My favorite GS matches of the year include the matches that you listed above. Some other favorites of mine include:

For the men's-
*Hewitt def. Nadal, Aussie Open
*Hewitt def. Nalby, Aussie Open
*Safin def. Ferrero, RG
*Nadal def. Puerta, RG
* Federer def. Ferrero, Wimbledon (high quality match)
* Sanguinetti def. Schricipan, US Open (so much fun!)
*Djokovic def. Monfils, US Open (felt bad for Gael in this one but thought that Tracy Austin went on too much when she said that Djokovic's win left a bad taste in her mouth.)
*Agassi def. Blake, US Open

For the ladies-
*Loved Clijsters def. Sharapova, US Open (Both fought a lot. Maria elevated her play and Kim then once again elevated hers)
*Pierce def. JHH, US Open

I'm sure that I'm leaving some out.

I also thought that there were a lot of great non-Grand slam matches this year. The Master's series in particular had some great matches and finals. Some of my favorite non GS matches include:

Men
*Federer def. Nadal, Miami (Roger comes back from two sets down)
*Gasquet def. Federer, Monte Carlo (Gasquet's game was just beautiful)
*Nadal def. Coria, Rome (Five set match over five hours. The announcers were worried that Nadal would run out of gas in the end as he did in Miami. Nope- even after being down 0-3 in the fifth he won. Great play by both players too. One of my top favorites of the year.)
* Argie wins on grass in Australia during Davis Cup
* Paul Henru Mathieu def. Roddick, Montreal (felt bad for Roddick but Paul Henri finally played to his potential. It's so great that he maintained the momentum and continued to play to his upmost the rest of the year- oh wait, no he returned to his headcase ways.)
* Nadal def. Ljubicic, Madird (Nadal comes back from two sets down and then a break in the fifth. I had to agree witht he announcers when they said that Nadal simply refused to lose.)
* Berdych def. Ljubicic, Paris (Felt bad for Ivan with another tough five-set loss. But man- when Tomas was on during this match, he was amazing.)
*Nalby def. Federer, Shanghai (David came back from two sets down, Roger levels it up after being down 0-4 in the fifth. Nalby just played great for much of the match. )

Women
*Dementiava/Safina def. Pierce/Mauresmo, Fed Cup finals in France (I was really impressed by Safina during this.)
*Mauresmo def. Pierce, YEC in LA (Sad someone had to lose. So happy that Amelie came through in a big one.)

One thing that I really love about The Tennis Channel is that they show almost all of the Masters Cup matches (you miss some but you get coverage for the whole day so get to see a lot), and you get the after match celebrations for Davis/Fed cup and the Masters Cup finals.

The one match that I really wish that I could have seen this year but couldn't because they didn't show it anywhere in the US was Gonzalez def. Baghdatis in the final of Basel. I like both players and supposidly it was great match and Baghdatis was an utter joy.

Regarding the Grand Slams- did anyone else thing that ESPN's coverage of the Grand Slams was better this year than 2004? (Of course it was so bad in 2004 but there was no place to go but up.) I still prefer USA's GS coverage I think, but the schism between the two networks was not so gaping this year in my opinion.

Loved that one too-when Sharapova drop shotted Kim on match point and pushed it into a third set, I could feel the excitement coming off my TV. The announcers were whooping it up, the crowd went nuts, and so did I. I liked Sharapova, wanted Kim to win, but that made me really admire Maria. Same with her match against Serena at the AO.

I also loved seeing Mauresmo win at the end of the year.

The Agassi/Blake match was painful-I never want to see it again, because I wanted James to win so badly. I think he would have challenged Federer better than Agassi at the end.

The second set of the Pierce/V. Williams Wimbledon quarterfinal was riveting. Mary's shots started to connect (she lost the first set 6-0) and it was two veteran ball bashers showing how it was done-the crowd was really getting into it; Venus's celebration at the end showed she how happy she was to have survived that and how much respect she had for what Pierce could do.

I think this has been a great year for tennis, actually.

