Tennis-X Notes: Federer Done? Serena Williams Redux

by Staff | September 15th, 2009, 9:31 pm
  • 141 Comments

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS

PASS ON A PUBLIC APOLOGY — Patrick McEnroe in an on-court interview after the Williams sisters won the US Open doubles title on Monday asked Serena Williams about the second media statement she put out, but Serena skirted the issue. No public apology necessary, just let your PR handlers print it? This whole affair couldn’t have been handled worse…
ADHEREL
BackOffice Associates, “a leading provider of data migration and data governance solutions for global SAP customers,” has signed an endorsement deal with Melanie Oudin. Not exactly Gatorade, but a start…

From the AP on Serena Williams at the Mtv Video Music Awards: “Backstage, the atmosphere was just as chaotic. Serena Williams, whose outburst with a line judge at the U.S. Open on Saturday provoked a Kanye-sized reaction of its own, mingled with the celebrities. Her request for gum was met quickly by stagehands — perhaps even quicker considering her profanity-laced, finger-pointing tirade at a linesperson for penalizing her for a foot fault that helped her lose the match.”…


“Are you scared? Because I said I would hit you? I’m sorry, but there’s a lot of people who’ve said way worse.” — Serena Williams to the US Open linesperson before being defaulted.

Melanie Oudin pulled from this week’s WTA Tour Bell Challenge tournament in Quebec City, citing an injury to her left thigh — or media duties. The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was scheduled to make TV appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “Ellen” this week. “She told us her left thigh is bothering her,” Bell Challenge Tournament Director Jacques Herisset told the Toronto Globe and Mail. “If I put on my coach’s hat, I can understand that at 17 you don’t want to take chances. But she could have started next Wednesday and people here are very disappointed.”…

Three-time Grand Slam title winner Jack Kramer died at his Los Angeles home on Saturday at 88 years of age. Kramer was the world No. 1 in the late 1940s, winning Wimbledon in 1947 and the US National Championships in 1946-47. He won seven Grand Slam doubles titles, and helped found the ATP player’s union in 1972. He also organized the ATP Los Angeles event…

There are double the players 6-foot-4 and taller in the 2009 US Open draw than 20 years ago…

“You don’t f*****g know me!” — Serena Williams screaming at a linesperson after being called for a foot fault at the 2009 US Open.

Serena Williams in her post-match loss conference at the US Open if she had regrets over losing her temper: “I haven’t really thought about it to have any regrets. I try to — I’ve done — you know, I try not to live my life saying, ‘I wish, I wish.’ But, you know, I was out there and I fought and I tried and I did my best.”

Kim Clijsters rose to No. 19 on the WTA Rankings after winning the US Open and playing just three events in 2009…

SERENA = GOOD — From Jasmyne Cannick writing for blacktennispros.com on the apologist tip: “What happened Saturday during the women’s semifinal at the United States Open between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters is just another example of how Black women are still seen as threatening and hostile…Under an extreme amount of pressure, maybe it got to her. It can happen to the best of us. After all, a person can only take so much and it’s not as if the field of tennis rolled out the red carpet for her and sister Venus…What ensued Saturday was nothing more than a few angry curse words that turned into Serena having to defend herself against unmade threats towards the lineswoman who was obviously suffering from a typical case of a white-woman-afraid-of-the-Black-girl syndrome. How else do you explain the lineswoman accusations of Serena threatening to kill her?…Most Black women can relate to what happened to Serena. We get mad like everyone else. The only difference is that for some reason when white women get angry, they’re not seen as threatening as we are. Maybe it’s the expression on our face. Maybe it’s the seriousness with which we address issues when we are upset. Maybe it’s the tone of our voice. You know that “don’t fuck with me today” tone that can stop a person dead in their tracks and scares the shit out of most white people…Serena Williams is a very smart woman…There’s nothing wrong with Serena Williams. Perhaps when more Black women tennis players ascend to the level of the Williams’ sisters and the Women’s Tennis Association has the opportunity to interact with more Black women outside of Serena and Venus, they won’t be so afraid of the Black girls. Perhaps.” (The author of Ebony Magazine’s July 2008 cover story on Serena Williams, Jasmyne Cannick can be reached at www.jasmynecannick.com)…

SERENA = BAD — African-American sports writer Jason Whitlock writing for FOX Sports: “[Kim] Clijsters put a clown suit on Serena. Two-and-a-half years after retiring to have a baby and in her first major since her return, she wiped the court with the self-described No. 1 player. Rather than take her beating like a a grown-ass woman, Serena first smashed her racket and then sacrificed match point with a ridiculous tirade directed at the line judge. Everybody knows damn well Serena has no business losing a major to a baby’s mama. And everyone knows damn well if Serena dropped 20 pounds and focused on her game, she’d be untouchable. But rather than focus on her unrealized potential, McEnroe and Serena’s other groupies want to pretend that calling a foot fault late in a match that Serena was clearly losing was some sort of hate crime worthy of Serena making a fool of herself. The foot fault didn’t cost Serena the U.S. Open. Just like nearly every other loss in her career, Serena’s unwillingness to compete at her highest level led to the defeat.”…

ESPN PTI’s Tony Kornheiser is writing off Roger Federer as someone who can win majors? Really? Stick to covering the football…

The ATP’s Xavier Malisse was kicked off the tour for a while after a Serena-like offense, but is Serena going to get off with no penalty? What message is that sending? Only $10K fine? That’s like fining you of me a dollar…

The RTBF television network reported that Justine Henin had recently bought 14 rackets…comeback time…


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141 Comments for Tennis-X Notes: Federer Done? Serena Williams Redux

vared Says:

SERENA = BAD — African-American sports writer Jason Whitlock writing for FOX Sports: “[Kim] Clijsters put a clown suit on Serena.

Oh, hey Staff, didn’t ‘Been there’ criticize me for mentioning this article and that the author was Black.
OK are you ready to criticize staff now? LOL


vared Says:

Yo, Been there?

been there, done that Says:
What am wondering is why Vared has to point out that the writer of the article is black. What does race have to do with any of this?…..Why does race have to be injected into everything? Jeez.

Posted September 14th, 2009 at 3:58 pm

http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-09-14/2344.php


blah Says:

BSPN is full of sensationalists. And perhaps Jasmyne Cannick should go back and watch the match and realize that the linesperson was not white. ugh.


Joe Says:

Tony Kornheiser is an idiot and knows nothing about tennis.


TD (Tam) Says:

quote-
“In the trunk:
2.Roger FEDERER
Ever seen Rog lose his grip on a final like that?”

Yes, at the Australian Open this year. Tennisx “staff” have a short memory. ;)

Thrilled to pieces for del Potro’s first slam win and that Federer’s run finally came to an end. I hope this is the dawn of new exciting era of tennis. more good news: Rafa is back at number two rank!

There is no big four that includes Murray. He is n island unto himself, the only top player without a slam to his name.


TD (Tam) Says:

quote-“Rather than take her beating like a a grown-ass woman”

I really dislike the ghetto talk that’s invaded “journalism” nowadays. It’s so distasteful and shows how ignorant and classless our society has become.


been there, done that Says:

vared,

Thank you for shouting out that I called you out for injecting race into the whole situation & for holding such a thing as a grudge. Also, thank-you for remembering my tennis-x identity after what, two days? I must have said something really special, so I’m highly flattered. :), :D

As I said on that day, there is no need to mention that this writer is white & the other is black (or albino, yellow, red, green, whatever) for the sake of either defending or attacking or admonishing Serena. Everyone, whatever the race, is in agreement that she over-reacted & could have handled herself better. Even Serena, & her dearest sister Venus (who are classified as black in case you missed) have admitted that she was wrong to lose her temper. Most commentators (who in my eyes appear to be white…perhaps am colour blind) have also said Serena should not have lost her temper as much.

Also, better you put things into context because if memory serves me right, there were many racist posts on that thread. So why don’t you put the title of the thread along with all your posts instead of just posting my single ‘critisism’ which I have stood by?

So you shouting out that I criticized you & saying staff mentions it as well is not going to make me (& others who agree)change my mind on that.

But to make you happy, let me also call out staff & you by copy-pasting the same message you’ve bothered to dig out from a thread with over 400 (or is it the one with 800+) comments. Here goes.

————————————————–

What am wondering is why VARED & STAFF have to point out that the writer of the article is black. What does race have to do with any of this?…..Why does race have to be injected into everything? Jeez

————————————————–

Job done. :). Depending on your time zone, I hope you sleep better tonight or have a fantastic day/afternoon now that I’ve answered you. :)


TD (Tam) Says:

Jasmyne Cannick, another ghetto “journalist” full of hate. First of all the lineswoman was not white she was asian, get your eyes checked. Second of all Serena was treated differently because she didn’t just curse at the lady, she PHYSICALLY THREATENED HER which is against the rules and is grounds for fines. If Federer had physically threatened the chair umpire he would have had the same reaction from the press and officials.

Contrary to what these racist “journalists” think, not everything is about race. And in this case Serena actually got off lightly.. And don’t make me laugh about the Williams sisters not getting the red carpet treatment from officials. If anything they’ve gotten preferential special treatment from everybody, including the press who can’t fawn over them enough.


been there, done that Says:

vared @10:07 says:
“OK are you ready to criticize staff now? LOL”

Yes…I’ve done it above just for you so that you are now in a better state of mind. Just to let you know that tennis-x ‘staff’ doesn’t not pay my salary, so me criticizing them, rightly or wrongly, is not have an iota of an effect on my life. Nada.

And in an imaginary world where ‘staff’ could have an effect on my life, I would still stand by my comments above. Also, I’m no longer in nursery school……so actually not scared of pointing out something that I may disagree with to people in authority, especially on a tennis blog.

I hope I’ve answered your question.
Cheers.


Barry Says:

The bottom line is that Jasmyne Cannick is a racist moron and should be ignored


Mary Says:

Ms. Cannick is a journalist who covers African American issues.

