The Offical Tennis thread (2 Viewers)

[Sweets]

I hope Nadal wins, but it might be a tall order for him to beat the no.1 clay courter in the world atm. If he does though, he'll be definitely one of the favourites to take the French. That's something that even Sampras wasn't when he was 18.

Everyone calls Coria the no.1 clay courter which he may well be but in my opinion he's the best clay courter never to have won Roland Garros. It doesn't matter how many masters-series you win, it's getting through those 7 gruelling matches in Paris that makes you up there as the best or one of the best clay courters.

Anyway i'm just majorly bitter that Coria beat JC but if you saw those 4 games when Juan Carlos was up 4-0 in the 2nd set you would see who i think when playing their best is the best clay courter in the world. To bad he choked

Anyway I watched the final and Rafy was brilliant except for a letdown in the 3rd set in which he got bagelled but I think true credit goes to him because he was able to bounce back.

As to Sampras, he was the never the favourite for Roland Garros. He did however win the US OPEN at 19.

 

[Sweets]

And it looks like Elena will be forever the bridesmaid. She lost to Justine Henin- Hardenne in the final of Charleston. Ughh she can never quite win these big finals!

The Belgians are deffinetly back though. They have won 3 out of the 4 Tier 1 this yr combined.

 

[Benny_]

Elena is without a doubt in the world the biggest choker in tennis atm. As for JC Ferrero, I like him personally, what's wrong with him? One minute he's being talked up as the 2nd most skilled player in the world, winning Roland Garros and making finals on hardcourts, the next minute he's just dropped out of the radar. Was his injury that serious, or is he just suffering from confidence issues?

 

[Sweets]

I think it was a mixture of both. Last yr was a shithouse yr for him. He started off well enough making the semi's of the Aus Open (losing to Fed but hey every1 loses to Fed) and then he made the final of Rotterdam and then basically it all went downfall from there. He got the chicken pox and apparently which totally fucked him up from the entire Clay season. Then he came back at Wimby did ok considering it was grass, then had some good results and looked to be regaining form. Then his rib broke which gave him respitory problems and he really just didn't get alot of match play which is what his game thrives on and where he gets his confidence from which was such a big part of him having such great results on Grass (4th round Wimby in '03) and hardcourt (US Open final in '03) and Indoors (won Madrid Masters Series '03).

Then he was replaced in the DC final by Rafael Nadal in 2004 (which was technically a good decision but stupid Jordi and co. went about it the wrong way) and he had something wrong with his hand as well by the end of '04. So basically, his confidence was low and all these people who he had thought were in his corner and believed in him and betrayed him when times were tough.

So enter 2005 he is fit but having trouble with his confidence and just match play plus his ranking has plumetted so low that he is facing top-10 players in the early rounds when he would usually play them in the later rounds.

However, I think the shift happened when he almost beat Federer in Dubai (2 match points) and then he had a good result in Miami and now in Monte Carlo, so things are looking up. From the interviews i have read it seems to me everything that has happened has made him stronger and I think he will have some great results in 2005.

OMG did i really just write that much about JC! Talk about obsesso. I had the pleasure of having a chat to him last yr and he is just a fabulous person and I really hope he can do well this yr.

 

[angelduck]

not to be completely tennis illiterate herem, but when does wimbledon start? That is the next grand slam right?? Or is it the roland garras?

Also, wot do u ppl think of Nicole Pratt after her not playin for Australia because they wouldnt give her more money?

 

[jm1234567890]

Roland Garros (French Open is next), wimbledon is right after that, I think there is 1-2 weeks separting them.

Nicole Pratt needs to retire and do something else. She would make alot more money coaching.

EDIT:

"Nicole Pratt has withdrawn from Australia's Fed Cup qualifying trip to India this month over a payment dispute."

fed cup qualifying

 

[Benny_]

There's about a month separating Roland Garros and Wimbledon. 1-2 weeks wouldn't work because they need some smaller tournaments to get the players accustomed to playing on grass again.

I don't see where Nicole Pratt gets the nerve to ask for more money to play for Australia when she knows she'd only lose. Retire woman, I'll be glad to see the back of you.

 

[jm1234567890]

french open ends may 30, wimbledon starts june20, 3 weeks

 

[sarevok]

I don't like Ferrero, I think he plays boring tennis and the game is better off without him.

