Come and play TENNIS over here

[JuanPotatoTwo]

three, don't worry, I am a one man woman and it's Pot all the way for me (unfortunately, as I am old enough to be his mother). Never fear, Boris is safe.

raahh, your doc is speedy. Glad you have a bit of relief.

Well there are allegations that after the Tour de France doping scandal a lot of 'pure' blood was found in a lab in Spain (to cheat blood tests) including some labelled as Nadal's.

By the way I am just getting round to watching the trophy bit and it feels like I'm watching the bloody Oscars- thanks to my opponent, my sponsor, my team, the crowd...... Zzzzzz

And weird plastic Sampras in the background. It's all rather surreal.

Did I mention Wawrinka's ace? He has the best twitter feed.

I thought the way the envelope was strategically placed in the trophy so that 'KIA' was prominently displayed, was very telling.

Another boring Monday with nothing to look forward to.

I don't think Rafa is on anything except maybe pain killers yesterday. He's always been far too energetic for his own good and always been far too good when on top form, for many to touch. Maybe this is the start of his slow calming down, where he ages a bit and can't keep up that youthful manic run about and play tennis in a tornado effect.
I am thinking more about Old Rog this morning and debating the merits of retiring when on top of your game, whatever that may be or carrying on and fizzling out - it was like beating Murray took all he had and he could not come back to another match in the same form?
We need John Mac to talk to us about this...
I agree Sampras was strange though - he looked at one point, stood there, like he was miles away - thinking up his shopping list for dinner?

I can not believe raahh that you did not know you had the sport channel - I am gutted for you.
I liked Tom Toad - he was very cute and small.

Morning, I am going to do some work today, I must. Largely I try to keep out of the drug debate as I figure none of us can ever know and I don't think it's fair to speculate. However, I have heard from an inside source (I do realise how wanky that sounds but I daren't be more specific) that, allegedly, Rafa is on/has been on performance enhancing drugs. Source also claims it's common knowledge amongst the other players as well, but ATP will do nothing as he is such a big cash cow. I don't know if this is true, all I know is that source believes it to be.

As for Rog, well I would have urged retirement towards end of mid season last year, but he did seem to pick it up a bit towards the end, and has done well so far this year. Perhaps we need to give Stefan a bit more time to see what he can do, but I think it's inevitable that, no matter how much he improves, he's not going to be the dominant force he once was. If he's happy with that then play on. If however he thinks he can regain his number one dominance and will only be happy with that, then I have to say I think he's going to be bitterly disappointed.

My cat is sitting on the little sofa by the tv waiting for me to join her for tennis :(

Very much what I've heard PeskyJuan - but not from 'inside sources'!

I think it would be sad to see Rog lose more & more. I reckon he should go while he's still good - but then I'm not him.

I had to clean my kitchen this morning, in the absence of tennis.
I don't go into the drugs debate- mainly because it is pretty much all hearsay, and I don't believe any player is bigger than the sport.
I suppose a lot ood the speculation with him is he arrived on the scene, a young tank of a bloke, who swept through the opposition. Not like a lot of scrawny teens- Murray for example- who took time to grow physically. Maybe drugs were the reason murray suddenly found his muscles, eh?

I hope you are all having an ok Monday- quite sunny here in South manchester, long may it last!

And I do agree, despite the Stefan factor, I'd far rather roger went out on a high. But as I said last year- what else would he do? Can't see him coaching, or settling down to family life. And he's not really media material , is he?

its not just the drugs stuff though is it? Stan has spoken out before about the on court coaching from uncle tni, plus the time nadal (and a couple of others) take between points and they get away with it.

I think if the drugs rumours are true I will just feel very let down. I was watching Rafa play yesterday and talking to DS about that ability to be a good loser and to acknowledge your opponent's success, etc. I will feel so betrayed if it turns out that all of this extraordinary skill is due to PEDs.

I know that sounds very emotive, but I care very little about sport in general. However, I have always loved tennis and have admired Rafa for as long as he's been on the scene. I would be devastated if all this time he's been making fools of all his fans.

I think it must be how many of Lance Armstrong's fans felt.

What rumours

Noddy read Juans post and anonacfrs posts on the previous page.

Ive also heard 'from the inside' about these rumours.

If you google it, it is discussed extensively on the net. Largely to do with the number of injuries and his recovery rate from them, but also to do with his speed and power on the court, and the fact that he emerged as a dominant player at such a young age.

We might have discussed it on one of the previous threads too. Not sure which one though. Someone posted some links to articles I think.

I've posted about my "insider knowledge" before. But let's be honest, until we hear it from the horse's mouth, which is highly unlikely, we'll never know for sure. LeBear, my feeling is that, true or not, he has still dedicated practically his whole life to his sport. He has still made the sacrifices, put in the work, probably caused long term damage to his body etc all in the name of his sport. I chose to look at it that way until we know differently.

Lots of predictable nonsense in the press and on the web today though about how Stan only won cos Rafa was injured. I'd be spitting feathers if I was Stan. It was clear to all yesterday there was a problem , why rub it in and spoil Stan's first victory? He too has put in the years, and is finally reaping the rewards, why do people have to be so mean spirited? And it's not like he didn't beat Djokovich and Berdych and whoever else to get the victory.

