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Author Topic:   Nadal wins Roland Garros, then Queen's Club Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 15, 2008 06:51 PM He is the first man to do this in 35 years. He seems indefatigable, not to mention an increasing threat on grass. The Wimbledon courts play slower every year... Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 15, 2008 10:37 PM Are you serious??? I hadn't caught up with this news! He actually won Queens???? Oh dear. I wonder what the weather will do this year? I love Wimbledon. Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 15, 2008 10:40 PM He beat Nole, 7-6, 7-5. Scary, huh? The French Open is my favorite major, but I enjoy Wimbledon. It's changed so much, though. I just blogged about that, in fact--about how much Wimbledon has changed, and not--in my opinion--for the better. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 15, 2008 11:10 PM Coming on top of last week in Paris? Very scary. I will read your blog after work - glad you reminded me. But I already miss the old centre court!! Chris Childers Member Posts: 1880 From:Middletown, DE Registered: Feb 2003 posted June 16, 2008 05:47 AM Clearly a major threat to win Wimbledon this year. Has he ever played better than at this year's French? Once again, both fortunately & unfortunately, I am in Greece, so it will be difficult for me to follow the tournament, but I will do my best. Thanks for posting! Chris Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 16, 2008 08:50 AM You don't have access to Eurosport, Chris? David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 20, 2008 08:31 AM Nadal came close against Federer last year, and I truly believe that the lopsided nature of the Roland Garros final will still be on Roger's mind if they meet yet again in the finals of Wimbledon. Diane, you're exactly right. The grass is playing slower and slower, and lasting longer, lending baseliners the ability to fare better there. Just look at how the court wears now as compared to earlier years. It used to wear the most at the T where serve-and-volleyers would do their split-step. I'm glad to see this discussion here. I'm a former tennis pro (and pro tennis player), and it will always have a place in my heart. I was injured at 21 and never recovered enough to regain the same level. I was cannon fodder for Andre Agassi (6-2, 6-2) when he was 16 and playing some matches on the satellite circuit (for up-and-comers, journeymen, and dreamers), and I once beat Nduka Odizor (former top 50 player) 3 months after he made the quarters at Wimbledon, beating #9 Peter Fleming (John McEnroe's doubles partner) in the process. Yeah, that's about the highlight, other than a semifinal showing on the U.S. Clay Court circuit in which I beat absolutely nobody to advance. OK, sorry to drop names there. I so miss those days. This old southpaw now wields a pen more than a racket. David B. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 20, 2008 11:05 PM David!! What a revelation!! Welcome to The Erato Tennis Club! We are open for all the Grand Slams! I hosted the Australian back in January. It will be great to have your perspective on the upcoming Wimbledon tournament. I don't play tennis (swimming and cycling are the passions I pursue) but I dance, and I love to watch tennis for the grace and the dance. The power and the restraint, the restraint of power. That ball is hit so hard, and yet it stays within that small space. That kind of control is what that best poetry has. And the drama - but all sport is great drama. Two more sleeps til the first bounce! This is my ultimate sporting month because it contains Wimbledon and the Tour de France. My greatest sporting/travel dream is to ride the Tour de France course one year. Anyway, look forward to reading your comments here over the next couple of weeks. Diane - I'm enjoying the blog! Cally Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 20, 2008 11:30 PM I wish I'd thought to host the French--it's my favorite (though I didn't like the way it turned out on the women's side) of the four. I guess I was preoccupied with watching it and blogging about it. Cally, thanks for reading the blog; it will be updated a lot during Wimbledon, giving me yet one more reason to avoid writing anything else. David, I'm impressed, too! You beat Fleming--wow. I got to see him play mixed doubles a couple of years ago at an exhibition. Borg says Federer is the third favorite to win this year. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 20, 2008 11:32 PM Thank you, Cally. I was so pleased to see a thread dedicated to tennis. When the matches start at the All England Club, I'll be sure to chime in. The funny thing is, some of the coaches were players I knew back in the day, and it makes me feel old (at 41) to see them graying and expanding in the friends box of the Slams. Wimbledon is my favorite; still love the traditions, miss the white Slazenger balls and Barley water, but the Kipling quote will always be there. If you like, I'll post after daily action with any thoughts about specific matches or happenings. I do hope it's the same two finalists. I honestly don't see anybody who can knock either one off, which the exception of somebody like Sam Querrey (sp?), who sports a 150 mph serve that skids on the grass. He has no groundies, though, so he'd pretty much have to win in breakers. OK, off to bed. Glad to join the Eratosphere Tennis Club. Strawberries and