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The "enjoy your little break, you've earned it :D (and vamos mandy)" Spring HC Thread

32K views 701 replies 41 participants last post by  tsurupettan 
#1 · (Edited)
#200 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us - in a really good way this time!!!" Spring HC Thre

Hi Ellen, welcome, glad you introduced yourself :D and hi zerocool, you are welcome here anytime, hopefully to post, but also to lurk if you want :p
 
#201 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us - in a really good way this time!!!" Spring HC Thre

Hi Ellen, welcome, glad you introduced yourself :D and hi zerocool, you are welcome here anytime, hopefully to post, but also to lurk if you want :p
That's what I've been doing here since AO :D

Cannot wait for the match to start, really looking forward to it :bounce:
 
#202 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us - in a really good way this time!!!" Spring HC Thre

Well you shouldn't lurk either :D:p
 
#203 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us - in a really good way this time!!!" Spring HC Thre

Andy into the final:woohoo:
Win it now!!!!
 
#204 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us - in a really good way this time!!!" Spring HC Thre

seriously, all you lurkers should de-lurk, we're a friendly bunch around here! ;) and it's always nice to know Andy has fans other than the few regular posters here. :p
 
#205 · (Edited)
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us - in a really good way this time!!!" Spring HC Thre

Hello lurkers and new people, it's nice to see some new faces around here. :wavey:

*edit*

Adding pics from the earlier matches. :)
 

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#207 · (Edited)
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

:banana:
 

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#210 · (Edited)
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

For the record, Andy has made four semi-final appearances in a row now (Qatar, AO, SAP, Memphis), and he has won at least one title 9 years running, beating Federer. :p

*edit*

Adding pics from the matches. :dance:
 

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#212 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Ok, ok, I'm not a lurker here :rolls: Just didn't really have time to be around for a couple of weeks.

I think it's appropriate to use this smilie tonight: :banana:

9th year in a row with an ATP trophy :bdaycake:

The trophy ceremony was hilarious! I just didn't get it, whether it happened intentionally or not?!
 
#213 · (Edited)
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

I don't think it was intentional, I think they just mixed it up when they gave them out :lol:
 

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#215 · (Edited)
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

:)
=====
Andy Roddick beats Radek Stepanek to win first title of 2009 in Memphis


Teresa M. Walker, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press – 45 mins ago

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Andy Roddick wants to clear up any misconceptions about why he's not going to Dubai. It has nothing to do with his health, and he proved that Sunday on the court.

Roddick won his first title of 2009 and the 27th of his career, beating Czech Radek Stepanek 7-5, 7-5 in the finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

Only Roger Federer (57) and Rafael Nadal (32) have won more titles among active players. Roddick confirmed Friday that he wouldn't defend his title at Dubai. He said he wasn't happy about the denial of a visa to Israeli player Shahar Peer by the United Arab Emirates for the women's event this week.

But Roddick read a report that a hernia was his reason for withdrawing.

"There's no other reason. Obviously, I don't have a hernia. I probably wouldn't have played too well today. I would ask you guys to check but that might be inappropriate. I'm 100 per cent healthy," Roddick said. :haha: :yeah:

Now Roddick plans to work on his conditioning with his week off and may arrive in Birmingham, Ala., a little early for Davis Cup first-round play with Switzerland. :yeah:

"I love the tournament in Dubai. The actual event that's put on, they do a great job with this. I know a lot of this was out of their hands, but it is what it is. You have a week off as opposed to travelling there," Roddick said.

Being healthy is what Roddick worked so hard for during the off-season with new coach Larry Stefanki. He lost 15 pounds.

On Sunday, Roddick got a bit of revenge for losing to Stepanek in the semifinals in San Jose last week and improved to 5-1 all-time against the man trying to become the first Czech to win in Memphis since Ivan Lendl in 1991. He called it satisfying to win a tight match with lots of long rallies. Roddick won the key points by breaking Stepanek in the 12th game of each set.

"Obviously, he's been playing his best tennis of his career probably this year and especially the past couple weeks. I knew what it was going to take, and I was able to get there," Roddick said.

Roddick extended his streak of years with at least one title to nine, the longest current streak on tour, though Federer could match him with a victory this year.

"We have a long year ahead of us," Roddick said. "We always do, but this is the best start I've had in a long time. Possibly ever, actually, if you just look at the first two months of the year." :yeah:

The world's sixth-ranked player took home the US$300,000 winner's cheque and 500 ranking points for the ATP World Tour. He improved to 17-3 in match play this year. Of his 27 titles, 19 have come in North America. This is Roddick's second at Memphis.

