Topic: The MARIA SHARAPOVA THREAD - Quotes, Facts, Reports, Anything!

[conchita]

IMHO Sharapova and Henin played the best match of the year in the YEC final in Madrid

[Chris1987]

IMHO Sharapova and Henin played the best match of the year in the YEC final in Madrid

amazing match, full of drama and determination.brilliant match to be at and was so proud of Maria that week and in particular during and after the Henin match

[conchita]

michelle larcher de brito is dazzling--both in looks and charms and her game. hope she can get into top 20 one day.

Larcher de Brito Steps It Up

One of the most promising young stars around came in first at one of the biggest events on the junior circuit, as Michelle Larcher de Brito captured the girls' singles title at the Orange Bowl, overcoming an early deficit in the final to stop the hot streak of American Melanie Oudin.

After a second round loss at the US Open, Oudin had won 22 matches in a row (and four titles) coming into the Orange Bowl, and looked fairly untroubled in extending that to 27 in a row to reach a fifth straight final, dropping just one set en route (to world No.1 Urszula Radwanska in the quarters). In the final, the No.8-seeded American stormed out to a 3-0 first set lead and seemed headed for victory but No.9 seed Larcher de Brito turned the match around, rallying back to win the first set and powering through the second set for a 75 63 victory and her first title in over a year.

"I hadn't won a tournament the whole year, so finally winning one was great," Larcher de Brito said afterwards. "There was one point where I went to the net and panicked a little bit, because I don't like it. It was an important point too. But I actually won the point, so it went okay.

"I had to go for everything and push myself to the limit to actually win it."

Larcher de Brito began playing tennis when she was five years old and moved to the Bollettieri Academy when she was nine. Her junior resume is building already and, in addition to the Orange Bowl title, includes the Under 16 Eddie Herr title in 2005 (at age 12; she was the youngest player ever to win it). She made a splash in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut earlier this year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, becoming the seventh-youngest player in history to win a Tour main draw match by beating Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening round (she was 14 years, one month and three days old); after putting up a fight in the first set, she would fall to new Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets in her second match, 75 60. She spent the rest of the season performing strongly on the ITF Women's and Junior Circuit.

The Orange Bowl is one of the most prestigious junior tournaments outside of the Grand Slams. A number of current and former world No.1s have played the event, including Belgian Justine Henin, who won it in 1996.

[Clay Death]

michelle larcher de brito is dazzling--both in looks and charms and her game. hope she can get into top 20 one day.

Larcher de Brito Steps It Up

One of the most promising young stars around came in first at one of the biggest events on the junior circuit, as Michelle Larcher de Brito captured the girls' singles title at the Orange Bowl, overcoming an early deficit in the final to stop the hot streak of American Melanie Oudin.

After a second round loss at the US Open, Oudin had won 22 matches in a row (and four titles) coming into the Orange Bowl, and looked fairly untroubled in extending that to 27 in a row to reach a fifth straight final, dropping just one set en route (to world No.1 Urszula Radwanska in the quarters). In the final, the No.8-seeded American stormed out to a 3-0 first set lead and seemed headed for victory but No.9 seed Larcher de Brito turned the match around, rallying back to win the first set and powering through the second set for a 75 63 victory and her first title in over a year.

"I hadn't won a tournament the whole year, so finally winning one was great," Larcher de Brito said afterwards. "There was one point where I went to the net and panicked a little bit, because I don't like it. It was an important point too. But I actually won the point, so it went okay.

"I had to go for everything and push myself to the limit to actually win it."

Larcher de Brito began playing tennis when she was five years old and moved to the Bollettieri Academy when she was nine. Her junior resume is building already and, in addition to the Orange Bowl title, includes the Under 16 Eddie Herr title in 2005 (at age 12; she was the youngest player ever to win it). She made a splash in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut earlier this year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, becoming the seventh-youngest player in history to win a Tour main draw match by beating Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening round (she was 14 years, one month and three days old); after putting up a fight in the first set, she would fall to new Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets in her second match, 75 60. She spent the rest of the season performing strongly on the ITF Women's and Junior Circuit.