Cream, please. David B. John Whitworth Member Posts: 660 From:United Kingdom Registered: Aug 2007 posted June 21, 2008 12:21 AM Some time when I lived in London and Wimbledon was just at the end of a tube line, a friend of mine gave me a ticket and I went. Some uselss Brit was being thumped on Centre court but I wandered off and found Tony Roach, he of the face like an old peeled wall, thumping away ina mixed doubles. I wrote a sonnet about it on tha same underground railway the next day. Which you shall have, whether you want it or not. A Wimbledon late sky like streaky bacon As the last Brit dies on Centre. Out on 3 Wendy Turnbull and six-gun Riessen take on Old stoneface Tony Roche and Miss Bunge, Intent and pink and fair. Roche's backhand, Still zonking nicely, raises clouds of dust. A Corporation cart digests a sack and Roche pauses, grunts, 'They've come for me at last,' Then flattens Wendy with a skidding bounce. How pretty tennis is, how instantly Forgettable. I saw Lew Hoad once In ten inch quavering black and white. 'Who's he?' Riessen applauds. Roche and Miss Bunge win. The autograph collectors amble in. Not only did I see Hoad on telly, I also saw Pancho Gonzales, the greatest player OF ALL TIME, at least according to him, and certainly as temperamental as McEnroe, in the flesh up in Edinburgh playing an exhibition. Come on now, which of you saw Jack Kramer PLAYING. And Little Mo? For us Brits of course it would be Christine Truman (sob). Now THERE I have you. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 21, 2008 03:20 AM Well - I am of the same age-ilk as David, but old-timers like you, John, are welcome to join the Erato Tennis Club, especially if you bring memories and sonnets along! Ah, Tony Roche!! I watched him in January this year, at the Oz Open, hitting up with one of his young charges, and I took about a hundred photos of him. He was great for Federer, and I am still quite sad about their parting. But you saw him in his heyday - wow! Which reminds me - does Federer have another coach yet? Ah, tennis - it just isn't cricket, is it John? Cally p.s. David - Yes! You can be our 'special comments' man!! What fun! [This message has been edited by Cally Conan-Davies (edited June 21, 2008).] David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 21, 2008 07:55 AM Diane, I'm sorry I hadn't caught your comment, as it was posted when I was typing. Yes, plodding Peter Fleming. He had a serve but not much else, and he'd had a late night match before playing me early the next afternoon. John, what a great story, and you're pulling up old names I hadn't thought about in years. Wendy Turnbull (an Aussie, I believe, and one of the most apt surnames ever when matched up to her appearance), Marty Riessen, an intense mustached fellow, and my fellow lefty Tony Roche. My biggest influence was Harold Solomon, a stocky little guy who was a tenacious baseliner. If Borg hadn't won almost every French Open he played in, Solomon surely would've had a championship or two. Borg had his number. Jimmy Connors is one of the biggest jerks you'll ever meet. Egotistical, combative, arrogant; a true ugly American. John McEnroe was, of course, the one with the rep, but his problems stemmed from a sense of justice. He hated being cheated, or to see someone else cheated. Off the court, Mac was and is intelligent, funny and well-liked. Guillermo Vilas was a great guy, and one who shared my affinity for heavy metal music (yes, I had a mullet, but so did everybody else...at least the eastern Europeans, anyway). Illie Nastase was a very funny guy, as was his Attila the Hun looking coach, Ion Tiriac. Obviously, I never knew them during playing days, but they both stayed around tennis. Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Anders Jarryd, Joakim Nystrom and Henrik Sundstrom were the five Swedes who dominated when I was around, and I liked all of them. They were all quiet, except for Jarryd. Agassi was a punk as a teen, but he really matured and has turned out to be a great statesman for the game. OK, I'll stop. I'm waxing sentimental here. Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 21, 2008 09:20 AM David, the roles may have have changed: Connors seems to have turned into a gentleman. As a fan, I still cannot abide McEnroe, though he is actually okay when he calls WTA. But the rest of the time, I find him shallow and filled with self-conscious babble. Others disagree, I'm sure. Cally, yes, Roger has a new (in the sense of "for now") coach: Jose Higueras. He was with him at Roland Garros. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 22, 2008 11:00 AM Hi Diane- Jimmy was probably as competitive a person as I've ever seen, which may very well have been the major reason he acted the way he did. My impressions of both come from the inside, though, and it's a much different view. For example, Ivan Lendl appeared dour and humorless on court, but off the court he had a great dry wit (once he dropped the iron curtain persona...which was when he married and decided he wanted to win Wimbledon more than anything). Mac is highly intelligent and is still opinionated. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 23, 2008 05:27 AM Only minutes away from the first serve, the sun is shining on centre court, so I am game to make my predictions! Men's Champion - Roger Federer Women's Champion - Venus Williams Cally (bouncing with anticipation!!) [This message has been edited by Cally Conan-Davies (edited June 23, 2008).] David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 23, 2008 09:48 AM I made a brief foray on the net to check the early results, and it seems Roger was cruising to a comfortable straight-set win, which I expected. Cally, I'm torn over the winner. I feel like Roger can't be picked against, but I also have one of those hunches that either Nadal is on enough of a roll to burn through the All England Club or somebody like Djokovic will fly under the radar and sneak the trophy out from under the gods of tennis. Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 23, 2008 11:15 AM Djokovic said today that he will have to serve-and-volley to win. That will at least make things interesting. Last night I watched an Evert-Navratilova Wimbledon final. Everything else looks boring to me. Oh--and Monfils has withdrawn. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 23, 2008 11:52 AM Diane- I assume Monfils is injured? Djokovic may have erred in judgment by stoking Federer's coals a bit. You should never give someone as good as Roger a reason to be fired up when playing you. Djokovic claims that Roger is hearing the footsteps behind him. Me, I think if he hears them, it may make him better. Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 23, 2008 12:59 PM Monfils has what seems to be a fairly serious shoulder injury. Too bad. Also too bad--Nishikori had to retire near the beginning of his 3rd set. I really wanted to see how far he could go; he is so talented. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 23, 2008 02:53 PM I saw that Nishikori pulled out, but didn't know why. Djokovic didn't exactly burn through round one today, which doesn't necessary translate into troubles down the road, but if he's deviating from his natural game he may meet his match early. Sam Querrey, the 6'6 rocket launcher, went out in the first round for the second year in a row. So much for the trendy picks. This once again proves that you can't get away with a serve and nothing else anymore. Guys like Slobodon Zivojinovic and Chip Hooper have gone the way of the dinosaur. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 24, 2008 08:47 AM What is with all of the players going out hurt this year? I've never seen so many matches not completed due to injury. Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 24, 2008 09:19 AM On the other side of the equation is the fact that Stepanek is playing. I wsa certain he would have to withdraw, and it sounded like he was, too. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 24, 2008 10:13 AM I thought he'd scratch, too, Diane. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 25, 2008 02:38 PM Djokovic is out! Of course, he drew Marat Safin, who can be the best player in the world one day and the worst player in the world the next. Djokovic shouldn't have run his mouth about Federer. Bad karma. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 25, 2008 04:23 PM OH MY GOD! I fell asleep and missed it. Just woken to your news! SENSATIONAL! As soon as I saw the draw, I knew this would happen! That they should meet so early??!! What was the match like? Quality? I've always loved watching Safin. How is it, David, that some players' form can be so inconsistent? Or has he been injured a lot? Temperamental? He swears like a trooper in three languages, apparently. What about his sister, Diane? What do you know about her? oh - I do love it when the unexpected happens! I must check the draw now, and see what this means up ahead. David Bradsher Member Posts: 581 From:Raleigh, NC USA Registered: Jan 2006 posted June 25, 2008 07:19 PM Hi Cally- WIth Safin, it's more about his own self-belief. His confidence is easily shaken, which makes him almost superhuman when things are going well. Then, he starts his next match, something goes wrong, and he's thrown. Things snowball, and he loses in straights. His temper gets the best of him, too. Some players, like MacEnroe, got better the angrier he was, but some implode. Safin implodes. So much for the "cold" Eastern Europeans, huh? I've always found that to be such a wrong stereotype. I believe it was straight sets, which means Safin will probably lose next round. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 25, 2008 07:46 PM Ha! My stereotypical view of Russian men is that they're hot and fiery and passionate. Vodka! Kalinka! I hope he can sustain it for one more round. This time I will set my alarm! Just heard an interview with a shattered Djokovic. One of those days, he says, where nothing goes right, or according to plan. Actually, I love those kind of days! But I can see why perhaps a professional tennis player may not see it my way. Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 25, 2008 09:05 PM Cally, to answer your question: Dinara has always been talented and inconsistent, with many of her brother's hothead qualities. A few years ago, she made a breakthrough, but it didn't last. But her recent breakthrough feels like the real deal to me. What she did in Berlin was spectacular, and then she did it all over again at Roland Garros. I've never seen anyone make a run in that fashion before (meaning, the way she did it twice in a row--more drama that the tour has seen in ages). Unfortunately, by the time she got to the final, she was mentally exhausted, and lost to Ivanovic. Pity. If you missed all that, you missed something wonderful. It's all recorded on my blog, beginning with the Berlin stuff. Marat's interview today was hilarious, as always. But even the Marat win paled compared with what went on beteen Ivanovic and Dechy. Wow. Dechy said she cried copiously for an hour afterward. I felt so bad for her. Virginia Wade called it "cruel fate." I hate to see anyone have that much bad luck, but especially someone like Dechy, and especially against Ivanovic, for whom I do not care. Dechy has always been a huge under-achiever (even more than Schnyder, in a way), and since the injury, she has really not even concentrated on singles. Her doubles career is excellent, of course, but to see her play that way again in singles--and at Wimbledon--was just joyous. Then to see her lose--that way--just broke my heart. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 26, 2008 12:47 AM I just saw some match highlights - the match wasn't shown here live on free-to-air. What an unbelievable match, and a tragic loss for Dechy! Wonderful stuff. I'm sad for Sam, but barracking strongly for Casey Dellacqua now. The French Open is not covered on free-to-air here at all, Diane - not even the Final! It's never been as big a deal here in Australia as the other three grand slams. I had only news reports of the wins and scores to get a picture of how things went in France. I wondered if Safina shared her brother's brilliant but erratic history, and I read your blog earlier, and now I know! I do hope you are right that she has found a level of consistency now. By the way - the Russian women's Olympic team looks impressive! Anyway - I hope they show at least some of the Safina game here tonight. I get annoyed at the parochialism of the coverage. Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 27, 2008 03:39 PM Nalbandian is out, Djokovic is out, Roddick is out, Ferrer is out. Sharapova is out, Bartoli is out, Mauresmo (understanably--but she's looking much better) is out, Ivanovic is out. It's getting very interesting. Cally Conan-Davies Member Posts: 445 From:Australia Registered: Nov 2006 posted June 27, 2008 05:43 PM I'm following the blog each day, Diane. It's a good service you provide there! Seeds tumbling all over Wimbledon - I love it when this happens. I didn't fall asleep this time, so watched the Sharapova downfall. Loved the post-match interviews - "I didn't like her outfit." Very funny. Casey out last night, which was to be expected. But Lleyton plays Federer tonight, and though it's unlikely he'll win, he will fight, so hopefully it will be a match for which it will be worth losing more sleep! But the most exciting news, personally, is the first Wimbledon appearance of my daughter (who's studying at Oxford, and in London for the summer doing research at the British Library)! She made her spectator debut! I have just received this email from her, and share it here as a small insight into a day at the green grand slam! I woke up for some reason at 4:30am, and while I was lying in bed waiting to fall asleep again, I thought to myself, since I'm up, why don't I go to Wimbledon? So I did! I caught the train out and got to the gates by c.6:30am, but there were already two thousand people there (many of whom had camped out overnight). So I spent the next FOUR HOURS in the queue as it snaked through the golf course. The queue is apparently an institution in itself - a right of passage, a mark of honour! We were handed out freebies of food and newspapers to pass the time, so it wasn't all bad. I got a ground pass and headed straight for court 2 where there was some standing room for groundlings, and from where I had a great view of the surrounding courts - including the practice courts where I spied our little Lleyton! The first match was Kuznetsova vs a little girl from the Czech Republic (I struck up a conversation with a young man next to me who turned out not only to be from Prague, but who had just finished an MA in International Development at Oxford!). About half and hour into play the rain came down. So I gave up my standing spot and went off in search of food. Then I parked myself on the lawns to watch Federer, Lleyton, Mauresmo, and S. Williams on the big screen. After that I went back through the open courts and watched a doubles match starring Kunitsyn. Then home via the train again! Despite the rain and the long, long wait it was worth it - I had a great time. I only wish you'd been with me! But I hope these pics will give you an impression - and maybe something to share on the erato tennis club thread! What a lucky girl, eh?! It's been a dream we've shared to get there one day, and she's beaten me to it! Cally PS DIANE!! IVANOVIC OUT! woohooo!!! [This message has been edited by Cally Conan-Davies (edited June 27, 2008).] Diane Dees Member Posts: 730 From:Covington, LA, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted June 27, 2008 07:39 PM Oh, good for her that she got to do that. The closest I ever came was the first time I was in London. I was staying with my uncle and aunt, and Wimbledon was in process. They had no interest in it at all, but it was televised, so I watched it as much as I could. It was the first year the great Evonne Goolagong won, and I was hooked for life. (At some point in the mid-90s, for some stupid reason, I slacked off, and then woke right up again because of Hingis. I will always regret that I missed her rise and saw only some of the results. I will never do that again.) Thanks for reading my blog, Cally. Yes, the Itch has been scratched. I figured she would go no further than the round of 16, and last night, I