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[TENNIS] is a game about smacking balls

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  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    Sometimes I wish tennis was big enough and had a ranking system that allowed for big exhibition stuff. I would love to see a Williams/Federer match.

    There were rumors a while back that Serena and Murray were going to play an exhibition. I would love to see that.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    I would watch the Serena/Murray match just to see who whines the most in between points.

    (Mauresmo needs to spray Murray with a water bottle like a dog everytime he does that rope a dope talk to himself angrily thing)

  • davidsdurionsdavidsdurions Your Trusty Meatshield Panhandle NebraskaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2015
    Am I the only one that heard the commentators break out the anchorman reference in this tsonga-berdych match?

    Fellas are slightly bored I guess.

    Edit: oh maybe they are covering the nishikori match, that makes more sense with some of their comments. I'd just turned it on. :+1:

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  • SanderJKSanderJK Crocodylus Pontifex Sinterklasicus Madrid, 3000 ADRegistered User regular
    There have been mixed exhibition matches where the guys court is the doubles court. I think that was actually pretty close in challenge.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Kyrgios needs to reign in his growing shade of dbag, he sort of acted like a twat against Murray (and gave up basically). Plus that earring's big enough to blind the other player. Monfils knows how to walk that line a bit where he's eccentric but not completely obnoxious. Speaking of Monfils, maybe he'll pull the first big upset against Federer tomorrow with it being a best of 3 now.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    Kyrgios is for sure a dick. There seems to be a lot of that with the Australian up and comers since Tomic is a dbag too, just a slightly different type.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    It's a shame because Pat Cash, cool, sort of knew his limitations and just enjoyed the ride. Rod Laver, pure gentleman.

    Pat Rafter, one of the most nicest awesome dudes ever who everyone forgets about.

    Hewitt was always relatively quiet and outside of that one instance at the US Open where he was just upset at James Blake, has been a solid guy and familyman. And it's funny because when Tomic was the only Australian prodigy people were getting on Hewitt's case for not mentoring him a few years back, and he basically said the kid's a jerk and listening to the wrong people. And surprise surprise....

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    TexiKen wrote: »
    It's a shame because Pat Cash, cool, sort of knew his limitations and just enjoyed the ride. Rod Laver, pure gentleman.

    Pat Rafter, one of the most nicest awesome dudes ever who everyone forgets about.

    Hewitt was always relatively quiet and outside of that one instance at the US Open where he was just upset at James Blake, has been a solid guy and familyman. And it's funny because when Tomic was the only Australian prodigy people were getting on Hewitt's case for not mentoring him a few years back, and he basically said the kid's a jerk and listening to the wrong people. And surprise surprise....

    Yeah, Tomic has a similar attitude as Gulbis I feel.

    Both of them sort of act like they could be doing a million things that are more important than being on court. I know after a match in which Tomic got thrashed he said that he folded because he knew he wasn't going to win. Come on man... You would never catch one of the big four guys saying anything like that. Hell, you probably wouldn't catch any of the top 10 saying that.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Sharapova is out to Safarova in the 4th round, which is a double win for me since I like Safarova.

    Plus, Sharapova kept getting louder as the match went on, especially in the final game, to where the crowd was kind of mumbling WTF, but Safarova was pounding forehands and wasn't phased by it.

    Seriously, punish blatant screamers.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    Yup, agreed. It's all gamesmanship from Sharapova. Rewatched her Wimbledon win from back in the day and she was surprisingly quiet.

    Also, fun fact of the day, Safarova's name is pronounced "sha-va sha-va"

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  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    God, that was a great Tsonga/Nishikori match.

  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Wawrinka was just in the zone, like a clay version of Safin.

    I only watched the third set of Tsonga/Nishikori (alternating between it and Federer/Wawrinka), sort of expected Nishikori to fight back and win. His return serve stance was aggressive as hell. But the weather looks like it favors the hard hitters this year.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    Weather will definitely play a factor in the Nadal/Djokovic match tomorrow. Lots of people calling it for Novak since it's going to be cooler and there's a high chance of rain. We'll see. Get hype.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Rest softly, sweet prince of clay, you will have your time again. Didn't watch all of it, but saw most of the first set and what seemed to be a 20 minute game, and I guess Nadal just wasn't in good enough condition to put up a lasting fight.

