Truly. But I was glad to hear the woman say (with a touch of exasperation) during the Dav-Hant match, "if only someone knew how to hit a slice backhand!". It's rare to hear someone voice my complaint about the women's game, that there is so little variety in shot-making.

I don't remember the last time I heard that a woman player had added a new shot.

Well, it's hard to blame them when the player with the most variety (Mauresmo) has such a hard time with all of the power. Most of the top women can slice (it's so infrequent I notice it every time), but how often do you expect them to pass up a chance to bludgeon the ball?

But, Distant, the point is that a change up off-speed shot can be extremely effective against heavy hitters. We've seen this in the men's game quite a bit. And I think the woman' commentator's point, which I agree with, is that a heavy hitter could add an extremely effective weapon by adding a slice, to change up speed and, also important, change trajectory. On a surface without a really high bounce (grass, some clay and indoor surfaces), a low slice, particularly to a two-handed backhand, can be a difficult proposition, particularly for a tall player.

I think JHH has a lot of variety in her game, more so than Mauresmo. You see, JHH has the touch and when she's fit she also has the power. She can deal with the power hitters from time to time and her all court game, when on, is gorgeous to watch. Amelie has issues adapting her strokes to a faster/harder pace. I'm pretty sure she would be able to make a better adjustment if she wasn't such a mental case.

I agree completely about JHH's lovely, all-court game. But she's the exception. And AM unfortunately doesn't have the first-rate power to go along with her finesse game, especially on her forehand and serve. I was glad to hear the female commentator at the Porsche Championships mention the technical issues on those strokes with specificity: extreme grip on the forehand and toss issues with the serve. I hadn't heard these explicated specifically before.

Sorry, I tend to forget about the troll girl sometimes. Yes, JHH has a lot of variety.


But that's just what it is—a change up shot. You can't hit it regularly or people will be all over it. There's a very fine line and IMO the women are erring on the side of caution (that is, doing what they do best). I don't think it's really comparable to the men's game. On their side, just about everyone hits the ball hard. The top women can (and routinely do) rely on power alone to get them to the later rounds of tournaments.

BTW, I think the commentator was wrong to blame Mauresmo's power problems on her grip alone. The extreme western forehand grip imparts more topspin on shots, but it takes a little longer to swing. That's part of it, but the bottom line is that she just doesn't get enough racquet-head speed on that shot. Roddick also hits with the same grip and he has no problems hitting it hard.

Does anyone know if they're showing the Davis Cup final in the US?

It will somehow. I don’t know if it will be shown on ESPN. If not- it will for sure be shown on The Tennis Channel.

I don’t know who to root for. I love that Ivan Ljubicic is sooo kickass when it comes to Davis Cup play. And one of may old faves- Goran Ivanisevic- is going to try out for a spot in the final. But then, after witnessing Karol Beck during the Slovakia tie against Argentina- particularly during the doubles where he was amazing, I have added him to my tennis crush cadre. Plus the Slovaks said that they would shave their heads and did so after reaching the final was pretty cute. And the Slovaks were amazingly sporting towards the Argentines after they won. They carried around an Argie flag and Beck and Dom Hrbaty wore Argentine shirts in respect. And the Slovakian crowd chanted “Argentina.” Wonderful stuff.

The US has The Tennis Channel? Wow. I'm jealous. Australian free-to-air tennis coverage is practically zero throughout the year, with the exception of lead-up to the Australian Open and the AO itself. Can't wait!

In fact, the Hopman Cup and Sydney International will be broadcasting some of the finals matches in prime time, but the women's final at the Australian Open will remain in the daytime. Re: the prime time matches, I'm really excited. The Marat Safin vs. Lleyton Hewitt final this year drew huge audience and is actually the 7th most-watched television program in Australian history. (which beat the landing on the moon! Heh.) Excluding any Olympic events, it's the highest rated individual sports event on the list, just beating the 2003 Rugby World Cup final. Awesome!

Don't be jealous. It's far from free, depending on your cable/satellite package. Although I pay over $80/month and get more than 500 channels, Tennis Channel isn't included and would be an additional $5/month I think.

Not to mention the fact that not everyone even has access to it. Comcast cable in my area doesn't even have it as part of their digital cable package. Though for some reason they saw fit to include the blasted golf channel, which to me is like literally watching grass grow.

