Tennis, anyone?
 

Anyone else love tennis?

Well, it's the Australian Open, and Federer is about to try and make his mark on history. I'm hoping he does, which he could do this year.

Serena just lost. The Williams sisters could both be so good, but I don't blame them for doing their own thing, and living their lives. I'm not sure how Sharapova is doing. I wish all athletes would stop doing commercials.

I'm watching Nadal whose like a freak with the kind of shape he's in. Man I'd like to be fit like that.

I love tennis because it's just a ball, a man, and a stick, and it's kind of a thinking man's game, it's like a physical chess match to some extent.

I'm going for Tsonga cause he's such a cutey.

I don't watch tennis, but I love playing it.

I thought Murray was going to win Wimbledon when it started out, but after that poor match with Wawrinka I've got to give the edge to Federer.

Anybody else watching Wimbledon?

Murray lied about the pressure, quite obviously. He needs to come to terms with it or he'll never win Wimbledon.

Federer should destroy Rod****...Straight sets wouldn't shock me. I've been wondering why Nadal is still number 1 when Federer has won 2 of the last 3 majors and Nadal hasn't even reached the finals in all but one of them.

I feel the same. Federer knows how to counter-act a big serve better than anyone.

And Rod**** is such a phallic last name :D

Lol, I love how it's censored. Do you know the answer to my question? It's been puzzling me since Nadal got knocked out of the French Open.

Afraid I don't, I only started getting into tennis with this Wimbledon. As Nadal's not present, I really don't know anything about his history besides the Wimbledon championship last year.

Make no mistake, Rod**** has improved his game considerably. He's no longer a guy with just a big serve and a forehand. He's also playing the best tennis I've ever seen him play.

That being said, straight sets wouldn't shock me on Sunday either. Federer has Rod****'s number no matter what he does.

Holy ****, that was AWESOME. Poor Roddick really deserved that.

The censors here are hilarious sometimes :D

Great final - saw that result coming from a mile off though (albeit not quite as drawn out as it was). It's a shame about Murray, but he'll be back. The way I see it Federer would've wiped the floor with him anyway.

It's all based on an accumulation of points. You get like 2000 points for a Grand Slam win. I think Federer will be number 1 again when the rankings update after Wimbledon.

BUMP!

Just in case anyone here watches tennis, which is the only sport I give two ****s about. Wanna give Murray props for winning the US Open yesterday. Amazing match. I thought Djokovic was about to pull out another amazing comeback, but Murray finally got the better of his nerves in the fifth set and got his first Grand Slam.

Murray was such an underdog until the Olympics, in my opinion - always behind Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. But he's on a serious winning streak right now and I think he even pushed his way to the top 3 because Nadal hasn't been playing a lot this year (I know he completely missed the Olympics, the Rogers Cup, and the US Open which wasn't good for his ranking, lol)

Murray was world #3 before play yesterday.

He's been an underdog for some time now, I guess you could say. Technically good enough to beat anybody on his day but with a tendency to choke in high pressure, high profile situations. For a while yesterday he was looking as though he was going to do the same, and throw away a 2-0 advantage. Thankfully he rallied.

I'm happy for Andy Murray. The third and fourth sets were a little worrying from his point of view but he made Djokovic work so hard, even to hold when his back was against the wall, and at times simply outclassed him. If it wasn't for a certain Bradley Wiggins I think Andy Murray would be on course to be our greatest sports personality of this year, after a Wimbledon final with Federer in which he performed incredibly well and came agonisingly close to winning his first Grand Slam, getting his revenge by beating Federer in straight sets and winning an Olympic gold and silver just weeks later, and now finally a Grand Slam title.

It was such a great final. I stayed up until 2:15am this morning to watch it, even though my alarm was set for 6:30.

Davis Cup, anyone? Next friday, World-Group play-offs for the 2013 edition begin. Among other matches:

• Germany v Australia
• Canada v South Africa
• Belgium v Sweden
  

And, simultaneously, the 2012 semifinals:

• Spain v USA
• Argentina v Czech Republic

Luckily I live in the Eastern Time Zone, so I didn't have to stay up, but it was definitely an amazing match. Near the end of the first set I started talking to and yelling at the screen ("What the **** are you doing you dumb ****?! You're two sets up and you're gonna ****ing choke?!" :laughing:). I was definitely worried that Djokovic was gonna pull another come back, especially after that match with Federer, which I believe was the last US Open. Same thing, two sets down, and then he just dominated Federer after that like nothing at all bad had happened to him the two previous sets. The man is an unstoppable robot when he's playing his best.

