thanks ptenisnet, can't wait for USO but according to NP I am going down.

Gosh I am not a gracious winner am I, congrats to all the other winners as well.

Congratulations Winners!

Congrats to Ange, Eric, leemur, Musab, and Mwu!

It's a tough ask, ange. I don't think anyone has ever done the Transatlantic Slam. But good luck.

Once again, sorry this was late. But I has hoping that the grace period extended as long as the tournament did.

It's a tough ask, ange. I don't think anyone has ever done the Transatlantic Slam. But good luck.

Once again, sorry this was late. But I has hoping that the grace period extended as long as the tournament did.

Congratulations, winners!
I'll get you all in the USO SP. Or you know, crash and burn in the first round, or whatever.

Are there any links explaining how this works?

Congratulations to all the Wimbledon winners.

Greenhopper,
After the French Open for the WTA, I crashed and burned in the first round where my pick,who favorite surface is grass and won a tournament this year, did not get a break point against a clay courter.

Wow, it feels super-great to see my name listed among the winners! Thanks ptenisnet, GVGirl, Arun and greenhopper! I feel on top of the world right now! Ok, maybe not the whole world, but at least TennisWorld. :)

And thanks to you too, Master Ace! I'm kinda surprised you didn't beat the women's draw this time, considering your mind-boggling knowledge of the WTA. Which player took you out of the pool? I flamed out in the first round on the women's side, all thanks to Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Oh, didn't read your comment carefully enough. I'm guessing it was Tanasugarn for you too, then?

Congrats to the winners! very cool. I'll try to get my act together for the uso sp.

Congratulations!!!! to all the winners -

Angel of the Surf, Eric, leemur, Musab, and Mwu! Wow! What amazing results for you and TW! Enjoy your victory and well-deserved praise.

And Angel of the Surf, I have complete faith in your ability to do the "Transatlantic Slam" at the US Open;))!

jan

Congrats, winners. :) I am in awe as always.

Musab,
Yep, the one and only Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Congrats to all the winners :)

Congratulations to all the winners, you done us proud!!

Charbel - Before each major, Ptenisnet posts the rules for the Suicide Pool competition, which is actually run by our friends at the Talk About Tennis site (too lazy to link but it's easy to find). So if you just check right before the US Open, you'll find the rules clearly explained.

PS, Charbel, the rules etc.are posted here at TW as well as at TAT before each major. . .

Congratulations to the winners :)

On the assumption that this is the "Your Call" thread for today: I'm posting a link to what TW might consider a "man bites dog" story about NBC's much-derided tennis coverage. http://tinyurl.com/nhz3yb It seems that since the death of Tim Russert, NBC has been pre-empting Meet the Press (its Sunday morning news talk show)for tennis coverage of the French Open and Wimbledon, which it did not do when the star anchorman was alive. So there is something that ranks even lower than tennis in the hierarchy of NBC programming planners--serious news journalism!

Congrats all you SP superstars! :)

This is today's YC, yes? Where is everyone?

Jackie,
As you know, other than Deuce Club lately, things have been slow since Roger won Wimbledon.

Jhurwi,
I always thought Meet the Press always got put on the backburner when the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon are played.

Angel of the Surf, Musab and Mwu, Eric and Leemur, congrats!
Dent and Tanasugarn, a plague on both your houses!

Nastya P. going down meekly to Schnyder in Palermo. Sigh...I'm beginning to lose hope for her

Aw, MA, love that you snuck in "other than DC." :)

Yeah, I'll admit I'm not paying much attention to the tennis this week ... I'm all tennis-exhausted. (Well, aside from Stuttgart. Still gotta look out for a certain someone.)

Um, that was my attempt at differentiating Nastya Pivovarova from Nastya Pavlyuchenkova. Go, me!

Jackie,
Today, that certain person is resting in Stuttgart.

MasterAce: the article implied that in Russert's day Meet the Press was put on as a special at another time period when it conflicted with Breakfast at Wimbledon, but that now NBC is simply not putting it on at all in order to save money.