The Orange Bowl is one of the most prestigious junior tournaments outside of the Grand Slams. A number of current and former world No.1s have played the event, including Belgian Justine Henin, who won it in 1996.

i would like to see her play. she is definitely special. i read somewhere that she got to hit with nadal one time.

[conchita]

michelle larcher de brito is dazzling--both in looks and charms and her game. hope she can get into top 20 one day.

Larcher de Brito Steps It Up

One of the most promising young stars around came in first at one of the biggest events on the junior circuit, as Michelle Larcher de Brito captured the girls' singles title at the Orange Bowl, overcoming an early deficit in the final to stop the hot streak of American Melanie Oudin.

After a second round loss at the US Open, Oudin had won 22 matches in a row (and four titles) coming into the Orange Bowl, and looked fairly untroubled in extending that to 27 in a row to reach a fifth straight final, dropping just one set en route (to world No.1 Urszula Radwanska in the quarters). In the final, the No.8-seeded American stormed out to a 3-0 first set lead and seemed headed for victory but No.9 seed Larcher de Brito turned the match around, rallying back to win the first set and powering through the second set for a 75 63 victory and her first title in over a year.

"I hadn't won a tournament the whole year, so finally winning one was great," Larcher de Brito said afterwards. "There was one point where I went to the net and panicked a little bit, because I don't like it. It was an important point too. But I actually won the point, so it went okay.

"I had to go for everything and push myself to the limit to actually win it."

Larcher de Brito began playing tennis when she was five years old and moved to the Bollettieri Academy when she was nine. Her junior resume is building already and, in addition to the Orange Bowl title, includes the Under 16 Eddie Herr title in 2005 (at age 12; she was the youngest player ever to win it). She made a splash in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut earlier this year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, becoming the seventh-youngest player in history to win a Tour main draw match by beating Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening round (she was 14 years, one month and three days old); after putting up a fight in the first set, she would fall to new Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets in her second match, 75 60. She spent the rest of the season performing strongly on the ITF Women's and Junior Circuit.

The Orange Bowl is one of the most prestigious junior tournaments outside of the Grand Slams. A number of current and former world No.1s have played the event, including Belgian Justine Henin, who won it in 1996.

Fist-pumping with all the energetic enthusiasm of a teenager willing to take on Rafael Nadal in an arm-wrestling match.

Michelle Larcher de Brito: I have always been very emotional on court and pumped my fist similar to Rafael Nadal. It just happens when I am really into the match and it helps keep me positive on the court.

[yellowball]

michelle larcher de brito is dazzling--both in looks and charms and her game. hope she can get into top 20 one day.

Larcher de Brito Steps It Up

One of the most promising young stars around came in first at one of the biggest events on the junior circuit, as Michelle Larcher de Brito captured the girls' singles title at the Orange Bowl, overcoming an early deficit in the final to stop the hot streak of American Melanie Oudin.

After a second round loss at the US Open, Oudin had won 22 matches in a row (and four titles) coming into the Orange Bowl, and looked fairly untroubled in extending that to 27 in a row to reach a fifth straight final, dropping just one set en route (to world No.1 Urszula Radwanska in the quarters). In the final, the No.8-seeded American stormed out to a 3-0 first set lead and seemed headed for victory but No.9 seed Larcher de Brito turned the match around, rallying back to win the first set and powering through the second set for a 75 63 victory and her first title in over a year.

"I hadn't won a tournament the whole year, so finally winning one was great," Larcher de Brito said afterwards. "There was one point where I went to the net and panicked a little bit, because I don't like it. It was an important point too. But I actually won the point, so it went okay.

"I had to go for everything and push myself to the limit to actually win it."

