Federer Destroys Dent in Stockholm; Tsonga Falls in Moscow

nieminen is playing well, did very well in asian swing..could be a tough one for blake.

dolgo vs bagdatis in moscow, looking to be a tough one. ok, go dolgo.

ivanovic in a the qtr final in LUXEMBOURG, great to see her play well. hope she keep going..one match at a time.

October 21st, 2010 at 8:57 pm

727 wins out of 900 matches? Wow! That’s a great stat. Congrats to Federer!

Not a big fan of his, but that stat is amazing.

October 21st, 2010 at 11:49 pm

Although happy for Feds win, kudos to Dent coming
back and playing on the tour after a back fusion surgery , serious stuff and cool to see him come back from adversity and compete.

October 22nd, 2010 at 1:18 am

Dear Oh lord, what a truly terrible picture of Fed…not that I’m shallow or anything….

October 22nd, 2010 at 2:26 am

margot- SCHNOZZZ!

October 22nd, 2010 at 3:35 am

Congrats to Roger on reaching 900 matches played. 1000 coming up…

Ah, Tsonga. I’m a big fan but he’s not what you’d call consistent. To lose to someone who’s as mentally shaky as Troicki…

October 22nd, 2010 at 5:42 am

If Dent could lose 50 lbs he could win some tournys. If you read their stats Dent is only 10 lbs heavier than Fed. Right?

Dent looked like he was goin to bust out of his shirt. I am surprised to see such a big guy play the net all the time.

October 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 am

Congrats to Troicki on his win again. Poor Blake. Niemann has been playing some good stuff lately though.

October 22nd, 2010 at 9:38 am

As Rafa rebuilt his spot on top of the mountain, I had an inkling that it might be, if not short-lived, at least more challenged than Fed’s early domination, what with Del Potro, Berdych, Soderling, Tsonga, and of course Murray and Nole to deal with. Now I’m not so sure. Berdych is making a fool of himself this fall, Tsonga and Del Potro are not showing they can come back from their injuries to old form, Soderling is still not-ready-for-prime-time, and for all the praise Nole got for his fight in the USO finals, did anyone ever really feel he was in that match? That on his best surface and Nadal’s worse.
So, barring a Fed challenge here and there, we may have another year or two ahead like 2010.

October 22nd, 2010 at 10:37 am

My impression of that match was that Djoker was in that match mentally right up until Nadal hit those three consecutive aces to snuff out his chances of winning the third set…those aces shook the foundations of his willpower which from there on out it was visible that he was having to struggle to maintain his focus in the match…he did continue to fight, but sporadically…he was just completely outgunned in the mental toughness department.

October 22nd, 2010 at 11:01 am

TennisVagabond- I hope not, Wimbledon and Roland garrison finals were boring. Maybe Fed will surge and Murray finally get it all together. Hope so!

October 22nd, 2010 at 11:13 am

grendel,madmax, and any other China expert here:

My Chinese friend is not satisfied with my translation of the headline “别让优雅成追忆”
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/40604/12972999.html as “Do no let elegance fade into nostlgic memories”.

What’s your take?

October 22nd, 2010 at 12:01 pm

Twocents

Please, not an expert! One of the reasons I found the document I posted so very funny (apart from being superbly expressed) was that it highlighted exactly all the kinds of nightmare problems I used to have. And as I said, eventually, alcohol won the battle. Others were made of sterner stuff. An Indian girl I studied with, not to mention adored without being adored back, is now Dr Blah Blah and a lecturer in Chinese studies at Cambridge University. She actually failed her first year and very nearly didn’t come back. Just shows where persistence can get you, huh? And also where lack of persistence..(hides his head under the blanket..)

For what it’s worth (very little, believe me) literally, we have “do not let superior elegance become something to recall” – but it is, as usual, quite elliptical. Your translation would appear to be fairly free, but what’s wrong with that? It captures the essence, I’d have thought and is quite creative.

