ok just a few observations on the french.

[ontherise17]

most of you prolly dont care but ive been watching non stop and have a few observations.

1. is it just me or is the french croud pretty rude and disrespectful. like often times turning on a player for calling out a mark or questioning a call or being upset because an umpire cant remember which mark is which. and then holding a grudge til the end of the match and even boo'ing the player that wins!! for example the nalbandian match. nalbandian hit a clear ace. just becasue davydenko didnt play the ball doesnt mean he gets another chance at a serve. and last year didnt the french embrace nadal. and now they cant wait to see him lose? whats that about? every time he points out a ball that was long he gets boo'ed to death! wheres the love france??

2. FINALLY vaidisova is winning matches she should. i know mauresmo pretty much choked like usual. but ive been waiting for a whole year for her to start beating top 10 players.

3. anyone know a good therapist? mauresmo is looking! hook a brotha up!

4. finally some other young players are breaking out of the pack! at the beginning of the tournament i remember them breaking down the list of hot teens. and djokovic was at the bottom of that list. wow has he made a splash. now i think we might be able to put him at the top of that list. mofils showed good guts but also some luck this week with the 3 straight 5 setters. they werent against that tough of opponents. blake on clay, norman? seriously?, and andy murray cant win 5 set matches, this is a known fact.

5. i cant see hingis as a serious threat yet. everyone keeps talking about how shes gonna BEAT EVERYONE! but sorry im not for the hype. when shes toughing it out against peer and then losing in straight sets to a "i cant wait to retire" and "im not that great on clay" cjisters, i cant quite jump on the hype bandwagon. shes had really easy draws in majors so far. lets not jump the gun to say shes the new #1 just yet y'all.

6. sharapova sucks on clay. we all know this. but watch out for her because she wants that wimby title like NO ONE else this year. she might just beat venus williams over the head with her racquet for it.

7. is it just me or does nadal look IMPATIENT! this year? hes trying to end a lot of points pretty quickly! hes not the "im gonna hit every single ball you hit back and you better somehow hit nothing but winners against me" nadal we all grew to know and love. i like that hes being more aggresive but trying to end points with a winner after 2 shots isnt going to win it for him.

8. i still hate leyton hewitt.

9. cljisters should just go away. anyone who says they basically dont wanna be playing tennis should not be getting celebrated as a champion.

10. can we fire ALL of the commentators PLEASE. i honestly did not have an issue with anyone til this major. with chris "can i possibly talk about everyone else in the tournament while im interviewing you, (insert anyones name he interviews here)" fowler. or brad "i know more about tennis then you because i TALK MUCH LOUDER" gilbert. if i have to hear them two do one more match together ill scream. i agree with mary saying no coachs on saturday. because that takes any mental aspect out of the game. if you need someone to tell you how to turn a match around you prolly arent playing pro tennis in the first place. but i completely disagree with johnny mac with the no injury time out thing. hes preaching about how having coachs would make the tennis better. but isnt having someone come out for a few minutes to tape up an ankle or stretch out a cramp also helping a match go on longer at a competitive level? i think that the time outs should be shorter but definatly shouldnt just get rid of them. so lets just fire everyone working for espn and nbc please and thank you.

ok im done ranting. thanks to those who actually read it.

 

[Ripper]

...ok im done ranting. thanks to those who actually read it.

Key word: "ranting". This should go on the Rants Forum. KK?

PS: Btw, I read it all and agree with most of it.

 

[Ripper]

Key word: "ranting". This should go on the Rants Forum. KK?

PS: Btw, I read it all and agree with most of it.

Hummm... I was thinking, if you, consistently, applied the mods' policy for moving threads out of this forum, 99% of them would be moved. As I've said before, the problem is not the moderation, but the selective moderation.

 

[Tchocky]

I was planning to watch all the matches but it's impossible. I set my DVR to record all the coverage but I end up deleting all the matches. I don't think I have seen 1 match in it's entirety. I just don't have the patience. Is it just me or do most of these matches seem boring? I watch about 24 to 48 hours of sports a week. I've been watching a lot of basketball. Anyway I'm glad the French Open and the clay court season is coming to an end. I haven't been doing very well betting on these tournaments and look forward to the grass court season.

 

[Moose Malloy]

watch about 24 to 48 hours of sports a week.

You're not serious? Do you sleep? or work?

I've been watching a lot of basketball

I can't believe Dallas is favored to win the finals. I think Miami is a lock.

