Roddick Rolls Right Ankle, Blake v. Murray in Queens; Haas Reaches Halle Final

von: so sorry about Andy R. What a bummer! Hope he’s fit 4 Wimbles.

June 13th, 2009 at 11:26 am

Yes Von – bad news.

Congrats Margot – looks like Murray has a great chance at winning the title now. I think he can beat Blake. I believe they’ve played only once.

June 13th, 2009 at 11:45 am

That’s too bad about Roddick. I’m glad to hear that it doesn’t sound too serious and hopefully, he’ll be ready for Wimby.

June 13th, 2009 at 12:09 pm

I don’t like it! Hope that Roddick’s not in trouble. I hope he redeems himself before
Wimbledon. All Roddick admirers must send him positive vibes.

June 13th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

I watched it this morning on Tennis Channel. It just goes to show how simultaneously sturdy and fragile the body is. I’ve seen numerous players hit the deck in what looks sure to be not only a match ending fall, but career threatening, and then they continue on as though nothing happened. This ankle roll by Roddick didn’t look like much when it happened. Looked like a simple slip, but it was a quick motion. The second he looked up from it and winced in pain you knew something bad had happened.

Good luck to a speedy recovery for him.

June 13th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

vared, Djoko scraped through another one eh? Well kudos to him, at least he’s equaled last year’s points and has gotten some grass match play. Let’s hope the player who played Melzer shows up for the final. Haas is tough and a homeboy. May the better guy win tomorrow.

And I’ll echo Voicemale1 – here’s to a speedy recovery for Roddick.

(p.s. my son’s team won their first soccer game, now there’s another one, gotta go back. have a good day all).

June 13th, 2009 at 12:55 pm

How could he equal the points? He can only lose, 60 at least.

June 13th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

scineram, why is that? He reached the finals of Queens last year and the finals of Halle this year. Doesn’t that mean equal points? Or is one event worth less points perhaps, or due to the changes to the point system? Anyhow, I could definitely be mistaken as I don’t usually pay much attention to points, more so to results (W/L).

June 13th, 2009 at 2:17 pm

Murray didn’t come out of his match entirely unscathed. Early on, irritated with himself, he punched his racket face, and either cut or skinned his knuckle on the strings. His hand was bleeding freely for the rest of the match, in which by the way he seemed in good form.
I hope Andy R recovers, but that’ll teach him to make trick shots! No doubt he was so busy making the shot he didn’t watch where he was stepping.
Roddick would have made the final a better spectacle, I imagine. Blake is probably too hit-or-miss to win tomorrow, unless Murray goes on one of his mental walkabouts.

June 13th, 2009 at 3:17 pm

jane: thanx, Andy Ms sure looking good! And best of luck to Jko too, haven’t been able 2 c any matches but from your commentary looks as if he’s been a bit up and down. And more importantly -Well done your son!

June 13th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

Oh man! I saw the “retired” on the scoreSorry for Roddick.
That is no fun at all. I am sure his team will do whatever they can to help him heal faster. I hope he gets 100% before Wimbledon. This is the year that he can have a good chance.

June 13th, 2009 at 3:40 pm

I agree, I wanted to see Roddick in the Queens final too.

Jane, congratz to your son’s team for their first win!
here is to more victories for him and his team!

June 13th, 2009 at 3:42 pm

Gosh, what a disappointment for me that Andy R. is out of Queens.

Voicemale1, I also saw the match on TC, and saw him stop for a moment, kinda huddled up, winced and then walked off. He seemed pensive and a bit out of things for a few minutes. TC later showed the drop from the grass onto the concrete and the ankle roll, and I thought OUCH. I was sorry he couldn’t continue in the match but the bigger picture should be first to not make the injury worse, and second Wimby is only a week away, where he needs to be healthy.

Margot & jane: Both your guys are in the finals and good luck to them tomorrow. Thanks for your concern with respect to Andy R. I’m not going to worry too much, Brooke will kiss the boo boo away and make it all better. ha, ha.

June 13th, 2009 at 4:29 pm

Apparently the shot Roddick made just before he stumbled was a trick shot between his legs. I didn’t see the match,so I’m only guessing, but it does sound as if the accident was to some extent his own fault.
Any time now the conspiracy theorists will say he did it on purpose to give him an excuse if he fails at Wimbledon!
Talking of Wimbledon, when is Nadal going to announce his intentions? If he pulls out, surely nobody will still say he’s not really injured.

June 13th, 2009 at 4:32 pm

Colin, yes and no. He tried to run down the ball and ran out of room, couldn’t change direction, but could only hit it through his legs, however, I don’t think he realized that the drop from grass to concrete was steep but level ground and there’s the real problem. The Tennis Channel announcers stated that’s an area Queens needs to remedy. Maybe Andy R. could file a lawsuit due to the unevenness of the surface, but I suppose that sort of stuff is in the fine print in the players’ contracts to protect the tournament owners, where players ‘play at their own risk’.

June 13th, 2009 at 4:41 pm

So…does this mean that if Murray wins it won’t really count because he didn’t have to face Roddick?

June 13th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Djokovic’s Halle form:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/13062009/58/djokovic-halle-four.html

Murray’s Queens form:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/13062009/3/murray-turns-style-reach-first-queen-s-final.html

And, the winners are ….. ??

June 13th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Hopefully he and Nadal will be ok. If they don’t play, it might be a near walkover for Fed. He’d really have to face only Djokovic or Murray unless both are on his half. Murray has better chances this year than last but Fed is still the man to beat.

June 13th, 2009 at 5:06 pm

How can Queens officials be this careless?

June 13th, 2009 at 5:20 pm

To me, Fed isn’t losing on grass to anyone except Rafa in 2009. And I believe, though Fed won FO, he’s much less consistent than he was pre-2008. His UE count doesn’t seem coming down this year either. In any case , it’s 50-50 for me if Fed faces Rafa.

June 13th, 2009 at 5:33 pm

To pick the winners for Queens and Halle is easy- Murray and Djoko respectively.
I’d have by all means loved to see a Djoko-Tsonga Halle final. But Haas ain’t that bad either. I actually like his game pretty much and he’s among the good guys.

June 13th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

huh: “How can Queens officials be this careless?”

It’s not only Queens, but quite a lot of tournaments seem to have that problem with respect to limited space. However, we should bear in mind, the emphasis is on money and the focus is not the players’ comfort or their safety. A situation, such as Queens, should have a fence or net of some sort to indicate a drop, or maybe a robot standing there with its arms flailing around to indicate to the players that’s how far they can run, similar to ‘Danger, Will Robinson’.

June 13th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

I hope for Haas to make Djoko work his @$$ out for the title as it’ll be fun to watch then. Same goes true for Blake too! :)

June 13th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Von, now I get it. ;-)

June 13th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

huh: “I’d have by all means loved to see a Djoko-Tsonga Halle final. But Haas ain’t that bad either.”

Haas can be very exciting to watch when he’s on. His groundies are excellent, but unfortunately, he’s been very injury ridden, and it’s always a question mark as to which Haas will show up on any given day. Of the two Halle finalists, Haas by far, has had the toughest draw, which translates to him probably being worn out for tomorrow’s finals, having played a very difficult opponent in Kohls. If the SFs were reversed, and Djoko had won today, beating Kohls, I’m sure he would most probably have been tired tomorrow.

