The 2013 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Johnmb

RosyLily wrote: »

Maria Sharapova has announced that Jimmy Connors is her new coach! I'm surprised by this pairing but really interested to see how it works out. Connors was Roddick's coach for a while.

Yesterday it was rumoured that Larry Stepanki was going to join her team, who also coached Roddick.

That is a surprising choice. I'd have though the main things Connors would bring to the table would be his competitiveness and experience, neither of which is lacking in Sharapova! I will be interesting to see how this partnership progresses.

RosyLily

Definitely a partnership to keep an eye on! Intrigued to see how they gel. Apparently they worked together briefly before the Aussie Open in 2008.

Halloween Jack

Connors is the biggest asshole in tennis, and that's saying something...

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Weird choice by Sharapova. Can only assume her main goal now is to beat Serena. She's completed her career slam, dominates everybody else, even managed to get the better of Vika eventually, all that's left is more Slams, Miami, and Serena, who pretty much stands in the way of the first two.

RosyLily

I think Connors will bring out a feistier Masha. There's a reason why he won 109 singles titles- he's ruthless!

Connors-Nastase had a similar match relationship to Maria-Serena. Ilie won ten of their first 11 meetings, then Jimmy went on to win 11 of their final 14 matches. Not exactly 2-14 but he has a fair idea of what Maria is going through.

Hope he can help her get over the Serena problem. And sort out her serve...it can be risky and she relies on it a little too much for my liking.

yerwanthere123

Martina Hingis will be playing doubles with Daniela Hantuchova in Carlsbad! Somehow I doubt we'll see her make a comeback in singles though.

garv123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Shows what a joke the Catholic church are. What can you see of her there that you can't see when she's wearing a tennis dress? Her side? Oh no! We'll all burn in hell!

I believe John Isner also posed for this issue. Not sure I need to see that.

garv123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Shows what a joke the Catholic church are. What can you see of her there that you can't see when she's wearing a tennis dress? Her side? Oh no! We'll all burn in hell!

I believe John Isner also posed for this issue. Not sure I need to see that.

Her smiling

yerwanthere123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Shows what a joke the Catholic church are. What can you see of her there that you can't see when she's wearing a tennis dress? Her side? Oh no! We'll all burn in hell!

I believe John Isner also posed for this issue. Not sure I need to see that.

There's also another one where you can see her ass.

I doubt Agnieszka is too worried about what the Church have to say tbh.

RosyLily

Right, I'm off to do a few thousand sit-ups to get Aga's abs!!:pac:

I've seen John Isner's photo......nice!!:D

Speisekarte

Roger Federer played an excellent match against Brands with his 98 square inch racquet. This new racquet could save his career and win him the US open. The big hitters like Murray, Berdych and Djokovic will be less threatening now that he has the fire power to match their's.

Halloween Jack

Speisekarte wrote: »

Roger Federer played an excellent match against Brands with his 98 square inch racquet. This new racquet could save his career and win him the US open. The big hitters like Murray, Berdych and Djokovic will be less threatening now that he has the fire power to match their's.

Really? He dropped a set to a guy outside the top 100, its hardly going to have the rest quaking in their boots?

yerwanthere123

Speisekarte wrote: »

Roger Federer played an excellent match against Brands with his 98 square inch racquet. This new racquet could save his career and win him the US open. The big hitters like Murray, Berdych and Djokovic will be less threatening now that he has the fire power to match their's.

Really?

Speisekarte

Halloween Jack wrote: »

Really? He dropped a set to a guy outside the top 100, its hardly going to have the rest quaking in their boots?

I'd put the first set down to adjustment to the new racquet. He was excellent in the last 2. He has more power and much fewer shanks.

WaterLily.

Halloween Jack wrote: »

Really? He dropped a set to a guy outside the top 100, its hardly going to have the rest quaking in their boots?

If I'm remembering correctly Nadal dropped a set to Brands in the 1st or 2nd round of the French and then went on to win the tournament so I wouldn't read too much into this!

However I doubt Federer's career is going to get a sudden boost simply because of a new racquet

I would love to see Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Del Potro all playing well at the US open. As much as I like Murray, I hope its not just a straight run to the final for him and Djokovic. Upsets are exciting at the time but I'd rather see the top players playing fantastic tennis; than see them get knocked out in the early rounds and their conquerers go on to lose in the following one.

