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Anyone else here a tennis fan?


Fiz

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I love tennis although I was a fairly poor player because my eyesight was so poor. I have watched Wimbledon since I was about four. I remember my father telling me how tennis points were counted and how many games amounted to a win. I thought Heather Watson played better than any British woman player has ever played. She was awesome. She pushed Serena Williams all the way. Serena Williams was very generous in her after match interview. Next year, Heather!

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Tennis at its mesmerising best. And in what other sport would the players (and the crowd) behave towards each other with such generosity of spirit.

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I haven't seen it yet.  I was listening at work, and didn't dare go home in case I missed the denouement!  Never mind, watching it - and Brown vs. Nadal - is on my to-do list for the weekend.  That's what I like most about Watson: she's such a fighter.

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I love tennis. Like Fiz,i`ve watched it since I was a child,and my mum used to explain it to me. My all time favourite female player has to be Martina,simply because she was and still is the greatest female player ever,and also because I grew up watching her. My all time favourite male player has,for the last few years been Roger. I really hope he can win Wimbledon one more time before he retires. And when he does retire,like with Navratilova,i`ll be sad indeed.

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BTW,I`ve become a fan of Andy Murray in the last few years too. Used to not think very much of him,to be honest. I thought,oh here we go,another Brit tennis player who will never amount to anything. But then,for some reason a few years ago,I read about him on Wikipedia. How he was a pupil at Dunblane Primary School and hid from the gunman as school friends of his were being murdered. I have to say,reading about that changed my perception of him. Speaks volumes,I think,of the type of grit and determination and strength of character Murray must have to have experienced something like that at the age of 9,and work and fight your way to success. I know if it had been me in that school when something like that happened to my friends I have no doubt at all that I would be a total wreck today. Fair play to him.

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I think what I love best about Andy Murray and Heather Watson is that they are fighters. In addition to that, Heather has that wonderful thing and phrase of grace under pressure. She didn't panic yesterday, she just got on with it. I didn't care for Andy Murray at all until he calmed down and when he didn't win in the final at Wimbledon, I felt so desperately sorry for him. So like Lisa, I went on line and what I found made my jaw drop. I had no idea that he'd been at school in Dunblane on that terrible day until then. I really do think people who have it tougher are more interesting characters. Go Andy and Heather, Great Britain loves you!

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I quite agree about Heather Watson. For me she has made watching women's tennis worth watching again and her match against Serena Williams was truly gripping. Miss Watson has all the talent and spirit to win Wimbledon and I look forward to seeing her achieve that in the future.

Andy Murray too has that certain something on top of talent that makes somebody a deserving winner. I agree his early years left something to be desired behaviour wise but he was young and kind of unstructured. Now as well as being a superb player, he has maturity and comes across as a driven but essentially decent man.

The main thing I remember about Tim Henman was that good though he could be, there was a point in his matches where you would see him peak and then wilt. However well he did, he just seemed unable to sustain it,then it was just a matter of time. He wasn't possessed of that killer instinct - not the same as being possessed by a killer instinct! - that overpowering desire to win. (Then again, Tim isn't a name I associate with killer instinct. No offence to all the Tims out there!) As I recall of Goran Ivanisovic when asked what motivated him to keep trying year after year, he said winning Wimbledon was his destiny.

As for Wimbledon itself, I was reading about how difficult it is to become a ball boy/girl, with rigorous selection and training. I don't think I would have got very far with all that. Some players like the tennis balls rolled towards them, others thrown - carefully of course - at them, others prefer the balls to be placed directly on their racket and so on. Fancy getting it wrong!! 

If one of these overwrought prima donnas tossed their sweaty towel at me, I would leave it where it fell. That would be me out I suppose.  :P

Edited by Jacqueline
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Just a thought, but I wonder how many more Andy Murrays and Heather Watsons there are out there somewhere. I personally think there would be many, if the game could be introduced to the working classes somehow. There's a lot of parents who wouldn't be able to afford to borrow £30,000, to gamble on there son/daughters success, as in Judy Murrays case.

