The 2014 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Randomfriend

Absoluvely wrote: »

^^^

Match just started (early).

Put in a decent account of himself. Queerey is pretty one dimensional, but way too good to be playing at challenger level. Should win this competition and make it his 3rd chally win in a row. He could be dangerous for the rest of the year if high in confidence.

Hoping James can push on close to the top 150 soon, so he'll be seeded in a lot more challenger events and 250 qualification rounds. Great year by all accounts, but he's lost a lot of winnable matches throughout the year so I'm hopeful he can do even better next year now that he has some financial stability.

the_monkey

Piss of Federer
Look after your 4 kids instead of a maid slave
Disgusting - him and his fat wife

MisterAnarchy

the_monkey wrote: »

Piss of Federer
Look after your 4 kids instead of a maid slave
Disgusting - him and his fat wife

What are you on about ?:mad:

the_monkey

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

What are you on about ?:mad:

I mean he has 4 kids and worth half a billion and still instead of spending time with his kids he's still on the courts
And his fat wife too watching

If you can't take responsility of having kids
Don't have them

MisterAnarchy

the_monkey wrote: »

I mean he has 4 kids and worth half a billion and still instead of spending time with his kids he's still on the courts
And his fat wife too watching

If you can't take responsility of having kids
Don't have them

I'm not sure if you are serious
It will be a sad day when Fed calls it a day ,tennis will be worse off without a player like him .
Would you prefer to watch the moonballers and baseline grinders slug it out ?

the_monkey

You're right
Ignore my rumblings

the_monkey

Don't understand why Djokovic is not challenging line calls here

the_monkey

Federer with all the luck as usual

the_monkey

But seriously what's his motivation ?
He'll never be as good as he was
Most likely will never win another slam
Has more money then he could possibly want
He has 4 kids bit he'd rather scavenge around for the odd masters title then spend time with them ??


Tomorrow 'final' biggest non event of the tennis year

yerwanthere123

Yes, it's important to remember that on becoming a parent, one must immediately quit their job and spend every waking moment with your children.

irishguy1983

So happy Djoko lost - WUHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Federer blows me away - at this stage he should be at home in his slippers never mind beating Djoko on his favourite surface.

RosyLily

Stop with the slanderous, personal comments the_monkey! They add nothing to discussion.

You won't be welcome in this thread if you post comments like it again.

the_monkey

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Yes, it's important to remember that on becoming a parent, one must immediately quit their job and spend every waking moment with your children.

Not every moment but how much time is lost on the tour ?
Look what Sampras did - quit while he was ahead to spend time with his wife and baby boy
Even Nadal won't have kids untill he's retired

irishguy1983

the_monkey wrote: »

Not every moment but how much time is lost on the tour ?
Look what Sampras did - quit while he was ahead to spend time with his wife and baby boy
Even Nadal won't have kids untill he's retired

I didn't know yourself and Rafa were so close that he has informed he is not having kids until he has finished playing!

RosyLily

Let's stick to discussing the tennis.

Randomfriend

I'd say Fed's motivation to stay on tour are two fold, yes he believes he can still compete, I'd say he's relishing the challenge of adapting his game and trying to get back on top.

But also, I'd say he just loves playing and would be lost without it. Plenty of sports people play on until they literally can't any more, simply because they love playing the sport. Not for money or anything else. Once you stop, you're done for life.

I'm enjoying watching him work his game and try and counter all the younger stronger guys.

irishguy1983

Are people crazy here??!

Fed could possibly finish the year as No 1.

Not sure he can still win another slam but what a comeback is all I can say. I thought he was finished last year but I was 100% wrong!!

He shouldn't even be competing at this stage - never mind beating the world No 1.

mickmackey1

And yet if he had lost any of those 5 matchpoints against Mayer in the 1st round, ppl would be calling on him to retire now... narrow margins!

irishguy1983

mickmackey1 wrote: »

And yet if he had lost any of those 5 matchpoints against Mayer in the 1st round, ppl would be calling on him to retire now... narrow margins!

