#115, wow. I wonder what’ll happen with James, if he’ll consider retiring or what he’ll do. It must be disheartening for him, and he’s a smart guy. He must know/feel that there aren’t a lot of tennis years left in him.

Some interesting clashes in Atlanta; I wonder if Young will do well on his home turf? I see he won his opener over Sela, including with a bagel.

July 21st, 2010 at 12:58 pm

I’m a little sad for James (one of my favorites). Hopefully when he does decide to give up tennis, he will stay in tennis in some shape or form. I think he would make a great commentator. Probably better than some of them they currently have out there!

July 21st, 2010 at 1:00 pm

Hamburg turing into a s***show with seeds falling over. Good chance for others to play a Rafa-less clay event though, they have to pay the bills somehow.

Why does Muller show up once a year to play the US hard courts, he could do so much better with his Rusedski-esque game.

July 21st, 2010 at 1:02 pm

Blake should just call it quits.

July 21st, 2010 at 2:45 pm

Sean – on that dent vs zeballos match..i could not understand why zeballos was making so many errors. the moment he got broken in the 2nd set, he could not keep the ball on the court.

great for dent today but very poor from argentinian zeballos.

July 21st, 2010 at 7:30 pm

poor james, he should play to the end of the year, do his very best and then retire.

July 21st, 2010 at 8:00 pm

kimmi

are you watching isner v muller? in the decider.

muller should really play more tournaments.

yeah, that was bad from horacio.

July 21st, 2010 at 8:22 pm

conty – no i am not. I will tune in

July 21st, 2010 at 8:31 pm

mmmm one set all..very close.

July 21st, 2010 at 8:33 pm

muller served a love game ace count rising

July 21st, 2010 at 8:37 pm

I can see the serving aces continues for muller. Looks like we go to another tie breaker

July 21st, 2010 at 8:41 pm

have to flag this guy muller, kimmi.

that was a terrible smash attempt. he’s not the speediest. but he’s slim. has some strapping on the knee.

isner is wearing an awful shirt.

July 21st, 2010 at 8:48 pm

i think muller’s hope for the win would be to break isner now, if that’s possible.

yep. this will be another tie breaker

July 21st, 2010 at 8:51 pm

this match is serve dominated. no rallies at all. Thanks god there is a tie breaker. :)

Isner shirt not looking good for a tennis match.

July 21st, 2010 at 8:52 pm

who do you think will win atlanta?

July 21st, 2010 at 8:56 pm

well deuce on muller’s serve. maybe not a tiebreaker

July 21st, 2010 at 8:57 pm

the moment i mentioned no rallies. Muller is taken to duece. nervy game that was. now isner to serve for the tie breaker.

July 21st, 2010 at 8:58 pm

“who do you think will win atlanta?”

Conty – Roddick is the top seed. If he gets his game going, he is the first choice.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:00 pm

muller holds.

i have some practice picks for the hamburg matches. but atlanta? i don’t know. fish or ginepri?

July 21st, 2010 at 9:00 pm

Muller needs to serve well here..if he serves like that previous game, he is out.

Isner has been more stable

July 21st, 2010 at 9:02 pm

yes he is the obvious favorite. but…im picking dent hahaha

joking

July 21st, 2010 at 9:02 pm

not picking davy in hamburg, either.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:05 pm

Muller playing a great tie breaker so far

July 21st, 2010 at 9:05 pm

oh no..double fault

July 21st, 2010 at 9:08 pm

yeah, can you believe this muller has not won an atp tournament?

July 21st, 2010 at 9:09 pm

yap..because he seem to choke at the last minute

July 21st, 2010 at 9:10 pm

he’s gonna choke, muller. likely part of the reason he hasn’t gone further. tough circumstances

he holds. no choking

July 21st, 2010 at 9:12 pm

isner could do this all day, more like 3 days

match point again

July 21st, 2010 at 9:13 pm

Isner wins. isner seem to be used to those close matches. Holding his own very well there. Congrats.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:15 pm

good job isner but i like it when guys that haven’t ever won, win.

he’ll likely have a tough match with hewitt, kimmi

but i think he’s win the tournament.

practice picking here : )

July 21st, 2010 at 9:16 pm

who will win..hewitt or isner?

