh man to complete a career grand slam.

And boy that sure was an intense match. Novak was not easy to beat.
I was thoroughly entertained so no complaints at all.

 

[Karen0193]

What an amazing finale.
Congratulation Rafa, he truly deserved it.

 

[miu_miu]

Well, first off - what a match So many highlights and astonishing points from both players. The way Nole played in the second set , he has really so much to be proud of from this tournament. It's always disappointing to lose in a final but he has everything to gain from this momentum and from grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat on several occasions. This is the Nole that won in Australia and he has the ability to win on all surfaces, I hope for many more battles between these two.

I can't even describe how happy I am for Rafa, nor how proud I am to be his fan. He's not just my favourite player, he's one of my favourite people - I don't think that anyone could have stopped him, but I am glad we got a great final. Definitely one of the all time greats

 

[Scott]

to me,that's what great tennis is all about. have to commend nole for finding his form again and playing like his old self again. that is the reason why these three guys are the best and have been the best,imo. the shotmaking,the rallies(which is so rare on the men's side,as you know),the heart,the fight....need i go on.

and good for rafa for making history! 7th man to complete the career grand slam. exclusive group of guys he's amongst.

 

[AnaBGD]

It really was a good match and as much as I would have loved to see Novak win, I'm delighted for Rafa, now I hope he can go on and win AO again and continue with the successive slam titles.

Next stop DC! Even though we have a good chance to make it to the final I'm afraid that Nole wont be at his best both physically and emotionally after the USO.

 

[Chaky]

So just like last year I timed my vacation to miss the end of the US Open.

Just caught up on everything when I got back. Firstly gotta say big congrats to Rafa. He's certainly on the path to be considered Greatest of All Time. B)

I wish I'd seen that Roger vs Nole match. Sounds like it was a cracker! Obviously I would have preferred a different outcome so perhaps better that I didn't see it!

And what happened to Wozniacki? I thought for sure she would make the final after she impressed against Sharapova. I mean, I'm a big fan of Vera so I'm extremely happy for her to make another slam final but it was a bit unexpected. And then to see her lose so tamely, it must have been a big anticlimax of a final.

 

[constanceMafioso]

And what happened to Wozniacki? I thought for sure she would make the final after she impressed against Sharapova. I mean, I'm a big fan of Vera so I'm extremely happy for her to make another slam final but it was a bit unexpected. And then to see her lose so tamely, it must have been a big anticlimax of a final.

IMO Caro kind of overrated... she faced someone who could move the ball around, charge the net and she was clueless... anyway people putted way too much expectations her back looked like from that match she just couldn't cope with them and was very nervous UE machine... another explanation could be fatigue, she played 2 full weeks before the USO she paid for it inthe semis most probably.

 

[Scott]

^i agree with that actually. especially the bit about facing somebody like vera. i mean let's not forget,maria isn't exactly her old self yet....she still has a lot of vulnerabilities especially with that serve so i don't think it was or would have been a huge shock seeing her beaten. and caro didn't face anybody leading up at the open who was capable of playing just as smartly(more so on that day) and able to hit through the wind. but i think vera's serving was a big part of why she won. it was impressive. caro broke only once of three chances. 3 chances?!

as for being overrated....well i do think woz is extremely talented and i do like her a lot, but this elevation she's got is rather deceiving of her actual stats. as i said previously,she hasn't beaten a top 5 player in 18 months and only very few wins against top 10 players. and like you said,she plays a lot. in fact,that's the only reason she sits and has sat at number 2 for the last few weeks,is because of all the matches she's accumulated.

you know what bothers me though is that for all the whinging and moaning about dinara last year and jelena prior,at least they beat the top players and at least they won the top prizes. so where is all of the griping about the system regarding caro's situation? i haven't heard hardly a peep about it.

 

[constanceMafioso]

You are completely right Scott escpecially on the Jelena/Dinara whining... I'm not a fan on Dinara but I have enourmous respect for her as a world #1 she was doing her job winning the bigger events unfirtunately she just couldn't deliver in the majors... the critics were really dumb....

Now her comes Caro, slamless, mandatoryless and who hadn't beaten a former world #1 since USo against a very unstable Maria, who hadn't beat or faced a top 5 player since 18 months and everyone falls in love with her and finds constant excuses for her weak pedigree as a world #3 (ESPN commentators ).... I just wonder if Serena will be so hateful as a she was against Safina when the Dane with a lesser pedegree most probably overtakes her during the Asian tourney ?

