*Official* Tennis Thread

[Jono]

Simon, what were your thoughts on Berdych's tournament in Brisbane? Same old same old from him, or do you think he can take his game to another level.

Also at Robredo coming back and beating Murray. Which I kept watching!

And finally, hope Henin can get up over Clijsters. She was paying 2.30 and I jumped on. Will make up for what I lost on Federer last night.

 

[Jono]

Henin is broken by Clijsters after being a break up in the 3rd.

She's then broken again serving for the match.

What a surprise

 

[Simon]

Simon, what were your thoughts on Berdych's tournament in Brisbane? Same old same old from him, or do you think he can take his game to another level.

Also at Robredo coming back and beating Murray. Which I kept watching!

And finally, hope Henin can get up over Clijsters. She was paying 2.30 and I jumped on. Will make up for what I lost on Federer last night.

Yeh hard to say with Berdych, he's still like a young Gonzalez can put in great performances but to expect 4-7 matches in a row consistently without throwing in a capitulation from him is a big ask.

Who knows though, new year could mean new player. He has the game to match it with the best but unless he improves consistentcy he'll remain where he is in the rankings.

 

[Jono]

Break Henin!

2 match points.

Take it.

Btw its annoying that Channel 7 can't even show a tennis tournament in Australia live on TV. ****ing hell.

 

[Jono]

Yeh hard to say with Berdych, he's still like a young Gonzalez can put in great performances but to expect 4-7 matches in a row consistently without throwing in a capitulation from him is a big ask.

Who knows though, new year could mean new player. He has the game to match it with the best but unless he improves consistentcy he'll remain where he is in the rankings.

His match against Baghdatis was amazing, and he held strong against Belluci who was playing well, so that was encouraging.

But he should have beat Roddick today. A-Rod wasn't playing well, and mentally wasn't in a good place. Yet he still lost.

Hard to see him making the top 10 unless he gets these wins.

 

[Jono]

Clijsters saves 2 match points.

Argh.

 

[Simon]

Didnt see today but from what ive read about the game those are definitely matches he has to win when in that situation.

 

[grecian]

Dont get all the Robson love tbh, hard to turn off the match yesterday as Peter Wilkins was blowing his load over her, every time she hits a winner or gets back a serve from the male player he goes off his chops.
Sure she might be a good player one day but right now she's pretty average and it's not like teen prodigies are a new thing in womens tennis even if she was one.

Hey she just got a massive win against someone ranked over 200 places over her. Reason for some hype surely. Shame the sweaty let her down.

 

[Simon]

Hey she just got a massive win against someone ranked over 200 places over her. Reason for some hype surely. Shame the sweaty let her down.

Didn't see anything that happened today, was judging more on what i saw from yesterday and before.

 

[Jono]

Choke city in the Brisbane women's final!

Both players pissing away leads. Am going to have to watch this match on delay.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Break Henin!

2 match points.

Take it.

Btw its annoying that Channel 7 can't even show a tennis tournament in Australia live on TV. ****ing hell.

Get used to it. Fox don't have the rights to anything this year.

Which means all we'll get in the first week is Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Williamses, Belgians and Aussies. Oh, and super slomo replays.

 

[Jono]

Lol I just looked at my betting account and I backed Henin but laid against her twice, because I forgot I did it the first time.

My disgraceful incompetence resulted in my winning $50. Fair to say I don't deserve that money at all.

Get used to it. Fox don't have the rights to anything this year.

Which means all we'll get in the first week is Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Williamses, Belgians and Aussies. Oh, and super slomo replays.

Dear God

 

[Johnners]

Justine

 

[Jono]

Was reading Tennis Insight. A contributor suggested that Federer lost to Davydenko on purpose so he wouldn't have to face Rafa before the Aust Open.

Makes sense

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Man, I thought Big Footy was bad when it came to football talk, but it pales in comparison to MTF.

 

[Uppercut]

Come on Uppercut that's an awful analogy. If Henin had the exact same number of (or more) Slams, had won Wimbledon, had at one stage held every Slam, and had a solid head to head record against Serena on most surfaces, then maybe your analogy would make sense.

Sachin has scored the most test runs ever, the most ODI runs ever, the most test centuries ever, the most ODI centuries ever, started when he was 16 and has been playing for 20 years.

Not even similar at all.

I hate it when they call Henin the female Federer. GTFO, Federer has won Wimbledon 6 times. Henin has 0.

Haha I was only baiting .

I don't think that's what people mean when they call her the female Federer. It's more to do with their particular styles than their achievements.

 

[Jono]

Man, I thought Big Footy was bad when it came to football talk, but it pales in comparison to MTF.

Yeah it's seriously bad. Couldn't handle posting there.

 

[Jono]

Haha I was only baiting .

I don't think that's what people mean when they call her the female Federer. It's more to do with their particular styles than their achievements.

Lol, smart arse.

 

[Dydl]

What a great match, gutted Henin lost after those two match points; would have been an awesome way to return to tennis. But great match. She's looking good already.

Federer comparisons mainly based on style, and their single-handed backhands, I would imagine.

There's been hype about Laura Robson all week, but she was still losing her singles matches and 'holding up her end,' as the commentators said, in the mixed. Now that she's played very, very well against somehow who hadn't dropped a set all week and is ranked 20-something in the world... there will be more gushing commentators.

Half the reason the commentators love her is because she's Aussie-born...

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Tell me exactly what Serena has failed to achieve in her career. I'm not saying she's better than Stefi Graf, I'm saying she's better than Henin, who is a top player, but is no Sernea. Hasn't done many things that Serena is done. Oh but she has a one hand backhand, is small, and doesn't say much. So she's therefore better?

Why if Henin has underachieved does that mean Serena has also been a career underachiever? You didn't provide any argument for why that is the case. And even if she has, she's still done more than Henin.

And also, who is this weaker competition that Serena has beat? Henin played in the same damn era!

You're the one who keeps on going on about Wimbledon like it's the be all and end all of tennis. If Henin is a failure for never winning Wimbledon, then Serena is an underachiever for not having anywhere near the same drive as other top players and never truly dominating the sport outside of 2002-03. What has Serena done since 2003 that's been so impressive? Showed up and won some slams? Held the World No.1 for a couple of weeks at a time? Lost at 19 Grand Slam events?

At her peak, Henin was better than Serena. She had the Grand Slams and World No.1 to prove it. Claiming otherwise is like saying Nadal wasn't better than Federer during his time as No.1. Let's not forget that when Henin retired, Serena only had one more Grand Slam than Henin and 2008-09 were not vintage years for women's tennis.