Grand Slam Gal
Milos Raonic at the Australian Open 2011
The qualifying rounds are already in progress for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California and the main draw starts from Thursday morning 10 March [Read more…]
Snippets of news from the tennis world this week. [Read more…]
Every year I love it when it’s time for the ATP’s online tennis draw challenge to start again.
If you love fantasy team type competitions, you’ll love this one too. [Read more…]
Andy has a new do for the Australian Open 2012. Here’s a pic that I took of him during the AAMI Classic player meet and greet at Federation Square in Melbourne.
Andy's mohawk for the Australian Open 2012
Andy’s thinning hair is oft talked about and when the cap accidentally came off to show the current state of affairs during the final of Memphis 2011, it seems there is a reason why he keeps it on nowadays.
Hat's off to you Andy
Photo sourced from AP via Forty Deuce
Let’s go back to the beginning though as it wasn’t always this way.
Andy Roddick in the 2009 Australian Open Semi Final
I’ve been a fan of Andy Roddick for a long time now. I don’t quite remember the exact year but I first saw Andy with his awesome serve on Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open in the early 2000s.
And his Quarter Final against Younes El Aynaoui at the 2003 Australian Open is my all time favourite match.
Even though it bothers me that Andy can go way overboard making his point to the chair umpire and lines people if he disagrees with them, (far out, remember the Brissy International 2011, when the rain crept on to the court, the rant went on for far too long), I still have all the time in the world for him; a genuine, good hearted guy who has done the hard yards in the tennis arena.
After winning Memphis 2011 Andy Roddick became the third man on the ATP tour to hold 30 or more championships. Not bad really, but of course there is still the talk and discussion over whether or not he has more Grand Slam titles up his sleeve. He won the US Open in 2003, when he was 21, and has been runner up in the final a few times since, beaten by Roger.
Here are some flash back pics of Andy through the ages.
Young Andy
Picture Sourced from Tennis-X
Gosh at the time how I loved the rhythm of the rhyme.
Photo sourced from Herald Sun
Andy and Brooklyn
Photo source
This pic still puts a smile on my dial.
Andy as a Linesman
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images AsiaPac
Check out the winning match point in this vid, which he called “the best shot I’ve ever hit in my life”.
You’ve gotta agree that he’s still got it, hair or no!
I’m hoping for big things. Serve it up Andy! What do you think Andy’s chances are of winning another Grand Slam?
Until next time
Grand Slam Gal
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Facebook Pages for Tennis Fans
For tennis fans who are on Facebook, here are some pages to check out. [Read more…]
Reading tennis blogs is a great way to keep up with everything tennis!
For me, I love tennis, and I love to write, so while I’m writing about tennis I am truly in my happy place.
There are loads of other people who share the tennis passion and love to blog about it too. [Read more…]
Kim Clijsters with her trophy after winning the Australian Open 2011
The tennis grand slam tournaments start in January in Australia and run through until September in the USA. [Read more…]
That sure is wearing the Aussie green and gold with pride, right?
How great would it be to see these sneakers topped by a pair of Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ socks!
Rennae Stubbs Green & Gold Fed Cup shoes
Photo sourced from Tennis Australia on Facebook
Check out more fab pics of the Australia and Italy Fed Cup teams all glammed up.
You can’t help but smile at this
One Guy in Scotland not Upset over Murray’s loss
If you needed an excuse to watch the lovely del Potro talk about tennis
I love this ATP Video about Juan Martin del Potro and his return to tennis following his wrist injury last year
Tennis and Sperm Banks don’t mix
Jelena Jankovic’s face was used in an ad for a Swiss sperm bank, apparently they didn’t recognise here
Australian Open Frocks and Shocks
Great review and pics put together by the Womens Tennis Blog and Strawberries and Scream
Until next time
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Blissful days are spent watching tennis live or on TV, scouring the Australian Open website, news sites and tennis blogs, and connecting with other tennis fans on Twitter, Facebook and at Melbourne Park.
It’s all about who’s playing who, who’s wearing what (or not), who did what with their hair, who can dance, who said what to the media, what Todd Woodbridge SMSd to who, who got injured, who was sweating a lot, who carried a blow up kangaroo around Melbourne Park, who is still playing 4 hours and 44 minutes after they started, who had Ana in their player box and who will win and did win the final.
Rog, Raf, Dave, the Andys, Rob, Nole, Dolly, Tom, Nando, Kim, Ana, Caro, the other players and @AustralianOpen are your new best friends and if your friends don’t like talking about tennis, you just don’t see them.
You commit yourself 100% to doing what it takes to keep on watching.
If you’re in another time zone you’re pushing through the tiredness to stay up all night because you can’t bear the thought of missing a minute. After two weeks your body clock is adjusting to Melbourne Eastern Daylight Saving Time and you’ll have difficultly adjusting back.
