Wimbledon is upon us...

[yertle-the-turtle]

lol I've actually got my homework in front of me while I look over my shoulder.

 

[Popmartijn]

Got a stiff neck yet, then?

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

yep. Paradorn's serving at deuce. at 4-4. scareee! he's got the advantage. come on Srichaphan!

edit: he won the game. 5-4 final set, Mutis to serve to stay

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

YEEEESSSSSSSS! HE WON!

 

[Popmartijn]

Congrats to him. I saw the result when I got home from work. He was playing at the 'Graveyard' after all.
As for the Dutch, Schalken had a narrow win over Lapenti in five sets (6-2, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4). Way to go Sjeng!

In the men's doubles part-time tennis player Haarhuis (at 37 an oldie in the circuit) won with Kafelnikov. That's a title I do want Kafelnikov to win. Unfortunately, Sluiter and Verkerk lost to the Bryan brothers (3rd seeded and they did win Rolland Garros by beating Haarhuis and Kafelnikov there).

Now, what else happened today?

C ya!

Marty

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

Greg Rusedski reminded me why I'm not such a huge fan of his with his petulant display after an admittedly bad line call against Andy Roddick. He was really letting it fly. "Don't let the crowd make the fuckin' calls!"

 

[Popmartijn]

Hello,

Unfortunately Sluiter could not follow up on his excellent 1st round result (defeating Kafelnikov). He lost to Alexander Popp in 5 sets. I saw a large part of the match and thought that Sluiter was the better player. However, he missed some crucial points, which resulted in his loss. I hope you do better next tournament (and next year)!

Two days ago Schalken won from Escude in a five-set thriller. Today his task was much easier and less tiring. He beat Hanescu in straight sets (6-2, 6-4, 7-6) in less than 2 hours. Way to go Schalken, you survived the first week!

At the moment Srichaphan has a lead of 2 sets on his opponent and Haarhuis/Kafelnikov have a 2-1 (sets), 5-1 (games) lead over Malisse/Vanhoudt, so I expect them to win soon.

C ya!

Marty

 

[Flaming Friar Sr]

hey marty that was great from schalken.

btw i sent your icde yesterday so it should arrive either today or tomorrow, depending how slow the loosdrechter post office is

 

[brettig]

Alexander Popp is like a German version of Karlovic.

 

[Popmartijn]

It seems the time has expired for which I can edit my post, so I have to make a new one. I just want to state that I made an error in my post. Schalken beat Lapenti in the 2nd round, not Escude.
Now, who noticed this mistake?

C ya!

Marty

 

[Flaming Friar Sr]

yes the other ecuadorian

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I was away all day at school today but I read in the news Srichaphan defeated Nadal fairly easily, although next up will be dear old A-Rod, which will be considerably tougher. Still, Paradorn's never made it past the third round of any Grand Slam, so here's to him!

I also happened to read Venus Williams just beat Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-2. Ouch, I was thinking Petrova and Zvonereva could really shake up the draw again as they did at Roland Garros, but maybe not.

 

[Squishy Peanut]

I reckon Andy Roddick's gonna win it this time, with Agassi and Ferrero coming pretty damn close!
I thought Lleyton Hewitt was in with a definite shout this year but that kinda got bungled

As for being patriotic 'n shtuff, well I think everyone in the UK has realised there's no way Tim Henman's ever gonna win it cos he can't take the pressure as soon as he starts looking like he might do well. And Greg Rusedski's little 'episode' was ermm interesting if not a little colourful too

I have to say though, I'm really enjoying Wimbledon this year!

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

shirt of the moment - BORED OF THE BECKHAMS, worn by a couple during El Aynaoui-Agassi (great match, that was, too).

also got to see maria sharapova for the first time today. she's every bit as loud as they say.

 

[Popmartijn]

Well, Schalken won again today, beating Schuettler in 3 sets (7-5, 6-4, 7-5). However, don't take any efforts to look for some video of it. Both players played horrible (although the first set was apparently quite good). Even when he was leading by 2 sets Schalken did not have the confidence, the air to hit the balls any better. Oh well, at least he won.

