Tennis

[Pogichinoy]

Yeah, Hewitt and Clijsters were engaged but he broke it off to go marry whatshername. I've always liked Kim and Justine Henin - man, what a player she is - and it's really rude what he's done to her. Tennis-wise, I've never thought Hewitt capable of anything major, he just didn't play like someone who'd inspire people to take up tennis or continue watching. Philippoussis... I kinda feel a bit sorry for him, he's been wracked by injuries and all.

I found Hewitt's no retreat no surrender very inspiring. Keep in mind though that he was in his prime 5-8 years ago. He's talentless now.

Philippoussis, was unlucky with all the injuries but he didn't live up to the hype and the Aussies wanted more from him. Plus they had that whole loyalty issue. Mark was a great disappointment.

I still love Pat Rafter.

[Guest wonderbang]

I found Hewitt's no retreat no surrender very inspiring. Keep in mind though that he was in his prime 5-8 years ago. He's talentless now.

Philippoussis, was unlucky with all the injuries but he didn't live up to the hype and the Aussies wanted more from him. Plus they had that whole loyalty issue. Mark was a great disappointment.

I still love Pat Rafter.

I think we can all agree that Pat was loved not only by Australians but all tennis fans pretty much.

I remember reading about Guccione a few years ago and how he was an up-and-coming young

Australian player. I think he got a few decent wins but never broke through. On the women's side,

just from watching the Aussie Open this year, Dellacqua seems to be getting a lot of love lately

[Guest dOotsiez]

I found Hewitt's no retreat no surrender very inspiring. Keep in mind though that he was in his prime 5-8 years ago. He's talentless now.

Philippoussis, was unlucky with all the injuries but he didn't live up to the hype and the Aussies wanted more from him. Plus they had that whole loyalty issue. Mark was a great disappointment.

I still love Pat Rafter.

hahaha i guess with Hewitt, it's not that he was/is a bad player, it's just because he was/is the only decent person we've got, so it's been media overkill domestically. as for philippoussis, back in my teenybopper days, i was a delta fan, so :tongue2: :tongue2:

who doesnt love Pat Rafter, just a great bloke all round, and much better representative of Aus tennis than Hewitt. i'm reserving my judgment on Dellacqua, haven't seen her play enough.

oh dear, the ATP should make it a rule that Raphael Nadal remain shirtless at all times yeah this time of the year always makes me wonder why Nadal isn't world no 1, but then of course Wimby rolls around and I'm reminded of exactly why (although Nadal seems to be getting better on grass too). and the only match he's ever lost on clay was to Feddy! gotta love these 2 boys, they've lifted the bar so high and given us some great tennis.

saw an article about Ivanovic declaring her intention to take Henin's no.1 spot. to think she was just breaking into the top 10 this time last year! these serbian players are certainly getting very good.

[Guest wonderbang]

I think the two Serbians are amazingly similar to the two Belgians a few years ago don't you?

They both made their assault on the top 10 near the same time and have basically willed each other to do better. But like Clijsters and Henin, Ivanovic and Jankovic aren't the best of friends either. I just see a lot of parallels in their games, personalities, and tennis presence. And I find it even more shocking that countries such as Belgium and Serbia have produced such outstanding women players....amazing feat to say the least.

[apple-tea]

oh damn,tennis season in my school was just over,we lost the last match and failed to go to either provincial or playoffs

we just needed to win the last match,i'm so pissed..

anyway,does anyone like novak djokovic here??

he has the best forehand ever,well almost as well as federer i say

henin is very good,she is the best female tennis player imo

i like her the best,she has good posture and everything

i wonder why maria sharapova could win over henin

do you guys ever see her playing? her forehand is terrible,watch the finish of her forehand,like mmm very baddd

and she always screams like crazy,watch her match against williams,the most noisy match ever...

[Guest wonderbang]

I like most tennis players.....even Novak, Maria, Serena, and Venus. I think they're all amazingly talented and bring great personality to the game.

Sorry about your lost match. When I played in high school, we made it to playoffs every year but never managed to win the whole thing. Always ended up losing to some rich, private school that attracted the top juniors and sponsorships.

Is tennis even popular in Canada?

[Guest dOotsiez]

dont know anything about Canadian tennis, but the Rogers Cup is in the ATP Masters Series, so there should be a market for it.

actually someone was telling me the exact same thing about the Belgian and Serbian players being parallels, it's funny how we go through phases where random countries dominate tennis.

But for me, I'm much more love/hate with tennis players. Maria and Serena are actually two of my fav players, I like my tennis players feisty and outspoken. I dont think Maria has a terrible forehand, it's probably not the best out there, although her serve is quite good these days. Henin on the other hand plays excellent tennis, but when she's in a slump (i.e. right now), she doesnt quite get into the match and loses badly, like BADLY. and i guess her personality doesnt endear me.

