Tennis

[KirstyEkua]

Anyone else Tennis fans? I love it and i'm so excited for the Aussi open to start! I get really involved, screaming at the tv and stuff like that

Player wise, i'm a huge fan of Nadal (the Wimbledon final last year was incredible) and Federer. I'm warming to Djokovic and think he's got a lot of talent and could really threaten the top two this year. And, even though i'm Scottish i can't stand Murray. I hate watching him play. I find him so arrogant. So really don't want him to do well. I've liked Roddick for years but unfortunately i don't think he has what it takes to be up there with Nadal and Federer, even though i'd love to see him win another major. I love Safin too, and think if he was mentally sorted he'd be up there with the best of them, as he has proven even now and then.

Ladies wise, i like Ivanovic, although she seemd to loose it a bit as soon as she became No.1 middle of last year. Hopefully she'll be back to her best soon. I also like Dementieva and Safina.

Soo any bets oh this years winners?

Male: Nadal

Female: Ivanovic

Thats what i really want to happen

[lucylinda]

Hi! I love tennis too! Have you been following any of the current tournaments? The heineken open is currently on in my home town!

Men I like:

I love murray. I love that he is up and coming and playing for Britain. I love the fire that comes out in him when he plays and how pumped up he gets. That five setter at wimbledon where he turned it all around was so amazing to watch.

Otherwise, I love Djokovich. I love the way he plays, although he does kind of loose his cool really easily when things aren't going his way.. I love the immaculate-ness of Federer's game- his neat attire, the way that it all looks neat, especially his backhand (I am a complete neat freak,) and the way that he barely looks tired after a match, like it was just a walk in the park.

Men I dislike:

Nadal, nadal, nadal. I'm not sure if it's because he looks funny, or because he has an issue with his undies. I just really don't like him. I don't have a valid reason, but I don't like how scrappy he is on court. I'm a neat person.

Women I like:

Sharapova is my absolute, undisputed fave. I just love her. I love the fact that she has obviously had to fight so hard, moving away from her mother when she was so young. You can see it in her eyes that she wants it more than anything in the world. I also love that she has associations with Tiffany and Co, and her amazing fashion sense both on and off the court. I was so dissapointed when I heard that she was out of the Aussie open, but then I just realised that she's healed! She will (fingers crossed) be back to the amazing Maria we have seen before and after she has won her 3 grand slams.

When Sharapova is plagued by injury, I love Safina.

Women I dislike:

Ivanovic. I really have no reason to hate her, apart from the fact that she interferes with Sharapova. LOL. But her good girl-ness does kind of bothers me- is she tough enough for the top level of tennis?

Winners for the year:

MEN: Djokovich.

WOMEN: Sharapova! (and she will, if her injury is all ok.)

What is your opinion on Sharapova KirstyEkua? Do you despise her like most people I know? I've actually not met a single person who likes her. Which is weird.

Great topic btw, I'm tennis obsessed..

[LAURZY!]

I also love tennis!!

I agree, last years Wimbledon final was unreal! i dont think i've been so gripped by a match!

Fave male: Andy Murray (mainly cos he's British lol) the way he gets fired up and plays to the crowd is great. I heard the other day that he's favourite to win the Aussie Open. I was in a state of shock!! A Brit's never been fave to win anything!

Fave Female: Jelena Jankovic, i think she's great, she's so talented and she seems so down to earth. When her and Jame Murray were in the dubles for Wimbledon they were so funny!!

I'm useless at predicting winners haha but i hope both Murray and Jankovic win atleast one grand slam this year. Especially Murray

[KirstyEkua]

What is your opinion on Sharapova KirstyEkua? Do you despise her like most people I know? I've actually not met a single person who likes her. Which is weird.

Call me Kirsty

At first i loved her. I'll never forget her winning Wimbledon at 17, beating Serena Williams. It was incredible. But now she drives me crazy with her excessive screaming. If she didn't grunt so loud i'd probably still like her as much as i used too, but now it's got to the stage when i can't watch because she's so loud it's off putting.

She's pulled out of the Australian Open because of her knee injury unfortunately.

Lol about Nadal. It drives me mad too he's always pulling at his shorts. But i think he's very talanted and whenever he plays Federer you can pretty much guarantee it's going to be an amazing match.

I hope Murray doesn't win I think he'll a great player, obviously but i can't stand his attitude and behaviour. But he does seem to be changing and coming across as a much nicer person, so maybe i'll start to warm to him one day soon

[Slade]

I also enjoy watching tennis. At the moment my favourite is Federer and I’m really enjoying his rivalry with Nadal. It reminds me of the Sampras/Agassi rivalry previously (which I actually thought was better). I think it’s a good thing Djorkavic winning the Australian open last year as it did feel as though it was simply a two-horse race because Federer and Nadal were just so far in front of everybody else it was unreal. Nadal was virtually unbeatable on clay (and still is) and Federer was unstoppable at the other three opens. I do feel that Federer has lost his aura of invincibility and the last year, he didn’t mirror his previous achievements and lost more matches to the lower ranking players such as Andy Murray. For his standards he was disappointing. However he did finish on a high by winning the US open so I feel that he will come back stronger this year.

I don’t really have a problem with Andy Murray (although I can see where you’re coming from KA). He is actually the best British player we’ve had in a long time and he is the first real prospect of actually winning a men’s Grand Slam in Open era tennis I believe.

