Sports - Tennis Talk: B/C we like our surfaces like our loving. Hard, fast and exciting!

**Hot Rod** · 05-09-2008, 09:57 AM

Welcome to the latest Tennis Talk thread.

This is one of FF`s santuaries to discuss all things about tenis. the others are the Roger Federer thread, the Rafael Nadal thread and my personal favorite, the Maria Sharapova thread. Everyone is welcome here as long as you keep the discussions PG-13(Lets not get too graphic talking tennis players you find attractive) and in a mature fashion(i.e. no bashing of other posters).

Links:

Tours
ATP Tennis.com
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour official site

Team events
Davis Cup.com
Fed Cup.com

Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open
French Open
Wimbledon
US Open

Players
Roger Federer.com
Rafael Nadal.com
Novak Djokovic.com
Andy Roddick.com
James Blake Tennis.com
Richard Gasquet.net
Bob and Mike Bryan.com
Maria Sharapova.com
Justine Henin.be
Ana Ivanovic.com
Serena Williams.com
Jelena Jankovic.com

Tennis Shopping
Tennis Warehouse.com

As everyone knows by now, we`re in the midst of clay court hell.

However it`s never too early to start daydreaming about tennis being played on much better looking surfaces again.

Also i`m going to start a fan list for this thread. So if anyone wants to join, please let me and the mods here know.

FF Tennis Fan Club:

1. Hot Rod
2. -Bianca-
3. *Catherine*
4. wingster
5. NikNak
6. DUHsoTK
7. Motoko Ayoama
8. -Chemical Wonder-
9. Sparkling_Diamond
10. *Juju*
11. naleyforever
12. Kitty_Fantastico

**-Bianca-** · 05-09-2008, 12:00 PM

Put me on the list.

I wonder if Robredo finally winning a set against Roddick is a moral victory or that's wiped out by the embarrassment of losing to him on clay -- while he's on a S&V binge, no less.

**Hot Rod** · 05-09-2008, 02:06 PM

I`ve just added you to the list Bianca.

I`m very pleased to see Andy and Nole win their matches today.

Andy`s match against Tommy Robredo was a tight one as expected, but he did a good job of keeping his poise and elevating his play when he needed to. As for Tommy, i`m sure he`s pretty down about losing to Andy on the red clay that he loves so much. With their victories today, Andy and Nole has taken out the last remaining members of the Spanish Armanda. It`s hard to believe that there`s no Spaniards in a red clay tournament semifinal. Hopefully Andy and Nole can keep it going in their semifinal matches tomorrow against Stanislas Wawrinka and Radek Stepanek. This is a great opportunity for Andy and Nole to win a title on the terrible red clay. So hopefully they can make the most of their opportunities tomorrow, because i want to see them meet up in the finals.

Since i mentioned the Spaniards eariler, Madrid has been chosen as the site of the Davis Cup semifinal tie between the Spaniards and Team USA and a lot of the Spaniards are pretty unhappy about it, due to Madrid being at a higher altitude, which will speed up play, favoring the Americans. Personally i think that the Spaniards are making too much of it.

What difference which site is chosen. They still will get to play on that terrible red clay they love so much.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches.

James taking a spill on that terrible red clay

There he is again with the negative body language.

It was another one of those days for Fed.

Good job Andy.

**Hot Rod** · 05-10-2008, 08:03 AM

There wasn`t much action in the semifinal matches in Rome.

In the first match, Stanislas Wawrinka jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Andy, who afterwards had to retire due to a back problem. Just as Andy was finally playing good on that terrible red clay, his back problems returns.

Then in the second match, Nole won the first set against Radek Stepanek 6-0 and was up 1-0 in the second set when Stepanek retired due to some illness. Of course a lot of the fans voiced their displeasure with the lack of action with boos.

So it was a mixed bag. While i`m happy to see Nole in the finals, i hate that Andy`s back problems returned, which denies us a final between him and Nole. Hopefully Andy will get well in time for Hamburg next week. Anyway i really want to see Nole win tomorrow. It would be nice to see him win a clay court title.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches.

What a sad sight.

Good job Nole.

*Catherine* · 05-10-2008, 09:14 AM

You can add me to the list!

An thanks for adding the RF thread to the OP

Man, Rome is one CRAZY tournament this year. My gods. Oh well. I was so sad yesterday when Fed lost. He played pretty good. Stupid Stepanek and tiebreaks.

Best of luck to STAN tomorrow against Djoker. He's been playing pretty good, and I hope he wins!

