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Not sure what to think about it to be honest. She was a good player, but has only been to two slam finals and won neither. She does have that impressive Beijing Gold Medal. I was never really a fan of her and I often forgot she even existed until I saw her name in a draw. With her retiring now it makes you wonder what will happen with other players of her age, like Venus and Serena. Injuries seem to be catching up to Serena, but she has that passion about the game that very few do and is still at the top of her game when healthy. Lena retiring now does bring up those questions though about the future of the other players her age and how the landscape will change for women's tennis when the older elite players do decide to retire. I will miss mommy Vera though! AND with Lena retiring Makiri matches her career high singles ranking, so I do enjoy this more than I should.
Hoping Sam wins the YEC, though I am expecting Kim to just continue the roll she is on.
WHYYYY omg I feel like crying, I can't bring myself to watch her announcement but I guess I'll have to do it some time.
Dementieva had her ups and downs, but with her ups comes heartbreaking slam endings (RG04, USO04, RG08, Wim09, AO10, RG10, USO10). It's sad to see her go without winning a slam title, something she is definitely capable of. She'll forever be to me the best player to have never won a slam.
Doha WTA Year End Championships has been completed.
Day 1 - Round Robin stage
WG: [2] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) def. [6] Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 63 60
MG: [1] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) def. [7] Elena Dementieva (RUS) 61 61
MG: [5] Samantha Stosur (AUS) def. [4] Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 64 64
Day 2 - Round Robin stage WG: [2] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) def. [8] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 76(4) 64
WG: [3] Kim Clijsters (BEL) def. [6] Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 62 63
MG: [5] Samantha Stosur (AUS) def. [1] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 64 63
Day 3 - Round Robin stage WG: [3] Kim Clijsters (BEL) def. [8] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 64 57 61
MG: [1] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) def. [4] Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 36 61 61
MG: [7] Elena Dementieva (RUS) def. [6] Samantha Stosur(AUS) 46 64 76(4)
Day 4 - Round Robin stage
WG: [2] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) def. [3] Kim Clijsters (BEL) 64 75
WG: [4] Francesca Schiavone (ITA) def. [7] Elena Dementieva (RUS) 64 62
MG: [8] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) def. [6] Jelena Jankovic(SRB) 64 61
Elena announces her retirement after her loss to Schiavone.
Day 5 - Semi-finals SF: [3] Kim Clijsters (BEL) def. [5] Samantha Stosur (AUS) 76(3) 61
SF: [1] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) def. [2] Vera Zvonareva(RUS) 75 60
Day 6 - Finals F: [3] Kim Clijsters (BEL) def. [1] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 63 57 63
Kim wasn't as consistent in her game as she could have been, notably how she gave up a *4-1 lead in the second set. Her second serve was still erratic, she didn't chase down a couple of winners from Wozniacki as she could have (I mean, we all know how great Clijsters' defence is) and she was incredibly inconsistent today.
I do like that Wozniacki tried to take the initiative today by trying to over-power and outrun Clijsters, knowing that she won't have a chance if she plays passively and waits for the errors since it wouldn't happen with Clijsters. She's still not mentally strong enough it seems, evident by her frustration she showed on court, through her facial expression and through her hand gestures.
I loved how successful Clijsters wielded the drop shots today in the first two sets, all from the base-line after long rallies.
It's nice to see some variations in tennis; it's become rare nowadays. During this match, she also managed to display great power and great defence despite letting some retrievable winners (for someone of Clijsters' defensive caliber) go pass her.
Points earned between Doha qualifiers:
[3] Kim Clijsters: 1340
[1] Caroline Wozniacki: 890
[2] Vera Zvonareva: 690
[5] Samantha Stosur: 530
[4] Francesca Schiavone: 370
[7] Elena Dementieva: 370
[8] Victoria Azarenka: 370
[6] Jelena Jankovic: 210
surprising results:
Samantha Stosur reaching the semi-finals after a very poor asian-swing season.
Samantha Stosur def. Caroline Wozniacki in RR
Vera Zvonareva def. Kim Clijsters in RR
expected results:
Kim Clijsters taking the title.
Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva making the semi-finals.
Jelena Jankovic losing all of her round robin matches.
Yeah, no surprises with Clijsters running away with this one. Bummer for Jankovic though, she looked absolutely wiped out after all those losses... Anyway all this crap talk about Wozniacki not having won a slam is just...crap. She's only 21, and she looked really good in the second set against Clijsters. Can't be far now.
Just when tennis seemed to have ended, its back on, some wild card playoffs happened this past week for the 2011 Australian Open.
For the United States wild cards were given to Ryan Harrison and Lauren Davis. I didn't get to see any of this but Lauren is one of my favorite players and has a bright future, I'm glad she got this opportunity and made the most of it.
