04/18/24
January 26, 2006
Sharapova Out of Australian Open Final: Sharapova dictated play in the opening set, but became increasingly frustrated as Henin-Hardenne chased every ball with excellent baseline coverage.
Doesn't Justine play bass for Tenacious D? I thought I heard that somewhere. As for Maria, her own worst enemy is herself, as she seems to be continually flustered by opponents not rolling over to her superior power, something I figured she would've overcome by now.
posted by garfield at 07:16 AM on January 26, 2006
Beaten Sharapova turns on media The 18-year-old told reporters: "I know this is your job. But take your notepads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put it all away and just watch the match."
posted by the red terror at 07:37 AM on January 26, 2006
garfield, I agree. In the third set, she looked frustrated the whole time.
posted by the don at 07:46 AM on January 26, 2006
Do you work for mosnews.com? Word. 12 links and 1 comment. All of them link to [site]. Spammer.
posted by yerfatma at 07:58 AM on January 26, 2006
To the same site? That's lame. I thought we just had a big Ruskie fan in our midst. Did you see the picture from earlier in the tournament of Maria sitting in her chair as her opponent walks by with a look of 'why are you even trying to beat me' in her eyes?
posted by garfield at 08:22 AM on January 26, 2006
To the same site? That's lame. I thought we just had a big Ruskie fan in our midst. Never even heard of mosnews.com before. Think it's someone trying to drum up traffic to their site.
posted by jerseygirl at 08:35 AM on January 26, 2006
[!]
posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:51 AM on January 26, 2006
Maybe jennifer just doesn't read anything else... [/naive]
posted by JJ at 09:28 AM on January 26, 2006
Thank god she lost, I muted the TV so I wouldn't have to listen to her grunts... If I was playing her, I'd imitate her grunting (very loud) just to fuck with her head. Oh, I forgot, I'm not a woman. Nevermind....
posted by Dr. Bombay at 10:43 AM on January 26, 2006
Her grunting is not as bad as Monica Seles back in the day. And she does look better. Since you can watch tennis in any language (watched the French Open in French from Tahiti one year), turning the sound off so you don't have to listen to Enberg and Fernandez is a good way to go. Maria got shafted on two points that would have given her the third set. Justine got shafted on one point, but she won the game anyway.
posted by drtherc at 10:58 AM on January 26, 2006
talk about investigative reporting. well done jerseygirl. /ontopic: good D sometimes is the best O. she is still young, so maybe she works this frustration out of her game in the long run. it's not like she lost to a nobody. good on justine.
posted by ninjavshippo at 11:35 AM on January 26, 2006
For the last couple of years, she's been on the cusp of being a truly dominant player, like Serena was, like Hingis was. She's still a teenager, so she may yet be able to get over this last mental hurdle and take over the sport for a while. But yeah, it's not like she's playing badly. If she can get rid of the mental breakdowns, she's got the game to win some more majors, and soon. Henin-Hardenne vs. Mauresmo will be a fun final. Lots of intensity, head games and strategy.
posted by chicobangs at 02:18 PM on January 26, 2006
...or just another Grand Slam melt down. Oh wait, this isn't the French. and here's a previous discussion on maria's vocalizations.
posted by garfield at 04:20 PM on January 26, 2006
Dr. Bombay: Thank god she lost, I muted the TV so I wouldn't have to listen to her grunts... I am waiting for someone to point out that making sounds that loud takes energy -- energy that is needed if one is going to endure an extra set or a tiebreaker. When Sharapova gets to her third set, note how quieter her grunting is. At the U.S. Open, she was almost silent before finally succumbing, clearly exhausted. I have never seen a baseball player or a golfer or a hockey player grunt while swinging and connecting -- why do tennis players do it? It would make more sense if the aforementioned did the vocalizing, since they only need any perceived "umph" when they are, for a split second, striking the ball or a puck; they aren't doing so while constantly running back and forth and side to side and leaping and lunging non-stop for sixty seconds (or longer) at a time. Maria, if you are reading (fat chance), just try to cool it with the Howard Dean impersonations for just one match, and see if you don't have more energy at the end. If you need something to scream about, I'm sure we could find an activity in which it would be appropriate. Wink wink! Nudge nudge!
posted by L.N. Smithee at 06:18 PM on January 26, 2006
Smithee, Andy Roddick might have something to say about that. And I'd guess that the grunt comes from their training. They learn to "talk their way" through the stroke. It helps them to maintain a consistent rhythm through hundreds of hits in a match, even when they're exhausted. It might be a Bollettieri School technique. That's just a guess, though.
posted by chicobangs at 07:00 PM on January 26, 2006
Martial artists use vocalisation, I think it's called the 'ky-ai' in karate, for example. Someone out there will know the right terms. It has to do with coordinating breathing to achieve the right focus/power for a punch or kick, according to my spouse, who is a former nationally-ranked karate champ. But its use in other sports? The only time I have heard it on the soccer field was when someone's leg was broken. But that could have just been the excruciating pain.
posted by owlhouse at 09:49 PM on January 26, 2006
Please don't let this take away from the thread but since there's no other contact info... Do you work for mosnews.com?