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The official US OPEN 2009 (tennis) thread
- Thread starter Peru
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First off, you guys must have seen me ranting about Maria Kirilenko earlier in the thread and decided to make me jealous. Mission accomplished.
Second, I'll be watching Rutgers vs Cincinnati, so alert me if Robredo does something other than wilt.
Lastly,
you've gone too far. But luckily it let's me ignore my first user.
Second, I'll be watching Rutgers vs Cincinnati, so alert me if Robredo does something other than wilt.
Lastly,
agrajag said:
you've gone too far. But luckily it let's me ignore my first user.
Oudin has beaten 3 good players in this tourney, make up all the excuses you want, but she plays smart. Something that Sharapova, Dementieva, and Petrova know little to nothing about. Oudin is having her moment, why that needs to be hated on by negative assholes is beyond me, but good on ya mate!
Jay Sosa said:
Dementieva is good, but primarily a backboard known to not come through when she's expected to. Sharapova just kills every single ball she hits, which works against many WTA players, but unfortunately doesn't work when she gets overpowered or outsmarted. Oudin beat both of them by being steady, mixing it up, and by hitting winners when they were readily available. She's a breath of fresh air for the simple fact that at least for this tournament she's showing a sense of intelligence and variety. Something lacking heavily in the current WTA tour.
SolidSnakex
Member
James Blake should be kind of happy right now. If he's gone up against this Federer he would've been bageled several times. Dude is so on today that he actually stopped a point to challenge a call and got it right. FEDERER GOT A CHALLENGE RIGHT!
avaya said:
Having 3 slams doesn't mean much, Kuznetsova has 2 and she was never as highly regarded as Sharapova. Sharapova's time has more than likely come and gone, and her mindless bashing got her some slam titles, but would never allow her to be a "great" player. Game set and match Oudin bottom line.
Oh it's grand slam time again!
1.) Women's tennis is a joke. It's sad that men in the 1000's even through 1500 and unranked who would destroy them receive little to no recognition or prize money, yet these women receive equal pay and sometimes more coverage than men at the top of the game.
2.) Blake wasn't upset. Blake is an inconsistent fool on the tennis court. For someone who went to Harvard, he's pretty fucking stupid on the court. Not to say he isn't talented. He just can't string enough wins together with his "strategy".
3.) Murray. I hope someone knocks him out soon. Personality, face, etc.
1.) Women's tennis is a joke. It's sad that men in the 1000's even through 1500 and unranked who would destroy them receive little to no recognition or prize money, yet these women receive equal pay and sometimes more coverage than men at the top of the game.
2.) Blake wasn't upset. Blake is an inconsistent fool on the tennis court. For someone who went to Harvard, he's pretty fucking stupid on the court. Not to say he isn't talented. He just can't string enough wins together with his "strategy".
3.) Murray. I hope someone knocks him out soon. Personality, face, etc.
Speevy said:
Well, and if Serena plays Clijsters you will SEE her play differently than the early rounds of smash and crash, you can bet your bottom dollar when Clijsters is offensive Serena will play defense and play steady to win. Against lower ranked opponents she can bash because she has that serve to get free points with. I'd like to see Clijsters beat her as well, she's a little bit of a throwback because she actually thinks a little bit on court...ala Henin.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
Cheez-It said:
That is true for pretty much all sports, though. With that logic you could pretty much remove most of women's events from the Olympics.
I wouldn't call it a point of view. You might enjoy watching women play more, but I prefer watching better players. That men are better is a fact, not a point of view.Sports were invented for their entertainment value. Entertainment is subjective, but its worth is objectively represented in market value. No one cares about women's soccer, a lot of people care about women's tennis, and are entertained by their matches. They're not building roads, there's no concrete or moral right or wrong as to who gets paid what.
Well we agree to disagree, the only major flaw I see in Marias game(again:when shes completly healthy) is that she has to come to the net more often. Off course she got nothing on Henin or Hingis but who has. And I agree what I saw so far from Oudin shows a lot of court intelligence for such a young girl and I also agree that we need more of that.
Compared to Serena or Venus Maria is a tennis genius..(Ok. Venus ain't that bad just sometimes too inconsistent, at least she knows how to hit a volley)
OT: Ha, I knew Tony Pike is a beast (He already showed a lot of promise last year, just hope he stays healthy)!
EDIT: Womens tennis can be awesome, Steffi Graf and Hingis/Henin (as much as I despise them) played some of the best matches in this sport period. It just was a bit dull and to much emphasiswas put on powertennis since Henin retired but it seems that it's getting better.
And I only liked one mens match (Roddick-Isner and that just because it was kinda epic and Isner hit some unbelievable winners) so far, while all of the Oudin matches were pretty entertaining.
Compared to Serena or Venus Maria is a tennis genius..(Ok. Venus ain't that bad just sometimes too inconsistent, at least she knows how to hit a volley)
OT: Ha, I knew Tony Pike is a beast (He already showed a lot of promise last year, just hope he stays healthy)!
EDIT: Womens tennis can be awesome, Steffi Graf and Hingis/Henin (as much as I despise them) played some of the best matches in this sport period. It just was a bit dull and to much emphasiswas put on powertennis since Henin retired but it seems that it's getting better.
