well done Gasquet!

greenie, I just got here, see my 5:44.

aaaaaah and amidst all the jj, raffuh, feduhruh roundabout. Headgasket manages to do what he does best.
sorry Arun. See a pattern yet??

c1, c'mon...Mello took Rafa to a TB. Why should Ernie do any better? :-)

Commiserations to Arun and all Reeshie fans.

Talking about battling from behind, it is good but does not do my BP a lot of good ;-) as boring as they may be I think I like beatdowns e.g., Serena vs. Dinara (AO F) instead of Serena vs. Kuzzie (AO QF) ;-)

Sic - Ha! Yeah, I was also surprised myself at how useless his left hand is when it comes to all things not tennis related. If he broke his right arm, I'm not sure the boy'd even be able to feed himself, lol.

Interesting re: the mental/physical connection with Fed. I tend to fall on the side of it being more of a mental issue as I haven't really seen anything from him this season to suggest that he couldn't physically hang with Nadal for 5 hours; whether he has the desire/mental preparedness to actually do so is another matter. Not that I blame him. Heck, I get worn out watching Rafa from my sofa -- I can't even imagine standing across the net from that scampering ball of vamos-ing nervous tic-y intensity for 5 hours.

Problem for Fed is that it's hard to prepare for Rafa without actually playing him, esp. when Fed is able to overwhelm most of his opponents with genius. Not exactly the best mental preparation for a match against Mr. "He's the Number One . . . but I gonna try my best, no?"

"Ace on second serve--Ace #0 for E.G."

Ernie has a bit of the Federer need to do something flashy on set or match points...he always seems to go for the big ace, even on second serves, unfortunately this results in DFing...

ok, well, he won the set. I'll take it.

Sherlock,

I'll add my sympathy to your list....

Surprisingly Mello won 1 more point than Ernest even though Ernest took the first set;-)

GH: i couldn't figure out lolcano either! does anybody know what that stands for?

Thank you, Pspace and Avid, for votes 5 and 6.

I think we're experiencing something very special here today. :)

Oh Reeshie.

commiserations Reeshie fans.

This is kind of interesting on the mental aspect of Federer:

http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/02/tennis_and_time.php

> See a pattern yet??
nT: not yet. coz I'm always amazed @ how he spectacularly manages to escape from the victories.

sorry to Gasquet fans.

Maybe Dimitrov will bring some balm?

Oh , Reeshie
another day , another loss
very frustrating

Make that 8, Sherlock.

Wait, Reeshard lost?! To PHM? 'the hail?

sblily (Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!): well said.

In the fifth set of the AO, Rafa more or less said in his remarks afterwards that a key point for him was ensuring that he held his own serve, which he did emphatically early in that set. I can't recall which interview he discussed it in in, but I got the impression that he felt that this was a key to holding Federer at bay. Fed couldn't make an impression on the Nadal serve, Rafa felt that Fed was waiting for him to collapse physically, and he didn't allow this to happen. Possibly one of the crucial elements in the match was the improved Nadal serve - it will never be the most powerful on the tour, but he's able to use it very intelligently (especially against Federer ). In recent times he's been better able to mix it up.

that was for your 5:47 actually.

sblily,

"""
Problem for Fed is that it's hard to prepare for Rafa without actually playing him, esp. when Fed is able to overwhelm most of his opponents with genius.
"""

I'd be very surprised if Fed doesn't have a ball machine that can simulate Rafa's topspin. If he doesn't, well, we gotta get him one. No way Jesse Levine is adequate practice :-).

sblily: i agree. fed's fitness is amazing. the guy plays a 5 set match and looks fresh as a daisy afterward and nadal looks like he's about to collapse after a set. Obviously, the visual isn't an indicator of fitness. I've now watched the AO final twice and i feel like watching it again and really concentrating on fed during the points. But huffing and puffing and looking tired? i've never seen fed look like that.

sbilly I second that wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee with a whooooooooooooop and slight incontinence.

