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Quick Questions Thread

372K views 3K replies 580 participants last post by  umbrellapub 
#1 ·
I think there could be a thread for questions that don't need an own thread. If one already exist, please merge this with it.

Anyway, my question is what is the biggest difference between indoor and outdoor tennis. Naturally there's no wind indoors. And why indoor courts are considered to be faster and how does closing the roof affects at Wimbledon?
 
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#107 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Grand Slam was used when Laver won his real Grand Slam I think. It was taken more as a synonym of a great achievement in tennis rather than winning those 4 tournaments. The Australian Open has always been one of the biggest but in terms of prestige I heard it's gone up substantially with the Sampras era.

Johnny Groove probably can answer this the best as well as older posters.
 
#111 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Whats the difference between a drop-shot and a volley? What are the other types of shots in Tennis? Really a SQ
Drop-shot is a shot that can be done from anywhere around the court and which it's second bounce is done before the service line |__|__| (the both lines at the bottom in this case if this is the court around the net)
Volley is the shot when you hit the ball from the air
 
#118 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

SQ: Do ball girls/boys get paid? I'm guessing no, due to labor laws and underage minors. So, what do they get?

SQ: Do tournament champions take the actual trophy home they're presented with, or are they engraved then shipped to them later?
First Question.
Almost always no. But, in many big tournaments(at least slams) they get reimbursed for their travel(including that during the training period, if there was any), are given some free stuff/big discounts, and they get to take their uniform back with them. I think some tournaments even give them a small lunch/snack allowance.

Second Question.
Champions are presented with the actual trophy. His name would be engraved on the trophy before the presentation ceremony. The one they get to take back is a replica, generally of smaller size.

Regarding Wimbledon:

From 1949 to 2006 all Champions received a miniature[half-size] replica of the Cup (height 8 1/2 inches). From 2007 all Champions have received a three-quarter size replica of the Cup bearing the names of all past Champions (height 13 1/2 inches).
http://aeltc2011.wimbledon.com/125th-championships/history/the-trophies.html


In 2009, after more than 120 years in service, with the available space for engraving being completely filled after Rafael Nadal’s win the previous tournament, a black plinth with a silver designed to accompany the trophy as new names were added.
http://www.mapsofworld.com/pages/trophies/tennis/the-wimbledon-championship-trophy/

This is for the replicas, the actual trophy still has enough space left.
 
#119 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

I guess this isn't a stupid question but I think it wasn't worth it creating a new thread for this.

I remember the ATP website from a few years ago before it was remade had a section with a list of the greatest champions where we had a small text describing their achievements for each player. Does anyone remember that too?

I can't seem to find this on the new website. Does anyone know where to find that information?

Thx.
 
#122 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

I guess this isn't a stupid question but I think it wasn't worth it creating a new thread for this.

I remember the ATP website from a few years ago before it was remade had a section with a list of the greatest champions where we had a small text describing their achievements for each player. Does anyone remember that too?

I can't seem to find this on the new website. Does anyone know where to find that information?

Thx.
Not sure but you still can get it on the individual player page(even the retired one)here Borg http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Bo/B/Bjorn-Borg.aspx (scroll down)
 
#125 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

What are the chances to draw Djokovic in 2 grand slams in 1 year in the 1st round?(Paolo Lorenzi)
 
#134 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

What are the chances to draw Djokovic in 2 grand slams in 1 year in the 1st round?(Paolo Lorenzi)
God must hate him.
 
#127 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

What is the actual definition of a "show court"?
I thought I knew, but am confused now.

Let us take the USO for example.

I initially thought that there were four show courts, as confirmed by this:
How many total courts are there on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center?
There are a total of 22 courts on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean National Tennis Center. Four "show courts" (Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong, Grandstand and Court 17), 13 field courts and 5 practice courts.
http://usta.usopen.org/US-Open/tickets_faq/#4683


But, here they mention that there are six(They also include Court 11 and 13 here)
Watch more than 200 US Open matches live as they happen for free with US Open Live and find your favorite star on one of six show courts including Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium and the Grandstand. US Open Live is only available in the United States and its territories.
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/interactive/video/live.html


Both are from the USO 2012 site. :confused:
 
#128 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

What is the actual definition of a "show court"?
I thought I knew, but am confused now.
I think there are 2 different definitions, at least for me, because I also had problems with that term and as I see now I was/am not the only one.

One definition is when "show court" is used as a synonym to "televised (TV) courts". I think that's the more common definition because I assume that if somebody wants to know how many show courts there are, then he/she wants to know how many courts are provided with TV cameras.

The other definition is a bit difficult and also a bit inprecise. Often, especially on the tournament websites etc., show court is used when they talk about the bigger courts with stands and so on. Or let's say, then they mean the courts "which differ from the remaining courts" or are "unique". As you could see from the US Open example in the first quote, they only have 4 show courts. And those 4 look completely different to each other and the remaining courts (although Grandstand and LA don't look that different imo). And then when you watch a match from court 11 or 13, you would think this court exists like 10 times on site, just with another name/number.

