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LuvDoggie		#61	[-]
Posts: 877 (07/06/09 03:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	he's worked so hard with a new coach, Larry Stefanki and he's made so many improvements. I did wonder who Roddick's new coach was since there was no Jimmy Connors in the stands with Andy's wife. I need him for my Nate. Or maybe not since I heard it's a costly investment raising tennis pros. Luckily we were able to get to the park in the afternoon and enjoy the lovely weather - sunny and 70 deg F (unlike yesterday when it was rainy during my cousin's bbq).
thegirlwhoshotlibertyvalance		#62	[-]
Posts: 4489 (07/06/09 07:54) The Bookworm Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I was on the train back from the Dordogne, and had two friends texting me the results live (they were so keen on telling me all about the game, I didn't have the heart to tell one of them he was useless ). I wish I could have seen it... sounds like it was an epic game! 'The only difference between lunacy and genius is timing.' http://ishotlibertyvalance.wordpress.com/
JasmineStill		#63	[-]
Posts: 9068 (07/06/09 10:20) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	"He put Sampras on the spot by asking him if he felt that Fed was the Greatest of All Time and Sampras didn't want to take any stand in front of Laver" Sampras didn't want to answer in the BBC interview either, "out of respect" for the others, but when he was on his own he did - he said that he thought he was. But I don't see how one can compare Laver, say, with Federer - I can't imagine what Laver would have done with current equipment. I saw Laver play once, when I was 9 years old on my first trip to Wimbledon (the one my mother insisted on taking me to on my birthday despite the fact that I had a detention for arguing in class, and was meant to stay late at school - contrary to the school's wishes, I did the detention the following week instead and I've always loved her for that!), and I can still remember how amazingly fast he was even though he was then 30 or 31.
Bluekygirl		#64	[-]
Posts: 896 (07/06/09 16:33) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	the one my mother insisted on taking me to on my birthday despite the fact that I had a detention for arguing in class, and was meant to stay late at school - contrary to the school's wishes, I did the detention the following week instead and I've always loved her for that... Such a nice mother... You may remember that Borg (yes, Beth, he is still fine-looking!) attempted a comeback, using his wooden racquets. He never could adjust to another racquet, so the comeback fizzled even though he was a relatively young man, and still fit. Laver is a natural wonder, like Connors and Navratilova, able to maintain playing fitness for years. Laver still looks fit--I suppose he still plays. And Navratilova still competes, I think.
JasmineStill		#65	[-]
Posts: 9074 (07/06/09 20:16) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	@Such a nice mother@ Not sure I'd go that far! But she's brave and has an acute sense of justice....
Betuska		#66	[-]
Posts: 264 (07/06/09 23:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	But I don't see how one can compare Laver, say, with Federer - I can't imagine what Laver would have done with current equipment. I thought Rod Laver had the best response to the Greatest Ever question when put on the spot in front of the other three on television. He said without much hesitation that a. the definitive assessment of a player's career should come after it has ended. (because Fed has not won all 4 Slam singles titles in the same year and Laver did it twice. b. rather than GOAT, it might be best to consider a greatest player of an era rather than of alltime. "It's compliment enought to your tennis career if they bill you best of your era". (That to me would make sense.) c. As you say Jas, the equipment was different but the sport's organization was also different - pro versus amateur. Laver, of course, was giving a diplomatic and dignified response that would allow many tennis fans to continue thinking that until Fed comes up with at least 1 calendar slam(ie. being able to beat Nadal when he returns), Laver is still equal to him. Off camera, Laver did mention the unmentionable that Nadal did not participate in this years FO or Wimbledon and that Fed might have already had a calendar slam if it had not been for Nadal. (Fed has a 7-13 record against Nadal. )
JasmineStill		#67	[-]
Posts: 9080 (07/07/09 16:22) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The thing is that Federer is no longer at his best. He may not beat Nadal ever again. But at his best, he could beat anyone and regularly did, even if he didn't get a calendar slam. I completely agree with Laver that best player of one's era is a much better question. There's no doubt in my mind that Federer is the best player of his era. (Bloody hell, that lightning crack was close, and the thunder terrifyingly loud. All the alarms have gone off around the building and the seagulls are screaming their heads off. ) Edited to say: ah, it wasn't just close, it hit us, apparently. That would explain the noise and the alarms. Last Edited By: JasmineStill 07/07/09 16:33. Edited 1 times.
Betuska		#68	[-]
Posts: 265 (07/08/09 01:30) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Wow. A direct hit. I never associate London with violent thunderstorms. How exciting. Did you happen to catch the color of the sky out your office window? Agreed. Federer is best of his era. I'll drink to that. It remains to be seen how Nadal's career will play out.
