Henin-Hardenne wins Eastbourne in a 3rd set tiebreak over Myskina; Gasquet becomes the first man ever to defend Nottingham with a 6-4 6-3 win over Bjorkman, Michaela Krajicek straight-setted Dinara Safina at Ordina (a day after beating Dementieva! What a week.), and Ancic defended Ordina in 3 sets against Jan Hernych.
really happy for gasquet, hope he really takes it to federer on monday with the form he's in...pity he doesn't get extra ranking points for nottingham though cos he was defending
henin-hardenne must really be getting into myskina's head now...
Posted by: angel | June 24, 2006 at 11:16 AM
myskina played better than i thought she would...she was kind of streaky especially in the second set, but overall she held it together. she saved a lot of match points at 4-5 third set. btw i'm so glad gasquet won! and ancic won too!!! whoo!!! took him long enough though. he double faulted so many times >< i didn't see the match but did hernych raise his level of play in the end or did mario just start playing worse? does anyone know? final score: 6-0 5-7 7-5
Posted by: ancicfan | June 24, 2006 at 11:43 AM
How about a little doubles love? Martina Navratilova and Liezel Huber (team NavHuber) beat the #1 doubles team in the world yesterday in the SF in Eastbourne in straight sets. Martina's still going strong, I see. And team Momosova (Amelie & Kuzzie) won their first doubles title as a team today by defeating team NavHuber in the final of Eastbourne. Too bad it wasn't televised...this looked like a great match.
Posted by: momofan | June 24, 2006 at 12:45 PM
Lol, indeed, momofan. Doubles never gets any respect! And I LOVE Momosova--the name and the team!
Posted by: federated | June 24, 2006 at 12:56 PM
Hey Federated, can we have a post on player nicknames? Here are some of the ones I've come up with for the ATP Top 10 (at least, they were ATP Top 10 once)
1. Roger "The Rajah" Federer
2. Rafa "Kung Fu Fightin'" Nadal
3. David "Every time I change my name, I fire my coach" Nalbandian
4. Ivan "Rafa's streak isn't all that impressive...whoops, I just got my @$$ kicked" Ljubicic (I hate "Jiffy Lube"...it sounds like some B-rate E. European porn star)
5. Andy "If I don't serve aces, I don't win" Roddick
or...
Andy "Who moved my mojo?" Roddick
6. Nikolay "Nobody knows who I am even though I am the top ranked Russian" Davydenko
7. Mario "I was the last guy to beat the Fed at Wimbledon" Ancic
8. James "Andy served 10 aces against me and I still broke him 3 times" Blake
9. "Satan" Hewitt
10. Fernando "I hit the ball as hard as I can and hope it goes in" Gonzalez (much better than "Gonzo," don't you think?)
And yes, Team Momosova is ridiculously far too cool. Amelie and Sveta really know how to have fun while kicking major butt out there! Although, I feel bad for "Grandma" Navratilova, because she and Liezel DID take out the #1 doubles team in the world.
And here are a couple of my "masterpieces" just for fun...
1. Andy "[email protected]#[email protected]! I just got fined for cussing again!" Murray
2. Ivan "I served more aces in 7 matches on clay than Fed did the entire year and I still suck on grass" Ljubicic
3. Feliciano "I'm the only Spaniard since 1966 to make the Wimbly quarters" Lopez (sorry, I honestly can't remember when exactly was the last time a Spaniard made the quarters at the "Big W," so I just randomly chose 1966, but you get the point)
More to come later, unless you're so annoyed I'll simply HAVE to stop!
Posted by: momofan | June 24, 2006 at 01:40 PM
lmfao...hilarious and fun.
some more...
fernando "don't call me gonzalez" verdasco
rafael "banana" nadal
or
rafael "wedgie" nadal
andy "my press conferences are my interesting (and successful) than my matches" roddick
nikolay "who?" davydenko
ivo "i can't play tennis but man can i serve" karlovic
guillermo "elena dementieva" coria
marcos "i'm a gangsta, yo" baghdatis
or
vince "i'm a gangsta, yo" spadea
ivan "i won davis cup and fed never did" ljubicic
tommy "i like brazilian girls" robredo
paul henri "no one on american tv can pronounce my last name correctly" mathieu
novak "in denial" djokovic
Posted by: ancicfan | June 24, 2006 at 02:40 PM
How DO you pronounce Mathieu? He's a hottie, though, and the Mathieu-Nadal match was high quality.
I think vince "i ain't afraid of ya" spadea is what he calls himself on his official website...check it out: www.vincespadea.com. Complete with weirdo music, graffiti font, and graphic design nightmare. Oh, and all you girlies out there can get pink (yes, PINK) "I love Vince" wristbands in the style of the yellow Livestrong bands. My eyes are still bleeding.
On the tennis channel they call him Fernando "hot sauce" verdasco, i think.
Ivo "Even the Fed can't break me, we have to play 3 tiebreak sets" Karlovic.
Novak "I lost 4-6, 4-6, retired, but I think I was in control of the match until then" Djokovic.
Novak "The Djoker" Djokovic
Richard "Please, God, don't let him blow a" Gasquet
Elena "A serve is not that important...Look at A-Rod (ouch!)" Dementieva (I swear she said that!)