**-Bianca-** · 05-10-2008, 09:30 AM

Though I'm rooting for the opposite, the way things are going, I'd almost be surprised if Wawrinka doesn't win.

Every time Andy actually puts forth any effort into the clay season, it seems like he gets hurt. Throw in the towel on the junk, man. It ain't worth it.

**Hot Rod** · 05-10-2008, 12:17 PM

I`ve just added you to the list Catherine. I immediately decided to add the RF thread when i started this thread. After all i couldn`t leave out a thread devoted to the #1 player in the world.

I don`t like your negative attitude Bianca.

I don`t think Andy should give up on playing hard during the clay court season. Besides we all know that it`s good conditioning for the grass court season for him.

wingster · 05-10-2008, 01:01 PM

add me

were we really able to get away with that title?

i've only played on hard and clay and i definetly prefer clay

*Catherine* · 05-10-2008, 01:04 PM

As long as neither retire during the match, it should be good...I was rooting for Stan in his half of the draw..hoping for an all Swiss final. But, that isnt the case.

Hamburg should be interesting. Fed has a tough draw, with Youzhny, Canas, Almagro, Davydenko, Ferrer, and Tsonga all in his half.

Djoko and Nadal are in the same half..that could be interesting..

ETA..haha..just read the title

**Hot Rod** · 05-10-2008, 01:31 PM

I`ve just added you to the list wingster and yes we were able to get away with the title.

Interesting looking draw in Hamburg. Fed`s section looks very tough with some of the Spaniards there. Also i see a lot of members of the French Connection there as well lead by their top players Richie and Jo-Wilfried. I hope those guys can get something positive going, especially Richie. Meanwhile in the lower half of the draw, Rafa`s section looks favorable early on, but he could have some potential tough matches, starting with a possible matchup in the round of 16 against Carlos Moya. I see that Andy and James are also in the lower half. I have to honest and say that i don`t like their chances there. I hope that they can get a win or two. Nole`s section looks pretty tough as well. With a likely second round matchup against Juan Ignacio Chela. If he should get past that match, then he`ll likely play Tommy Robredo, who i`m sure wants to redeem himself after the loss to Andy yesterday. I hope that we`ll get some good action in Hamburg next week. I have a feeling that Fed and Rafa will really turn it up after their recent losses in Rome.

**Hot Rod** · 05-11-2008, 09:15 AM

The Djoker is wild in Rome as Nole beats Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the Rome Masters

I`m very proud of Nole for winning his second AMS title of the year and first one of his career on clay.

He really elevated his play after the first set. As for Stan, it was a good run while it lasted for him. He played well throughout the tournament. Hopefully this will give him some momentium for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile in Berlin, Dinara Safina won the German Open with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over compatriot Elena Dementieva. Good win there for Dinara.

Hopefully her title win will inspire her doofus brother Marat to get his act together.

So that`s the story from Rome and Berlin. The clay court tour drags on for another week with the men heading up to Hamburg for the Masters there, while the ladies head south to Rome for the ladies` portion of the Internazionali BNL d`Italia..

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches.

Why couldn`t they given Nole a better looking trophy.

Great job and congrats on your third title of the year Nole.

*Catherine* · 05-11-2008, 09:44 AM

Congrats to Stan Wawrinka for making his first TMS final and for breaking into the top 10!!

He should be very proud

Other than that, I'd like to forget Rome...I'm already moving on to Hamburg!!

And thinking ahead to RG, just because I always do, because I so want Roger to win it, ( I must annoy everyone here, all I talk about is Roger

) the gap is closing between Rafa and Djoker for the #2 position..its actually possible that Djoker can be seeded no. 2 at RG..(if he makes the semi's at Hamburg and Nadal fails to defend his points), so Roger may see Nadal earlier than the final ( assuming he makes it ofcourse). THAT would be interesting...

And ofcourse, it would also mean we'd have a new #2 since 2005....But thats just one of the many events that can be played out..

**-Bianca-** · 05-11-2008, 09:46 AM

If there's a complaint, the title can be changed. For now, I thought there could be some leeway.

Nole! Wawa played well too, to get there.

Quote:

It looks like one of those gold wrapper chocolates, one of the ones you can find at the dollar store.

Surely a tournament can find a better trophy than that.

*Catherine* · 05-14-2008, 06:33 AM

Rumor has it Justine Henin is planning to retire. Wow. Big news and Totally unexpected, if its true.....

Kitty_Fantastico · 05-14-2008, 07:15 AM

Yep she just made it official. Bleh