RosyLily

I would love to see Del Potro win the US Open!! He came really close to defeating Djokovic at Wimbledon, on a surface that wouldn't be his best. Bring on the Delpo of '09!:)

yerwanthere123

Agreed, a 'big 3' of Murray, Djokovic & Delpo would be very interesting.

WaterLily.

Federer lost to Delbonis ranked 114 in the world, I know clay isn't his favourite surface but I can't say I saw that coming!

I wonder if it was the new racquet, Delbonis or are we seeing a really sharp drop in Federer's tennis..

yerwanthere123

I'm worried about Fed to be honest

Rob2D

He was spraying balls all over the place with that 98. I guess the extra power and forgiveness is nice at his age; but its no good if he can't keep the ball in court.

I reckon he should try the 93 frame that Dimitrov uses. It would be an easier transition IMO.

Il Giornale

He looks to have aged quite a bit in the face too, I think his time is up. Sad to say but such is the cycle of life.

RosyLily

Bank of the West Classic has kicked off. Aga is the top seed; she's through to the 3rd round after defeating Francesca Schiavone in straight sets. She has a decent chance of winning. Not a lot of big names there to worry her and she seems to be in good health.

Hey, remember the time when everyone thought Coco Vandeweghe was the next big thing? She lost in the 2nd round to Cirstea 6-3, 6-3.

The ATP is in Atlanta. John Isner is the top seed, with Kevin Anderson at #2. Hewitt could be a danger in the top half; he's playing Dodig next.

yerwanthere123

Federer loses in straights to Daniel Brands. How much of this can legitimately be blamed on his new racquet? Regardless, I don't think he'll be playing with it much longer.

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Bank of the West Classic has kicked off. Aga is the top seed; she's through to the 3rd round after defeating Francesca Schiavone in straight sets. She has a decent chance of winning. Not a lot of big names there to worry her and she seems to be in good health.

Hey, remember the time when everyone thought Coco Vandeweghe was the next big thing? She lost in the 2nd round to Cirstea 6-3, 6-3.

The ATP is in Atlanta. John Isner is the top seed, with Kevin Anderson at #2. Hewitt could be a danger in the top half; he's playing Dodig next.

Stanford lineup was great about two weeks ago, but Bartoli, Maria, Lisicki & Flipkens all pulled out! Still, it'll be nice to watch some live tennis again. I'll be keeping a close eye on how Jamie Hampton plays this week and if she can carry her excellent form into New York. Stosur lost to Govortsova :rolleyes:

Over in Baku, Donna Vekic could be looking good for her debut WTA title.

Carlsbad lineup is looking pretty good next week actually, Vika, Aga, Kvitova & Ivanovic will all be there.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Federer loses in straights to Daniel Brands. How much of this can legitimately be blamed on his new racquet? Regardless, I don't think he'll be playing with it much longer.

Just as well he has the new racquet to blame

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Troicki has been suspended for 18 months for refusing to provide a blood sample....

http://www.itftennis.com/antidoping/news/decisions/decision-in-the-case-of-viktor-troicki.aspx

Are there drugs that would show up in blood but not in urine?

yerwanthere123

^ Oh my! That's quite shocking.

RosyLily

Drugs have an immediate effect on the blood. Because it has to pass through the digestive system etc., it can take a few hours for it to show in urine. Maybe he took something on the day of the test?

There's no way he'd refuse to do the test and risk getting a ban if it was nothing.

yerwanthere123

Martina Hingis plans to play singles after the US Open! :eek:
Confirmed by Lindsay Davenport on Twitter last night, apparently.

mickmackey1

I see Kafelnikov is playing in the Russian Open (golf); currently in 104th place 15 shots outside the cut :pac:

RosyLily

More developments on the Troicki story.

He claims to have felt ill and that's why he refused to give blood, in case he made himself worse. Seems like Troicki is blaming the doctor that attended to him as she told him he could skip the test since he was sick. He's gonna fight the ban anyway. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

Elro

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Martina Hingis plans to play singles after the US Open! :eek:
Confirmed by Lindsay Davenport on Twitter last night, apparently.

