yello fuzzy, I liked Muzz's kit too. Bit dorky, but cute.

Ohhh it's a round robin format -- that's why people haven't been despairing that much about AndyR's bad luck at getting Nadal in round 1.

MOYA, MOYA,MOYA!!!

what's this? Both Fed and Rafa are on the court and even Youz who is not even playing at this tourney is here. Why? why? Didn't realize that Moya was so popular among players.

Fed *this* is the right time to sob, sob!

Carlos still Good Eye Candy for me

Vamos Carlos!!!!!!!

well, let's see. Roddick, Fed, Rafa, Verdasco, Djoker, Youz, Melzer, Bryan bros. and even Muzz are on the court. But no Evil Sod. No Ferru. No Berdie.

left to get some work done, came back and it was over.

Congrats to Andy! and commies to Sod and his fans.

I'm off...hopefully will be back for Fed's match though! See y'all then!

Rafa your Hair is disgraceful ok

Needs some Hair product asap!

sf, Sod did look flat out there today, but I still don't think he should venture to the net as often. It's not a high-% tactic for him, and his poor approach shots don't help, either.

Anyway I hope he can get his Paris form back. He'll definite need it against Ferru, let alone Fed.

Now I def need a power nap. Later.

Who's criticising Rafa's hair? ;-)

yay Murray, sorry to Robin fans.

....here's a bit of troll bait

Second thought its needs a good cut.

AM: can get a stream to work. is Rafa's hair really that bad? as in worse then it was in the pics of the players the other day?

alright, out for a while.

parting shot: mandy's shirt looks like the sweater i gave to my granma for christmas last year. what a girlie man...'o)

Nice and emotional Rafa saying goodbye to Moya.

Rafa is speaking for Moya on the court. First in shaky English in a couple sentences and now in Spanish. Stop moving around and fidgeting. Rafa. Geez. Stand still.

edit: should read "caN'T get a stream to work"

AM Fed needs to loan his moisturizer and conditioner!

just horsen Rafa needs a hair cut ASAP

Its worse than the pics in my opinion lol!

Are Fed's eyes wet! They are wet! Ha!

temes Verdasco is here remember he can borrow his Hair gel

Though Rogers conditioner would help lol!

I bet my English pal, Alyson, will now be sobbing her heart out ... she worshipped Moya.

np, before i go, yes, the net is not my man's forte. but i thought he'd improved - example paris, last week. maybe it's because this court plays slower, it allowed the defensive-minded murray to return the approach shots better, leaving sod with little to work with once the return dropped at his feet. oh well... i hope magnus has some medicine for this ailment before next match. against whom, again?

Fed. Pay attention. That's you in 4-5 years. oh ha.

AM: wow...'cause it was pretty awful in those pics! Hopefully, somebody will convince him to get a haircut this week.

Murray, the mystery man, has answered the questions and taken revenge on Soderling who recently took the world's number 4 spot away from him. After beating Soderling today Murray has a favorable 3-2 life time match edge on him.

Most importantly, by winning in straight sets Murray has, in all probability, booked his ticket to the semis, while at the same time making sure Soderling does not make it through. Barring an unforeseen result, like Ferrer winning a match, Soderling is now forced to beat both Federer and Ferrer. On the other hand, by simply beating Ferrer, Murray would make it through.

Welcome back Andy. Keep on playing the round Robin (pun intended)...

Moya made the "tee singlet" work

Sniff!

on another note though, I like Muzz's new shirt.

really going now. :)

Rafa was teary there. Do not want Rafa to cut his hair any shorter.

Rafa is now signing auto graphs

Rafa you need to see a hair dresser ASAP get off the court

Let's see. Maybe we will see these retirement celemonies at YEC

2011: Hewitt
2012: Ferrero
2014: old man Fed??

I think the wild wolf boy hair worked well for Rafa...he should return to that.

2013: Roddick

Well, congratulations to Moya fans. Nice touch - not quite as many tears as there were in Doha, the best efforts of the Swiss notwithstanding....