However, there’s a guy called Christopher who used to post on this site, and he now posts on tennis.com – or did when I last looked a month or so ago. He’s a Professor of Chinese. He’s your man, twocents. Good luck. By the way, have you taught yourself Chinese fairly late in life? VERY impressive. Good luck, my friend. Sooner you than me…..

October 22nd, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Oh, Soderling! Isn’t this supposed to be a race to the WTF? What is with these guys- Soderling, Berdych, Tsonga, Roddick all racing to get out of the tournament!
For two years we’ve talked ourselves into believing we were entering a new era of competitiveness but the truth is there are only four players in tennis right now. Del Potro, hurry back amigo!

October 22nd, 2010 at 2:26 pm

seems like a race to avoid the WTF from the bottom four contenders.

October 22nd, 2010 at 2:35 pm

Ben–are you stressing about the phillies? I here its a madhouse there.

October 22nd, 2010 at 2:40 pm

I cheated, grendel. I only learnt some basic Pinyin. Can’t speak at all. But I have this little electronic thing they call Words Monster in China. Very easy to use if you need a quick catch on short sentences in any languages.

I definitely like yours better, sounds more natural than mine. Christopher sounds a good candidate for this. But the fun part is that I actually doubt who can have the final say about translation? Does such person exist who has equal in-depth knowdge in both English and Chinese? It’s beyond my perception but doesn’t bother me. Most things in the world do not need end results to have fun with.

I’m sure my Chinese friend will buy your version — the minute when I told him it’s from an English professor. LOL.

October 22nd, 2010 at 3:19 pm

Looks like Fed yields to the tweener jinx — he didn’t hit it twice today when he had chances. Too bad cuz I’m still waiting for him to hit one against Seppi — the double jinxer :-)).

Go Liubo.

October 22nd, 2010 at 4:26 pm

Tennis Vagabond: “and for all the praise Nole got for his fight in the USO finals, did anyone ever really feel he was in that match? That on his best surface and Nadal’s worse.”

I mentioned previously that I didn’t see any fire, nor did I see him as being in the match 100 percent, but then again, per the disgruntled, I’m supposed to be VERY BIASED and I’m also guilty of disliking Djokovic.

I read on another site where a Djokovic fan was comparing the USO 2010 to the Roddick/Federer fianl at Wimby 2009, in which he was derogatory towrd Roddick. My take on that comparison was that there’s no comparison, Roddick fought until the bitter end, even though he injured his hip diving for a ball. On the other hand, the Djoker checked out a few times during the first 3 three sets, but eventually he fully checked out at the end of the third set. Summation: There’s no comparison between the two finals, neither was the Djoker fully in that match.

October 22nd, 2010 at 4:32 pm

tough match for the fed. seem like a slow start (didnt see the match)…down two breaks in first set, a set and a break down in the second, i was sure he was losing..dont know what was going on but nice to see him coming back strong.

tomorrow he play ljubo…glad i will get to see that match.

October 22nd, 2010 at 5:36 pm

twocents

since this now a more or less defunct thread, I take the liberty of one or two more thoughts on this translation business.

Ezra Pound, as anyone familiar with 20th century poetry knows, was a fully paid up whacko, besides being extremely vain (and also generous to the point of giving up the shirt he was wearing if he saw a struggling poet he admired), and for his deep silliness he was nearly executed. He was saved from this alarming end at the behest of Robert Frost, another great American poet who disapproved of Pound, but disapproved of American poets being executed by their own government even more.
Anyway, as you may know, Pound translated Chinese poetry and, whilst he was genuinely fascinated by Chinese culture, and especially the character script, it is most improbable he knew much Chinese as such. How did he do it then? Nobody seems to quite know, though this link provides a very interesting discussion:http://pinyin.info/readings/texts/ezra_pound_chinese.html.
What is certainly the case is that Pound could somehow divest himself of his own questionable personality when “translating”, whether it was Chinese, mediaeval French, Anglo-Saxon (see the wonderful,sombre “The Seafarer”)and penetrate into the very heart of the culture he was currently immersed in. And he does a strange thing: he reproduces the particularity of that culture, but largely by means of his imagination, not by any scholarly acquaintance with it (Pound didn’t do scholarship) – and yet in so doing, he universalises it. So anyone can enjoy and understand these poems without having the least knowledge of, and even perhaps interest in, China, Anglo-Saxon England etc.

