ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

this new franken-grass is a joke btw, we'd be better off with the dirt

Aga :/

:D :D :D

if only keothavong had closed the deal yesterday this would be the best event ever

Bodo on Sharapova representing Russia: Her attitude is "ungracious, and mind-numbingly so". Ungrateful for what she owes the USA. Hypothesizes that he'd feel the same the other way around, as if that's some distant possibility - glossing over the many tennis players learning their tricks out of the USA before competing for the country, not to mention the amount of European coaches doing their thing for american national teams in other sports, or football players spending their entire pro career in European leagues.

" I guess the money, creature comforts, and other attractions of the U.S. are more appealing than a life spent drinking in the piney mountain air of the Urals, or bobbing around in a boat in the headwaters of the mighty Don—great as it is to represent Russia in the Olympics!"

Really, dude?

Americans are seriously the most bitter people about nationality

Remember the FUSS they kicked up when Bogomolov switched to Russia

Did Russia even care when Shvedova and Putintseva switched to Kazakhstan?

And you don't see them refusing to claim Navratilova and Seles' accomplishments as ALL-AMERICAN

Exactly. And then adds to that with offensive wisecracks and his theories about how her father feeds her ideas of 'Mother Russia'.

Remember the FUSS they kicked up when Bogomolov switched to Russia

No, actually. I do remember Myskina snarking on Sharapova for not really being Russian, though: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2005-01-15-sharapova_x.htm

Yeah no one gave a shit about Bogomolov because he didn't win anything. Also please don't stereotype all American attitudes based on one writer well-known to be prone to provocation, thanks!

ya i thought it was a given that Pete Bodo is an idiot. Elsewhere on the same site, Steve Tignor, responding to a NYT times article on the global nature of sports, notes:

Speaking of nationalism, Chris Clarey writes in the New York Times, that its lines are getting ever harder to discern. Korean swimmers train in Australia, Lithuanians in England.

“It is not uncommon for swimmers in the London Games," Clarey writes, "to have much deeper connections with swimmers from other nations than with their teammates.” ...

... It almost seems that the more fluid national identity becomes, the more athletes want to hang on to theirs, even if they don’t live or train in their home country—blood, family, roots remain important, even in the abstract. Someone like Martina Navratilova had to leave everything and everyone behind for good when she defected from Czechoslovakia; not surprisingly, she embraced an American identity. She once stopped a reporter in mid-sentence after he addressed her with the words, “As an American...” Navratilova told him, “Thank you, you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that.”

Sharapova is an extreme example of the opposite, post-Cold War case. She has lived in the U.S. since she was 7, but she never had to cut ties with Russia or her Russian self. While it was annoying a few years ago to hear Sharapova say how much she wanted to beat the U.S. in a team competition—I think it was Fed Cup—I can’t begrudge her a desire to feel a link to her family and its history.

btw I'm sad that one of the four men left in the draw is going to go home without a medal. And that it's prob going to be Delpo. :/

fucking hell BOMBSHELL news - Sesil K alleges that the Bulgarian PM sexually harassed her when she was 14

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/bulgarian-pm-accused-of-sexually-harassing-junior-tennis-player-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=25509&NewsCatID=354

her tell-all book, if it ever appears, will be must reading, with her history

"To be honest, to lose this way hurts a lot, it's very hard to talk about it right now," Del Potro said. "I have to go take a shower now and try to do my best in the (mixed) doubles out of respect for Gisela (Dulko). Someone has to win these matches, today it was his turn to win. At the U.S. Open it was my turn. That's the way it goes."

Classy dude.

haha apparently Serena just obliterated Azarenka

loving life

can not wait for that final

excellent. third beatdown of the year. She should do the same tomorrow as well. I might even tune in for that.

Delpo ;_;

Lendl isn't at wimbledon for Murray, weird

John McEnroe just talked about Skrillex

Don't think I'll enjoy the final tomorrow, but very happy Maria got herself together after Wimbledon as I feared she was done on grass.

