omg, am i first?

yeah

it's never happened before! i gave myself somewhere later in the year to reach the point where i was the first commenter.
wow.

Justine won't take Aravene lightly- she's a player capable of some big wins

a Tati win is a good solid win in A GS tourney

Who's the young lady at the top?

From the other thread, Tokyo Tom, thanks for the great info on the court surface change.

Pete: I think Mauresmo needed 10 match points. At least that's what I remebered seeing.

Btw, Pete, love the post. :)

jbrad: I don't think Justine takes anyone lightly. You don't win 30 (?) matches in a row if you do that.

10th was the charm for momo.
Even the commentators were laughing about it.
Oh and what about dementieva then?

Sam: well put

Su-Wei Hsieh is a Chinese qualifier- did anyone pick her for Pete's quiz? lol

this IS the GS for Asia and Australia, so props to Su-Wei Hsieh for performing well in her nearest GS tourney :)

The best point of the Mauresmo match was the last (9th or 10th) match point that she finally won. I think Pam or someone counted and it was around 31 strikes of the ball!

actually Su-Wei Hsieh is Chinese Taipei- whoops

Mauresmo did need 10 match points, and it was quite painful to watch. When she finally won the match I was happy, not because a player I liked won, but because I did not want to see a continuation of the mess being played out.

Sloppy tennis from Mauresmo? I hope she can bring it together, but it does not bode well.

Golovin is someone I never have any real hopes for, Wilander or no. (Wilander, right? Or am I mixing her up with someone else Wilander was coaching?)

was a very good post. i liked yesterday's too!
dunno if shriekie deserved to be in it :P but well, apparently she played really well so it's all good.
jbrad, i'm glad the asian players are doing well too! i wish there were more indian tennis players but i guess we'll have to do with mirza being the best one for now.

i hope amelie does better her next round. can't believe it took her 10 match points to take the match.
31 strokes of the ball? i'm glad she gave it her all and took the point and the match!

I wonder how many players in India there are who secretly would love to play for another country considering all the crap Mirza has to deal with.

Wilander was coaching Golovin, Heidi, but as far as i can work out, he's now coaching Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Mauresmo is still my current fav and will always be top five for me - I would love to see her get her game back and enjoy herself out there. She is tops in my book for tons of reasons including her wine cellar -

whoo whoo divo outaced izzy 19-11 so I got one point on the quiz!

You read my mind, Mark. Not sure seeing what Mirza is going through is creating a groundswell of young girls thinking, "I wanna be like Mike."

I lost count on the strokes Amelie/Shvedova hit on Amelie's 10th match point which ended when Shvedova came forward but could not lift the ball over the net. PMac was like me on the rally but Pam kept up well.

tt: Mauresmo is my second fave, after Henin. I also hope she does well this year. She looking sloppy and nervous from what I saw yeseterday.

"I wonder how many players in India there are who secretly would love to play for another country considering all the crap Mirza has to deal with."

Good point, Mark. Her every move is scrutinized by a growing army of pious a-holes, and they probably won't back off until she agrees to wear a burqa on court. Of course, her stunning good looks don't help much here . . .

--Liron

true Mark. it's so annoying that there are quite a few young indian male tennis players who aren't bothered but we finally get a female tennis player and all hell breaks loose.
i swear, i wish i could just give india a nice big makeover. if only it was that easy.

The funny bit was, after mauresmo double faulted both the match points on her serve, shevdova started with a first serve fault. Everyone was expecting the match to finish with an appropriate double fault.

There are other Indians in the wta.
There is a couple of uberois and a sunita rao.
Last I checked they were in the three hundreds and above.

Part of Mirza's problem is her success and the other bit is her religion (or the practical aspect thereof) - which has a whole lot of restrictions.

Sania is persecuted because of her religion and by her own religion. The poor girl cant get a break. According to religious fanatics, she is committing blasphemy. *disgusted sigh*

But there are many people in India who genuinely appreciate her and family's efforts for achieving what she has. Unfortunately, all those get drowned out by these stupid lawsuit and threats.

Sam,
Are you going to be awake at 3:30 AM to watch Ankles live or are you going to tape it for later viewing?

harini, l.Rubin, and Sherlock,

I just think it's sad that the country has a respectable, likeable, hard-working professional female athlete that is a wonderful ambassador for her country, and yet she receives sooo much grief

Schwab: I'll record it if I have space on my DVR. What about you?

"Unfortunately, all those get drowned out by these stupid lawsuit and threats."

The bigger the idiot the louder the noise they make. They're not going to win with wits.

