[wonderbang]

ohhh i didn't know you could do that...thanks for the tip. do you need to pay anything upfront though or at all? this would give me some access to smaller tournaments going on...

anyhow, every tennis player seems to have some weird habit don't you think? nadal with his undie grabbing.....novak with his ball bouncing.....maria with her hair arranging (before every serve)...and so on. i think i read somewhere that said tennis players are really superstitious people....if they win something, they would go out of their way to do the exact routine over again for "luck"....but i can't blame them. i'd probably have strange rituals too lol



roland garros is almost heeeeeeere

[dOotsiez]

i know I'm so excited about RG as well. I'm one of those Fed fans who refuses to learn my lesson. Every french open, I emotionally invest myself in a Fed victory, but every year, it turns out to be a disappointment. Oh well, if Roddick can beat Federer this year, then Federer can beat Nadal on clay. And maybe Nadal can beat Feddy on grass. Roger for RG and Rafa for Wimby

btw the website doesnt require you to actually put money into your account, you just have to register for free, and then the live streaming link will be available.

[wonderbang]

thanks for the info! i'll try registering then

so fed for rg and nadal for wimby? i guess that's not TOO far out there but it's going to be tough......simply because they are in each other's way! haha

and i guess roddick's out of the french...oh well, it wasn't like i was expecting anything anyhow....i guess he felt the same way and looking to conserve some energy for a big push at wimbledon.

[dOotsiez]

they are in each other's way aren't they? and then out pops Novak, the last man standing after the other two slaughtered each other, or get their arse kicked by someone completely random. recall AO and Rome. quoting peter bodo

sometimes Roger and Rafa are, like death and taxes (care to assign roles?), impossible to avoid.

great article though. if i had to assign roles, Roger = death, Rafa = taxes. (perhaps vice versa on clay)

funny how he was talking about all the strangeness on the WTA side of things, with Justine out, I just realised (in my excitement over Hamburg, I haven't been following the girls in Rome) that someone by the name of Cornet lost to Jankovic in the Rome finals. talking about random players popping out of nowhere.

as for Roddick, no loss there, hes not remotedly entertaining on clay. but a lot of people have pulled out of the french already, Davenport, Roddick, Gasquet, and possibly Hewitt too.

[wonderbang]

yeah...what can i say? us tennis players are apparently allergic to clay

and cornet is definitely an up-and-comer...i think she's in the top 30 already. she's a teenager from france and you know how those french players are super talented! lol.....i caught one of her matches against another teenager (wozniacki) and she played pretty well. she reminds me of a more talented natalie dechy if that helps.

anyhow, i almost forgot rg is having a sunday start! sounds strange but i'm definitely tuning in...(or more like recording)

[dOotsiez]

Make that male US tennis players. I wouldn't say Serena Williams' allergic to clay. In fact, just realised she's the last person with a career slam (a golden one too) for both men and womens tennis. Fed and Sharapova are both missing the FO, and Henin was missing Wimby. No one else even comes close. The fact that all these random players are coming up on the women's side just goes to show how weak the playing field is. My bet's prob on Ivanovic or Serena Williams for the FO. Sharapova has been quoted to say that she feels like 'a cow on ice on clay'. Sorry Maria, don't know what that feels like.

Amusing article about Andy Murray saying how he needs to grow up. I love how Tim Henman called him 'a miserable git', how oh-so-British of him.

[wonderbang]

LOL.....I remember that comment from Maria from last year! I thought it was hilarious...I was trying to picture it too

I would go with Serena too but she pulled out with an injury in the last tournament so I have no idea how fit she is.....I think people are saying Jankovic would have a decent shot (she has the speed on clay) but she hasn't been winning really so I don't necessarily agree. Basically it's pretty wide open and any no-namer could take a seed down probably.....I hope the top seeds get through though. I wouldn't want to see a....Cornet...for example in the semis. I might cry if that happens

[dOotsiez]

I'm not too worried about the injury thing. Maria Sharapova pulled out too. I think it's more self-preservation for the FO. They weren't defending the title in Rome, probably not feeling physically 100%, so better retire and keep themselves in good form for the big one than strain their bodies even more for a smaller title.

And yeah me too, I like to see the top seeds in the finals, but I wouldn't mind having one underdog in the finals, like Tsonga in the AO 08 (actually Australian Open seems to be the tournament of underdogs these days). As long as it's not something entirely anti-climatic, like Rome.

Maybe the 'cow on ice' comment is a literal translation of some funky russian lingo. Sharapova comes up with some real gems, possibly the most bizarre and unintentionally amusing player at the moment. thank you wiki.

Quotes from Sharapova
When asked at the press conference after the 2006 U.S. Open final about her father's illegal signaling and feeding her during the match: 'I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana.'
When questioned about her on-court grunting at the 2006 Australian Open: 'I know this is your job. But take your notepads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put it all away and just watch the match.'

[wonderbang]

Actually, she said "the cow on ice" comment in English.....I remember hearing it. You're right.....she's a pretty good talker in press conferences...she's like the female version of Andy Roddick when it comes to giving witty remarks.

I don't know if you read this but here's a link to an interesting chat-type discussion between some notable tennis writers about the upcoming RG on the men's side: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/22/spo...nnisforum22.php

[dOotsiez]

Ooh thanks for the interview. some of those commentators were hilarious.

