Alexander Popp

Hey guys!
I know there are a couple of people out there who are fans of Alexander, and by couple I mean 2 others, aside from me ;) So I thought I'd start a thread for us (or me, if noone else likes him :p ) to discuss his progress, and I decided that now (Wimbledon 2004) would be as good a time as any ;)

So I'll add a few photos, and hope to write more as he gets through the next round of Wimbledon :wavey:

hopefully we can also celebrate some wins outside of Wimbledon... not that the thread is only active for 4 weeks the whole year :rolleyes:

I'm looking forward to a great match against Roddick, hopefully Alexander can keep it close! :clap2:

Popp did not play his best tennis today since 5-6 in the first set :mad:
He made more and more unforced errors during the match.

So he will be out of the top 100 next week, but Newport is the chance to come back. I want to see him at least in the QF.

Popp lost to Roddick 5-7 4-6 4-6

Yes, Roddick was simply too good the rest of the match. Popp couldn't show his best tennis from that point on.

Roddick's serve just sooooooooooooooo strong, tooooooooo strong...

I mean Popp's real problem was not his return game, it were his own service games. You may not get broken 5 times against Roddick or the match is automatically over as you can't break Roddick's serve again and again to catch up your lost service games.

Congrats Andy! :clap2:

Also a big :hug: for Popp for getting so far and making me happy that we won some matches earlier.

:woohoo:

@JMG
not so sure about whether Popp will also pop up at other tournamants. I hope so, but so far he didn't do much at other tournaments except Wimbledon.
But let's hope he is able to get some good result in Newport as it is also on grass, his favorite surface :)

How many months until the Aus Open!? :scratch: I don't know if I can wait that long so I'd love to see him at the Qualification rounds in Sydney :lick:. Perhaps I ought to go to the markets and buy a large German flag. I certainly need one for the Aus Open...

I'm happy with the scoreline; at least he didn't completely hand over the match to Roddick :worship: . I went to bed after the first set, and at 3-4 in the second. I just wish Roddick had won the first set on his own serve, instead of breaking Alexander. :awww:

Alexander Popp, credit goes to www.sport.de

:D

:eek: Thanks Neely! It always amuses me to see someone who I find quite handsome (Jonas, Jarkko and Alexander) look like the victim of a stroke in most of their action shots... then there's Jurgen, who looks very afraid of something :worship: . Nice pics though - they've made their way into my Tennis photos folder on my computer ^_^
Kristen

:eek: Thanks Neely! It always amuses me to see someone who I find quite handsome (Jonas, Jarkko and Alexander) look like the victim of a stroke in most of their action shots...
yeah sure, but unfortunately there were no other pics of Alexander :sad:

but maybe this helps you to see a few seconds of his "non-shot affected face" ;) Alexander speaks towards the end of the interviews.
Interview Mayer/Popp (Realplayer) (http://sport.ard.de/sp/komponente/mkram/mkram.jhtml/mk.ram?rtsp://ras01.wdr.de/online/ard_sport/2004/tennis/wimbledon/stimmen_wimbledon_040629_g.rm)
Interview Mayer/Kühnen/Popp (Realplayer) (http://sport.ard.de/sp/komponente/mkram/mkram.jhtml/mk.ram?rtsp://ras01.wdr.de/online/ard_sport/2004/tennis/wimbledon/stimmen_wimbledon_040628_g.rm)

Popp's 1st round match in Newport: he won 6-3 6-4 against Amer Delic :bigclap: :bigclap:

Popp's 2nd round match in Newpoirt: he won 6-1 6-3 against Glenn Weiner :bigclap: :bigclap:

I hope Weiner is not weining now :sad: ;) :lol:


there could be a semifinal clash between Melzer and Popp :mad: :o
something that I would like to have as the final :banghead:

Popp is on a roll.... he continues to go on....

Alexander outguns an injury-struggled (his back, isn't it?) Vince Spadea in two sets 6-2 6-2 :D :banana:

you could also say he "rapped over Spadea" :lol: ;)

semifinal for Popp now! :D

Good luck, Alexander!

:yeah: well done alex that was a great win over vince and a grear run in wimbie too :D

He reached in his first FINAL after a 6-4 7-6(5) win against Saulnier. :worship:

So he's back in the Top 100. Hopefully we can see him in the US Open main draw now.

I believe in a win now and it's interesting to see, how he will play on Tuesday against Waske on clay.

GOOD LUCK

:eek: CONGRATS ALEX!!!!

very well done!!! :worship: :worship:

his 1st career ATP final :D :)

but Rusedski is tough to beat :rolleyes:

Popp lost the final 6-7(5) 6-7(2) :banghead: to Rusedski :mad:

damn it, there goes his biggest chance of his career so far (or ever???) winning an ATP title

Anyway, good run for him actually even making it that far. :yeah: ;)

Actually Rusedski was the one who came from behind. Popp had chances like 0-30 on Greg's serve so many times. But he couldn't take them. He also had set point in the second set. I was little sad as I was watching the match. He really had chance to win his very first title.

1st round in Stuttgart, clay: the match between the two Alexanders ;)

Popp outguns Alexander Waske 6-2 1-6 6-1

yeah sure, but unfortunately there were no other pics of Alexander :sad:

but maybe this helps you to see a few seconds of his "non-shot affected face" ;) Alexander speaks towards the end of the interviews.
Interview Mayer/Popp (Realplayer) (http://sport.ard.de/sp/komponente/mkram/mkram.jhtml/mk.ram?rtsp://ras01.wdr.de/online/ard_sport/2004/tennis/wimbledon/stimmen_wimbledon_040629_g.rm)
Interview Mayer/Kühnen/Popp (Realplayer) (http://sport.ard.de/sp/komponente/mkram/mkram.jhtml/mk.ram?rtsp://ras01.wdr.de/online/ard_sport/2004/tennis/wimbledon/stimmen_wimbledon_040628_g.rm)

:eek: Thankyou Neely!
It took me a while to actually see them, I've had no internet access for almost 2 weeks :(
Glad to see Alexander get to a final for a change!
Take care;
Kristen.

argh... I've lost my German again. He was previously listed on the players list for Sopot, but as we all know he's not there. He's also not listed on matchstat.com's injury list. :sad: or in the lists for next weeks tournaments, though I hold out hope that if he's going to be anywhere, he'll be here:
http://www.atp-mg.de/turnier-news1.htm# Lots of Germans, and their rankings are lower than alexanders. One can dream, I guess. :angel:

I have news from a friend in the US. Apparently Alexander has been training with Jurgen Melzer for the week prior to the Olympics :)

too bad, too sad :sad:

he lost to Horna 1-6 3-6

against Horna, somebody who likely has his best results on clay, I thought that Alexander could probably win an ATP maindraw match on another surface than grass, but he lost :sad: :rolleyes:

he got a few quali matches, but he has beaten nobody of big name

Yeah...I'm glad he at least had to play those qualifying matches to get some practice. Hopefully this loss will kick him up the @$$. I'd like to know why he disappeared for so long!Fingers crossed for a better US Open...

Alexander will play a qualifier in the first round of the US Open. Potential 2nd round against Oli Rochus...again ;)

Looks like that qualifier is Potito Starace. He's capable of an 'upset' (It would upset me, and maybe three others on MTF! LOL), but hopefully Alexander can get his act together and play well :)

"Would sir like a side of grass with his tennis ball this evening?"
I found this photo of him tonight. There are quite a few that are as strange as this! Although this is the only one where he looks keen to be eating grass. Nice photos though! I think it's from Wimbledon 2000 or there abouts.

Hi people Alexander Popp is one of my favorite playes can i come and join your conversion?

Hi people Alexander Popp is one of my favorite playes can i come and join your conversion?

:eek: Welcome to mtf / the Alexander thread :D It's always great to see another supporter of his. I'm Kristen, from Australia. Hope to see you around :wavey:

thank you

I read on another site that Alexander Popp has a shoulder injury and won't be back until (hopefully) the Oz Open. He got it checked out in Heidelberg and though the injury isn't as serious as first thought, he's going to sit the rest of this season out.