I feel for Mirza, as it can't be easy trying to keep focused on tennis, with all the threats and accusations against her. Makes me root for her even more.

Interesting, Ptenis. Totally agreed, Mark.

Of course, in all situations like this, one has to ask, what is the situation REALLY like? We hear what we hear through different media outlets, but what do the average Indians really think? I'd love to know more about this.

Dont know if this has been posted before but saw this little gem from cnnsi.com regarding the Sharapova/Davenport match: "I thought I saw her little kid giving me dirty looks," Sharapova said

Talk about witty

Btw, Abby Road, love the the nick. :)

Sam - I always felt she was underneath it all someone else wearing a tennis players clothes - not that she is not athletic and talented, but take Fed's comment about hitting the ball well in practice so he knew he would play even better on the big court in front of tons of people - I get the feeling AM is sort of the opposite - her very best tennis is in semi-private.

For me, her winning is not so much why I support her, rather everything I find out about her makes me want her to succeed. To adopt an overused phrase, she seems a class act.

I do fear she is in the twilight of her career.

oops, didnt notice it for quite a while, but the 3:01 headless post was from me.

Sherlock, I am from india and i can tell you that an average kid loves sania's spunk, determination, hard work and her achievements. However, being secular means giving equal rights to everyone, including idiots who make the threats.

Sherlock, the average Indian thinks Mirza's great. there was SOOOO much love and hype for her the last summer i was there (in '05). the average sports loving indian thinks it is so nice to finally have a female athlete who's in the top 50.

ptenisnet, i forgot about the uberoi sisters. oh and i think...ramesh krishnan? former indian davis cup captain...i remember he came to our uni once during a women's tennis match and his daughter was with him. i think he was trying to see which school would be good for her to play on the college team...didn't make to ours but i wish i'd talked to him! if she does well, she might be on the pro tour too, which would be nice.

mirza should just prove all those crazy people wrong by doing even better. it sucks that religion has seeped its way into sports now too.

Sherlock/Sam/Schwab: have you read Mossgate?! Just what the Pats need another distraction, as if spygate was not enough...talk about derailing momentum...oyvey...the Bolts chances are getting better by the second...pfffttttt

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but isn't Mirza's main "problem" the fact that she's a female? I doubt male athletes in her situation would have to deal with everything she does.

Has anyone read Kuznetsova's presser from 2 days ago? The first few questions are kind of insulting, but towards the middle it gets good. Some of her answers really crack me up:

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2008-01-15/200801151200375493161.html

How about props to my girl Olga Poutchkova, who took Henin to a 7-5 second set? She's a great kid, her older sister played for Barry University in North Miami and used to be my hitting partner way back when. I've known them since Olga was 8 years old.

She started out-hitting me I think when she turned 10....

Tami and Harini, thank you, thank you. So great to hear all those positives. Maybe if, through each generation, we can slowly weed out more idiots and change more minds, in every country, there is hope after all. Go sanity!!!

Very cool connection, TaiC!

"I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but isn't Mirza's main "problem" the fact that she's a female?"

No, GSte, there have been other world-class female athlete in track and field and cricket. This is a special case because she is from a particular religion.

Sherlock- Thanks! Beatles fan I take it?

Indeed, go Sanity!!!

I believe the name is Sania.
Go Sania.

So Sveta is over Fiddy...I am shocked!!!

tt: That is a very good description of Mauresmo. She does not seem to be at her best when the spotlight is the brightest. Too bad, since I love her game.

Beckham: Just saw it. Not sure how much of a distraction it will be. Do you think it is legit or just an attempt to get money?

" Abby Road, love the the nick. :)"

Same her, Sherlock.

Sharpie has some comments about djoker's imitation.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23064620-23210,00.html

Wasn't someone else talking about knowing Poutchkova?

Beckham, yes, I did. I hate it when crap like that comes up at suspicious times like these. And this seems really suspicious. Don't fret, though. The Pats aren't too lacking in the experience, maturity, and focus department. Bolts are dangerous right now, but I just don't think Belichick and Brady will be denied.

Great story, TaiC. At 10, eh? You probably had a suspicion she was onto something? :)

Thanks for the clarification, tami. It's just quite sad, and it must be so difficult for her to focus on tennis with all of these incidents.

Beckham, I hope it's not true. We'll just have to wait until the facts come out.

Ptenis... :)

Abby, big time. :) Your namesake album being the favorite.

Yes, TT, loved your post on Amelie.

ptenisnet-yes izidane spent a week with her during a challenger last year, as mentioned on last night's thread.