It’s tennis galore and it feeds your addiction. You need more, more, more.
And for two whole weeks, you get more. A whole new level that’s for sure. Probably the best AO ever.
Then BAM. It’s all over.
All Over Red Rover.
The Australian Open is finished and there are 50 weeks before it starts again.
You feel lost.
It starts with the tennis blues and then you slip into the GSHO; the Grand Slam Hang Over.*
It feels like you’ve been going hard at an incredible, two week long party, having an amazing time, then, when it’s over you’re left feeling drained, staring listlessly at the TV and catching up on sleep. But it’s worth it. Oh, so worth it.
The GSHO can last for weeks.
With no government funded GSHO support group to turn to, it’s up to you to deal with the GSHO as best you can. Thank goodness for Twitter so you know you’re not alone in feeling this way.
Tidy up your house, go to the supermarket and read your emails.
Regroup. Re-engage with the non tennis world. Remember the classic moments.
After all, it’s only 50 more weeks until Australian Open 2012.
And the French Open starts on 17 May. Bring it on!
Grand Slam Gal
* Big thanks to @SianDavies09 for finding the right words to accurately describe the feeling that is the Grand Slam Hang Over
Australian Open: Thanks for the memories. We’ve had a ball!
Dolgopolov chucks snag on the barbie, not a hair out of place
Rafa’s Wet T-shirt, Kanga-Rog, Longest Match Ever
Dance Pretty Petko, Dance. How it all began.
Mahut, styled by Venus. Can you picture it?
Epic 5 Set Matches Galore. 16 in fact. Phwoar!
Fernando Hits, Venus Misses, Caro ???
Rally for Relief. Top 10 Moments that Hit the Spot
7 Smashing Reasons to Love the Australian Open
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I’ve read so many fabulous articles this January in the lead up to, and during, the 2011 Australian Open. They are all brilliant – worthy of fireworks!
It seems like everyone has their tennis blogging niche. I’ve read blogs about match reviews, the schedule of play, predicting who will win, the post match interviews, videos of the highlights, what the players are doing in their spare time, as well as who’s wearing what or doing what with their hair.
If you’d like your blog to be included, just leave a comment below and include these details:
If you’re new to blogging and looking for a way for your readers to Subscribe to your blog, try Feedburner, it offers both RSS feed and email. (I don’t think RSS Readers are as big in Australia as they are in the USA and other parts.)
Personally, I love Mail Chimp for a RSS to email feed because you can customise your email template and add a header image. Plus it’s free until your list reaches 1000 subscribers.
Guest blogging is a way to build links for SEO, and give your blog more exposure. If you’re interested in guest blogging for this Grand Slam Gal blog I’d love to discuss the options, particularly if you’re going to the French Open, Wimbledon or the US Open this year.
Looking forward to finding out more about your blog in the comments.
Cheers
P.S. Please help spread the word to other tennis bloggers by re-tweeting this article 🙂
To help you get warmed up for the upcoming men’s tennis action in January, here is a recap of the Top 20 Men’s Tennis Players in 2010.
Rafa ended the year as number one, and Soderling’s great form allowed him to push Andy Murray back from No 4 to No 5.
1. Rafael Nadal (ESP
2. Roger Federer (SUI)
3. Djokovic, Novak (SRB)
4. Soderling, Robin (SWE)
5. Murray, Andy (GBR)
6. Berdych, Tomas (CZE)
7. Ferrer, David (ESP)
8. Roddick, Andy (USA)
9. Verdasco, Fernando (ESP)
10. Youzhny, Mikhail (RUS)
11. Melzer, Jurgen (AUT)
12. Monfils, Gael (FRA)
13. Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA)
14. Cilic, Marin (CRO)
15. Almagro, Nicolas (ESP)
16. Fish, Mardy (USA)
17. Ljubicic, Ivan (CRO)
18. Querrey, Sam (USA)
19. Isner, John (USA)
20. Baghdatis, Marcos (CYP)
View the full list of Top 100 players.
Who do you think has potential to shake up the big 5 in 2011?
Until next time
When I first started using Twitter I thought it was like visiting a foreign country where you don’t understand the language or the culture.
But then luckily a great friend gave me some tips that made the world of difference to how I use Twitter. Here are some of the big winners!
1. Don’t stay an egg! Add a profile pic and some information to your bio
Your bio gives people a snap shot of who you are and what you tweet about. By leaving it blank, you’re missing an opportunity to engage with people, and after all, that’s the whole point of being on Twitter.
2. Follow People Back
If you’re a well known player or tennis media person it’s a different story but generally speaking if you want to increase your number of followers, aim to follow people back if they follow you.
