The Tennis Thread - Part 2

[Frico]

Haha, thats awesome.

 

[Sakuraba]

Please god let Rafa and Roger make to the quarters.

 

[Sakuraba]

Indian Wells is bringing the goods this year. Some great early match-ups:

-I know we have some Dimitrov supporters here, and he gets a chance to show his potential against Djokovic. I can't imagine this ending well for him, since he couldn't manage anything against Djokovic even on fast Shanghai hardcourta, but it's an opportunity for him to make a statement and get some confidence.
-Sam Querrey looms as Djokovic's next opponent, with Sam having knocking him off in Paris last fall.
-Tommy Haas is playing Almagro. Haas is pushing 35, and he's got one of the best looking games you'll ever see. Like Federer, he's a player out of time, and it's best to savor these moments.
-Then you've got a triumvirate of players that never really panned out for various reasons, that are really playing fantastic tennis at Indian Wells. Kevin Anderson, Gasquet, and Ernests Gulbis.

Gulbis has me most excited because he's stringing together success from tournament to tournament, and he is doing things that he's never been able to do, like come from behind like he did today. It looks like he's tweaked his forehand a little and maybe not for the better, but his serving and backhand have been huge. I don't know if his forehand will hold up against Nadal but I will enjoy seeing it try! I wouldn't be surprised by a Gulbis upset either.

And we're one round away from a Roge/Rafa match. Things are looking up at Indian Wells.

 

[Bim]

Yeah, exciting tournament so far t:

On the women's side we have Azarenka vs Urzula Radwanska, Petrova vs Wozniacki, Kerber vs Muguruza, Barthel vs Stosur, Kvitova vs Zakopalova, Kirilenko vs Agnieszka Radwanska, Errani vs Bartoli and Arruabarrena-Vecino vs Sharapova.

 

[Kaleb]

Kevin Anderson is playing some inspired tennis atm.

 

[Frico]

Yeah he's had a good start to the year despite losing that one final to Tomic. Still, it's always great seeing a player reach their potential. Everyone does in time...some early and some later on in their career. Being able to take out Ferrer was both huge and rare. And nice to see he's been able to maintain that level of play.

He'll have another test with Berdych.

And vamos Rafa! The tennis world needs to see you and Fed at it again!

 

[Frico]

Gulbis takes the first set against Rafa. O.O

 

[Bim]

Rafa vs Roger tonight. Man, that's gonna be a great one. It shall be a true test for Nadal's knees. Sadly due to the time difference and work tomorrow i dont think i'll be able to stay up late to watch . There's also Azarenka vs Wozniacki, that should be interesting t:

 

[Kaleb]

come on Anderson!!!!

 

[Nightwing 52]

MAN...Today was a double bummer for me with Vika having to pull out and Anderson being beaten again by Berdych (he beat him at the AO).

Oh well...we're about an hour and a half away from the main event. Rafa vs Roger. Their 29th meeting. Should be interesting to see how Nadal stacks up against Fed this time compared to their last meeting. Can't wait.

 

[Nightwing 52]

...Well that felt quick. Probably not the match most fans wanted/expected but given the condition of Fed's back it's totally understandable. While he tried to hang in there he looked visibly frustrated and just produced too many errors. Rafa just looked solid from the start...this return of his has been truly impressive.

I'd love a Djoker/Rafa final. Please tennis gods!

 

[Bim]

I honestly didnt expect such a score. I figured these two would to go 3 sets. I'm watching the first set atm and it's a solid one so far, some nice rallies here t:

Too bad about Azarenka though.

 

[Frico]

Novak dismantled Tsonga in just 54 mins. Incredible stuff.

 

[Frico]

Delpo!!!!!!

 

[Kaleb]

What happened with Andy? I never got to see the game but I'm surprised Delpo won so convincingly

 

[Frico]

With Murray I never know. One minute he's all pumped up and then the next he looks like he's hurting. I'd say it looked to be a combination of that, fatigue from the first set/rallies (they were long at times) and Delpo just out hitting him in the third set. Not to mention the number of errors coming off his forehand side. Delpo was CRUSHING it in the third. So well deserved.

Murray's bad luck at this tourny continues.

 

[Frico]

Seriously. Rafa right now. That is all.

 

[Sakuraba]

Andy Murray is a terrible spring player. He always sucks this time of year.

 

[Kaleb]

Great win for Delpo, I guess a Rafa Nole final will have to wait once more.

 

[Frico]

And there goes the streak.

As a big Djoker fan I'm pretty bummed but Delpo made a tremendous effort from 3-0 down. His serve and forehand were his big weapons and he's now slayed the US and Aus Open champs. The final with Rafa should be very interesting.

 

[Sakuraba]

Great win for Delpo, I guess a Rafa Nole final will have to wait once more.

I imagine you'll see plenty of that match up in April and through June.

Nadal didn't play great today, he played well enough to close the match out against the bubbling Berdych. Nadal will need to clean up his game quite a bit facing JMDP.

I think Delpo takes the final tomorrow in straight sets. His confidence is sky high right now, killing the ball off both wings and he's serving bigger than ever. Nadal's movement just isn't there to counter JMDP's firepower.

 

[Sakuraba]

You know, I switched off the match to watch the NCAA selection show, leaving it with JMDP up a set and a break. It felt academic. He was serving well, hitting Nadal off the court, and Nadal wasn't able to hit his backhand down the line or really move around to hit his inside out forehand. He wasnt in the match, he wasnt anywhere near the court!

Yet, inexplicably, Nadal apparently won this tournament today. A stunning result given the way the match was going and an absolutely shocking result considering we didn't even know if Nadal would be able or willing to play this event only a few weeks ago.

 

[Bim]

There were a couple of momentum shifts during the match for sure. Delpo got on a hot streak during the first set and the start of the second one. If you didnt watch it, you missed a great one. It's really nice to see both these guys back in a final t:

 

[Frico]

Did not see Delpo being taken out in the first round by Kamke after leading 5-2 in the first set. That's gotta sting after his run in IW. Think a combination of fatigue and the rain delay played a factor for The Tower of Tandil. On to the clay for him.

Murray vs Tomic is my popcorn match today. Rooting for Bernie for the upset!

 

[Sakuraba]

The tennis.com website is decent at best, but their mobile site just might be the worst mobile site on the www. Refreshing is sometimes impossible, you have to select between tournaments for live scores instead of the old simple way of having all of the day's matches on one page, the front page is rarely updated with all of the new stories, the related stories at the bottom of each article are completely random and sometimes years old, and it's just not user friendly. It's a disaster.