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  1. Monsieur_DeLarge

    The Murray Bandwagon

    I retired from these boards in 2013, not long after that year's Wimbledon. As a lifelong British tennis fan in his mid-40s, watching that final gave me a sense of completeness that I doubted I'd ever experience. Between that and the Fedalovic zealots on TT, I just quit commenting altogether...
  2. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Manipulation of ATP Ranking Points

    That's my understanding too. Even non-commitment players are required to play in the Masters events if their ranking is high enough to give them direct entry. Per rule 9.03B (emphasis mine): "B. Non-commitment Players. The Emirates ATP Rankings is based on calculating, for each player, his...
  3. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Best 5th Set Ever?

    Remembered another one ~ Chang vs Lendl at the '89 FO ~ including MC's (literally) underhand tactics. With the Tiananmen Square massacre unfolding in Beijing at the same time, his success was one of those more-than-just-tennis moments, certainly for Asians. Regards, MDL
  4. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Best 5th Set Ever?

    There's a very good thread about that in the FPP from last year, with a lot of quotes from Laver about it. Before my time, unfortunately. Totally forgot that one! (Although admittedly I thought the tears came mid-match, not in the final set ~ although you are correct.) That was a real...
  5. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Best 5th Set Ever?

    Here come the kids again... :-? Off the top of my head, without any research whatsoever: Borg vs McEnroe, 1980 Wimbledon final McEnroe vs Wilander, 1982 Davis Cup QF Becker vs Lendl, 1988 Masters final Connors vs Krickstein, 1991 US Open 4R Becker vs Sampras, 1996 Masters final Rafter vs...
  6. Monsieur_DeLarge

    whose career would you like to have?

    Guillermo Coria springs to mind as well. What about Tommy Haas? He's done well, but who knows what he'd have achieved without his injuries. Same with Thomas Muster and Brian Baker. Regards, MDL EDIT: TennisOcean beat me to that last one. It's a very good choice, since at least all the others...
  7. Monsieur_DeLarge

    whose career would you like to have?

    I don't think Ernie's daddy is quite as wealthy as some people believe. According to the Baltic Times, Latvia's three richest families are worth about US$200m, US$85m, and US$60m respectively, and none of them were called Gulbis. If that's accurate, I'll take Federer's career and Federer's...
  8. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Why Federer Will Not Have A Late Career Surge Like Agassi

    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blah "Also used when recalling and retelling another's words, as a substitute for the portions of the speech deemed irrelevant." The content of your first post wasn't relevant to me, so I substituted your words for the sake of brevity. What was relevant was the...
  9. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Why Federer Will Not Have A Late Career Surge Like Agassi

    Do you have multiple personality disorder, or did you forget to log in under an alternative username? :confused: Regards, MDL
  10. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Murray is tanking tournaments again

    Are you unfamiliar with English, and think "tanks" is another word for "injured"? When the only sensible post on page one of an anti-Murray thread is by F1Bob, you know you have problems... From Agassi's autobiography: "In the semis I face Chang. I know I can win, but I also know that I will...
  11. Monsieur_DeLarge

    bagel set

    That's a bizarre one. Do you know the circumstances, or was it just general Nastase flakiness? :shock: Also, Mustard: do you have any other examples of both players winning a bagel set, like the one from 2005 I mentioned earlier (Gaudio v Nadal, Buenos Aires)? Regards, MDL
  12. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Who do you think is the best volleyer

    Look at the rest of Henman's attributes: reasonable (first) serve, mediocre groundstrokes, a bit scrawny and unathletic, not remotely clutch under pressure. Is there any other part of his game that you'd rate as top 20? Top 50 even? Take away Tim's volleys and I think he'd have been just another...
  13. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Who do you think is the best volleyer

    I'd rate Henman's volleys over Sampras too. Sampras had a much better serve and approach, was a better athlete, had a better overhead, and I'll acknowledge that he was probably better on the half-volley. That meant Pete had a better overall net game (by a distance). He was also mentally...
  14. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Favorite freaky Federer Fashion

    Completely inappropriate for a tennis match. And no wonder he's got back problems; everyone else uses lead tape, but when Federer wants some extra weight in the head he embeds his racquet in an anvil. :rolleyes: Regards, MDL
  15. Monsieur_DeLarge

    which era did you enjoy the most?

