Author Topic: The tennis...  (Read 84819 times)

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #475 on: 14 July, 2018, 12:55:05 am »
That kind of tennis is dull. I had a friend there this afternoon and he said it really spoilt what he thought was going to be the fun of watching the men's semi finals.

It's an awful attritional contest just to see who is going to lose to Djokovic/Nadal. Big serving nonsense like that cannot compete with players who can actually play ground strokes.

Not sure what the answer is. Either tie-breaks at 6-6 in the fifth set or maybe at 12-12. Letting it go on like that and the players have little incentive to do anything in their non-service games.
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mattc

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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #476 on: 14 July, 2018, 07:54:57 am »
That kind of tennis is dull. I had a friend there this afternoon and he said it really spoilt what he thought was going to be the fun of watching the men's semi finals.

It's an awful attritional contest just to see who is going to lose to Djokovic/Nadal. Big serving nonsense like that cannot compete with players who can actually play ground strokes.

Not sure what the answer is. Either tie-breaks at 6-6 in the fifth set or maybe at 12-12. Letting it go on like that and the players have little incentive to do anything in their non-service games.
I do agree with the bold.  (6 hours is too long for a spectator sport. I'm not surprised your mate didn't enjoy himself. Perhaps extra-time then penalties is the answer? No? ... )

But you're a bit harsh on these 2 players; I watched some of the first 3* sets, and they were really going for their shots. The rallies were good entertainment. And a nice mix of serve-volley in there, which is really what makes Wimmbly-don unique, so hoorah! Then again, perhaps set 5 wasn't at the same level. :/


*Luckily I chose to watch Le Tour finish and go to bed; I had no idea the tennis would be a 6-hour epic :O
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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #477 on: 14 July, 2018, 11:39:19 am »
One of them defeated Federer to get there. He can play ground strokes. Perhaps age has caught up with him though.

It is the wrong way to decide the match since it hands a huge advantage to their next round opponent. Final set tie break is perhaps the way to go. It would focus the mind on avoiding getting to that scenario.

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #478 on: 14 July, 2018, 11:50:47 am »
That kind of tennis is dull. I had a friend there this afternoon and he said it really spoilt what he thought was going to be the fun of watching the men's semi finals.

It's an awful attritional contest just to see who is going to lose to Djokovic/Nadal. Big serving nonsense like that cannot compete with players who can actually play ground strokes.

Not sure what the answer is. Either tie-breaks at 6-6 in the fifth set or maybe at 12-12. Letting it go on like that and the players have little incentive to do anything in their non-service games.

I didn't see much of Isner v Anderson, but there was some good play/rallies in the earlier sets - no doubt Wimbledon will bring in a 5th set tie break.  Anderson did put out Federer, so I think who ever plays him in the final will not find it plain sailing.  Was impressed by Anderson's post match interview.  Some fantastic tennis in Djokovic/Nadal last night - good to see Djokovic is back.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #479 on: 14 July, 2018, 08:08:30 pm »
Well done Kerber, great result.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #480 on: 15 July, 2018, 06:48:50 am »
Well done Kerber, great result.
Not for those who wanted Serena Williams to win.

Wowbagger

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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #481 on: 15 July, 2018, 08:48:49 am »
Well done Kerber, great result.
Not for those who wanted Serena Williams to win.

One would assume that Kerber, for whom it was a great result, wasn’t one of them.  :P
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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #482 on: 27 August, 2018, 08:18:08 pm »
US Open.

Good to see Murray back playing (v Duckworth).  Stadium looks half empty.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Jaded

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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #483 on: 27 August, 2018, 08:20:16 pm »
The stadium is usually half empty at the US Open, in my experience!
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #484 on: 28 August, 2018, 08:09:56 am »
Well done to Andy and to Cam Norrie.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #485 on: 08 September, 2018, 10:44:26 pm »
Well done Naomi Osaka  :thumbsup:
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #486 on: 08 September, 2018, 11:43:59 pm »
All things considered, deserving winner.

Unfortunately, it's going to be the "all things considered" (i.e. Serena's meltdown and penalty) taking up more bandwidth - when was the last time a player was docked an entire game for being a raging arse? :facepalm:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/45462014
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Freidrich Neitzsche

rogerzilla

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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #487 on: 09 September, 2018, 07:33:32 am »
I think Serena pissed on her chips there.  She might have won without all the penalties.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #488 on: 09 September, 2018, 12:02:11 pm »
Oo er.  Whether Serena wanted to receive the hand signals or not, her coach apparently admitted the gestures were 'coaching'.  Interestingly Kyrgios, earlier in US open, was supposedly given a 'pep talk' by the umpire himself.  So a clear protest then leave it and move on, yes,  but calling the umpire a 'liar' and a 'thief', was always likely to end badly.    As for whether a male player would have received the same level of penalty as Serena, or whther BJK is correct in her assessment..?  Maybe a soft warning 'repeat that and you will get a game penalty' may have been better for the match/occasion of the women's final.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Wowbagger

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Quote from: Dez
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Jaded

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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #490 on: 10 September, 2018, 12:55:39 pm »
The comments make better points than the article.

