ATP

[genichirou]

i think my favourite ATPplayer would be rafael nadal, the 2nd seed.

well i think the spin on his backhand's pretty strong and is quite distinctive. and need i say he rules on clay? :]
i think he has the potential of becoming the top seed, he jsut has to grasp wimbledon (considering that he has come very near to it for 2 years).

[shiraishi]

How true, how true, but sadly he could not win this year. I mean he owned Rolland Garros and I thought form the first three sets in the Wimbledon that Rafael would win becoming the second Spanish tennis player to win in the wimbledon. Manuel Santana's 1961 win is still legendary today - the famous drop shot that resembles the only one close to teuka's zero shiki drop shot.

[shiraishik]

I'm gonna have to look all these people up i only started watching actual tennis recently cause i saw the U.S Open while i was flipping through channels (i have it paused right now XD i love pausing t.v.) speaking of which, are any of these people in it? i already saw Hewitt (i was so happy to recognize someone) and Karlovic (but i didn't see the end of his match yet) and i am currently watching James Blake's match. unfortunately, like i said, i'm new to actual tennis so i just kind of pretend to know whats going on ^^

[shiraishik]

is anyone else watching the U.S. Open?

[shiraishi]

I'm watching live my house is near it. Besides this sucks the stadium is being used by the pro's so no juniors are allowed to practice there till the end of the us open. I hope nadal vs Roger in the finals. Oh and shiraishik you should watch both nadal and roger federer the make the impossible possible.

[shiraishik]

cool, i saw roddick vs gimelstob(gimelstob's last match, he's gonna retire) roddick has the fastest serve in the game at 155 mph, it was awesome-gimelstob could hardly return it (and i thought *Scud Serve*) besides that, those guys are funny , i didn't see Federer or Nadal play yet, but if Roddick plays as good as he did there, he could go finals too m/b

[shiraishik]

anyway, i'm trying to catch a Federer or Nadal game (i'm recording it in case i miss anything)

[shiraishi]

Well check it out on Youtube if you have spare time. The matches at rolland garros, hamburg, and the wimbledon were unexpected turnouts.

[shiraishik]

ok Sankyu

[genichirou]

shiraishi- you're so lucky! i flew halfway across the globe to catch the roland garros... oh well, i'd give anything to live beside flushing meadows

a new thread has been created for the discussion about us open

[shiraishi]

Thanks geni, at first it didn't occur to me people on the forum lived so far away but in a way it's quite amazing that so many people from different places are gathered on website. And your really lucky to catch the match in rolland garros, I wish I could have seen it live. Anyway hewitt's probably gonna retire soon he's no longer in his primes, same with roger but I think he'll take home another 50 championships before retiring.

[genichirou]

yeah haha- well i think roger still has a loooong way to go (he's only 26, right?) maybe another 60 championships lol before he retires.
then nadal will reign!

[xoxoryomaxoxo]

i cant watch it (cry cry sniff sniff)

[shiraishi]

Don't worry it's on youtube if you wanna see the highlights. And it's going to be a tough year for both nadal and ferderer after the open I think they're in twice the tournaments after the next year.

[genichirou]

Hmm the ATP Masters' Cup is coming up.. It's an annual event where the top few players in the ATP come together in a tournament to play against each other. Check out the official website here.

The qualifiers are:
- Roger Federer
- Rafael Nadal
- Novak Djokovic
- Nikolay Davydenko
- Andy Roddick
- David Ferrer
- Fernando Gonzalez
- Richard Gasquet

My dad managed to grab 3 tickets to the Masters' Cup. We're watching the Semis November 17th. Hopefully, i'd be watching Nadal play ;D I think that Nadal has a very high possibility of getting into the Semis, if not the Finals. Roger Ferderer- definitely. Who do you think may be able to get into the Semis/Finals?

[Mint]

I haven't seen much tennis is real life but I think Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, and Novak Djokovic will make it to the semi-finals.

And you have tickets, genichirou-senpai? I envy you.......

[shiraishi]

Novak hmmm.... I think he might have a chance at getting to the finals after his performance at the open. He played spectacularly, and i know because I was sitting in one of the front rows, man that guy is good he almost had a chance at beating ferderer if he hadn't missed the 1 centimeter shot. Well I know for a fact that Nadal wasn't playing his best back then so that means one thing. A showdown between the new rookie and the king of clay.

