Harry- I read in a couple of articles posted on another board that Federer was feeling sick around the time of the Zabaleta match with what sounds like either flu-ish or upset stomach symptoms.

I agreed with Mary Jo's assertion during today's match that even though Venus lost- she has played with a fire in her belly this tournament that has been missing for a while. I did really want Venus to win this match though, but Maria was just playing too well.

With every Sharapova match I hear- her shrieking gets more and more annoying. Makes me long for the days of Seles' grunts. (My favorite tennis noisemaker though is Kuerten with his mmmmm-wwhaaah groans. Heal quick from your surgery little buddy.)

Looking forward to the match tonight- gotta root for Andre. Don't know who I will root for though in an Andre and Roger semi.

I am crossing my fingers that they will show the Nadal/Ferrer semi tomorrow afternoon on ESPN. But I am worried that since ESPN does not like to cover international men (outside of Feds) they will show a tape of the Kim/Amaelie match from tonight or another repeat showing of the Venus/Match insead. Sigh.... Come on ESPN, Nadal is the youngest male semifinalist ever at Miami- and so much fun to watch- please show him! (Sorry if I have been gushing about Rafa on here lately.)



So true! I was thinking today that her voice always sounds like she is tired with a cold.

Sharapova's dad has been cited for coaching from the stands-I think it was last year in LA. And Anastasia Myskina has complained about it to the press, saying she would never work with Sharapova as long as her dad was around. I think a backlash is a-brewing.

Hingis's mom was also cited for inappropriate coaching from the stands.

I'm also glad that Venus seems hungry again and is playing back at the old level. I would love to see her take another Grand Slam-I think she will soon enough.

I think the last year has really given the tennis world some perspective on Venus and Serena that should make matches and commentary a lot better in the future. When Venus and Serena were winning on pure power it seemed to irritate some commentators who wanted more finesse in their games. Now that they've spent a year hurt and losing a bit, their resurgence is alot more appealing to some tennis fans and announcers than their meteoric rise to the top. I love that Venus' serve is popping again and that she's volleying alot more. Serena's game is already pretty complete if she can stay healthy and she's so much fun to watch.

I also think that Maria Sharapova really, really pisses them off. In a similar way that Martina Hingis used to piss them off. There's no question they are nice girls, but they are also competitive as hell. Sharapova was the first person to beat a Williams in GS final who wasn't a Williams and they definitly feel she has copied their style. This year's French is going to be so good. Venus has had alot of good clay court seasons and really came close to winning the French two years ago. I think she can take it this year.

One of the American men got in trouble during the Davis Cup recently because he was looking for direction from his coach in the stands and he is supposed to look to PeeMac. I think it honestly might have been Andre and Darren Cahill but ... I could be mistaken.

Andre is beautiful. *sigh* And I realize I am biased with the Andre love but Taylor so self-destructed he was a more immature player than Roddick has ever been. I was kind of surprised that their banter during the changeover was aired live in the second set. But it was such good drama! And then with the medical. Loved the Cliffy (?PeeMac?) noted that Taylor has pulled out of previous matches with Andre for "medical" reasons. I gotta believe Aussie Phil would've skinned Taylor alive if he had done an unsportsmanlike thing such as pull out in the second set instead of finishing the match even knowing he was going to lose.

So anyone else have an opinion on Dent's behavior? The first set was so good and the second set ... he just let the calls get into his head. That's where Andre's maturity (and conditioning) let him just totally take control.

And Andre's confidence and enthusiasm about taking on Federer, which he discussed in the post-match interview, was GREAT!

For the folks looking for Nadal today, I think they are going to air it. Apparently, Patrick McEnroe has been talking up Nadal all week so Cliff was like, "I'm looking forward to seeing him given what you have been saying." And PMac was smug with the "you'll see" kind of stuff.

He is the biggest brat that ever bratted (except Jeff Tarango, natch). I cannot believe he hasn't matured at all over the years. I wanted to like him when he first came on the tour, and went to see him on some back court at the Open. He didn't like a call so his response? He sat down, cross-legged, on the court and refused to move. Haven't liked him since. I loved Andre's look of resignation when the trainer went over to Dent. I think Andre was as shocked as everyone else that Dent continued at that point.