Todd-would you say Poutchkova played up to her level last night? I could tell she was nervous, but some of backhands really caught Henin off guard in the 2nd set.

"First thing for me is be a good person before being a good player, you know."

I so love Kuzzie. Wish she could overcome her usual big match struggles here.

thanks gste. i thought i remembered that.

Awwww koooze, who knew she and Her Majesty were so palsy? That actually makes me like Juju slightly more than not at all.

ah, it doesn't matter if murray loses anymore. the british now have 4-year old prodigy Mika Stoyanovic who is beating up 8-year olds in tennis matches :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/default.stm

the 3:44 was from me. *check before post*

Beckham,
My only question/comment at the moment on Mossgate is why did the woman wait for so long? My guess is that Randy did not pay her six-figures to keep the incident under wraps. Also, she may have been jealous that Randy is getting a lot of attention for breaking Jerry Rice's TD record.
Will the Magician extend Fed to 4 sets tonight that commences at approx. 8:30 PM provided Kuzzy wins quickly?

"That actually makes me like Juju slightly more than not at all."

LOL. You are a treasure, Snoo. :)

Sherlock, Schwab: Agree that the Moss thing sounds fishy. But I haven't bought into the "new Moss" thing as much as others have. After he broke Rice's record, one of the first things he said to the press was that he was glad to break the record to "shut you guys up".

tami: Are you trying to win the Accidental Anonymous Poster Award? ;-)

i guess so.... its that i am usually in a hurry and try and to post before i juggle with other things...

Sam,
Will try to wake up for Ankles but if I have a repeat of last night, I will be sleeping while Ankles is playing. She should win easily, anyway. Why have you not bought the new Randy? Dillon was able to change(some) after he got to NE from Cincy.

Mirza has all sort of problems, First of all she's a Muslim, a female and an athlete. If you are trying to avoid the fanatics ire, that's just not a good combination.

Throw her outgoing personality in, the short skirts, playing with Shahar. Oy.

They will never stop hounding her, I fear for her, it seem to have gotten worse lately. At some point, it would get mentally taxing, I heard her doctor recieved death threats for treating her.

Oh man, I really HAVE to go to sleep now if I want to wake up for Roger.

tami-we'll have to watch out for her and that Jan kid in the future. I've seen clips of Agassi when he was 4 as well.

Just read about the "Moss thing" and am not sure how to take it. As a Vikings fan, I had kind of hoped that being with the Patriots had helped Mass grow and start being a better person, but then I think of all the stuff he;s done in the past and wonder if a leopard can change his spots?

My other concern is how this might affect the SD- NE game, if at all. Although I think the Pats are a good enough team to put this behind them.

"Why have you not bought the new Randy?"

Just a gut feeling. I don't think he'll get into trouble like he did before (current case notwithstanding) - he's fine as long as he's in NE with the strong leadership they have there from the coach and key veteran players.

Or, you are absolutely right about mirza. I went to a class that had about 40 muslim girls. man, they have restrictions.

On another note, why was roddick so defensive yesterday? is he conserving energy for later rounds????

GSte, i have seen vids of Jan too. His strokes are good but isnt hype too much for kids so young? I cannot think of many players who were noticed as young as 4 (except Agassi and Steffi) for their precocious talent and who had then gone on to fulfill their potential.

tami: I always worry about burnout with kids that young. Hopefully that will not be the case with Jan.

Talk about having options

Q. Is Fed Cup going to be a big priority for you again this year?

SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: No. My priority ‑‑ well, it's complicated to explain, but my priority is Olympic Games and Grand Slams. But then I was not going to play Fed Cup at all. But captain ask me, C'mon, let's play. I mean, there are so many other girls to play. You know, I don't want to take spot of somebody. Somebody can play for me.

Then he ask me like, C'mon, let's share. Some players play one round, some players play another round. I'm not going to Israel after here. If the girls win, I promise I gonna play for next round.

agree with you, sam

No way, Sam. His dad assured us that Jan will be a slam winner. No worries. :) Actually, his dad was a nice guy. That was just a wild conversation there for a while.

Sherlock: Yeah, is dad seems like a good guy. In fact, after the whole conversation on TW, he actually sent me an e-mail to thank me for my comments.

I like Kuzi, so I'm personaly disappointed - but We're actually not fussed in Israel, to be honest. It's not like we need ANOTHER top 5 player to come, Oy.

Poor Shahar, she is pretty much a one-woman team, with Tzipi being 35 and her ranking. And our future prospects after Shahar look, well.... not that great.

