Agree with Cilic but what about JC Ferrero he deserves a mention as well.

BTW I am first. Mr Sex deserves a mighty mention also, helping the Czechs in the dubs and the decisive rubber.

Ok, ok, let me do it.

Usually I can understand why women find a particular man attractive. (I am male.)

However, I am totally stymied by the case of Stepanek. Can one of the ladies please explain to me the nature of his appeal?

GR I was being naughty, he really is not sexy at all. Pico otoh is.

tina, I didn't realise how bad your situation is and now I feel like crying because you have been through so much.

I hope Spain doesn't axe JCF as he deserves his spot. I think the main problem for the Argies is their dubs combination, they just can't find one. As for the US, I think it is about time PMac stops showing favourtism and dump Blake for next year's tie and goes with some young blood. The young guys need to get some exposure and experience.

Yes I agree 100% with choice of Marin,I have always been a fan of his game.He has really stepped up to the plate in DC tennis.

Way to go Marin.

I think Ram deserves some props for his Lucky Loser Now A Winner effort in Newport!

In regards to Savvy and her potiental I feel we sometimes are too quick to hand out these labels.

I am a kind of wait and see fan.Good luck with her win over Patty
but I am still sitting back and observing.

Yet again it was only Peppermint Patty she beat, and we know she is a bit of a headcase.

Hi everyone - have had a difficult time with computer/internet so just a quick hello.

tina - my prayers and thoughts are with you. I've wanted to ask how the house has been coming along but I see that's on hold. Your positive attitude is such an inspiration; may it stay with you.

aussiemarg - hope your head is feeling better! Thought of you when I saw this

http://www.theage.com.au/national/blearyeyed-as-tv-sport-steals-our-sleep-20090711-dgrk.html

Be well all! Hope I can get things fixed and return soon. Enjoy the tennis.

jan

Jan Gee thanks for that video LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan Gee thanks for that video LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oops sorry about double post

I blame you Jan for this that video really cracked me up

AA Sorry about the Argies defeat in DC,there has been some surprising results so far in DC,Russia is another one.

thanks guys - after the excitement yesterday, I'm faced with the logistical nightmare of trying to get a last-minute flight back to the US - with the dog. That's enough to bring me to tears, but there is nobody to figure it out but me and a few friends scattered around various European capitals are sussing out itineraries through Vienna, Frankfurt, Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest.

keep y'all posted

tina, can't you get a flight sighting medical emergency.

3rd round quallies have started in Bastad, Sweden. FTW Willy, Luczak and Starace.

AM yes I am sad about the Argies losing but they will come back strong next year.

AA I am watching highlights of the Tour from last night which I missed,gee the scenery is just breathtaking.I am going to enter the compeition on SBS,you could win a trip for 2 for next years tour.

aussiemarg - I'm completely confused - the link was to an article on lack of sleep due to sports on TV, mentioning Wimby,Tour de France, etc. What video? I'd apreciate a good laugh!

tina - fingers, toes, arms, etc. crossed for good luck!!

jan

Jan LOL! I am the one confused then,I though that was kind of me after drinking too much last night

Anyway I can still relate to the video,considering the time difference we have to put up with here down under for a start.I needed a week to catch up on well deserved sleep.

The Tour is one of my fav events,it is such a tactical event,these bikers are just incredible with their overall fitness,gee their legs with the amount of latic acid in them must be sheer hell to start with.Its a pity this sport has been riddled with drugs though.

Agree about Szavay she has one big tourney, everyone talks about her and then she fades. I wouldn't put her in the same category as Vika and Caro. You have a lot of new girls who can play one tourney very well but can't be consistent throughout the year. It will be good to have Kimmie C back, her style was different. It will be interesting to see if she can be in the top ten. I think P-mac made a mistake in playing Blake who hasn't had a good season. Sam Quarry would have been a better choice. Go Caro, Scandinavia's#1.

Also, I'm not sure if Lisicki belongs in the same category has Caro and Vika, she's too hot and cold, very prone to erratic play. She only has one title and not a very good ranking, I'm going to take a wait and see attitude with her.

