The Tennis Thread

[Scott]

^are you thinking it may be a repeat of monte carlo??

i agree,that result of gulbis against roger....wow....

and i am so with you. a few years ago he was much lauded,alongside del potro,and i myself found him pretty spectacular as well but then a lot of disappointing losses.

 

[AnaBGD]

I'm not sure, Novak looks stronger this week, like today when he was playing the best in the decisive moments, but I feel like it's a shame they are meeting in the quarters, too soon.

Now that you're mentioning Del Potro, I see his cool attitude in Gulbis too. He did have some trouble closing the match against Roger, but you couldn't see any emotion on his face. I hope his mind is in the right place for finally making great results.

 

[Scott]

^i do too. i really like his style....and really he's got the game to have the success del potro has had. speaking of del potro i hope to see him back himself soon.

btw,dina has returned this week. sadly,today,she seems to be in a real dog fight against szavay. dina took the first in a tie-break at 5 and agnes won the second 6/3 and now agnes is serving at 0/1,deuce.

i really hope dinara can get through this. it's been a tough road for her the last few months with the back injury and she's been making statements prior to stuttgart that the back injury she's dealt with could potentially end her career if she doesn't keep careful of it. i would really hate to see that.

 

[miu_miu]

Ernie's finally making good on his talent...his attitude is either insane or brilliant I'm not sure which but it's refreshing no doubt. I love him because he's a little bit of Novak and a little bit of Marat

Fernando v Novak - interesting, Fernando has played more tennis so could be a factor.
Jo v David - I pick David as the better clay courter, though I do love Jo.
Rafa v Stan - who knows, Stan did beat Soderling...of course I hope for Rafa.
Feliciano v Ernie - Ernie had two long matches whereas Feli didn't play today...but Ernie is more talented I think

I so miss JMDP on tour! He's supposed to be back for Madrid I think?

 

[YoninahAliza]

my fave tennis player will always be Rafael Nadal... not only is he an amazing player but quite fit as well

 

[Nonobstant]

gosh, a thread dedicated to tennis on TFS !!!!!

My favourite player....mm, technically speaking, I cannot not admire Federer's virtuosity, of course. But I'm not fan of the guy in itself... The tennis player I like the most is French player Gilles Simon. I love his personnality, and his interviews are so interesting!! Contrary to most players' interviews, which are boring as hell .
But I may be biaised since I have a soft point for most French tennis players !(EXCEPT Richard Gasquet).
ALLEZ GILLES !!!!

adgoog.com

 

[AnaBGD]

Ana!

Who would have thought?!


On the other hand, Caroline She better heal that injury before RG.

 

[Nonobstant]

To answer to miu-miu (I can't send u karma/pm since ur profile is private), I'm not paying much attention to tennis those days, coz I rather follow French tournaments and Slams.
I remember when I first saw Gilles, Jo, Michaël, Arnaud and all the other for real It was during the Lyon tournament. There was a guy right behind me who was trying to make his way through the crowd, i turn and see it's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
And seeing Gilles and Arnaud on court in front of me...I know it sounds silly, but it always feels exciting !!!
Can't wait to see them again!!!!! ok I should stop with those smileys now
Which tournament do u follow?

 

[Scott]

Ana!

Who would have thought?!


On the other hand, Caroline She better heal that injury before RG.

right?! just last week,after yet another disappointing loss,i was telling somebody how i hope she will get it together....perhaps even have a similar comeback that capriati did in 2000. so many have written her off and that saddens me because she is a champ. this is a very positive sign for her.

as for wozniacki,she azarenka seriously need to think more cautiously about their bodies before playing so soon. she just injured that ankle in charleston yet she decided to play stuttgart and rome b2b?! azarenka did the same thing a few weeks ago....got injured pretty significantly and still continues to play. and look at their results because of it.

btw,how about jelena romping venus LOVE and 1!! yeah jelena is better on clay and venus is really not so great overall,but that's a hard score to get against venus anyway.

 

[AnaBGD]

aaaand the other one down too! YES!!! GO JJ!

I love it how she managed to make two breaks when Serena was serving for the match.

 

[Scott]

^i didn't get to catch the tie-breaker as i had to run,but egads jelena kept putting pressure on serena's serve.

that's the funny thing about clay,just when you think a player has the momentum it changes in a flash. clay is so forgiving in that,imo.

too bad about ana but i suppose it's not terribly shocking she lost to somebody like martinez sanchez. if anything,hopefully,this will give her a much needed boost.

