Tsonga Ousts Djokovic, to Face Federer at Aussie Open

WOW federer v Tsonga and Murray v Cilic who would have thought ? Again king fed is left standing.

I am really hoping Murray wins this GO Murray Go..1st GS around the corner. It will be tough, especially if against the mighty fed but you can do it.

January 27th, 2010 at 8:51 am

Well, now that Djoko is out, Fed secure also n°1, and if he wins the title (even if Murray’s reaches the final) he will be 11350 pts, more than 2500 pts if Murray is n°2 (8600 pts) and 3000 pts if Fed beats Cilic in the final with Djoko as n°2 (8310 pts). Thsi way Pete’s record looks very achievable come RG2010.

January 27th, 2010 at 9:01 am

What a semi final! my two favourite players, federer (by a longshot btw)and my man Tsonga (i guess it’s a french thing). I’m still rooting for the Fed but at least in this match i would still be happy if he didn’t win. the winner of the AO should come out of this semi, as far as i’m concerned.

oh, and djoko the choko choked again. He looks like a nice guy but he really needs to man up (yes, i need to man up a lot more, compared to a younger top three in the world tennis athlete, all you djokofans out there), tone the congratulating the opponent for good shots a little down and win! i’m not so much a fan of him but i do wish for him to live up to his potential and be a little grittier. But i guess mental health and grit is as much of a talent as the physical side of it.

can’t wait till the semi’s, have fun

January 27th, 2010 at 9:26 am

Congrats to the winners – Kimmi, I am with you – GO MURRAY!

Djoko – I am very sad about, but at least he stuck it out to the end and took the defeat on the chin. Still, number 2 may be gone again. : (

January 27th, 2010 at 9:42 am

All 4 of my predictions for the semi-finals were flat wrong, so I’m not going to bother with the semi-finals…not gonna do it…nope…

January 27th, 2010 at 10:00 am

yeees! roger, you won’t always escape but after that first set drubbing it was nice to see you come back like that and reach number 23.

just read djokovic had an illness? what is with that guy….

January 27th, 2010 at 10:02 am

MMT – You got Tsonga right.

Ben, here’s what Djoko said:

“Q. You will be No. 2 if Murray doesn’t win the tournament. Is it important for you?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, for me it was important to get as far in the tournament as possible, you know. I had a high ambitions here because I felt well and played well and just feeling confident on the court, and then this happens. This is the most disappointing thing.

I wasn’t thinking about rankings. If it happens it’s great. It’s something that I wait for many years already. But, you know, definitely I have to deserve it.””

Exactly Nole! You have to earn it, go out there and get it, and “deserve it.” Don’t “wait” for it, or you may be waiting many more years. Come on! Get that 2007/8 fire back Novak!!

In the meantime, I am hoping for a Tsonga/Murray final, and I know a certain British Lady – margot???? – who would be thrilled if that happens, as it’d be 2 of her favorites.

I wonder if Tsonga can keep building on this momentum, 2 five-setters in a row. Fed seems to have Tsonga’s number though. And Fed definitely has the upper had mentally.

So in all likelihood it’ll be a Fed/Murray slam final #2. And if so, it’ll be a cracker too!

I don’t think Cilic will go on step further, but I do think he will continue to do well. His demeanor in his 5 set wins was good. He keeps his head.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:07 am

Murray is playing great, but somehow I sence that this match is in Cilic’s racquet. I always has this feeling regarding the player who has more power an attack, Cilic can blow Murray off the court (US Open 09), Murray can’t. He can make Cilic make error’s but if Cilic’s game is on, Murray will have no plan B other than hope for him to miss. Murray agaisnt Nadal firing winner’s all over the court won’t happenn again because he knows against Nadal that’s what he got do, against Cilic he will return to his main style, at least that’s what I think.

But I do hope Murray proves me wrong and go for his shots because when he plays his usual awesome deffense plus offensve game we do see the future of tennis!

January 27th, 2010 at 10:21 am

Well, I’ve already seen a fair share of tennis matches in my life (following tennis since 1993), but what Davy produced from that 5th game of the 2nd set onwards was, to put it mildly, a choke of MONUMENTAL proportions! Up until that point, he was playing absolutely superb tennis, whilst his opponent seemed to be everywhere except on the court… Kolya’s shots were extremely aggressive and quick, had GREAT length and placement, whereas all what Fed could do at this point was to fire 2 m long FH and BH homeruns – as if he was on a baseball match rather than in a grandslam quarterfinal… Really, one has to be at a loss of words about what happened to Davy in that 2nd set… Fact is, apart from reducing his UEs, Fed didn’t play anything extraordinary in that 2nd half of the 2nd set (and frankly, throughout large part of the remaining sets), and apart from that, he also had a bit of luck when, at 2-3 and 30-30 (Davy serving), the umpire overruled his return as good (after which he won the next 2 points and thus broke Kolya back), and then at 4-3 and 30-0 (again Davy serving), he hit what seemed to be a wide groundstroke, but what has then been overruled by HE as an ultra-narrow winner, thus bringing Fed 3 BPs (which he of course converted)…

But then again, you can’t win 15 grandslams for nothing, can you? Despite being on the verge of trailing 2 sets to love at 1-3 and 15-40 in the 2nd, Fed did what all the true champions would do in such situations – i.e. hang in there, be patient & calm. And he proved his champion’s qualities not only there, but PARTICULARLY in that extremely important 8th game of the 4th set, when, serving and trailing 0-40, he fired 5 consecutive 1st serves which even the mighty Pete would be proud of – and that was it for Kolya… The Russian maybe got a second wind as he saved the first Fed’s MP (and then later broke him back) with some insanely good return winners, but unfortunately for him, it was too little too late… Absolutely crazy match!

January 27th, 2010 at 10:26 am

Sean, oh ye of the crystal ball (who is 1 for 4 in semis predictions, and the 1 correct eon being about the surest bet you can find) while I loook forward to your comments on the tape, this is just silly:

” he’s going to finish his career with ONE slam. He just can’t handle this sport.”

A.) If he’s been number 3 for the most part of 3 years, I’d say he can “handle this sport” LOL!

B.) It’s a little premature to say he will win only one slam. He’s young and he may peak at 23! I mean come on. He can handle the sport, he has a lot of game. His serve is whacked. He can’t just hit 2 freaking aces over 5 sets. That’s nuts! When his serve is on his whole game – groundies, return game, etc – falls into place. Also, as he said he couldn’t move well last night so his usual great defense wasn’t firing.

I am not saying I disagree with any who say Novak has plenty of work to do, but I am NOT writing him off, just like I haven’t written off Roddick, for e.g., winning another slam. Until they retire from tennis, I’ll wait and see.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:27 am

Totally agree, Jane.

We see so many ups and downs with players (with the exception of Roger, I guess) that at one moment players seem completely down and out and six months later they’re world beaters again. Look at Roddick, I can just imagine how many eulogies have been written about him over the years – in mid-2006, after the 08 AO, 08 USO, etc. Yet he still finds a way to stay up near the top and give himself a chance. Obviously he was just a point away from winning last year’s Wimby. So there’s plenty of time yet for Djoko. He just needs everything to fall in place for him. Maybe it’ll be at this year’s FO. Who knows?

January 27th, 2010 at 10:31 am

Like so many other players, Djokovic’s whole game goes up and down with his serve. Even in the 5th set, he was hitting the ball well but missing his mark just narrowly too often.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am

Duro – one more positive to tell you – check out the net play stats. Djok won 70% of his forays in (30 of 43)! That’s awesome! Tsonga, known for his great net play, only won 59% by contrast (35 of 59). Thus, the work Martin is doing with Nole is working. Next, fix the serve and he’s back on track. The scoreline, if you look at it, comes down to ONE break difference.

Each won a set 7-6, and each lost a set 1-6. Tsonga won the fourth set 6-3. That’s it. A close 5 setter lost. Tsonga is a great player, but I think Nole can win anyhow. And he played to the end. And so imo, though I am still sad he lost, there are plenty of positives to take from this match. I am bucking my natural inclination and I am remaining optimistic about Novak.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:54 am

*Oops this was meant to be a continuation to my post to you on the other thread Duro. But I accidentally put it here.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:55 am

Daniel

I think a couple of X factors could be Cilic’s physical conditioning and ability to handle the pressure of a first Slam semi. He’s already played 2 5-setters I believe. I’m sure he’s fit but his legs might be starting to feel it. Plus there’s also the extra pressure of never being in this situation before.

When he beat Murray at USO, no one was expecting anything from him, but now things have changed and people are saying the match is “on his racquet.” That combined with Murray’s strong play thus far in the tournament leads me to believe Murray’s got the edge.

Besides, despite that loss to Cilic, Murray’s generally been quite good against “Cilic-type” opponents. I’m particularly thinking of his record against JMDP. So I think his game does match up well against Cilic, whereas for example, Rafa’s would not.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:57 am

I’d cut Djork a slack here. His weak draw till QF and his natural physical limits (we all have those, don’t we?) played 20/75 to his loss.

He’s come a long way: he toughed it out there on the court, like Roddick.

Also give Davy a break: his colapse in mid-match was more physical than mental, imho. Pity he almost forced a fifth set. But I doubt it’d have made any difference to the outcome.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:57 am

What great fighters Serena & Federer are! Down, down, down…almost out (especially Serena), then, something somewhere clicks, keeping positive throughout. That is real mental toughness…when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Win or lose, the spirit of a champion.

I was in deep shock when Fed was 2-6(!!), 1-3, 15-40. Yes, we all know he can come back from 2.5 sets down (e.g. vs Haas FO), but those are usually when he’s trailing due to just a single break of serve per game (typically 4-6 or 5-7 type of scores) or in a tie-break. But yesterday, he was being blown off the court. Very rarely does this happen, even when losing to Rafa, except for that FO ’08 final. And we all know how that ended…but at least then there was a ‘legit’ excuse. Hence I guess the anguish of many Fed-fans yesterday…even those who believe in him to the core. He was being outplayed, hammered…

And Davy, hmmm, he played well but lost in a little bit in set3. Or was that Fed just driving the point home? Like ‘Hey, forget about those first two sets. I Fed the slam beast is baaaack!!’ lol.

Personally, I’d hoped that this match would take place in a final, then I’d have given Davy my full support (I imagine)…’coz I mean, tough to root against Fed with that flowing semifinal-streak going on. So it’s quite a pity it happened in qtrs. But I guess the same can be said for Rafa-Murray, Tsonga-Djoko. All these are semis or finals quality opponents.

Don’t worry Davy, I’m gonna support you in all masters series this year. You are no longer a journeyman. Long may you live to hammer Fed, Rafa and the rest, but for now, it’s Fed’s & Tsonga’s semi.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:57 am

Hi Twocents, How are you? It was Novak’s serve judging by the stats: 2 measly aces and 9 doubles. He gets his serve working and he might win that match. (Also 155 points Novak and 158 Tsonga – we’re talking a 1 break difference.)

January 27th, 2010 at 11:02 am

Murray again has all these pressure from ultra-talktive British media, just like Roddick. Sigh!

Should be his turn now. Stay aggressive, Murray.

Re: Djork. Like I suspected before, he doesn’t give much about no.2. His goal is no.1 — and that’s the way it should be. Way to go, kiddo!

January 27th, 2010 at 11:02 am

3 right- much better than last year, yay.

I am sticking with my finals picks- fed versus cilic in the final.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:05 am

Hi, Jane. I’m enjoying this slam a lot. Thanks.

Tsonga is an hell of a player. But Djork lost this QF, I’m afraid.

Isn’t it psycho that Djork managed to find all the ways in the world NOT to be no.2? LOL. May turn out be good for him in the long run: remember how many years it took Fed to ascend to the pinacle.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:06 am

been there, you’re right. Though neither Fed nor Serena are my favorites, both hung in there last night and got the wins. They were patient. And they both deserved to win. They are indeed champs.

Twocents, yeah it’s bee a good a slam. It is nuts that Djoko has skirted number 2 for so long. But he was up against it trying to achieve it versus peak Rafa on clay. He’s had two good chances now and couldn’t take em. Hope it does turn out better in the long run. Maybe it’ll be more incremental with him. We’ll see.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:10 am

Djoko-Tsonga: what an exciting player Tsonga is. Really knows how to work a crowd. And kudos to him for keeping it together mentally despite a few mind-wondering.