BREAKING: Gasquet gets time served. Thank goodness!

http://tinyurl.com/kt4cnh

So; Angel Of the Sf, Musab and Mwu currently are in the running for GOAT of their generation.

They all would, but let's give props to one and not the others because the former goes about addressing the mission in the most elegant fashion.

And let's deduct points regarding the "grinder" of the bunch, whose career as a prognosticator will undoubtedly be shortened by his/her brutish approach.

Wait, wait, so Reeshie already served his time, right? As of today?

Oh, I can't wait to see him play again.

yay for the Reeshie news. :)

jewell! How are you, dear?

Angel- awesome!

Jackie,
That is my interpretation on Gasquet also. Therefore, if Richard wanted to play Monday, he could.

Congrats to SP winners!! And I am SOOO glad to hear that Gasquet is getting time served :)

Evie,
Thanks for the breaking news...

OK all: here's a question for anyone to mull over on a slow day. If you could change the outcome of any single toughly-contested match in tennis history (or, let's say, a shortlist of three, preferably involving a variety of players), which one would it be? The catch in the question is, that match may not involve either Federer or Nadal.

Mine (all five-setters):
1. Ivanisevic vs. Henman, Wimbledon SF 2001.
2. Borg vs. McEnroe, US Open 1980 (I'm not positive, but I think this was the year that Borg would have gone for a Grand Slam by visiting Oz if he'd won; the only other year in which he reached the US semifinal with the first two Slams in the bag was 1978. For younger posters, in those days the AO was still played on grass, in December).
2. Rafter vs. Ivanisevic, Wimbledon final 2001.

Yes, Goran truly ruined my 2001 Wimbledon....

Congrats all!

Maybe this'll light a fire under his butt and he'll win the USO. Could happen, right? ;)

Rosangel: my pick would definitely be your (1), though given that having happened, I was very happy with the result of (3).

and yeah, great news about Reeshie :)

Jackie!!! Good, thanks. :) You?

Ah...trouble is, I really liked Goran and I wanted him to get a Wimbledon so much...how can I take it away? *anguish*

I pick any GS final that Steffi didn't win. ;)

jewell, doing well. Might go see Bruno tonight. :)

Rosangel : I would have liked Jim Courier to beat Bruguera in the French Open final, '92. I never liked Bruguera, he used to beat all my favourites. I was also disappointed at the time when Medvedev lost to Agassi at the French from two sets up, but Agassi deserved his Career Slam.

I'm sure many people will opt for the Lendl-McEnroe French Open final. I think McEnroe lost it from 2 sets and a break up. I believe Edberg also had a couple of heartbreaking French Open losses.

Rosangel,
Great topic. Even though I do not have a favorite player, here goes:

(a)Iva Majoli vs Martina Hingis, 1997 French Open F. That match would have given her a Career Slam AND would have been the first person to win the calendar Slam since Steffi Graf in 1998.
(b)Justine Henin vs Marion Bartoli, 2007 Wimbledon SF. Henin would have been playing for a Career Slam against Venus. She played for a Career Slam in 2006 against Amelie Mauresmo. Also, she played against Venus in 2001 for the Wimbledon title.
(c)Lindsay Davenport vs Steffi Graf, 1999 Wimbledon F. Only reason I would change this is becasue this would have been her 23rd Slam and would have wondered if she would have stayed around to see if she would have caught Margaret Court. Steffi was only 30.

These 3 matches are not ones I would change but if the result went the other way, I would have been ok also
(a) Venus Williams vs Lindsay Davenport - 2005 Wimbledon F
(b) Amelie Mauresmo vs Justine Henin - 2006 Wimbledon F
(c) Serena Williams vs Lindsay Davenport - 2005 Australian Open F

Jackie,
Steffi and Monica Seles,who was recently induced into the Hall of Fame, played some matches especially the one at the French Open where Monica won 10-8 in the deciding set.

wow. probably had 5mg or less in his system, equivilent to a grain of salt.

i'm not sure its possible to deliberately ingest that small an amount.

I am sure they need to alter the thresholds for 'drugs'... yikes.