June 13th, 2009 at 5:53 pm

Too bad for Roddick! Hope it’s nothing serious, Von…

June 13th, 2009 at 7:12 pm

This may sound a bit stupid, but anyway, (I’ve always wondered) why the hell does Blake need to wear that bandana when he’s bald? :-) Does he have some “special clause” in his contract with Nike which requires him to wear this thing or what?

June 13th, 2009 at 7:19 pm

Queens final was 310 points last year. Both are now 250 tournaments.

June 13th, 2009 at 8:32 pm

Skorocel, isn’t it a sweat band? That’s why I’ve always assumed Blake wears it, and it doesn’t look like the bandanas Nadal and Fed wear for their hair. More like a wrist band for the head.

Von, thanks for the links. I predict Murray will win tomorrow (unless Blake is on one of his streaky patches or something). And I honestly see it as a toss up between Haas and Djoko as Haas has played better than Djok all week (not to mention how well Haas played at RG), plus it’s his home turf. Djoko’s looked questionable in most of his matches but has managed to get to the final anyway. So that’s good. If he wins, great; if not, oh well. At least he got some grass play in before SW19.

And sorry again about Andy R.; that’s just bad luck. Hope Brooke can make it all better — in time for Wimbledon!

zola and margot – thanks. My son’s team won their second game today too and are on a 5 game winning streak in their tournament. Very cute how seriously these 8 year olds take their soccer.

June 13th, 2009 at 8:39 pm

Jane,
That is indeed cute! congratz for their second win today!

Skorocel,
can’t thank you enough for that comment on Blake’s bandana. I guess he wears it to absorb the sweat, but it doesn’t look good on him at all!

Come on James, you are so handsome! If you need to have something on your head while playing, wear a hat!)

June 13th, 2009 at 9:07 pm

for margot – re: “Murray Mania” around the bend!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/198655-london-put-on-red-alert-as-murraymania-comes-to-town

June 13th, 2009 at 9:22 pm

Skorocel:

Hello, and thanks r: Andy R.. What can I say these things happen, but it’s just too bad that the court has that problem. More athletes could be hurt if they moved as far back as Andy did today. Hopefully, the tournament organizers will fix that problem so that the other players don’t get hurt.

Re: Blake’s head band, I suppose his head sweats a lot and the band absorbs the sweating thereby preventing it from pouring down his face and neck. It does look ugly, but I suppose for James it serves a purpose.
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jane: Thanks concerning Andy R, and I hope he’ll be better for Wimby. Too bad his chances for a fifth Queens title had to be eliminated due to a freak accident.

I haven’t watched any of Djoko’s matches so I don’t know how he’s played all week. Has he given any specific reason as to why he’s played badly? I thought he had a great draw, hence, I don’t think his draw should be responsible for his bad match play. I was answering huh’s post with respect to Haas, who, as I mentioned, had a very tough part of the draw and could very well be tired tomorrow after his match with Kohls today. Hence, of the two players, Djoko should have more energy left in the tank, and should emerge as the winner. Haas hasn’t gotten past the QFs in the tourneys he’s played for quite a while now, so this is just great for him that he’s gotten to the finals in Halle.

June 13th, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Good evening everybody I see all the Roddick fans and interested parties have assorted to offer their commisserations on Andy’s injury, thank you and I do hope it is nothing serious and he will be ready to go at Wimbledon.

“Roddick was appearing in his seventh straight Queen’s Club semifinal, having won the title on four previous occasions.”

Only untalented players are allowed such mediocre results, no? ;)

jane good luck to your Novak tomorrow. Have he and Haas ever played before? What an interesting final in Halle, Federer should skip it more often. ;)

June 13th, 2009 at 10:22 pm

Hi Von, “Has he given any specific reason as to why he’s played badly? I thought he had a great draw, hence, I don’t think his draw should be responsible for his bad match play.”

I agree. Djoko’s had a v.good draw, and a better draw than Haas, which may or may not help tomorrow. I don’t think Djoko has given a specific reason, though I think he may’ve mentioned movement. He was quite grooved for clay movement as he’d played so extensively in the clay season, so maybe that’s why he’s slipping and sliding all over? But it could just be Djoko’s usual ups and downs. He’s served quite well at this event. But he’s hit a lot of errors too, losing leads etc. I am starting to think he just takes his foot off the pedal or loses his focus in some matches. I dunno? Anyhow, we’ll see how it all pans out soon enough!
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TD (Tam) “Have he and Haas ever played before? What an interesting final”

They’ve played twice, once on clay in 06, and once on hard at IW this year; Djoko won both, but Haas is on a bit of a hot streak right now, has nothing to lose, and will be playing in front of the home crowd. I do hope for a Djoko win, but if Haas wins, that’d be nice for him too. He’s getting to the end of his career at 31, so a title at home would be exciting for him and his fans. I agree – an interesting final indeed.

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scineram, thanks for clarifying the points scenario.

June 13th, 2009 at 10:49 pm

Hey Jane, can you give me the link to the Race points this year? I can’t find it from the ATP site or google.

June 13th, 2009 at 11:26 pm

sensationalsafin, here you go; keep in mind it’s “unofficial”! Note: I found it quickly through google:

http://www.andymurray.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1998

June 13th, 2009 at 11:30 pm

Ok thanks. What did you type in?

June 13th, 2009 at 11:34 pm

I typed in “ATP + Race + 2009.” I’ve been looking further though and found a way more extensive and complicated list here:

http://tenniscorner.net/index.php?corner=m&action=rankings&type=singles&race=yes

And through some “men’s forum” I actually found the default ATP link, so here you go; you can book mark it! : )

http://www.atpworldtour.com/tennis/3/en/rankings/championsrace/default.asp

June 13th, 2009 at 11:38 pm

Thanks so much jane, I really appreciate it! I guess I didn’t look thoroughly enough. I just like to see what the players have done this year. The race has always been useful, I don’t see why they got rid of it.

June 13th, 2009 at 11:49 pm

Glad to help. And I agree. The race is good; long live the race!!

——————

BTW, Did people see this cool article that likens each of the Grand Slams to one of The Beatles? It’s worth a look for fun:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/columns/story?columnist=drucker_joel&id=4166600

June 14th, 2009 at 12:11 am

Re Andy R’s fall. There’s a drainage channel at the back of the court so it’s lower than the grass and there’s a slight drop between the grass and it. Andy tripped over this. I expect we’ve all done similar!
jane: thanx for link re Andy M. The dowagers of Wimbledon have yet to take him to their hearts, he’s been too much of a brat! They preferred Tim’s good manners. Hope they do this year cos boy has he got talent!

June 14th, 2009 at 1:46 am

PS Rather ironically, last year at Queens, Andy M withdrew from a match with Andy R cos he’d injured his thumb!

June 14th, 2009 at 1:53 am

TD(Tam), I hope you don’t wish for Fed to skip Wimbledon as well !
And as far as Fed skipping Halle’s concerned, I don’t understand what’s so interesting about that? I bet, many many fans were hoping to see Djoko
take on Fed on grass for the 1st time .