Betuska		#69	[-]
Posts: 266 (07/08/09 03:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	FYI Blue. This is an article I found on Men's Tennis Forums.com in the General Section about "Big Cat" Mecir. It was written in 1987 before his back problems forced him to quit. I had forgotten that Mecir loved to fish and though reticient, was also known for his witty remarks. I do remember the times he had to serve underhanded in matches because of nerves. Portrait of Miloslav Mecir by Richard Evans It is not every player that gets singled out for praise by that most demanding of critics, John McEnroe, but even before Miloslav Mecir deprived the former world No 1 of a chance to claim his fifth WCT crown by beating him in the Dallas final last month, McEnroe was singing the praises of this complex Czech. "Mecir is an interesting new personality and the game needs as many as it can get," said McEnroe realising full well that Mecir is likely to cause him a great deal of frustration and annoyance in the coming months. "We have things in common. He tries to out think players and keep them off balance. His game is good to watch. He doesn't look like a tennis player and I don't think I do either." McEnroe, as perceptive and generous off court as he can be blockheaded and mean spirited on it, is right. Mecir could become the tour's resident intellectual. Stylistically he poses questions that are constructed to confuse. Facially his bearded, sharply-chiseled features would make him perfect casting for something out of Chekhov. Dressed in a morning coat he would seem wholly at home, brooding in the Cherry Orchard. When he first emerged from Czechoslovakia three years ago, Mecir seemed to do a lot of brooding. Slow to smile and obviously bewildered by the brash new world in which he found himself, Mecir stunned New Yorkers at last year's US Open, where he gave notice of his exceptional talent by reaching the final, when he told them he didn't like their city and wanted to catch the first flight home. Ivan Lendl, who only gets homesick for Greenwich, Connecticut these days, found Mecir's attitude equally perplexing - but not quite as perplexing as he found his tactics when the Big Cat, as he is called on the tour, unraveled Ivan's game with disdainful ease in the final of the Lipton International Players Championships at Key Biscayne in March. By then Mecir, who had elected to stay at a cheap little hotel on the island instead of at the official hotel situated amongst the concrete jungle of downtown Miami, was loosening up and beginning to enjoy some aspects of America. "I have my parents with me and at night we stroll on the beach under the stars," he told me before he beat Lendl. "It is good." Moments of tranquility are important to Mecir whose favourite hobby is to find a good river and fish. As this tit-bit of information is about as much as the world's press have managed to find out about this man who gives little away, he is asked about it constantly. In Dallas someone asked him which fish he liked to catch best. "Lendl," he replied with a grin. "Big fish." If Mecir goes on landing fish the size of Lendl and McEnroe, trout and salmon may temporarily lose their appeal as he swims upstream to the highest source of that tortuous tennis river. Mats Wilander was suggesting in Dallas that Mecir has the ability to become the No 1 player in the world within two years and, after the way he has been playing in 1987, it would be foolish to bet against such a possibility. Until he arrived, jet-lagged, in Tokyo for the Suntory Japan Open the week after Dallas, Mecir had won four of the six tournaments he had entered since the New Year and only Stefan Edberg, in the Australian Open and the Pilot Penn Classic at Grand Champions, Indian Wells, had beaten him. But, of course, consistency was not the only impressive addition to the multitude of talents Mecir brings to a tennis court. Although nerves still plagued him when he failed to save Czhechoslovakia from defeat against Israel in the first round of the NEC Davis Cup, Mecir is a far more assured performed now than he was in 1985 when he shocked spectators in Dusseldorf during the World Team Cup matches by suddenly serving underhand during his match with Jimmy Connors. Even more inexplicably he repeated the performance against Martin Jaite in a second round match of the French Open a couple of weeks later. "I just got so nervous I didn't think I could get a proper serve in court," Mecir explained afterwards. Now his serve, although not a thing of beauty when compared to the classical deliveries of an Edberg or Yannick Noah, is at least deep and players admit to having difficulty with it when he kicks one into the backhand. It says much for the degree of natural talent Mecir brings to the game that, despite the problems he faced with the serve early in his career, his first taste of success came on grass in Adelaide, as long ago as 1983. With an improved delivery and growing confidence on the volley, Mecir confirmed that he will become an increasing threat on grass in the future by beating Edberg on his way to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year. As he appears to treat all kinds of surfaces with an equanimity not shared by all his colleagues in the top ten, Wilander's predictions may have a sounder base than some people imagine. Certainly he has retained a mystery about his game that is starting to become a psychological as well as a technical weapon. Players on the tour expect to take a little while to work out the particular style and performances of talented newcomer when they first turn pro, but so few have managed to crack the code that disguises many of Mecir's stately-looking groundstrokes that an element of panic is beginning to set in. In particular, Wilander and many of his Swedish colleagues find many of Mecir's shots undecipherable. Largely, the problem seems to lie with the fact that Mecir can combine the very difficult arts of hitting the ball way out in front of his body while at the same time appearing to delay the stroke until the last second. Players talk of being able to hold the ball on the strings and a computer would probably be able to confirm that the ball stays on the Czech's strings some mini-fraction of a second longer than most players. But it is fractions that make the difference at the highest levels of the game and, as he turns his wrists - just one for the forehand; two for the backhand - on the point of contact his opponent is still waiting to see which way the ball will go. This, of course, can be catastrophic to a top class player who is accustomed to judging the path of the ball as his opponent shapes up to hit it. Uncertainty seeps into the brain; confusion and frustration set in and Mecir, poker-faced as ever, is well on the way to another victory. There are going to be a great many more in the future and most, I feel sure, will be well worth watching.
