Miami Match Thread (Murray wins!)

[Silver]

First topic message reminder :

After watching Rafael Nadal complete a triumphant hardcourt transition at Indian Wells and break his own record for Masters titles won, the tour rumbles on and circles the wagons at Key Biscayne, Miami. The Miami Masters has been held here since 1987, after originally setting up at none other than Delray Beach in 1985. The cream generally seems to rise to the top at Miami, and by far the most prolific winner of the tournament is Andre Agassi, who notched up an amazing six titles over the course of his career. Amongst currently active players who are present at the 2013 tournament, only Djokovic, Murray and Davydenko have lifted the title previously - though Berdych was a finalist in 2010. Although Federer and Nadal are missing, the vast majority of the tour seems to have turned up, and hopefully we'll have an interesting tournament this year.

Prize: $719,160 (purse of $5,185,625), which marks an increase from last year. And of course, 1000 precious ranking points are on offer to the winner.
Defending champion is Novak Djokovic, who defeated Andy Murray in straight sets in 2012. He also won the 2011 tournament, and is therefore going for a hat-trick of wins.
Click for an updated draw on the ATP website.
Morning sessions typically begin at 11:00 local time, and evening sessions around 20:00.

[Guest]

In reflection bans prolly got the fairest point here, the conditions played a big part i think, I can't imagine Murrays and Ferrers actual tennis being that low again for a while, (there guts need no more introduction).

Really a court like that has NO business being in a place like Miami, there is a place for slow courts like that, they make a special sort of match, akin to sub continental conditions in test cricket, but not in a baking oven like Florida, that's outright dangerous. More zip really needs to be added, if anything for players health

[The Special Juan]

The main negative is the bad case of Double Faultitis he's had this week and, generally, very poor serving. Maybe it was the conditions, I don't know, but I certainly want to see an improvement come a few weeks time

I'm unconcerned, simply because the rest of his game has on admittedly rare occasions looked electric and he is still a bit rusty

Del Potro, Gasquet, Ferrer and even the 'new' Cilic are not players you can rock up and beat if you're a little undercooked - but he did so

The gamble has paid off - I maintain that we won't see him at his very best until probably Madrid

Those are fair points. I don't think it's anything more serious than rustiness as he normally plays worse than this at this time of year so for him to come away with a title playing not quite at this best is very good. He needs a break and I can't wait to see Murray v 2.0 play well on clay.

[ryan86]

Yep, one of the biggest winners today is probably the basketball. Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Murray also not that far from Djokovic in the ATP race, if he looks towards his next aim of No. 1. Be interesting to see Novak back on the clay, it was overall a rather underwhelming month for him.

[socal1976]

golden era my left buttock!

Usual, thread hijacking on all the matchday threads. Let the record show who starts the era discussions on this site. And then the same people will criticize others for era discussions and goat conversations and being boring and repetitive. I love it, they can't resist talking about it and can't resist whinning about it after you destroy their arguments with facts and logic.

[Cogen]

I don't see what the fuss about World Number 2 is.

Murray could easily be in the same half as Nadal and Federer on the European a Clay season.

Yes, he could end up in the same half as Nadal and Federer. But that isn't the point. He could also have ended up in the same half as Nadal and Federer as world number 3.

The point is that it is now possible he could be drawn in the opposite half to the rest of the big 4, which was impossible while he was world number 3.

Could turn out to be a huge deal if he gets some good draws. Could turn out to be same as usual. But the opportunity is there.

[socal1976]

[quote="banbrotam"]

Pity about attacking, risk taking tennis though

For that watch the Murray v Gasquet match. After his usual dopey start Murray produced 30-odd winners in the next two and half sets against a good player on form

Or did you miss it?

I ask, because we will have the usual suspects droning on about how poor the rallies were, where have all the attackers gone, why do they allow such slow conditions, when will we have an economy growing at faster than 2% blah blah blah

Yep we have seen it all before, every time you have a match with long rallies with two great returners that has a lot of errors and breaks the moaning and tennis is dying crowd takes over. On more than one occassion the fans jumped up for standing ovations. If you slag today's game you aren't being annoying and repetive. Everyone in the world talked up how great the murray v. Djoko semi in 2011 was, but if you came onto 606v2 you would think that it was funeral.

I actually enjoyed a lot of the rallies and the up and down tension in the match, sure a lot of breaks and errors. What is funny that in two sets the Fed v. Djoko final of 2013 in WTF was filled with breaks, everyone including the fed fans thought it was a great match and nobody, nobody talked about WTA tennis and the death of tennis. It all comes down to glorifying federer and the double standards are paltable, boring, and repetitive.