He’s got the game to trouble Fed like Davy did, in that he’s got almost as many shots, power, good net play & covers the court well. And he serves pretty good as well. The key for him will be how well he can hold it mentally…will he keep it together should he find himself a set down or will depression set in and give up the fight? I suppose it’s part of the reason he never played a 5setter before (at least Cilic usually gets there!)…gives up all to easily when the going gets tough.

But from his last two matches, he seems to have matured a bit in that regard. Today he did well to pick his spirits up in set4, even after Djoko broke back once. I suppose he has gained immense confidence from these last two matches.

Bottom line, Fed’s gonna have to play excellent to get through ‘coz Tsonga can easily match him shot for shot.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:12 am

Cilic’s tough road to SF is a double edged sword, just like Murray’s smooth sailing. So, yes, Cilic has a very good shot here to make his first slam final, and even take the whole thing if he gets Fed of USO09.

Fed of course has his mental toughness. Nobody could steal 15 slams without mental toughness. However, cut Davy some slack here. Fed was playing with house money after Wimbly09. And with 12-2 H2H, you bet he could keep his head up and keep trying. How easy is it for Davy to forget all about those 12 losses in a row, at age of 28? He put on a very good fight.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:15 am

Like I expected, Fed beat Davy. I wasn’t even considereing the possibility of Fed losing that match.

As for Djoko, it’s now safe to say that Tsonga has his number, but glad to see he didn’t retire. Like I said in an earlier thread, having an easy draw can be a blessing or curse. For Djoko, it was clearly a curse. He needed an extra gear against JW, but because he reached the QFs using only third gear, he couldn’t summon the fourth or fifth gears. Tsonga now is 2 for 2 in five set matches in his career, and they came in consecutive matches.

Even though I loved watching Fed from 2004 to 2007 for back then he was truely something to behold, the Fed of 2008 till now is even more exciting to watch because you can never really tell how he’s gonna play. He’s having to strategize and take bathroom breaks and change tactics. He never had to do that before he became older, he just swung his racquet and his opponents said “Amen”. Now he looks mortal, but he’s become an even greater champion because of it. Fed has always been a fighter (Rome 2006 final), but we just never noticed it because he was seldom in trouble. Now we remember Roger for his escape against Haas in RG when he was 5 points away from being downed in straihgts, and for his 50 aces in a match that went to 16-14 in the fifth.

Oh, and for those who were doubting Roger would beat Davy, I say: BURN.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:17 am

Here is an odd piece of trivia that had fallen into place over the past 2 days –

There are only 3 men actively playing on the men’s tour to have ever defeated Roger Federer in a Grand Slam semi-final or final, and all 3 have been eliminated by one of the other 2009 AO semi-finalists –

Djokovic, who defeated Fed at the AO 2008 lost this year to Tsonga,

Nadal, who most recently defeated Fed at the AO 2009 lost this year to Murray, and

Del POtro, who defeated Fed at the USO 2009 loost this year to Cilic.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:17 am

As for Djokovic’s case with the ‘runs’, no laughing matter but…hehe – it’s a bit funny in some ways. Perhaps Fed was sufering from the same ailment in set1 vs Davy, so he took the courtesy bathroom break. I wonder what they ate.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:20 am

Sorry – I meant have been eliminated by one of the other 2010 finalists!!!

January 27th, 2010 at 11:20 am

Well, if I were a Nole fan, I’d certainly take one positive from this match and that’s it may have saved Nole from a further possible defeat from Fed at this AO, he’s already lost his either fair/unfair share of important matches to Fed on the biggest stages. I’m not saying that Nole would have certainly lost in semi here to Fed, had it happened; but in case he had to take a further loss to Fed on this stage which is the very stage of his triumph over Fed in past to lift his 1st slam, that might have hurt his psyche much more than this current loss to Tsonga has may be.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:21 am

One thing Murray has plent of is plan B’s, and C’s and D’s. That said, Cilic is in the form of his life at the moment. The presser transcript from Murray’s quarterfinal with Nadal seems to suggest he wasn’t 100% for the match with Cilic, and Murray doesn’t strike me as the type to make excuses, but I would be surprised if Murray didn’t make it through to the final.

That’s not a prediction, by the way, just an observation…

January 27th, 2010 at 11:26 am

Since I’m pulling hard for Murray against Cilic. I just hope he plays to win out there like he did against Rafa. He can use the slice and play defense, but he also needs to get Cilic running with some big flat backhands and by choosing the right time to go for his forehand. Serve and volley isn’t going to work, I don’t think, because MC’s return, especially backhand, is better than Rafa’s, but Murray’s got to make Cilic run and play defense. The guy’s 6’6. He’s no Rafa or Fed in terms of footspeed, agility.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:29 am

@$%#$#$%^&%^ crap

Fed all the way.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:31 am

Huh, that’s not a positive. What makes you so sure Djokovic would have lost to Federer?

Actually the positive I’m taking from this is that he didn’t, in fact, retire. Playing with the runs is not easy, but he still lost in 5 sets. This wasn’t an endurance thing, either. He looked fit in terms of physically being able to keep playing. But when you get sick, you get sick. It’s disappointing but for all those who are jumping down his throat calling him a choker and this and that, I’d say he showed his toughness in this match.

Btw, for all those who don’t know sports terminology, choking is when you get tight and can’t close out a match. Tsonga stepped it up and being down a set isn’t the biggest lead you can get.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:40 am

AND YES, CONGRATS TO TSONGA, YAY!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU TOO BEEN THERE! :P

I felt very happy for Tsonga as I was rooting for him not only coz I like him more than Nole, but also due to him having suffered from the agony of being denied the joy of a GS once by Nole. Thus, I didn’t want him to again endure the pain of loss at Nole’s hand on one of the 4 biggest stages of the game.

Thou it was a sad loss for Nole which again stopped him from being No.2, still it must not be forgotten that at least he was the best player in the world during JAN-APRIL 2008 in the opinion of most of the game’s biggest personalities and even fans, that’s a great achievement too! Sometimes the No.1/No.2 player may not be the best player. Similarly there’ve been situations when a person occupies a particular ranking in the points table which some people question: e.g. Rafa was regarded as questionable no.2 for the second part of 2009, also Fed’s No.1 status was being questioned right starting from 2008 beginning upto the point of time he actually lost it in AUG that year, Murray was also n ot accepted as the deserving No.2 during 09 and there’re many more instances probably like this. So keeping this thing in view, Nole fans can take heart. Nole not being No.2 would surely disappoint his fans, but still there’s more to tennis than just getting to No.2. However I wish Nole good luck so that he can get to No.2 and No.1 and give his fans reasons to celebrate.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:48 am

Huh the psycho, the fascist is here again.
“hurt his psyche”? mofo, go swallow horse sausage, as you fascists usually do in your fascist country of Myanmar.
you want a cuss contest, you imbecile donk? Is that what you think this forum is about, poop bag?
Go back to your fascist Myanmar website.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:50 am

Ben, read my post. I have not suggested anywhere that Nole would surely lose to Fed in case they woulda faced each other in the semi here, I just stated he may have.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:52 am

O-Kerr:

I rather suggest you to either f##k off from here or or move on. No use abusing Myanmar or China, it won’t hurt their goodness one bit. I spit at your shi##y face. Stinking filthy creature!

January 27th, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Huh, you have to stop with the language. It is absolutely unacceptable. We are here to discuss tennis, not curse each other off.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Sean Randall : “I will watch the tape and comment later today. But I am stunned that Novak, up 2 sets to one, came down with a case of the “runs” and lost.

With the amount of game he has – far more than Hewitt, Roddick, Rafter – he’s going to finish his career with ONE slam.

He just can’t handle this sport.”
__________________________________

At least he didnt cry about it after he lost like a little bitch.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Ben – reprinting this is for you –

==========

Cindy_Brady Says:

Djokovic is going to win the title.

He’s had the easiest road and is the least tired. The environmental factors even favor him. It’s not been too hot or windy.

Tsonga barely survived Almagro, a clay court specialist (10-8 in the fifth). How good could his hard court game be at this moment??

If Fed survives Davey, which is a big if, then a fresher Djokovic will be waiting.

The survivor of the bottom half better be prepared for war against Djokovic. He’s coming to win and he’ll be fresher.

Sorry Fed fans, Fed isn’t going to win the AO title this year. The stars just don’t favor him.

January 25th, 2010 at 11:09 am

===========
and shortly after she wrote…

He (Tsonga)will be easy pickin’s for Djokovic, mark my words.

January 25th, 2010 at 11:48 am
===========
followed by…

Ben Pronin Says:

What if Tsonga comes out and plays the best tennis of his life tomorrow?

January 25th, 2010 at 11:50 am

===========
and the reply came…

Cindy_Brady Says:

Ben Pronin Says:

What if Tsonga comes out and plays the best tennis of his life tomorrow?

Than, I will admit I’m wrong.

But it ain’t gonna happen!

January 25th, 2010 at 11:53 am

=========

Well – let’s see what “ain’t gonna happen.” My suspicion is that it will be Mrs.-know-it-all admitting she was wrong.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:05 pm

Ben,
Djokovic was playing barely good enough to win the match until the beginning of the 4th set (well, he should not have lost the 1st set), but after that he surrendered, ran out of gas (politely, he could not sustain the level). In one sense, this pattern had protruded in the earlier round when he played Kubot. Remember he played solid 1st two sets and then he let his guard off? You could say he could not carry on the same level in the 3rd set. Like in the Kubot match, last night he could not carry on the same level after 3 sets.
I don’t see there is anything positive to take from those last 2 sets, but that could be just me. If you see, share with us.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

I’m sick of picking Djokovic. He’s made me look foolish for the last time!!

This tournament was handed to him on a silver platter and he still failed. Tsonga played intense and well but I sensed quit in Djokovic in the 4th and 5th sets.

His body obviously can’t handle the demands grand slam tennis tournaments place on it, 7 matches best of 5. Why isn’t Todd Martin helping him get in better condition, Instead of looking a deer in head lights? I thought this was the new and improved Djokovic from a fitness stand point. I don’t see any difference from last year. For God sake it wasn’t even hot. He’s run out of excuses. I’m thoroughly disgusted with his lack of effort at crunch time.

Sean’s right. He should just quit the sport and become a dancing drag queen at disco bars with his shiny shirts and all. I’m mad as HELL!

January 27th, 2010 at 12:11 pm

One word that hasn’t been used here about Fed’s match with Davydenko is “embarrassing.” I know it’s rough to use that word about athletes giving their all, but the fact is Nikolay is a top 10 player. He has been for years. How could he lose his serve six freaking times in a row?!? Come on, man. I know it’s Roger. I know it’s the goat. But this is a hard court. You’re a top player, not a college player who won the NCAA tournament and is in over his head playing Fed in the first round of the Open. That’s just unacceptable!

January 27th, 2010 at 12:12 pm

Cindy

I can understand being frustrated, but “handed the tournament on a silver platter”? You are aware who Djoko would’ve had to play in the next match, right?

January 27th, 2010 at 12:20 pm

David, that last post was funny as hell :DDD

January 27th, 2010 at 12:21 pm

David

I agree with you. Daveydenko choked in the middle of the match and FROZE. There are no other explanations.

Daveydenko has the game to win a slam but not the mind to grind it out mentally. What we all witnessed, was the main reason why he has never reached a slam final. He almost had me convinced with his recent play, but I will never pick him again.

Like Djokivic , fool me once – shame on you. Fool me twice – shame on me!

January 27th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

All this talk about how Nole might have lost the semi to Roger reminded me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SULmT-k6rbc

:)))

January 27th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

David Says:

Cindy

I can understand being frustrated, but “handed the tournament on a silver platter”? You are aware who Djoko would’ve had to play in the next match, right?