JasmineStill		#70	[-]
Posts: 9088 (07/08/09 09:01) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Yes, the sky was very dark grey. The Potter premiere was deluged, apparently.
Bluekygirl		#71	[-]
Posts: 901 (07/08/09 23:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thanks Beth, for the Mecir article. Interesting. I've never known much about him personally, just always liked to see him play. He seems to be sensible and centered--not characteristics always found in tennis players. Okay, here's a little something for you. Out of curiosity, I googled Mecir and found that he has a son (also called Miloslav) who plays tennis. The YouTube video is here if you'd like to see it. Last Edited By: Bluekygirl 07/08/09 23:37. Edited 1 times.
Betuska		#72	[-]
Posts: 267 (07/09/09 00:17) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thanks, Blue. Milos Jr. looks and plays just like his father. Same low knee bends to get to the ball, same two-handed backhand, same erect posture. I wonder where the You-Tube segment was shot-i.e. what tourney. Can always look that up.
Bluekygirl		#73	[-]
Posts: 902 (07/10/09 01:37) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	There's a glimpse of a sign behind Mecir that says Prague Open 2007. There may be another word in front of Prague--I can't tell. He does have a look of his father, doesn't he? I found his ranking information. He's already 21 and is 511 in the world. I doubt that we'll see much of him. Amazing (depressing!) that Mecir has a 21-year old son. It doesn't seem that long ago that he was a young player on the tour. <Sigh>
thegirlwhoshotlibertyvalance		#74	[-]
Posts: 4560 (07/24/09 10:10) The Bookworm Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Federer's twin girls were born today. They can play double when they grow up 'The only difference between lunacy and genius is timing.' http://ishotlibertyvalance.wordpress.com/
Betuska		#75	[-]
Posts: 277 (07/26/09 03:27) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	And Richie Gasquet is out of the doping doghouse and is free to play tennis again.
thegirlwhoshotlibertyvalance		#76	[-]
Posts: 4566 (07/26/09 09:45) The Bookworm Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Is that banana doing a moonwalk, by the way??? 'The only difference between lunacy and genius is timing.' http://ishotlibertyvalance.wordpress.com/
Betuska		#77	[-]
Posts: 279 (07/26/09 16:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Mr. Banana definitely has the shoes for it. Any feelings on Gasquet's acquittal or his defense Lib? He certainly was one of France's up and coming players several years ago but just hasn't been able to harness his talent. I hope that his success at clearing his own name and getting a second chance at tennis will inspire him to do what's necessary to improve - Did his "trial" get big coverage in the French press?
thegirlwhoshotlibertyvalance		#78	[-]
Posts: 4569 (07/26/09 19:18) The Bookworm Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	It did, indeed: Richard Gasquet, here, is the little prince of tennis, it was as he'd let the big shots down. Apparently he would have been drugged without knowing it - through a spiked drink or a snog. As for what I think of it... well, obviously, I don't have all the facts so I can't tell. He seemed pretty adamant he'd been set up... If he is innocent, I'm glad his name was cleared, if he did take the drugs (after all, he is a 22 year old kid with a lot of pressure on his shoulders, he's allowed to make mistakes), good for him he did get away with it... He does need to take his game a step further if he ever wants to equal to Federers, Nadals or Roddicks of this world though 'The only difference between lunacy and genius is timing.' http://ishotlibertyvalance.wordpress.com/
Betuska		#79	[-]
Posts: 281 (07/27/09 13:46) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	the little prince of tennis He's a little prince with a very large head - physically speaking. All the best to him.
JasmineStill		#80	[-]
Posts: 9333 (09/14/09 07:14) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Congratulations to Kim Clijsters: the first mother to win a Grand Slam for 30 years.

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