http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jun/12/tommy-haas-andy-murray-injury

I wonder what lies behind this story. It’s very unusual for one player to attack another so publicly. Murray maintaining a dignified silence?

June 13th, 2012 at 7:11 pm

Well, hopefully Murray will handle it like he did when the FO fans booed him. But he’s already out.

But bummer Murray didn’t play better today.

Actually have 2 days off before taking long weekend call. All matches look like fun, which means 4 a.m. if I want to watch Dimitrov and Mahut. Would consider it a good sign if Grigor won vs experienced Mahut. Tsonga probably makes it through easy. But the matches all look interesting at Halle.

I mean Lacko isn’t going to beat Nadal, no matter what Nadal is humbly saying about adjusting from grass to clay. But might try to stream that for a few games. Mayer won’t be an easy out for Federer in Halle.

Sure am missing the Soda popper. And where is the new Belgian, Goffin? Hope he wasn’t injured in his run at FO. Can’t even find him in the challengers, where I found Verdasco and others.

June 13th, 2012 at 9:15 pm

conty, I read an interesting article about Murray and his demeanour today; it references how he reacted to the boos versus how he reacts when people cheer and expect something from him – worth the read methinks:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8024944/some-advice-world-no-4-men-tennis-player-andy-murrray

June 13th, 2012 at 9:33 pm

To clarify: I read it today, but it wasn’t about his demeanour today – misplaced modifier there.

June 13th, 2012 at 9:34 pm

I hope the umpires had coj0nes like haas did! murray pulled off similar cr@p against haas in Indianwells 2007 i think and haas criticised them too.

i would like to see nadal pull this kind of cr@p against haas and not against good genuinely humble guys like delpotro (delpotro was pi$$ed when nadal took a time-out on delpotro’s serve in the 4th round last year.

haas is going to give a nice mouthful to nadal and his uncle if they pull such sh!t!

June 13th, 2012 at 10:57 pm

If Murray just told hisself like me that he has no chance here on grass, he might be enjoy the hotel service better.

June 13th, 2012 at 11:28 pm

conty

“I mean Lacko isn’t going to beat Nadal, no matter what Nadal is humbly saying about adjusting from grass to clay.”

So true…same ol same ol from the Beast. Humble? Nah, just discounting his chances as usual, he needs to do it so he has the right mindset foe himself.

There’s the follower, the chaser, and the leader.

Rafa is a Chaser.

That is why he talks the way he talks about his matches. The Leader carries too much weight and responsibility, of which is obvious he cannot bear. He can never be a King, only a Kingslayer.

June 13th, 2012 at 11:49 pm

Roger is facing a tough test in the second round in the form of Florian Mayer. He should be very careful while adjusting from Clay to Grass. Nadal will have it easy against Lacko. As regards Murray, I think the takeover of Lendl as his coach has only deteroriated his performance and that may be coincidental too. He needs to go for a deep introspection.

June 14th, 2012 at 12:33 am

This is a great article too (well, a couple weeks old now, but still): http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8017977/jo-wilfried-tsonga-why-dazzling-generation-french-players-win-roland-garros

June 14th, 2012 at 1:59 am

Ohhh, Andy here you go again.

June 14th, 2012 at 2:53 am

@squeeeezer. “He can never be a King only a Kingslayer” ??? Are you for real? He proved a few days ago that he is BOTH. Hehehe

June 14th, 2012 at 2:58 am

how can a guy who has spent 250 weeks at no.2 and only 102 weeks at no.1 be considered a king?

oh, i guess raf@tard world logic can be used to justify that! sorry but i will pass it!

rafa has never been comfortable with top-dog status. fed is at the other end. the No.1 has never reseted with much more ease on anyone’s head. no wonder he has got the consecutive weeks @ no.1 record and this includes both genders. even graff got only 180 weeks consecutive @ no.1

fed has won 12/16 slams as top seed. rafa won majority of his slams as no.2.

June 14th, 2012 at 3:31 am

@ King Fart. Yeah, yeah yeah!! FOS!!!

June 14th, 2012 at 3:37 am

There’s the follower, the chaser, and the leader.

But this is just the way life evolves right. Everyone has been following their careers in that path. Only at the end of your career, you know when u end up with.

Roger was chasing Sampras and he became leader later. Today Rafa was chasing Borg, not he has become a leader. His next target would be Roger. Let’s wait and see. We need to give him time. It’s not like we are analysing Rafa after he has resigned.

