leftys_rock
|
Surprises and Disappointments of 2006?I know the year isn't over yet, but it's winding down, a few weeks till the YEC. So, who surprised you? Who disappointed you in the year 2006?
|
pacomexican
|
Surprise:
Mauresmo
Nicole
Dissapointments:
Serena
Venus
Maria K
|
PSALT
|
Suprises
Mauresmo
Hingis
Roddick towards the end of the year
Vaidisova
Disappointments
Serena
Venus
Nalbandian
Gasquet
Dementieva
|
stevos14
|
Gasquet wasnt that dissapointing, he made the finals of the Rogers.
|
x.doublea
|
First... who saddened me. Andre with his retirement.
Who surprised me... Andy Roddick. Roddick's resergence came out of nowhere. I thought he would continue to be stubborn and play 'his way'... and continue to slip down the rankings. The Connors hiring made him listen, and he has rebounded, making it to the US Open finals, which I didn't think he would do.
Disappointements... David Nalbandian and Ljubicic. Nalbandian really disappointed me. I thought, "Finally, a Mastes Cup... perhaps he can challenge at the Slams". He did that for the AO and French, where he choked and retired respectively. So dormant this year, after raised expectations. Certainly, he underachieved this year. I also picked Ljubicic because I was really disappointed with his attitude. Not only was he playing to be a loser in the finals, but he also openly denounced Nadal and was actually a 'fan' of Federer. Not only is this uncompetitive, but it is jealosy and undiplomatic of him to do. He should be shamed for the rest of his life.....
|
PSALT
|
| stevos14 wrote: | | Gasquet wasnt that dissapointing, he made the finals of the Rogers. |
what else did he do? he won a small event in Birmingham where practically no good players enter because it's the week before Wimby, that's about it. he was horrid in the beggining of the year, showed some hope in the early hardcourt season, then went away again. he is such an up and down player it isn't even funny.
|
x.doublea
|
I think he just had a bad year... A year which didn't meet expectations. I expect big things from him next year....
|
Benchwarmer1
|
Surprises:
Marcos @ the AO
Novak at the FO
Hingis
Vaidisova
Disappointments:
Nalbandian after the FO
Gasquet (watch out for next year though!!!) 
Monfils
Kirilenko in the first round 
|
PSALT
|
I really thing Hingis is the biggest suprise, in her second (or third) event she made the quarters of the AO! that is something. that and winning a Tier I in her first year back is just one of many amazing things she did.
|
leftys_rock
|
| PSALT wrote: | | I really thing Hingis is the biggest suprise, in her second (or third) event she made the quarters of the AO! that is something. that and winning a Tier I in her first year back is just one of many amazing things she did. |
Unfortunately, right now she seems to have plateaued after losing early at Wimby and USO. At the French, I really thought she should have made it farther than the QF. I would have thought she would have beat Clijsters, who really didn't seem motivated on clay and just looked at it with a negative attitude. But it was a great comeback for the first 6 months.
|
admin
|
| leftys_rock wrote: | | PSALT wrote: | | I really thing Hingis is the biggest suprise, in her second (or third) event she made the quarters of the AO! that is something. that and winning a Tier I in her first year back is just one of many amazing things she did. |
Unfortunately, right now she seems to have plateaued after losing early at Wimby and USO. At the French, I really thought she should have made it farther than the QF. I would have thought she would have beat Clijsters, who really didn't seem motivated on clay and just looked at it with a negative attitude. But it was a great comeback for the first 6 months. |
I think part of the reason Hingis did well at the beginning of the year (and usually does) is because players are slightly out of practice and often fall apart and make more errors. Hingis beats players who do this, but if they are playing well she is helpless. Perfect example when she lost at the U.S. Open. Her opponent just hit her shots and played extremely well, while Hingis just didn't do anything because she doesn't have the power. She will always be a consistant factor, but it jsut depends on how her opponent is playing.
|
stevos14
|
That explains the 6 straight Aussie finals!
|
leftys_rock
|
Another thing I find odd is that players that are beat by Hingis the first time around clobber her when they meet the second time. It is a little odd, did the players know what to expect the second time? Or were they just happening to play better then?
|
x.doublea
|
Percy, you're absolutely correct about Hingis (doesn't it seem similar to my player in the Fantasy Tennis?).
|
PSALT
|
| leftys_rock wrote: | | Another thing I find odd is that players that are beat by Hingis the first time around clobber her when they meet the second time. It is a little odd, did the players know what to expect the second time? Or were they just happening to play better then? |
they don't know what to expect the first time. look at Sharapova, I doubt Sharapova had seen all the variety that Hingis gave her in her entire life, it confused her. people like Clijsters, Henin, and Mauresmo (Davenport too, but they only played one time sadly and Lindsay had a bulging disc) know how to play people that play like that.
|
Benchwarmer1
|
sorry to interupt, but no one was surprised by Baghdatis at the aussie open?
|
leftys_rock
|
| PSALT wrote: | | leftys_rock wrote: | | Another thing I find odd is that players that are beat by Hingis the first time around clobber her when they meet the second time. It is a little odd, did the players know what to expect the second time? Or were they just happening to play better then? |
they don't know what to expect the first time. look at Sharapova, I doubt Sharapova had seen all the variety that Hingis gave her in her entire life, it confused her. people like Clijsters, Henin, and Mauresmo (Davenport too, but they only played one time sadly and Lindsay had a bulging disc) know how to play people that play like that. |
And I remember in these smaller tourneys a few weeks ago, Hingis just smashed Mirza the first time. The second time around, Mirza blasted Hingis 6-0 in the third. Granted, the third set, Mirza was probably just ON, but I would have thought Martina would have found a way around that and not directed many shots to Mirza's forehand.