Some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned:

V. Williams def. Sharapova, Wimbledon - Probably the hardest hitting women's match I've ever seen

Federer def. Roddick, Wimbledon - Federer en fuego

Ginepri def. Coria, US Open - Robby played a lot of great matches during his run, but this was probably the best


I still agree with Tracy. That was shameful. I think it's awesome she had enough guts to say what she really thought.

I guess you're about to find out that this year I was a big, big Nadal fan, because all of my favorites are matches he played (and won, btw). Specially the finals (Masters and French Open). I guess the top 4 will be: Rome, Roland Garros, Montreal and Madrid.

Maybe Nadal refused to lose but with the TMI/computer graphic technology thingie that they show after points, I have to say that Ljubo also got massively screwed over by a lot of those line calls.

The same thing happened in the Fed/Nalby match, when Fed was "gifted" a lot of points with the umpire overruling a lot of points in Fed's favor.

I swear they should just install the technology already.

ETA:

No, I am pretty dismissive of that particular win of Nadal's. A lot of the calls really weren't fair. I'm as dismissive of it as I am of that win of Roddick's over Nalby in '03. If Fed had won TMC too, I would've been pissed off, as the umpiring was beyond horrible.

True- Ivan did get some bad calls - in particular there was one in the last set tiebreak. Rafa got a really bad call as well (was it in the third set.) But yes- there were some bad calls in that match- and more went against Ivan. But I still think that it doesn't really take away from Nadal's win or that the victory should be dismissed as simply a result of bad calls. (I'm not saying that you yourself are dismissing Nadal's win.)

You could also argue that Nadal really got screwed by a really bad line call in the third set of the Miami final- so I tend to think in a way these bad line calls do tend to come out in the wash if you will. (But I do think that there should be replay.) I still think that the Miami match was a good one- even though there was the one awful call in the third.



I hope so too. Because frankly it would be the most fair. And it would be great for the fans- particualarly those watching tv at home who can see the replays. Also- if someone won a match people would just say they won and not that they won just because someone else got bad calls. Finally, it would show that Coria does have a legitimate gripe about calls sometimes. ;) (He has turned into the boy who cried wolf in terms of line calls- and now even when he does have a legit complaint- the crowd is ready to whistle anyway.)

I was wondering- would the line replay thingy work in situations like the controversial "out" incident of the 2003 USO semi between Roddick and Nalbandian?

ETA - Speak of the devil. It was announced today that the Hopman Cup, which will be held in Perth, Australia from 12/30/05 - 1/6/06 will be using Hawk Eye and Courier just announced that it will be quite likely that the 2006 USO will have Hawk Eye.

I look forward to it. TTC covers the Hopman Cup so it will be fun to watch how it is implemented during match play.

Hewitt and his wife had a baby girl today (or tomorrow, in Australian time). No name has been announced.

Hingis to Make Comeback
Should be interesting.

... only if she's been working on that serve. Still, it couldn't possibly be less interesting than her last comeback. Hey, she'll have retired and made two comebacks since Seles last played.

Ohhh, for some reason, that makes me happy. I still have my favorite match of hers on tape, even though she lost it. The 2002 Australian Open final. Fuckin Jennifer Capriati. Bitch.

I am excited that Hingis is coming back. The womens' tour could really use her. Nobody has as much personality as that woman. And I think her major problem in later years was her fitness. If she has improved her fitness and worked on her second serve, she'll be fine.

I hope Hingis has been inspired by Justine Henin-Hardenne, who has shown by getting into extraordinary shape she can compete successfully with the much bigger players. Hingis could do the same if she has the motivation.

Did anyone get to see the Davis Cup final? It seemed very dramatic! I'm so happy for the Croats, especially Mario Ancic! This was the biggest match of his career

Yes- it was fun viewing!

The Ljubicic/Hrbaty match was very good- Dom played so well, so I was happy for him in his play even though the Slovak Republic lost. I was very happy for Mario in his win- he finally can get the monkey of not winning some important DC matches off of his back. I was also so happy for Ivan that Croatia won the DC. 11-1- that's a great year for him in Davis Cup.