June 14th, 2009 at 2:15 am

Jane – what a cool article. Thanks for the link!

June 14th, 2009 at 2:15 am

Giner, how can you possibly be so confident of Federer winning Wimbledon? Despite all the (deserved) applause for his winning the French, he is not suddenly back to his best form (ie pre-2008).
Don’t forget, he was supposed to be the second best clay courter in the world, yet he came very close to going out before the French final. If he really were the Federer of his awesome prime, he would indeed be the man to beat. But he’s not, so he won’t be.

June 14th, 2009 at 5:03 am

i hate roddick´s playing style! he´s less more than a rocket-service launcher. Apart from his serve, he has very little talent

June 14th, 2009 at 5:55 am

I tend to agree with Colin, that Fed is not a shoe-in for the Wimbledon title. That’s not to say he can’t or won’t win it; he is one of (if not the) top favorites and could be, as many have mentioned, “swinging freely” due to winning his last two titles, especially the French. However, Collin’s point about Fed not suddenly returning to prime form is also true. He exhibited moments of that form at the French, but also some of what we’d been seeing prior to Madrid as well. So it’s up in the air, imo.

June 14th, 2009 at 6:52 am

Djoko better change his on court behavior. All week he was complaining about slips (this is grass!) and treatening to break his racket. Now he finally did it!

And in the moment I thought the match was his after Haas made 3 doube faults in the tiebreak. Let`s see if he can recover.

June 14th, 2009 at 9:11 am

Jane,
Sorry for Djoko’s loss. I watched from the middle of the first set.I think Haas played well and served really well, but Djoko did not play his best. Especially in the third set he was not moving well.

Daniel,
Djoko slipped a few times and one was really bad )in the second set), when he fell on his back.

Murray won the first set in Queens.
link for the Queens match:

http://www.fromsport.com/video-34197.html

June 14th, 2009 at 10:20 am

I agree with Colin. I think this Wimbledon will be interesting and feel as if other players feel they have a shot.

One person to thank for this?

Robin Soderling.

June 14th, 2009 at 10:28 am

Thanks for the link Zola.
My bet365 link let me down today ;-(

Still the good news is that Scotlands Any Murray has won Queens!

Sign of things to come?

June 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am

Haas’s victory over Djokovic to win Halle, just makes Federer’s comeback win over Haas that much more impressive at the FO.

Haas is obviously playing better than people are giving him credit for. I’m sure Federer can attest to that.

Does this make Haas a dark horse at Wimbledon. I think so!

June 14th, 2009 at 10:42 am

Congrats to Murray! Smiles margot :)

And likewise to Haas; he deserved it. Frankly it was enough that Djok made the finals given the way he was playing – hope he can do better at Wimbledon. Maybe he needs different shoes, but he’s got to figure out how not to slip all over the grass. doh!

(thanks zola – not too sad, just want to see him pick it up)

June 14th, 2009 at 10:56 am

Ed Yol,
You are welcome.

I think Murray has a good chance in wimbledon and a comfortable win over Blake did not hurt his chances!

Cindy
Haas is always a good player. I don’t think he is ever underestimated. he has been sidelined by injury, etc., but he has been as high as number two and he is from the older generation with lots of experience. Hopefully he will land in Fed’s quarter in Wimbledon!

June 14th, 2009 at 10:56 am

This is the original sar. I may have to change my initials soon.

Nole played way too passively and Haas played well. I kind of like handsome Haas, so it’s not that bad. I’m surprised he got this far with all his falls.He needs to figure out his movement and shoes on grass.
Djokovic will be fine. I think the RG loss was hard for him, but overall he played a great clay season and I think he’ll come back in full force come the HC season.

June 14th, 2009 at 11:03 am

Zola,

Why do you want Haas on Federer’s side of the draw at Wimbledon?

Let me guess. As a formidable obstacle to possibly knock him out early and drastically improve Rafa’s chances. Also, keep Nadal from facing Haas early and knocking him out.

Wonder if the All England Club will give Haas a better seeding based on his Halle win? They have been known to play around with the seedings in the past. Hope they do it this time, too

June 14th, 2009 at 11:11 am

I actually think Murray can win Wimbledon. I don’t know if he will do it this year, but he can. He’s a top contender.

Djoko is better on clay I think; it’s not that he can’t play on grass but it is maybe not as natural for him. I’d like to see him get at least to the quarters at Wimbledon, and like sar says, maybe do something more on hard this summer.

Daniel,

I agree about Djok’s on court anger. It’d be fine if he smashed a racquet and then found a higher level and used it to spur him on. But sometimes it has the opposite effect for him and he just lets the negativity take over. He needs to tell himself this: “when something isn’t working, then it’s time to try something else.” and also “you can do it” :)

June 14th, 2009 at 11:17 am

jane: sorry bout Djko, but u seem very philosophical about it and Haas seems 2 b playing the tennis of his life and nearly saw off TMF.
Oh Andy M. Andy M what a talent! If his serve is firing he can win anything against anyone. So there, all u detractors!!
MMT: hope you’ve noticed Andy M has stopped swearing on court, he now shakes his head and shouts “Andy” in remonstration and grief after a missed shot! Hope u approve!

June 14th, 2009 at 11:24 am

So there, all u detractors!!

Margot
If Murray couldn’t win this year it would never happen, I mean, Murray had Blake.The real competition rolled an ankle. Queens had a weak field this year. Last year Queens had Nadal, Djok, Murray, Roddick, Nalbandian and Gasquet all in the quarter finals.

June 14th, 2009 at 11:51 am

Cindy
Haas is a better match up for Fed than Rafa.

I can wish for Murray or Soderling too to appear on Fed’s quarter! but the tennis Godz do not listen to me all the times!

June 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

Sorry,
Murray can’t be on Fed’s quarter. Only the half!

June 14th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

Obviously Djokovic is a good player, but he just looks clumsy on grass. I saw a couple of his matches in Halle, and I gotta say his footwork on grass is amateurish to say the least.

On hard ans clay courts he always seems so sure of his foorting, but on grass, it looks to me like he’s always concious about where his feet are. It just doesn’t come naturally to him. I haven’t seen a player slip that many times on grass, ever. And he was like that last year at Queen’s too.

I have never seen Fed slip on grass. I’m not saying he never did, but I never saw it. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him slip on any surface, but on grass he is just in a class of his own when it comes to movement.

June 14th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

Is it true he gave his speech in German? Anyone have a presser? This is a quote from Novak after his loss:

“The week was great. I played enough matches prior to Wimbledon,” said Djokovic who has never won a title on grass and refused to label himself as one of the favourites for Wimbledon, which starts on June 22.

“I have not done a great job there last year, losing in the second round. So I would not rate myself as a favourite for Wimbledon.”

June 14th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

sar, his post match interview on-court was in English. He doesn’t speak German.

June 14th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

vared: your face must be all puckered up from eating so many sour grapes….

