Tennis.

[PublicImage]

It had to be done, didn't it? I find it far more interesting than Euro 2008, at any rate. I'm supporting Sir Andy of Murray (naturally) and Sir Roger of Federer (because he shares my forename and has a marvellous cardigan), although I originally wanted Sir Novak of Djokovic to win, but he went and got himself eliminated far too early into the competition. What a fool.

John McEnroe is providing some extremely amusing and unrelated commentary as usual, which is a bonus, and the BBC have started giving us some wonderful slow-motion shots of Andy Murray's mother and girlfriend clapping like ravens every time he wins a game, which always provides an appropriate amount of hilarity. For the Doctor Who fans, I've noticed people who look awfully similar to UNIT lurking around some of these games, which is good for a few dodgy tennis conspiracy theories, but that may just be me, as I always seem to give a commentary involving some kind of conspiracy theory (there was a definite purple tie agenda on Newsnight last Wednesday. I was so fixed by it that I missed the last bus home!).

Anyway, that is enough for now. We all know about tennis so this thread can probably be locked at this point. I found Sharapova's last match quite painful to watch. Not only was she making the worst noises since Shakespeare's Sister, but she had the most morose look I have ever seen in a tennis player. It was shambolic. It looked as though her opponent was assimilating all of the happiness from her because she had an omnipresent grin during the whole match. It was a peculiar contrast!

_________

Changed the thread title because 'Wimbledon' is far too specific. Hah.

[Damn!t]

I love tennis and I play it...but I never liked Wimbledon as a tournament.

Too britannia rule again, we invented this also kind of shit.

Australian open is much more fun.

[snifferdog]

Only thing is, the great British hope inevitably goes out around the quarter finals and that cures that!

[PublicImage]

Andy Murray's match today was outstanding. Perhaps the best tennis match I have ever seen. He is going to be crushed by Nadal, though!

[Stephen]

He is going to be crushed by Nadal, though!

One thing in his favour though is that he won't be having sleepless nights worrying about the match.

[PublicImage]

Ahahaha, I just watched Djokovic giving Nadal quite a thrashing in the Cincinnati Masters Series semi-final. It's quite amusing that his first match after having been confirmed as the new number one in the world was his first loss in quite a while. It'll be interesting to see how Djokovic plays against Murray tomorrow, because the latter is really on form at the moment and plays far better on a hard surface than on grass. I suppose the fact that it is his first appearance in a Masters final also gives him a bit more motivation than he might normally have, so it'll be a good game.

Federer is doing horrendously at the moment. Hopefully he'll get back on form at the US Open.

[rememberaday]

I know it's moronic of me to revive this thread after some four years or something, but is anyone else watching Basel! I hope Roger wins, Del Potro can be dangerous though.

[danielcaux]

Actually I thank you for reviving it, had never seen it and this paragraph alone made my day, classic PI.

John McEnroe is providing some extremely amusing and unrelated commentary as usual, which is a bonus, and the BBC have started giving us some wonderful slow-motion shots of Andy Murray's mother and girlfriend clapping like ravens every time he wins a game, which always provides an appropriate amount of hilarity. For the Doctor Who fans, I've noticed people who look awfully similar to UNIT lurking around some of these games, which is good for a few dodgy tennis conspiracy theories, but that may just be me, as I always seem to give a commentary involving some kind of conspiracy theory (there was a definite purple tie agenda on Newsnight last Wednesday. I was so fixed by it that I missed the last bus home!).

I was following the tennis season this year, but kind of lost interest after the US Open... Never thought Federer could regain the number one spot at that age though, that was fun, but I guess the complete absence of Nadal throughout must of the season due to some injury helped a lot in that... Also it's always fun to watch Novak lose, 'cause he starts to throw these fits of anger all over the court, trying to bargain with his orthodox god or something and then screams like a total maniac when he wins a point. Mr. Robot Feder is the complete opposite of that, he just quietly looks at his racket and starts fiddling with the strings while the anger goes to some deep reservoir that must has been growing quite a lot over the last years so full of failures. I sincerely hope that's not the case, but it tends to happen.

[rememberaday]

the last years so full of failures.

Eh? Have I missed something here? While he may have declined, his last few years were in no way failures. To expect him to win all slams and masters at this age is to remain in denial, imho. And I can't see how Nadal's presence would have changed Roger's fortunes. Nadal is hardly a hard court god.

I see Roger lost to Delpo yesterday. Though Del Potro's play was stellar, I was disappointed by some errors Roger made, the forehand netting at 3-4 in the final set tiebreak being the most outrageous one.

