tennis fans/players?

[yoda]

Re: tennis fans/players? i donno how you guys rate french higher than australian. it is a tournament where more than skill, stamina and ability to keep playing long rallies seems to be rewarded. look at the number of top players who have failed there and the number of no-namers (from south america and spain especially) who have won that tourney.

[Gambit]

Re: tennis fans/players? Growing up, I used to like watching the Aussie Open ,the French and the US Open over Wimbledon. Because of the fact that it was almost a given who would win at W(as it is now). And I had a clear favourite back then who did well on h/c as well as clay but not on grass. But of late, I've started warming up to Wimbledon because of the rallies. I think W produces the best rallies followed by Spaniards engaging in 20-30 shot rallies at the French. And I don't have a favourite now.

[MundaPakistani]

Re: tennis fans/players?

I think Pistol Pete would have outgunned Fed on grass and hard courts but Fed would have beaten Pete on clay because Pete was simply clueless on clay. My favourite tennis player back in the 90s was Jim Courier. He was such an awesome clay court and hard court specialist. He was decent on grass too. He could have won many more GS than what he won(4) had it not been for Sampras. My all time favourite match involved these 2. The '95 Australian Open QF. 5 setter. Courier won first 2 Sampras last 3. Sampras was crying(because his coach had a tumour and was hospitalised and his gf had just had a horrific car accident) and smashing aces at the same time. Unforgettable contest!

Boy that match was something ..While Pete was crying Jim kind of mocked him by saying "come on pete we can do this tomorrow" and the whole crowd started laughing... i am sure that must have p*ssed Pete off because after that it was a barrage of aces and running forehands and poor Jimmy looked lost!

[Predator_05]

Re: tennis fans/players?

I rate it below Wimby only because of personal preference. S&V is dead because of these big heavy racquets that allow powerful returns even off mishits -- but those who can s-v definitely have an advantage. Roddick gets there only because of his serve, which is damn near unplayable on grass. The fact that roddick doesn't get to the sf in the french only means that the french is a more specialized tournament -- and you can't argue with that. it is full of top-spin tattus who can't do anything on any other surface -- exceptions duly noted. ...and if you have a problem with one-trick ponies, then why do you like the French Open? It is the epitome of one-trick-ponyness. What novel forms of tennis are on display there?

Clay court tennis is much more skilful. You will see a tennis player unleashing his full repartoire of shots on a clay court service, and it suits all kinds of players - both fast and slow. Your shot selection, trajectory, pace and spin has to be varied to a much greater degree. Good footwork (ie; slides) also comes into the equation. There are fewer winners hit because of the higher bounce on the slower tracks, hence a player can't power his way to victory with a few big swings - he'll have to focus on playing particular combinations of 3/4 shots to pull his opponent out of position and "open up" the court. Bascially, each and every point needs to be earned. In grass court tennis the points are shorter, it's all just slam and bang with sh*tloads of cheap points scored off aces and returns off serves, no defence to speak of. Almost no skill involved by comparison. Even Federer acknowledges the fact that clay court tennis offers fewer "freebies". and dude, there have been plenty of French Open contenders who have done well on hard-courts. I could make a list, but i just can't be bothered. In recent times, you can count Ferrero, Nadal, Kuerten, Costa, Coria, etc. who have reached the QF's (or further) on other surfaces many times. Grass court tennis is just dying a slow death, m8. More than half the world's tennis courts are clay. You may hate it, but you better get used to it.

[gator]

Re: tennis fans/players? predator... i have the opposite view... IMO, women's tennis have longer rallies and men's should be short, powerful and sweet.... thts y i like wimbledon the most... and French - the least... the sheer joy of brute power, aces, sudden change of pace(drop shots), volleys, dives near the net is plain exhilarating.... i dont get tht in clay courts... US comes second.... OZ and french are roundabout the same to me... but i do like to watch all the 4 grandslams... anyone who can win all, is really well-rounded in skills...

[vroomfondel]

Re: tennis fans/players? dude, clay kills all power with it's slowness -- placement and power count for nothing, because roeders can run and catch anything. yes, i've played full-western/semi-western before and I agree it is an endurance test -- but that's all it is. and I get my fill of endurance tests from crazy 5-setters on hard-court/grass. -- in your list above, guga and nadal are exceptional talents who can compete on anything, the rest are jokers. now compare to the list of us open/wimby winners and you will see that they dominate everywhere else...