It should be pointed out that Staff took out rather large chunks of the full article, leaving it without the full context.

This entire paragraph should have put put in:
“What’s more of a concern to me as a Black woman is that white people recognize that we all aren’t foot stomping “aww heck!” kind of girls when we get upset, some of us are “what the f#ck?” kind of girls, but that doesn’t mean that our words should be taken out of context, our actions scrutinized and then generalized to represent how all Black women act.”
http://blacktennispros.com/


kimfan Says:

To Mary, feeling the need to put ms Cannick’s remark into perspective (via the paragraph): what’s your point? because the paragraph you add doesn’t really say anything new that wasn’t said in the the above article. But it doesn’t make sense. I cannot relate to racism, but i can relate to to being misperceived, due to dialect/slang. my dialect (not in the us) is perceived as standard hostile to everyone else in my country. we say hello, and they run for cover. that doesn’t mean i don’t have the brains to refrain from such outings in a grandslam semi final. and if i would out of pure rage, stress, in the moment stuff? i’d still realise that that can be misconceived and i would apologize. what weirds me out most is that dialect/slang is apparently a racial thing (all black women (like condleeza rize f.i. do it, and we should be used to it by now…..) instead of geographic regional or subculture thing.


Mary Says:

Kimfan: Serena’s meltdown automatically became Crazy Black woman meltdown. In the US, there is an issue where when a minority is in the spotlight, they represent that entire minority. There is a racist perception that all black women are angry, sassy, on the verge of a curse-fueled meltdown at all times.
In the country, a reality show is not complete without a crazy angry black woman being added to the show.
If you read posts about the meltdown on different tennis or general forums, Serena’s race is mentioned in the first few posts.
Instead of the Serena story being about Serena, it became in the media and in much of the public ” generalized to represent how all Black women act.”
Much is being made of the image of this physically strong black woman screaming threats to a little Asian woman.

One thing that does bother me, and is rarely mentioned, is that the chair called the linesperson over to ask what Serena said to her. I don’t know, but I strongly think,he heard some of it and wanted clarification. If he didn’t hear any of the tirade, why would he call the lineswoman over, b/c that’s not what they usually do.

At Wimbledon this year, a white physially large female player–Azarenka, got in a linesperson’s face, an older white woman, shook the linesperson’s hand and made a sarcastic remark to her.
She physically touched the linesperson and I don’t think the chair got involved–as I think they should have. I’m sure the linesperson didn’t know the player’s intent as she walked over to her.
This is from Azarenka’s press conference:
Q. So to clarify, did you apologize later or not?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. Well, I didn’t go over and say, “I’m so sorry.”

To the best of my knowledge, no reprimand was made and it didn’t get major press or analyzed to death. No stereotypical generalizations were made concerning the player’s race or country of origin.


Mary Says:

Kimfan: I forgot to ask, where do you live?


ros dopwell Says:

The report on the Serena Williams interview ~is WRONG on TWO Major counts (i) I=t was NOT Serena that skirted Patrick Mc Enroe’s quest but Venus who said CAN WE MOVE ON (Incidentally – the Crowd booed McEnro & cheered lustily for Venus (ii) In THE interview aired on the BBC SERENA spoke UNSCRIPTED – for the second apology where she said she would give the Lady a Big ole (sic)HuG – IT WAS NOT A PR FIRM WRITTEN COMMENT – she was speaking off her HEAD from her HEART!!!! (NOT READING)


Mary Says:

Mary, The difference between Azarenka and Williams in this particular case was that S. Williams was a poor sport and walk out on the Fans, the US open, her opponent, and many more. I am sure that not so much would have been said if S. Williams would have kept her cool and lost with a little class. Tennis has always had it share of tempers and tennis fans love it. But its people like you that have to take the fun out of watching the sport and turn it into something political/racial.

It cracks me up how much people in the USA try to make something racial that is obviously not. Quite honestly I am sick of it.


scineram Says:

Yes, at the Australian Open this year. Tennisx “staff” have a short memory. ;)

Rog never had a grip on Rafa, let alone in that final.


vared Says:

What am wondering is why VARED & STAFF have to point out that the writer of the article is black. What does race have to do with any of this?…..

SEAN RANDALL and DAN MARTIN, etc. Will you please answer Been There and tell him why you decided to inject race into your article? He is referring to this item: — African-American sports writer Jason Whitlock…
Thank you


been there, done that Says:

vared,

you did it first on the 14th sept as you kindly reminded me in your post above at 10:10pm. This has nothing to do with Sean Randall & Dan Martin. If you’ve been following these blogs, you’d know that Sean & Dan are not ‘staff’….when Sean & Dan write an article, they do it under their own names. In fact, one of them recently said that she/he doesn’t know who ‘staff’ is.

So why don’t YOU (VARED) say why you interjected race???? instead of trying to cover your backside by bringing Sean Randall & dan Martin into this?


huh Says:

QUESTION: Federer done?
Answer : Time will tell…


Gordo Says:

scineram Says:
Yes, at the Australian Open this year. Tennisx “staff” have a short memory. ;)

Rog never had a grip on Rafa, let alone in that final.

=====

You are correct. Certainly at the Australian Open after the first few games of the first set there was never the thought that Roger had the match in the bag. After the first set of the US Open I think most of us thought the match would be over in 3 sets, so in that regard he certainly lost his grip on the match.

What was similar to his loss at the Australian Open was the vanishing act Federer’s first serve did.

Quite simply, if he had served as well at either the Australian Open or the US Open as he did at the French Open or at the Wimbledon final he probably would have won the Australian Open and he most certainly would have won the other day.

Conversely, had he served at Wimbledon the way he served the other day Roddick would have won the UK tennis crown.

It was a bad day at the office – not to take anything from the “once I got over the opening jitters watch this big boy show you what I can do” amazing performance from Del Potro. Congratulations to him on injecting a little more excitement into what is already a great mens tour.

=====

So just for fun, with the odd (in more ways than one) person saying Federer is on the way out…

Not only have we seen Federer reach 22 consecutive semifinals, but the road to the title of each slam championship either belonged to him or the person who defeated who then went on to win the title.

Anyone care to predict which will be the first Grand Slam event and in which year that someone wins it without having to defeat Roger Federer?


andrea Says:

agreed on the serve.

the difference at the AO was that in the fourth set, roger got two breaks of serve against rafa and the momentum was then on his side. then, inexplicably, his serve went to total sh** in the fifth set.

at the US Open, his serve started to leave him far earlier. then he mangled the 4th set tie break and you could feel his momentum, and chances, leave the stadium.

at the AO you felt like he had a chance to wrap it up. to me, once i saw that 4th set tiebreaker in NYC, i knew the title was del potro’s.


SG Says:

Interesting that Fed didn’t mention anything about “coming back next year” in his address to the NYC audience. It may be a sign. Then again, who knows? Fed gets grumpy when he loses.


andrea Says:

and i’m not a fan of predictions, but i too keep wondering when there will be two people in a GS final with one of them not being roger?

i think they showed a stat that he has been in 17 of the last 18 GS finals??? almost unfathomable.

the AO seems to be the most unpredictable slam, so maybe we should predict on the most unpredictable?


SG Says:

Feds’ what 27, 28 years old? If he’s not playing tennis, what’s he gonna’ do? I say he’s back for at least one more year. To try and pad his total slam lead if nothing else. If Rafa’s not 100%, Fed’s the best red dirt player in the world. And I still say Fed’s the best hardcourter too. He melted down in the 5th set but if he served better, he probably would have won. Federer is pretty dependent on his serve though. In a final it can be a pretty hit or miss situation for him. The rest of his game is not as consistent as it was 3 or 4 years ago.


vared Says:

you did it first on the 14th sept

“Been there”, and the mysterious staff did it “second” lol. Whoever staff is should answer the question of why they injected race into a post as you say.
Let them be heard.
I have already answered the question for you on that other thread.


Kimo Says:

Tennis columnists make me sick.

A month ago Roger was on top of the world and won RG and Wimbledon back to back in aiddition to Madrid and Cincy. Now, they think he’s not a slam contender anymore.

How insightful!!!!


been there, done that Says:

vared,

Thank you for pointing out that you have answered on the other thread. However, I live in the present, so will not bother going back to read whatever you have to say on the other thread seeing that it was two days ago. You dragged up the old subject to this thread, so I choose to answer & read only this thread….not something which is already two days old.

Yeah, you can continue asking the mysterious ‘staff’ why they have interjected race. Repeat the question on each new thread until they answer you ‘coz it seems like this has really affected you.

for me, as i said before, I’m not scared of this ‘staff’ & you telling on me to staff like a nursery school child will not make me change my mind regarding what I’ve said to you.

So, take the rest up with ‘staff’ as i’m not in the habit of stalking people’s identities on the internet. hope you have a fantastic day/evening/night wherever you are after you receive the answer you so desperately need.

cheers.


been there, done that Says:

Kimo,

They have to write something controversial to get website hits. It’s the way they earn a living! Write up anything to sell, be it true or false or inane.


Veno Says:

Don’t sweat it Kimo, remember last year?
Nothing you can do, it always goes like this.

Ok, Fed’s serve was off, DelPo capitalized after Fed let him back in. Juan Martin deservedly won because he was better on the day. All credit to him.

I am happy for Juan Martin. Fed’s also happy to see Juan Martin win(after the last point was played of course) It’s good for tennis a youngster won.

All this is true and we’ll see how much of a force Fed will be at the Slams(I think he’ll be one of the top favourites every single time he plays) A

s will Juan Martin from now on and I hope he’ll continue being as focussed and hungry. Now is the time he’ll really have to show he’s there to stay. Although every sign points towards a big yes, one always has to wait and see.(ask Novak, Pete, Marat etc etc)

One thing not mentioned alot(and what Johnny Mac used as his reasoning for not picking Fed to win) is that to me, Fed still reaching the final is just a mindblowing testament of how great a player he really is.