The American, with his fiancee, model Brooklyn Decker, cheering him on at courtside, was coming into the final off the longest match of the tournament. He needed two hours,11 minutes to beat Lleyton Hewitt compared to the 57 minutes Stepanek used to breeze past qualifier Dudi Sela.

Stepanek came in enjoying the best start to a year in his career with two titles already to his credit and trying to win for the second straight week.

He had won nine consecutive matches but started slowly.

Roddick broke him in the second game to go up 2-0. Stepanek trailed 3-1 when he broke Roddick and then held serve to even the first set at 3-3.

"I had no doubts I wouldn't break him back," Stepanek said. "I had a lot of chances today to break him and didn't convert them. That was the biggest difference between the two of us."

They appeared headed toward a tiebreaker when Stepanek trailed 30-40 and hit a forehand long to give Roddick the first set.

Tied at 4 in the second set, Stepanek had a chance to break Roddick at 15-40. The American fought back to force deuce, served up one of his eight aces with a 209 km/h, before Stepanek hit a forehand wide after a long rally.

Stepanek kept the match entertaining, at one point using his head to knock a ball back to a ball girl and then hitting a ball over to a ball boy through his legs. After the match, Stepanek noticed he had been given the winner's trophy and presented it to Roddick.

"Since he said I was the best player throughout those two weeks, I said, 'OK, maybe I keep it maybe.' But no. He deserved it," Stepanek said. :lol:

When needing to hold serve to force a second-set tiebreaker, Stepanek won only one point off a forehand Roddick hit long up 0-40. Roddick then closed out the title with a forehand passing shot, celebrating by raising both arms in the air.

"It was huge. You go into a third, it's a coin flip at best because he probably has a little bit of momentum going," Roddick said. "I feel like when I'm playing well I do a good job of closing out. Even the two games before I broke him, I played pretty good games and at least forced him to work a little bit."
 

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#217 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Andy is 2nd in the race now behind Rafa :spit:

:)

Champ wins twice in Peer-less display

By Geoff Calkins (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, February 23, 2009

Andy Roddick took the crystal trophy and prepared to hold it over his head when Radek Stepanek, his vanquished opponent, noticed something odd about the trophy that he had just been given.

"It's for the singles winner," he said.

Whoopsie.

Stepanek asked for the microphone and -- laughing -- corrected the mix-up.

Which is a good thing, too. If any tennis player has ever deserved the proper trophy for his week of work in Memphis, that player is Roddick this year.

He defeated Stepanek, 7-5, 7-5, Sunday to win the 27th singles title of his career. He won his first title under his new coach, Larry Stefanki. And then, during the post-match press conference, he did something even more impressive.

He stood up for what's good and right. He emphasized that, no, he is not skipping this week's tournament in Dubai because of an injury.

He is skipping it because the United Arab Emirates denied Israel's Shahar Peer a visa for last week's women's event. He is skipping it because some things are more important than winning.

Yes, a tennis player said all that. Whoever would have thought? And whoever would have thought the player would be Roddick?

Nothing against the guy, of course. He's always been entertaining.

It's just, we know who he is. As a country, we have made up our minds about him.

Roddick is the player with the big serve and the pretty girlfriends. He is the hunky Texan who has never quite lived up to expectations.

That's the label, isn't it? And to some extent, if fits.

Roddick has won exactly one Grand Slam event and that was nearly six years ago. He's 2-16 against Roger Federer, 0-7 in Grand Slams.

So we dismiss him as a glamorous also-ran. Which is technically true and also nutty.

Imagine if Roddick played any of the other sports we revere, if he played basketball or football.

The guy is the third-best tennis player in the world. If you're the third-best basketball player in the world, you're Kevin Garnett or Dwyane Wade or Dwight Howard. If you're the third best football player in the world you're, oh, anyone besides Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. You're LaDainian Tomlinson or Ray Lewis. You're an all-timer.

In tennis, if you're third best, you're a loser.

Roddick understands this, too. He fundamentally accepts it.

No, he doesn't like being labeled a failure because he's not as good as Federer, who just happens to be the best of all time.

But he gets it. He knows how his sport works.

"It's definitely not a sob story," he said, and it most certainly isn't.

Roddick is rich beyond reason. He's engaged to swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker. He's also -- and this is refreshing -- really trying to get better.

That's why he came to Memphis with a new coach, and in better shape, and with fresh bounce and determination.

He looked good against Stepanek, who had beaten him in the semis in San Jose last week.

Roddick won the points he had to win. He reached some balls he might not have reached in previous years.

And if there was any doubt about his quickness, you should have seen him jump at the chance to clarify the Dubai story after the match was done.

Roddick had initially addressed it Friday, explaining that he had decided not to defend his title because the United Arab Emirates had denied a visa to Peer.

