US Open Tennis

[Karlifornia]

Federer vs. Roddick in a first set tiebreak right now....Has Roddick always been this...uhm...vocal when hitting his shots?

[lordscarlet]

Damnit I am missing cable right now.

[Karlifornia]

And Federer wins it 7-6,7-6, 6-3...move along! Nothing to see here!

[rkmsuf]

Any man that "grunts" while playing tennis is ghay.

[Young Drachma]

Any man that "grunts" while playing tennis is ghay.

I'm guessing you've played at a high level before? A lot of the noise is gamesmanship, especially on the women's side. But...at the same time, it's not all just for effect.

I do think it would be interesting if they'd just let fans make noise during points. That'd take that element of gamesmanship out of play and it would change the face of the game completely at the high pro level (since at smaller tournies and circuit events, noise is often hard to dampen out anyway) and I'd be interested to see how differently people would play in the face of it.

That said, fan noise drives me crazy. Grunting from an opposing player isn't that big a deal.

[Young Drachma]

And Federer wins it 7-6,7-6, 6-3...move along! Nothing to see here!

Roddick really worked hard out there. But Federer scored when it mattered most. But Roddick really came out with his best stuff in this one and it just proves how good Federer really is.

During the broadcast, Agassi talked about the difference between Federer and Sampras. He said Sampras would beat you 5 and 6 on a good day and 5 and 6 on a bad day, because he'd just adapt his game and make you think he was playing at that one level and then he'd ramp it up when you got comfortable. Whereas Roger Federer doesn't have to "dumb" his game down to his opponent. He just comes out there on fire and makes you keep up and if you can't, he has so many weapons at his disposal that he really be matched most days.

He commented that the thing about tennis is, that you don't have to play better than anyone in the world day in and day out, you just have to play better than your opponent and there are a ton of different ways to do that.

Hearing his break the game down was really nice and he did it in a way that a lot of tennis commentators didn't. He was talking way more X's and O's and tactically like he was talking football, which was awesome to hear, because tennis commentators are usually talking way more about personality and other distractions, than the tactics on the court.

I imagine it's similar for former football players to hear tactics and to get excited because they can relate. It's the same for me in tennis.

But Roddick really came out there and didn't hold back and while he lost in straight sets, he only had 20 or so unforced errors, so his aggressive style didn't really cost him a significant number of points either. Federer is just too damn good.

[rkmsuf]

I'm guessing you've played at a high level before? A lot of the noise is gamesmanship, especially on the women's side. But...at the same time, it's not all just for effect.

I do think it would be interesting if they'd just let fans make noise during points. That'd take that element of gamesmanship out of play and it would change the face of the game completely at the high pro level (since at smaller tournies and circuit events, noise is often hard to dampen out anyway) and I'd be interested to see how differently people would play in the face of it.

That said, fan noise drives me crazy. Grunting from an opposing player isn't that big a deal.

that type of gamesmanship is just plain silly. all they do is make themselves sound stupid.

put another way, it's a pretty weak way to go about your business as a professional player. IMO

[sabotai]

I'm guessing you've played at a high level before? A lot of the noise is gamesmanship, especially on the women's side. But...at the same time, it's not all just for effect.

As silly as it might sound, it's one of the reasons I stopped watching tennis. It never bothered me when I played, but hearing it when I watch it on TV is kind of annoying. I mean, I don't mind the normal gasp-like sound they sometimes make when they hit the ball really hard or run hard to get to it, but the full-on grunting every time they hit the ball...it's too much. I just can't watch it.

[sabotai]

dola,

Hearing his break the game down was really nice and he did it in a way that a lot of tennis commentators didn't. He was talking way more X's and O's and tactically like he was talking football, which was awesome to hear, because tennis commentators are usually talking way more about personality and other distractions, than the tactics on the court.

A second reason I stopped watching tennis. The commentators are just terrible.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hearing his break the game down was really nice and he did it in a way that a lot of tennis commentators didn't.

I'm not particularly a tennis fan, nor player, but I really enjoyed Agassi in the booth last night.

I remember hearing the 5 and 6 thing about Sampras and the difference in him versus Federer and it all made sense, which seems like a notable plus for a commentator since I'm not a tennis guy and you are but we both liked it.
I also thought the bit about Becker (or whoever) having a tell on his service was interesting. The other thing that struck me was that the booth seemed really comfortable together and were enjoying themselves, but not letting that fun distract from the match at hand, something that isn't always the case with TV sports.

[Young Drachma]

that type of gamesmanship is just plain silly. all they do is make themselves sound stupid.

put another way, it's a pretty weak way to go about your business as a professional player. IMO

I totally agree. It's stupid.

[Young Drachma]

I'm not particularly a tennis fan, nor player, but I really enjoyed Agassi in the booth last night.

I remember hearing the 5 and 6 thing about Sampras and the difference in him versus Federer and it all made sense, which seems like a notable plus for a commentator since I'm not a tennis guy and you are but we both liked it.
I also thought the bit about Becker (or whoever) having a tell on his service was interesting. The other thing that struck me was that the booth seemed really comfortable together and were enjoying themselves, but not letting that fun distract from the match at hand, something that isn't always the case with TV sports.

All of this is dead on.

I don't watch much tennis on TV at all and if I do, it's ONLY to watch strokes and to see certain players hit. I hate tennis commentators and hearing you all talk about it has made me realize that it was probably one of the bigger reasons I avoided it. Well that and it's harder at some grand slams rather than others, because they often choose the weirdest matches to cover in the earlier rounds.

But mostly it's just the poor commentating and until Agassi last night, it'd never even occurred to me before that it was a problem, but he added something -- as did that booth, you're right, they didn't talk through points as a lot of booths do in that sport -- that I hadn't noticed before.

[Izulde]

Sharapova and the retired Kournikova can grunt at me all they want. :D

[Young Drachma]

Sharapova and the retired Kournikova can grunt at me all they want. :D

Wait for it...wait for it...