I read on another site that Alexander Popp has a shoulder injury and won't be back until (hopefully) the Oz Open. He got it checked out in Heidelberg and though the injury isn't as serious as first thought, he's going to sit the rest of this season out.
Thanks for the info :yeah:
hopefully Alexander will be okay next season then :clap2:

Thanks so much Space Cadet!
Wow, I hope this is correct... I mean, I dont want him to be injured, obviously... but it's really good to know he's "only" injured... and its not a motivational problem *crosses fingers*. Did you see it on a German site? Hopefully he'll be ok. He's made the right decision if this is the case ;) Thanks again! :hug: :wavey:

I found the info on www.dtb-tennis.de, Björkman Girl. Thought I should post it since I knew some people were wondering where he was

Here's the article:

Heidelberg (dpa) - Tennisprofi Alexander Popp hofft nach einem Eingriff an der Schulter auf ein Comeback zum Beginn der neuen Tennis Saison. «Beim ersten Grand-Slam-Turnier in Australien wäre ich gerne wieder dabei, allerdings möchte ich die Verletzung zunächst voll ausheilen», sagte der 27 Jahre alte Mannheimer der «Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung» (Heidelberg/Donnerstagausgabe).
An Stelle des befürchteten Sehnenrisses in der rechten Schulter hatte Popp, der 2000 und 2003 im Viertelfinale von Wimbledon stand und derzeit 78. im Champions Race ist, nur eine Entzündung. Der 45-minütige arthroskopische Eingriff in der Heidelberger ATOS-Praxisklinik verlief nach Angaben des behandelnden Arztes Peter Habermeyer ohne Komplikationen


Link http://www.dtb-tennis.de/2673_11187.php

Well, I am glad to hear the reason and to put an end to the rumor that he didn't have enough money to travel to tournaments (I think someone said that on another board :rolleyes: ). I wonder if we can track down an address to write to Alexander, I know he lives in Mannheim.

Well, it's the 4th of November here in Australia, so I figure I'd better wish Alexander a Happy Birthday while I remember!
Health & Happiness to him! :bdaycake: :aparty:
I could be more original and look for a more creative picture, but it's midnight here :yawn: :wavey:

now we also have the 4th in Germany! :D

:bdaycake: :bdaycake: :bdaycake:

:banana: :D Happy Birthday, Alexander!!!!! :banana: :D

:bdaycake: :bdaycake: :bdaycake:

:aparty: :aparty: :aparty: :aparty:

Happy Birthday Alexander!!!! Hope your shoulder is healing well. I would love to see you in San Jose in February.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch :yeah: :aparty: Neely, ich hab deine Anweisung befolgt :angel:

Neely, ich hab deine Anweisung befolgt :angel:
very "brav", Escada ;) :p :yeah:

unfortunately, so far, no more people did it :( :mad: .... :tears: :tears:

Hey all!
I have a query regarding the Australian Open. Living in Australia, I should probably have a clue by now, but, can someone tell me what the cut off (ranking) is for the main draw? Just wondering what the likelihood is of Alexander having to qualify. Whatever happens, providing his shoulder is ok, I'll be there in time... just a little concerned that's all ;)

You guys probably know I'm passing on some messages of support to Joachim in January, and if anyone wants to send something to Alexander to wish him all the best, please feel free to do so :yeah: I think he'd be glad to know he has 5+ fans ;)

Kristen.

Top 104 get direct entry into the Aus Open, 6 weeks before the start of the tournament. If APopp is ready for the Aus Open, I don't think he will be eligible for a protected ranking.

Thanks Fee :) (sort of) lol... He's almost at 100 again now :rolleyes:
Hopefully he'll be well enough to play :)

Alexander is entered in the Tata Open in Channai, India to start the season. Let's hope he will be healthy enough to play.

Excellent! I'm glad he's putting his name down for events, even if they're not Adelaide :p (Actually, I don't think I could handle having 3 of my top 4 in the one place (except Melbourne). Might have to ask Jurgen if he knows how the shoulder is going, when he's in adelaide. By 'shoulder', I mean Alex's and Jurgens.
:rolleyes: Injuries! :rolleyes:

Good luck Alexander :D And be nice to Kristen when she is going to 'harass' you in Australia :p

Alexander is ranked 105 as of Dec 6, 2004. This means that he will be the first alternate for direct entry into the Aus Open, but Dmitry Tursunov is in the Top 100 and he is out with a back injury, so APopp should get in without having to qualify. I hope that his recovery is going well.

:woohoo: That is good news for Alexander :D

:lol: I'm sure he will appreciate the way I harass him! (Ok I made that sound much weirder than it was meant to be :o ) Basically, the only thing this man can do to put me off (after the great impression he made this year), would be to throw a tantrum, Gimelstob/Sanguinetti style!!

Thanks for the info Fee! My fingers are crossed!

Disclaimer: Justin seems pretty cool off the court :D Davide though... I won't give him the time of day.

Justin is very intense on court, but he's a comedian off-court and usually pretty cool. I think his perspective has changed a little bit since he was out for so long with his foot injury, perhaps he's a little more grateful to be playing tennis these days.

Kristen, please say hello to Alexander for me. I'm pretty sure he will come to San Jose next year and I am really looking forward to seeing him. And then tell Justin I said hello, just to have a little bit of fun with him.

Kristen, please say hello to Alexander for me. I'm pretty sure he will come to San Jose next year and I am really looking forward to seeing him. And then tell Justin I said hello, just to have a little bit of fun with him.
will do :)
I'll add it to my to-do list :lol: (Seriously! I have one. Otherwise I'd forget who I'm taking photos for :))

From Tennis Australia website:scared::

Australia’s Wayne Arthurs has squeezed into the main draw of Australian Open 2005 with the cut-off for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year currently at 102 for the men and 108 for the women.

Wayne Arthurs has made the main draw while fellow Victorian Mark Philippoussis is nine places out. (Obviously they cannot count?)Arthurs finished the 2004 season ranked No. 102 while fellow Victorian Mark Philippoussis, ranked No.109, is currently only nine places out of the main draw and still a strong possibility of direct entry without the need for a wildcard.

Scott Draper of Queensland, who has been out injured all year, is next in on a protected ranking while popular Moroccan and 2003 quarterfinalist Younes El Aynaoui gains entry on a protected ranking of 27.

Okay, that's what I didn't have, the protected entries. I wasn't sure if Younes was coming back or not. Either way, I still think he will get direct entry before qualies start. A few of the guys always withdraw.

Has one older brother, Christopher...Parents moved from England to Germany in 1970 and his son also has a British passport...

Obviously, I've read Alexanders atp profile from top to bottom a few times. But whenever I read it, I never really noticed this sentence. lol! I always assumed that it referred to Alexander. That's right, isn't it? Because if he had a son...we'd hear about him at least a little? (Even if he is ranked 105!)

I re-read it because I'm trying my hand at making a sort of fansite for Alexanders fans :tape: lol I probably should have tried my first site, on myself...or a player I'm not too interested in supporting :retard:

His son? WTF?

As far as I know, the "son" refers to Alexander Popp himself, it's just badly-written English. I read somewhere before that he has dual citizenship as his mother is British or something

As far as I know, the "son" refers to Alexander Popp himself, it's just badly-written English. I read somewhere before that he has dual citizenship as his mother is British or something
Yeah, that's what I always assumed (though I wonder why I never got confused by this sentence before!?) :) Yep... the english is quite poor :o

Why does he call him self german was he rased there?

Alexander was born in Heidelberg to an English mother and German father. If I remember correctly, he was raised and schooled in Germany, spent summers in England with his mother's side. He kind of speaks English with a British accent. He lives in Mannheim now.

Thank you Fee for the info

Guys, I was in the bookstore yesterday, and saw this book called "Go For It!".
It's one of those small books with great pictures, and inspirational quotes next to them. I was wondering if you guys thought it might be nice as a gift for Alexander to spur him on to do well (I'd give it to him along with some messages from his fans, if you guys like that idea? hint hint ;)). Or would it be corny ? :scratch: I originally had the idea to give one to Jarkko, but I don't want to give something to my #1 and #3 guys... but not the guy that's nearly knocked Jonas off his pedestal!!

I say that would be a good gift go for it!