Oh yes, I clicked on the BBC news website after the match and it said Wawrinka defeats injured Nadal...

Juan - that makes me feel a little better. I just admire him so much as a person as well as a player...

Innocent until proven guilty I'd say about Nadal - I prefer to think he is just a tank who was uber fit from the start - why not? You get people naturally able to pull off great feats of ability - a lot of it is mind over matter anyhow - you have got to want to beat the other guy, you have got to want it with every ounce of your body and soul. If you want something that badly, you will succeed and it will be mind over matter - you will physically exhaust yourself and just keep going. He wants it. He wants to be the best the world has seen at tennis - I would rather think he has displayed mind over matter to get where he is today than go 'phftt, that's drugs...' No matter what somebody on the inside says, without proof, concrete and absolute then its all hearsay.

Old Rog can open up an elite Swiss training school for tennis! Or do what Agassi and Graff did with their academy.

I think Stan earned the tournament win - he deserved it.

I miss Boris with every inch of my pathetic self.

I also have been forced into cleaning today raahh it was diabolical and shocking that life should come to cleaning on a Monday.Even though Ken Bruce played Meatloaf today - it made no sense at all to me to have the radio on and a hoover to hand when this time last week I was sat on the couch with coffee and tennis.

I bloody love the fact that Agassi and Graf got married.

When they got together it was so random and lovely it felt like two old friends suddenly falling for each other (even though I disliked Agassi as a player and I cried when he beat Goran in the Wimbledon final).

I clearly need a life.

In my defence I come from a long running tennis family (my grandfather played the French open and was a friend of Lacoste) and all my childhood memories involve watching tennis my my grandparents and my cousins. My sister and I had a childhood feud- she was Stefan, I was Boris...

Sadly I am utterly hand- eye dis-coordinated and cannot play to save my life.

A twist on the Nadal injury though is that Wawrinka didn't ever feel he was good enough to win a Grand Slam - so he's delighted. I've been supporting him since that five match epic against Djokovic last year and delighted with his win this year - thoroughly deserved.

It's common knowledge that the 'Doctor' who was involved with Lance Armstrong also treated a number of very high profile tennis players but so far their names have not been revealed. The tennis authorities have decided they don't want to know.

As for Roger - he is still making an absolute mint out of playing tennis so why quit? I think he just loves the way of life and doesn't know what to do next. Can't say I'd make any other decision myself.

Anyway I'm missing my tennis. Want moooooorrrrrreeee.

Must be difficult if it's taken up so much of your life for so long. I can definitely see why he wouldn't want to retire yet. And while he obviously can't compete at the same level as the top 6 or so, if he stays fit he still looks to be playing at a level that will get him to QFs atm so why not.

Taking nothing away from Stan who obviously had a brilliant game plan, and played some amazing tennis, but I would have loved to have seen how that match would have ended up if Rafa had been fit. We were talking earlier in the week about how Stan starts well but then sometimes the nerves get to him in the big matches. They clearly did in the 3rd set when his game seemed to fall apart.

Morning all.

I think Roger's ego (and I don't mean that in a derogatory sense) may not allow him to carry on if he can't play at the top of his game. When you think of how supreme he once was, it must be a bit galling for him to now lose quite often and not command the respect he once did. As for what would he do - he has teamed up with his agent, and they're going to start their own firm representing a small number of athletes. The reason I know this is that Pot is one of their first signings!

I would have liked the final to have been played out in different circumstances too. But was it nerves that caused Stan to go to pieces, or was it that his routine had been disrupted, his momentum halted? I think it might have been more of the latter to be honest. Stan was clearly upset by the MTO, and then, when Nadal came back on court, even then, he faffed round a bit without the umpire saying anything. Also, how do you play an injured opponent? Do you carrying giving it your all, or do you make concessions? I think it may have taken Stan that third set to get his head back in the right place.

I have to go and do some real work now - I'd far rather spend the day having discussions like this though!

And in other news my dh is still unwell. I'm actually very worried as he's refused to go to hospital and is clearly getting more ill. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but I feel this is my safe place where I can moan to you all!

Morning all, I've had a crazy few days!
I found the final disappointing too, I would have loved a match with them both at their best. Difficult for both of them which they both acknowledged afterwards, no one wanted it to end or to win that way. I doubt Stan would have served it out against a fit nadal i think he would have choked and rafa taken advantage but I am very pleased for Stan though it's good to see someone else really challenge.
As far as the drugs go, innocent until proven guilty.
I hope your dh is feeling better Juan?

Poor Pot - just heard he's suffering with pain from his left wrist and is on his way to USA to see the doc who helped him with his previous wrist problems.

oh no, Potato

So much of the modern game is about avoiding injury- Federer (apart from his back probs last year) has been lucky with that.

In fact, I'll stick my neck out and say a lot of winning a tournament can be luck. Both Rafa and Stan benefited from first round opponents who retired. And Tomic could have been a real threat to Nadal. We said before they started, his draw was a tough one. Stan also got a walk over in his 3rd round.

None of this takes away from Stan's win (the way he beat Djok shows he's no fluke)- but it shows there are many things that can affect a result. Who knows who we'd have been talking about, if Tomic had fulfilled some potential, or Pospisil had played in the 3rd round.

This is all conjecture- but it's interesting all the same (and I'm a bit bored)