posted
I was a bit surprised to see this thread wasn't here yet. Some tournament so far. Roddick has made it to the semi's and his tennis is looking great. Too bad he has to play Darth Federer in a couple of days.
In the top half of the draw, Tsonga is the last remaining hope for any challenge for number 1 seed, Nadal, after Murray lost to Verdasco.
Is there any question that Nadal will most likely play Federer in the finals? Here we go again. I'm a huge Federer fan. I really hope he can come back and show his determination to reclaim the number 1 spot. too bad its rarely ever been done. Nadal is just too strong, too fit, and has the best record out of any other tennis player against previous champ, Federer. If it turns out to be anything like the Wimbledon final, it should be some of the best tennis ever played.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I do! The rest of you don't have to, but you're missing out.
The Murray match was disappointing, I only saw the fifth set but he looked like he'd totally run out of ideas and was being out-thought as well as out-hit. I think it's going to be a Federer-Nadal final, probably with Nadal winning in a five set thriller. I have always liked Federer, I think he's a class act and his all-round game is phenomenal. Nadal has now developed the touch and finesse to go with his power and speed, and the combination is exciting to watch. I'd like to see Federer win, but I think Nadal might be too good.
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by lobo: tennis is almost as exciting as soccer... or golf...
eh, i grew up loving every aspect of soccer and my dad and i still watch the Fox Soccer Channel together when i go visit my parents. I felt the same as you about golf until i actually went out there and played last year. it's really a lot of fun. very casual.
Yes, that Murray match was a let-down. he didn't make Verdasco run at all in the 5th. He kept returning it right to him. Even with those amazing gets and good defense, he just kept playing right back to Verdasco. I wanted to see another Nadal/Mrray match. oh well.
I'm a bit torn with the Federer/Roddick match. i want Roddick to keep improving his game and i look forward to him having a great year, but more than that i want Federer to show Nadal that he is still in top form. Unfortunately like i said before, Nadal just looks to be too good. Fingers crossed though.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
For some reason I never really watched the Australian Open. It doesn't quite have the excitement of Wimbledon, nor the home court feel of the US Open.
I think it is tough for Federer, he is expected to always be on top of his game, and even if he plays great tennis, if he looses in the Finals it is a failure. Though it really is very fun to watch Federer and Nadal play. I just wish we could have Sampras back. I think he showed in those exhibition matches with Federer that he could have made a serious run at Wimbledon last year. Though at this point he is getting to be to old for a comeback. He was just fun to watch, and he was such a classy player.
It is to bad that American tennis is just not what it was back in the 90's.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote: It is to bad that American tennis is just not what it was back in the 90's.
I don't know, take Federer and Nadal out of the picture and I think Roddick may have 5+ grand slam victories by now. He's lost to Federer in 3 finals matches alone, and has been eliminated by one of the two several more times late in tournaments.
Sometimes its not that you aren't as great, it's that your opponents are even greater .
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, tell that to people who faced Sampris in his prime. I am sure they will agree with you. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
We watched what matches we could while on vacation (since last Friday). We even had to ask the people at the rec center of the place we stayed to change the channel in the exercise room so that we could have the Open on. My dad and I finished and had cooled down when the Baghdatis/Djokovic match went to a tie-breaker in the third. The rest of the fam back in the condo had to wait breakfast for us because we couldn't pull ourselves away until we knew if it would go to a fourth set. Of course, then we got back and Baghdatis couldn't keep up the momentum... *sigh*
quote:Originally posted by krynn: I'm a bit torn with the Federer/Roddick match. i want Roddick to keep improving his game and i look forward to him having a great year, but more than that i want Federer to show Nadal that he is still in top form. Unfortunately like i said before, Nadal just looks to be too good. Fingers crossed though.
Feeling the same way here. It'd be nice to see Roddick moving ahead (both in his play and the tournament), but Federer...well... I've kind of always liked him. Nine times out of ten, he's great to watch. He makes it look so effortless.
One thing I was disappointed about was Azarenka retiring. I feel so bad for her, and until her illness reared its ugly head in the second, she was working Serena over. I hope we see a lot from her in the future!