Arthur Waley, who was the great translater of all things Chinese (and to a lesser degree Japanese) to the English speaking world, was an admirer of Pound, which is a great credit to him. Scholars tended to be extremely sniffy about old Ezra, but of course Waley was a poet as well as a scholar. There’s a lovely story about Waley. You know he never travelled further east than Austria. This was quite deliberate. China was the love of his life. But it was a China of the mind and above all of the imagination. I think he may have been afraid that the quotidian reality would have disturbed his dream.

Ahem. Who’s for tennis? How about this provocative remark from Simon Reed? If Andy Murray beats Federer in a grand slam, it is unlikely Federer will ever beat Murray again. Discuss.

October 23rd, 2010 at 9:22 am

florian mayer, seem to be playing well, great volleys..nieminen was tough too. saved a match point. wins in a tie break on his first match point. great come back after losing the first set.

next, go federer

October 23rd, 2010 at 9:33 am

arrrg, federer already broken…not a good start

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 am

5-3 ljubo to serve for the set..

hmmm, lets see what he can do, he is been serving big so far

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:22 am

After yesterday’s slow’s start against Wawrinka, we have the same story being repeated today against Ljubcic. Federer playing slightly better today but Ljubcic got a much better serve than Wawrinka and would be tougher to break.
Anyway, its 5-4 and Ljubcic serving for first set right now.

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:22 am

4 unforced errors from Ljubicic and and its 5-5. Nice choke job there.

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:27 am

break! ljubi was so close to seal that set, will kick himself.

fed needs to concentrate now

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:27 am

LOL.. Now its Ljubicic breaking racquets just like Wawrinka yesterday. This match is over. Off to sleep.

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:29 am

ljub forehand can be very unreliable. he can hit some good winner and really awful errors too. the backhand is more stable.

6-3 three set points for fed

1 saved. another saved. now on his own serve.

big serve seals it.

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:41 am

ljub forehand can be very unreliable. he can hit some good winner and really awful errors too. the backhand is more stable.

6-3 three set points for fed

1 saved. another saved. now on his own serve.

big serve seals it.

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:41 am

oops, sorry for double posts

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:42 am

kimmi: where r u watching since it’s not on tennistv. Please

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:43 am

http://www.tennisform.com/default.asp?action=LIVEStream

watching from this site. try, some of those links are very good.

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:48 am

kimmi: thanku xxxxxxxxx

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:50 am

I read on another site where a Djokovic fan was comparing the USO 2010 to the Roddick/Federer fianl at Wimby 2009, in which he was derogatory towrd Roddick. My take on that comparison was that there’s no comparison, Roddick fought until the bitter end, even though he injured his hip diving for a ball. On the other hand, the Djoker checked out a few times during the first 3 three sets, but eventually he fully checked out at the end of the third set. Summation: There’s no comparison between the two finals, neither was the Djoker fully in that match.
_____________________________________________
I may say many things about Andy Roddick but he is not and was not “johnny happy to be there” in that final or any final. He is a competitor.

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:56 am

hahaha a netcord to break ljub. must be frustrating.

federer now up a set and a break

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:59 am

ljubo is checking out mentally now..missing easy ball..

oh well, double break for federer. serving for the match

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:06 am

GSM federer

too bad for ljubo but fed was just too good

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:10 am

troicki in the final in klemlin cup. continues to do well this end of year.

bagtatis and istomin slugging it out a.t.m

________________

who is been following the orleans challenger..dimitrov is in the semi. will play llodra. a tough match. hope he wins it..

this is the higher level challenger. lots of points for grabs for the winner

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:22 am

btw, troicki in the finals. Has he ever won a tourney. Baggy and/or Istomin are tough though.