June 14th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

A while ago Ryan said that Djoko has been “free-falling” since last year’s Wimbledon loss. I hope that’s not true but I am certainly beginning to wonder. He’s done worse at all of the slams since then (USO, AO, FO); he hasn’t won a MS shield this year, whereas he had in 07 and 08; and he’s becoming a bit of a finalist but not a winner.

On the plus side, save Roland Garros, he did improve his clay results this season, getting to two MS finals this year. And he’s been consistent enough, with a “43-13 match record on the season – the second-best mark on the 2009 ATP World Tour behind Nadal” according to the ATP site.

But still, he needs to take it further if he wants to truly compete for slam titles, imo. Right now, I can’t see him winning a slam this year, and it’ll be tough to get any MS shields too.

Murray is close to winning a slam though, I think. He needs to do so to silence the doubters (including Fed, who believes he can beat Murray over 5 sets anytime); in England would be fantastic for him and his fans, but judging by that “Great Expectations” article in Deuce, Murray thinks his chances are much better on hard courts.

And I don’t think we can say “big four” – it doesn’t make sense. Because Roddick and JMDP are right there with chances too.

I hope someone new, besides Rafa and Fed, wins at least ONE of the remaining slams this year.

June 14th, 2009 at 1:46 pm

jane,
Im not denying that he did but when did Federer say that about Murray/?

June 14th, 2009 at 2:03 pm

Jane,
remember the same talk before the start of the clay season?
He is only 21. I think after the AO 08 and the PR mishaps he had in 08, maybe it is hard to get back on track.
He doesn’t have many points to defend in wimbledon and he reached the finals of Halle. I don’t think it is that bad.
But I think at this point Murray is playing better and with more confidence.
I think after FO, I am not going to predict anything!

June 14th, 2009 at 2:09 pm

I am not surprised if Djoko spoke in German during the ceremony in Halle. didn’t he train in the Pilic Academy when he was younger? I think he also talked in Italian in Rome.

June 14th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

NachoF, it was before or during the AO; here’s the link:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/tennis-news/2009/01/26/i-can-beat-andy-murray-over-five-sets-anytime-says-roger-federer-86908-21071815/

June 14th, 2009 at 2:29 pm

zola, actually Djoko is 22 now. I take your point, but there are more and more challenges on the tour; look at JMDP. And Cilic is surely on the rise. I just think Djoko is in a precarious position just now, and he has to step it up or he’ll fall off. I’d like to see him playing his best again.

Although Kimo (and me & sar too) have mentioned Djoko’s movement on grass, he got to the finals at Queen’s last year and the semis at Wimbledon in 2007. So it’s not that he can’t play on grass; he can. Just how well, I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if he needs a new coach to go with his new fitness trainer, though I know he is close to Vajda.

June 14th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

What has made Novak do well in grass tournaments is his shot-making, not movement. He’ll still beat most of the field on grass, except that he can’t do it as easily. When he is up players who do well on grass, he stumbles a little bit.

Do you honestly think that Haas could beat Novak on a hard or clay court? Not a chance. Yet Haas feels comfortable on grass, Novak doesn’t, and that’s why Novak was out-classed today.

What I’m trying to say is that guys whom Novak would breeze by on hard or clay courts can give him trouble on grass (provided that they can play on grass).

The fact that the grass court season is ridiculously short has deprived tennis from a more diverse field of players. As Novak shows us, just because you do well on fast hard courts doesn’t mean you’ll do well on grass. It’s a very different surface.

June 14th, 2009 at 4:31 pm

Great win for Murray and for British Tennis supporters, who have been waiting for decades to have one of their own win Queens, so bravo and well-done, Andy Murray!

Margot and all Murray fans, he’s done it!! Enjoy his win and there’s more to come!

Congrats to Tommy Haas for his first win since 2007 Memphis. It seems as though Tommy is finally over his shoulder injury and it’s the reason we’re seeing him play his great game. Keep it going Tommy.
_________________
jane: Sorry for Djoko’s loss but you said he’s not been playing well throughout Halle. Maybe he’ll find his groove at Wimby.

June 14th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

Kimo: “Do you honestly think that Haas could beat Novak on a hard or clay court? Not a chance.”

Please don’t do this, it’s not fair to Haas. Yes, yes, yes, Haas can beat Djoko on hard-courts and then some, provided he’s in good health. The Tommy Haas, whom we’ve seen play sporadic tennis, is just a shadow of his former self. The guy is that good, and we’ve seen him duplicate his results of past years at the FO. Had Haas kept his nerve, Federer would not have been the FO champion this year. Haas has a wonderful one-handed BH and is great off the ground, but he has a tendency to disintegrate in the big moments, losing his nerve, and it’s one of the reasons why he’s so mercurial– don’t underestimate him, because he can be dangerous.
__________________
I think some tennis fans measure the players’ success by their age, e.g., ‘he’s only 20, 21, 22, etc., and comparing them to the other players’ achievements at their age. I think we should be more realistic and look at the bigger picture when we make these comparisons, e.g., at what age they turned pro and for how many years they’ve been on the tour.

For example, the Europeans turn pro at least 4 years earlier than the present day Americans, who do so after they’ve completed high school, which I feel is a good thing, since it’s necessary to know how to count one’s money and make change when shopping. LOL. Not to mention conducting one-self intelligently in interviews and pressers.

Both Nadal and Djokovic turned pro at 15+ and 16 years respectively, hence at 23, Nadal has been on the pro tour for 8+ years, and is considered a veteran in terms of years playing pro, and Djokovic at 22, has been playing at the pro level for 6+ years. Roddick is 26 and turned pro in 2000, and has been pro for 8+ years same as Nadal. Querrey, now 22, the same age as Djokovic, turned pro in 2006, at the age of 19, 3+ years later than Djokovic. As can be see from the examples mentioned, even though Querrey, Djokovic and Nadal are all around the same age, Nadal and Djokovic have been pros for quite a few more years than Querrey, and Roddick even though four years older than Nadal and Djokovic has been pro for the same amount of years as Nadal, and two years longer than Djokovic. That said, when we say an athlete is only 22, we should also think how long he’s been on the tour, what he’s achieved for those years, and how many miles his body has logged as compared to an older player, who’s been pro for the same amount of years as his younger colleague. This translates to the 22 year-old, at 26 could probably be worn out at 26+, and the 26 year-old, could probably play until he’s 30+ years old. The bottom-line, the athletes’ age could be a misleading number when comparing their achievements, IMO.

June 14th, 2009 at 5:35 pm

margot Says:
vared: your face must be all puckered up from eating so many sour grapes….

Ohhh, Margot, you cut me to the quick with your sharp wit. I really do long for you to come up with a witty retort or some kind of sensible back-hand comment. These slagging matches are so one-sided at the moment.
I mentioned earlier on another thread,the only one with sour grapes is Murray when he said that the Djoker would be beaten by Davy at YEC after Davy nailed Murray the night before. Please, if you can’t think of your own expressions,at least don’t use mine. Murray couldn’t compete at Queen’s last year because of the strong field. This year everyone who is anyone either didn’t show up or rolled an ankle. People believe Murray should have won this smaller event for the last 4 years seeing he has home field advantage. Just like Fed always wins Basel, Nadal always wins Barcelona and Djoker will always win Belgrade. I guess it’s better late for your boy than never.

