The 2013 In Between Grand Slam Thread

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 03-02-2013 12:46pm

_Bella_ wrote: »

Wow did anyone read about the Czech Republic v Switzerland Davis Cup match? Second longest match in history and was played over three days. It lasted over 11 hours with a final score of 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-7 24-22!

The Czech/Swiss match was just over 7 hours. The 11 hour 3 day match was the Isner/Mahut match at Wimbledon a few years ago.

_Bella_ · 03-02-2013 12:50pm

Whoops sorry, read the article wrong!

yerwanthere123 · 03-02-2013 4:17pm

Mona wins the final against Errani! Good stuff, hope she keeps it up. Australian Open aside, 2013 has actually been pretty good for her: a title, a final and a semi.
Bit disappointed Sabine couldn't win in her final but it's been a good week for her. When is the last time she won four consecutive matches!

RosyLily · 03-02-2013 6:39pm

Berdych and Wawrinka spend 7 hours on court in doubles and had to come out today for the singles! Spare a thought for the doubles umpire, James Keothavong as well! Bit of a surprise...Kazakhstan beat Austria 3-1. Golubev beat Melzer to get the win for his country.

Maria Kirilenko wins Pattaya Open, her first title since 2008! Really good match; Lisicki did well to bring it back in the 3rd set and force a tiebreak.

bing3 · 03-02-2013 9:37pm

Well done to Ireland beating Estonia in the Davis Cup today. Sam Barry winning the decisive rubber. Finland next at the beginning of April. Best of luck to them.

bing3 · 07-02-2013 12:29am

Rafa back on the winning track in Chile. Good to see him back. Reckon the next couple of weeks in South America will tell will he ever rejoin the other three at the top.

jupiterjack · 07-02-2013 1:07am

good to see Nadal back...

StevoTG · 12-02-2013 2:31am

jupiterjack wrote: »

good to see Nadal back...

Played a great final with Zeballos too. His serve and forehand looked good but his backhand and movement were still shy of his best. Not a bad effort at all for his first tournament back though.

Huge credit to Zeballos. He played sublime tennis and dealt so well with the pressure mentally. He backed himself on the big points, took the initiative and became just the third man after Federer and Djokovic to beat Nadal in a final on clay!

RosyLily · 12-02-2013 4:58pm

Good to see himself back alright. It will be interesting to see how he gets on playing the hard courts of Indian Wells et al. I'd still put him as favourite for Roland Garros. He's just on another level when he plays there!

yerwanthere123 · 12-02-2013 8:01pm

RosyLily wrote: »

Good to see himself back alright. It will be interesting to see how he gets on playing the hard courts of Indian Wells et al. I'd still put him as favourite for Roland Garros. He's just on another level when he plays there!

No matter how good/bad he plays over the next couple of weeks, I can't see him playing Indian Wells or Miami. I still think his No.1 focus is the clay court season.

Doha should be good this week, all the top players there. Really hope Serena gets back to No.1. Laura Robson is already out.

RosyLily · 14-02-2013 11:17pm

Yeah, hard courts would be tougher on his knee so I wouldn't expect much from him at Indian or Miami. He'll want to keep himself fresh and healthy for Roland Garros.

Imagine he has 7 French Opens at the age of 26!:eek: Seriously impressive.

In other news, Piotr Wozniacki argued with the chair umpire during Caroline Wozniacki's match with Mona Barthel in Qatar. He also refused to leave. Classy guy.:rolleyes:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 15-02-2013 12:18am

^ She didn't lick it off a stone then. She gets a right head on her when things don't go her way. I'd be so embarrassed but she doesn't seem to care.

Nadal doesn't have a choice with IW/Miami does he? They're mandatory events I thought, and if he's playing a bunch of clay up to them he can't just then say, oh sorry my knee's too sore, and then magically be better again for clay season.

RosyLily · 15-02-2013 12:28am

I would be absolutely mortified if my father acted like that!! Doesn't faze her though.

AFAIK, you can be exempt from certain mandatory ATP tournaments if you need certain criteria, i.e. X amount of years on tour, X amount of matches won, but I'm not sure if Nadal qualifies for any of them.

RosyLily · 15-02-2013 12:31am

18 yrs on tour, 169 titles including 21 Grand Slams, 4 Paralympic golds, 668 wks as No.1 and unbeaten since January 2003.

There's only one Esther Vergeer. What. A. Career.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 15-02-2013 12:46am

RosyLily wrote: »

AFAIK, you can be exempt from certain mandatory ATP tournaments if you need certain criteria, i.e. X amount of years on tour, X amount of matches won, but I'm not sure if Nadal qualifies for any of them.

I don't think he does because I'm sure I heard them mention last year how Federer would be long enough on the tour this year that he could do that. I know Rafa's been around since he was very young but I don't think he's there yet. He can skip them if he wants but he'd need medical proof that he's unable to play, which I'm sure he could get but it'll raise some eyebrows.

yerwanthere123 · 15-02-2013 7:41pm

RosyLily wrote: »

18 yrs on tour, 169 titles including 21 Grand Slams, 4 Paralympic golds, 668 wks as No.1 and unbeaten since January 2003.

There's only one Esther Vergeer. What. A. Career.

Indeed, what an incredible champion! Feel bad I only found out who she was last year

In other news, Serena is finally back at the top!

RosyLily · 16-02-2013 12:09am

Yeah, it's a shame not many people would know about Esther and what she's done for wheelchair tennis. I only came across her about 2 years ago. Imagine being able to retire at 31!:eek:

Serena back at No.1. She also broke Christ Evert's 30 year record of being the oldest female Number 1. Hope she can stay there for some time. Clay season should be interesting.

