ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

Don't ask me why, but I'm putting myself through the second, presumably final set of Azarenka/Radwanska. A-Rad drops her serve at 2-2 despite having a game point (lolol let's get on the back foot, hit with no depth and then make errors when pressed even slightly). Then, Azarenka gets smashed, broken to love:

00: BH return winner from Radwanska
15: Laughable drop-shot attempt from Azarenka.
30: Great FH return that Azarenka gets barely a racquet on
40: DF from Azarenka

So now my hopes are up and I envisage them being ruined again.

My hopes are now firmly pinned on Serena utterly molesting her in the final.

serena doesn't lose tournaments she beats sharapova in. ever.
and serena doesn't lose to azarenka. ever.

so i am not nervous.

This is so, so, so great. Best so far? Serena falling over while Azarenka serves to stay in the set, Azarenka gets distracted and nets the ball. Two winners and a DF (on set point) later and it's 6-1. Dominant #1 my ass, and if not for getting injured St Kim in the semis, she wouldn't have a Slam either.

Lol, Serena's final serve hits a dodgy spot on the court, bounces up and Azarenka compltely misses it. Apart from two really sloppy return games, that was... uh, so Serena's going to have 16 Slams by the end of the year. Not that we didn't know the tour was weak right now, but seriously, nobody has been able to match it with Serena since Henin, and unless Kvitova stops being retarded, we won't ever in all likelihood.

Smashing up Azarenka is making me appreciate her, I guess I will miss her when she's gone! (Still will never like her as much as Venus).

woz did breadstick serena this week

Sooooo the past year has seen Serena look utterly dominant and imperious in the warm-ups and then flop in the Slams? THE NEW SAFINA

I really really hope someone gets to say "But she won...Rome and Madrid" about Silliams this year. "Charleston and Madrid" might be more of a zing though. Somewhere, Dinara feels comforted.

Not that this result doesn't make me v happy and appreciative of her.

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

lex -_-

US OPEN F AFTER NEARLY DYING ISN'T A FLOP. AND SHE WAS INJURED IN MELBOURNE OK BYE

not that i'm saying she'll definitely win RG lol. it will be a nervy mess. i can just hope

ugh roger do you not want to be no. 2? What the hell was that service game?

Lol not the most awe-inspiring win from Fed but I guess he got it done, even if he needed a little help from Berdych's bone-headedness.

Serena, on men complaining about the Madrid clay: "We ladies don't complain we just do our best. On the WTA (tour) we are real performers, we are not about going out there and being weenies."

Serena now trolling the ATP as well as the WTA. Is she trying to make me like her or something?

Welcome back, Serena!

“I see some of her previous matches and then she plays against me and produces 13 aces,” joked the Russian. "What about the other matches? I am flattered that she likes to do that against me."

LOLLLL Maria. Yes Serena hates you but she also plays well against you because you have NOTHING to hurt her with. Serena does literally EVERYTHING better than you.

US OPEN F AFTER NEARLY DYING ISN'T A FLOP.

she totally gets that pass for Wimbledon but she was amazing throughout the entire USO series and also the USO itself until the final!

Obv as things stand now she's RG favourite but that slam has history of turning into a mess so the winner will probably end up, like...Lepchenko or someone.

I really never thought Federer would be in a position where getting back to No 1 and breaking the Sampras record might happen...

it's still a ridiculously superhuman effort tho

plus she lost to stosur because of racist schedulers k

good to be back in a country with wta traditions

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7217/7202595274_cc164b4a95_z.jpg

nalbandian/murray match is amazing from what i've seen

BTW, Radwanska still has not lost to anybody other than Azarenka this year. 0-6 against Azarenka and 32-0 against everybody else.

how embarrassing for 32 people smh

But not for Petra Cetkovska! Who beat her... at some other tournament, probably a Slam once, or something, and just beat her again. (Radwanska is rubbish on clay, anyway).

haha. I watched part of the second set, then had to turn it off, it was so bad. Aga didn't look like she wanted to be there at all.

Anyway, Woz already down a set and a break to AMG lol

Maybe Woz is hoping that by falling to #8, she will then rise back to #1 to show people it was no fluke?

PLAN GOING EXCELLENTLY, CAROLINE.

NID that Petrova would play her peak tennis against Serena

Cetkovska owns Aga. 3-0 against her and all in the past year.

Wozniacki might even fall to No 9 this week if Li Na does well :D

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS :D

SUCH an important win for Serena. Toughing out a 3 setter on red clay against a tricky opponent will do wonders for her confidence going into the French. This is what she couldn't do in Rome and Madrid 2010. So happy!

Women's tennis in general is so bad at clay right now. All of the top players suck on clay.

Rome and Madrid for Serena!

http://i1014.photobucket.com/albums/af264/JamieOwen3/serena-gif.gif

Women's tennis in general is so bad at clay right now. All of the top players suck on clay.

Welcome to 2008 - specifically the day after Justine's retirement

+ 13 singles slams

http://i1014.photobucket.com/albums/af264/JamieOwen3/serena-gif.gif

I'm pretty sure Justine could still win Roland Garros now, even without warmup.

She didn't in 2010

Well, if fully motivated.

she wasn't motivated in 2010? after the AO final and winning stuttgart?

Justine's comeback was such a disgusting flop :( She basically never got her serve under control during it.

I really want Venus to come through the bottom quarter in Rome. And then lose to Kvitova obv.

LOL, Azarenka routines Peer and then 20 minutes later is suddenly carrying an injury so bad she has to w/d.

yes justine's comeback was amazing :D

thanks for giving serena that one last slam win over you, girl! :D :D :D

becoming clijsters' bitch was hilarious too

nothing more beautiful than seeing ivanovic choke away 6 set points. and it was so NEVER IN DOUBT <3

hope some of you saw that fed-ferrero point just now

THESE GODAWFUL STREAMS PISSING ME OFF SO SO MUCH AAARGH I WANT TO KILL

What a dull presence this Kerber is.

no rome and madrid for you, serena

yeesh yet another gallant but losing effort against Nadal from David Ferrer, poor guy.

Up to 6-6 in the TB, they were both tied at 48 points a piece, then Rafa chases down an impossible dropshot, somehow pops it back over the net where it landed right on the line for the mini-break, ten seconds later, it's first set Nadal.

and it ends with a bagel. Appropriate.

Fed/Nole was a bit anticlimactic yesterday, for all that Rafa and Nole seem to have slipped a little this year thus opening the door for a Fed mini-revival (and shot at No 1), Nole's been peaking when it counts this year and he reasserted the hierarchy pretty convincingly yesterday. So we're back to Nole vs Rafa being the story that counts.

I miss the days when Li would reliably own Azarenka and Sharapova :( I fear they are over :(

Oh yeah, Yulia Putintseva won a big 100K challenger last week and is up to 122 in the rankings. The Devil Child is coming, you guys.

I think this photo might trump even the infamous Rybarikova one for sulkiness!

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Yulia+Putintseva+Open+Day+14+I0clVWeY11pl.jpg

Li putting the smackdown on Sharapova :D :D

Maria will probably fight back to 4-4 or 5-5 and then lose in a torrent of DFs in her last service game

yawn

Words cannot describe Li's stupidity. What was that. SHE WAS PLAYING SO WELL