[CaledonianCraig]

[quote="socal1976"]

Pity about attacking, risk taking tennis though

For that watch the Murray v Gasquet match. After his usual dopey start Murray produced 30-odd winners in the next two and half sets against a good player on form

Or did you miss it?

I ask, because we will have the usual suspects droning on about how poor the rallies were, where have all the attackers gone, why do they allow such slow conditions, when will we have an economy growing at faster than 2% blah blah blah

Yep we have seen it all before, every time you have a match with long rallies with two great returners that has a lot of errors and breaks the moaning and tennis is dying crowd takes over. On more than one occassion the fans jumped up for standing ovations. If you slag today's game you aren't being annoying and repetive. Everyone in the world talked up how great the murray v. Djoko semi in 2011 was, but if you came onto 606v2 you would think that it was funeral.

I actually enjoyed a lot of the rallies and the up and down tension in the match, sure a lot of breaks and errors. What is funny that in two sets the Fed v. Djoko final of 2013 in WTF was filled with breaks, everyone including the fed fans thought it was a great match and nobody, nobody talked about WTA tennis and the death of tennis. It all comes down to glorifying federer and the double standards are paltable, boring, and repetitive.

Well said socal.

Murray fans aren't on here saying it was a classic by any means but it was gripping. It lacked a host of outright winners but lets not disregard the great quality returning. It also had some absorbing rallies that brought fans to their feet. It made for very frustrating viewing if you were a Murray fan but it had its moments so it was certainly not an awful match and certainly beats a drab straights sets win in a score like 6-0 6-2 for example.

[JuliusHMarx]

Yep we have seen it all before, every time you have a match with long rallies with two great returners that has a lot of errors and breaks the moaning and tennis is dying crowd takes over.

In what way do they 'take over'?

On more than one occassion the fans jumped up for standing ovations.

Did that ever happen in 2000-2005. Never, I bet!

If you slag today's game you aren't being annoying and repetive.

Oops, watch out Craig and Falzy.

Everyone in the world talked up how great the murray v. Djoko semi in 2011 was, but if you came onto 606v2 you would think that it was funeral.

Everyone in the world?

I actually enjoyed a lot of the rallies and the up and down tension in the match, sure a lot of breaks and errors. What is funny that in two sets the Fed v. Djoko final of 2013 in WTF was filled with breaks, everyone including the fed fans thought it was a great match and nobody, nobody talked about WTA tennis and the death of tennis. It all comes down to glorifying federer and the double standards are paltable, boring, and repetitive.

It wasn't the best quality match, but obviously to say that means I'm somehow glorifying Federer. If only you also recognised paltable, boring, and repetitive posts in those who seek to denigrate, not just glorify.

[CaledonianCraig]

Anyways back to the tennis guys.......

[CaledonianCraig]

That ninth Masters title for Andy Murray takes him above the likes of Thomas Muster, Stefan Edberg and Matts Wilander on the list of Masters winners. He is now just two behind Pete Sampras and four behind Djokovic.

[The Special Juan]

Robmond serving for the 2nd set after losing the first....

[Cogen]

Oh yeah... there's still tennis happening.

Laura and Lisa got hammered in the opening set of the doubles final, 6-1.

But they've just broken to lead the second 6-5. Serving for the set.

[socal1976]

[quote="CaledonianCraig"]

Pity about attacking, risk taking tennis though

For that watch the Murray v Gasquet match. After his usual dopey start Murray produced 30-odd winners in the next two and half sets against a good player on form

Or did you miss it?

I ask, because we will have the usual suspects droning on about how poor the rallies were, where have all the attackers gone, why do they allow such slow conditions, when will we have an economy growing at faster than 2% blah blah blah

Yep we have seen it all before, every time you have a match with long rallies with two great returners that has a lot of errors and breaks the moaning and tennis is dying crowd takes over. On more than one occassion the fans jumped up for standing ovations. If you slag today's game you aren't being annoying and repetive. Everyone in the world talked up how great the murray v. Djoko semi in 2011 was, but if you came onto 606v2 you would think that it was funeral.

I actually enjoyed a lot of the rallies and the up and down tension in the match, sure a lot of breaks and errors. What is funny that in two sets the Fed v. Djoko final of 2013 in WTF was filled with breaks, everyone including the fed fans thought it was a great match and nobody, nobody talked about WTA tennis and the death of tennis. It all comes down to glorifying federer and the double standards are paltable, boring, and repetitive.