Larcher de Brito began playing tennis when she was five years old and moved to the Bollettieri Academy when she was nine. Her junior resume is building already and, in addition to the Orange Bowl title, includes the Under 16 Eddie Herr title in 2005 (at age 12; she was the youngest player ever to win it). She made a splash in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut earlier this year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, becoming the seventh-youngest player in history to win a Tour main draw match by beating Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening round (she was 14 years, one month and three days old); after putting up a fight in the first set, she would fall to new Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets in her second match, 75 60. She spent the rest of the season performing strongly on the ITF Women's and Junior Circuit.

The Orange Bowl is one of the most prestigious junior tournaments outside of the Grand Slams. A number of current and former world No.1s have played the event, including Belgian Justine Henin, who won it in 1996.

conchita, I love ya' but what the he*l.  Is your computer in a room full of tennis reference books... ! You're spooky (in a good way) 

[conchita]

michelle larcher de brito is dazzling--both in looks and charms and her game. hope she can get into top 20 one day.

Larcher de Brito Steps It Up

One of the most promising young stars around came in first at one of the biggest events on the junior circuit, as Michelle Larcher de Brito captured the girls' singles title at the Orange Bowl, overcoming an early deficit in the final to stop the hot streak of American Melanie Oudin.

After a second round loss at the US Open, Oudin had won 22 matches in a row (and four titles) coming into the Orange Bowl, and looked fairly untroubled in extending that to 27 in a row to reach a fifth straight final, dropping just one set en route (to world No.1 Urszula Radwanska in the quarters). In the final, the No.8-seeded American stormed out to a 3-0 first set lead and seemed headed for victory but No.9 seed Larcher de Brito turned the match around, rallying back to win the first set and powering through the second set for a 75 63 victory and her first title in over a year.

"I hadn't won a tournament the whole year, so finally winning one was great," Larcher de Brito said afterwards. "There was one point where I went to the net and panicked a little bit, because I don't like it. It was an important point too. But I actually won the point, so it went okay.

"I had to go for everything and push myself to the limit to actually win it."

Larcher de Brito began playing tennis when she was five years old and moved to the Bollettieri Academy when she was nine. Her junior resume is building already and, in addition to the Orange Bowl title, includes the Under 16 Eddie Herr title in 2005 (at age 12; she was the youngest player ever to win it). She made a splash in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut earlier this year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, becoming the seventh-youngest player in history to win a Tour main draw match by beating Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening round (she was 14 years, one month and three days old); after putting up a fight in the first set, she would fall to new Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets in her second match, 75 60. She spent the rest of the season performing strongly on the ITF Women's and Junior Circuit.

The Orange Bowl is one of the most prestigious junior tournaments outside of the Grand Slams. A number of current and former world No.1s have played the event, including Belgian Justine Henin, who won it in 1996.

conchita, I love ya' but what the he*l.  Is your computer in a room full of tennis reference books... ! You're spooky (in a good way) 

yellowball, tennis is by far my favorite sport! and I am huge fan of Rafa! 

[Chris1987]

Maria on the Ellen Show
On Friday 21st December, Maria will make an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show.  This will be Maria's 1st appearance on the show. 

According to the website they will talk about what it's like to be the highest paid female athlete of 2006, her roller coaster year due to injuries, her holiday plans, and looking forward to the 2008 season.

[Chris1987]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

[Clay Death]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

cant wait. i am recording as many good matches as i can in 2008 so i can watch them in my spare time. i need to start a collection anyway.

[Chris1987]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

cant wait. i am recording as many good matches as i can in 2008 so i can watch them in my spare time. i need to start a collection anyway.

Its a great hing to start doing Herc, a good collection cna keep you entertained for weeks so I love having loads of DVDs and videos on my favourite sports and matches.

[Clay Death]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

cant wait. i am recording as many good matches as i can in 2008 so i can watch them in my spare time. i need to start a collection anyway.

Its a great hing to start doing Herc, a good collection cna keep you entertained for weeks so I love having loads of DVDs and videos on my favourite sports and matches.

exactly right. some of the matches may end up being classics.

[Chris1987]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

cant wait. i am recording as many good matches as i can in 2008 so i can watch them in my spare time. i need to start a collection anyway.

