**Official 2007 US Open***

[thedarknight]

Just love this time of the year when the US Open rolls around. Also love the atmosphere for the night matches...
Obviously Federer is the prohibitive favorite, tho I don't really think he's playing all that well coming in, he did look shaky losing some sets in the Montreal tournament and then losing in the final to Djokovic. I don't think it's going to be Federer-Nadal in the finals. Roddick has Federer in the quarters, I think he'll get lucky to get that far. James Blake is going to make a deep run. Oh and finally Donald Young won his first US Open match after collecting up wild cards like it's his job.

It should be a fun 2 weeks.

[tuq]

tdk,

I'm almost as interested in the chicks, if not more so. In fact, if it wasn't for witnessing perhaps the greatest tennis player in history in his prime and a real and recent challenger to his supremacy, I'd prefer to watch the women by a mile.

I mean, we're talking world-class play either way, except as a bonus some of the chicks are hot.

I'm going to make a poll/pole on this and suspect the men will win it pretty handily but let's see anyway.

It's come a long way and ten years ago it was still embarrassing at times but I still don't feel that women's tennis is so good that I want to spend time watching it for several hours a day.

Do hardcore golf or basketball fans watch the Wnba or Lpga?

Certainly to take one obvious example, soccer fans do not watch women's soccer but yet somehow for a lot of people, to a degree where it's at times been more popular than the men's game, tennis is different. Especially with the american audience it seems like.
Don't get me wrong though, I do think it can easily be argued that quality wise, tennis could very well be THE women sport practiced at the very highest level.
More than any other.
The competition has obviously become fierce and the talent pool must be larger than in any other women's sport.

Still is it really that much better if you make comparisons between the differences between men and women in other sports?
Personally I don't think so and I'll still largely be skipping their matches for reasons that are similar to why I don't watch women's soccer or women's golf.
I watch far too many sport as it is already so when I do I generally want to make sure I'm watching the best.

Having said all that I do understand why it's become popular.
The hotness factor (though i feel some are way overrated) has already been mentioned and the way the different games advanced through the late 80s and 90s I can understand why to a casual fan with a different perspective, a women's match may look more entertaining.


Strangely enough though, eventhough it's better quality wise than it ever has been I've actually been losing some interest in the men's game as well.
Not sure what it is but there doesn't really seem to be that many truly interesting players around anymore like there used to be just a few years ago.
So yeah I'm not some kind of quality fundamentalist. I need people who can capture my fascination as well and right now in the men's game there aren't that many who are able to do that.
I'll be rooting for an unlikey Safin run I guess.

STILL with Djokovic coming into his own, he can be scary good, and Nadal and Federer obviously, this could be a great tournament.

Murray comebacking should be interesting too and eventhough everyone keeps improving making it more and more difficult for Roddick, he IS usually very good in this tournament.


And btw, I voted men.

[Homer]

i like watching the women more because the matches tend to have longer rallies. also, needless to say, the ____ova vs. ____ova matchups, short skirts and grunting add to the appeal. i don't want to watch federer smoke some dude 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. when it gets down to the finals, my preference probably switches over to the men, especially if it's federer vs. nadal or something.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Like Homer, when I think of tennis chicks, I think of Sharapova or Kournikova. When I think of WNBA players, I tend to think of ogres, and I don't watch golf. ___ova girls ftw!

However when Federer plays, I tend to watch. I enjoy seeing him completely dismantle his opponents.

[grando]

[ QUOTE ]
i like watching the women more because the matches tend to have longer rallies. also, needless to say, the ____ova vs. ____ova matchups, short skirts and grunting add to the appeal. i don't want to watch federer smoke some dude 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. when it gets down to the finals, my preference probably switches over to the men, especially if it's federer vs. nadal or something.

[/ QUOTE ]

couldn't have said it better

[tuq]

Bjorn,

I don't think your WNBA or LPGA analogies are apt at all. In those sports men are far more compelling to watch because they are so much stronger than their female counterparts.

A much better analogy is pro beach volleyball - the men are still stronger but the quality of play is very close. Also, like Homer pointed out, the rallies tend to be longer and more intriguing due to the lack of overpowering strength.

I'm not trying to force an agenda here, I do enjoy them both, but do consider the quality of play between the genders to be a lot closer than the other sports you brought up.

[Toro]

Love women's tennis.

[thedarknight]

The Quality of the men's is much better than the women's, probably more so than say a sport like men's golf. Some match years ago paired the 600th ranked chain smoking male pro vs. the Williams sisters and he crushed them. The gap is pretty wide.

That being said, I still follow WTA but I just don't watch it as intently. I remember the Women's final in the 1997 US Open garnered better ratings than the Men's. That was during the hey day of Women's tennis, with Hingis, Venus, Davenport, and of course Anna Kournikova. Now, women's tennis is really at a lull. No one really wants to watch Henin or Mauresmo. The Williams sisters are getting old and Sharapova just isn't Kournikova. Sharapova's attitude on the court pretty much pisses me off. The rallies maybe longer but the matches have no variety. Every woman is strictly a baseliner. The men's rallies are filled with more angles, a variety of spins, and more strategy.

I enjoyed watching the Mirnyi-Bagdatis match, it's something you will never see on the woman's side. But I will still definitely watching Serena battle whoever with her screams and of course keep an eye on all the hotties such as Vaidisova, Ivanovic, Kirilenko, and Golovin.

[TheNoodleMan]

[ QUOTE ]

Some match years ago paired the 600th ranked chain smoking male pro vs. the Williams sisters and he crushed them.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure you just made this up.