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:24 am

kimberly – let me check.

yes, he is NEVER won a title. very surprising.
he reached 2 finals on his career..

bangkok 2009 and washington 2008.

so, this is a big occcasion for him. he need a title. he is too good not to win one. I agree baggy and istomin will be tough. looks like he will get baggy, he is up a set a.t.m..hmmmm, lets see

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:29 am

I will root for troicki.

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:39 am

Congrats to Fed Fans..

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:43 am

contador – i wonder if you have been following orleans challenger this week. i have, and dimitorv has won some close matches. he is in the semi now, playing llodra. tough match..

there is lot of points for grabs here. 125 for the winner. this is a tougher challenger than the other ones he is won this year.

lets together say – go dimitrov

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 am

istomin making a come back

October 23rd, 2010 at 12:28 pm

I think I’ll pull for Troicki too; he needs a title and he’s been playing so well. But you’re right Kimberly: either Istomin or Baggy will be tough.

Is Fed playing Mayer in the finals? I am guessing Fed will win the title, no? I don’t know much about Mayer? Looks like Ljub gave good fight for one set. Missed it. Ljub is definitely a good player still. He can tussle with the best, and occasionally pull out the win. Happy for him that he got that Masters earlier this year.

October 23rd, 2010 at 12:43 pm

istomin was two breaks up in the third set, and now about to lose his second break. he will kick himself if he loses this match..

0-40 now

ok, he saves 3 break point. haha

unbelivable..

October 23rd, 2010 at 12:56 pm

bagdatis break…ok, who will win this match. its anyones guess

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:04 pm

Wow, just checked in and saw istomin baggy reports. Sounds like a tussle and or choke?

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:07 pm

it is a choke kimberly. istomin seem to play better when he is behind.

tie breaker! my money is on baggy! lets see

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:09 pm

baggy wins. he didn’t look good after he lost that 2nd set tie break. good to see he was able to regroup.. great win.

final is now troicki and baggy.

troicki to win his first title????

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:16 pm

Haven’t seen a single point but from the narrative here I tend to agree. Baggy. The person who chokes away a two break lead does not usually win the tiebreak.

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:17 pm

Yep, Baggy wins. I guess Victor and Marcos; that could be a good final. They’ve played only once, in Sydney this year, where Baggy prevailed.

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:17 pm

I’m going to root for troicki. I like baggy but think troikis talented. Like to see him do good things. Deserves a title.

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:19 pm

hi everyone, well just got back from the stockholm open, staying in saltsbojaden just outside the city. Got to see the Niemmenen v Mayer match live and then, straight after was Federer and Lubji. I cannot tell you how amazing it was to watch federer play for the very first time in my life. I never thought that would ever happen.

I booked the ticket back in August, and as you know, you just never know who is going to play – the atmosphere in the stadium, really was electric. Around the court was a dazzling, sparkling light which whizzed around really fast. Then the children, before the match started, did a gymnastic dance, really fun to watch.

the first match between Niem and Mayer was really close and in fact Niem had match point but blew it – it was closer than perhaps it looked on TV. Both players played exceptionally well. Very even.

About 10 minutes later, Luby walked onto the court first, and then federer followed – the crowd just roared. It was an amazing atmosphere, very different to the laid back, restrained atmosphere at wimbledon (my first tennis tournament this year), but honestly to see federer play and look so incredibly agile, he really does fly through the air. I completely understand what people mean now – and his hair! It just flies behind him all wavy and glossy – its just lovely. He didnt come to the net as much and in fact in the first set, luby was matching him hit for hit, some really long, strong forehand rallies from both players.

Then luby fell apart towards the end of the first set, but was still hanging tough.

The second set, Roge was brilliant. and there was one point that hit the net chord and it went rogers way. Another point, although it was challenged by roger, luby conceded the point and said it was out – really fair play. You could see at the end of the match how much these two liked each other and respected each other and fed mentioned this at his on court interview about ivan. The applause was brilliant.

What a great day. I cant believe I have just seen him play. I am still pinching myself.

Jane, lets hope so, but one match at a time!

Two cents – grendel is more of the language expert in chinese. I have just visited china and would never refer to myself as such, just a curious visitor.