Thank you, sic. Lucky seven, you are. :)

Sblily, bless you. :)

I feel a spontaneous Elton John moment coming on.

Caaaaan you feel the JJ looove tonight....

Rosangel: I agree with your 5:54 post, though I actually expected Rafa to serve better than he did that day (barring the 5th set). I broke down the player's performances in terms of different parts of the games, and while I thought Rafa garnered a B+ overall, for "match management", I gave him an A.

""In recent times he's been better able to mix it up.""

Hehe...I guess he changed direction about four times? So, yeah, improvement!

Sherlock - LOL!

ooooh Sherlock, the Lion King song!

hehe yeah Pspace. He mixed it up at Wimbledon, not so much here (which is why it was disappointing he couldn't do more on certain points...).

Pspace: that's the most brilliant fing idea i've heard so far for fed. Do ball machines put spin on the ball? I was watching rafa's bullwhip f/hand during one of their incredibly long rallies and couldn't believe the racket speed he's got. you'd think his arm would eventually fly right off his body after awhile.

Pspace - LMAO. I agree that practicing with Jesse Levine and random junior lefties ain't cuttin' it.

I'm intrigued by the thought of a Rafa-esque ball machine. That would help with the physical aspect of things, but how would he simulate the mental experience of facing Rafa? Hitting backhands shots into a wood chipper? Playing frisbee with Cujo?

I need the Lion King on DVD. :)

oh Sherlock, one day you are shooting that dove outta the sky and the next you are a rainbow of love and goodwill.
a man for all seasons indeed.

me too, jewell. the platinum edition.

lol nT!

Annie, yeah, the newer ball machines can do all sorts of spin...topspin, slice, etc. Also, you can set it to random variation so that you get different sorts of balls. However, IMR, they top out at around 1500 rpm...while Fed's fh comes in at 3000+ and Rafa at nearly 4000.

a lolcano is simply a volcano of lol.
you couldn't make this stuff up.

trying. hard. to stay up til 2 to SB Rod. even though it is crazy.

"playing frisbee with Cujo"
another whoooooooop

I still maintain that Fed's BH held up pretty well in sets 1-4. He needs to learn what to do about *Nadal's* BH, though.

I was reading over some posts I missed and some people thought that JJ and Rafa would make a great couple. Total opposites. Rafa is sweet, kind, very humble, never has anything bad to say about anybody. Also, Rafa has said that he thinks Swedish girls are the most beautiful. JJ looks the opposite of a Swede, but Caroline could easily pass for a Swede and she adores Rafa. I saw her on TTC talking about how hot he's. I know he has a girlfriend but if they ever break up, I think he would be great for Caroline. They both are sweetheart, now that JJ, she would dominate poor Rafa, boss him around. I don't think Rafa likes the pushy type. Go Caroline, Scandinavia's#1!

Delurking to say I'm so loving the interaction right now. ;)

AND ... I got my car back! Yayness.

ha. Rachael.
but what were you erupting out laughing (eol) for?

good stuff, Jackie.

Rachael: that is the most awesome loyalty to stay up til 2 just to SB? no watchies? girl, i'm impressed.

and lolcano. it's great and i feel like i should have gotten it. thanks.

sblily, I guess he could get a Rafa doll stuck on the ball machine? Anyways, I really don't think it's that much mental, and saying that just does a disservice to both guys. It's the perfect way for a lefty to play a 1hbh player. When you have a stock tactic to get yourself points, it lets you pull through in the tough moments.

Another key for Rafa is how well he handles Roger's slice. Yeah, Rog gets a couple of free points here and there. But, if he does it too much, Rafa can run around it and destroy it. That was the key to Wimby. Rog can't push the serve back in play, and playing a topspin bh return is really difficult.

any old version will do me, GH, as long as it's on DVD - I wore out the video through too much watching. :(

LOL Samantha Elin, I think that was me hoping for a JJ-Rafa romance.