GB Rafa needs a trim or something?

He needs a proper "style cut"

AM, Rafa's hair just isn't controllable. He recently got a haircut and it's already flyaway -- it's just that kind of hair. Poor him.

How come they had way more players for Moya then Safin last year? I find that interesting. Maybe Moya has gathered more respect among fellow players than party-boy Safin.

Kristy I am afraid Rafa will have to turn to Gel to keep his fine fly away hair in control.

I don't know about a hair cut, but a least he should get some deep conditioner.

People, relax. Rafa's was due to what we call "hat hair". I bet he took off a wool hat off just before he went off to the court. Rookie mistake. Nobody, I mean nobody can get way with "hat hair"!

Nice tribute to Moya, even without the satellite interview with Flavia. (no you didn't!)

I would like to second another poster's suggestion (sorry, I forget who) that Gauloises be given an interview with Judy Murray. Please?

AM: He needs to condition, and a lot! But he's just had a cut! And, I'll take today's hair over a slicked backed,gel disaster any day. Rafa and crazy hair go together, IMO

Gel might work for Rafa's hair but I agree w/ temes -- he should grow it out again. It doesn't take a good shape so short.

Or maybe he should go Andy R's route and always have a cap on. ):

So Murray won. Well played, problem is, he can't go through a tournament, particularly a best of 5 grand slam, successfully playing such a reactive style. Until he pulls it off, if he ever does.

GB I liked the photos that Tic showed on the other post with his hair off his face.Actually I prefer his hair when it was longer circa 2005 lol!

Rafa does NOT need to cut his hair, he needs to grow it out more and return to what made us love him. Short hair on him makes him look way too civilised and Federerish.

Old man Fed/Puny Server Rafa fan "How come they had way more players for Moya then Safin last year? I find that interesting. Maybe Moya has gathered more respect among fellow players than party-boy Safin."

Talk about making conclusions where there are none. How do you come up with some of this stuff?

Also he was standing next to Roger when I noticed his hair lol!

Roger does have the best Hair in Tennis.

Kombo, I think Murray played very canny tennis today, not purely reactive. He hit balls deep, got Sod out of position, then hit winners. Is that not a winning style?

Yep I loved Rafa when his hair was longer and he wore singlets too.

AM: I think Rafa's features look best with hair framing the face. I really flove him with long hair.

What a gloomy WTF; ballboys, players, everyone in black. (Perhaps Ferru will be in gray?) . And the court is Sooo Slow.

GB I think the longer hair days are over with Rafa.I agree with you though I prefer him with longer hair and the bandana he used to wear with it and the singlets too.

Rafa said he liked the court surface but didnt like the bounce of the court though.

I'm late to the discussion but I watched the match. It didn't live up to the hype. Very boring, Soderling was poor and Murray was a little better. Too defensive for my liking. Murray was a little over-exuberant with celebration but at this stage +200 points he's back at No. 4, for the moment.

wilson75 Robbie and Jason were all talk about Robin when this match first started? then they tended to quieten down when he started soo poorly.

AM: As usual, the player that wins the last tournament before a big event gets over-hyped. I thought Soderling would win today and even reach the SF but after what I've seen today, I don't think he win a match.

wilson75 Robin was doing a lot of heavy breathing in this match? Murray was controlling the baseline though.Maybe tiredness was a factor.Though he was out played by Murray today.

Wait till Rafa is 26 he will start wearing collar shirts on court.

temes LOL! I hope not.I dont think Rafa could pull off that look quite frankly.

AM: No excuses, Robin wasn't tired, he just played bad.

temes: scary to think he's not far from 26! I thought he looked good in the collared yellow shirt at last years USO, though. Not his best outfit, but far from the worst *hello IW outfit*

Didn't Rafa already have a collared-shirt period?

I guess I missed the Moya send-off, but I'm hoping everything's on ESPN3.

Just got here, off to check.

