ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

That was a bad match that got weirder and better towards the end - Serena DFing at 5-5 in a TB? And that amazing Vika volley at 6-6! - but it was very significant IMO. Vika has proven herself a legit rival to Serena on hard courts now. And the overall rhythm of the match felt so much like the USO final - and Vika laid that ghost to rest...

Serena looked so disinterested for so much of that, glad she ended up losing

hm
New Haven Open ‏@newhavenopen 3m
Peng Shuai retires up 6-2, 1-3 to send 4-time Champion @CaroWozniacki into R16. #nho13

I was starting to soften a bit on Woz once she dropped down to 10 but now the world is conspiring to send her back into the top 8 I am not back on board the anti-Woz train.

Farewell, Anna Chakvetadze ;_; She hasn't played for over a year but made it official today: retirement.

I've NEVER seen such an in-your-face response to a hostile crowd as this:

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

Iconic, legendary etc. Even more impressive considering her game required a cool head, and in that atmosphere she executed it perfectly.

also, her demeanour at other times was kind of dainty and princessy, lol

GO VENUS

omg lol awesome

didn't see Venus against Vika but she was really good against Halep (who was hitting some great winners herself) - strange to see Venus the more consistent player.

meanwhile, OMG Martina: http://thebiglead.com/2013/09/25/martina-hingis-who-cheated-on-her-husband-twice-apparently-beat-him-up-with-help-from-her-mom/

cocaine is a helluva drug

Venus is serving like a woman possessed at the moment, hit a 209km/h one the other day !?!!
i <3 Petra too but gogogoogo Venus

that was a puzzlingly good match from both - so happy for Petra, she needed it

Petra looks pretty fit. Her legs look fantastic. Maybe all the sex with Stepanek is good for that?

tomorrow bennetau will have another chance to finally win his first title. if he screws up i won't be sad though because everyone who loses to JOAO SOUSA in a final deserves nothing but ridicule.

I really don't understand how Sousa beat Ferrer in the QF

I understand perfectly how Benneteau lost to him to make it a 0-9 career finals record though #bennetlol

Petko d. Azarenka

God. Could I love a result any more than this?

I mean, hooray absolutely, but how badly hurt/out of it is Azarenka right now?

Apparently 15 double faults. Petko took an MTO due to dizziness so neither was in good form, so I'm glad it happened but I'm glad I wasn't watching.

David Nalbandian retired... so many conflicting feelings right now. 2005 Masters Cup final against Fed probably one of my favourite matches of all time.

3rd set of sousa/benn was p cool. b-teau hit some bad unforced errors

gasquet/raonic is p good, kinda subdued w flashes of sic gasq backhands

I really liked Nalbandian at the start of his career but he was such a dick that I p much hated him by the end. Amusing that his last relevant tournament was the Queen's disgrace.

"Waste of talent" applies even more to him than to Safin. Notwithstanding that he was flat-out robbed of the 2003 USO he should still have been challenging for Slams on a consistent basis in the void of the pre-Fed/early Fed era. He spent most of his career unfit and tanked a bazillion important matches.

dodig/nieminen rt now are blastng on each other 2d set tiebreak

dodig gets thru but he looks fn drained. wouldve loved to see a 3rd set

atmosphere in Kvitova/Li was awesome, really impossible to argue that Beijing is a fake event that no one cares about any more. so impressed that Petra came through (and yet another three-setter lol)

Dolgo-Delpo was great, both guys played at about 100%

god I love you Kvitova but if you flop to Jankovic I will be pissed

Same old from Dimitrov in what was on paper a great R1 match-up with Nishikori. Three loose errors for every "ooh" flashy point, NID flopping at the most crucial junctures (that last game!) and he seems to have added some disturbing serving yips to the mix. At least he's not Harrison, I guess, who lost in qualies to Go Soeda and is now ranked behind Donald Young (neither in the top 100 obv).

And earlier, Robson displayed even less movement and tactical nous than usual against Date-Krumm - even when Kimiko tried her best to choke in the last game, Laura just responded by whacking returns of short, weak second serves into the back fence.

This controversy over Kerber's last-minute WC for Linz is shameful for that tournament and the WTA, which once again shows itself to be a thoroughly corrupt, incompetent organisation that makes and breaks its own rules as it goes along.

lol Dimitrov is going to work with Roger Rasheed. I am not entirely convinced that Dimitrov's repeated flopping in grand slams is just to do with lack of fitness. Being a complete moron is a goal, and he needs a coach who can help him nitigate on his presumably terminal stupidity.

mitigate his stupidity, rather

Being a complete moron is the problem, rather. I am Dimitroving at posting today.

kerber just got bagelled by NICULESCU. quite an achievement.

this is hilarious, Niculescu peaking with her FH slices and Kerber just smacking everything out sarcastically

tbh this tournament deserves nothing less

Monica Niculescu <3

http://www.dodaj.rs/f/1k/7f/2DTv0eCs/mo.gif

rafa takes 1st set vs stan @ 12-10 tiebreak

why must stan suffer so much heartbreak :(

So Del Potro is already two breaks up v Nadal. *Searches madly for stream*

Watch the highlight clips on Youtube for the one at 1-1 15-15 in the second set :D :D :D

zomg and the point Del Pony won to break the same game. PONY OMG LOVE YOU

Delpo in slam-winning form, keep this going plz

That was a very enjoyable match. Nadal didn't play badly for the most part despite his serve not being that strong at vulnerable points, JMDP was just fantastic. 80% first serve percentage, huge winners, he looked sexy, it was perfect.

Look, yeah, Linz giving a WC to Kerber stinks in many ways, but look who stands to lose the most? Ivanovic, who gets the red-carpet treatment and free points from that stupid YEC wank-fest again. So not all is bad!

on the Karen Khachanov bandwagon - first 17-yr-old in an ATP QF since Delpo in 2006, seriously impressive yesterday vs Tipsy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY4OCqt_ZWY

Khachanov looks like a non-crazy Gulbis

so if sloane is the new serena, does this mean that vögele is the new henin?

LOL that Sloane's quest for her first titleFINAL ended with two QF losses to Voegele. If Halep doesn't get Most Improved this year over her it'll be a disgrace (I fully expect Stephens to get it anyway because USA and Hype).

Stephens will probably have a Chanda Rubin-level career, only without the likeability.

Meanwhile, Halep wins her fifth title of the year - she's really transformed herself out of nowhere since May.

A Rubin-level career probably means Stephens maxes out her talent - in contrast to Rubin herself, who really underachieved due to constant injuries at the worst possible times.

Haas-Haase final. Umpiring nightmare. Also good to see M Mecir (jnr) in the draw.