The 2014 In Between Grand Slam Thread

RosyLily

It's a weird one alright. According to CBSSports, James was renting out the house. I seen the photos of the house - completely gutted!!:(

RosyLily

This story gets more tragic. 4 people were shot and fireworks were found in the house. Police believe the fire was set on purpose. They haven't said it was a murder-suicide though. Local media have named the family that died. So sad.

yerwanthere123

Good to see Sharapova battling her way past a tough Madrid draw. I don't think she'll have many problems with Radwanska today. A final against Simona Halep would be very interesting indeed, particularly so as these two could bump into each other at RG.

A bit worried for Serena right now.

Also, Nishikori has cracked the top ten!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Maria strolls into the final in Madrid. You can't see her losing to Halep... but then again, you never know

EDIT: Maria's clay stats are now.... 45 wins a row on clay vs players not named Serena—11 Top-10 wins, 21 Top-20 wins, 34 Top-50 wins. Only 1 win over a player outside Top-100.

RosyLily

Impressive stuff!! Looking forward to Halep-Sharapova...has the potential to be a great match. Hate that BTSports now has women's tennis though!!!:mad:

Johnmb

RosyLily wrote: »

Impressive stuff!! Looking forward to Halep-Sharapova...has the potential to be a great match. Hate that BTSports now has women's tennis though!!!:mad:

Tennistv.com is your friend. Commentary isn't great, but they show all the big non-slam events, and lots of smaller tournaments too, men's and ladies. I've never regretted my subscription.

WaterLily.

Very disappointing for Nishikori tonight, he was playing so well and completely dominating for the first set and the start of the second. He is definitely a top 5 player in the making.

But then again, that's sport. Sometimes you lose when you deserve to win and vice versa. Also, Rafa's injury during the final in Australia cost him the opportunity to compete properly and now the same thing has happened to his opponent in a final. Things tend to even out eventually.

Hopefully Nishikori will bounce back and the injury isn't too serious, it would make Rolland Garros so exciting if we had lots of proper contenders this year I loved watching Nadal's comeback last year but I'm also so glad this year is throwing up so many upsets, it makes such a nice change from the usual suspects sweeping up absolutely everything!

yerwanthere123

Great stuff from Sharapova yesterday. I doubt many thought she might actually gain points from the clay court season. Given she's only defending QF points in Rome and the fact Vika probably won't play RG, Sharapova should be safe for a top 8 seed in Paris. Surely if she avoids Serena she'll be the one to beat in Paris?

Terrible loss for Bouchard to Schiavone in Rome! I know Francesca likes the clay but she's been on the wane for quite some time, and has only won about 2 or 3 matches this year.

the_monkey

WaterLily. wrote: »

Very disappointing for Nishikori tonight, he was playing so well and completely dominating for the first set and the start of the second. He is definitely a top 5 player in the making.

But then again, that's sport. Sometimes you lose when you deserve to win and vice versa. Also, Rafa's injury during the final in Australia cost him the opportunity to compete properly and now the same thing has happened to his opponent in a final. Things tend to even out eventually.

Hopefully Nishikori will bounce back and the injury isn't too serious, it would make Rolland Garros so exciting if we had lots of proper contenders this year I loved watching Nadal's comeback last year but I'm also so glad this year is throwing up so many upsets, it makes such a nice change from the usual suspects sweeping up absolutely everything!

Injury ?

smurfs5

Always love watching Simon play and he really pushed Rafa tonight. I remember seeing him play at Wimbledon a few years ago and I've been a fan of him ever since - hopefully he can get back into the Top 20 soon.

WaterLily.

Have been waiting such a long time for this!!! Finally, Rafa v Andy on Friday

Floppybits

WaterLily. wrote: »

Have been waiting such a long time for this!!! Finally, Rafa v Andy on Friday

I can't wait for this as well and what'd even better I will be at the match.:)

RosyLily

Can't believe they last played each other in 2011!!:eek: Loads has changed since then. Hoping for a great match!

mickmackey1

With respect what has Murray ever achieved against Nadal on clay... Rafa's going to smash him.

yerwanthere123

I fear Andy will be steamrolled Hope he can make a match of it.