I don't think so to be fair although I get what you mean.

He would still be 2nd in the race even if he went out 1st round - arguments could be made if Rafa were fit...However that's life and he is proving this year he is still well ahead of everyone bar Rafa and Djoko. Due to age he is more vulnerable in Slam's with it being 5 sets but what can you do...

Will be interesting to see can he keep himself going again next year...He has to fade at some stage!

RosyLily

Nikolay Davydenko has retired at 33. He only won 6 tour-level matches this season...injury really took a toll on him. Amazingly, he's one of very few players to have a winning record against Nadal! Federer et al. could take some tips from him.:p

Mad to think he's retired and Hewitt, also 33, is still going.:)

walshb

Federer maybe not winning a slam is every bit to do with how competitive the sport is today as much as Feeder being "over the hill." In many other eras he would still be winning slams. He is still palying very well, moving well and as fit as ever.

Sailor Lake

walshb wrote: »

Federer maybe not winning a slam is every bit to do with how competitive the sport is today as much as Feeder being "over the hill." In many other eras he would still be winning slams. He is still palying very well, moving well and as fit as ever.

It's no more competitive than in 2007, in fact I'd say it's significantly less competitive.

yerwanthere123

All Cibulkova had to do to get to Sinapore as an alternate was beat Vitalia Diachenko and she couldn't do it. Her ranking after Melbourne will take quite a drop.

Rjd2

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

All Cibulkova had to do to get to Sinapore as an alternate was beat Vitalia Diachenko and she couldn't do it. Her ranking after Melbourne will take quite a drop.

She has been rubbish for a bit now though, would probably have been battered if she had played.

Anyways this video is awesome,not female but yeah I can see why they all love him so much.

Sock comes across as a good egg as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8jdyeoPKuk

yerwanthere123

This picture from Singapore is amazing

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0Oa9MXCMAAJj2Q.jpg:large

Stevecw

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

This picture from Singapore is amazing

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0Oa9MXCMAAJj2Q.jpg:large

A lot of tweeting going on by the middle 4. All had great pics on twitter yesterday/today. Masha just looks bored of it all really.

yerwanthere123

Yay, Andy wins the title. Shanghai aside, he's got very good results since the US Open.

WaterLily.

Great match between David and Andy, it was so close. I had no idea who was going to win it right until the last few minutes!

RosyLily

Shockingly (:pac:) Serena Williams has won her first match of the WTA Finals. 6-4, 6-4 win over Ana Ivanovic. Halep/Bouchard is on now. Halep won the first set 6-2 and has gotten the break in the 2nd. She's playing really well! All 4 are in the Red Group.

Kvitova, Wozniacki, Sharapova and Radwanska are in the White Group.

yerwanthere123

Kinda surprised to see that Halep is playing so well. Neither were in great form coming into the match so wasn't sure which way it would go. Doesn't look like Genie's gonna have much joy this week, she's 4-9 against the rest of the field, with two of those wins against Ivanovic, and another against an injured (or at least hurting) Halep.

Anyway I think we'll end up with a Serena-Sharapova final, with Serena dropping 5/6 games in the final.

CassieManson

WaterLily. wrote: »

Great match between David and Andy, it was so close. I had no idea who was going to win it right until the last few minutes!

Judy Murray asked viewers to keep her in "Strictly" for one more week so Andy would be free to see her dance. She obviously does not expect him to get to the final in Valencia!

RosyLily

Halep took a good bit of time off pre and post US...must have done her good.

I think Serena, Maria & Petra will go through. Other spot might come down to sets/games won and lost.

yerwanthere123

Pretty disappointed Sharapova lost to Woz again. Seventy-six unforced errors.