Well said socal.

Murray fans aren't on here saying it was a classic by any means but it was gripping. It lacked a host of outright winners but lets not disregard the great quality returning. It also had some absorbing rallies that brought fans to their feet. It made for very frustrating viewing if you were a Murray fan but it had its moments so it was certainly not an awful match and certainly beats a drab straights sets win in a score like 6-0 6-2 for example.

Yes craig not a classic but a very tight and emotional match, I think nerves of both players had a role to play, the midday heat and humidity, and of course both players are great at returning and defending. I liked it, and the fans in the stands were enthralled at various points as well giving standing Os they were entertained. I like a bit of a gladitorial feel in the match and tension.

[The Special Juan]

Ah. 2nd set tiebreak.

[Danny_1982]

Just finished watching it on sky+

Goodness me what drama. Not the highest quality of tennis from either player, Murray's serve was all over the place. The first set might be as bad as I've seen him play in the last year. Ferrer choked big time whenever it looked like victory might be in sight.

But wow what determination from both men. How tough must the conditions be to have 2 of the fittest guys in the sport almost unable to stand at the end? Also, from Murray's perspective, he still found a way to win.

The top guys have had some up and down performances in the last month, and not always managed to win. Murray found a way. He deserves huge credit for that.

[Cogen]

Tie break slipping away from them... aaaand they've lost.

Oh well, still a healthy sum of money for reaching the final. That'll help cover the costs of her team and making her life on a tour a bit more comfortable, I guess? I imagine money must really weigh on a lot of players' minds until they really break through and start earning the big bucks.

[CaledonianCraig]

Just finished watching it on sky+

Goodness me what drama. Not the highest quality of tennis from either player, Murray's serve was all over the place. The first set might be as bad as I've seen him play in the last year. Ferrer choked big time whenever it looked like victory might be in sight.

But wow what determination from both men. How tough must the conditions be to have 2 of the fittest guys in the sport almost unable to stand at the end? Also, from Murray's perspective, he still found a way to win.

The top guys have had some up and down performances in the last month, and not always managed to win. Murray found a way. He deserves huge credit for that.

Pretty much spot on summary Danny. The bottom line is he won playing way below his best and that is the mark of a champion.

[Cogen]

The bottom line is he won playing way below his best and that is the mark of a champion.

You know what else is the mark of a champion? ... Holding a big shiny trophy above your head when the other guy isn't!

[socal1976]

Yep we have seen it all before, every time you have a match with long rallies with two great returners that has a lot of errors and breaks the moaning and tennis is dying crowd takes over.

In what way do they 'take over'?

On more than one occassion the fans jumped up for standing ovations.

Did that ever happen in 2000-2005. Never, I bet!

If you slag today's game you aren't being annoying and repetive.

Oops, watch out Craig and Falzy.

Everyone in the world talked up how great the murray v. Djoko semi in 2011 was, but if you came onto 606v2 you would think that it was funeral.

Everyone in the world?

I actually enjoyed a lot of the rallies and the up and down tension in the match, sure a lot of breaks and errors. What is funny that in two sets the Fed v. Djoko final of 2013 in WTF was filled with breaks, everyone including the fed fans thought it was a great match and nobody, nobody talked about WTA tennis and the death of tennis. It all comes down to glorifying federer and the double standards are paltable, boring, and repetitive.

It wasn't the best quality match, but obviously to say that means I'm somehow glorifying Federer. If only you also recognised paltable, boring, and repetitive posts in those who seek to denigrate, not just glorify.

Lets not say everyone that might be an overgeneralization; but virtually every tennis journalists, the players involved, and the fans in the stands loved the murray v. Djoko semi. If you came on here it was seen as a violation of tennis and the death of tennis etc. Everyone sees how the weak era threads start, look at the threads after djoko lost to Haas, there wasn't one wind up weak era thread but two, then some of the same people whine about repetition and boredom. I am bored by calls for faster conditions, banning technology, slagging of today's game and style of play. But I stand up for the right of the people who believe those things to say it on a tennis talk website. However very few of those people like it when fed's early contemporaries are crticized and when the play in the late 90s and early 2000s is criticized, and if what you say is true complain about it and try to censor the posters on this site by complaining to the management. I mean you are the one who told me that people are turned off and complain about era comparisons and goat debates in not so many words. So are they turned off by the repetition or by people actually having a different view of the game and doing a better job of using objective facts to prove their points?

