The Tennis Thread 2014

[GirlySports]

it's 145 degrees on the surface itself.

so you need really good shoes.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Did I hear that correctly? Did they say that the temperature on the court was 145 degrees farenheit? That's like 62 degrees Celsius. That's impossible.

Is there any objective confirmation of the temperature on the court? The highest I can gather from media reports is 42-43 degrees Celsius.

5 players withdraw due to heat complications.

Several Extreme Heat related delays. Compulsory 10 minute match break.

I think I heard Pam Shriver refer to the radiant heat (she had some kind of device to measure it) as 145 degrees.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

It must be pretty bad for the fans as well, quite a few empty seats at the Hewitt match.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Too tired to stay up, but this Hewitt/Seppi match is pretty interesting. Hewitt won the 3rd set and they are now tied in the 4th. Pulling for the Aussie.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

So Hewitt lost in 5 sets? Bummer, would have liked to seen him move on.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

So Hewitt lost in 5 sets? Bummer, would have liked to seen him move on.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

So Hewitt lost in 5 sets? Bummer, would have liked to seen him move on.

Me too. He has become more likeable as he's matured. I was never a fan in his early days.

Tomic pulled out after his first set with Nadal.

[Inglewood Jack]

I guess Tomic's injury isn't really his fault, but I'm going to blame him anyways. dumb Tomic wasting everyone's night match ticket money with a supposed pre-existing problem. doesn't he know the old tennis (and general sports) rule? if you're fit, you play. if you play, you're fit. none of this "oh sorry everyone my leg hurt going in and I knew I probably wouldn't be able to finish this match. no refunds!"

but thanks anyways Rafa for putting the trash on the curb, even if it's just a little washroom basket full.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

I think I heard Pam Shriver refer to the radiant heat (she had some kind of device to measure it) as 145 degrees.

Some harsh words from Dancevic post-match:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/tennis/heat-...t-aussie-open/

"It’s hazardous to be out there. It’s dangerous," Dancevic said, criticizing the tournament for not having suspended play. "Until somebody dies, they’re just going to keep playing matches in this heat."

Interesting comments from some of the other players, Federer, Murray et al, on how they deal with the heat.

[GirlySports]

The top quarter of the draw is still in tact.

If the favorites hold, the 3rd round of this section on Saturday would be

[1]Nadal
[25]Monfils

[24]Seppi
[16]Nishikori

[11]Raonic
[22]Dmitrov

[27]Paire
[5]Del Potro

The other half of this section still has [4]Murray, [6]Federer and [10]Tsonga in it.

Group of death.

[$ven27]

Okay so I am extremely new to watching Tennis (first match I watched was the Nadal vs Djokavic match at the US open last September) So I really have no idea what's currently going on or how the matchups are determined, etc So if someone could briefly explain how these tournaments work exactly it'd be much appreciated.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Okay so I am extremely new to watching Tennis (first match I watched was the Nadal vs Djokavic match at the US open last September) So I really have no idea what's currently going on or how the matchups are determined, etc So if someone could briefly explain how these tournaments work exactly it'd be much appreciated.

hmmm where to start.

This tournament is one of the 4 majors of the season.

128 men and 128 women. Straight knockout, whoever wins 7 matches wins the trophy and a couple million dollars. top 32 are seeded so they avoid each other.


Do you have any specific questions on the format?

[Inglewood Jack]

new tennis fan rules:

1. pick a favorite player. although there's many dozens to choose from, it really only makes sense to select from the Big 4, because nobody else will win a major or masters level tournament other than them for probably the next 2-3 years. and you pick Federer, you're 8 years late the party because he probably isn't going to win the big prizes either. but don't let that stop you from gushing about his beautiful game.

2. brim with delight every time your favorite dusts off some grunt lower than them in the standings. if they manage to beat one of the other members of the Big 4, gloat even harder and dredge up the Greatest of all Time (GOAT) debate.

3. if/when your favorite loses, dismissively explain it away with bad luck, injuries, rust, etc. if he loses to another Big 4 member, heap scorn upon his opponent, i.e. he's a hard/clay/grass court one trick pony, he just exploits a bad matchup, he's totally roided up to the gills, or he's just an arrogant dizzlebag and I don't like his funny Euro accent.

4. at the start of any tournament before all the Canadians have been eliminated, refresh this page often because people will be watching and posting fervently with red maple leaves in their eyes. after about the 4th round though when they're gone, angrily condemn their play and general career progression, expressing doubt as to whether they'll ever make that breakthrough. if you stay in this thread after that, count tumbleweeds roll by, intermixed with regular GirlySports updates.

5. dimiss womens tennis as a low quality product with no excitement to be found, especially when Beast Mode Serena is slapping down all the peons in her way. but make sure to fawn at how awesome Eugenie Bouchard looks in an evening gown.

[$ven27]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

hmmm where to start.

This tournament is one of the 4 majors of the season.

128 men and 128 women. Straight knockout, whoever wins 7 matches wins the trophy and a couple million dollars. top 32 are seeded so they avoid each other.


Do you have any specific questions on the format?

More so on how the 128 men and women are picked. Also I seem to remember maybe in November or December? A little tournament going on and the final was Nadal and Djokavic? Was that just a charity thing or are mini tournaments like that what help decide your rankings?

[dash_pinched]

Inglewood Jack, your post above was fantastic (lol).

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by $ven27

More so on how the 128 men and women are picked. Also I seem to remember maybe in November or December? A little tournament going on and the final was Nadal and Djokavic? Was that just a charity thing or are mini tournaments like that what help decide your rankings?

Everything in tennis is about the world rankings which is a 52-week rolling calendar. Each tournament is allocated a number of points.

For Grand Slams the winner gets 2000 points (there are 4 of these)
For Masters the winner gets 1000 points (there are 9 of these)
For ATP 500 the winner gets 500 points
and so on down the food chain.

Whatever points you accumulate you get to hold on to for one year, meaning in one years time, you have to 'defend' these points.

For example last year Djokovic won Australia, he's defending 2000 points this week. Nadal did not play Australia last year, he's defending 0 points.

So entry into this Australian Open tournament is simply the top 104 players in the rankings + 8 wildcards (determined by the organizers) + 16 qualifers (determined by a separate 128 man tournament)

The tournament you saw in the November was the year-end championships. The top 8 point accumulators in the calendar year 2013 get invited to a special tournament in London.

[Drake]

Bouchard vs Razzano at approximately 11:30 pm ET on TSN2.

Pospisil vs Ebden will be streamed live on TSN.ca at approximately 5 am ET.

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=441178

[GirlySports]

wow, Ebden and Pospisil is the Rod Laver Arena night match? That will be on ESPN's/TSN's normal telecast!

Pretty cool for Vasek to play in front of a hostile full house in a major.

[dash_pinched]

Genie wins the first set 6-2 - a loud contingent of Canadian fans showing great support. Razzano has left the court after the first set (extra long delay).

[dash_pinched]

Genie wins the second set 7-6 (10) - Nice comeback from being down two breaks in that second set at 1-4, although she could have wrapped it up earlier (had three match points up 5-4, but couldn't close it out.

At any rate, onto the 3rd round.