So anyone watching the Australian Open?? Anyone a fan of tennis?

yep! The Safin V Federer semi final match was one of the best ever. Great that Safin won.

Currently watching Davenport demolishing Serena Williams in the Womens Final.

Just found this thread.... thought there must be more tennis fans than just me!! anyone? no?

Saw this topic today.I like women's tennis better,I saw Monica Seles at Ameritech Cup Tennis at the UIC Pavilion in Nov 1997.One thing I noticed sitting baseline up close was that her groans that somebody watching on television could hear very loudly,I could barely pick up even though I was barely 20 feet away.I had heard her before on television and thought in person it would be the same,but it wasn't.Regardless Monica Seles is the best Womens player I ever saw play.That night she later played a doubles match with Lindsey Davenport. \:D/

I went to see the Toronto Open like 4 years ago. I saw Serena Williams vs. Dokic. And i also saw a doubles match featuring Narvatalova and Aranxa-Sancha Vicario (sp?)

Yeah it was cool

I love Serena Williams, Hingis (who retired ), and Davenport.

I've been to Wimbledon quite a few times, the best match i ever saw there was Steffi Graf Vs Venus Williams in the quarterfinal 1999, Steffi's final come back beating Venus for the last time before she retired, then Venus went on a hot streak afterwards. Fantastic match, steffi gave her a lesson in grass court tennis.

Favourites now are Serena, Davenport and i'm warming to Clijsters after her recent comeback win. I hate Henin though, can't stand the whining little.....

For French Open, I think Nadal and Coria are the favorites on the men side. Federer is still the clear favorite for Wimbledon. I think Safin needs to be on somewhat harder and faster court such as Australian or U.S Open, as well as on top of his game, to beat Federer. On the women side, French is a toss up. A lot of people can win there. For Wilmbledon, I agree with Serena and Clijsters, but the defending champion should be considered as well, especially since this is the best surface for Sharapova, and she has held up well performance wise with all the publicity after winning last year.

I think it's always more difficult to pick a French Open favourite for the men's draw because there are so many clay court specialists. People you rarely see do well at other GS can go to Roland Garros and make it to the second week. If we are throwing out names, I can see last year's finalist Coria doing well, Nadal is playing very well, Ferrer has gotten some good results lately, pretty much anyone from Spain or Argentina, if Nalbandian is playing he should do well. Of course there's Federer, sure Clay is his weakest surface but he's still very dangerous on it and he really should have won that match in MC, having 3 MP in the third set breaker.

On the women's side, Berlin and Rome will have to be played before any clear favourites emerge besides the regulars. There really aren't any great clay court specialists on the women's side so you can say Serena and Clijsters are poised to make a run. Henin-Hardenne having just come back from injury and winning a tier 1 on green clay, playing on her favourite surface is definitely in that top tier of favourites. Dementieva is in good form and she was a finalist last year so I can see her doing well, if she can just get her serve in. Sharapova was a QF'ist last year on her weakest surface and at the beginning was in playing really well, but recent loses on her fav. surface to Lindsay (6-0,6-0 ouch) and Clijsters, and a tough 3 setter against a just returning Justine might have her doubting herself. Venus looks to be regaining some of her old form, but may lack the patience for the long rallies that Clay lends to, and Myskina...well last years champion just hasn't been playing well at all, and with the resurgence of the Williams and the return of the Belgians I don't see her making the semis.

Quickly, for Wimbledon and U.S. Open for men, Federer is miles ahead of everyone else. I can only see Roddick troubling him on the fastest surface of Grass, and that's if Roddick serves like 75% and Federer has an off day. The U.S Open should be Federer's, I don't see anyone troubling him if he played like he did last year (minus the wind match with Agassi). I am not seeing the rivalry that the media has been trying to play up with Safin, Safin has beat him once recently, it took him like 4 hours to do so and he had to save a match point. Can Safin give Federer a run for his money if Safin is playing lights out? Sure. Do I expect Federer to win 9 times out of 10 when they meet up? Definitely.

For the women at the Championships, Serena is always a favourite because of her lethal serve, and if Venus starts playing well she should be considered one as well. The Belgians are also a force on any surface so they could be expected to do well too. Lindsay, a former champion is a threat if she's healthy and focused. Sharapova is a threat too, but I disagree that this is her favourite surface, I think that's hard court. Her serve isn't as big a weapon as a Serena, Venus or Lindsay and she's still very much a baseliner who isn't all that comfortable approaching the net. With the elite four (WS, Belgians) returning to form I think it's going to be very difficult for her to defend as champion. The U.S. Open sees the same names pop up. Williams Sisters, Belgians, Lindsay. They've all proven themself to be formidable at Flushing Meadows. Sharapova and Kuznetsova are likely to make quarterfinal appearances as well. I'm just not sure if Dementieva will. Sure, she made the finals last year but she had to beat Capriati who always seems to fall apart in the SF's of the U.S. Open. I don't see how her second serve would be able to stand up against successive top tier opponents. So in summary

French Open (M)
Nadal
Coria
Federer
Ferrer
Argentina/Spanish players

French Open (F)
Clijsters
Serena
JHH
Sharapova
Dementieva

Wimbledon (M)
Federer
....Roddick

Wimbledon (F)
Serena
JHH
Clijsters
Venus
Davenport

U.S. Open (M)
Federer
....Hewitt, Roddick, Nadal

U.S. Open (F)
Serena
JHH
Clijsters
Venus
Davenport

You seem to like your tennis a bit too much, sir Agent. But, for the casual fan, which is most people, Roger Federer is the best male tennis player.

Nobody actually like women's tennis, except when they are hot. Thus the casual fan, is a fan of Sharapova.

