Tennis!

[Mongrel]

Pretty disappointing performance so far by Söderling, but it is the best tennis in a first set Federer has played this week.

[IAceI]

...Okay that was fantastic. Was Rhyno a security guard? He just gored him in mid air. Fantastic.

[maninblack]

Gaaaaah, up 5-4. You can do it, Federer.

YEEEEEESSSSS

Edited June 7, 2009 by maninblack

[IAceI]

Sums it all up for me. I'm very happy for him, he deserves everything he's achieved. Well done Fed.

[naiwf]

I feel bad for Soderling since he seems like a cool guy, but he would have been the biggest villain ever if he denied Fed his best chance at the title.

[IAceI]

Apparently he's a bit of a cunt. After he mocked Rafa at Wimbledon a couple of years back Rafa said that "he wasn't the nicest guy in the locker room", but then I think there's very much a divide in the locker room. I imagine the Argentineans and Spanish lot are all a close group of friends and then there's a bit of a divide between them and the others, and while Rafa seems a straight up nice guy who probably wouldn't lie - he's going to side with Verdasco, Lopez and the likes over the other players.

I can also imagine there's maybe something of an American/European divide almost in the mens and womens locker rooms, I can't say for definite but I just don't see Andy Roddick hanging out with Davydenko and the lads, he'll stick with the other Americans. Murray only has Djokovic, no one else seems to like him ¬_¬

[naiwf]

Apparently he's a bit of a cunt. After he mocked Rafa at Wimbledon a couple of years back Rafa said that "he wasn't the nicest guy in the locker room", but then I think there's very much a divide in the locker room. I imagine the Argentineans and Spanish lot are all a close group of friends and then there's a bit of a divide between them and the others, and while Rafa seems a straight up nice guy who probably wouldn't lie - he's going to side with Verdasco, Lopez and the likes over the other players.

I can also imagine there's maybe something of an American/European divide almost in the mens and womens locker rooms, I can't say for definite but I just don't see Andy Roddick hanging out with Davydenko and the lads, he'll stick with the other Americans. Murray only has Djokovic, no one else seems to like him ¬_¬

I don't like Nadal, so I was quite pleased with Soderling that day

[IAceI]

To be fair; he does pick his arse, and he does take an eternity between points. So it's not like Soderling made any stuff up.

I always prefer Fed over Nadal in battles, but Rafa's just so bloody humble it's quite disturbing.

[Mongrel]

He only picked his arse after Nadal started complaining that Söderling took too long between points. A bit of niggle between the two players never goes astray, and he seemed like a pretty awesome guy in his post match interview.

Still, well done to Federer for finally taking Roland Garros. One of the greatest players of all time, and it would be criminal for him to miss out on the French.

[Adam]

I'm delighted for Federer, he truly is the best tennis player in the world, possibly ever. I certainly think he's better than Sampras was, but I can't compare him to former greats like Bjorg, Wilander and McEnroe because I've not seen them play. I don't feel bad for Soderling either, because this tournament was as much about Robin Soderling as it was Roger Federer, because on paper, Soderling shouldn't have gotten past the third round, so for him to make his first ever Grand Slam semi-final and final is phenomenal for him.

And I'm so happy for Kuznetsova, not least because she's been my favourite player for a good while now, but also because she finally but to rest that 'bottles it as the finishing line comes into sight' thing. Like Ace mentioned earlier, your mental strength is as much a factor as your technical skill, if not more. Kuzy won the meeting of the minds against Safina, but I do hope she gets that elusive Slam win soon as I hate it that people keep saying Serena is the true #1. It irks me because Safina is #1 in the rankings because she has been the most consistent player and deserves to be there, it's not ALL about the Slams.

Bring on Queens now...Murray is top seed

[Adam]

So, I've watched the boring, one-sided singles matches on the first day of Queens all day in the hope of seeing the Murray/Hewitt vs Roddick/Ram match, but I go for my tea as Mahut is about to beat Tipsarevic and find that it's not on, they're just showing the Sports News on a loop on the red button. So I figure 'maybe it's been rained off, the rain looked like it was coming'. But now it appears they ARE playing, and they're just not showing it despite promising to show it on the red button. (N)

[naiwf]

The main reason I'd say that Federer is the GOAT is a simple one, he prevented a handful of good to very good players from achieving legendary careers. Without him Roddick would probably have 2-3 Wimbledon titles and 2 US Opens, Safin & Hewitt would have won at least 3 Slams each instead of 2. Djokovic would already have 2, Murray would be a Slam champ as well and that's only counting his victories in GS Finals. If you just eliminate Federer's dominant era that frees up 237 weeks for someone to be ranked # 1 in the world, 14 GS titles, 4 Masters Cups, 15 Masters tourneys and he eliminated a lot of those guys I mentioned earlier in multiple events. There's a very good chance that without Federer playing that guys like Roddick, Safin & Hewitt would have about 4-5 GS titles each, plus many more weeks at # 1 which makes all of those guys amongst the all time greats instead of players who achieved success, but not enough to be put in the conversation as some of the best who have ever played the game.

No tennis player has dominated as much as Federer did in the Open Era, especially against the Top 10, and that's why I say he's the GOAT without question. If Nadal didn't exist the guy might have about 17 or 18 GS titles now and have won the single year GS twice in a row ('06 & '07) and could have very well won 11 STRAIGHT Slams.

