I thought the awards ceremony was sloppy, considering Dick Enberg is a long-time professional broadcast journalist, but gracious things were said all around. Good for Kim. She only choked in Grand Slam finals. Otherwise, she's always fierce and has nothing to fear from any player.

As for current players in the commentator booth...Lindsay's been mentioned. Chanda Rubin I like too, for her demeanor, although I'm not sure how analytical she is. The shame is we don't hear too much from the lower ranked players who often have the best perspective. There are big, fiery personalities that get attention, but I'm not looking for strong opinions, just well-reasoned ones. Among the men, yes, Todd Martin. James Blake is camera ready and is well-spoken but I fear a goofy fanboy Luke Jensen-like side to him. Therefore Todd. Just Todd.

Mama Cliljsters was a gymnast, yes? A very good one at that. Daddy was a pro soccer player so the girl's got some athletic genes and I'm not surprised at her balancing act. (I have a gymnast daughter and she can "wallk the rails" anytime. It used to scare me but now it's a given.) I got the distinct impression the folks in the stands were hindering her balance by not letting go and she screamed to tell them just that.
As for Evert and her creepy cool? I remember watching her when I was younger and admiring the fact that she didn't sweat, didn't scream, and always hit a perfect shot at crunch time. It did seem to addle opposing players.

Total word. I missed the second set and was watching on Tivo, and I fast forwarded through almost his entire speech. I was surprised at how long it went on. Word of advice to that dude - nobody wants to hear you talk or really cares what you have to say. Just say your obligatory congratulations, mention your company, and let the stars talk.

I thought Kim was yelling at the guy to let her go too. But I was curious as to why she insisted on trying to balance on the actual railing. She could easily have straddled it and stepped on the concrete, which would have been much safer.

Hoping Andre can make it at least interesting. Seems like nobody can beat the bitter beer face man lately. But I'm hoping.

I thought the guy who was holding onto Kim was a photographer since he was in the box with all the other camera-wielding guys.

I'll be rooting for Andre since my problem with Federer is the same I used to have with Sampras. Yup, world-class athlete. Yup, making it look easy. Yup, I still can't get behind you and I will want the other guy to win even while you vomit during a match. My heart, it's black.

ETA - the J.P. Morgan dude was an incredible asshat. I'm so glad he was heckled. And did you guys see Mary's expression as he first called them "firms" and then likened their game to J.P. Morgan's business philosophy? What an ass.

Heh. I feel almost the same way about Agassi. I don't hate the guy, but he wasn't as good as Sampras, he isn't as good as Federer, and he'd have to play someone like Hewitt for me to root for him.

Distant Sun, it kills me to be rooting for Andre: I've never been a fan of his. I wish Blake were playing, then I'd really have a horse in the race.

I'll just be on my couch, in a smaller and smaller ball with each snot shot. Gah, that is truly revolting.

Go Andre! Win or lose it's definitely been a great US Open for him. I hope he wins but Federer seems to be unstoppable. Part of me thinks a Blake/Federer final would be much more competitive (and that Blake would actually have a shot considering Fed has seemed bored throughout most of the Open) but the other part is so glad that Andre made it to the final.

In a way, I feel bad for Hewitt. JMac said during the telecast yesterday that his parents, particularly his dad, put a ton of pressure on him. That's got to be tough. In fact, I feel bad for all the tennis players who have controlling/overbearing parents (it seems to be very common, esp. on the women's side).

I'm really happy Kim won. I was out so I missed the match but it's great that she's finally a grand slam champion.

And for me, not even then. I don't like Hewitt at all (though he did very well in terms of his behavior yesterday), and I root for him when he plays Agassi. I have no idea why. Andre is one of those guys that, even though I admire them, I seldom root for. Maybe I haven't gotten over his image is everything phase. Or I haven't gotten over the fact that he was so much more loved than Sampras, though Pete was a better player. Or maybe it's just that he beat Becker (my first tennis love- I know. My only excuse is that I was very young at the time) too many times for my liking.

