MolGenBuckeye
Legend
Hehe, thanks! She's so painful to watch, I don't know how she ever gets that high in the rankings to start with. :)
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- Thread starter PrincessPeach
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Hehe, thanks! She's so painful to watch, I don't know how she ever gets that high in the rankings to start with. :)
Fungo Squiggly
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Thanks for showing up, Venus.
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Except for Sharopava what self respecting non homosexual male cares about tennis? Did you all enjoy Brokeback Mountain? :p
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federer is a class act, but it grows tiresome at times to see him remain somewhat untouchable. Perhaps if he had to play mixed doubles with anna crouched in front of him, and maria doing the same across the court, there might be a chance to break his concentration.
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He's a tennis player so that wouldn't work, now if you had him play with Rudi Galindo you might have something. :p
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PrincessPeach
I want to ride my bicycle.
I had hoped to post some comments after the first round, but it has been a rather busy week...
Some thoughts after round two:
The biggest story of the day is obviously the upset of men's #3 seed Lleyton Hewitt by Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela. Hewitt struggled through a long five-set match in the first round and just never got it together for round two. I think Hewitt may be more of a head case than I thought - he plays well and I thought he might have a decent chance of knocking off Federer, but he doesn't seem to be able to carry the burden of the hopes of the entire Australian population, who desperately want one of their own take the home-court title.
Hewitt's exit leaves the path to the finals wide open for Federer, since I don't think there are any other legitimate threats in the top half of the draw. Federer has been playing very well and very efficiently, losing only twelve games over six sets.
In the bottom half of the draw, I'm pleased to see that Roddick has also been playing very well and also won both of his matches in straight sets, losing only eighteen games. Barring a mental breakdown, with the way Roddick has been playing, the biggest threat standing between him and a final match-up with Federer is probably Argentina's David Nalbandian. Nalbandian, however, needed five sets to get through the first round and four to get through the second. With the grueling heat in Australia a huge factor, Nalbandian's long matches (3 1/2 hours and 3 hours, respectively) will likely catch up to him. Roddick, by contrast, needed only 1:44 and 1:48 to get through his first two rounds, and Federer dispatched his opponents in 1:23 and 1:12 respectively.
Also standing in Nalbandian's way is American James Blake, who seems poised to continue his breakout of last fall. Last April, Blake was ranked 210 in singles, but he has since climbed up to number 22. During that stretch, he turned in his best grand slam performance to date, battling Andre Agassi in an epic five-set match in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. With Blake fresh off a win in Sydney last week, it wouldn't surprise me greatly if he knocked off both his third round opponent, Tommy Robredo, and Nalbandian.
Long story short, I expect to see a Federer-Roddick final, and I'm still hoping that Roddick can start to hold up his end of any "rivalry" that may exist, as Roddick has beaten Federer only once in eleven meetings.
My thoughts on the women's side will be forthcoming...
Some thoughts after round two:
The biggest story of the day is obviously the upset of men's #3 seed Lleyton Hewitt by Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela. Hewitt struggled through a long five-set match in the first round and just never got it together for round two. I think Hewitt may be more of a head case than I thought - he plays well and I thought he might have a decent chance of knocking off Federer, but he doesn't seem to be able to carry the burden of the hopes of the entire Australian population, who desperately want one of their own take the home-court title.
Hewitt's exit leaves the path to the finals wide open for Federer, since I don't think there are any other legitimate threats in the top half of the draw. Federer has been playing very well and very efficiently, losing only twelve games over six sets.
In the bottom half of the draw, I'm pleased to see that Roddick has also been playing very well and also won both of his matches in straight sets, losing only eighteen games. Barring a mental breakdown, with the way Roddick has been playing, the biggest threat standing between him and a final match-up with Federer is probably Argentina's David Nalbandian. Nalbandian, however, needed five sets to get through the first round and four to get through the second. With the grueling heat in Australia a huge factor, Nalbandian's long matches (3 1/2 hours and 3 hours, respectively) will likely catch up to him. Roddick, by contrast, needed only 1:44 and 1:48 to get through his first two rounds, and Federer dispatched his opponents in 1:23 and 1:12 respectively.
Also standing in Nalbandian's way is American James Blake, who seems poised to continue his breakout of last fall. Last April, Blake was ranked 210 in singles, but he has since climbed up to number 22. During that stretch, he turned in his best grand slam performance to date, battling Andre Agassi in an epic five-set match in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. With Blake fresh off a win in Sydney last week, it wouldn't surprise me greatly if he knocked off both his third round opponent, Tommy Robredo, and Nalbandian.
Long story short, I expect to see a Federer-Roddick final, and I'm still hoping that Roddick can start to hold up his end of any "rivalry" that may exist, as Roddick has beaten Federer only once in eleven meetings.
My thoughts on the women's side will be forthcoming...
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MolGenBuckeye
Legend
Nice analysis.
I thought it was interesting that Laura Granville pretty handily took out the girl that beat Venus. I'm sure there's some letdown there, but is Venus' game really that off right now? Not a good sign for her performance this year.
I thought it was interesting that Laura Granville pretty handily took out the girl that beat Venus. I'm sure there's some letdown there, but is Venus' game really that off right now? Not a good sign for her performance this year.
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PrincessPeach
I want to ride my bicycle.
Ok... on to the women...
Yesterday's biggest upset on the women's side was fifth-seeded Mary Pierce's loss to Iveta Benesova. Benesova, currently ranked #42, lost in the first round of her previous two Australian Open appearances, and has never before made it past the second round of any grand slam event. It remains to be seen whether or not this victory was a fluke, but after watching most of the match, I think we may see more of Benesova. She seemed poised and confident, and she played a fairly clean game, with only nineteen unforced errors. (For those of you guys who only care about "other qualifications," I also thought she was reasonably hot…
) Of course, Pierce didn't do herself any favors, and seemed to revert back to her old self, playing timidly and sloppily. In round three, Benesova will meet Martina Hingis, who has looked great so far in her return to competitive tennis after a four year hiatus.