July 21st, 2010 at 9:17 pm

isner is very cool. he doesn’t get flustered at all.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:18 pm

isner over hewitt. hewitt hasn’t played this isner. i mean they’ve played twice but isner is improving fast.

the more difficult pick is the top section. i don’t feel roddick will win.

it might be that i want him to win so bad that i have to pick against him. if that makes any sense….no.

and about hamburg?

July 21st, 2010 at 9:22 pm

Hamburg, i am rooting for bellucci.

Difficult for isner to beat Hewitt. hewitt is a great retuner and move better that isner. Hewitt in three.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:25 pm

Hi girls – conty are you picking Isner to win Atlanta, over Roddick? I think Roddick should win it. But you never know, if someone gets on a roll. I wonder if Hewy can neutralize Big John’s serve; if so, he moves on. Personally, if they’re on opposite sides, I’d love to see a Hewitt vs. Roddick final.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:40 pm

okay, i’m in! isner in three.

yeah, i root for bellucci too!. but can he win this one? he has to get by PK on his PK’s home turf, unless the old argentine chela has anything left and knocks out PK.

i imagine istomin wants his first atp win really really bad and he’s hot. this is istomin’s time. : ) what do i know.

all depends on dvy’s wrist, i quess. if he’s fit he’ll wipe out the field.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:45 pm

jane – conty is practicing her picks ..and picks Isner to win atlanta.

NOWAY conty. But if he wins. I will eat a hat that i never got a chance to eat yet..

Hamburg draw is tough. btw, PK already beat chela today conty.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:51 pm

yes! a hewitt roddick final , Jane. my heart is there.

i’ll be cheering for roddick…but i think somebody will bump him off.

unless…is roddick playing LA? if he’s not, he might go all out in atlanta.

July 21st, 2010 at 9:55 pm

oops, must be looking at an old draw. yes, i was.

how right you are. well, then our brazillian heart throb goes out to the german. hahahaa get the hat ready!

July 21st, 2010 at 9:58 pm

no no no. a hat is for isner winning atlanta, not for bellucci beating PK

PK is another tough one. just hoping bellucci lefty FH clicks.

Fish on a roll..6-1 first set against ginepri. He is another one with lots of confidence right now.

July 21st, 2010 at 10:08 pm

fish and ginepri are so inconsistent. but yes, fish at his confident best could take out nearly anyone ( thinking he couldn’t take out rafa, no enough confidence for that )

ginepri, i think, is from georgia??? i’ve been watching the match. fish can get mad at himself and implode. he’s a little nutty.

yep kimmi. can’t you see it? isner winning? depends on how the stars align and i better go check if roddick is playing LA

i always want to cheer for chardy too but melzer would need to have a very bad day.

how many atp wins does bellucci have?

July 21st, 2010 at 10:19 pm

I don’t think Roddick is playing L.A., but he is playing Washington. He may go “all out” here. I can’t see who could knock out Roddick on his side of the draw, except maybe a hot Fish (sounds funny : ) most fish are cold), but I doubt it. Zeballos is there, but isn’t he a clay guy?? On the other side, both Hewitt and Isner could maybe have a shot against Andy R.

July 21st, 2010 at 10:23 pm

did i forget to say hello to jane?

hello jane. my head was down studying the draws, deep in thought, or imagining, guessing.

i think i just might be overlooking something. it happens.

i may retract on the isner over roddick and thinking hewitt could win the whole enchilada…..

July 21st, 2010 at 10:27 pm

z-ball lost miserably today.

July 21st, 2010 at 10:29 pm

to dent. horacio lost to dent.

July 21st, 2010 at 10:30 pm

nope. second guessing is wussy.

but i’m doing it

legg mason is a long way off. roddick will go not all out but enough to get to the final.

where isner wins……hahahahaa laugh at me, go ahead….

counting on hewitt not being on his game for reasons unkown.

meanwhile ginepri is looking tough. fish better win this in 2. if it goes to 3, he might lose patience, start double faulting.

