Archive for November, 2010

1990 French Open women final

… In the 1990 French Open final, a 16-year-old Seles stood in there in her first Grand Slam final against a great Graf who had reached — astonishingly — her 13th straight Grand Slam final, winning nine of the previous 12. Seles also stood behind 6-2 in a first-set tiebreaker. In one of the most astounding things I ever saw on TV, Seles hoarded the next six points. Her father in the stands gestured as if to say, You’re kidding me. His daughter personified athletic fearlessness. …

Screenshot 2014-11-29 19.41.14Seles was serving at 5-4 the first set. 0/30; A questionable baseline miss by Graf who confirmed with chair impair, gave Seles 15/30. A forehand sailed wide (Grat’s right hand side), 15/40, a double break point. She then netted an overhead. They were 5-5. Graf was serving 5-5. At 40/15, she hit and forehand that landed at the corner of deuce court’s baseline and ally [7:24 mark]. It was called good but Seles walked over and circled the spot. The chair umpire asked the lineswoman to check it again. The woman walked over and looked at it from the close range, then decided it was out. Graf was not pleased. So the chair umpire climbed down from the high chair and walked across the court. He confirmed it was, good. Graf now led 6-5, first time saw her game number bigger than Seles. First set tie break [13:40 mark]. Graf served first and won the first five points.

5-0
5-1
6-2
6-5 (Graf double faulted!)
6-6
6-7
6-8, Seles won the first set tie break by a down the line winner to the deuce court when Graf charged the net.

Her father in the stands gestured with his both hand tipping downward, as if saying, OMG are you serious?

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Ratings – NTRP

Nothing but ratings. FAQ and FAQ on Dynamic

The NTRP stands for National Tennis Rating Program is a mechanism the League has designed to evaluate and determine each player’s level of skill for participating in the League, for a fairer competition. It starts from 1.5, the lower end when someone just starts out to 7.0 where you would compete with Serena and Roger.

Year End

2012
2011
2010
2009

Early

2013, Eastern ESR women and men
2012, explanation
2011
2010

_________________________

~ A Self-Defeating Adventure in Self-Rating, by Paul Wachter, Dec 22, 2012
~ A NJ killer team, Dec 12, 2012
~ A bump up, Nov 30, 2012
~ Dan, Oct 28, 2012
~ Ricky’s rating, Dec 2011
~ The webinar and the type of rating, Dec 17, 2010
~ The gang of four, April 6, 2010
~ B and D rating,

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Warming up at NTC

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She beats me ..

Beijing, July 26, 2003At a resort in Changping, Beijing, July 26, 2003

A great day: got to swim with Pumpkin!
Due to a conversation I had with the girls at the pool, Pumpkin decided to go for a life guard certificate. The class had began but the trainer said she could join mid way if she passed the try out. While waiting for the try out, I asked her to swim a little, with me. She readily agreed.
“Gosh, Mom, I haven’t swam perhaps since middle school.”
The middle and high schools share one pool and there are 4 school teams. Her middle school girls’ team falls into the same time slot as tennis. So after middle school she decided to give up swimming team for tennis.
Gosh, Love, that’s sad.
I’ve been trying to get them to swim .. don’t even get me started.
The pool was pretty empty so as soon as she got in, there we went. 25 yard, she beat me by couple of body lengths, effortlessly. Back again, she won hand down.
Soon she went off for the try out. For a rare moment, I stopped by the edge of the pool and recall the times .. a little water baby by birth .. I couldn’t suppress my smile. The very first time I took her to swim, she was only few months old. The moment we dip into the pool she maneuvered free out of my arms, just liked the way as soon as I put on a pair of skate, she went off without wasting a moment. As if she knew how to swim and skate, by birth. There was moments at our town pool when the life guard would pick on her height (too short for the main pool). She would tip toe trying to pass the height requirement. There was giggles when I did my flip turns and they sat at the edge: our arrangement that I played with them then they would sit and watch me do laps. Each turn would bring more laughter .. some sweet memory.

P.S. .. she didn’t go after all ..

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warm up


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Dumplings and bagels ..

Nov 18饺子 is one of my favored and I could never get enough of it. Last night I had little extra time on hand unexpectedly, so my mind was wandering toward food. Not that I wasn’t hungry .. how about having few dumplings before the match?
Great idea.
So I went down to the Golden Mall – a good place to go when you’re alone. I feel uncomfortable dining alone in a restaurant.
For a grand US$3 you could get 12 fat juicy dumplings.
One order was enough to fill an empty belly
But Irene ordered the second one after polishing off 12.
I was really stuffed, totally bloated. Lack of self-restrain.
My second match (my team’s third) was rather uneventful and dull. The lady won’t shake our hands before the match, claiming that she had cold .. but palmed us after the match was over. During the match, I often found myself watching my teammates. At one point Kai was serving and I was so into watching that I didn’t know the point had started and Kai was asking me …
“Could you please cover the other side of the court??”
I was like .. huuuuuh? OMG the point was in session ..
Thought if I was so involved with other two courts, I should have some idea as how did they fare?
No way. I had no clue.
One court won 6-0 and 6-1 .. really?
I’m not a believer in dishing out bagels (ok .. I’m a lousy player to boot ..) bec I felt its really uncalled for. But what could one do in a competitive match, with a team to consider? The first set was gone so quickly that I didn’t know what was happening then, it just ended abruptly.
Anyway .. our first doubles after winning the first set at 4, eventually lost 7-10 at the super tiebreak.
As we were leaving the parking lot, I still could feel the dumplings in my pork belly.

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At Randalls Island

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A night spent at NTC

.. and it was raining .. eight of us showed up for work ..

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receiving

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