I don't have the Tennis Channel so hopefully they'll show it on ESPN. Or I'll get enough money to afford it. Either one :)

I'm definitely rooting for Croatia. Goran got me into tennis when he won Wimbledon and I just adore him. Mario is also one of my favorites now, despite all his choking. Plus, he is so funny when he celebrates. That boy goes crazy. I love it! He won a match today against Karol Back so I'm hoping that'll happen again for the final.

I don't know who to root for, either. I think I might have to root for Slovakia. I never liked Goran, because of his idiotic homophobic and nationalistic/racists comments. And though I've been a fan of Ljubicic in the past, he's been complaining left and right about the fact that Mariano Puerta beat him at Roland Garros this year, and he's said that he's thinking about a lawsuit against the ATP/ITF because of it. Never mind that he lost in the first round. Never mind that he sucks on clay. And never mind that he was beaten easily in straight sets. He can be such an idiot sometimes.

Sorry to interrupt, but has anyone heard whether there are any plans to televise any of the Zurich Open next week? The lineup looks so good, I'd love to see some of it, but I don't remember ever having seen it on T.V. here in the states.

Chesty, jimena and other Ivan Ljubicic fans, he's featured on Center Court on TTC right now (7pm East Coast time).

At 1:26 am East Coast time, ETA: Damn, it's too bad TTC only starts to cover the Kremlin Cup at the semi-finals. I had no idea that the entire Russian contingent of the WTA was playing. But all the Russian on Russian drama has taken place prior to the semi's. What is wrong with Kuznetsova? She lost to Schiavone? Great win for Safina over Shriekapova. I wonder what the crowd was like, for whom they were rooting. Too bad we didn't get to see it. Same with Myskina-Dementieva. (Did anyone see Dementieva's big ace last week?!! I forget what match it was now.) And it's also too bad Petrova didn't play. She's in Thailand. She and Dementieva are my favorites of the Russian women.

Did everyone hear the injury news? Federer sprained his ankle in practice and is out of the next two tournaments. Rats!! I was so looking forward to him playing in Spain next week, with Bam-Bam in the tournament too. But maybe we'll see that match-up again in Shanghai. But probably not live, huh? Anyone know?

Also, Serena is out for the rest of the year and Venus is out for one ... or was it two? ... tournaments. Ankles for both of them, plus knee for Serena.

Edited AGAIN to add: I wish TTC were covering the Stockholm tournament. It doesn't look as if they are, but their site only gives the schedule for tomorrow (Saturday). Maybe they will show the final the way they did with the Federer-Murray final in Thailand.

Anyway, all four semi-finalists at the Stockholm Open are TWOP fan faves from the US Open: Schrichipan, Blake (in his first tournament since the Open), Olivier Rochus and Davide Sanguinetti!

And yet Venus still manages to rise one place in the rankings this week to #6. I loathe the system.
Eurosport showing the Kremlin Cup final tommorow - Pierce v Sciavone (spelling so wrong but forgive me) Go Sciavone!

Well, Blake beat Oli. It's too bad that they are not showing the Paradorn/Davide rematch of one of the best matches of the year (their meeting at the USO). It doesn't look like they will be showing these finals tomorrow. Too bad, because I am very intersested in the outcome of this and Vienna.


It is a real shame that Federer is injured and won't be at Madrid. (Neither will Safin, Hewitt or Agassi - all because of injury/surgery) But I am very interested in the possibility of a Roddick/Nadal match. I'm pretty sure that the Tennis Channel will be using the same UK feed that they have for other Master's tournies and I'm happy about that. They are some of my favorite announcers. Knowledgable, quiet during the points, but also with the ability to bring the snark. The extensive coverage of the Master's tournies is one of my favorite things about the Tennis Channel.



That's a pretty good one. They have shown that one a few times. I have caught a few episodes of Center Court and I normally like them (and No Strings) because they are great at showing how the players are off court. They tend to reshow certain ones more than others though. They premiered a CC episode with David Nalbandian a few months ago and I missed it but they haven't really repeated it since.

I hadn't thought about that. That could be ve-e-e-ry interesting. They both hang so far back behind the baseline (which I never noticed about Roddick until one of you guys or Mary Carillo pointed this out). That could make it extremely difficult for Roddick to fire winners from the baseline. He won't be able to get short angles at all from way back there, and that's practically the only way to hit a winner against Bam-Bam.

Has there been any reporting about the speed/bounce of the Madrid indoor surface?