GB yes it feels like yesterday he was 18-19 jeez time goes by fast sometimes lol.

wilson75: agree there's a chance Sod might not win a match. I never saw him beating Fed and Ferru did beat him recently in Valencia. *really don't want Ferru to go winless here*

wilson75 Agree.Though the commies brought that up in conversation? lol!

Look I think Robin deserved to win the Masters in Bercy though that dosent make him a potential GS winner in my eyes or future no 1 player as some commies have been saying.

GB: I think Ferru has a very good chance against Soderling and Murray.

Yes Rafa already had a collar period...my oh my the boy has been corrupted by Federer! lol

oops Tina he did have a collared moment

Though if I Ever see him in those disgraceful brown/greeny jungle printed wallpaper shorts again I will Die!

temes Just keep Roger away from Rafa ok.This has got to stop ASAP

Funny thing, though, is that Fed himself also wants the old Rafa look back! I remember reading somewhere that he thought having the huge visual contrast was a good thing.

GB My hubby still thinks Rafa has turned Gay when his new look came in by those idoits at Nike in 2009 lol!

I thought Murray played very well in the first set and not so well in the second - his serve percentage went right down and I guess he finds it harder to dictate if he's not serving well. That said he employed some clever play in bringing Robin forward at times and I thought his defence was pretty decent throughout.

Soderling took a long time to warm up & wasn't as dominant on serve as he can be, and it seemed to me that when he did start playing better, in the second set, when he was returning better and cracking some huge forehands, he just couldn't take his opportunities, or make his opportunities big enough. I'd also say that Murray won the mental battle holding at 2-3 down for 3-all. I didn't get the feeling that Soderling ever gave up on the fight, but he did get a little frustrated with himself at times.

GB I think Fed just wants to be fabulous and chic all by himself...I can't imagine what he'd do if Anna Wintour watched Rafa's matches!

temes LOL!

LOL temes!

wilson75: I don't know about Ferru beating Muzz on a British h/court. Besides, I want Muzz to advance:)

GB: Ferru has good record against Murray and if it's true that the court is playing slow he has a good chance to beat him. We'll see what happens.

Don't worry, when Rafa wins the YEC it will be magically transformed into mythic status!.... :)

Good morning. Robin got rounded (bad round robin pun).

What time Fed starts? 8pm London right? So 3 EST? And Tennis Channel is showing right? Please confirm. Graci. Gracias. Merci.

TripleF, Federer and Ferrer match is scheduled for 6:00 GMT, so 1:00 EST

TripleF, yes, it is 3pm est on The Tennis Channel.

moen faucets speaks the truth on why his fans fell for Rafa...hair! lol well, biceps sweat fist pumps and hair ... but i think that last one is making a fast exit, no?

so much for the Sod Express, none of these guys can keep it up for more than a week or two at a time ....

my bad... Lukas Dlouhy / Leander Paes v Mariusz Fyrstenberg / Marcin Matkowski at 6, with the other singles match to follow at 8, so 3:00 EST.

Doubles play first @ 1pm. But singles won't start till 3pm at least.

and while I'm apologizing, may I please retract the mention of Flavia Pennetta in the context of the tribute to Carlos Moya? Not my style... :-) I'm new to all this and hit post before I had a chance to self-censor. Darn this newfangled interweb contraption...

Holds 2 Love don't apologize! That was very funny! LOL I myself could use some self censor but my philosophy on the internets is that if the unacceptable thought made itself into written form then it's good to go just hit post button lol.

manel, 6:16.

Lucky for you that you were able to see Smith-Nastase in 1972, in Barcelona.

As you probably know, those two had already played some very important matches, including the five-set 1972 Wimbledon finals and a rubber in the 1972 Davis Cup finals tie in Bucharest.

In that tie, as you probably know, Nastase, Tiriac, and the Romanian tennis authorities tried to blatantly cheat their way to victory--and failed. Lots of outrage over the behavior of the Romanians lingers on this side of the Atlantic.

Hola, all. Just catching up on comments.

Holds2Love, I mentioned (maybe not the only one) that I would LOVE for Gauloises to interview Judy Murray.

