The Tennis Thread

[tigerrouge]

I believe the point of a sport is an opportunity for people to compete against themselves and each other to reach new realms of achievement. There are plenty of sports I would not waste one second watching, but that hardly makes them invalid. What entertains me is merely the subjective opinion of one person, but sport is bigger than me, and should have - at heart - some higher purpose than merely amusing the bored. Yes, the commercial aspects cannot be ignored, and these days exist on a grand scale, but in the end, that should not be the point of sport. So I will watch a film if I want entertainment on demand. Sport is there to teach me something else.
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[MyNameIs]

IMO, that's kind of a one sided look at the sporting competition. If I understand you correctly, everyone should basically root for the winner because whoever won was the better player/competitor and that's the only thing we should admire. And I don't quite understand your last statement there that sport is to teach you something else. Teach you what exactly?

Anyway, what you said is but a small part of the sporting events for vast majority of people. It's above all entertainment for the viewer. Always has been and always will be. Plus then there's always the human drama, who's the underdog, who's making a comeback, who has the most compelling story, who's the most exciting, etc. Whether it's 'fair' or not, not all winners are loved because for one reason or another they don't connect with the viewers and I don't see anything wrong with that. I can admire or respect someone's latest achievement in a field of [black] but if I don't relate or am put off by that said person's demeanor or an infinite number of other factors there is no way I will root for him/her. We're not robots, numbers is one thing but emotions always factor into our decision making.

BTW, this is such a perfect opportunity for Maria to finally make her Grand Slam comeback. If she doesn't win it then I don't know if she ever will. She's playing well. Most of the 'big' competition has been knocked out and this is the surface where she's had success before. I'm rooting for her all the way.

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

Wow Serena is out, at least that made a lot of people happy.

 

[Scott]

wow,i said,potential....today was much more than that. pironkova has venus' number now. i'm not so used to seeing such lopsided results against a williams sister....at all. and no offense to tsvetana,whose game really translates to grass,but she hasn't done much of anything in between last year's wimby and this year.....i'm still trying to figure out if that's an embarrassing stat against venus or just a testament to tsvetana's form and fearlessness at wimbledon?

and bartoli....well i wasn't as surprised at this result. i'm sure serena even realised that this one would be extra-tough considering bartoli's strong season and her impressive lead-up to wimbledon.

and btw,maybe it's a good thing that this turned out in the way it did. for two women to be out for so long and suddenly show up and win it,can you imagine the criticism that would ensue in an already criticised women's game?

 

[Leeroi]

Serena hasn't played much this year because of an injury, so my hopes of her winning were somewhat low. Venus was disappointing considering even if she has a bad year, she usually pulls through during Wimbledon since it is her best court.

Also, I never saw a problem with the Williams sisters winning or being in the finals of most majors. I actually think is great. The other players are "more deserving" to win opinion is completely ridiculous considering the results are based on who the better player is in that match. The better player is the one who is more deserving. You may not like the personality of Serena and you may think she needs a piece of humble pie at times, but that doesn't mean she's less deserving of wins. She's a great tennis player and have proven to be one of the best female tennis players to have played in the past decade, no amount of "bad personality" can change that.

 

[Scott]

well considering the roster of greats who were never the most pleasant people--hingis,henin,capriati(at times),margaret court and her bigoted remarks toward martina n. and billie jean.....but we still somehow find a way to revere those women despite the unsavouriness. and serena is not my favourite player(nor am i even a fan of sharapova,for that matter) but i would never be so deluded to say she wasn't deserving of all her success. i don't have that kind of disdain. she goes in,she plays and she wins. period.

i think now more than ever though it's kind of exciting to see....let's say....not as many head-cases who are intimidated by them.

 

[tigerrouge]

IMO, that's kind of a one sided look at the sporting competition. If I understand you correctly, everyone should basically root for the winner because whoever won was the better player/competitor and that's the only thing we should admire. And I don't quite understand your last statement there that sport is to teach you something else. Teach you what exactly?