If Shahar manage one win, I'll be happy.

Elena Dementieva is probably the most popular Russian player in Israel, so everyone are disappointed *she's* not coming.

We kinda got lucky with Maria having to play this year before the Olympics, because there's no chance in hail she would have graced us with her presence otherwise.

She has a list of security demends from here to etenity, like the security team that supplies Madonna's bodyguards in her visits to Israel, and a seperate car, she doesn't want to ride with the other girls...

I just hope the Russian federation is paying for this, I don't see why we should do that.

Oh, BTW - I have a cute little picture of Rafa when he was 12, guess who is the boy with him.

http://i18.tinypic.com/6k5umja.jpg

That's reeshie isn't it?

What a great picture. :) Gasquet, right?

Was that Gasquet?

Rosangel!

where have you been? why so few posts? Our Rafa needs your TW support :)

Yup, he isn't as easily recognizable as Rafa is.

I mean, I recognized him more by his complexion and the age estimation than his features.

Really Or?
I thought the nose and ears were a big giveaway. The rest of it however.
The absence of the backward cap didnt help either.

I watched the Lindsay/Sharapova match live, the only way for a true tennis fan. To give credit where it is due, Sharapova played a outstanding match, good clean striking from the baseline. The serve was great and I think it puts to rest the issue of any shoulder injury which is great. I think it's important to not make excuses for players when they lose and to give the winner full credit. All too frequently when Sharapova lost a match, it has been followed by well, she's injured. That may have been the case, but I believe the players who won the slams last year won because they were the better players. In the case of Ivanovic, I believe she made it to the final of the FO because she is a better clay court player. The injury excuse only serves to not give players the full recognition they deserve. Justine won the YEC because she was the better player, just as Bartoli won Wimbledon over Justine because she out played Justine.Ok, No doz, diet cokes and red bulls are recommended for those who want to stay up all night and watch live tennis, post and still ace their tests in class. It works and it's safe. Go Justine!

"I watched the Lindsay/Sharapova match live, the only way for a true tennis fan."

Never knew I was supposed to prioritize being a tennis fan over health and work. And there's no such thing as staying up all night the "safe" way...it'll get you one way or another. Only the young believe otherwise.

The only way I'll be able to pull an all-nighter is maybe to hit up Hingis for some "stuff" that she apparently used before Wimbledon.......................hehehehe!

awwww reeshie and rafa! so cute!
i recognised gasquet right away 'cos for a minute i thought, hey that's not rafa!
and then i saw the kid to the left :)

"Never knew I was supposed to prioritize being a tennis fan over health and work."

Well I guess now you know better.

"It works and it's safe."

I've known a few people who've had problems from combining lack of sleep with caffeine and energy drinks. One who collapsed, one who ended up with serious insomnia. Missing a night's sleep is fine, but don't stretch it too far.

Samantha: I thought you were against drugs.

i have never pulled an all-nighter---sleep is too important to me.
i've never stayed up during Oz though...during high school, getting enough sleep was too important. during college, getting enough sleep and not bothering the roommate was important (once i left the dorms i didn't have cable so no more watching AO). that's why i love VCRs (and now DVR!).

I wish I could've stayed up to watch it, but pacific time in the US is tricky with the AO - you can't really go to sleep and wake back up for the late matches unless you want to go to sleep around 6:30. And there's no way I'd be able to function at work if I'd have stayed up until 3 in the morning.

CONGRATS Harini - good on ya - first response

me too sam..i also watched maria/lindsay match live...and i would say that maria has played an outstanding tennis..she's also serving well..and i agree with u abt accusing thingy..

hahaha Lleytsie, thanks!

I pulled a few all-nighters during college. Usually just with coffee and Mountain Dew, and occassionally Vivarin. I made the mistake of taking 2 Vivarin one night and was too wired to be productive, and that was the last time I ever tried Vivarin.

Now, like harini said, DVRs are the way to go for late night tennis (for me anyway).

"i have never pulled an all-nighter---sleep is too important to me."

Towards the end of undergrad I started practicing them because I knew all-nighter survival would be an important skill for me for law school (as I'm a hardcore procrastinator). I was a pro at them for a while, but now that I'm getting older it's more difficult.

P.S.: I'm willing to bet that regulars are trolling Samantha under assumed names. For shame!

Sory wr0ng typing...nt accuse but excuse..

" I'm willing to bet that regulars are trolling Samantha under assumed names. For shame!"

LOL Grant. *feels ashamed for not thinking about that first*