Featured Articles – May 2009 Archive (25)

Viking Rules the Day: Nadal Stunned by Soderling

Rafa Nadal, the undisputed King of Clay was shocked this afternoon by the Swedish maestro in Robin Soderling. With Soderling coming out firing with his big forehand and aggressive play, Nadal was kept on the back of his feet for a significant amount of time. The final score - 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. With that, the perfect record, the consecutive French Open record, and the opportunity for the annual Grand Slam fade into the night.

Soderling was aggressive as hell out there, firing… Continue

Added by Mark Oskar on May 31, 2009 at 1:09pm — 5 Comments

Swingthoughts (BuST)

Ive been thinking a lot about swingthoughts lately and I know when I dont remind myself of these things then I play poorly.

I would like to ask any others whether they have any swingthoughts that have helped them. I remember starting to drive and starting to play golf and I had all these thoughts in my head and when I became more accustomed these thoughts became less important and I did things automatically.

My weakness is my… Continue

Added by Meags on May 30, 2009 at 2:00am — 3 Comments

Tennis League Season 2 Wrap-Up

Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. My second league season ended in a bit of a whimper, with a loss. Of course, I was coming off of a couple of weeks of not playing at all which didn't make matters any better. As always, I did a bit better in the second set than the first, and I managed to make one interesting volley. There really wasn't that much in terms of highlights from that game.

My overall ranking at the end of this season was #5 out of 8 players, which is pretty… Continue

Added by Kristi Hines on May 29, 2009 at 4:52pm — 1 Comment

The Full Western Experience

Went onto court for a few hours to try out playing with a full western/extreme grip.

My normal grip is a semi western i thought but i think its a little more extreme than that, so looking at it, when i played yesterday it was with an extreme western (I think).

Anyway I really enjoyed it- great obviously for spin so you can hit higher over the net and I really enjoyed coming on to a short or mid court ball (which has been a… Continue

Added by Meags on May 27, 2009 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

FRENCH OPEN: JO-WILFRIED TSONGA WANTS TO PLEASURE YOU

From GOTOTENNIS: http://www.gototennisblog.com/2009/05/23/french-open-jo-wilfried-tsonga-wants-to-pleasure-you/

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the talented, charming and injury-prone Frenchman, has played in the French Open only once - way back in 2005. He’s making his long-overdue return to the terre battue this week, and with Gael… Continue

Added by FreakyFrites on May 26, 2009 at 10:00pm — 6 Comments

How to get a Blog Featured on the Main Page

So you like the limelight? Here's how to get your blog posts featured on the homepage of Tennisopolis where 19,000 members can see what you have to say. Write about Tennis. This website is about tennis. Not sex, not drugs, not rock and roll (well maybe a little.) If you can write about tennis then everyone is happy and nobody gets hurt. So bring on your ideas!…

Continue

Added by Mark / The Mayor on May 26, 2009 at 8:30pm — 5 Comments

Strokes of Genius

I must give a shoutout to my favorite writer L. Jon Wertheim for his new book STROKES OF GENIUS: FEDERER, NADAL, AND THE GREATEST MATCH EVER PLAYED. Anybody that reads Wertheim's online mailbag column and his Tennis magazine stories will recognize some of the anecdotes and stories previously covered. It is fun to read them again as they are woven into this epic battle. Also the book is not only about Federer and Nadal you do get tidbits about Nole, Daydenko, even journeyman Marc Gicquel gets… Continue

Added by Jazz Burks on May 25, 2009 at 7:04am — 1 Comment

French 2009, Where Federer will become Legendary

The tennis world is a buzz as the 2009 French Open gets underway. And as usual the excitement is derived from the sporting world's top rivalry Nadal vs Federer, or rather the 2009 version which is Federer vs Nadal.

Nadal broke through last year in Federer's home at Wimbledon winning arguably the greatest match ever played. He then reasserted his stature with a resounding win at the 2009 Australian open, demonstrating he has the game to beat federer on his two most natural surfaces.… Continue

Added by Ryan on May 25, 2009 at 2:14am — 6 Comments

2009 FRENCH OPEN: MEN’S DRAW PREVIEW

If you filled in your Roland Garros drawsheets this morning, you probably had an easy time at the top of the men’s: Nadal, Nadal, Nadal, Nadal, Nadal, uh, Nadal.

There’s nothing for the 4-time champ (or Rafanatics) to lose sleep over, especially with clay-averse Andy Murray the big gun in his half. Rafa will shrug off Dr. Ivo or Hewitt in the 3rd round and get a workout against Ferrer in the 16s. Verdasco, Davydenko, Wawrinka and… Continue

Added by FreakyFrites on May 23, 2009 at 2:36pm — No Comments

FRENCH OPEN: MADRID WIN “BODES WELL” FOR ROGER FEDERER

*INTERVIEW BY FREAKYFRITES WITH PATRICK MCENROE + MARY CARILLO

via GOTOTENNIS

Mary Carillo and Patrick McEnroe, who will be anchoring ESPN’s French Open commentary team at Roland Garros next week, took time to chat with reporters (and me) about the upcoming action on the terre battue. Here’s some of what they had to say about Nadal, Federer and the rest of the… Continue

Added by FreakyFrites on May 21, 2009 at 12:24am — 2 Comments

DOPERS, EN GUARD! TOUGH ANTI-DOPING TESTING AT ROLAND GARROS

Tough new anti-doping controls will be in effect at this year’s Roland Garros.