Posts: 691 | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't like Roddick's chances at all. If he makes it through Federer, he has an even tougher showdown with Nadal waiting. I'm pulling for him so hard though...
Posts: 1286 | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by krynn: Is there any question that Nadal will most likely play Federer in the finals? Here we go again. I'm a huge Federer fan. I really hope he can come back and show his determination to reclaim the number 1 spot. too bad its rarely ever been done. Nadal is just too strong, too fit, and has the best record out of any other tennis player against previous champ, Federer. If it turns out to be anything like the Wimbledon final, it should be some of the best tennis ever played.
posted
Well, that's another Federer - Nadal final. Epic match between Nadal and Verdasco, too bad one had to lose. Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
My mom gave me the run-down over the phone, and now she's worried that Nadal won't be at his usual level for the final. She was going on like it was Nadal on the other line of the phone, talking about getting enough rest and eating well. Posts: 691 | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
I remember thinking that once Nadal won his third set, that it was over in the fourth and that he would clean up, so I went to bed.
I couldn't sleep because of my leg, so I went back out to the TV and turned it on to see Verdasco pummel a serve for in the fourth set tiebreaker. Right when I turned on the tv.
The match was pretty good, but I think Verdasco hit too many unforced errors for it to be truly "great."
Posts: 368 | Registered: Aug 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
So I'm watching the replay of the Nadal-Verdasco match yesterday afternoon and right in the middle of the fourth set a promo for the Men's Final comes on, revealing the winner of the very match I'm watching.
Someone at ESPN2 should get fired for that. How many people do you think had the outcome of that amazing match ruined for them?
Posts: 1286 | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
I was barracking for Federer, and I stopped watching (drove home from dinner) when it was 2-2. Seems like it was a good ending to watch though.
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Oh...my....stars, what a match! The fifth set was something of a let-down, Federer's legs were gone by then and he was moving slower around the court and just not himself. But the quality of the first four sets was about the best I have ever seen from a tennis match. I hope we have many more encounters between these two to look forward to - they have raised the standard of the men's game to a level that would have been unthinkable even in the Sampras era.
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
| IP: Logged |
I think Federer could have pulled it out, but his first serve failed him badly in the first set. If his first serve had been more consistent, I think the first set could easily have gone the other way. Nonetheless, great match, and kudos to Nadal for his outstanding play after such a grueling semifinal.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm pretty disappointed in Federer. A player of his caliber should have been able to convert at least one of those break points in the third set. If he had, we probably would have been looking at a different champion.
Posts: 368 | Registered: Aug 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm not sure it was purely that Federer failed to convert. Nadal chose those moments to play what the BBC commentators called "outrageous" shots that I don't think anyone else could have pulled off. When you're faced with that, it's much more difficult to convert break points.
I was also intrigued by the view of one of the BBC commentators, who said that when people play Nadal, they know he is going to get every shot back, so they go for more than they would normally do, hence making more errors. I thought that was probably true of Federer - I mean, his game normally is more attacking than Nadal's, but playing Nadal seems to make him go for the lines more, and still Nadal gets the ball back!
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
That might have some truth in it. I remember reading something about how Sampras had a lot more missed first serves and double faults against Agassi than usual, but he also had a lot of aces, even on the second serve. This might be a similar situation.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by amira tharani: I was also intrigued by the view of one of the BBC commentators, who said that when people play Nadal, they know he is going to get every shot back, so they go for more than they would normally do, hence making more errors. I thought that was probably true of Federer - I mean, his game normally is more attacking than Nadal's, but playing Nadal seems to make him go for the lines more, and still Nadal gets the ball back!
I agree that this seems more than probable!
quote:Originally posted by imogen: And Nadal won...
I was barracking for Federer, and I stopped watching (drove home from dinner) when it was 2-2. Seems like it was a good ending to watch though.
Every time I looked up at the TV (our family was playing a game), Federer lost a point. I just stopped watching and waited for my mom to commentate. *le sigh*
Posts: 691 | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
tennis.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