VC,
Correct on Lendl rallying from 2 sets to defeat J.McEnroe. Edberg losing to Chang is one of the ATP matches I would change as that one would have given him a Career Slam and I thought Chang was lucky that entire fortnight beginning with Lendl.

Master Ace,

Nice list.

I would change the result of:
1) Clijsters-Capriati 2001 RG F
2) Hingis-Capriati 2002 Australian F

I would go with the Australian Open 2005 final. I would have loved for it to have different finalists for one thing.

Also the Camille Pin, Sharpie oz match from whatever year.

ptenisnet, men or women's?

AO '05, men's final?
Dude. How greedy can you get? :)

Men's final. jejeje.

jb -- I know, it's crazy. I'm so glad he's reinstated, but the 2-1/2 months were some of the most important of the season. He missed both RG and Wimbledon.

In all seriousness I don't begrudge Safin that title. I wouldn't have begrudged Hoot either. But I found a loophole to exploit.

ptenisnet : Matches involving Federer and Nadal are not allowed, right? Otherwise, I'd have quite a few in mind... :-)

The AO 2005 final didn't involve either one of them.

OK, I had to stick my head in to ask: did anybody else see the ticker about Gasquet's reduced suspension and think, "What on earth was he doing in a nightclub the night before his match?"

ptenisnet, I thought you were a Safin fan? I didn't know you were a Hewitt fan, of any sort.

Acasuso vs. Verdasco last year in Davis Cup.

Hmmm, the '08 Madrid final? ;)

Oooooh, the changin' game? Me, me! Let's see....

Sampras-Ivanisevic, '92 Wimbledon SF
Sampras-Edberg, '92 USO F
Sampras-Bruguera, '93 FO QF
Sampras-Courier, '94 FO QF
Sampras-Yzaga, '94 USO 4R
Sampras-Agassi, '95 AO F
Sampras-Korda, '97 USO 4R
Sampras-Rafter, '98 USO SF
Sampras-Agassi, '00 AO SF
Sampras-Federer, '01 Wimbledon 4R
Sampras-Stich, '03 YEC F... well, you get the idea.

they don't have to be five-setters, do they? If not, Murray-Nadal at last year's USO.

And btw, I can't find it in me to begrudge Chang his one major, despite admiring Edberg as much as I do.

Oh I am c1. I like both those guys quite a bit.

Heidi,
According to the ITF decision, Gasquet decided to withdraw from Miami the night before his match. So, by the time he went to the night club, he already knew he wasn't playing.

I'm not sure what to make of the Gasquet incident. I'm a little surprised the ITF Tribunal accepted Gasquet's account of his encounter with some random woman named "Pamela" as an explanation for his contamination.

Hm...can't have that one as it has Nadal in it, I guess.

*back to drawing-board*

Since there's going to be plenty of clay answers being offered, how about this...

1. Wimbledon Final 1989
2. Wimbledon Final 1987
3. Queens Club Final 2007

My slavophilia was rather getting the better of me in 1987, but there we go!

1. McEnroe over Borg at USO 1980

2. Lendl over McEnroe at RG final.

3. Iva Majoli over Martina Hingis at RG final

Ah, thanks, tennisesq. That does make more sense. Otherwise, I was going to say that he was going to be in hot water with his federation no matter what!

I am also a little surprised that they accepted the explanation, just because everyone always has a story. How many athletes test positive and say, "Yeah, I took the 'roids, I did what I thought I had to do to be better, oh well." Yet at the same time, accidents and sabotage do happen, I suppose. I've heard the caution to never drink from an opened bottle of water, etc.

That being said, I assume that they considered other factors, like maybe other drug tests around that time and/or the teeny amount in his system.

Oh, here's definite one:

Australian Open Final 1998 - get that cheat's one GS wiped from the record books, and means that Rios isn't the one No.1 not to have won a GS

My new favourite ex-tennis player name is Diego Hipperdinger.

ok...in that case I would change over Sampras-Henman at Wimbledon SFs 1998 and 1999.

And throw in Queen's final in 1999 too. :)

Rosangel, good question!
(Especially love the catch!)

