http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/tenn...ction=si_latest

Im so excited Serena is looking fitter and fitter, she looked so good in her Fed Cup match.

Here's a latest pic of her, she's looking great :D

I would love an epic final between her and Justine. I am praying they manage to tend up in seperate sides of the draw!

Must admit i'm not too impressed with her comments about the WTA reforms favouring Europe.

The state of American womens tennis is hardly the WTA's fault or responsibility.

Yeah I thought that was a bit stupid too. But let's ignore that part :lol:

Me too :D

It would definitely be the best potential match up!

Lets face it the more ultra competitive Justine v Serena matches we get the better for the tour at the moment. With Sharapova off the boil, Clijsters not interested, Hingis having a bad run, Mauresmo still recovering & Venus not quite there yet we need those two to generate some excitement.

I agree it's the only rivalry going on at the moment. And tennis needs big rivalries. Last year we had Justine and Amelie this year Justine and Serena. Also, I think Venus and Sharapova could be an interesting rivalry, I think there's a definite edge when they play.

Plus Serena is the player most capable of pushing Justine at RG, and it would be really great to see a final that went to 3 sets; we haven't had one since 2001 :rolleyes:

They played one match since her return,I cant see how it is a rivalry!If thats the case then since Hingis played Venus twice last year with them splitting the 2,I would say that also a rivalry going on by the logic of the convo.

Also last year Justine and Mauresmo were jokes.But the 2 in the YEC were by far the best they have played against each other!

Well "potential" rivalry then :rolleyes:

Besides they've had a rivalry going for years, they've just renewed it :D

Clearly SW19 and I were talking about the potential rivalry if they were to have more matches this year - and a continuence of their rivlary from a few years back though a lot of the bad feelings seemed to have drained out of their relationship in the meantime.

Justine & Mauresmo may not have been the most exciting rivalry of all time but it was the best the tour had last year and they were hardly jokes.

We had the ill feeling of the AO Final - Justine blowing Amelie off court in Berlin, Amelie finally having her place in the sun at Wimbledon (which was a fantastic match) then just squeezing past Justine in the YEC RR match in order to qualify for the semis & then Justine having her revenge in the final.

Pretty decent all in all.

Serena looks so good right now. If serena's fit and ready, then she's already a contender for the French, without even having any indication of clay-court form.

Even if she didn't win either Berlin or Rome, you'd still have to count her as one of the favourites because she always plays a level higher at the French. :)

Have you seen those pics of her on WTAW btw, she is looking so good at the moment. :D

I don't get it. Why would she say she has a surpirse for the clay when we all know that means she's basically going for the French?

Well she said she had a surprise which she would unveil at the French, we don't know what it is though. Has she been working on her sliding a lot, is it a new dress? I don't really know...

The dresses are on WTAWorld already so it ain't that. We know she can slide hmm... Maybe it's just she's going to win the French....people doubt she can.

Did you like the dresses? I thought the French ones were great, but the Wimby one was a bit plain?


Perhaps she will wait until she has the Cup in her hands, and say to us all via the TV... - "surprise!!!" :lol:

Although I won't be all that shocked myself :D

Is the surprise being her turning up?!

:yawn:

So it is.

Now Now SW19. Credit where credit is due.....That was quite funny. ;)

Not really, it's about the 5th time he's made a "joke" to such effect.

Ah I see, bit of a serial joke. Well it's the first time I have read it hence I did chuckle.

Fair enough :)

I've just heard that joke a lot from a lot of people..which is probably why I don't laugh my head off each time I hear it. ;)

Maybe the surprise is a new catsuit with whip tails at the end of her racquet! :P

OMG she is announcing her retirement!!
It's on her website!!


























;)

The way you love to kid!

I wonder what it could be really... It better be something good as I'm sure a lot of people are wondering.
It might be that she is gonna play left handed and still walk away with the title? ;)

Perfectly reasonable post on my part bearing in mind her injury record in the past, and knowing that clay is probably the most demanding surface on your body.