To have such a summer after basicly 15 months of anguish(bar doubles gold at Olympics and USO ’08) and breaking the Roland Garros curse, taking back Wimbledon in an epic, breaking Pete, becoming a father of twins…..

…after such a long high, it’s remarkable to say the least that he’s able to mentally be sharp enough(although not as sharp in the final as he usually is in finals) keep his mind focussed so much to win 6 3-set matches and still fight and grind out a 5-setter in the final.

Juan Martin was unbelievably mature in the final and great credit to him. I for one am so happy for the gentle Giant. He surely deserved the title and it’s great for tennis.

But how much do you have to love playing tennis to reach the final of the Open again just after becoming a father and having won everything to complete your career, especially because a year earlier as well as half a year earlier everyone was writing you off?

Amazing. Fed will be missed dearly if he were to decide to call it quits any time soon.


Veno Says:

6 3 set matches(read 6 best of 5 set matches :)


huh Says:

“scineram Says:
Yes, at the Australian Open this year. Tennisx “staff” have a short memory. ;)

Rog never had a grip on Rafa, let alone in that final.”

Totally agree………


Von Says:

Hello mon ami. I think you know who you are, je’taime bien.

Staff likes to push the fans buttons, especially the top players’ fans. I doubt whether Federer will hang up his racquet and become a 24 hour daddy. No way, he’ll be around until 2012, he said that, and I believe he will do just that.

Monday was just a bad day at the office and it happens to the best and the worst of players. There’s plenty of life left in them old bones and then some. I think DelPo had better be prepared the next time he meets Fed because Fed likes to put the young ones in their place, same as Pistol Pete liked to do. Therefore, I think if DelPotro should meet Fed at the AO, he’ll be in for a good fight. anyway, that’s the way the cookie crumbles and it’s time to move on …. next ….


huh Says:

“Gordo says:

Anyone care to predict which will be the first Grand Slam event and in which year that someone wins it without having to defeat Roger Federer? ”

May be next year, I mean 2010!


huh Says:

“Kimo Says:
Tennis columnists make me sick.

A month ago Roger was on top of the world and won RG and Wimbledon back to back in aiddition to Madrid and Cincy. Now, they think he’s not a slam contender anymore.

How insightful!!!!”

Just as insightful as the conclusions of angry anti-Feds ! ;)


huh Says:

“andrea says:

the difference at the AO was that in the fourth set, roger got two breaks of serve against rafa and the momentum was then on his side. then, inexplicably, his serve went to total sh** in the fifth set.

at the US Open, his serve started to leave him far earlier. then he mangled the 4th set tie break and you could feel his momentum, and chances, leave the stadium.

at the AO you felt like he had a chance to wrap it up. to me, once i saw that 4th set tiebreaker in NYC, i knew the title was del potro’s.”

andrea,

I can’t say agree 100% on this, but most of the commentators seem to think this way, it’s obvious from the way they have been commenting on it. The thing is that many former greats actually were sure of Fed’s victory in OZ 09 Final, however it didn’t end up the way they expected, that’s for sure.


huh Says:

“SG Says:
Interesting that Fed didn’t mention anything about “coming back next year” in his address to the NYC audience. It may be a sign. Then again, who knows? Fed gets grumpy when he loses.”

Don’t freak me out, dude/dudy!


Veno Says:

Hey Von!

I saw Rush Hour 3 times last week hahahaha

Couldn’t get enough of it…..

“Woa!!! Damn!!!(laughing) I’m sorry man, I thought this was the bathroom. Lee, we have a big problem here, this guy’s on steroids, he got a head like Barry Bonds.”


vared Says:

A month ago Roger was on top of the world and won RG and Wimbledon back to back in aiddition to Madrid and Cincy. Now, they think he’s not a slam contender anymore.

Kimo, here is what Roger thinks.

Federer, meanwhile, said it’s possible the run on Grand Slam finals featuring only him and Nadal may be over — which would be fine with del Potro.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/tennis/del_potro_savoring_juan_helluva_Ww5WVMJnEhuW3smez8mxhI


huh Says:

“been there done that says:

One thing not mentioned alot(and what Johnny Mac used as his reasoning for not picking Fed to win) is that to me, Fed still reaching the final is just a mindblowing testament of how great a player he really is.”

The best thing said in a while! :D


Von Says:

Veno: I wonder how you were able to figure out that post was meant for you. LOL.

I have my DVR set to record all Rush Hour movies at any time– it’s on auto pilot. ha ha.


zola Says:

hey folks,

haven’t been here for a long time. Just came to say Congratulations for Delpo’s first Grand Slam win. He is a Gentle Giant, with that soft voice. It was a very exciting match. He dug deep and got the reward.
Better luck next time for everyone else.

On the women’s side, Kim was the surprise of the tournament. Coming back as a wild card to play like that, taking out Venus and Serena? It was amazing. It was a good final and Jada made it more sweet and memorable. Congratz to kim and supporters. I loved Oudin and Wozniacki as well. Can’t wait to see them play more.


huh Says:

‘been there done that’ has beautifully pointed out stuff about Roger’s love for tennis. Amazing post by been there done that at 1.48 p.m. Love every word of that post.


Veno Says:

@huh, been there, done that didn’t say that, I did lol


zola Says:

Jane,
thanks for that link on grading US Open players.
I like this:

***
D
*Dick Enberg: His commentary for CBS was fine. But trying during the trophy presentation to prevent del Potro from addressing his fans in Spanish? That was ridiculous. By far, one of the tournament’s lowest moments.
****

It was very rude to not let a 20-year old who just got his first GS, talk in his own language. On women’s side, Kim spoke in 2 and Wozniacki in 3 langauegs!


Veno Says:

The fact they grade Enbergs performance with a D just baffles me!

they should introduce a “G” to the grade scaling just because of Enberg imo


huh Says:

I still giggle thinking about foolish fellows like Mats Wilander who predicted Fed’s demise last year after his Wim defeat. It’s so funny to see Fed forcing him to eat his words and thumping his ego and adding to his miseries by bouncing back from Wim setback and winning the USO 08. Not only that he’s done something which the fool Wilander could only have dreamed of doing, Fed won the career slam man, career slam, wow! Mats Wilander!!!!


been there, done that Says:

huh @2:32,

It’s actually veno’s statement, so credit to veno.
No big deal though:)


vared Says:

From Been there:If you’ve been following these blogs, you’d know that Sean & Dan are not ’staff’…

From Been there: I live in the present, so will not bother going back to read…two days ago

“Been there,” pretty contradictory statements. I’m supposed to follow the blogs back to unknown periods but you can’t go back two days. LOL

I don’t know that Sean and Dan are not staff and as I live in the present I cannot possibly go back and read voluminous threads. How’s that?

Bless him, all that emerges is intolerable drivel.


Veno Says:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtvc8ZHLGhkXbs11gpnjiREqHl9QD9AOHRSG0

Fed’s already in Italy for the relegation round against Italy!

I for one hope he tries to go for a DC win in twenty-ten!!! With Stan da man and an in-form Ciudinelli they have a great chance to get far.

That said….Netherlands a big underdog this weekend, but I’ll be watching it in the front row when they take on France! Go Netherlands!!!!!


Von Says:

Veno: Enberg should be graded a fat ‘F”, as in failed or whatever.LOL.


Veno Says:

@been there, done that: no big deal indeed, could have been your post. You’re being a prince again(or was it princess?, you never told me)

We started off with a little scoffle(I kinda like that, tells a lot about someone) but really enjoy your posts!

Keep up the good work!


Veno Says:

Von Says:

Veno: Enberg should be graded a fat ‘F”, as in failed or whatever.LOL.

I’ll just repeat my earlier post@ 2.44 Vonnie

Veno says:
“The fact they grade Enbergs performance with a D just baffles me!

they should introduce a “G” to the grade scaling just because of Enberg imo”


been there, done that Says:

vared,

Please stop stalking my identity on a tennis blog. You really keep tabs on my posts, so thank you for that, but really, it’s getting a bit insane. Please stop embarrassing yourself by uttering intolerable drivel on threads. Take up your whining with ‘staff’. or is it that you are so bored with your life with nothing to do & no one to speak with that you want to start a meaningless ‘fight’ on a tennis blog?

And yes, Dan Martin & Sean Randall post under their own names. Nothing contradictory about that.there must be a way with which you can contact them.

Also, you don’t know my gender. so please don’t assume I am a ‘he’. I could be a she, or a he-she. For the last time, stop stalking me!!


huh Says:

OHHHHHH SORRRRYYYY Veno, you’re so sweet, indeed you have said that. And for this I thank you very very very very MUCH!

Thus correction to my posts at 2.32 and 2.37 p.m. And here it goes:

1.FIRST CORRECTION—

“huh Says:
“been there done that says:

One thing not mentioned alot(and what Johnny Mac used as his reasoning for not picking Fed to win) is that to me, Fed still reaching the final is just a mindblowing testament of how great a player he really is.

The best thing said in a while! :D”

Above post MUST be read as

Veno says:

One thing not mentioned alot(and what Johnny Mac used as his reasoning for not picking Fed to win) is that to me, Fed still reaching the final is just a mindblowing testament of how great a player he really is.”

The best thing said in a while! :D

2. SECOND CORRECTION—–

“huh Says:
‘been there done that’ has beautifully pointed out stuff about Roger’s love for tennis. Amazing post by been there done that at 1.48 p.m. Love every word of that post.”

Again above post MUST be read as-

huh Says:
Veno has beautifully pointed out stuff about Roger’s love for tennis. Amazing post by Veno at 1.48 p.m. Love every word of that post.

###########

OK NOW!!! :)


huh Says:

Love ya Veno! :)


Veno Says:

It’s ok huh, I wasn’t offended. Honest mistake, didn’t take it personal, but nice of you to address it. That’s honourable and I appreciate it!


been there, done that Says:

Veno,
“You’re being a prince again(or was it princess?, you never told me) ”

I could have said but someone on this thread seems to be stalking me….so I can’t reveal it for now. lol.

