The Tennis Thread

[Not Plain Jane]

I think Tomic needs to fire his dad and get a good team around him. He has nice variety, natural touch and good serve, but he has no tactics, his fitness could use work, as well as his movement, and yes - he needs to step in and hit with some power! He's only 19, but this is precisely when he should be making some changes.

 

[Chaky]

Roddick played well tonight, but I couldn't get over what a poor effort Tomic put in.

I saw Patrick McEnroe called him 'pathetic' on twitter! And Tomic was apparently acting up in his press conference too. The guy needs an attitude adjustment!

 

[Chaky]

but for laura robson,how great is she playing suddenly?

Laura went through a big growth spurt which always seems to result in injuries. She says that this year since Wimbledon she's been injury-free and she's been working with Andy Murray's fitness coach Jez Green on speed training. Clearly her movement is much improved so she can finally compete in rallies on her own terms.

I think tactically she played very well against Li Na, hitting a lot of balls deep and hard down the middle so Li was pushed back and couldn't get the good angles. Laura is stepping up the court a lot better now too.

 

[Scott]

^and laura apparently is now working with zeljko krajan. i hope she has an easier time with him because cibulkova's revelations earlier in the season certainly didn't show him in the most positive light.

 

[Chaky]

She says he's a real disciplinarian. But I guess she goes into this relationship well aware of his reputation. And presumably that's what she's looking for.

 

[MyNameIs]

^What's his reputation and what was Cibulkova's revelation?

So angry at Feliciano Lopez. He had such a good chance of eliminating Murray and found a way to screw up. To lose three tie breaker in a match, that's crazy.

 

[Scott]

krajan has gained quite a rep since working dinara safina for being very hard on the players he coaches. which was very visible during safina's many struggles at the majors....berating at her from the stands....in practices. in fact one could even go so far to deem him as somewhat of a tyrant as he's not very shy about showing his anger and transposing it onto his charge. jelena jankovic also made mention of his coaching style after the short-time they were together in may and june and i believe that's partly why they didn't click.

 

[Scott]

and laura cam back down to earth a bit today but not without saving 8 match points nevertheless. i can't wait to see her progression in the coming season. you know i was able to watch her full-on in this new form and there is something very kvitova about her. not just that she's lefty but that she hits such a big,clean ball. laura does have slightly more margin but they have eerily similar styles.

saw that last year's defending champs in doubles,huber and raymond,were ousted today. i can't say that i'm that sad about it,frankly. all i can say is,karma is a right witch.

 

[anaa lpz]

I knew who Laura was because she played against Maria at Wimbledon the last two years, and I'm not surprised that she beated both Kim and Li Na. Because I think Laura can be a quite successful player, and Kim and Li Na are not the greatest players anymore. Well, Kim won't be again.
Doing the same against Sam was another thing, but still, she played a great tournament.
She actually practiced with Maria during the USO, maybe that support helps her too.

and, speaking of Kvitova, she lost against Bartoli! after the 1st set I though it was gonna be sooo easy for Petra but 1/6 6/2 6/0

 

[Scott]

kvitova looked absolutely frazzled and disoriented by that third set. second set i was actually noticing that she wasn't penetrating the court as much with her usual sting and her footwork had started to fail her midway through. to be honest,i was concerned about she playing that extra week of tennis at new haven and given her body language that's the only explanation i can think of. she didn't look injured but just exhausted...physically and mentally. and bartoli if you're not on top of your game she will make you work hard.

 

[Chaky]

Kvitova I'm not sure about. Yeah she's won a couple of titles this summer but she seems very up and down in her matches. I wonder if someone more consistent might take her out later on.

Well I don't know about more consistent but that was quite a surprisingly one-sided victory by Marion in the end. Serving up bagels.

Same for Serena. Ouch, poor Hlavackova.

And I did get to see Roberta Vinci play a very nice match to beat a lacklustre Aga Radwanska.

Shame about Mardy Fish withdrawing. Word is his doctors told him to pull out because the stress of the matches was giving him a rapid heart rate that he couldn't bring down after the match was over. If that's true then I wonder what it might mean for his tennis career in the longer term.

 

[ALAUU]

I'm really happy for Andy. I hope he wins this year. The man deserves to win a slam.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Watched Murray over Raonic in an absolutely masterful performance; if Andy can play like that consistently from here on out, he can definitely win this slam.

 

[Scott]

how about errani and vinci?! i love it. so great to see vinci coming into her own finally. she had a nice run at wimby and did one better here and could even get to the semis. i love her style...reminds me of mauresmo with more of a chip backhand.

i was actually not terribly surprised about vinci over radwanska. vinci hits such a different ball than what aga is comfortable with and that combined with both vinci's run of form(she got to her first r16 at wimby,won the dallas title the week before and upset cibulkova in the round prior) and aga's struggles this summer,it was recipe for an upset,imo. thought aga may have been coming back but vinci held her nerve and her belief is at a high right now. to be honest i wouldn't be surprised if it was vinci who makes it through against her doubles partner.

and got to hand it to errani....this has become a standout season for her. makes the QF or better at three of the four majors this year,including vika,maria and petra. she's been a tough little battler.

 

[ALAUU]

Awww, Andy Roddick played with so much heart. Right now I'm watching Murray and I can't really say that he's playing so well. I really thought this year would be the one for him, but it doesn't look that way at the moment.

 

[ALAUU]

^ I spoke too soon Congrats to Andy!!

 

[Scott]

indeed! well played but eventually J-M just too much belief. gotta give it to delpo because he was very classy toward andy the whole match. not a lot of emotion....and i loved that he allowed andy the centre stage.

have to give my props to sam stosur from yesterday. she played an unbelievable match against a player she had never even taken a set off of. despite going out on the losing end she should be very proud of herself the way she stayed in it and battled. her attitude and demeanour this entire fortnight has been wonderful to see. hopefully she can take that into her remaining season and the YE championships and use it as fuel.

and today the completion of the bartoli and sharapova match was fantastic. yesterday as the match started she got out to an early comprehensive lead at 3/0 before it started raining.....very similar to how petrova had the momentum the match prior before that rain delay....eventually took it coming back today 5/3. second set i noticed bartoli's level dropping,and really became indecisive and maria came back but the third set was well fought from bartoli. she had her opportunities to take it but unfortunately again her nerve gave in.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Well, for the first time since FOREVER, no Federer and no Nadal in a slam semifinal. They are great champions obviously, but this is so refreshing! Delpo could win, or Berdych or Murray, or Ferrer or Nole. I doubt Tipsy will. But anyhow, it feels like there are new possibilities!

 

[pixiedust1603]

I find it strange when Federer isn't in a semi final. Murray has such a good chance now so I'm hoping he wins it.
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[anaa lpz]

first time since 2004 that we have a GS semifinal without Nadal or Federer!
I can't complain, it's good to see "new" players fighting for a GS!