Have to say, I just loved the Bryan Bros. videos. Great feel for "behind the scenes" - and thanks to whoever posted that pic of the lone Robbie Federer in the stands (priceless!)

Great to see Murray get the win. (I vote "nay" on the argyle shirt, tho')

thanks, temes. and speaking of tributes to Moya, during one of the tournaments (Wimbledon?) a couple of years ago, a television reporter went around asking several ATP players a list of questions, to which they could give one-word or very brief answers, IIRC. To the question, "who is the worst-dressed player on the men's tour?" Nadal answered without hesitation, "Moya."

yes Colette, that was you. great idea!

LOL Holds 2 Love. Rafa and Moya seem to love teasing each other.

Part of what Rafa said during the ceremony ( http://tinyurl.com/22tbzq5 ):

It's a sad day for me because I'm saying goodbye to a friend and tennis is saying goodbye to a great ambassador,"
"He was the first Spaniard to be number one and he helped me a lot when I was a young player. I've missed him a lot this last year when he's not been on the circuit."

And Moya's later comment on Rafa:

"Maybe I said a thousand times, but the same way I helped him, I think he helped me," Moya said. "When he was 13 or 14 we were practising together. I was near the top 10 and sometimes he was beating me during the practice.
"That made me think, that made me improve and evolve. You see a kid like this kicking your ass so you try to avoid that. So he made me improve and made me more positive."

NP, 9:13.

I agree that Roland Garros, from 1977-1989, experienced some notable absences, such as Borg, that one year and Connors for several years, I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if certain top players, such as Roscoe Tanner, who were much better on fast surfaces than on clay, often skipped Roland Garros.

However, I wouldn't agree (and I don't believe that you are arguing) that, generally, for this time period, the YECs were considered more important than Roland Garros--especially in Europe--which, last time I checked, constituted and still constitutes a significant segment of the tennis fan population.

fre$king great. The 250 tourney organizers won the battle.

http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news?slug=ap-atp-offseasonextended

ATP is extending 2 extra weeks instead of 3. Basically going back to how it used to be about 4 years ago. If any of you remember, the small tourney organizers were pushing all their mights to push for 2 instead of 3. We will see how they decided on exo rules for top 30 and one 250 tourney requirement post US open thingy, which those guys also pushed hard. The politics as usual everywhere.

thanks for the link, GB. love Moya's comment about the motivational value of having your elite tennis playing ass kicked by a kid. :-)

I bet ATP probably granted that 250 requirement. So my guess is that starting 2012, all top players will have to play all 4 majors+9 masters+3 500+1 250. This is so stupid. Mandating all over. It's take it or pay the hefty fine and point penalty. Poor Fedal. They are killing Fedal's tennis lifespan with all these mandates.

Robin wasn't there today. What was he thinking with those net approaches?
Congratulations to Murray and fans. Commisserations to Robin and fans. Two more chances and then the calculations start for the SF's

Teary adieu to Carlos Moya from me and my friend. We left the alpha species at home. And I'm not talking about the dogs this time.

"I must be strong and try to pass many balls". ****ouch!**** ;-)

g-day everyone. Not so surprised that Muzz was able to handle Robin. I think Robin might a bit emotionally spent after his historic, (for his career), win in Bercy. Still, Muzz played well, and full credit to him. Good serving when it counted most.

Two nice pictures:

http://yfrog.com/nfrdgyj

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0bWKgub6EQ29n?q=nadal

I'm off for the evening, see you all later. :)

Seems like Sod benefited from the court conditions in Bercy, but maybe not so much on the slower-than-Bercy O2.

CL,
That's David for you. Candid to a fault. And adorable. I hope he wins some matches this WTF but not tonight. :)

By the way do you know if Tim Henman was commenting for the BBC?
My friend and I were watching the match but half listening to the commentators. I heard one of them saying that he had won a tie-break against Roger during practice,(what else is new?)
Another one, I think Tim, was saying that the indoor courts (including also the O2-court) were now really slow in comparison with when he was competing.