ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

She's still been pretty mentally strong in front of her home crowd. Don't think anyone would like to meet her at Roland G now. If Woz is going to win a Slam I don't see it being on clay for a long time, even though she's dominated the season to a certain extent. It's just so damn easy to run down her forehand on this surface.

agree, it's a misconception that clay favours passive players. You need the ability to finish a point more than ever on a slow surface.

plus I think a player's aptitude for clay is based less on their game and more on their upbringing (and thus familiarity with it). eg Hewitt, a defender who was always better on grass than clay. Wozniacki was raised on fast indoor hard courts in Denmark and she doesn't move or slide like a clay expert at all. It's her worst surface, I think. (Though she can still win RG because who else is there.)

Always nice to come home to see Wozniacki's lost.

FYI, story behind the Young tweet: http://blog.timesunion.com/tennis/donald-youngs-not-so-nice-words-about-the-usta/5777/

Apparently, the USTA denied his request for a French Open wildcard after he missed the ratings cutoff by a week.

Sooooo who else is just tuning in for the GRUDGE MATCH in Estoril between Verdasco and Raonic? When Raonic and his big serve beat Verdasco twice in a row earlier this year, Verdasco said Raonic didn't play "real" tennis, and he couldn't wait to play him on clay. Well...NOW HE CAN! And let us see who is right.

Gorgeous Goerges does it again. d. Wozniacki 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. :)

So so great

I like this new thing of totally gorgeous, fun German female tennis players who take turns beating up on Woz

That started with Lisicki trashing her in the Charleston '09 final, lest we forget! Such a shame about Lisicki's injuries since. Woz is even more powerless on red clay, if that's possible.

Midget Cibulkova taking down Sharapova yesterday was v pleasing too.

Really quite excited about the Rafa/Delpo match later today.

Yeah, it sucks that that's a second round match! Delpo's comeback from injury has been fantastic.

Ranked out of the top 450 in Feb, and already in Slam seeding range! (though - hidden danger is that if he's not in the top 24 by seeding time, he's guaranteed to get one of the top 8 seeds in the 3rd round. Danger for them, I mean, I love blockbuster early rounds.)

It was nice to see Davydenko win the Munich title last week too, he might not be a Delpo but it would've been sad if his injuries had finished him off as a threat.

Davydenko. :)

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/6f/fullj.9a044f6e8ca72c5a903a9d4567266aac/9a044f6e8ca72c5a903a9d4567266aac-getty-112763404ah025_tennis_bmw_o.jpg

I wish I could stay up ronight to watch Rafa/Delpo but I have an early morning assignment tmr. :( Rooting for JMDP of course, even though I think Nadal will win.

er, tonight*

...and Delpo w/d with a hip injury :(

oh boo. I was wondering if that might happen - he injured it in the Youzhny match but I thought he was fine given how he pretty much dismantled Cilic yesterday.

boo

Djokovic is now 30-0 for the year. O_O

So who's watching Federer take a set off Nadal on clay?

I only just remembered this match was happening. Guess it's business as usual for Nadal now :[

Oh that break point... Ugh whatever Fed.

*closes the stream*

Second set was tough to watch.. so much closer than the scoreline suggested, but Fed is pretty crappy at playing big points this day or closing out tight games.

these days*

Fed was so bloody shit on his 2 break points in the third set.

fuck yeahhhhh kvitova

is there anywhere streaming Kvitova/Azarenka?

Rooting strongly for the former!

http://www.fromsportcom.com/v-2/4/188/v-258957.html is the best stream i've found and it's not very good. lag central.

I've managed to watch a few points on it. I love how Kvitova looks so hungry and steely and yelps and looks focused.

But it's stopped working :(

http://www.fromsportcom.com/v-2/4/188/v-258957.html

works for me?

Working again, fantastic.

This has happened before. Through several matches she's looked like she'll just devour anyone in her path until she.. doesn't anymore. I don't think she's a huge power player - in her zone and with the right opponents she hits with great length, and stays aggressive, but I'd like to see her average ball speed compared to some of the biggest players. Being outhit today.

When I first saw her, on clay, I fell in love with her tennis. She made the softest, most controlled drop shots I'd seen on the WTA tour. That finesse is something I've rarely seen in her game since, and many brainless tournaments / a sketchy attitude turned me away. But she had something there, and it wasn't ball-bashing.

Kvitova is amazing. Maybe the most overwhelming firepower and aggression outside of the Williamses. I've noticed her finesse too - at Wimbledon last year it was noticeable that despite her bash-winner-now strategy from the baseline, every time she went to net she'd hit the softest touch volley rather than the expected bashing drive volley.

Why does my internet connection seem to get dodgier the bigger the match I'm trying to watch? Why why why why whyyyyyyyyyy

As for Azarenka, I...honestly don't get it. Even when I'm watching I don't see how or why she can dominate. There's just nothing special about her game. Even Woz's mad defensive skills leap out more.

dayum rafa... i never know who to root for when these guys play each other.

I'm rooting for Nole! And if he lets a *4-0 lead go in this set...aargh

for me it's more like, which should be broken first: ridiculous continuous streak or ridiculous clay streak?

fucking intense game but still wtf nole

really, it's probably better for Nole if the streak is broken before RG. Wow, how many set points did he waste there? I didn't see the start of the match but Rafa looking so much stronger atm

lol what a way to end that set!

Nole wasted 3 set points, but the net cord was on his side eventually.

Wow, after all that drama Nole gets the set by breaking Rafa to love, featuring two net cords? LOL

ridiculous tweener alert

a tweener. lob. winner. ridiculous.

this is a pretty good New Great Rivalry now that Fed's declined, huh

that rally was ~intense~

this has always been the better rivalry compared to Fedal imo.

anyone got a decent stream?

fucking fucking livestream what are you doing to me

Nah, too many of their matches have been everlasting top spin fests without much excitement. xp

I have no idea whether it's the stream that's shit or my internet connection