So go Roger! The pessimist in me says this is actually going to go Agassi's way. The way Roger played yesterday, it truly wouldn't surprise me.

Word. Hated SamprASS back then, still hate him now. Never liked Federer, especially now when it looks like he's going to have a string of Wimbledons (and other titles) just like SamprASS. I never seem to root for the uberly dominant players. I don't usually like them until they are no longer as good as they were, or others have caught up to them.

Didn't care for Martina when she consistently beat up Chris Evert Lloyd - now like her.
Didn't like Lendl when he was beating McEnroe - then liked him in the twilight of his career.
Didn't like the Williams when they dominated and we regularly saw the all-Williams finals. Now like them a lot, especially Venus, goddess on a mountain top.
Didn't like Monica when she rolled over everyone - now like her and wish she would come back.

Something tells me though, that even after Bitter Beer Face fades a bit and others start beating him regularly, that I'm not ever going to like the guy. He just bugs.

Go Andre.

Bitter Beer Face? OMG, that is better than Chucky, even.

I really liked Steffi Graf when she was dominant, but no one else, either. I was pulling for Lleyton because he is an ass, and that's usually who I go for. There isn't anything bad about Roger, and I like his confidence, but he's just too good for the time being.

Andre winning would be such a great underdog story.

Yesterday when Enberg and McEnroe were going on about the Ghost whisperer, I was loving it. Normally, Carillo is a fan of the whimsical but she put the kibosh on that.

GAH! TWO SamprASS Royal Bank of Scotland commercials in a row! The first, an arrogant Pete saying the holds the men's record for consecutive weeks at #1. The second, an equally grating "I made it happen" recount of his Wimbledon wins. Why do I hate this guy so much now?


Word to the word. I will never like Mr. Bitter Beer. I'm even bugged by the fact that he's worn the same shirt for the past two weeks.

Anyone else note the cool symmetry in the womens grand slam finals this year?

Aus: Williams (Serena) bt. Davenport in final
French: Belgian (JHH) bt. Pierce in final
Wimbeldon:Williams (Venus) bt. Davenport in final
US: Belgian (Clijsters) bt. Pierce in final

I guess the Russian revolution is taking a year off.
I'm so torn over the mens final though, on one hand I love the way Federer plays but on the other I've loved Agassi since the long hair days, not to mention my love of Steffi which kind of defaults onto him too. I cant decide who I want to win more, I'll just be sad one of them has to lose.

Thanks! I say it with love.


Yep, those were the trends that pointed to a win by Clijsters.


All kinds of word to that!

Ahhh!! Federer

Wow Agassi is playing really well

Every time the camera goes to Agassi's coach, I catch myself thinking "Wow, I didn't know Carlos Santana was a tennis fan!" The sad thing is, it's happened like 4 times now. Apparently I'm not too quick on the uptake.

Indeed. Agassi's really at the top of his game. We've also seen Federer win when he isn't playing well, but this would be one of his finest wins.

Aw, Andre: I didn't really care before, but now you're breaking my heart.

Damn. I was hoping for a bagel in the last set. Oh well.

Me too! I was hoping it'd be a new tradition: Roger beats you in the final, but he gives you a bagel for the ride home. R-Fed: Big Apple Bagel. I guess Andre had too much pride for that.

He put up a great fight, but the other legend on the court was better when it counted.

I was so worried we weren't going to get any part of the trophy presentation, but good job CBS. After being postponed for a football WRAP-UP show, tennis deserves to get it's own airtime....

Andre looks so sad! I can't handle it.

Roger didn't look so overjoyed during the trophy ceremony either. Perhaps the mostly un-enthusiastic response from the crowd to his win got to him a bit?

Well, congrats Federer on yet another victory.

"I don't know how I do it."

Hubris, thy name is Roger. Good grief.

You know, I don't think he is really arrogant.

