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The Open

MFS62 Sep 08 2009 12:53 PM

I was listning to ESPN radio, and the update guy said the Open is at the "Billie Jean King Tennis Center". Did they change the name of Arthur Ashe Stadium? Later

Swan Swan H Sep 08 2009 01:02 PM Re: The Open

The whole tennis center is named for Billie Jean King. Louis Armstrong Stadium and Arthur Ashe Stadium, along with various satellite courts, shops and restaurants, etc., are resident in the Billie Jean King Tennis Center.

MFS62 Sep 08 2009 01:13 PM Re: The Open

Thanks, Later

metirish Sep 14 2009 10:10 AM Re: The Open

A lot of fuss made over Serena Williams tirade in the semi finals. I suspect the people that run the womens tour are delighted with this weeks Open and the publicity provided by Williams outburst and Kim Clijsters winning, and the young American girl. For me at least the womens side was interesting this year than the mens.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 14 2009 10:30 AM Re: The Open

Serena's a jerk though. Her, Joe Wilson and Kwame West can all STFU now. All three of them used the same , "Oh, sorry, I can help it if I'm passionate" excuse. Like I said, STFU.

Frayed Knot Sep 14 2009 10:51 AM Re: The Open

I only watched a few minutes of tennis this whole two-week span - but I happened to be watching at Serena's meltdown moment and it was great TV. More interesting still might have been the comments of the TV crew. - main p-b-p guy Dick Enberg sounded like he wanted to tee off on her but he mostly kept to his just-the-facts ma'am persona - Mary Carillo was real tough; wanted not just a point penalty (which turned out to be enough seeing as how it was match point) but lengthy suspensions as well including suspending her from doubles play as well where she and sister Venus were already through to the finals, effectively awarding the crown to the other team. - McEnroe was funniest of all. He recognized that she stepped WAY over the line but is he the one to say so? ... the guy who once got himself booted from the Australian Open - not just a game penalty but kicked out in mid-tourney for his antics at a time when he was the biggest player on tour Serena's immediate reaction was bullshit and her later more complete apology sounded like agent-written tripe.

metirish Sep 14 2009 11:34 AM Re: The Open

I've never taken Mary Carillo at all. There is something about her I find incredibly annoying .

Gwreck Sep 14 2009 12:02 PM Re: The Open

The whole thing was downright bizarre: Serena was about to lose anyway -- Clijsters already won the first set; was up 6-5 in the second set; and it was 15-30. Plus Serena already faulted on the first serve. So to have a foot fault -- which, by the way was the wrong call (per replay) -- called at that juncture was incredibly strange.

HahnSolo Sep 14 2009 02:21 PM Re: The Open

It seemed like the equivalent of a game 7 NBA finals with the Cavs trailing by a point and seconds remaining, as Lebron gathers the ball at the top of the key for his drive to the basket...the official whistles Ilgauskus for a 3-second violation. Doesn't excuse in any way what Serena did, in fact, I'd like to have seen the punishment be a bit harsher. But with a call like that, I don't believe that line judge should be officiating any matches at the open any more.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Sep 14 2009 02:54 PM Re: The Open

[quote="HahnSolo":la25y33t]It seemed like the equivalent of a game 7 NBA finals with the Cavs trailing by a point and seconds remaining, as Lebron gathers the ball at the top of the key for his drive to the basket...the official whistles Ilgauskus for a 3-second violation. Doesn't excuse in any way what Serena did, in fact, I'd like to have seen the punishment be a bit harsher. But with a call like that, I don't believe that line judge should be officiating any matches at the open any more.[/quote:la25y33t] Agreed with your main thrust... but to tweak the analogy, it's a bit more like that happening in Game 5, with the Cavs down 3-1. Barring an immediate and complete turnaround of momentum, she was going to lose.

Frayed Knot Sep 14 2009 03:04 PM Re: The Open

The replay I saw I couldn't tell whether it was an actual foot-fault or not, although it was certainly an extremely picky call if it was and, while theoretically an infraction is an infraction is an infraction, you hate to see it called there. Doesn't excuse in any way what Serena did, in fact, I'd like to have seen the punishment be a bit harsher. And it might still be. In a way the fact that the match was one point away from being over meant that the on-court refs got off easy. All they had to do was call a point-penalty for "code violation" (her second, there was a racket throwing earlier) and the match was over. Had that same fit occurred in mid-match they would have had to decide on the spot whether what she did was enough to disqualify her which would have bounced her from the tourney including knocking her & Venus out of the doubles as well (they won that earlier today). But the USTA can still stick her with harsher penalties (as Carillo has called for) it's just that that decision just gets to be made by higher ups now instead of just the ones who were running the match that night.

metirish Sep 14 2009 07:06 PM Re: The Open

I caught the last two plus sets of the mens final , and glad I did , del Porto wins 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Federer classy in defeat and del Potro pretty stunned. Dick Enberg seemed the most upset.......joking a little bit there but glad to see Dick come to his senses and let the kid talk in his native tongue no matter that they were well over time.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Sep 15 2009 08:32 AM Re: The Open

[quote="metirish":38odxo41]I caught the last two plus sets of the mens final , and glad I did , del Porto wins 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Federer classy in defeat and del Potro pretty stunned. Dick Enberg seemed the most upset.......joking a little bit there but glad to see Dick come to his senses and let the kid talk in his native tongue no matter that they were well over time.[/quote:38odxo41] Caught the last two sets in a midtown pub after work. The place went lousy poking fun at Enberg after Dick cut the kid off (for those who missed it: Del Potro asked softly if he could say something in Spanish following Enberg's initial postmatch questions... and Enberg awkwardly cut him off, muttering "Um, we don't have time right now for..."). Del Potro, obviously, played the match of his life. Primary weapon? A dead simple, deadly kick-serve and forehand combo from the ad-court when serving-- over and over again, he did this. But Federer, for my money, was nowhere near the form he displayed at Wimbledon, or even earlier this tournament. He made something like 5-10 ugly unforced errors-- shanked forehands, mishit backhands left "open" and flying wide-- over the last set-and-a-half that he NEVER makes. I'll go so far as to say Roddick played far better in losing at Centre Court than Del Potro did today.