Tennis

[Fraggle Rock]

So am I the only one waking up at 2/3 am to watch the Australian Open night matches?

Both of the Andys are gone. Murray went out in the first round, and Roddick lost in the third early this morning. Now the bottom half is even more open for Rafa. I'm rooting for him, but I can't let myself get too confident in his chances on hard courts.

Safin's loss the other night broke my heart. The sane Marat actually showed up for the tournament, and I wanted him to advance pretty far so badly. It's been a long time since I've seen him fight as hard as he did, and I thought he was going to pull it out. Plus, he's so pretty that I wanted him to stick around longer.

[Deleted]

tori said:

So am I the only one waking up at 2/3 am to watch the Australian Open night matches?

Both of the Andys are gone. Murray went out in the first round, and Roddick lost in the third early this morning. Now the bottom half is even more open for Rafa. I'm rooting for him, but I can't let myself get too confident in his chances on hard courts.

Safin's loss the other night broke my heart. The sane Marat actually showed up for the tournament, and I wanted him to advance pretty far so badly. It's been a long time since I've seen him fight as hard as he did, and I thought he was going to pull it out. Plus, he's so pretty that I wanted him to stick around longer.

Nope you're not. I've been up later than I should have every night this week. Really sad about Andy and Amelie. Andy's draw was really open, unfortunately he'll lose a lot of points. And Amelie, I don't think we'll see her for too much longer.

[intlschizo]

So Roddick is like the male version of Sharapova Kournikova, huh?

The worst part about having no television reception here (much less cable) is missing the Australian Open. I luuuurve the Australian Open.

Sooo happy to see Venus and Serena playing doubles again. They play their best tennis individually when they play doubles. TEAM WILLIAMS!

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intlschizo said:

So Roddick is like the male version of Sharapova Kournikova, huh?

The worst part about having no television reception here (much less cable) is missing the Australian Open. I luuuurve the Australian Open.

Sooo happy to see Venus and Serena playing doubles again. They play their best tennis individually when they play doubles. TEAM WILLIAMS!

I think Sharapova is a more apt description. Both have a one dimensional game, but when it's on, it's very effective. The problem with Roddick is that he went away from what he does best (big booming forehands); and when combined with the serve, it's a very effective method.

Kournikova had a very nice game when she first came up. Although her serve was not one of the best, she had a good all around court game. A little thing that goes underreported with her is that she was a very good doubles player and won several tournaments with Martina Hingis. Later in her career she suffered from a chronic foot injury and the "never won a singles tournament" stigma in addition to the image which really did a number on her.

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Still sad for Marat. I love crazy/sane Marat and he can be a true genius on court when he's on. I just hope he won't retire this year. Has he actually said something about this? I know that from time to time he brings up that he feels like retiring but I hope he plays a bit longer.

And it's Lleyton vs. Novak in the next round, isn't it? Damn. I like both and would love it for Lleyton to get far in his home Slam but I'm in love with cute Novak.

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solly79 said:

Still sad for Marat. I love crazy/sane Marat and he can be a true genius on court when he's on. I just hope he won't retire this year. Has he actually said something about this? I know that from time to time he brings up that he feels like retiring but I hope he plays a bit longer.

And it's Lleyton vs. Novak in the next round, isn't it? Damn. I like both and would love it for Lleyton to get far in his home Slam but I'm in love with cute Novak.

I think he will at least stick it out for this year. After his spiritual mountain climb he rededicated himself to tennis and hired a coach. I think that showed in his 5 setter against Baghdatis earlier this week. However his ranking keeps getting lower and lower and if he doesn't get it up soon, I don't think he will be on the tour much longer after this year.

And yep, Hewitt and Djokovic will meet in the next round. Should be interesting given Hewitt's condition after his fight with Baghdatis 2 days ago. (I think it was 2 days ago, but that particular night session was insane plus Aussie time and sleep deprivation have really disoriented me.)

[intlschizo]

Holy cow, is this the night of upsets or what? Serena AND Justine are out, and the Williams sisters are out of the doubles. Damn, damn, DAMN.

I'm sorry to hear of Serena's injury, but...is she ever NOT injured when she loses? I mean, I don't ever recall her having an injury-free loss. Drink more milk or eat more bananas or SOMETHING, Serena, because this is getting old. I lost some love for her last year when she referred to Justine's win over her at (Wimbledon? The French Open?) as "lucky". Honey, I saw that match, and Justine beat the pants off you.

I'm stunned that Justine is out, especially 4-6, 0-6 to Sharapova. 0-6? Really? To effin' SHARAPOVA? I'm a full blown Williams fangirl, but I honestly think Justine is the best female player out there right now and has been for a while. I've never been impressed by Sharapova, not even when she won Wimbledon back in '04. I can see Venus handing Maria her ass in the finals (though not as handily as Serena did in the finals last year. Good lawd, that shit was funny!).

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intlschizo said:

Holy cow, is this the night of upsets or what? Serena AND Justine are out, and the Williams sisters are out of the doubles. Damn, damn, DAMN.

I'm sorry to hear of Serena's injury, but...is she ever NOT injured when she loses? I mean, I don't ever recall her having an injury-free loss. Drink more milk or eat more bananas or SOMETHING, Serena, because this is getting old. I lost some love for her last year when she referred to Justine's win over her at (Wimbledon? The French Open?) as "lucky". Honey, I saw that match, and Justine beat the pants off you.

I'm stunned that Justine is out, especially 4-6, 0-6 to Sharapova. 0-6? Really? To effin' SHARAPOVA? I'm a full blown Williams fangirl, but I honestly think Justine is the best female player out there right now and has been for a while. I've never been impressed by Sharapova, not even when she won Wimbledon back in '04. I can see Venus handing Maria her ass in the finals (though not as handily as Serena did in the finals last year. Good lawd, that shit was funny!).

She has a quad injury. The commentators said this early in her match. And Justine and Serena have a quite the history. After nonsense Justine pulled at the French Open and her constant need for illegal coaching, I credit Serena for civility toward Justine.

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I can't stand Serena and Justine, but I like Venus and Maria. Huh.

[OnyxRose]

solly79 said:

I can't stand Serena and Justine, but I like Venus and Maria. Huh.

Ditto.

I'm still upset about Andy R./Marat. With Marat at least, I can see some dedication for the year. Maybe. He usually plays well in Australia, then it all goes away for the rest of the year. I hope Andy figures out that he'll never be an all-around player and he should just try to go back to smacking the crap out of the ball.

So many people have lots of love for Serena but I just cannot stand her so I was happy to see her go. I enjoy Henin's game but she sucks so very happy for Maria. She really has been playing really well this tournament so good luck to her. And I always have much love for Venus, Ana and Janko.

I was really hoping that Tipsaravich could knock out Federer.