I was referring more to Djokovic’s draw and how that might impact his energy levels against the better placers in the later rounds. He couldn’t have asked for a better one but still his body and fitness gave out.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:26 pm

i so want a fed/cilic final. roger being my first
choice 2win and if not him cilic. so i hope cilic takes out murray, though that will b a difficult task & i hope, hope, hope federer can take out tsonga. tuff task. as 4 djokovic he played 4 players not even ranked in top 50 leading up to qtrs w/tsonga & he got sick? he had the easiest draw & i thought he would have the most in his tank. anyway i’m hoping roger can pull this off although many, actually most, are saying murray will come out victorious.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

Oh, and for those who were doubting Roger would beat Davy, I say: BURN.

ok…that is hilarious!

and we can all agree that novak is a strong player…he’s won a grand slam, wins masters, is high up in the rankings etc.

but how many more times, especially in slams, will he bow out to ‘heat’, ‘a cold’, ‘the runs’, ‘breathing trouble’. he’s already known as the retirement king and by calling his fitness into question time and time again, his ability to shine through at the slams seems to be questionable.

and cindy makes a good point. novak didn’t really have a lot of tests early on in this tournament and that obviously hurt him.

and david, there was a semi match between fed and davy at the US Open 3 years ago (? – i think) where the breaks of serve between the two of them – back to back – was 5/6 times. unreal. i also can’t believe how davy came out blazing and then wilted. i had to go to bed when it was 3-1 in the second but really thought it was finally davy’s day. yeesh.

i commented earlier about whether davy’s press about him not being able to produce at slams was a head f*&^ or reality…now we know. you can’t expect to win if you don’t even believe you can. maybe it’s time for kids after all irina?

January 27th, 2010 at 12:38 pm

@Cindy_Brandy…. are you for real? my god, i’ve seen my share of stupid comments, but yours take the cake.

Nole didn’t retire even though he was having serious stomach problems. He had to make a quick exit to the toilet because otherwise he would have thrown up on the court. Try to play at a professional level in a slam match feeling sick like that. People should show some respect. He was playing absolutely great in the third set and had Tsonga aginst the ropes, he was clearly outplaying him left and right. Then suddenly he starts feeling stomach cramps and in need of the nearest toilet. Any of us would have faint there. But he just struggled to come back and make some awesome recovery (down from 5 games). His body simply couldn’t take no more. It was bad timing for sure, but you can’t control issues like that. I’m sure Nole would have won this match if he hadn’t felt sick, it was really bad luck. I don’t even think it had anything to do with his fitness. He said he felt better than ever and he had trained hard in the Alpine mountains before coming to the AO. He was/is fit. I’m always embarrassed at how harsh fans can be. Nole can stand up proud. He will become nº 1 in given time. Just take a step after step.

PS: Tsonga after match conference was a disgrace, I dislike him even more now…

January 27th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Okay, so here is the points breakdown for the current top 7 players on the men’s tour and what could happen –

Roger Federer currently has 10,550 points. We subtract 480, (last year’s points off and adding points for reaching the semis this year) and we get 10,070. If he reaches the final add 480 (10,550). If he wins the title add an additional 800 points (11,350).

Rafael Nadal currently has 9,310 points. From this we subtract 1640 (last years points less quarters this year) and we get 7,670.

Novak Djokovic currently has 8,310 points. This will not change, as he lost in the quarter-finals of this tournament in both 2009 and 2010.

Andy Murray currently has 6,780 points. To this we add 540 (last year’s points off and reaching semis this year added on) and we get 7,320. If he reaches the final add 480 (7,800). If he wins the title add an additional 800 points (8,600).

Juan Martin del Potro currently has 6,580 points. We subtract 180 from this (this year’s 4th round points andded; last years quarter final berth subtracted) and we get 6,400.

Nikolay Davydenko currently has 4,930 points. He did not play this tournament last year so we add 360 points for him reaching the quarter finals and get 5,290 points.

Andy Roddick currently has 4,510 points. He reached the semis last year and by reaching the quarters this year we must subtract 360 points, giving us 4,150.

Here is the math as far as the other semi-finalists go…

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga currently has 2,875 points (10th place). He reached the quarters last year so subtracting those points and adding semi-final points this year we get an increase of 360 points which gives him a guaranteed 3,235 points. If he reaches the final add 480 (3,715). If he wins the title add an additional 800 points (4,515).

Marin Cilic currently has 2,430 points (14th place). He reached the round of 16 last year so subtracting those points and adding semi-final points this year we get an increase of 540 points which gives him a guaranteed 2,970 points. If he reaches the final add 480 (3,450). If he wins the title add an additional 800 points (4,250).

So in a nutshell – Cilic or Tsonga by winning the tournament can climb to #7 in the world. Federer retains #1 no matter what. Nadal drops to #3 or #4, depending on how Murray fares. Murray winning the tournament puts him at #2 and Djokovic stays at #3. If Murray does not win the tournament then Djokovic climbs to #2. If Murray makes the final then he jumps to #3.

#2, #3, and #4 change depending solely on Murray –

He loses the semis then the top 4 will be

Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Murray.

He winds up being runner-up then the top 4 are

Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Nadal.

He wins the tournament then the top 4 will be

Federer, Murray, Djokovic, Nadal.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:59 pm

“Ben Pronin Says:
Huh, you have to stop with the language. It is absolutely unacceptable. We are here to discuss tennis, not curse each other off.

January 27th, 2010 at 12:02 pm”

————————————-

BEN, READ BELOW CAREFULLY, it all seriously started here:

“”O-Kerr Says:
Huh the psychiatric yard escapee,
STFU, go take some English lessons. Neither can you read nor comprehend nor write, not in English. You walk like fascist; you quack like a fascist. You must be a fascist of Mao Zedong, Ne Win, Saw Maung, Than Shwe, Stalin, worse than Mussolini. You must be a Burmese impersonating the fascists of your country.

Fascists don’t acknowledge that there are free countries, and in a free country, they have freedom of speech, not like fascist suppression of speech by harassment and torture. Fascists like you thrive on harassment and tortures, and that is what you are doing here, every day, practicing your fascism, by attacking other posters personally, in a chronic and obsessive manner. I guess you have to meet your fascist quota: Torture and harass a certain number of people. How many? Half a dozen a day? Did you meet your quota, you fascist rascal?

Every day, as a member of global fascist militia, you look for a couple of posters to attack, to fulfill your fascist religious duty.
If you see in the mirror, that’s what you do, practice fascism. Oh, in a fascist country, unfortunately, they don’t let you see your image in the mirror.

You rotten piece of s*it, you call me dumb?
You mother must be dumb, you are dumb, your whole family must be dumb, your country is dumb, or else you would not have so many fascist leaders in your country and fascist followers like yourself.

Go to your fascist website of your fascist country.

This is a free website of a free country. Here, we respect right to expression and different views. As a fascist, you would never know such things.
Sorry to see you had to be born and raised in a fascist country and become a fascist. What a pathetic misfortune !

January 27th, 2010 at 9:40 am””

This was posted on the ‘Federer or Davydenko, Who’s the Pick?’ thread by his/her graciousness the O-Kerr.

Among the ones abused are me, my mother, my family, my countries of origin, of citizenship and their people too. And yes, then kindly reply if I can be cut some slack. Pray tell me please! And if you find no fault in the post of O-Kerr, you can say that directly to me and entire fault of me, and then I’d leave this site, forever. Nobody can take this much insult of mother and motherland quietly, be it me or anyone else. If you still state that I’m wholly wrong, then that’s it for me at Tennis-X. I promise I’d never ever return to this site again if Chinese/Myanmarese fans have basically no right to participate in any discussion or occur a word here.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:00 pm

O-Kerr:

Ok, you mofo, go to hell!

January 27th, 2010 at 1:02 pm

I don’t understand how the mofos like O-Kerr allow their leaders to tour the oh-so bad fascist countries like China and Myanmar.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:05 pm

Correction to my 11:26 post, which should read: “The presser transcript from Murray’s quarterfinal with Nadal seems to suggest he was 100% for the match with Cilic LAST YEAR AT THE US OPEN.”

“Q. Cilic in the next round. You played him at the US Open. How much was the wrist a factor? How much can we read into the fact that he beat you in straight sets at the US Open?

ANDY MURRAY: You can read into it as much as you like. I know what the circumstances were. Obviously didn’t have my best day. I played him quite a few times on the tour and had good results against him, except there.

I’ll try and play like I did tonight. If I do that, I’ve got a good chance of winning.”

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2010-01-26/201001261264424723984.html

January 27th, 2010 at 1:08 pm

BEN, DID YOU NOT SEE THE FOLLOWING POST EITHER?

“O-Kerr Says:
Huh the psycho, the fascist is here again.
“hurt his psyche”? mofo, go swallow horse sausage, as you fascists usually do in your fascist country of Myanmar.
you want a cuss contest, you imbecile donk? Is that what you think this forum is about, poop bag?
Go back to your fascist Myanmar website.”

And here goes the word in this post- mofo. Hope you look at it also.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:20 pm

But please do kindly reply Ben!

January 27th, 2010 at 1:21 pm

Nina,
Excuses won’t get anyone to no. 1.
“He will become nº 1 in given time”?
The question is number 1 of what?
If he wants to be number 1, he has to stop taking tennis as vomiting, retiring, choking, drama, histrionics contest, right?
“Just take a step after step.”
One year, it was retiring (’06 RG); another choking (’07 USO); the same year, repeat retiring (’07 Wimby); another year, surrendering (’08 Wimby); last year, again retiring due to heat (’09 AO); the same year, not-willing (’09 RG) and goofing (’09 USO); and this year vomiting (’10 AO).
The cycle is repeating. There has to be a step forward, rather than stay stuck in the vicious cycle.
The next step you were referring has to be stepping out of the cycle. Hopefully, he realizes the urgency as time waits for no one, and hopefully he frees himself out of this vicious circle. He has to make the exception of ’08 AO a routine, not the present cycle.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:24 pm

Don’t worry however. If you still won’t reply, I’d understand you and the motives of the other people here. God Bless and God Save.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:24 pm

Cindy – you picked Djoko on a whim. Why pick him? You’re not his fan. And, moreover, Djoko’s problem isn’t fitness, it’s his serve. He does have some personality issues as well, I’ll concede. For example, I get the sense he’s somewhat of a perfectionist rather than a fighter. In other words, when things aren’t going well he gets frustrated as opposed to digging in. That’s why, typically, he’s a great front runner. If he can work on that, work on just hanging in like Fed and Serena, when it gets tough, then he’ll come around. And to me, his staying around to take the loss in the 5th IS a step in the right direction. And he IS fit. So we’ll see if he can (a) get his serve working the way it used to or new and improved and (b) get over this notion that it all has to go well and just ride the momentum waves of a match, especially in 5 setters.

Murray, imo, has been similar in the past, and I sense that he too wants his game to be perfect and gets extremely mad at himself, frustrated, when it’s not. So far, he has only played 3 sets in all of his matches; I really hope that if he is faced with a longer one in either his semi or in the final, presuming he gets there, that he stays cool.

In fact, Djoko and Murray could learn a thing or two from Cilic and Delpo, who seem to be able to stay mentally cool in the throes of a match. If Djok and Murray can do that, then their games can do the talking. My fingers are crossed that they will.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:28 pm

O-Kerr, one thing your list highlights, and you’re right about, is that Novak has been a let down in the slams since Wimbledon 2008. The exception is perhaps the USO, fast hard court, where he has lost only to Fed, but even there, I’ll concede that other things were on his mind (the fiasco with Roddick, not being serious enough?), so he needs to FOCUS on improving his slam results.

He said his intention is do that, and while I am not pleased with the outcome here, by any means, I am going to wait and see. This is still early goings in the season so I am not writing him off for doing what he said he would If he rises to the occasion at the remainder of the slams this year I will be pleased, but if he is stuck, as you say “in this cycle” I will become skecptical. Potential means little if it’s not fulfilled; of this I am fully aware.

I am not a blind fan, but I am not going to give up on him either. He’s a great player and I believe, or at least hope, he’s on the right track and that his future will be bright.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

Jane

Excellent point. Just to add to what you said, another player who was excellent at staying cool no matter the circumstances was Sampras, and he also won a few Slams in his day. I remember one year at the Open he lost I believe the 3rd and 4th sets against Guy Forget 6-1, 6-1, yet he still looked his typical unrattled self. Seeing that, I never had a shred of doubt that he would produce his best tennis when it came to the fifth, and that’s what he did.

On the other hand, I’ve seen Djoko furious with himself after losing a point even when up TWO BREAKS in a set.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:44 pm

jane: so sorry about Djko! Bummer. Was he ill? Did not see match. Yes, I love Tsonga but also like Cilic a lot. Yikes! I think Andy will beat Cilic tomorrow a) he wants revenge, said so in interview b) at USOpen he had a wrist injury c) he’s a lot fresher than Cilic. Won’t see the match tomorrow, will have to dive out in my lunch hour, oh no, damn! B—-y meeting!!
However, who on earth has a chance to beat Fed? He’s looking very very sharp and very determined.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:44 pm

Jane@ 10:07:
“…Fed seems to have Tsonga’s number though.”