Cool :yeah:
Well, I'll get some different things for Jarkko/Jurgen at the bookstore!
I'll prob PM you guys to ask if you want to write a short message f support to Alexander, if I forget, then feel free to PM me a message, or email to kse_5@yahoo.com.au ;)

Or you can visit my work in progress http://alexanderpopp.bravehost.com/index.html
and I'll take something from the guestbook / forum there :lol:

Alexander has pulled out of Chennai in the first week. I bet his shoulder isn't ready. Hope he's okay for Melbourne.

:rolleyes: @ the shoulder...
I can just imagine having to send him well-wishes through Jurgen Melzer! :lol:

Australian Open Main Draw
OUT: Arazai, Escude, Novak, Koubec (and A.Popp from ALT) :mad:

Bad news again, I hope there will be some article about him soon.

Suddenly, I am beginning to agree for the Aus Open to be played a few weeks later :rolleyes:. I can deal with this i guess. If Alexander did show up, I'd not give enough attention to my old favourite, Jonas. However, he'd be a most pleasant distraction :awww:

report from Kristin in Adelaide:

"He'll be back in March, shoulder still healing."

Thanks Kath. Bet Kristin is having a blast!

Damn right she is ;)
I am more in the mood for tennis now! WWill write more in the yahoo group
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/swedishtennis and will cover all the guys kat and I saw :D

PS. Jurgen was really nice! He's the one that let me know about AP :yeah:

I forgot the important part.. Jurgen said he's gonna come back from march... needs to wait for the protected ranking... or something like that :scratch:

Thanks Kristin! Get well soon Alexander.

I just read this on the ATP site, and found it interesting...in a boring, technical kind of way:
A player may petition the CEO for an Entry Protection when he is physically injured and does not compete in any tennis event for a minimum period of six (6) months. The written petition must be received within six (6) months after his last tournament.
The Entry Protection shall be a position in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking, as determined by the player's average INDESIT ATP Entry System position during the first three (3) months of his injury. The Entry Protection shall be for entry into the main draw or qualifying competition or for special exempt consideration. The Entry Protection shall not be used for seeding purposes, Lucky Loser consideration or for entry into the Tennis Masters Cup.
The Entry Protection shall be in effect for either the first eight (8) Tournaments that the player competes in using the Entry Protection (excluding wild cards and entries as a Direct Acceptance with his current position in the INDESIT ATP Entry System) or for the period up to nine (9) months beginning with the first tennis event that the player competes in, whichever occurs first.
I miss him and even his first round losses at non-grass events!! lol... Today I even cheered for Alexander Waske, the German. But it just wasn't the same :lol:

I emailled the ATP a few weeks ago, for a friend who wanted to send something to Thomas Johansson... they said that people can send stuff to players, care of the ATP. So, that's what I'm going to do, regarding the book. Does anyone want to email letters to me for him, so it can all be sent as one big package? Or if you want to do it separately... you can go to the ATP site, and in the contact section... I think its 201 ATP blvd... something like that ;)

I'll send the book by the end of the month... probably within the next 2 weeks or so, so hopefully he might get it around the time he's playing again (with a little luck, he will be well enough to play again, in the near future!)

Kristen.

Alexander is on the Alternates list for the Sunrise Challenger in Florida (starting March 14th) or has this already been posted? Lol...

lol, nothing has been posted for long time in this thread :lol:
thanks for bringing it up again with some info on him, glad to hear he's still alive ;) :yeah:

I wanted to post it. :mad:

The cut is at rank.82 at the moment, which is ridiculous. There will be many withdrawals so that Popp should have an easy qualifying or direct entry. I really hope he'll play. :angel:

At this stage, I don't even mind if we're back in the same situation as end of 2004!
- Alex enters tournament
- Alex withdraws

It's progress! (But I DO hope he'll be able to play!) :hug:

Lets start off with the bad news.
Alexander has strained something in his leg. I was speaking with Jurgen today, and he pointed to his calf / ankle region. But hey, that's better than a shoulder, and it didn't sound too serious because....

The good news:
He's practicing again now :yeah: :wavey:

Thanks for that info Kristen. I completely forgot to ask Jurgen about Alexander when he was in San Jose. I wish he was coming back for Indian Wells, but at this point I'd just like to hear that he's healthy and coming back at all.

No worries :)
It's probably good that I forgot to ask Jurgen on the first day I went to practice. Alex Popp's health is one of the first things I asked him when I saw him in Adelaide this year! :eek: :o I guess at least now he knows I'm a fan of his as well...cheering Austria at DC :woohoo:

One of these days we'll actually be able to ask Alexander himself, how the injuries are going! ;)

Thanks Kristen :wavey:
Good to hear Alex is 'kinda' OK!

Any information on Popp's current status?
Bad that he doesn't have a homepage, it's so damn hard to get any information about him except when is maybe playing his next tournament (and even that I don't know).

He's an alternate for qualifying at the Monte Carlo event :yeah:
Does this help him in any way? lol... I guess at least he might be able to get some practice against good players. His current ranking is *last time i checked* 121 :)

It's April.... and I still haven't sent him that book... But I have written the letter. So, if anyone wants to send a message to me to include in the parcel for him, feel free to do so. I'll go to the post office next Saturday :)

edit: Ranking, as of April 4th: 117 :yeah:

Finally, Popp is on the entry list for Roland Garros with protected ranking! :angel:

I just saw that! And if he's using his protected ranking, then he must be ready to return. Kind of funny that he has to do it on his WORST surface, but at this point, I'd be happy if he showed up for a ping pong game in the players' lounge.

HE'S IN THE HOUSTON DRAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will he actually show up and play? My goodness, I wish I was there!

Alexander will play Jeff Morrison :D
Wow! He actually left his name on the list and has an OPPONENT!
:sigh: It's been so long :awww: Welcome back to the ATP AP! :wavey:

On the Munich website they say that Popp plans to play there. So probably he will play qualifying there, I can't understand why he doesn't play challengers the weeks after Houston.

go POPP! It's time to defeat Morrison and Haas! :)

Morrison is beatable, I don't know if he can play well on clay. I rather think not so well.

Good luck for his return, maybe he immediately wins his first match! :yeah:

Bob Larson::

Alexander Popp is finally back after a long layoff -- but since his sole weapon is his serve, clay is not exactly his surface. Alexander Popp against Jeff Morrison-a contest to see who hates clay more.

BTW, who is Bob Larsson? A tennis commentator? A tennis column writer? :scratch:

BTW, who is Bob Larsson? A tennis commentator? A tennis column writer? :scratch:
Columnist I think :scratch:.
Not 100% sure. American, I think... Fee? Is Larson the decent one, Wertheim is the bs-filled one?

Bob Larson owns www.tennisnews.com and writes the 'Look Forward' column every week (actually, I wonder if his son is doing most of the writing these days).

Jon Wertheim is with Sports Illustrated and writes the Mailbag each week. Some people have a problem with him and call him 'Jon Worthless' but I usually enjoy reading his cloumn to a certain extent.

:woohoo:
No, he didn't win. It was 36, 67 :) BUT He played a whole match... not 'ret.' next to his name and that's a huge start :D I'm so happy... for someone who woke up at 5.30 to get ready for university (Thank goodness noone can see how sh!te I look right now :) Time to get ready methinks!) Congrats Alex! The scoreline isn't bad at all :D

I agree, I'm just so happy to see his blonde giraffeness on a court somewhere, anywhere. What's next? :lol:

That's right. It's good to see again a RESULT from him after so many months :)

Popp vs Pashanski

Next match for Alex P. today on Saturday in Munich against this solid challenger player.

good luck!

Thanks JMG (most unnerving username on this forum, for me :D). Good for him to get out there and get matches! Lots of matches!

Pashanski d. Popp 7-5 6-2

Popp served 8 double faults...

I hope he gets a qualifying wildcard for Hamburg now or something like that. The Dresden challenger before Roland Garros should be a choice too.

btw I've never seen it before, that the protected ranking is only 30 places better than the current ranking of the player. That can only happen to Popp I think. ;)

I was at his match today. First it was quite a promising start (Pashanski can play very well, followed him last year also he played good qualies and another very good match against Verkerk who needed two tiebreaks) and he was up a break and I thought "cool, he's going to win", but then Pashanski became better and better from the baseline and Popp just couldn't handle him and win the majority of the rallies. I think the whole match only lasted a bit over one hour, the 2nd set was over in a hurry, unfortunately. Hopefully Alex can connect soon into some form or his grass season also won't be too good.