Sorry to see Srichaphan go. He could not withstand the assault by Roddick. Hopefully he can do better in the next Grand Slam (the US Open that is).

And what about Philippoussis? Beating Agassi in 5 sets. Not bad for an unseeded player who has had a nasty injury (his knees). Even more impressing when you know he lost from Agassi the previous 6 matches. Well done!

C ya!

Marty

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

yeah great job by the scud. anyone who can put 45 aces past a guy like agassi does a great job to me. sad about paradorn though, but he did the impossible (take a set off the a-rod) and if he had taken any of those four break points roddick gifted him in the third set the outcome may have been different. the odd thing was roddick was serving horribly during that period and a couple of games later the exact opposite was happening - paradorn was serving badly and roddick was replying well. unfortunately, roddick took the break while paradorn didn't.

as for the so-called 'russian revolution' in the women's draw, see where that went. i had the odd feeling that it would turn out the way it did because at roland garros everyone was talking about five americans being in the round of 16 and in the end only serena got through. still, it looks like a set of great women's matches to be played today, so no one's quite complaining yet.

 

[verte76]

Interesting matches today. Philippousis played great against Andre. They didn't show Roddick-Srichaphan on the U.S. network they just talked about the match. Typical. These guys talk too much.

 

[cass]

it happens

Andre:
Andre woops got a little carried away there
Now "Big Pou"( as Roy and HG refer to him) you had better go and win this thing now. Go big fella

 

[verte76]

I was so nervous during the Agassi-Philippousis match. No offense to Mark but I wanted Andre to win. Oh, well. I get so nervous watching these matches it's ridiculous. Now I'm going to go be a nervous wreck watching Jennifer and Serena.

 

[brettig]

No offense to Andre but gooooooooooooo Poussi!!!!!

 

[verte76]

I wanted Jennifer to beat Serena. No offense to Serena but Jennifer was definitely the underdog. I get bored with the same people winning all of the Slams.
Damn. Maybe Justine can win another Slam.

 

[Squishy Peanut]

I wanted to see Jennifer win too. I thought for the majority of the match she was actually playing better than Serena. Serena made a fair few silly mistakes I thought.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I switched off the tv in the third set. It was more to do with a)I was tired and b)I didn't want to see Serena win again. Hopefully good ol' Justine will change that.

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

the wimbledon film looks like it's gonna be a fun, hugh grant-esque romantic comedy. can't wait for it to open, even if it does seem like standard romantic comedy fluff.

on radio wimbledon because of the rain andrew mcewan, the producer or something, is talking about the film. they can't film either because of the rain. pat cash is training paul bettany and kirsten dunst for the film!

 

[brettig]

lol, its actually about pro players?

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

sorta. crap british player handed wild card, falls in love with american star. guess the plot.

on to the actual tennis, i can't say i'm very happy. serena was just too good for justine today, and poor henman stumbles once again. not too many years left, tim, and i don't quite see jamie delgado or arvind parmar winning wimbledon.

 

[CrashedCarDriver]

blargh
care to merge my topic with yours?

 

[verte76]

Serena beat Justine.
It'd be cool if Andy won the thing--not because he's American (I don't pull for athletes to win just because they are American) but because he's never won a Slam, or even been to a final, and it sure as heck wouldn't be boring. Plus, I think he's a Slam-title level talent and it's only a matter of time anyway. This looks like it's it.

 

[brettig]

who cares who cares

what about poussi??

 

[Popmartijn]

Sadly, Schalken lost to Federer today. He probably had to much suffering from his foot injury. And Federer in good form is tough to beat. Oh well, at least he reached the QF for a second year in a row. So well done Schalken! You deserve a rest and good luck at the US Open.

As for the ladies: USA - Belgium, 2-0. 'Nuff said.

C ya!

Marty (who did hope Clijsters would have won, but saw her falter in the 2nd set)