Tennis Forever

[omega]

As expected, Roger Federer easily wins the Swiss Indoor (Basel) tournament... Didn't even have to take the bathroom break during the final match against David Goffin!

Its a shame that King of MTO couldn't show up to initiate a bathroom break from the 33 yr old weak are chump!!

[JamesDap]

Poor Goffin just got bullied. Fed was so quick on his feet and Goffin couldn't handle the pace.

[raagadevan]

Sania Mirza-Cara Black clinch WTA Finals title

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...w/44938851.cms

[JamesDap]

Bercy is damn slow this year too. Might as well play it on the Roland Garros clay if it's going to be this way. The smaller courts seem to be fast but centre court is slow. Usually means that London too will be slow/medium. Fed fans can breathe easy because Karlovic won't have the same impact on such a slow surface (he COULD meet Fed as per the draw if he beats Lucas Poulle). He was scary at Basel, which was lightning fast.

[Arvind Srinivasan]

Bercy is damn slow this year too. Might as well play it on the Roland Garros clay if it's going to be this way. The smaller courts seem to be fast but centre court is slow. Usually means that London too will be slow/medium. Fed fans can breathe easy because Karlovic won't have the same impact on such a slow surface (he COULD meet Fed as per the draw if he beats Lucas Poulle). He was scary at Basel, which was lightning fast.

Very slow surface. Kind off feel its even worse than last year. Not against slow surfaces, but it's very odd, viewing indoor hard courts playing this slowly. And since the same surface is used at the WTFs, I seriously don't think there would be any improvement at O2. Nadal would have felt at home playing on this. Wonder if it would have been a better option for him to have gone for the surgery asap after Shanghai and hit the ground running for Paris. Wishful thinking. As for Federer, its going to be mighty difficult for him to grind his way to the title. Djokovic seems an easy pick considering the surface.

[raagadevan]

Proud dad Djokovic already feels 'number one'

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...w/44956220.cms

[JamesDap]

On the topic of court speed, this is what Wimbledon would look like too if the grass was still the way it was in those epic Becker-Edberg matches. And it's no wonder that the serve and volleyer Mahut beat Wawrinka here, who is a decent grass court player but primarily a baseliner and a bit uncomfortable when the ball stays so low.



It's a shame that it's only in such minor tournaments that we get to see something resembling grass court tennis the way it used to be for years and years (Halle is about the only reasonably high profile tournament that still plays the way grass is meant to and no prizes for guessing who's dominated the tournament in the last decade or so). Now that there will be an extra week between RG and Wimbledon, can they please make the grass a bit more slick again? And contrary to the popular argument, serve-bombers like Raonic and Karlovic won't necessarily become Gods once grass gets fast. Because the ball keeps so low, it would be very uncomfortable for giants to play on. Sampras wasn't a giant, not by today's standards nor even by those of the 90s. He just served brilliantly, which in itself is a skill and one that's been unfairly hammered. People should try tossing the ball up a few feet in the air and serving before mocking players who serve well as serve-bots.

[raagadevan]

Milos Raonic beats Tomas Berdych (6-3, 3-6, 7-5) to reach the Paris Masters Finals.

[raagadevan]

...and Kei Nishikori loses (2-6, 3-6) to Novak Djokovic in the other semi.

[raagadevan]

IPTL: Ticket sales begin for Roger Federer's matches in Delhi

"The tickets have been priced from Rs.3,240 to Rs.49,680".

http://news.oneindia.in/sports/iptl-...i-1549805.html