    Murray won too which blehs me out because if the end result is him choking in a final again I'd rather it be someone else. So go Stan, Yonex 4ever.

  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    I don't actually have much confidence that he'll have his time again. I think he's pretty much done with his top 5 days.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    I don't think he's done for. He's lost twice at the French Open in the last 11 years...

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  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    Safarova's through to the final. She took out Ivanovic 7-5,7-5.

    TexiKen will be happy.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    If she can slay The Screaming Serena it will be perfect.

    Glad Ivanovic got this far too, wished she would stay more present in the rankings and such.

  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    Hey

    Hey guys

    There's an HBO mockumentary called 7 Days in Hell coming out on July 11th that looks as if it is loosely based around the legendary Isner/Mahut match.

    And it stars Kit Harington (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones) and Andy Samberg.

    Click the link, there's a trailer.

    Holy shit I will watch the absolute living fuck out of this.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    I awesomed that, but only because we don't have "so raven" or any of the other proper nonsense responses :)

    I'll watch the hell out of that too.

    Also, Murray, the proper time to get broken is not when Novak will go up 5-3 with a chance to serve out the set. Get it together man.

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  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    To be fair, it isn't Murray's fault Djokovic sold his soul to the devil to be good at tennis.

  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Safarova is also in the women's doubles final, I hope she still has the energy to beat Serena tomorrow.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    TexiKen wrote: »
    Safarova is also in the women's doubles final, I hope she still has the energy to beat Serena tomorrow.

    I watched the match last night (because work and all that), and Martina Navratilova was one of the commentators. She said that she thinks any player fit enough to play the singles should be fit enough to play both. I know that Safarova has been focused on fitness a lot lately, so I think she'll make it.

    Serena is chasing number 20 though... I just... 20 slams...

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  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    TexiKen wrote: »
    Safarova is also in the women's doubles final, I hope she still has the energy to beat Serena tomorrow.

    I watched the match last night (because work and all that), and Martina Navratilova was one of the commentators. She said that she thinks any player fit enough to play the singles should be fit enough to play both. I know that Safarova has been focused on fitness a lot lately, so I think she'll make it.

    Serena is chasing number 20 though... I just... 20 slams...

    I'm not sure if that says a lot about Serena or a lot about the skill distribution in the women's field, or both.

  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Yeah, if Justine Henin or Kim Clijsters didn't stop playing due to personal reasons and outside factors in life (we could include Wozniacki in this as well), or Sharapova wasn't injured for what seemed like 3 years, I bet Serena wouldn't have so many slams.

    In the men's game you have had Federer, Nadal, Djokovic constantly fighting and wearing each other down to the point they've probably lost literal years of their life due to wear and tear in their encounters, sometimes Murray shows up, and recently we see glimpses of Wawrinka or Nishikori showing up too.

  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    I really enjoy watching Nishikori play.

    Also something I find funny:

    3952608_roger-federer-rolex1.jpg

    Richard_Mille_Rafael_Nadal_vainqueur_tournoi_acapulco.jpg

    That's a Richard Mille watch there

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  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    I think my favorite tennis endorsement is still Radwanska's Cheesecake Factory one...

    Seriously...

    453930778.jpg?w=572&h=381

    BiJd_I9IQAAlSJ1.jpg

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Wawrinka's backhand was beautiful today, won him the FO. For the longest time it was good but just didn't seem to have the power or durability to defend against any ball with force coming his way, but it was Tommy Haas levels of beautiful today. And in general it was a high quality match throughout.

    The Williams/Safarova match, I thought Lucy had it after the second set tiebreak, she knew to hit at Serena's feet and just not be scared of her power (that's the thing about a bully hit back at them and they'll back off) but I think she got too swayed by the crowd being in her favor it messed her up and she kept thinking too much. At least she won the women's doubles.


    Now it's time for grass and Hewitt will win it all and retire right then and there, yep.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    TexiKen, that's exactly what I wanted to happen a couple of years ago when Roddick announced his retirement at the US Open.

