Sharapova Saunters into Quarters

yahoo.com ^ | 6/27/05 | unknown

[beyond the sea]

Sharapova saunters into quarters, joy for Lopez

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050627/sp_nm/sport_tennis_wimbledon_dc_1

LONDON (Reuters) - Russian defending champion Maria Sharapova enjoyed a sun-soaked stroll into the Wimbledon quarter-finals Monday.

French pair Amelie Mauresmo and the revitalised Mary Pierce also coasted through to the last eight on a frantic day of action with all 16 fourth-round singles matches being played.

Second seed Sharapova prevented Nathalie Dechy joining her French compatriots with a 6-4 6-2 victory on Court One, her fourth consecutive straight sets win.S

[Sun Soldier]

"It never used to be played with an extended grunt that is used today to disrupt..."

I wouldn't call it intentional, myself. I think of Michael Jordan and how he used to hang his tongue out before most of his spectacular moves. I always worried he'd get a shot to the chin and bite it off. I'm sure he was just being himself though and didn't realize he was risking a speech imediment.

[beyond the sea]

I liked Evonne Goolagong back in the 70's too. She was an artist on the court. Being from Australia however, sometimes she was known to go on "a walk-about" on the court .... where she would seemingly lose her concentration for some time and play poorly. But she was a very nice girl and an elegant player.

;-)

[beyond the sea]

Hopefully not all the players pick up this habit and we end up with a Yetti horror movie marathon with every Grand Slam tourney!

LOL. Sadly I guess, I think once you get in the habit of making those noises it's probably hard to stop it.

[beyond the sea]

Her legs are excellent too. The girl can cover the court.

[A CA Guy]

You can't hear Michael's tongue, but the extended grunts are disruptive.

I am a tennis player myself and I can assure you it is out of the ordinary.

I did one play a fellow who did do the grunting one step worse. They delayed the grunt from their hit until the ball was on my side and I was about to hit it.
That one I never could figure out. They never won against me, so I never cared, but that was unusual to an extreme beyond even Sharapova.

[Sun Soldier]

"You can't hear Michael's tongue, but the extended grunts are disruptive. I am a tennis player myself and I can assure you it is out of the ordinary."

I've never played much tennis but from what I've watched, you're right, there are only a handful of grunters/screamers. I can't say I'd be bothered by it if I were playing. I guess I'm used to loud noises from playing raquetball where the noise is constant and the grunts just blend in with everything else. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure how loud I grunt when I hit it (actually, I think I hold my breath)? Now, the delayed grunt thing sounds like dirty tennis and I hope you told the guy so (even though you whipped his a$$)! :)

[jjbrouwer]

How do you think Sharapova will do against Venus Williams? I think she'll beat her easily and then win the tournament again. She's playing even better than last year.

And no one is going to beat Federer. He could win it for years.

[beyond the sea]

I think you have hit it on the button...... she is playing better than last year.... and Federer has that look in his eyes of a winner... great concentration...... like Borg.

I love your great old wonderful tournament........oh, please send me some strawberries!

;-)

[jjbrouwer]

People will eventually get bored of Federer. He is too good and the British love the underdog. Personally, I think he's the best there's ever been - better than McEnroe, Borg, Sampras or Lendl.

Sharapova will always be a favourite though even if she becomes world number one.

You kind of get the feeling Maria and Federer haven't even got out of first gear yet.

[theFIRMbss]

>she is playing better than last year....

Q. Andy Murray was saying yesterday as he came off he had a marriage proposal. Have you ever had that experience yourself?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: God, there's so many answers to give you guys. I don't know what to choose from. I mean, yeah, there are a lot of signs. Not too many here, not at Wimbledon. At other tournaments, there are a lot of signs, "Will you Mary me, Maria?" It's like, "Will you jump off a bridge?" The same thing.

Q. Are you disappointed with the reserve that the British men are showing?

THE MODERATOR: Do we have a tennis question, please?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. Are you from The Sun?

Q. Are you disappointed at the reserve that British men have shown?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think he asked you about the tennis questions. Let's go on with the tennis questions.

[M. Sharapova - Day 8]

[beyond the sea]

Q. There's an interesting interview with Venus' dad on the TV which said that tennis should never be the No. 1 thing in your life. He said that to the girls in their career. Should be God, family, tennis, then business. Is that a philosophy you agree with, that tennis shouldn't take over your life?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I don't think tennis is my life. It's my career. It's what I've done since I was younger. That's how obviously I made money. But it's not my life, for sure. There are a lot of more important things in my life. Family, health. If you have those two things, then, you know, tennis is just something way on the bottom.

*****

Great Girl.

[beyond the sea]

You kind of get the feeling Maria and Federer haven't even got out of first gear yet.

I hear you, it looks like that!

****

Enjoy the tennis, jj.

[jjbrouwer]

Thanks for the link. A cheap snicker at this earlier question:

Q. You like going down in Wimbledon history?

[beyond the sea]

You like going down in Wimbledon history?

LOL.

[jjbrouwer]

Looks like a Federer Roddick final again. Has Roddick got any chance? I think he needs to serve rockets all match and win on the tie breaks. But I don't really see it happening.

[beyond the sea]

Federer is king.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

[beyond the sea]

Nice pic.

***

Caption: "Venus, see yah later. Maybe next year for you."

[jjbrouwer]

I think if he wins this he'll become only the third man to win it three times in a row, after Borg and Sampras.

Four if you count Fred Perry, who won it for Britain when dinosaurs roamed the planet.

[beyond the sea]

Ah yes, the great Fred Perry:

****

"I didn't aspire to be a good sport; 'champion' was good enough for me."

" I was always a believer in stamping on my opponent if I got him down, at Wimbledon or anywhere else. I never wanted to give him the chance to get up. If I could have beaten him six-minus-one instead of six-love I would."

LOL.