I also am a tennis player. I have been playing tennis since I have been 5 years old. I have played competitively since 11 years old in the USTA (United States Tennis Association) and am going to walk on to the college team for the school I am going to transfer to. I have had my share of people telling me that tennis is gay or for girls but I challenge them to stand in front of a few of my serves and then tell me that.
I have also been coaching tennis for lots of years now as well. I actually started coaching at around 13 years old. I am a certified tennis instructor through United Stats Professional Tennis Registry. And on top of all of that I am also coaching for the local High School heree. Tennis is my livelyhood and it is how I make my living, and making $40 an hour I can't complain. I can't wait for the Australian Open to roll around.
Well, there is my opinion LOL. It may be more than you expected, however I have my own business and I intend to keep it that way.
When i purchased my Xbox i got 2 free games with it: NCAA football 2005, and Top Spin.
At first i figured a tennis game named top spoin would suck ass, but as i played a career i got more and more addicted to it. Tennis video games are amazing. gotta love 'em.
That is cool. I used to live in New Mexico and there they thought of it as a girl's sport. Now I live in Florida however and it is a BIG sport here so that is always a good thing.
In reply to Geo_X, #7: wonder if Federer is going to take out the Aus Open this year. Doesn't look like anyone has a chance to beat him, he has the touch and power to beat anyone.
As for the women's game it is looking like another year of Russian revieval victories. The belgiums Clisters and Henin look out of touch due to injuries and the William's sisters look to be in the same boat. Any thoughts?
hehe, hey there Geo_X, if I remember correctly you are the one from the first forum that I talked to a lot in the tennis thread. Good to see you again hehe.
As far as the Men's draw goes, I agree that nobody really has the total game to beat Federer right now. All of the players that were expected to step it up all ended up having troubles and fell short. A lot of people thought that Roddick was going to step it up and rise to the top but he still only really has a big serve and a big forehand. And even his forehand is starting to have problems. Hewitt started off the year really well but then started to struggle in the tournaments losing to people he shouldn't lose to. He has had a lot of mental problems as well. I agree with the thought that next year the player who has the best chance of competing with Federer is Marat Safin. He definately has the physical tennis talent to compete with him. He has all of the shots and has the big body to compliment them. The only big problem that he has is in his mental game. He can still get hot tempered on the court and lose his game in the emotion. This year he made big strides in improving his mental game but he still has a ways to go if he wants to be at Federer's level. If he can get his mental game under control however he stands a great chance of taking his game to a whole new level.
On the Women's side right now it would be a tossup among some of the young Russians. It seems that they are taking over the WTA by storm. Davenport is still on top of the rankings and is playing well, and Mauresmo is starting to play better, but the Russians I feel are going to start to take over the top rankings in the upcoming year. Injuires have plagued a lot of the Women it seemed this year, including the Williams, Henin-Hardenne, and a few others who would usually be in the top ranks. It is much harder to make any predictions on the Australian Open for the Womens' draw just because all of them are close to each other since they grew up playing against each other. It will just depend on who steps it up and wants it the most. As the tournament gets closer there will probably be more information on how players are doing as far as physical shape and how their games are doing. So things may change and completely flip flop by the time it rolls around but right now the Men's tour is being dominated and the Women's tour is up for grabs. Sorry about the length of the post.
I don't think hewitt has the power game, that is his weakness. Hell, he run and scrap like Michael Chang of old, but when it comes to loading up a forehand or backhand he just doesnt have it. He works well at Wimbledon because of his running and passing game, but everywhere else falls down. Definitly Safin has the game to go all the way, reminds me of Ivanisevic (sp?) loses in the mental game though. And looks to be a big party boy, he was living in Morroco of all places.
True on both players. Hewitt's biggest downfall is that his game is the game of a counterpuncher and scrapper. You mentioned that he plays like the Chang of old and you are right, but one thing to remember is hold long Chang lasted. Having the playing style like Hewitt does is very rough on your body. Always changing directions and planting on your legs wears them down very quickly. That is one of the reasons Chang's career was so short is because he ran everything down but his body eventually broke down. I hope that Hewitt lasts longer than Chang but unless he develops some power like you said than I have a feeling he is not going to last as long as others. Agassi is a good example of that, a few years back his game was counter punching and he didn't really have all that much power. Now he has some power to back up his shots, as well as being able to create angles out of nowhere. In the later part of this year Safin finally realized that his partying ways were hurting his tennis life so he has really cut down on that area of his life. And I respect that choice of his because now he is going to have more time to devote to tennis. His mental game is like Ivanisevic in the fact that when he is on, it is hard for anyone to stop him. When he loses it though just about anyone can beat him even on a mediocre day. He is the player I am looking forward to watching the most this upcoming year, just to see how he has handled his mental game.