    Yeah, this bugs me a bit too. Connors was seven years older, and won the last of his slams ('74-'83) before Lendl won his first ('84-'90). I think I can comfortably place the OP's first experience of tennis as being post-Ivan based on stuff like that. Pffft, you kids. Renshaw was DA BOMB. :p...
  16. Monsieur_DeLarge

    For the first time in 40 years, there will be no American men in the top 20

    My Gawd... Markus Eriksson, #487. I never realised it was that bad. The Borg effect has well and truly vanished. :( I remember reading about how Sweden had loads of indoor tennis facilities in the '80s because of the boom in the sport ~ something like four times as many as the UK, even...
  17. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Who is the better Hard court player, Davydenko or Nadal?

    It's the ciiiiiiiiiiircle, the circle of life. (Except instead of a lion, there's a bull, a sexi eagle, and a Davy-donkey.) Regards, MDL
  18. Monsieur_DeLarge

    bagel set

    Not quite what the OP was asking, but in 2006, Yaroslava Shvedova won 23 points in a row in a match against Amy Frazier, and won the set 6-1. She then lost the next two sets 0-6 0-6. :-? In Buenos Aires in 2005, Gaston Gaudio beat Rafa Nadal 6-0 0-6 6-1. :shock: Regards, MDL
  19. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Who do you think is the best volleyer

    Edberg and McEnroe are without compare in my lifetime. JMac had astonishing hands, while Stefan was basically a walking textbook on how to serve-volley, really amazing technique. Of course, I'm only adding my voice to the many others who've said exactly the same. Federer's pretty good...
  20. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Delpo usopen 2013

    I made money off him in 2009, placing a bet at 16/1 after he lost the Cincinnati final to Andy Murray (proof ~ my fourth ever post on this board). He'd won Washington the week before against a strong field, and would likely have beaten Murray too if not for exhaustion. He'd had an amazing summer...
  21. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Should there be less mandatory tournaments, to help young talents?

    That's not entirely accurate. In the days of the old "Super Nine" events, players had to participate in seven of them (if I remember correctly). It was slightly more flexible compared with nowadays, but there were still demands on players to show up to most of them. Players were also...
  22. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Who is the better Hard court player, Davydenko or Nadal?

    I voted for Na... ...avydenko. Definitely Davydenko. Based on the head-to-head. Very important to count the head-to-head. That statistic is vital. :mrgreen: Regards, MDL
  23. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Who will finish as 2013 Year End #1?

    I posted about this a few weeks back. Since winning Toronto in 2008, Rafa has won precisely one major (Masters or greater) tournament post-Wimbledon, at the US Open in 2010. In fact he hasn't even reached a Masters final since Shanghai in 2009. The only two years where he's scored more than 2000...
  24. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Djokovic vs Soderling - Who is better RG player?

    In this case I'd have to vote for Djo... ...oderling. Robin Soderling for sure. That's who I voted for. :mrgreen: Regards, MDL
  25. Monsieur_DeLarge

    A look at the best players never to win the US Open

    You missed Lew Hoad. Had he won the old US National Championship final in 1956 he'd have completed the CYGS, and would probably nowadays get the recognition that his peers say he deserved. Although having said that Don Budge frequently gets overlooked in modern conversations regarding the...
  26. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Cancer Survivor Meets Federer

    So let me get this straight, he was only supposed to spend a moment with her, but he end up chatting for fifteen minutes, playing tennis with her, sharing her birthday cake, and showing her around Wimbledon? There were probably dozens of other cancer sufferers who'd made the same wish as this...
  27. Monsieur_DeLarge

    GREAT article on the sad state of tennis in America. (viewership)

    Here's a radical thought. If ESPN are willing to spend $825m over eleven years for tennis rights, and they think the sport will be more profitable if there's an American star, why not use some of that cash directly to fund home-grown talent development. There seems to be a lot of belief here...
  28. Monsieur_DeLarge

    Federer's ranking after the US Open

    Is Roger teetering on the edge of a precipice? Current rankings: #5 Federer: 5875 pts #6 Berdych: 4865 pts #7 Del Potro: 4500 pts Points to lose from 2012, up to and including Flushing Meadows: Federer: 1810 (Olympic silver, Cincy W, USO QF) Berdych: 1050 (Winston-Salem F, Canada...
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