 

[Scott]

did anybody watching other networks happen to catch this?

http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/blog...t=Ak6o3DiMdT7CulfzlJJ6jXc4v7YF?urn=ten,239587

it certainly sounds as if serena says justine. and like the blogger says why would she lean in and whisper that aspect and not the other stuff? but i can't be certain. unfortunately,i wouldn't be surprised otherwise since serena so much in the last year serena has loved to stir the pot.

anyway,too bad JJ lost today. as if beating the sisters b2b isn't challenging enough,captialising on those wins can take so much out of you mentally and physically. anyway,we do have to congratulate maria jose though because she played very well for her first premier final. she had a bit of trouble closing it out the first time at 5/4 but glad to see she was able to clinch it at 5.

this certainly makes RG even more wide open than ever. justine,sam,flavia,jelena...those are my favourites at the moment to win. and maria jose is very capable to going deep herself.

 

[miu_miu]

OMG WHAT is happening with Federer? He can't even win 250 event in Estoril!

Nonobstant, I saw Gilles play Ferrero at Wimbledon last year! You're lucky to see them in Lyon, it's great they all support the french tournaments

 

[Scott]

so serena and venus are 1 and 2 again....i wonder how long that will last?

it's been such a strange clay season,non? with maria jose winning rome over jankovic,venus doing so well in madrid albeit getting beaten by another surprise in rezai. what's happened to sveta and lena? justine also didn't do well in madrid.

 

[Scott]

so big news about the queen being in attendance for the first time in 33 years at wimby. and oddly at a time when andy is in rather a slump at the moment.

 

[miu_miu]

Wow, really? I had no idea

Scott, you know JMDP is out of RG? Who are you guys picking for winners?

 

[Scott]

^i know!! i was crushed but considering he pulled out of every event earlier it did seem it would be likely. still sad though. he's been out since aus

winners....it's been so unpredictable this year for the women,but somehow you just can't bet against justine. i also will stick my neck out for sam stosur to at least get to the final. she's just been playing too well,in my eyes. my dark horse pick is maria jose martinez sanchez.

i will say too,i really hope elena,sveta and flavia can regain some range and do well here. flavia particularly started the clay season off well in marbella but after fed cup,i don't think she's even made a quarterfinal. svetlana and elena as well,neither has played well. lena hasn't progressed far in a tourney since her miami loss.

men-
again cannot go against somebody who's dominated RG, and who's playing ever-so exceptionally at the moment. so for me rafa sticks out. federer is a big question mark since he a few losses prior to madrid so i'll have to wait and see. verdasco has been looking really good too.

 

[miu_miu]

I think Gilles Simon has only played maybe one match this year as well, it's awful!

Did you see what Roger said after Madrid, that clay season is judged in Paris? He's playing an exhibition outside Paris, seems like he feels he needs practice...or a fat appearance cheque

Anyway, OF COURSE I want Rafa to win but I fear jinxing it So I hope but never bet - and I'd like to see Ferrer and Gulbis do well & Monfils because he has points to defend and he does well there. Novak should do ok but his season has been poor compared to last year & Verdasco will be interesting too. For women, I like Justine, and always Elena - my dream!

Here's a full list of who will be missing thus far.

PARIS (AP)—The French Tennis Federation says Kim Clijsters has pulled out of the French Open because of a foot injury that has failed to heal, and Nikolay Davydenko has been ruled out by a wrist injury.

Clijsters, the U.S. Open champion and world No. 10, joins Urszula Radwanska, Sania Mirza, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Sabine Lisicki on the list of absentees. She will be replaced by Stephanie Dubois of Canada, the federation said Friday.

Davydenko, ranked sixth, deals another blow to the men’s field, which has already lost Tommy Haas, Juan Martin del Potro, Igor Andreev and James Blake.

They are being replace by Michal Przysiezny, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Paolo Lorenzi, Ricardo Mello and Kevin Anderson.

 

[Scott]

^and speaking of injuries,what the hell has caroline been thinking continuing to play event after event? since she injured that ankle in charleston she has not stopped and she's been beaten early in every event or she's retired like today. i like caroline very much and she's very talented but these are not smart decisions.

 

[Chaky]

How many of these decisions to play are down to Caroline herself or is it her father? Or is she forced to play by her WTA contract?