The Tennis Thread

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amare32 said:

anonymous said:

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The guy has won the most recent major and people are still questioning whether he's got the game to beat the best guys on tour? People should lay off the drugs.

If often happens in the off season that players will get niggles playing first competitive matches.

I'm guessing some of you don't play tennis, playing hard court tennis is incredibly stressful on the joints and these players will have come off their training blocks so normally takes time to adjust.

I'm sure we'll see a different, focussed Murray come the Australian Open.

it has become a subconscious thing for Andy, he is not injured in any major way, to hold something and grimace if things are not going right for him, he does it all the time, perhaps you have not seen him play before?!

[chippy17]

going to add a few more dark horses:

Nishikori playing very nicely, as is Bagdhatis (one of my faves, that match with Agassi at the US I will never forget)

and one other guy, let's see if any of you can get this guy, I will make it easy:

went from approx 240 in the world to current position of 26 in under a year, is 6ft 8 with predicatble huge serve (150mph at times) but moves very well for his height and also has very good ground strokes etc ie not all serve, last tourny he played beat 5 of the top 20 in a row to reach the final...? I think he really could be a contender

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psgcarey said:

chippy17 said:

going to add a few more dark horses:

Nishikori playing very nicely, as is Bagdhatis (one of my faves, that match with Agassi at the US I will never forget)

and one other guy, let's see if any of you can get this guy, I will make it easy:

went from approx 240 in the world to current position of 26 in under a year, is 6ft 8 with predicatble huge serve (150mph at times) but moves very well for his height and also has very good ground strokes etc ie not all serve, last tourny he played beat 5 of the top 20 in a row to reach the final...? I think he really could be a contender

Jerzy Janovicz.

Paris was a BIG breakthrough for him. Will be interesting to see if it's a fluke or the start of something big. Had a good challenger tour last year, and a couple of wins at Wimbledon, but didn't really set the world alight until Paris. Certainly wasn't a player I had on my radar as the next breakthrough.

too easy

tbh i had never heard of him until Paris either but looked him up and he was runner up in 2 junior GS so has certainly 'got game' and watching him in paris he was impressive, I think he would have beaten Ferrer in the final had he not knackered himself out beating all those top 20 guys, whether fluke or not we shall see is Aus, mad to think last Aus Open he could not even afford to enter now he is straight into the main draw

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amare32 said:

chippy17 said:

it has become a subconscious thing for Andy, he is not injured in any major way, to hold something and grimace if things are not going right for him, he does it all the time, perhaps you have not seen him play before?!

I've watched Murray since he was a junior USO open champion so I know that the habits he has is ingrained so not so easy to change. You do realise that he does pull up with the occasional 'sore knee' or back because he was born with bipartite patella which causes him pain from time to time. While I'm at it, lower back pain is a common injury for tennis players.

I guess you belong to the Virginia Wade camp who calls Murray a 'drama queen' everytime he grimaces or pulls up as nothing but a bit of acting or gamesmanship?

Every player on the tour does it. Before you say Federer is the exception and most recently against Murray at the Shanghai Masters, got the match stopped because of a few rain droplets, whenever he loses he often brings up injuries to discredit his opponent's wins against him. Nadal's MTOs...retirements and Dkjokovic 30 ball bounces, playing possum, stretches between points, faking, MTOs....

need I go on?

dear me you do think you know it all don't you

well aware of his knee condition and I have been watching Andy since he was an embryo

I didn't accuse him of moaning just said he does this without thinking, very rarely see him do this when he wins a point however

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anonymous said:

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thanks for the links, watched the highligts looks like a close match, Dimitrov just needs a bit more bite on his forehand and he could be very good indeed, top 10 at least, his movement is so much better than it was 6-12 months ago

perhaps Serena gave him a few pointers!

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psgcarey said:

Rumour has it Dimitrov is dating Sharapova!

yes i heard that too, I think he has a way with the ladies

[chippy17]

on a sadder note:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-...