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Just a thought, but I wonder how many more Andy Murrays and Heather Watsons there are out there somewhere. I personally think there would be many, if the game could be introduced to the working classes somehow. There's a lot of parents who wouldn't be able to afford to borrow £30,000, to gamble on there son/daughters success, as in Judy Murrays case.

That is why we have to hope Elena Baltacha academy has an impact. Her death at such a young age was tragic but her husband continues to work so hard to promote tennis through the academy.

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Looked on the BBC Twitter feed tonight ,which gave the order of play tomorrow. Both Andy Murray [and his opponent] and Roger Federer [and his opponent] are scheduled to play at 1pm tomorrow. So unfair.!! How am I supposed to watch two matches at the same time??

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Can someone tell me why Wimbledon does nothing about the appalling grunting and screeching that seems to be getting worse every year?  They should give them a conduct warning like they do for audible swearing. Poor Coco yesterday had to complain about Sharapova because of the ridiculous noises she makes.  It is truly awful, and she and the other grunters make me feel like I'm watching animals in a zoo fighting over a scrap of food.  It puts me off watching women's tennis, or if I do watch, I turn the sound down.  Why should we have to do that?  This  started with Monica Seles if I remember correctly.  I mean, Court, King, Evert, Navratilova, Graf.....none of these women EVER made such noises and, with the exception of Serena, none of the grunters will EVER be in the same league as those five players. 

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Some other players make noises but there is something really unbearable about Sharapova's screeching. She sounds as if she is being subjected to some kind of attack or endurance test. I actually can't bear to watch her unless I turn the sound off. It's really, really off-putting and I can't understand why she can't hit the ball without making such an awful noise. It's time for a noise rule to be brought in. Do coaches training young players actually encourage them to make these noises, perhaps to put their opponents off? Has Sharapova ever watched herself? Surely she finds herself embarrassing.

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I have to agree, the grunting puts me off watching the women's game too. Many of the men grunt, but the women grunt at a much higher pitch that makes it quite uncomfortable to watch.

 

Sim, I do wonder if the increase in grunting in the last 15 years is partly due to the change in the game - more hard hitting since the Williams sisters arrived?

 

Alison, I did read some years ago that grunting was encouraged in young girls by some coaches, though I think it's to get more force behind the ball. Sharapova was a grunter from when she was quite young, about 4? 

 

I watched a lot more tennis in the 90s and I do miss the days of Graf, Seles and Hingis!

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I've always thought it was more gamesmanship than anything else.

 

I hope ballet dancers do not start using this technique to power their leaps and lifts!!!

 

It wouldn't reflect very well on either the lifters or the liftees  :D

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The thing I find so suspicious about Sharapova and the appalling noise she makes is that she doesn't do it in practice sessions which convinces me that it must be gamesmanship. I won't watch her matches. Azerenka is another player who should be fitted with a silencer! :(

Edited by Fiz
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Did anyone else hear yesterday about Novak Djokovich [Don`t think that`s spelled correctly] and the way he treated a ball girl? I never saw the incident and only read about it online. Apparently the girl was late in giving him either a ball or his towel or something. Apparently[and I don`t know if it`s true or not] he really shouted at the girl and she was left sobbing and trembling. If this is true,what an absolutely disgusting way for the world`s number one tennis player [or indeed for ANY adult] to speak to a young girl. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself. 

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Just to check,I just went on Twitter and typed in Djokovich Ball Girl. He did indeed yell at a ball girl for not giving him his towel quickly enough,and reduced the girl to tears. He has promised to apologise to her,"If I did something wrong".

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Just to check,I just went on Twitter and typed in Djokovich Ball Girl. He did indeed yell at a ball girl for not giving him his towel quickly enough,and reduced the girl to tears. He has promised to apologise to her,"If I did something wrong".

"If I did something wrong". 

Well, let's see. What could it be I wonder. Perhaps some of these players really need to get over themselves.

