[wonderbang]

I think it's just because we're all so used to seeing Fed dominate that the last few months have been quite ANOMALOUS to say the least. But like I said, I'm still betting he'll be back. The guy isn't the number one player for no reason here...

As for the weird happenings in tennis lately....I think it's good and bad: good in that you see a change up and not the same old story week in week out but bad in that there's no longer any consistency...the top players are losing early which could make for lackluster semis and finals later. Overall though, I'm not too bothered. I think of it as a refreshing change for now...though I fully expect the top players to come back eventually.

[dOotsiez]

I hope all that weird tennis plays in Fed's favour on clay. Maybe this is the year he'll FINALLY take the french. Fingers crossed. He's so classy he deserves it.

Serena won miami, bravo to her. she played really well all week. had trouble closing the match tho.

[wonderbang]

A part of me does want Fed to complete the career slam..too bad it couldn't be a golden slam this year for him...but it's not like it's an easy feat!

And all props to Serena...she really picked it up this week. Although Miami is only her third (!) tournament for the year, she's won 2 titles already so not too shabby. I hope this bodes well for the rest of the year for her.

So now marks the start of the clay season I guess....always fun to see them sliding around. My muscles ache just watching them do that...

[dOotsiez]

OMG how did Davydenko beat Nadal? talking about weird tennis

Not a huge fan of clay, it just doesnt have the same sort of crispy cleanness of hard and grass courts. but it'll be interesting to see how Fed and Nadal do in the clay season, since they're both without any titles this year. If Djokovic wants to move up to no 2, now would be a good time to play hard and attack.

[wonderbang]

Yeah who would've guessed Davydenko would be the last man standing? But you gotta give the guy props...the whole betting scandal and everything and yet he still finds a way to do well. He's by far the least noticed player in the top 10 but he keeps showing why he has a spot in it....

As for clay, it's definitely not my favorite surface either...though it gives a different set of players better chances to do well....it'd be unfair if only fast court surfaces were used anyhow. Talking about Novak, I like how despite Serena winning Key Biscayne, she actually FELL one spot in the rankings....you gotta love the "defending points" system...

[jvchou1316]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. nadolly lost?????? (((

oh well. kudos for davydenko. yeah i agree. davydenko is really unnoticed.

we call him the {sad puppy dog.}

[dOotsiez]

hahahaha yes poor davydenko, his ranking is too high to be the underdog, but not high enough to be the centre of attention.

but Youzhny got more attention than any of the top 10 players this week heh? the guy's clearly bonkers. LUV IT!

[wonderbang]

lol..."sad puppy dog" .....but he would never remind me of a puppy

and youzhny was absolutely craaaazy. i wanted to cry or at least say "ouch" when i read about it. i like him as a player too but it's something about russian men and their tempers *cough*safin*cough* haha

[dOotsiez]

yeah i watched it on youtube. the video had 1million+ hits, lol, the guy needs a chill pill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AEfCQxVmxM

and the commentators were so amusing.

[wonderbang]

Aw......Tsonga pulled out of the Davis Cup tie against the US because of an injury......would've been exciting to see him play Roddick or Blake, especially in a Davis Cup match. It would be a personality-filled match that's for sure

[dOotsiez]

at least the France and US match would have been interesting, in Australia, we're playing THAILAND (no offence to the Thais, but they just dont make for interesting tennis). And Hewitt's our captain. *sigh*. But I feel bad about Tsonga, he's just getting some attention and recognition, and now he's got an injury. Hope he recovers before the Masters series starts again.

It's kind of a boring in-between time for tennis at the moment, I know Estoril's starting in a few days, but the only top 10 players in that are Federer and Davydenko I think, since Novak's not defending, if Fed doesnt win that, I think I'm going to lose faith, but then again, Davydenko seems to be on a high, and Fed seems ever so fallible these days he might be finished off by some lower ranked player. Afterall, he got beaten by Mardy Fish at Indian Wells. Not exactly his best moment.

[wonderbang]

lol....no love for Danai UDOMCHOKE?

i forgot australia is playing a zonal tie....well i hope you guys win!

estoril isn't exactly exciting me too much so i'm apathetic.....even the master series aren't that great for me since they aren't broadcasted here in the states.....i can't believe i have to wait until roland garros for something exciting....oh well, at least the clay season isn't my favorite one anyhow.

[dOotsiez]

Yeah none of them are broadcasted in Aus either, thank god for the internet.

Australia's 2-0 against Thailand today. Leyton Hewitt slaughtered some poor Thai player ranked 978th in the world, 6-0 6-0 6-1 in under an hour. I'll be damned if we dont win. *yawn*

Think France is gonna lose to the US though, Gasquet pulled out as well, I was looking forward to some great matches, but now it looks like a bit of a breeze for the US.

[wonderbang]

Yeah...I guess I shouldn't be complaining if we win but I was looking forward to some good matches also. Oh well...

And when you say internet....are you talking about just news coverage or is it possible to stream the matches from somewhere?

[dOotsiez]

Usually youtube has the matches up one or two days after it's played, but if the time difference isnt crazy, i usually just stream it on the billion chinese illegal websites

for anyone who cares, Aus is through to the World Group playoffs. The US seems to be doing well against France too. Boring. On a different note, Andy Roddick has been playing well so far this year. I'm impressed.

[wonderbang]

oh really? i should check some day...i thought the videos would be taken down pretty fast. and i can't read chinese so i guess that option is out of the picture....thanks for the tips though

and a little bit of interesting news i read today.....kimiko date (does anyone remember her?) is making a comeback after 12 years of retirement ...i bring it up just because she's the most successful japanese player to date (no pun intended) plus it seems like a trend for older players to come back on the tour or something. heck, if navratilova can play at 49, i guess 37 is still young!

[dOotsiez]

I dont think I was old enough to know kimiko date, seeing that i would have been 7 when she retired. but 37 is a little old to be making a come back. but the women's game is certainly very interesting at the moment, i dont think there's a single player that's dominant, so it'll be interesting to see how their rankings change in the months to come.

Anyway, with Estoril kicking off the clay season today, and both Fed and Nadal with no titles so far this year, Im actually gonna be watching this one closely. Seems like Fed's been practising with a new coach. Doesnt seem as confident as before does he. I really do hope he does well on clay tho.

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/...ad-estoril-open

[wonderbang]

Actually I'm not old enough to remember Kimiko Date either but I thought it was interesting because you rarely see Asian tennis players at the top of tennis echelon. Talking about Asian tennis players, Federer's new coach or part time hitting partner (whatever the relationship is) is Jose Higueras, the coach of Michael Chang way back in the day. Thanks for the link dOotsiez!

[dOotsiez]

yeah there are relatively few good asian players, the Chinese did well with women's doubles, and there seems to be some asian players creeping into the top 20 for both men and women's, but no 'stars' yet. Michael Chang's probably the best known asian player, but politically he's american. im expecting more asians to join the game though, i always thought tennis is one of the snobbier sports around , but all that's changing these days with some new countries dominating. american and Australian players are no longer the biggies.

[wonderbang]

It's all about East Europeans now! muahaha

And I think people are trying hard to erase that conception that tennis is a "snobby sport." There's definitely a fair share of rich or upper class people playing it recreationally but I think more and more everyday people are picking it up. At least I hope so because I wish tennis gets more attention!