He is just in the mid of his career. I suspect he is going to have one of the longest and most successful careers in Tennis, like Agassi.

June 14th, 2012 at 4:47 am

skeezer

conty was being – I think – mildly ironical.

from Eric’s interesting link:””We have this famous race, the Tour de France,” Guy Forget, the former French Davis Cup captain, told me. “And basically before the race starts you know who’s going to win it. It’s between three or four riders, and if you’re not in that group, you have no chance of winning the Tour. That’s what tennis has become.” Is that correct about cycling, conty? And these new allegations about Armstrong – what do you make of them?

Back to Eric’s link, this is Tsonga:””Let’s be clear — today, there is no chance that a Frenchman will win Roland Garros.” When reporters asked Tsonga to clarify his remarks, he did not back down: “At the moment, no one would place a bet on one of us winning a Grand Slam tournament tomorrow.”

After his defeat by Djokovic, Tsonga then said:” “Next year we’ll have the same question and we’ll have the same answers. As long as none of us wins it, we won’t be able to claim we can win it. That’s all.”

There is a degree of fatalism here which is quite curious. National stereotyping is obviously dangerous, but also tempting to indulge in just a little. So French fatalism combines with a sense of theatre and flamboyance – as if to say, we know we can never win, that’s not our style, what we do is put on a magnificent show.

And then there are the British. The British did everything first, they industrialised long before anyone else, and probably as a concomitant, invented most of the sports. But now, the circle has turned and the British are in economic decline, it is not catastrophic (as with Greece, say) it is gentle – but unremitting and probably permanant.Along with this decline is a deeply pervading lack of purpose, and I would contend that it is in this context that British tennis is so ineffective. The French film director Francois Truffaut once remarked that the concept of a British film was more or less a contradiction in terms. That was unkind as well as quite funny, and whilst not strictly accurate (and what about French pretension?),one knew what he meant. But this idea of Truffaut’s seems to apply even more to British tennis. The British tennis authorities throw endless money into a tennis pool where it sinks without trace. Murray and Henman, it should be noted, were not products of the British Lawn Tennis Association. But even with these gifted players, a sort of shadow of indeterminacy hung over them…..

June 14th, 2012 at 5:50 am

mark – i dont expect anything more from raf@tards like you. you guys have the IQ of rat cr@p.

what else can you expect from fans of a guy who has been fined for cheating and who is rumoured to be doing much more sinister stuff than what he was fined for….

it is ok. atleast he is just a cheater who will do anything to win. not some r@pist or serial killer!

June 14th, 2012 at 7:49 am

This is one great blog site. Everybody thinks too highly of himself and that everybody else is an idiot. I can tell from their language that many are uneducated. Great place to make the insecure with bloated egos escape from the real world where they are most likely bottom dwellers. I have found my place. I belong here with most of you!

June 14th, 2012 at 8:17 am

Dimitrov takes the first set, after being a break down. he had a huge number of break points, but at first, kept dumping Mahut’s serve into the net. Then, when he finally got hold of the Mhut serve, the Frenchman would pull out an impossible line job. Finally, Dimitrov appeared to break, but no, Mahut hawkeyed it, ball just in – back we go to first serve (when, if Mr.one-eye had kept his trap shut, Dimitrov was in prime position to win the point).

However, justice was done. I gather Mahut looks jaded after his heroics of yestreday. Dimitrov after a scratchy start, has started to look good. He’s shown the full panoply, but again it’s just lacking a little in oomf. You can’t help feeling that these pretty looking shots would be coming back from the muscle boys at the top.

June 14th, 2012 at 8:51 am

Dimitrov breaks in 2nd set, looking really impressive, with some lovely bhs in particular. Final point was a hoot. Mahut cracked the ball which hit the top of the net and went flying towards the base line. Dimitrov stuck out a racket and went flat on his bum whilst his ball went nowhere. However, ball was out anyway.

June 14th, 2012 at 9:03 am

Dimitrov! He says Nicolas is a great friend of his. Grigor says he doesn’t know anything but a one hand backhand.