I just think he is very, very truthful. He has won 23 finals in a row- I don't think anyone has done that ever (have they?) When interviewers ask him questions- he is pretty accurate. Will say his true feelings and is about as honest as any athelete as I have run across in all areas of sport..

It could be a cultural thing. My brother worked in Geneva for two years and said that the Swiss were the most flat-out-honest people he had ever met. No false modesty- but yet you know what you are going to get. Here we are kind of used to people saying things so they will not seem too prideful. But as and old Chinese saying goes (though can't remember the exact wording) "execessive modesty is one of the most dangerous forms of pride." (Then on the other had, we do have TO in the US.)

I like Roger. He is nice to all levels of people in the tennis business (down to the ball boys and caterers), does great work with his foundation, and is very accommidating to the press. He is a nice guy who does at times seem very happy with his level of talent. But he is honest about it- and I actually like that. I just think he is one of the least false athletles out there. I can see why he may bug some, but he does not bug me at all.

Nope. The old record (shared by J-Mac IIRC) was 11.

I'm with you. I doubt he knows how he does it—I certainly don't. He was playing so badly. I don't remember his backhand ever being as bad as it was these last two matches (including before he became #1). The longer this streak goes, the harder it is to believe he last lost a final to Jiri Novak in his own country after winning Wimbledon. He must've been really tired that day.

I'm not a fan of false modesty, but I do appreciate good sportsmanship. Saying, for instance, "I had to lift my game in order to win" as opposed to what he did say would have shown a bit more class and it still would have underscored his unquestionable skill on the court.

I just appreciate grace as much as honesty - and one does not preclude the other.

Count me among those who doesn't mind watching Federer win over and over again. There's something hypnotic about watching him play. Because he hits amazing winners from defense you have such a hard time figuring out what's going to happen and when you do you're sort of like "wait..he just hit that?" He kind of stops you in your tracks. It's pretty awesome. I also love history and I feel like watching Federer is being part of what may be a Jordan-Gretszky-Armstrong like career, and that's cool to me. Is he arrogant, well I guess but is there anyway NOT to be when you've completed the double twice in a row, have 6 grand slams at the age of 24 and no have lost only 4 times this year and to the eventual grandslam champion in a major? The guy is a force.

He said something about this being his best slam victory, playing someone like Agassi. He also said Andre had a great run and he hoped he played more. I've said as much before, but I'm inclined to believe that any questionable statements he makes are probably the result of english being his second (or third) language more than anything else. I sincerely doubt someone who seems to be as well liked in the locker room as Clijsters is arrogant.

I think there's a tendency by the fans and the press to scrutinize everything the players say. That's much harder in tennis, the most international of sports.

Well- I see what you mean here. Roger could sometimes have more tact. But I just took exception to the word "hubris." He is not the most tactful winner - that is true. But I don't think he has extreme arrogance or excessive pride. Roddick is a very tactful winner and loser. As is Nadal- in particular in his Spanish language interviews. For example, when beating Andre at Montreal he said that Andre played so well that he had to change his methods or he would have lost. When he beat Federer at the FO he said that he was lucky and if Roger had had his A-game he would have lost. One thing that is funny is that Roddick used to be viewed as a punk (and still sometimes is) and Nadal is often viewed as an cocky punk but they are two of the most gracious players out there.



Actually, he has just lost 3 times - to Safin, who went on the win the Oz O, to Gasquet- who will likely be a fixture in the top 5 in the future, and to Nadal, who went on to win the FO.



I agree- I think that is where some of the tact is lost- in translation.

Oh Federer, how do I love thee? Yesterday and earlier in todya's match I found myself getting upset because I knew that he could play better. There were some flashes of brilliance (i.e. 3rd set against Nalby, picture perfect 7-0 tiebreak with Hewitt) earlier in the week but nothing that really demonstrated what he could do.
And then the third set tiebreak and the ensuing fourth set. My God. Agassi had to work just to hold serve and prevent a bagel. Federer left Earth there and played on another stratosphere.

