Topic: Castle Camelot vo.11-where sports,ghosts,vampires&Ye olde castle spirits linger

[mimi]

noway..his closer mates are boys no girls for now

i see, wait for a few more years, and you gonna see lots of girls around 

[Betty t4u]

 

[mimi]

 

[masterclass]

Good day all! I hope everyone is well.

Some interesting matches so far in Dubai today...

Del Potro just scraped by Baghdatis with a 3rd set tiebreaker win today.  Bag man had 3 MP for the match with Del Potro serving at 5-6, but got tight, and the match went to the tiebreaker and Del Potro won 7-4 with Baghdatis again looking tight.  A shame, I had picked Baghdatis to upset Del Potro in FITD.  Oh well, almost.

The Russian roadrunner Nikolay Davydenko upset #9 ranked Janko Tipsarevic 6-0, 7-5.  After Tipsy got bageled in the first set, he led 4-1 in the second before Kolya won the next 6 out of 7 games.

And poor Bernie Tomic.  General Illness beat Tomic as he retired to Hanescu with Hanescu leading 3-2 in the first set.

Respectfully,
masterclass

[masterclass]

Djokovic - Troicki on deck.

Respectfully,
masterclass

[Clay Death]

morning sports fans. let the good times roll.
 
that was a surprising score there in dubai general masterclass: little russian shrimp handled tipsy quite easily this time around.
 
and d-pot vs baggy battle went the distance.
 
marcel granollers won comfortably.

[Clay Death]

general masterclass did you see this article. i will believe it when i see it.
 
February 26th, 2013

Nadal Already Out Of Indian Wells And Miami? Spanish Press Says So
by Sean Randall
Fears are almost confirmed. A week ago we asked how Rafael Nadal and his bum knee should schedule the upcoming March Masters Madness in Indian Well and Miami. If you were among the 41% who voted “Skip Both”, it looks like you are going to be in the win column.
Spanish news outlet Marca is reporting this morning that Nadal will in fact skip both events to preserve his knees for the all-important clay season. (He will play on “Earth Only” offers my browser translation!)
Rafa has made it clear to anyone who will listen that his knee is still not 100%, and he doesn’t like playing on hardcourts much anyway – zero titles since Tokyo 2010. And I can’t even remember the last time Rafa played on the cement. Quarterfinals at Miami last year?
Nadal is also scheduled to play a hardcourt exo next Monday in NYC, but that’s not looking promising either.
Nadal does play later tonight in Acapulco against a qualifier, so we’ll get the full story from the horses mouth then.

[Clay Death]

order of play for acapulco:
 
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=807

[masterclass]

Hmm, I'll believe it when I see it general.   He'll probably see how he feels in Acapulco first.  If he cancels his exhibition at MSG, then I might believe he'll pull out of Indian Wells, but that will be a surprise considering that owner of the tournament, Larry Ellison is a big fan of Nadal's.

But we will see. He removed his Manacor hard court picture from his Facebook page and replaced it with a clay court pic...

Respectfully,
masterclass

[Clay Death]

i saw that general masterclass.
 
good point. he is probably not going to indian well if he skips his exo in new york.
 
the one tournament he has to skip is miami masters. he may have been better shape if had been skipping that one for the last 5 years. that and zero doubles activity in indian wells and miami. that would have helped as well.
 
there is one other thing that he does and he just did wise up on it: he slaves away on hard courts before going to indian wells and miami.
 
no reason to wreck your knees on hard courts like that. clay to hard court adjustment is the easiest for top players like nadal, nole, and roger.
 
and if hard courts are destroying your knees and finishing off your movement then you get off the damn hard courts.
 
i mean if the choice is playing and not playing then i would choose playing.

[Clay Death]

on the tennis discussion page somebody is saying that tipsy was injured.
 
 and tomic is out because of an injury.
 
nole vs viktor on deck. poor vikor. he cant get away from nole.

[masterclass]

Well general Hercules, he can sit on the sidelines and play his poker and golf, or do what he has to do to play tennis.   I'm not sure what he is happier doing lately, but he'll be remembered in history for tennis, so he needs to make the most of it.

He can play golf riding his golf cart when he is 75 years old and play poker sitting in his rocking chair.  He doesn't need to do it now.

Respectfully,
masterclass

[masterclass]

Troicki bends over to his master in the first set giving him a breadstick.

Respectfully,
masterclass

[masterclass]

order of play for acapulco:
 
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=807

Thanks for the OOP general.  I see Nadal doesn't play till 9:00 pm Acapulco time.  I don't think I'll see that one

Respectfully,
masterclass

[Clay Death]

that is spot on general.
 
very soon he will have 65 years to play golf, poker, and fishing.
 
maybe we are the ones who were not listening. he said about 5 times at the end of 2010 and in early 2011 that he felt like he had been "playing tennis for 100 years".
 
so either he wants to be like borg and suggest that he was burned out or he got complacent. probably little bit of both.
 
you just dont tell your fans and your sponsors directly and bluntly that you are burned out from the sport and want to take a break or that you slowly plan a way out.
 
so he got around that by saying that it feels like he has been playing tennis for 100 years.
 
i have a feeling that the reasons for increased poker and golf activity is more than just being burned out from tennis or the bad knee.
 
great athletes overcome far greater odds. they relish the challenge and they find a way because they always have.
 
i think he looks at the top players now and sees that it will be very hard to catch up with them. having $200 million in the bank and still making $20 million a year anyway also helps his thinking that he has done enough.
 
he has also said many times that most all the important activity in the sport is on hard courts. that is simply not true. there is more than one way to skin a cat. muster proved that.
 
so he may be giving up because of that. not much we can do about it. if he does not want to compete and battle then he will find endless justifications for it.

[masterclass]

Great post general.  Well thought out.  By the way, where the hell is General Shankar?  I was hoping to hear some of his reaction to Nadal's return to tennis.  Send me a PM if it is a sensitive issue...

Respectfully,
masterclass

[Clay Death]

general swish said 2 days ago that general shanks is posting away at tennis warehouse.
 
i am hoping they ban his ass there soon.
 
here is the order of play for del ray. some good matches there today. e-gul vs blake match should be a good battle. blake can still put together a great match on hard courts.
 
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=499
 
 
 
isner, levine, haas, and sizzling sijsling are in action today.

[Clay Death]

just about 500 posts to go now before a new volume.

[Clay Death]

http://www.tennis.com/live-scores/#date/2013-02-26/tournaments/delray-beach-international-tennis-championships/gender/male/

[masterclass]

I see Harrison is playing now.  What's with this guy?  Whenever I see him, he looks bigger and bigger, and I don't mean taller.  Jack Sock as well, looks like he is stealing food from Simon and paying the price. Sock has a big game, just needs to move better, but looks about 20 pounds overweight. 

These Americans need to get on your training program general.  Too much fast food and pizza pies over there, methinks.

Respectfully,
masterclass