    What a great performance from Stan today. Best serving he's done all tournament, and his backhand was deadly all tournament. As a fellow one hander it does my heart proud.

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  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    WIMBLEDON!!!

    Wait, it's all English and proper and stuff.

    Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to host its annual championship tournament.

    Hewitt went out in the first round, which is disappointing, but he went out to Jarkko Nieminen who is also playing his last Wimbledon and whose name I almost certainly spelled wrong.

    Ivanovic went out to a surprisingly in form Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who always looks fabulous and who I'm glad to see is playing well.

    British people act like 96F is the hottest weather ever and a bunch of Americans who grew up in the south laugh at their weakness of spirit and lack of character.

    Aaaaaand, according to a podcast I was listening to earlier today, Pat Rafter resigned as Davis Cup captain a while back because of the attitudes of Tomic and Kyrgios, thus cementing what we have always said in this here thread.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    They put Hewitt on Court 2, which is the cursed court where Wimbledon knowingly puts the old champions out the die, that was what hurt more than a good five set loss.

    It's ok he'll win the US Open.

  • ShadowhopeShadowhope Baa. Registered User regular

    Roger Federer is apparently still very good at tennis, when he isn't missing the ball completely.

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  • ShadowhopeShadowhope Baa. Registered User regular

    On the other hand, Nadal cannot tennis like he used to, and once more loses to some guy.

    Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    It's not unprecedented. He lost to Dustin Brown last year at Halle.

    Still not super happy with this slump, though.

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  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    Can't believe no-one posted Federer's trick shot from the other day.

    http://www.ibtimes.com/video-roger-federers-trick-shot-wimbledon-swiss-hits-between-legs-lob-1994451

  • SpaffySpaffy Fuck the Zero Registered User regular
    It's not unprecedented. He lost to Dustin Brown last year at Halle.

    Still not super happy with this slump, though.

    To be fair, 1) he has a losing record to Dustin Brown already and 2) holy shit Dusty was on FIYAH

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  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    I'm still a Nadal fan. He has gone through slumps before and come back. I still have hope.

    DON'T TAKE MY HOPE AWAY

  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    Not gonna knock Nadal at all. He's still a great player and he's still plenty young enough to recover. His record at Wimbles these last few years hasn't been good but everywhere else he's still a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps he just needs to rework his grass court game a bit.

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    Jazz wrote: »
    Not gonna knock Nadal at all. He's still a great player and he's still plenty young enough to recover. His record at Wimbles these last few years hasn't been good but everywhere else he's still a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps he just needs to rework his grass court game a bit.

    Ehhhhh...

    It's pretty obvious hard courts just destroy his knees. When he gets on fire, though, he can play well on any court, so I think you're right about that. Remember in 2010 how he was hitting bomb serves at the US Open? It was ridiculous. He also fixed his court positioning and was majorly aggressive there when he beat Djokovic in 2013. I wish he would win the Australian again to say he won each of the majors at least twice, but I think 2014 was his best shot at that. I am going to really miss Nadal when his time is up, and I don't think there's any way in hell he will have as long of a career as Federer. Sadly, I think we're going to see an all clay and grass + slams and a few hc masters Nadal season pretty soon.

    Women's Semifinals are locked in -

    Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova in one half and Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Garbine Muguruza in the other. Wimbledon had a pretty stacked draw this year as is probably obvious from the semis. I know in the Quarterfinals they were talking about how there was something like 30 major titles among all of the players in the top half and zero in the lower half. The top half was Azarenka Serena, and Sharapova to name a few, so I guess that makes sense.

    Men's quarterfinals are tomorrow:

    Centre Court - Vasek Pospisil vs. Andy Murray
    Novak Djokovic vs. Marin Cilic

    Court 1 - Gilles Simon vs. Roger Federer
    Stan Wawrinka vs. Richard Gasquet

    I basically expect it to play out based on ranking. Murray vs. Djokovic for one semifinal and Federer vs. Wawrinka for the other.

    The big question is whether or not Murray has it in him to take out Djokovic. We know he can, but Djokovic is hot this year. Murray is too though. Whether it's Mauresmo or getting married, the only player he's lost to in a long, long time is Djokovic.

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