Australian wild cards were given to Olivia Rogowska and Marinko Matosevic, who both upset a bigger name in the finals. I watched the semis and most of the final for the women's side and I must say Olivia is a nice player but needs polish. The final was rather disappointing since I was rooting for Jelena Dokic, and she easily took the first set 6-1 with almost no resistance from Olivia, but Jelena managed to choke it away and Olivia saved 2 match points in the second set. I'm sure Jelena will get one of the other wild cards given to Australians, but I have to imagine her confidence was shattered after that performance.
reply is two months late but davis cup is an interesting concept with awful execution; top players don't participate often enough and that's basically its issue
So Federer stopped the Djokovic streak somehow. If he somehow manages to beat Nadal on Sunday, I think this will be the most impressive tournament in his career. Even though Nadal would still have a stranglehold on their H2H (16-9 if Fed wins), I think Federer puts the GOAT debate to rest, at least until Nadal gets remotely close in Majors. For Federer, the importance of Sunday's match cannot be understated. I do expect him to get thoroughly dismantled though, but not as bad as 2008. If he keeps his amazing serve up, I could see him sneaking a set through a tiebreaker, but Nadal just has too good of a matchup against Fed on clay. The backhand would have to hold up over 3+ hours and I just do not see that happening.
Very happy to see another Fed Nadal final. I like Djokovic as well but I definitely wanted to see this more.
As for the ladies, I have not watched much but the French has been crazy. Either Schiavone repeats as FO champion (that sounds really weird), or Li Na becomes the first Chinese woman to win a major. I'm rooting for Li Na but I wouldn't be "upset" if Schiavone won it.
Just once I would like to see Wozniacki / Azarenka / Radwanska not choke in the slams.
Impressive that Li Na won today. Bravo to her. Unfortunately I slept too late and missed the match and had to spoil it by looking up the score online. I wonder if she'll retire now, now that she's in the record books as the first Chinese player representing China to reach a semi-final and win a slam. If she does retire, she'll be listed with all the other one-slam wonders. If she doesn't, then I'm sure she'll be like other players who don't really have the passion to play their hardest anymore, but still play for traveling reasons, money, etc.
As for the Djokovic/Federer match, that was disappointing. I hate when he comes back into the spot light and takes the glory. I hope he loses tomorrow to Nadal in the final. As long as Nadal keeps alert and plays smart, he'll get through it. Also, tomorrow at AMC theaters (so I heard) they'll be showing the French Open final at 5 am in 3D for $15. Have to look that up before I get suckered and wake up at 5 am for nothing.
lol, why would you hate on federer 'stealing glory' or w.e? Djokovic is the biggest name in stealing glory as far as tennis is concerned. When he loses he is 'injured' and when he wins he behaves poorly. Its a mystery to me why anyone likes him.
lol, why would you hate on federer 'stealing glory' or w.e? Djokovic is the biggest name in stealing glory as far as tennis is concerned. When he loses he is 'injured' and when he wins he behaves poorly. Its a mystery to me why anyone likes him.
It's because out of all the players to steal the glory, it had to be him. Son of a bitch always gets lucky. Djokovic has his demons, and always blames shit when he plays, and yes he's a poor sport at times, but at least he's better than Murray when it comes to keeping cool. But the point being, I'd rather have any other player beat Djokovic and take his win streak away.
So what's everyone's bet on tomorrows game? Nadal (The King of Clay) or Fe'dur'er? Nadal is best on clay, Federer is good/gets lucky, so I cant really say what the outcome may be.
First set to Nadal, was 5-3 down with Federer serving for the set, but Nadal won 4 games in a row to take the set 7-5. Nadal is also up a break at 1-0 in the second set.
1600 BST (1700 French time)- Federer breaks back in the second set to level things up at 4-4, only for Nadal to break straight back and lead 5-4. He's now serving for the set.
1624 BST (1724 French time)- After a brief stoppage for rain Federer breaks again to level things up at 5-5
1641 BST (1741 French time)- Second set tie break, Nadal wins it, 7-3, and now leads by 2 sets to love (7-5, 7-6) Long way back for Federer now... 2 hours and 15 minutes of tennis played, time for some facts.
1642 BST (1742 French time)- Fact time.
1. Federer has won 3 Grand Slam finals after losing 1st set - WIM 2004 vs Roddick, 2009, vs Roddick, AO 2006 vs Baghdatis.
2. If Nadal loses Novac Djokovic will become world #1. The last #1 before Nadal orFederer was Andy Roddick, in Jan 2004."
3. On this day In 2005 Rafael Nadal won his 1st Grand Slam title beating Mariano Puerta in the French Open final
4. Nadal is 25 years, and 2 days old today and can win his 6th Roland Gerros. Bjorn Borg was 25, and 1 day old when he won his 6th Roland Garros trophy
5. The last time the top seed (this time Nadal) won the French Open men's title was way back in 2001 when Guga Kuerten saw off Alex Corretja.