There is pressure at the top of course, but it is after all, just a game, requiring one to be good at hitting a ball over a net with sufficient accuracy to win a point. Then repeat the process as many times as possible. If one gets really good, one will be very handsomely rewarded for this skill and be treated as some sort of heroic figure, as though one has achieved something of enormous importance.One's every utterance, no matter how banal will be received as though it is the most fascinating thought ever to be articulated.

One will require a trainer, a coach, a physiotherapist, a dietitian, a psychiatrist, a designer of your sportswear, a P.R. office and any number of other staff.  I would imagine after a while, one might lose sight of any sense of proportion and reality. Sometimes it must be a relief to get on court and play the tennis game. Only to have the disaster of one's towel not being ready. The outrage. One cannot believe one may have done something wrong, but one will apologize anyway, as it is good P.R. innit.

Did anyone see Sue Barker 'interviewing' an American tennis player yesterday, whose name escapes me. I wondered what was going on, there was so much cringe inducing simpering and over the top laughing from her. I thought calm down dear, you are carrying on like a school girl. :wacko:

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The women's semifinal this afternoon was very good, particularly the first match. I have just seen Jamie Murray and his partner John Peers go into the doubles final. No pressure, Andy! :)

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Just to check,I just went on Twitter and typed in Djokovich Ball Girl. He did indeed yell at a ball girl for not giving him his towel quickly enough,and reduced the girl to tears. He has promised to apologise to her,"If I did something wrong".

 

It is reported that he yelled *in front* of a ballgirl, not *at* her.  And he did something similar a few weeks ago to a ballboy.  But either way, it must be pretty horrible for the boy or girl.  It's one of the types of behaviour which may explain why I've never warmed to him - that and the gorilla impressions, and the shirt-ripping, neither of which I believe he's done recently, to be fair.

 

But, PLEASE God, no Murray-Djokovic final!   I couldn't stand another one: the matchup is so boring it's painful.  A bit like a combination of watching paint dry and having nails scraped down a blackboard.  I wanted a Murray-Federer one, but realised that wasn't on the cards as soon as the draw came out and Murray was put on the wrong side :(

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Hoping for Federer / Djokovic myself!

 

I'm going to Wimbledon for the first time on Saturday. My husband was suddenly given 2 members enclosure tickets!!!! Just extremely relieved that Sharapova is out. The grunting must be even worse when you're there!

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Ooo Regattah how lucky are YOU???  Very jealous, so make sure you have a great day on behalf of all of us watching at home.  I hope the match isn't too one-sided and that you get a good one!  :)

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 I am also glad Sharapova is out. The noise is irritating enough but I find her very robotic to watch. Usually I try and avoid her matches altogether. Apparently, she gets quite defensive when the subject comes up, so there is no likelihood of the problem being dealt with. She's not the only one but she is by far, the worst.

The ladies' final should be interesting if the Spanish lady keeps her nerve and it isn't a complete wipe out. 

As for tennis players' requirements, I wonder if a paramedic should be added to the list after yesterday's fiasco in the ladies' semi, when the Polish team called the ball out incorrectly and effectively lost her the match. She may well have lost anyway but I felt so sorry for her. What a way to go. I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the changing room afterwards. I don't speak Polish but I imagine one could get the gist.

Finally, and I am having a name blank today, the referee with the sexy voice is getting quite a following, so it is not sexist to mention it. I thought he sounded like Barry White the other day, when the score includes love, or lurve as he says it. Cool! :)

Edited by Jacqueline
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One of my friends told me that there will be more regulations regarding noise, but they won't be applied to current players. So there is a concerted effort to discourage grunting among younger players in the hope that it will be trained out of the next generation.

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What I would regard as a 'grunt' is acceptable (to me). Sharapova is defensive about criticisms directed at her, and some people complain that there is sexism regarding complaints about the noise that female tennis players make. However, Sharapova does not grunt but shrieks (I find it hard to believe that it improves her actual strokes) and the noise that she makes. however you describe it, is stupendously loud. Perhaps tennis audiences should start booing players that make a lot of noise. I'm pretty sure that they could stop the noise if they wanted to as it is just another aspect of their game and they change parts of their game constantly throughout their careers.

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