My recent ones would be:
Andy Murray def. Gilles Simon (F) MMMM 2008
Serena Williams def. Jelena Jankovic (F) USO 2008
Fernando Gonzalez def. Richard Gasquet (3R) AO 2009

ptenisnet, nothing beats (for current players) Potito Starace for me.

for WTA - Wozniacki over JJ at Wimbledon last year, JJ over Serena at USO last year, and Conchita Martinez over Mary Pierce at FO 2000.

1. Connors v. Krickstein, 1991 USO. Aaron choking the lead away combined with Connors' usual charming on-court personality pretty much broke my heart.

2. S. Williams v. Dementieva, 2009 Wimbledon. I would've enjoyed a Venus v. Elena final.

I am in the Ryler De Heart camp. *loves*

"ok...in that case I would change over Sampras-Henman at Wimbledon SFs 1998 and 1999."

So taking one set in a best-of-5 match against an opponent with a dominant H2H (6-1) now counts as a tight contest? Keep dancing in the Land of Oz!

Potito Starace for me.

Not even triple P?

ok, then I'll put Queen's final in 1998 at the top of the list and hope it would've changed the outcome of the Wimbledon SF. :)

I guess that won't get me out of Oz though. Oh well!

Cotton Jack : Most of yours aren't even close!

How about Navratilova-Martinez, Wimbledon '94? Though that would just be greedy.

Potito Starace is so much fun to say, more fun than Philipp Kohlschreiber. though www.philippkohlschreiber.de is undoubtedly more fun than www.potitostarace.it .

Totally agree with the Connors-Krickstein pick. With the added benefit that I would not have been subjected to a replay of that match every time it got cloudy over Corona Park.

What about Coria/Gaudio or even Coria/Henman.

"ok, then I'll put Queen's final in 1998 at the top of the list and hope it would've changed the outcome of the Wimbledon SF. :)"

You mean 1999. No matter. Pete went on a tear from Wimbledon onward and prolly would've won the USO if not for the herniated disk. Ha!

it would have been ironic if Henman could've won the FO. I like that idea. :)

article on Aaron Krickstein:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/sports/tennis/28araton.html

oh god, how did I forget!!! Coria-Gaudio...was terribly disappointed after that one.

so my top two would be Henman-Ivanisevic and Coria-Gaudio. Good god...

Clijsters-S. Williams AO semi 2003.
Was pretty sure Kim would never win a slam when she didn't do it that year. She was in incredible form, started season playing on a ridiculously high level, winning Sydney and reaching that semi losing something like 4-5 games per match on average (and it's not like she played some no-names either), was 5-1 up in the third before losing six consecutive games.*shudders*
I still think that's the best tennis she's played in her career

VC - oops hadn't seen that requirement. Drat. Hey, Queens 2007 was a 3rd set tie-break, so that was close!

Alright, I really need to stop wasting my precious time. Later, folks.

On the women's side, would like to have seen the 1986 Wimbledon final's result reversed, with Hana Mandlíková beating Martina Navrátilová.

Some good picks here. I definitely thought about Coria-Henman in Paris in 2004, which was a four-setter, but Wimbledon won the day.

I also thought about Sampras-Agrassi, USO QF 2001, because all those tiebreak sets drove me crazy....

I guess a "tight" match can be any one where the set scores are close, even if it doesn't go the distance.

I thought some people might pick matches like Kohlschreiber-Roddick, AO 08, or Gasquet-Roddick from Wimbledon 2007.

Maybe the rules can be amended to allow changing results of matches where Federer or Nadal ended up on the winning side, except Fedal matches of course. In that case, Federer-Agassi 2004 QF might be a good choice, it would have given him a shot at the fairytale career-ending Slam like Sampras got in 2002. Agassi won more points than Federer in that match.

"With the added benefit that I would not have been subjected to a replay of that match every time it got cloudy over Corona Park."
LOL, pt!!

And thanks for that article, crazyone. I dunno --though many fans like his crowd pulling antics better than JohnnyMac's tantrums, I really prefer the latter and also absolutely loved JMac's game better. *can't stand Jimbo and his theatrics*

Jankovic-Ivanovic, FO 2008 semifinal.
Fer Christ's sake.