So looking forward to tonight's match that I actually checked flights to see if I could get down there today (too expensive and with the rain coming here I probably wouldn't get back tomorrow).

I think they will show the Nadal/Ferrer match today. If they don't, I'm driving up to CT and insisting ESPN hire me to produce their tennis coverage.

I am prepared to write a letter of recommendation!

Well, thank you. I might take you up on that.

Here is why I love Andre: When asked about his prefered conditions for tonight's match he replied:



RE: Doubles semi

Three sets! Two tiebreaks! 7-5 in the 3rd! Max and Jonas winning! Why oh why won't ESPN (or anyone else) show doubles?!?! And I'm only spoilering this in case they do show part of it (wishful thinking).

LT: It's our requisite "mmmmmmMax Mirnyi" post of the tournament! Or is that Castallack who shares the Max love? I gotta believe it's all of us.

That was INSANE! How good can those two guys play? As sorry as I am that Andre lost, I love Roger and that was a remarkable 90 minutes.

And Juanita, I'm your partner in the Max love. And, now that I know they are not going to show any of that doubles match (huge surprise), I'm not spoilering his name.

OK gang, can we all send a memo to ESPN for the craziness that is repeating the final 17 minutes of the match. that just. concluded! Are they crazy?

I love me some Andre and I know you do too LT.

In game 7 of the second set with Roger serving 15-40, I thought to myself, "if this were Pete Sampras he would pull out a few aces." Seriously. And what does Federer do? Two aces. And even my tennis soulmate Cliff Drysdale commented: "That was Sampraslike." I love Cliff. But I lurve Andre.

Here's my new strategy gang: If Andre is healthy in 2006, I gotta believe he will go to Miami for what will be his 20th consecutive appearance. I am supposed to be in Miami next April 2nd for my friend's 30th birthday. We should all start planning now. Anyone? Anyone? In the meantime, I gotta find a way to get to Flushing Meadow for Labor Day.

Re-playing the last 17 minutes was nuts. If they had no other coverage, why didn't they show a little of the Nadal match? It was during the day, people were at work, more of a chance that people had missed 17 minutes of that.

I'm there in Miami next year. 'Course I'm up for Cincy, Indy and Toronto this year.

As for the Open, Labor Day is a crazy crowded day but I can almost guarantee (Castallack will back me up on this) that Andre will play a day match the first Thursday. The USTA likes him to play on the first Monday, either day or night, and if he wins his first round, his second-round match will be a Thursday day match. Tickets go on sale April 16 for USTA members (and I am one). We should figure out which TWoP'ers want to go and set up a day to go. If people are interested, maybe we can set up something in the TWoPcon forum.

What a great match! The score belies the quality of the match- Andre and Roger were both bringing great quality stuff.. Both players were top notch and Pmac and Cliff seemed to really enjoy it. I love how both players have such respect for one another. Great stuff with lots of winners.

It was funny because we had plans tonight that we had to cancel because hubby is feeling sick and flu-ey. He felt so bad but as soon as the match came on he said "I'm doing you a favor aren't I?" He knows me well.

Yea! They showed Nadal/Ferrer today! Go ESPN. I was able to watch the Tivo of that during the breaks and it solidfied my Nadal love. He has some great strokes with awesome topspin and if he juices up his serve like he wants to- he will really be a factor on a number of surfaces. I agree with Pmac in that this will be his breakout year. And he is charisamtic and nice and seemed so sweet while giving his interview in broken English. His English is onpar in its cuteness with Ferrero's. Pmac seems to have loads of respect for him (I guess the Rafa wins at Davis Cup will do that) and Cliff seems to be rather fond of him. It was cute how they were both fondly tittering over Nadal's English after the interview.

Here is a little sample of Nadal's broken English from an interview after the ESPN one for those who haven't seen any of his interviews.



another little snippet



Sorry for all of the gushing, but I really am very fond of this young player. Any of you other TWOPers like this guy?