Hardly. They’ve only played twice. H2H is 1-1. Yesterday, in Fed’s interview, he commented that he doesn’t know too much about Tsonga’s game for this very reason.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=T786&oId=F324

And strangely, in their last match, Montreal ’09, Fed is the one who lost it mentally (5-1 up 3rd set)…though in a different manner to how Tsonga does – Fed thought he had it in the bag then began fooling around with fancy shots only to be stunned.

But you’re right, Fed should have the mental edge. We won’t see what happened in Montreal repeat itself simply ‘coz it’s a 5setter, so a whole different matter for Fed. If Tsonga gonna win, he’ll have to hold it together.

But mental issues aside, game-wise, i.e. shots, net-plays, power, etc, imo, they are almost equals. Almost like Djoko-Tsonga today, or typical Djoko-Fed matches. Both have the shots, no match-up issues. imo, it’s a matter of who is brave enough to go for his shots yet keep the errors to a minimum.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:44 pm

So, it took hours for the dimwit to find the meaning of mofo? How many dictionaries did you have to look into, fascist Myanmarese / Burmese?
Now, the coward needs help from Ben. Ben is not a shrink. Wrong choice. You need a shrink to help you.
Just for the record, you started the fight, calling me dumb, harassing Ty, abusing Cindy and dozen others. All in one day. I can provide you with tons of examples, but it is useless to reason with a fascist like you. You have been doing this since pre-birth, as a fascist citizen of fascist country, Myanmar.

And you talk about US leaders visiting Myanmar? You have lost your memory, together with your mind.
If you were not a fascist, why do you chastise, harass, and abuse other posters personally? Answer the question, you fu*k-head.

Last word: You are absolutely a poop head, spreading a fascist disease in this site.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:49 pm

Jane, seems like am still on your case. Here goes….:)

@ 10:54am: I get what you’re saying re:Djoko, and I suppose you’re just sending out positive energy, but as Fed said in his yesterday interview, stats mean nothing once you’ve lost, and whether you lose a 5setter 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (10-12), 20-22….or lose in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, the end result is the same – a sad loss.

@11:02am:
“He gets his serve working and he might win that match. (Also 155 points Novak and 158 Tsonga – we’re talking a 1 break difference.”

Some good spin there ;). The points cannot be looked at as a whole match just like that, especially for the losing player. The match is divided into sets, hence many ups and downs. Set1 & 2 were equal; Set 3, Djoko hammered Tsonga; then set4& 5.Tsonga returned the full favour in full…he completely drubbed Djoko. So except for sets 1 & 2, even though it was a 5setter, the match wasn’t as close as that stat portrays. Close would have been losing set5 with just a break’s difference.

So saying the 155ND-158JWT is looking at it from a very rosy view. When Fed or Rafa lose a 5setter, no one talks of just a break’s difference. (and sometimes the loser ends up with more points!)Roddick knows it too from wimby ‘09. The single break in a 5setter is what make it game-set-match to the winning player.

So if we’re going to take Djoko as a serious multi-slam contender (which we should) going forward, instead of having that rosy overall match break’s difference, like you say@ 10:07am how about he steps it up and be the one with the 158 points instead? ‘coz the thing is that it’s been the same story since his first and lone slam in ’08. There’s always going to be ‘just a break’s difference’…slams are rarely won by wide margins. Time to step it up & deliver a 2nd slam.

January 27th, 2010 at 1:59 pm

Nina, Oh please (enter rolling eye emoticon here)

Can you show the forum some objectivity? You’re just all pissy because your favorite Djokovic got beat.

Nole always seems to have some type of physical ailment as an excuse for not winning. Yes, his stomach was bothering him and he needed to expel its’ contents. This was a case oflack of conditioning, dear. Not food poisoning. Did it ever occur to you, that his lack of physical condition might affect his serve. Talk about stupidity, dear- you take the cake.

Jane,

I picked Djokovic to win this slam because I don’t have favorites. I try to be completely objective and pick them based on sound reasoning. He had the best looking draw and he was moving through it with ease. Didn’t look like he was nursing any injuries. The odds just slightly seemed to be in his favor and he’s won the event before so he knows what it takes. That’s all.

I don’t pick from the heart like some of the other crazy’s here. They will remain nameless.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:01 pm

been there, Thanks for pointing that out. For some reason I thought Fed’d beaten Tsonga more. I do remember the Paris match, and then the meltdown in Canada.

“imo, it’s a matter of who is brave enough to go for his shots yet keep the errors to a minimum.”

Yes, and the mental toughness/calmness if it goes to a 5th or something.

——————————————-
David,

“he still looked his typical unrattled self.” – Yep Pete was smooth. Imo, though, there is nothing wrong with occasionally getting frustrated at a bad miss, or yelling “come on” after a good shot, but it must be kept to a happy medium. To me, and I may be mistaken, back when Novak was rising in 07 he wasn’t as negative or demonstrative, and that could be because he didn’t have as much pressure then. He hasn’t maybe dealt with pressure greatly, and that’s where, with the help of a sports psychologist or something, he could improve. It could be a maturity thing too; some people just mature more quickly.

A good example is SAFIN! When he beat Fed at the AO in 2005, overall he was pretty calm. A little frustration, a little celebration, but generally collected. Meanwhile when he was losing it was meltdowns and racquet throwing galore. Great fun to watch him emote, but not if it compounded, or even contributed to, the loss.

I love a guy with personality as they’re more fun to watch imo, but while in the match, keep it under control. That’s all. Let it out later and in pressures and stuff.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:03 pm

Cindy, fair enough.

Been there, “how about he steps it up and be the one with the 158 points instead?”

TOUCHE! You’re right. : ] I have to do some spin for my fave. Come on I am not entirely rosy; I am pissed off. But I am trying to look for the bright spots, which, put simply is a bit of spin. That said, I am not going to go along with Sean, and this whole bit “he might as well leave the sport; he can’t handle it” crap. I don’t see things in black and white like that.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:08 pm

margot, ah whatever. GO Murray! : )

January 27th, 2010 at 2:10 pm

b.t.w Jane, I’ve read your other posts after the ones I’ve nit-picked above and I’m in agreement, including the one @1:41pm. I know you just said the ones I’ve highlighted ‘coz you’re a big Djoko fan…must look for the positives, otherwise it can get depressing. He just needs to step it up in slams…and keep positive (like you) when things aren’t going ok during the match. I’m just debating myself: between Djoko, Tsonga who is more moody? I think Tsonga, but Djoko ain’t far behind…they need to drop the bad attitude.

Huh@ 11:48am, yes, congrats to Tsonga. Finally a Frenchie delivers it when it matters. Allez! Though I must say I also like Djoko quite a lot, so quite a pity he lost and quite mad to see him get so down on himself, illness notwithstanding. But Tsonga brings atype of excitement onto court, that can only be suprpassed by Monfils (of course, imo). So him winning, and a 5setter at that is great.

I don’t like it when two guys I really like play each other. Tsonga-Fed should be fun….but tough to decide whom to cheer for. I mean, anyday Fed winning a match is a good day, and him going for sweet16 makes me want to cheer for him. As it was with 11, 12, 13, 14, 15….lol. You get the point. It’s always “ok, he gets this one, then should he get to another slam final, I’ll support the guy he faces if I like him”…but I never stick to the script. Always just one more time – like a bad relationship lols.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:14 pm

@O-Kerr, Jane, Been There…
I agree with you all. I’m not a blind fan here, but I believe in Djokovic’s potential to be a multi-slam winner. I also believe he has to change things in order to do that. You’ve made your points and they are true, I’ve felt that for a while regarding Novak. He obviously gets sick a lot but he can’t help that, can he? That Roger hasn’t been seriously injured or sick in his whole career (and I believe that has to do with his technical style of game as well as his fitness) has a lot to do with him being such a slam champion. Also his nerves and personality. Novak can’t help being emotional and angry and perfectionist, and I’m sure that can be bad for him sometimes but it also helps him to be where he is: a consistent nº3 player for 3 years. No easy task at all. And we all agree he’s still very young. So yes, step by step, I mean that. You don’t overcome your mental vulnerability just like that. He has to work on it. I think he’s on the right track with Todd Martin. But results come later, it takes time. I also agree his serve is not what it used to be and that he has to primarily work on that. Tsonga is a tough opponent but he’s not in the same league as Novak, Roger, Rafa, Murray. In different circumstances to this match where Novak, was clearly sick and vomiting, he would have won.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

O-Kerr:

You’re a absolute sick American who’s nothing good to say about the outside world. Don’t give your judgements on the innocent people of China without knowing anything about their struggle and/or problems. Chinese are anything but cowards. Courage doesn’t lie in showing WMD to frighten the world or slaughtering civilians in various nations taking unjustifeied excuses. But well, what would you learn being a man of a country whose leaders so often shed crocodile tears on the misery that they inflict on others! Freedom to some sick people like you, who compete with one another for being strewn with the accolade ‘anti-fascist’ means the imperialist way of domination and oppression and control over nations and races and exploiting their resources and destruction or modification of their philosophy. A Mao-Zedong would not have to rise in China if the western powers, the so-called apostles of freedom ,did not brought down such indescribable agony and misery and slaughter upon the hapless Manchurians and Chinese farmers. But that’s a big story of your dark past which has destroyed so many bright futures. Thou it’s better for you to realise it, ignoring such thing is and will always be your problem, not ours. Some selfish people of your nations have far-exceeded the damage caused by the orthodox fascists through their various nefarious designs which they nurture against other nations and other people. Hence it is warranted of the peace-posers like you to remember that let he, who’s without a blemish, cast the first stone. People with fatally flawed characters must not try the responsible task of judgement into their own hands or else justice would be ruined.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:19 pm

Jane@2:08, you posted as I wrote the last one above @ 2:14.

I totally feel you! And yeah, whether he ends up with one slam or 10(we’re keeping positive here), doesn’t mean he can’t handle the sport. lol. Sean’s just pushing the buttons there.

This is the thing about tennis – you’re only as good as your last win. Seems like Djoko’s last post USO to the tour finals has been forgotten. One week you’re in, the next by-bye. I’m sure the same is gonna happen to Davy…give it a couple of days when we know the AO wiiner. The rule applies to all – except if you’re called a Fed or Rafa, then even if you go months on end without even a sniff of a 250 title, you are still a tennis-god.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:21 pm

@2:21, seems like Djoko’s last post USO…s/b

Seems like Djoko’s good run post USO….

January 27th, 2010 at 2:23 pm

Personally, I love the Chinese.

Their food, their culture, work ethic – everything.

I believe every American home would be better with a Chinese servant in it.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:30 pm

“O-Kerr says:
If you were not a fascist, why do you chastise, harass, and abuse other posters personally? Answer the question, you fu*k-head. ”

Listen jerk,

I’d given my opinion on each matter which I differed with. And so far as Cindy Brady is concerned, it is she who started all this war for Christ’s sake with addresing me idiot-moron combo, this when she and I were going on good terms and then, she has launched verbal assaults on innumerable posters and constantly gone after Von . She also wrote while addressing to Ben that love to see the ‘irrelevant crap’ being posted by the ignorant ones(in this case what Ben posted), all this she said to Ben despite Ben’s post addressed to Cindy, looking to me in no way irrelevant but relevant. As Cindy very disrespectfully rejects the contention of each poster, however nice they may be, from time to time, I thought it was worth defending Ben’s opinion from such disrespectful rebuttal. And the irony was thst Cindy herself was going round and round only showing her crystal ball magic and sounded quite illogical and arrogant to rebuke the sensible comments of Ben in such an intolerably over-confident and stubborn way. And if a poster goes after everyone starting from Ben to Von to me to all others, then I think it’s no fault to counter her arguments in as much harsh way as she counters others. It IMO might not make her realise how wrong things she says, but it would surely make her exercise a bit restraint before going on such an aggressive spree ridiculing others’ views. And I feel no wrong in what I did.

And lastly, nobody seems to be as dimwit as people like you who show their utter misunderstanding of situations!

