Australian Open - Tennis

[Vihzel]

Yeah. I agree with the Clijsters Safina match. Safina was just quite awful. Im not sure where she is in her mind right now. I remember there was a lot of debate whether or not she deserved the number one ranking above Serena before and well... she really didn't deserve it. Now Wozniacki needs to win a major to really prove that she really deserves the top ranking too.

 

[Stuntman]

Raonic defeated Youzhny to advance to the 4th round to face Ferrer.

 

[Dan0myte]

Raonic defeated Youzhny to advance to the 4th round to face Ferrer.

Woo hoo!

 

[saps]

Its on topic for tennis, maybe slight OT for this thread but: Will Venus Williams ever win a Grand Slam again? I dont know that she will. I mean she'll never win the French. Wimbledon is her best chance at 30+ Im not so sure anymore. I honestly would have to vote no she wont/cant. Especially not when lil sis returns

 

[Stuntman]

Its on topic for tennis, maybe slight OT for this thread but: Will Venus Williams ever win a Grand Slam again? I dont know that she will. I mean she'll never win the French. Wimbledon is her best chance at 30+ Im not so sure anymore. I honestly would have to vote no she wont/cant. Especially not when lil sis returns

I would not count her out just yet. Women's tennis is very wide open right now. Venus has not dropped out of that top tier of players yet. Serena is still the best player, but not by a huge margin.

 

[Stuntman]

Raonic had a great run and ran into a great returner in Ferrer who can handle Raonic's power. Raonic still has some holes in his game. He's still young and can improve.

 

[saps]

I would not count her out just yet. Women's tennis is very wide open right now. Venus has not dropped out of that top tier of players yet. Serena is still the best player, but not by a huge margin.

Just to play devils advocate you wanna quantify that. I mean she has not won a GS other than Wimbledon in 10 years. Never will win the French thats pretty obvious and even the hard courts dont look like here strong suit anymore. Sure she is or maybe was the queen of grass but Serena looks most dominant on grass now. So at best IMO venus has this and maybe next years Wimbledon's and thats it. I dont even know if she will make the semi's outside of Wimbledon again

 

[Stuntman]

Just to play devils advocate you wanna quantify that. I mean she has not won a GS other than Wimbledon in 10 years. Never will win the French thats pretty obvious and even the hard courts dont look like here strong suit anymore. Sure she is or maybe was the queen of grass but Serena looks most dominant on grass now. So at best IMO venus has this and maybe next years Wimbledon's and thats it. I dont even know if she will make the semi's outside of Wimbledon again

Guess I was thinking of the French open where there's been different champions the past few years. Perhas I should have checked up on the stats first. I'm trying to remember who beat Serena in last year's US Open. I think Clijsters beat her in 09. I thought someone else beat hear in 10. As for grass, Serena seems to have surpassed Venus. I think Venus did manage to meet Serena in the last two Wimbledons at least.

 

[Dan0myte]

Raonic had a great run and ran into a great returner in Ferrer who can handle Raonic's power. Raonic still has some holes in his game. He's still young and can improve.

But you're right, with the right training and some more experience, this kid will be a top 10 contender. He's got the skill, now he just needs to know how to harness it and use it effectively.

 

[jamor]

Good open so far.

Was really hoping the Italian would beat Wozniacki.

 

[jamor]

I would consider them all to be sports. They're just classified differently when it comes to sports and have different requirements. For example in figure skating... artistry is a large component of the sport, while artistry doesn't matter at all in fishing. Bull riding has an essence of dealing with real danger while golf has virtually none (reason why so many old men and women can play). I think the differences really lie with the status of a sport, whether it be a prestigious, world-renowned, and well-respected sport like tennis or umm... NASCAR.

It's tough. If you take it by definition, as you said, any activity that you turn into a competition is technically a sport since you could argue that any activity puts stress on both the mind and body and could be turned into a competition.

I have to agree that it simply varies by reputation and prestige.

I guess when I say NASCAR isn't a sport, since by definition it is, I'm really just announcing my dislike for it.

 

[Dan0myte]

Was really hoping the Italian would beat Wozniacki.

Yeeech. Women's tennis is as much about the technical skill as it is about watching the bouncing breasts. I would much rather see a Wozniaki vs. Sharapova matchup, over and over again.... hah. That Schiavone is one ugly lady.

 

[jamor]

Yeeech. Women's tennis is as much about the technical skill as it is about watching the bouncing breasts. I would much rather see a Wozniaki vs. Sharapova matchup, over and over again.... hah. That Schiavone is one ugly lady.

LOL. True. But I'm 50% Italian so I'd rather see a Tally beat a Dane.

BTW Wozniacki has put on a few pounds.. I don't see how that is possible being #1 in the most fit sport in the country.. but she still looks good.