I couldn't agree more, Chesty. I love how they simply show match after match, not just the big names. I haven't distinguished the different announcers yet, but I really like the older man. One of the younger men is good too, but ... are there others? I think so. And I thought some of them (or do I just mean "he"? I'm not sure.) were too charisma-free and not interesting or informative enough to make up for that.

It breaks my heart to say this - but along with the physical problems of Federer, Safin, and Hewitt- Nadal has been having some big problems with one of his knees. But he is still playing Madrid since it is a home-country event - although he really shouldn't. It actually sounds really bad. :(


I havedn't really heard the UK feed guys that much when commentating when a player has injuries- but I imagine that we may hear that on Wednesday when Nadal plays.

Chesty, do you mean that the injury itself is really bad? What have you heard?
****************
ETA: WOW! Did you guys see the doubles line-up in Shanghai? Roddick's playing with Blake and Bam-Bam with Lopez.

The latest is that he has acute tendonitis and that his pain is getting worse and chronic during his training sessions. He will actually decide today after another meeting with a doctor as to wheter he will still play in Madrid. He pulled out of doubles yesterday.

Would anyone know if the Master's Cup in Shanghai is going to be shown on ESPN or TTC?

Oh, man. Chronic.

Where are you getting your info, if you don't mind my asking?

There are some translated articles in the messageboard for the Nadal fansite as well as newsfeeds such as Reuters and Europsport. He also gave a press conference on Spanish tv where it appears that he says that he has tendonosis – which is indeed chronic.

I will be curious to see if they mention any of this during today's broadcast.

Ow. The Zurich court is making my eyes sting. I mean, seriously, whos idea was it to colour the court in such a way that you can not see the ball in the slightest during play? It's not just me that thinks it too. Patty Schyder said so in her interview. Hee.

Big drama tommorow on eurosport. Go Lindsey! Kick Daniella's ass and the no#1 ranking will be ours...all ours!

Okay, why is it that every time I turned on TTC yesterday I saw Karlovic-Rusedski and every time I turn it on today I see Rochus-Coria? Am I just exhibiting sensationally bad timing or are they showing these two matches more often? I mean, they had a line-up of, like, six matches each day to choose from, right?

ETA: OMG, Max Mirnyi fans, Max Mirnyi fans!!!!! Can you hear me?!!!

The Tennis Channel is playing a section of his match against Juan Carlos Ferrero right now (10:27 Eastern).

(Sorry for the shouting if this is old news.)

So Serena is out for the year? That would put mean her Aces donation to the Katrina efforts topped out at a grand total of perhaps $800? Wow. She sure is generous. Kudos to you Serena!

That scream you all heard was because of this little tidbit from the London Times:

I've been watching the Madrid tournament with some regularity, but haven't seen any of the following (from The Telegraph) mentioned:

I didn't see the Roddick-Karlovic match. Were the line calls really bad?

No Beckham?

Did they show any doubles? If so, I missed it. The papers reported that the crowd for Blake-Roddick's matches were very big and very enthusiastic.

Actually- he was caught up in traffic and didn't make it to the arena until after the match was over. But he and Rafa met up in the locker rooms.

Harry- nope they haven't shown any doubles. I don't think Sky Sports (which is the feed TTC gets) ever really shows doubles, unfortunately.

But Serena could have easily donated thousands more privately without announcing it to the media. I don't think any of us know how much the woman has or has not donated in total.

Very well may be true. But if Serena is going to proudly announce to the world that she is going to make the very generous contribution of $100 per ace, then you can bet your booty that she is going to tell us when she's made some bigger lump sum donation to the Red Cross as well.

I think I vaguely remember hearing something about this the first time, but I could be wrong. Apparently now they're thinking turnabout's fair play. I'm not really sure why anyone would care that they've replaced the ballboys or ballgirls with models of any gender. Sounds kind of stupid, but what do I know?


Tight knee length skirts?? This can't be for real, can it? How the hell do you run or bend over to pick up a ball in a tight knee-length skirt?

Exaaaaactly. (wink, wink)

Ballgirl pictures.

The skirts weren't really knee-length.

Serena did donate the $40,000 earrings to auction shortly after the flak she received about them so that's something.


I want to know why the TSN channel (for us Canadians) NEVER shows WTA events anymore, apart from Grand Slams. All we get now are Masters Series every now and then. I used to be able to see the Italian Open, Amelia Island, Pilot Pen, etc. up here. I'm not adverse to men's tennis, but would a little balance hurt?