Roddick was the only player to take such a public stance. The organizers of the Dubai tournament tried to blunt it.

"We have heard that Roddick was on the start of a hernia," said Colm McLoughlin, managing director of the tournament sponsor, Dubai Duty Free. "I didn't hear any other report."

Hear this one, then. It comes direct from Roddick.

"I want to clarify something," he said, after Sunday's match. "Obviously, I don't have a hernia or I wouldn't have played today."

(Pause.)

"I'd ask you guys to check but it wouldn't be appropriate."

Take that, Mr. McLoughlin. And we thought Roddick's serve was devastating.

So get the man his trophy!

And make sure it's the right one.

When it comes to doing the right thing, Roddick's a runner-up to nobody.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/feb/23/champ-wins-twice-in-peer-less-display/
 
#220 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

I still don't get how the hernia thing even came about at all. I mean, seriously. :silly: Besides, if he had a hernia, one would think Andy would've used "injury" instead of "other." :rolleyes:

I guess whatever helps them sleep at night. :zzz:
 
#221 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Assuming andy gets the 0-pointer for this year's dubai (and there's no reason he won't, since it was applied to Gonzalez this week), andy's ranking is in trouble when last year's Dubai (now counted as 600 points :eek:) comes off :eek:
 
#223 · (Edited)
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Assuming andy gets the 0-pointer for this year's dubai (and there's no reason he won't, since it was applied to Gonzalez this week), andy's ranking is in trouble when last year's Dubai (now counted as 600 points :eek:) comes off :eek:
0-pointer do you mean that it will count into his best 4 results of 500 tournaments and is irreplaceable? :sad: this part always confused me...:confused:

A player's withdrawal from an ATP World Tour 500 event whether on time or of after the 12 noon deadline, shall result in a zero (0) point included as one of his best of four (4) results. Further non-consecutive withdrawal s shall result in a zero (0) point allocation replacing the next best positive result for each additional withdrawal . Players with multiple consecutive withdrawals who are out of competition for 30 days or longer due to injury will not be subject to a ranking penalty as long as verified and approved medical forms are provided; or, a player shall not have the ranking penalty imposed if he completes the Promotional Activities requirement as specified under "Repeal of Withdrawal Fines and/or Penalties" or if the on-site withdrawal procedures apply.
A. Top 30 players (based on '08 year-end ranking) must play a minimum of four 500 level tournaments during the calendar year, including at least one event following the US Open (Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event will count towards the minimum of four and all penalties apply):
-- A 0-pointer for each event less than four played.
-- A 0-pointer for withdrawing from any 500 tournament after the acceptance list is out.
-- A 0-pointer for not playing at least one event after the US Open.
-- A 0-pointer can be appealed by a player to the same tribunal formed to hear 1000 suspension appeals.
-- No suspensions or fines (including no withdrawal and late withdrawal fines).
 
#222 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Guess we'll just have to hope he'll be able to make some deep runs in the slams and other tournaments to pick up the slack. Hopefully his nice start to the year doesn't fizzle out prematurely. :unsure: Always hard to gauge with Andy.
 
#225 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Can anybody please help me? :awww:

I am trying to find a photo of Andy holding the Memphis trophy from 2002. Most of the photo engines I've tried no longer archive stuff from that far back (!). I want to use this photo for my blog.

If anybody has it in their own album, or knows where to find one, please post.

Thank you. :kiss:
 
#228 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Can anybody please help me? :awww:

I am trying to find a photo of Andy holding the Memphis trophy from 2002. Most of the photo engines I've tried no longer archive stuff from that far back (!). I want to use this photo for my blog.

If anybody has it in their own album, or knows where to find one, please post.

Thank you. :kiss:
here you are :)

 
#226 ·
Re: The "Thanks for surprising us twice - in one week!!!!!" Spring HC Thread

Oh! isn't it too tough for players?:(

Hope that he can play well in GS and 1000 tournaments and DO NOT withdraw so many 1000 tournaments like last year he did, thanks!:(

So how about Roger and Rafa? They have reasons of injuries, will they still get the 0-pointer? Or if they are out of competition for less than 30 days, they still will get the 0-pointer?:confused:

A. In 2009, any player who finished in the 2008 year-end Top 30 will be required to compete in four Grand Slam tournaments and eight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. In addition, the Best 4 ATP World Tour 500 and Best 2 other events (ATP World Tour 250 and Challengers) will be counted towards a player's ranking. All direct acceptance players at the time of the entry deadline who do not play will receive a 0-pointer in their ranking.

A player who is out of competition for 30 or more days, due to a verified injury, will not receive any penalties.
 
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