[gunnar hendershow]

Andy Roddick might be the most unlucky player in tennis history. He finally hit his stride in 2003 and was looking like he could very well dominate tennis for a few years to come. In 2004, Federer took his game to a level nobody has achieved before (74-6). He had to face so much solid competition and dominated it all, and as you said, if it weren't for Nadal he probably would have won 11 straight Slams. This is a man who has made 20 straight Grand Slam finals. Think about that. Few athletes have dominate a sport on the same level as Federer, and this is in an era when men's tennis is surprisingly filled with depth and upsets happen regularly.

Edited June 8, 2009 by damshow

[Hornswoggle4PM]

I always bring up the point that for 2 years running, Hewitt lost in every grand slam to the eventual winner.

Call it defending my countrymen, but I think it says something about his luck.

Also, congrats to Stosur who is now in the top 20! Our fed cup team could actually be really good now, with her and dokic both doing well.

[IAceI]

Can't be too far out of the realm of possibility to say that Safina will never win a Grand Slam, and I am absolutely gutted about that. I think she's a great player, plays a great game and deserves it but tennis is so much more a mental game than it is a technical game, despite it still being one of the most technical games out there.

With the retirements of Henin and Clijsters, who even though the latter is making a comeback I don't think she'll ever be "there" and the fragile minds of Ivanovic, Jankovic, Safina, Kuznetsova, Dementieva then that only really lives Venus and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova - and when on form it's only a two person race, the Williams sister. When they play their best - they are simply unstoppable, it's just not possible to beat them on form.

I think she will eventually. She's clearly one of the best players out there, and will get a few more chances before she's done. The fact that someone like Kuznetsova - who is one of the biggest chokers on the tour (which is saying something in women's tennis) - has won two Slams makes me think Safina will.

However Dementieva, much like Davydenko, is probably out of time.

She'll need some incredible luck now to get a Grand Slam under her belt now. She's probably my favourite female player at the minute, she plays such a dominating game - although it can pale in comparison to a certain other 3 players when they're on form and dominating. She's made 3 finals now, bottled all of the and that's just making the pressure worse each time.

Not only that but not only does she have to hope she doesn't choke, and it is just that - hope, she also has to hope that Venus and Serena Williams and assuming she comes back as strong as we know - Marian Sharapova, has to hope all 3 of them aren't anywhere near the top of their games because they all possess the fire power to give Safina exactly what she fave her first four opponents at Roland Garros.

I hope for her sake she gets one, but I can't see it happening. If it does happen I think it'll be a big brother deal as well, two weeks of fantastic tennis but there won't be another Grand Slam after it.

It sums up the female game really, it's just a pool of chokers and bottlers now. They can play great tennis, but I bet if you offered the winner a chocolate bar they'd freeze up and fold. Not sure how I can see Safina doing at Wimbledon, I think that's a Williams/Williams/Sharapova title. Probably one of the first two, Shara's just back from injury. So that would leave us till the US Open, God knows what the situation will be then. The number one spot is like a hot potato.

Mens side of things, looked like Rafa has done his media work. He's going to work to be fit in time for Wimbledon but may not be 100%, therefore if he loses he's been beaten because he's injured and if he win's then he's a warrior. He can't lose. Would be the perfect setting for Federer to break the record as well, Wimbledon, the most prestigous of them all. It's quite sad, the grass season is pretty pathetic and if it weren't for the fact Wimbledon is what it is, I couldn't care if it was scrapped and we just brought forward the hard court season and then gave them an earlier finish.

What I don't seem to get is that, I'm pretty sure in a few years, Rafa's not going to be around anymore. My family and others are all claiming he'll get 14 grand slams younger than Federer will, but I think they're seriously overlooking their longevity. Rafa's knees are crumbling, sure for now it's his fans' excuse when he loses, but soon it's going to be their excuse when he retires prematurely. He puts such strain on his body he'll have come and gone sooner than most. Whereas look at Federer, arguably the worst we've seen him in years and this season he's got the final of a Grand Slam and won the only one he's never won yet. And this is him being bad?

[Adam]

Is anyone watching the Queens Club final today? It's technically a 'three-quarters British' affair which is nice, two of my favourite players in Andy Murray and James Blake. It's a shame Roddick got injured yesterday as a Murray-Roddick final would've been great, but I think this will be a good match too.

Edited June 14, 2009 by AdamDRFC

[IAceI]

Murray isn't very English

You'd think a lack of match time yesterday for Blake might hinder him, but then you realise Murray's been on court for about the combined time it takes him to walk around the whole court twice. I can see a straight sets win for Murray, perfect for the media to peak just around Wimbledon and tell us we're going to have a British winner, and for once I may just slightly believe it all.

[Adam]

*Quietly edits English to British*

And yeah I don't think it'll have too much of an effect-Murray hasn't dropped a set all week, I think his longest match was with Fish and that was around 90 minutes I think.

[METALMAN]

MURRAY IS SCOTTISH DAMMIT. NOT BRITISH.

>_>

He's a knob actually. You can take him. When he turns shit.

[IAceI]

Oh great. Let's go listen to the suits who admit to not knowing anything about tennis whose appearance fuels the idea that tennis is still some upper class, snobby sport to play.

Then again it's called Queens Club and bloody look at it.

And Murray is British. It says all the time Andy Murray [GBR]. And he's far from a knob, he's just a little bit boring.