Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Blogs | Writers | My Orble | Login

Tennis - August 2009

US Open Day 1 Federer Update

August 31st 2009 18:45
Roger Federer playing in an US Open match that blatantly isn't the one this post is about.


I was eating lunch when this match flicked onto the television. Federer against what seemed to be some random boy.

Well, that random boy was actually Devin Britton, NCAA (American College level tennis) Champion. He is an 18-year old player who just turned pro. This is one of his first matches as a pro, and who else does he play but Roger Federer, perhaps the greatest of all time and the number one seed and heavy favorite to win the whole thing.

The first two sets were easily won by Federer, but in the third, Federer was broken giving Britton a 4-3 lead. He broke back to get to 6-5 on Britton's serve.

The interesting thing about this match is not Federer as one would think, but Devin Britton. Britton is one of the few players left who calls themselves a Serve and Volleyer, and actually does it. As an American Tennis fan, I loved watching Britton win points on Federer, many times hitting volleys that Federer could do nothing but watch pass him.

Federer is looking good, but his return of serve was looking a bit weak, and he made a couple of errors that made he look twice. Nevertheless, Federer played on Britton's weaknesses beautifully, and made Britton earn every point, as one would expect.

Federer ended up winning 7-5 in the third. Some think that maybe the twins, or winning the last two opens would distract him, or make him play worse, but I believe that Federer usually rises up to challenges, like he did against Roddick in the Wimbledon final, and that as the tournament goes on, he'll look better and better.
48
Vote
   


U. S. Open Starts Today

August 31st 2009 16:52
I took a little break, pre-US Open, but now that I'm back, I'll be posting at least every day, and maybe multiple times a day.



I'm watching the US Open right now and checking all the live scores. Tennis Channel is covering the match between Youzhny and PHM, and even though I just started watching in the second set, I think Youzhny is actually looking better than Mathieu. Mathieu won the first set 6-2, but it's tied in the second as I type this and it looks like Youzhny is going to break Mathieu for a 6-5 lead in the second.

ESPN coverage starts in a mere 20 minutes, marking the start of double coverage of the early rounds of the US Open, from 1PM to 7PM. This is great because, well, there's twice as much tennis to be watched. Usually the guys at ESPN show preference to American tennis players, so I hope I can catch some of the Isner match. He's leading Hanescu 3-0 and in case you don't know what that implies, it means that Isner broke Hanescu. I think that shows that Isner has more deptKindh this year and might be able to make a better run in his home country.

Davydenko is playing Kindlmann (...?) right now, and seems to have a good grip on that match.

Surprisingly (at least for me), Soderling is ripping on his match. He's up 5-0 in the first set, and I think that if he plays at a level equal to his French Open performance, he might be able to break the Quarters (at best).

Right now, I'm just waiting for Roddick, Blake, and Federer to play later today. Of course, the match to watch will be none other than Rafael Nadal. He recently sank to #3 in the rankings and made it to the semis at a warmup tournament, but lost against Djokovic. What better way to say that he's back and better than ever than winning the U. S. Open? I'm still reluctant to say that he's back, and I'm not even sure if he'll make the Quarters this year. Of course, I'll patiently wait until it's his turn to play and then see what he looks like. His Facebook page says that he's ready to play, but if you believe that you probably still think that he's better than Federer...
33
Vote
   


Tennis August 2009

August 11th 2009 06:38
So, I think it's time to quote my favorite rapper and say "Guess who's back?" to everyone I know. That's right, RAFAEL NADAL (Official Site), tennis' current king is coming back. His wikipedia page is here.

Rafael Nadal


The next tournament (already started) is in Montreal and people seemed to have mixed responses to Nadal's return. According to Tennis.com, out of almost 5000 votes, in a poll about Nadal's Montreal results, 18% of users thought that he's lose before the QF round, 26% thought he'd lose in the QF round (including me), 31% thought that he'd get to the SF or F round, and 26% thought that he'd win it again. And that's all tennis fans.

You can watch him at the Roger's Cup sometime in the near future (I'm away from home now, and consequently the Tennis Channel on which this blog survives). Here's the main draw for that tournament. And here is the TV schedule.

You'll see that a bunch of other top players are playing at both Montreal and Cincinnati. Cincinnati will be a bit different (I expect), so when I do a Montreal results post, I'll post predictions there.

Right now, I want to skip the predictions since I haven't seen any of these guys on hard courts for a while and a lot has happened since April.
33
Vote
   


Fremen's Guide to Tennis [Swing]

August 4th 2009 06:02
It's time to start talking about actually playing the game. Now, there are so many aspects of tennis to get bogged down in, and so many things to learn that it can make your head spin. I'm not going to lie, the best way to do this is to find an informal teacher or go get lessons, but I hope to be one of the next best things. There are tons of guides out there, and I want to pick out some of the most helpful ones for you to look at when you want to up your game.

Pete Sampras
Sampras on his way down from one of his legendary smashes.

[ Click here to read more ]
62
Vote
   


More Posts
6 Posts
4 Posts
5 Posts
83 Posts dating from May 2006
Email Subscription
Receive e-mail notifications of new posts on this blog:

Fremen's Blogs

837 Vote(s)
3 Comment(s)
21 Post(s)
2884 Vote(s)
29 Comment(s)
40 Post(s)
Moderated by Fremen
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]