I just saw the last 2 games of the last set but Grigor sure served the match out well vs Murray-killer Mahut. Too hard for me to wake up earlier.

jane, that was an interesting read about Murray. Could be onto something. Murray liked the adversity vs. Gasquet. When the cheers come, maybe lately he’s not up for the expectations. I don’t know, maybe.

skeezer, I was being ironic about Rafa’s humble statements re: switching form clay to grass. You can hardly believe he means what he says. But he’s programmed that way. And yes programmed to be a “Kingslayer”, far too humble to admit anything else, I say tongue in cheek.

I switched to Haas vs Granollers stream. Unfortunately however much I like Marcel, he does have an annoying grunt, gruntollers.

June 14th, 2012 at 9:37 am

At 4-2, Dimitrov was 40-15 on Mahut’s serve. However, Mahut pulled some biguns out, looked reinvigorated, so it was gonna be interesting to see how Dimitrov reacted. In fact, he coolly served the game out – his serve was very impressive, today, it’s not a huge serve, all about placement from a relaxed delivery – remind you of anyone? – and it was nice to see. Questions have been asked of Dimitrov’s temperament, and it’s beginning to look as if perhaps it’s ok. Next up is Anderson/F.Lopez – if he can get through that, we’ll know he’s close to arriving at last. he’s still only #72.

I enjoyed his little chat with Mahut at the handshake. They’re pals, apparently, so it was all pretty cordial, and after all the shaking and rubbing and patting and smiles and giggles and so on, Dimitrov suddenly unleashed another couple of backslappers. These are usually taken to denote commiseration – and can sometimes look faintly patronising – but I thought it was a mark of sheer exuberation. Dimitrov was feeling damn good about himself, and gave Mahut a couple of cracking smacks on the back to express these feelings. Mahut accepted these with stoicism, rather as a large placid natured dog endures the purportedly amiable blows of his master.

In the oncourt interview, Annabelle Croft asked Dimitrov how he had coped with the blustery conditions. “You have to get the ball into court” Dimitrov replied. However, he gave Annabelle a big smile, so she didn’t feel too bad about herself.

June 14th, 2012 at 9:40 am

The king stupider cannot see and say anything beyond himself!.

June 14th, 2012 at 9:54 am

grendel, it appears that way many times, just as Guy Forget says about TDF. It appears they stopped designing the route so that Andy Schleck could win this year. Alberto winning once was all they could stand. Andy Schleck came in 2nd to Contador 2 times. But Contador controversially stripped now of his 2010 win, Andy wins by default. But Andy Schleck refuses to claim the win. Now why would a guy do that? And he sticks up for Contador. It’s in the history records but Andy maintains, to him, it was not his win. There is no happiness for him in it. Hm, there were rumors in fact evidence Frank Schleck made payments to the infamous Dr. Fuentes – and Andy, from a young age has been likewise, prepared. Frank got no ban and got away on some excuse. Other cyclists in Operacion Puerto were banned – 2006. Dr. Ferrari of Italy was the one who “made” Lance Armstong.

I don’t know why they designed this TDF as such a TT centered format, other than playing into the big teams, BMC, Sky, and RSNT. Their own French rider, Thomas Voeckler is a pure climber and not much of a TT’er. The Italians and Spanish don’t cater as much to the big teams, those GT’s are less well known and watched in US. But imo, Giro d’ Italia is the best and they try to design it for Italian stars. To me less commercial. Vuelta a Espana, tried very hard last year to create a GT that popular Spaniard ‘Purito Rodriguez might win but they still got a Spanish winner, Cobo, who TT’d fine, close enough to Wiggins, and killed Wiggins on the queen mountain stage the famous Angrilu Climb. Can’t give a short answer to a cycling question, apologies.

They, the Frech TDF directors, design the routes with certain riders in mind. That is their prerogative. The same goes for Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the other 2 Grant Tours.

This year the tour appears to feature less difficult high altitude climbing and long time trial. Also the necessary amount of flat sprints for Cavendish and some hilly stages up for grabs. Andy Schleck notoriously cannot ride an individual time trial to save his life. He lost last year to Cadel Evans in the time trial. They have given up on their dear boy Andy Schleck from Luxembourg.

So they designed it for Evans and Wiggins, in other words highly fiananced, Sky team of UK, with 2 mega stars on it, Wiggins the GC man, and Cavendish, fastest flat sprinter in the world – wins sprinters jersey every year and wears world champion sprinter rainbow jersey this year.

