The first major is on the way. Don't get nabbed for drugs in tennis. Man they penalize like crazy. That said rumours are swirling around Nadal and drugs. He pulled out of Aussie Open because of a lingering foot problem. My take who knows. But I think some of these penalties are too harsh----because the drugs in question aren't all steroids etc. Very murky stuff. As for Nadal I don't think he will end up in trouble just my guess. Only rumours at this point.
Australian Open
- Thread starter sunshine
- Start date
I would love to see a american breakthrough on the man's and woman's side. We can't keep rolling out the agassi's and davenport's of the world. Maybe this is the year for robbie ginepri, who made big strides in his game at the end of last year.
And now Serena is gone:
[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/aus06/news/story?id= 2299289[/url]
What weeping and gnashing of teeth must be taking place among the Caste System media people Down Under with both Williams girls out in the early rounds. I was watching Maria Kirilenko (yet another pretty young Russian with lots of talent) give Lindsey Davenport all she could handle last night, when out of the blue Mary Carillo, Dick Engberg's broadcasting sidekick, began rhapsodizing about Serena's "glorious athleticism" and how she could "shatter all the records" in tennis if she applied herself. You just keep waiting, Mary.
[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/aus06/news/story?id= 2299289[/url]
What weeping and gnashing of teeth must be taking place among the Caste System media people Down Under with both Williams girls out in the early rounds. I was watching Maria Kirilenko (yet another pretty young Russian with lots of talent) give Lindsey Davenport all she could handle last night, when out of the blue Mary Carillo, Dick Engberg's broadcasting sidekick, began rhapsodizing about Serena's "glorious athleticism" and how she could "shatter all the records" in tennis if she applied herself. You just keep waiting, Mary.
Colonel_Reb
Hall of Famer
Notice how Serena complained about the court as she was losing. Her and Venus should be called the whiner sisters!
Hingis knocked out the last remaining Aussie player and advanced to the final eight. She should be a big crowd favorite now. Her next match is against Kim Cliljsters, should be a great one to watch.
GWTJ
Mentor
The William's sister demise came quicker than I could have dreamed. I hope it's permanent.
GWTJ..I don't think it's permanant but they definitely have reached the apex of their careers..The russian girls and their east european counterparts play the power game too now and are not as intimidated and some even relish(sharapova)the chance to play a williams sister.
Maybe Martina Hingis will help spark a revival of the subtler, more graceful aspects of thesport rather than the emphasis in recent years almost solely on brute power.
GWTJ
Mentor
Brute = Serena
Don Wassall said:
Yes, great point. She is a classic tennis player as is
Federer. I don't have a lot of repect for the ones who simply
wind up and try to blow the ball by their opponents. Andy Roddick
and the Williams' are like this. Roddick will never win a slam
that Federer is in. And the ladies are less and less intimidated
by the Williams' now that they have discovered that once you get past
the much ballyhooed athleticism and make them play tennis they aren't
any better than anyone else. Not to mention the sister's
dedication seems to wax and wane over the course of a year.
Colonel_Reb
Hall of Famer
I don't think "dedication" is the right word to use, but I'm not sure what I would substitute instead.
Mauresmo wins title as Henin-Hardenne retires. Odd thing that. More like giving up it seemed. Neither gal is what you would call feminine but remember most of these tennis players come from athletic families. It seems like every other one has a parent who was a star sprinter or soccer player. Even on the men's side there is a trend. Federer's mom was a sprinter. Agassi's dad was a boxer. Nadal comes from a soccer family. Tennis is a demanding athletic field.
Don mentioned Maria Kirilenko another youngRussian cutie to rival Sharapova so not all the gals are rough and tumble looking. And Hingis is back so thats a good thing for tennis fans.
Don mentioned Maria Kirilenko another youngRussian cutie to rival Sharapova so not all the gals are rough and tumble looking. And Hingis is back so thats a good thing for tennis fans.
Matra1
Mentor
Good riddance to Andy Roddick. Yet another classless display by this vulgarian. I was starting to think he was maturing but after his boorish behaviour on the court Friday I have to conclude he's just an *******.
Some bad news from Australia: Justine Henin is taking hip-hop dance lessons. Ah well. As long as she spanks the Williams sisters on the court I won't worry too much.
Some bad news from Australia: Justine Henin is taking hip-hop dance lessons. Ah well. As long as she spanks the Williams sisters on the court I won't worry too much.
Anyone else watch the Federer-Tipsarevic match? That was as good as it gets. I can't imagine tennis being played at a higher level, and these two went at it for well over four hours. The skill, athleticism and conditioning was amazing (thoughI can't recall any of the ESPN announcers mentioning their athleticism even once).
Tipsarevic, who looks like a cross between David Duval and Trent Reznor,is a youngup-and-comer from Serbia but had never played at that kind of sustained exalted level before. Highly recommended for any tennis fan if it's replayed. The pressure on Federer was nerve-wracking to say the least. Federer really showed what he's made of to win this one.Edited by: Don Wassall
Tipsarevic, who looks like a cross between David Duval and Trent Reznor,is a youngup-and-comer from Serbia but had never played at that kind of sustained exalted level before. Highly recommended for any tennis fan if it's replayed. The pressure on Federer was nerve-wracking to say the least. Federer really showed what he's made of to win this one.Edited by: Don Wassall
I was just reading about that match. Serbia is a tennis power now.
Always nice to see two dignified white athletes play at a high level. This is what sport could and should be.
Federer's conditioning and athleticism are the least talked about aspects of his success. I've never seen him winded and he can cover the court as good as anyone on tour.
Always nice to see two dignified white athletes play at a high level. This is what sport could and should be.
Federer's conditioning and athleticism are the least talked about aspects of his success. I've never seen him winded and he can cover the court as good as anyone on tour.
The fifth set is on ESPN 2 right now. . .
Quiet Speed
Mentor
I saw a good deal of that Don. As you said, two extremely fit athletes playing high caliber tennis. Should get us primed for week two.
ESPN interviewed Ana Ivanovic during the match. She told the story of how she and other Serbians including Tipsarevic had to practice in a drained indoor pool. From what I gather the NATO bombing of 1999 decimated the tennis facilities. Good for all the Serbs that are playing so well.
ESPN interviewed Ana Ivanovic during the match. She told the story of how she and other Serbians including Tipsarevic had to practice in a drained indoor pool. From what I gather the NATO bombing of 1999 decimated the tennis facilities. Good for all the Serbs that are playing so well.
As I wrote above, not once did the announcers remark about Federer's or Tipsarevic's overwhelmingly obvious athleticism during their brilliant five set match. By contrast, just now I turned on ESPN 2 and two "Frenchmen" are playing. One is a real Frenchman, the other is named Tsonga, who faintly resembles Muhammad Ali.During thefirst minute I was watchingTsonga made a nice shot, and immediately the announcer exclaimed "What athleticism!"
Edited by: Don Wassall
SeaJim
Guru
I don't follow tennis too closely, but have the Williams sistas been tested for steriods? Serena looks like a man for Pete's sake. Hopefully Henin will knock one of them out. Glad to hear that great black hope, Donald Young, was knocked out early.