January 27th, 2010 at 2:37 pm

“O-Kerr says:
If you were not a fascist, why do you chastise, harass, and abuse other posters personally? Answer the question, you fu*k-head. ”

Listen jerk,

I’d given my opinion on each matter which I differed with. And so far as Cindy Brady is concerned, it is she who started all this war for Christ’s sake with addresing me idiot-moron combo, this when she and I were going on good terms and then, she has launched verbal assaults on innumerable posters and constantly gone after Von . She also wrote while addressing to Ben that love to see the ‘irrelevant crap’ being posted by the ignorant ones(in this case what Ben posted), all this she said to Ben despite Ben’s post addressed to Cindy, looking to me in no way irrelevant but relevant. As Cindy very disrespectfully rejects the contention of each poster, however nice they may be, from time to time, I thought it was worth defending Ben’s opinion from such disrespectful rebuttal. And the irony was thst Cindy herself was going round and round only showing her crystal ball magic and sounded quite illogical and arrogant to rebuke the sensible comments of Ben in such an intolerably over-confident and stubborn way. And if a poster goes after everyone starting from Ben to Von to me to all others, then I think it’s no fault to counter her arguments in as much harsh way as she counters others. It IMO might not make her realise how wrong things she says, but it would surely make her exercise a bit restraint before going on such an aggressive spree ridiculing others’ views. And I feel no wrong in what I did.

And lastly, nobody seems to be as dimwit as people like you who show their utter misunderstanding of situations!

January 27th, 2010 at 2:37 pm

“The rule applies to all – except if you’re called a Fed or Rafa, then even if you go months on end without even a sniff of a 250 title, you are still a tennis-god.”

Are you sure about that, been there? In terms of results and all that, yeah they’re still the best, but look at the countless times they’ve been written off. Nadal has often gone titleless from the FO until IW time. During that span, at LEAST 60% of the tennis world is SURE Nadal is done. Then he dominates on clay and everyone is head over heals for him. Federer misses out on a US Open title by a set and that’s it. He’s doomed. He’s done. He’ll never win another slam. As great as they are, the rule still applies, as unfortunate as that is.

Perhaps that’s what Djokovic has trouble dealing with the most. It’s one thing to be bothered by the pressure to win a lot, but as soon as you’re upset everyone jumps all over you. Djokovic started 2008 on fire winning the first 2 big titles of the year. Then he was upset in the 2nd round of Miami and everyone forgot about him. Talk about psychologically screwing with someone.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:40 pm

“Cindy_Brady Says:
Personally, I love the Chinese.

Their food, their culture, work ethic – everything.

I believe every American home would be better with a Chinese servant in it.”

Again well done Cindy, now as if your racial attack on the black people wasn’t enough, you also added the Chinese to your target. But all I can say is I pity people like you who really think so lowly and dismissively of China. Or is it jealousy of our great past and good present? China is certainly not the richest one, but at least it takes its own care with whatever it has. It is still much better than most of the countries of the world. We may not most have money, but at least we’ve not sold our prestige to any outsider. God Bless my country!

January 27th, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Now the site is entertaining even the opinion of people like Cindy who gleefully and nastily talks of putting a Chinese as servant in each American house and not one voice of rebuke has been raised. Enough! Bye.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:52 pm

Those who thibk of making others slaves would one fateful day themselves become the slaves of some other ones.

Hail Myanmar!

Hail Manchuria!

Hail China!

January 27th, 2010 at 2:54 pm

So Burmese fascist, when did you become Chinese? Are you ashamed of your nationality? I clearly remember you saying long ago that you are from Myanmar.
Next, so Cindy’s attack on so and so posters gave you the license to attack everybody else on personal basis, whoever and whatever views you did not like?

Why did you make it personal against Ty and me last night? Don’t you have such thing called civility in your country when you disagreed with someone? What do you get by acting like a self-appointed fascist police of this forum? Granted you followed Cindy’s example or whoever, but why do you have to follow a bad example? Does it not have to do with your fascist background?

And, why do have to copy and paste my words, dimwit, etc.? Are you that bankrupt in your vocabulary?
How dare you compare the USA with the fascist nation of yours, which is not even a real one?

January 27th, 2010 at 2:57 pm

huh Says:

“Cindy_Brady Says:
Personally, I love the Chinese.

Their food, their culture, work ethic – everything.

I believe every American home would be better with a Chinese servant in it.”

Again well done Cindy, now as if your racial attack on the black people wasn’t enough, you also added the Chinese to your target.
_______________________________________________________
How can I be racist against a race if I like that race? I find the Chinese wisdom timeless, and the culture beautiful.

That being said, You just crossed the rhine by accusing me of being a rere ray-shal person.

And I would so hire a Chinese immigrant to do my laundry and give that person a chance at an honest living in America. I always give back.

January 27th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

Ben @2:40pm,

Yes, am sure. They are only written off by by the extreme detractors. I mean, the whole ‘Fed is finished/Rafa is finished narrative’…that is only mainly written by people who don’t like Fed or Rafa to the core.

Otherwise, yes, they are considered tennis-gods. Even just here at the AO, Rafa hasn’t won anything since May ’09 (ok, he won Davis cup)..but despite that, simply because he almost beat Davy at Dubai exho & played very well in his first four rounds at AO, if you read the threads on this website and other websites, you’d have seen many ‘Rafa is back!’ “He’s playing the best!’, ‘He’s gonna defend it’…..and this not only from fans. Even some pundits picked him.

And nothing wrong with either Fed or Rafa being considered tennis-gods even when they have no recent results to show after all, they’ve proved time and time again that they can step it up out of nowhere. Especially Fed, his form coming into slams means very little to how his going to perform.

“During that span, at LEAST 60% of the tennis world is SURE Nadal is done.”

I strongly disagree. I’d put it at a minority 10%. The only thing I ever hear 90% about Rafa, even when he’s having bad patches is “Never ever count Rafa out!”

Same to when Fed misses out on a slam…it’s a small minority going crazy on posting over & over on blogs. But those writing articles for newspapers & those who’ve played tennis as pros (i.e. the commentators like McEnroe, Barker, etc), they don’t go crazy like fans writing on blogs.

So I’m just pointing out that there are indeed different rules for the very best and the rest. The ‘rest’ are written off after a single tournament (read Djoko) while with Fed & Rafa, they have to lose over & over & over & over…(Fed ’08 & Rafa ’09) before majority (say the 60% that you claim) say it. The Fed or Rafa detractors will say they are finished even if they lose a single 250event.

January 27th, 2010 at 4:09 pm

Twocents said: „Also give Davy a break: his colapse in mid-match was more physical than mental, imho.“

Physical?! He literally whitewashed his first 3 opponents in Melbourne, and even with Verdasco, he was on the court just slightly over 3 hours (which, for a 5 setter, isn’t anything brutal). Also, just like Fed, he had a week off before the tournament started, so it certainly wasn’t anything physical which could’ve contributed to his loss today. Maybe I’m missing something from his post-match interview (as I didn’t read it), but that’s how I see it… What match were you watching, Twocents? First 12 games, he was playing EXACTLY how he should, but then he inexplicably fell apart, often missing shots which he would’ve made with his eyes closed in the 1st set. After all, those 2 BPs which he had at 1-3 in the 2nd (and which he both wasted courtesy of 2 super easy UEs) speak for itself…

It’s certainly a pity for Nikolay… Charming or not, he’s a terrific tennis player, not just a „ball retrieving machine“ as someone would think (I personally consider this as an insult to his game, btw). But if you don’t have it, as they say, „between the ears“, then it just won’t work… Everyone, including Fed, would concur that he had absolutely NO business in winning that 2nd set, and that today’s match was entirely on Davy’s racquet, but unfortunately for him, he (as he so often does against the Swiss and others) once again failed… Pity!

January 27th, 2010 at 4:11 pm

Kimo: „Fed has always been a fighter (Rome 2006 final)“

Yeah, but you picked a wrong example here. He LOST that one, didn’t he? ;-)

January 27th, 2010 at 4:14 pm

Ugh. If Djoko gets to number 2 if Cilic wins I will reluctantly back him. Besides Cilic hasn’t even won a master’s event and would be deserving.

January 27th, 2010 at 4:28 pm

Well, I think the 08 Wimby final is also a great example of Fed’s fighting spirit, and he lost that one too.

January 27th, 2010 at 4:30 pm

Please tennis gods, don’t let Cilic make the final ;-) He seems like a nice guy, but does anyone in the world think that Fed could lose two Slam finals in a row to a first-time finalist? Almost unthinkable.

January 27th, 2010 at 4:32 pm

From another blog. I have not seen the match yet but have recorded it and will see it myself.–

“Then, during the third set changeover, while Jo ran off to the restroom, Nole started dry heaving. I’m actually not convinced it was a “dry” heave at all, thanks to ESPN’s HD coverage. But he was clearly having problems during the next two games, breathing heavily and burping a lot. After he dropped the second game he told the chair he had to go off-court because he had to throw up. Apparently he did.”

January 27th, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Nina says: “Tsonga is a tough opponent but he’s not in the same league as Novak, Roger, Rafa, Murray.” Well, much as I respect Nole’s play, I wouldn’t put he or Murray in the same league as Roger & Rafa, who have 21 GS’s b/w them.

Skorocel – Re: Davy’s meltdown in the 2nd set at 3-1, Cahill was courtside & made an interesting observation – the sun was beating down up to that point and Davy’s balls were flying thru the air. At around 3-1, the court (& spectators) were in shade and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees & about that time Davy shots were losing their bite & Fed had more time on his & regrouped. Thought the timing of this was significant to the sudden change of fortunes so to speak.

January 27th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

huh,

You have to ignore this type of stuff. Really, there are enough real problems in the world to worry yourself about what someone you don’t know and will probably never meet is saying regarding politics in your country or your family or whatever other personal stuff about you. @ 2.52pm, If we were all to get involved in this, being that we’re all from different countries & cultures (so we don’t really know how things are on the ground, just bits & pieces we gather from biased media depending on one’s continent), it’d get really nasty. Sometimes blogging personal stuff/opinions on tennis players is tough enough, add out-of-the-blue politics to it?

Why politics has come into this, I don’t know. Simply because people took different opinions on tennis-players?! See how ridiculous it is – especially ‘coz I’m assuming most people blogging here do not know each other personally. Sure, sometimes bloggers here take shots at each other, but they’re still tennis-related or tennis opinions. Like the whole Rafa/Fed is finished, GOAT debate, those drag on foever and sometimes get nasty, but they’re tennis-related and t.b.h, fun seeing the different opinions. You know yourself and hopefully have real-life family and friends who know what you’re about, so don’t let this type of political stuff get to you. Only worry about what your family & friends & colleagues (& in future, your employer!) have to say about you – and more importantly, what you truly think about yourself.

Think about it, all this blogging means nothing. Unless you’re on a political site where things can actually be arranged and get off the ground, and it has to be in your country for that matter…otherwise, tennis-blogging should have zero negative effect on your life. Whatever names a poster may be called ‘coz of nationality or race or country of origin and other superficial things like that & however much people differ or agree on players or opinions, it’s like so what? It’s not gonna put or take away a single meal from your table. And if it gets nastily political like I’m seeing, I understand you may feel angered, but again, so what? Don’t let it bother you one bit.

We are all just virtual creations here. Who on earth is ‘huh’ ‘been there’ ‘Ben’ ‘Sean’ etc? What type of human being are they? Are they good or bad people? Are they millionaires (I wish!!) or paupers? See – we know nothing about each other. Whether anyone likes or dislikes a player/their behaviour, another poster, etc is all for nothing. (e.g. Look, Murray’s life isn’t affected one bit by the fact I hate his LOUD c’mons & anything else I deem fit to pick on…see what I mean?). This blogging thing, at least for me, is just a means to pass time while laughing & smiling at all the different opinions & learn more about the players from more knowledgeables & also have a bit of fun. Nothing more. So let it go, otherwise if you take the political-narrative here to heart, you gonna drive yourself mad.
However, if blogging is not bringing you any more joy, then better to quit or take a break than drive yourself insane from political opinions that do not affect your life one bit.

January 27th, 2010 at 4:56 pm

Well, finally had a chance to watch the Tsonga/Djoko match & Jane, Duro (& DD) sorry your guy lost. Duro, please don’t slit your wrists over this.

But personally am SO HAPPY J-W persevered! Woo hoo! Just love that guy. Would like to see a Murray/Tsonga final but picked Cilic as the dark horse the beginning of this tourney. SO much depends on which Murray shows up, the aggressive one that played Rafa or his old defensive self.

