The Tennis Thread

[urnofosiris]

Mweh, what a bummer. Now I don´t really have anyone to root for. I like tennis, but I need someone to root for (or sometimes against). Even then, for me, it will never be like it was when Steffi and Gaby graced the courts. I know there are many greatly skilled perfectly likeable tennis players nowadays as well, but I still miss my gorgeous duo.

[xita]

i know garfield. it just isn't the same. I don't like justine and I fear she'll win it all. My secret wish, keep un Russians, I hope Petrova will pull it out.

[mollyig]

Who would have predicted that Mary Pierce would reach the final.

And fair play to Martina for reaching the mixed doubles final.

[urnofosiris]

Martina? Damn, I did not know she was in it. Dude, awesome, absolutely awesome. She is like a force of nature. Bless her. I saw a brief blurb on TV the other day from some award ceremony where she presented something a little while ago. Don´t remember what it was about, but I do remember it was the first time I thought she looked yummie. All glamerous and handsome. I gotta make sure to see the final.
And yay on Mary Pierce, nice to see a golden oldie doing so well and she went through her share of personal shite. I hope she wins.

[xita]

go mary pierce, i'd hate to see justine win it. And go martina!!

[mollyig]

Justine whitewashed Mary Pierce, and Martina was unlucky not to win in the mixed doubles final.

Ah well. Not long until Wimbledon - yay!

[The Rose24]

Venus is back!

She wins Wimbledon over Lindsay Davenport in a marathon match. The match lasts 2 hours and 45 minutes. 4-6, 7-6, 9-7.

[The Rose24]

Is anyone watching the US Open?

[urnofosiris]

Hee, did not even know it had started, been a bit TV deprived lately. Thanks for the reminder, I´ll try and catch the women´s tournament.

[The Rose24]

Well, Today Lindsay Davenport wins over Dechy 6-0, 6-3, Agassi wins in five sets and James Blake wins in four.

[HalfCamel]

Earlier tonite I was watching Justine Henin-Hardenne Play against Mary Pierce and to me this is one of the few exciting matches I've seen in a while. Now, don't get me wrong, I love tennis and I watch it whenever I can, but lately I've felt that matches now are a bit stale. Gone are the days when Sampras and Agassi use to wow us constantly, and when Davenport was in top shape, and yes I'm aware this is the older crowd. I guess also I'm a bit jaded because I grew up watching these magnificant players and now my standards are way high. But the new batch of players seem somewhat distracted, like with endorsement deals and what not. Add on the long list of injured players, and you have less and less players able to focus on tennis. Comments anyone??

Anyways, I got totally sidetracked there. Back to H.-Hardenne and Pierce. This was a great match, both ladies were giving it their all and making fantastic shots. Although, H.-Hardenne seemed to be a little sluggish, probably an injury, but she was still going at it and not giving up. Pierce was just having a great time out on that court, she was smiling up a storm and applauding to H.-Hardenne on some fantastic shot. So the cherry on top of her day was advancing to the quarters.

I'm excited to see the Pierce - Mauresmo match and the Clijsters - V. Williams match.

[HalfCamel]

Anyone watch the Agassi-Blake match? It was a great, great nail-biting match that lived up to all its hype. Both players were at the top of their game and making some breathtaking shots. Although Agassi took the first two sets as a “warm up”, he started to come back in fine form at the third. He has history of doing that so it never really felt like he was completely out. So, now Agassi’s off to play Ginepri.

I saw parts of the Pierce-Mauresmo match and Pierce seems to be on a roll. Mauresmo didn’t seem to be able to get it together. With the way she’s playing I don’t think Pierce will have any problems with Dementieva.

The Clijsters-Williams match was another exciting one. I started to watch half way thru the second set and at that point Williams seemed to be really tired and kinda dragging. Clijsters on the other hand had that steely look of determination to her. She was making some excellent shots and she had her overall game together. I think she really earned her win. If she keeps playing the way she could probably beat Sharapova to get to the finals.

It was really disappointing to see Davenport lose.

Off to watch the Federer-Nalbandian match.

[urnofosiris]

The time when they show the matches is just shitty for me, I keep missing out. I like it that Mary Pierce is doing so well and I also like Kim Clijsters, so I´m happy if they keep winning. I like Agassi mainly because it offers me a chance to catch glimpses of Steffi Graf when she is in the audience. I miss seeing her on court dammit. Why can´t she come back and double with Navratilova or something (with Sabatini would probably be too much to hope for). If she has half the determination of Martina we could have at least 10 more years of Steffi goodness. Ahem, nevermind, I just can´t seem to watch tennis and not think about Steffi and Gaby.

[xita]

Dude, yeah I watch Agassi now for Graf. I was cheering for Mauresmo but she's out so onto who will win.

I hope it's Clijsters. She needs that off her back.

[urnofosiris]

I´ll be rooting for Kim eventhough I like Mary Pierce, I wished she would have won Roland Garros and I hope she will do better in this final than that other one, but I do not see her winning against Kim Clijsters.

Edit: Oh I just got several wonderful glimpses of Steffi and her kiddies.

[HalfCamel]

Agassi just beat Ginepri in five sets. For a minute there I thought he might be in trouble, which I thought wouldn't be a problem considering how well he played against Blake. I assumed he would've beat Ginepri in straight sets. I’m hoping he wins the championship.

