2008 Tennis thread

[ChiangMai noon]

Originally Posted by klongmaster

I imagine Roger will be quite relieved by the turn of events in the other half of the draw

i dunno.
Nadal has never been beyond the semis on hard courts. (aus or Us open)
Fed has his beating on them.

[Marmite the Dog]

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

The lovely Ivanovic is through to the final in spite of losing the first set 6-0 to Hantuchova.

she will play Sharapova.

I watched some of this game earlier, and she looked like a sack of spuds. Maybe it was the wide-screen telly I was viewing it on?

[Wallalai]

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Maybe it was the wide-screen telly I was viewing it on?

Those wide screen tellys sucks, even Maria Sharapova looks like a kwuay on them.

They should learn to use them properly by adjusting the screen to the image format. But it's already difficult for them to find the proper channel.

[Wallalai]

Now it's aproximatively what happen in Thailand with wide screens, I prefer much more my 4:3 cathodic TV with black stripes up-dowm-left-right, depends the format.

VS

[klongmaster]

What time's Federer playing today?

[CharleyFarley]

He just got beat straight sets.

Two serbians in the finals.

[ChiangMai noon]

Yup.

as I predicted.


Djokovic was too much for Federer.

[Wallalai]

Yes Djoko was the best today. I think he will win the final.

[William]

Originally Posted by CharleyFarley

He just got beat straight sets.

Two serbians in the finals.

not too sure about this, but the French might have a word or two to say about this

EDIT: think I just got what you meant, men's and women's finals, rather than two in the men's final

[William]

Amazing first set. Looks like the Frenchman is in with a chance.

[walrus]

^ Its a cracking match so far

[William]

^2nd set goes to the Serb and we have a game on here

[CharleyFarley]

Good final.

I'd hazard a guess here that there has never been two mens finalists with surnames that begin with two consonants...trivial pursuits

[ChiangMai noon]

Andy Murray quickly recovered from his Australian open disappointment where he lost to eventual finalist Tsonga by winning the Marseille Open.

Tsonga went out in round 1.

Originally Posted by BBC

Murray claims Marseille final win

British number one Andy Murray will return to the top 10 in the world after beating Mario Ancic 6-3 6-4 in the Open 13 final in Marseille.

Murray, seeded fourth, broke in game eight and saved several break-points in the next as he took the opening set.

His serve came under pressure from unseeded Croat Ancic, a former world number seven, at the start of the second and he dropped it in game four.

But Murray hit back with breaks in games five and seven as he triumphed.

Victory came in 104 minutes, providing his second ATP title of 2008 and fifth overall.

It was just the response that the 20-year-old Scot needed in his first event after controversially missing Britain's Davis Cup tie against Argentina to protect his knee.

"I served well throughout and returned really well in the second set," Murray said.

"He started getting a bit tired in that second set and that was probably the key to the match.

"Being in the top 10 is one of my goals. I'll try to stay there the whole year."



Murray began with more of the fine returning which had swept him to the final in France, although Ancic did not let him have things all his own way.

The first set was tight until a superb forehand winner in the eighth game and the fifth of his 11 aces in the match put the Briton in the driving seat.

Ancic, who is ranked 135 after missing most of last year with glandular fever, showed signs of returning to his best on Saturday when he demolished Marcos Baghdatis in the semi-finals.

And as Murray's first-serve percentage dipped dramatically at the start of the second set, the 23-year-old pounced to take the initiative.

It merely provoked the Dunblane star into stepping up a gear and successive breaks were followed by some improved serving to set up a match point in the ninth game.

Ancic survived that with a dropshot but Murray served out to add to his success at the Qatar Open at the start of the year.

[Marmite the Dog]

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

Tsonga went out in round 1.

How did that happen? Is he a one-hit wonder?

[klongmaster]

Thought I'd post this before Nooners gets here bragging...

Andy Murray has produced a sizzling display from the baseline to hand world tennis No 1 Roger Federer his first opening-round defeat since 2004 with a 6-7 6-3 6-4 victory at the Dubai Open.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion was last beaten in the first round of a tournament at the Cincinnati Masters in August, 2004.
"I definitely could have played much better tennis but then again you've got to give credit to the guy who beat you and came up with shots," said defending champion Federer, who has now lost two of his three meetings against the Briton.

Federer was playing just his second tournament of the year, and his first match since losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Australian Open in January.
"Tough match, obviously. It was always going to be a tough draw," Federer said.
"He's played many matches already this season whereas obviously I come in a little bit cold.
"I knew it was important to get off to a good start but it wasn't enough tonight. He did well to hang in there and it was a tough match in the end.
"My expectations are not sky high at this point. Obviously I haven't played much so you don't go in with any expectations. You hope to get past the first round, no matter if it's a guy with no ranking or a guy ranked basically in the top 10.

[ChiangMai noon]

^
yes, saw that one a bit too late.

Federer didn't have a single break point.

terrible draw for both of them.
unlike most tournaments dubai only seeded the top eight leaving Andy Murray floating round the draw.

should have a nice run now though.


excellent win.

has beaten Fed 2 out of 3 times now.

not sure how many players have a winning record on federer.

[buriramboy]

Murray is having a bit of a strange season, this is only the 5th (i think) tournament he will have played in, and of the previous 4 he has won 2 and been knocked out in the first round in the other 2, i still think he will be in the top 5 though by the end of Wimbledon, as he missed the whole of the clay season and Wimbledon last year so he has no ranking points to lose, he can only gain.

Edit- almost forgot to add, was a great win for him last night.

[ChiangMai noon]

^
you are probably right.

interesting to see if he can make a go of it on clay.

not be one of the top 8 or so but at least be competitive enough to get to the third round or so.