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  • bovril
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    Clay is the way

    i love the look of the clay courts on tv. always makes it look really hot and dirty.

    Leave a comment:


  • Rogin the Armchair fan
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    Wimbledon is a great sporting event despite the actual sport itself. It’s all tradition, history, that appalling insistence on wearing white and a chance for Daily Mail reading, Tory voting, Cliff Richard loving, Pimms drinking, union jack waving, inbred, upper class fuckwits to have a day out.
    So pretty much like Henley, the Boat Race, Ascot, the Badminton Horse Trials, the first test at Lord's, the FA Cup Final ...

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  • Guest
    Guest replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    Gerontophile wrote:
    Clay court stuff is for boredom.
    As you would say, Gero, that’s bullshit. Clay court tennis is the best tennis because the players need to be able to play every stroke in the game and think their way through rallies. Grass court tennis is far more tedious when all you get is the wham-bang-thank-you-ma’am style of big servers. I can’t think of anything worse than watching an Ivanisevic type at Wimbledon.

    Wimbledon is a great sporting event despite the actual sport itself. It’s all tradition, history, that appalling insistence on wearing white and a chance for Daily Mail reading, Tory voting, Cliff Richard loving, Pimms drinking, union jack waving, inbred, upper class fuckwits to have a day out. Come to think of it, it’s just an upmarket Ibrox.

    And why should Murray be accepted by the Great British public? Do you know of a single Scot who gave a toss about Henman? When Murray plays the Australian Open he even gets introduced on court as being from Scotland and there are only Scottish flags in the stands. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s a pity Tiger Timmy didn’t win Wimbledon to put an end to all this bollocks.

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  • Gerontophile
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    I think I sort of agreed with you there ykika. Sorry. But it feels good to let rip occasionally.

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  • Gerontophile
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    I was right with you, until the last paragraph there, ykika.

    Britain doesnt give a flying shit who wins at Wimbledon, as long as its on TV, and it is sans Cliff.

    I am not even going to go into the nationality thing, because, to (US), it doesnt matter.

    However, (and someone more eloquent than me) has done this previously, .... (apologies, I am gearing myself up for this one):

    Those pink rinsed Daily Nazi reading slack jawed twats, are not going to line up for 'Sindy' Murray, because... well, because. He hates them. He hates you, and by fucking crissmas, he hates me... and do you know why? because he couldnt give a flying fuck for us. He is playing tennis, because he wants to win.

    I respect that. I LIKE the guy. I LOVE the idea (like last year) when the audience were cheering AGAINST a UK player (ok, it was Nadal, and it was unfuckingstoppable), but, nonetheless, it was there.

    What was I saying?

    Oh yes: you are right ykika: Britain hates tennis, and has no idea who Fred Perry is, and unless the Tshirt wearer was kicking them in the face (with that other british tennis player, David (Doc) Marten (Dutch)), then they wouldnt know Virginia Wade from Susan.

    (deep breath) But thats not what I meant.

    Clay court stuff is for boredom. And yes, grass is for cows (fuck off Lendl), but its also for speed, and power. Clay is for ...

    OK, I disproved my argument a bit because Nadal is abolutely brilliant at anything.

    What was I saying?

    OK yes... 19:30 (GMT) for Murray v del Potro.

    (sorry, if I remember what I was ranting about, I will be back)

    Leave a comment:


  • Commodore
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    I’ve always felt that Wimbledon is too soon after the French Open as grass court tennis does warrant a top rank series of sorts that builds up to Wimbledon the way that the Masters series builds up to Roland Garros.

    Personally I would put Wimbledon back to the last week in July/first week in August. With the roof over the centre court now finished then the lack of daylight should be less of an issue. Get the outside courts started an hour earlier to compensate if need be.