But yeah, nice post from you @1:48pm. Fed is indeed a credit to the game. The only constant in all those 5 set finals, win or lose is the Federer. Now that he’s gotten FO & 15th, & now that fans’ hunger of seeing a new face win instead of Fed-Nadal, I hope Fed goes hunting wild at the AO. It’s been a long dry two years down under….nothing to lose, no records to equal or break, etc.

Long may his reign continue to flourish! Long live the King. lol.


Von Says:

been there: “Long may his reign continue to flourish! Long live the King. lol.”

Did you know that’s the nick for one of the posters here and it’s copyrighted? LOL. He’s very funny BTW. I was thinking about him today (before your post) and wondering what he’ll do about his name now that Fed lost, if he’ll change it, but I doubt it since you’ve just reaffirmed Federer’s reign. ha ha.


been there, done that Says:

@Von,

Really?…I think I’ve seen a name like that, though I can never remember from which website. Hopefully, after 2days, he sould be fine. The king fought hard & lost to a brave youngster who seems to be a fed-fan, so all’s good. lol. I loved when Del.P says to Fed “I want to be just like you Roger….” then wipes away tears. aaawww. A big bear. I’m trying to get access to his interviews with US networks but most are copyrighted & I can’t access. Now off to search in you-tube. lol.


huh Says:

Yes ‘been there done that’, it was Veno indeed, but hey, as you said, no big deal after all coz we are all intelligent people, ha ha ha!


Veno Says:

I agree been there,done that regarding Fed at Ozzie Open. and I saw Vared’s relentless targetting of your “persona”
Vared, please cease this nonsense.

I think Fed will be the favourite down under, especially is he stays injury-free and gets his off-season training in.
I also fancy Rafa if fit, he will do everything he can to defend his title.

Can’t look past gentle giant JMDP. Andy Roddick already reached 4 semis there, Novak won 2 years ago, Murray has a lot to prove and at the Ozzie, somehow a dark horse always makes it far….Oh my, does this sound yummie or what?

I would like to see Fed win Ozzie(beat DelPo) and French(I know, being greedy, beat Rafa) and the DC!!! Wimbledon, I would hope Andy Roddick wins it and it would be cool to see Novak win the USO


Von Says:

been there: Now that you know, watch for him he’ll be breezing in like a tornado. He makes me laugh.

Good luck with the YouTube stuff, wish I could help but I’m a complete computer klutz when it comes to YouTube, etc. LOL.


huh Says:

been there done that,

can you please give me the link where I can watch the portion of presentation ceremony speech where Del Potro said ‘I want you to be just like you Roger’, I’m dying to watch it, honestly!


Veno Says:

at 2.06: he says the cutest thing!
Endearing: he sayt: “I had 2 dreams, 1 being winner of US Open en second to be like Roger. 1 is done!

Then “Dick” Enberg cuts it and starts babbling about money and denies Juan Martin in talking to his family and friends in Spanish, but JMDP persists!!!!! Good for him!!!!!!


Veno Says:

Agree Vonnie on “Long live the King” he wrote great posts!

Top stuff


Von Says:

Veno: Now that I’ve baited him, ha ha, watch out. LOL


grendel Says:

SG says:”If Rafa’s not 100%, Fed’s the best red dirt player in the world.”

Before the French this year, a lot of people said this on the grounds of Fed’s reaching so many claycourt finals. You, however, contested this – quite reasonably, in my view. I believe you thought Djokovic gave Nadal a sterner battle on the red than did Fed, which was certainly true at last years French.

Just out of interest, what has caused you to change your mind? Personally, and going much more on hunch than on knowledge, I believe Fed has more chance of beating delPo at the AO than at the French. And I suspect that Nadal’s sternest rival at the French will indeed be delPo.

Even a 100% fit Nadal will by no means be overwhelming favourite against delPo. Though I do think Fed, if he meets Nadal, will put up a much better show than he customarily has done, has a small chance, even of beating him.


huh Says:

Veno,

Novak can wait, but it’s Murray first of all who badly needs a slam next year, so may be you can root for Murray in next year’s USO, coz I’m all out rootin for Fed at Ozzie Open 2010, I don’t care how he wins, but I wanna surely see him win the Aus Open 2010, there, Come on Fed! Similarly I’m all out for Murray at US & WIM. And though I’m not a fan of Rafa by any means, I won’t be too sad if he can’t win any other slam next year except of course his RG!;) I won’t mind the return of the ‘king of clay’ next year. That said, the shameless Parisians might again cheer against Rafa like they did this year, they just don’t know that by rooting against Rafa, they’re putting down their own prestige. Rafa is a supreme champion at RG, I just don’t understand how and why are they so much against Rafa,Roland Garros’s greatest champ after the legendary Borg! Shame on them! So may be next year, my guys would be ,

A. 1.Fed & 2.Murray for AUS

B. 1.Fed, 2.Del Potro & 3.Rafa for French

C. 1.Roddick 2.Murray & 3.Fed for Wimby

D. 1.Murray & 2.Roddick for USO


huh Says:

grendel,

I still think Rafa’s a fav by some decent margin against Del Potro at FO. It’s hard for me to see Del Potro pushing Rafa to 5-sets or beating him. Rafa’s vvery dangerous at FO, don’t assume anybody as a threat to him next year unless he’s plagued by any injury or discomfort. Del Potro can at best push Rafa to 4 sets at RG, but him beating a 90-100% fit Rafa next year is IMPOSSIBLE IMO, Del Potro stands no chance against a top gear Rafa at RG next year. May be he can stop Rafa in 2011, but 2010 isn’t gonna be the year where you can see Nadal freak out seeing Del Potro in RG.


Veno Says:

@huh,

nice picks. I can live with those too :)
It’s just, I like Novak more than Murray. Unless Andy changes his attitude and game I probably will never warm up to him.

I have nothing against him, I just don’t have anything with him. I think he’ll get a slam, he’s just too good to not get one, but he better hurry up.

His window won’t be opening wider, it will start to close rather sooner than later and the longer it takes him to break through the “slamless jinx”, the harder it will get.

It will be interesting what the rankings will be like at Ozzie Open seeding before the draw though…

I think Rafa and Fed both wouldn’t mind JMDP being among the top 4 at that time(assuming they’ll be 1 and 2) so they wouldn’t have to face him before the semis :)

Same holds for Novak, Andy Murray and A-Rod….

Good times ahead for us, all spoilt tennis afficionados!

We all win!!!


huh Says:

Veno, good times in tennis are freakin killing me! ;) AND YOU’VE DONE ME THE GREATEST EVER FAVOR BY GIVING THE LINK, I don’t know how many times to thank you, but thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks……………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Veno Says:

you’re welcome huh, enjoy


Veno Says:

Good night all…

And bye Vonnie!

And a little FYI: Chris Tucker doesn’t say “je t’aime bien” once in Rush Hour 3 looooool


Von Says:

Veno: Good night and sweet dreams. No Chis Tucker does not say je t’aime bien, he says je t’aime, and I said that in one of my posts on the topic a while back. Look at the scene with Genevieve in the bed, when he tells her about the wonder bread, and you’ll hear the je t’aime.

Catch ya later, manana.


vared Says:

been there, done that Says:
vared,

Please stop stalking my identity on a tennis blog. You really keep tabs on my posts, so thank you for that, but really, it’s getting a bit insane. Please stop embarrassing yourself by uttering intolerable drivel on threads. Take up your whining with ’staff’. or is it that you are so bored with your life with nothing to do & no one to speak with that you want to start a meaningless ‘fight’ on a tennis blog?

And yes, Dan Martin & Sean Randall post under their own names. Nothing contradictory about that.there must be a way with which you can contact them.

Also, you don’t know my gender. so please don’t assume I am a ‘he’. I could be a she, or a he-she. For the last time, stop stalking me!!

Posted September 16th, 2009 at 2:56 pm

Please stop embarrassing yourself by uttering intolerable drivel on threads

Been there, please grow up and learn to use your own vocabulary.

you want to start a meaningless ‘fight’ on a tennis blog?

I believe that two days ago you stalked me and began this mess. Want proof?

For the last time, stop stalking me!!
LOL He/She starts a fight and doesn’t want to finish it? How surprising!

Vared, please cease this nonsense.
Oh and Veno please ask your friend to stop stalking my posts of two days ago. He/She started this and responded to a post of mine. If Been there can’t stand the heat…..


RZ Says:

The know-it-alls said that Federer was done after losing the French Open and Wimbledon to Nadal last year. What happened? Fed won the U.S. Open.

Then other know-it-alls said that Federer was done after he cried at the Australian Open and then broke his racquet in Miami. What happened? Fed won the French Open and Wimbledon.

Seems to me that the know-it-alls should just allow Federer to have an off-day without calling his career over.


SG Says:

grendel Says:
SG says:”If Rafa’s not 100%, Fed’s the best red dirt player in the world.”

Before the French this year, a lot of people said this on the grounds of Fed’s reaching so many claycourt finals. You, however, contested this – quite reasonably, in my view. I believe you thought Djokovic gave Nadal a sterner battle on the red than did Fed, which was certainly true at last years French.

Just out of interest, what has caused you to change your mind? Personally, and going much more on hunch than on knowledge, I believe Fed has more chance of beating delPo at the AO than at the French. And I suspect that Nadal’s sternest rival at the French will indeed be delPo.

———————————

With Nadal out of the picture, Fed did win the FO this year. This combined with his 3 final appearances is better than anyone else has done over the last 4 years except for Nadal.

Fed did get a reasonably fortunate FO draw. He had a much tougher road at this year’s USO. But, I am giving him some credit. He took advantage of Nadal’s absence from the final at the FO and won the tournament.

As for the comment about Djokovic, he has become strangely passive against Federer and others over the last year or so. I don’t know if it’s the new racket or something else. Right now at least, on any surface, Fed is better than Djokovic IMO. I’d like to see that change but for the moment, it doesn’t look like it will.