June 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm

Von,
agreed with everything you said in your 5:35 pm:

One, we can’t dismiss any player, anyone in let’s say top 50 could beat anyopne on a good day, specially in a final when you aready is on a run.

And two, years on tour. Age are not comparisson points, as players turn pro soonner then others. Unless somebody becamos n. 1 with 2, 3 years on tour, as Hingis did, then you get the “unic” ones.

zola
Agreed on slips! Grass can play trick, but as someone mention, Djoko’s movement was off. His choice of coming in to the net was not apropriate also.

Jane
Djoko seems to me as if he lost a litte of the spark he had, something like that certainty of youth when you know what you are going to achieve. After AO last year I thought it was only a matter of time untill he would be n. 1 (less than 2 years). Right now I can’t even see him regaining n.3, but I can see him dropping to 5 if Del Potro starts performing better in MS. DelPo will now be top seed when last year he not even play some of the masters.
Anyway, he needs to find that form of AO 2008 again when his serving was awesome. Only one great win and it can change everything, his match against Rafa in Madrid could have being a crucial turning point for him. I hope this win comes this year, sooner than later!

June 14th, 2009 at 8:37 pm

Argh, that becamos sounds soo strange: became with vamos! LOL. Sorry for that!

June 14th, 2009 at 8:39 pm

Anyone has any news if Andy’s injury is serious enough to prevent him from playing Wimby?!

June 14th, 2009 at 8:41 pm

Thanks for the kind response. Truthfully, that’s the way I see things, and this age thing is not a realistic comparison, which I honestly feel should be dropped from the conversation. It almost sounds like a litany, and a dangling participle, which seems like there’s an implication by some, hammering in the point, vis-a-vis,’but (and/or) ‘and he’s only 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, … 35, 41, 50, etc, etc., etcetera, and on it goes to no avail. The results are what they are and no one can change them. The stats don’t care if someone won what at 3 or 45, the point is, they won. The problem with players in sports is consistency and longevity. If a player doesn’t have those two ingredients, fahfget’bout it, it ain’t gonna happen.
_________________
Re: Andy Roddick, I’m an awful fan, I don’t visit his website ever, and haven’t seen anything in my emails except for some Yahoo Eurosport news in which Andy stated that the scans which were taken didn’t show a tear, but he’ll have more scans done tomorrow, and he’s hoping his time out will be just days and not six (6) weeks. This was terrible timing for Andy, and I’d say Wimby is some kinda jinx for him, same as last year, where he shouldn’t even have played, but did so despite his doctors’ warning, and the end result, he got knocked out in the second round. maybe some thigs are not meant to be, no matter how much we want them. OY VEY !!

June 14th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Congratulations to Haas for winning Halle, and to Murray for winning Queens. It never hurts to win the lead-up tournaments going into Wimbledon.

Personally, I still hope Roger can come through at Wimbledon. We will see. I think after what happened at the French – heck, anything can happen at Wimbledon!

Go Roger!

June 14th, 2009 at 9:18 pm

I heard some discussions by commentators with respect to how much the surfaces have changed and as a result the old style of play is now passe’. also, coming into the net is almost a death wish, like doing so at your own risk. It seems to me that the surface changes are in conjunction with the fans’ wishes and/or feedback, whereby fans want to see longer points and more grinding by the players (sadistic) LOL, as opposed to seeing big servers hit aces and bang, the match is over.

Per the commentators, Wimby is most decidedly slower, the FO is definitely faster, and IW and Miami are playing extremely slow. The surfaces seem to change with the same stroke of the brush as an artist does to his canvas, hence the top layers of laykold for fast courts are now mixed with gravelly stuff, which in turn slows down the court, and the grass is a much different type as that used when the S&V players were playing. The FO has less parts of clay and more additives. I wonder what will happen to the AO?

June 14th, 2009 at 9:23 pm

Von great point ” The bottom-line, the athletes’ age could be a misleading number when comparing their achievements, IMO.”

I didn’t even know/realize Djoko had turned pro so young.

Daniel, I agree with your 7:37 post; there’s a spark missing. Maybe you’re right that one big win, an MS shield or something, will turn around Djok and steer him in the right direction. Otherwise, he might be heading down the ladder. Sooner than later for the win would be nice!

I may’ve asked you this already but can’t remember: did you get Wimbledon tickets yet?

June 14th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

To whoever it was that said Novak can’t speak German. I had a video of him speaking the language at a minor tournament but can’t find it.
Djokovic speaks Serbian, German, English and some decent Italian.

Haas comment about Novak
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=4257465
“It means a lot to me to beat a player as classy as you in the final,” Haas said during the victory ceremony

http://www.gerryweber-open.de/en/current-news/interviews/novak-djokovic-2009-06-14/?jahr=2009&tag=06-14
Novak presser after loss

June 14th, 2009 at 10:11 pm

No Jane, not yet! I almost call my father money for one of those excelent seats on centre court final (1000 pounds). I didn’t have time to do one of Von’s sugestions and online tickets where very especific.
As I am staying in a friends house I don’t know how is going to be our schedule, but I know that 1 or 2 days I’ll be there, queue, as Margot sugested to see if I can watch the outside courts. Expect a full report of the day I spent there, hopelly seeing one of the stars: Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djoko, DelPo, Roddick, Safin, Tsonga. A close look in one of those even practicing and I will be happy!

June 14th, 2009 at 10:20 pm

Nadal has 3 Shields and 1 runner up, Followed by Murray with 1 shield 1 runner up, Djokovic with 3 runner-ups and Federer with 1 shield.

Dan Martin: Are you forgetting Novak won the Serbia Open?

June 14th, 2009 at 10:27 pm

Daniel – I can’t wait to hear your report; I am sure you’ll get in at least one or two days. I’d love to see those guys practicing too – be a different atmosphere entirely I’ll bet.

sar – thanks as usual for the links. I think Djoko sounds very realistic in his presser. I am surprised how sad he sounds about Madrid. I guess he was just so close, and it’s haunting him a little. That would’ve been the “big win” Daniel was talking about above and might’ve turned things around for him. Hopefully there is one coming.

June 14th, 2009 at 10:28 pm

Hi Von,
ou have brought up a great point I have been trying to bring up on the posts. Since the modern era, the “excitement” and “provability” of one as a “complete player was to win tournaments on all 3 surfaces. IN the past, Wimbledon played the opposite of Clay, and hard courts had, well the hards courts bounce we all mostly play on. What happened? Could Pete in his prime win Wimbledon now with the courts so slow? I don’t think so, I think Agassi would have had more Wimbledon titles. Now Clay is fast? Hard courts are slower? What are they trying to do, make all court surfaces the same? For me , it doesn’t make sense. Why have different surfaces then? To me, proving you are the complete player on all surfaces is not like it use to be. I have played on grass, and serve and volley and attack with a slice works, and most likely you will win the point. On Clay? No way. BUt this year on clay as an example, how many times were players even attacking the net? Never use to happen. Look at Wimbledon? A lot of base lining going on. Now people can debate rackets have improved, p[layers are stronger, blah blah blah. The facts are that the tourney organizers have admitted that they ( especially Wimby ) have changed the action of the surface. So why is that? Someone please tell me why should we even be playing on different surfaces when there are playing closer and closer to the same surface? I’m out

June 14th, 2009 at 11:10 pm

“I didn’t put any pressure on his serve,” Djokovic said. “I served very badly, I did not return well, I gave him many opportunities. But it was a good week and getting to the final is a good achievement.”

