So, does anyone here like tennis?

[AaronJ]

The Aussie Open is coming up in less than two weeks. It starts on January 18th.

And almost everyone interesting is going to be there:

Justine Henin has returned from retirement.

As has Kim Clijsters.

Masha Sharapova is back from injury.

It's going to be EPIC!


Does anyone follow this but me?

My picks are Federer and Sharapova, btw.

[Weetomuncher]

I'm only interested if Andy Murray is playing.

I don't really like tennis and I tend to get really annoyed if the match is long and drawn out and I tend to get bored easily if the match is very tactical and slow.

[KevinTBrown]

Eh.

I go back and forth on it.

[K-DoG7p7]

I like the sounds the female tennis players make..

[Dark Galaxy]

The hubby and I both really like tennis. We both played in high school (although, he was in it for the athletics, and I may have been in it for socializing, and riding on the bus with my friends). He was very excited when our cable company reconfigured it's channels, so we now have the tennis channel.

I was hoping to surprise him this summer with a trip to the US Open for our 10 year anniversary, but it looks like it's not going to happen now. :frown: But yeah, we like it around here when the grand slams come around.

[jesse_custer]

I love tennis.

I'm really excited about Justine Henin. She was the most dangerous woman on the court before she retired.

She also beat No. 2 Petrova yesterday. (http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=4794060)

[sneggz]

Henins back? I got to check to see if we got a tennis channel.

[AaronJ]

I like the sounds the female tennis players make..

When Sharapova was coming up, and won Wimbledon when she was 17, she was practicing on the outside courts. A bunch of players in the inner complex kept hearing this shriek, and were like "What the &#%$ is that?!" :)

Someone once went with a decibel meter on the court for one of her matches. I think it was 115. Heh.


Yeah, I was surprised and not surprised at the same time about Henin's win over Petrova. Petrova is consistently one of the weakest players on tour when it comes to mental strength. And obviously Justine has always been one of the strongest. Still, it surprised me a bit.

I'd love to see a Masha v Justine final at the Aussie, in a rematch of the US Open Final they played.

[Dr Ray Palmer]

I like Wii Tennis.

[jesse_custer]

I like Wii Tennis.

I couldn't get into that game.

But I love the Virtua Tennis and Mario Tennis games.

[raskal66]

I watch the Wimbledon Finals when they're on.

[Libaax]

Tennis is one of my fav sports. Only after Soccer,Basketball,Track and Field in my top tv sports.


I'm looking forward to OZ Open and seeing Henin,Cleijsters fighting Venus,Serena.

Federer,Nadal,Djokovic,Davydenko and co fighting for the male title.

[jesse_custer]

I wish Davydenko would win a major. He reminds me of Agassi in that he takes the ball really early.

[AaronJ]

I wish Davydenko would win a major. He reminds me of Agassi in that he takes the ball really early.

Davydenko is an interesting case in that he has tons of game, but it's very hard to imagine him winning the big one. For me, at least.

I feel sorry for the guy, sometimes.

[Weetomuncher]

For ordinary sports fans in the UK, pretty much nothing else matters in tennis other than how Andy Murray is doing, apart from the real tennis nuts of course.

Most other nations with a top player have a few more moderately good players but this isn't really the case in the UK, where Murray is pretty much the only player who has a hope in hell of winning a Grand Slam championship, apart from the young girl whose surname is Robson who won the junior Wimbledon title last year and may be a good player later on.

[raskal66]

For ordinary sports fans in the UK, pretty much nothing else matters in tennis other than how Andy Murray is doing, apart from the real tennis nuts of course.

Most other nations with a top player have a few more moderately good players but this isn't really the case in the UK, where Murray is pretty much the only player who has a hope in hell of winning a Grand Slam championship, apart from the young girl whose surname is Robson who won the junior Wimbledon title last year and may be a good player later on.

I will clearly be displaying a lack of knowledge here, but what ever happened to Tim Henman. I remember a tourney or two where he looked like a pretty good player. Or was he just a moderate talent who had 1 good Wimbeldon?

[jesse_custer]

I will clearly be displaying a lack of knowledge here, but what ever happened to Tim Henman. I remember a tourney or two where he looked like a pretty good player. Or was he just a moderate talent who had 1 good Wimbeldon?

He's old and retired. He went to the semi-finals at Wimbledon several times. He also did OK at the French Open a couple of times. He was more than a moderate talent, just unlucky.

[AaronJ]

He's old and retired. He went to the semi-finals at Wimbledon several times. He also did OK at the French Open a couple of times. He was more than a moderate talent, just unlucky.

He played some epic matches too. Henman was one of those guys (or gals) who just seemed cursed.

Plus, the expectations of an ENTIRE NATION on his back probably didn't help.

[jesse_custer]

He played some epic matches too. Henman was one of those guys (or gals) who just seemed cursed.

You can add Todd Martin to that list, too.

[AaronJ]

You can add Todd Martin to that list, too.

True. But I think Henman was the better player of the two. Sometimes, a person is born at the wrong time.

Then again, sometimes someone is born at exactly the right time: see Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Chris was 37-43 against Martina. They played 80 matches against each other, most of them semis or finals. It was one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sport.

And what made it so compelling was that it was two totally different styles, one against the other, fighting it out tooth and nail every single tourney.

These days, training and equipment have made the concept of having two radically different styles opposing one and other almost impossible.

[jesse_custer]

True. But I think Henman was the better player of the two.

I agree.


These days, training and equipment have made the concept of having two radically different styles opposing one and other almost impossible.

True, and it is disappointing. On the other hand, there is more subtlety to tennis now, and that can be interesting. You really have to watch players to catch the differences.

[AaronJ]

True, and it is disappointing. On the other hand, there is more subtlety to tennis now, and that can be interesting. You really have to watch players to catch the differences.

Yeah, it is a very subtle game. It often looks like two people just bashing the ball as hard as they can from baseline, but there's a lot going on there.

Witness any Nadal - FedEx match.

[Weetomuncher]

The main problem with tennis for me is that early matches often drag on and I'm so used to having a game clock or potential quick finish but you are guaranteed a slog in tennis where a mend Grand Slam match can't end in any less than 3 sets which can be dull in a one sided match.

I'd like to see every match played over 3 sets.