And I only liked one mens match (Roddick-Isner and that just because it was kinda epic and Isner hit some unbelievable winners) so far, while all of the Oudin matches were pretty entertaining.
SolidSnakex
Member
It was only a few years ago that women's tennis was seen as being more entertaining than men's tennis. The problem is that women's tennis is in a slump now. There's no consistency there outside of Serena (and she's rough sometimes). It needs more players playing at a high level on a consistent basis.
Peru said:
Well, and some watch for entertainment, and MANY watch for quality. I won't even watch most WTA matches if they feature bashers. That's why Oudin is a fresh breath of air, the WTA pretty much died for me when Henin and Clijsters hung it up. Now that Clijsters is back, Oudin is showing variety, and a possible Henin return I'm actually slightly interested again.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
Cheez-It said:
I don't see any, because only event of those (men's or women's) that even air in my country is Golf. Which goes to show that it's not the level of skill, it's popularity. Women's tennis gets the coverage because it has the interest.
SolidSnakex
Member
Speevy said:
That's because Murray is boring.
Speevy said:
Which I understand, I think the current WTA tour appeals to more of a casual fan that like the unpredictability of it. Nothing wrong with that at all, and a few years ago it was true that the WTA tour was getting more attention than the ATP, but in recent years the men's game has come up again with new emerging stars while the WTA has struggled to produce consistant winners. The Williams sisters aren't young anymore, I'd be curious how long they'll continue to play, once they retire unless some new dominant players take stage the WTA will be parity central.
unomas said:
Sharapova has won 3 slams quite convincingly and not by fluke. Beating Serena and Henin in finals.
Injury has likely finished her career at 22, she would have likely won a few more slams. The ground game is still there through her bashing which she is particularly good at. Winning Wimbledon aged 17 is not something that is easily forgotten in terms of sporting achievement.
Bashing or no bashing is a matter of preference. Hitting the ball that hard to win points still requires accuracy. It requires a lot of skill + physical ability. She is a basher. Nearly everyone has been forced into being a basher since the Williams sisters moved the women's game on in terms of athleticism.
Players with smaller frames are forced into playing differently and "creatively" because they do not have natural physical advantages that come from a bigger frame. You said you were a tennis coach, so you don't need me to tell you this. This does not make them inherently better or more creative. They have to play taht way because they can not win the physical game.
There is actually very little difference between Serena and Sharapova's games when it comes to approach. Just watching a full season of tennis outside of the slams makes it evident. The only difference is that Serena is more in control of her emotions.
Going round in circles. Sharapova was better than merely a good player and saying otherwise is a huge diservice to her. Her time is over due to injury.
Jankovic was scathing about Oudin after Wimbledon and the girl has done nothing different since then. Any player with a competent serve and a hint of mental steel will beat her comfortably.
But let it not detract from her moment in the limelight, she could only beat the players put in front of her and she did just that. I quite fancy her to reach the final where she will be thrashed by Serena.
I hope Nadal gets over the injury, should be a great match with Monfils.
avaya said:
I agree with some of your points, but there is a huge difference between Serena and Sharapova, one of them being that regardless of her injury Sharapova never had a serve anywhere near the quality of Serena's pre injury included.
Another is that her career is over at 22, I don't buy it, and Masha certainly doesn't buy it. She changed her service motion to accomodate the shoulder, and she's also going for WAY more on her second serve than she should be, leading to the high number of doubles per match. I could get into the technical points of her "new" serve and explain why it's blatantly flawed, but that's pointless.
Serena is also willing to add to her game, in this US Open in particular working on adding a drop shot as well as working on her slice backhand in the last few years. No offense to Maria, but I can't remember the last time she attempted a slice, I just can't. So her one dimension was good enough to gather some slam titles, but the current WTA is a reflection of the limitations of her style and lack of variety. It's not just because of a shoulder issue that she no longer stands above her peers, it's also because they all play darn near the exact style and that's why the outcomes sans Serena are so unpredictable.
Pre injury Serena destroyed her in the Aussie final 6-1, 6-2 as well I believe in 2007. Injury or not, I'm not seeing her being capable of beating Serena on a consistant basis when Serena has the advantage in every department.
As far as Oudin, does she have anything that particularly stands out at 17? Heart and mental capacity, those will go a long long way, or at least they have during this fortnight. It's hard for me to take anything Jankovic says seriously, her remarks were more scathing probably because she had just lost to Oudin. Either way a fresh face is a welcome thing, and not a bad thing.
And yes, Monfils/Nadal should be good with Monfils beating Nadal indoors earlier this year, but Monfils didn't play much this summer because of his injury problems. The question is will Monfils play aggressive enough to take advantage of the court speed. If not, Gonzo has a good chance if he makes it through the next round.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
Nihilism said:
They're on the same side of the draw. They can only meet in the Semi.
perfectchaos007
Member
First time in US open history that an American man hasn't made it into at least the quarterfinals. wow.
If it weren't for the Oudin story, that would make the headlines here.
If it weren't for the Oudin story, that would make the headlines here.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
perfectchaos007 said:
Your own turncoat betraying Roddick has cost you dearly.
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