Tennis thread

[transcend]

OK, so as not to bore the non tennis fans, I'll start a specific thread. So who do you think will win the French Open - I'm going for Federer/ Mauresmo, although more in hope than belief, as far as Amelie is concerned. Also, on a side note - do you think Amelie is attractive? I must admit I don't usually go for the butch type, but I dunno, I definitely find her somewhat alluring: I suspect it's got something to do with her butch physique being belied by her gentle nature...and the fact that I suspect she'd be a more than capable shag (sorry to be crude).

[transcend]

So, obviously nobody wants to talk about tennis then . Where's spyretto?

[Tom Violence]

I would love to talk tennis. However I don't have a television, and haven't for the previous eight months, so I'm a little behind the times.

So, let's see. I think Sue Barker and Illie Nastase will both win it again this year. Yes. That's right.

[freddie]

I think Federer just might will although I hope Agassi does. I don't like those young guns.

Frankly Amelie scares me a bit. She is SUCH a guy. Broad shoulders and all, powerful. Only Serena Williams can at least compete with her in sheer power.

[nath]

Me I'm Happy to see again My Martina Navratilovaaaaaaaaa.....ARWWWwwwwww!.......
....I'm a little ashamed ...but could you tell me the dates of Roland Garros, please.....I don't know them...

[coolasfcuk]

Tennis is nice, but... only if there is no nice football on tv and with the Euro coming up soon.... tennis is pushed back for me

also, regular daily schedule doesnt allow me to watch tv really... so

[forre]

sunwalk,

FRENCH OPEN
Roland Garros, Paris
May 24 - June 6 2004
Courts Suzanne Lenglen & Philippe Chartrier

[KillaQueen]

oh me looooooovvvees tennis... might be the only sport i watch on tv (except for some very rare football matches)... and i also love to play it though i havent done it in a while

but i was a real tennis fanatic back in the times of Martina Hingis... i loved that girl.. so young and so much talent then she disappeared from the scene... never really got to know why... i guess i didnt try to find out either, but still... anyone care to enlighten me?

[nath]

Originally Posted by forre

sunwalk,

Forre Spassiba!....What happened to your poor little eye?... ...a ball ..or the vision Of Martina Navratilova?.....

[coolasfcuk]

Originally Posted by sunwalk

....What happened to your poor little eye?... ...a ball ..or the vision Of Martina Navratilova?.....

I have to admit here... sunwalk, Martina Navratilova gives me black eyes when i look at her

So, we have these two sister tennis players from bulgaria Maleevi... but usually they dont do too well - definatelly not the Willimas sisters... oh well

[zebu]

Hingis, she decided to quit and go study smthing, thats what she said in one recent interview i saw.

im a huge tennis fan, not like i used to be when i was younger but i still watch it and play it.

favs for the Roland Garros, id say Henin and Federer

[freddie]

It was such a shame Martina retired. And so many years before her time as well. Lady's tennis lost a lot of grace with her retirement... it signaled the start of the power-houses era. Although Justine is still from the old school.

[nath]

Originally Posted by freddie

It was such a shame Martina retired. And so many years before her time as well. Lady's tennis lost a lot of grace with her retirement... it signaled the start of the power-houses era.

Yes i agree Freddie .... i liked the time when female tennis was "clever " strategy...Of course , you can't be a great tennis player if your mind doesn't follow and the present players have a "head" but...sometimes it's more their physicall strenght which makes them win ...more than their strategy....
I liked the time of Navratilova and Steffie Graff...
I spoke about Navratilova 'cause of course she retired ...but she will play this year ...she is 47 years old and she comes back just for this Roland Garros.
I don't think she will stay during a lot of turns but...it will be a "heart great pleasure" for me to see her again....Yep ...I mean she wasn't beautiful nor a top model.....but she had a kind of "elegance" (you found the right word, Freddie )which came from her...from her behaviour.... She had a veryy strong personnality....

[taty994945]

Here's the offical site if you didn't already know: www.rolandgarros.com

It's fun to read the post-match interviews, especially from the losers.

[transcend]

I think Roger's in quite a tough quarter of the draw - he'll probably play Kiefer in Rd 2, maybe Kuerten in Rd 3 and I think Safin's also in his quarter. Amelie should have a clear run through to the semis, where she'll meet either Capriati or Serena Williams (one would imagine) - I can't see either Dementieva or Davenport tripping her up, unless the nerves really get the better of her . I think it should be a good Roland Garros though - it's very open this year. I wish Monica were playing though... she's been out for so long now, I'm starting to wonder if she'll ever return.

[taty994945]

Agassi lost 1st round. I just hope he can finish his career in a blaze of glory.

[forre]

A better coverage on the Eurosport News site.

Real Time Scoreboard - The Official Roland Garros website.

Gisela Dulko (Argentina) v Martina Navratilova (U.S.) - 6:1, 6:3. Martina is out in her first round. Pity but not unexpected.

[transcend]

Ferrerro did well to beat Haas in 4 sets today - that was a tough opener for him. Capriati was lucky to get through - I still think she'll be a threat later in the tournament though. Didn't see Federer's match, but it looks like he won it easily. Too bad about Navratilova, but clay was never her best surface; it'll be interesting to see how she does on grass next month. It's shaping up to be a good French Open.

[taty994945]

Wow, all American men are out. So is Henin.

[forre]

Henin didn't come to the tournament in a good form so her lost wasn't a big shock. Even if you are #1, the competition is so tough that you got to be in a good form to score anything there.

So what do we have?

Men's singles (round 2)

Juan Monaco ARG - Guillermo Coria ARG
Fabrice Santoro FRA - Irakli Labadze GEO
Carlos Moya ESP - Fernando Vicente ESP
Olivier Mutis FRA - Andy Roddick USA
Jerome Haehnel FRA - Michael Llodra FRA
Lars Burgsmuller GER - Tim Henman GBR
Vladimir Voltchkov BLR - Nicolas Massu CHI
Florian Mayer GER - Nicolas Escude FRA
Fernando Verdasco ESP - Juan Ignacio Chela ARG
Luis Horna PER - Galo Blanco ESP
Mikhail Youzhny RUS - Andrei Pavel ROM
Mariano Zabaleta ARG - Mario Ancic CRO
Julien Jeanpierre FRA - Vincent Spadea USA
Paradorn Srichaphan THA - Alex Corretja ESP
Raemon Sluiter NED - Dominik Hrbaty SVK
Tommy Robredo ESP - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP

Women's singles (round 2)

Amelie Mauresmo FRA - Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP
Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL - Tathiana Garbin ITA
Jie Zheng CHN - Emilie Loit FRA
Vera Zvonareva RUS - Magui Serna ESP
Meghann Shaughnessy USA - Silvia Farina Elia ITA
Yuliana Fedak UKR - Nadia Petrova RUS
Elena Dementieva RUS - Nicole Pratt AUS
Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP - Lindsay Davenport USA
Vera Douchevina RUS - Paola Suarez ARG
Marlene Weingartner GER - Maria Elena Camerin ITA
Tatiana Perebiynis UKR - Ashley Harkleroad USA
Dinara Safina RUS - Marissa Irvin USA
Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP - Lisa Raymond USA (28)
Rita Grande ITA - Maria Sharapova RUS
Magdalena Maleeva BUL - Marta Marrero ESP
Klara Koukalova CZE - Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi ISR