Gotta echo the sentiments of those who were hopping to catch a bit of the Max/Jonas win in doubles- don't know why ESPN showed someting they had just shown 20 minutes ago.

I'm up for making it a TWoPcon. I could totally take time off of work that weekend to be there for a day match. One of the women I work with goes to the Open every Labor Day weekend with her husband.

Maybe we should pick a tournament and do a Con. Obviously Cinci, Indy and Toronto are all driveable for me. Course flying might be cheaper if gas is headed to $3/gallon this summer. /off topic

I would totally be into trying to make a tournament with you guys. I'm in Austin so I will likely have to fly but I'm due the next frequent flier free ticket since hubby just used one for Vegas.

Oh yeah. I'm glad he is starting to really live up to his potential (although it wasn't fair to put so much pressure on him being great at 17) and it is nice to see someone who really seems to enjoy himself. Sunday should be good fun. Also, both PMac and Cliffy like both of these guys so they won't get all annoying about really wanting one to win--did you notice how much easier it was to watch tonight's match because they didn't favor one player greatly over the other? Of course they thought Roger would win, and of course they would have loved to see Andre win but they going to be happy for either player to win and it showed.

Oh yeah, is Nasdaq's symbol "qqq" or "qqqq"? The VO guy has been saying it with four "q's" the whole tournament and I noticed he switched it to three early in tonight's match and then switched back to four. Now I'm confused.

I am sure it is 3q's but hilarious that it's been noted inconsistently.

Slightly off topic: Is it just me or is the song played during the Bulova at Macy's commercial a rip-off of Coldplay's Clocks? A fitting song, obviously, but I gotta believe Chris Martin wouldn't sell the rights to his music for commercial use (at least right now when they're so successful). Disclaimer: I have only seen this commercial during the tennis broadcasts so that's why I posted it here.

IMissEthan, I'm sorry but, as of now, Facing Federer isn't showing up for the next two weeks. However, ESPN Classic is showing Borg/McEnroe's 1981 Wimbledon final at noon (EST) today and, for you Williams sisters fans, they are showing their 2002 Wimbledon final at 6pm (EST) on Friday.

ETA: Go Kim Go! I still worry about her in big-pressure matches, but she pulled this one out and YEAH!

Story about Venus' defeat of Serena here. "Don't call it a comeback..." I think all of us on this board are happy to see Venus back in top form and having her head in the right place.

Haven't checked the schedule but I hope "news" doesn't pre-empt live tennis today.

Awesome match!

Rafa showed his stuff and heart and Roger showed that he can come from behind. Roger's comments in the brief interview at the end of the match showed, once again, that he is pure class. God- I love this sport and really wish that the US media didn't sniff it away so much.

I love both these guys and can't wait to see another match between the two of them.

Just wish they could have shown the trophy ceramonies for both the women's (yea Kim!) and the men's.

Wow. Just wow. Coming back from two sets and a break? That is a Champion. As for Nadal, his face in the 5th set broke my heart. What a cutie. Little creeped out by Mary going on and on about him being a man and not a boy.

Funny how lots of spin can piss off the best players--usually you see it more in the women's matches (witness how annoyed Serena gets against most of the Russian women)--but Roger was just dumsquizzled for even longer than he predicted he would be.

Alas, no, as LT said, it's her.


Actually, I never noticed this. Interesting. I just go three days (Wed, Thurs, Fri first week) and so see everyone I care about provided they haven't been eliminated early.

A day late, I must just say, welcome back Kim, even better than before.

Had a lot of fun watching today's match and it seemed like the commentators really liked it too. I like it when they have respect for both players- as they did today.



Could not agree more! High quality match throughtout. Nadal ran out of steam at the end but I think he will learn from this and that there is a good rivalry in the making. And I must confess that I have now developed a crush on him. I've read his interviews and he is just so gosh darn cute and endearing. I don't care if he wears capris, his demeanor and arm muscles are muy caliente! I'm 17 and I can't believe he is just a year older than me. None of the fellows I know have guns like his at all, and Rafael has been sporting those for two or three years.

Like Chesty- loved Roger's comments at the end. He is such a good guy. It was different to see him rattled but must say that I enjoyed it. Showed that Roger really cares about what he is doing.