Seems like a raw nerve was struck.

Actually clay isn't the toughest surface on your body. Hardcourts do much more damage to your joints.

And since your response to any discussion about Serena is a dig about her injuries or her not turning up it's no surprise SW19 is bored of it by now.

To be fair to Yorkshire, it seems other folk also take a dig at Kim Clijsters in the same way each time as well.

http://z3.invisionfree.com/Centre_Court/in...?showtopic=3181

I don't think this is something to get too riled up about.

Thanks for that Gav. If I hadn't seen that I would have been blind to some of the hypocrisy.

What hypocrisy?!

That thread seems pretty fair to me. Yes there is some anger towards Clijsters but most of it seems to be coming from her fans and it's something i've seen on quite a few message boards regarding her odd final year. Plus it's about something she's actually done not a potential injury pull out for a tournament that is 6 weeks away.

Yes a few posters on the message boards probably over do the Clijsters digs (mainly DL04!) but they get called on that as well. Perhaps not to the same extent but then they probably get a bit of leeway because the vast majority of their tennis posts are intelligent & worth reading. Would that I could say that about Yorkshire's.

Not the same thing though really is it. What Kim is doing has been acknowledged by half the board as a strange way to go out. And all those with a sense of humour had a little something to say. It's fair criticism, and even though some people take the mick, I personally can compliment her and acknowledge her achievements as well.

See I can give credit where credit's due unlike some:

I may have made one or two light hearted jibes, but who hasn't. It's such a bizarre way to end a prolific and successful career. Plus I feel as a fringe Kim fan I have a right to be a little annoyed at the way she's going out and take a little swipe. I respect her decisions, but Im within my rights voicing my own feelings.

So actually Gav I don't think it is the same at all.

It's quite different to Yorkshire's childish snipes about Serena in every thread. Ok we get it you don't like her. Give it a break :doh:

On the thread that Gav kindly linked for us, SW19 writes the following:-

(and strangely forgets to mention in his post above)..


"I finally came to terms with her decision to retire early but to make such a hash of her final year on tour is a bit of a disgrace."


and


"She's a weirdo is all I can say"




Dishes it out but can't take a simple, light-hearted joke about his Serena.

A) it is a bit of a disgrace to end her career like that.

And B ) I put " roflmao she's a bit of a weirdo is all I can say" - don't misquote me. I was joking :doh:

Plus as I said as someone who has followed Kim's career and considers himself a fan. I feel I have the right to have the occasional dig.

Are you joking in the things you say about Serena?

Sadly I fear not, you blatantly don't like her and bring it up all the time.

9th post down on this thread:

http://z3.invisionfree.com/Centre_Court/in...?showtopic=3181


What's the point in lying about it?



You said



"She's a weirdo is all I can say"



Or did you not check back to see what you actually put, rather than what you thought you put??

Are you blind?

I admitted to saying it on my above post

but you didn't add the roflamo which was an indication (for those not too dense to take them), that I was joking...what is your problem?

EDIT: I missed off the "is all I can say" in my requote in my above post due to hurrying. However it make little or no difference to the meaning of what I was saying. However leaving out the emoticon, through which I was expressing my emotions, does.

Ok, I didn't mean to cause this argument here.

I just wanted folk to be fair to each other.

To be fair to SW19 (as I was to Yorkshire) I wasn't thinking of his comments when referencing the Kim thread, so apologies if that's how it came across SW19.

I can see why you did it Gav, and I probably wouldn't have posted anything else if I had hadn't been labelled a hypocrite for things that I *hadn't* posted about one of my favourite active players on tour.

There are usually snipes and jibes aimed at certain players on here but that's just the nature of the beast. No point getting "on one" about it really. We all have our faves and players we don't like for whatever reason. Unnecessarily cruel comments should be tackled but not tongue-in-cheek humour.