Topic: ATP - 2008 AO Thread

[JadeFox21]

It really is a shame that many Americans are completely ignorant about world geography.  I bet 95% of this country couldn't show you where Iraq is on a map even though we've been at war with them for a few years now.

As for Australia...I knew the capital was Canberra.  I used to be a travel agent and I had to know where countries were and I had to memorize the airport codes of every major airport in every country!  I have forgotten some, but I still remember many of them.  In alot of cases, I know the airports more than I know the capitals, ha!

[Chris1987]

I loved doing geography at school but only when we actually did about places in the world and capitals, that sort of thing I loved that and seeing a finding out about all the places and exactly where they were. I'm pretty good with my capitals. I just hated geography when we did about volcano's, rivers and things like that. Those aspects were extremely 

[JadeFox21]

I loved doing geography at school but only when we actually did about places in the world and capitals, that sort of thing I loved that and seeing a finding out about all the places and exactly where they were. I'm pretty good with my capitals. I just hated geography when we did about volcano's, rivers and things like that. Those aspects were extremely 

I hear ya, Chris.  Geography in school sucked because they went over things like "major imports and exports" and terrain crap.  I hated that.  But Travel School was a blast because we studied what countries were known for and what things you should see as a tourist.  Even memorizing the airport codes wasn't too bad. Some were easy because they were close to the city name, others were harder because the code came from the actual airport name.  Like the airport code for Tokyo is NRT...because the name of the airport is Narita.

[Chris1987]

I loved doing geography at school but only when we actually did about places in the world and capitals, that sort of thing I loved that and seeing a finding out about all the places and exactly where they were. I'm pretty good with my capitals. I just hated geography when we did about volcano's, rivers and things like that. Those aspects were extremely 

I hear ya, Chris.  Geography in school sucked because they went over things like "major imports and exports" and terrain crap.  I hated that.  But Travel School was a blast because we studied what countries were known for and what things you should see as a tourist.  Even memorizing the airport codes wasn't too bad. Some were easy because they were close to the city name, others were harder because the code came from the actual airport name.  Like the airport code for Tokyo is NRT...because the name of the airport is Narita.

Ah tell me about it JadeFox, those major imports and exports bring back bad and boring memories, I could never see why we had to go through all that useless rubbish in a geography lesson, it made me hate the subject, even though it was one I loved during the first years of studying it. That sounds interesting and something we never did memorising the code names for the airports, Tokyo must have been one of the hader ones to remember with a code an name like that to remember. I'd have prefered that rather than volcano's, small boring rivers and terrain aspects, that stuff was utterly boring and crap indeed!

[BGT]

I loved doing geography at school but only when we actually did about places in the world and capitals, that sort of thing I loved that and seeing a finding out about all the places and exactly where they were. I'm pretty good with my capitals. I just hated geography when we did about volcano's, rivers and things like that. Those aspects were extremely 

I hear ya, Chris.  Geography in school sucked because they went over things like "major imports and exports" and terrain crap.  I hated that.  But Travel School was a blast because we studied what countries were known for and what things you should see as a tourist.  Even memorizing the airport codes wasn't too bad. Some were easy because they were close to the city name, others were harder because the code came from the actual airport name.  Like the airport code for Tokyo is NRT...because the name of the airport is Narita.

Ah tell me about it JadeFox, those major imports and exports bring back bad and boring memories, I could never see why we had to go through all that useless rubbish in a geography lesson, it made me hate the subject, even though it was one I loved during the first years of studying it. That sounds interesting and something we never did memorising the code names for the airports, Tokyo must have been one of the hader ones to remember with a code an name like that to remember. I'd have prefered that rather than volcano's, small boring rivers and terrain aspects, that stuff was utterly boring and crap indeed!

Who can forget Gross Domestic Product?

[Chris1987]

I loved doing geography at school but only when we actually did about places in the world and capitals, that sort of thing I loved that and seeing a finding out about all the places and exactly where they were. I'm pretty good with my capitals. I just hated geography when we did about volcano's, rivers and things like that. Those aspects were extremely 

I hear ya, Chris.  Geography in school sucked because they went over things like "major imports and exports" and terrain crap.  I hated that.  But Travel School was a blast because we studied what countries were known for and what things you should see as a tourist.  Even memorizing the airport codes wasn't too bad. Some were easy because they were close to the city name, others were harder because the code came from the actual airport name.  Like the airport code for Tokyo is NRT...because the name of the airport is Narita.

Ah tell me about it JadeFox, those major imports and exports bring back bad and boring memories, I could never see why we had to go through all that useless rubbish in a geography lesson, it made me hate the subject, even though it was one I loved during the first years of studying it. That sounds interesting and something we never did memorising the code names for the airports, Tokyo must have been one of the hader ones to remember with a code an name like that to remember. I'd have prefered that rather than volcano's, small boring rivers and terrain aspects, that stuff was utterly boring and crap indeed!