January 27th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

tenisbebe, yes, I remember that comment by Cahill. Good insight as it did seem Davy was super-humanly fast in the first set and a half, and forcing a lot of errors. But when the ball isn’t flying that definitely changes the dynamic. Notice Davy whipped through his opponents in the day matches but he struggled with Verdasco at night. And in his presser after the Verdasco match he said he’d rather play during the day. SO: maybe Fed should thank Venus and Serena, and their opponents, for being on the court for a long time, and thus pushing forward an afternoon match to a early evening one! LOL. I am not saying Fed wouldn’t’ve won otherwise, but if what you via Cahill say is true (something I had said about the Rafa/Murray match up re: which time would perhaps help which player), then maybe it did factor into Davy’s implosion. Though I am also inclined to think it was somewhat of a mental collapse, since there was also a palpable momentum shift when Fed held to prevent Davy from going up 4-1, and then made it 3-3 by breaking. A bit of both maybe.

January 27th, 2010 at 5:08 pm

been there, I have to quote you: “This blogging thing, at least for me, is just a means to pass time while laughing & smiling at all the different opinions & learn more about the players from more knowledgeables & also have a bit of fun. Nothing more.”

My sentiments exactly, even if it sometimes gets “heated” I usually laugh or move on. It’s not worth it.

January 27th, 2010 at 5:11 pm

tenisbebe@ 4:39,
Re: changing weather patterns. Indeed. Those were Federer’s sentiments as well during his court-side interview. He said he was hoping for the sun to dip, anything to change to help him LOL. Funny hearing him admitting that. He says it’s like a rain-break…anything that helps you, you take it. So Fed was being affected negatively by the earlier whether. I can’t get the on-court interview, but a bit from the pressor:

“But, you know, I just relaxed and thought, you know, maybe if the sun goes and his level drops just a little bit, the whole thing might, you know, change for the better. It did. I couldn’t believe the way it changed.”

Jane:
“SO: maybe Fed should thank Venus and Serena, and their opponents, for being on the court for a long time….”

I was thinking the very same thing after reading tenis-bebe’s post. Great minds I tell you, great minds…hahaha
I suppose the main ones to be thanked are Li Na & Serena for fighting it out and forcing issues which seemed complete after set1….then Davy_Fed would have began earlier, the weather wouldn’t have changed to favour Fed & 22 straight semis would have stuck at 22!. lol. If wishes were horses…..I’d be a multi-slam tennis champion!

January 27th, 2010 at 5:34 pm

just read djokovic had an illness? what is with that guy….

Andrea, Roddick was sick during Cincy. Someone told me he was throwing up in his towel. He lost.
Wasn’t Murray having the flu in Wimbledon? He lost. Didn’t Fed have food poisoning at AO 2008? He lost.

People just get sick. He didn’t retire so why complain? Did Djok give any props to JWT? If not, then that’s bad.

January 27th, 2010 at 5:36 pm

Jane – “Notice Davy whipped through his opponents in the day matches but he struggled with Verdasco at night.” Yes, the ball flies thru the court much faster during the heat of the day. I also am not implying that Fed wouldn’t have pulled this out in the end if they had played in the early afternoon but I do think the timing is significant to Davy’s implosion. I mean think about it: your Davy & your shots are flying and then suddenly the sun goes down, the temp drops & the whipcracking FH you’ve been hitting for nearly a set & a half seems like it’s moving at 3/4 speed & Fed is getting to shots he was missing just 5 minutes before. That starts to play on your mind & belief & pretty soon you’re misfiring all over the place. His low 1sr service percentage didn’t help either.

January 27th, 2010 at 5:37 pm

been there – Oh, did Fed sat something about the temp during his courtside? I didn’t hear that one but I did see part of his press room interview & he mentioned the sun (but not the temp) being difficult to deal with in the 1st set or so because it was you know, half on/half off the court that it gave the illusion of the ball looking tiny, a small target to hit.

Yes, I was also thinking at the time of the irony of Venus & Serena’s long 3-set matches working against the Russian in the weather dept. Haha. Wow – we had some real treats today with all 4 matches! Tennis Rocks!

January 27th, 2010 at 5:47 pm

You have to figure Murray wins unless Cilic plays out of his mind or Murray chokes. Cilic looked spent versus Roddick. He could not get his first serve in at all in the quarters until the 5th set. Cilic also has beaten 2 top 10ers Delpo who is a peer and Roddick a veteran just to get to his first semi. If he feels even slightly satisfied, Murray is going to win. Add in the revenge factor and this could be 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 type ugly. I think 85-15% in favor of Murray. Federer is probably 60-40 against Tsonga. In the past 15 months it seems like guys can sometimes numb Fed with power in ways they could not before. Sure sometimes Fed wins even if power bludgeons him i.e. French Open 09 vs. Delpo Wimbledon 09 vs. Roddick and U.S. Open 09 vs. Soderling, but Delpo beat Fed twice and Tsonga did it once in the past 6 months. Fed used to kill power players but not so much these days.

January 27th, 2010 at 6:06 pm

Speaking of weather for Sunday…93 F. On court it’s always hotter. Who does better in heat?

January 27th, 2010 at 6:08 pm

Tenisbebe, actually no, I don’t think he mentioned temperature specifically (though don’t remember it all ‘coz I can’t find a video of that court-side interview). But I remember he talked about the sun & it being part of the turning point. Maybe the sun dipping = temperature dropping as well to slow things down a bit..for him to mention it in that manner? I’m just assuming, ‘coz when do they change sides? At the end of each set? If after each set, then it’s definitely more temperature than just shade ‘coz it’d mean that he was being hammered from both sides until the sun dipped.

I just got a portion of the court-side interview from BBC ‘as-it-happened’
[Now the ultimate ordeal for Federer, a post-match chat with Jim Courier. “I’ve played him many times and I know he goes through phases, you just try to stay positive,” says the Swiss. “I wasn’t playing terribly, just struggling with the sun coming across. It’s like a rain delay, you just wait.”]

hehehe…naughty Fed calmly waiting for Davy to go through phases in a 5setter. Is this the sort of tactics Federer has been reduced to? lol.

I wonder what Davy would say to Fed’s weather wishes coming true. From his pressor on a different issue:
“Yes, I again have chance by 5‑All. I lost my serve fighting. But, again, bad luck. I don’t know why. Maybe Federer was really lucky today. (Laughter.)”

Poor Davy!

January 27th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

Re Davy of Fed’s luck, didn’t put the most important bit.
“….Maybe Federer was really lucky today. (Laughter.)AGAIN”

January 27th, 2010 at 6:24 pm

Sar – well, let’s see. It’s ususlly b/w 10-15F degrees hotter on court so between Fed, Tsonga, Murray & Cilic….probably would affect Cilic the most adversely imo. Murray has been training in FL for quite some time now, Fed doesn’t seem to get bothered by heat (all that training in Dubai) & neither does Tsonga. What do you think?

January 27th, 2010 at 6:33 pm

From what the reporters said, all the remaining matches will be at night (AO time) anyway so it shouldn’t be too hot for any of the remaining players.

Congratulations to Serena and Roger for their win yesterday. They both showed their fighting spirit! Great job indeed.

January 27th, 2010 at 6:52 pm

Congrats to ALL the winners yesterday: Roger, Jo-Wilfred, Serena and Li Na! Great day of tennis.

January 27th, 2010 at 6:55 pm

There is a huge double standard in the way Federer is viewed vs. Nadal.

When Federer lost the Wimbledon final 9-7 the fifth set, in lowering darkness, after nearly five hours, after coming back from two sets to love down, losing only to the #2 in the world who had been pursuing him for three years and had made the Wimbledon final three years running, many knowledgeable people–even Bjorn Borg–were saying he’d never win another Grand Slam. The media wasted no time declaring him dead and buried. The king is dead, long live the new king.

In the French Open, Nadal got blown away in the fourth round by the then-world #23, whom he just beat 6-0, 6-1 a few weeks ago. He couldn’t even take it to a fifth set. Instead of claiming his career was over, people blamed it on his knees. Or he was tired. Always when he loses it’s because he’s “injured” or “tired.” Never “his opponent outplayed him.” No one ever gives his opponents any credit at all (with the exception of Murray, but that’s because the British media loves to hype him out of all proportion).

The guy just retired from a Grand Slam match because of an injury that flared up out of nowhere. That’s huge, and it IS the sort of thing that should get the tennis media openly wondering about the state of his career. But the general reaction seems “Oh. OK. I’m sure he’ll rest up, get better, and fight again another day.”

And I understand perfectly well the double standard. Because Nadal started out as a clay-court player, expectations for him were far lower. So every achievement off of clay seemed all the more impressive. Which is not to take away from his achievements (which are remarkable), just that they seem even more incredible by the contrast.

Whereas Federer established such high standards that if he falls short of absolute perfection in even the slightest of ways, the madding crowd is all over him.

Nadal is always expected to lose (except on clay). So every loss is greeted with a shrug, every victory triply cheered. Whereas Federer is always expected to win, no matter what. So every win is greeted with a shrug, and every defeat triply jeered.

Such is the price of greatness. But so far it hasn’t bothered him, and why should it? He loves the game and he is committed to the pursuit of excellence, and that’s all really matters, isn’t it?

January 27th, 2010 at 7:07 pm

sar said about Djokovic: „He didn’t retire so why complain?“

Good point, sar!

January 27th, 2010 at 7:11 pm

steve: Pretty much agree with the 3rd paragraph of your post (except that Nadal certainly wasn’t “blown away” as you’ve said)…

January 27th, 2010 at 7:17 pm

Kimo: “Even though I loved watching Fed from 2004 to 2007 for back then he was truely something to behold, the Fed of 2008 till now is even more exciting to watch because you can never really tell how he’s gonna play.”

As weird as it may sound, I actually feel the same… Well, can’t say I enjoy watching him play the way he did in the first 1 and 1/2 sets of his match vs Davy today, but still, it’s kind of interesting to see him treading on what used to be a “terra incognita” for him 3-4 years ago… Anyway, I would certainly love to see him once again being COMPLETELY in the zone, even if it had to be just one single match (presumably an important one, like that USO 2008 final vs Murray)!

January 27th, 2010 at 7:36 pm

Sean is it a bit early to say Novak will finish with only one slam? He could easily bounce back, he could maybe pull a Goran and get his head together when everyone has discounted him, pull a Safin and win one 5 years after the first, he could pull a Sampras who went over 2 years between his 1st and 2nd.

January 27th, 2010 at 7:37 pm

Sar, that’s not ENTIRELY true. After the 2007 Wimbledon final, a lot of people expected him to win it in 2008. When he DID win in 08, the reason people thought Federer would never win another one was because they expected Nadal to win them all. A lot of the “experts” thought Nadal’s best chance to win a hard court major was at the Australian Open since like 2006 (although he missed it that year) because the surface was slow and bouncy like clay. What everyone was so amazed at when he did actually win the AO was the way he won his final 2 matches. Hell, despite the fact that Nadal hasn’t played on grass in 2 years, people already call him the co-favorite with Federer to win Wimbledon. So, the double standard doesn’t lie with their results, it’s more like, “Nadal is always getting injured so it’s no surprise he got injured again but Federer never gets injured so he should always play great.”

January 27th, 2010 at 7:38 pm

03-04 Federer was my favorite. Still young, still willing to go for his shots, but not quite perfect yet. He was really fast and super explosive.

05-06 Federer was a God among mortals. He lost 9 times in those 2 years? Ridiculous. Except for 9 upsets, he was absolutely incredible. He was just as explosive and fast as in 03-04, but he had reached an all time high level where he was damn near untouchable.

07-09 Federer has become too conservative for my taste. Watching him last night I realized that his game isn’t as interesting as it used to be. It’s not even that he’s losing, it’s the way he’s losing.

January 27th, 2010 at 7:53 pm

Does anyone have a link to Jo-Wil’s post match presser vs Djoko? I’ve looked and looked and can’t find a link anywhere. Thanks in advance.

January 27th, 2010 at 8:01 pm

Q. What was the problem with your health?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, first, I would like to congratulate Jo. He played a great match. Deserved to win.

Djokovic gave credit to Tsonga before he went into any details.

Q. How did you think he’ll go against Roger Federer?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I don’t know and I don’t care.

That right there is why I love Djokovic.