[rememberaday]

Anyone else think there's been a lot of doping in tennis these last 4/5 (possibly 8-10) years?

I mean, you just have to look at Djokovic and his play and wonder how much a player can be physically fit after playing a five hour match (which Wawrinka deserved to win btw ) and then come out all fire and trash Berdick, Ferrer and Murray, hardly breaking a sweat. The same guy won a 6 hour final against Nadal the previous year. Djokovic's 1st explanation was that he's started a new "gluten free" diet, then he said he has a CVAC-pod. Something's really fishy

Considering how lax tennis doping testing programs are ( this is a GREAT article btw - http://www.perfect-tennis.co.uk/does-te ... g-problem/, actually his blog and another guy Ru-an's are pretty much stellar), I think almost all of the top 20 can be doping and be getting away with. That includes my man Roger, though I personally don't think he's doping because 1) I'm his fan and I have a huge amount of trust 2) More realistically, his style of play isn't really all physical so I don't think he benefits from doping 3) He's not really the kind of player who often plays gruelling matches day after day.

Basically, I think Nadal and Djokovic have the highest chances of doping. There's also a conspiracy that Nadal's injury leave was actually a silent doping ban. Anyway, congrats to him for winning Brazil. I expect after another week he'll be back to his grunting, 10 hr running-yet tired in no way best.

[snifferdog]

So what do you think of Andy Murray's win today?

[danielcaux]

Good for him.

I particulary like when Djokovic loses, he's so arrogant and defiant, it's always nice to see that kind of people fall.

Best game for me was the 9th of the third set when the score was 4-4 and Murray broke Djokovic serve. Some quite inspired moves from Andy in that one.

[rememberaday]

It was the most boring final. Snoozefest.

And I'm not too keen on this "ends the 77 year drought either". It's individual sport, for heaven's sake.

Truth be told, I'm not a fan of either Murray or Djokovic. Like Nadal, they engage in a grinding, mechanical slugfest too often and too extreme for liking. Which has made me lose quite a lot of interest in the sport, really. I far prefer aggressive players like Federer, Del Potro and Tsonga. I find these days indoor tennis is the only type I really can stand: quick fast lightning tennis with lots of approaches to the nets.

Now I may get a lot of flak for saying this (again), but I really think there's a LOT of doping going on in the sport. /rant

So what do you think of Andy Murray's win today?

Now it's time for the Irish to end their drought?

I think Henno's up to the challenge

[snifferdog]

Now I may get a lot of flak for saying this (again), but I really think there's a LOT of doping going on in the sport. /rant

For what it's worth I think you could be right. It's happening in other sports too I'm sure. There is a court case rumbling on in Spain at present involving a doctor calledEufemiano Fuentes.

[PublicImage]

And I'm not too keen on this "ends the 77 year drought either". It's individual sport, for heaven's sake.

That is true, with the exception of the Davis Cup and the Olympic tennis (for which Andy Murray is due to lose 750 points soon, making his Wimbledon victory irrelevant in his attempt to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings). Nonetheless, some people like to have a home player to support, and I don't begrudge that. We have no chance of winning the Davis Cup with only one world class player, so we need to celebrate something! I didn't think the Wimbledon victory was such a big deal after Murray won the US Open, which is just as prestigious. Try telling that to the British press, though. The hack journalists here pay very little attention to the other three slams. A BBC viewer could be forgiven for thinking that the Olympic tennis competition is more prestigious than the slams if his only source of information was the TV coverage of Wimbledon. I would still prefer to see the media gushing over Wimbledon than have to endure the inevitable weeks of "Royal Baby" "news" that we will be subjected to soon, though.

As for you point about the Wimbledon final, I think the baseline-bashing can get a bit dull, and there is always a lot of it when Djokovic and Murray face each other (get used to it!). Hitting it back until the other guy makes an error might be a good tactic for wearing him down in a best of five match, but there are more exciting styles to watch. I found the SF between Djokovic and Del Potro much more enjoyable than the final because of Del Potro's aggressive style. It is a shame he lost that one, but he should be able to win more slams on that form if his knee injury doesn't get too bad. It was also fun to see Hewitt and Federer getting bossed around the court against two serve and volley players in the second round.

I was disappointed when Lisicki choked under pressure in the women's final, because her form in the previous six rounds was excellent. It was a relief to see a WTA final which did not feature screeching or grunting. If she can find a way of coping with the pressure, her chances of winning multiple Wimbledon titles will be very good.