I made tons of pics, I will post them later, tomorrow... some time....

I made tons of pics, I will post them later, tomorrow... some time....

:hug: Glad you got to see him! *Counts the days left until Aus Open 2006*

Here are some pics from his 1st round qualifying match against Boris Pashanski. I've included everything we got, even at the risk that some pics are not so good.

http://img98.echo.cx/img98/9730/qsam0053alexanderpopp7im.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0053alexanderpopp7im.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/483/qsam0051alexanderpopp0cw.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0051alexanderpopp0cw.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/5481/qsam0052alexanderpopp7df.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0052alexanderpopp7df.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/8259/qsam0049alexanderpopp6wr.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0049alexanderpopp6wr.jpg)
http://img98.echo.cx/img98/4056/qsam0050alexanderpopp6jx.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0050alexanderpopp6jx.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/3769/qsam0045alexanderpopp4xb.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0045alexanderpopp4xb.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/348/qsam0041alexanderpopp0mi.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0041alexanderpopp0mi.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/5861/qsam0044alexanderpopp1wj.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0044alexanderpopp1wj.jpg)
http://img98.echo.cx/img98/4480/qsam0040alexanderpopp3lw.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0040alexanderpopp3lw.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/8569/qsam0038alexanderpopp0km.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0038alexanderpopp0km.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/7953/qsam0037alexanderpopp3ay.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0037alexanderpopp3ay.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/7536/qsam0036alexanderpopp2de.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0036alexanderpopp2de.jpg)
http://img98.echo.cx/img98/2487/qsam0032alexanderpopp7qc.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0032alexanderpopp7qc.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/1764/qsam0034alexanderpopp2gg.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0034alexanderpopp2gg.jpg) http://img98.echo.cx/img98/7308/qsam0035alexanderpopp7jz.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0035alexanderpopp7jz.jpg)http://img98.echo.cx/img98/6838/qsam0033alexanderpopp1gi.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0033alexanderpopp1gi.jpg)
http://img98.echo.cx/img98/5816/qsam0031alexanderpopp8ci.th.jpg (http://img98.echo.cx/my.php?image=qsam0031alexanderpopp8ci.jpg)

:eek: :hug: Neely...if you only had a picture of his shoe... I'd still be keen to see it :lol:

thankyou!!!

My eyes are watering over that last one :) (I look like the lady behind him!)I'm so glad you didn't resize them! haha, I'm such a dork.
:hatoff: We passed the 100posts milestone :yeah:

Thanks Neely, they are wonderful photos. It's just so good to see him on court again, in all his 'blonde giraffe' glory. Hope he gets his rhythm in time for grass.

The blonde giraffe has withdrawn from RG qualies. Don't know why...

The blonde giraffe has withdrawn from RG qualies. Don't know why...


Probably because he's on the main draw list, too. ;) :confused:

Oh Duuuuhhhhhhhh! Well, who put him on the qualie list in the first place? :lol: Someone at the ATP/ITF must have been just as asleep as I was! :D

:woohoo:
Nice one Fee :yeah: At least you have the initiative to look at these lists. LOL! I always forget...but it means I get a lot of (usually) nice surprises:)

He just lost to Mathieu 2-6 0-6

Please be better for grass season! :bounce:

He just lost to Mathieu 2-6 0-6

Please be better for grass season! :bounce:

I just wonder why he never commits to Surbiton. I hope he's playing it this year. But still one bad result to come at RG.

Doesn't mr popp like have a quite a few points to save, when it comes to wimbledon? Hope he does play in Surbiton or Nottingham, i might go and see him then, if i can get the time off, lol.

Sure, Popp's whole ranking is heavily carried by one tournament all the time. Wimbledon. If he lost 1st round in Wimbledon, no idea how deep we would see him then, near the 300s probably.

Actually, the Surbiton list is due out this week. I hope he's on it this time.

I think Alex is a well good player, i just don't understand why he can't like do well at some of the other events :confused: He's got a good serve and a fantastic backhand, which lots of players don't have. But he seems to get beat by some really rubbish players sometimes :sad:

Yes, he has to defend 300 of his 341 points on grass.

really! Unlucky Alex :sad:

Alexander is in the qualies for St Poelten this weekend. He plays Philip Oswald of Austria in the first round, and the draw is here: http://www.atptennis.com/posting/2005/306/QS.pdf

This is do-able. I follow the Austrians, and I haven't heard of Oswald.
Let's hope he gets in there, I'm hoping for a spot against Mantilla or Zib... making way for a Melzer V Popp final. I would die, and would be on Getty within a second of the final presentation. Wow. Imagine it, one of my favourites actually winning something :tape: (something other than doubles ;))

(5)Alexander Popp (GER) d. Philipp Oswald (AUT) 6-4 6-4

Looks a little closer than it needed to be!
He now plays Michael Kohlmann, another German. Hopefully Alexander can exploit his weaknesses :devil:

NOTE TO SELF:
It pays to scroll to the bottom of the screen, where they show the second round results ;)

Michael Kohlmann (GER) d. (5)Alexander Popp (GER) 6-3 2-6 6-4
That's ok. Kohlmann is a decent player right? If this was on grass...well.... :angel:

Yes Kohlmann is a decent player (doubles player, that is). Alexander isn't very comfortable on clay, so any time he gets a victory, I'll take it. On to Paris for some practice, probably a first round loss, and a few days back home in Mannheim. He did not enter the Surbiton Challenger and I think he plans to play Halle (he once told me its one of his favorite tournaments). The news can only get better in the next few weeks, right? :D

On to Paris for some practice, probably a first round loss, and a few days back home in Mannheim.
LMAO! I love that there are other realistic tennis fans out there! :lol:

auf gehts! Bring on the grass! :woohoo:

I don't know if you guys use yahoo sports... I never do, so I only just came across these photos:

http://sport.ard.de/sp/tennis/news200307/02/helmut_dpa_405.jpg http://sport.ard.de/sp/tennis/news200306/28/img/180_popp_dpa.jpg
I like the second one :)

This one is a tad worrying, when viewed as a thumbnail;)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/820000/images/_821181_popp300.jpg

Alex's 1/8 of Roland Garros. I would have written the whole quarter but... what's the point? Unless those dodgy Pimsters have done as we were kidding, and sprinkled grass seeds, there's little hope ;)

(6)Agassi vs Qualifier
Jonas Bjorkman vs Igor Andreev
Arnaud Clement vs Alexander Popp
Ivo Karlovic vs (28)Nicolas Kiefer

(24)Feliciano Lopez vs PH Mathieu
Qualifier vs Santiago Ventura
Albert Montanes vs Sargis Sargsian
(9)Guillermo Canas vs Gael Monfils

I just don't know what to think of that match up. Clement is having his own problems lately, but he did win a match on clay at the World team cup this week (or was it two?) I'm a bit perterbed that Alexander didn't sign up for the Surbiton Challenger, but I guess he didn't want to fly there, then fly back to Halle then back to London. Hard to say.

Clément lost both his matches at the World Team Cup and I have watched his loss to Gaudio in full length (4-6 4-6) and, in this match, Clément did considerably very well for his clay standards. Sure, Gaudio was never in troubles with him, but Gaudio also couldn't get disposed of him too easily, had to play him seriously on the important points and couldn't toy around with him like when playing a total schoolboy.

Yes, my mistake. It was a doubles victory that I saw a few Nono fans discussing elsewhere, not singles. Still, its clay, its Alexander, its France... edge to Clement. On to grass...

CLEMENT df POPP 62 64 67 62!!
:woohoo: He won a set! :D

I'll add some pics from the webcam. God knows I took enough :tape:

With the third set, I still feel like he won, in a way!

PS Neely... do you mind that I'm using (and corrupting) one of your pics for my avatar this week? I prob should have asked first but I totally forgot it was yours! :eek:

I am impressed that he got a set, but its time for him to get to a better surface and really start his comeback. I want him back in the Top 100, soon.

