The Official Tennis Thread

[coldplaymom]

Great day in tennis

 

 

[coldplaymom]

The Italian Open 2013 Finals are set and it's every tennis fan dream!

 

vs

 

vs

 

Tennis haven for this fan!

[coldplaymom]

Serena Williams beats Azarenka to win Italian Open

 

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/serena-williams-beats-azarenka-win-135701540--ten.html

[coldplaymom]

Rome final master classes from Nadal and Serena

May 19, 2013 -- Updated 1602 GMT (0002 HKT)

 

Rafael Nadal savors his sixth title of his remarkable comeback and 24th Masters crown after thrashing Roger Federer ni Rome

 

(CNN) -- Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams underlined their status as overwhelming favorites for the French Open by breezing through their respective title matches in Rome Sunday.

 

Nadal crushed long-time rival Roger Federer 6-1 6-3 in a one-sided final at the Foro Italico.

 

Earlier, Williams blasted 41 winners as she beat Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka by the same score.

 

It was her 24th straight win and she is 16-0 on clay this season with three tournament wins.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/19/sport/tennis/tennis-rome-nadal-federer-serena/index.html

[Reilly]

In the French open, a player called Stakhovsky (Playing Gasquet) had a ball called out, and during the break he went and got his phone and took a picture of the line up close to apparently show the mark that shows it was in, and put his thumb up afterwards to show he got his shot.

 

The problem was, it was out.

[Tnspieler1012]

In the French open, a player called Stakhovsky (Playing Gasquet) had a ball called out, and during the break he went and got his phone and took a picture of the line up close to apparently show the mark that shows it was in, and put his thumb up afterwards to show he got his shot.

 

The problem was, it was out.

 

Did he tweet it?

[Reilly]

I'm actually waiting for the day that someone does tweet in the middle of a sporting event, like a manager or something, I guess tennis would be an acceptable place to start as roughly every 10-15mins they do just sit there for 2mins doing nothing, but they'd no doubt get some considerable flack for not concentrating on their game when hundreds and hundreds of people are out there that train non-stop to get nowhere near that level. I can also imagine someone tweeting during a political debate.

 

Anywho, it only just happened so he hasn't had time to tweet it, he may do if after the match though (As I say though, it was out, so he probably won't tweet it out of embarrassment- unless hes mistakenly taken a picture of another shot that hit the line).

 

https://twitter.com/Stako_tennis

[Coeurli]

Frenchies are in good shape this year! :dance:

 

Btw this year marks the 30th anniversary of Yannick Noah's victory at Roland Garros! He's the last French to have won RG.

[Reilly]

And here's the line:

 

https://twitter.com/Stako_tennis/status/339047050463281157/photo/1

 

Not really sure what I'm looking for, the angle he was shooting from was down from where that picture was, and it was called out on the left side (From his perspective) so I'm guessing its that thin faint line beside the main line in the middle of the picture.

 

What a douche baeg.

[Coeurli]

^Yeaaah, I don't see anything either.

[Reilly]

Unbelievably, this isn't the first time he's done this:

 

https://twitter.com/Stako_tennis/status/339047050463281157/photo/1

 

After that one, a number of fellow tennis players and coaches (Eg Dinara Safina, Ivan Ljubicic) stated the balls clearly in, I have no idea what I'm looking for here (Because I don't know the angle its coming from) but really, he needs to stop tweeting pics when he's wrong. Wait actually, just stop tweeting them altogether, especially in todays case as it was a televised match when we could see the replay and it wasn't THAT close.

[Reilly]

Anabel Medina Guerrigues had a point taken off her today against Li Na for apparently screaming to put off her opponent, it sounded pretty unfair as Na was apparently nowhere near the ball after it bounced in off the night, however this Guerrigues girl does herself no favours:

 

 

2 weeks ago, looks fucking loopy.

[coldplaymom]

Anabel Medina Guerrigues had a point taken off her today against Li Na for apparently screaming to put off her opponent, it sounded pretty unfair as Na was apparently nowhere near the ball after it bounced in off the night, however this Guerrigues girl does herself no favours:

 

 

2 weeks ago, looks fucking loopy.

 

I'd empathize with Anabel if that call made a difference. Li Na won that game multiple times though. The umpire made a mess of the whole situation by missing a point that should have given Li Na the game, then she tried to compensate by giving Anabel a penalty. But the right player won today. The remark about Sharapova was very funny though. :laugh3:

[coldplaymom]

I'm actually waiting for the day that someone does tweet in the middle of a sporting event, like a manager or something, I guess tennis would be an acceptable place to start as roughly every 10-15mins they do just sit there for 2mins doing nothing, but they'd no doubt get some considerable flack for not concentrating on their game when hundreds and hundreds of people are out there that train non-stop to get nowhere near that level. I can also imagine someone tweeting during a political debate.

 

Anywho, it only just happened so he hasn't had time to tweet it, he may do if after the match though (As I say though, it was out, so he probably won't tweet it out of embarrassment- unless hes mistakenly taken a picture of another shot that hit the line).

 

https://twitter.com/Stako_tennis

 

An NFL player has already been fined a lot of money for tweeting from the sideline. It's unprofessional.