That would be a strange decision if it's true, the doubles comeback made sense but I can't see how she could compete with the top players at this stage. I hope it is true though, I'd love to see her back on the tour.

mickmackey1 wrote: »

I see Kafelnikov is playing in the Russian Open (golf); currently in 104th place 15 shots outside the cut :pac:

Must be talking lessons from McIlroy.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Elro wrote: »

That would be a strange decision if it's true, the doubles comeback made sense but I can't see how she could compete with the top players at this stage. I hope it is true though, I'd love to see her back on the tour.

Apparently she said that coaching Pavs (was it?) made her realise that she could still compete with most of the girls on the tour

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Croatian media reporting that Marin Cilic failed a drugs test back in April. (Google translate is translating it as Roger Federer )

RosyLily

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Croatian media reporting that Marin Cilic failed a drugs test back in April. (Google translate is translating it as Roger Federer )

Suprising! According to the Times of India, he failed the test due to "an incautious use of glucose". Didn't know there was such a thing.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

It's all a bit weird. I mean Cilic fails one and gets 6 month ban. That female player, Barbara Strickasomething failed one got similar. Troicki doesn't take one and gets a longer ban?

Elro

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

It's all a bit weird. I mean Cilic fails one and gets 6 month ban. That female player, Barbara Strickasomething failed one got similar. Troicki doesn't take one and gets a longer ban?

The ban for refusing to take a test has to be bigger than for failing one(with a few exceptions), otherwise anyone who was on drugs would just refuse a test and get a lesser ban than if they knew they were going to get caught, and they'd likely still have their reputation intact more than if they had failed a test.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Elro wrote: »

The ban for refusing to take a test has to be bigger than for failing one(with a few exceptions), otherwise anyone who was on drugs would just refuse a test and get a lesser ban than if they knew they were going to get caught, and they'd likely still have their reputation intact more than if they had failed a test.

Makes sense.

pconn062

Plus 6 months months is extremely lenient for anyone who has failed a drugs test, should be 2 years at least like it is in athletics (and in my opinion, that's not enough either).

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

pconn062 wrote: »

Plus 6 months months is extremely lenient for anyone who has failed a drugs test, should be 2 years at least like it is in athletics (and in my opinion, that's not enough either).

I suppose it depends on the circumstances. Many athletes argue they took something by accident, I guess if they can prove it they get less punishment?

pconn062

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I suppose it depends on the circumstances. Many athletes argue they took something by accident, I guess if they can prove it they get less punishment?

I don't buy the excuse that an athlete can simply take something by accident. They are adults and are fully responsible for what goes into their bodies, no exceptions. Doesn't matter if they say their coach gave it to them or whatever, they are responsible.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Andrea Petkovic was asked about Troicki's ban yesterday, not sure why exactly, but she said that when they were younger he used to faint at even the sight of a needle.
Maybe there's some legitimacy to his story, but it still seems a bit far fetched.

I think it's been confirmed that Marin Cilic failed a test in April, but apparently it was for high levels of glucose? Not sure what that would come from?

flazio

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I think it's been confirmed that Marin Cilic failed a test in April, but apparently it was for high levels of glucose? Not sure what that would come from?

Lucozade addiction?

RosyLily

That Cilic is mad for the Lucozade!!:pac:

Was the test taken after his match? He could have had too many of those glucose packs the players chomp on during play. A long shot perhaps. Maybe he's developed diabetes.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I have no idea but I don't think he's been banned or anything yet so whether it's in the appeal process or what I don't know?

yerwanthere123

He's not been banned, at least not officially anyway. He's still on the entry list for Montreal next week.

RosyLily

AFAIK, the ATP are looking into his case. However long that will take, I've no idea. You'd think because the U.S. Open is less than a month away they would speed up the process and either ban him or clear him.

yerwanthere123

Is BT Sport free for the first month or something? Cause I have it now and I'm not subscribed to any sports channels.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Is BT Sport free for the first month or something? Cause I have it now and I'm not subscribed to any sports channels.

It's free for the first day, I think. Then you have to subscribe depending on what package you already have. Are you with Sky or UPC? I have UPC but don't seem to have BT sports at all.