I also loved seeing Goran on the bench and celebrating. He still looks good and still manages to do so while wearing a headband. He has always been very proud of being Croatian (loved how he switched into a Croatian soccer jersey right after his Wimbly win) so I was happy that he was chosen to be a team member for the final- even if he didn't get to play.

And Ivo Karlovic is the only player that can make Mario, Goran and Luby look like shorties. Do Croatins tend to be tall because their tennis players sure are.

The crowd was great too. There were a good number of Croatian fans there and the Slovak fans were great as usual. One Slovak fan had a sign welcoming the Croatians to the Slovak Republic.

My only real complaint was that The Tennis Channel had the wrong scoreline a couple of times. But I'll put up with some wonky scorelines if it means that I can get live coverage.

Man, those Croat boys are tall! Six foot four Ljubivic was the runt.

I didn't watch it straight through. I would drop in on matches, and I kept wishing the TC score in the corner would give the score of the tie.

Hingis one her first match in her comeback journey, hopefully she'll make at least to the round of 16. I don't think there is going to be any TV coverage unfortunately. No tennis coverage, but ESPN has managed to show The Cup of Russia (figure skating) for what appears to be like the 3rd time, jeez. According to the AP report, her serve and her groundstrokes have improved.

The tournament Hingis is in will be covered this weekend by the tennis channel. So if Hingis is still in it by then we may get a look.

I wish that made a difference for me. I'm so jealous of those who get TTC. I'm really looking forward to the Aussie Open--when I'll finally get a look at her. I hope her serve is as improved as they say. I really want to see her do well. I'm most interested in how the commentators treat her, though. While everyone seems really supportive now--even Pam Shriver, which shocked the hell outta me--back in the day, most of the American commentators were really bitchy when they called her matches.

Hingis' comeback tournament is over. It kinda sucks now cause The Tennis Channel only plans to show the final, so now we may not get much of a look at her. Hopefully they'll show a highlight or 2.

Maybe it's because I haven't seen tennis in a long time, but I can't understand why people keep saying Hingis had a 3-year layoff. Didn't she attempt a comeback some time last year? Are they not counting it because she lost her first match?

It wasn't really a comeback. She never said she was coming back. It was just one match and she did it for charity, or so she said.

In this week's tournament, Hingis has to play JHH in the first round. I would be salivating if it was being covered anywhere. But I'm not going to get to watch it. Sigh. I wouldn't be surprised if Hingis pulled the upset. JHH needs to be match tough and she's nowhere near that.

Gee, it sucks to be a tennis fan in Canada. When it comes to dramas and prime time shows, we're pretty lucky, because we usually get a couple of chances to see the best U.S. shows (since both Canadian and U.S. channels tend to run them), but sports, specifically this sport, is another matter. My cable company (the only deal in town) doesn't carry the Tennis Channel or ESPN. Our national sports network has been known to put on equestrian events and cricket matches while a key tennis match is being played. Tennis is WAAAAAY down on their list of priorities.

I haven't seen a tennis match since the 2005 U.S. Open. We don't get Fed Cup, don't get the year-end finals. I did see a bit of an exhibition doubles match the other day, with James Blake and Ana Kournikova playing Andy Roddick and Lisa Raymond, but it's like wanting to watch Olympic figure skating, and having to settle for the Ice Capades.

I'm really looking forward to the Australian Open, which our sports channel presumably will air. (They're pretty good with the majors.) I'm in serious withdrawal. As others have said, I'm happy to see Martina Hingis return to the game. Harry24, you're so right about Henin-Hardenne and her proving that you don't have to be tall or muscular to be a top player in today's game. But to hear Nick Bollitieri tell it, there's no one who works as hard as Justine does. I'm not sure that Martina is willing to put in that kind of work.

Even though I was not much of a Hingis fan by the time she opted out, I do remember the first time I saw her play. I had never seen anyone play with the kind of spirit that she demonstrated or seem to enjoy the game as much as she did. That's something special, though I hadn't seen it from her for a while before she "retired."