I think Andy Murray has a similar problem to Djoko. He has the mentality of waiting for his opponent to make mistakes. In big matches, you have to force Fed to make mistakes like DelPo did. Fed has the ability to hit through most players. Andy has get a more aggressive mentality if he’s going to beat the big hitters in the big matches.


been there, done that Says:

vared,

I am going to use your words as I please, and no, I’m not embarassed about it. In fact, I’m very proud that it’s gotten you so hot & bothered. I answered your post on that thread…hardly stalking….but no, because of that, you are now dragging it on to the 3rd day!!! Of all posts which addressed the same issue, i.e. that Serena’s situation should not be turned into race, you picked on mine because I addressed your post. Get a life. Maybe you’re the one who can’t stand the heat? If vared can’t stand the heat…..

You can run and tell on me to ‘staff’ and anyone else is interested that I’ve used your words. So grow up & stop embarrassing yourself by uttering intolerable drivel on threads…….3,2,1…..there now, go tell on me then have a good day or night.

Now quit stalking ‘coz as much as you seem to be in love with this ‘been there, done that’, it’s just a blog persona & will never exist your life.


jane Says:

Hi zola – you’re welcome; nice to see you back.

andrea says “to me, once i saw that 4th set tiebreaker in NYC, i knew the title was del potro’s.””

For me, when Delpo broke right away to start the 5th that was the clincher; based on how Delpo was serving and how determined he seemed from the 2nd set onward, it seemed to me that there was no way Roger would get the break back.


I like tennis bullies Says:

federer lost.

all is right with the tennis world

(:


vared Says:

I answered your post on that thread…hardly stalking
———–
Been there,
Yes it is stalking by your very own definition. So please do not stalk me, harass me or direct any questions or answers to my screen name. Thank you.


vared Says:

Sydney Morning Herald…

DETAILS have emerged of a rift between former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt and his Australian heir apparent Bernard Tomic following a practice snub at Wimbledon.

Hewitt and Tomic have not spoken since the incident, confirmed yesterday by Hewitt’s manager David Drysdale and considered by a furious Hewitt to be a lack of respect.

Tennis Australia’s tennis director Craig Tiley said yesterday he was aware that Tomic’s father, John, who recently asked TA to spend vast sums on his son, had declined the practice invitation on his son’s behalf on Wimbledon’s middle Sunday, as Hewitt prepared for his fourth-round match and Tomic to contest the junior event.

But it has been neither forgotten nor forgiven, with Drysdale describing as ”interesting” any scenario in which the pair was selected in the Davis Cup squad for Australia’s first tie next year.

”I don’t think Bernard should expect much from Lleyton, that’s for sure,” Drysdale said. ”To say that we were less than impressed would be an understatement.”

As Team Hewitt tells it, several phone calls were made to Tomic, his father and an IMG agent on the Saturday evening, asking if Tomic would hit at 1pm the following day.

There was no response, but the 16-year-old was present when Hewitt arrived to practise, his physiotherapist Ivan Gutierrez making the approach to the Tomic entourage.

”We turned up and saw the Tomics around and we thought, ‘Oh, maybe they got our message, and they were there to hit with Lleyton’,” Drysdale said, ”so Ivan went over to Bernard’s trainer at the time, Rudy [Sopko] and said ‘Is Bernard here to hit?’. Rudy knew nothing of it but said ‘Look, Bernard’s looking for a practice partner and I think Bernard would like to do it’, but then the agent came in and said, ‘No, he’s not hitting with Lleyton, Lleyton’s not good enough’.

”They were his words: ‘Lleyton’s not good enough’ and we just about dropped on the spot. We were pretty dumbfounded. Lleyton just could not believe it, and the more he thought about it the angrier he got about it.”

Salting the wound was a subsequent conversation with Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero at courtside. ”Ivan asked if he was available to practise at one o’clock and Juan Carlos said, ‘No, no, I’ve got a practice partner, but that young Australian kid Tomic, he just came and asked me to hit, why don’t you ask him?’,” Drysdale said.

”Then we told Juan Carlos what had happened and his coach said that if a leading player in Spain asked a junior to practise and the junior said no, that he would never get to hit with a senior player again, they would make sure he had all his funding and support from the national federation cut and that he would be, in the coach’s words, ‘strung up from a tree by his balls’.”

Tomic’s agent, Lawrence Frankopan, denied one of his colleagues had denigrated Hewitt and stressed the dual grand slam champion had been an inspiration to his Davis Cup squadmate.

”We’ve been in the industry for 50 years, so the idea that an IMG

agent would say that a multiple grand slam champion was not good enough to hit with a 16-year-old, that’s just ridiculous. It’s laughable,” Frankopan said.

”The situation was that, one, Bernard has the most respect for Lleyton and is the reason why Bernard became a tennis player. And, two, from what I understand that the kid he was playing the next day had a different style to Lleyton and Team Tomic felt that by playing Lleyton it wasn’t beneficial for the next day’s match. Not that he did not want to hit with Lleyton Hewitt … they just felt that it wasn’t beneficial, and that’s just a call from the coach and from the tennis team that is around Bernard.”

Drysdale said they had taken up the matter with Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald, who was apparently told by John Tomic, among other things, that Hewitt should previously have ”done more” for his son.

”That’s absolutely ridiculous, but it was the manner in which they went about it,” Drysdale said. ”I know it’s John Tomic who made the decision; we can’t completely penalise Bernard for it. I think maybe if Bernard was there by himself Bernard would have done it, and I hope that [new Davis Cup coach] Todd Woodbridge can sort all this out …”


blah Says:

SG Says:
“If Rafa’s not 100%, Fed’s the best red dirt player in the world. And I still say Fed’s the best hardcourter too.”

Just wanted to point out that Nadal may be the best red dirt player and the best grass player in the world at 100%.


huh Says:

“blah Says:
SG Says:
“If Rafa’s not 100%, Fed’s the best red dirt player in the world. And I still say Fed’s the best hardcourter too.”

Just wanted to point out that Nadal may be the best red dirt player and the best grass player in the world at 100%.”

Now come on blah, what’s this if Rafa’s 100%, he is the best grass player in this world? To me as to many others, the Fed whom Rafa beat to win the Wim 2008 wasn’t anywhere close to the Federer of 2004-06, he was significantly worse than even the Fed of 2007 to tell you the truth! If others start citing Rafa not being 100% anytime he loses, we have to be forced to remind them that Rafa alone isn’t/wasn’t/has been not the guy who’s not at 100%, no one actually remains 100% physically or mentally throughout the year, none actually can, name whoever you wanna. The only thing you can talk about is form, and I am also writing and comparing everything w.r.t. form, external factors cannot always be considered while form of a player is the only real element which exists.

Not anything in personal against you however. You’re entitled to lay down what you think.


huh Says:

Confidence is another big factor apart from form which determines the performance of a player, sorry for forgetting to mention that in my last post at 4.24 am.


blah Says:

I see the “Fed isn’t being 100% when he losses,” more than the Rafa/Djoker/Murray/Roddick isn’t 100% arguments combined. We all know Rafa at this uso wasn’t close to the Rafa from last year’s FO-Wimby Summer HC stretch. Rafa at the FO wasn’t the Rafa at the AO or the first few clay tournaments, etc. To me, “Fed didn’t have his serve and if he played his best he would win” is simply another 100% argument, and if those are being made, I might as well make that argument for other players.

All that 100% stuff aside though, I truly believe that Nadal is still going to be the best player at French AND Wimbledon, and I would take him over Federer in both of those places if they run into each other again.

Oh, and If Nadal didn’t slip and actually took advantage of his chances in 5th set then he would have won Wimby 2007, to tell you the truth! ;)


been there, done that Says:

vared

“Yes it is stalking by your very own definition. So please do not stalk me, harass me or direct any questions or answers to my screen name. Thank you.”

Maybe you take your little piece of advice and stop harassing me. You’ve been caught with your pants down and you’ve got nowhere to hide….trying all you can to cover your backside. You took a post from another thread from 3DAYS!! ago, and posted it to a new thread, & directed it to me. So stop stalking my blog persona. Grow up, Get a life.

You are not fooling anyone here.


vared Says:

Been there, still posting the same old crap? I thought that even *you* may have thought of something original by now.
If you don’t like what I post, it’s simple, don’t reply to my posts like you did two days ago. If you are so easily offended then stay away. Stop stalking, harassing, and cyberspying on me.
PS Since you keep replying to my posts I will assume you admire them.Restore your dignity, what little you had.


Tennis Vagabond Says:

Definitely shaping up to be an exciting year next year. I think people are writing off Andy Murray to quickly, probably in part because he’s so unlikeable that people WANT him to go away. But just because DelPo has added himself to the contenders mix doesn’t mean that Murray’s been dropped out of it. Murray is nothing if not ambitious, and I think he’s going to work hard as ever to get to the top of that mountain.

Personally, I think if anyone is dropping out of the contenders mix its Djokovic. I would love to be wrong, but with Rog handling him so easily in their last two contests, we know how that match-up will go. So the question will be: can Djoke stand up to Nadal, Murray and DelPo? That will be one of the big questions in 2010.

I also don’t think DelPo’s defeat of ROger makes him a favourite against ROg next time. Roger is going to, again, be VERY strong at the Slams next year. One thing I’ve noticed going wrong for Rog lately is that he is tending to lose his offensive game as the match wears on. If you noticed, in the finals and his over-long win against Soderling, Rog started gangbusters, but his style was very aggressive- coming to the net and going for winners in the first set. In both cases, Rog then moved into baseline, defensive mode in the 2nd, and from there things became much tougher. When Rog was first dominating, he was one of the great thinkers on court, adapting as he tested out his opponents. I think he has really lost this trait.

I expect Nadal to be a dominant force again in 2010, but I do think DelPo is his kryptonite. 3-0 in 2009 against Nadal, DelPo is just perfectly built to defeat Nadal’s strengths. The same high bouncing shots to the backhand that make Nadal tough for Fed make him easy pickings for DelPo. So there’s a matchup problem there.