I always forget to say something, you look at players like Sania Mirza and Vadisova who everyone said had so much potential and they never reach the status in the game. There is so much competition and the old guard is still strong. Look at Serena holding three GS which is just amazing when people were talking about how certain players would replace her. I remember when Sharapova and then Azaranka were suppose to challenge her and she just keeps going, surpassing them all. Same as Roger. The only young male player who can challenge him is Rafa. Djoko is a hot mess out there and Murray hasn't proven he can win a slam. Go Caro, Scandinavia's#1

I was just over at ESPN's tennis board and they are comparing Caro to JJ. Although the comparison was mean, there are a lot of good points. JJ at 24 is a complete hot mess. If you look at the 3rd set against Oudin, you could see that she was breathing hard and couldn't physically go the distance. She's always injured, some are fake, but some are probably legitimate and caused by over play. And I agree that after 2 years of playing one tourney after another and point chasing her body broke down. If you can take JJ to three sets, you have a good chance because her body can't go the distance. Caro has played so much and people over there are saying she is burning out by the time she gets to the finals and I agree. Tennis is such a physical draining sport. My biggest fear is that she will end up like JJ,a burned out, hot mess and a joke. I hope not because she has the potential to be great. I notice Sharapova broke away from her dad and maybe Caro needs to do the same since he believes she should play every tourney. Caro, unlike JJ is capable of quality and doesn't need to go for quantity.

I've got flights - with dog, and Business Class upgrade using miles - from Zagreb to JFK via Frankfurt. Split to Zagreb might be the hitch, as the only operator is Croatia Airlines and I've found I get better assistance when I call their office in New York. At this time, they're not yet open.

Croatia is a country that doesn't understand the simple idea that a Tourism Industry is based on the concept of Hospitality. I just got a brush-off from the local village "travel agent" who would not simply call Zagreb for me. I'll give it a go - but I have a feeling I'd be better of waiting another 45 minutes to call NYC. My dog was once "confirmed" on a flight to Munich, but Croatia Air somehow lost all record of it. I had to introduce myself to the pilot at 5:00 am to get the dog in the cabin for a 90-minute flight!

Going the "medical emergency" route at this point is too much bother - my doctor is busy enough without having to provide papers to airlines - and furthermore, nobody in a million years would take me for someone with a medical emergency. I am absolutely the picture of health.

So thanks for nothing Croatia - really jazzed about Davis Cup and Cilic (Bosnian import) - but your so-called Tourism Industry is shameful.

I wouldn't be so hard on Djoko, sam, when Caro hasn't done all that much on the tour yet.

Tina Thats wonderful news.

Take care.

TWibe,
I hope Tina will receive some wonderful news when she arrives in New York.

Tina,
My thoughts are with you at this difficult time.

Tina, take care, I hope everything goes well, but I would disagree about Caro. She has done a lot and is the youngest player in the top ten. Djoko with a slam has also achieve a lot, just seems he's struggling.

Samantha Elin,
As Ed said in his opening thread, Agnes had a tremendous run from 2007 Palermo to 2007 Beijing. At Beijing, she rallied from a set and 5-1 down in the 2nd to win the title over Jelena Jankovic. Rally started when she took a chance on a 2nd serve and hit an ace. Also, at New Haven, she won 3 qualies match then 4 main draw matches to make the final but had to retire due to injury against Svetlana Kuznetsova and Agnes was up a set.
Agree on Sabine but if she can become consistent, watch out as she has a big game and the biggest serve,other than the Williams Sisters, on tour. Sabine is now 24 in the WTA rankings.
On Maria, her dad wanted to do other things like hiking so he decided to leave her with Michael Joyce which I think is a good move now since she do not need any distractions in trying to comeback from a shoulder injury. She is playing a WTT match a week before Stanford starts on 7/27. On Caroline, it will be interesting to see how she and her team approaches her schedule. Since Caroline is in the Top 10, Bastad should be her last International tournament(some people called them Mickey Mouse) for 2009.
On Sania, she had too many weaknesses that the top players can exploit but in her case, injuries(especially to her wrist) have derailed her progress. On Nicole, she won a lot of titles early in her career and made the SF at AO and FO therefore, her quick decline is a mystery. I believe when she got with Radek and let her stepdad go was not good moves by her. She is back with her stepdad but is she motivated enough to make another run and will she have a Plan B if Plan A is off.

