The Tennis Thread 2012

[North East Goon]

Match #3

[GirlySports]

Djokovic saves a 3rd match point.. Tsonga had the upper hand in that point too!

[GirlySports]

Djokovic saved a 4th match point (Tsonga nad no chance on that one)

off to the tiebreak!

[GirlySports]

yikes Tsonga choking.. Djokovic truly is unkillable.

[North East Goon]

I have butterflies going for both of them.

[GirlySports]

4th set to Djokovic.. I don't think this will end well for the frenchmen now.

[North East Goon]

Yup, feels like the tide has turned.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Even when Federer was on top of his game, I have never felt a guy just won't lose like Djokovic right now. He just has deeper mental/physical reserves than anyone else and just breaks guys down eventually.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Djoker up 3-0 in the 5th. Tsonga will be reliving this match for a long while I'd imagine.

[Inglewood Jack]

y'all can thank me for complaining that the top seeds were killing all the drama...not only does Fed have to finally up his game but Djoker gives his fans a heart attack two matches in a row.

unfortunately my magical powers only extend so far...nothing on earth can make a Rafa match at this year's tournament interesting. I mean, the guy is good on any surface but I dunno if there's anyone in history who was that much better on one specific surface. Can you imagine if Rafa didn't exist and Fed managed to win 5 FO's...we'd be talking about him as one of the greatest clay players in history.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Nadal is through, Djoker is up 2 sets to love on Federer. Should be another epic final Sunday.

[Inglewood Jack]

sadly for a Fed fan, I wanted him to quickly and mercifully get dismissed today. otherwise he makes it though just to receive yet another horrible shellacking in the final...plus Rafa gets one step closer to taking over the slam record. with djoker out there Sunday, Rafa still has a 95% chance of taking it...but that's still better than 100% which is what it would be against anyone else.

relax and pack up your stuff Roger and get yourself ready for the wimby/olympic grass swing because that's the one you really wanted.

[NBC]

I can't stand the Spanish dirt rats. The saddest thing for me is when the All England Club decided to tweak with the surfaces at Wimbledon, slowing them down and creating higher bounces, thus neutralizing the inherent strengths of a once fast surface.

I'd love it if the inverse happened at Roland Garros. Faster courts, higher bounces, just like the old green clay they used at Forest Hills for the US Open. The dirt rats would be up in arms over that.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I think unless Nadal wins in straight sets, Djokovic will eventually break him mentally like he seems to do to everyone in majors of late. I actually think the Djoker will pull it off and stun Nadal, who will be in tears at the post-match presentation, much like Federer was in 2009 at the Aussie Open.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by NBC

I can't stand the Spanish dirt rats. The saddest thing for me is when the All England Club decided to tweak with the surfaces at Wimbledon, slowing them down and creating higher bounces, thus neutralizing the inherent strengths of a once fast surface.

there's plenty enough conspiracies about the slowing of courts and the seemingly easy draw that Rafa got (none of the big bangers like Delpo, Berdych, Tsonga, etc were on his side). I don't know if I believe a lot of it, but the one thing that does piss me off is how when the other Spanish guys play Rafa they lay down for him like he's Clay Jesus. Yes he's better than them but it's as if there's a law in Spain that says you have to do everything in your power to let Rafa through and help him conserve energy for the final.

[CedarMeter]

Poor Roger..Will he ever win another slam..These young bucks are making it hard for him.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

One of our younger players is doing well:

Canadian Filip Peliwo won't let the pressure get to him after reaching a second straight Grand Slam final.

The Vancouver native defeated Czech Adam Pavlasek 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0 in the boys semifinals at the French Open on Friday.

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=397922

[NBC]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

there's plenty enough conspiracies about the slowing of courts and the seemingly easy draw that Rafa got (none of the big bangers like Delpo, Berdych, Tsonga, etc were on his side). I don't know if I believe a lot of it, but the one thing that does piss me off is how when the other Spanish guys play Rafa they lay down for him like he's Clay Jesus. Yes he's better than them but it's as if there's a law in Spain that says you have to do everything in your power to let Rafa through and help him conserve energy for the final.

The AEC tore up the courts in 2001 and planted a new type of grass - 100% rye grass as opposed to the previous mix of rye and red fescue. The soil for rye grass needs to be firmer and it dries out more quickly, leading to a harder surface (higher bounce). The grass is cut at a longer 8mm, which prevents the ball from skidding low across the turf. The end result is a firmer, longer grass surface, one which plays differently and more importantly - from the AEC's perspective - is more durable and can take the 13 day pounding a bit easier.

For me I used to love watching the precision of serve and volley grass court tennis played years ago. Big hitting baseline grass court tennis just seems wrong to me.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by NBC

For me I used to love watching the precision of serve and volley grass court tennis played years ago. Big hitting baseline grass court tennis just seems wrong to me.

well maybe if they changed the FO to that "awesome" Madrid blue clay there'd be more game variety...

but yeah it kind of sucks how the top 2 guys have nearly eliminated all the strategic differences in the slams and made things homogenous. a lot of the rallies are spectacular but when you have to sit and watch 6 straight hours of it, your brain goes numb and you forget what you're even watching. again though, I'm sure if you're a fan of either of the two you don't mind. I bet non Fed fans found the slams from 2004 to 2007 completely uninteresting and devoid of drama.

[Canada 02]

Career Grand Slam for Sharapova

Hard to believe she's only 25. seems like she's been around forever