QueenC
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Everything posted by QueenC
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Her forehand and serve have genuinely become things to behold...... Apparently during the tournaments that coincide with the men's tour her coach had her hitting pretty frequently with Nadal to try to learn how to get that extra spin and power he gets onto her main weapon (forehand) because on the women's tour if you can hit with heavy and powerful spin you are almost automatically ahead of the game, given most play fairly flat most of the time. They apparently did this in Madrid on clay as well. I don't know if it helped but it certainly hasn't hurt as she is hitting with far more spin and it is very difficult for the girls to control. Especially when it bounces up high as despite what we all want to think a lot of the girls don't have the strength to get the high spinning ball back, especially on the backhand side. Her serve has always been awesome, if a little inconsistent. What she has added to her service game on the clay is the real kicking one which rises up into the backhand (of right handers) or the slider which simply swings away from the opponent so far that they are in the crowd to retrieve it. These are particularly important on the slower surface because the ball can hold up otherwise. She has been great this tournament but playing Kuznetsova in the semis will be tough, especially given she is coming off a great and hardened win against Serena Williams, but it is not impossible if Sam keeps doing what she has been doing so well and simply believes she can (this is something she has had trouble with in the past and it has cost her matches). We're all with her!!!
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Oh I love Rafa, his attitude, his sportsmanship, his game (met him once - lovely kid)....... And just for the record I am allowed to have this opinion Titun, even if it differs from yours and makes you wonder. Good for you for loving Roger, not all of us do. I respect the way Federer plays the game, there is probably (maybe) no one better, but he has never been a favourite of mine. And I have problems with how he handles loss. That being said, how the hell is Nadal cocky? Because of the way he looks or how he plays? Honestly rarely has there been a more humble champion on the international sporting scene. Men's tennis has been blessed with these two parked at the top for the last few years. They both (especially when playing each other) make the game greater. Of course this is my opinion, you will disagree, but I will just go back to cheering for who I want to cheer for if that's alright by you !!!
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And while we are in Paris, big congrats to Sam Stosur for making it through to her first Grand Slam semi....... Samantha Stosur to take on Svetlana Kuznetsova in French Open semi-final
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One, three and four are all gone, with Fed being the obvious winner in Paris...... if he can!!! If Federer can't get it this year with the tournament being basically handed to him on a silver patter, with particularly the loss of Nadal (awful and horrible as that was - I nearly cried!!), who he has trouble winning against even on the quicker surfaces, then I can't see him ever managing to get that elusive clay court slam win. This simply has to be it - he is fast running out of time. Plus now I think he will get it, put himself into tennis history (which he seems to care a hell of a lot about) and move happily into the next stage of his life (husband and father) and career. Just my opinion !!!
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Turned 28 in February.......
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Improved his ranking by over 30 spots along the way as well....... And then got beat in Monte Carlo by a lunatic Russian !!!
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Maybe a little cynical HT ...... I think that she wanted to have a baby and get married, easy to do one while on tour, not so easy with the other. I hope she does really well, but I think that, like Davenport before her there is nothing to prove and she can just play because she loves the sport.
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Well I think I could well be the only woman to weigh in on the money side of things..... I actually don't think that in a Grand Slam the women's events and the men's events should be the same prize money. And this isn't because I am some crazy anti-feminist lunatic selling out the sisterhood, but because it isn't about how good the matches were, because if that was the case between the 08 Wimbledon final, the 09 Aussie semi and final Nadal would be paid more than anyone else (which he is cause he is winning but that is not about the quality of the matches). My reasoning as to why the women's events in the Grand Slams (only) should be paid less is simply because they play less. The men's events are best of five, women's are best of three. It has nothing to do with how potentially good those matches may or may not be, even if the women's goes the distance, then it isn't any more than a straight sets men's win. I always believe in equal pay for equal work (it should be a basic right), but this works both ways. However this should only apply to the Grand Slams because all the other tournaments men play (bar Davis Cup) are only best of three and therefore prize money should be as equal as the individual tournaments can get it for both men's and women's events. The problem with the argument is that right now the men's events are selling a hell of a lot better than the women's events, and this is largely because of the two sitting at the top of the tree, and the string of performances (excluding Paris) they have put on over the last couple of years, some of which will go down in history as arguably the best ever. As for the matches at the Open, both were amazing. I will readily admit to being a Rafa fan. I find his strength, heart, skill and continual improvement to be amazing, I also respect the way he conducts himself off the court. He is a class act, and he has Federer's number. He has now beaten him on the three surfaces of the Slams and that is enormous. The Verdasco match was monumental in just about everything. Verdasco played out of his skin. I have never seen him play like that before (& I follow the game closely) and I hope that he keeps it up. I'm not sure about being number one as I don't think it gets any better for him than that night and he still lost, but he should be a consistent top five or ten player for a long while now. The final was an odd match, both played some genuinely amazing shots but it was not the best I have seen skill wise, which surprised me particularly from Federer who, had a great chance to right his name in the record books, but as wonderful a player as he is, he seems to have a black hole in regards to being able to counter what Rafa throws at him, especially the high ball on his backhand, but is a little more understandable from Nadal given the lengths he had to go to get into the thing, and the 24hrs less he had to prepare, but I guess that is a testament to how much of a fighter he is. Honestly if I needed someone to play for my life Rafael Nadal would most definitely be it!!!