On the ATP, since the talk of a decline after 2008 Wimbledon where Rafael won 9-7 in the 5th, Roger has won 3 out of the last 4 Slams(losing in the AO final in a tough 5 setter to Rafael). In that time, he became the 2nd man(Rafael was first) to hold titles on 3 different surfaces at the same time and the 3rd man(Bjorn and Rafael) to win the Channel Slam.

Master Ace Since Roger has got the monkey off his back and finally won RG I believe he has again played "freely" without any pressure.Reclaiming his title in a hard fought contest just adds to his confidence which was at a low after the AO this year.

Still Nadal holds a commanding lead over him in finals.Murray has a lead over hin on h/court.

Full credit to Roger for turning his game around though.

Interesting times ahead though with the h/court season upon us before the US OPEN.Rafa will still have to get his feel and game on the h/court though remember he did win on a fast h/court at the Olympics last year and got his best result at the US OPEN with s/final result.

Master Ace:

Wouldn't Laver and Budge also be Channel Slammers? Were you only referring to the Open Era?

Lew Hoad also did the Channel Slam the year he won three majors.

Manuelsantanafan,
Thanks. Open Era only.

Manuel Laver was the last person to win what is called the Triple Crown,RG,Wimby and US OPEN.Rafa had a great chance to do this last year at the US OPEN.

After his child is born, Roger, who has won 38 hardcourt titles(8 Slams), will be disappointed as hardcourt will return for the next few months.

I am sure Roger will have a few sleepless nights with the baby and also his least fav surface lol!

It still amuses me some what Rafa was the "It" player winning title after title,now he is the forgotton player?

Though he loves being the hunter dosent he.

Aussiemarg,
So true about Rafael being a forgotten player to most of the media but that will all be forgotten when Montreal starts.

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced on Monday the appointment of Stacey Allaster, the Tour's President since 2006, as the new Chairman and CEO of the world's leading global sport for women.

Tennis Fan,
Why am I not surprised at Allaster being the new "Larry Scott"? She is well qualified and now the Canadian tournament will probably get more preferntial treatment now. Someone posted at a different board on why Roadmap was developed 'cuz the top stars w/d.

As I've mentioned before, I'm greatly anticipating the coming months in Mens Tennis with Roger having renewed confidence (but w/ the additional responsibility of TMB), Rafa coming back at 100% (hopefully), MAndy, Nole, and RAndy with something to prove (not to mention the rest of the Top 20) ... VERY exciting to see how this pans out.

Nice job again this past weekend, James Blake.

Manuelsantanafan: (responding to your query from the DC day 3 thread)--I was only in Maine for a day, in the Portland area. We had absolutely beautiful weather. I've been experiencing the nonstop rain here in Boston.

I got bitten once by something as soon as I got to Portland, don't know what it was.

I don't understand why James Blake is continuing to be named to Davis Cup.

I also am greatly amused by his complaining the season is too long. This from a player that barely gets thru to the 2nd round and no further. He needs to retire and make room for the up and coming players.

Tina-- I've been away from the site for a few days and just caught up on your situation. My thoughts are with you and hope everything turns out as well as it can. Take care!

Robbyfan,
On top of James complaining about the schedule, he complained about the crowd in Croatia this weekend. James should know better on how crowds are in Davis Cup which makes it more surprising 'cuz he won the Fair Play Award one year during the ARAG competition, held one week before the French Open. Seems like James has been more down on himself for a while but Mardy and/or Sam must not had a great year for PMac to replace him but when 2010 come, PMac needs to look at DC.

Hi Master Ace-I didn't hear about him complaining about the crowd! Diva much????

I wish Pmac would look at the younger guys. Jesse Levine, Sam, there are many outstanding college players that could be brought along......

Tina: I read through the comments on the old thread. Sorry to hear about your woes. I hope everything goes well.

Robbyfan,
Yes, I read that somewhere this weekend. Good point on PMac needs to look at Sam, Jesse, and company. Another thing that needs to happen is for the USTA to form a good doubles team to replace the Bryans in the future as USA does well in doubles with JMac/Fleming, Jensen Brothers, Flach/Seguso, and Leach/Pugh.

