ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

wau rafa staying alive

so hobak hires becker as his new coach?

i don't really know what to think of this, he's seen as a joke here but i guess people still respect him in britain or the us? judging from his inane commentary i think this could go the same route as connors/sharapova.

Li v Zvonareva in round one???

Konjuh makes her WTA debut against top seed Vinci?

Tennis draws already trolling us in 2014

add to that Nadal v Rosol in Doha R1

Aus TV is so desperately trying to make Dimitrov seem like the biggest name in the world, constantly referring to him as "Sharapova's boyfriend". Hmm, he's defending some points here, eh.

Hantuchova's errors are just hilarious. Especially the absolutely NID ones that came when she tried to serve out the set

Watching Hantuchova flop will never get old.

Also while I haven't particularly enjoyed any of the matches I've seen, the acoustics at the Burswood Dome (Hopman Cup) are still so, so, so beautiful.

Barty has improved a lot though. But that was Peak Hantuchova there, and by Peak, Imean it in the comedic sense

I watched Bouchard lose to Aga yesterday, Aga didn't play very well. Bouchard's game is effective but my god her groundstroke technique is ugly, her FH makes me wince every time. Amazed she doesn't mishit more. If she looked like, idk, Vinci or CSN (who both have gorgeous games) she'd have a hundredth of her fans.

Other than that I'm just cursing your stupid timezones #entitledeuropean

really, it would be better for everyone (at least for tennis) if we could be sort of towed a few time zones closer to GMT.

gawd sharapova matches are so laborious

Bouchard's technique is ...unconventional (so is Aga's tbf) but I still find her a lot of fun to watch cos she's got an offensive game and knows how to construct a point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwLeY5XwezU

0:20, bow down

Same shot she hit vs Keys last year that was called a fluke!

Mrs Krumm's new hair :( :( :( :(

y'all, Ana Konjuh is 5-2 up in the third set over Vinci. Absolutely convinced I'm watching the next great

She won. And not even a fist-pump, just a little smile like she expected it all along

Like, that was her first ever WTA match. And the composure she showed closing it out was amazing. But her game is just seriously impressive, effortless power, massive serve, great shot selection, even a great return already which so few young players have. Can't believe she only turned 16 four days ago.

Feel ready for another season but AO usually leaves me with conflicting emotions. Hopefully this year is a bit less unpredictable.

Doha scorelines and seed progress makes it look like the WTA lol

Mayer's performance yesterday was terrific. He's such a joy to watch when he's playing well.

this Serena/Ma$ha match is simultaneously really intense and a complete mess

Whoever shouted "winner takes Grigor" from the crowd can have a cookie.

It felt NID even when Serena served two straight DFs to concede her minibreak lead in the TB.

Unfortunately yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMqQ2ys71bw

When the SFs also contained Sharapova, Azarenka and Jankovic, one appreciates Serena all the more. May she continue to destroy this useless field of morons until Kvitova gets her shit together.

(of course she will probably lose to Azarenka now)

SORT YOUR SHIT OUT SERENA ARGH

you're surely not surprised by a Serena/Azarenka match on slow hard courts being a dogfight by now?

such a weird rivalry, this - it only occurs on hard courts (have they ever had a close match on clay or grass?), has never produced a str8-up classic and by the nature of their games and tactics is unlikely to; each of their close matches is patchy (and the good way as well - some great shots as well as poor missed opportunities), nervy but with periods of real intensity

Yeah, I won't deny that parts of that second set were entertaining, especially because the sound on the TV in my bedroom sometimes doesn't even work, but they aren't quite satisfying because despite some good play the key parts of sets turn on little bits of poor play - Serena losing focus, Azarenka serving a game's worth of puffballs.

I guess the Federer/Chardy match was a bit like that too in some ways.

if you can't be better than Serena (and currently no one is, aside from erratic Lisicki types who can play a match like at Wim once in a blue moon) the next best thing is to be able to drag her level down, which is what the best counterpunchers have always been able to do against her - what Azarenka does to her reminds me of what Capriati used to do (and what Jankovic occasionally did).

meanwhile how happy must the bogans in Brisbane be with the finals they got... (the Australian crowd is generally quite pro-Serena).

So do try to watch the point at 3-2 in the second-set tiebreaker between A-Rad and Cornut.

That was the second point that had the crowd cheering during it that ended up being replayed that I've seen this week

ugh Monfils was playing so well and then lost a chance to break back in the third (failing to challenge on a Rafa shot that was out especially) and now it's basically over -_-

wow, shameful for Federer

RETIRE

Haha the Australian press are going to LOVE that. Cue a heap of articles trying to construct some sort of fairytale slam narrative for Hewitt

I feel for you. Hopefully he draws Rafa first round and gets triple bagelled

Mattek-Sands' shorts look like a television test pattern. Perfection.

omg Wozniacki/Goerges is so so so so bad I can't look away

I see Stosur blew a lead, needed a third-set TB and took four MPs to beat MADISON BRENGLE...

This is such a tank job from Radwanska. BMS can run hot and cold but this is ridiculous.

Fortunately I also like Mattek-Sands, so, er tank up and rest up good for Melbourne, A-Rad.

BMS' netplay has been SO RIDICULUOUSLY IMPRESSIVE. the dropshot followed by angled forehand volley winner was immense.

watching her attempt to serve this out should be fun. forehand that bounced about ten times before hitting the net + mishit backhand to go down 0-30

loses serve after having a MP, hahaha NID. hitting a FH slice in the net shows just how nervy she is.

Errani-like serving. Hitting the ball back to BMS rather than even trying to move her around. LOLOLOL. Why couldn't Petra be in this section?

why is pironkova winning matches all of a sudden? not that i'm complaining.