Who can forget Gross Domestic Product?

Yeah I think I should definitely try to forget that  That was maybe the worst thing we could have ever covered in geography 

[BGT]

Monfils, Haas and Ancic have pulled out of the AO.

[kickserve]

The mens qualifying draws for the Australian Open are out:

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/qs/index.html
Notables: Haase(1), Ginepri(18), Dlouhy(29), C.Rochus, Moodie(32), Kim, Bopanna, Jenkins, Petzschner, Gabashvilli, Troicki, Kunitsyn, Pless, Stakhovsky, Udomchoke(28).

[Chris1987]

Monfils, Haas and Ancic have pulled out of the AO.

Thats really unfortunate to see those 3 pull out, Anicic is just completely ridden with injuries, Haas has had a lot of success in Melbourne in past years so this is very unfortunate for him, and Monfils really has got to really step in up on the main Tour so this is another opportunity for him to do that gone.

[BGT]

C'mon Robby!!

[Chris1987]

The mens qualifying draws for the Australian Open are out:

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/qs/index.html
Notables: Haase(1), Ginepri(18), Dlouhy(29), C.Rochus, Moodie(32), Kim, Bopanna, Jenkins, Petzschner, Gabashvilli, Troicki, Kunitsyn, Pless, Stakhovsky, Udomchoke(28).

Ginepri having to now qualify now Grand Slam events  
Haase started the year well so he'll be full of confidence going into this event.

[JadeFox21]

Monfils, Haas and Ancic have pulled out of the AO.

I guess Ancic was expected and maybe Haas too.  But I didn't realize Monfils had a problem.  Haas has always done well at the AO, so that is really sad for him.

[barbadosan]

I only hope Fed hasn't got the same strain of stomach virus Ancic had... or at the very least he went on fluids and stuff much earlier

[mtt]

So, without even reading about it, can you tell me if Madrid is close to Barcelona? what about Valencia? or can you tell me if Stuttgart is close to Frankfurt? how about Frankfurt from Berlin? and Munich? And between Rome and Venice? or Paris to Florence? Insbruck to Zurich? See what I mean? cities within countries are different from thinking 2 countries are 1.

For that, first you would have to define "close"....
What is considered "close" here in the US, where the distances are far bigger than in Europe, might be considered "far" in Europe.
For example, frankfurt-stuttgart is approx 130 miles, not a whole lot by US standards, but in Germany, with gas prices at approx. $7/gal, you make sure to have a good reason to make that drive..
Barcelona - Madrid, 345 miles, would be considered 'far" in europe.

And yes, I agree, people should a t least know in which continent countries are... transplanting spain to central america, or africa, is unacceptable.

[OSU Buckeye]

What happened to Ginepri? 

[BGT]

What happened to Ginepri? 

I'm not sure. I was very surprised to see him outside the top 100.

[Chris1987]

What happened to Ginepri? 

I'm not sure. I was very surprised to see him outside the top 100.

He reached that US Open semi final vs Agassi in 2005, and instead of building on that and taking his career up the next level, he actually went the other way and he realised what he'd achieved and it seem to hit him so much so that he instead went backwards and as a result his game has declined quite dramatically. He was one that couldn't at all cope with some expectation that came his way after that.

[TheBull]

Nalbandian injures back, in doubt for Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- David Nalbandian injured his back hitting with Marat Safin at Melbourne Park on Wednesday and is a doubtful starter for next week's Australian Open.

Nalbandian, a 26-year-old Argentine whose last two title wins came over No. 1-ranked Roger Federer and No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal at the Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris in October, said he would have medical scans later Wednesday to assess the damage.

"For sure I can't play. I can't even hit slowly with the ball," he said. "The best thing is to rest and get treatment. In two or three days, start hitting slowly again and see how it goes."

http://tennis.com/news/news.aspx?id=110230

----------------------------

 

[barbadosan]

Federer hoping for light practice today.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/tennis/federer-is-confident-hell-be-fit/2008/01/08/1199554654312.html

"Asked if he was concerned about its potential impact on his chances for a third consecutive Australian Open title, Federer said: "Honestly, no, otherwise I would have left already, but I still hang around, and I definitely think it's going to turn for the good.""

[barbadosan]

Fed still with a chance at Kooyong match?

Top-ranked Federer withdrew from the Kooyong event on Monday, citing a «serious stomach virus,» but was back in practice Wednesday on Rod Laver Arena, the center court at Melbourne Park where he has won three of the past four Australian Open titles.
He moved freely and showed no signs of discomfort in a short hitting session after excercising on the new, blue Plexicushion courts.
Federer has previously used Kooyong _ an invitation-only event stacked with top players attracted by guaranteed matches _ to fine tune his Australian Open campaigns.
Tournament director Colin Stubs said there was a possibility of Federer having a match later this week should a vacancy become available.

http://www.pr-inside.com/nalbandian-withdraws-with-back-spasms-federer-r377802.htm