too young. :(
― Roz, Monday, 5 May 2014 01:45 (ten years ago) link
awful, RIP :(
had no idea it was this serious
― lex pretend, Monday, 5 May 2014 06:33 (ten years ago) link
Liver cancer is unfortunately a very efficient, quick-acting killer.
Mirka has squeezed out some twin boys. Well done, Mirka.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Tuesday, 6 May 2014 19:56 (ten years ago) link
Thiem just hit a 150km/h backhand DTL winner
― groovemaaan, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 21:07 (ten years ago) link
And he wins the match! Amazing.
― groovemaaan, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 21:09 (ten years ago) link
spectacular performance, Wawrinka didn't play badly at all
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 21:43 (ten years ago) link
oh goddamn i should've paid attention to when that was on >:(
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 22:18 (ten years ago) link
oh and Mirka gives birth to twin boys :)
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 22:23 (ten years ago) link
Thiem's post-match analyses on Facebook are superb and also bode well
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 07:04 (ten years ago) link
so funny that Thiem and Gulbis are bros and training partners. One seems to love tennis and the other is 50/50 on love/hate
― Matt Armstrong, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 08:59 (ten years ago) link
http://www.tennisfrontier.com/blogs/on-the-cherry-path-an-up-and-coming-player-and-his-unusual-coach/
super-interesting account of his training regime
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 09:11 (ten years ago) link
Thiem is the first 20yo to beat a top-3 player since Del Potro and Cilic took out the entire top three between them at the 2009 USO.
― Michael Jones, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 11:57 (ten years ago) link
Nadal has played 12 sets on clay vs. Monaco. They have gone:
61 61 61 63 61 61 62 62 60 60 61 60
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 14:49 (ten years ago) link
Have you checked the Another fucking spree shooting. Great. thread yet, tennis fans?
― A frenzied geologist (Tom D.), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 14:50 (ten years ago) link
Can't. Been blinded by another astonishingly horrible Kuznetsova outfit.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 15:04 (ten years ago) link
Tho this Sveta/A-Rad game is so far of... um... really high quality?
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 15:16 (ten years ago) link
Aga's playing superbly, Sweta just shitting up the joint in her inimitable style. That dropshot into the bottom of the net ;_;
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 15:55 (ten years ago) link
The first couple of games were good. Not of late. Aga's backhand is a real weapon when she uses it right like she is today.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 15:57 (ten years ago) link
That was an extremely sloppy game from A-rad to lost the second set. Three consecutive errors from 30/0, all in the exact same part of the court.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 16:35 (ten years ago) link
Sweta's reined herself in and showing why their h2h is what it is.
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 16:51 (ten years ago) link
Haaaa or she could just fuck it up from 4-1 up again
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:09 (ten years ago) link
Sweta showing why her ranking is what it is.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:15 (ten years ago) link
Meanwhile Dimitrov wins a third set TB over the world no 164 and celebrates like he's won the tournament
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:20 (ten years ago) link
lol. There is still time for this match to turn on a hot mess tie-breaker. Please, WTA?
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:23 (ten years ago) link
Delivering on that
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:34 (ten years ago) link
LOL.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:36 (ten years ago) link
LOL three mps LOL
Clutch serving by Aga!
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:37 (ten years ago) link
Uh, I guess it's cool that A-Rad has discovered a modicum of racquet-head acceleration on her forehand (looks like it, but Madrid is a bit zippier than Roland Garros so IDK maybe not) but her net approaches on clay are pretty bad. It's not a low-bouncing surface where you'll get the scooped reply, ffs.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:37 (ten years ago) link
Given their h2h that was a really good win for Aga but my expectations for her on clay are still minimal. So many points where she controlled the rally but didn't have the power to kill it, and even Sweta 2014 with her diminished movement (and tired off the back of last week) could defend effectively.
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 17:41 (ten years ago) link
lol I cannot believe Murray won that match. Almagro was so dominant on serve until that gigantic flop of a final game. I can't actually recall a single winner off the Murray racquet in the last two sets.