Actually, I think a big reason is that in the past year TSN discovered the sport of poker and now has some poker series or other on just about every day. Hey TSN, POKER IS NOT A SPORT!!

Isn't TSN just basically the Canadian version of ESPN? That could be why you get less non-grand slam tennis now. The Tennis Channel bought the rights to most of the tennis that ESPN used to show.

To me it's just as easy to conclude that considering some of the flak she got over the $100 an ace, she would keep future donations private. Either way it's entirely speculative and there's no basis to say what she has or hasn't done with her money. I'm more than willing to critisize Serena when she says or does something dumb, but I think it's unfair to say that her injury is further evidence of her lack of "real" comitttment to the cause.

Well, that's at least a reasonably sensible outfit. I was imagining something more like this.

Good lord - all this press and attention about Sheryl Swopes coming out. They're acting like no elite female athlete ever did this before. Is it because basketball is more mainstream than tennis? I have yet to read Martina's name in any of the articles about this, and that surprises me.

I don't know. In a lot of ways, women's tennis is much more mainstream than women's basketball.

I think the big deal is that Swopes is doing it while she's playing and one of the top names in the game. While it seems like Martina has never stopped playing, she was at least semi-retired when she came out, wasn't she? Or am I not remembering correctly?

Martina was out while she was playing: it lead to her wearing her own MN brand, designed by her then-partner Nielsen, because her sponsor dropped her. Puma still gave her shoes, though.

World famous big match choker Amelie Mauresmo is out. At her big break out tournament in 99 at the Australian Open she ran into the stands and hugged her then girlfriend after she beat Davenport in the semifinals.

She's mentioned in this one. Largely because Navratilova endorses the same cruise company that Swoopes, but still a mention.

I think partly the story is different because Swoopes plays a team sport. You can be a very solitary animal and still play tennis, and the authorities and other competitors are forced to accept you (to some extent) if you have the game to back it up. You may lose endorsements or whatever but ultimately they pretty much have to let you play the game. Discrimination against the gay and lesbian communities in team sports is still a big issue, so someone like Swoopes who is, like Martina, arguably the best to ever play her sport is a big event.

Mechelle Voepel's piece on the Penn State coachshows the discrimination still rife in college basketball. Voepel also wrote comfortably the best thing I've seen so far on Swoopes's coming out.

Sorry most of that was off-topic.

Oh bugger, that would explain it. That must have happened in the last year or so. It would help if the Tennis Channel was as accessible as ESPN.

But



blasphemy! Canadian things are not a version of anything. We have no Canuck Espies, for example. TSN stands alone, a hockey-and-golf-loving, beer commercial drenched, allergic to women's sports, boy's clubby sports network.

I'm sure ESPN is different.

The guys doing the Paris Masters matches today said that Stanislaw Warinka (sp?), the number two Swiss player, said that Federer was back to practicing and fully expects to play Shanghai.

Not necessarily. If I recall correctly, TTC actually shows a lot of tournaments that ESPN never showed. I don't think that ESPN ever even showed some of the big Master's tournaments that were not played in the US- such as Rome and Monte Carlo.

Actually, they did up until TTC got them. Now, ESPN only shows Masters Series wise, the US/Canada events.

Very enjoyable final of the Paris Masters. Glad to see Berdych emerge. The look on his face when he saw Safin come out to present the trophy was priceless.

And on a completly shallow note... How hot did Safin look with that long curly hair?

Ve-ery een-ter-est-ing. Berdych winning a tournament could spell some serious trouble for the rest of the tour. I don't know his story, except that so far he hasn't been fulfilling his potential. If he's the type who just needed a shot of confidence, look out. He has awesome skills.

I'm sorry, though, that Ljubicic lost. I've come to really like him and his game. I was glad to hear the commentators this week acknowledge that he was Player of the Year - Third Place (after Lovely Roger and Bam-Bam).

I've been away from Tennis Channel access the last several days. Does anyone who saw the pre-final rounds have any comments?

I was lucky enough to see Ljub playing at the Davis Cup match, Croatia VS USA and he was very impressive in that tie.

As for the earlier rounds of Paris the only two things that stand out in my mind were Roddick at his Quarterfinals playing out of his mind and so in the zone I think he might have beat Roger that day and watching Gaudio tank another match when you could tell he didn't care to fight it out that day.