Sorry, Djoko fans, I don’t like the above comment. He says such stuff quite a lot of times when he loses, and there’s always the inference that he lost because he gave his opponent the breaks. Players can give their opponents breaks, but if the opponent is inept and cannot capitalize on their opportunities, then it’s useless. When Djoko lost to Roddick at IW or was it Miami(?), Djoko said something along the lines of: it was more me making the errors than him playing great, etc.. Wouldn’t it be better for Djoko to just say his opponent outplayed him and was the better player on that day?
__________________
skeezerweezer:
Hi ya, it doesn’t make sense to me with respect to the surfaces. It seems that there is the collective thinking of ATP/ITF wanting the slam winners to be able to collect slams on all surfaces, e.g., the fast court players to win on clay, and the clay players to win on grass and hard-courts, thus making a more rounded out resume and not one player or players winning the same tourney repeatedly year after year. To me it seems they want the players to be able to play on all surfaces using the same format, e.g., a baseline game strategy; if so where’s the wizardy? Then, they can close their eyes and just play by rote. If this is really their thinking, then I agree, why call the slams different surfaces, maybe an ice rink or a swimming pool would be the next surface for the AO or all future slams. LOL.
______________________
jane: I haven’t read the pressers, don’t like reading them, not even Roddick’s. If, as you state, Djoko is still bemoaning that Madrid loss, then he’s only stagnating himself from moving on. People need to get back on the horse after falling off, not sitting on the ground thinking of the couldas, shouldas, wouldas. So he lost coming so close to Nadal, so what, get up and try again — there’s always another time — perseverance overcometh!

June 15th, 2009 at 12:06 am

sar: “Dan Martin: Are you forgetting Novak won the Serbia Open?”

I believe Dan is talking about MS tourneys won this year.

June 15th, 2009 at 12:08 am

Von,

Thanks for getting my point, and throwing your “two cents” ( where is she/he?. Yes, this poster really exists, lol ) in. Totally, totally agree..That was a good read. Thanks! lol

June 15th, 2009 at 12:14 am

Ice rink…I like that….what the H#ll? Put them on skates and will call it Tennis Hockey.

June 15th, 2009 at 12:16 am

Vared, don’t know why are you always so critical of Murray? Don’t be so dismissive of him coz he’s by no means an inferior player to Djoko and he’s proved it by crushing Djoko multiple times. Isn’t that enough for you? Anyway it’s your choice !

June 15th, 2009 at 1:53 am

Vared, if you think Nalbandian, Gasquet or Djoko’d have caused that much of a headache to Murray at Queens, then I’d only say that Murray’s more than capable of beating these players on any surface on any day. Heck, Murray can beat even Rafa/Fed !

June 15th, 2009 at 2:10 am

skeezerweezer:

You’re welcome! One other point I forgot, the commentators mentioned that due to the slower surfaces, there’s great difficulty involved for players to hit through the court as they were able to do before the surface tampering began. It’s a conspiracy I tell ya, the powers that be want to please the tennis fans in the worst way due to the revenue derived, and are giving them the satisfaction they crave in the form of lengthy points and more gruelling games/matches — money talks and ATP jumps. The level of fitness and physicality of the sport is what’s causing so many injuries for the players. I don’t like it one bit, and I honestly feel in some ways it’s cruel to the players to ask them to put out so much energy to win a point. Tennis was not meant to be played like a gladiator sport, and we can blame that on clay.

Another one of my pet peeves is the amount of ranking points awarded to the players from rounds one through the QFs, especially at the slams. The players have to play and win four (4) rounds to get to the QFs, and then only two more rounds and they are in the finals. How could four (4) rounds out of seven (7) be considered one-quarter — it’s more than one-half? The points and money awarded for the QFs, should be increased, and the QFs shouldn’t be called QFs, because 4 out of 7 is not one-quarter. Somebody at ATP/ITF didn’t learn fractions and/or decimals at school. LOL. Seriously though, I think the points system is highway, and/or stage-coach robbery and extremely unfair to the players.

“Put them on skates and will call it Tennis Hockey.”

How about ‘Tennis on Ice’? Seems to have a nice ring to it. No?

BTW, do you mind if you call you skeezer? Too many letters to type. I call sensationalsafin SS, because I ujsually have a typo in his name, and I’ve already done that with yours a few times. LOL.

June 15th, 2009 at 2:16 am

Well, Tommy is very much capable of playing at a level that’s just good enough to beat Djoko(irrespective of how he’s playing).

June 15th, 2009 at 2:25 am

I hope Roddick recover in time for SW19. If not, just take easy and don’t hurt his ankle for good. There’s still USO.

Fed overplayed his indoor cards in 2008, he lost AO. And Nadal overplayed his clay cards, he lost FO. No one, not even the evil Sean Randall :-)), to blame but themselves.

June 15th, 2009 at 2:45 am

Rank – Player – RACE Points – Touraments Played
1-Nadal, Rafael (ESP)-6885- 11
2-Federer, Roger (SUI)-5460- 8
3-Murray, Andy (GBR)-3780- 11
4-Djokovic, Novak (SRB)-3690- 14

Djoker player almost twice the number of tournaments as Fed this year and is still almost 2000 points behind him in Race Points.

Grand Slam records this year.. Del Potro is 4th behind Fed, Nadal and Soderling, followed by Roddick, Verdasco, Gonzo.

Murray is a joint 8th with Monfils, Tsonga and Robredo.

And Djoker is joints 13th with Simon.

Murray has been doing well at smaller tournaments and Masters Series, but he still needs to prove himself at Grand Slams. I doubt it will be at this year wimbeldon. Too much pressure on him this year, than any of the previous years.

June 15th, 2009 at 3:49 am

Tejuz: agree re pressure on Andy M and Wimbles, but the pressure wont ever go away on that one will it? Look what it did to Tim Henman. If Andy’s gonna win, he muat deal with it.
huh: thanx!

June 15th, 2009 at 7:27 am

Margot.. agree he always had pressure at wimbledon. but this year, everybody feels he has a realistic chance of winning the whole thing compared to previous years.. cuz this year he has had good results against the rest of top-4. Lots of expectation, big Burden.. more than the Frenchmen have at Roland Garros.. and am not sure how he will fare if he meets either Nadal or Federer in semis or finals. Rest assured that Fed and Nadal will give their best in that match, after all they have been the finalists for last 6 and 3 yrs respectively. He will be fav if he meets Djokovic though..but i doubt he will beat Nadal and Fed consecutively in the same tournament(especially Grand Slams)

June 15th, 2009 at 9:27 am

Von, I can see your point, as in that particular quote it sounds like Djoko is not giving credit to his opponent. But he did in some other passages. For instance, he basically admitted that he would’ve lost the match in straight sets if Haas had not gifted him with some double faults.