It's nice to be back here. Many nights of little sleep, staying up to watch those midnight matches, await.

I don't even know if the AO is going to be any good this year. It seems like everyone is pulling out with injuries, so this could be really boring. They really must shorten the season as soon as they can.

Oh, please don't say that. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. Although, now that you mention it and the length of the season, I thought the decision had been made to move the Australian ahead to February or later. But maybe I'm "misremembering." Of course, changes like that take time to implement. But you're right. The current schedule is killing the players.

They aren't pushing the AO back for a few years. And I guess I was exaggerating when I said that *everyone* is pulling out. On the men's side, Safin, Nadal, Agassi are gone and Safin and Nadal are the only two off the top of my head that can even give Federer a game. For the women, Clijsters just got injured, Sharapova is coming but is reportedly injured, Hantuchova is reportedly sick, Venus is still injured and Serena is injured and overweight. So there you go.

The thing is, this could mean that it's Federer's and Davenport's to lose, but this Grand Slam is like the outlier-it doesn't really mean anything to the season as a whole IMO. And it's so ridiculously early that *no one* is really ready-so it really seems like the one Slam that some no name can really win. It's totally unpredictable-perhaps more so because of all the injuries this year. As sad as it is that so many of the players won't be there, yeah I'll watch.

Wow. I did a little googling after I read your post and found out about Agassi and Nadal, but this is worse than I thought. (Thanks for the info, BTW.)

What's up with Venus and Serena? Recurring injuries from before, or are these new? For some reason, your phrase that "Serena is injured and overweight" made me laugh. I'm assuming that the two (the injury and the weight) are connected? And I guess that milk ad that appears in the mags is either an old photo or one that's been touched up, 'cause she looks pretty damned fit in that.

As for Hantuchova, she hasn't really been a contender for some time, has she? (Unless there's been a turnaround in the last four months that I missed.)

You make a good point about the field, the timing and the likelihood that some no-namer might take it. But I can't recall a time in the last 8 or 10 years (and I know the women's side better than the men's) when that has happened. It's always been one of the better known players, IIRC, maybe because the stakes are high and they pull out the stops. I guess we'll see. I'll just be happy to see some tennis.

Edited because I hate spelling errors, and I do know how to spell Andre's last name.

I think it's basically the same injuries that kept them from playing at the end of the year (though I don't really think there should be any tennis besides the tour championships after the US Open). The injuries have prevented them from getting ready for the AO. And maybe Serena being out of shape is just my opinion. People were saying she was too big at Wimbledon last year and look what happened.

And yeah, I am referring more to the men's side when I say a no name could take it (a really small chance obviously). Thomas Johannson won a couple of years ago and he's good, but not a prominent player and he hasn't done much since. I think one of the really young players will make his mark at this one and that will be fun to watch since that could mean a good year overall for them.

I also think it would be nice to see Roddick do well-I think he will. He's looking extra fine lately too.

I'm excited to just watch tennis again too.

Early prediction for the Australian Open, Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters. Aside from Federer, I could see Nalbandian, who has got to be pumped up and full of confidence after beating Federer in the Masters Final.

On the womens' side, if it isn't Clijsters, it will probably be Davenport. Depending on the draw, I could see Hingis making to the R16, she has always done exceptionally well at the Australian open, but I wouldn't expect too much from her this early in the season.

I agree with this. But I also think the players need to be more judicious about when and what they play. There were Sharapova, Roddick and the Williams sisters in the "off-season", players who suffered injuries last year (and towards the end of the year, to boot) playing in exhibition tournaments. Sharapova is the worst offender here. She played a whole exhibition tour in Asia and reinjured her shoulder.

I'm still looking forward to the Oz open. Roger's the favorite but I think Roddick can do some damage, and apparently so can Tommy Haas. Nalbandian is a dark horse and you can never discount Hewitt.

On the women's side, it's really Davenport and Clijsters. But JHH could be a darkhorse.

Why do they do that? It's not like they really need the money, right?

