The Tennis Thread

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

Me either, I can't stand Murray.

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

Bummer Azarenka won 4-6 6-4 6-3

Edited January 26, 2013 by SnCCorinthos4ever

[Toups]

What a fantastic and dramatic women's final. Li Na rolls the ankle, there's a fireworks break, then Li Na rolls her ankle again and hits her head on the court! There were so many games that were broken. And it's hard to play when the crowd is against you but Azerenka prevailed. I guess the Aussies didn't like what she did in the semis. LOL Also, props to Li Na for getting back up to continue playing (and playing well).

[ChitHappens]

Vika plays too many tricks on that court. She is just like Bartoli, faking injuries in order to regroup. This is the reason Vika and Agnieszka had a falling out. Vika has been dying to breakdown and cry for a few days, but she held it long enough to battle thru. She gets major props for that!

I'm a Li Na fan, and I would have liked for her to win this. That second fall scared me and I almost wanted her to retire from the match. She's a warrior!

Great match, but I wish Li Na had better control of the UEs.

Congrats Vika!

[Toups]

If it's within the rules, it's just gamesmanship. She wasn't doing anything illegal to get an advantage. I think athletes should do whatever they can, within the rules of course, to win.

I'm going to miss the Men's final. Hope Murray wins (so I can win money!) LOL

[ChitHappens]

No, she didn't break any rules, but other players have a problem with stall tactics or manipulations in order to regroup. She goes off the court for an undisclosed injury time out and then wouldn't answer the question when asked what the "injury" was after the match. It was suspect because this is not the first, 2nd, 3rd...time. When Serena injured her ankle and back, we saw it. We saw Li Na get injured. Vika never seems to be injured on the court when she takes the long medical time outs. She abuses the system in place.

But like you said, no rules are broken, so why not?

P.s. Fans are going to show their disdain when they think athletes are not playing fair.

Edited January 26, 2013 by ChitHappens

[Toups]

If players have a problem they should speak up more and maybe they can get the rule changed. Put pressure on the people who make up the tennis rules. If there's no rule where it says she has to disclose her injury, then she should be able to keep quiet. Why tell your opponent what your injury is if you don't have to.

Obviously that idiot with the banner doesn't know the meaning of cheating. LOL

[SnCCorinthos4ever]

I think that it had something to do with the answer she gave right after the match about chocking and needing to regroup and then saying a couple of different versions later on. She also had another press conference yesterday I think it was to explain things. And we also love going for the underdog 9 times out of 10. Damn missed the fireworks, I know that channel 7 shows a bit of them every year. PS. Happy Australia Day.

[Gina90]

Djokovic better win the AO tomorrow

Edited January 26, 2013 by Prizzle

[Wales2004]

I think the main problem is that observers don't know what the rules are and naturally when they favor someone over another then anything and everything the unfavored one does is suspect.

Clearly, you can use an injury timeout to gain an advantage and she used hers to regroup. It may make her seem less of a physical competitor but she worked the rules. Disclosure wouldn't make that much of a difference since people would then suspect a person in Azarenka's same situation as lying. She was winded and saw it all slipping away. The lesson to be learned by her potential opponents is that when she panics, she might possibly take a timeout to regain her composure. Be mentally prepared for that possibliity and figure out how to keep from being completely drained of momentum.

I'm not a fan of hers but she did what she needed to do and it might not work as well for her down the road.

I have absolutely no reason for being anti-Andy Murray and yet I am. Maybe it's all that drivel about him being some great British hope to which I subjected myself.

[ChitHappens]

I don't agree.

When you are stealing time, the same time that your opponent does not have, that makes you a cheater.

The players have 20 seconds between points and 3 minutes after each 3 games. In many cases, that's not enough for Vika, so she steals time by using medical time outs. That's not fair or sportsmanship. Perhaps she should speak with her trainer on how to better recover. She's up 5-3 in her match with Stephens and Vika must have remembered her challenges closing against Serena at the US Open and decided she needed extra time to regroup so she steals it.

As for the fans not knowing the game? How so? We know the game, so I'm sure when they pay that money for those seats, they know the game as well. It's not hard to see that Vika is stealing extra time, which is against the rules so she has to fake injuries. Hopefully, she will rethink this in the future because you can tell it weighed very heavy on her, and she finally lets it out after the match.

[London]

Heard about Aza & Li Na... sad about Li Na granted she is one I check for ever since a few years ago when she played some amazing tennis.

Happy for Azarenka -- if I can't get Serena I'm all for anyone but Sharapova.

[Soapsuds]

Another poster who cant stand Murray and hopes he loses. Hate that he made the finals. Azarenka..blah..hate her too..her grunting [!@#$%^&*] and her dirty game playing antics.

[Wales2004]

Even though it might be obvious that she used or abused the rules and people see it as unfair, the flip side is regulating that isn't so cut and dry. As long as the possibility exists that something could be wrong then the player will have that advantage. It says a lot about the players who do it but the reaction or degree of reaction is proabably relative to the specific player who does it.

Azarenka and her LMFAO buddy will always get me to change the channel.

Andy Murray has that really great narrative that they can use as a backdrop for any major event but he's not nearly as interesting as that story...sadly, he probably won't be going away anytime soon but I hope everyone else steps his game up and pushes him to the background. I still don't get why the U.S. men's drought since Pete Sampras.

[Soapsuds]

Tell me about it...Murrays game is so boring to watch...now Federer I could watch all night long...love his game win lose or draw....I just dont get whats so great about Andy Murray...ESPN praises him till the cows come in...its absurd and I told them during a chat on facebook...LMAO