Rafael "Rogelio can beat me anytime, but I still 6-1, no?" Nadal
Brad "Every time A-Rod comes into the ESPN studio I go to the bathroom" Gilbert
Ivan "Rafa will go further than me at Wimbledon by at least two rounds even though I serve more aces/match than the Rajah and Rafa combined" Ljubicic
Uncle Toni "Sorry, I no speak English, only hand signals" Nadal
LOL. Sorry, Federated. Let us know if we're getting TOO annoying.
Posted by: momofan | June 24, 2006 at 02:56 PM
Sorry for the double post, but you simply MUST check this out:
http://www.vincespadea.com/fortheladies.html
Because I would love to be seen in public with "Ain't Afraid of Ya" plastered all over my butt.
And I just thought of another one:
Ivo "I serve so many aces that even when I lose, I'll never get bageled. Ever. Course, my game sucks so much I can't bagel anyone else either" Karlovic
Posted by: momofan | June 24, 2006 at 03:12 PM
no, lol, i'm loving it, momo! How about
Feliciano "Shara-who? I'M the prettiest girl on tour!" Lopez
My GOD, Ice Ice Vinnay. I posted about him and his site during Roland Garros (did you know his dad was an opera singer? how's that for irony?) and missed that page. God, please make Spadea stop. It hurts.
Posted by: federated | June 24, 2006 at 03:48 PM
ahahaha it does hurt!!!
how about:
marat "two meter embodiment of a woman's dream" safin?
took that one from dima...
Posted by: ancicfan | June 24, 2006 at 03:57 PM
Yeah, I remember you posting about Vinny, but I thought I'd just give us a "blast from the past." I remember I showed that page to my friend who's not even interested in tennis and her reaction was classic. The first thing she said was, "What is with that MUSIC?" Then she said, "My eyes hurt." And that is EXACTLY the same reaction EVERYONE should have to that site. Do you know he calls himself "Supaghetto Vinnydawg"? I can't help but think of Chef Boyardee and think what a hit "Supaghetto Vinnydawg" would be in the schoolyards of the Bronx whenever I read that. As for his dad -- poor Papa Spadea. From Vivaldi to Vinnay: it must be rough.
F-Lo does look like a girl. But he's still very pretty, so that makes up for it. I think, though, that you should seriously create a page for me and ancicfan to post our player nicknames so I don't keep crashing your posts like this. But a few more to keep us going:
1)Feliciano "When Rafa plays doubles with me, we dress the same. But I look prettier than him, of course" Lopez (http://www.daviscup.com/shared/medialibrary/image/gallery/DC_4789_gallery.JPG)
2) ESPN: Especially Stupid Programming Network
3) ESPN: Eternally Showing Paintball (or Poker) Network
4) NBC: Notoriously Bad Commentating (I can't stand Ted Robinson; did he even ever play tennis before?)
5) David "No 'o' " Ferrer (to distinguish him from JCF)
6) Gaston "I choked less at RG 2004, but I still play two guys at once: me and the other dude. How's that for talent?" Gaudio (I swear he said this after losing to Rafa in Monte Carlo this year)
7) Maria "I'm too mentally strong to choke on anything but my shriek" Sharapova
8) Novak "I Djoke but I don't choke because I'm in control even when I'm losing" Djokovic
Let me know which ones you like and which ones belong in an "Ice Ice Vinnay" rap! ;-)
Posted by: momofan | June 24, 2006 at 04:05 PM
Can I sign up to be Marat's Mirka?
Posted by: momofan | June 24, 2006 at 04:15 PM
oh forgot to reply to your question
mathieu's name is pronounced POHLL enRI mah-TYOO the last sound is one syllable
i love the Feliciano one...great pic too ^_^
as well as the ESPN and NBC ones
this is way too fun. i should be doing actual work but eh...
some WTA players
kim "way too good for lleyton" clijsters
nicole "i'm not russian" vaidisova
or
nicole "don't call me maria" vaidisova
and my favorite...
anastasia "tolstoy - trains =" myskina
Posted by: ancicfan | June 24, 2006 at 04:30 PM
er...it should read enREE not enRI
sometimes i think in spanish vowel terms. no se porque...
Posted by: ancicfan | June 24, 2006 at 04:33 PM
WTA:
1) Kim "I dream of Jea--whoops, Brian" Clijsters (soon to be whatever Brian's last name is)
2) Kim "I broke up with Satan over the phone" Clijsters
2) Svetlana "People in Flushing Meadows forgot who I was in 2005" Kuznetsova (auww...poor Sveta!)
3) Maria "I'm hotter than Sharapova" Kirilenko (she really is)
4) Sania "India puts too much pressure on me" Mirza (poor Sania)
5) Amelie "I am what I am, now stuff it before I kick your @$$ AGAIN, Martina" Mauresmo ("I am what I am" is Amelie's official Reebok motto)
6) Justine "I'm really sweet when I'm not kicking your @$$ Really, I am." Henin-Hardenne
7) Justine "I was jealous that Pierre-Yves has three names so naturally I had to have 3 too" Henin-Hardenne
8) Patty "I hate grass but I love orange juice" Schnyder
9) Elena "I'd get together with Willy Coria if he wasn't married" Dementieva
10) Martina "I shortened my name" Hingisova-Moliturova (yes, that is her real name!)
11) Dinara "Not all Safins are headcases" Safina
Seriously, where do I sign up to be Marat's Mirka?! ;)
Posted by: momofan | June 24, 2006 at 04:41 PM