    This extra month would allow for a build up considerably greater than the two weeks from the conclusion of the French and the beginning at SW19. Throw in a few more ranking tournaments for good measure and there may well be an opportunity for a grass court specialist to shine and even perhaps break the recent domination in previous Wimbledon finals of the likes of Nadal (by far and away the best clay court player on the planet, who benefits from the ranking points that the build up to the French has to offer) and Federer (whose all round game has made him by far the most consistent multi-surface performer since Borg).

    But that won’t happen because as I’ve thought for quite some time, Britain loves Wimbledon more than it will ever love tennis. Murray could be a future World no. 1 but he won’t be accepted by the Great British public unless he wins Wimbledon, which he won’t as long as Nadal has a pulse.

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  • Rogin the Armchair fan
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    Until Agassi. (yes there were others... but who was the first clay courter to win Wimbledon AFTER Borg?)
    Lendl came close, of course, losing successive finals at Wimbledon, although he was kind of like Nadal nowadays, so far ahead of the rest he'd (almost) win anywhere. Then you had Agassi and (briefly) Courier.

    It's true that for much of the 1990s, you could pretty much discount the possibility of anyone winning at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season. So much so, they were effectively completely different tournaments. Did any of the likes of Muster, Moya, Bruguera or Kuerten make so much as a Wimbledon semi?

    Leave a comment:


  • Gerontophile
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    It is a lot to do with the numbers Rog, however its 6 hard and 3 clay which make up the Masters Series, and last year it was 7 and 2.

    The main problem is time, and the question was asked today (on TV), why is there not a grass Masters, and if so, why not Queens?

    Firstly, the calendar is full, and secondly, Queens is too close to (two) Slams to make it worthwhile for people to turn up.

    Which seems a shame.

    You are talking about '78 Rogin, but (and I may be guessing wildly) a shitload of lazyarsed, claycourters didnt even bother going to Wimbledon, because they knew they wouldnt get through a round.

    Until Agassi. (yes there were others... but who was the first clay courter to win Wimbledon AFTER Borg?)

    Sorry. my POV went off kilter there. Will see how it reads.

    Leave a comment:


  • Rogin the Armchair fan
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    It does seem that the clay court "season" gets longer and longer every year, while the grass court "season" for the pros is basically just now one warm-up event in somewhere like Holland or Sussex, followed by Wimbledon itself.

    I think it's because TV prefers clay court battles - they go on for hours and tend to produce far better rallies, etc. But for a sport that was traditionally played on grass - as recently as 1978, three of the four major championships were grass court events - the lack of grass-court tennis nowadays seems incongruous. A bit like the lack of links course golf, I suppose, where similarly, young American players must show up for The Open championship and be truly baffled as to why anyone would try to play golf in those conditions.

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  • Gerontophile
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    and you are right... it was only Robredo v Murray who couldnt cope (with each other, the altitude, and the high winds).

    Which is why Murray pissed over him in the second set.

    Oh and Blake was fucking appalling.

    Leave a comment:


  • Gerontophile
    replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    bullshit

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  • Guest
    Guest replied
    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    This is the best part of the tennis year you philistine! As a great man once said, grass is for cows.

    Leave a comment:


  • Gerontophile
    started a topic Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    Can we fast forward to Wimbledon...

    ... because I am getting sick of all these fucking moonballs.

    (To explain) The latest tennis tournament is in Madrid, where Andy Murray won last year, but it was indoors. This year, its on clay, so the likelihood is that Murray wont get the same amount of points.

    That aside, its also at altitude, which really doesnt help. I am currently watching Murray v Robredo, and its fucking appalling. Neither are playing too badly, but the clay means that they are getting back shots which should be improbable on any other surface.

    Now, before you naysayers say that I am biased on Murray's behalf, I am not (much). I dont mind watching the French Open, but sticking another Masters tourney on the clay, just makes this time of year dull.

    Anyway, its currently 6-5 to Murrzzzzzzz

    *edit AND its shit for an HD TV... its too bloody red. (They apparently have made a blue court which might confuse people into thinking its hardcourt).
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