Julien Benneteau caused an upset at Rotterdam, beating defending champion Roger Federer 6-3, 7-5. Great win for the Frenchman. His 2012 was a bit injury ridden but here's hoping he'll stay healthy this year.

yerwanthere123 · 18-02-2013 6:15pm

Kinda hilarious the way that all Vika had to do to justify her #1 ranking was to beat Serena and now she's done it as she falls to #2. Comical! An excellent win for her though, hoping for a rematch in Dubai.

Really happy Delpo won in Rotterdam also, he needed a good win to really kick start his season.

In utterly irrelevant news, Milos Raonic badly needs a haircut :eek:

RosyLily · 18-02-2013 7:43pm

Azarenka still has a crap record against Serena- 11-2 I think. Should be interesting to see how the next few weeks go on the American swing of the WTA tour. How long will Aza keep her unbeaten record? Will Serena cement her No.1 status by claiming Miami or Dubai?

Great win for Delpo. He's got a pretty good record in finals (14-5). I've high hopes for him this season. He looks in good form and seems healthy. On his day, he can beat the best. He's a player no one wants to see on their side of the draw.

And yes, Milos is in desperate need for a haircut. No one but Federer & del Potro should be allowed wear a headband.:p

RosyLily · 21-02-2013 12:32am

Got Wimbledon tickets in the ballot!!!:D:D 4th time's a charm!

yerwanthere123 · 21-02-2013 7:51pm

RosyLily wrote: »

Got Wimbledon tickets in the ballot!!!:D:D 4th time's a charm!

Fair play

What day/week are the tickets for?

RosyLily · 21-02-2013 11:35pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Fair play What day/week are the tickets for?

Wednesday 3rd July- Men's QF Day on Court No.1.:) Got a pair of tickets so bringing a friend who's been dying to go for years.

yerwanthere123 · 23-02-2013 12:58am

RosyLily wrote: »

Wednesday 3rd July- Men's QF Day on Court No.1.:) Got a pair of tickets so bringing a friend who's been dying to go for years.

Congrats, you must be delighted. I'll definitely go to Wimbledon some day when the time is right.

RosyLily · 23-02-2013 1:42am

I highly recommend a visit to Wimbledon!! Gorgeous place when it's sunny.:)

Kvitova-Errani final in Dubai....can't say I would have predicted that match last week. Petra has a terrible record in Dubai & Errani hasn't really had a great start to 2013. I'm hoping this is the start of a turnaround for Petra; she's notched up good wins this week and could ride the momentum to Indian Wells & Miami. She's got the talent, just needs to work on the other aspects.

yerwanthere123 · 27-02-2013 9:15pm

Oh dear GOD! Wozniacki loses to #186 ranked Wang Qiang

RosyLily · 01-03-2013 12:14am

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Oh dear GOD! Wozniacki loses to #186 ranked Wang Qiang

Oh no. What's the bets she still won't change up her game or get a new coach. Fresh eyes and ears could do her the world of good!!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 02-03-2013 1:17pm

RosyLily wrote: »

Oh no. What's the bets she still won't change up her game or get a new coach. Fresh eyes and ears could do her the world of good!!

She admitted there the other week that after she got to #1 she lost interest, said it seemed more like a job than the game she had loved. (It is a F-ing job, a fairly easy and rewarding one compared to us mortals!) But I digress....
Doesn't seem to me like she's got any of that motivation back since losing the #1 ranking. I'm no expert on the ins and outs of it all but it seems fairly obvious that her relationship with her dad isn't a healthy one. She wins a set 6-1 and still calls him on to the court? Compare that to someone like Azarenka who I cna only remember calling her coach on once, and that was when she had an injury and to discuss whether she should retire or not.

RosyLily · 02-03-2013 7:02pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

(It is a F-ing job, a fairly easy and rewarding one compared to us mortals!)

+1,000!! I'd love to be a pro!! Caroline got £14,500 for losing in the first round of Wimbledon 2012....how long would it take average Joe to make that??

I can understand why you would relax a little after reaching No.1; it's a huge goal to accomplish and not many women make it. But, imo, Wozniacki has so many more goals to fulfil- no GS, no Tour Final title, no Olympic medal etc. I doubt many people will remember her when she retires.

Even Marion Bartoli has gotten rid of her dad as coach!

Time to shake some cages Caro.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 02-03-2013 7:57pm

RosyLily wrote: »

I can understand why you would relax a little after reaching No.1; it's a huge goal to accomplish and not many women make it. But, imo, Wozniacki has so many more goals to fulfil- no GS, no Tour Final title, no Olympic medal etc. I doubt many people will remember her when she retires.

True, and that year she was #1 for wasn't that great an achievement in itself. Serena out for most of it, Sharapova still on the comeback from her surgery, Vika still mentally unstable, and that was about it. No great challenge for the #1 spot.

Plus right after her year at #1 Vika had pretty much a full year there with 2 Slams, a Slam RU, and 2 Olympic medals. That's how you do a year at #1.

KINGVictor · 03-03-2013 11:35am

RosyLily wrote: »

Oh no. What's the bets she still won't change up her game or get a new coach. Fresh eyes and ears could do her the world of good!!

Agreed-She really needs a change in her entire game. I know it is conspiracy theory territory but with Rory also messing up during the weekend, it could be something to do with their relationship.

The 2013 In Between Grand Slam Thread

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