I also think Blake could do well at this one if he keeps up from how he was doing last year.

I agree and I also hope that Ginepri keeps his momentum going. It's nice to see some other Americans playing well besides Roddick/Agassi.

According to tennisreporters.net, ESPN has decided not to show U.S. Davis Cup matches this season. Instead, TTC will be airing them.

This disapoints me since I don't get TTC.

On another note, ESPN will be showing the Aussie Open semis and finals LIVE. Here's the schedule.

Very good question. No, they don't need the money, but I think Sharapova, for one, needs the attention. (Serena does too, but she has many more avenues for finding it.) Plus, there's that poor impulse control that comes with being a teenager.

My inclination would be to rest while I could, especially when resting wouldn't mean missing any tournaments (i.e. in the off-season). But what do I know? Maybe they've spent so much time on the sidelines that they're eager to get back out there test things out when the stakes are low...

... and ruin themselves for the season in the process.

I think we are in for another exciting season. Sesil is appealing her two year ban for doping. Claims she was pregnant and then sufferred a miscarriage. This is going to be interesting, and I am predicting a ton of TV coverage.

Men's draw....yeah Federer is going to win it. Not only Nadal/Safin/Agassi are not playing...but Federer has an incredibly easy draw.

Women's draw is going to be very interesting, not only there are a lot of players on the same level....but there are also a lot of rising potential. Plus with a lot of injuries from the women's top seeds.....I'm not going to be surprised with a lot of upsets.

Serena Williams is playing against Na Li, not going to be surprised if she loses. Na Li is one of the three rising Chinese tennis players

Watch for these dark horses
Anna Chakvetadze
Shuai Peng
Sania Mirza
Flavia Penetta
Nicole Vadisiova

On the men's side, I wonder if having Roddick promoted to the #2 seed thanks to Nadal's injury means that ESPN is going to feel just that much more justified in showing him at every possible opportunity... Tommy Haas is in the top half of the draw with Federer, which might seem more significant-- in that Haas did defeat Federer in last week's exhibition tournament-- if Haas hadn't made a career out of failing to capitalize on big wins and momentum. Based on current form, I'll pick Ancic as my spoiler, but I can see this turning into a re-match of the year-end championship between Federer and Nalbandian.

As for the women, the draw is comically top-heavy, with six grand slam winners (Davenport, Kuznetsova, the Williams sisters, Henin-Hardenne, and Sharapova)-- whoever comes through the top half will likely be so ragged that Clijsters, strained hip muscle or no, should have no problems winning the final. Of course, there's still the possibility that with most of the top contenders in questionable health or fitness (Clijsters, H-H, Sharapova, Serena), whoever is healthiest at the end of the two weeks will take it... and Hingis has made the final the last six straight times she played the Australian Open. I don't think she'll win, but if she can get into Zvonareva's head in her opening match-- not a hard thing to do, really-- she could conceivably make the 4th round.

But still: Federer and Clijsters were the obvious picks for the US Open, and they both managed to win. With the rest of the fields so iffy, it's tough to bet against either of them.

This is going to be fun-is the coverage on ESPN or ESPN2?

I think Serena is going out early-just a hunch. I know the draw is random, but the top half of the women's side-Jesus H. Christ, that's ridiculous.

I also think Gael Monfils could be the big surprise-in that, if I am reading the draw sheet right, he is in Hewitt's quarter. I think he could take out Lil' Ley-Ley and he'll be the semifinalist that gets waxed by Federer.

The women's draw is such a crapshoot. I want to say that Serena will go out early and embarass herself again, but I thought that last year and she won the damn tournament. I know it happened, but it seems strange to say that two of the four grand slam winners last year were Williams'. In the big tournaments they really come to play, I'm hoping they both go far. I also want Martina Hingis to fall on her ass and I plan to laugh when it happens.

This women's draw is rediculous. Imagine being the #1 player and having to play potentially 4 grand slam winners in a row starting in the 4th round! Lindsay could have to face Kuznetsova in the fourth round, Venus or Justine in the Quarters and if she gets through those, Sharapova or Serena in the Semis before possibly facing Clijsters in the finals.