[The Special Juan]

The funny thing is that I'm not overly happy Murray won. Don't get me wrong, it's what I wanted, but I seem to be genuinely upset Daveed lost, especially when he said "one more point" and apologised to the crowd.

[Danny_1982]

Yeah I felt for Daveeed too Juan. Such honest endeavour.

What he lacks in power and finesse he makes up for with consistency and work ethic. Funny how he is always able to get closer to Murray than the other top guys. Although still usually loses (clay being the exception of course).

[socal1976]

I really felt for David having that match point and losing it on a poor challenge. I would have been happier I think if he won today as well although I am a neutral and would have to wade through numerous posts about how old David ferrer beats the socalled golden youngsters. But none the less I would have been happier for ferrer on this occassion.

[CaledonianCraig]

Yeah I felt for Daveeed too Juan. Such honest endeavour.

What he lacks in power and finesse he makes up for with consistency and work ethic. Funny how he is always able to get closer to Murray than the other top guys. Although still usually loses (clay being the exception of course).

I put that all down to how they match up against each other. It is the same with all match ups. Federer has had problems beating Tsongs which Murray doesn't but Federer is peerless against Ferrer. It is the same with other match ups.

[Dave.]

Michigan are headed to the Final Four by the way in March Madness.

[Danny_1982]

I agree Craig. But seeing as Novak is able to dismiss Ferrer so easily it is strange Murray has to fight so much. Maybe it's because Ferrer rarely uses slice or a mix of pace that Novak swots him away so easily.

Maybe also because Ferrer deals with slice so well because he gets down to it better than most, negating one of Murray's strengths.

[The Special Juan]

Michigan are headed to the Final Four by the way in March Madness.

Is that good? Was it worth it?

[Dave.]

Michigan are headed to the Final Four by the way in March Madness.

Is that good? Was it worth it?

I dunno. Those naughty boys at CBS cut away from the match tiebreak to show the start. Considering the game finished 3 minutes later I can't get why they couldn't just show the winning point, then splash and dash and start the other one. #cbsfail

Well done Murray, but poor Daveed.

[The Special Juan]

Michigan are headed to the Final Four by the way in March Madness.

Is that good? Was it worth it?

I dunno. Those naughty boys at CBS cut away from the match tiebreak to show the start. Considering the game finished 3 minutes later I can't get why they couldn't just show the winning point, then splash and dash and start the other one. #cbsfail

Well done Murray, but poor Daveed.

Ouch. I hope the basketball was worth it then. Those Americans sure have their priorities right.

[Dave.]

Michigan are headed to the Final Four by the way in March Madness.

Is that good? Was it worth it?

I dunno. Those naughty boys at CBS cut away from the match tiebreak to show the start. Considering the game finished 3 minutes later I can't get why they couldn't just show the winning point, then splash and dash and start the other one. #cbsfail

Well done Murray, but poor Daveed.

Ouch. I hope the basketball was worth it then. Those Americans sure have their priorities right.

In fairness, March Madness is a big deal. It's massive over there. But dumping the tennis in the middle of a deciding tiebreak, nah, silly.

[LuvSports!]

golden era my left buttock!

Usual, thread hijacking on all the matchday threads. Let the record show who starts the era discussions on this site. And then the same people will criticize others for era discussions and goat conversations and being boring and repetitive. I love it, they can't resist talking about it and can't resist whinning about it after you destroy their arguments with facts and logic.

I can never understand why you get so worked up about light hearted, take it with a pinch of salt comments socal.
I never really get into the era stuff or criticise others for their stances, I just privately hold my own views.
Remember when you went on your "i hate all fed fans" rampage and grouped all of us together because of the actions of a few? Same thing applies here.

[summerblues]

Ouch. I hope the basketball was worth it then. Those Americans sure have their priorities right.

I do not know how visible the relative popularity of sports in the US is from your end, but the final month of college basketball is orders of magnitude bigger than Miami tennis. In fact saying "orders of magnitude bigger" almost does not do it justice. College basketball is one of the most talked about sporting events in March, while vast majority of people - even people who in general follow sports quite keenly - have no idea that tennis was being played in Miami.

[Dave.]

Ouch. I hope the basketball was worth it then. Those Americans sure have their priorities right.