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 7 May 2014 20:02 (ten years ago) link
Li is down 1-5 to Stephens. If she loses this I think I may hurt myself.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Thursday, 8 May 2014 09:42 (ten years ago) link
Did you see the BH in the last game that she nearly whaled into the stands for no reason. IRL wince
― lex pretend, Thursday, 8 May 2014 09:45 (ten years ago) link
i turned it off because I had to go into the kitchen and cook dinner, where I sadly must return. I really just find Stephens so odious that I fear turning into a TF poster when I talk about her.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Thursday, 8 May 2014 10:00 (ten years ago) link
i used to feel the same way about stephens, but then bouchard appeared
― groovemaaan, Thursday, 8 May 2014 10:02 (ten years ago) link
I find their hype more objectionable than their behaviour (though Bouchard's Fed Cup antics were ridiculous) but their games are so flawed. Whenever I watch Sloane I end up yelling at her about her still non-existent footwork. But when Bencic/Konjuh/Townsend get good we'll need to think about them about as much as we do Cirstea. Roll on that time.
Li seems to have got it together somewhat.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 8 May 2014 10:09 (ten years ago) link
Li's form still coming in frustrating "fits and starts and sometimes stops" as the commentator put it but it's not like Stephens' first set form was that amazing so it's one-way stuff now.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 8 May 2014 10:52 (ten years ago) link
lol petra just won the first set 6-4 from 0-4 behind
― groovemaaan, Thursday, 8 May 2014 10:54 (ten years ago) link
So good to see Caroline Garcia finally begin to make good on her talent. In March she snapped a 10-match losing streak going back to last Sep, and since then she's been on fire - first title, multiple top wins, now into the Madrid QF with a three-set win over Errani that annoyingly wasn't streamed.
Surprised that Dimitrov fell away so badly vs Berdych, only saw the first set but he was really peaking in that.
Nishikori beating Raonic is so pleasing.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 8 May 2014 16:13 (ten years ago) link
Ivanovic led 2-0 and then Halep woke up and DEMOLISHED her in that set. Delicious
― lex pretend, Friday, 9 May 2014 13:42 (ten years ago) link
Given that I expected Kvitova to get blown out 6-2 6-2 by Halep, I'll take a tie-break.
Halep is being a bit of a sulky cow about being called on a double-bounce.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 10 May 2014 10:38 (ten years ago) link
Also, that set was pretty ghastly.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 10 May 2014 10:47 (ten years ago) link
It was woeful. Halep should be kicking herself that she managed to lose it - Petra oscillated between 10% great and 90% shite as usual and Halep did zilch to make her pay for the latter. Then concluded on one of the worst DFs ever
― lex pretend, Saturday, 10 May 2014 10:50 (ten years ago) link
Loses set 6-3 from 3-1 up. That is so Petra.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 10 May 2014 11:25 (ten years ago) link
So was ballooning that sitter outside the tramlines
― lex pretend, Saturday, 10 May 2014 11:34 (ten years ago) link
This is such an embarrassing collapse. 900 errors. (Okay, the screen said 50, but, anyway).
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 10 May 2014 11:39 (ten years ago) link
Thing is, when Kvitova plays her one-point-in-seven that she doesn't hit a ridiculous error, Halep has no answers.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 10 May 2014 11:40 (ten years ago) link
That's true (though it's true of everyone really), but Halep's really raised her own level since the first set. Fewer aimless rally shots, fewer errors of her own, sharper on the big points. Which is all it takes.
― lex pretend, Saturday, 10 May 2014 11:54 (ten years ago) link
The on-court PA is playing "The Lazy Song". HOW APPROPRIATE FOR ONE OF THE PLAYERS ON THIS COURT, I WONDER WHO.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 10 May 2014 12:12 (ten years ago) link
Martina Navratilova would love to coach someone. YOU, Petra. SHE MEANS YOU. Of course, her physical training regimen would fucking kill Kvitova stone dead within five minutes.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Saturday, 10 May 2014 12:15 (ten years ago) link
Incredible to think how far Halep's come since this time last year. She lost R1 to Dominguez Lino here in 2013!!! And then literally overnight started playing at a top 5 level.
― lex pretend, Saturday, 10 May 2014 12:18 (ten years ago) link