12/21/24
May 21, 2006
After long pause, Hingis wins title: Martina Hingis beat Dinara Safina of Russia, 6-2, 7-5, on Sunday at the Italian Open in Rome for her first title since coming out of retirement.
Now Hingis dreams of her first French Open title, the only grand slam title to elude her.
Congrats Martina!!! I still think she's pretty hot.
posted by dbt302 at 12:33 PM on May 22, 2006
I still think she's pretty hot. Of course you do, son. And you know what, you made me glad I got up this morning, because if I hadn't, the very first post about a female tennis player winning a championship would have been about how she looks.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:47 PM on May 22, 2006
but I don't think Hingis quite has the stuff for the French, at least not this year. I'm betting Mauresmo will take it. Probably not, but she could make it interesting. I like comebacks, so I'll be rooting for her.
posted by justgary at 12:54 PM on May 22, 2006
Then lets be glad Natlie Gulbis didn't win. You know that would have turned into a hot babe conversation.
posted by dbt302 at 02:15 PM on May 22, 2006
I've followed tennis justasmallohsotiny bit, so can someone give me an analogy that would explain the difference between clay courts and all other types of surfaces? I get that grass is different from hard court is different from clay, but what makes clay so special that there are clay specialists and then there are all-time greats who cannot win on clay?
posted by yerfatma at 03:13 PM on May 22, 2006
It's all about how the ball comes off of the surface, both in speed and spin. For example, clay is the softest, meaning a hard shot will bounce the softest off of it, giving a player more time (we're talking milliseconds here, but still) to react. Often, a player's game will cater to a certain surface. Also, some players just have "a knack" for hitting on certain surfaces (call it a home-court advantage of sorts). That's a pretty simple explanation. Hope it helps...
posted by DudeDykstra at 03:49 PM on May 22, 2006
This article kind of helps. Continue onto the next page. Clay court "specialists," normally come from places where the clay court is the only type of court available. They learn and train their games to be successful on that surface. They have emphasized their groundstrokes and accuracy as power is de-emphasised on clay. I would say that when a top player struggles on clay, it is simply due to a lack of time spent on the surface.
posted by tselson at 04:05 PM on May 22, 2006
Here is Blake's take on it. "It's partly because we didn't grow up on clay," Blake explained.
posted by tselson at 02:50 PM on May 25, 2006
The Italian Open isn't exactly the local park and rec tournament, but I don't think Hingis quite has the stuff for the French, at least not this year. I'm betting Mauresmo will take it. Field's pretty thinned out, isn't it?