Tennis

[TK42-RAM]

Madison Keys of the USA just won the Australian Open Championship.

At 29 years of age becomes the fourth oldest first time winner of a grand slam.

Fantastic performance , beat the world number 2 in the semi and the world number 1, Sabalenka, in the final.

 

[fearsomefour]

35 is the new 29....
God bless training and drugs....

 

[Selassie I]

Big tennis fan here so I'm happy to see this thread @TK42-RAM

Admittedly, I was more of a fan back in the 80's and 90's... but I'm still a huge fan of the sport.

I used to play at a fairly high level but I no longer play on the regular which is required if you want to keep your skills up. My little sis got a job working for Nick Bollettieri when she first finished college at his tennis academy here in FL. I took full advantage of that... my sis made it possible for me to linger around and play there. I used to hit balls with some of the pro girls back then. One of them was Mary Pierce... and this is still something that kinda pisses my wife off because Mary hit balls with me some off the court too as a result. I was really hoping for a chance with Ana Kournikova but I swung and missed several times on that quest. God I love looking at most female tennis players.

But yeah... back to tennis please!

 

[RamFan503]

Big tennis fan here so I'm happy to see this thread @TK42-RAM

Admittedly, I was more of a fan back in the 80's and 90's... but I'm still a huge fan of the sport.

I used to play at a fairly high level but I no longer play on the regular which is required if you want to keep your skills up. My little sis got a job working for Nick Bollettieri when she first finished college at his tennis academy here in FL. I took full advantage of that... my sis made it possible for me to linger around and play there. I used to hit balls with some of the pro girls back then. One of them was Mary Pierce... and this is still something that kinda pisses my wife off because Mary hit balls with me some off the court too as a result. I was really hoping for a chance with Ana Kournikova but I swung and missed several times on that quest. God I love looking at most female tennis players.

But yeah... back to tennis please!

The chicks need to stop wearing those fucking shorts. Worst thing to happen to women’s tennis. Who didn’t like watching Martina Hingis (sp?) play?

I never knew you played. I was #1 varsity my sophomore year. The guy before me got a full scholarship from Stanford the year before. After my sophomore year, they canceled the tennis program using Prop 13 as the excuse. It literally cost them $450 per year for the entire program. The coaches were volunteers and we took personal vans to the tournaments. I was so pissed. I used to play at least 5 times a week and carried my racquet (Head Standard) everywhere. I’ve rarely even played since they canceled the program.

I did join a tennis club for a couple years - even took a few lessons from a pro to work on my backhand and serve in the 90s but always had a hard time scheduling games. It’s no fun to always be hitting against a machine.

I keep jonesing to get back into it and probably will soon.

It’s funny. I have a pretty nice Wilson racket. About a year ago, I found two Head Standards in a Goodwill. I bought both for $12. MAN! those heads are tiny compared to today’s racquets.

I really want to go out and see if I can still swing it.

 

[Selassie I]

The chicks need to stop wearing those fucking shorts. Worst thing to happen to women’s tennis. Who didn’t like watching Martina Hingis (sp?) play?

I never knew you played. I was #1 varsity my sophomore year. The guy before me got a full scholarship from Stanford the year before. After my sophomore year, they canceled the tennis program using Prop 13 as the excuse. It literally cost them $450 per year for the entire program. The coaches were volunteers and we took personal vans to the tournaments. I was so pissed. I used to play at least 5 times a week and carried my racquet (Head Standard) everywhere. I’ve rarely even played since they canceled the program.

I did join a tennis club for a couple years - even took a few lessons from a pro to work on my backhand and serve in the 90s but always had a hard time scheduling games. It’s no fun to always be hitting against a machine.

I keep jonesing to get back into it and probably will soon.

It’s funny. I have a pretty nice Wilson racket. About a year ago, I found two Head Standards in a Goodwill. I bought both for $12. MAN! those heads are tiny compared to today’s racquets.

I really want to go out and see if I can still swing it.

I was #3 on my HS team and only lost 1 match. The #1 guys down here are guys who have been in tennis lessons since they could walk and they only played tennis. I played multiple sports. The top guys here are like robots. When we finally got back home (FL) for my last 2 yrs of HS, the school I went to was allowed to practice and play our home matches at a very nice country club with clay courts. We had an advantage because many opponents had never even played on clay. It was cool. The clay courts help your ground strokes a lot, but my game was better suited for hard courts. Plus, I played tennis with a football mentality that didn't always sit well with the country club dorks.

I started playing because my mom took tennis lessons when we were still in Hawaii. I was probably 7 and she would take me out to the courts to hit the ball to her. I was a natural somehow. There were tennis pros who asked her if they could put me in lessons with them but I didn't want to, plus it's very expensive. Anyway, I love playing. My problem was finding guys to play who had the same skill level (or better) as I do. It's no fun playing against lower level players. I played at a local club here with clay courts on Saturday mornings up until my neck surgery several years back. I need to get back at it... I've got some nice private courts in my neighborhood and there's a pro who gives lessons there who has asked me to play... He's old, but my neighbor says he'll give me $100 if I can beat him.

Something else we have strangely in common (seems to happen a lot)... I also use Head racquets. When I first started playing though I used the God awful Wilson T2000 that Jimmy Conners used. What a pos those things were lol. When the big Prince racquets came out I didn't like how round and huge the head was... didn't feel right. I tried a Head Director graphite racquet and loved that. I still have my first one as a momento... but as tech improved I switched up but always stayed with Head as my racquet.

 

[RamFan503]

Something else we have strangely in common (seems to happen a lot)... I also use Head racquets. When I first started playing though I used the God awful Wilson T2000 that Jimmy Conners used.

It does seem to happen a lot. And yeah… T2000s. String shredding, vibrating pieces of shit. I tried one out a few times. No thanks.

 

[Selassie I]

It does seem to happen a lot. And yeah… T2000s. String shredding, vibrating pieces of shit. I tried one out a few times. No thanks.

It seemed like a wonderful invention though switching from wooden racquets to that thing. LOL
We are old fuckers!

 

[RamFan503]

Yeah. I had an old Wilson woody before I switched to head. Used to have to keep it in a frame to keep it from warping. Ah…. Good times.