I'm an unashamed Federer lover and Agassi hater, so I loooooved the fact that the final set resulted in a breadstick. (Especially since the crowd was so rude to Roger when it became apparent that Agassi wasn't going to win.)

ETA: count me in on being one of those people who doesn't mind Federer's comments. I don't think he does it to be intentionally arrogant as everyone always remarks that he's a real gentleman on and off court. Roddick, who has every reason to hate Roger, always says that he's the nicest guy.

His words, or something close to it ..."I had to play my best tennis. And unfortunately [for Andre] it was in the finals. As usual."

I think that's arrogant in any language. Roger seems to have enough grasp of the English language. He's eloquent in thanking the USTA for the great tournament, the people "behind the scenes", and the fans "who make it very special". These are not phrases that someone who doesn't speak English very well would say. How can he know enough to speak so well, yet when he says something that sounds arrogant, it's excused because English is not his first language? I think he's an arrogant ass. He knows he's the best. And he doesn't mind reminding people of it.

It's interesting that Hingis(also Swiss) did not have a lot of tact when she spoke. She was constantly nailed for her supposed arrogance and cockiness. I don't really think that Federer is really trying to be cocky or arrogant, but is is self confident and tells the truth. Also with english not being his first language, he is bound to make some mistakes. Not everything he says can be pink, I mean rosy.



JMac shares it with Borg with 12 consecutive final wins.

Yeah, I think you have a point there, too. It's the "I played my best tennis [...] as usual" that brought hubris to my mind. Still: I'll retract hubris and put in ungraceful, whether by language or nature - though I don't think he has any problems with English at all.

Word to your entire post, Kiss My Grits. That's exactly how the Swiss are. He was being honest, but he didn't mean it as an affront to anyone. Roger is a gentleman through and through, and the fact that all the other players really like him as a person is a testament to that. Also, keep in mind that English is not his first language, so he might not be able to express himself as clearly as he would in French or German (depending on where in Switzerland he was raised). He also went out of his way to say how much he enjoyed playing Andre, and he gave Andre all respect.

He seems a lot more gracious and humble than Sampras, and he is a much more graceful player than Sampras was. You could tell that Pete was really working out there, but Roger just makes it look. So. Easy. And that's why I think he may be the greatest player ever. He's so elegant when he's on, and he is such an artist. It's just a joy for me to watch him play.

ETA: Distant Sun beat me to it.

I don't. He just said Andre made him play his best tennis. I like that he made a joke. It was funny. Most of the crowd seemed to think so as well.

BTW, I never said he doesn't speak English well. He speaks it very well. That's why I think people are quick to react to any awkward thing he says.

Word to your whole statement print_whore. I love Federer but I also like Agassi. The crowd was so rude to Roger. I think at one time they boo him for hitting the ball on the line and not having it call out even when it was clearly in. I had to flip the channel when Roger lost the second set. I was thinking, crap, that old man Agassi might win but thankfully Roger switch gear and came roaring back in the fourth set after the tie breaker. Agassi must have felt what Hewitt felt like in his tie breaker loss to Federer.

I laughed out loud when the announcer called Agassi as the best tennis player of all time during the trophy ceremony. I was thinking please, we all know that Agassi is good but the best in the sport ever is Roger Federer. I also love Roger's speech.

I laughed at that, too. Andre is ONE of the best players of all time, but he is most definitely not the best ever.

Busybuzz, thank-you for reminding me about this. I think JMac went on to say that Hewitt's dad will say stuff like, "what's wrong with you, why can't you beat this guy, what is it about him that you can't beat?". I think it must be awful having to deal with anyone (let alone your own father) saying those kind of things to you when you're probably the 2nd, 3rd or 4th best player in the world.

Glenn Hewitt *bugs* me. His Aussie rules football career is seriously exagerated. I also don't think he's worked in years, probably not since Hewitt started coming up the ranks back in the late 90s. Gee, not too much pressure for a 15 - 17 year old kid to be the one responsible for supporting his mother, father and sister financially. Six or seven years later and Hewitt is still the famly's primary breadwinner and he's now got 2 more people to take care of. No wonder he blows off steam on the court every now and then. I just wish to god, he would tell his family to back off, stay home and give him some space.