Its a great hing to start doing Herc, a good collection cna keep you entertained for weeks so I love having loads of DVDs and videos on my favourite sports and matches.

exactly right. some of the matches may end up being classics.

I hope you have a tape with Maria in the Australian Open Final winnning a classic haha, that's what a dream of every night anyway and then in the day I hope it becomes a reality come the end of January  I hope you get the chance to have some fantastic classics taped Herc from both the ATP and WTA.

[Clay Death]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

cant wait. i am recording as many good matches as i can in 2008 so i can watch them in my spare time. i need to start a collection anyway.

Its a great hing to start doing Herc, a good collection cna keep you entertained for weeks so I love having loads of DVDs and videos on my favourite sports and matches.

exactly right. some of the matches may end up being classics.

I hope you have a tape with Maria in the Australian Open Final winnning a classic haha, that's what a dream of every night anyway and then in the day I hope it becomes a reality come the end of January  I hope you get the chance to have some fantastic classics taped Herc from both the ATP and WTA.

that is the plan. i will be starting my collection soon. right now i am looking for a vilas/connors final in 1977 at forest hills. i also need a few french open and italian open matches. its just something to do in my spare time.

muster played a 5 setter against becker at monte carlo a few years back so that is still another one i am going to try to find. muster came back from 2 sets down to take down the mighty german. becker accused him of being on steroids after the match. the ironman of austria was in shape and could have played another match after that match and still still not be tired enough for 10 mile run. in any case, i gotta have that match.

[Chris1987]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

cant wait. i am recording as many good matches as i can in 2008 so i can watch them in my spare time. i need to start a collection anyway.

Its a great hing to start doing Herc, a good collection cna keep you entertained for weeks so I love having loads of DVDs and videos on my favourite sports and matches.

exactly right. some of the matches may end up being classics.

I hope you have a tape with Maria in the Australian Open Final winnning a classic haha, that's what a dream of every night anyway and then in the day I hope it becomes a reality come the end of January  I hope you get the chance to have some fantastic classics taped Herc from both the ATP and WTA.

that is the plan. i will be starting my collection soon. right now i am looking for a vilas/connors final in 1977 at forest hills. i also need a few french open and italian open matches. its just something to do in my spare time.

muster played a 5 setter against becker at monte carlo a few years back so that is still another one i am going to try to find. muster came back from 2 sets down to take down the mighty german. becker accused him of being on steroids after the match. the ironman of austria was in shape and could have played another match after that match and still still not be tired enough for 10 mile run. in any case, i gotta have that match.

Fantastic matches you've named there erc and ones that would start your collection off fantastically. Also some of the really recent matches you'd like for your collection on your favourite surface are the Rafa vs Coria Rome 2005 Final, then you could have Fed vs Rafa at Monte Carlo and especially Rome in 2006. They were all absolute classics and lasted at least 4 hours, the Rome Finals lasting over 5 hours. They were matches in the last 3 years on clay that will stick with me forever.

[kittens25]

IMHO Sharapova and Henin played the best match of the year in the YEC final in Madrid

Yeah it was an amazing match, regardless who had won in the end.   Such a contrast when the year end Championships was generally a dissapointment with all the one-sided matches up to the final, that the final would produce maybe the match of the year.    The WTA owe Justine and Maria a big thanks for that display in the final, since there was already this faint negative buzz starting up again about the womens game with the all the one-sided tennis in that "best on best" event (everyone knows it is only the top ranked available players going head to head) and then that great final all of the sudden saved face for the womens game to a large degree.

[Clay Death]

First events of 2008
Before making her 2008 Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in the middle of January, Maria will play 2 warm-up events in Asia.  Maria will first play an exhibition in Singapore on December 30th and then travel to Hong Kong to play an exhibition there which begins on January 2nd.

Maria will take on world #6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This will be Maria's 7th match against her compatriot and she has won each time.