July 21st, 2010 at 10:39 pm

Hi contador – I get it, head down, studying draws. I was just checking it over myself. LOL. Not following the clay events. Have left them behind after the FO and the grass. Now is hard court time in my mind. So will stick to watching / following those events.

In a way, Isner needs a good win. He’s been in two finals, both of which he lost to Sam (Memphis and Belgrade) and then that marathon at SW19. Now he is at home in the US, on faster hard courts. One would think he will pick up a title this summer with that wicked serve of his. Still, not sure he can beat Roddick if it comes down to tiebreaks, say. But you never know!

July 21st, 2010 at 10:45 pm

I think bellucci has 2 titles. 250 level. both clay. last year he got one (gstaad) and this year one (santiago).

he needs to win the big ones. like 500 level (if rafa not playing ofcourse). He is improving fast. Enjoyed his match with rafa at RG and soda at wimbles. He just needs to get up that huddle. HC is not his best surface though..hopes he learns fast. i like him.

July 21st, 2010 at 10:47 pm

jane – “Still, not sure he (isner) can beat Roddick if it comes down to tiebreaks, say”

arrrrg! jane, that is where roddick will be in trouble. if they get to play, he should not let it go to tie breaker. he lost tie breakers to Isner at the US open 09, remember?

not that i am saying isner will get to the final..but just incase it happens. Still picking Roddick here though.

July 21st, 2010 at 10:53 pm

oh god, ginepri is broken. The end of the road is near. Fish serving for the match..

July 21st, 2010 at 10:56 pm

Kimmi, oh you’re right. Had forgotten that (put it out of my memory). I think Roddick should avoid tiebreaks with John then, and just exploit any and all second serves that come his way. Assuming, of course, they both meet in the final. : )

July 21st, 2010 at 11:34 pm

it’s not that isner is my favorite player. i don’t think it’s right to have that height advantage…seriously. nothing to do about it but the guy does have that advantage and knows how to use it. he’s better than karlovic. i try to imagine how differently these super tall guys see a tennis court.

after the mahut marathon, i’m pretty convinced isner can beat roddick in tie breaks and maybe even more motivated because it is roddick. he beat roddick at the US Open. not easy to do. and yeah, isner is happy on his home hard courts.

not that i like seeing roddick lose to isner.

he appears to go out and play his game regardless of whom is across the net. he’s improving. he’ll have trouble with the speedy hewitt if hewitt is having a great day, imo.

maybe i give him too much credit cuz he’s scares me. hahaha

the end.

kimmi-

thanks for the info on bellucci i thought he had one 250. he just might be more motivated for a 500 than melzer. would be great if he won hamburg!

GO Bellucci

July 21st, 2010 at 11:37 pm

“contador Says:

it’s not that isner is my favorite player.”

Dang right contador, I know “Gulby” is your secret fav, Confess! Lol…..

BTW,

Your “the end” comment beats out my “out”! Dang!

July 22nd, 2010 at 12:06 am

people underestimate how difficult it is playing with injuries.

many matches are won with only 5-10% more points.

you drop that percentage in performance, which doesn’t sound alot, but suddenly you start losing all those matches you narrowly won, struggle to win matches you would win comfortably and get killed in matches you used to have a fighting chance in.

July 22nd, 2010 at 12:18 am

@Sean

“On the other side, look at a guy like Dent who was retired and off the tour. But after three years of back problems which required several surgeries, Dent has remarkably returned to the Top 100,”

As a former tour player with severe back issues, Thanks for bringing up Dents story in your article. Dent doesn’t get enough credit for coming back after all that surgery, usually you don’t, let alone play at this level and get into the top 100…..

