First?

Mayer into the second round of a Master's for the first time ever. The five people in the audience applaud. He was really painting the lines by the end of that match.

I wonder who he will play next?

Thanks Andrew! Love the pic. Lots of people watching that match, no?

Simon about to win 1 and 1.

Carrie, winner of Lopez/Verdasco.

...or not. Nice shot by Dancy there. :)

love the pic. wow, thats quite a crowd.

Carrie: winner of 'dasco-Lopez..

I had Mayer going through, though I have him losing to Verdasco in the next round.

Great win for Mayer as Carrie says he was painting the lines. He will have a tough match if he plays either Verdasco or Lopez. Lopez should be easier though.

Misha Zverev looks like a well known hollywood actor but I cannot realize now of whom he reminds me ...

just came back online to see gilles won handily.

i blame it on frank's attire - there's no way he was going to play another match in that outfit.

just sayin'... :)

linex: Matthew Mcconaughey

Oh....well looks like Mayer's road will end soon. Although maybe he could have a slight chance. Although of course- I expected him to beat Ball in LA and that came to naught,

I don't like that there are so many matches between players I like early- Flo/Nanda and others although JCF/Hewitt takes the cake.

Awesome match for Simon. Is he finally finding his mojo again?

linex -- Matthew McConaughey?

sigh. just realized as usual, the french manage to complete hose me... gilles and gael were supposed to lose! ah well, i like them both, so i'll get over it!

how'd gilles play? does he seem like he may be getting some confidence back?

Congrats to Jackie and other fans of Gilles.

Commies to fans of Dancevic.

YAY. Very "special" performance, indeed. I could get used to this. (Hear that, Gilles? Do *that* more often, yeah?)

Tough eve for Dancy. Hugs to his fans (or just those of you who picked him to win!).

Arun, Crazyone I am thinking of some one with his same hair colour and same green eyes. Not Mathew who is better looking than Misha.

The JCF/Hewitt match is going to be great, or at least I hope it is.

If Gilles can keep up that red-hot game, watch out Tsonga and then Roger. That's the sort of tennis that wins a shield.

Could not watch Simon but he is one of my favourite players so I am happy that he won. His season with the exception of his quarter final run in Australia has been mostly disappointing I hope that he rights the ship now.

I'm still smiling.

Just the first round, Jackie. *hits self*

Thanks Andrew for the overflow

Yes Gilles played the best match,I havent seen him this agressive for ages.

That shirt Frank had on worked for Borg,maybe Frank just needs to find other one.lol!

Ange- I think JCF/Hewitt match will be good quality but I hate that one of them will have to lose so early. I have enjoyed their mini-resurgences this year.

Well Gilles did beat Roger in Toronto

Gee Verdasco v The Beautiful One,mmmm,

I picked the Chick Magnet

Carrie I picked Hewitt.

I think Hewitt is the favourite vs Ferrero in a hard court.

AM, that's what I'm thinking. Roger would need his top game to counter Gilles in that form. But there's a little way to go yet ...

JohnC Roger is playing 100% better now then last year when he was knocked out.I wouldnt worry there.

I do think Hewitt is a favorite on hard but not by a huge amount. JCF did make it to the finals of Cincy in 2007 (or was it 2006).

Blake was '07, no?

NY Times on Rafa's dubs match and the attention it received:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/sports/tennis/11tennis.html

too bad i missed a good Gilles showing. Watching him play is a real beauty, when he's got his A game. Gahh too many people to root for. Not sure who i want to win this thing.

We just haven't seen which game Roger has brought with him to Montreal, though I've been pretty optimistic.

On Hewitt, I notice Steve has picked him over Murray in that quarter, which is not as eccentric as it seems. With Roche on the case and Rusty clearly having matured, he has got a ton of h/c experience to draw on. He's inched forward in the rankings again to 40, and I'm sure he would dearly love to get in the top 32 by the USO, which is probably quite doable.

Rafadoc thanks for the link to that article.I am more relieved to read that.

You are welcome AM. I am just really glad Rafa is getting the support of the crowds. He can have "good feelings" that way, no?

Well, time for sleep for me.

Enjoy Kids!

Jackie- yep Blake was 2007. JCF was the finalist in 2006- where he lost to Roddick.

I am wondering if JCF will still hang it up after this season. He said that if he made it to the top 20 he would rethink it. He is currently at 29.

Good night everyone here is hope that we can enjoy good matches tomorrow and that there is good weather to make it possible.