Evans also from star studded American/Swiss team BMC. So both BMC and Sky are mega teams with mega stars.

Radioshack/Nissan Trek, former Lance Armstrong team and director Johan Bruyneel are now in that USADA battle. But the mega US team hasn’t been good all year. Problems, are the rumor. Bruyneel playing tough with 2 TDF potential stars, Andy and Frank Schleck, he tries to separate them and doesn’t realize the boys need each other. Also probably Bruyneel has been frustrated trying to make time trialists out of them. Rumors fly about how Bruyneel has his ways of making speedy time trialists. Has the right “beetrootjuice” aka dope.

Really the favorites are Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans. But surprises do happen. Lance Armstrong or Andy Schleck was supposed to win TDF 2009. But Alberto Contador (on the same team as Armstrong, Astana, under direction of Johann Bruneel) killed the plan, actually it was glorious but the podium picture from that year, 1) Contador 2) Andy Scleck 3) Armstrong says it all, LA glaring at Contador.

June 14th, 2012 at 10:22 am

sorry so many typos. not awake. my excuse.

June 14th, 2012 at 10:28 am

Anyone have a good stream of the Halle matches?

June 14th, 2012 at 10:40 am

It’s good on lemonsport, TMR. But not one in English. Lacko so far keeping up with Nadal, but get the idea, not much longer.

June 14th, 2012 at 10:43 am

Brilliant. Thanks, conty.

June 14th, 2012 at 10:48 am

Lacko looks good on grass. But Nadal adjusting by the minute. Break point and set point for Nadal.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:01 am

Lacko fighting. I like this language, whatever it is. Do you know it, TMR? lots of Latin and French words in it. Perfect pronunciation of Lacko last name. Another set point Nadal.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:05 am

Ah, thinking Lacko is done. Going to check out the other matches. Tsonga in a 3rd set with Dodig.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:16 am

Tsonga’s been having a tough time with Dodig.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:19 am

@conty: I’m at work, so I’ve not turned on the sound :) I’ll flip it on for Federer’s match and see if I can decode it.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:23 am

“Lacko looks good on grass. But Nadal adjusting by the minute.”

I like it. It sounds like some slumbering machine, which with creaks and groans lumbers forward whilst its agile opponent whips in and out with some crafty slices. But the machine gradually gets itself together, shakes off the irritating attempts at offence by the little fellow, and it’s only a question of time.

Borg was like this. After winning in Paris, he’d come to England and get straight onto the grass. Never in a tournament, he’d find some grass court somewhere or other, and look for practice partners. Roger Taylor, a British lefty who looked a bit like Rock Hudson and got to the quarters in Wimbledon once, relates how Borg was quite dreadful at first. Could barely time the ball at all. An experienced grasscourt club player could have given him a decent game. But Borg just plugged on, gradually getting a feel for the grass and at the same time getting the clay out of his system. This would go on solidly for the 2 weeks before Wimbledon. By the time of opening day, Borg could play some respectable grass court tennis, but nothing too special. He still wasn’t there, and remember, this grass was real grass and Borg was gearing himself to serve and volley – which he did with tremendous competence although no real flair.

So Borg was there for the taking in the first 3 rounds, and he needed a bit of luck in the draw. A lot of his matches were pretty close. It was a remorseless procession. He ground his way to 5 Wimbledon titles this way, a tremendous feat of heart and endurance for a man born to play on clay. In the days when grass was grass and clay was clay.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:27 am

Thanks grendel. Interesting.

If you notice the baseline in Halle, it’s already dirt. There probably is no such thing as grass as it was in Borg’s day is there? Why they were attempting some sort of clay hybrid in Madrid was intriguing.

Heads up bracketeers, Dodig looks pretty good on this surface vs Tsonga.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:54 am

Dear me, can’t even write a sentence. Better get some coffee. Federer match about to start in Halle.

June 14th, 2012 at 11:55 am

Arrrgh, Tsonga’s out now too, and Cilic is losing: Queens is turning out to be a bust for seeds.

June 14th, 2012 at 12:01 pm

@Conty:

i noticed that too- what’s going on with the halle court?

hope fed wins and the fed v raonic 3 arrives at this tourny!