They showed Steffi and the kids several time, and they're all so cute. Steffi just keeps getting hotter with age. Like DrG said, it would be great to see her back on court again. Has anyone seen the commercial for the Canon camera, with the "Agassi-Graff tennis camp"? She looks gorgeous.

I’m rooting for Clijsters to beat Pierce. Although Pierce has had a great run and played some good tennis, Clijsters will probably end up winning due to her athleticism and stamina. Also, the fact that Kim has yet to win this one will help, she’s hungry for it. And she needs it. Either way, it’ll be a good match to watch.

[xita]

Clijsters won! Yay, I felt sorry for Mary but heck, she's won before.

G, in other news, Gaby will be playing Graf in yet another exhibition in Germany on October 15.

[urnofosiris]

What what what what what what what? Excuse me, I have a sudden urge to google something.

[cosmic dancer]

I'd love Agassi to win tonight, but I suspect it will be another outstanding Federer win. He's just at a whole different level to everyone else. If he's on form he's unbeatable.

[HalfCamel]

Clijsters played extremely well in the final, she totally ripped into Pierce. Yay for her! It was about time and she deserved it. Plus, she seems so nice. She's my new favorite.

So, Federer won. Not surprising really after all that's said about him but I was still hoping Agassi would win. Sentimental favorite and what not.

[Guppy]

i love tennis! I was really sad when Davenport lost. Very glad Clijsters won. I also watch Agassi mainly to see Steffi in the background. She is my alltime favorite athlete! Awesome legs and she was so dominant. i miss those days. But I do like Capriati and Mauresmo a lot as well even though both of them struggle so much at times.

[HalfCamel]

Amelie Mauresmo def. Justine Hennin-Hardinne 6-1, 2-0 retired in the Australian.

I'm happy for Mauresmo. It took her about seven years but she got one. Good for her.

[Guppy]

Yeah, I am happy for Mauresmo. She played a very good tournament. She's overdue for winning a major.

[urnofosiris]

Well that was the third opponent that had to give up during the match, but that does not lessen Mauresmo´s victory in any way. It was the strongest tournament ever and the strongest player won. I hope that now she has taken this hurdle there will be more Grand Slams to follow.

[Artemis]

The retirements were a shame, but I wouldn't have bet against Amelie in any case. She was playing near her best, untroubled by any injuries (at last), and she was showing no sign of the nerves that plagued her on and off in past grand slams. There'll be high expectations for her in the French (even if she has conquered her nervous tendencies for good, she'll have butterflies in her stomach going out onto court there), but I'll back her right now to go far in the following Wimbledon. Physical form permitting, I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see her in the finals there.

[xita]

It's probably because I wasn't paying one bit of attention to this tournament that Amelie won! But yay yay yay! I am so happy for her, she can get this off her back and people can just shut up now. Yes it's a bit tainted but it's not her fault. It's Justine, what a poor sport she is. Only one of 4 women ever to retire in a grandslam final and the only one in the open era. She cheated amelie of her glory but I am pretty sure Amelie would have won this regardless. I think finally winning a big one (the WTA tour finals) gave her the confidence for this. Amelie!! yay!

[urnofosiris]

what a poor sport she is

My first reaction when I read here that she had given up when being down 6-1 2-0 was the same. I just could not believe that it would happen yet again, especially not in the final and I felt that if that score had been in her favor she would never have given up. When the Dutch girl in the third round gave up against Amelie I was watching the game and I could see she was ill, she was suffering from heat stroke, it would have been impossible and dangerous for her to continue. When Kim gave up she was clearly injured and not facing the impossible score Justine was, so clearly she was not giving up to spare herself from humiliation.
Then I saw the final on TV and it made me change my mind, you can´t fake the look of death Justine had on her face. She really looked like crap, not heat stroke as it was not that hot, but I do believe she was ill. Maybe she could have stood there for 4 more games and let Amelie crush her, but I don´t think that would have added glory to her victory. It would have been anticlimactic either way, but regardless of that no one can doubt that the strongest player won. Amelie had the physical strength to keep going where others could not and the skill to beat anyone even if they could have kept going. She won because she was the best of the best and I was happy to see she did enjoy her victory, though modestly. She looked very cute trying to make that cell phone call with that huge grin on her face..

[dido]

well, amelie did defeat clijsters at antwerp,i think she will be world no. 1 next week hope she beats henin at a grand slam.hai to all you guys my first posting on kitten board .Hope i got it right,new to computers,1st time iam registering any board. kittenboard rocks

[urnofosiris]

You got it right, welcome to the board. If you like, you can tell us something about yourself in the Introduction thread. I am kind of curious as to how it can be that you are new to computers in this day and age.

[HalfCamel]

Martina Hingis is playing against Maria Sharapova in the Pacific Life Open in the semis. They just started the first set, and if the play keeps going like this first game then I think it'll be an interesting match.

"The five-time Grand Slam Champion was awarded a wild card into the tournament’s main draw."

I had no idea Martina started playing again!! I'm excited.

ETA: Hingis lost 3 and 3. It was a good match though, very close. I think she was playing defense too much, though. She should have been a little more aggressive in her shots, especially her first serves. She was mixing it up and playing very smart. I don't think it's the last we've heard from her.

Sharapova played very well and aggressive. In the end, she was the better player.