Tennis

[sgrobin]

Caught a little of last night's matches at the Cincy tournament.  Ryan Harrison has a really graceful game, and I didn't really realize it until after Roddick came on afterwards, but Andy doesn't.  He looks a lot clunkier than Harrison.

[aeaton]

I wrote this to Wertheim, who picked the usual top four in the men's event at the USO.

I have to say, your predictions lacked imagination.  So many possibilities with the top three players not at their best!  I'm pulling for Mardy Fish, would love to see a breakthrough for David Ferrer, and am hoping (but not expecting) Andy Roddick to have a good tournament for a change, and to return to the grace he exhibited in his almost-wins at Wimbledon not so long ago.  Djokovic may suffer for playing too much, so the field is wide open!  I'm going to go crazy and pick Fish in the semis and Murray to win!

I do agree with Wertheim's pick of Serena on the women's side.  She is peaking at the right time.  She really is remarkable.  There is no one you can compare her to in her ability to come back and play well after all sorts of long breaks from the sport--the usual injuries, but also losing a family member to murder, a health scare that could well have been fatal.  And she comes back with a laser focus and amazing game.  Venus's time offs seem to take more of a toll, though I'd like to see her do well too.

[sgrobin]

Hey AE, how's life?  I could see Serena winning the USO also, and I think the uncharitable ranking was a bit ridiculous.  Agreed on your other comments - especially losing a family member, which HAS to alter one's outlook on life. 

I know you don't get the Tennis Channel, but right now there's an exhibition between the Jensen Bros and the Bryan Bros.  The hook is that the Byrans are using wood and the Jensens are using current rackets.  Sampras and Lendl are up next with the same thing - wood vs. modern technology.  The Jensens are clowning around so much that it resembles more a couple of kids at recess than a tennis match.  I guess Pete and Ivan will approach their match differently.

[aeaton]

Watching the USO on ESPN3 online, since there's no primetime coverage.  Picture within a picture, watching two matches:  Ivanovic v. Stephens and Tsonga v. Verdasco.  There is only commentary on the women's match.  Watching this way makes you see how often they sit and rest between games!  What a cushy sport!  JK. 

I like watching online without commercials though!

[aeaton]

Another note to Wertheim:

I'm sure you're  getting lots of mail about this.  No prime time coverage on Saturday night of the Open, even though the #1 and #2 seeds are playing, so I go online to ESPN3.  Ed Trautwig and Luke Jensen were deplorable commentators.  I preferred watching the Tsonga match with no commentary, just the swack of the ball, the players, the umpire, the crowd noise.  It was embarrassing to think that online viewers from around the world might be listening to this drivel:  That was the weirdest point of the match.  Totally weird.  Ad nauseum.  Not to mention pointless gossiping.  Blech.  (Corina Moriaeu was great during the Sloane Stephens match, thank goodness, and it is nice to be able to switch the screen around to different matches.)  Andy Roddick may be wrong about how easy it is to be a tennis commentator, but that is no excuse for these clowns.

[aeaton]

Oh, Serena.  Sigh.

Sam Stosur rocks.

[Earl]

Oh, Serena.  Sigh.

Sam Stosur rocks.

Happy for Stosur and good to see her bring all of those gift to fruition in a Big Match. She's done it plenty of times in early rounds and she'd have me thinking, "Here's the next #1," only to falter later.

[sgrobin]

Hey AE and Hamlet, ok, question here.  Last month's Tennis Mag had a tip on hitting a slice serve, which confused me.  When I think of a slice serve, I think of the racket brushing the ball from the left part of the racket to the right part. But the illustration indicated that the server had been brushing the ball from the opposite direction.  The article doesn't really flesh this out.  I thought the slice serve was left to right, and the kick serve was right to left, when you 'pronated' (I think that's the word) your arm.  Thoughts? 

[aeaton]

Has this forum died?

Azarenka just won her semi.  If Sharapova wins hers, this final is going to be a screech fest.  What a turn off.