Imagine that, liking the sport in the thread title, what a shock!

*gasp* who woulda thunk it

Really? I actually think women's tennis is pretty big at least in the U.S. It's one of the first sports that fully opened up to women and where they've even played cross-sex games. I think the recent success here with the Williams Sisters has really vaulted the sport into people's (including my own) awareness. I hadn't been aware there was a gender slipt in viewing.

\Had you said it about basketball and the wnba, or women's soccer, I'd agree, but tennis is actually far more equal than any of those other sports. Third maybe only to women's gymnastics and track and field, where I think women actually get more viewership than the men.

I have to defend KidRock here on one level - the amount of popularity surrounding Women's Tennis right now is because of, no matter how shitty it is, the fact that the big time stars are super hot. The Williams Sisters, Sharapova, Kournikova... if not for them, Women's Tennis would be about as "popular" as the WNBA.

WOmen's tennis gets much better ratings then men's, and Kournikove has not been around in what 2 years? I'll give you Sharapova, but I don;t think most of America finds the Williams sisters hot...that whoel not being tall and blonde thing does not work in there favor.

Might the success have to d a bit with the fact that the women's top ten is stronger and more consistent then the men?

Take the french open, which is often won on the men's side by someone know won has ever hear dof sicne the men have alot more clay court specialists, whereas on the women's side you often see top seeds in the final. The top ten in the women's side is more consistent and dynamic then the men.

Federer is the only one who shows consistency on the men's side. Safin is all ove rhe place, Hewitt dropped off the face of the earth pratically after dropping from number 1, Roddick has yet to live up to the hype, and Agassi is old and while being a contender it loks like he won;t win another slam.

I think we're also frogetting women's tennis had a huge following even before the recent slew of atheltes. Hingis, Selles, these people were god's gift to voyeurism.

Billie Jean King anyone?

Women's tennis has had a huge following for ages.

:laugh:

I love hingis though.... Hingis vs. Serena in Montreal.. back in the day.. it was so good!

I hated Hingis!! Graf's win in the French Open '99 was fantastic against her, some of the best drama i've ever seen on a tennis court, they had some great matches.

The best Graf/Hingis match was the WTA Championships in 96, which Graf won in 5. The 99 FO was good too, although Hingis really encountered little resistance from Graf until 5-4 in the second. From then on it was great drama and great fun, especially when Graf hit a few topspin backhands.

Things for the French Open are starting to become clearer. On the mens side Nadal looks to be labelled the favourite as he just won his 3rd tournament in a row, after a 5 set 5+ hour thriller with Coria, who is also very much in the running.

On the womens side JHH just won her third consecutive clay court tournament, downing Petrova in 3, and avenging the only loss of her year (to Sharapova) in the QF's in straight sets. Also, a few of the top women are skipping Rome because they are saving themselves for RG and trying to heal. The most notable being Clijsters with her knee. I think Myskina (who wasn't going to be a factor) and Molik (who I didn't see play on Clay) are already confirmed not to be participating.

I am so going to miss Molik and Myskina, expect not at all

Molik's definitely out, but Myskina has confirmed she will play for some reason even though she's not 100%, I say she goes out really early, maybe we'll see some tears in the process - she's always good for a breakdown every now and again. On the mens side Hewitt and Dent aren't playing.

The draw should come out Friday - since play begins Monday. I wonder if Clijsters will get another easy draw to the Semi's she always get them.

I don't like Dent, and you know I HATE Hewitt, fucker.

Ah, Myskina, I do love to see her cry, it would sad if I actualyl cared about her, instead its more comically then anything else.

Clijsters must give head to the people who make the draw b/c that girl just gets to damn lucky, of course she never actually wins as she is the consumate choker.

Tennis isn't the same since Boris Becker and Steffi Graf retired. Those were the fun years...

Well Serena's out of the French Open with an ankle injury, and the draw came out today. Being very nice to Mauresmo.

Top Half. Round of 16
Davenport v. Clijsters
Zvonerava v. Schnyder
Dementieva v. Likhotseva
V. Williams v. Myskina

Bottom Half. Round of 16
Petrova v. Bovina
Jankovic v. Mauresmo
Kuznetsova v. Henin-Hardenne
Dechy v. Sharapova

First round match to watch would be Henin-Hardenne v. Conchita Martinez. Anyway this seems like an easy draw for Mauresmo to make the Semi's and a very difficult one for the favourite (JHH) to come through.

Not completely interested in Men's Clay Court tennis, but here's highlights of the draw

Top Half. Round of 16
Federer v. Moya
Nalbandian v. Henman
Nadal v. Stepanek
Johansson v. Gaudio

Bottom Half. Round of 16
Coria v. Davydenko
Robredo v. Safin
Agassi v. Canas
Lubjicic v. Roddick

Ones to watch, 3rd match up between Nadal and Gasquet and Ferrero v. Safin.

Well first round started today at Roland Garros, and there were no real big surprises. I personally don't count Myskina losing as a surprise, because she's done nothing all year. Lindsay got taken to three sets, but got through to the second round, and Kim only lost 1 game in her first round match so it seems as though she's ready to make a run at the title.

On the mens side no surprises whatsoever, Federer, Nadal both through in straights. Meh, usually the first week is a boring one, especially on the womens side. The second week is where the magic happens.

Myskina lost (*stifles giggle*), biggest surprise for me is Davenport taken to three. Henman won which is good news for me, however i doubt he will manage to match his run to the semi finals he had last year. Just wish i had more time to watch it this year, will only be able to follow the results until the finals weekend.

the late 80's/early 90s were wonderful weren't they? I miss Steffi and that forehand.