June 14th, 2012 at 12:09 pm

lol, I was trying to get the chatango chatters on lemonsport to answer my question about the language: I got the smart arse answer, “English”, then “Romanian”, the “Egyptian” lol…

June 14th, 2012 at 12:17 pm

Another interesting comparison between Rafa and Borg about the adjustment period: for example, in 2010, Rafa had two 5 setters in the early rounds of Wimbledon (there for the taking?), still perhaps in the process of adjusting from clay to grass. And yet he ended up winning the finals that year in straight sets over Berdych, Fed and Nole’s conquerer.

Aside from the ATP site:

“The Rafael Nadal–Roger Federer rivalry has gone viral. The former World No. 1s are locked in an intense battle to see who can attract the most Facebook fans.

Nadal has steadily reduced Federer’s lead in recent months and, for the first time this week, pulled ahead of Federer in terms of most followers – but only just! Earlier today Nadal had 10,784,540 fans, less than 200 ahead of Federer with 10,784,385.”

Rafa joined March 30 2009 and Fed joined April 9 2009.

[Nole has considerably less FB followers; he joined FB two years later, on Jan 29, 2011; he now has over 2 million. ]

June 14th, 2012 at 12:18 pm

This Federror v Mayer match is sort of good. Mayer playing well.

June 14th, 2012 at 12:26 pm

Cilic came back and took the first set over Rosol. I wonder if this tournament is a chance for someone like Dimitrov to finally break through and win a title?

June 14th, 2012 at 12:30 pm

MUCH BETTER TENNIS already from federer in this match than what i saw in RG!

Serve looks better, and more composed- ealry days BUT looking good!

June 14th, 2012 at 12:32 pm

Wasn’t Larry Stefanki meant to revive his career? Doesn’t seem to be doing much. A new coach again perhaps?

Or maybe it’s not the coaches but the player..

June 14th, 2012 at 12:34 pm

yap. trying to watch both jane.

Federer too many errors, though that’s an opinion, have not checked stats. Federer pulls off winning the set 6-4. Mayer trying to hard, diving on the grass like he’s Boris Becker.

June 14th, 2012 at 12:34 pm

Federer’s looking a little sluggish with his groundstrokes, but he’s serving well. 68% first serves, and he’s winning 74% and 73% behind his first and second serves, respectively. Mayer, on the other hand, is winning only 38% of second-serve points. Federer could make life easier by converting more break points, but Mayer is playing his usual tricky style with plenty of awkward-looking slices.

June 14th, 2012 at 12:37 pm

conty, have been watching Queens but following scores at Halle; looks like both Rafa and Fed have been tested a little in their first sets but should be better next round. Fed has Milos; I’d love to see that match. In an odd way, it’s good for Fed that he has had all of these matches with Milos pre-Wimbledon as he knows what he is dealing with, whereas someone who hasn’t played him could struggle a bit more. I hope they play later so I can see it!

June 14th, 2012 at 12:40 pm

Jane, regarding that Berdych final: I think Rafa MAY have been there for the taking that year. Berdych in that final was pure nerves, no game at all. Against Fed and Nole he was in absolute historic form. Rafa beat who he was up against, and easily, but he had no opponent in that match.

But for now, this week, who would you rather have drawn, Berdych, or Raonic?

June 14th, 2012 at 12:42 pm

jane, switch to the federer match on lemonsport and play ‘guess the language’ with me!

June 14th, 2012 at 12:42 pm

conty, can’t as am running out the door – next time I will – sounds like fun! :)

TV, that’s a tough call – Berd definitely with more big match experience than Milos though. What do you think??

June 14th, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Lu took 1st set from Tipsa 6-3. Marin Cilic going to win :D

June 14th, 2012 at 12:53 pm

okay, bye jane. I’m glued to the Federer- Mayer match. Mayer not giving up 4-4 in the 2nd.

June 14th, 2012 at 12:56 pm

“If you notice the baseline in Halle, it’s already dirt. There probably is no such thing as grass as it was in Borg’s day is there? ”

Yes,conty. Frew Macmillan was remarking that back in the days of yore, the baseline would be clean and pristine, whereas up by the net it’d be like a desert. Now it’s other way round.

June 14th, 2012 at 1:02 pm

Wow, can’t believe Tsonga lost. I thought he would win the tourney and use it to recover from what has to be a heartbreaking French Open. Queens is now open for someone, but i think this has happened in the past. Didn’t Querrey win it one year?

