loopymitch said:
great tennis tonite. I'm torn in the Blake-Agassi. I like them both but have to pull for Andre (by small margin). I think he wants to go out on top like Sampras and winning the Open would do it. He's had rough year professionally with his injuries and the way he played against Malisse was incredible, especially for his age. You would think he was 20 again after playing 5 sets, he didn't even look tired. Balke's going to continue to improve and will have other chances but Agassi may not. They're both playing so well though, it's hard to choose between them.
Agassi has such a great fitness routine that allows him to last in these 5-setters. The real problem comes, as he's said in several interviews, when he has to recuperate during the day off. He's obviously not the youngest tennis player anymore, and often he'll feel the result of having gone through a tough 5-setter.
Personally, I don't think he can do it. He has a tough match ahead of him in Blake -- it will likely be four or even five sets. Should he pass that test, he will have to go through a back-to-back semifinal (likely to be vs Ginepri), and a final (probably Federer -- but he has to beat Nalbandian first). The odds are certainly against him then. In 2002 he was clearly a bit tired in the final vs Sampras, which explained his flatness in that match (coupled with Sampras's explosive start, Sampras just blew him away in the first two sets until Pete got tired himself).
I really love the US Open, as it offers some of the best matches you'll see on the Tour. It is also a great measuring stick -- only the really good / great players win it. Historically, it's been almost always won by a #1 player (during the player's career - not necessarily at the time of winning). But if there's one thing I hate -- and you've seen several top players complain about it -- is the fact they have to hold back-to-back semis and finals. Sure, it makes up for a great
Super Saturday, but it seriously hurts the quality of the final out there. Also, the player who wins first on Super Saturday has a huge advantage over the winner of the second semifinal, as the latter will have less time to recuperate, especially if the semifinal goes the distance.
Tennis players aren't as a big an athletes as say, NBA Players are, but there should be no question that tennis can be a *very* demanding sport. It is a sport which virtually has no offseason (pretty much only december, and even then, you have to train to get ready for the Australian Open which starts first week of January).
loopymitch said:
Much as I want Americans to win, I'm happy for Kim, she's too good never to have won a major. Maybe this will be the one, cough*choke*cough.
Ready for blake-agassi, I'm hoping this is the match of the tournament. it would be hard to top the Blake-Nadal match though, still haven't finished watching it but it's a classic.
What's the deal with Coria?
That Massu match was starting to get out of control. Mocking someone's injury is not cool and that's not the first time he's been in controversial situation. It looked like they were getting ready to fight when the ref stepped in. He needs to grow up and just play!
Kim can't choke forever. She *has* to win at some point. Even Novotna managed to win Wimbledon finally, as did Ivanisevic. You could probably name a few more players.
Coria can act as a kid sometimes. Looking like kid does not help either.
Like I said before, Federer will have a tough time beating Nalbandian. Nalbandian used to be Federer's
angstgegner, and I don't know if that has changed.