The supplementary view I'm trying to provide is that sometimes there doesn't seem to be much appreciation for women who consistently demonstrate the ability to win. So many other aspects of their game get attention - I'm still seeng more stories about Simona Halep's breast reduction than her current performance - that it gets lost that these players step out on court to be the best at what they do.

And male or female, they are there to win, not to entertain - they're not sacrificing their lives to their sport in return for some vague reputation as the most loveable player. They're not meeting up before these matches to agree how to put on an amusing display for the audience, and most of them would be unhappy to go down in history as someone who was a fantastic clown on court but who never got around to achieving anything.

As for what sport can teach us, the whole of human history is full of people's thoughts and experiences about its values and its principles, and I doubt I'd do a good job summarising that in a fashion forum, but sport certainly has a lot to offer to anyone who wants something more than a soap opera out of the experience.

That said, John McEnroe was commenting the other day that tennis needs to focus on being more exciting:

"I look at it from a different place that I used to, now I'm not playing," said McEnroe. "I see that it is entertainment. Two people are out there, trying to punch each other's lights out, that's part of the excitement.

"The unknown is what we want, something unpredictable - watching the players trade practice shots takes away from that. They should go out there like boxers, to huge applause and announcements, have a coin toss and then boom, first serve.

"Roddick's right, I don't have to play so it is easy for me to say. But while I don't disagree with that I'm also trying to suggest things because we need to think outside the box to make this sport as exciting as possible.

"We are getting left behind other sports which are evolving. In the same way that Murray is going to win Wimbledon by stepping into the court and taking chances we need to be more proactive with our game.

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

The Lisicki v Bartoli match was enjoyable. Did anyone notice that Bartoli didn't seem to have 'bounced' so much this time?
Azarenka, Lisicki and Kvitova through. It's interesting how they all sport a similar look!

 

[MyNameIs]

The supplementary view I'm trying to provide is that sometimes there doesn't seem to be much appreciation for women who consistently demonstrate the ability to win. So many other aspects of their game get attention - I'm still seeng more stories about Simona Halep's breast reduction than her current performance - that it gets lost that these players step out on court to be the best at what they do.

And male or female, they are there to win, not to entertain - they're not sacrificing their lives to their sport in return for some vague reputation as the most loveable player. They're not meeting up before these matches to agree how to put on an amusing display for the audience, and most of them would be unhappy to go down in history as someone who was a fantastic clown on court but who never got around to achieving anything.

As for what sport can teach us, the whole of human history is full of people's thoughts and experiences about its values and its principles, and I doubt I'd do a good job summarising that in a fashion forum, but sport certainly has a lot to offer to anyone who wants something more than a soap opera out of the experience.

That said, John McEnroe was commenting the other day that tennis needs to focus on being more exciting:

I don't disagree that players themselves want to win, above all. Given a choice between winning 'boringly' and losing 'excitingly', 100% of the players would pick the first. But for us as the viewers, it's not simply about finding who's the best player, who pushed him/herself the furthest, who broke the most records, etc. If that were the case, all the sporting events would be played somewhere in dungeons and all we would hear would be the results. But that's not the case. While most, if not all, viewers do care who wins, do care about the records, etc, they watch the games for entertainment purposes.

I will speak for myself, other than my personal favorites that I have in each sports, for everyone else, I really couldn't care less who wins. I want to see exciting matches. I want to see drama. I want to see heroics. I want to see upsets. That's what excites me about sporting events.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Scott says

unless azarenka,sharapova,kvitova and/or the in-form lisicki can step up,

Ha! Indeed they did. These are dream semifinalists. Sharapova trying to make a comeback after slogging for a year since her surgery, never taking much time off but working her way back.

And three potential break out stars, with Lisicki having another comeback from an injury that could've derailed her career.

Speaking of injury, the Delpo vs. Rafa match certainly had injury drama, and some great play too!

MyNameIs - I agree. Sure sports is about competition but people become fans of teams and players for all sundry of reasons, including patriotism, personality, game, talent, effort, etc. And entertainment value is HUGE! Otherwise these players would not make the big bucks. I don't like watching routs in general, especially in later stages of grand slams! I want to see dramatic, closely contested, unpredictable matches.

So here's hoping for a grande finale at SW19!