July 22nd, 2010 at 12:22 am

Skeezerweezer-

hello. you are a former tour player? really? cool. tough on the body, right? you have my full respect.

as far as dent goes, i didn’t really know much of him until his return last year and read the story of how he was in a body cast and has now worked his way back.

he took awhile to warm up yesterday playing horacio zeballos but once dent got rolling, zeballos couldn’t keep a ball in the court. i was surprised how well dent played, considering how old he is and what he’s been through.

let’s just keep the matter of my favorite under a carpet or something, k? : ) i don’t even like admitting it to myself! and fat chance he’ll win a grand slam but his name in any draw is what i hope to find, even when he was stuck in the qualies last season. GO ERNIE!! here’s hoping he is downplaying that lack of interest in tennis. he has a great shrug like safin.

but my list of favorites is long. feddy tops the list. i still think he’ll sneak in while everyone has counted him out and snatch another GS. not this year though. this sorta looks like rafa’s year, i concede. even if i don’t like watching rafa’s style, it’s hard for me to see a serious rival. team rafa will be going all out to have him ready for US Open.

atm though my stomach is in knots about contador, last big climbing stage of the TDF. he’ll win, but…i want to see a fight for it, and no one is brave enough. plus it’s not as much fun this year with armstrong looking quite over. so far the most exciting moment this morning was when a bunch of sheep crossed the road in front of the pelaton…shaamoooon!

when i write something long or off topic like this. has to have a….

…the end. : )

July 22nd, 2010 at 11:01 am

Contador – I, too, like Gulbis, and I am not immune to his physical charms, either, even though I am a geezer. I notice (generally, not on this site) that women are allowed to say how beautiful another woman is looking without being suspected of wanting to leap into bed. Somehow, men aren’t. Why? After all, one can see a golden labrador, for instance, think it’s gorgeous and have the impulse to cuddle it, but no one suspects that this is simply a preliminary to etc.

Anyway, I thought you might be amused by Gulbis’s on court interview after beating Federer. If you remember, he was serving for the match, got broken, but then immediately broke Federer back, so served again for match. He described his feelings, at this juncture, as being “very interesting”. He had found it very difficult even just to stand, let alone go through the serving motions, his whole body was shaking and he had never gone through anything like that before. Peter Fleming (discussing in the studio after) expressed some scepticism, saying Gulbis must have experienced the choking sensation before. That surprised me, since I hadn’t realised that that was what Gulbis was describing. Is choking really as bad as that?

I too would love to see Gulbis take a slam. He’s one of these “glorious amateur” types playing in an era which couldn’t ber more geared to the professional. A breakthrough by him would be quite a turn up.

I have been interested reading you and Kimmi on the TDF. These people seem to me barely human, those monstrous hills they race up. I was amazed at your reports of head butting etc – incredible. I’m going on a modest little cycling trip for a few days with my two sons. It’s a great way to see the countryside. I’ve heard that there is a sort of cycle route going right across America. I’d like to do that one day before I pop me cloggs.

July 22nd, 2010 at 11:53 am

James needs a coach who will tell him that just smashing the ball as hard as you can just isn’t gonna get the job done. He had a good run a couple of years ago, but these days he doesn’t seem to THINK out there, and also seems to have lost the ability to just let the mistakes go by and move on. He’s back to getting down on himself which is not good.
Isner is the future of American tennis…strength, power, and a variety of shots. And with legs that can MOVE!

July 22nd, 2010 at 12:01 pm

Blake should just call it quits. I think he will have a bright career after tennis– it is a shame h never learned how to TRULY compete.

July 22nd, 2010 at 12:10 pm

@contador

Nice read :) Tx….

July 22nd, 2010 at 12:24 pm

grendel, funny about the labrador; there are all sundry of double standards. I think it was in that same interview, when describing his feelings about “choking” versus Fed, that Gulbis said he pooped in his pants “a little bit”. Ha ha. That should’ve been included in the quotes we were putting up last week.

————————————

Skeeze, a friend sent me this poem, and for some reason I thought of you:

By Charles Baudelaire:

“BE DRUNK”

You have to be always drunk. That’s all there is to it–it’s the
only way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk. But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.

And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of
a ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again,
drunkenness already diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing, everything that is speaking. . .ask what time it is and wind, wave, star, bird, clock will answer you: “It is time to be
drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be
continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish.”

———————

I suppose we’re all a little “drunk” on tennis. LOL. But oh, the burden of time. Blake must be feeling it. Poor guy. Maybe his injuries will heal and he can play well for another couple of years. He and Delpo played a heck of a match at the AO this year.