Master Ace: Laver's second calendar Slam came in the Open era, which began in 1968.

Master Ace-good point about a doubles replacement. We take the Bryan brothers for granted way too much.

Cilic was elated. "This was one of the greatest ties I've played so far," he said.
I guess so, but since you're only 20, it was also one of the worst ties you've played so far, as well. :)

Re: the US Davis Cup squad, I recall reading somewhere (may have been Spadea's book) that there is a certain amount of cliqueishness in the team choices - some while back he thought he had a better claim to be on the team than one of the other guys for some ties (maybe it was Fish he was thinking of), but he wasn't being asked.

I did think that Sam Querrey could have been a good addition to the team. Thought he did very well on his debut in Madrid on clay last year, considering what he was up against. Of course Fish and Bob Bryan pulled off a nice win in doubles that time.

Rosangel,
Thanks but I do wonder why did they mention Borg is the only player to win the Channel Slam before Rafael did it last year.

Meant to say...

Rosangel,
Thanks but I do wonder why did they mention Borg is the only player to win the Channel Slam in the Open Era before Rafael did it last year.

C1: have you heard? Ernie is playing Indy?! I might actually see Ernie live in a few days...wohoooo...I called the box office, I can just show up and buy a ticket the day of, dude had better make it deep into the tourney...Sauraj Ernie and all that...lol

My very first Gulbis match live!!! Unfreakingbelievable!!!

Perhaps they are differentiating the Channel Slam from the Grand Slam, though the latter incorporates the former.

from the Indianapolis Star: "Latvian tennis player calls police on stalker claiming to be his sister"

also, you're counting on Ernie going deep in a tourney?? When's the last time he won two matches in a row? Cincy last year.

They should have had him two singles matches in Davis Cup just to jog his memory on what winning successive singles matches is like.

I like PMac as a commentator and granted, he has one Davis Cup under his belt but has anyone mentioned replacing him as Captain for 2010? I am hoping Jim Courier (seems to have the right pedigree and temprament for Davis Cup) or even Todd Martin has a chance to lead the US next year (assuming either of them are interested and they have a solid rapport with Roddick).

Masala,
Have not heard replacing PMac as DC captain for 2010. If true, Jim or Todd would be good choices to replace PMac.

Rosangel,
You could be correct on your 11:13 AM post.

At the risk of re-igniting the "clothing wars", I am posting a link to a story that appeared on Page 1 of the New York Times today (that's Page 1 of the *entire newspaper*, not the first page of the sports section): "Elite Golfers Have Their Clothes Laid Out for Them" http://tinyurl.com/lwma9j
There's an interesting discussion of the process of consultation between the clothing sponsors and the players, and how much input the latter have. (Not surprisingly, Tiger Woods has been known to veto a Nike-proposed color that he doesn't like.) I would imagine that the process for tennis apparel is similar, but it is less likely to make the front page of the New York Times.

Is there an update on the inquiry on Gasquet's coke case?

Also, any idea what happened to Yuki? The kid didn't play the junior RG and Wimby, did he?

[Re: the US Davis Cup squad, I recall reading somewhere (may have been Spadea's book) that there is a certain amount of cliqueishness in the team choices - some while back he thought he had a better claim to be on the team than one of the other guys for some ties (maybe it was Fish he was thinking of), but he wasn't being asked. ]

Yes, Spadea wrote that he was having a better year on clay than Fish, but Fish was picked for a clay tie vs someone Spadea had just beat earlier and Fish lost in the tie, and Spadea beat the guy after DC was over in some tournament.

At least I think it was Fish.

Yes, lately I have been picking Cilic deep into slams on my racket bracket challenges and ATP picks,,,,,BUT he never delivers.

Must be something about having deep passion for representing your country that keeps him motivated.

Other than that, until I see him do more in the slams, can't agree with him being "up and coming" YET.