As for upbringings with a bit of difficulty, “Her Japanese grandfather was furious when he found out that her mother was romantically involved with a black man. As a result of the interracial relationship, her mother did not have contact with her family for over 10 years.”

There was a black player the other side of the net, who wasn’t on Serena's radar when she had her entitlement rant.
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #491 on: 10 September, 2018, 01:11:03 pm »
Serena is a bully.

She is using her position within the world and her sport to push what she sees as right and no one is allowed to stand in her way. She has been bullied in the past, without any doubt she has been victim of racial abuse and sexist comments. It is no excuse for her actions on Saturday which brought the sport into disrepute. Apparently we are all supposed to think Serena Williams is an angel who can do no wrong. Becoming a bully because you were bullied is the worst possible reaction to such treatment.

She was receiving coaching instructions. Her coach said that's exactly what he was doing and yet no-one is banning him from the players box (at least not yet). So what if she didn't see it? Saying everyone else does it is also no excuse - see drugs in cycling etc. - Apparently we no longer have to take responsibility for our own actions or those of the people around us because of our reputation and if we shout loud enough.

There are better ways to promote women's rights than shouting at someone when you are losing a sporting contest.

Duct tape is magic and should be worshipped

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #492 on: 10 September, 2018, 02:53:34 pm »
It's clear that Serena has been on the end of a significant amount of discrimination over the years she has been in tennis (and before). As a woman and as a black person.
I believe that the announcement from Roland Garros about her not being allowed to wear the clothing she wore this year (to protect herself from medical difficulties as a result of her C section)is an example of her being discriminated against.
Likewise, her losing her ranking points because of pregnancy (she would have kept them if injured) is a failure of the tour.
There are also many clear examples of other woman tennis players being discriminated against, eg the penalty given to the woman who switched the top around on court because it was back to front.

However, there are times when Serena (as with everyone else) is in the wrong, and when she cries discrimination at those times, it undermines her argument.
It feels a little like in fighting agains tthe discrimination she has received, she sometimes views legitimate rules as just another thing that is attacking her.
This umpire followed the rules correctly. He could have turned a blind eye, he could have bent the rules due to the situation and the person, but that is bad law, and he has a record of applying the letter of it. He has warned Murray for saying "Stupid umpiring" for example (and that's way less important than calling him a thief and a liar). Serena should not have destroyed her raquet when she had already received a warning, and she should not have called him a thief. Many football referees are guilty of reffing the context rather than the game in front of them, and it is bad for the game (the most common example is that if you commit a red card challenge in the first few minutes you are enormously unlikely to get sent off). I give credit to the umpire in this case for applying the rules, rather than letting it go because it's a final (or because it's Serena).
Serena has also complained about the application of drug testing protocol before, in particular when a tester turned up at her house and she went into her panic room and refused to do the test. Somehow, that ended up being a whereabouts failure rather than a refusal (which carries an automatic ban). She then claimed that the frequency of her out of competition tests were discrimination, when the rules are explicit increasing frequency on an athlete who has been out of competition for an extended period and then returns (especially in cases where prior biological passport values are now no longer usable.

In both these cases, she has used her clout as a superstar to get the people at the top of the relevant organisation to back her (the tournament organiser, and the head of USADA), and to get the people who were applying the rules into trouble, rather than doing anything about the rules that were being applied.

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #493 on: 02 January, 2019, 04:10:35 pm »
Hmm, not a stellar outing for the Brits in Brisbane this morning.  :-\
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #494 on: 11 January, 2019, 07:57:03 am »
GN: Cameron Norrie is into the final at Auckland  :D

BN: Andy Murray has announced the inevitable  :'(  That'll no doubt please Virginia Wade.

And a class tweet from the Olympic finalist Juan Martin del Potro

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Andy, just watched your conference. Please don’t stop trying. Keep fighting. I can imagine your pain and sadness. I hope you can overcome this. You deserve to retire on your own terms, whenever that happens. We love you @andy_murray and we want to see you happy and doing well. 🙏
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #495 on: 14 January, 2019, 12:07:49 pm »
Bugger.  But what a way to go out. Chapeau Andrew Barron Murray.

ETA Having listened to the post match speech, I think he might just go for the resurfacing option and try again.  :D
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #496 on: 14 January, 2019, 09:28:37 pm »
Utter class.  Holding his serve at 1-5 in the fifth was pure steel.

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #497 on: 04 June, 2019, 01:45:19 pm »
Jo Konta off to a promising start against Sloane Stephens...

Jaded

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Re: The tennis...
« Reply #498 on: 04 June, 2019, 02:21:10 pm »
...it carried on.
It is simpler than it looks.

simonp

Re: The tennis...
« Reply #499 on: 22 June, 2019, 09:01:11 pm »
I expected Murray/López to lose in the first round at Queen’s. They faced the top seeds.

They’re in the final tomorrow. Amazing.