And a belated congrats to "The Beast" and Jonas. I really wish we could see more doubles on tv.


I was so excited to see Kim playing well again too. Loved her slides on the hard court - I have missed her! Placing my prediction now- I think Kim and Rafael will win Roland Garros.

Wow! A week-end out of town (Detroit area - is it Juanita who lives there?) and I miss all the tennis fun! Actually, my friend's parents indulged me in a lot of it - and I think her mom might now be a full convert!

Doing my part, person by person, I guess!

I wanted to come here to congratulate the Max folks on a sweet victory, too.

But could you BELIEVE yesterday? Wow. We were supposed to drive back to Chicago around noon, but couldn't peel ourselves away until after the fourth set. Unbelievable. It was a great day for tennis. And it bears repeating that while Nadal has my favorite first name ever (and was hard for me to root against - for many reasons), I could not love my man any more than I do at this moment - incredible. I figured there'd be no way they'd show the ceremony after the marathon match, but it was such an emotional event that I thought they did their fans a great disservice by cutting it.

Hey, you guys mind infants? Because I am soooo there at whichever tourney you pick for a TWoPcon. The northern summer ones are easier for me, but I'm up for something farther away, too. And I have to say, my week last year at Pacific Life was terrific - and I've already tried to consider building it into my annual routines....

ETA that I forgot to mention Kimmy! We watched it from an Irish family pub and there were several people with glassy eyes, I tell you.... Would have been nice to see her ceremony, for sure. Though I choose to believe that she was pre-empted because they were trying to get to the Pope news....

I didn't see this made reference to, and I apologize if this is a repost, but this is too bizarre not to share with the TWoP community...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/funny_old_game/4389625.stm

You know how we always get in trouble for talking about the matches and the players when we should be talking about the coverage? Check this out.

Oh, and that story is both scary and intriguing.

Oh Trashlover13, that was one hell of a story. Not even double entendres with sentences like these:

and

Those british writers...Fresh!

For a second I was worried that my fiancee found that story on April 1, but it was March 31st....bizarre.

Pirates, that's cute Nadal, but I'm still against those 'shorts'. Half the women on the tour are showing their asses, and we don't even get to see the men's knees? Talk about unfair. I'm all for new guidelines that specify that shorts must be above the knee.

Do you think if there was a charity match and a modern player like Roddick had to play with Borg's old racquet and his tight shirt and tiny shorts that an older player like Borg or McEnroe dressed as he likes with a modern racquet could beat him?

iMissEthan, I was thinking that one big advantage to Nadal's pedal pushers is that at least they're tight! The other guys you have to wait for a propicious moment where the shirt or the shorts just happen to lay a certain way to see the outline of the hotness underneath. But with Nadal at least you can see it easily. And for that, I thank you, Rafael.

I have the match on tape and haven't gotten through the third set yet (although I know the outcome.), but so far I am really tickled by Mary Carillo. She is a real serial monogamist! At the beginning she was all Roger. Now it's Roger who? It's All Nadal All The Time. She lurves him. Even when Roger wins a point with a great shot, her comment is Rafael centric.

It's something I really like about her. That her comments are motivated by feelings, by enthusiasm. She was just really turned on by how Nadal was playing and got just a little silly. (And this is coming from a 100% Federer fan).

I miss Cliffy though. PMac not at all. He's adequate, that's all. I'll bet he was/is a weak Davis Cup captain. I mean, can you imagine what kind of tactical advice he gives out? How good can it possibly be? I mean, you could say that it wouldn't be important when you have seasoned players like Agassi and the Bryans, but still when they were struggling it could have helped to have an eye from outside. Or maybe not. What do I know. I still think he's a mediocre tennis observer/thinker at best.

He did a thing supposedly showing Federer's "genius", where he drop shotted Agassi to AA's backhand. Well, Federer "brilliantly" moved forward and to his own backhand. As if no other player would have realized that Agassi's easiest shot would have been over the lowest part of the net - a shallow crosscourt shot.

I would love to see examples of Federer's genius. But he picked that? Good grief.