I miss when Maria used to play like this

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Halep just thumped Serena. 6-0 6-2. Embarrassing performance from Serena. Open the group up a bit more though. If Bouchard takes a set in her match Halep will qualify but any of the other 3 still could depending on results.

yerwanthere123

Sweet Jesus, cannot believe Halep beat Serena, let alone drop just two games! :eek: I couldn't have foreseen any circumstance where that would happen. She can surely win the whole thing now.

MisterAnarchy

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Pretty disappointed Sharapova lost to Woz again. Seventy-six unforced errors.

That's 19 full games lost on unforced errors ,and Wozniacki only won 18 games and a tie break !

That has to be a record in a 3 set match ,that's absolutely atrocious stuff
I see she had 15 double faults too :eek:

RosyLily

Fack! Wasn't expecting Halep to beat Serena, especially by that score line. Her worst loss since 1998 apparently. Ouch. Great boost for Simona though.

This tournament is getting really interesting!!:D

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The Djokovic's had a baby boy yesterday, I think. If anyone's interested. His name is Stefan.

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Fack! Wasn't expecting Halep to beat Serena, especially by that score line. Her worst loss since 1998 apparently. Ouch. Great boost for Simona though.

This tournament is getting really interesting!!:D

I was really sleepy when I first saw the score, had to read it about three times to make sure I wasn't reading it the wrong way around :eek:

And yes, the last time she lost this bad was at the 1998 Oklahoma IGA classic, 1-6 1-6 to Joannette Kruger. Serena was 16!

Floppybits

Another win for Wozniacki this morning against radwanska 7-5, 6-3. Wozniacki is on a good run lately. Ever since the break up and change of racket her performances seem to have picked up. Wonder if the extra training she is doing for the new York marathon helping.

Floppybits

Fognini playing Murray now and Murray is 4-0 up. Dont think Fognini is interested.

Floppybits

Another win for Wozniacki today over Kvitova. Sharapove however had a bit of a nightmare it seems, she wins the first against Radwanska 7-5, she is 5-1 up in the second set and loses it in a tie beark. This cost her a place in the semi final. Radwanska advances to the semi final because Wozniacki beat Kvitova. Still shocked at Sharapova losing a set after being 5-1 up.

RosyLily

Really surpised that Sharapova was so terrible this week. Was expecting her to reach the SFs. Fair play to Wozniacki though!! She's played fantastically in the 3 matches. Unlucky for Kvitova not to get through.

Ivanovic has won the first set against Halep. Will this group come down to sets won/lost?

mickmackey1

Halep needs to win a set or Serena is out. I wonder...:D

mickmackey1

Looked like Simona wasn't exactly giving 100% but Ana could barely hit a ball...

RosyLily

Serena owes Simona dinner.:p Hard luck for Ivanovic though...she wins 2 matches and still gets eliminated.

SFs are set now. Williams vs Wozniacki & Halep vs. Radwanska.

yerwanthere123

Wow, can't believe Sharapova only had to win one more game from 5-1 in the second set to advance to the semis and she messed up! After she got her act together in Beijing I thought she'd do well here. Semi final lineup is a lot worse without her. She's certainly a question mark heading into 2015.

RosyLily

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Wow, can't believe Sharapova only had to win one more game from 5-1 in the second set to advance to the semis and she messed up! After she got her act together in Beijing I thought she'd do well here. Semi final lineup is a lot worse without her. She's certainly a question mark heading into 2015.

I don't think the lineup is worse without her. She played terribly and didn't look to be at her best. Halep probably would have beaten her in the SFs if they met and she definitely would have lost to Serena.

I'm looking forward to the semis. Hope the men's tour finals will be as exciting as the women's.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ Agreed. She's my fave but this year has been a disaster for her. Clay aside, and one or two half decent hard courts she's willed her way to more wins than she deserved.

RosyLily

Sharapova's fight always impresses me. Just wasn't good enough this time though. To be honest, I always thought her shoulder injury was more serious than what we've been told. I don't see her continuing in tennis til her mid 30s like Serena or Roger.