[Reilly]

Wow, well there we go.

 

Also I just saw the Garrigues incident and she shouted out "No!", odd rule perhaps but it doesn't count as a 'grunt' and goes down as putting off the other player while the ball is still in play. It happened to Serena when she shouted "Yes!" in the US open before.

 

Tough rule but I can understand why it's in place.

[Reilly]

http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/209745.html#

 

I don't think Gulbis can really relate to the top 4, he does a fraction of the amount of interviews they do, both generally because magazines aren't as interested, and also he doesn't win as many matches and go as far in tournaments to be doing TV interviews after every game. I had pretty much forgotten him because, well I don't pay a great amount of attention, but I remember he was getting near the top 20 a few years ago and now he's back outside the top 40, so who knows he can still become a top player and only then can he speak about being professional in interviews.

 

As I mentioned, the sheer volume of interviews means its hard to be super interesting in every interview (As Novak mentioned in response earlier) but also, they have people around them, and huge sponsorship deals, reminding them to stay as dull as possible and just focus on being a role-model and what happens on the court. Also, fair enough Rafa, Andy and Roger don't show huge amounts of character, but to say Novak? Clearly he'd just say anyone, Novak's a huge character.

[coldplaymom]

http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/209745.html#

 

I don't think Gulbis can really relate to the top 4, he does a fraction of the amount of interviews they do, both generally because magazines aren't as interested, and also he doesn't win as many matches and go as far in tournaments to be doing TV interviews after every game. I had pretty much forgotten him because, well I don't pay a great amount of attention, but I remember he was getting near the top 20 a few years ago and now he's back outside the top 40, so who knows he can still become a top player and only then can he speak about being professional in interviews.

 

As I mentioned, the sheer volume of interviews means its hard to be super interesting in every interview (As Novak mentioned in response earlier) but also, they have people around them, and huge sponsorship deals, reminding them to stay as dull as possible and just focus on being a role-model and what happens on the court. Also, fair enough Rafa, Andy and Roger don't show huge amounts of character, but to say Novak? Clearly he'd just say anyone, Novak's a huge character.

 

That's why, even given all his raw talent, Gulbis will never reach his true potential. Tennis is about discipline, keeping your emotions under control, letting your racket do the talking, etc. He's in a wrong sport. One would look stupid taunting opponents off the court only to get their butt kicked on court. He should go join the WWE.

[Reilly]

You may be right, but I don't particularly think such a small thing can significantly affect a player who is determined to train hard and study the game. I really wish Roger or Novak had have bitten back a bit (Most likely Novak) by pointing out Gulbris has never understood what it's like to be at the top of the game, isn't that the kind of interesting bitchy chat Gulbris has basically pleaded for?

 

Of course, they wouldn't bite like that, the people who pay them millions to put their faces on billboards would be ringing them up within minutes. And who can blame the players? (With the exception of Federer's cheesy Mach 3 adverts, that was shameless).

[coldplaymom]

There are subtil things going on between players if you follow tennis closely. For example, It's no secret that there's no love lost between Novak & Roger. Even Novak's mom got a little piece of action by claiming "The king is dead, long live the king", referring to Roger of course.

A few yrs back, Roger accused Toni Nadal of coaching Rafa during 1 of their matches, called Rafa a one dimensional player. When asked, Rafa just showered Roger with praises, called him the greatest player ever, but he's been kicking his butt on the tennis court since then. Their head to head is now 20/10 in Rafa's favor. Of course, Roger has never made another negative comment about Rafa since then. He'd look very foolish.

 

I admire Gulbis in that he's playing tennis simply for the love of the game. When he goes to play on the Challenger circuit, he actually spends more money than he makes. Of course money isn't an issue for him, his dad being a millionaire. The top 4 have made their fortune on the tennis court or b/c of tennis, they're not going to take advice from a guy who hasn't walked in their shoes.

[Coeurli]

Roger is eliminating all the French but I still love him :dazzled:

 

I hope i'll be able to watch or at least get a glimpse of Federer-Tsonga, this is going to be EPIC! :dance:

[Reilly]

If I had to choose, Tsonga's gonna win, but really it should be close.

[Reilly]

It wasn't close at all, Roger hit a few amazing shots but was way behind Jo on consistency.

[coldplaymom]

Roger is eliminating all the French but I still love him :dazzled:

 

Spoke too soon:P

 

Jo Willy has a good chance against Ferrer as well. I hope the crowd can carry him to victory.

[Coeurli]

I only got to catch a glimpse of it and ugh I was so torn :sick: I'm really happy for Tsonga but seeing Roger lose always feels bittersweet.

 

Ferrer is way better than Federer on that ground. I think it's going to be really difficult for Tsonga but I really hope he manages to do something great. The crowd will definitely be with him 100% this time, now that Federer is done.

[Reilly]

I just mentioned consistency against Federer, and Tsonga's gonna really need to do it again. I don't think Ferrer's the most glamorous player to watch who hits amazing winners (In comparison with the other top 10 or 20 players) but he will rarely leave an easy shot to hit back, which just grinds players like Tsonga to submission (Who doesn't have a lot of heart).

 

Tsonga will need to start better.