July 22nd, 2010 at 12:41 pm

Jane,

Loved it! Loved it! Thanks :)

July 22nd, 2010 at 1:07 pm

ah jane-

that’s simply wonderful. must be saved and remembered. looking up Baudelaire.

just popped in to check hamburg scores.

reister may be knocking my man istomin out…

but its 6-2 in the decider tie break! hang on denis don’t choke (he just DF’d on his first match point…

but he wins, Kimmi!

one chalk mark goes on the bracket practice.

July 22nd, 2010 at 2:54 pm

grendel-jane

exactly right about the double standards. sharapova graces any tournament as does ana ivanovic, imo, even if they lose. i wouldn’t get any cr^p about saying how beautiful they are and how i like watching them for shallow reasons.

ernie? what can i say. he is easy on the eyes, has a great smile, is entertainingly animated on court, has a wit, gives a great interview, loves the limelight though he doesn’t like to admit it, downplays his ambitions ( i hope ), and adds excitement in a draw, even if brief. and..and…and. i must keep reminding myself he’s ernie and that’s it.

his tennis light could go out at any moment but that’s part of the fun. after all, i have been the fan of the most consistent champion, enjoyed a steady ride which lasted quite a long time. now thoroughly spoiled, i adjust to a different federer and part of my “therapy” is indulging in not only gulbis but watching closely for who might come up to #1 after nadal is done cleaning up.

davydenko is also one of my favorites. how sexy is he? hahaha simply an amazing athlete i love to watch along with mrs. davydenko making faces at those of an unfavorable crowd.

which reminds me. Kimmi, bellucci beat kohls!! poor chardy though. will a french ever win? will mahut ever avenge his loss or recover? gasquet? sliderman? all favorites too. c’mon! ( not benny, no no)

and about cycling, grendel- if you are planning a leisurely cruise with your sons in the USA, california through the napa valley is wonderful, a road bike is fine there, unless you stop to do some wine tasing. then i suggest carrying cab fare for the way back to a hotel. but if you want to ride in the rockies…get a mountain bike and a good crash helmet! the oregon coast route is very bike friendly, tame and spectacular. something to do with your sons and before the “popping me cloggs” happens!

i dream of touring a few regions in france before “popping me clogs.”
***********

skeezerweezer-

you are very welcome. my pleasure.

July 22nd, 2010 at 2:55 pm

jane: a shrink said that so called “mad people” just lack the extra skin that stops the rest of us thinking about “the burden of time” all the time.
grendel: am intrigued, sounds as if you’d mind. Why? It’s all smoke and mirrors here in this strange virtual.

July 22nd, 2010 at 3:04 pm

@contador,

“a road bike is fine there, unless you stop to do some wine tasting. then I suggest carrying cab fare for the way back to a hotel.”

Been there, done that :), sounds like you took the cab back too otherwise how do you know? LOL……

July 22nd, 2010 at 3:36 pm

@Margot

“It’s all smoke and mirrors here in this strange virtual.”

You need to go see the movie “Inception” :). Trust me on this one. Smoke and mirrors? How about a dream? :)

July 22nd, 2010 at 3:38 pm

skeezer: I’ve just seen it! I love Chris Nolan, Memento is one of my top 20. A brilliant, interesting idea but just a bit too much dashing around waving guns for my taste. However, all the acting was terrific and lovely Leo gets better and better.

July 22nd, 2010 at 4:40 pm

I’d like to see “Inception”. I also very much liked “Memento” though one of my students almost invariably does a presentation on the editing therein, and like Ellen Page since her hilarious turn as Juno. Just finally saw “Shutter Island” so have some catching up to do on Leo.

margot, I think I am thin skinned. ; )

conty, I like your explanation for following Ernie. It’s so true and makes perfect sense. This reply also allows me to say I am writing something about tennis! Did you see that Roddick didn’t have an easy go with Ram; had to go the distance. But that may just toughen him up for the next match.

July 22nd, 2010 at 6:21 pm

@Margot

We both were happy then. I’m a guy so like all that exploding gun waving run around stuff, but the movie was so well written no? I actually have had a 2 deep dream, so it hit home and got really into it. So, what is ur take on the totem in the end?

