The Tennis Thread

[anaa lpz]

yeah, I'm gonna enjoy watching them representing their country, that shows how big tennis is in Europe imo.

I think GB will chose a cyclist, and Andy is a great player, but he hasn't won a GS yet so, I'm not even sure he deserves it, if I'm honest.
In Spain there is a "law" to decide who will do it, although they didn't apply it at all but, maybe some other countries have this kind of "laws" too.

Btw, has Serena won a medal at the Olympics before? In 2008 we had 3 russians at the podium and I don't remember who won in 2004!

 

[Scott]

^she did in doubles(sydney and beijing) but never in singles has she progressed beyond the QF. beijing she was ousted by elena dementieva,athens she missed and at sydney i believe she was forced to pull out of singles.

justine henin won gold,amelie mauresmo won silver and aussie alicia molik won bronze in 2004

 

[Not Plain Jane]

their head to head combined record

- Um, but doesn't it seem kind of unfair to the opponents listed to have their individual record put up in a H2H against TWO players? After all, Serena and Venus are two separate tennis players with different styles and likely different records versus various opponents. But it's interesting to see nonetheless.

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Shame about Rafa's knees and his withdrawal from the Olympics.

 

[anaa lpz]

Thanks Scott

I was so happy when Dementieva won in Beijing, she is my dad's favourite player, and even though I loved/hated her game, I always thought she was such a classy player and person.

I heard Rafa is not going to play until the US Open! I don't know, he obviously needs some rest, but I think he should try to play at least a tournament before the USO, just to test himself.
I'm not his fan, at all, but I remember how bad I felt back in 2008 when Maria couldn't play at the Olympics and it makes me feel bad for him.
Now I hope Roger can win and complete his Career Golden Slam! He is not my favourite player, but I want him to win everything, and a gold medal is the only thing he hasn't won yet. Because winning the Davis Cup is not even an option for him.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

"I heard Rafa is not going to play until the US Open! "

Where did you hear this? Wow, the knees must be very bad if true.

As for Roger winning everything, please please, no. He has enough. More than enough. I want OTHERS to win the bigger events, i.e., the Olympics, Masters, USO, WTF, etc. And not just this year, but going forward too.

Murray is sooo overdue for a big title/slam. Would love to see Nole get a gold medal as he is very patriotic, probably the most of all the top players i'd hasten to guess (but of course who knows). I would like to see Tsonga and/or Delpo win some slams, and Ferrer needs a bigger title - for how hard he works, at least a masters! Those are my wishes for the tennis gods.

 

[anaa lpz]

It's been said he has to rest at least 2 weeks, but an spanish journalist said he needs even more time, and he won't be playing until the USO. Maybe he is wrong, but he's a great journalist and really close to Rafa, so I believe him.

I absolutely agree about Ferrer! He might not be the most talented player, but he works soooo hard! And, I met him twice and he's the nicest guy. I know being nice is not a reason to win, but I can't help being biased

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Awwwwwwwww, too adorable that you met Daveed. Lucky girl! We can wish together, then, that he gets a big title soon.

 

[Scott]

anaa...for all the talk about clijsters being the nicest person and all(and she is),i still feel that lena and mauresmo are the classiest,most gracious women this sport was ever bestowed. there was no pretense...no arrogance....no ego.....one iota with them. i still remember when dementieva came here to my area for a fed cup tie versus the united states,how she took time out to participate in a clinic with some of our local kids. and she was on the opposing team. you don't ever hear that much happening with opposing teams. and momo....one of the first people i ever remember rushing to the aid of an opponent following a health scare. michaela kraijcek had some sort of heat illness during their match at australia and she wasn't looking good....they had all the blood pressure equipment out and everything. she actually had to be wheeled off the court. momo skipped her on-court interviews and everything to make sure kraijcek was okay.

petra kvitova has a bit of what those two had and i think that's probably why i'm very keen on her.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

I was totally depressed when Dementieva retired without a slam. I wanted her to get one so badly, and she had a great chance, she played SUCH a good match versus Serena at Wimbledon in 2009. I was totally depressed when she lost that match. I am not a huge fan of either Serena or Venus (though i prefer Venus), so I moped around for the whole day after that. Sigh...tennis nut.