And obviously I've come out of my love phase with Novak straight into a hate phase. He's 20 but obviously has a lot more growing up to do compared to other players of the same age. Tennis-wise, I'm still impressed, although I was expecting more consistency from him during Miami and Monte Carlo.

Tsonga lost his first match in Rome. but he didnt play badly in the second and third set, and it was very close, so I think he'll be fully back by Hamburg. And Fed won against Canas. WOOHOO!

[Guest aeroshaastranger :)]

man!

i'm watching rafa play now.

his losing!

despite that his still putting his best (:

everyone except those blind commies can see that

his really very tired!

man crappy ATP!

[Guest wonderbang]

dont know anything about Canadian tennis, but the Rogers Cup is in the ATP Masters Series, so there should be a market for it.

actually someone was telling me the exact same thing about the Belgian and Serbian players being parallels, it's funny how we go through phases where random countries dominate tennis.

But for me, I'm much more love/hate with tennis players. Maria and Serena are actually two of my fav players, I like my tennis players feisty and outspoken. I dont think Maria has a terrible forehand, it's probably not the best out there, although her serve is quite good these days. Henin on the other hand plays excellent tennis, but when she's in a slump (i.e. right now), she doesnt quite get into the match and loses badly, like BADLY. and i guess her personality doesnt endear me.

And obviously I've come out of my love phase with Novak straight into a hate phase. He's 20 but obviously has a lot more growing up to do compared to other players of the same age. Tennis-wise, I'm still impressed, although I was expecting more consistency from him during Miami and Monte Carlo.

Tsonga lost his first match in Rome. but he didnt play badly in the second and third set, and it was very close, so I think he'll be fully back by Hamburg. And Fed won against Canas. WOOHOO!

I think your tastes and my tastes are pretty aligned when it comes to tennis dOotsiez.

Tsonga seems to have been out for awhile...glad he's back and playing at least.

I'm sure he'll turn on the magic when RG rolls around....nothing like playing at your home slam

But I think the most shocking result of the day is Nadal's lost to Ferrero. What an end to an

amazing clay court streak...Nadal is claiming injury so we don't know how he'll do the rest

of the season. Congrats to Ferrero though....he was a top player a few years ago and then fell

off the radar entirely....nice to see him back with an awesome win.

[Guest dOotsiez]

Yeah how about that? Nadal! LOSING! on CLAY! man I wish I stayed up last night to see it. I guess you could see earlier signs in Barcelona with that three setter against Ferrer. Both Nadal and Ferrer has just had 3 weeks of non-stop tournaments, so I guess it's fairly predictable that they both crashed out at this point. If Nadal was going to lose one match this season, then I guess better now than in the French Open.

And my earlier predictions about Fed having to get past Ferrer, and Djokovic against Nalbandian in the QFs, were both wrong, since both these players are out. And so is Andy Murray. What a day of upsets in Rome! I guess his little fall out in the first round took a toll? Tennis families these days are so intense....

And James Blake is still tenaciously hanging around, who would have thought that the Americans would outlast the Spanish and the French in Rome?

Was hoping for another Fed v Nadal final, but I guess I shall just hope for a Djoko v Fed semi now. Djokovic has come out to declare that he intends to finish the year as No.1. The guy has a sense of humour doesn't he? Even though Nadal has just lost a whole heap of points, it's still pretty impossible imo for him to even consolidate a no2 position, let alone a number 1. mental.

[Guest crystal_t33rs]

while reading some of the comments on the Djoker entry, i came across this video. Nadal's reaction was just priceless.

OMG. I totally LOLed at Rafa's reaction. He was just like, "Sure. Back Problems. Uh~ Huh."

Djokovic has come out to declare that he intends to finish the year as No.1. The guy has a sense of humour doesn't he? Even though Nadal has just lost a whole heap of points, it's still pretty impossible imo for him to even consolidate a no2 position, let alone a number 1. mental.

Djokovic certainly plays great tennis when he doesn't have a soar throat or back, but making declarations of becoming no.1 by the end of this year is just plain ludicrous. Seriously.

[Guest wonderbang]

Yeah how about that? Nadal! LOSING! on CLAY! man I wish I stayed up last night to see it. I guess you could see earlier signs in Barcelona with that three setter against Ferrer. Both Nadal and Ferrer has just had 3 weeks of non-stop tournaments, so I guess it's fairly predictable that they both crashed out at this point. If Nadal was going to lose one match this season, then I guess better now than in the French Open.

And my earlier predictions about Fed having to get past Ferrer, and Djokovic against Nalbandian in the QFs, were both wrong, since both these players are out. And so is Andy Murray. What a day of upsets in Rome! I guess his little fall out in the first round took a toll? Tennis families these days are so intense....

And James Blake is still tenaciously hanging around, who would have thought that the Americans would outlast the Spanish and the French in Rome?