Jane,

If you liked Momento, Shutter Island and adult Leo, you’ll love it. Don’t read anything about just watch it there are plenty of sites to answer your questions after :)

July 22nd, 2010 at 7:02 pm

margot

“sounds as if you’d mind. Why?” Ah, you think you’ve got me, don’t you. But you haven’t. It’s just about being understood, that’s all. I mean, if I want to indicate that I fancy a bloke, then I can let people know immediately – avoiding all equivocation. Also, put it down to my truly enormous age, but I find it tedious that people always drag sex in as if it’s the only possible reason one could take pleasure or interest in looking at people. Goddam it, we have eyes to behold the wonders of the world, among which is the fantastic variety in the human form – especially face. So there.

Smoke and mirrors? Virtual world? i sometimes have trouble in figuring which is the real world and which the shadow. what’s in a name? you think it confers identity? more than a name one might use in cyber? why? two people think they know me, and yet each has such a different experience of me that can they really be said to know the same person? but there’s nothing unusual in that.

Contador, thanks for your cycling suggestions in US, which I shall store carefully away. But no helmet! God I hate cycling helmets. Motorcycling helmets were bad enough, but you could see a sort of rough logic in it. Cycling, though! Why not wear armour whilst you’re at it? I bet the day will come when it’s illegal NOT to wear cycling helmets. But I will have popped me clogs by then, thank god.

b.t.w. which sport has something in common with tennis in terms of who can do it? Answer: cycling. My younger son is not very well co-ordinated, but he’s had tennis coaching for years now, and as a result, he can play quite a decent game. I taught him to ride a bike, and you wouldn’t believe the patience it took. He just could not sit on that damn bike. Up and down the bloody road, up and down, over and again, over about two years (winter being out). But now, he has two sports – and he’s one of those who loves sport but has little natural ability – which he can do till very old. At the club he goes to, there are people playing tennis, good tennis, way into their 70’s. And you can cycle even longer.

July 22nd, 2010 at 7:05 pm

grendel to contador “I bet the day will come when it’s illegal NOT to wear cycling helmets. ” It has come. It’s illegal to cycle without a helmet already on the West Coast in Canada. People still ride around without them all the time though – mostly for vanity’s sake. “Helmet heads” aren’t so attractive.

But shades of Plato’s cave in the virtual world.

July 22nd, 2010 at 7:28 pm

enjoyed reading great posts today..keep it up tennis-x.

Contador – tough match for istomin. but great to see him fight it out till the end.

I am very happi for bellucci, did not think he could beat PK…great stuff..C’MON bellucci, go and win it all.

Poor davydenko, he does not know how to play. he is losing to everyone now. mmmm..I feel sad for him. Who will give nadal, federer, djokovic a tough match? c’mon davy..wake up!

Ok..what happened to Hewitt 6-4 6-2 to lacko? who is lacko, somebody to watch? i guess now Isner does not have to worry about hewitt. hmmmm, isner vs Roddick final is getting closer..maybe?

July 22nd, 2010 at 9:49 pm

Word is out that delpo may defend his USO title after all!!!!!!!!!!

July 22nd, 2010 at 10:30 pm

Word is out that delpo may try to defend his us open title after all!!!!!! He is on the provisional entry list!!!!

July 22nd, 2010 at 10:34 pm

Word is out that delpo may defend his USO title after all!!!!!!!!!!

Good!

July 22nd, 2010 at 10:54 pm

skeezerweezer-

yep. napa valley on a bike. speaking from experience. true story. it was incredibly fun!

the end

July 22nd, 2010 at 11:21 pm

wow. so many interesting posts: about movies, phiosophy, controversy (helmet or no )

i say wear a helmet, grendel!

cycling of any form goes very well with getting the legs ready to ski and skiing is the one sport i admit i do very well. cycling is a huge effort but once i get myself out there, i love it. tennis? i’m pitiful as much as i try. have to be active and live long, eventually take up golf..with a golf cart. hehhee

about the tennis:

kimmi-

bellucci in the semi with melzer. both win ther matches tomorrow. they are playing seppi and starace, right?

on the other side: istomin and uh…i want to say florian mayer over ferrero. florian is playing some great tennis in hamburg.

istomin and bellucci in the final. : ) bracket practice

atlanta? staying with my man isner

was wondering about hewitt not working too hard in atlanta.
lacko is a young slovakian and looks a bit like gulbis. i haven’t seen him play live, only in highlight vids. don’t really know much about him either.

really can’t trust fish. he could mess up my bracket practice if he’s on. malisse is tricky too but….

isner and roddick in the final.