January 27th, 2010 at 8:05 pm

Afterwards, Tsonga said his win had been both physical and mental

“Today he had a stomach problem, but he often has problems when it’s not going,” said the Frenchman, who lost the 2008 Australian Open final to Djokovic in four sets but has beaten the Serb in all five meetings since. “After the final in Australia, I’ve always said that if I had taken him to a fifth set, I would have crushed him because I can physically take five sets… I go for my shots, I don’t waste much energy and I become tough.”

Asked what he was most satisfied with, Tsonga said, “My fight and mental [strength]. French players are often criticized for not having the mental but tonight I think I proved it’s in part false.”

January 27th, 2010 at 8:07 pm

Ben – Thanks but can you give me the link to the entire J-W presser? I have to go play a match now but back later…

January 27th, 2010 at 8:12 pm

I couldn’t find the whole presser. I just got that off the ticker on tennis.com

January 27th, 2010 at 8:14 pm

Huh: I decided to post just to reassure you that ‘been there’ has given you sound advice with respect to overlooking any insults hurled your way from any poster. And, that is to try to ignore the criticisms, which I know is very difficult, but is nonetheless, an effective means of deterring the opposition. It’s unfair, but just look at it this way, you can’t fight ‘City Hall’ and you can’t convince anyone of your good intentions, once they’ve made up their minds that you’re not their cup of tea. Just remember, if one has a smidgen of personality, they’ll be lambasted and/or disliked, and it says more about the ones doing the disliking than you. God knows I’ve been lambasted and ridiculed unjustly in the most despicable manner, time and time again, just because I have the courage to defend myself against false and unjust accusations, or speak out in disagreement when I see something that’s unjust.

Unfortunately, some posters don’t like people with any kind of personality who’d fight back. They enjoy interacting with the acquiescent type, who agrees with them ad nauseam and ad infinitum, However, I wonder if they indeed respect the ‘roll over and play dead’/acquiescent type posters, or they just tolerate them, because it boosts their ego.

Remember, nothing’s fair on these threads, so just try to keep that in mind when fighting for what you feel is right, but choose your battles carefully and with much restraint. For me, if sonmeone does not like another’s post, just scroll down. Blogging is not supposed to be ‘one happy/harmonious family’ but a place to share opinions, be it for or against, and no one has the right to tell another that they can’t write their opinions. Therefore, a reader should just scroll down, when they happen to see the name of the ‘despised’ one appear above a post. I do it all of the time.

I’ve been posting here for close to 2 years, and have come to the conclusion that there are those who love to ridicule others by acting as though they’ve been given the designation of ‘canonized saint’, by jumping into the middle of a situation, without having all of the facts per se, and sticking their noses into what does not pertain to them. If a poster is in disagreement, and feels strongly about a situation, then he/she should do so only when he/she has all the facts in hand, otherwise, don’t butt in for the sake of trying to portray ones-self as being better than the others they condemn. Sadly, from my experience on blogging here, that’s not the norm and they just speak from sheer vindictiveness when they attack. However, when the shoe is on the other foot, and they’re the ones being attacked it’s obvious from their responses that they’re not any better, and can behave worse than those they’re so quick to criticize, then we see how nasty they could become if they had to endure a smidgen of what the other person had to deal with.

Additionally, these same judgmental posters, when the going gets hot, after becoming embroiled in an argument, resort to changing their post names, and, hello, a new poster is born, which is the coward’s way out, IMO. LOL. In those instances, who’s more gutless or worse? Unfortunately, or fortunately, for those posters, not many people see through their farce. But, to those of us who are familiar with profiling, it’s easy to to see they are the one and same poster. They try to change their writing format, by using upper case and lower case, different paragraphing et al., but, unfortunately, a lot of their words give them away, and they even forget what they wrote previously, which makes it so easy to tie them to their former post name. OY. My mom always used to say, a deceiver, who’s a liar, should have a good memory, because sooner or later, they’ll be found out.

Over the past six months, since the USO to be exact, I’ve seen one poster who hogged the blog, change his name about three (3) times, and he’s changed his player preference along with the new post names. How pathetic is that??

Huh, I’ve noticed that you are aware of how quickly some posters gang up against you. Welcome to the club — I’ve been there and done that. Once you’ve been in an altercation with another poster, some of the fair weather posters, treat you as tainted meat. To that I say, c’est las vie — it’s thei loss not mine. think of those posters as the fiar weather friends you come across, who use you for all they can get, and then just discard you, when your uses run out. It’s a learning, process, so don’t let it bother you, but I suck at that also. LOL.

In view of the foregoing, I would encourage you to use caution when responding to any attacks (God knows I suck at this) but, for what it’s worth try to walk away from the attacks, as it’s not worth it to get yourself into a state of frenzy on this or any other blog site. Justice is not the norm on this site. On other sites, the offenders are banned for posting, but not so with this one. I’ve learnt that it’s best to stop posting and withdraw for a few days, or months if need be, because you can’t fight the masses, once you’re deemed as one who’s does not belong to the he ‘in group’ or tainted meat.

January 27th, 2010 at 8:41 pm

Steve,
Logically sound post. Nicely structured to arrive at a plausible conclusion.
If I were to modify anything into a general abstraction, it would be this clause, “So every win is greeted with a shrug,” into “every win is greeted as matter of fact,” unless you limit the “shrug” to Fed detractors. There is this other side, too: Fed admirers celebrate every one of his wins as victory for tennis.

The price of greatness = Unbearable Lightness of Being.

January 27th, 2010 at 8:50 pm

Sometimes I think the excuses/reasons are psychological as well as mental.

Usually polite, you first hear them – the vanquished – not diminishing their opponent’s talent, then you hear (even if it long after the match)…

“I had the flu”

“I had mono”

“My knees aren’t 100%”

“I had trouble breathing”

“I wasn’t used to the intense heat”

“My leg was still bothering me”

“I had stomach cramps”

and similar statements because it is rare to hear a top tier player say “I played the best I possibly could but could not beat (insert victor’s name here).”

I think for the most part they cannot accept that they can play at their best but still lose.

That was why Roddick’s loss to Federer at Wimbledon last year was such a blow to the American, because he came so close and played so well but still fell short to Federer. And he had no such excuses.

However, a player who says “I lost because I am not as good as (insert victor’s name here)” is a player who mentally will never beat that same player again, IMO. So hence you sometimes hear very interesting reasons why they lost, but sometimes the truth does not make it into the press conference, even though the player doing the spinning might not even know it is not the truth.

January 27th, 2010 at 8:56 pm

jane and sar, sorry your guy lost. I wanted to see Tsonga avenge his ’08 loss because I felt he played very well in that match, and he deserved to win. But I would have liked to see Jo Wil win by embroiled in a fierce battle, as I’m a fan of neither guy. Tsonga got the ‘W’, much more easily than I had envisioned he would have been able to do. However, I think the buck stops there, as Federer will definitely be the victor in their upcoming SF match — Jo Wil must be running on fumes by now. And, may the better man win.

January 27th, 2010 at 8:56 pm

All I am going to say that Tsonga is one very lucky guy. He was not even close to winning this match, he was defeated at every aspect of the game and the only reason for his win is Novak getting sick. For all of you out there who think that Novak is not mentally strong to finish tough matches,all I can say you are totally wrong. In this match it was food poisoning!!!!

January 27th, 2010 at 9:06 pm

Gordo, I couldn’t agree more.

Food poisoning?

January 27th, 2010 at 9:13 pm

Hey guys, here’s a suggestion:

Let’s use this site to discuss something that we all have in common, like our love of the sport of tennis? How’s that sound?

We can leave all the hate speech to the posters on the radical political blogs, and if we have the need to spew our own brand of ridiculous, generalized dribble about each others culture or expose our dirty little secret vice of nationalism we can hope over to those sites.

In the meantime, perhaps a little restraint is in order. It’s no one’s “job” to defend and/or attack on behalf of others.

If ever there was a place where it is possible to just “walk away” instead of “engage” in a fight, this here blog would be up.

Just my two cents.

and GO MURRAY!!!!!

January 27th, 2010 at 9:18 pm

Puckbandit: GO MURRAY indeed!

January 27th, 2010 at 9:43 pm

If anyone watched the Brad and Cliff commentary of the Tsonga/Djok match, they said he would probably tank the fourth set and if he were feeling better, try to take the fifth. Didn’t happen.

Von, it’s disappointing but Novak will win again. I think Fed is going to take the whole thing now. He’s got something to prove from last year’s defeat. If it is Murray he’ll be even more determined since they’ve not been friendly.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:09 pm

tennis coach:
Tsonga beat a one-armed Almagro and a toilet hugging Djokovic. Fed is gonna crush him.

January 27th, 2010 at 10:16 pm

Regarding player excuses, look, this is simply the nature of tennis. Unlike golf or swimming or gymnastics, sports where you have absolutely no influence on how your opponent plays, excuses are futile. If Tiger is having a helluva putting day, or Phelps is swimming like a dolphin, there is NOTHING you can do about it. They’ll win no matter what you do.

But not in tennis, after all, your opponent can only hit what you give him. If they are hot coming out of the blocks, you try to weather the storm. If they like pace, you slow things down. If they can’t handle pace, you blow them off court. If your opponents beats you, it might be because they were better, but it’s partially due to the fact that you allowed them to play their best. You had an ineffective game plan or a wrong strategy. You can never say I lost because he was better, because that mean he’ll always be better and he’ll always beat you. Same goes for boxing. You can’t allow yourself to admit the other player is better. Maybe your next match against them will wind up different, but if you just shrug and say: “Too good”, you’re history.

January 27th, 2010 at 11:00 pm

Here is the Tsonga presser,

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2010-01-27/201001271264558059000.html

January 27th, 2010 at 11:17 pm

The smidgen of personality re-entered this forum with vicious attack on three good posters:

tennis-x.com/xblog/2010-01-10/2935.php#comment-116959

jane: “Great summation of the week’s events Ben;”

As usual, you run true to form and never disappoint, being a bundle of contradictions, vacillating and swinging like a pendulum in whichever direction you can gain approval! I agree, i disagree, but i see what you mean, however, etc. How boring!!!

Ben put down Roddick’s achievements on winning his title to almost meaningless, and you call that a great summation? I suppose if he had knocked ‘your boy’ you’d not be so quick to say Ben’s summations are great, would you?? You’d be jumping around, and up and down, seeking out and submitting links, coupled with very tedious bit of information you can dig up to justify that he’s great. OY VEY!!
_________________________________
Madmax: Do you own Federer?? And, are you the birth mother of his twin girls?? Do try to be objective will ya. However, that’s a bit difficult when one’s in love, isn’t it, as love is BLIND.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A brief recall on the Lunatic’s Past
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In an attempt to form a gang, this poster became part Indian one time: “Do you know any history about the Khans in Southern India. They are my ancestors. I believe from what someone told my sister, is that there are statues of them over there. I guess your eyes are now wide open about my heritage. I am not all Indian, some English too. Bye.”
tennis-x.com/xblog/2007-11-24/334.php#comment-21169
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In her chronic history of forming gangs and attack rampages,
Von Says [referring to Duro as “the other guy”]:

Not not Nacho, his attacker, the other guy, whose name I’m not going to mention. NachoF didn’t do anything wrong, all he said Djoko’s ‘unlikeable’. So it’s his opinion, and what’s wrong with that. He didn’t need the verbal onslaught that followed nor to be told to get the ‘f’ out of here. Nachof has been posting longer on this site than the other guy.

Posted September 9th, 2009 at 6:46
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Von says to Kimmi: “You want peace? I saw you pushing some fire last evening with respect to the retirements vared mentioned, referencing which player looks bad and which ones were worse. Didn’t you mention Djokovic’s retirements? Is that wanting peace. sheesh. also, on the other thread you were pushing some more fire for wanting a thread on Roddick’s racket breaking. people who want peace don’t purposely incite, they remain quiet as in shhhhh, remember that. capiche?”
tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-10-06/2445.php#comment-101860

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Von Says to Cindy Brady:

When you expound sh*t and try to look noble/righteous, make sure your slate’s clean. Don’t preach sainthood when you’re a devil and that’s what you are and a hypocrite also. I’m not the one holding the grudge, you are. According to you ‘no one crosses Cindy Brady’, and you said that even though I did nothing to you when you began harassing me after I stood up to you with your Roddick put downs. You use these threads to gain some attention and unleash your venom, so now deal with it and if you can’t then STFU. Better yet stuff a sock in it. For an old woman 65+ you’re absolutely bitter picking on a young man like Roddick who could be your grandson. Get a life!