As an aside, I remember seeing Pam Shriver on BBC talking about tennis parents during the 2001 Wimbledon coverage. After talking about the notorious tennis dads on the women's side, she was asked to list the worst tennis fathers on the men's side. Along with Glen Hewitt, she mentioned Nick Philippousis and Chuck Gambill. Anyone know the scoop on those two?

No hubris is Pete in those annoying commericals. "Steffi Graf holds the record for blah, blah,...guess who holds it for the men's? Me." He's such a prick.

I love Roger and find his answers refreshing. He always compliments his opponents, and credits them for elevating his game in finals. He's a confident guy, without the pretense of false modesty.

Of course ne knows. And he likes it. And most people that hate him would most likely defend their favorites if they ever said something like this. To me, it's an unfortunate choice of words. But do I think he's arrogant? No.

Word to that. One of my co-worker's kids played on the doubles circuit for quite a while (mainly challangers but also in some of the bigger tournies.) Child and mom both say from witnessing first-hand that Lleyton's dad is flat out mean to his kids. Either berating them or ignoring them. Lleyton can be an ass sometimes, but it sounds like he really grew up in an emotionally abusive environment. He is slowly starting to mature but it seems like his family is a millstone around his neck. And I do think that is why Kim broke it off- because she couldn't take it anymore.

Hewitt does have his faults. But the press is so eager to jump on him nowadays and paint him as a villan. There was a really hateful piece about him in the New York Times about a week ago. But I thought he was really without fault for most of the USO and actually handled the really rude question on-court after his Dent match better than most would have. He may be a jerk at times, but I think there are reasons for his jerkiness. Even though he has done a lot of things that I don't agree with- I do think that he is the last to catch a break. I hope he gets one someday.



Me too!

Great USO overall. Glad for Kim. Andre played awesome. Wish Nadal had gone further and sad for Andy but that was balanced by the "second tier" Americans, Blake and Ginepri showing their potential finally. The younger generation (Mauray, Djokovic, Monfils) showing some great play. Pierce showing great form at age 30. Coria showing he is more than a clay courter (again!). And Roger getting the double/double for the first time since the 1930s.

From this though do hope that Muller will gather his game from what he did during Roddick consistantly. He is a sweet guy it seems.

Hey now, I took hubris back and exchanged it for a whole new word: no fair! Hee. Word on the above, though: I never liked Pete and these craptastic ads have managed to make me like him even less - which I didn't think was possible.

I laughed out loud in the beginning of the trophy presentation, when Mr. Presenter (or whomever had the mike first) started going on and on about how Roger Federer is the best tennis player ever to play the game, and THE LOOK on Andre's face... priceless. Seriously hilarious. I burst out laughing when I caught first glimpse (he looked like he had just had a colonoscopy with a golf club) -- and scared my basset hounds with the noise that I made.

I think that Mr. Presenter caught glimpse of Poor Andre's face, too, and that's why the "Andre Agassi is the best tennis player ever" statement was made. Bleh. Best ever? No... that would be the guy hoisting the winner's trophy, sir.

What I hated most about Mr. Presenter was his insistence in claiming that Andre "played his best tennis today." Um, so what you're saying is, his best tennis still isn't good enough to beat R-Fed and win the tournament? That stinks. Geeeeez. Somewhere in CA, Pete Sampras is laughing his head off.

Or, maybe not. SamprASS isn't exactly a brilliant mind. In fact, he's an arrogant, pig-headed stump who isn't aging well at all. Go away, please.

Anyhoo, I'm so, so happy for Roger. At some point during the second set, I really started to sweat this match. Andre was playing with such intensity and Roger and THOSE ERRORS ON HIS BACKHAND were just killing me. Fortunately, even Roger at 70% is still good enough to overtake one of the best returners in the game.