Rafa is going to have huge support here. The good folks of Montreal would be over the moon about a Rafa-Roger final, and the only way that can happen is if both get through, of course.

Good morning,

Congrats to Giles. I like him also. I didn't watch the match because I'm reserving my energy for tonight. These tournaments are worst for us, Europeans, than jet-lag.

Good for Rafa-Roig. It seems Rafa was moving well with no trouble at all.
http://www.marca.com/2009/08/11/tenis/1249952588.html

Off-topic. The captain of Espanyol (soccer club) died at 26 of a heart infarct in Florence where his team was going to play a match. Gezzzz

Hello all...thanks for the picture, Andrew, and the overflow, and thanks Rafadoc and zenggi for those links. :)

Hi Zenggi and Jewell

Zenggi Tell me about the time difference,Live play started here in Sydney at 1am Sigh!

Jewell Yes love those pics of Rafa had his bi-ceps,forgotton thant he had any.

Just taking a break myself trying to get bathrooms in order,non sporting g/friend has decided to arrive tommorrow thank goodness.

How could anyone ever forget those biceps? LOL. They really are just beautiful.

Jewell Well it has been a while,2008 to be exact.

I don't want him to play too much doubles, but I'm ecstatic that they put in a win. :) And very pleased to hear the movement is good.

Not sure what Nole was doing though, and without watching it's very hard to judge.

Jewell Yes I feel the same without watching you are only taking other peoples version of things,also when a singles player is just playing doubles for some extra practice I dont read too much into it at all.

RPM measurements from the Sampras era:

http://wings.avkids.com/Tennis/Project/usspin-01.html

Looks like Bruguera's fh averaged 3300+ RPM, which is comparable to (or slightly higher than) Rafa's average of 3200+. (Fed comes in at around 2700). Of course, Rafa's peak is higher. Venus had the highest of the women.

Sampras' second serve had a high of 5300+ RPM. Lordie. For some reason, it says that his avg. speed was 85mph. I recall it being faster.

Anyways, small sample size.

Hmmmm listen to this from the gossip pages of our daily paper

Lara Bingle g/friend of Michael Clark aussie v/captain returned to Australia in new couture clothes was seen out and about in her New Aston Martin,by way of Michael.Went to park her car illegally parking poice were nereby and directed her to new car space.

Yes I can just see that doing it for me,I would cop a parking fine,also she is Blonde by the way lol!

Bruguera and Sampras with the old equipment/strings got more topspin than Rafa? That's a huge surprise to me...

Pspace Goodness me dont let NP see that

You will be history and taken to task

Also this could go on for weeks.

Am,

I'm getting ready to go to work now. It's 8 o'clock in the morning in Holland. The night sessions starts at 1 o'clock in the night for me. I'm a zombie for a month until the end of the US Open.

I have to go. See you all tonight.

aussiemarg : I didn't see your report card for your boys after the fourth Test... ;-)

Pspace I am surprised too,did they mention Borg there at all?

VC: didn't you know? That was the Age of Lions. It's only in today's weak era that they need the crutch of better equipment.

Really, Spacie, about Bruguera? Interesting.

I would never have thought that about Sampras's serve but then I guess there was always far more to it than mere speed.

VC I am working on it,dont worry I will post it soon.

I know for a fact a wooden racquet,cause I played with one myself,it much better to volley with than these new speed racquets

Maybe this is a valid reason that most guys cant volley properly also they are taught from the baseline today.

LOL crazyone. :)

I was trying to work out whether that made Rafa better or worse...Gah.

LOL, crazyone.

VC, the new strings don't give you extra topspin per se, but let you apply topspin to more kinds of balls coming at you. It makes a difference on, e.g., return of serve, passing shots off a sliced approach, and so on. The key (I think) is that Luxilon is usually used at a much lower tension than gut 5-8lbs less, allowing the ball to stay on the racquet a little longer. (If you string gut that low, it will break in like 3 games).

Also, if you look at the studies, they're averaging over 5-10 fhs. Larger sample and more situational comparison is needed.

AM, no. Nothing about Borg. All players from the Sampras era. Bruguera, Muster, Courier, Agassi etc.

Pspace Well the clay court players like Borg could also use different topsin in their day

Laver also had a great topspin

The new racquets give you more power per say on your shots,but you still have to control the shot,if not you over hit the ball.

AM, yeah, there's a very good player at my tennis courts who uses wooden racquets. First time he asked me to hit, I was kinda amused that he would even try with wood. I tried to give him some moonballs to see how he would deal with it. He sent it back with even more topspin. It was fantastic. Of course, I quickly realized that he was a much better player than me anyway...kinda humbling.