” He served quite well the second serve. He made some crucial double faults in the tiebreak of the second set. I think that’s why I won it because otherwise I would lose that set.”

He also explained why he felt it was important that he didn’t return well, and that had everything to do with Haas’ game:

“If you play a player like Tommy Haas, who has a big serve and great touch and really aggressive game, if you don’t get the balls back into the court on return, you have nothing to look for.”

So I think he was giving credit to Haas there.

In these pressers, the journalists often ask questions like this – “go back and analyse the match is there anything you could have done differently today?” – which sort of forces the player to analyze his/her own play to see where he/she went wrong, leaving aside the opponent’s play.

Anyhow, as I say, sometimes Djoko’s comments do come across as not giving credit to the opponent, like when he said at IW that Roddick didn’t do “anything special” to beat him, that was straight up sour grapes from Novak. But in this interview I thought he was better.

And I agree with you 100% about the Madrid loss. He needs to put it behind him. That’s something I think Djoko needs A LOT of work on – negativity. On the court when he is playing badly at times he lets the negativity overcome him rather than trying something different, or staying positive or whatever. I think he could try a sports psychologist as it really helped Murray, or maybe a new coach as I mentioned before. Sometimes I think Vajda coddles him a little too much. I don’t know but that’s the impression I get sometimes. Like they’re too close or…?

Von – I can’t believe you don’t read Roddick’s pressers! They’re classics of the genre. He almost always has a good quip in there.

June 15th, 2009 at 11:05 am

if you think Nalbandian, Gasquet or Djoko’d have caused that much of a headache to Murray at Queens, then I’d only say that Murray’s more than capable of beating these players on any surface on any day. Heck, Murray can beat even Rafa/Fed !

HUH
You conveniently left out Roddick, wonder why? He would have won had the negligent Queens officials fixed that bad patch of grass. I hope Roddick sues them.

June 15th, 2009 at 11:58 am

Tejuz,

“Djoker player almost twice the number of tournaments as Fed this year and is still almost 2000 points behind him in Race Points.”

I don’t think the number tournaments played is that relevant, as it boils down to results, rather than the number of events played.

Up to the week before Madrid Djok was 2nd in the race ahead of Fed, having played pretty much the same number of events as last year:

14 so far this year, keeping in mind that in Brisbane he lost early so he played Sydney (+2: he didn’t play any pre-AO events last year); the Belgrade tournament was added (+1). That accounts for the 3 extra events. At this time last year he was at 11 tournaments.

Fed has played 8 so far this year. Last year he had played 10. The 2 less are Dubai and Halle.

What really matters imo, is that Fed hasn’t lost many points this year and he has gained where it really matters – at the slams and some of the MS events.

Doha and Estoril pretty much cancel each other out points-wise with a small loss (Doha 09 semis; Estorial 08 win)

He gained at the AO (semi last, final this)

He lost only a little at Dubai since he lost in 1st round last year

He stayed the same at IW (semis).

He gained at Miami (semis vs. quarters last)

He lost at MC (semis vs. R16)

Gained at Rome (Quarters to semis)

Gained at Madrid (semis to win)

Gained at RG (final to win)

Lost points from Halle.

Meanwhile Djoko has mainly lost points at the bigger events, picking up at some of the smaller ones.

He picked up a few points from Brisbane and Sydney since he didn’t played pre-AO last year.

He lost lots at AO (from winner to quarters)

He picked up at Dubai (semis to win)

He gained at Marseille (R16 to semis)

He lost at IW (win to quarters)

He gained at Miami (R64 to final) this is the only major event where he had a significant points gain.

Gained a Monte Carlo (semis to final)

Lost at Rome (winner to final)

Gained at Belgrade.

Gained at Madrid (R16 to semis)

*Not sure how to account for Hamburg; he had semis points last year and Fed have finals.

Lost a lot at Roland Garros – (semis – R32)

Stayed the same/lost Queens/Halle – final results same but event worth less.

———————————————–

So basically, Federer has been the much better player at the bigger events this year, making gains on his results from last year at most of them, whereas Djoko has picked up points at some smaller events, and has had some nice results on the clay run, but basically he’s fallen off in his bigger events results.

To me, this is what accounts for their race positions, rather than how many events they’ve played. In fact, Djoko would be even lower had he not played a few smaller events extra. Not likely lower in the rankings, but in points. Fed would probably stay the same even if he’d played Halle/Dubai.

Djoko needs to improve his results at the big events – slams and MS events. If he cannot do this, he will continue to fall, unfortunately. : (

June 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

Von and TD (Tam),
If you haven’t read this interview with Roddick ( from timesonline), then press this link. It is a fun one, especially the bit with the cab driver:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/paul_kimmage/article6493136.ece

June 15th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

He spoke in German at Halle.

“Djokovic, on the other hand, was disappointed, but he thanked the crowd for their support all week. Speaking in German, since he trained for two years in Munich as a youngster, he said: “I am really looking forward to next year.”

June 15th, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Murray can beat even Fed !

HUH
Yeah well, we all know Murray would trade all his victories over Fed to have won the US open when he had the chance.

June 15th, 2009 at 1:06 pm

Vared,
come on!

How did they go into the US Open final? Rafa being the number one was denied the first match for the semis. knowing a big storm was coming, the US Open officials gave Fed the first spot . Rafa and Murray had to wait in the locker room and then through a rain delay and a two-day match!

I believe in equal conditions Murray would have had a better chance.

June 15th, 2009 at 1:42 pm

Von,

Shortening to Skeezer or Skeez would be a honor :)

Regarding the point system. All I can say is look at the other posts and everyone else in there own way has problems with the point system. I agree it needs a FAIR over haul!

June 15th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

The US Open 08 clearly showed one thing and that’s Murray was nowhere near beating Fed in a slam at that point, even though Fed made a ridiculous 29 UE in that match & was 30-40 % below his best. I guess it’s difficult for some to accept this truth.

June 15th, 2009 at 2:12 pm

Vared, I’ve not conveniently left out Roddick’s name. May be you’re more confident than me of Roddick’s chances against Murray on grass, that’s why you think I did it intentionally but that’s not true. IMO Murray & Roddick’d have had equal chances to win!

June 15th, 2009 at 2:22 pm

A 21 years old Murray in 08 USO faced a 27 years old Fed in the final, the day after he beat Rafa in the semi. Most importantly Murray played just 3 1/4 hrs over 2 days to beat Rafa.
But still people are bringin up the fatigue excuse for Murray, sheesh !

June 15th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

huh,
it is not much about Murray’s fatigue than the advantages givern left and right to Federer.
I guess we will never know what would have happened if Fed was the one sitting two days in the locker room and playing the day before the final, because for some reason he has never had to go through any of the hardship other players have to endure in situations like that.

