Tennis Overload

[sachem]

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yeh, i heard about that news somewhere. she said, she is going to retire and she's still 21. OMG, how young could a professional be?

me, too. i grew some fats in my stomach. hehe its been 3 years now and havent grip on a racquet. darn!

[Salma]

indeed


she is sayang

but anyway I am also a fan of the Williams sisters..so okay pa rin ang tennis hanggang ngayon!

[EZRA]

SACHEM.... TIEBREAK couldn't be 21-20 `cause you have to win in difference of 2.

I used to play a lot... ranked in Cebu sa akong age-group sa una
Had a back injury when I was 15.. so I stopped playing competitively
I still play recreationally and usahay I train and teach.

My racquet ... I have a couple of Wilson pro staff classic 6.1 ... racquet of choice ni Edberg (and lots of others).
I also have a Prince Spectrum Comp which I had since 1986... this is one of the first Kevlar racquets ever made.

Favorite players:

Stefan Edberg for his sportmanship, finesse, and grace
Pete Sampras for his perseverance, hard work, and kick ass running forehand
Goran Ivanisevic for his unpredictability and explosive attitude
Ivan Lendl for his nasssssssssstyyyyyyyyy forehand
Petr Korda for his nastier backhand
Monica Seles because we have the same grip (two-handed on both sides)
Steffi Graf for her cool and grace

[EZRA]

Hingis - never liked her... she has an awesom brain on-court.. but off-court, she's a tactless idiot. She called GRAF's game outdated... and Graf kicked her ass on the French open final in which HINGIS even had the nerve to serve underhand.
Anyways.. Graf made HINGIS eat her words in humiliation.
It's good that she called it quits... her game got old, she's no match for the Williams' firepower.. heck, even DAVENPORT has a winning record against Hingis.

[Salma]

yeps..HIngis' game progressed so little in comparison to the improvements made by the Williams sisters...SHe just got left by the pack including Capriati, Seles and Davenport and her number one enemies the Williams sisters...


but you can never deny that she may have been THE most intelligent player ever to walked the court...back in 1997 she was THE player...made it all looked so easy and had all the time in the world to put a shot anywhere she wanted it to be...an easy lob over a far reaching hand, an angle to go behind her opponent or a drop shot that came from far behind the baseline or exquisite volleys..

SHe just did not progress.....*sad*

[EZRA]

Most Intelligent? ... hardly.
There's a few more that deserves that title... for her age, on court she's very intelligent.... but compared to Navartilova, Evert, Graf, and Hana Mandlikova, she has a ways to go.

As far as her game... the women's game got dictated by power.. finesse is gone. The Williams sisters are dominating the game in all aspects of it. The weaker ones gets consolation from either of the Williams' bad day.

[abat]

oh well, maau gyud nuon na mu-tennis si EZRA sauna pa hehehhe. tawag na siyag the kid with a tennis racquet. hehehe

[Salma]

I still think Martina is very intelligent..she can really know how to neutralize power in her heydays..she knows her opponents weaknesses....on a bad day she could still eke out a third set victory...she was virtually invincible in 1997...

of course power happened to her and she did not change her working habits...which is why she just got left behind...

I think she is more intelligent than Graf...Graf has so many weaknesses....Seles had her when Seles was still young..She knew how to beat Graf back then...who knew what Graf could not have achieved had Seles eaten up all those titles had she not been stabbed right?

Hingis is still young so she has so many things to learn...you have to assess court sense and intelligence according to the age and Hingis was wiiise beyond her years.....


Graf was not!!!

[EZRA]

Graf may not have dominated on her early years but just like some people say, some matures with age like a fine wine. Agreed that Seles got her number around the early 90's and the history of women's tennis got altered with that stabbing.... but SELES was a superb tennis player. When Seles emerged back after almost 2 years of absence, she grew 3 inches and was totally overweight.... and I think she lost a lot of her game and her edge when she came back. The Seles today is just a shadow compared to the SELES she was supposed to be if the stabbing didn't happen. Seles even admits that Graf brings out the best in her.

Considering what you've said.. Graf had weaknesses, yet she still managed to win grandslam after grandslam despite those weaknesses (like she can't go over the ball with her backhand).

Graf was almost always number 2 when Seles was number 1 (The Sabatinis, Capriatis, Sanchez-Vicarios, etc... were all catching up to both of them). Plus.. Graf won at every surface, Seles couldn't conquer Grass (And Hingis fails to claim the French Open either).

Hingis is wise beyond her years on court.. her off-court wisdom isn't that admirable. She may have many things to learn since she's still young but I doubt she can overcome the power-issue.... The Williams Sisters are still gonna eat her serve and spit it down her throat.

[Salma]

Seles had reached the Wimbledon final in 1992...which proves she is not a fluke in grass...beating no less than Navratilova in the semis...it was the pressure brought on by the British crowd that got her so restricted and limited in the 1992 final....who knows that in 1993 she may have won the Grand Slam then...as she had proven that she could beat Graf in faster surfaces like in the 93 Aussie Open final....

Rivalries are what always make a good champion...

Navratilova had an EVert to fight with..
Hingis had a Davenport....
Serena had a Venus...

but Graf never had a Seles when she was winning all those Grand Slams (after Seles was stabbed) right?

so she could never be a true queen of tennis!!


oh yes...if HIngis does not adapt to the power game well or stay in the rallies longer she'll definitely get beaten talaga....pero Hingis has very little options....if she chooses to beat them power to power she'll have to carry more weights and put on some muscle which will definitely slow her down...and we all know that speed is Hingis' number one strength...

*peace*