I liked the guy (Phil Macatee, right?) who was doing commentary on CBS with Mary. He wasn't the brightest tennis commentator but he was enjoying himself so thoroughly. He is obviously a golf guy, but I liked his enthusiasm for the players and the tennis itself.

Turns out I need to move five miles down the road: The Tennis Channel is coming to Comcast. Damn you Cablevision!


RE: Nadal's tight pants--but the wedgies! I didn't need to see him picking at his butt before every serve.
RE: what's under their shorts--another good reason to see tennis up close and personal. It's great fun to see who is wearing the black underwear (European players) and who is only sporting a jockstrap (surprisingly enough, Pete Sampras).

I love Mary. Her comments always crack me up. She just always seems like real fan of the sport. I think she will always be in luurve with Roger, but it was funny how enamoured she became of Rafael during the match. And who can blame her, he was playing his pirates off for the first three sets.

Some highlights for me included when Federer threw downs his racquet she joked, “The winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, no less."

Later when Nadal was looking pretty pooped during the final set Bill commented that he needed to rally to come from behind in the set Mary said, “"It seems what Rafael Nadal needs right now is a nap."

Agree that Bill also seemed to be really enjoying himself. It was fun to listen to commentators who were having fun themselves.

Boy- that match was a blast to watch. It think that it was good to see Federer show more emotion and show that he could battle back. And I think that Nadal, much like Roddick in Wimbledon 2004, earned a bunch of respect in his losing effort.

Looking forward to the upcoming Master’s tournaments on TTC.

Is there a way to find out who is scheduled to play in these?

Heh: Bill, not Phil. Ooops.

As for the events, check out the ATP site. They have links to the upcoming events and stuff.

I forgot to mention this earlier but I noticed something quite distressing when watching the final on Saturday. It looks like our boy Roger is growing his hair out. Nooooo! Mirka needs to rush him to a barber so that he can once again sport the look that he was around the time of the Aussie Open.

Heh. Leave it to Chesty to keep us up-to-date on the coifs!

My favorite time for Roger has to be the Masters Cup last year. Oh my. I'm guessing he just hasn't been home long enough to get to his hair guy - maybe we'll see him shorn for the European clay seasons.

And the tourney websites list those registered and expected to play. Don't know when the draws will be up for each, but I'm hoping those come up soon.

And TTC has their schedule already posted up through at least Monte Carlo, so those of you who already have it (I'm not expecting the Comcast deal to be ready yet by then, but I'm hoping) are in for some great tennis!

I had exactly the same reaction. Maybe he finds it easier to tie it all back, but he looks so much better with it shorter.
With all the cable channels I have its a bummer that no one seems to be covering any ATP this week and WTA only this coming weekend.

I have a feeling that neither he nor Mirka is particularly invested in looking stylish. They look as if they really couldn't care less. I like that about them. Remember when Mirka was sporting those killer roots? I think it was at his first Wimbledon win or something.

Last year after either the Master's Final or the US Open I remember hearing/reading that Roger was going to do a shoot for Vogue. (Did anyone see that? I don't know if it was US Vogue or one of the Euro editions)) Maybe the short hair cut came about at the photo shoot and not on his own.

Is anybody else worried that Roger might start to become a villain to new fans? It occurred to me while watching the match with Nadal. When he squints (I assume because of the sun), it looks like a sneer on his face. I could imagine a new fan who didn't know what a doll baby he is thinking not only does he win everything, but he's a sneering bad guy too.

I thought his win was one of his most impressive. It's the first time I've seen him "gut" his way to a win. I didn't see his loss to Safin, but I found myself wondering if this was exactly what he wasn't able to do in that match. (Obviously Nadal went away in a manner I assume Safin didn't.)

And I know I'm kind of new here, but I might be interested in joining a tennis TWOPcon. I'm in NYC, and I have a car and a pretty flexible life, but no money.

It was US Vogue- December I think with Cate Blanchett on the cover. Since it was shot right after the US Open Roger was still rocking the longer hair. Cute article though where Roger admited before he and Mirka were together his casual wardrobe consisted of about two pairs of jeans and four blue shirts. There was a candid pic of he and Mirka where she looked beautiful and natural.