[genichirou]

I can't wait for next saturday to come. I think I'll have a pretty good view, I'm sitting in the section behind the Silver boxes.

I think that Fernando Gonzalez may have a chance of getting into the semis. His performance at the Australian Open and Rome Masters was very good, and although he hasn't been consistent, I've got a hunch that he may surprise us all at this year's Masters' Cup.

[shiraishi]

No I think otherwise. Fernando's last magnificent game was the one in which he played ferderer in the french open (and he lost that one). Well I am Novakl/ Nadal fan so yeah... has nadal recovered from the surgeries though? I hope he has so he can play well in the tournament.

[The Prodigy]

No flaming plz ^_^
I don't like Nadal... o.O

[shiraishi]

Why ever not? Are you a federer fan then?

[FujiFS]

Can childrens, let's say 11 year old, play in the tournament of the tennis US Open?

[The Ever-changing Coconut.]

It's open right? So, yeah, maybe. :/

[Wing]

Isn't USTA OPEN for participants 18 and older?

[shiraishi]

No I doubt it. It's for those who have attained a national rankings who are mostly pros and who are mostly old. Serena Williams was 16 when she first participated remember?

[m0m0shir0]

Mar 25, 2008 12:19:26 GMT 7 Wing said:

Isn't USTA OPEN for participants 18 and older?

Nah, it's not. Tennis doesn't go by age division when it gets to a professional or "open" level. An 18 year old could be just as good as a 25 year old. It's simply about ranking and skill when it comes to a tournament like the US Open. It consists of 128 players. There are 30 seeded players (usually the top 30 players in the world), in addition to many of the other top players, while some contendors make it through qualifying, by playing matches to be able to contend, or "wild cards", which are basically free tickets into the main draw.

French #1 Richard Gasquet was 15 when he emerged onto the ATP tour (I believe not long after he won his first ATP tournament), and #2 in the world Rafael Nadal was the same age when he first came onto the scene as well.

So an 11 year old could enter a tournament like the US Open, but the chances of that happening are like 0.01%. The pros today hit the ball too well, with far too much pace and consistency for a small 11 or 12 year old to compete with. It just couldn't happen.

[shiraishi]

I have to agree with you on that. Though high school teenagers have a better chance at becoming professional. That also reminds me... There are junior atp tourney's as well. Such as the jr. wimbledon (which I'll be playing at soon) and the junior Us Open. People who usually win those become professionals, take Ryan Harrison for example. The 15 year old kid from austin joined the atp tour just last month I beleive after winning his osaka cup. There is also the 18 year old Donald young who made it into the top 100 atp pros. However the two top pros that I've had my eye on is Yuki Bhambri and Ricardas Berankis. Yuki from delhi is one of the first indian players to emerge after Mirza (I think that's how you spell it.) especially when he's only 12. He's taken the rank number 5 in the junior boys division winning out against ryan harrison rank 8. I'm really excited to watch the itf tourneys this year.

[Wing]

May 25, 2008 18:31:35 GMT 7 m0m0shir0 said:

Mar 25, 2008 12:19:26 GMT 7 Wing said:

Isn't USTA OPEN for participants 18 and older?

Nah, it's not. Tennis doesn't go by age division when it gets to a professional or "open" level. An 18 year old could be just as good as a 25 year old. It's simply about ranking and skill when it comes to a tournament like the US Open. It consists of 128 players. There are 30 seeded players (usually the top 30 players in the world), in addition to many of the other top players, while some contendors make it through qualifying, by playing matches to be able to contend, or "wild cards", which are basically free tickets into the main draw.

French #1 Richard Gasquet was 15 when he emerged onto the ATP tour (I believe not long after he won his first ATP tournament), and #2 in the world Rafael Nadal was the same age when he first came onto the scene as well.

So an 11 year old could enter a tournament like the US Open, but the chances of that happening are like 0.01%. The pros today hit the ball too well, with far too much pace and consistency for a small 11 or 12 year old to compete with. It just couldn't happen.

Ah, that made much more sense. Thanks for the explanation.. Well I've just recently signed up for the USTA, hopefully I'll begin ranked matches and what not..

Any tips for anyone that has played in the USTA or anyone that has some good experience in Tennis?

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