I mostly refrained from any shouting but I did feel as though Djokovic was the far more likely to win it when he won the 4th set and both that set and the set before was not easy viewing.

Djokovic has been kind of disappointing lately.

Not right now. Thank you though.

Not much point in going on about how happy I am as a Scot and tennis fan, and how long I have been waiting for this for Murray to win a Grand Slam, so I will just point out Djokovic won the Australia Open, Nadal won the French Open, Federer won Wimbledon, and Murray won the US Open. It just shows you how good and open the the tennis is today. I am looking forward to the ATP World Tour Finals. Also I think Murray is going to win the Australian Open in January hard court is clearly his best surface.

Oh wow, I never actually thought of all of it that way, mostly because I'm not terribly observant towards who wins what - I just like to watch :)

My boyfriend is Serbian so Djokovic is like a god in our house, but I will say here that I think Murray is definitely in his prime right now! His performance at the Olympics confirmed that for me.

Nadal has slipped to No. 4, and honestly, I think he's been trying way too hard to get back into the top spot - he's been so aggressive when playing the other 3 that he ruined his knees, and missed out on the big tournaments like the Olympics and US Open, plus Cincinnati and the Master's 1000 in Toronto. If he wants to stay near the top he can't afford to miss another tourney.

I think he is going to be fit for the Barclay's ATP world tour finals in November.

I'm really big on del Potro and Kohlschreiber of late. The latter is really coming into his own, and the former is playing right up there with the best of them. My allegiance is still with Fed, though. I'll root for him against anyone. I've been watching him for years.

He better be, only because I want to see him get completely mowed down by Djokovic.

I can't wait to see a rematch either, though I'd be rooting for Murray. I'm glad he won, but he had an advantage since Djokovich had such a slow start because of the wind. If it hadn't been for that I imagine Murray wouldn't have won. Hopefully having a Grand Slam will improve Murray's confidence, otherwise he'll probably go back to the best of the second tier players pretty soon.

Another Djokovic v Murray final to look forward to tomorrow. This makes me very happy.

Damn. Apparently it's on at 4:30 AM tomorrow morning here... Don't know if I'm that dedicated to watching it. My boyfriend will watch it for sure, because he's a huge fan of Djokovic (naturally, lol). But I don't know if I can just get up that early especially since I might be going out tonight.

It is a Sunday though. I would rather get up at 4:30am than stay up until 2:15am when my alarm is set for 5:40am like I did for the US Open final.

Yeah but we're probably going out drinking all night so I'd rather sleep off my hangover as long as possible lol.

See, I didn't have that problem with the US Open final, because I live in the same time zone as New York :)

I got up at 4:30 to watch the Aussie Rules Grand Final a few weeks ago, after a heavy session the night before. It is doable but I can't say it was a pleasant experience. I literally watched it, threw up and then went back to bed. :laughing:

Djokovic and Murray never seem to disappoint. I thought Murray had it in the bag but that was great stuff from Djok to come back to win after saving several Championship points. Great match.

I didn't watch it but my boyfriend did. I think he has a thing for Djokovic :laughing:

What's next? Barclays? I always forget when that is...

Federer and Murray go in Basel in a few days time, I think? Then you have the Paris Masters at the end of the month and then the WTFs on the 5th November in London.

I don't see Fed letting Murray get the best of him again, but finally winning a Grand Slam had to be a huge confidence boost for Andy. What I think he had been lacking previously was confidence, because he'd just never been able to win the big one. Now he's got that going for them, and there's no reason that he, Rog, Djok, and Rafa shouldn't be a more evenly matched big 4 in the sport. It had been the three, some distance, then Murray, but the guy's definitely closed that distance.

When all four are healthy and in a Grand Slam, it will make for some even more exciting and fantastic matches.

Absolutely. If he's ever gonna have his time, the time is now. I just hope he can deliver. I think if confidence was an issue then so was discipline and in the Shanghai final I think his discipline played a big part in his downfall. Djokovic lost his temper but managed to recover. Murray lost his temper and just didn't look the same threat for the rest of the match.

They always lose their temper!

No tennis player will ever be as hot headed as John McEnroe.



Okay, maybe Serena Williams:

Anyone watch the Australian Open this year? I was gutted Murray couldn't pull it out, real shame about the blisters he incurred. Of course far and away the best match of the tournament and the best match I have ever got to see live, was in the 4th round between Djokovic and Wawrinka. Be sure to turn the video quality up!