October 23rd, 2010 at 1:36 pm

The ATP sites says soderling qualifies for WTF. this is confusing, yesterday they wrote he needed to get to the semi..hmmm!

anyways, he has qualified. congrats to soderling.

three positions are up for grabs, berdych, ferrer and roddick leads the score.

October 23rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm

I’m glad Roger came through in his match with Ljubicic. Tomorrow, for the final, he needs to START OFF faster! The last 2 matches has seen him have a slow start. He can’t afford to do that in the final. It’s great having him in finals in back-to-back weeks, but he needs to WIN this one. I know it’s only a 250 series – but a win is a win! Come on Roger!

October 23rd, 2010 at 2:44 pm

following up on orleans challenger results.

dimitrov beat llodra 7-6 3-6 4-6-4

he plays the marathon man nicholus mahut in the final. go dimitrov

October 23rd, 2010 at 2:53 pm

madmax – ah great story. and very happy for you, you got to see roger at last.
i watched the match on streaming and i remember all those moments you are talking about. and listen to roger on court interview after wards.

i know it is never the same to watch it on a poor quality steaming. you go girl.

r u going to the final too? lets hope roger wins.

October 23rd, 2010 at 3:01 pm

Madmax,

Thanks for sharing :). Very happy for you! Must have been awesome. Go Fed.

October 23rd, 2010 at 4:05 pm

Way to go madmax! Sounds like you had loads of fun. Happy for you too.

October 23rd, 2010 at 4:15 pm

madmax
great that you finally got to see mr.Federer – you had really bad luck at Wimbledon, as i recall, because for about the first time in an age Fed was not scheduled for centre Court. Hope you get many more chances.
Kimmi – good news about Dimitrov beating Llodra. if he can beat Mahut – surely a slightly lesser talent than Llodra not that it always goes like that – he must be getting close to that automatic pick for AO.
About Troicki, ever since watching him against Djokovic, I’ve been really curious to see how he was going to go. Then he repeats his effort agaonst Nadal. Yeah, he choked, but look at it this way. How many people get to say they were good enough to choke against Djokovic and Nadal? If he beats Baggy tomorrow, we can say he’s come of age? Also, moot point: who’s gonna be #2 for Serbia – him or Tipsy?

October 23rd, 2010 at 4:19 pm

“Also, moot point: who’s gonna be #2 for Serbia – him or Tipsy?”

Good question grendel. Last time, Troicki played first, taking Nole’s place versus Steps, then Tipsy second versus Berdy, then Nole and Tipsy finished it. I suppose they’ll look at H2Hs and such, but Tipsy and Troicki are somewhat evenly ranked: Tipsy @ #38, and Troicki @ #43. So it must be tough to decide who to put on. If Troicki wins the Kremlin Cup maybe they elevate him? Tipsy too likes a big stage and big win: he almost took out Fed at AO 08, he took out Roddick at Wimbledon 08 and USO 10. So he’s got some chops too, much like Troicki. I don’t know which is more consistent either. Very tough to call. Go with momentum maybe? Ranking? Or since Tipsy got two wins last time does he get priority? Dunno?

October 23rd, 2010 at 4:31 pm

grendel – since that moment i read you guys chatting about dimitrov, i have been following his progress.

yes, great news for him. i was looking at this website that shows the “live tennis ranking” for top 200 players. just before the start of the tournament dimitrov was ranked 131, by reaching the final he is now 103. that is a big jump. If he wins tomorrow, he will be ranked around 88. that should definetly give him the direct eccepted at the AO…

I am very impressed with this kid too. his profile at the ATP side shows since july this year he is won six challenger tournaments already. wow, that is a lot

hope he wins tomorrow.

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:12 pm

Fot,

Giants win, Giants win!!!!! Looking forward to Rangers / Giants

World Series!

October 23rd, 2010 at 11:59 pm

Yay Giants!! It took about a dozen pitchers but they finally pulled it out. Hope the weather cooperates. First winter storm rolled in yesterday.

October 24th, 2010 at 2:42 pm