 

[jamor]

Am I the only one that absolutely hates Pam Shriver? She never shuts up and blabbers about whatever comes to the top of her empty head. Her analysis is so weak.

She is SO annoying I can't watch a match anymore when she announces.

 

[Vihzel]

Its on topic for tennis, maybe slight OT for this thread but: Will Venus Williams ever win a Grand Slam again? I dont know that she will. I mean she'll never win the French. Wimbledon is her best chance at 30+ Im not so sure anymore. I honestly would have to vote no she wont/cant. Especially not when lil sis returns

It all depends on her health. She needs to recover from this injury as quickly as possible and get match play in before the grand slams. Her last 3 tournaments were Australian Open, US Open, and Wimbledon. If she's healthy... she definitely still has a chance at winning another major. I think she would've been in the draw still if she didn't have that unfortunate injury. She is definitely a fighter and honorable that she tried to play against Petkovic.

On other notes:

I was REALLY hoping that Schiavone would win against Wozniacki. She played such a long and great match versus Kuznetsova and was playing well against Wozniacki for the first set and half of the 2nd set. She is fun to watch and definitely played some amazing points against Wozniacki. I personally am not a fan of Wozniacki, even though she is #1. She is just so boring to watch because it's like watching a ball machine/backboard play and that's never exciting. I don't remember any points on where she amazed me but Schiavone on the other hand... especially against those match points... awesome. She definitely deserves her nickname... La Lionessa.

 

[saps]

It all depends on her health. She needs to recover from this injury as quickly as possible and get match play in before the grand slams. Her last 3 tournaments were Australian Open, US Open, and Wimbledon. If she's healthy... she definitely still has a chance at winning another major. I think she would've been in the draw still if she didn't have that unfortunate injury. She is definitely a fighter and honorable that she tried to play against Petkovic.

On other notes:

I was REALLY hoping that Schiavone would win against Wozniacki. She played such a long and great match versus Kuznetsova and was playing well against Wozniacki for the first set and half of the 2nd set. She is fun to watch and definitely played some amazing points against Wozniacki. I personally am not a fan of Wozniacki, even though she is #1. She is just so boring to watch because it's like watching a ball machine/backboard play and that's never exciting. I don't remember any points on where she amazed me but Schiavone on the other hand... especially against those match points... awesome. She definitely deserves her nickname... La Lionessa.

I'd still ask prognosticators to name the GS you think she will win if she ever wins again. IMO I'll give her 20% on Wimbledon 2011 and 10% Wimbledon 2012 and 0% anything else, ever.
Im not anti-Venus by any means just realistic.

Back on topic I think Im pulling for Na Li, though the winner is surely going to be the Clijsters Zvonareva winner methinks

 

[Stuntman]

Clijsters is my favourite womens player among those remaining (now that Henin is out). I would like to see Li Na win her first GS though.

On the mens side, I'm going for Federer now that Raonic is out. I think that Nadal will take it though. Idealy I would like to see a Federer-Nadal final. Either way it will be historic with either Federer adding to his record GS titles or Nadal being the second player ever to hold all 4 GS titles at the same time in the Open era.

 

[jamor]

I'm really pulling for Zvonareva she is my favorite. I think I have a thing for mentally unstable chicks.

 

[Dan0myte]

I think I have a thing for mentally unstable chicks

Aren't they all..... aren't they all...

 

[Vihzel]

I'd still ask prognosticators to name the GS you think she will win if she ever wins again. IMO I'll give her 20% on Wimbledon 2011 and 10% Wimbledon 2012 and 0% anything else, ever.
Im not anti-Venus by any means just realistic.

Back on topic I think Im pulling for Na Li, though the winner is surely going to be the Clijsters Zvonareva winner methinks

She did make the SF and played a tough, well-played match versus Kim Clijsters, so you can't consider her done. If she's healthy, in shape, and match tough... she's still very dangerous. I can see her winning another Wimbledon, even with Serena there. French Open... probably not.

 

[saps]

She did make the SF and played a tough, well-played match versus Kim Clijsters, so you can't consider her done. If she's healthy, in shape, and match tough... she's still very dangerous. I can see her winning another Wimbledon, even with Serena there. French Open... probably not.

Yeah but there is a chasm from being a semi-finalist and being a GS winner. At least thats what Andy Murray told me

 

[jamor]

Aren't they all..... aren't they all...

LOL.

That's a good pic of her btw.

But I prefer:

 

[saps]

WOW, Nadal is out and done and clearly wasnt well physically. Old Fed better grab this title while he can

 

[Stuntman]

Nadal is out! What a shocker. It's unfortunate that he is injured again. I respect him for trying to fight through the injury rather than retire. I only hope that he did not make the injury a lot worse by trying to play through it.

 

[Xoom]

Faker Nadal cheats Ferrer out of a moment that he will never get back.