I do not know how visible the relative popularity of sports in the US is from your end, but the final month of college basketball is orders of magnitude bigger than Miami tennis. In fact saying "orders of magnitude bigger" almost does not do it justice. College basketball is one of the most talked about sporting events in March, while vast majority of people - even people who in general follow sports quite keenly - have no idea that tennis was being played in Miami.

I would agree. In America March Madness is up there with the Super Bowl and the like. But I don't get dumping a game to cable in the middle of a match tiebreak. If they'd delayed the BB game by 5 mins all would have been fine.

[Dave.]

And Ferrer goes back to number 4. What is the chance of him staying there come RG?

[ryan86]

He needs to have quite an apocalyptic clay court season to fall lower than 4th now I believe. Something I mentioned in the Points Spy thread is that I believe Ferrer might be leading the post-Shanghai Points race.

[Dave.]

He needs to have quite an apocalyptic clay court season to fall lower than 4th now I believe. Something I mentioned in the Points Spy thread is that I believe Ferrer might be leading the post-Shanghai Points race.

Aye, just seen that. Nice thread by Cogen!

[djlovesyou]

Tie break slipping away from them... aaaand they've lost.

Oh well, still a healthy sum of money for reaching the final. That'll help cover the costs of her team and making her life on a tour a bit more comfortable, I guess? I imagine money must really weigh on a lot of players' minds until they really break through and start earning the big bucks.

Laura's very heavily sponsored, the last thing she needs to worry about is money.

She's an attractive, well spoken (and English speaking) teenager. We're talking seven figure deals based on potential alone.

[Cogen]

Now that we finally have a "pre-clay figure" set in stone for Ferrer, lets take a look at the #4 spot heading into the French Open.

If Nadal has a faultless road to Roland Garros (a distinct possibility looking at how well his comeback has gone) then he can pick up 910 points. All of those are from Madrid where he lost in R16 and only earned 90 points last year. Everything else is a title which he must defend.

Lets assume Nadal pulls it off and picks up those 910 points. He is currently 665pts behind Ferrer, so that would swing to Nadal being 245 ahead, if Ferrer mirrored his last clay court season.

In other words, if Ferrer improves by more than 245 points then Nadal cannot go into RG as #4.

So what are the chances of Ferrer gaining those points? Here's his current breakdown:
Monte Carlo - Did not play. Does anyone know if he's scheduled to play this year?
Barcelona - Final (300 pts)
Madrid - QF (180 pts)
Rome - SF (360 pts)

You know what? It could actually be quite close. If Ferrer plays Monte Carlo he could make some gains there, but he will have to sacrifice his lowest countable, which is a 250 win. So he'd have to reach the semi-finals at least or he'd actually lose points.

Can't gain any points in Barcelona, if we're assuming Nadal takes the title... Madrid would probably be his main opportunity to gain some points.

So basically if Nadal has an impeccable run, Ferrer needs something like this:
Monte Carlo - SF, Barcelona - F, Madrid - SF, Rome - SF.

If Nadal drops a single one of his titles, even just down to a final, that suddenly gives Ferrer a lot more breathing room, and he can just maintain his results.

[Cogen]

Laura's very heavily sponsored, the last thing she needs to worry about is money.

She's an attractive, well spoken (and English speaking) teenager. We're talking seven figure deals based on potential alone.

Aye, you're probably right, dj. I hadn't thought about all the sponsorship she's getting. That probably increased a lot when her profile shot up at the US Open. Would be interesting to see how much more she's being sponsored than Heather right now, who isn't as attractive and hasn't had a big break-through at slam level yet. Unfortunately we'll never know.

[Born Slippy]

Ferrer did play MC last year - he lost first match to Bellucci. He will play this year as well, if fit.

[djlovesyou]

Aye, you're probably right, dj. I hadn't thought about all the sponsorship she's getting. That probably increased a lot when her profile shot up at the US Open. Would be interesting to see how much more she's being sponsored than Heather right now, who isn't as attractive and hasn't had a big break-through at slam level yet. Unfortunately we'll never know.

It'll be a lot more. But saying that, Heather is still attractive to sponsors. I can't imagine she'll be doing too badly compared to a lot.

Laura was essentially set for life when she won her Wimbledon juniors. They were already talking about Sharapova type deals even back then. Completely down to potential, both with her tennis but probably more to do with how she looks and acts.

[Cogen]

Ferrer did play MC last year - he lost first match to Bellucci. He will play this year as well, if fit.