Now you expect to have to play Sharapova or Serena in the semis, but that's just rediculous.

I think the only thing Davenport would really have to worry about is that quarterfinal (and obviously the final)-I think she could lose to Justine. From what I have heard, she's in great shape and she's ready-for her it's all mental IMO.

Of course now that I say that, watch her lose early.

Meanwhile, clijsters has a cakewalk until the quarters where she'll probably play Pierce and then maybe Mauresmo in the semis.

If Amelie is going to win a major it's this slam, this year, with this draw. Clijsters is her biggest obstacle and she's hurt. And anyone who comes through the other side will be beaten down by the finals.

Davenport's draw is a pile of piss in comparison with Clijsters although saying that I think Pierce (if she's still playing as well as she was end of of 05) could take the Golden Retriever down.

Lindsay is first on the main court at midnight on Eurosport (British time).

Yep. I can seriously call her the favorite to win it all. Seriously. Ohio State, the Boston Red Sox, Clijsters, Texas... all the chokers are getting a chance to shine in recent years. Of course, I'd never bet against Venus or Serena. I have no faith in Davenport as a future Slam winner, but she has a great shot yet again.

Federer's draw isn't as much of a cakewalk as some say. O. Rochus, Haas, or Gasquet will probably play him in the fourth—that's not ridiculously easy. Of course, he should win it all. Barring that, I'd love for Tim Henman to make his breakthrough. He has a chance to get revenge on Tursonov in the first round. Then again, this has always been his worst tournament. I'd also love Blake and Ginepri to do well. Ginepri could upset Roddick (if Dent doesn't do it first). Hewitt could go out early (maybe to Andy Murray in the 2nd). Should be interesting! Yay, tennis!

OMG, Venus?!

wow pironokova is amazing.

I really wish that they had shown some of the Nalbandian match during the time between the Davenport and Venus matches.

Nalby is seeded #4 and beat Feds at the YEC. But he has had a stomach virus which acutally caused him to retire and then pull out of Sydney. I wanted to have a peek at him to see if he is still ill.

Ginepri's hair sans cap reminds me of a turnip.

Like many others, I am surprised at how exciting the Venus match is turning out.

Well, Venus really blew that one. She had a pretty good early draw, too. On a better note, she looked really great in that yellow.

I loved how she was playing so poorly it was reducing Mary Carillo to silence-that's poor play if it shuts Mary up.

But...those perky nipples. Yikes, at least wear pasties, Venus.

Did you see that Venus press conference? Damn, I liked her defiance and usually, the Williams sisters "God, it was me-I sucked out there, I gave her the match" schtick grates, but in this case, she said it, and...it was true. She said what she took from the match was that you can't make 70 UFEs and expect to win. Wow-that press conference was awesome.

Yes, it was awesome, but you're still selling her a little short. She was very gracious in defeat while being realistic at the same time.


Perish the thought! I like the perky nipples. Is it the fabric? Does tennis arouse her? Those things are always hard. Heh.

Great match for Nalbandian. This is the first time I've seen Udomchoke play; I like him. Even though the score was pretty lopsided for four of the five sets, it was interesting the whole way through.

As for Venus - wow. Even at 7-8 down I didn't really expect her to lose. She was pretty bad. I've criticized the Williams sisters' "She didn't beat me, I lost" style of post-match interview, but yeah, their winning or losing depends very, very largely on their number of UEs and how good their serve is.

I hate Sharapova's dress. Why does she also wear that style? It's fugly. Also, she has the most undignified grunt out of all the players. "Haooooow! Haoooow!" Argh. And her game is not fun to watch. There's no fluidity, so style, no smoothness. Well, neither has Davenport's, but the difference is I like Lindsay. And the Williams sisters have dimensions to their game other than power. With Sharapova, it's all just jerky bashing and stop-start running and those unending caterwauls. I was never a fan of hers, but I like her less and less every time I see her.