July 22nd, 2010 at 11:48 pm

belluci to win his first atp final, Kimmi.

vamos!

July 22nd, 2010 at 11:51 pm

500 atp final, that is.

July 22nd, 2010 at 11:52 pm

I don’t know if Isner is even emotionally recovered yet from his Mahut Marathon.

July 23rd, 2010 at 12:05 pm

Skeezer: liked the ending with the old man very much, thought it very neat. As for the totem, he’s just teasing us isn’t he? No chance of a sequel. BTW lovely Leo is a thoroughly decent chap, buzzes all over the place saving the environment. Yes, there’s a certain irony there.
Grendel: “Ah you think you’ve got me don’t you?” Not at all, don’t impugn me for motives I don’t have. BTW I don’t set traps, I leave that to gamekeepers. Merely fascinated by what we choose reveal, or conceal, in this astonishing freefall, away from the eyes of our friends and our enemies.
Back to tennis…I’m cheering for Denis, love his play, power with elegance.

July 23rd, 2010 at 12:22 pm

Countess, I’m mad at you. Your Alberto took the advantage of that incident. Not very classy…

When Armstrong won his fifth Tour, prior to that Jan Ulrich waited for him to get back to his saddle so they could continue together when that incautious fan caused Luis’s fall. That’s a sportsmanship. That cost him the Tour, of course, but that’s a greatness of an athlete.

July 23rd, 2010 at 12:45 pm

margot – sorry, didn’t mean to cause offence. Facetiousness doesn’t always come off. But to continue with the smoke and mirrors theme, it doesn’t make any difference to me. I no longer bother to conceal anything very much whether here or in “real life” whatever that is. People can take it or leave it, and some do one and some do t’other. I am understanding. Of course there is always this consideration: when D.H.Lawrence published his book of verse:”Look, we have come through!” – which relates largely to matters extremely personal, Bertrand Russell was said to have remarked (after lightly pursuing the book at breakfast):”Well, he may have come through, but I don’t see why we should look”.

Whilst on matters literary, when do you think is the first occurence of tennis on film? Well, I saw a home movie of Tolstoy playing tennis, in the 1890’s I think. Say, 130 years ago. What will today’s tennis look like in 130 years time? It’s natural to think, because we seem to be pushing the limits of technology, that it will be much like today with a few extras added on. But in fact I bet Federer and Nadal and co will look as antiquated to our descendants as Tolstoy does to us. I bet Tolstoy and his chums thought they were onto the very latest Western fad…

July 23rd, 2010 at 4:02 pm

Grendel: no need to apologise, I am not a prima donna, just an example of the difficulties of non face to face conversation. Love the quote! Felt the same about Agassi’s book, too much information thankyou.
Did you know lawn tennis originated in Brum where they had the first grass court championships, reckon they should move back there…
130 years in the future? I think they’ll probably believe Isner was a midget and Rafa’s new black strings will be in a museum…

July 23rd, 2010 at 4:12 pm

Leave James Blake alone. The scores are not bad, it would be different if the games aren’t even close. It’s terrible to play with an injury, hopefully his knee will get better, I hope he takes the medications to allow him to keep playing. They would help him to continue but he would never overuse or become an addict to pain medications, so take the drugs. He probably needs surgery, look how close he is to winning sets and not even in top condition. So why encourage him to give up tennis, he still is better than some of the other people playing. He still could raise his standings because the raw talent is there.

July 23rd, 2010 at 5:21 pm

Blake and Isner is in the doubles SF at Atlanta. Good for James as this will boost his confdence.

July 23rd, 2010 at 5:53 pm