Aside from these guys, I believe Roddick can contend on the fast courts still, but I personally believe Tsonga has reached his upper limit. I just don’t see that much more upside there. On the other hand, Monfils MAY yet be the next one to challenge the elite.

IS there anyone else coming up that we can imagine challenging the top four or five? Maybe Soderling. I don’t really see anyone else. So the field is certainly not open wide yet, despite the crack that DelPo has put in it. But one thing we’ve seen this year is that storylines change fast!

The fact remains that, as the 1 and 2 seeds, we may very well see a few more Fedal finals next year.


been there, done that Says:

vared,

YOU still posting the same old crap?

“I thought that even *you* may have thought of something original by now.”

Why should I come up with anything original to address you? You don’t know me, & I don’t know you, so you don’t deserve any original answer

“If you are so easily offended then stay away.”

So should you. I think you meant to address this to yourself. The very first two posts on this thread @ 10:07pm & 10:10pm are by you….hounding me to answer you something from a different thread from 3 days ago. I did that, but since it wasn’t the answer you expected, you continue stalking me for the 3rd straight day!!! Let go already.

“Stop stalking, harassing, and cyberspying on me.”

LOL. vared stalker, who remembered my blog name after 3 days & the exact thread I posted on, is now claiming to be stalked because vared’s got nowhere to hide….trying to save face. LOL. You’ve been called out on it, & now cannot let go. Get yourself a real-life man or woman to share your problems with because this “been there, done that” is non-existent.

PS Since you keep replying to my posts I will assume you admire them. (I also notice you’re now using my words as well :) congratulations!!…not so original. eh?)

vared, please restore your dignity, what little you had. So stop stalking me vared


Voicemale1 Says:

Let’s wait to see what actually becomes of Del Potro before predicting what might become of Del Potro in the next few years. After all..how many predictions of greatness were written about Djokovic after his Australian Open 2008? And what of Tsonga – anyone remember how many people predicted nothing but great things for him at the same AO of 2008? And Murray. He was basically anointed as not only an owner of at least 1 Major Title in 2009 but also he made his own prediction that he could be #1 by the end of 2009. Turns out he neither happened. He never reached the Championship Match at a Major and he just fell back to #3 after basically gaining #2 by default. And conversely – how many times has Nadal been written OFF the stage? His demise from the top of the game was universally predicted after losing the Australian Semi to Tsonga so decisively. Not only did he beat Tsonga the very next time they met at Indian Wells in 08 – Nadal turned 2008 into a historic year: two Majors and Olympic Gold. So why not just wait and see what becomes of Del Potro before trying to guess? And let’s see him repeat this kind of show again before we start calling any of his matches as his to lose.

Del Potro himself said he still isn’t the best in terms of fitness, and this was his commentary after winning last Monday. At best, Del Potro has shown he’s got no fear of anyone on the court. That alone is worthy of note. With his hard flat ground strokes, his game looks extremely daunting when he finds the target. And he has the added luxury on the hard courts that the ball will almost always bounce up directly into his Prime Strike Zone between his Hip & Shoulder, thanks mostly to being 6’6″. That said, he’s got challenges to be sure. Grass is likely to be a hugely disadvantageous surface for him. The ball stays a lot lower – meaning he’ll have to bend more than a shorter guy and have to hit up a lot more then he’ll want to. His flat shots are extremely powerful, but his margin for error is a lot smaller because of it. It’s a high risk, error-prone strategy. And most of all his height: it has great advantages, but there are drawbacks. It’s takes a lot more time for him to stop and start, and change direction. He lumbers rather than glides around the court. He’ll be able to do what he does now so long as his wheels can accommodate the challenges the game will put on his oversized stature. We haven’t had one of these Giant Types as a dominant player at the Top of the Game as of yet. And it’s too early to tell where he’ll end up in hierarchy of tennis.


GOAT Girl Says:

Von’s treating the blogsite to a gagfest soap opera of epic proportion with her “je t’aime” flirting at Veno. It’s further proof that this is her entire life, and I eagerly await the next installation of, “As The Stomach Turns” where Veno suddenly disappears, and Von shows up in widow’s weeds lamenting her great loss. Oh, the tragedy of it all. :::sob:::

The secondary plot is where other bloggers become enamored of Veno’s prowess, and Von’s claws become even sharper than they usually are. At this point, she totally implodes with temper. C’est l’amour.


margot Says:

veno: Andy M’s only 22, please stop talking about “doors closing.” Look how Andy R improved at the advanced age of 26!
tennisvagabond and voicemale1: really enjoyed reading your posts.


vared Says:

You don’t know me, & I don’t know you, so you don’t deserve any original answer

Then why did you answer my post from two days ago? Please, spare me. You have been harassing me with your posts for days now. Who answered my original post? It wasn’t a ghost. It was YOU. I had never adressed you before. YOU and only you took it upon yourself to answer it so don’t blame me.
Stop answering my posts.


Von Says:

Goat Girl aka B: You sound like a very jealous, spurned lover. LOL. I suppose nothing left to post on the topic of Serena’s race, and considering all of your predictions went South, so now why not throw some jealous tantrums and pick on Von. LOL and LOL again. BTW, considering I drive everyone away, how come you’re still here? Anyway, have fun doing what you do best, and that is sounding more and more like an idiot.


Von Says:

Voicemale1: “Let’s wait to see what actually becomes of Del Potro before predicting what might become of Del Potro in the next few years. After all..how many predictions of greatness were written about Djokovic after his Australian Open 2008? And what of Tsonga – anyone remember how many people predicted nothing but great things for him at the same AO of 2008?”

**********
I thought about this yesterday, with respect to the predictions of greatness, and felt why not wait and see how he defends his title and the other ranking points he’s added next year and remain a top 5 player. consistency is the name of the game, isn’t it? Also, how would he finish this year.

I also thought of DelPotro’s FH, which is so powerful, but at what price to his shoulder/arm is he using it, as he seems to concentrate all of his strength hitting it so hard? During DC and Montreal he received treatment several times for his shoulder and has been wearing a protective wrapping below his elbow during the USO, but not at the final. I think one commentator remarked that he’s having problems with that part of his arm. Visions of Murray’s wrist came to mind, and am wondering if DelPotro’s arm could suffer a similar fate from being too stressed out by over use, and some sort of repetitive syndrome could be developing or has already developed. While the new string technology and racquets are advantageous to the player, it’s been a documented fact that there is a down side whereby serious arm and hand injuries have and could develop. Hopefully, this is not the case with DelPotro and he’ll be able to continue using his powerful FH as one of his major weapons, but only time will tell …..


Voicemale1 Says:

Tennis Vagabond:

Just an FYI: Del Potro is 3-1 against Nadal in 2009. Nadal beat him in the Quarters at Indian Wells: 6-2, 6-3.


been there, done that Says:

vared,

I called you out for whatever you posted on ANOTHER thread. Then you’ve hounded me for days, and now trying desperately to deny it. YOU cried out to ‘staff’ who seem to have ignored you, & dragged my name to a new thread….& have continued to do so for three days. LOL.

You are not fooling anyone by trying to twist what’s happening.

Please, spare me. You have been harassing me with your posts for days now as is evident by the first two posts on this thread. Maybe you can ask your friend ‘staff’ to delete your 1st two posts, then maybe you might save yourself from embarassment.

vared, YOU and only you took it upon yourself to answer it so don’t blame me.

Stop answering my posts vared.


vared Says:

Oh, hey Staff, didn’t ‘Been there’ criticize me for mentioning this article and that the author was Black.
OK are you ready to criticize staff now?
——————————–
Why should the first posts be deleted. Evidently you would love for that to happen so you could weasel out of your irrational posts. The first posts you refer to are my asking you why YOU don’t criticize staff. For some reason you chose to harass me about my post (YOU answered mine)and when I called you out on your selective “black author” complaint you acted like any delusional person would, by denying and ignoring facts. Been there, why don’t you explain why you answered my post and refused to call “staff” on their “black author” reference? Or, if you are not capable of answering that, then don’t respond to me in future.


been there, done that Says:

A little bit of Juan Martin Del Potro love-fest

Charlie Rose:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV9TZfQskKs&feature=player_embedded

Kelly & Regi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsHEMsr-gaU&feature=player_embedded

Enjoying the new-found stardom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll-iRiI-1do&feature=player_embedded

His English is quite good, better than Nadal’s anyway (no offense meant in case anyone reads too much into this!). He’s quite fluent, but speaks slowly….probably just his nature. I think the win was so unexpected and wasn’t a Fed-Rafa rivalry or Murray who’d been built up for so long….hence the lack of extreme coverage.

With his height…the cross-court shot he talks about is always going to be one of his best shots….pace & power & with improvement, will get consistent accuracy.


been there, done that Says:

vared, sorry to dissapoint you. i already critised both you & ‘staff’…but clearly you cannot read. You are the one trying to weasal out of a situation of our own making.


vared Says:

No, you didn’t until I called you out on it. Then and only then did you say anything. The purpose of your original answer to my post was to harass. Why else would you not call out staff for mentioning the writer was a black man.
Yes or no, did you say anything to staff about a black man until I brought it up?


GOAT Girl Says:

Von: There you go again…lying. Show me where I mentioned Serena or her race in my post? What a pathological liar you are. Or maybe you’re just totally delusional from spending day and night here. You truly, need to get out and get a job because you’re totally losing it. Go on, try the fresh air; it won’t kill you. Hey, maybe you’ll even find a real life, or a real life friend!!


been there, done that Says:

vared,

Sorry to disappoint you, but not everyone spends 24hours a day waiting to post first on a tennis thread & remembering bloggers names after 3 days. That is for you….as can be seen in the very 1st two posts on this thread. Thank goodness you have so much time on your hands……the only way I knew that staff had mentioned it is because you mentioned it….so thanks for the heads up, after which I said the same thing…..i.e. VARED & STAFF.