[chippy17]

I think the BBC are showing semi and final of Aus Open, live, ie 8am ish

[chippy17]

well my prediction that Dimitrov would go deep was very wrong, lost in 1st round

another of my dark horses was Dolgopolov (not to win but to go far) just lost to Monfils who is on the comeback trail so perhaps not a huge surprise

and yes Murray safely through, as are Djokivic and Federer

and go girls!!

[chippy17]

come on Laura, just got 2nd set against Kvitova, keep the momentum going, very easy to have a slump in this situation

[chippy17]

anonymous said:

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she has not played well since really,

don't get me started on equal pay!!!

eta just broken Robson 2-4 down

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psgcarey said:

Back on serve.

Excellent performance for Robson however it goes. Should give her some good confidence.

Equal pay is fine, just make the Women play best of five as well.

Sharapova has won both of her opening matches 6-0 6-0, Serena Williams has won 6-0 6-0 and 6-2 6-0, for the same prize money as the men.

yes and Kvitova having a teary moment and robson breaks!!! Woohoo!

re equal pay well yes that would help but I still think the quality is nowhere near the mens at the momentand I bet that shows up in the gate

Serena will beat Sharapova she is by far the better player

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anonymous said:

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cannot disagree at the moment adn I suupose even when in Navratilova/Graf era it still was not as good as mens but at least it was worth watching over the past few years I have barely watched a women's match

yes still going and I of course support Robson but boy is it dull, ace then df then winner then ue and repeat

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amare32 said:

Vocal Minority said:

Ladies tennis is in the same doldrums that Mens tennis was briefly in between the demise of Sampras and the rise of Federer. Basically boring baseline hammering.

Agreed. Especially womens tennis being such terrible state.

The slower playing surfaces and racquet/strings technology does make players play the game in a baseline grind fest. Would people want to go back to the pre 2000s when surfaces were so fast that it was an ace fest especially at Wimbledon? 2 shot rallies do not make it any more entertaining than 38 shot baseline exchanges.

re speed of courts the ace fest of the 90s was as dull as the 6 hour basline practise we were treated to this time last year, they have gone too far the other way now, somewhere in between is perfect

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anonymous said:

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oh dear, reads like my stats!!!

also love the way she ground this out, a year or two ago she would have lost that 3rd set, winning ugly

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anonymous said:

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Have to agree, I think Henman's game was from a slightly older era and he made the very best of what he had, an overachiever if you will, I too enjoy watching Henman play, a great touch player and imo right up there as one of the best volleyers of his generation, if not the best.

His run to the semis of the french was great, just watch the highlights of his quater final match against Chela, he was on fire. He should not have lost to Coria in the semis but that seems to have been his fate, he had some glaring weaknesses, his forehand would break down and his backhand was not the best but he still managed to become a regualar top 5 player

much maligned is our Tim, a truly world cass player just not one of the greats

[chippy17]

poor Miss watson got another tennis lesson from Radwanska, who is one of the only women players I actually enjoy watching, I think watson will have learned a lot from Radwanska and should come back stronger

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amare32 said:

Monfils is a clown. He's got the physical gifts but if someone transplanted Federer's brain, Monfederer would be sitting on 21 slams right now

I think he needs to develop a proper weapon, it used to be his speed but after his big injury he may have to think again, in relative terms still a bit of a pusher imo

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anonymous said:

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are you an Aussie, never hear anyone call him The Poo, except Aussies

yes that was a great match will watch it later

part one of q finals french, part 2 on their somewhere as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94OwM2SxHS8

[chippy17]

fantastic game by Djokovic and Wawrinka, feel for Stan but Djokovic is such a mental beast

is it just or does Wawrinka have the best one hander in the business? he really should be a solid top 10er just lacks a little bit mentally but that was the strongest I have seen him in a big/close match and hopefully he will build on that, a great player to watch