TV—your comments about Berdych in the Wimbledon 2010 finals can be applied to many first time or infrequent finalists. You really think these finalists did better: Murray AO2011, Soderling 2009-10, Murray USO 2008. I leave out Murray 2010 because Federer played so well and Murray almost pushed it to a 4th.

June 14th, 2012 at 1:15 pm

grendel,

tell me. Wimbledon grass court tournament. Olympics are going to be played there. How are they going to get it ready for the olympics? Are they “saving” part of wimbledon so that it keeps the grass fresh, or do they have some super duper grassonite growing faster than a dynamo? Or will everyone agree that after wimbledon, it pretty much becomes a hard court to play on?

I am enjoying very much the grendel and conty show :) Love it, in fact.

June 14th, 2012 at 1:19 pm

grendel, I’m into cycling, i missed your real question has tennis become like cycling. yes, it’s my opinion and many others. The Omerta is stronger and fans more innocent, turning a blind eye, and outraged at the idea. Can’t blame them, as I’m one of the tennis fans at heart. But the questions linger, it’s too in my face not to notice.

He wins, Federer!. Good match by Mayer.

But the language had me as interested as the match.

Tend to believe the chatango chatter that answered, “Romanian” Accent sounds a bit Russian accented or Eastern European, but the words… using “ca va” and “egalite” like french and some other words like “lui” and definitely Italian sounding words ending in “emente” “Forza” also used. But it’s not Italian or French. Some Spanish in there too Maybe Portuguese? I dunno.

June 14th, 2012 at 1:36 pm

Well madmax, I think Federer had the slightly tougher player in Florian Mayer. But both Federer and Nadal played well.

Yes, I can see what Frew Macmillan means. Net play skill was much more featured back then, not this physical from the baseline brawling. Brawn and brain whereas, tennis used to not feature the Brawn quite as much. Though endurance, surely always necessary for 5 set matches. You could see Nadal figure out Lacko calmly over the 1st set and then, it was all programmed in the brain…meep.

June 14th, 2012 at 1:46 pm

Madmax—are you going this year to Wimbledon. I know you went last year. Must be amazing. I am toying with trying to hit the US Open but it is difficult as it is right in the middle of the “back to school” transition for the kids.

June 14th, 2012 at 2:09 pm

Now you all see The Great Federer wasted all his energy to beat me in the epic 2010, he hasn’t won slam since. Hahaha. Thank Your Great Davy.

June 14th, 2012 at 2:43 pm

Kimberly, I can see your point but my memory of Berdych in that match was of a man falling apart in the glare which was just such a contrast to the zone tennis he’d played in the previous rounds. I mean no disrespect to Rafa’s performance in that tourney- if memory serves, he dismembered Murray in the semis.
It is a matter of degrees in separating that performance from the ones you cite, for sure, and just one man’s interpretation.
Jane, I dont know the answer, that’s why I ask!
What a lineup at Halle tomorrow, both Fed and Rafa’s matches should be great ones. Halle’s field seriously outshines Queens this year.

June 14th, 2012 at 2:56 pm

Kimberly Says:
Madmax—are you going this year to Wimbledon. I know you went last year. Must be amazing. I am toying with trying to hit the US Open but it is difficult as it is right in the middle of the “back to school” transition for the kids.

June 14th, 2012 at 2:09 pm

Kimberley! You remembered. I am going, but this time I applied along with 3 other friends, and my other friend got two tickets for mens semi finals on centre court, which is pretty awesome considering it was her first time applying. My other friend applied, got nowhere. So yes. Lucky me. Again. Put your orders in now for key rings and I will gladly oblige.

Conty, am about to watch the highlights as I missed the match. I will tell you why. Got in from work, checked the score and it said that Mayer had retired. So thought that was that. Just goes to show, you can’t trust internet score boards!

June 14th, 2012 at 3:28 pm

Uncle Toni has been spending the last 3 hours calculating (using a $400,000 calculator) how many slams I need to get ahead of the Arrogant One.

Since Uncle Toni is the most educated on my entourage, I let him handle complex topics such as Math. I hope to have an answer by the end of the day.

June 14th, 2012 at 3:36 pm

A present for you conty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lmoOE8s9RM

Definitely Mayer has increased his confidence and game on grass. He played really well and I liked Roger’s clean hitting. He is so made for grass.

Why is it that already the grass looks like dirt in two days?