"even though it is crazy."
it's why we love you Rachael.

my SB appears to be frozen.

C'mon Ernie.

Rafa doll in a ball machine.
Fed won't even have to imagine every ball as Rafa anymore. He'll blast them off the court.

But remember, the doll has voodoo powers.

congrats, Jackie.

oh it's back now. Looks like Mello saved another bp.

Sarauj.

Sam Elin - LOL @ your 6:09 PM post

RPMS data

From previous Tennis Mag issue got from mens tennis forum. They listed topspin averages (RPMS) --
Nad: 1800 - 4900; 3200 AVG
Fed: 1400 - 4500; 2700 AVG
A-Rod: 1400 - 4200; 2700 AVG
Safin: 900 - 3300; 2200 AVG
Hewitt: 1300 - 3700; 2200 AVG
Agassi: 1200 -3300; 1900 AVG
Sampras: 1000 - 3400; 1800 AVG

Also an interesting article, scroll down to find the section on top spin

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2009/01/australian-open.html

hey folks, I found the tennis fairly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRcI-mFr6aQ

hey folks, I found the tennis fairly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRcI-mFr6aQ

Igor's forehand has to be up there somewhere.

or even fairy. lol

scary typeBad loves my typos

or Verdasco's.

I find the number on Roddick's FH hard to believe...because his FH is fairly ineffective these days now that he hits it topspin rather than flat. But maybe it's because he can't get simultaneous depth and spin.

Hey Jackie good for you ;-)

Annie - I can't not follow a Roddick match. I can't remember the last time I missed one, apart from last August when I didn't have internet.
I'd pay to stream but I really don't think my net could handle it. will be tempted to try if it comes to Rod/Gulbis though.

greenhopper - I was laughing at this:

"Melo/Sa lost to a wild card team of Bellucci and whoever?
It was probably home crowd pressure."

LOL naughty.

Thanks, y'all. Car sweet car. ;)

OMG, naughty, I'm like falling all over myself laughing at your comments.

Nice article about Rafa's dominance of Raja.

http://tinyurl.com/cymzt2

LOL, Naughty. Awesome video. :)

I'm glad I didn't mention any movie with Elton's song. I would have looked even more foolish than usual by saying Aladdin.

As with any Disney discussion, I feel compelled to mention that "Beauty & the Beast" is the best ever. Go Paige O'Hara!! :)

c1, RPM is not the whole story, of course. My guess would be that Roddick's fh has lot less speed through the court than Rafa or Roger. The key with Nadal and Fed's shots is how far in front of the body they play it....it's ridiculous...the amount of wrist you need to get the topspin on the shot in that position. (I've not seen any data collection on this aspect).

just to keep it a bit tennis

backhand fail

http://tinyurl.com/ce6bnz

thanks avid and sic for the articles. :)

oh and suddenly ernie decides that it is a bit foolish to be having such a hard time against a mini, left handed Brazillian (lol that sounds like something a woman might get done before a big date)

well done Ernie

nT, lol! It's nice to see that even Fed can get nothing but air on a backhand...though it prolly happens to him once or twice a year.

I love the whole idea of Failblog.

I just went to Paige O'Hara's website (the things you do when you're trying to be tired enough to sleep!) and saw she was singing in something called "Menopause: the Musical." What fun.

although, she was good as Belle. :)

Who is Todd Widom? For split second I though that was supposed to be Wisdom ;-)

Nice piece on Tsonga by Neil Harman:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article5705094.ece

failblog is so good. It is a great boost on our off days

Bellucci having a very good day indeed by the looks of things

Jewell - thanks for the Tsonga article. This part made me LOL. Poor David Brewer:

Tsonga built on the raw talent that first came to the attention in the boys' singles at the 2003 French Open, when he defeated David Brewer, from Scotland, of whom little has been seen since, and reached the semi-finals.

jewell, tx for that. Hehe...gotta love the big hitters:

"""
Asked about his happiest moment on a tennis court, he said: “My first year at Bercy, I served so hard that it knocked the racket right out of the hands of Mario Ancic. He still held on to the grip but the rest of the racket was gone.”
"""

wait - he broke the racquet ?
is that like breaking the backboard when you dunk
that is so totally macho - and hot

I think I will look at failblog whenever I need cheering up from now on.

beth, that's what it sounds like...I can't find a clip, unfortunately. Hehe...exactly like breaking a backboard. Wow! Ok...I'm going to lose my next match trying to serve bombs :-(...can't help it.

