Does anyone give a crap about tennis?

[Woodside Hawk]

Following on from the roaring success of GH's "Is cricket dead" thread I thought I'd ask the obvious question - does anyone give a crap about tennis?

Personally, I consider myself a 'true Australian' - ie I only care for two weeks a year or if an Aussie makes a final of a slam.

On the current open - I reckon it's Nadal's to lose, but Djokovic is incredibly durable. Has looked injured during his last two matches but keeps on coming.

Murray seems to me to be mentally weak, or lacking the "never say die" attitude the great players have.

Anyway, question is - does anyone care?

 

[market]

Woody,

let me point you in the direction of the following....

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=881347

and NO, i do NOT give a crap and hate the xxxxxxx game....

thank u and good night.

 

[grizzlym]

I was always ambivalent about it, but as the years roll by I get less and less tolerant about it all. A borefest.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Enjoyed it as a kid with Australia (seemingly) always in the Davis Cup with the likes of Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe, Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle, etc. I loved it when the Aussies smashed the USA 5-0 in their own back yard in the 1973 final.

The team aspect of Davis Cup is what interested me. As the game became more professional, it became more boring. (What is it about money and sport?). I confess to being a John McEnroe fan, to me he kept a boring game interesting, not because of his tantrums, but the way he used it as a tactic. In the epic shoot outs with Bjorn Borg, you never saw McEnroe lose his temper, simply because he knew it wouldn't work against the ice cool Borg.

To me, today's game is like watching paint dry. Larger racquet heads creating more speed off the racquet, etc. Like other sports, stronger, quicker, more powerful may produce better players, but somehow makes the game itself less interesting. Tried watching the Nadal-Federer match the other night, and although I could appreciate their talent, I ended up turning it off.

As for women's tennis, in the immortal words of McEnroe, "You cannot be serious". For years it was dominated by two over-weight, almost fat Williams sisters. What does it say about a sport when it is dominated by a person nowhere near peak fitness. I cannot belive you can see finals where the scoreline is 6-0, 6-1. Steffi Graf was always worth watching, surely the best female tennis player of all time?

Sure, there is eye candy, but that infernal screeching each time they hit the ball has me pushing the off button very quickly. A lot of people love tennis, I'm not one of them.

 

[Woodside Hawk]

Thanks Market - had missed your thread, which obviously answers my question fairly succinctly!

Seems tennis has been on a slow decline in Australia since the 70's, so Adelaide Hawk may be onto something. People I've spoken to seem to miss the 'serve and volley' days, with the baseline rallies being blamed for taking the interest out of the game (Pat Cash being an obvious exception during the 80's), but that itself is probably a result of the more 'professional' nature of the sport (ie - pro coaching producing gameplans based on minimising risk).

Anyway, think I may pack up and head into the cricket....

 

[grizzlym]

This shrill clamour to get our 'new stars' too. Who cares? It's a professional game where people are on a circuit earning massive amounts of money. There's no playing for your country here, except with the throw-back to amateur days with the Davis Cup.

 

[Henry Jr]

Having played tennis as a youngster for 10 years, Tennis is a participation sport rather than a spectator sport.

It bores me to tears to watch.

 

[Roddy]

I love it, and enjoy it very much every year. Go most years too.

To me it's the ultmate gladiatorial one on one non contact sport.

I'd rather watch a 6-0 6-0 game of junior tennis than 5 minutes of the highest standard soccer or thugby...

 

[go hawks!!!]

Try listening to tennis on the radio, 2nd funniest thing I have heard today, that is behind hearing that Henry Jr played tennis for 10 years:

 

[grizzlym]

Tennis on the radio is not good.

 

[Roddy]

If you're a sports fan of any kind and you couldn't get something out of last night's game, you must be dead from the neck up...

 

[grizzlym]

I watched it.

 

[market]

If you're a sports fan of any kind and you couldn't get something out of last night's game, you must be dead from the neck up...

Thank God that's over

 

[Woodside Hawk]

I watched until 5-5 in the last set and had to pull the pin....couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Amazing endurance shown by both those guys - 5hrs 53 mins going as hard as they could and no calling for the trainer etc... just gutsed it out.

 

[Dinsdale]

not interested, managed to miss 99% of the Australiain leg of the World Grunting Tour

 

[The BIG X]

I love it, and enjoy it very much every year. Go most years too.

To me it's the ultmate gladiatorial one on one non contact sport.

I'd rather watch a 6-0 6-0 game of junior tennis than 5 minutes of the highest standard soccer or thugby...

It sure was - absolutely intriguing - tired as I was I could not turn it off.
Still pumped at the end I stayed up till telecast finished

I must say I am not a real Tennis fan (especially the women with their squeals) however watching 2 men battle to the finish was the ultimate.

 

[Hawkas1988]

Greatest match I've seen last night, was brilliant.

Having played tennis and footy for several years growing up, I loved them equally, so different and so tough. Footy is as physically tough a sport you can come across and tennis requires a f***load of mental toughness as well as physically draining.

I enjoy watching it, but it's definitely more a participation sport then a spectator one.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I was always ambivalent about it, but as the years roll by I get less and less tolerant about it all. A borefest.

Yet you watch cricket?

yikes.

 

[grizzlym]

Yet you watch cricket?

yikes.

Cricket is meditative.

 

[savagelunchbox]

It's only enjoyable when that arsehole of a bloke, Lleyton Hewitt, is losing. Such an arrogant tossbag who thinks his s**t doesn't stink.

Media training has done him well in the media but if you've even been in the same room as him, you know he's the shittest type of bloke.

[YOUTUBE]qaYONVkozDQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Cricket is meditative.

It's rubbish.

Right up there with Baseball.

Fortunately, Baseball doesn't run for 5 days without a result.

 

[Henry Jr]

It's rubbish.

Right up there with Baseball.

Fortunately, Baseball doesn't run for 5 days without a result.

I love watching Baseball.

Its a tatical game of chess (much like cricket). A real game of the minds Echols which probably explains why neither interests you.

Go back to beating up on 10 year olds on the PS3....

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I love watching Baseball.

Its a tatical game of chess (much like cricket). A real game of the minds Echols which probably explains why neither interests you.

Go back to beating up on 10 year olds on the PS3....

A tactical game of chess?

I've heard it all now.

 

[grizzlym]

It's rubbish.

Right up there with Baseball.

Fortunately, Baseball doesn't run for 5 days without a result.

Philistine

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Philistine

Cricket is to sport what the yodelling is to music.