I've been thinking about this topic for a while but never wanted to post it on the BBC board coz the trolls would probably misuse it!

Basically is there any recieved wisdom about tennis events that you disagree with - I was thinking about it because a friend of mine is the only person i've ever met that hated it when Novotna won Wimbledon! I've got the DVD of her loss to Graf & he can't wait to see it so he can cheer on her choke!

Mine are

Margaret Court -
Ok she's not hugely remembered these days but I HATE Margaret Court. Partly because she was so hostile to Navratilova when she came out & partly because she actively resisted the setting up of the Women's tour when BJK was desperately trying to set it up (Ok Evert wasn't hugely supportive either but she was only 16 at the time & her dad was in charge of her career) At least her impact on the game has been minimal - when we look back at that era we think of BJK even though she won a lot less slams than Court.

Great matches that don't live up to expectations -
Even though it's a great match I must admit to being a little disappointed with Seles v Graf 1992 RG Final when I saw it recently. Partly because it's probably impossible for things like that to live up to the very high expectations. At it's climax the match is incredible but for the first set & a half it's nothing special because Graf isn't playing that well. Also I guess you expect matches like that to be amazingly high quality but as with most matches there are still a lot of errors. I guess it's better to watch matches with lower expectations - I just saw Graf v ASV 1996 RG Final which I knew had to be pretty good (score was 10-8 in the third) but I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was - hugely enjoyable.

So anyone have anything in tennis that goes against the usual opinion?

I watched all three of those matches you mentioned live, and I have to admit I was one of those who was equally elated and shocked at Novotna's incredible choke. I have the match (on tape!) and will watch her service game at 4-1 in the final set occassionally just to cheer myself up.

The 1992 french final was an incredible match but it has been elevated through time to a mythical gladiatorial encounter. The first two sets were not that good but the final set was a gem. The trouble is that nothing ever lives up to the hype. Personally I found the 1996 RG final more exciting.

The only tennis sacrilege that i can think of is martina navratilova. everybody goes on about her approaching 50 and how amazing it is that she is still competing. i would rather not see her throwing her old carcass about SW19 trying to get 21 (or whatever the record is) titles. and then when she gets dumped out we have to watch her have an emotional goodbye in 'perhaps her last match' ™ on the hallowed soil. Boring! Next Match Please!