Blake: I join you in applauding Rajeev Ram for winning both the singles and the doubles titles in Newport. I'm re-posting my comment from last night, since few TWibe members were on the board at the time:

I may be the only TWibe member who has ever seen Ram play live. I think it was at New Haven the first year we starting going back there (c. 2005). He was playing doubles with another American player against an ad hoc team of high-ranked singles players (Ferrer and Andreev?); it was the latter we had come to see. He acquitted himself quite well--though I remember being totally confused at first because I thought the Ram playing doubles would be the Israeli of Ehrlich/Ram.
For some reason Eurosport was streaming the Newport singles final (hard up for content after the conclusion of Davis Cup?) and the British announcers were quite complimentary towards Ram's skills as a grass court player. They said he would be ranked much higher than his current 160 if the U.S. still had as many grass court tournaments as it used to have back in the 1970's. They also noted, by the way, that if Ram were British he would be the national #2 even at 160--Ouch! He's the U.S. 18th ranked player.

Arun: from google news it seems like he's been playing men's Futures tournaments.

http://www.espnstar.com/tennis/news/detail/item290029/%22My-main-target-is-men%E2%80%99s-circuit%22/

Re: Nadal and Murray having a commanding lead over Roger.

Sure they do because they play him like "there's no tomorrow", but look where it has led them? ALL POOPED OUT, and withdrawing from major tournments? To be real champions, you have to have longevity, and the stamina of great atheletes.

Obviously, Nadal does not have the stamina to sustain his number 1 ranking, nor to play in "every" big slam because of injuries or fatigue.

Everybody predicted this about Nadal years ago. Murray? He is another grinder on defense and he won't last long either playing that way.

I'm sure Nadal will be back and grinding at every point once again. Wonder how long he will last again?????

crazyone: Thanks for the Yuki update.

Non-clothing related Fed news tidbit I read this morning:

He pays 450,000 Swiss francs (= 415,000 US) annually to not serve in the military.

I always kind of assumed he (along with other top level athletes) would be exempt, especially since he always plays in the Olympics. But I guess it doesn't work that way.

jhurwi - Thx for the link. Very interesting article. I think the process is similar for tennis players, based on what I've read about how Rafa's team comes up with his stuff. I would assume that, just as Tiger has veto power, so do Rafa (re: sleeves and confectionery colors) and Fed (re: murses and Chairman Mao jackets).

For the love of Pete Bodo... Yeppie Happy happy the USA lose on Davis Cup... This is a wonderful day! Go Croatia...

Roadrunnerz - Thank you for sharing that bit of info - it actually makes me feel less ill at ease about him not serving. (I've got Stauffer's bio on my "to read" stack, and it claims "Federer was declared unfit for military service and was assigned to alternative community service" -- which, maybe something got lost in translation? Because, while I'm a fan of Fed, the sheer notion of him being "unfit" struck me as so many horsefeathers.)

Roadrunnerz-that is interesting about Federer. so-who does he make the payment to and does he recieve cases of Swiss Army knives in exchange?

From the other site-why is Caro being called a cheater?

Good question, Robbyfan! He SHOULD. LOL

I assume it goes direct to the government? Since Fed helps finance them, maybe he could have some input and get gold stripes or RF monograms on the military uniforms? :)

I didn't post the article 'cause it's in German. Being Swiss living in Canada, I get my motherland news online from a Zurich paper. Confession...it's not most intellectual publication...

But here it is:

http://www.blick.ch/sport/tennis/federer-zahlt-sich-dumm-und-daemlich-123475

There's an idea! A RF logo on every knife sold!

Anyone one attending the 20 or so USTA Challengers has see Ram play. Seems to be a nice kid with good manners but really......winning Newport only means he will get a USTA Wild Card for the summer series and a W/C into the US Open. If he had papers from India.......forget the USO W/C like DeVarmen last year.

"He pays 450,000 Swiss francs (= 415,000 US) annually to not serve in the military."

Switzerland have a military? I thought they were always supposed to be a neutral country... ;-)

"After his child is born, Roger, who has won 38 hardcourt titles(8 Slams), will be disappointed as hardcourt will return for the next few months."

Master Ace : Just curious to know why you feel he will be disappointed... do you think his preparation will be affected by parenthood?

VC ... perhaps in reference to Roger announcing he was glad HC season was over prior to clay season earlier this year.

