| Archive for Percy896's Tennis Forum This is a new tennis forum to discuss professional tennis, vote and create polls, and ask advice about equipment, fitness, or anything regarding tennis! Now with a new Fantasy Tennis League! |
| dav6789 |
Australian Open- Day 8Here is the schedule for Day 8:http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/schedule12.html |
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| stevos14 |
I think I will go to bed early and wake up for Sharapova-Zvonereva. Am I that hardcore of a Maria fan? We'll see. | ||||||||
| dav6789 |
I will be watching Sharapova v Zvonareva (FINALLY a women's match  ), and then Murray v Nadal (Come on Murray!).
What time is Sharapova v Zvonareva on at your time stevos? It's at 8:30 am here. |
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| leftys_rock |
Eastern time I believe for Stevos, so 3:30 AM for him. 
I'll be going to bed and watching my Tivo tomorrow, as I value my school career quite a bit. 
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| dav6789 |
If it's at 3:30 am then he is a hardcore fan
I've done the same thing in the past though. I stayed up for the women's final in 2005 (I think it was 2:30 or 3:00), and I fell asleep waiting. I woke up when Lindsay won the first set though so I got to see the rest of it. |
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| stevos14 |
Yeah its 3:30, but exams dont start till friday so this week will just be review, so not too much homework. Plus basketball is off for 2 weeks. |
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| x.doublea |
Junior matches have begun. Rod Laver Arena will be kicked off with Na Li, who has had a great run here, vs. Martina Hingis. Should be a good contrasting of styles.
Lots of doubles on the show courts at 11:00 AM Australian Time.... |
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| stevos14 |
I am a Dani fan now. She showed a lot of heart in her Clijsters match, it was too bad she couldnt finish the second off, but shes clearly tired from a long match yesterday.
Okay, heading to bed so I can get up at 3:30 tommorow! 
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| x.doublea |
Always liked Hantuchova... too bad she doesn't have the strength of the other players, but she's definitely someone who doesn't tank, and fights to the end. Huge match right now... Blake vs. Gonzalez. On serve at 3-2. |
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| PSALT |
I agree with Stevos. I am starting to like Hantuchova. She reminds me so much of Davenport. Both are poor movers, but Hantuchova, like Lindsay, strikes the ball so beautifully. She changes directions well. She could be a great player if she could hit the ball harder. She's a weaker version of Davenport and Sharapova. | ||||||||
| x.doublea |
Gonzalez took the first 7-5, but Blake leads the second, returning at 4-1. | ||||||||
| x.doublea |
Nalbandian is, once again, in trouble, as he's down a break in the third set. The two (Haas and Nalbandian) split the first two sets. | ||||||||
| x.doublea |
Nalbandian's down 2-1 in sets now... let's see if he can rally once again. And Blake's at 30-40 4-4 in the second. |
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| x.doublea |
Blake's officially 2 sets to love down... I don't think he can catch up, but he might be able to if he makes a few less doubles in this set (he has made 5 already). |
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| PSALT |
Hingis beat Li. Li had 33 winners to 69 errors... 
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| x.doublea |
That's the big problem with her. He can really hit the ball for winners, but she doesn't know when to do it. That's why there are so many errors... 11:23 is just not going to do it a the professional level....
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| x.doublea |
Nalbandian's comeback skills just couldn't do it against Haas. Haas wins their match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Blake's in serious trouble, done 0-30, 3-5 in the third. |
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| x.doublea |
Hmm... Blake comes up with the goods, and is now threatening to win the set at 6-5 on Gonzalez's serve. |
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| Benchwarmer1 |
gonzo wins the last set in a tiebreak | ||||||||
| x.doublea |
Too bad... I was hoping that Blake would win that tiebreak. Good win for Gonzalez though.... | ||||||||
| x.doublea |
Berdych vs. Davydenko has begun on MCA. | ||||||||
| Tennis fan |
I was watching ESPN and at this point, Dick Enberg said that "Nalbandian has him where he wants him!"
Then Patrick McEnroe responded (wisely) "I don't think is going to work this time since Nalbandian made the mistake and won the first set!
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| Tennis fan |
I was rooting for Blake and picked him to face Federer in the final... However, Gonzalez played and excellent match!!! he was really really good and I enjoyed his game. He hit a tremendous amount of winners. Every time he faced a break point he would deliver an ace.
If he plays like this, he will beat Nadal and make the final. ... |
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| Tennis fan |
Not counting the Sharapova match, there are 5 upsets in the QF on the womens side. This is amazing considering that in 2006, the top seeds almost always made the QF and SF in the majors.
I picked Chakvetadze and Serena upsets in FITD but never expeted the Mauresmo and Kuznettsova losses. Dementieva/Vaidisova was 50/50 for me but I thought that Dementieva would eventually win. |
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| J-man |
To bad for Blake. I admire both players but I was really rooting for Blake. The forehands were huge in the match. Gonzo really played well made lot's of winners and not many unforced errors | ||||||||
| PSALT |
Rafael Nadal has beaten Andy Murray 6-7 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-1. | ||||||||
| dav6789 |
That match was a long, thrilling encounter. It is a shame that Murray lost, but with this great start to the year, I think he has proven he belongs at the top of the game. He should have gone 2 sets to love up, but still managed to recover. Nadal once again grinds it out. I personally think Gonzalez will beat him in the QF if he plays well.