 

[skip1969]

yeah, the french are . . . well, they're french, aren't they. but they aren't any better or worse than any other bunch, really.

it's good to see some fresh new faces doing well. i just hope that they can keep improving and sustaining a high level of tennis.

you think mauresmo needs a therapist? how bout two or three. better yet, she should skip roland garros all together and have herself a nice, relaxing holiday for those two weeks in june. i feel so bad for her when i see her in paris.

since (in terms of strategy) hingis is smarter than 95% of the women on tour (insert sharapova, williams, just about anyone). . . i think she will do just fine against all the one-dimensional girls out there. probably won't ever be no. 1 again . . . but she'll be successful enough to keep herself interested.

nadal's been reading too many of his press clippings, i think. and staring at AP photos of his bulging biceps. now he thinks he's superman. quick, get me some kryptonite!

leyton hewitt is still . . . well, leyton hewitt.

i'll miss cljisters when she's gone.

i think we should lock chris fowler and brad gilbert up in a small room with multiple high def tvs. they will both be bound in straight-jackets, but no padded walls (they don't deserve any mercy). then we run hours upon hours of video of them babbling (and saying nothing of great importance). after a few days, they will either have bashed their brains in . . . or eaten one another. either way, WE WIN! their sacrifice will not be in vain, though. it will compel carillo and the mac brothers to keep their mouths shut and let the tennis take center stage again, once they finally grasp the realization that they are not more important than the sport they cover.

but until that glorious day, we must embrace the power of the remote. on the sixth day, god created mute. and on the seventh day, he rested. whew!)

 

[ontherise17]

I was planning to watch all the matches but it's impossible. I set my DVR to record all the coverage but I end up deleting all the matches. I don't think I have seen 1 match in it's entirety. I just don't have the patience. Is it just me or do most of these matches seem boring? I watch about 24 to 48 hours of sports a week. I've been watching a lot of basketball. Anyway I'm glad the French Open and the clay court season is coming to an end. I haven't been doing very well betting on these tournaments and look forward to the grass court season.

yeah i dvr all the matches too. and i have to say i skip most of the matches. clay matches are just SO LONG and drawn out. dont get me wrong i love the drama the clay can bring along. and whoever wins this almost fight to the death definatly deserves some major kudos. but it doesnt mean a lot of the play is dull and tedious.

 

[ontherise17]

Key word: "ranting". This should go on the Rants Forum. KK?

PS: Btw, I read it all and agree with most of it.

sorry i didnt even know there was a rants forum or thats the first place iw ould have gone. but thanks for agreeing with me! haha. i like how you think

 

[Alexandros]

most of you prolly dont care but ive been watching non stop and have a few observations.

1. is it just me or is the french croud pretty rude and disrespectful. like often times turning on a player for calling out a mark or questioning a call or being upset because an umpire cant remember which mark is which. and then holding a grudge til the end of the match and even boo'ing the player that wins!! for example the nalbandian match. nalbandian hit a clear ace. just becasue davydenko didnt play the ball doesnt mean he gets another chance at a serve. and last year didnt the french embrace nadal. and now they cant wait to see him lose? whats that about? every time he points out a ball that was long he gets boo'ed to death! wheres the love france??

Agreed, the French are far and away the poorest crowd in all the grand slams.

2. FINALLY vaidisova is winning matches she should. i know mauresmo pretty much choked like usual. but ive been waiting for a whole year for her to start beating top 10 players.

I'm very impressed with Vaidisova too.

3. anyone know a good therapist? mauresmo is looking! hook a brotha up!

She's literally come at this problem from every angle, I think this is going to be a constant problem for her entire career.

4. finally some other young players are breaking out of the pack! at the beginning of the tournament i remember them breaking down the list of hot teens. and djokovic was at the bottom of that list. wow has he made a splash. now i think we might be able to put him at the top of that list. mofils showed good guts but also some luck this week with the 3 straight 5 setters. they werent against that tough of opponents. blake on clay, norman? seriously?, and andy murray cant win 5 set matches, this is a known fact.

Andy Murray is absurdly overhyped. He's a clever player but he needs to work on his strength, work on his endurance and above all work on his bloody attitude. Monfils could also work on his conditioning in my opinion. Haven't paid much attention to Djokovic.

5. i cant see hingis as a serious threat yet. everyone keeps talking about how shes gonna BEAT EVERYONE! but sorry im not for the hype. when shes toughing it out against peer and then losing in straight sets to a "i cant wait to retire" and "im not that great on clay" cjisters, i cant quite jump on the hype bandwagon. shes had really easy draws in majors so far. lets not jump the gun to say shes the new #1 just yet y'all.

Hingis is surely playing like a top ten player, albeit one in the part of it. Did anyone realistically expect her to beat Clijsters? Clijsters has the speed to run down Hingis' clever shots and the power to send her scrambling all over the place. You can expect her to beat the likes of Sharapova and Davenport because of her ability to absorb and redirect their pace and thus exploit their suspect movement, but I don't see her consistently beating the more mobile power players in Henin-Hardenne and Clijsters.

6. sharapova sucks on clay. we all know this. but watch out for her because she wants that wimby title like NO ONE else this year. she might just beat venus williams over the head with her racquet for it.

Definitely one of the most admirably traits of Sharapova, that burning desire to win and fierece competitive spirit.

7. is it just me or does nadal look IMPATIENT! this year? hes trying to end a lot of points pretty quickly! hes not the "im gonna hit every single ball you hit back and you better somehow hit nothing but winners against me" nadal we all grew to know and love. i like that hes being more aggresive but trying to end points with a winner after 2 shots isnt going to win it for him.

I'm seeing the opposite to be honest, I think there have been patches throughout the tournament where he's played not to lose rather than to win.