PS Neely... do you mind that I'm using (and corrupting) one of your pics for my avatar this week? I prob should have asked first but I totally forgot it was yours! :eek:
Don't worry. Of course, you may use whatever pic of any player that I made this week in Munich.

I have a keen eye...and spotted Mr Popp in the background, of a Jurgen/Youzhny training session. Here are the pics (by damita)
http://damita.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album27

Finding AP photos is nice enough, but if you look closely, (when Jurgen prepares to serve), Alexander actually gets a smile out of Karl Heinz Webber :eek: Nice work!!

Halle (SUCKS!)
PAVEL, Andrei (ROM)
SANTORO, Fabrice (FRA)
POPP, Alexander (GER/WC)
SAFIN, Marat (RUS/2)

he lost 3-6 2-6

A quite bad and disappointing match, way too easy for Safin :sad:

Popp is not on the Forrest Hills list. So if he loses early in Wimbledon, he will have nearly two weeks until Newport.

btw He still has a good chance to get direct entry in Nottingham next week. :yeah:

He is on the Indianapolis entry list, so that makes me wonder if he is going to play LA instead of Stuttgart (and if he does, I may have to make plans to go to LA after all...).

Bob Larson. As a male friend of mine says "I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire". That said, there is of course an element of truth in this, but he's quite brutal:

"Three unseeded players deserve special notice on grass. Karol Beck is at least respectable everywhere, but he seems to like his courts as fast as possible. Ivo Karlovic just served his way to his best-ever result. And Alexander Popp has only three states of being: Playing on grass, injured, and losing. "

"Don't expect too many long rallies when Taylor Dent plays Alexander Popp. If it's possible for a 7-6 7-6 match to end in under an hour, this could well be the match that does it. (It does seem a bit ironic that these guys, who have among the biggest serves around, have the names they do.)"

"Alexander Popp has three more events -- Nottingham, Wimbledon, and Newport -- before the Tour moves away from grass and he turns back into Challenger bait. It's going to be tough for him to beat Dent on grass -- but he really needs to try. "

Alexander Popp (Germany) who plays Taylor Dent (USA) in first round
I feel pretty good. I didn't play well in Halle but that was difficult after my injury. I hope it will now get better every week and in practice I feel good. Hopefully, I'll play well tomorrow. I feel very comfortable on the grass. I've always played well on grass – I can be confident on it and had great matches on it, especially at Wimbledon and in Nottingham 2 years ago. The courts here are pretty good - good for playing from the baseline too which I like – so far no complaints.

On Dent – "it's a very tough 1st round – he's a good player on grass, especially on fast courts and I like grass too – for both of us it's not an easy first round. I hope I can win it but I know it's going to be tough."

On the draw – "There are a lot of good players – especially the seeds. They can all really get far in the tournament. But sometimes it's not only about rankings – it's also about the way guys play on grass. Ljubicic (Croatia) the no.1 seed has a big serve. Johansson too can play really well on grass so it's going to be a tough tournament."

http://nottingham.lta.org.uk/News/050612MackinMarray.htm

*Mind meld* Alexander come to California in July... The weather is fantastic. The big haired chick wants to see you. Get a plane ticket....

The big haired chick wants to see you. Get a plane ticket....
:haha: @ the big hair comment :D

I think he underestimated Dent! Dent won, 63 63. Ouch. Not long til the grass is gone Alexander! At least Jez took a nice picture (628kb of AP. Not bad!) while he was pre-loss :sad::hug:

:haha: @ the big hair comment :D

I think he underestimated Dent! Dent won, 63 63. Ouch. Not long til the grass is gone Alexander! At least Jez took a nice picture (628kb of AP. Not bad!) while he was pre-loss :sad::hug:

Don't laugh at my big hair, according to Humphries it's the reason they all remember me! :lol: (Dude its huge, seriously, you should see me rake it up off the carpet before I vacuum).

It looks like Alexander is still very Rusty and he should have entered the Forest Hills Challenger (perhaps he can ask for a wildcard). He's only got Wimbledon and Newport left, but I would love to see him camp out in the states and play the faster hardcourts to see if he can pick up some matches and some points. :D

Where's the photie? I wanna seeeeee!!!!

Here's the half-sized version:)
You know how your mouth waters when you see a nice meal? Sometimes my eyes water when I see something nice (a nice man or a Maserati). When Siobhan sent this to me...my cheeks started cramping from the stupid smile on my face...and the waterworks almost began...:haha: in a good way.

Cool pic of Alexander, BjorkmanGirl! :yeah:

Here are his first possible rounds of the Wimbledon draw:

Tim Henman GBR (6)
v.
Jarkko Nieminen FIN

Nicolas Almagro ESP
v.
Dmitry Tursunov RUS

______________________

Alexander Popp GER
v.
Jerome Haehnel FRA

Wayne Arthurs AUS
v.
Filippo Volandri ITA (32)

________________________

Haehnel should be really beatable, I hope!
2nd round against Arthurs/Volandri! (most likely Arthurs?!)

Yeah... I love jez's pic as well :D

Arthurs is looking pretty dangerous :tape:
When you think...he lives in London... he kicked the sh!t out of Jurgen in Sydney (ok, 3 months ago, but he's unbelievable!)

Here's hoping he lost his form and confidence :D lol

I was just reading something by Bob Larson.... (I think?!) saying that half of Alexanders points come from last years wimbledon. So... how many points does he get for making it to the second round? I'm REALLY worried about Arthurs :scared: even though I know Alexander is competent on grass also. He has 321 on the entry rankings now... he'd be pushed back to around 200-250th place (If I'm reading and adding this up correctly!He's currently 136 with 321 points) if he lost all those points. Or, does he get quite a few just from being in the main draw? OMG I so don't understand tennis. :retard: :angel:

He has to defend 150 points in Wimbledon and 120 points in Newport. If he loses his first round matches, he will get 5+5 points -270 = 61 points.

If he loses the 2nd round in Wimbledon, he will have 321 - 150 + 35 = 206 points before Newport. After Newport he will have 91 points, if he loses in the first round there.

Go alexander against Haehnel today :D

Well done! :worship:
Popp def. Haehnel 6-2 6-3 2-6 6-4 :banana:

that's something to celebrate :yeah:

They need a : phew! : or :sigh: icon. I'm panicking so much that he'll lose... Ordinarily it wouldn't bother me so much, but with all these points :scared: I'm paranoid!

From the Adelaide Advertiser (australia)
Arthurs will now play German Alexander Popp, who will have the support of the home crowd due to his mother being English.

Popp, who has never before faced Arthurs, made a quarter-final and a fourth round here in the past two years, proving just as adept as Arthurs on the grass.

Arthurs had been worried about his service action in the lead-up to the match but sent down 16 aces, with a commanding first-serve percentage of 64.

The importance of that was illustrated in the final game of the match when Arthurs was 0-40 down but reeled off some big serves to prevent the Italian steering the set toward a tiebreak.

This thread will be a year old on the 28th of June :awww:
They grow up so fast...

Wow, I read an article that said that Popp also had a little ankle twist in his match against Haehnel, but it was not so bad and he could continue fine. They actually said it was good for him as it must have made him forget about the tennis and the "fear to lose" another match. :shrug: :lol:


http://de.sports.yahoo.com/050622/27/4jw3.html

Good luck to Popp against Arthurs :D

Very difficult match :unsure:

It's going to be on TV here!!!! :D
10.35pm.... omg :drool: :awww: I've missed seeing this guy! Tv will have to suffice!
:woohoo:

Popp with a loud "come on" in the tb of the 4th set. :lol: A bit strange to hear it from him.

