The Tennis Thread

[Scott]

you must feel a bit gutted about this chaky....i know you were a huge fan of her.

i actually had been wondering about her this year because i haven't seeing her in any of the qualies or main draws since last september. it's too bad at just 26....a little bit similar to what dina safina has gone through whom i expect we'll also hear an announcement from in the very near future. it's been a rough few years for anna after that horrific home invasion which i don't think emotionally she ever truly recovered from.....and then the injuries started to pile up subsequently. she was a nice talent and sort of the antithesis to that typical russian power....she had a very elegant game...fluid,deep strokes on the court.

 

[Chaky]

Constance Jablonski playing tennis. Not bad eh?

http://instagram.com/p/ec0UIYGp5e/

 

[RobinLondon]

^ Yeah, saw that. She's got some good court coverage and not a shabby FH!

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Should be an interesting 2014, what with Becker and Edberg joining Lendl back on the tour!!

 

[Scott]

^indeed. interesting that in becker's case,it was novak's coach marian vajda who sort of instigated that move. marian wants to spend a bit more time at home apparently and felt novak could improve with some other elements in his game.

also this 2014,we also see the very welcomed return of vera zvonareva this coming week,who's been out for the last year and a half with that shoulder injury which she had repaired at the start of 2013. she says she doesn't have a lot of high expectations initially but is happy simply to be back competing and healthy again.

 

[Chaky]

Becker-Djokovic seems like such a weird combination to me. Maybe it's partly because Boris seems to have turned into a caricature in recent years. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

My hopes for this year:
1) ATP: At least one men's slam goes to someone unexpected. The Big Four have given us some superb matches in finals, but maybe time for a few of the young guns to start making a serious move up and show what they can do. Who are the next lot of truly great players?

2) Federer to improve his ranking. Yeah he's on the decline but it would be nice if he could show some signs of resistance and demonstrate that he can still compete at the very top.

3) Aga to win a slam. She's my favourite on the WTA right now. It would be nice for her to prove that Wimbledon last year wasn't her best chance wasted. (And I hope she makes some more amazing trick shots for the highlights reels.)

4) WTA: I hope that Vera has a good comeback. And Halep continues her great run of form from last year. And the British girls have a bit more success (and fewer injuries).

 

[Scott]

^to add on the wta….i hope to also see petra become a force again. she's made a lot of changes in her training and her fitness this off-season(instead of staying in the CR this year she trained in florida with radek),i really hope to see that pay off on the big stages this year.

simona,she's become my darling now too. she only needs a couple hundred points before cracking the top 10 now. so a good run at sydney would lift her into those echelons. also keen to see how genie bouchard continues to build on her breakthrough season in her first full pro season. she did what sloane,madison and the other more touted newcomers haven't done….she made a tour final.

a lot of coaching changes in general this off-season. more than i've ever seen before. aside from the most talked about…..starting with sam stosur and miles macclagan(unfortunately didn't get off to a good start at hopman cup,losing to genie bouchard)…..simona dumped her coach as well although their relationship actually didn't happen till new haven and was more a test run….caro hired hogstedt(i guess spending time with his family was a bit of a farce)….maria hired sven groeneveld….and sloane stephens might be working a bit with paul annacone.

 

[maxlinden]

I was watching Rafa and Ferrer in Abu Dhabi and remembering Ferrer's game this year and for the first time I thought he (Ferrer) could actually win a major is 2014. He has been phenomenal this past year and I think if he gets to a final and Djokovic or Nadal aren't there to stop him can pull a win. He may even surprise everyone and beat the top 2 in the finals.

I am rooting for him next year

 

[VogueDisciple93]

Knapp gave a great fight today. Incredible tennis!

 

[VogueDisciple93]

Austrailia has been brutal on the top seeds. I love it! Tournament of upsets!

 

[happytrail]

i'm so happy for aga's well deserved win, but at the same time, sad for simona halep's loss.

i like genie and cibulkova ok, but aga's my favorite player and li na's probably my third favorite (behind halep), so i'm hoping for that final.