Then Maria will play the JB GROUP Classic 2008 in Hong Kong.  This event features 8 players and has 3 rounds.  5 top 10 players are entered here and Maria will be the #2 seed and face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarters, Maria has never played Wozniacki before.  This match will be played on January 2nd at 18.30 Hong Kong time.  Maria has played this event 4 times before and reached the final here in January.

Maria will then take a week off to prepare for the 1st Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne which begins on January 14th. 

cant wait. i am recording as many good matches as i can in 2008 so i can watch them in my spare time. i need to start a collection anyway.

Its a great hing to start doing Herc, a good collection cna keep you entertained for weeks so I love having loads of DVDs and videos on my favourite sports and matches.

exactly right. some of the matches may end up being classics.

I hope you have a tape with Maria in the Australian Open Final winnning a classic haha, that's what a dream of every night anyway and then in the day I hope it becomes a reality come the end of January  I hope you get the chance to have some fantastic classics taped Herc from both the ATP and WTA.

that is the plan. i will be starting my collection soon. right now i am looking for a vilas/connors final in 1977 at forest hills. i also need a few french open and italian open matches. its just something to do in my spare time.

muster played a 5 setter against becker at monte carlo a few years back so that is still another one i am going to try to find. muster came back from 2 sets down to take down the mighty german. becker accused him of being on steroids after the match. the ironman of austria was in shape and could have played another match after that match and still still not be tired enough for 10 mile run. in any case, i gotta have that match.

Fantastic matches you've named there erc and ones that would start your collection off fantastically. Also some of the really recent matches you'd like for your collection on your favourite surface are the Rafa vs Coria Rome 2005 Final, then you could have Fed vs Rafa at Monte Carlo and especially Rome in 2006. They were all absolute classics and lasted at least 4 hours, the Rome Finals lasting over 5 hours. They were matches in the last 3 years on clay that will stick with me forever.

2006 monte carlo and 2006 rome were epic. unfortunately the atp idiots have done away with best of 5 sets foremat for the finals at masters series events so say goodbye to any more epic 5 set battles at masters series events. i think it was a huge mistake/miscalculation. those 5 set finals also provide a great stepping stone for slam finals in addition to providing some memorable matches that stand as major, epic battles.

[swish]

2006 monte carlo and 2006 rome were epic. unfortunately the atp idiots have done away with best of 5 sets foremat for the finals at masters series events so say goodbye to any more epic 5 set battles at masters series events. i think it was a huge mistake/miscalculation. those 5 set finals also provide a great stepping stone for slam finals in addition to providing some memorable matches that stand as major, epic battles.

I couldn't agree with you more.

[Clay Death]

2006 monte carlo and 2006 rome were epic. unfortunately the atp idiots have done away with best of 5 sets foremat for the finals at masters series events so say goodbye to any more epic 5 set battles at masters series events. i think it was a huge mistake/miscalculation. those 5 set finals also provide a great stepping stone for slam finals in addition to providing some memorable matches that stand as major, epic battles.

I couldn't agree with you more.

i am still highly pissed off about that decision. recently nadal has also made some unfavorable remarks about that decision. it would have been better to shorten the tour and repackage some of the marquee events like yec and the davis cup.

why mess with proven success. and they also throw records comparisons out of the window with this.

[swish]

2006 monte carlo and 2006 rome were epic. unfortunately the atp idiots have done away with best of 5 sets foremat for the finals at masters series events so say goodbye to any more epic 5 set battles at masters series events. i think it was a huge mistake/miscalculation. those 5 set finals also provide a great stepping stone for slam finals in addition to providing some memorable matches that stand as major, epic battles.

I couldn't agree with you more.

i am still highly pissed off about that decision. recently nadal has also made some unfavorable remarks about that decision. it would have been better to shorten the tour and repackage some of the marquee events like yec and the davis cup.

why mess with proven success. and they also throw records comparisons out of the window with this.

The least they could do is have 5 setters starting at the quarters.

And that's another reason I don't want the 5th GS. It screws up the history and the records among other reasons.