From Le Monde (click here for the original, my translation):

“This year, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, like all players who compete at Roland Garros (May 24 to Sunday June 7) will not only be subject to traditional anti-doping controls by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), but also those carried out by the very effective French Agency for the… Continue

Added by FreakyFrites on May 21, 2009 at 12:18am — No Comments

New Roof on Centre Court

I was lucky enough to be at Wimbledon on Sunday for the launch of the new roof on Centre Court. And it's magnificent! The players, Agassi, Graf, Henman and Clijsters, reported that the conditions were perfect. There's a complex air conditioning system that ensures that, even when the roof is closed, the humidity and air circulation is the same as if on a sunny day in the open air, and the tarpulin over the roof is specially designed to give the appearance of natural light. Sitting in the… Continue

Added by Kate M on May 20, 2009 at 9:00am — 3 Comments

Shouldering a Burden

Maria Sharapova made her singles comeback yesterday in Warsaw and managed to get through a three-setter against Tathiana Garbin. She came out smokin' in the first set, but had some rusty spots that led to the match being extended. Still, it was a good win for Sharapova and I'm glad to see her back as she's one of my favorite players on the WTA Tour.

But I think she should've just skipped the clay-court season!

That shoulder injury of hers was (or is?) obviously pretty… Continue

Added by Van Sias on May 19, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Andy Murray on Clay

Its getting really annoying watching Murray on clay, he has the game for it as he can hit all the shots, his fitness is second to nadal so he can run around all day. Watching others like Monaco, Ljubicic and Verdasco all unlucky to lose in a way, they went for their shots, Murray it seems and this is what really annoys me is a better player but he wants to out think everyone and Del Potro last night just played to his strengths which to be honest for #5 in the world are nothing special and… Continue

Added by Meags on May 16, 2009 at 4:00am — 4 Comments

MEDIA MASHUP: Adidas photo shoot or Old Navy ad? You decide.

Check out these images of Fernando Verdasco (doing his usual shirtless dance), Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga showing off their Roland Garros duds courtesy of… Continue

Added by tennis baller on May 15, 2009 at 5:23pm — 5 Comments

An email interview with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Thanks to Astro for giving us the opportunity to participate in an email interview with French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recently.

Worried about Jo Willy's performance on clay, we came up with several questions regarding his… Continue

Added by HCFoo on May 14, 2009 at 7:38pm — No Comments

FERRER ON FEDERER: ROGER HAS THE GAME TO BEAT NADAL

David Ferrer was asked at the Madrid Open about Federer’s chances against Rafa and had this to say (in Spanish):

“Roger Federer has sufficient tennis to beat Rafa Nadal. He can do it, but it’s very complicated. Rafa is the indisputable number one on clay and in the world, but most of all on clay. Also it was said that Roger was unbeatable on grass and Nadal beat him. For me Rafa is the number one and is very difficult to beat him on clay and… Continue

Added by FreakyFrites on May 13, 2009 at 1:31pm — No Comments

French Tennis Player Richard Gasquet Suspended For Cocaine Use

My perhaps "unpopular" view on the Gasquet suspension...

_____

Richard Gasquet has officially been suspended by the ITF after testing positive for Cocaine in his system.

He will miss the French Open and a hearing will take place in about 60 days to further examine the situation.

Richard tested positive back in March however, later tested negative only a few days ago (May 7th). Gasquet is of course pleading innocent here.

Is it any coincidence that I… Continue

Added by Mark Oskar on May 12, 2009 at 4:03pm — No Comments

RICHARD GASQUET SUSPENDED FOR COCAINE, SAFIN BLAMES PARTY FOUL

The AP reported today that Richard Gasquet has been officially suspended from competition after testing positive for cocaine in Miami. He will be off the tour at least until the ITF holds an anti-doping tribunal on the matter, which could take up to 60 days to arrange. This means Richard Gasquet will definitely miss Roland Garros. He could face a two-year ban if found guilty.

Gilbert Ysern, director general of the French Federation had this… Continue

Added by FreakyFrites on May 11, 2009 at 6:22pm — 3 Comments

MADRID OPEN PREVIEW: THINKING INSIDE THE MAGIC BOX

We have another “5th Slam” contender/pretender this week as the ATP and WTA tours combine at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Here’s a quick tournament preview to help you get acclimated.

THE MEN:

The top half includes a jaded Rafael Nadal and an overplayed Novak Djokovic. Andy Murray and Roger Federer are the top seeds in the other half.

Rafael Nadal’s quarter: It’s ROUGH, especially for someone who is feeling… Continue

Added by FreakyFrites on May 11, 2009 at 12:32pm — No Comments