Unfortunately I agree with them in saying that it's basically comes down to the Big 3 for men's. In fact, it basically comes down to how well Nadal plays against himself. I'm convinced Fed has the game to beat Nadal, but not the conviction. He doesn't need Jose Higueras, he needs a sports psychologist. Still mad at him for giving me hope in the first set of the Hamburg finals, and then taking it away so cruely. Djokovic on the other hand needs a bit of work on clay, but has a delusional amount of conviction.

Interesting comments about the other less noticed players. Wawrinka aka Stan the man aka the other swiss guy. And Tsonga needs to prove himself before he turns into another Baghdatis. Gasquet and Nalby are the 'goners' this year. Esp Gasquet, what a disappointment he turned out to be. Got me excited about having a good looking frenchman in the top 10, but it wasn't meant to be.

BOUIN: And where has Nalbandian gone, the Nalbandian who beat them all last year's end?

WERTHEIM: He and Gasquet are getting pedicures?

TEBBUTT: Nalbandian is the most faint-hearted Grand Slam pretender ever.

LOLLL at least there are 'favourite(s)' on the men's side, the WTA side is completely decapitated without Henin. hope the two serbians step up now that the two belgians are both gone (funny how they retired within 12 months - almost exactly - of each other, both at such a young age)

EDIT to say that the draws are out! looks like Djokovic got Nadal this time. predictions?

[wonderbang]

Oh draws are out?!

I know I'm lame but I love looking at draws and seeing potential match ups....and then of course nothing goes according to my plan anyhow!

Is the order of play for Sunday released yet?

[dOotsiez]

LOL don't feel lame. Went to tennis.com today and saw the site filled with FO predictions. Strange predictions by Steve Tignor: Davydenko def Federer in the semi with a Nadal def Davydenko final. davydenko?? i have doubts as to him making into the QFs, let alone def federer. if he does, i might be too depressed to watch the FO fullstop.

The women's draw is even weirder. Sharapova has no one really good in her half, with Ivanovic, Jankovic, Serena and Venus Williams all in the same half. The ugliness of Henin's retirement is finally hitting me now. Imagine a women's final between Jankovic and Safina, or Serena Willliams and Boderanko. or Sharapova and Cornet.

But today is SATURDAY! tomorrow will be SUNDAY! and the long drought from AO to FO will be finally over

[dOotsiez]

yikes, double post much.

[wonderbang]

those are some strange predictions! but i guess half the fun in predictions is making an outrageous one and seeing if it comes true.....but i doubt fed will lose to davydenko

yes it's almost here! i'm not even sure which matches are going to be broadcasted yet but i'm looking forward to them already....usually i'm not this excited for early round matches...i blame the long stretch from the AO until now.

[dOotsiez]

schedule for day one

match of the day Gustavo Kuerten v. Paul-Henri Mathieu. tissues needed to farewell a champ. Otherwise uneventful day. other first round matches to watch out for:

Federer v Sam Querrey. Sam Querry's not bad on clay. but you gotta feel sorry for the quiet American who plays his butt off throughout the clay season on unfriendly european red clay, only to get drawn Federer round 1 of a grand slam. 'might' take a set off Fed, but otherwise no chance.
Lleyton Hewitt v Nicolas Mahut. poor old Hewitt's just 'recovered' from a hip injury and defending a QF. honestly dont think he'd get that far. but we'll see. Mahut's not a bad player either.
Donald Young USA v Robby Ginepri USA. don't know either of these players, but at least the US is guaranteed one player in the second round

sad news that tsonga's pulled out of the FO do have knee surgery going to miss wimbledon and the Olympics too. there's another gasquet in the making.

[mistapooh]

^Young has no chance against Ginepri. Ginepri is going to hit right through him like Blake did today : ).

[wonderbang]

Well at least I know for a fact that US men will do better this year since ZERO got to the second round last year. Good job Blake although he choked in the third set! Ginepri and Young are both good players who play a consistent type of game so that translates well onto clay. Probably will be a dogfight in that one but who knows since both of them aren't exactly mentally strong players.....anything can happen between those two.

Watched my recorded television broadcasts and ESPN, like always, is quite bias about US players....matches of the day were Serena Williams and James Blake with parts of Djokovic thrown in and various highlights....yay for tennis on TV again

[dOotsiez]

the tennis channel is showing all courts free on live streaming (thanks to being Aussie, i'm "blacked-out" from the site ), so if you get sick of watching the Americans on tv, hop on the internet instead.
from memory, like 9 US players got out round 1 last year, ESPN must've been upset. I did have a look at the Blake match yesterday, he was looking hot in the second set and early 3rd set, and then.....oh well, he still won. Djokovic was really the match of the day, didn't expect him to be pushed by Greymelmayr, who at one point was leading 4-0 in the first set. He gave Fed a bit of trouble earlier on in Estoril as well.

Today's a good day, for me anyway, matches of the day
Fed v Querrey
Casey Dellacqua vs. Marion Bartoli - c'mon Casey!
Serra v Gasquet (shall be interesting to see how Gasquet's holding up, could potentially be the first upset at FO)

[wonderbang]

Oh! I completely forgot about TTC....thanks for the reminder dOotsiez....I'm sorry that you're blacked out though! Not cool.....

Bartoli has been in a big slump this year (her ranking is going to plummet after Wimbledon this year) so I think Casey will have a great chance at an "upset." Looking forward to the second day!

[symphonee.]

Federer goes through to next round.

Won the first round against er... Sam Querrey (USA)
6-4 6-4 6-3

...but that was expected right