Posted September 7th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is how Von has driven off many posters from this site:

Vared says on his exit: I will leave this forum if it will help you [Von]. I have noticed that many on here have had run-ins with you and left. Others that stay always back down and defer to you in case you haven’t noticed it. In fact, now that I write this, I think I will leave here. If one cannot challenge Von, if one has to always walk around on tip-toe or egg shells so as not to offend Von, it’s not worth it.
Adios, over and out.
tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-10-06/2445.php#comment-101828

That is just one example. Over two years, she has done this countless times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Von uses the same old, futile tactics, imputing other posters of name change and what not. Here is one example:

Von Says:

BTW, kook, I believe there are tons of posts testifying who’re the nutjobs here. And who begins the attacks on whom. brady is the all time *kook* on this site. You got moderated and had to change your name to Goat girl, when you joined forces and were playing good cop, bad cop with your friend. Then you said goodbye, because your posts were being moderated, due to your racist remarks towards Serena. You then came back, left, and now you’re back as goat galz, even though you claim you’ve never posted under any other name. To recap, brady, goat girl, goat galz, rogers twin sister — all the same kook person.

tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-10-06/2445.php#comment-102026

She said the same thing to/ about Fedex, Xeno, Grendel, and many others. Paranoia par excellence. But the tactic is not gonna work any more because it’s too old and outdated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goat Galz responds:
tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-10-08/2449.php#comment-102047
—————————
The attention freak picks fights with every one.
Von says to Polo:
BTW Polo, and FYI, I hope you know that by jumping to your biased conclusion, you’ve begun a *fight* with me, and it was not my doing, but your being meddlesome, which is your usual MO, but carry on.
tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-10-06/2445.php#comment-102000
——————————
Against Federer and their fans,
Von says: In case you haven’t noticed I’m lambasted for many things I don’t even deserve, especially from people like Kimo, huh, Gordo, some of Fed’s fans, not to mention grendel, Goat Girl, Brady, who are the most obnoxious and the biggest exaggerators of all the Federer fans.

tennis-x.com/xblog/2009-10-06/2445.php#comment-101848
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Von even thinks when she unloads F-bombs, it comes out classy. Delusion at its zenith !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goat Galz Says [and she is right]:

Again Von is destroying this blogsite. First she henpecks Kimmi, gets rid of Varad, Zola and others, then she takes a mental health break, comes back and goes after Jane, the best contributor to this site. What is it with you Von always talking about “pushing heat?” Do you have a fire fixation? The resident surgeons of the State Mental Hospital would like to offer you a complimentary lobotomy so that your problem may be rectified ASAP.
tennis-x.com/xblog/2010-01-24/3080.php#comment-119364
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Does anyone like you on this site?
I don’t think so.
Evidence: When you announced your departure last time, no one said, “Don’t leave, Von,” or anything along that line. Everyone was happy. This site is better off without you, and you have been told this numerous times, directly or indirectly. One thing is true, you keep the same name, and with that, repeat the same work, indulge in personal attack rampage, practice sadism religiously. Why else would you re-enter this forum with multi-pronged attacks on three good posters and continue in the vein?

January 27th, 2010 at 11:32 pm

is roger the luckiest of all time or what??

January 27th, 2010 at 11:36 pm

Wow, O-Kerr!!
This is everything about Von put in nice compact form. New bloggers-you have been warned.

January 28th, 2010 at 12:05 am

These fathead American chauvinist motherf***er O-Kerr has asked me again a question as to when did I become a Chinese? He rememberd about my residence in M

January 28th, 2010 at 12:07 am

O-Kerr, you did a lot of research. FYI, you attacked me several days ago, and I didn’t answer you. I didn’t attack you in my post to Huh either — so what’s your problem?

I’m not going to get into it with you because it’s not worth it. I should mention however, that the comments you’ve picked out, I think you need to read from the beginning of what transpired in those instances, and it’ll give you an idea of who attacked whom. Additionally, I don’t care who likes or dislikes me, or asked to to stay, as I’m not into winning a popularity contest. However, if you’d research further, you’d see many times where I’ve been encouraged to keep on posting when I’ve been attacked, not in the exact words of ‘don’t go’ but similar.

FYI, the Khans of Southern India were of Persian/Arian.

January 28th, 2010 at 12:11 am

cha-cha: “Wow, O-Kerr!!
This is everything about Von put in nice compact form. New bloggers-you have been warned.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

Do you think the bloggers on this site who’ve been posting for several years don’t have a history of arguments??

January 28th, 2010 at 12:14 am

These fathead American chauvinist motherf***er O-Kerr has asked me again a question as to when did I become a Chinese? He rememberd about my residence in Myanmar but cannot recall how I got there, very low memory this moron has got I must say. But thanks to know that I’ve interacted on this site with many Americans who’re very broadminded instead of the @$$holes like O-Kerr who has a so much limited world view. But that’s the price one has to pay of being an ultra-nationalist or fundamentalist as is he/she. But no worries, God would do justice to these people and one day all would become aware of their venomousness and then there would be no place to run away for these ############s to run for ther lives. That I leave to God and bid a goodbye to you all. I may try to return , but sorry if I cannot. All the commomners in my countries would continue to hold the Americans in highest regards as we always have. Good Luck.

January 28th, 2010 at 12:15 am

AND MY HIGHEST LOVE AND RESPECT TO MRS.VON AND BEEN THERE FOR YOUR RESPONSES WHICH I’D CONTINUE TO TREASURE FOREVER. YOUR LAST TWO POSTS, MRS.VON AND BEEN THERE, WERE PRICELESS FOR ME. IT GAVE ME A NEW LIGHT TO BRIGHTEN MY LIFE. GOD BLESS YOU TWO. ALL THE BEST.

January 28th, 2010 at 12:18 am

huh: Keep on posting and don’t allow yourself to be pushed out. The same was/is done to me all of the time, and it’s not a reflection on you, but the ones doing it — just remember that.

January 28th, 2010 at 12:24 am

Huh :

Keep posting please :) If you have to leave, leave for a noble cause. Dont let this be the reason you leave.

For what it is worth, I have a lot of Chinese friends and they are awesome. Great culture, great people. lot of fun being with them :)

On a lighter note…. I heard this on a stand-up comedy show on comedy central. This indian dude says “the caucasians might run and hide, but we asians will get them. In a 100yrs this world will be just chinese and indians. LOL! (they are almost 50% of the world population now)

Hi VON :) Good to see you back. Sorry that andy lost. I have to say you are going to have a lot of competition as roddick fan numbers are increasing post wimbledon 09. I still dont think he will win another slam, but I am not so sure about it as I was before. I hope he does win a Wimbledon or aus open sometime :)

January 28th, 2010 at 1:00 am

Long Live: Glad to see you here. I’ve missed your humor. Thanks for the welcome back, but I’m only posting for the AO — at least one person on this site likes me and I’m not so bad after all. LOOOOL.

My heart is broken in many pieces with respect to Andy’s loss. I’m most concerned about his injury though, and I hope that it’s not serious, or else that would be the beginning of the end for him..

With respect to Andy winning another slam, please don’t give up on him; I think he’ll do it.

Take care Long Live, and enjoy the SF and final matches.

January 28th, 2010 at 1:09 am

HUH,

You must take care. Try to get back to the “real” huh, who is enjoyed by most on this forum. Dont be lead down the dark alleys by seemingly fortuous people, discuss the tennis and be brave in that – everything else, politics, etc. keep to perhaps personal emails? It would be sad if you left. The real you, is so lovely. We know that.

So Huh! How great was Roger when he was in a hole yesterday? and again,

“Roger fed is afraid Says:
is roger the luckiest of all time or what??”

January 27th, 2010 at 11:36 pm

How on earth can you bring “luck” into a situation. There really is no such thing. It’s called “making your own luck”. So yeah. Roger “made his own luck”. The spirit of a champion. Roger Federer held on mentally. He has got to be the strongest mentally out there – so focused and in his zone. 13 straight games in a row – and if you believe in luck? Pttttttt! 13 is an “unlucky” number FIA!

Federer wasn’t awesome throughout the match, but he did enough to win, and that was all that matters. 23 CONSECUTIVE SEMI FINAL WINS – is just astonishing, mind blowing information – truly great.

Huh! Have a great day! and TAKE CARE!

Hi Jane,Margot! (Contador! where are you?).

January 28th, 2010 at 1:40 am

” at least one person on this site likes me ”

Yes…. please always remember that :) ( and also that I like roger ;) so please give us some love you have so much for andy :)

I can only imagine the heart-break. I actually had roddick in the finals against roger. I will root for Roddick till he wins another slam – except against Roger, in which case I will hope for the better man to win. I will change that if you cheer Roger to victory for another Paris title ;)

Please keep posting Von :) I am sure there are more people who want you posting.

January 28th, 2010 at 1:44 am

Hiya Maxi :)

Keep the Roger Federer flag flying :) I am sure Fed is not afraid, but Murray is playing some awesome game.

I hope Roger will turn it on tomorrow like he did in Cincinnati. Murray is the most likely to derail the fed-ex, i feel. Fed will most likely straight set Tsonga. Davydenko was the only guy who could trouble him and Roger handled him quite well. Rafa is the other dude and he is not in. So….

January 28th, 2010 at 2:00 am

Big Big Thanks again to Long Live the King, Mrs. Von and Madmax! :)

January 28th, 2010 at 2:38 am

Whoever it is, see, it all started with this judgemental post of the notorious and obnoxious delusional psychopath O-Kerr who’d none of the business spouting the following garbage a few days back when I’d absolutely nothing against him/her:

“O-Kerr Says:
—————————————
On a side note,
Is there a difference between the letters C, H, and V (you know who you are), in your personal attack rampage against (each) other posters? Not even of degrees. You are of the same personality type. All the insults you hurl at others apply to yourselves, a mirror-image of your ugly selves. The bitterness you exude turn off many tennis fans as soon as they encounter your rabies-ridden selves spewing your senseless venom. We walk away from the threshold or are reluctant to participate regularly in this forum due to your insanity at full display. Even Rick is better than you in this respect.
Nothing personal against you people, just against what you thrive on, your negativity at the personal level.

January 25th, 2010 at 8:54 pm”

http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2010-01-25/3100.php

WTF was the needed to pop up for the dirty-minded pain@$$ jerk O-Kerr to say all this? Does he/she even have any business except either spewing venom against others or indulging in brazen and sickening brainwashing? Whatever fellas, I couldn’t let it go. Comeuppance is indeed a #####!

January 28th, 2010 at 3:13 am

Let alone Rick, even Brady is better than this curse whose name is O-Kerr!

January 28th, 2010 at 3:15 am

And so far as Goat Girl is concerned, unless one is fully naive, there are enough clues to know that she’s Cindy. But a fathead can in no way recognise it. So what? Big Deal?

January 28th, 2010 at 3:18 am

“After the final in Australia, I’ve always said that if I had taken him to a fifth set, I would have crushed him because I can physically take five sets… I go for my shots, I don’t waste much energy and I become tough.”

Wow! Pretty strong words coming out of Tsonga’s mouth :-)

January 28th, 2010 at 3:35 am

Hi Longlive!

how are you!

I’m sticking by roger. He has come through his matches, fighting at times – and even if he has to fight again, I believe he can. Am just thrilled that he once again made it to 23 consecutive semi finals – awesome stats! but bring it on against Tsonga! first, of all.

January 28th, 2010 at 7:13 am

“After the final in Australia, I’ve always said that if I had taken him to a fifth set, I would have crushed him because I can physically take five sets… I go for my shots, I don’t waste much energy and I become tough.”

Then why didn’t he take him to a fifth. Crazy dude. Get over it Jo.

January 29th, 2010 at 12:40 am

Though he was/is my favourite player, and we share a common heritage, it is very clear to me that Nole will never be a consistent champion, especially in the Slams. His fitness is suspect, even with the strides he’s made lately, his game is rather predictable, his serve is deteriorating dramatically (he gets broken routinely for a supposed “top 3” player), and his temperament is a distraction. However, his major problem, and the determining factor in his ultimate tennis failure and obscurity, is his heart. He does not have the heart of a champion, never has, and probably never will. That is why, as talented as he is, he chooses not to “dig deep” during critical periods of a tough match — and why he is always, always, able to rationalize his disgraceful collapses and capitulations, each and every time.

January 31st, 2010 at 1:43 am