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Posted

Who would have thought that a simple tennis discussion would have led to so much debate on the title of this thread?  ? ?

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Posted (edited)
  On 12/06/2019 at 10:10 AM, Luc said:

Absolutely correct.

I remember some of the whinges and the whining from some top ten tennis players of both sexes about the timing of the Aus Open, they wanted it changed so it could be played in a cooler month or moved to a time that wasn't in the New Year holiday period.

The unspoken charge was: Why does Australia even have a Major? Why do I have to come down to this godforsaken place where it's as hot as hell and...

 

That's why it's called a Grand Slam matey, that's why it's a Major matey and that's why it's so farking hard to win it. If you win it then look at the names on the cup...

 

*Actually, without resorting to Google. Who won the last Grand Slam? Did Sampras get one? I've no idea.

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There are only 2 Grand Slam winners in the male category. American Don Budge won one and Rod Laver won 2. Laver could have possibly won more but wasn't allowed to compete for several years due to the fact that he'd turned pro. Only amateurs were allowed to compete. 

Edit: Laver won the last Grand Slam in '69 when the rules were changed to allow professionals to compete.

Edited by mrbuzzardstubble

Posted
  On 13/06/2019 at 11:25 AM, mrbuzzardstubble said:

Yes, he did.

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Yes. Thought I'd seen pics of it actually. also for some reason I remember Randolph Scott playing tennis in long pants

Posted (edited)
  On 13/06/2019 at 4:31 AM, mrbuzzardstubble said:

There are only 2 Grand Slam winners in the male category. American Don Budge won one and Rod Laver won 2. Laver could have possibly won more but wasn't allowed to compete for several years due to the fact that he'd turned pro. Only amateurs were allowed to compete. 

Edit: Laver won the last Grand Slam in '69 when the rules were changed to allow professionals to compete.

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Hello Martin, of course it wasn't just Rod Laver as a professional who was not able to play those four slam tournaments, which were then amateur events. A couple of standouts for me is Ken Rosewall and Pancho Gonzales, both of whom dominated the professional ranks for many years and thus regarded as the best in the world for those years, however, they could not compete in the grand slam tournaments until 1968, when the game went open. I am a big fan of Ken Rosewall and a few brief stats about his career show that Ken turned pro at age 23 and he had 4 grand slam tournaments to his name at that time. He was not able to play those slams again until 1968 when he won the French that year, beating Laver in the final. He then went on to win another 3 slam tournaments, the last being the 1972 Australian Open at the age of 37. We will never know, but I often wonder how many grand slam tournament he would have won during that 11 year hiatus.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

Edited by cheekyboy
  • Like 3

Posted
  On 13/06/2019 at 11:05 PM, cheekyboy said:

Hello Martin, of course it wasn't just Rod Laver as a professional who was not able to play those four slam tournaments, which were then amateur events. A couple of standouts for me is Ken Rosewall and Pancho Gonzales, both of whom dominated the professional ranks for many years and thus regarded as the best in the world for those years, however, they could not compete in the grand slam tournaments until 1968, when the game went open. I am a big fan of Ken Rosewall and a few brief stats about his career show that Ken turned pro at age 23 and he had 4 grand slam tournaments to his name at that time. He was not able to play those slams again until 1968 when he won the French that year, beating Laver in the final. He then went on to win another 3 slam tournaments, the last being the 1972 Australian Open at the age of 37. We will never know, but I often wonder how many grand slam tournament he would have won during that 11 year hiatus.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

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I saw a lot of that era's players towards the end of their careers in action. Rosewall, Roche, Gonzales, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, John Newcombe etc. Unfortunately never got to see Hoad or Laver in action. I even saw Metallica's Lars Ulrich's father Torben play in the N.S.W Open at White City around 1971-1972.

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Posted
  On 14/06/2019 at 4:34 AM, mrbuzzardstubble said:

I saw a lot of that era's players towards the end of their careers in action. Rosewall, Roche, Gonzales, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, John Newcombe etc. Unfortunately never got to see Hoad or Laver in action. I even saw Metallica's Lars Ulrich's father Torben play in the N.S.W Open at White City around 1971-1972.

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Hello Martin,

 

Torben Ulrich was similar to Rosewall in that he played well into his late 30s and early 40s and I was playing Metallica's Black album for someone here only a few days ago, but didn't think of Lars being Torben's son. I was fortunate to see all those players you mentioned above play live, but with the exception of Arthur Ashe. It was a great era of tennis, especially for Australian players and for me, Sedgman and McGregor led the way, followed by Hoad and Rosewall. Emerson and Stolle, Newcombe and Roche..............a few very good doubles combinations there!:)

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

  • Like 3
Posted (edited)

"And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row."

