French Open (WTF?)

[BartHanson]

Anyone agree with me here that red clay court tennis is just not tennis? Call it moonball, call it spaniard dirt fest but please don't relate this game to the tennis that is played in London, New York or Melbourne. There is a reason why the greats never won here--McEnroe, Sampras and Federer. Give me a skinny athlete who can chase every ball down and he can compete with the tennis superstars on clay.

[Dominic]

tennis is played on different surfaces...the US Open used to be competed on clay...if every tennis tournament was played on the same surface it'd be a very boring sport...which it is fast becoming...I used to love the different "seasons" of tennis....the clay court, the outside hard surface, the indoor carpet, the grass at Wimbledon...it's gotten too generic now, where every tennis player HAS to be 6 feet tall and built like a first baseman or defensive back.

[llabb]

Out of your champions list, there's a very good chance Federer could win this year. He's been pushing Nadal harder and harder each time, down to a thrilling 5-set tiebreaker ending in their last match. Federer is absolutely incredible, his game is incomparable, probably the most well rounded talent in the sport ever.

That being said, I think Nadal takes it down again. The man is just unstoppable on clay. But I am really hoping to watch a Federer-Nalbandian semifinal and a Federer-Nadal title match, which would be great tennis. I think there's a strong chance we get that finals matchup.

For darkhorses, I like Ferrer to go far, with a good shot at the semi's. 2 other up and coming guys I like are Almagro and Monfils, but they're stuck in the same portion of the draw. I think Almagro has a good shot at upsetting the 8-seed Blake (sucks if all the Americans go down early like always, though). I like whoever makes it out of that area (Almagro, Monfils, Blake) to get to the quarter's against Nadal.


Anyone else here watch tennis, and have any thoughts on who will win or do well?

[TheNoodleMan]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone agree with me here that red clay court tennis is just not tennis? Call it moonball...

[/ QUOTE ]
whatever. I'd rather watch moonball than hardcourt tennis any day of the week. Watching someone slide perfectly into a a baseline forehand on clay is more impressive to me than anything the other surfaces have to offer.

[Fallen Hero]

The big problem I have with hard surfaces is that it usually turns into pure serve and volley.

[BartHanson]

[ QUOTE ]
The big problem I have with hard surfaces is that it usually turns into pure serve and volley.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's wrong with that? Breaking serve in tennis should mean something.

[Fallen Hero]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The big problem I have with hard surfaces is that it usually turns into pure serve and volley.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's wrong with that? Breaking serve in tennis should mean something.

[/ QUOTE ]

it's not very enjoyable to watch 2s points for a couple of hours, longs rallies are more entertaining.

[Vincent]

The only sport where I like watching women play. First, they're women, second they have rallies.

[Fallen Hero]

[ QUOTE ]
The only sport where I like watching women play. First, they're women, second they have rallies.

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and they make extremely suggestive sounds

[Nielsio]

One of the best matches I ever saw was a semi-final at the French open between Rafter and Agassi @ 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.