2015 Tennis Thread

[Mango]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

I guess I'm a bad person, I shouldn't be this happy that Serena lost.

Join the club

[Senator Clay Davis]

Vinci was a 300-1 underdog to win this match. So congrats if you cashed in on that. Certainly the greatest upset in women's sports history.

[The Big Chill]

Haha great interview from Vinci

[dash_pinched]

Vini Vidi Vinci

[Acey]

Uncharacteristically, Serena lost it mentally about halfway through the 3rd.

[GirlySports]

What the what? Just saw the score!

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I haven't followed tennis closely for about 15 years now. In fact the Anderson-Murray match was the first one I watched from start to finish probably since Navratilova time...
Anyhow, I was wondering if you aficionados could enlightened me - have there been stories circulating about Serena and HGH/steroids? She looks like she has been to Barry's doctor and I swear she has a 5 o'clock shadow going. Or am I just blinded by visceral dislike?

If you haven't been watching tennis, why the "visceral dislike" for Serena?

And yeah the woman is built like a tank and she is having unheard of success into her 30's, but she doesn't have a beard. Come on man.

[SuperMatt18]

Here is the interview for those of us at work who may have missed it.

http://deadspin.com/roberta-vincis-p...ium=socialflow

[PostandIn]

^ Awesome. Pretty rare to see interview reply's with that degree of genuineness compared to the rote responses you hear from most top tier athletes.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

If you haven't been watching tennis, why the "visceral dislike" for Serena?

And yeah the woman is built like a tank and she is having unheard of success into her 30's, but she doesn't have a beard. Come on man.

What doesn't help in that regard is that Serena is so much 'bigger' and more muscular than pretty much any other female tennis player. There was an article from a few months ago (might have been posted in this therad) about how some female tennis players are actively being discouraged from taking up such training because they want/need their looks for those endorsement contracts. That would limit their effectiveness on court as a result.

As far as the result goes...

I don't hate the Williams' sisters per se (not like I used to, at any rate), but anything that pisses ESPN off is good, and nothing pisses ESPN off like losing the great American hype.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

What doesn't help in that regard is that Serena is so much 'bigger' and more muscular than pretty much any other female tennis player. There was an article from a few months ago (might have been posted in this therad) about how some female tennis players are actively being discouraged from taking up such training because they want/need their looks for those endorsement contracts. That would limit their effectiveness on court as a result.

Think that plays a big part. The fact that her dominance is more due to her physical talents, and less about her technical skill plays a part. Federer was dominant because he was so much better technically, Serena is just physically dominant.

That then plays into her terrible attitude, which makes her come off as the big mean bully.

She is an arrogant winner, and her attitude is even worse in defeat. Has poor relationships with other players, and just doesn't seem like she is a very nice person.

[Inglewood Jack]

holy crap I didn't even realize that the two Italian finalists are well into their 30's as well. shows how much attention I pay to the WTA. party at the Pantheon tonight!

Originally Posted by polak

Federer never really dropped off the map. He never even fell out of the top 8 and that was only for a couple of seasons, which happened to also coincide with his daughters being born. I doubt that is a coincidence. It would be more like if Jagr had consistently competed for the Art Ross and then had kids and had his production regress slightly for a couple seasons but still maintained top 10 status in the league and then managed to pick it up again and invent a new type of wrist shot in the process! Roger is a pimp.

yeah I should have elaborated more instead of just leaving it as a question. if you take the progression purely at face value, i.e. a former world #1 athlete appears to start a decline entering his 30's, drops to his lowest ranking in a decade at age 32, but a couple of years later is nearly back on top, that might sound like a suspicious case. and it would be, if Roger was suddenly engaging in 20+ shot rallies over 5 sets and somehow physically outlasting Djokovic in a game of pong.

but instead he's actually playing as little tennis as humanly possible, ending matches in half the time many of the other guys are taking. it's perfect old man tennis that still requires elite reflexes and hand eye coordination, things that cannot be boosted by roids. I have no doubt he's cleaner than a NASA lab, but it does require some knowledge of what he's doing in order to understand why.

[polak]

omg I'm so happy Serena isn't getting the year slam.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

but instead he's actually playing as little tennis as humanly possible, ending matches in half the time many of the other guys are taking. it's perfect old man tennis that still requires elite reflexes and hand eye coordination, things that cannot be boosted by roids. I have no doubt he's cleaner than a NASA lab, but it does require some knowledge of what he's doing in order to understand why.

This is without question to biggest key. You see Andy and Novak and Rafa always killing themselves on every point, chasing down balls even when they have a 5% chance of winning a point. Roger is just so much more economical with his effort and just doesn't exert any more effort than needed to win. He's willing to give away games if needed, but part of that is because he's such an elite server. And he plays fast, unlike Novak and Rafa in particular. Always seems like he's got somewhere else to be with how fast he plays. You can tell that Isner match the other night frustrated the hell out of him because it was a slow moving match.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I guess Novak's not ####ing around today.

[CroFlames]

I'm not watching, but is Cilic really being outclassed or what? 5 zip so far yikes.

Are the games close at all?

[Mango]

Djokovic is on another level right now. His return game is the best I can remember.

[CroFlames]

I started watching... I just want to give Cilic a hug Poor fella.

Djokovic is playing perfect tennis which is obviously rattling Cilic.

[Mango]

Too many unforced errors by Cilic. I think 27 thus far. Djokovic is really making him move around the court and is being very tactical with his shots. All business.

[GirlySports]

hope Cilic can take the 3rd set, just for some drama.