Oh yeah, my bad. Didn't spot it down there in the non-countables.

Ok, so they don't force Monte Carlo on your record if you play it either, as it is not a "mandatory" like the others. Stupid Monte Carlo with its own rules. Should be uniform across all of the Masters.

[ryan86]

Plus she has that Olympic medal which she could flog if things ever get a bit tight.

[Cogen]

Plus she has that Olympic medal which she could flog if things ever get a bit tight.

I wonder how long people would keep sponsoring her if she became a complete flop, or got injured, and dropped out of the top 200 and never managed to work her way back up.

Sorry, pointless discussion. Never going to happen.

[ryan86]

Womens tennis has been full of young girls who have looked like they were going to be stars and for whatever reason, one thing lead to another, their careers fizzled out and they were never heard from again.

I remember when I was a young lad, Jelena Dokic was the next big thing (and the lads were talking about her at school I remember). Now Jelena did achieve a fair bit, but a nutjob father and she's never achieved anything like she did when she was 18. Karolina Sprem (though because we were schoolkids it might be because her name looked like sperm) was another one, though I see she's become Mrs Marcos Baghdatis.

[banbrotam]

On more than one occassion the fans jumped up for standing ovations.

Did that ever happen in 2000-2005. Never, I bet!

Point is Julius, that no-one would even suggest such a thing - we already know that there was some great Tennis during this time

However, if you notice there has been a couple on these boards who straight away moaned about the lack of winners - but strangely were very mute during the excellent Murray v Gasquet match

That's why it has to be pointed out, that actually most fans still love the Tennis of 2013 - i.e. there is life after Federer just like there as after Connors, McEnroe and Agassi (there four of my favourite five mentioned!!)

Socal, may labour a point and be a bit too passionate in his defence of all things modern. But you need to understand that the self fulfiling carping about today's game, now that Lord Roger isn't quite as good as he used to be (who could be like the 2005 version!!) looks far more pathetic than most of what Socal states

[socal1976]

golden era my left buttock!

Usual, thread hijacking on all the matchday threads. Let the record show who starts the era discussions on this site. And then the same people will criticize others for era discussions and goat conversations and being boring and repetitive. I love it, they can't resist talking about it and can't resist whinning about it after you destroy their arguments with facts and logic.

I can never understand why you get so worked up about light hearted, take it with a pinch of salt comments socal.
I never really get into the era stuff or criticise others for their stances, I just privately hold my own views.
Remember when you went on your "i hate all fed fans" rampage and grouped all of us together because of the actions of a few? Same thing applies here.

I never, ever stated I hate all fed fans, in fact I made a point everytime I criticized fed fans to state that I was talking specifically about a bizarre form of fed worshipper that loathed everything about tennis today except roger and made it a point to rain on the parade while simultaneously praising roger without any crticial view. If you can find anywhere I claimed all fed fans are evil or bad or that I hate them I would be happy to see it. But there is a certain kind of fed fan/ moaner that we have all grown accustomed to and tired of at the same time. To them Roger's flatulence smells like free ambrosia of the gods and nothing anyone can do will ever match it and tennis is dying because Roger is ageing. Frankly they are Roger fans and not tennis fans and I can't wait till they just leave the scene, if that makes me a jerk and ahole so be it. I liked tennis before Roger and I will love it after he leaves, so make up your mind if your are a Roger fanboy or a tennis fan. I know which category I fall into some others I can't be so sure.

As I said luvsports I have nothing against you but with comments like your own you open the door to era conversations. Something that we are led to believe is an abomination against god and nature slightly less egregious to pedophiliac priests. I stand up for your right to salute your ass, seeing that it seems to be the most cogent part of your anatomy, but others don't want to stand up for the rights of others to voice their opinion about the playboys and fatboys Roger rolled up in the early 2000s.

[The Special Juan]

Ouch. I hope the basketball was worth it then. Those Americans sure have their priorities right.

I do not know how visible the relative popularity of sports in the US is from your end, but the final month of college basketball is orders of magnitude bigger than Miami tennis. In fact saying "orders of magnitude bigger" almost does not do it justice. College basketball is one of the most talked about sporting events in March, while vast majority of people - even people who in general follow sports quite keenly - have no idea that tennis was being played in Miami.

What Dave said. I'm not bothered by the interruption to go to the basketball as it's probably the equivalent of interrupting snooker for football in this country but the timing of it was rather poor. I hope for the people who were watching it's sake that it was on another channel.

[Sponsored content]