Was hoping for another Fed v Nadal final, but I guess I shall just hope for a Djoko v Fed semi now. Djokovic has come out to declare that he intends to finish the year as No.1. The guy has a sense of humour doesn't he? Even though Nadal has just lost a whole heap of points, it's still pretty impossible imo for him to even consolidate a no2 position, let alone a number 1. mental.

Upset day alright......I'm SHOCKED to see Blake outlasting all of these claycourters...

I agree with you about Nadal's loss....I think losing here makes it less of a burden later on when he gets to the French because he doesn't have to think about a winning streak or anything like that....in a way, this might be good for him and also give him some time to rest.

[Guest dOotsiez]

^ yeah ur prediction about the Americans losing early is falling apart! Roddick and Blake both made it into the QFs

I am going to predict that they both lose their next matches, coz lets face it, they havent played against any of the big boys (on clay) yet

Isn't it ironic that Ferrero beat Nadal only to lose to Wawrinka? A lot of interesting underrated players in the QFs, Stepanek, Almagro, Wawrinka, Robredo...wouldn't be surprised if Rome continues to be a tournament of upsets for all the top seeds.

My bet's still on Fed though. He's got this awesome drop shot that I haven't seen him use on clay before. And he's been playing more and more like a clay courter. Maybe it's the new coach, or the humiliation of not winning anything til Estoril.

[Aziraphale]

My bet's still on Fed though. He's got this awesome drop shot that I haven't seen him use on clay before. And he's been playing more and more like a clay courter. Maybe it's the new coach, or the humiliation of not winning anything til Estoril.

Well, Feddy just crashed out of the Rome Masters quarters, to Hingis' ex Stepanek. Just when we think Feds is getting the hang of clay, he loses. At least it was a close fight.

Go Robredo!

[Guest wonderbang]

Well, Feddy just crashed out of the Rome Masters quarters, to Hingis' ex Stepanek. Just when we think Feds is getting the hang of clay, he loses. At least it was a close fight.

Go Robredo!

LOL.....IT'S THE CURSE OF DOOTSIEZ! I'm joking I'm joking

Everyone she cheers for ends up losing.....you have to be anti-Fed next time! haha

[Guest dOotsiez]

I know yeah! Gotta remember to tip for the player I want to lose next time. Oh well, it wasn't a bad game I thought, Fed's still playing well, but just couldn't quite solve Stepanek.

And Roddick is through to the semis! And Wawrinka? And the Djoker? what the.....

casualties on the women's side too. Henin's been playing quite badly lately.

[Guest wonderbang]

I was going to mention that for all the upsets on the men's side, there's a host of them on the women's side too.

Berlin is brutal to the top seeds.....Henin, Serena, Jankovic and other players all went down already before the semis....what is going on these days? I hope RG will restore some normalcy.....I'll hate to see the top players losing early there :/

Also, for the Australians here, I just read that Hewitt and Dellacqua have signed up to represent Australia in the Hopman Cup at Perth next year. I've never seen the exhibition (it's never broadcasted here) but it always seems like a fun international tournament.

[Guest dOotsiez]

Im surprised at the number of Aussies in this thread given that tennis has kinda fallen out of favour domestically because of our failure to produce the next big thing. I'm still waiting for Casey Dellaqua to prove herself tennis-wise, coz I like her in terms of personality. hehehe

The glam has gone from Rome now, we have a choice between the Djoker, Wawrinka, Stepanek and Roddick for the final. don't mind Wawrinka or Stepanek, but dont actively like them either. Whereas the prospect of having my two least fav 10 top players in a final makes me not care about watching it at all.

Read Fed's post match interview, the guy seemed pretty cut, more so than in earlier in the year. I think coz he had one good chance to win this for the first time with Nadal gone. Oh well, no need to be frustrated, he did better than last year, and will get some points. while Nadal's just lost a whole heap of points, so he's pretty safe. Nadal on the other hand.....

Oh yeah, in light of my jinxing ability, I'm going to wish Djokovic and Roddick good luck for the semis

EDIT: just to say that i'm half way there with my jinx, Roddick just pulled out. WAWRINKA in the final, who would have thought.

[Guest teeny]

oh dear.... i was such a huge fan of djokovic the last couple of years, but i feel like all the winning has gone to his head there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and although he may think he's being confident in himself, it is not portrayed that way to the viewers and other tennis professionals...

hopefully he will get his act back together

[Guest dOotsiez]

i hope so too. I was quite charmed by him circa USO last year. Now I think he's a joke (no pun intended )

My jinx has failed. Djoko's through to the finals after Stepanek's retirement. 2 retirements in the 2 SFs. maybe Stepanek was too emotionally drained from beating Fed, the way Murray, Fish and Roddick were earlier on in the year, and Ferrero was after beating Nadal.

And Ivanovic is out of the German open too. Whats going on?

Edit: oh look I own pg 64. Since wonderbang started the last page with a picture of shirtless Nadal. I might follow the lead and start this one with a much less attractive pic of shirtless Feddy. TMF def wants his shirt back...