Australian Open thread

[Coxy]

http://wotnews.com.au/like/tennis_star_ ... f/2799993/

TENNIS Australia has called for a report into the circumstances surrounding young gun Bernard Tomic's actions in quitting a match in Perth yesterday..

Apparently it was due to complaints about the line judges or something.
Since then his dad has apologised for telling Bernard to walk off.

Weak as piss. Damir/Jelena Dokic part 2.

 

[Bucking Beads]

blame the father not the kid.... He is only 16 and needs to be given a chance by Aussies IMO.

 

[schmix]

http://wotnews.com.au/like/tennis_star_tomic_in_walk_off/2799993/

TENNIS Australia has called for a report into the circumstances surrounding young gun Bernard Tomic's actions in quitting a match in Perth yesterday..

Apparently it was due to complaints about the line judges or something.
Since then his dad has apologised for telling Bernard to walk off.

Weak as piss. Damir/Jelena Dokic part 2.

Ah. Yeah it reflects badly on him, but his father sounds like the real knob. Why do tennis parents often seem so much worse than other sports??

 

[Coxy]

blame the father not the kid.... He is only 16 and needs to be given a chance by Aussies IMO.

His dad's just like Lleyton's parents.

Tennis parents are just whackos.

 

[Flutterby]

Trust me, it's not just tennis parents - they just get more of the publicity about it. All parents IMO should just drop their kids at training and leave, sit supportively but politely on the sidelines during matches and stay the hel out of everything else to do with it.

I agree that the parents need to get the blame more than the kid themselves, but having met Tomic he is quite a bit of a twat himself. I hope the kid does become the superstar that they are all predicting he will be, but I also hope he grows out of his current "I already think I'm better than everyone else" attitude.

 

[Coxy]

Unfortunately most 16 year olds have that attitude. And unfortunately in tennis, it's not like league where a cocky teenager gets sat on his arse by an older bloke either at training or in a game to make them realise where they stand in the pecking order.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Well I think Federer is a Twat cos his parents are whackos

 

[Coxy]

Well I haven't heard anything about Fed's parents, and he seems like a genuine down to earth kinda guy, who plays the game beautifully and carries himself with dignity. Haven't any reason to think he's a twat.

 

[Flutterby]

I don't make judgments on people being twats or not unless I have actually met them, so I refuse to comment on Federer.

 

[schmix]

Trust me, it's not just tennis parents - they just get more of the publicity about it. All parents IMO should just drop their kids at training and leave, sit supportively but politely on the sidelines during matches and stay the hel out of everything else to do with it.

Yeah, you're probably right, they really do have the worst name for it but maybe it's just because they're more visible..or something.

Though would I be right in thinking that both parents and athletes are worse in the individual sports?

 

[Flutterby]

Yeah that has been my experience. Like Coxy said in team sports there is always other team-mates depending on you who will tell you to pull your head in. Also the sports where they tend to become 'elite' or 'professional' at a younger age tend to be worse. The parents tend to be more involved in the career than those when they are adults, so it is more public. You get crap 'sporting parents' in pretty much all junior sports but in most cases the athletes aren't in the public eye until they are adults and the parents aren't as involved, so no-one knows what they were like as 'sporting parents'.

 

[Guvnor]

Federer is still the man to beat imo.

If Murray wins he will be British, but should he lose he will be Scottish.I will be in Melbourne cheering him on regardless.

 

[mick]

Unfortunately most 16 year olds have that attitude. And unfortunately in tennis, it's not like league where a cocky teenager gets sat on his arse by an older bloke either at training or in a game to make them realise where they stand in the pecking order.

Absolutely. And that arrogance/attitude is always more pronounced in individual sports like tennis, boxing et al. than anywhere else.

Teenage boys have attitudes. Most individual sportspeople have an ego to a certain degree.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Tomic win today... he's a very special talent who could be absolutely anything in the game IMO. He'll grow up and out of any attitude problems eventually.

 

[Flutterby]

Also good to see Jelena Dokic have a win today.

 

[ethos]

Having never seen Tomic play before, I thought he handled himself well. He didn't seem arrogant or anything like that. Massive talent, got all the shots. Also, credit to Brydan Klein for winning today as well.

Wish we had Fox at the moment though, Channel 7's coverage of the first week isn't too flash. Much rather see closely fought matches than the likes of Federer, Nadal, Ivanovic etc winning comfortably.

 

[fenomeno]

Safin won.

kthanksbye

 

[schmix]

What are peoples' feelings on Jelena Dokic these days? A few years back she had to be one of the most hated people in Australian sport, but the fans in Melbourne seem to have welcomed her back with open arms this year.

 

[Coxy]

I feel for her. She had a domineering father who she finally had the balls to get rid of, and then her entire family disowned her, left her to the wolves. Her tennis went to shit, her life went to shit, and she's slowly clawed her way back.

I wish her every success.