I hope I could help and my description wasn't that bad although my written English is not the best there is and I'm still learning English at school.
 
#135 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Do you have to hit the ball with the racket? If a player inadvertently hits the ball with his head, let's say Player A attempts a passing shot and Player B was really close to the net, it hits Player B's head and it lands in Player A's court and lands in – does Player B win or lose the point?
 
#137 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Do you have to hit the ball with the racket? If a player inadvertently hits the ball with his head, let's say Player A attempts a passing shot and Player B was really close to the net, it hits Player B's head and it lands in Player A's court and lands in – does Player B win or lose the point?
adding to this unanwered question.

Do you actually have to hit the ball at all? What happens if player A hits a drop shot with an insane amount of backspin, player B cannot get to it and gives up on the ball. The ball lands in player B's court only to bounce backwards over the net onto player A's court and bounces twice. Who gets the point?
 
#149 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Bump. And who the hell are those people who talk to the winner of a match when they are packing up their bags. What's their purpose too?
 
#153 ·
Bump. And who the hell are those people who talk to the winner of a match when they are packing up their bags. What's their purpose too?
Can anyone answer this? I'm very curious!

Sent from my SGH-T989 using VerticalSports.Com App
 
#150 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

SQ #1: If you manage to hit the ball to opponent's side past the net post, does it have to pass the net higher then net?

SQ #2: What are players' clothing contracts like. In his match against Gulbis, Haas wore Nike shorts and hat, and most of his shirts were Nike but he also wore one Asics shirt. Top players are paid for wearing a brand but what about lower ranked guys. And what are racquet contracts like, I assume top guys are paid by racquet companies?
 
#151 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

SQ #1: If you manage to hit the ball to opponent's side past the net post, does it have to pass the net higher then net?
Nope, and in fact they just showed a Gasquet/Klahn point where Gasquet hit it around the net post and it looked only about halfway up the net, but he hit the court and won the point:)
 
#156 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Would wimbledon close the roof on a match like the us semifinal, when its extremely windy but no rain?
I guess not, they seemed to keep the roof open whenever it's possible. On the other hand, a good British indoor player might change things.
 
#160 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Can anybody clearly explain the diff b/w ad court and deuce court sides. Silly question, but confusing too.
Deuce side is when you serve at deuce, you serve from right to the service box in right. Ad side is when you serve at ad, you serve from left to the service box in right.
 
#172 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

OK- I'm too lazy to go further down the thread to see if this was answered slightly more completely.
The original game was french. In french (as in other languages) 0 is an egg. An egg is l'oeuf- from which came love.
As to the other scores, fifteen and thirty are one syllable words in french but forty five is quarante-cinq- got shortened to quarante and from there 40.
 
#173 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

OK- I'm too lazy to go further down the thread to see if this was answered slightly more completely.
The original game was french. In french (as in other languages) 0 is an egg. An egg is l'oeuf- from which came love.
As to the other scores, fifteen and thirty are one syllable words in french but forty five is quarante-cinq- got shortened to quarante and from there 40.
That's not the story I heard. The original game was English. They thought a player without points could only be motivated by love of the game, hence "love". And as for 40 they originally used 15-30-45-game, assisted in points keeping by a clock. When they figured you should have two points more to win a game, they adjusted 45 to 40, so as to leave room for 50=AD. 40-50-60 is more spaced out than 45-50-60 and should be easier for the umpire.
 
#174 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

If it start to rain on a clay court with a retractable roof, what will they do? It doesn't necessarily mean the roof should be closed, they can play still in light rain. Will they close the roof immediately or not before the rain is too heavy to play without the roof?
 
#181 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Why don't they make Tennis balls that you can pump up like a basketball? Because they go flat so easily :eek:
 
#182 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

Why don't they make Tennis balls that you can pump up like a basketball? Because they go flat so easily :eek:
Swinging the racquet and making contact on the ball where the valve is would give a different flight path to the ball than when striking a more uniform ball.

You can see this in football where expert free-kick takers like Christiano Ronaldo or Andrea Pirlo will position the ball so that he can hit it where the valve is. This will cause the flight path of the ball to bend with a different characteristic.

That's beside from the fact that the valves on balls are typically made from a harder material than the ball itself, so hitting it in this part may cause unpredictable pace, cause the ball to fly long or bounce in a strange way. Where the margins are tight, such differences can mean the difference between winning and losing a point.
 
#184 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

what are those hearphones every spectator had at the US open? are they broadcasting the web radio or what through them?
 
#190 ·
Re: S.Q.T. (stupid question thread)

what are those hearphones every spectator had at the US open? are they broadcasting the web radio or what through them?
:confused:
 
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