Woohoo! My only question is, what am I supposed to do with my time now? I feel so lost without Grand Slam tennis.

Federer will be on Letterman tomorrow night. Yahoo! But from the sounds of David's interview with Johnny Mac a couple of weeks ago he is pretty ignorant as to who anyone in tennis is today except Maria Sharapova. Boo!

I've heard similar stories about Glenn Hewitt too. Although I don't really have as good of a source as your co-worker, I've heard from an Adelaide friend of mine who claimed to have friends in the Adelaide tennis scene that back when Lleyton was like 13 or 15, Glenn would basically loose his shit whenever Lleyton happened to loose a match or god forbid drop a set. Apparently, Glenn would be screaming at Lleyton as he came of the court and the tirade would continue all the way to the parking lot. According to my source (who is like 106 degrees of separation), Glenn didn't really seem to care that other people were witnessing the spectacle.

My theory about Hewitt's asshatery at the Australian Open this year (after nearly a year of perfectly pleasant behaviour) -- he'd just spend the last 8 weeks at home with Glenn and if he didn't get those negative emotions out on the court he would have had an anneursym. I'd also speculate that the reason he was in such a rush to get married (to anybody it seems) was to start a new family of his own and replace the dyfunctional one he's been saddled with.

Hee! See, that's the part that I found funny. You played your best, but you lost. Priceless!

I still love Sampras. I missed the second commercial, but it sounds pretty terrible. Oh well. I loved to watch the guy play, but even I wouldn't make him my spokesman.

Line of the night: at 5-0 in the fourth, Federer hit an unbelievable drop shot. J-Mac said, "That was not necessary, Roger." LOL. There were so many things to enjoy in this final.

It's been a great tournament!

Ha, Retraction duly noted! See, I think Pete is the reason why I love Roger so much. I'm hoping he can obliterate all of Sampras' records.

I remember the Aussie press making a big muke when Kim no longer sat with the Hewitts. At the time I thought they were digging deep for tabloid fodder, but I guess there was some truth to the rumours.

Lleyton's father sounds like a horrible person. Geez, his son is the third best player in the world (I think he's better than Roddick) and probably the second best on hardcourts. Some of these tennis parents are just ridiculous. Thanks for the stories, though. I too think that's why Kim called it off, which is a shame, because I think they were a very good couple.

I'm still feeling badly for Andre. He looked devestated. That being said, getting to the final is more than I expected of him and he played some great tennis, so he should be extremely proud of himself. I think he might've won the match if he could've held his serve in the third set. Fed's lethal in tiebreaks. Oh well. Also: Agassi's kids are so.cute. The footage of his daughter walking up to him after the Ginepri match is precious.

When Fed first made his speech I was a bit taken aback but he seems like a really good guy (and it was so nice of him to thank everyone behind the scenes) so even though his comments can sound arrogant, he probably didn't mean them to be.

I have to agree about the Hewitts. It's funny, I am a huge Lleyton fan and have been as far back as '99, but I have never liked his parents. For so many reasons I have found them annoying and truly believe they are not very nice people. A few reasons for my dislike:

The issue with Darren Cahill, Lleyton's first coach. No official reason was ever given for why Darren and Lleyton split but rumor was strong that it was issues between Darren and Lleyton's dad (apparently Lleyton practically begged Darren not to quit). Also, Darren wanted to be able to travel with his family for a few of the tournaments and that was completely unacceptable for the Hewitts (god forbid they lose some of that Lleyton money).

Anyway, Darren was too much of a gentleman to ever say anything bad about them and preferred to take the politically correct approach in discussing the split. However I could tell there really was a situation between him and Glynn because of a statement that the latter made once, indicating how he felt Darren was inappropriately trying to parent his son. I mean give me a break....not only was Darren Lleyton's coach but he was a father too, so what was so wrong in his saying something if Lleyton was behaving badly and doing something inappropriate? To me that said a lot about Glynn right there.

