.

One more match to go each before another all-Williams final!

Hell yes! I do not know what I would have done over the last decade or so without them. I love to watch tennis but I generally only get into it when there are good Americans who are competitive. There have been no decent American men tennis players for so long now. Luckily, the Williams sisters have been at or near the top for all these years. Keep winning!

Boring - well if they dont make it to the final, i'm sure the excuses will flow...

"Oh the opponent didn't win it, i lost it"

"Oh I was injured"

"oh i wasn't focused, thats why i didnt win it"

"oh the opponent has potential, one day she'll be a good player"

Blah blah blah, maybe one day they'll be gracious in defeat

Go Safina - Dementieva I say

Darwintheorgangrinder said:

Oh, I think we still have quite a few decent players. Roddick is a fixture in the top 10 and won the U.S. Open, Blake was as high as #4, Fish is on his way back up, Querrey is still improving, Levine just made a run at Wimbledon. The problem is there are no phenomenal U.S. players. It'll be a long time before any American male comes anywhere close to #1.

jstar69 said:

Venus is VERY gracious in defeat, and yes Serena is absolutely the most ungracious loser...probably half the reason she's won 10 single slams and lovely, gracious Safina and Dementieva have won ZERO between them.

Give me the passionate Williams sister's over the ice maidens of Eastern Europe anyday

I love them. Venus is coming to a match where I work, gonna be nice.

I don't mind the Women's game, but I can't stand the grunting!

Azarenka yesterday was unbelievable!

mcmeekle said:

Why does everyone hate the grunting? I like it!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Listen to this!

Id love a Williams sandwhich

jstar69 said:

Here we go! You knew it was coming.
What flavor is the haterade you're drinking today?

jstar69 said:

Like the other losers DON'T say shit like that.

AlexdeParis said:

But none of them are winning the Slams, and that's all that counts in tennis.

endymion said:

Personality over Machine!

phunkdaddy said:

Everytime, huh?

MuthaFunka said:

Well, that's not all that counts, but it's the biggest thing. Anyway, just like I said about the #1 ranking, they won't be getting close to winning any slams with Federer and Nadal hogging them.

AlexdeParis said:

Well, in the tennis world - That's ALL that counts .

MuthaFunka said:

No, it isn't. In the non-tennis world (or that of the casual tennis fan), that's all that matters.

AlexdeParis said:

No, in the non-tennis world, they aren't watching for the Slams. The tennis world - watches for the Slams.

MuthaFunka said:

No, the real fans watch most of the year. Thanks to the US Open Series, we get tennis on TV just about every week from Wimbledon to the US Open.

AlexdeParis said:

And REAL fans know what REALLY counts towards a player's greatness is winning the Slams. The tune-up matches are just that - tune-ups.

MuthaFunka said:

Gotta go with MuthaFunka on this one its the same with Golf no one cares if you won the Seattle Open only if you win the majors like The Masters or the British Open

endymion said:

Exactly.

MuthaFunka said:

Yeah, it's not like anyone cares about little things like the Olympics.

Again, no one's arguing that the Grand Slams aren't the most important thing in tennis. Of course they are. But real tennis fans know they aren't the only thing. And real fans watch tennis when it's on, not just when there's a slam being played.

AlexdeParis said:

True, the Grand Slams are not the only factor in a player's rankings.

They are the biggest factor (assuming they win one) but since most players don't win slams, other tournaments are really important to their stats--and indeed to their being allowed to play in the slams at all.

So yeah, to most of us more casual fans, we only care about the best of the best who are playing the slams, but there is a whole world of tennis tournaments. It's like saying the Superbowl is the only important football game. Not to the true football fans!

NDRU said:

Exactly!

AlexdeParis said:

The Olys are included the "big Matches" department, but do you REALLY think anyone cares who won the tune-up match leading up to the U.S. Open?

You don't become great by winning the "Crenshaw Open"

MuthaFunka said:

The Tour has a tiered hierarchy. The slams are at the highest tier, but the Tier-1/Masters Series tournaments are the next step below (and the top players are automatically entered and "required" to play). So, while a Tier-3 tournament may not hold much weight, tournaments like Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, and the year-end Masters Cup are very important.