8. i still hate leyton hewitt.

I disliked him immensely in the past but for whatever reason I find myself rooting for him nowadays.

9. cljisters should just go away. anyone who says they basically dont wanna be playing tennis should not be getting celebrated as a champion.

There's a difference between someone saying they want to retire because they want to preserve their body and someone flat out saying they don't want to play tennis. Clijsters clearly enjoys playing but isn't too keen on the wear and tear she takes on with her physical game.

10. can we fire ALL of the commentators PLEASE. i honestly did not have an issue with anyone til this major. with chris "can i possibly talk about everyone else in the tournament while im interviewing you, (insert anyones name he interviews here)" fowler. or brad "i know more about tennis then you because i TALK MUCH LOUDER" gilbert. if i have to hear them two do one more match together ill scream. i agree with mary saying no coachs on saturday. because that takes any mental aspect out of the game. if you need someone to tell you how to turn a match around you prolly arent playing pro tennis in the first place. but i completely disagree with johnny mac with the no injury time out thing. hes preaching about how having coachs would make the tennis better. but isnt having someone come out for a few minutes to tape up an ankle or stretch out a cramp also helping a match go on longer at a competitive level? i think that the time outs should be shorter but definatly shouldnt just get rid of them. so lets just fire everyone working for espn and nbc please and thank you.

Please, nothing matches one of our commentators who said something like "you'd definitely see Nadal being number 1 next year".

ok im done ranting. thanks to those who actually read it.

 

[ta11geese3]

One of your commentators said Nadal would be #1 next year? o_o

I like hewitt now too... just like how I like Roddick now too. Maybe I feel sorry for them XD

 

[lucky leprechaun]

9. cljisters should just go away. anyone who says they basically dont wanna be playing tennis should not be getting celebrated as a champion.

At the end of the day she's in the semis on clay. She's probably saying that stuff to herself more than anything and if it helps her feel better and play better now, then I'm all for it. You can't really half *** it into french open semis without wanting it and trying real hard during the matches. If you were, you'd most likely do a "roddick" and crash out of the first round without even finishing a match. So I say judge on what a player does, not what they say. Frankly I think clijsters is too nice volunteering this stuff because it's too honest which makes you look bad.

 

[ontherise17]

At the end of the day she's in the semis on clay. She's probably saying that stuff to herself more than anything and if it helps her feel better and play better now, then I'm all for it. You can't really half *** it into french open semis without wanting it and trying real hard during the matches. If you were, you'd most likely do a "roddick" and crash out of the first round without even finishing a match. So I say judge on what a player does, not what they say. Frankly I think clijsters is too nice volunteering this stuff because it's too honest which makes you look bad.

well im getting what you guys are saying definaly. im not saying i dont like clijsters. shes a great talent and an awesome person. you dont find too many really nice down to earth people on the tours now a days. its just, and i think many of you would agree with me on this, i would give anything to have the type of talent and opportunites to play on the tour. and for her just to say oh well i dont like getting injured so im gonna retire, is sort of ungrateful and sort of a slap in the face to the tennis world. if she truely does love the sport she wouldnt be leaving it because shes sore basically. and you can tell me she loves it and all this but i just will not see it. its the ones playing on the tour 20 years barely winning challenger and tier 3 or tier 4 matches struggling with injury after injury but still going from tournament to tournament pouring their guts out for this sport. not ms kim clijsters who has cleaned up almost any tournament she has entered won tons of prize money and endorsement deals and then decides to quit the sport at a unusually young age to retire, because her body is sore and she doesnt wanna risk injury again.


to me it reads. ive made my money, ive had my fun...im gonna go have kids. cya!

which if she decides this, good for her. best wishes.
but i will not regard her as a champion.

 

[Viper]

9. cljisters should just go away. anyone who says they basically dont wanna be playing tennis should not be getting celebrated as a champion.

Completely 100% agree

 

[OrangeOne]

9. cljisters should just go away. anyone who says they basically dont wanna be playing tennis should not be getting celebrated as a champion.

Why? Why does it matter if Clijsters is more honest than most about the fact that for her it's more of a job than a passion?

If somebody wins things, they are a champion imho. I don't care if they've set a retirement date, if they've said they don't live & die for the sport. Hell, life is a long place to be and almost all tennis players are finished in their 'career' by their early 30s.

Clijsters is making a choice not to completely debilitate her body by that point, I can respect that, and I'll respect her wins as much as anyone else's! (For the record, i'm not a Clijsters 'fan' either, i'm just confused at to the relevance of her comments and her game, in fact I'd like to see HH win the SF today!).

 

[ShooterMcMarco]

I can't believe Dallas is favored to win the finals. I think Miami is a lock.

Excuse the hijack OP. I'm not even a Mavs fan but I think they'll win in 6. I don't think Miami can hang with teams that push the ball.

/end hijack

For some reason I'm starting to feel bad for Hewitt. I think those cool commercials he did changed my view of him lol.

 

[dubsplayer]

I rooted for Hewitt the other day. Shocked me right out of my socks. I will never like Roddick.