Also the grass seems slightly slippy. Fed slipped slightly playing one of his shots – he “slid” into it, so still making the transition from clay to grass I think – so rain in Germany?

June 14th, 2012 at 3:38 pm

“In the days when grass was grass and clay was clay.”

That is why his FO-Wimby double, not once but thrice in a row, remains one of the most incredible achievements in the history of the game. He could have made it four-in-a-row had he won the 1981 Wimby!! These two surfaces represented the absolute extremes during those days unlike what we see now. To adapt within a fortnight and reach six straight finals and five straight titles sounds almost unreal.

June 14th, 2012 at 4:11 pm

Wow!!!! That is an amazing ticket to have. You may get to see Fedal!!!! I know you will love seeing Fed no matter who he plays and win or lose and I am sure he will be in the semis or better this year. You are the most positive fan and I love it. Try to follow your example but I can get very bitter after losses instead of just appreciating the player like you do.

June 14th, 2012 at 4:51 pm

“In the days when grass was grass and clay was clay.”
Amen.

We are now In the days of grass is clay, most hard courts are clay, and clay is and always has been clay.

June 14th, 2012 at 6:00 pm

madmax,

Now comes the time of year when I get grossly envious of your now annual trip to Wimby! Have fun! ;)

June 14th, 2012 at 6:02 pm

Hey thanks Madmax! and just recorded the replay on Tennis Channel, while watched Tour de Suisse.

And you’ll bring us a report from Wimbles, right? Happy for you!

Alright time to get something done… the entire day watching tennis and cycling.Peter Sagan, 22 year old Slovak, has won 4 of 6 stages of Tour de Suisse. He’ll ride his 1st TdF this July. Unfreaking believable Peter Sagan! Every day they award him with cheese plus a trophy. He always looks confused at the big block of cheese, lol…

45 days left in Contador’s ban.

June 14th, 2012 at 6:13 pm

Luck you madmax – looking forward to your live reports!

June 14th, 2012 at 6:20 pm

^ lucky.

June 14th, 2012 at 6:20 pm

and clay is and always has been clay.
Yes, like Madrid

June 14th, 2012 at 6:31 pm

The #2 seed has won Wimbledon the past 4 years in a row.

==================================

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Wimbledon_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Wimbledon_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Wimbledon_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Wimbledon_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

==========================

The #2 seed won RG for 5 years in a row from 2006-2010.

==========================

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

============================

The #2 seed won the AO for 5 years in a row from 1971-1975.

==========================

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Australian_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Australian_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Australian_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Australian_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles

=======================

Makes you wonder if what happened at the AO and at RG will also happen at Wimbledon, that is the #2 seed winning it for 5 years in a row.

June 14th, 2012 at 7:06 pm

Actually, clay was once hydrogen and helium atoms cooling while spreading through space. Just like you and me!

June 14th, 2012 at 7:08 pm

madmax

about how will they get the grass ready again for the Olympics – that’s a very good question which I have wondered myself. Unfortunately, I don’t have the expertise to answer it! I’ll bet there are some on this site who could, though.

tennislover

and don’t forget, Borg missed the French in 1977. So assuming he’d have won that, that would have been 4 in a row – and if he had beaten Mac as he of course should have done, that would then have been 5. And I think we can throw one in for luck and make it a nice round six. No, seriously though – I absolutely agree with you, it was a phenomenal achievement which tends to be underplayed today. I think in fact it deserves being labelled as one of the greatest ever sporting achievements.

I agree with TV. Berdych really was a rabbit in the headlights. No comparison with Murray in his first final with Federer. Murray fought a very spirited 2nd set, it was close man. But he blew it, Federer kept his nerve, and after the 2nd set it was all over. But it was a match for a while. Berdych/Nadal was a dead possum of a thing.

June 14th, 2012 at 7:22 pm

conty – thanks for your response, but I did slip in another question. On the news this morning, we were told the American anti-doping agency had brought charges against Lance Armstrong, accusing him, over 15 pages, of a pervasive pattern of doping over many years, including the performance enhancing drug epo, testosterone (?) and blood transfusions. 10 cyclists and others were adduced as witnesses. Armstrong angrily denied this, saying he had taken 500 drug tests and had never failed one. had never taken drugs, was being victimised and so on.

I was wondering what you thought of all this.

