Roland Garros 2014: MOTD Day 10 Tue 02/06/2014

gallery play wrote:Am watching a replay of Gul-Berd. NAdal is lucky to have Murray in the semi instead of Gul, but luck is his middle name so what else i new 

Gulbis was really impressive today. Djoko will give a harder time....but it should be a good match!

Order of play for tomorrow:

I cannot see your order of play....not sure if anyone else can.

Good news for Ferrer is that his match is on Lunglen...the faster one......meaning that Nadal will have to re-adapt v Murray/Monfils!...if he gets through.

Saw a bit of Mugu - Pova yesterday, Mugu confirmed my first impression of her. I like her even more now that I know that she is not a native Spaniard. Such a pity that she had to lose vs. a onedimensional player such as Pova.   Also annoying the comments on TV, how they shamelessly supported the Russian. Yeah, I get it that she is No. 1 in endorsements on the WTA side and by some considered beautiful   , but please show some appreciation for the 19 year old girl on the other side of the net.

I liked the Gulbis-Berdych match quite a lot, heavy hitting from both sides there and so happy that Gulbis won as I thought he could.   Gulbis just has more to his game than Berdych who is pretty boring imho. I was just afraid he would be tired after the 5-setter vs. Fed and I started to worry when he had to fight in that one service game in the third. Fortunately he managed to serve it out without further struggles.

I would hope he goes all the way now if it weren't for Nadal. He has the game to defeat Nadal, but to beat Djoko and Nadal back-to-back - I'm not sure he has it in him.

Didn't watch Djoko-Raonic and there were no surprises as expected.

Autumnleaf wrote:Saw a bit of Mugu - Pova yesterday, Mugu confirmed my first impression of her. I like her even more now that I know that she is not a native Spaniard. Such a pity that she had to lose vs. a onedimensional player such as Pova.   Also annoying the comments on TV, how they shamelessly supported the Russian. Yeah, I get it that she is No. 1 in endorsements on the WTA side and by some considered beautiful   , but please show some appreciation for the 19 year old girl on the other side of the net.

I liked the Gulbis-Berdych match quite a lot, heavy hitting from both sides there and so happy that Gulbis won as I thought he could.   Gulbis just has more to his game than Berdych who is pretty boring imho. I was just afraid he would be tired after the 5-setter vs. Fed and I started to worry when he had to fight in that one service game in the third. Fortunately he managed to serve it out without further struggles.

I would hope he goes all the way now if it weren't for Nadal. He has the game to defeat Nadal, but to beat Djoko and Nadal back-to-back - I'm not sure he has it in him.

Didn't watch Djoko-Raonic and there were no surprises as expected.

Yes we see it alike....Thoiugh I think Gulbis can beat Nadal, I am sure Djoko is a much safer bet for the task! ...so I will be supporting Djoko v Gulbis....as hard as it will be....unless Nadal loses today....which I very much doubt.

There is also another reason why we should all be supporting Djoko here....NITB our star poster has tickets for the final and wants to see Djoko beating Nadal live (well glancing from behind her allocated chair... knowing her). So please secretly support who you wish but officially we are all behind Djoko here!

I usually watch women's tennis only in the second week of slams, when I get withdrawal symptoms from all the abundance and choice of tennis in the first week, as after Justine's retirement, most women play same unimaginative baseline bashing game.

But I grew to like Sharapova over the years. 
In my opinion, she is the best competitor both on men's and women's tour. I don't think I've ever seen her squander a point.
Unlike Nadal who probably tops competitors' list among men, Sharapova plays very gutsy tennis. I know it's all drilled ball-striking, but again, she is above all other women who do the same.

She stands her ground on the baseline and goes for thhe shots with single-minded, uncompromised effort.
She may not be the most talented and flairful player, but she makes the most of what she's got.

I though she'd never come back after the shoulder injury, but she did: struggled with her serving for quite a bit of time, learnt how to move on clay, kept getting better...

I think she couldn't win a single match without screaming, though, that's what's keeping her focused and so intense in a point.
I don't know how she can do it, it must be so energy consuming, but unless it gets banned, it's clearly her big weapon in its own right.

I don't know how much it really affects her opponents. 
I suppose they start minding it once they begin to lose the control of the match, then they allow themselves to get upset about it which then disrupts their game.
That's when Sharapova pounces and finishes her prey off.

She is gutsy, I give you that, but I can't stand this 2 faced persona. Wanting to appear as soft voiced and cute after having had a close to disgusting behaviour on court. I don't like people who cannot refrain themselves from displaying their primal beasty instincts.

Some players can win with class, others can't!

Tenez wrote:
There is also another reason why we should all be supporting Djoko here....NITB our star poster has tickets for the final and wants to see Djoko beating Nadal live (well glancing from behind her allocated chair... knowing her). So please secretly support who you wish but officially we are all behind Djoko here!

First, I'm not a star poster.
Second, please don't feel obliged to support Nole for my sake.
Third, unlike all of you, I want to see Nole win on Sunday. Beating Nadal will only be a cherry on the top.

Tenez wrote:She is gutsy, I give you that, but I can't stand this 2 faced persona. Wanting to appear as soft voiced and cute after having had a close to disgusting behaviour on court. I don't like people who cannot refrain themselves from displaying their primal beasty instincts. Some players can win with class, others can't!

I am wanting to avoid word "class" these days, it seems to be misinterpreted more and more, as most use it unable to see behind the facade.

In my opinion, class is shown in losing just as much as in winning.
A bit like this:
"You must never be satisfied with losing. You must get angry, terribly angry, about losing. But the mark of the good loser is that he takes his anger out on himself and not his victorious opponents or on his teammates."

To scream senselessly without caring about the crowd and more so her opponents is classless!