My fellow tennis nut English sister in-law (she and my bro live outsite London) and I were emailing this week and we got to talking about tennis tv coverage in different countries. There in the UK they have Sky(e?) Sports which can have great coverage for certain things like Wimbledon. (I think you can do something like choose from 5 courts or something to view). Anyways, I was thinking, do you think that anytime in the somewhat near futrue they may start offering these really large international sports stations on cable/satellite tv?

And along that same line of thought, I know in the UK they have the North American Sports Network (where bro can watch about one or two Steelers and a few Pirates games in a year) but do you think we will ever have anything like Euro Sports here that may offer, amoung other things, for example, some clay court tournaments that we couldn't see here in the States or Canada? I know FSN shows English Permier League soccer but that's about as Euro I can think of.

I know they also show some tennis tornaments on ESPN Deportes (which is for Latin America) that they don't show in the US on the English language ESPN. I wonder if any cable companies will ever offer that here? Just thinking about ways in the future that I can see more of a global sport that is alas, not too popular in the US.

Harry Interesting thoughts on how tv viewers who are not familiar with Roger could misconsture his facial expressions without knowing that he is a sweetheart. He certainly looks like a goofy sweetheart in this picwith Nadal after the match. Wonder if he is asking Rafa where he can buy some pirates?

Wow, one week of vacation and all of a sudden my cable provider signs up with The Tennis Channel. Behold the power of cheese ... just kidding.

I was a good tennis fan and called Comcast in Detroit to ask them just when I will be getting TTC. They have no clue as to what I was speaking about. But the CSA was very friendly and did a search of the Comcast "sports tier" which is essentially yet another way for Comcast to steal my money. Alas, there is no mention anywhere on Comcast in Detroit of TTC's impending arrival. He did let me record a message requesting TTC in Detroit so hopefully that gets noted down in some statistic somewhere.

Playing catch-up (vs. catsup):
* Kim: Woo hoo!
* Nadal: Rocks!
* Federer Express: The King
* No trophy presentation: The Hell? is up with this? Seriously folks, who do we call? LT, when are you driving to ESPN?
* Ljubicic's locker: Scary as all hell. What is the deal with Llodra?
* TWoP TennisCon: All I have to say is: COOOOOOOOOOOOOOON (said like, Shatner, "Khaaaaaaaaaan!")

Okay, so I'm flipping channels and come across "Chasing Farrah" on TVLand and who should Farrah be playing tennis against? Luke and Murphy Jensen. Good to see they haven't lost any of their famewhore desires.

And ESPN? I'm comin'--look out.

Got my Tennis magazine this week. They have the 40 greatest moments in tennis history (or something like that) and Cliffy is in the list! Woo hoo! Apparently, Cliff Drysdale, erstwhile tennis commentator, won the first-ever competitive tiebreaker.

On another note, I was watching the video for Snoop Dogg's new song, the name of which escapes me. Snoop is a fan of tennis. He is talking about going to London and seeing Venus and Serena at Wimbledon in the lyrics. First we have House of Pain with "John McEnroe" mention in "jump around" and now a shout out to the Williams sisters. Pop culture here we come.

I am so looking forward to seeing my first tournament in The Tennis Channel! Plus it will be the first time I'll ever have seen one of the European clay court tournaments aside from the French Open. It should be interesting. Although I don't think I'll be able to stand watching baseliners play each other.

I was watching a little bit of the "classic" match from last year's Monte Carlo tournament that TTC has been running this weekend, with Safin playing ... argh!! .. I forget his name!! Anyway, not for the first time has the thought occurred to me that Safin is so huge it looks as if he's playing with his little brother's tennis racquet.

And I always think that on a bigger guy like Safin a two-handed backhand looks less than, uh, manly. (I mean, just the stroke itself visually, not the effectiveness obviously. Safin's backhand is one of the great shots in tennis.) At best it looks like the shot of a kid, not the shot of a man. At worst it looks like the shot of a boy who isn't strong enough to hit a one handed backhand.

Don't mind the ravings of this maniac who is doing anything to avoid doing her taxes.