|
admin
|
| leftys_rock wrote: | | PSALT wrote: | | leftys_rock wrote: | | Another thing I find odd is that players that are beat by Hingis the first time around clobber her when they meet the second time. It is a little odd, did the players know what to expect the second time? Or were they just happening to play better then? |
they don't know what to expect the first time. look at Sharapova, I doubt Sharapova had seen all the variety that Hingis gave her in her entire life, it confused her. people like Clijsters, Henin, and Mauresmo (Davenport too, but they only played one time sadly and Lindsay had a bulging disc) know how to play people that play like that. |
And I remember in these smaller tourneys a few weeks ago, Hingis just smashed Mirza the first time. The second time around, Mirza blasted Hingis 6-0 in the third. Granted, the third set, Mirza was probably just ON, but I would have thought Martina would have found a way around that and not directed many shots to Mirza's forehand. |
See, she can figure them out and try to get them out of their "zone", but once they start slugging away she can't do anything. She just doesn't have enough power off either wing.
Another example: When she went up against Ivanovic the week before the U.S. Open it was obvious beforehand that she would lose. Ivanovic was playing extremely well and well, blasted her off the court. Sure Hingis could have played better, but in the end that wouldn't have done anything.
|
Tennis fan
|
Surprises:
Baghdatis at AO
Baghdatis at Wimby (especially after he stated that "Grass is for football")
Nadal at Wimby
Bjorkman and Youhzny for their GS Semis
Russian Davis cup coach leaving out Davydenko (he got his revenge this week! )
Hingis at the beginning of the season
Roddick at the end of the season
Disappointments:
Williams sisters
Roddick first half of the season
US Tennis at Wimbledon
Best match of the year:
Aggassi beating Baghdatis at the USO
Moment of the year:
Aggassi farewell at the USO
|
dav6789
|
PSALT, Gasquet has had a decent year, not as bad as others. The event he won was in Nottingham, and he also won another in Gstaad. He did really well to get to the finals of Toronto, beating Blake, Berdych and in-form Murray and getting a set of Federer. He hasen't had the year that people expected of him, but it has been decent. He has got himself back in the top 30, having been ranked as low as 66 in June.
Percy, that is an interesting theory for Hingis that actually makes sense. She is one of the worst people to play when your game is off. Although, I think her A.Open QF was just a lucky draw. Pierce kindly lost for her in round 2, and Stosur couldn't handle the expectations of Australia understandably. In the past, Hingis' game was a nightmare for people to play because they couldn't blast through her, and I think she was better back then, than she is now at playing her game. Now, people can blast through her and so she has started to put more power in her game. She now rarely hits slice backhands or mixes up serves or comes to net. She has become more of a baseliner because that is the only way to compete with the big hitters. That is the sad thing of today's tennis.
|
dav6789
|
My suprises of this year were:
Roddick- Had an awful season up to the US Hardcourts. His US Open final was a huge suprise and suddenly he is back at the very top.
Petrova- Even a year ago she had never won a singles title. Now she is always winning titles and is getting the results of a top 10 player.
Kuznetsova- She had a bad 2005, but started to hit the ball like she used to. Her F.O. final was a brilliant run and she has firmly established herself as a top player again.
Myskina- She has also picked herself up well and played like she did in 2004.
Robredo- He became a top 10 player out of nowhere, but it's good to have him there. He has been playing very well and is good on most surfaces.
Disappointments
Nalbandian- He looked really strong at the A Open until his SF. He had a good claycourt season but did nothing after the F.O.
Grosjean- His A Open QF was a huge suprise but he did nothing after that.
Williams Sisters- They had brief comebacks at different times and looked to be back in form but then went away again. They are starting to annoy me now and don't look like they'll ever be at their previous level.
Davenport- Really should have played a bit more at the start of the year. She should have gone further at the A Open, and should have won her matches against Sharapova (Dubai) and Hingis (Indian Wells). She did really well when she came back, but her losses to Kuznetsova and Mauresmo recently are not a good sign. She needs to work hard in this off-season to have a good 2007.
Seles and Capriati- They have been out of it for a few years now and haven't said much about retiring or coming back. I really hope they come back.
|
J-man
|
| Tennis fan wrote: | Surprises:
Baghdatis at AO
Baghdatis at Wimby (especially after he stated that "Grass is for football")
Nadal at Wimby
Bjorkman and Youhzny for their GS Semis
Russian Davis cup coach leaving out Davydenko (he got his revenge this week! )
Hingis at the beginning of the season
Roddick at the end of the season
Disappointments:
Williams sisters
Roddick first half of the season
US Tennis at Wimbledon
Best match of the year:
Aggassi beating Baghdatis at the USO
Moment of the year:
Aggassi farewell at the USO |
I can agree with that. But I'd also add Gasquet to the mix. After a very up and down begining of the year, he started to turn it around
|
beachjm
|
Surprises:
Baghdatis at the AO and Wimbledon
Nadal at Wimbledon
Vaidisova at the FO
Mauremso winning 2 GS
Youzhny and Bjorkman make it to GS semis
Agassi's injury woes
Davydenko all season long, especially of late
Disappointments:
American Women
WTA tour besides Mauremso and the comeback of Hingis
Roddick
Injury pullouts
Poor play/matches during the final wk. of the Slams
Outside of Johnny Mac, the lousy tv announcers in this country
|
J-man
|
Roddick in the begining of the season for sure. But second half he turned it around.
|
pacomexican
|
Serena Venus Maria K BIG dissapointments
|
stevos14
|
| pacomexican wrote: | | Serena Venus Maria K BIG dissapointments |
Hey paco Where've you been?
|
pacomexican
|
| stevos14 wrote: | | pacomexican wrote: | | Serena Venus Maria K BIG dissapointments |
Hey paco Where've you been? |
around
|
|
|
