US Open

[Silver Rusher]

congrats to Blake ! but still Nadal is more of a gravel player,

Gravel!?!

[Dutch_guy]

yeah , Nadal plays better when he plays on gravel ( red clay ) , you know Roland Garros.

[Big_John]

well, the americans (except for roddick ) really showed up for this major! gj to ginepri beating coria. both he and blake are playing the best tennis of their careers right now. can't wait for the agassi/blake match! this has been a really good tournament. some excellent matches so far: federer/santoro, ginepri/coria, blake/nadal, jenkins/nadal, dent/hewitt.. probably others. hopefully there is more in-store!

i have to admit though, excepting mary pierce, the women's draw hasn't been very interesting..

[dgfred]

@ Big John, Did you get to see the match? Amazing! Both players
showed alot of class. I couldn't stay up the whole time , but saw what I missed on highlights this morning.

[Big_John]

@ Big John, Did you get to see the match? Amazing! Both players
showed alot of class. I couldn't stay up the whole time , but saw what I missed on highlights this morning.

i did watch that match. although i didn't think it was the amazing instant classic that it is being called (except for the 5th set anyway). i'm not saying it wasn't a great mathc, just i think it has gotten a little more reverence than it deserved. the excitement of the crowd made that match more than the play, imo. in any case, let's hope that federer/agassi (sorry ginepri ) is as good a match.

so i just watched pierce/dementieva. that was some of the least sporting conduct i've seen in a long time. let's hope someone uses matches like this to change the injury-timeout rules. i hate seeing players being punished for being in good condition..

[dgfred]

i did watch that match. although i didn't think it was the amazing instant classic that it is being called (except for the 5th set anyway). i'm not saying it wasn't a great mathc, just i think it has gotten a little more reverence than it deserved. the excitement of the crowd made that match more than the play, imo. in any case, let's hope that federer/agassi (sorry ginepri ) is as good a match.

so i just watched pierce/dementieva. that was some of the least sporting conduct i've seen in a long time. let's hope someone uses matches like this to change the injury-timeout rules. i hate seeing players being punished for being in good condition..

My daughter's (14) favorite is Ginepri, so I am rooting for him .

What happened in the Dementieva/Pierce match? I wasn't able
to watch. I hope it wasn't Dementieva causing trouble b/c I think she is
cool to be such a SORRY server and still manage to do OK .

[Big_John]

What happened in the Dementieva/Pierce match? I wasn't able
to watch. I hope it wasn't Dementieva causing trouble b/c I think she is
cool to be such a SORRY server and still manage to do OK .

yeah, you can't help but admire dementieva being as good as she is with such a huge flaw (though she has improved the serve a bit). but no, it was pierce that simply abused the rules. she got beaten soundly in the first set, so she took a 12-minute!! "injury" timeout before the second set. all of the momentum and rhythm that dementieva had built up were obviously gone after that. anyone who has played tennis (or any individual sport i should think) can attest to how much a 12-MINUTE!! break would cool you off, if you are doing well. imagine if they had such a rule in boxing.. how about a 12-minute break after a standing eight-count?

it was obvious too, pierce was moving and playing much better after the "injury". the commentators were both commenting on the "gamesmanship" of her break. pierce simply took the break to regain her composure and break dementieva's rhythm. in other words, dementieva was punished for being the more ready of the two at game time.

that said, one can't really blame pierce for abusing the rules. it's far from admirable, but i don't blame her, i blame the rules. this has been a problem for a few years.. i forget exactly when they setup the new rules, but players have been abusing them in such a way since the new rules were introduced.

i was actually liking pierce's play in the open thus far, but i'm certainly not pulling for her in the finals now.

My daughter's (14) favorite is Ginepri

hmm, i wonder why?

[dgfred]

My daughter plays JV tennis, she is in the 9th grade. Since I never played
competive tennis, I am still getting used to the fact that it is nothing like
baseball- which I played in college, or football which I played in HS. It is not really feasible to call your opponent a punk,
idiot, poor eyesighted cheat or other assorted names . I wonder
what McEnroe, Nastasi or Conners might have said in a situation like
that .