 

[Scott]

i haven't heard much lena since she got married last summer....i hope she's doing well and her dreams of a family life are beginning to parallel with her retirement intentions. i agree it's a shame she didn't get a major but like many eastern europeans and especially in russia,i think winning both a gold and silver medal at two different olympic games probably satisfies her more than anything. i think after her win in beijing she said something along the lines that it was her ultimate goal....and with that,i can't be too disappointed. i still would have liked her to....she had the greatest opportunity at RG against schiavone but unfortunately got injured.

btw,did i forget to mention that both lena and momo also happened to my faves?

 

[anaa lpz]

Now it's official, I've only read/heard good things about Dementieva!

The Spanish team came to my hometown to play against Italy a few years ago, and since that day I support Ferrer and Robredo like a crazy person! They were super nice. Those 3 days are also the reason why I will never suppot Verdasco
David had a good few weeks during the "grass season", let's see if he can do the same at the Olympics!

 

[Scott]

^hehe! i think that's why when dementieva announced her retirement at the YE championships,not a single player had a dry eye. the girl honestly had immense respect from all her peers.

btw,anxiously anticipating draw announcements for the olympics thursday!!! on the women's side,really difficult to see past serena,petra and aga radwanska at this juncture but all will really depend on the draw. i just hope kvitova gets a better one than she did at wimbledon. right now on the men's side,i'm not going to say it's secure but roger definitely looks favorable to win gold.....the other medals could be a toss-up. murray or novak for silver....and with nadal out,what a grande opportunity for tsonga or berdych.

 

[Chaky]

right now on the men's side,i'm not going to say it's secure but roger definitely looks favorable to win gold.....the other medals could be a toss-up. murray or novak for silver....and with nadal out,what a grande opportunity for tsonga or berdych.

I'll be interested to see how differently this plays out compared to the normal Wimbledon. Best of three sets means more danger for the top guys if they meet someone firing on all cylinders on the day (e.g. Roger vs Benneteau from a few weeks ago would have a different conclusion). Much more likely to get a surprise winner here than at a slam.

I'm looking forward to the draws, especially because there's that added twist of no-one from the same country allowed to be drawn in the same quarter.

 

[Scott]

it hadn't even occurred to me the 3-set component. that changes my feeling a bit more now. especially mentioning that benneteau match. very intriguing indeed!

 

[Scott]

draw is out! and much to my relief kvitova is in the bottom half with radwanska and would likely face sharapova in the semis. vika and serena are on the top half....unfortunate for vika.

http://2012.itftennis.com/olympics/results/women's-singles.aspx

 

[Scott]

btw here's the men's too.....it's such a big oops on my part. i can't explain why i only think about the women all the time

http://2012.itftennis.com/olympics/results/men's-singles.aspx

the bottom half is really loaded. novak,tsonga,murray and berdych are all in that section.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Yes, too bad for Aza. Sharapova has a pretty manageable quarter.

The men's draw is extremely lopsided, with a very difficult bottom half for both Murray and especially Djokovic. Federer, meanwhile, will likely waltz to the final, with the most difficult opponent in his quarter being Tipsarevic. Ferrer/Delpo should meet in the other quarter.

 

[pixiedust1603]

I want Federer to finally win a singles Olympic Gold. I think I'll also use the Olympics to try get interested in the Women's tour again.

 

[Scott]

NPJ....however,sharapova does have lisicki in her quarter who just beat her at wimbledon....yikes!! of course different pressure this time with this being about their country,so who knows what can happen. and she does have clijsters too but it's just a question which clijsters will be present.

 

[Chaky]

The men's draw is extremely lopsided, with a very difficult bottom half for both Murray and especially Djokovic. Federer, meanwhile, will likely waltz to the final, with the most difficult opponent in his quarter being Tipsarevic. Ferrer/Delpo should meet in the other quarter.

Wow, Murray drew Wawrinka in the first round. That's tough. Well Stan's carrying the Swiss flag so maybe his arms will be tired! Definitely a bottom heavy draw.

But Fed's draw is not so simple either. First round is Falla who came within points of beating him at Wimbledon in 2010. And potential second round against Benneteau who also took him to five sets this year.