Damn it, now Federer will need to win the French in order to beat Sampras this year.

He can still do it, but it is always his least probably slam to win.

I think he'll win Wimbledon and US Open still. He got to the Semis and wasn't really playing his best.

I just want him to beat Sampras' record, then I can start rooting for other people.

For this upcoming final, though, I will root for Tsonga. He is hilarious, and is fun to watch.

[quote="AgentX"]Shrieky v. Squeaky in a battle for the ages. The mute button will be used frequently, especially if Bud decides to talk a lot.[/quote]I don't know why the commentators don't bring up that she's squeaking only because of the build of the court for goodness sakes. Doesn't bother me though. I think the shrieks are a bit more annoying though since at least 51% of female players don't have to make a noise every time they hit a ball. Anyway, since the Williams and Henin is out I will be rooting for Sharapova since she did say she hoped to be in the final next year and hopefully have a differently result. Good for her for living up to expectations so far.

Djokovic's serves were insanely clutch and the deep shots really trapped Roger

I get the feeling he's been watching Federer tapes for the last 5 months straight creating his strategy, heh

Sharapova DOMINATED.

Sad that Ivanovic was by far the closest anyone got to Sharapova... she almost won the first set actually, it was 4-5 0-30 on Sharapova's serve, but Ivanovic got nervous and hit some errors and then lost the next 3 games.

I don't know, I kinda don't want her to start killing everybody. Because really... it's all power. For all Federer is doing to mix up the game and bring new dimensions past the bland Roddick style of play, Sharapova is threatening to send the women's side into baseline smashing hell.

You're foolish if you don't think it's already there! Been there for a long time.

Let's go Tsonga.

Good Lord are the linesmen/woman awful in this tournament. Just wretched.

Holy crap! Those last 2 points to take the first set.... were amazing. Tsonga just seems unstoppable.

*waits for Tsonga to self destruct just so I look like a fool*

Those two points are beyond description. How did he come up with them?

come on Novak.

was looking at past winners at teh Aussie Open and noticed something crazy.

Martina Hingis was in the finals 6 straight years between '97-'02.
She won the first three years and lost the last three years.


'02 Jennifer Cap. over Martina H.
'01 Jennifer Cap. over Martina H.
'00 Lindsay D. over Martina H.
'99 Martina H. over Amelie Mauresmo
'98 Martina H. over Conchita Martinez
'97 Martina H. over Mary Pierce


oh and congratz to Djokovic on his win.

Hingis' game suited Rebound Ace. 52 wins and 7 losses. She should of won 2002 though.

If she was drug/injury free this year she would of done well on Plexicushion, another surface that slows down the ball.

She was cursed after she lost against Graf in 99 at the French. Probably one of the most entertaining matches in women's tennis, all sorts of drama.

That was an exciting match. It was just four games in and the crowd was voracious and Djokovic was screaming after one rally. Tsonga just began to slowly give away too many points when he had a winning shot and kept getting broken more while Djokovic seemed to be getting everything back and even when it looked like Tsonga had a winner Djokovic would pull out a defensive winner.

Djokovic needs to learn how to deal with a crowd rooting against him. Not that it really effected his play, but it made him seem not as fun loving as I had once thought. Which is an important factor if I want to root for him in the future! (though they could get annoying at times)

Would have preferred Tsonga to win - but Dok was deserving. He did play the better game in the end. Yeah he really is obsessed with the crowd. Hence why the crowd likes him even less.

But out of this we get a guy who is now playing in the same stratosphere as Federer and Nadal and one that is rapidly approaching.

Yeah I think the next two slams will be Fed Vs Nadal. What would be ironic is that now that Federer cant get the grand slam in 08 - he may actually win the French hehe! I think the pressure is off a little now so could be good for him.

Roger lost again... to Mardy Fish!?!? First loss to an American since 2003. He had 1 winner!

Pretty sure Nadal was only like 300-400 points behind him before this tournament (they both lost in the semis, so no difference I don't think), if Nadal wins the French and Roger loses somewhat earlier, I guess he's goin' to #1? Djokovic could catch up quicker than we thought too.

Yeah. I don't know whats happening with Federer, it's like I'm finding out there's no Santa Claus.

On the plus side Federer actually gained on Nadal this tournament, since last year Nadal won the thing and Federer only made it to the second round. Given Federer doesn't have many points to defend next week, 4th Round points, his number 1 ranking is safe until early in the clay court season, where Nadal has a bunch of points to defend, but so does Roger. At this point I think it's more likely Djokovic takes over number 1 than Nadal, and that may happen before Wimbledon.

I forget.. Which surface is this held on?... Makes a big diff in play..
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clay grasse........

This tournament Indian Wells, and next week in Miami are both played on a slowish hard court.

Maybe he had Hanta or something that caused him to lose to Fish.

Miami just got underway this week and already we have a large upset:

Kevin Anderson d. Novak Djokovic 7-6(1) 3-6 6-4

Training deficit due to his sickness.. I read prior to Indian Wells that his goal for the tournament was to get into gear again, win a few matches and possibly reach the semifinal as a minimum - which he did. We'll see where it goes from here.