– after defeating Jimmy Connors at the January 1980 Masters. Gerulaitis had lost their previous 16 matches.  :D

Edited by mrbuzzardstubble
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Posted

In the spirit of the thread, I suggest we change the title of the post again to "Tennis Discussion - GO Barty!"

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Posted
  On 24/06/2019 at 5:52 AM, Snoopy8 said:

In the spirit of the thread, I suggest we change the title of the post again to "Tennis Discussion - GO Barty!"

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Not a bad idea, Snoopy ;)

 

So Wimbledon begins. Barty has a very difficult draw and Serena apparently did not know that Barty was No. 1. Are you serious!!

Alex De Minaur is Australia's only seeded player in the men's draw. Those other two guys have certainly let themselves down of late.

Posted
  On 01/07/2019 at 1:02 PM, wolster said:

Those other two guys have certainly let themselves down of late.

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I like your idea of not mentioning the two idiots by name. The less said the better, but unfortunately, their antics sell newspapers.  So much better if everyone ignores them.  They take away the oxygen from Barty.

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Posted

7 are switching between Kyrgios and Barty.

Watching Kyrgios can be entertaining and frustrating point by point.

Thompson playing well.

Barty not having it all her own way but has the first set.

Posted

And now Kyrgios is just giving the fourth set away after going down a break. 

How could you coach him?

Posted
  On 02/07/2019 at 1:09 PM, wolster said:

And now Kyrgios is just giving the fourth set away after going down a break. 

How could you coach him?

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I thought you were not mentioning the name. I switched over to the tennis, saw him and didn't bother.

Posted

@Snoopy8 He was actually brilliant in the 5th. Claimed that losing the fourth was a tactic.

Will certainly be watching when he plays Nadal in the next round.

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Posted
  On 02/07/2019 at 10:46 PM, wolster said:

@Snoopy8 He was actually brilliant in the 5th. Claimed that losing the fourth was a tactic.

Will certainly be watching when he plays Nadal in the next round.

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I was cheering for Jordan Thompson and disappointed that he lost, so go Rafa!!:thumb:

 

Tomic was pathetic and only turned up to collect his first round prize money.

 

Well done to Ash Barty, that was a tougher match than the score indicates, both from the mental hurdle of getting past that first round and the fact that Zheng has a pretty decent grass court game.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
  On 02/07/2019 at 11:43 PM, cheekyboy said:

 

I was cheering for Jordan Thompson and disappointed that he lost, so go Rafa!!:thumb:

 

Tomic was pathetic and only turned up to collect his first round prize money.

 

Well done to Ash Barty, that was a tougher match than the score indicates, both from the mental hurdle of getting past that first round and the fact that Zheng has a pretty decent grass court game.

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C'mon Keith!!     How could you possible go for the druggo steroid boi Rafa. :P    Go Nick - whip Rafa's bucket arssse and send Uncle Tony back to Spain .     

Edited by metal beat
Posted
  On 02/07/2019 at 10:46 PM, wolster said:

@Snoopy8 He was actually brilliant in the 5th. Claimed that losing the fourth was a tactic.

Will certainly be watching when he plays Nadal in the next round.

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I was a fan and but now totally turned off (which I did to telly last night!). What a waste of talent, could easily have been the next Federer. My better half thinks the mother should have given him two slaps and tell him to grow up.  

 

  On 02/07/2019 at 11:43 PM, cheekyboy said:

I was cheering for Jordan Thompson and disappointed that he lost, so go Rafa!!:thumb:

 

Tomic was pathetic and only turned up to collect his first round prize money.

 

Well done to Ash Barty, that was a tougher match than the score indicates, both from the mental hurdle of getting past that first round and the fact that Zheng has a pretty decent grass court game.

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We have had far too many brats, all male, over the years. Feel sorry for the likes of Jordan Thompson. That is why Barty is so refreshing. GO BARTY!

  • Like 2
Posted
  On 02/07/2019 at 11:43 PM, cheekyboy said:

 

I was cheering for Jordan Thompson and disappointed that he lost, so go Rafa!!:thumb:

 

 

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Head to head they are 3-3 but I suspect that Kygrios does not have the fitness to go with Rafa this time around. There were several times last night that he looked seriously out of breath.

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