Pspace, Sampras varied his serve depending on the opponent and the situation. If he needed to be aggressive on his 2nd serve, as in many of his matches against Agassi, he'd crack +100, +110 mph to keep the opponent humbled. If not then lots of kickers and with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

And I've seen that stat about Bruguera's FH (though elsewhere) before. Like you said, small sample size, but that's why I say he may be one of the very few who could challenge if not match Rafa in topspin.

Interesting explanation, Pspace... does that explain why claycourters found it harder to translate their game to faster surfaces back in the '90s?

I think another factor is the head racquet speed a player has also with these new racquets

For example Rafa has incredible head racquet speed he can apply has you said two different types of spin on a single ball,thats alien like as my hubby says.

And this is a good time to link back to this article on the Sampras serve, just to remind the ignorant Roddick's serve has nothing on the real thang!

http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/visuals/visuals.aspx?id=109012

Pistol Pete forever!!!

*looks around for imjimmy*

See I told you Pspace

jewell, imjimmy will make his obligatory nightly appearance. Besides, it's been a while since the last Sampras Hour.

It doesn't feel like very long, though. Hee. :)

Speaking of kick serves, Rafter's kicker was a killer. Arguably as good as Edberg's, if not better.

NP, yeah. It would be great if some1 extended that study.

VC, there are probably many factors. I'd suggest that it's mostly because they were not as talented as Rafa. Also, since the start of mandatory MS, you don't have guys who camp out on clay for most of the year. Not really sure who you'd call a specialist now.

Anyways, in the Sampras era, there were also many players from the Lansdorp school of hitting hard and flat. Even with the new strings, Rafa struggles with those kind of balls. But, he may struggle a little less due to the new strings.

Hang on isnt it Pistol Petes Birthday on the 11th or 12 of August?

AM, hehe, I figured it was Sampras hour. Just my way of saying "hi" to NP and imjimmy.

"It doesn't feel like very long, though. Hee. :)"

Yes. Dorothy loves ya, baby!

Bows to NP's wonderful and precise explanation of Pats kicker serve

Just for that I will award you 2 Bonus points

Dont go over board though I will deduct at will.

Updaated Score,

NP 52

Peter 30

AM, the 12th. Or so sez Wiki.

Slash Wizard of Oz...sounds like fun. :)

AM, how come Peter's score is so high?

Ah...the Glorious 12th, the start of the shooting season for Red Grouse, apparently. :)

Speaking of game birds, saw two grey partridge down by the Wedding Wonderland Warehouse last week...think they must live down by the railway line. Odd things to see hopping around the back end of an industrial estate. :)

NP He brought me Roberto Caveli shoes and handbag

Need I say more.

jewell likes to shoot down game birds.

AM, gotcha.

Probably going to regret this but can't resist asking anyway...what don't you like about Casablanca and Gone with the Wind, NP?

j, Casablanca a good but not great movie. GWTW, it's a chick flick, with too many debilitating flaws.

Wait, IC you said what as opposed to why. You want another 10,000-word essay from me?

I thought you'd say chick flick somewhere in there. :)

Gone with the Wind is worth watching just for Vivien Leigh's dresses.

"Gone with the Wind is worth watching just for Vivien Leigh's dresses."

And you just confirmed it.

Well...I personally don't care whether a film is good or great. Do I/you like it? Yes or no? Why/why not? is far more interesting to me than a filmic GOAT debate. :)

I'm not entirely convinced the easy gender generalisations hold, either. But let's not go down that route. :)

jewell, and I like but don't love Casablanca, to jog your memory.

Jewell I just adored those dresses Amen.

yeah, I liked Casablanca as well. I thot I'd read GWTW b4 watching the movie, but the book was sooooooo boring that I decided not to watch the movie. The only good part in that book was the last line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn". That's pretty much how I felt about that Scarlett O'Hara.

"I'm not entirely convinced the easy gender generalisations hold, either."

Sure they do. Die Hard is a guy flick, and far better than GWTW.

I loved the book as well, although it took some getting in to. :)

I love Die Hard. :) Alan Rickman FTW.

Pspace, with you on the book, though to be fair I read it in my teens. That said, you haven't watched the movie your whole life? Not even on TV? Where U been the whole time, Dorothy's universe?

In all seriousness, Die Hard is a damn good action flick. So is Speed.