Did you guys catch shortsfail?

ptenisnet - sadly not.

[...and I'm not even going to explore the dark recesses of the injury that was treated during that final after Rafa had been totally screwed by a ridiculous rain-delayed schedule...unlike some people who continue to insist that Fed should have won the AO but for poor serving. As though it had nothing to do with who he was facing.

A win is a win. That's how it worked out both times.]

Without getting into the whole who is the better whatever (I happen to think both guys are fine, thank you), I'd like to see this logic applied more often to Rafa's loss vs Murray in USO 08.

Just saying'.

Jewell
That cracked me up to no end. But I am sure they are all equally funny, if not more :-)

I just found one called Ironing Fail which is slightly too close to home.

And courage fail.

Thanks to whoever mentioned Failblog. Comedy gold.

slide fail is a health risk.

is Shorts Fail the one where the woman got sent to jail for showing too much leg in the courtroom?

[On average I think Nadal has had to deal with a higher level of competition at the very top of the game during his career than has Federer...Roddick, Hewitt etc aren't in the same league as either. But Nadal grew up in the Federer era, and has been in his shadow for a long time. ]

This argument basically states that Federer IS the higher level of competition that anyone who grew up in his era has had to deal with, when the rest of the field wasn't in the same league.

I would argue with this view, if it weren't so darn complimentary to Roger. Shucks! :)

Good god

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNQLmHKlmiE&feature=channel

jewell yes.

avid sports fan, wow very interesting article at 6:21.

naughty T: LOL at tennis fairy & roger whiffing the ball

jewell, what is Failblog? :)

always a pleasure Sbilly

Sher - it's where naughty's videos came from...never heard of it before a few minutes ago, but I love it already. :)

LOL ptenisnet, is that one for real? How did the judges last that long without cracking up?

'All we need is Il Divo to have a huge serving day over two sets and then Fed's out...'

Past performance does not guarantee future results. ;)

Rafa can lose in the FO Final ... we can barely comprehend it, but it's possible. I honestly feel that if TMF shows up in Dubai this year, he will win it ... nothing in Pro Tennis is guaranteed, but I think Fed is playing better and looks healthier than he did at this time last year ... IMHO.

Serena receives Kids Choice Award Nomination for Favorite Female Athlete.

Serena and Common still an item ;-)

More Serena news, check the link below
http://simplyserenawilliams.blogspot.com/

paragraph from that scientific article that made me laugh:

[The strangest thing about the first week was that the main protagonists were actually arguing about who the favourite was! Murray was the bookies favourite, thanks to his victories in Abu Dhabi and Doha, but seeded fourth. Djokovic felt he was the man to beat as the defending champion, while Federer was telling anyone who would listen that he and Nadal were still the two to beat. It was a peculiar approach to the mental preparation to sport, because usually the favourites are reluctant to acknowledge their status. Only Nadal has been relatively silent this week. ]

Heh.

Also, I think the ESPN article had previously been posted by Master Ace

wow, what, "video no longer available"

FAIL.

sher it is where those clips come from. Failure after glorious failure.

ptennis if you like language failure and losing things in translation then you must check out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bic0pTTXeNw

Sher - That paragraph had me thinking too ;-)

naughty T found it :)

btw, with Sampras, Tiger Woods and Andy Roddick weightning in on the AO final, anyone know where to find the interview with Roddick where the quote came from?

http://www.tennis.com/news/ticker.aspx

LOL naughty.