<O:p</O:p
Pierce's loss should help Kim Clijsters get through her quarter of the draw, assuming her nagging injury doesn't become too much of a factor. She's played well in the first two rounds, but she is still feeling pain from a hip injury. She seemed to be moving fairly well in her match last night, but her second round opponent, Meng Yuan, didn't really test her much, and in a post-match interview, she rated her health as a four on a scale from one to ten. If she can continue to keep her matches short, hopefully she can get enough rest between matches to continue.
<O:p</O:p
The rest of the top women's seeds – <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavenport</ST1:p</st1:City>, Mauresmo and Sharapova have all been cruising for the most part. Mauresmo needed three sets to get through round one, and she struggled a bit in the first set of her round two match, but she settled down in the second set. By the end of last night's match, she looked good, but I still always get the feeling that she's perpetually on the verge of mental collapse.
<O:p</O:p
<st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavenport</ST1:p</st1:City> and Sharapova have both been unremarkable but solid, and I suspect both will improve as they get back into the swing of competition after the six-week off season. The two should be set for a semifinal meeting, though Justine Henin-Hardenne could be a nuisance to<st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:p Davenport </ST1:p</st1:City>on the way.
<O:p
In the bottom half, I still expect to see a Mauresmo vs. Clijsters semi, assuming Clijsters stays healthy enough to play into next week. In Mauresmo's quarter, I think either Patty Schnyder or Anastasia Myskina are capable of beating Mauresmo, but both of them seem to crumble under pressure even more than Mauresmo does, and Myskina was really challenged by the heat yesterday. With the way Hingis has come back, she is the most likely stumbling block for Clijsters.
<O:p</O:p
Really, though, the women's draw is still wide open… my final prediction: Clijsters vs. Sharapova.
Yesterday's biggest upset on the women's side was fifth-seeded Mary Pierce's loss to Iveta Benesova. Benesova, currently ranked #42, lost in the first round of her previous two Australian Open appearances, and has never before made it past the second round of any grand slam event. It remains to be seen whether or not this victory was a fluke, but after watching most of the match, I think we may see more of Benesova. She seemed poised and confident, and she played a fairly clean game, with only nineteen unforced errors. (For those of you guys who only care about "other qualifications," I also thought she was reasonably hot…
) Of course, Pierce didn't do herself any favors, and seemed to revert back to her old self, playing timidly and sloppily. In round three, Benesova will meet Martina Hingis, who has looked great so far in her return to competitive tennis after a four year hiatus.<O:p</O:p
Pierce's loss should help Kim Clijsters get through her quarter of the draw, assuming her nagging injury doesn't become too much of a factor. She's played well in the first two rounds, but she is still feeling pain from a hip injury. She seemed to be moving fairly well in her match last night, but her second round opponent, Meng Yuan, didn't really test her much, and in a post-match interview, she rated her health as a four on a scale from one to ten. If she can continue to keep her matches short, hopefully she can get enough rest between matches to continue.
<O:p</O:p
The rest of the top women's seeds – <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavenport</ST1:p</st1:City>, Mauresmo and Sharapova have all been cruising for the most part. Mauresmo needed three sets to get through round one, and she struggled a bit in the first set of her round two match, but she settled down in the second set. By the end of last night's match, she looked good, but I still always get the feeling that she's perpetually on the verge of mental collapse.
<O:p</O:p
<st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pDavenport</ST1:p</st1:City> and Sharapova have both been unremarkable but solid, and I suspect both will improve as they get back into the swing of competition after the six-week off season. The two should be set for a semifinal meeting, though Justine Henin-Hardenne could be a nuisance to<st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:p Davenport </ST1:p</st1:City>on the way.
<O:p
In the bottom half, I still expect to see a Mauresmo vs. Clijsters semi, assuming Clijsters stays healthy enough to play into next week. In Mauresmo's quarter, I think either Patty Schnyder or Anastasia Myskina are capable of beating Mauresmo, but both of them seem to crumble under pressure even more than Mauresmo does, and Myskina was really challenged by the heat yesterday. With the way Hingis has come back, she is the most likely stumbling block for Clijsters.
<O:p</O:p
Really, though, the women's draw is still wide open… my final prediction: Clijsters vs. Sharapova.
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PrincessPeach
I want to ride my bicycle.
Sadly, I think so. I didn't see that match, so I can't really say, but I think the reign of the Williams sisters is simply over. I had high hopes for Venus after her Wimbledon victory last year, but she just hasn't kept up that level of play. I think it will be difficult for either sister to climb back to the top, especially since their "mystique" has pretty much dissolved, and they no longer have the intimidation factor they once had. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Serena lose to Hantuchova tonight.
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There seems to be a strong correlation between caring about tennis and caring about the deepsixchallenge.
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MolGenBuckeye
Legend
Hmm, maybe you're right. I did just finish reading Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf's internet message board discussion about who will win the next DeepSix puzzle. :p
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PrincessPeach
I want to ride my bicycle.
There seems to be a strong correlation between caring about tennis and caring about the deepsixchallenge.
Heh... Call me crazy, but I think I like it...
(of course, for a while, I thought I was talking to myself over in that thread, too... not that that would stop me...)
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MolGenBuckeye
Legend
Straight sets, no less. Good call.
Help us, Lindsay Davenport - you're our only hope.
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