I answered your question, but you are still hounding me….because the answer is not one which you wanted. Go ahead….make all the lunatic shouts outs to the authoritative ‘staff’ & anyone else who cares…perhaps they’ll come to your aid

In the meantime, you can continue addressing yourself as a crazy lunatic in this and any subsequent thread.
Cheers.


j.f. mamjja Says:

Yeah, Djoko’s been spooked by Federer lately & it shows. That between the legs facing the opposite way winner by the Fed really got to Djoker during the semi. And did you see that flurry of volleys between them that ended with Djoko turning away from the Fed & bending over allowing Federer to ram home the winner?

The symbolism of that shows that the Fed is deep in his head.

—————————————-
Hey vared, how ’bout you give it a rest huh?
Thanks.


j.f. mamjja Says:

I think any post with Serena Williams in the title will garner a lot of comments. She always gives us a lot to talk about. STAFF knows this and uses it to his advantage.

Staff, I expect many more Serena Reduxes all the way to the AO. LOL.


Von Says:

Goat Girl: What am I lying about? You’ve changed your post name, and you’ve done this before, when your attacks using your original post name fails or you want to attack me some more. You joined grendel in attacking me during Wimby and said the same drivel. Also, didn’t you post on the Serena apologizes thread? You know it’s easy for the moderators to track you by your IP address, don’t you? (I believe *funches* is a moderator.) Well, if you didn’t know that then you should think about it. And, pray tell me, what have I ever done to you for you to hound me in this manner? Absolutely nothing, except that you’re jealous that I post and have something to add to the discussions, and you don’t.

FYI, I have a job, and it’s not keeping track of other posters interaction as you and some others do. Just to satisfy your obsession with me and my job details, I post during my lunch hour at times and when I want to take a break from my case reviews and citations on the computer — tennis takes me away from that scenario. BTW, unlike you, I could care less who posts to whom and discusses what with whom. And, why don’t you try posting on tennis instead of following me around? But the truth is, you don’t have anything constructive to talk with respect to tennis, isn’t it? I’ve yet to see one post from you primarily on a tennis discussion without including me in the post. And now that the tourneys are over, where you’d need to construct a discussion from scratch based on your tennis knowledge, which IMO you have none, and not feed off of the information that’s available from the tennis writers and other posters’ discussion, you’re unable to do that, so instead you revert to bashing me, out of pure jealousy because I can do that which you are inept at doing, isn’t it? I’d like to make a suggestion, since my discussions with Veno spark so much jealousy from you,(Veno kids around with all the women on this site, me included) why don’t you just engage Veno in a discussion and talk to him in French and kid around with him. I think that would serve you much better than for you to keep burning up with jealousy, which is the root cause of your problem, isn’t it? Just in case you haven’t realized this as yet, I don’t need to get on a tennis website to *flirt* as you put it. I kid around which is not the same as flirting and I don’t need to flirt with a *faceless* person on a website for sure. Also, if I needed male attention, I can obtain that at home, or at my job because 90 percent of the office staff is male, as mine is a male dominant profession and males are available from the ages of 28 and up. Therefore, that blows the basis for your garbage on flirting.

Anyway, have fun picking on and bashing me, which seems to be an obsession and a past time for you, and this is it from me to you with respect to your jealous tirades and rants. Or maybe, I should stop posting and let you post and discuss tennis? Tell me, which suits you best and I’ll comply, but I doub t you’d want that, because there goes your bashing object, yes?

It’s sad that some of the people who contribute the least on this site and other tennis sites, are always the ones who pick and bash the posters who contribute the most, and to me that speaks volumes, because the basis of it all is just plain old *jealousy*. OY VEY. BTW, please get a life instead of making me the center of yours. tah tah.


grendel Says:

“And did you see that flurry of volleys between them that ended with Djoko turning away from the Fed & bending over allowing Federer to ram home the winner?

The symbolism of that shows that the Fed is deep in his head.”

It was a visual joke (the point being effectively lost)- a nice touch, I thought actually. Being able to retain his sense of humour whilst keeping tough, that’s a balance Djokovic maybe hasn’t quite sorted out.

I hope he does. Unending grimness can get a bit wearing…..


blah Says:

Fed was fined $1500 for profanities in the uso final.


vared Says:

–Fernando Verdasco, the Spaniard who turned out to be a national hero in playing the winning role in last year’s Davis Cup final against Argentina while Rafael Nadal was missing through injury, has not been selected for the upcoming semi final against Israel because he will undergo a minor foot operation immediately after the US Open.–


Skeezerweezer Says:

Tony Kornheiser, who is that? Knows tennis? Don’t think so, don’t think he knows Football either . Where do they get these guys?
Fed will win at least another major or two. He is in the running every time. WTF? DP played great, Fed relaxed in the middle and all credit to DP, continued to crush that 110MPH no matter if in or out, and in the end it paid off. I’d be more worried if your a Rafa, Murray, etc fan. I’m out!


GOAT Girl Says:

Von:

Your paranoia is running rampant. This is the only name I have. I know you keep saying I’m someone else, but believe me, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. It may be difficult for you to believe that more than one person on this blogsite finds your lying odious, but it’s a fact you’ll have to learn to live with. You revealed the extent of your pathological lying when you asked me if I’d run out of Serena/Racist remarks. Now you’re back-pedalling like a demented earwig to cover your lies. FAIL!

Carry on in your delusional, pathological state. The mental hostpital surely awaits you if you’re not already typing your hatred and lies from there.


vared Says:

been there, done that Says:
vared,

Sorry to disappoint you, but not everyone spends 24hours a day waiting to post
Thank goodness you have so much time on your hands……the only way I knew that staff had mentioned it is because you mentioned it….so thanks for the heads up, after which I said the same thing…..i.e. VARED & STAFF.

I answered your question, but you are still hounding me….because the answer is not one which you wanted.
——————————-
Here is a person who spends many hours online and then accuses others of doing it. I think it’s called projection.

Yes, when I mentioned it you “conveniently” saw it. I was not going to let you get away with it. That’s all.

Yes you have answered “finally” my yes and no question. Case closed.

Oh and Veno and J Mamja, I would appreciate it if you could fight your own battles from now on. Thanks.


jane Says:

been there, done that:

Thanks for all of those Delpotro links! He does present himself so well for a mere 20 yr-old. Nice to see.


jane Says:

grendel says “eing able to retain his sense of humour whilst keeping tough, that’s a balance Djokovic maybe hasn’t quite sorted out. I hope he does. Unending grimness can get a bit wearing…..”

Nice post grendel; obviously I am biased, but I agree that he needs to work on that balance, and like you, hope he can do so. He has been changing over the last year or year and a half. You can see it in how he reveres Fed and Rafa more so than he did as an upstart. He has learned to appreciate their consistency, and now, I hope, he’ll learn to emulate it – maybe not to the nth degree like they have, but at least so he can win a few more bigger titles: masters, and slams. It’d be a shame, imo, if he didn’t.


been there, done that Says:

vared,

You are a fool. Pointing out that the article is written by a black person just because serena is black? a racist fool you are. Let me get away with it??? LOL. Are you a cop or something? Continue trolling the internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You cried out for attention, you got it, & now you can’t handle it. Case closed


grendel Says:

perhaps, jane, the bringing of Todd Martin on board will help. Seeing his impassive, hawk like features, still amidst all the Serbian excitement, and that great head on occasion bending forward slightly to indicate approval, that was one of the sights of the US Open!


Von Says:

vared: “Fernando Verdasco, the Spaniard who turned out to be a national hero in playing the winning role in last year’s Davis Cup final against Argentina while Rafael Nadal was missing through injury, has not been selected for the upcoming semi final against Israel because he will undergo a minor foot operation immediately after the US Open.”
***********

I thought there was a problem with his leg, which was very visible during his match vs. Djokovic, but did not think it was very serious enough to have surgery. Toward the third set of that match, Verdasco began limping and by the fourth set he wasn’t running down balls at all and began hobbling instead of walking. However, I attributed that to a muscle strain in his leg and the stomach problem. One bright note to it all is that he at least got to the QFs, and if there’s a good time in tennis to be laid up, this is the time, because by the time the YEC rolls around, Verdasco’s foot should be all healed and he’ll be ready to roll. But, that’s contingent upon, and assuming he qualifies for the YEC.


vared Says:

Pointing out that the article is written by a black person just because serena is black? a racist fool you are.

Then you are calling Staff racist?

LOL

by Staff:
SERENA = BAD — African-American sports writer Jason Whitlock writing for FOX Sports:


vared Says:

Von, they said minor, so that’s good anyhow.


Von Says:

vared: “Von, they said minor, so that’s good anyhow.”

Thanks for telling me it’s only minor and good to know that it wasn’t as severe as I had originally thought.


SG Says:

grendel Says:
“And did you see that flurry of volleys between them that ended with Djoko turning away from the Fed & bending over allowing Federer to ram home the winner?

The symbolism of that shows that the Fed is deep in his head.”

It was a visual joke (the point being effectively lost)- a nice touch, I thought actually. Being able to retain his sense of humour whilst keeping tough, that’s a balance Djokovic maybe hasn’t quite sorted out.

I hope he does. Unending grimness can get a bit wearing…..

*******************

I seriously doubt you’d see DelPo or Murray or Nadal do that. I don’t think it’s an issue of Fed being in Djok’s head as some suggest. It’s more serious than that. Despite the fact that Djokovic has shown the ability to beat anyone, he doesn’t seem to be all that committed to winning. He seemed more committed to winning back the New York crowd after last year’s mess with Roddick than beating Federer. There’s a pretty thin line between being the next Nadal and being the next Marat Safin. I don’t think Novak has yet figured out which side of that line he wants to be on.


been there, done that Says:

vared,

“Then you are calling Staff racist?. LOL”

YES I AM. so what??? As you can see, you’ve now hounded me for 5DAYS and my answer is still the same. Seems like you have a reading & comprehension problem. Let go already or report me to this precious ‘staff’…..so far, they haven’t come to your aid. I’ve told you, I’m not scared of this ‘staff’ & don’t hold them in the same high regard as you do.


vared Says:

That between the legs facing the opposite way winner by the Fed really got to Djoker during the semi.
—————————-
That shot, Fed claims he can never do, but he has done it before against Henman. It’s in his arsenal. Hardly surprising.