June 14th, 2012 at 7:29 pm

rafa sticks up for andy murray- good to see:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/interviews/Rafael-Nadal-backs-good-guy-Andy-Murray/articleshow/14137355.cms

June 14th, 2012 at 8:31 pm

Steve27

Lol, ahhhhh, yes Madrid. Where clay has always been Clay….hehe good one ;)

June 14th, 2012 at 8:52 pm

TV,

And what was grass? We are but a blade of grass, blowing in the wind…..

June 14th, 2012 at 8:54 pm

I believe, along with Rafa. that we all come from clay and shall return to clay.

June 14th, 2012 at 9:31 pm

skeezer

all flesh is grass. This wonderful biblical saying has often been borrowed by poets and such, nowhere more effectively than in a film I saw – wish i could put a title to it – where this chap is walking desultorily through a battlefield (American civil war?), corpses strewn all over the joint, and he is muttering to himself:”all flesh is grass”.

June 14th, 2012 at 9:36 pm

did rafa have an option but to support his fellow partner in crime? they have reduced atp to one gang of cheaters using injury time outs and time delays and not to mention on court coaching.

who knows if these bimbos are doping too! if tennis’ dope testing wasn’t a joke, we might have found out the truth.

June 14th, 2012 at 10:29 pm

grendel,

Thanks, good stuff ;)

June 14th, 2012 at 10:37 pm

BTW, if Federer is finalist in SW 19, Nadal is the champion and Djokovic is the sf, Which of them would be the first in the ranking?

June 15th, 2012 at 1:03 am

if my math is right :

djokovic = 12280 – 2000 + 720 = 11000

nadal = 10060 – 1200 + 2000 = 10,860

federer = 9310 – 360 + 1200 = 10,150

if nadal wins halle, then this scenario might get him the number one ranking by 20 points.

anyone have different numbers?

June 15th, 2012 at 2:52 am

@ Brando. Rafa is like that – a loyal friend!!

June 15th, 2012 at 3:29 am

@King Federer

Murray a bimbo? LOL. GTFO.

June 15th, 2012 at 9:05 am

Sorry Grendel,

I missed your main question in all my excitement yesterday. For some cycling fans, those who reluctantly, like me, came to realize, yes, most definitely Lance doped. But that would be actually the smallest part. He was imo, much more sleazy than that, also mean, some say, criminally so with payments to make sure he “never tested postive”. I don’t know if she’d do it but Kristen Armstrong, his 1st wife, ex-wife, could be witness to the refrigerator full of Blood, Epo, ect. where they lived in Girona, Spain to train. And where Lance helped his teammates learn doping. USADA thinks so and on CyclingNews.com in the “clinic”, you would find a couple threads about this. There are the Armstrong fans and the anti-Armstrong. It’s more than that he personally doped. To me, he was/is something of a mafia boss, along with the others named. The document:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/97023821/001-armstrongcharging0613

June 15th, 2012 at 9:05 am

Actually this is the link I mean to post for the USDA 15 page document.

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/armstrongcharging0613.pdf

But the ironic thing is, who gets the title if Armstrong is stripped? The period in question was one of the most exciting in cycling (1998- 2005) but the other podium winners are also going to be suspect as many of them were caught in Operacion Puerto, 2006. Many agree, had Lance just remained retired and not had the hubris to comeback in 2009 and 2010, this may never have blown up. What it does to cycling in the US, I don’t know. Cycling survives, perhaps more clean. Armstrong was a kingpin of a doping ring in cycling.

Why is USADA pursing this now? Sending a message pre Olympics? I don’t know. The guy, Armstrong, should have been busted long ago. But no one came forward until Floyd Landis was stripped of his win in 2006. At that time Landis lied. Then later with nothing to lose came out with the story about USPS team. But Landis was then and has been discredited and written off as a bitter, crazy, liar. But the witness list has grown to include credible testimony. Lance will go down or get off lying all the way; we’ll see.

June 15th, 2012 at 9:29 am

spelling bad. I can’t post w/o reading a post first. so many errors and typos!

June 15th, 2012 at 9:40 am

Thanks, conty. I don’t know anything about cycling (apart from doing it and getting fed up with the fact that where ever you go where I live there are hills – massive ones and also those insidious ones, where it looks flat but isn’t, and it goes on and on and on), but this Armstrong sounds quite a character – good fodder for a film, perhaps.

June 15th, 2012 at 10:32 am