This guy can't stop himself http://espn.go.com/tennis/blog/_/name/bodo_peter/id/8230859/2012-olympic-tennis-maria-sharapova-patriotism-authentic

What a fucking idiot.

Fed withdrew from Toronto, smart move. The tournament organizer says Murray and Djokovic have "guaranteed" they'll be there.

The funny thing is that when I criticize Sharapova for being ungracious, or even ungrateful, I'm accused of being some sort of jingoistic zealot (full disclosure, I was an immigrant -- just like Sharapova).

huh, I was assuming this was "I wish she would admit to being an American so I could patriotically bone here" rather than "why can't she admit she's just like me so I can bone her"

(unnecessary aspersions may have been cast in the previous sentence)

Unpatriotic Sharapova tanking that final for further glory of USA. Mother Russia is not pleased.

Murray is not only playing a beck of a lot better than Federer, he's also lucky. This is going to be over really, really quickly.

Bronze for Del Pony :D :D :D

So, so, so happy for Pony, especially after that heartbreaking semi.

Roger clearly tired after that semi. Except no, that wasn't fatigue, that was just being outplayed comprehensively.

I can't believe Novak got hosed by Delpo like that. Too much Olympic Village?

Roger clearly tired after that semi. Except no, that wasn't fatigue, that was just being outplayed comprehensively.

― neil young & crazy town (edwardo), Sunday, August 5, 2012 3:17 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Fed played pretty badly the whole tournament really. The Delpo thing was a magic trick.

Delpo's on fire - he hasn't hit groundstrokes consistently like that since before his wrist injury. Has really improved on his volleys too. Can't wait to see him during the hard court season.

I'm a bit surprised too, because Delpo's never been good on grass either. But grass blunts Djokovic's biggest weapon (return of serve) in a way that it doesn't Pony's (massive shots).

He's been slowly improving on it the past couple of years though. Also, the worn-out grass meant that the balls didn't bounce too low for him.

what a wonderful week that was

I think I'm happiest about DelPo getting bronze

Donald Young losing streak watch - now on his 16th after going down to Chardy 3-6 7-6(4) 6-0.

I wonder if Spadea is rooting for Young to break the record or to not break the record.

A bagel by Chardy, you're doing this in style Donald

I just realised edwardo was in here the other day instead of the Olympics thread!

I figured the Olympics thread would be mostly tl;dr about sports I don't care about. Although I prob would have enjoyed discussing the badminton as that was fuck off amazing too.

The Olympics thread has veered happily between sports according to who's watching.

Anyway, the news I'm most thrilled about: Sesil K FINALLY returns to the top 100 and she does it in style, with a double bagel over Cirstea :D

She promised a thunderous return four years ago. Slowest moving thunderstorm ever but finally it's here.

I also should have logged in to see wtf people made of the pole vault. WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING ON THERE, etc. I am pleased for Spesil K.

Roberta Vinci d. Ana Ivanovic 6-0 6-0

Don't think I need to add ANY comment to that

hahahaha oh boy

great comeback, Ana

Ahahahahha oh wow. I don't even hate Ana but smh.

33 UEs in 12 games. LOL.

rafa withdraws from Cincinnati

The FH at 3:01...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbhLZSovF8c

So bloody pleased with how the Canada tournaments have gone. Djokovic/Gasquet is an acceptable final in Toronto, and the latter made himself useful for once by preventing the horror of another Isner MS final.

And Montréal! Petra and Na coming back to life! Even Safarova FINALLY wins her top 20 match after all these years. Of course there's still Wozniacki to get rid of but I'm confident any of the other three will beat her handily.

Petra/Na final is pretty much my ideal situation for any tournament. SuperPetra would win that but SuperPetra didn't show up for that match in Sydney after set 1 either....

Rafa out of the USO...