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He got a great delivery, one that would have got most any batsman out..... He is definitely an exciting prospect, and one that we need filling that role, but lets not blow the kid up too much (could be a little late for that though), only to fail him if he doesn't measure up quite the same way as quickly again in subsequent games, after what he did the other night, he is still very raw and in his rookie season for the Blues. Once he finds his feet he'll be great.
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I've been out at the ground for the game for the past three days and the atmosphere has been something else..... The pink and the emotion has made everyone at the match bond pretty well together and the amount of money raised so far is something we can be proud of. Magnificent effort from the people who went to the SCG and a testament to Jane McGrath. I hope he would have been honoured. Also a pretty good game to watch!!!
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I spoke to Brett today and he is going in for surgery on Saturday...... This has been a problem in his foot for a while now and he has been playing with pain killers since India. He has been appalled at his figures and hates where he is at. In fact I found him to be fairly depressed, especially given his "wife" wants sole custody of their little one, and he feels things are coming down on him like a tonne of bricks. He is a really good guy and hates his utter lack of contribution but don't bet against his competitive nature of wanting to get back into the test side. He isn't unaware of where he is at, in fact he is quite realistic (unlike a certain opening colleague) but believes that without the injury he'll back to where he was twelve months ago. Fingers crossed!!!
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Fine, but I hate the amount of [censored] he has had to wear so easily and so readily over his career, he deserves better...... I know Brett pretty well and he is suffering through a truly crap time in his life, and I get protective cause I hate to see him continually busting his hump and getting abused wherever he goes with little or no understanding or an ounce of sympathy for what he has done over the last year or what he is going through. I know to the outside only the match day figures count, and yes I do concede that his form in India was, despite the hard work he was putting in, shocking, but he was not alone and I will never understand why people will call for his head before any others seem to come into the equation. I honestly didn't think that his bowling in Brisbane was terribly bad, especially in the first innings and especially considering he was still battling, badly over the virus he contracted. The second innings was ordinary, but outside factors such as fitness do and should play a part but they always seems to be forgotten. He gets no margin for error in the press or in here apparently and I believe he deserves and has more than earned better than that. And despite my personal connection I do not think that he will get dropped, nor should be unless things had gone from bad to a hell of a lot worse.
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I actually thought Haddin looked better out there today than he has throughout his test career thus far. He just seemed more relaxed, so hopefully that can translate into his batting which is something he is struggling with. Although I can't see an obvious replacement atm and he has earned the right to be there. Lee was far better this afternoon the wicket he took was after an outstanding spell and hopefully he will grab that and go forward. Oddly enough all the quicks had just about the exact same figures at the end of play.
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Lee was incredibly ill throughout the tour of India, particularly in the last test and upon getting home, and bowled badly losing a lot of pace....... It was improved in this match although his second innings was not particularly impressive, but for me his first innings was easily the best of our quicks, and the best he has bowled since last summer. He may not have got all the wickets (two or three I think) but he was superb and that was a good sign. He generally thrives on long spells and gets better the longer he is bowling so hopefully by the time the Saffies get to Perth he will be better again. And also lets hope that the Perth pitch gives the quicks something to get excited about and isn't just a batting mecca as it has been in recent times. I always liked it when it was a little dangerous and gave the bowlers something to play on (then again I like that in all pitches so current times do annoy me a lot)
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