Popp def. Arthurs 6-3 6-7(4) 3-6 7-6(4) 14-12 :yeah:

Congrats, he deserved it after his bad time. Of course, it's again in Wimbledon :angel:

I have to say, I was swearing a LOT tonight. Mostly to my television. I've never spoken to a television so much. :tape:

Though it's a shame for Wayne to go, it would have been...just...wrong for Alexander to leave so early. :hug: :smooch:

I have to say, I was swearing a LOT tonight. Mostly to my television. I've never spoken to a television so much. :tape:

Though it's a shame for Wayne to go, it would have been...just...wrong for Alexander to leave so early. :hug: :smooch:
:hug: for you ('Cos I can't good-rep you!), glad he won

Popp should thank his fellow countrymen Waske and Schüttler for dragging Arthurs to a tight 5 sets doubles till late yesterday. ;)

hehe thanks Space Cowgirl! :hug:
:lol: @ Lee...so true. The other Germans demoralised him a bit I think!

http://www.wimbledon.org/images/pics/large/b_04_popp_171_afp_a_dennis.jpg

Tursunov def. Popp 5-7 7-6(5) 6-2 6-2 :sad:

This match has a little bit of a bad taste over it.... I saw him up on the scoreboard by a minibreak in the 2nd set tiebreak and when I came back he had lost it and was down by an early break in the third set already. After Kiefer's match was over, TV switched to Alexander's court and showed the rest of it. Not the best performance, unfortunately :sad: He seemed to be so disappointed because he knew he wasted a big chance to go up 2-0 sets and from his attitude and gestures you could see that he probably knew he was not going to have enough gas left in his tank to come back, going over four or five sets again. At some point he also complained in German: "damn, I can't serve anymore".

He clearly looked a few steps too slow towards the end of the match and I hope it was only tiredness.

Good luck for Newport!!! :yeah: (?! or whats his next tournament?)

Oh, bummer. I hope he'll decide to come to Aptos Challenger. I really want to see him and I don't think I can get down to LA this year.

Sad that he lost... but glad that he only lost his rhythm and didn't do something bad to his shoulder again :tape:
Fingers (and toes) crossed for Newport :tape::tape:

Another of those annoying articles where the British want Alexander as their own :rolleyes: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/06/25/sttoda25.xml&sSheet=/sport/2005/06/25/ixtenn.html

In the excitement over Andrew Murray's Wimbledon debut successes, it has so far been overlooked that there is still another Briton left in the men's singles - and one who has a proven record of reaching the second week of The Championships. However, the relative lack of domestic interest is down to Alexander Popp still representing Germany.

Born in Heidelberg to a German father, Rainer, and an English mother, Jennifer, Popp has never lived in this country but possesses a British passport and has shown a particular affection for playing at Wimbledon, twice reaching the quarter-finals and once the last 16 in his three appearances to date.

Further progress this time will be far from straight-forward as Popp comes up in his third-round match on Court 14 against Dmitry Tursunov, who is also building a reputation as an All England specialist after beating Marat Safin last year on his first visit and now ending Tim Henman's involvement on Thursday.

Whether Tursunov can add another "British" scalp may depend on how well Popp serves. He is one of the tallest players at 6ft 7in but has produced a best service speed so far this week of just 129mph, which is relatively slow by the standards of modern men's tennis.

Popp also insists that grass is his least favourite surface, despite his performances at Wimbledon until now and the fact that his sole final appearance on the ATP Tour came at last summer's tournament on the lawns of Newport, Rhode Island, where he only lost to Greg Rusedski in two tie-breaks.

Indeed, the German won only one tour-level match away from grass between the last Wimbledon and this, with defeats in the first round at every tournament he played in 2005, including Roland Garros, Halle and Nottingham in the past month. However, he is happy just to be playing again in the latest of a series of comebacks from serious injury and illness.

Four years ago he almost retired at the age of 24 because of debilitation due to infectious mononucleosis and his subsequent return stalled when he needed surgery to repair a torn right wrist ligament in October 2002. That has proved an unlucky month for Popp as last year in October his right shoulder needed to be operated on, causing another seven-month lay-off.

Tursunov, who at 22 is six years younger than his opponent, may sympathise more than most as by coincidence he is the only other player left in the men's singles who entered the tournament on a protected ranking because of injury, a long-standing back problem that was initially misdiagnosed in 2002 before two fractures were identified.

The Russian, who has lived in California since the age of 12, more recently had to default at the French Open because of a knee problem after reaching the second round. He looked strong against Henman and will be interested to know that whoever has beaten Popp on previous Wimbledon visits has finished as runner-up.

Popp should at least have a bit more support, especially from Wolverhampton, where his mother was born before leaving for Germany with his English teacher father.

Oh, bummer. I hope he'll decide to come to Aptos Challenger. I really want to see him and I don't think I can get down to LA this year.
Where are you living normally? In San Diego? I don't remember anymore...

Sad that he lost... but glad that he only lost his rhythm and didn't do something bad to his shoulder again :tape:
I hope the same that he didn't re-injure his shoulder or something else. I hope he was only damn tired that his movement looked quite bad and slow at the end of the match.

I live in Northern California, near Sacramento, the state capital. He didn't sign up for the Aptos Challenger, but I was hoping that he would consider playing there since it's the week between Newport and Indy. If he plays LA, he will have to qualify since he's just off direct entry there. I don't think I could get down there on Satruday to see him since I've made other plans, and I would either have to fly or drive to get there. I guess I just have to hope that he comes back to San Jose in February of 2006.

How do I love Bob Larson? Let me count the ways... zero.

Greg Rusedski was last year's Newport champion, but he's fairly high in the rankings and has the chance to defend. Last year's finalist Alexander Popp is in a lot more trouble, given that his ranking already stinks, and he's been struggling to get back in form, and he only wins on grass. He's a strong candidate to drop out of the Top 200.

Newport is just full of good stuff. Most noteworthy of all is the opener between Popp and #2 seed Spadea, since Popp needs the points so much. Popp beat Spadea in the quarterfinal last year, but Popp was playing better then. On the other hand, so was Spadea. Oh, how the truth hurts!! auf gehts!!!

he is scheduled to play in an hour already (I hope I didn't mess up with the time difference and it's not raining)

Come on!

Spadea wins 4-6 6-3 6-2

too bad :sobbing: now it's going to be very hard for Alexander to pick up any more wins for the remaining season :sad:

mmm bring on the Challengers!
I don't know anything about the mentality of tennis players but... his ranking is going to plummet... WC's can only get him so far (are there any German tournaments left!?) and a few wins would be nice for the confidence.

mmm bring on the Challengers!
I don't know anything about the mentality of tennis players but... his ranking is going to plummet... WC's can only get him so far (are there any German tournaments left!?) and a few wins would be nice for the confidence.

There still is the stuttgart-weißenhof tournament next week - but it's on clay and Alex won't get a (md)-wc there, i guess. I'm sorry for him, but i guess that's it for his career... :sad:

I think Popp used his protected ranking for only 4 events so far, so he can probably use it for USO? And in Indianapolis he has another chance to win a match + he earned enough points for a top300 ranking at the end of the year. I'm confident that he will make the top200. :)

week29 Indianapolis
week30 Granby (50,000)
week31 Washington
week32 ?
week33 ?
week34 ?
week35 US Open

So how many tournament can you play with protected ranking? If it's more than 6, he can play the US Open. So enough chances for him to make some wins. :)

Look at that! ;)

http://www.denis-gremelmayr.de/P7260001.JPG

I think it's 8 tournaments within a 9 month period.

Look at that! ;)

http://www.denis-gremelmayr.de/P7260001.JPG
cool discovery :cool:

I went to that website for Denis... but, clicking on the photo/thumbnail (or the url in this forum) doesn't work for me. :ras: to this website, or that one :(

http://www.denis-gremelmayr.de/photo2003.htm

Damn, another quick match the wrong way.

Popp was up by 4-2 in the first set and people said he even had break chanced to go up a double break, but he lost the first set 5-7 :sad:

final score: Dupuis 7-5 6-1

Alexander...you boofhead!!! DUPUISSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*cough* challengers *cough*
Kiefer will take care of Dupuis. :mad:

Kristen, i took some (shirtless) pics of popp for you! i only saw him practicing. i also got about 2cm away from him when i was walking into the tournament... i wanted to see who was playing (they had those kinda see-through things up on the fence) so i looked under and there he was, and he walked really close to retrieve a ball. it was cool. i shoulda said something to him, but i'm too shy! :o

Shirtless!
2 centimetres!!! (I thought it was a typo!)