Roddick is a good player but the problem with his game is that he is too reliant on serve. The rest of his play simply isn’t as good. And although he has the fastest recorded serve, I don’t think the quality is anywhere near as good as Sampras’s was. And when the serve isn’t working…well we’ve seen him lose to Andy Murray and I can’t remember the last time he got to a Grand Slam final but he is always a dangerous opponent.

I’ve never liked Sharapova. Every time she plays I always want her to lose, regardless of who she’s playing against. She annoys the hell out of me with her grunting and the way she always clenches her fist and shouts “Come on!”.

[teeann_x]

Long standing tennis fan here.

I do feel that Federer has lost his aura of invincibility and the last year, he didn’t mirror his previous achievements and lost more matches to the lower ranking players such as Andy Murray. For his standards he was disappointing. However he did finish on a high by winning the US open so I feel that he will come back stronger this year.

It's true that he's lost his aura a bit. But he's certainly gained a million more fans because of what he went through last year. He suffered the illness in silence for the first half of the year which totally messed his training schedule up. The Wimbledon final was amazing, after that, there was all this doom and gloom about how he's over and to come back and win the Olympic doubles and US open was amazing. The media was extremely disrespectful to him. 1 grand slam title,1 semi and 2 finals. Anyone else would have killed to have his year, what they called a "terrible" year. People always use to complain how he's boring because he wins everything, and then when he had a tough time everyone was writing him off. He's the absolute epitome of tennis and everyone will be backing him to get his 14th slam.

I do like the Federer/Nadal rivalry. They're at it's best when they're up against each other. However I cannot stand Nadal's game and his on court antics. He is a great athlete but all he does is do his vamos topspin back into the court. On court behaviour is very off putting, picking his butt every single point and wasting time on serves. It is beyond me why umpires don't give him a time violation alot more often. He goes way past his time. I also don't buy his humble pie act. "Federer is best no? he's the favourtie for win no? i just want to play my best tennis no?" And when he did become no.1 he's still carrying that humble pie act. It's a smart tactic, saying those things to the media puts all the pressure on Federer so when he does win, it's a massive achievement on his part. I have to laugh though, he still hasn't won a tournament since he became no.1. Lets see how he does in the AO. Never been in the finals here.

Andy Murray- he's not low ranked at all. He's no.4. He's a great player, he has a lot of talent and he's leading the head to head against Federer 5-2. He really came up in the second half of last year. Somehow Federer always struggles against him, he's such a great baseliner. But the one time they played in a grand slam title Federer beat him in 3 sets. So he still has to prove himself in a grandslam which is a best of 5 sets format but I'd put him in front of Djokovic and in some ways, Nadal. He's a big threat. I don't think he's arrogant, but needs to know how to control himself when he looses his cool.

Djokovic- can't stand him or his family at all. His behaviour at the last AO was disgusting. When he beat Federer in the semis (while he was fighting his illness) his mother said "the king is dead, long live the king". I hate his on court antics, so arrogant!! You can bet that the Australian crowd won't be behind him this year. He's a good player but his head got very big, then did crap in the second half of the year. He's gonna have a hard time being defending champion at the AO.

Womens- I hardly watch the womens ever since Henin left. I miss her, she was such an all round court player. She left a big hole in womens tennis after she retired. I don't like the Williams. Sharapova has been plagued by injury. Jankovic's ok. I don't like Ivanovic, don't like all her fist pumping. Her game has gone down a lot too ever since she won her first grand slam. After that she keeps going on about how much pressure she is under it really makes you wonder if she has what it takes. Womens tennis is very inconsistent atm and they all have very one dimensional games.

[teeann_x]

double post.

[lucylinda]

Poor Djokovich! I know that some people are saying that he just retires when things get tough, but if you were watching it, he literally looked like he was about to be sick, or faint. Did not look healthy AT ALL and he kept on playing even when he started to feel sick, hoping his many pills (lol) would help. But, unfortunately they didn't. I'm not quite sure who to go for now, Murray's out, Nole's out. I guess it's going to have to be Federer. I don't like Tsonga- he's a bit too arrogant, and overly confident. I was too tired to stay up for Federer's game last night, but what a thrashing! He is in fine form to equal Pete Sampra's record!!

On the womens side- Anyone else seriously proud of Safina? She battled through against booing crowds and with only her box on her side, and she managed to play her best tennis when she needed too. Dokic looks to have a positive future now though, she was up there with Safina, but couldn't cope when Safina's serve was hot (it was very 'hot and cold') Oh, and also saving 2 match points from Alize Cornett! She amazes me with her comebacks. Hopefully the Aussie crowd can now be one her side, like she said in her post match interview. I thought it was very gracious the way she said 'sorry for beating your Australian' or something along those lines.

What is everone else thinking about the Aussie open? Thought this thread needed a bump!

[MartinBartlett]

Looks as though Federer is back to his best, absolutely destroyed del potro! Come on Roger!!

[KirstyEkua]

I'm disappointed Williams beat Dementieva, i really thought this was Elena's chance for her first grand slam!! I hope Safina wins now, i'm not a Serena fan at all!

I think Dokic has had an amazing comeback and i hope it continues. She did fantastically well and it's lovely to see her playing like that.

I'm praying for a Nadal/Federer final. You can pretty much guarantee it's going to be a fantastic match.