Disappointing and slightly concerning that Maria lost to Ana, first time losing on clay to someone other than Serena since 2011! Didn't see the match but I'm guessing/hoping she was a bit sluggish after winning Madrid? Terrific for Ana though, wins over both Serena and Maria this year.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Ana was actually very good. She pushed Maria in Stuttgart too, so not too bug an upset.
I think it's good in a way for Maria to get a few extra days off. The seedings for RG are made after Rome so in that respect a few more wins probably wouldn't have hurt Maria's cause but all in all I'm not too upset.

smurfs5

Very enjoyable match between Ferrer and Novak earlier.

I also feel Andy will struggle a bit and I expect Rafa to win but it's just good to see them playing each other after so long - hopefully it'll be a reasonably close contest.

Floppybits

mickmackey1 wrote: »

With respect what has Murray ever achieved against Nadal on clay... Rafa's going to smash him.

Andy put it up to Rafa tonight. Was a great match to be at. Andy is just short of full fitness but I expect he will be fully fit for the grass part if the season.:)

mickmackey1

Surprisingly good by Murray, but will be disappointed not to have held on from 4-2 in the third.

Rjd2

I know their is other sport, but its crap that Sky do not have the semi finals on tv today:mad:

WaterLily.

My favourite match of 2014 so far, absolutely loved it! That was definitely the best tennis Murray has played all year imo, I really thought he would do it when he went a break up in the final set!

mickmackey1

How does anyone beat Nadal 19 times? only Djoko knows

walshb

Novak never looked like losing. Can he hold this form for Paris? Beaten Nadal now a least 4 times on clay in the past 2-3 seasons. Lost a couple times too. He just has the right blend of strength/ stamina and shot selection to beat Nadal consistently.

walshb

Rjd2 wrote: »

I know their is other sport, but its crap that Sky do not have the semi finals on tv today:mad:

They had Nadal's semi on.

Rjd2

walshb wrote: »

They had Nadal's semi on.

Fair enough, they advertised the first one for red button, no sign at the time sadly.

yerwanthere123

No Vika at RG

Obviously not a surprise, but disappointing all the same. What a disaster this season has turned out to be for her. With Wimbledon only a few weeks later that's looking doubtful as well. At this stage getting fit for the US Open will probably be her primary target.

Slashermcguirk

I still find the match ups between the top 3 fascinating. Djokovic in full flow seems to neutralise nadals weopons so efficiently. In all his years on tour federer never seemed to figure out that solution. That being said federer has the variety and aggression to throw Novak off at times.

It just proves what a great player djokovic is that he has managed 19 victories against nadal across all surfaces and 16 against federer. I think he is destined to be listed among the all time greats, particularly if he wins the French open. 6 slams, 19 masters, 3 world tour finals, a Davis cup win and an Olympic medal (though I still think the Olympics for tennis is a bit of a joke)

walshb

Nadal is still the slight favorite for France. They must be putting it down to experience at winning in Paris, 5 sets and the fact that he has beaten Novak there 2-3 times, twice recently!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

No Vika at RG

Obviously not a surprise, but disappointing all the same. What a disaster this season has turned out to be for her. With Wimbledon only a few weeks later that's looking doubtful as well. At this stage getting fit for the US Open will probably be her primary target.

Yep, I wouldn't be surprised if she misses Wimbledon now too. She hasn't even been practicing yet so it would be kind of silly to risk the injury when it's unlikely she'd get more than one or two matches there. Most likely she'll try to play one of the US series warm ups and then go for US Open. Even then though I'd say this season is a complete write off at this stage. Look how long it took Murray, Sharapova and Tsonga this year to get back to full match fitness after having a few months of an injury lay off. Can't see Vika doing much other than getting a few matches under her belt before the end of the year.

RosyLily

Any matches Vika plays this year, I'll consider practise. She might as well wait until hard-court season in US. Vika only reached the 2nd round of Wimbledon so not a lot of points to lose if she missed it. She won't be back to her best until Australian Open 2015 I'd say.