I think I need 5 minutes to fully comprehend that message. The one chance I had to have a good perve on the guy, I didn't take it. He was being interviewed, had taken off his shirt, and I wanted to be a respectful fan. Never again I tell you. I would probably whip out my stalker-zoom camera and go crazy. For all I know he might become injured. Again. LOL! Thanks for this, btw! :D

lol, i thought about you every time i saw him. :lol: just to clarify: he was wearing a shirt when i was close to him. the pics i got to take were from a pretty far distance. i hope they're not blurry or anything.

Looking forward to those photos too!

Alexander is at the Granby Challenger. The draw is in the Challenger forum.

India's Harsh Mankad enjoyed at good outing at the US $ 50,000 Natrel de Granby hard court ATP Challenger in Canada, advancing in the singles and the doubles on Monday.

Playing on his favourite surface, he beat Japanese qualifier Toshihide Matsui 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the first round and will next face top seed Bjorn Phau of Germany on Wednesday.

In doubles, Mankad and Mustafa Ghouse beat the US-Canadian pair Pierre-Ludovic Duclos and Lesley Joseph 7-5, 6-4 to enter the quarterfinal.

Rohan Bopanna of India and Matsui also entered the doubles quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Andrew Piotrowski and Alex Reichel.

Bopanna has been drawn against Alexander Popp of Germany for his singles first round later on Tuesday.

Here's hoping Rohan has an off day :rolleyes:

Rohan Bopanna (IND) d. Alexander Popp (GER) 6-3 6-4

How low does your ranking have to be before you can enter Futures/Satellites again? :retard: (j/k... you all know I think the world of this guy...and I don't know how good Rohan is + besides, it's not on grass. *sigh*

Popp d. Phau 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3

No joke, it's really true. Grosjean will be a bit more difficult though. :help:

:woohoo:

I know its only one match victory, but its more than he's had in a while so I'll take it!

lol Fee... when I just saw the score on livescore, I let out a rather high pitched "Wooo!"

Bring on the points! LOL

wow, very surprising win! :)

i thought i'd post my shirtless Popp pics for Kristen and Fee (finally :rolleyes: ) sorry about the microscopic-ness of him! i need a better camera, for tennis purposes.

:hearts::hug::lick::drool::yeah: (you get the idea)
Thankyou! And don't worry... Fee and I have good imaginations;)

Bundesliga: TC Blau-Weiss Neuss – TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim 2:7
Aldi, Francesco (ITA/131) – Popp, Alexander (GER/275) 4:6, 0:6 :eek:
Tenconi, Thomas (ITA/215) – Phau, Björn (GER/106) 2:6, 6:1, 3:6
Garcia, Adrian (CHI/139) – Sanchez, David (ESP/105) 7:6, 6:3
Summerer, Tobias (GER/165) – Elsner, Daniel (GER/447) 6:7(0), 4:6
Hemmes, Fred (NED/393) – Serrano, Oscar (ESP/456) 2:6, 1:6
Clemens, Tobias (GER/734) - Gremelmayr, Denis (GER/271) 1:6, 3:6
Doubles:
Aldi/Tenconi – Phau/Elsner 6:7(5), 6:4, 6:7(4)
Garcia/Hemmes – Popp/Gremelmayr 6:4, 4:6, 6:7(9)
Summerer/Clemens – Sanchez/Serrano 4:6, 7:6(1), 6:3

What a good result for him on clay!

I am a dunce.
When I read his singles result, I kind of misread it, thinking he had the bagel (Who could blame me!?) now...minutes later, I understand why you're so happy with his result :retard: :woohoo: :yeah:

He played a match on clay?!?!?!?

I wish Alexander would get over his aversion to playing in the states (perhaps we could find him a German host family in each city he comes to). He might have been able to pick up some points if he had stayed here for about 6 weeks and played all of the hardcourt Challengers like some of the other guys did.

US Open Entry List
95. Alexander Popp GER @91

Ohh...how I miss that small number, 91. I keep forgetting about the protected ranking, and so I went to the USO qualifying list first, and I was so scared as I scrolled down the list, getting into the 200's... :tape: lol then my brain kicked into gear and I found the guy. I hope he does well (wins a match) and gets motivated:)

Holy shit, I'm so stupid! I'm going to the USOpen for the first three days. I'll definitely see him, get some pics, and try to speak to him. Any messages, questions, whatever you want me to deliver?

Ask Alex how big he is, for me :devil: I would imagine he's pretty huge, but want to be certain before I try anything :tape: Photos as proof if you wish!! ;)

A South African combination of Leena/Princesa! in our midst? I am indeed, surprised.

Although I am incredibly curious to know if the ATP delivered his little parcel to him (the book/letter I sent earlier this year), I will probably ask that myself, because it could make you look like an ass if he has no clue what you're talking about :tape:

I'll try to send you a little note or something by Friday, will that give you plenty of time? Thanks Fee :wavey:

Friday is perfect.

Harriet, Alexander is about 6'6" if I remember correctly. He seemed to bend down out of the sky when he hugged me. He's very tall. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again, I hope he remembers me.

He finally won the title with his team in Germany. ;) All singles results:
Popp d. Aldi 6-4 6-0
Popp d. Lisnard 7-6 (5) 6-4
Popp d. Petzschner 7-6(4) 6-4
He also won his 3 doubles.

Good luck to him and hopefully a nice draw. :yeah:

He finally won the title with his team in Germany. ;) All singles results:
Popp d. Aldi 6-4 6-0
Popp d. Lisnard 7-6 (5) 6-4
Popp d. Petzschner 7-6(4) 6-4
He also won his 3 doubles.

Good luck to him and hopefully a nice draw. :yeah:
:lol: They put down the right guy's results, didn't they?;)
They didn't get him confused with Torsten Popp!? 3 singles and 3 doubles wins! Excellent!

Friday is perfect.

Harriet, Alexander is about 6'6" if I remember correctly. He seemed to bend down out of the sky when he hugged me. He's very tall. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again, I hope he remembers me.

:lol: Fee I think she meant his :tape: Didn't she?! Anyway, looks like she's gone already!!

Alex, huge results in the German cup/league :D Nice work buddy! Please can someone explain the format of that competition? It seems really interesting to me :yeah:

Heya Andy :wavey:
Do you mean Bundesliga (http://www.tennisbundesliga.de/)? 1st time I looked into it it drove me insane - still not 100% sure on the structure but can give you the basics if you like.

Alex, huge results in the German cup/league :D Nice work buddy! Please can someone explain the format of that competition? It seems really interesting to me :yeah:

I have also a thread with all results, maybe you understand the system by reading it. :)

http://menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?p=2002224#post2002224

I read a few weeks ago that Popp had the agreement with Mannheim that he joins the team as soon as Burgsmüller starts playing in the US.

US OPEN:
Popp - Safin :speakles:

Athie and JMG, yes this was what I meant-many thanks for the assistance :D

WOOOT!
Marat Safin of Russia, the fifth-seeded player in the US Open, withdrew from the tournament yesterday because of an injured left knee. He was replaced in the draw by Bjorn Phau of Germany, who will face his countryman Alexander Popp in the first round.

[Paragraph about Safins knee]

Phau lost in the first round at Wimbledon and the French Open this year and was eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open. Popp beat him, 6-7 (7), 6-2, 3-6, in the first round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic this month.

Damn, this upcoming all-German clash is very likely scheduled to collide with my chances to get extensive coverage of Kiwi's match, but okay... I'll watch whatever they will serve me :lol:

Tsk Alexander. LOL Take off 2005 and come back in 2006, to Adelaide-Sydney-Melbourne ;) eh? Good idea...eh?!

61 63 63 or something/... I don't want/need to see the score again.

He has still protected ranking for Ho Chi Minh City and Tokyo. :eek:

The points for losing the first round there will help him to make it to the AusOpen qualifying. ;) Or maybe he'll face a wildcard player from Vietnam.

haha your post made me happy JMG, and for that, you shall be good repped ;)

Alex :wavey: Go baby!

Well, I went to the USO, but it wasn't the best experience for me. The whole thing was kind of chaotic and it made me a little bit crazy. I did go to Alex's match, but I left after 5 games because he was playing so poorly I just couldn't take it anymore. I looked for him on practice courts Monday and Tuesday but I was never able to track him down to speak to him, sadly. I hope he comes to San Jose next year, but I really think he prefers to stay in Europe as much as he can, so I don't think I'll see him again.