Von Says:

Goat Girl:

I know I shouldn’t answer because you are beyond contemptible, but what the hell, I’m having a great day, so why not make it better by pushing some more of your buttons since you wallow in this kind of stuff. I gotta tell you, I absolutely love your pathetic attempt at a psych analysis. LOL. But please do yourself a favour, leave the psych analyses for the pros, because you fail miserably in so doing — in other words you STINK. That said, how about adding *biological liar* to your list of my personality traits, as it could be that the lies are in my genes also, you know, and are hereditary. LOL.

Anyway, here’s my apt description of you Goat girl: FED TARD, (that’s what made you and one of your cohorts target me from the very inception of posting here isn’t it, because I dared to agree with another poster and make a comment on Federer?) FED FANATIC AND BELLEVUE RESIDENT, HEDONISM, with distinct olfactory hallucination, ego-dystonic and ego-syntonic tendencies, along with many others that are too many to mention, and last but not least clairvoyant.

Anyone who would incorporate *Goat* in their post name earns those titles. LOL. Wasn’t it Rogers sibling before? FYI, in order to obtain my psych degree I had to complete some practical hands-on hours at Bellevue engaging in interviewing and observing psych patients, and it was patients such as yourself who turned me off completely after I got my degree from pursuing that career. Thank God, or else I’d most probably be walking in your shoes, KOOK. BTW, it takes an accomplished liar to know another is a liar and is odious, et al. — perfection and/or pronounced tendencies of a trait/characteristic one has, I suppose entitles one to be very perceptive at picking out another they perceive to be a pathological liar. In other words look no further than yourself.

Tell me something, aren’t you or don’t you get tired of repeating the same stuff over and over again? Or is it that you are now in dementia land, and have forgotten that you’ve said the same many times? Or is your vocabulary so limited that you’ve run out of words that are fitting and appropos to the psych profile you’ve created of me? It must be pretty boring to be so repetitive. sheesh. BTW, shall I prime myself with breathless anticipation of looking forward to another psych analysis tomorrow from you? Who knows, maybe you’ll get more creative and also lucky whereby one of your group of friends here on this site might join you with an encore chronology detailing what a terrible and lying person I am. OY

And, again I will ask, do you ever have anything *tennis related* to talk about or am I the focal point of your tennis discussions? If you don’t have any tennis talk, pray tell me, why are you even posting on a tennis forum? sheesh and ROTFL.


jane Says:

SG,

I agree and don’t agree with your 4:59 post. You say, “he doesn’t seem to be all that committed to winning” and yet, many signs seem to point in the opposite direction. He hired a new fitness coach back in May and now another new coach, in Martin, to help him with serve/volley and whatever other advice he can offer. So I do think Djok is committed to winning and wants to win also. Yet he still seems to have confidence issues; he needs to play big points with more focus and not give up fighting. Lose the negative body language, too. But he got to the finals in Cincy and the semis at the USO, so I do believe he wants to win. That said, there is no doubt imo that he also wanted to leave behind the whole fiasco from last year and depart from NYC with a better feeling on his end and the crowds’ end. And who can blame him for that? I don’t think that was a bad aim, and don’t feel that it compromised his tennis too much. I just think he needs to play a few points here or there better. He lost 3 very tight sets to Fed, so it’s not like he wasn’t close or wasn’t playing well.

You also say “There’s a pretty thin line between being the next Nadal and being the next Marat Safin. I don’t think Novak has yet figured out which side of that line he wants to be on.”

Here I take your point more strongly. Maybe you’re right? Maybe he doesn’t know how far he wants to push himself. Although, for the most part, Djok seems to be pretty professional. He has a serious girlfriend, too, so is a little more “settled” than Marat was in his early years. But there has been a lot of unrest around Djok, and he can get sidetracked by off-court stuff, so in that regard, he can recall Safin.

Anyhow, it’s just a matter of time and I guess we’ll know more.


vared Says:

On your behalf, I’ve written Staff a letter asking them to refrain from racist comments in their articles as these comments might in future be taken up by the ACLU, NAACP, and other groups. I have also asked them, on your behalf to delete their racist comment and to offer a sincere apology to the entity named Been There, Done That.

I am a racist, you say? You simply made an unsubstantiated accustion due to your profound ignorance. This forum is difficult to appreciate. Been there has no debating skill whatsoever, and his wit died long ago. When any of these things are pointed out to him, he turns around and accuses the accuser of the same crime. This is down to unoriginal thinking, but also to a certain form of dementia. The best thing to do is to stick to calling him confused. This may help stabalize his identity crisis, but I fear his stupidity is beyond repair.
Racism is a very complicated subject best left to people with a larger brain than yourself, Been there. You really can’t make sense of a complicated world can you?


SG Says:

Jane,

Point taken. Truth is, I really like Novak’s game. It’s hard for me to watch him underachieve at majors with the game he has. He has a solid serve, really good groundstrokes. He moves well. He has enough power to hurt pretty much anybody and I love those up the lines shots he used to hit. And you’re right.

He did lose to Fed in 3 close sets. But, that also means he didn’t win a set and you need to win 3 sets to win a match at a major. So, he was also pretty far from winning from that match.


jane Says:

SG – you got it. So close … and yet … so far… . Hope he steps it up. And more down the lines, for sure.


Von Says:

SG: “He did lose to Fed in 3 close sets. But, that also means he didn’t win a set and you need to win 3 sets to win a match at a major. So, he was also pretty far from winning from that match.”

I agree, that even though the sets were close, Djokovic couldn’t and/or didn’t even win one set, which means he was no where close to winning that match. To be close to winning a 5 set match in a GS, both players have to win two of the 5 sets, then duke it out in the 5th set, and the better player or the one winning the key points in the 5th emerges as the winner of the match. Hence, to me, nothing’s close when a player is beaten in 3 straight sets, but it’s more of a domination by one player over the other.


GOAT Girl Says:

Von:

Your words speak volumes : ) Carry on ranting.


JoshDragon Says:

Ok, here’s my opinion.

First of all I did see the match. I saw Serena destroy her racquet at then end of the first set and then I saw out burst at the end.

I will say this for anyone who didn’t see the match. SHE WAS OUT OF CONTROL ALL THE WAY THROUGH. IMO, she was probably on the verge of being defaulted before the incident even happened because of her poor sportsman like conduct.

This has been turned into a race thing, but it should not be viewed that way. This was the #2 player in the world, having a meltdown in the semi-finals of the US Open.

She not only used a few curse words, she threatened the line judge. That’s completely different from what Roger Federer did when he used one obscenity to express his disdain for the Chair Umpire’s decision to let Del Potro challenge the call.


Federer freak Says:

Great year for Fed!! COULD HAVE BEEN BEST YEAR – Two give-away sets at Australian Open and US Open…WOULD HAVE HAD CALENDAR GRAND SLAM!!!!!

Federer Freak


Von Says:

Dan Martin: I know you like Wertheim’s take on what’s happening in the tennis world. This one’s for you:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_wertheim/09/21/best.ofthree/index.html


SG Says:

Federer freak Says:
Great year for Fed!! COULD HAVE BEEN BEST YEAR – Two give-away sets at Australian Open and US Open…WOULD HAVE HAD CALENDAR GRAND SLAM!!!!!

***********************

Fed freak…Federer accomplished a lot this year. He won the FO and broke Sampras’ record. But, he was not nearly the dominant player he was in 2005 or 2006. He struggled mightily with Roddick in the Wimby final. Maybe the worst GS final he ever played and won. He melted down in th 5th set at the AO and USO.

Fact is, his 2005 and 2006 seasons were far more impressive. He lost lost a lot less and dished out more bagels than a New York bakery. The only scars were his FO losses in those years. And he lost to a ridiculously great clay monster called Nadal. In fact, the only guy he was losing to was Nadal. These days he’s a lot more vulnerable. I’ve said it before. He has become very dependent on serve to bail him out. That combined with his growing inability to break serve has become more and more problematic. And he really shanked a lot of balls in the 5th set of the USO. You wouldn’t see Agassi shank that many balls over 3 or 4 matches. When Fed gets stressed, I think he starts to do this more often.


SG Says:

Admittedly, though, this was a great year for Fed. Most players would kill for the year he had. And it’s not over yet…


Fed Freak...also Steffi and Pete Says:

SG – Agree. He has had numberous great years, including this year. However, this was the year that he won the French. Might never be so open for him again. Really feel his mistakes, serve and lack of ability to break opponent’s serve, and concentration…cost him calendar Grand Slam which was soooooo close.

Love Roger and Pete. Roger’s game is just beautiful. But to be truly well rounded, Steffi can’t be beat. GRAND SLAM, like Roger-several years with 3 majors, 7 Wimby’s, 6 French’s, 5 US Open’s and 4 Australian’s…GRASS, CLAY, REBOUND ACE, HARDCOURT and INDOOR surfaces. Peerless!!! And to comeback in 1999,after close to two years of injuries, beating nos. 1, 2 and 3 AND win the French and almost Wimbledon…UNREAL!

Back to Roger, can’t beat 22 CONSECUTIVE semi-finals. And, 18 out or 19 finals (or close to that)? If it hadn’t been for Nadal, whom I also like, Roger could have conceivably had 3 Grand Slams, not counting this year.


SG Says:

Fed Freak…also Steffi and Pete Says:

Back to Roger, can’t beat 22 CONSECUTIVE semi-finals. And, 18 out or 19 finals (or close to that)?

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Incredible consistency. These records will never be broken.

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