No different than taking 30s between points.

noleisthebest wrote:First, I'm not a star poster.
Second, please don't feel obliged to support Nole for my sake.
Third, unlike all of you, I want to see Nole win on Sunday.

First, this forum would not exist without you.
Second, don't worry, just wait and see who Tenez will support if Rafa somehow loses today.
Third, indeed.

noleisthebest wrote:I think she couldn't win a single match without screaming, though, that's what's keeping her focused and so intense in a point.

Tbh, I don't think she screams so much for her own focus, she does it to disrupt the opponent. As do other grunters. They are hindering opponents by distracting them and by drowning the sound of contact, so by the rules the opponent should win the point. So in my eyes this kind of screaming is simply cheating/ not playing by the rules and should be banned asap. I am completely with Navratilova there. We all know that won't happen though for different reasons. One that I can understand being that it's hard to assess when exactly a natural noise of exertion becomes a calculated noise to mask sounds and intimidate.

Besides it does nothing to promote the sport. Though there are even people who claim to like it!    I still remember how put off I was when this stuff started in women's tennis with the arrival of Monica Seles. And now the men do it too with Berlocq, Nadal, Ferrer being the worst offenders, so I wouldn't attack Sharapova isn't alone with her cheating.

Tenez wrote:There is also another reason why we should all be supporting Djoko here....NITB our star poster has tickets for the final and wants to see Djoko beating Nadal live (well glancing from behind her allocated chair... knowing her). So please secretly support who you wish but officially we are all behind Djoko here! 

  Good to know the rules!   I refer to NITB there, she is a great poster indeed and hope she'll see an exciting final, with Nadal finally going down. A straight-setting with Nadal unable to win games would be better for my nerves, but an exciting five-setter with Nadal coming close, only to snatch defeat from the jaws of victories also has its pros.

I don't mind Djoko winning at all; as long as the clay warrior cannot take home his 9th title I'm fine. But I do enjoy the playing style of other players more and a new GS winner is always welcome. Of the players left in the draw, I honestly would prefer to see a Gulbis-Djoko final, but that's impossible.

Tenez wrote:I hope Gulbis can keep it up.....a nicer player to watch.

From what I have seen, I think Djoko and Nadal might lose regularly to Rao in 12 months time (in B03 at least). I should add that in the prediction thread.

Are you sure? Rao hasn't beaten any of them till now and bar 1 match each for both Djokovic and Nadal, none of them were even close.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

Tenez wrote:I hope Gulbis can keep it up.....a nicer player to watch.

From what I have seen, I think Djoko and Nadal might lose regularly to Rao in 12 months time (in B03 at least). I should add that in the prediction thread.

Are you sure? Rao hasn't beaten any of them till now and bar 1 match each for both Djokovic and Nadal, none of them were even close.

Pretty sure! Not that different with Djoko unable to beat Nadal in a slam or on clay......and I remember Nadal's fans throwing this at us....and then suddenly, Djoko teaches Nadal lessons everywhere on clay and slams (except slam AND clay...yet).

I think Rao is getting closer and confidence, in particular on his grounds shots, might just shift the balance.

Autumnleaf wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:I think she couldn't win a single match without screaming, though, that's what's keeping her focused and so intense in a point.

Tbh, I don't think she screams so much for her own focus, she does it to disrupt the opponent. As do other grunters. They are hindering opponents by distracting them and by drowning the sound of contact, so by the rules the opponent should win the point. So in my eyes this kind of screaming is simply cheating/ not playing by the rules and should be banned asap. I am completely with Navratilova there. We all know that won't happen though for different reasons. One that I can understand being that it's hard to assess when exactly a natural noise of exertion becomes a calculated noise to mask sounds and intimidate.

I am not convinced this thing about screaming has anything to do with "masking" the contact with the ball...
I am not sure even pros are able to process that knowledge with the speed they are receiving the balls these days. Their main focus is on watching the ball.

Which shots "masking" exactly do you mean, anyway?
Dropshots from baseline are a matter of disguise, slices are slow, so there nothing to hide and mask there, as for spin or flat hitting, nowadays everyone spins the ball more or less, so, I think screaming is more an annoying thing to put up with for players the same way it is for us who just watch. No amount of Sharapova's screaming is going to intimidate or influence Serena, for example.

Same with Federer...he doesn't need to "mask" his shots with grunting...and of all players he produces most sound variety.

Muguruza howls very similarly to Azarenka, so she's not quite guiltless and quiet herself, either.

As I said, she just simply must have started cracking under pressure of inexperience and let it get to her and affect her focus.
So from that point of view, screaming is a bit of extra help, not related to tennis skill exclusively, and it can be viewed as cheating.
But until it's officially not banned, she is playing by the rules.
Nadal's taking time between the points on the other things IS against the rules.

I am certainly not a fan of any noise on the court, in fact, I despise it.

summerblues wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:First, I'm not a star poster.
Second, please don't feel obliged to support Nole for my sake.
Third, unlike all of you, I want to see Nole win on Sunday.

First, this forum would not exist without you.
Second, don't worry, just wait and see who Tenez will support if Rafa somehow loses today.
Third, indeed.

Don't say that!

As for Tenez and everyone else...I know he/you/they can't stand Nole, but so what? I like him and that's all that matters.
I know there are other players with looser and more elegant game, I'm not that blind! I prefer their tennis, too.
But with Nole, for me it's special and transcends the mere game of tennis. But I'm sure you if not understand, at least know that.

"Can't stand" is a big word. I don't mind him as much. I am very grateful to him that he stopped Nadal's slams count in its tracks....so I will never hate him.

But tennis wise, he is certainly not on top of my list.

I like Kuzty's game!