The other thing that has glaringly stuck out to me was the constant following around of Lleyton. I always found it slightly disturbing that those people had two kids, yet spent ALL their time with one, who happened to be older and was doing just fine in his career....and yet the younger kid who was struggling was left to fend for herself.

I mean honestly, it's not like they were the coach (a la Richard Williams or Martina Hingis' mom) so there was no reason for them BOTH to always be there. I actually remember reading articles that stated that Jasyln (his sister) would actually be in Belgium sometimes with Kim's mom and her sister because both her parents were too busy following their son everywhere.

Then there was Lleyton's brief coaching relationship with Jason Stoltenberg. Again Jason was too much of a gentleman to say anything negative about any of them but rumor had it the shit hit the fan when Kim had fired her original coach and played a tournament without one. During that time, Jason offered her some help seeing as how together she and Lleyton were. That didnot sit very well with the Papa Hewitt apparently. Kim's father had to basically apologize in an interview stating that Jason was Lleyton's coach, and there were other things to consider before taking up his time. I mean for crying out loud....the guy just helped the girl out for one freaking match, Lleyton wasn't going to lose the entire tournament because of that.

Then one of the ultimate things for me was the treatment of this girl who ran this Lleyton site. Honestly at the start of his career, no one cared about Lleyton that much and this girl put so much effort in making the site great. She collected every article, every bit of press, every picture, etc. Anyway, she titled the site The Official Lleyton Hewitt Fansite and it was fine for awhile. She even met Lleyton's mom a few times, giving her stuff the fans had done for him at the site, etc. Out of the blue one day, this person from Lleyton's management company sent her the most threatning letter demanding the official be removed because it wasn't official and apparently the management company was making an official site. First of all, that was almost three years ago and the site has yet to materialize. During the drama, the girl tried to contact Lleyton's mom to at least explain herself or something, hoping the crazy PR person wouldn't be so mean.....she never got any response (lovely people there).

Basically I could go on and on. Most recently we had Lleyton's supposed good friend being disinvited to his wedding because the guy reunited with his wife who is still close to Kim and blatantly admits to taking her side in the break-up. I for one have no doubt that Lleyton's parents were largely responsible for his and Kim's break-up. I really think things happen for a reason and that injury Kim got came at the right time. With all that free time to evaluate her life, the girl realized this was not what she wanted for the rest of her life. Kudos for her for being big enough to walk away. The only thing I find disappointing is the fact that it was done over the phone. After almost five years....I think you owe someone more than that.



Yes I remember that too and all the fans of the couple was so bothered at what they felt was much ado about nothing. At the time the media said she and his mom were at odds about wedding details. See sometimes, the tabloids do get it right.

You know- it really does sound like Lleyton lives under a bell jar in a way. I'm sure that a lot of his assiness is from himself- but a lot of his reticence with the press, etc. sounds like it reallys streams from his parents. In some interviews there really does seem to be a decentness about Lleyton that comes out and I wonder sometimes what he would have been like if he grew up in a different environment.


I know he is grown up and should be able to be independent- but if you grow up in an emotionaly abusive and manipulative household it is not as easy as it may seem. I hope that he and Bec Cartwright will be able to form their own lives, but I don't think that will be the case. At least he and his sister Jaslyn are close. Maybe one day they can both get out of it. BTW- is she still seeing Jochim Johannson because he seems very, very laid back.

I'm pretty sure he's mentioned it in previous matches, but Andre is claiming Roger to be the best competitor he's ever came up against. Pete, back to your RBS commercials. By the way, Pete's second commercial of the "Tennis Fact" continues to underline the fact that he can't narrate for beans. Some excitement about Ken Rosewall, Pete!!

It pains for me to say it, but Roger's complacency during matches, and momentary lapses are going to catch up with him very soon. He is brilliant when he wants to be - but he's almost destined for a tennis mid-life crisis without a coach. The question is, will he be like Mcenroe and Borg who fizzled out at 25, or will he be like Andre, who came back to the forefront twice over?