I think Na Li does hit too many errors generally and can seem 1-dimensional at times, but she was playing Hingis today and most who are playing Hingis make twice the amount of errors they usually do. PSALT, I wouldn't say Hantuchova is a weaker version of Davenport, or Sharapova is the same as Davenport. Hantuchova hits the ball alot less harder and doesn't base her game on power. She is more crafty on court, uses more spins and comes to the net more. Sharapova plays on the baseline all the time and uses more topspin than Davenport. She is less tactical than Davenport aswell. Davenport stays on the baseline but always looks to come forward. She is comfortable anywhere on the court, and hits it dead flat and uses angles better. She also changes direction alot more than Sharapova instead of hitting it hard all over the court. |
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| Not_Even_Amateur |
Hingis didn't win; Li lost. The match was hers, Hingis will get beat by Cljisters, no doubt! The title is Cljisters or Serena's. Can she possible do it?! So hope she does, if Nicole Vaidisova gets to the Final I may well abstain from watching it out of fear of that one-dimensional drone winning a Grand Slam. | ||||||||
| dav6789 |
Yes Li did make alot of errors, but some were because of Hingis- it just happens when you play against her. I really hope Clijsters gets to the final, but I have a nagging feeling she will lose to Sharapova or maybe Hingis. I defeinetely don't want a Sharapova-Vaidisova final. I would love Serena against Kim or Martina. |
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| PSALT |
thank you. I was starting to think I was the only person who found Vaidisova's game to be an eye-sore. |
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| stevos14 |
I kind of think that Vaidisova's game is a bit ugly too, but I still like her.
However, Sharapova-Williams would be an amazing final, so many storylines, so much revenge wanted. I can't see anything more exciting than this. But, I dont even know if Maria will make the semis. her match against zvonereva was not her best, but she served great and she held her ground. Chakvetadze is so tricky though, and I think this might be her coming-out tournament. Kim is looking too good to lose to hingis, but if Hingis won I'd be sooo happy. |
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| x.doublea |
Too bad Murray ran out of gas after the third set... he had Nadal where he wanted! However, he has proven himself to be the real deal here at the AO, and I look forwards to watching his progress this year.
On Vaidisova's game, there are many people who play with that one-dimensional pounding game in the modern game... she can just hit the ball really really hard. |
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| Rattler |
I'll be watching too...although I agree with Brad Gilbert, he's another year or two away from the top five. He needs to add a few pounds of muscle, pump up his endurance and loose some of that childish behavior. |
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| x.doublea |
That's definitely what's holding him back at the moment, but I think he has a natural 'feel' for the game... one which is of top quality, even when you compare it to the best of professionals. |
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| PSALT |
of all the young players, Sharapova, Golovin, Peer, Ivanovic, Kirilenko, and more, I think Vaidisova is the worst when it comes to being glued to the baseline. she is pathetically incompetent at net. |
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| stevos14 |
Wrong. Did you see her quarterfinal? She played excellent defence at times, I was shocked, I think her improvement in movement is what gave her the little edge to take Safarova in the second. But she does finish well at net, we all saw it at the French Open last year. |
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| PSALT |
who is more a 'never move of the baseline player' than her? she finishes well at net because she creates easy volleys for herself. if the person has a moderate look at a pass, the point is over for her practically. |
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| stevos14 |
Its hard to say this, but she is a much better volleyer than Sharapova, as well as Peer for one. And these days, passing shots are hit soo frequently. Her style is to be an aggressive baseliner and its working. |
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| dav6789 |
PSALT, just because someone struggles to volley doesn't mean their game is bad. All those other players you listed hardly ever volley either. Vaidisova, IMO, will be better than Sharapova in later years. She has alot of variety on her serve, and moves better than Sharapova. Who cares if she only goes in for the easy volleys? She still goes up there (esp. French Open '06). Part of the reason she stays on the baseline more than those players is simply because she has better groundstrokes than them. | ||||||||
| PSALT |
it's not just volleys, Dave, she barely does anything but hit the ball hard. 'she has better groundstrokes than them' is an excuse I take it? that makes it ok for her to do nothing but smack the ball on 98% of points? if that is true, than Clijsters, Henin, Mauresmo, Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Petrova also can use the same excuse. having superior groundies than most other players does not mean chaining yourself to the baseline is a good thing. going up there for easy floaters, and other simple volleys like that are one thing. That does not mean you are no longer a one-dimensional player. if you look at Hingis, or Mauresmo, Henin, they have quick hands, and can win points even when the other player has a look at a pass. Vaidisova can't. this whole arguement was over whether or not her game is ugly, not her potential, on game alone, she is one-dimensional. that generally qualifies you as having a rather ugly game. correct? |
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| dav6789 |
Neither do all those other young baseliners you mentioned (Sharapova, Golovin, Peer etc. ). Vaidisova doesn't need an excuse. She prefers to stay at the baseline because she has good groundstrokes, just like Henman is always at the net because he has good volleys. The others all hit the ball as hard as they can 98% of the time aswell. Vaidisova is ranked higher than most of them because she simply does it better. Of course Vaidisova would stay at the baseline if she has superior groundies to others, it makes sense to. How often did you see Henman or Sampras stay back behind their serve? Very little, because their volleys were superior to alot of other players. Anyway, Vaidisova is adding more to her game than the others. She moves alot better, she definetely has improved in the mental area and she does come to the net.
Coming to the net to put volleys away instead of staying back to smack a winner is adding a different dimension to her game. Vaidisova isn't good at net, nether are (once again) the others. |
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| PSALT |
Sharapova is horrid at net. she does come foward even when the opponent is not off the court because of a huge forehand though. not often, but she does it. Golovin mixes it up well, she cannot even be compared to Vaidisova. Golovin gives Sharapova a lot of trouble because she hits drop shots, and moon balls, and comes into net. Peer doesn't come in as much, she mixes it up a lot more than Vaidisova. once again, I am not singling this out as just volleying. she doesn't mix it up with anything else either. |
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