 

[MyNameIs]

Lots of upsets on the WTA side the last few days. First Serena, then Maria and now Vika. I thought Vika was going all the way tbh. Happy for Aggy too. I would love to see her take this title.

As per usual, less surprises on the ATP side, but Novak being ousted was quite unexpected. Where did THIS Wawrinka come from? Just a couple years ago he was floating around 20. I like rooting for the underdog so whoever wins his Semi (Wawrinka or Berdych) I hope takes the title.

 

[Scott]

couldn't be more thrilled for aga to see her finally overcome vika. she made her look the most uncomfortable that i've seen from aga against vika. as excited as i am about that,i still like the way li na has looked since that almost disaster against safarova…she's really tightened(that pennetta match could have been a lot trickier but she railroaded her)her game to serena-like proportions and she looks really confident and focused right now. if it goes accordingly after tonight,i do think there will be an edge for na simply because na has been her twice in three years and also has had the upper hand on HC against aga since 2012---4-2. and after what happened to her last year and she going through all these improvements,it would be especially sweet.

either way,what a great opportunity for she and aga to redeem some past efforts.

was very disappointed with halep's performance. in fact she really hasn't come into 2014 with the same kind of level she ended 2013 on. she's been behind the baseline too much the entire run….it's not how she played throughout that stupendous streak. she was much more aggressive in her positioning. she's announcing a new coach after this event so hopefully whosoever that will be will get that formula back on track again.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

What an INCREDIBLY performance from Cibulkova!! She laid waste of Aga. Absolutely impressed.

I cannot wait for the final with Li!!

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Well, I wanted Aga and Genie, and it's the opposite.

I suppose Li Na will win, on her third try, the AO title.

For the men, I am hoping Wawrinka or Berdych win it to be honest. Federer and Nadal have enough slams. But if it has to be one of them, then I'd say "go Fed".

 

[MyNameIs]

Since the QF round, every WTA match has produced a result opposite of what I wanted, lol. I guess I should root for Li Na in the final.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

Beyond happy Wawrinka took the title!!

 

[MyNameIs]

WOW, what a win for Wawrinka. Incredible. Hopefully this opens the door for more variety on the ATP tour. I'm so sick of the title monopoly we've had from the "top four".

 

[Scott]

thoroughly ecstatic for stan! i think regardless of the role rafa's injury played into his performance,ultimately stan played an unbelievable tournament. the way he knocked off the defending champ in supreme fashion and keeping that level in the SF….and he played just as beautifully in this final. i tell you magnus norman has been a tremendous debt to stan's game,his mental strength the last year. two years ago that stan probably would have been rattled by that injury time-out and never recovered and although he was a bit peeved(more so the way the umpire handled it)he handled it very classily.

also wanted to say too well done to li na for finally getting the title. it got tight in that first set,understandably as this was the first time she had been an overwhelming favourite. but once that tie-break started na really started to settle down and buckle down…and she just played that second set with a vengeance. and her champions speech will live on as one of the best i've seen…so funny and so endearing,she is. and well done to domi as well,even though that second went the way it did it certainly wasn't as a result of her performance but what na was doing. i thought she handled the occasion really well and showed why she got to the final. really been impressed with her consistency the entire fortnight which is not something we generally associate with domi. she's known for causing upsets but she's also known for having letdowns and being streaky match to match,so this has been a massive improvement from her.

 

[Chaky]

Given the finalists I'm very happy to see Stan win (and break the recent monopoly of the Big Four) and Li Na (very unlucky last year where she fell twice).

But also a little disappointed. This tournament was on it's way to being the best ever for me. Roger seeming to be playing better than last year (a little quicker and superb at the net) and Aga dismantling Azarenka 6-0 in the final set of the QF was a personal highlight. I started to have hopes of them both winning the respective titles. Alas hopes were seriously dashed in the semis.