It would be nice if there was a longer break between the French and Wimbledon, it would give the opportunity for more grass tournaments, not enough of them nowadays.

 

[RiCe_GrOwEr]

Wheres Kuerten these days?

 

[angelduck]

Is US a hard court as well??

Yeah, ui think the Nicole thing was pretty crap, stupid woman

Thanks 4 clearin that up, im such a tennis idiot

 

[jm1234567890]

Is US a hard court as well??

Yeah, ui think the Nicole thing was pretty crap, stupid woman

Thanks 4 clearin that up, im such a tennis idiot

Australian open: Rebound Ace (ruberised hardcourt)
French: Clay (ie. dirt)
Wimbledon: Grass (acctual real grass, not synthetic grass)
US: Hard (Concrete, cheapest )

 

[angelduck]

y on earth would u play on synthetic grass??

Are there like some really good websites u ppl go to to get all this tennis knowledge?

 

[jm1234567890]

y on earth would u play on synthetic grass??

Are there like some really good websites u ppl go to to get all this tennis knowledge?

Cause real grass is really really expensive to maintain

i don't think so... I've just picked my knowledge up from playing tennis and random places.

 

[angelduck]

are u any good? My friend could have been a wildcard for Aus open, but he said no, stupid boy, i wantd to see him get pumled by an Andy Roddick serve - that and get the guyz autograph

 

[jm1234567890]

are u any good? My friend could have been a wildcard for Aus open, but he said no, stupid boy, i wantd to see him get pumled by an Andy Roddick serve - that and get the guyz autograph

why did he say no? A wildcard for an open is a huge oportunity, he must have been pretty highly ranked national player.

As for me, I just play socially.

 

[angelduck]

i dont know, but i called him an idiot, and told him he better work hard so he can play next yr - i wanna sit in the players box! That wouold b so cool! And see he cowerin in the corner of the court...

 

[Sweets]

Here's the Barcelona draw even though the tournie has already started

M Safin (RUS) (1) v Bye
J Acasuso (ARG) v F Vicente (ESP) (WC)
Qualifier v G Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
K Carlsen v P Srichaphan (THA) (15) (WC)

R Stepanek (CZE) (11) v I Labadze (GEO)
G Blanco (ESP) (WC) v S Ventura (ESP)
W Arthurs (AUS) v Qualifier
Bye v G Canas (ARG) (5)

G Coria (ARG) (4) v Bye
C Saulnier (FRA) v P Wessels (NED)
A Calleri (ARG) v Qualifier
Qualifier v J Ignacio Chela (ARG) (14)

D Hrbaty (SVK) (10) v J Haehnel (FRA)
P Starace (ITA) v Qualifier
M Lopez (ESP) (WC) v G Muller (LUX
Bye v R Nadal (ESP) (8)

N Davydenko (RUS) (7) v Bye
Qualifer v C Rochus (BEL)
X Malisse (BEL) v P Kohlschreiber (GER)
S Koubek (AUT) v T Johansson (SWE) (9)

I Andreev (RUS) (16) v J Monaco (ARG)
M Mirnyi (RUS) v A Costa (ESP)
H-T Lee (KOR) v Qualifer
Bye v C Moya (ESP) (3)

T Robredo (ESP) (6) v Bye
Y El Aynaoui (MAR) v A Martin (ESP)
A Montanes (ESP) v JC Ferrero (ESP) (SE)
N Almagro (ESP) v F Lopez (ESP) (12)

D Ferrer (ESP) (13) v F Verdasco (ESP)
A Murray (GBR) (WC) v J Hernych (CZE)
F Mantilla (ESP) v M Llodra (FRA)
Bye v G Gaudio (ARG) (2)

 

[angelduck]

How are the men's world rankings? Is it still Fed (1) Hewitt (2) Roddick (3) Safin (4)???

 

[jm1234567890]

How are the men's world rankings? Is it still Fed (1) Hewitt (2) Roddick (3) Safin (4)???

www.atptennis.com

the race ranking mean the ranking this year so far.

[edit: ignore]the other one is the rankings starting this year

edit:
acctually i'm not sure how the other one is calculated, it might be rollong 12 month tally. i'm not sure.