6. Fourth Nadal-Federer final at Roland Garros is a record for any Grand Slam.
1646 BST (1746 french time)- Nadal holds the first game of the third set, and is one step closer to equalling Bjorn Borg's record of 6 French Open titles...
1659 BST (1759 french time)- 2-2, no breaks of serve yet in the third set.
1708 BST (1808 french time)- Some very sloppy play from Federer, coupled with some brilliant shots from Nadal, and he breaks at the first attempt with Federer at 0-40. 4-2 to Nadal now, you can sense how close Nadal is to wining now...
1711 BST (1811 french time)- Um, perhaps I spoke too soon, Federer breaks straight back, again, 4-3 to Nadal with Federer serving next.
1715 BST (1815 french time)- 4-4 now, back in 10 mins, I am
1731 BST (1831 french time)- Federer is not out of this by a long way, he breaks Nadal with a superb backhand to make it 6-5 to the Swiss man, and serves out to take the third set. After 3 hours anf 5 minutes of play Nadal leads Federer by 2 sets to 1, 7-5, 7-6, 6-7
1739 BST (1839 french time)- Uh-oh, this doesn't look good for Nadal, 0-40 down in the 1st game of the fourth set, and the crowd going absolutely ballistic at every point which Federer wins. However Nadal saves all three break points and then wins the game.
1745 BST (1845 french time)- 2-1 to Nadal, on serve...
1759 BST (1859 french time)- Jesus, Nadal breaks Federer twice to lead 5-1 and serve for the match
1805 BST (1905 french time)- Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6, 7-5, 6-1 to win his record equalling 6th Rolland Garros title.
Andy Murray wins the Queen's club Title (Aegon Championships) 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Good preparation for him for Wimbledon, although he's still not at the top of his game yet, so I reckon it'll be a couple more years or so before Great Britain get there first Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry in 1937 (or someting like that)...
Can we just get to the Nadal vs Murray, Federer vs Djokovic semis again? I really doubt that any of them will lose, unless someone like a Del Potro just happens to be on fire on blasts one of them off the court.
Nice to see Tomic in R32. Would have liked to see Harrison beat Ferrer or Dimitrov beat Tsonga, but they both played pretty well.
Federer vs. Nalbandian - either this will be straight sets or it goes 5 I think. Depends which Nalbandian shows up.
Can we just get to the Nadal vs Murray, Federer vs Djokovic semis again? I really doubt that any of them will lose, unless someone like a Del Potro just happens to be on fire on blasts one of them off the court.
Nice to see Tomic in R32. Would have liked to see Harrison beat Ferrer or Dimitrov beat Tsonga, but they both played pretty well.
Federer vs. Nalbandian - either this will be straight sets or it goes 5 I think. Depends which Nalbandian shows up.
The bolded part says it all. It seems the Nalbandian I wanted to show up didn't show up. I have the match recorded, and will still watch it, even though I just looked up the score. I did like how Federer said before the match in an interview before playing him, he said: "If only I didn't get matched up with him." or something like that. I know he said more about it, but I can't remember.
I would have loved to see Nalbandian take Federer out this early into the slam. Not sure if I Nalbandian can be classed as a dark horse, but I suppose he counts as one. Just once, I'd love to see Nalbandian bring his a-game and knock everyone out and win a slam. It's like poor Ferrer -- I'm waiting for the one day he wins a slam, then see him retire. Some players can make it into the top 10, but never actually win a slam.
I'm just waiting for the one day where an awesome chain of events happen, where someone like Soderling, Berdych or a dark horse player takes Federer and Nadal out, and then Nalbandian will be in the final against someone like Tsonga or Ferrer. But with Nalbandian always getting hurt big time, I just don't think he'll have the body anymore to last through a slam. Fortunately, he's been gaining a slow comeback by winning some tournaments here and there. I like his rank now better than when it was in the 60's not too long ago.
Well, Bartoli is out now. If Sharapova keeps playing well, I think she'll reach the final. Possible outcome (imo): Sharapova vs. Lisicki.
As for mens division: most appealing match catching my attention for today is going to to be the Nadal vs. Fish match. Let's see what Fish can do. His gameplay has been really solid and he's moving a lot more now; covering the court more and going for those shots. Not sure he has what it takes to take on Nadal, but you never know.
Anyways its a shame that this topic died.. Luckily the season isn't over! The ATP World Tour Finals are going on meaning there will be a lot of quality tennis being played. :) First round results:
(2) R Nadal defeats (8) M Fish 62 36 76(3)
(4) R Federer defeats (6) J Tsonga 62 26 64
(1) N Djokovic defeats (7) T Berdych 36 63 76(3)
(5) D Ferrer defeats (3) A Murray 64 75
As you can see, both Rafa and Novak being forced to a third set tiebreak while Murray disappoints the home crowd (whats new?) From what I've seen I think Fed has a good shot at defending his title but we'll get a better look when he plays Rafa later today.