Serena was in some rapper dude's video sometime last year. I think it was Chingy (they are so interchangeable these days). Any she basically was on tennis court and she played a game against the rapper. It was a very short appearance (maybe 30 seconds or less) but still.

It should be noted that both Serena and Andy Roddick have been punk'd so pop culture has already has its taste of tennis. Hopefully, more to come...

Wow- Did you guys see that Gael Monfils vs. Rafael Nadal is one of the first round matches of Monte Carlo? Battle of the uber-talented 18 year olds! Should be fantastic.

I know that the Tennis Channel will have to show that. Can't wait!

ESPN2 Sees Ratings Rise with Key Biscayne Coverage

Awesome news about the ratings!

Caught a little bit of the Monte Carlo coverage (when it wasn't raining) this morning on TTC. They seem to have the same set of announcers as last years- yea! They are pretty good.

And since I do like to keep abreast of the latest in tennis hairdos, I must say that I was saddened and shocked to see Juan Carlos Ferrero (so glad he won) wearing a big white headband.. JC- just because you are Spanish does not mean that you need to wear the headband. Moya and Nadal can somehow make the headband work for them. Feli Lopez looks like a girl anyway so a headband doesn't make any differance. Juan Carlos, you look like you are bandaged up after suffering a massive head wound with your headband. Please from now on ditch the headband and let your cute multi-colored locks run free.

Hey! Those are fighting words! Take that back.

Sorry if I made you mad LT. I just mean that Feli is quite the pretty one.

Were any of you guys who just got Comcast able to see any of the today's coverage? II just can't say enough how much I like TTC's coverage of the Master's Cup events-lots of hours and good analysis. I am so lucky to have my husband and Tivo. He doesn't mind at all that the Tivo queue gets clogged with tennis touring televised tournament times.

Couple things:

1) On its ComcastLocal (CL) channel, Comcast aired ATP Tour Tennis, the 30-minute show produced weekly by the ATP. It was on tonight and is supposed to air a few more times. This one was a recap of Key Biscayne, day late, dollar short, etc. But I'll take it!

2) Saw on E! that Motorola threw Maria Sharapova an 18th birthday party complete with red carpet, paparazzi and the Motorola logo backdrop.

I still don't have TTC. I am going to look through all 400 channels on Comcast Detroit to try to figure it out. Wish me luck!

Juanita,

On the Tennis Channel website, Steve Bellamy (the founder of the Tennis Channel) posted the following in the forum:



So Juanita, tell all of your Detroit friends to call. I would love it if more people here at TWOP got TC- because they show some good stuff so it would be fun to be able to talk about it with all of the posters here.

I was able to see some of the matches today. Really like that they repeat the day's showing in the afternoon and evening so I could catch it after school and swimming.

The commentators are pretty good. A couple of English guys and one American - I think this is a feed from a UK source. They are all knowledgable and one guy in particular can meander his commentary in a quite funny way. He likes to comment on the players little individual habits and tics. They have decent rundowns of the match after the matches- although the music that they play during that part has to go. It is quite possibly the worst music I have ever heard. Synthasizer with some human grunts added in. I like how they basically have few commercials and show the players coming out, warming up, etc. I really like how they have the players sign the lens after the win.

Nice to see Coria again. He looked good but not as sure of himself as in last year's clay court season. The Nadal-Monfils match was fun. Both boys were running pretty hard. Gael ran out of steam, and Rafael gained steam after some uncharacteristic errors. The commentators seemed to enjoy watching the match between the two of them, and both boys have a lot of personality so it will be fun to watch them in the future. And both were grunting up a storm. The one English guy cracked me up when he asked his fellow commentator if he preferred Gael's "Eeee-uuuuaw" grunts or Rafael's "Uagh!" grunts.

It is quite sad how hard I am crushing on Nadal right now (regardless of the questionable attire). Just so much fun to watch. He can make goofy faces while playing but as soon as the matches are over he looks cute and adorable while often giving thoughtful interviews- and he seemed really friendly and sweet during the little bit where he signed the lens. ***Thank you thread friends for letting me indulge in my sports crush gushing***