So, who's going to try to track him down next?

Sad to hear it Fee, but I understand. I ditched Jonas' matches a couple of times because it was horrendous.

Umm... about 4 months (minimum) until I try to track him down. I would expect he would come to the Aus Open, LOL and if he's doing REALLY poorly, maybe the Gosford challenger!! :lol:

First Round Ho Chi Minh:

Popp vs (2)T.Johansson :rolleyes:

ToJo is such a pain in the ass. Ordinarily, I would go for him. But this time, it's war.

auf gehts! Kick his Swedish ass!

*Hopes no fellow Swedish fans come in* :bolt:

Alexander Popp and Jiri Vanek posted a 6-4, 6-5(5) upset win over Jordan Kerr and Travis Parrott to also advance to the second round.

In the opening set, Parrott was broken when serving at 4-5. In the second set, both teams held off break points before Kerr was broken in the seventh game. Vanek was then broken back when serving for the match at 5-4, but in the tie-break Popp and Vanek regained the momentum, winning 7-5.

---------------
Popp was unranked in doubles!

Thanks for the info, JMG.
I would have hardly noticed anything of doubles in Vietnam ;)

And now post an upset win against Johansson :angel:

:woohoo:
Ok, he lost...but not badly at all! :D
64, 46, 36. Not too bad against ToJo huh :) Well done Alex, better luck in doubles against the Americans :)
http://www.atptennis.com/en/common/TrackIt.asp?file=/posting/2005/890/MDD.pdf

AIG OPEN, Tokyo(3) GINEPRI, Robby USA v Bye
(WC) MOTOMURA, Gouichi JPN v POPP, Alexander GER
WASKE, Alexander GER v GIMELSTOB, Justin USA
Bye v (13) MULLER, Gilles LUX

(10)CARLSEN, Kenneth DEN v Bye
(WC)ITTOGI, Takahiro JPN v LAPENTTI, Nicolas ECU
KOUBEK, Stefan AUT v PHAU, Bjorn GER
Bye v (8)SPADEA, Vincent USAWas it pessimistic of me, to only post his quarter of the draw!? ;)

AIG OPEN, TokyoWas it pessimistic of me, to only post his quarter of the draw!? ;)
I don't think so, it would have been pessimistic if you only posted his eigth of the draw ;)

Alex df Motomura! 62 64. I'm so happy :) Robby Ginepri next :retard: :scary:
:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

I don't want to panic anyone, but Alexander, Jan-Mike, and Flip all won a match this week. Shall we look for the other 6 signs?

I won't hold my breath for two wins in a row :lol:
Ohhh Ginepri! Ginepri has just moved up in my (other) list. 64, 60 he kicked his ass. Ass! This is the disappointment I get for going to livescore, wondering who JMG beat, and who he plays next. I love that everyone is so excited about Scud beating Behrend!! :haha: It's possibly worse than the happiness I felt when I saw AP beat Gouichi! Tennis really sucks this week for me. Doubles, Madrid. Well, at least Jonas won a title :lol:

I was seeing his match. Personally Popp was unable to keep his concentration in the second set.Also his serve was a bit terrible.
Moreover Ginepri played ractfully.

I was seeing his match. Personally Popp was unable to keep his concentration in the second set.Also his serve was a bit terrible.
Moreover Ginepri played ractfully.
Only a bit terrible? :woohoo:
Thanks for that Mebius :) I'm glad he had a decent first set though. I will blame this on Robby's coach (and I'm hoping it's still Francisco, Fee? I love that guy!)

Probably still is, he was at the USO with him. They seem to be working well together especially now that Robby is listening to him :lol:

Alexander, you should have come to the US and played these challengers, then you would have seen me again! But he gets points for every match he plays since he has nothing to defend for the next few months. There is still hope. :D

Probably still is, he was at the USO with him. They seem to be working well together especially now that Robby is listening to him :lol:

Alexander, you should have come to the US and played these challengers, then you would have seen me again! But he gets points for every match he plays since he has nothing to defend for the next few months. There is still hope. :D
lol, just what I needed to hear :D I know I keep bitching and moaning about him, but I can't help it. You know what it's like, when you support a guy and think highly of him. And, although he has the potential to do well, sometimes it just doesn't happen. I guess I should be happy he's injury-free (to my knowledge!) :woohoo:

He can still play with rank91 :eek: and got direct entry for Moscow! :yeah:

7580 $ and 5 entry points for him!

Happy Birthday for tomorrow!! (Australia time)
29.... he's getting on a bit eh ;)
auf gehts! Bring on 2006!

Happy Birthday Alexander!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:cool: :kiss: :drink: :dance: :hatoff: :banana: :inlove: :bdaycake: :aparty: :music: :yippee: :bigclap: :bounce: :hearts:




(please don't retire, try it for just one more year...)

Happy Birthday to Alexander! :bdaycake: :bdaycake:

I also hope he doesn't retire yet and gives his career at least one more year a try :yeah:

A late happy bithday from me. ;) :aparty:

Maybe some of you didn't see that he played St.Petersburg two weeks ago and lost to Stakhovsky in the first round. I think it's important to mention, because it could have been his last ATP main draw in his career.

Oh no! I was hoping this wasn't the case (of the end of the protected ranking. This guy should get bonus points, due to constant injuries). The loss was made easier for me, as Stakhovsky is one I'm keeping my eye on as he gets older. Still, he could have done the world a favour, and lost to AP :( :hug:

I wonder if he's a tennis player in 2006 :tape:
I know, there are worse things than having a ranking in the hundreds... I haven't checked the rankings in a while. It's easier this way. Hope to see him in a tournament in Aus, in the coming weeks. If its the case, and anyone wants to send well wishes... drop me a line :yeah::wavey:

Well, Alexander is on the Aus Open entry list with his protected ranking. Looks like he is going to try it for one more year. Yay for us!

Tournament no.10 with protected ranking. And why did the pr change form 91 to 104. :confused:

I wonder why Popp doesn't play the German Championship next week, would have been a good tournament for practise.

There is a corrected Aus Open entry list at Steve G and Alexander is not on it. He has also pulled from the ALT list as well, apparently. :sad:

There is a corrected Aus Open entry list at Steve G and Alexander is not on it. He has also pulled from the ALT list as well, apparently. :sad:
These are not good news. I also don't know any news about his career and if he wants to keep on playing, but I hope he does at least for one more year.

I was at Jurgens doubles match this morning, and spoke to his coach Karl Heinz Wetter. Jurgen and Alex seem to be mates, so I figured I'd ask his coach what the go was with Alexander. Apparently he's studying now, Pharmacy... Seems our tall german is a smart one, and I will definitely miss seeing him around during the grass season. (And the Aussie season). Wish we could have farewelled him properly though. :sad:

Thanks for the info Kristen. I wish we could have sent him off properly too. All the best wishes for Alex and his future. :D

From 'The Sports Network':
Two other seeds avoided upsets, as No. 7 Peruvian Luis Horna handled South African Wesley Moodie 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 and No. 8 Frenchman Gilles Simon subdued German qualifier Alexander Popp 7-5, 6-4. We wish.

Alex Popp was in Hamburg last week. I saw him once.

From 'The Sports Network':
We wish.

The Sports Network seems very well informed :rolleyes:

There have been a lot of Popps in German tennis. Wolfgang, Anouschka, Alexander and now Torsten. Does anybody know if some of them are relatives?

They even have "Alexander Popp / Aljoscha Thron" in the pdf doubles draw of Ettlingen, but the oop says it's Torsten Popp. :o

Popp played some Bundesliga matches, he was 0-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles with Burgsmüller and Vicente. Here's the link for the only singles match he played.

http://dtb.liga.nu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/TennisLeagueDTB.woa/wa/pdfMeetingReport?meeting=594825&championship=BL+2006

Thanks for posting this!
Glad to hear he still plays occasionally.

I am still missing Alexander!

I am sad he lost to Dennis, though I really like Dennis too and he needs like every win he can get.

I always liked Popp.

Its good to hear he is still playing some tennis.

Can anyone post the article fo the Tennismagazin (March/2008) or at least write a short summary? I wanted to buy it now at petrol station or kiosk, but somehow they don't have it. Looks like tennis is dead.