June 15th, 2009 at 2:51 pm

Zola: Thanks for the link on Roddick. I doubt I’ve read it, since I don’t normally read players’ interviews and pressers except if someone posts a link and mentions something of importance then I’d glance through the presser very quickly. What I’ve found with pressers is that they are rather time consuming to read. Also, the reporters seem to ask all of the players pretty much the same questions, and most of the players have nearly the same answers. It’s almost like a template, with a few changes made to the script to suit the occasion. Anyway, thanks for thinking of me.
_________________
jane: Ref: Roddick’s pressers, see my above response to Zola. It pretty much sums it up with respect to my thoughts on the pressers, but lack of time is another huge factor for me. I also like to read a variety of topics and don’t want to become too saturated with just tennis.

With regard to Djoko’s outlook, he definitely needs to move on when incident occur. He tends to dwell on incidents for much too long, and considering how many incidents happen with him, its appears to me as though he’s stockpiling these problems and refuses to let go. This is definitely a recipe for mental burn-out and negativity multiplying. I suppose it’s his personality and one which seems to be sort of genetic in nature, since his father is a rather hyper person, and children tend to emulate their parents. A mental health specialist, psychologist or therapist is definitely needed for guidance. His problem is not solely a sports problem but more like a personality problem, hence my mention of a mental health/psychologist and not a sports psychologist per se.

I mentioned his comments on match v. Haas, which now appears to be the trend whenever he loses. Federer and nadal are criticized for their comments, but I think Djoko is not very far behind. I suppose some players make these statements to ease the disappointment of their losses, but they do need to engage in a healthier and magnanimous mind-set by their acceptance of the loss and handing more generous kudos to their opponents. I suppose in time these inadequacies can be overcome, but the more it’s perpetuated the more difficult it is to break the habit.

June 15th, 2009 at 3:25 pm

Skeezer: “Shortening to Skeezer or Skeez would be a honor.” Thanks, I’ve already done so.

June 15th, 2009 at 3:27 pm

roddick riding a bike, heading to the kings of leon concert tonight:

http://www.tennistweets.com/go/8/andyroddick

injury must be okay(?)

June 15th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

von: interesting what you say about Djko’s mindset. He’s got a load of baggage but unfortunately seems to have bought a rucksack to carry it around with him! I’ve said 2 jane too that I think there’s an awful lot of pressure on him and if you read comments on other websites, some of his fans seem deranged. It may be to do with the recent terrible history of the Balkans, I suppose.
Ta 4 remarks re Andy M…..talking of pressure…

June 15th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

It’s not Fed alone who’s privileged but also Rafa, whose each and every loss is linked to some sort of true/mysterious/mythical/suspicious fatigue and/or injury issue, not to mention the let off he’s given for time violations and other similar antics !

June 15th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

huh: have you seen, apparently Martina Navratilova has 10 new tennis rules she wants adopted. One of them is restricting the number of ball tosses….wow is she gonna be popular!
Also, there’s a lot of negative commentary on the Beeb at the mo. about the length of time between points. I think it was John Lloyd who commented on the speed with which the Murray Blake match was being played and the other guy said “Hallelulia” in a very heartfelt way!

June 15th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

ms: Thanks for that twitter link. Maybe Roddick’s ankle is not as bad as we initially thought, however, riding a bike is not the same as running on court, and that’s the real test. I’m hoping that his ankle will be alright for Wimby, but he definitely has to take thinks easily or else he could make the injury worse. Anyway, here’s hoping ….
________________
margot: You’re welcome ref: Andy M. yes, mucho pressure.

I dont’ read many websites, so I don’t know too much about Djoko’s fans’ behavior. As a matter of fact, I don’t know much about Djoko either, except for my observation of his on-court persona, and some of his comments from bits and pieces of articles I’ve read, however, he does seem to hold onto the negative baggage for much too long, IMO. Just recently, at the Serbia tourney, he was rehashing the USO and the AO incidents with Roddick. To me that’s a heck of a long time to have those thoughts so uppermost in one’s mind, and it’s what leads me to think Djoko does not let go of anything, period. He seems to set himself up as some kind of martyr, with a ‘poor me’ attitude. He’s too young for that sort of mentality and it will only weigh him down more than his tennis, so he’d better start learning to let go, or else ….

June 15th, 2009 at 4:23 pm

margot, I think Martina’d be more popular than unpopular for the changes she intends to bring to tennis. And you know what? Yesterday or the day before it, she severely lashed out at the players’ grunting, which she says has crossed all limits. So true!

June 15th, 2009 at 4:46 pm

margot, Rafa at times also wears me down with his grunts. What about you?

June 15th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

The players’ grunting, especially the women’s, and the time violations have been a pet peeve of Martina’s for quite a while now, and I agree with her. In fact, most of the commentators talk about those two problems at least once in every match, and something needs to be done. I’ve gotten extremely turned off of the women’s matches because of the screams.

June 15th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

huh,
interesting comparison! but you know well that Fed “requests” all these scheduling advantages andhe gets it. He did that in US Open. Being number 2, he had to play second. Who knows what would have happened if it was Fed who had to play two days and come to the final with no rest!

If rest was not important, Fed would not have insisted on playing first!

At least then don’t bash Murray for being tired.

June 15th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

I somehow got used to Sharapova and Willimas sisters’ grunting. But that girl ( Le Brito) is just too much. I was not able to watch Seles for the same reason. Just too loud!

June 15th, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Zola Says:”huh,it is not much about Murray’s fatigue than the advantages givern left and right to Federer.”

Comon Zola, the semifinal scheduling is not based on player’s ranking or if he is a No 1 or a 4-time defending champion. It was No 2 vs No 3 in 1st semi and No 1 vs No 4 in the second.
And the half of the draw which started first in the tournament will end up playing the 1st semi-finals. I guess thats the case in all the grand-slams. Somehow Fed finishes his semi-final matches inside 3 hrs.. whereas Nadal always need 3 or 4 plus hrs to either win or lose his semi-finals.

Talking abt rain… Fed had to fight the drizzle, wind and the clown to win that French Opne final.

June 15th, 2009 at 9:18 pm

zola Says: “huh, interesting comparison! but you know well that Fed “requests” all these scheduling advantages andhe gets it. He did that in US Open. Being number 2, he had to play second.”

You sound quite bitter there. Semifinals scheduling are not based on ranking, but based of the section of the draw. Federer played second in his French Open semi-finals because his half started after Nadal’s half. Regarding scheduling demands early in the tournaments, well.. he has earned it. Look at Nadal’s demands.. he wants more clay and less hard-court to rest his tired knees.

June 15th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

Murray had to wait in the locker room and then through a rain delay and a two-day match!

Zola, the rain delay at USO and the windy conditions at IW. Poor thing.

June 15th, 2009 at 10:05 pm

vared: You’re so funny. An A+ for persistence. LOL. FYI, I’m not taking sides, I just find so much humor here, and I’m not laughing at you, but with you. LOL.

June 15th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

Zola, I’m not bashing Murray. May be you in your heart keep bashing every player other than Rafa, that’s why you think everybody else also does that. But I’m not like you. All that you’ve is honey in words but poison in feelings.

June 16th, 2009 at 2:00 am

Tejuz, don’t bother to explain anything to Zola coz her blind and selfish love for Rafa has made her a Fed hater type of person already and she’s not realising it. She’s a conspiracy theorist who’s lost all her credibility. No one’s buying
her theories.

June 16th, 2009 at 2:06 am