That might sound harsh but to me I don't see no specific talent in Caroline... she just feeds on the non competitiveness of the actual tour and it's very eimprobable that in a field like 2006/2007 she would have reached that high with Kimmie, Justine, Maria, Lindsey... playing peak and huge upcoming talents like Anna Chak, Ana, Nicole....

Caroline is consistent and it works when 60-80% of the tour are UE machines but when the tendency inverses and if Caro doesn't tool up her game she'll most probably sink just like how she has sunk in the past as soon as someone is finally able to keep the ball in play, move her around, use angles, droppers, charge the net... (Vera, Jelena) or simply overpower her (Li Na, Petra...).

 

[Scott]

well,i can see where you're coming from and i do agree that she doesn't have a specific weapon except perhaps her consistency around the court. but i will say she has improved a lot in a couple months since she lost at wimby. she went back home and she trained harder,got fitter and beefed up her serve and her groundstrokes a little bit. she's on the right path but i think right now to beat top players consistently she needs a bigger weapon or weapons. and i know people might look at vera and think she plays a similar style...and she does to a certain degree at least on the baseline....the difference however is that vera i think is a lot more versatile. she hits deeper shots,takes the ball much earlier and she's a marvelous volleyer. and i think she also plays with more strategy rather than just hitting and keeping balls in play.

anyway,to be honest with you,regarding the ranks,i don't think people are going to complain till it really does threaten serena's position. i mean i see a lot of bias out there and i think had that been say a kim clijsters or a svetlana and dinara had taken the top rank over them,i don't think we wouldn't have heard the level of outcry we did.

 

[Crakk]

I must be honest; I do not understand why Caroline is as highly ranked as she is. She is not a bad player but so generic, in my opinion. I also must give Kim an applause for playing so well at the US Open this year. She was determined and unbreakable. She really would be the girl to beat if she played more. Outside of Kim, Sharapova, Serena, Svetlana, and the young girl who gave Serena a time at this year's Wimbledon, I don't see any REAL contenders or any excitement.

 

[Scott]

^honestly,i don't even see sharapova as a contender yet either. her serve is extremely vulnerable and the worse part about that is,it unravels the rest of her game. nothing like it was before.

but i don't agree that those are the only contenders....i still see vera zvonareva as a real contender. we saw it at the open,we saw it a wimbledon....the girl can outsmart just about anybody. i also feel like sam stosur is playing the best tennis of her career--and she's beating tough players too. already,she has significant wins over serena,vera,elena,jankovic...all this season alone. i think it's only a matter of time. schiavone is another one....a lot of people wrote her off going into the open and unjustly deemed her a fluke but she showed why she won. she dominated throughout the open and gave venus a very tough match in the quarters.

 

[Crakk]

^honestly,i don't even see sharapova as a contender yet either. her serve is extremely vulnerable and the worse part about that is,it unravels the rest of her game. nothing like it was before.

but i don't agree that those are the only contenders....i still see vera zvonareva as a real contender. we saw it at the open,we saw it a wimbledon....the girl can outsmart just about anybody. i also feel like sam stosur is playing the best tennis of her career--and she's beating tough players too. already,she has significant wins over serena,vera,elena,jankovic...all this season alone. i think it's only a matter of time. schiavone is another one....a lot of people wrote her off going into the open and unjustly deemed her a fluke but she showed why she won. she dominated throughout the open and gave venus a very tough match in the quarters.

I forgot about Elena! That's my girl. I haven't really watched enough of Sam to form an opinion. I guess I overlook the girls like Schiavone and Vera because they do not really have the sort of games I prefer to see as well as the reason you stated about people referring to Schiavone's recent success as a fluke. I will say that Vera has done a REALLY good job this year, and she does deserve all her accolades.

Venus, sorry to say, seems to be on her last legs. Sure, she can beat the lesser-ranked girls without breaking a sweat, but when it seems to matter most, she crumbles. I don't know what it is with her. She has the game, the strokes, the serve, the volley, you know, the entire package to really start to dominate, and yet she only shows any sign of past excellence once in a blue moon. I was so upset after her loss at the US Open, but then again, Kim OWNED her. There was really nothing Venus could do.

 

[Chaky]

Bit quiet in this thread recently. But the season is moving towards the close. And this week the top ladies line up in Doha...

And following Sony Ericsson's new contract as global partner in place of title sponsor, the WTA also have unveiled their new logo.

daylife.com

 

[Scott]

elena just announced her retirement

now i'm sad and crying