The Tennis Thread

HesCalledDyer

In lieu of this weekend's Australian Open finals matches, figured I'd dedicate a thread to my third favorite sport.  Please feel free to discuss any and all things in the tennis world.

First thing I have to say is... Roger Federer.  At 36 years of age, he may be playing some of the best tennis of career.  Defeating Marin Cilic at yesterday's final, he won his 6th Australian Open and became the only men's player to win 20 career Grand Slams!  This coming right on the heels of winning the Hopman Cup for Team Switzerland earlier in the month.

Saturday's women's final saw Caroline Wozniacki winning her first Grand Slam tournament of her career, as she held off top-seeded Simona Halep in a 3-set match.  Nice to see her finally get over the hump.  Hopefully now that the pressure is off, she'll continue to show she's worthy of her #1 ranking.

David Cup first round is this weekend.  Serbia hosts the United States, Canada visits Croatia, Kazakhstan will host Switzerland, and Australia faces Germany among other matches.

tbergs

I absolutely love tennis. I think it's one of the most entertaining sports to watch and play. If I hadn't been in baseball as a kid, I would have played tennis. Now that I'm an adult, I make sure to play it with my kids all the time. It's a cheap sport to play and is a great work out.

The Jimmy Connors classic run at the US Open is what first got me hooked. I was always an Agassi fan and wasn't much for Sampras, but respected the man's talent. I loathed Federer when he first came on the scene, but have grown to admire and appreciate his greatness as a player and his sportsmanship. Now that we don't have TV, I don't watch as much tennis as I once did, but Wimbledon and the US Open are always my favorite tournaments. It'd be nice if the US men could get some great talent back on the courts, but we were spoiled for a long time and the women have held their own, at least the Williams have.

HesCalledDyer

Back in the 90's the US had so much talent.  The men's pool had Agassi, Sampras, Chang, Courier, Martin, Connors was still going, the Bryan brothers in doubles.  The women had Navratilova, Garrison, Davenport, Seles, Fernandez, Capriati when she wanted to be good, and of course the Williams sisters debuted near the end of the decade.

We've had what?  The Williams and Roddick since then.  Not a whole lot going on the last 2 decades.  Sock is currently ranked 8th in the world but he's not playing in the Davis Cup, so it's up to Querrey and Isner to hold the fort.  At least Serbia is Novak-less.

Speaking of Monica Seles... I suppose this year is the 25th anniversary of the stabbing incident.  Wow.

The one thing I really enjoy about tennis is (with few exceptions - looking at you, Nick Kyrgios) you never really root against anyone.  You just root for a great match and want to see awesome play!

timdwilli

No tiebreaker in the 5th has now ruined this tournament. Feel bad for Rafa and Joker...and whoever wins this will have nothing left 

HesCalledDyer

timdwilli said:

No tiebreaker in the 5th has now ruined this tournament. Feel bad for Rafa and Joker...and whoever wins this will have nothing left 

That's always been the rule in major tournaments.

timdwilli

HesCalledDyer said:

timdwilli said:

No tiebreaker in the 5th has now ruined this tournament. Feel bad for Rafa and Joker...and whoever wins this will have nothing left 

That's always been the rule in major tournaments.

Except the U.S. Open. I'm with Johnny Mac...gotta play a tiebreaker in the 5th, this is a disservice to all involved parties

HesCalledDyer

I love it.  I mean, I get both sides of the argument, but I love seeing two players dig deep into everything they have to fight for the victory.  You often see some of the best tennis being played in these extended 5th sets. A couple top-tier competitors tapping into their reserves instead of just rocketing the ball at every opportunity. The way I see it, what's not to keep a tiebreak from going 175-173?

tbergs

That's a great match right there with Isner and Anderson. They basically played an additional 4-5 sets, plus all the tiebreaks in the previous sets. INSANE. That's why I love tennis.

timdwilli

Love seeing Novak back on top of his game...sucks these guys have to finish tomorrow

tbergs

timdwilli said:

Love seeing Novak back on top of his game...sucks these guys have to finish tomorrow

Yeah, Novak is fun to watch. Suspended play is always a bummer because you lose the flow of the match. No telling what will happen when they pick it up tomorrow.

bootlegger10

Serena definitely did not have her best stuff today, but Kerber played well and hit some amazing shots.  She did not let anything past her.

Thoughts_Arrive

Damn, was hoping Serena would win so she could equal that homophobic redneck Margaret Court in terms of total grand slams won.

HesCalledDyer

She’ll get the record eventually.

Hope Anderson wins tomorrow. I can’t stand Djokovic. He’s one of like three tennis players I just don’t like.

Thoughts_Arrive

Djokovic is okay, he doesn't take himself too serious and clowns around, what's not to like?

Meltdown99

Tennis is a rather boring sport ... sure great athletes though.  The semi-final, over 6 hours long...

Thoughts_Arrive

Meltdown99 said:

Tennis is a rather boring sport ... sure great athletes though.  The semi-final, over 6 hours long...

More interesting than baseball. Now that is boring.

HesCalledDyer

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Meltdown99 said:

Tennis is a rather boring sport ... sure great athletes though.  The semi-final, over 6 hours long...

More interesting than baseball. Now that is boring.

Watch your mouth! 

Meltdown99

Baseball is a great game ...

Thoughts_Arrive

HesCalledDyer said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Meltdown99 said:

Tennis is a rather boring sport ... sure great athletes though.  The semi-final, over 6 hours long...

More interesting than baseball. Now that is boring.

Watch your mouth! 

haha

bootlegger10

Meltdown99 said:

Tennis is a rather boring sport ... sure great athletes though.  The semi-final, over 6 hours long...

In the 2015 Super Bowl there was 12 minutes of actual game play.  I won't watch football anymore.  Total snooze fest.  So many TV breaks and time between plays. 

Meltdown99

bootlegger10 said:

Meltdown99 said:

Tennis is a rather boring sport ... sure great athletes though.  The semi-final, over 6 hours long...

In the 2015 Super Bowl there was 12 minutes of actual game play.  I won't watch football anymore.  Total snooze fest.  So many TV breaks and time between plays. 

I was just discussing all the commercials and timeout that are in football with my Dad...because we both love the speed of FIFA ... the World Cup game was over in around 2 hours...