Mike : Ah, yes... that rather delusional comment, which turned out pretty well.. :-)

I've got the feeling he hates the courts at Indian Wells and Miami for the past few years, his game looks so toothless on those slowish courts.

also, before one of his wimby matches, he (Fed) joked that he is a clay court specialist now.

>Master Ace : Just curious to know why you feel he will be disappointed...

Cause before clay season he said "thank god the hard court season is over..."

:)

It's a joke on that, I assume.

But wow, was he right, eh?

"To be real champions, you have to have longevity, and the stamina of great atheletes."

LOL and to think, only a few months ago, to be a real champion you had to have positive h2h vs Federer (something that disqualified Roger out of hand).

Marin Cilic is fun to watch, not only because of the things you guys are saying, but also b/c he goes for his shots!

That's what made it so hard to root for one or the other in his recent epic match against Tommy Haas...

I could have sworn that to be a real champion you have to win championships, and be real. My mistake.

*I could have sworn that to be a real champion you have to win championships, and be real. My mistake.*

I guess Federer isn't a real champion then, since he isn't real.

VC,
Yep, that famous Roger comment after Key Biscayne is why I typed that comment. LOL

Beautiful piece on Grass court tennis by Tom Perrotta:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/724potfn.asp?

Adidas officially announces that Caroline will be wearing Stella's clothes:

http://tinyurl.com/ndmrp3

TWibe fashion experts,
Please read on what she will be wearing and when it will be available to consumers.

Justin Gimelstob on Mike & Mike doing some pr for tennis & twitter. A bit about the Wimbledon final as well:

http://sports.espn.go.com/stations/player?id=4318556

VC: Yes, Switzerland has a military force(nowadays only for defense of the homeland) and a universal military obligation. I remember that when Federer won his first Slam title in 2003 there was some question about whether he would do military service, but I don't recall hearing much about the issue since then.
By the way, as a Renaissance historian I would like to point out that in the 15th and 16th centuries the Swiss infantry (fighting with pikes and halberds) were known as the best soldiers in Europe, and mercenaries were the main export of the Swiss cantons. The mercenary armies of the Italian city-states were largely made up of Swiss soldiers, hence the Swiss Guards at the Vatican today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Kings of France had an exclusive contract with the Swiss Guards, who formed their private bodyguard and defended strategic points in Paris (such as the Bastille) which might require firing on the mob. There's a famous monument in Lucerne to the Swiss Guards who died defending the royal family in the French Revolution.

simona halep leaves the GOAT conversation behind:
http://www.blick.ch/sport/tennis/halep-spielt-jetzt-mit-kleineren-baellen--123455

The world group draw is done.
The Swiss will be traveling to Italy, French to Netherlands, Indians to SA and the Serbs will likely host the Uzbeks.

http://www.daviscup.com/results/wgpo.asp

Btw, does any1 know if the Federer "15" jacket is going on sale? I really really want one ;-). Doesn't seem to be listed on any of the stores. Meh...will should prolly get an RF shirt at some point. I wish they'd do NFL-like jerseys for all the top 10 players.

Please help out a fellow tennis fan!!!

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I have been selected from nearly 1000 contestants as a finalist for a shot at becoming a Sports Reporter on The Score Sports Radio 670 AM here in Chicago.

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I AM CONTESTANT #2. ( Javier Cervantes )

jhurwi : Thanks for that. My comment was mostly facetious. :-)

Bismarck: I see you followed Roadrunnerz' link to the Zurich paper he calls "not the most intellectual publication." The article deals with Simona Halep, a 17-year-old Romanian player who had breast-reduction surgery and thus, in the words of the headline, "now plays with smaller balls." (Hey, I'm just the translator)

Arun : Interesting article about grass-court tennis. I do think that hard-courts and indoors make for a better "viewing" experience overall, than grass-court tennis. Having said that, Wimbledon 2008 Final was the greatest match I've seen, in terms of breathtaking rallies, shotmaking under pressure etc. But more guys are comfortable with the predictability of bounce, and movement on fast hardcourts, which makes it likelier to produce "viewer-friendly" matches, IMO.