Yep but Spain definately played well to beat the US inf the Final Tie. March 4 - 6 the US kicks off the 2005 Davis Cup against Croatia. It is going to be good. And I think I am going to go play tennis in a little bit here so I am going to check out the forum for a bit longer and then head to the tennis courts.
Spain crowds are the worst to play in front of in a tennis match. They treated it like a soccer game, jeering rodick whenever he had a second serve. It was absolutly disgusting.
While I do agree with you on that one, the whole thing about Davis Cup is that you can cheer instead of the typical tennis tournament where you are supposed to be quiet. You should hear some of the Aussie ties or maybe some of the Brazilian ones. They go just as crazy most of the time. Sometimes they do go a bit overboard on the cheering, but it is what they are allowed and somewhat supposed to do.
In reply to theREAMER, #15: I don't mind cheering for your own country and team, what i'm against is jeering other countries who are trying to play. I consider it unsporting.
I recently read John McEnroe's book "You Can't Be Serious". He is a proponent of cheering to your heart's content at all tennis events. If a basketball player can shoot a free throw with fans screeming and waiving... But I agree that jeering is not kosher.
Of course you never heard derogatory comments about tennis. Australia has a fine tennis tradition and has produced a slew of great players over the years. Good on ya.
Yeah, I understand the difference between cheering and jeering and I agree with you guys. The main difference I would say there is between the basketball example and tennis though is that when you play tennis competitively you listen to how the ball comes off the opponents racket. That is one of the big things that you learn to do when you play tennis in higher level tournaments. That way you can tell what spin and what shot is coming, so that is one of the reasons the cheering is frowned upon except for Davis Cup.
Here in Aus, we take the game very seriously, but unfortunatly doesn't stop people from starting Mexican waves during the game. Oh well, cant win em all :p
Oh cool, you are from Aus. Yeah I have been to some pro tournaments here where they started the wave and I was kind of shocked. But you are right, what can you do about it really? Just wait until they stop the wave to start playing again. And I know what you mean about taking the game seriously, I coach the High School team here and they learned last summer how much work it takes to be a decent player.
I never took tennis that seriously, i was in it for fun. But it does take considerable effort and dedication. It is a combination of practice and mental toughness, much like golf.
True true and unfortunately the mental toughness is the part that everyone tends to forget in the yearning to want to improve. That is one thing that I am going to drill into the team starting January.
Tennis is awesome. I think I'm pretty good. Last year, as a freshman, I played 4 singles. I didn't do that great, but I am soooo much better this year.
Awesome, good to hear. Keep enjoying tennis and you will keep improving. I am planning on playing in an Open Tournament in February here in Florida. It is going to be great to get back into tough competition. Good luck with tennis this year...it is starting this semester right?
OH HELL YEAH.....I just got back from tennis and today was the day I clocked my serve. I hit 128mph a couple times today. And to think the college I'm attending got rid of their tennis teams. Stupid schools not knowing how to incoporate Title IX!!
The Australian Open is upon us. The top four seeds for the men are Federer, Roddick, Hewitt, and Safin. Those are going to be a tough top 4 seeds. But they are not guaranteed to be in the semis by any means. Federer has Agassi in his section, Safin has Moya, Hewitt has Coria, and Roddick has Henman. And those are only the opposite seeds in their respective sections of the draw, there are lots of other tough opponents in the draw this year and there are plenty of opportunities for early upsets. The women's draws are looking tough as well with the top seeds being Davenport, Mauresmo, Myskina, and Sharapova. Again no easy routes though with Venus Williams being in Davenport's section, Dementieva in Myskina's, Kuznetsova (another upcoming Russian) in Sharapova's, and Serena Williams in with Mauresmo. With the draws the way they are this year it is going to be a great Open and there are going to be lots of tough matches all the way through, promising that the quarter-final's will be all tough matches. Coverage starts here in the US on January 16 at 7:00pm on ESPN 2. Any predictions on the tournament for this year? I would love to see a Federer / Safin semifinal and have them both play at the top of their games. I think the winner of that match would handily win the finals.