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Venus and Serena are great tennis champs, who would dispute this!? Serena is such a competitor. Still one can, none the less, tire of seeing the same winners. Like Roddick said, "if sport were predictable, it would be like watching a DVD". Well, I find the way the slams have been dominated by Federer and Nadal, and, up until recently, by the Williams sisters too, to be predictable, and thus I want to see some new winners break through, some new faces on the podium. Also, the pattern of how Federer and Nadal matches play out is fairly common, with Rafa attacking the Roger backhand, and overcoming him that way, as well as by grinding him down physically and mentally. Both are fab players, obviously. And their rivalry is interesting. But after 25 matches, I could handle something else. Imagine what a Murray win at Wimbledon would be like? Or what if Tsonga or even Tomic pulled a surprise!

It's just like with fashion: I want some novelty mixed in with the classics!

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Tigerrouge, I like the J-Mac quote! Where is it from? A website? An interview? If you have a link / source, I'd love it.

 

[MyNameIs]

What an upset today. So exciting. I just wish it was either Murray or Djokovic who got upset not Federer, lol. But Federer really doesn't 'need' any more major titles so it's good for someone else to get a chance.

 

[Chaky]

Hmm not the way I really wanted these semis to turn out. I really like Tsonga though and I gather Fed played a pretty good match but got outplayed in the end. I just hope Roger isn't gonna lose his motivation after this.

JWT for the title!

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

^Second that! I think Roger still sees beating Sampras's record as at least one of his goals, so I hope he isn't put off. It'd be our loss if this is indeed 'the end of an era'...
It's amazing though how Rafa could still win with that foot injury!

 

[limejuice]

That was a good game. Love how Tsonga express his happiness

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Wow, Kvitova is soooo good. If she could become more consistent, she would rule. Her game just flows off her racquet, nothing contrived or "trained" about it. It is almost like she has the fluidity of a Graf with the sheer power of Serena. This girl, Petra Kvitova, is one to watch!! And no screaming either.

I was really happy for Tsonga! He plays so well on grass, and he just split with the coach he has had since juniors. Looks like it was a good move.

Fed will always be a potential contender, but the reality is that he will be 30 this year. He is not going to pull out those five setters anymore versus younger guys. Fed's game depends a lot on explicit timing, and if he is a step slow that will go off. Also he doesn't return quite as well as the other top guys: Rafa, Muzza and Nole.

I am hoping for a new winner on the men's side, so anyone but Rafa, who has two Wimbledon titles and ten slams. Nothing against Rafa per se, just would like to see a different winner. I think Murray has the best shot, but he has to beat Nadal, which is clearly not easy!!! Tsonga may not be able to reproduce the kind of match he played versus Fed against the others; they will generate more break chances via their returns. And grass is probably Nole's least favorite surface. So Muzza has the best chance to foil the defending champ.

 

[Scott]

^agree with you sentiment regarding kvitova. i said it before....to me,apart from the slight resemblance,she's like a left-handed mary pierce. and yes,,no screaming except after she wins the point i'm happy she's in the final and i do hope she takes it but if not,this young woman will be a major champion very soon. in fact,i think once the sisters,clijsters and the other veterans like schiavone have ultimately retired,kvitova could very well take the tour by storm. she's got that much game and that much natural talent.

feel bad for lisicki today. after having an early advantage she relinquished and maria dominated thereafter. she should be very proud,nevertheless,after all she's gone through. this tournament has been absolute redemption. and i hope to continue seeing her play this well into the summer HC season and perhaps the open.

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

^Yes it was a shame that Lisicki didn't follow through with that early advantage. I thought a final between her and Kvitova would have been very interesting!

 

[MyNameIs]

My girl Maria is in the final! I couldn't watch the match today because I was at work, but was following the score throughout the game. Seems her service game was shaky (again!) but glad that she was able to make it work. I really want her to win on Saturday. She's been working so hard to come back from the injury for which a lot of people had written her off, but she's now done pretty well at all three GS this year. It would just be so cool to see her make this 'comeback' where she started.

Both Kvitova (so far) and Lisicki though, played great tournament and have great future ahead of them.