Otherwise, unless you’ve made a big impression, people can easily use tools like Just Unfollow to stop following people who aren’t following them back.
3. Be appreciative
Check your @mentions regularly and thank people when they Retweet your tweets.
Also check under “Retweets” and then “Your tweets, retweeted” to see who has Retweeted you using Twitter’s automatic Retweet button.
Note – If you’re using Tweet Meme or another sharing plug-in on your blog, make sure it’s connected to your Twitter user name so that you’ll see who is re-tweeting your articles.
4. Use Lists to Keep your Incoming Tweets organised
Once you’re following a lot of people it can be hard to keep up with all the tweets in your incoming feed.
By creating lists you can separate the tweets you’d like to see into different topics.
For example, I have lists for Tennis Players and Tennis Media. I can click on the list to see the recent tweets from everyone that I’ve added to that list.
You can follow other people’s lists too, if you don’t want to create your own.
My favourite list is Tennis Tweeters. It lets me see the tweets of everyone I follow who tweets mainly about tennis. To keep my lists up to date, as soon as I follow someone, I decide if they should be added to a list and add them straight away.
Find out How to use Twitter Lists
5. Direct people to a specific Twitter landing page
If you’re promoting a blog or website via your Twitter account, instead of linking your profile to your Home Page, direct people to a specific Twitter landing page that gives the key information they need about you, in one place.
Here are 10 Tips for How to Create a Great Twitter Landing Page
What are your best tips for getting full value out of Twitter? Do you follow people back, or do you have a different policy?
Let us know in the comments below.
P.S. Need more help with Twitter? Get the free info you need on How to Use Twitter Like a Pro.
Grand Slam’s bring out so many memorable tennis matches.
I particularly love a big men’s 5 setter where the player who has the upper hand changes several times during match and you’re never really sure who will win until it’s over.
Coming a very close second for my favourite match of all time is the 2008 Wimbledon Men’s Final between Roger and Rafa.
Remember what an amazing match it was?
It went for almost five hours and finished after 9pm at night due to rain delays that stopped play several times.
I was pretty happy about being in England at the time so I could watch the match on TV in the right time zone, rather than being in Australia and having to stay up all night.
But, although John McEnroe called it “the greatest match I’ve ever seen”, it’s not my all time favourite.
My favourite match of all time was the Australian Open quarter final between Andy Roddick and Younes El Aynaoui in 2003.
This was the match that made me realise how great tennis can keep you watching, no matter how long it goes for and how late at night it is!
The match went for five hours.
Roddick eventually won the 5th set 21 to 19.
Although I don’t remember seeing Al Aynaoui in a gripping Aus Open match since then, he certainly provided some great tennis action in 2003.
What I loved most is how neither man gave up. They both kept playing hard for every point, believing they could win. Although Roddick did have a break at one point and give his racquet to the Ball Boy!
Although the 2008 Wimbledon final was amazing, really, what would you expect from seeing Rafa v Rog in such an important match?
But an Aus Open quarterfinal between up and coming Roddick and guy 11 years older than him, there was a possibility that one might have slipped by un-noticed.
What’s your all time favourite tennis match? Tell us in the comments below.
Grand Slam Gal’s tennis snippets and tidbits from the week.
1. Serbia Wins Davis Cup, Heads are Shaved, but who gets the Hair?
Serbia beat France to become only the second unseeded nation to win the Davis Cup. A great effort, given that they haven’t really been around the men’s tennis world for all that long.
So to celebrate, all the boys got their heads shaved to follow through on a bet that was made at the start of the season.
What I’m wondering is who gets the hair? (and there was quite a lot of hair to spare)
What do you think? Let us know by completing the poll to the right, or leave a comment if you have another suggestion.
Watch the vid to see Novak Djokovic in all his Number 1 glory.
Read a great summary of the win: Serbian Celebration Following Davis Cup Win With Comedic Moments
2. Serena Williams Died Digitally (But Kept Tweeting to Remind Everyone She Was Dead)
Along with some other celebrities, Serena died to help raise $1 Million to fight aids, encouraging people to donate to bring her back.
That was a nice thing to do but looking at her tweets it seems she was alive to remind people she was dead, oh, and to promote an appearance showing off her collection of clothes.
This is my favourite tweet from @serenawilliams, while she was digitally dead:
will be on HSN: December 7th 12am-2am 10am-12pm 2pm-3pm 5pm-7pm 10-11pm but will not be tweeting until the#BuyLife Campaign is over!
3. Sam Stosur wins the Tennis Gold Logie
Sam Stosur is officially Australia’ Premier Tennis Player of the Year.
Sam is currently world number six and having reached the French Open final this year, she is our best chance in a while at having an Australian win the Aus Open final.
On the night, Sam looked good enough to go to the Logies, as you can tell by these pictures from her blog.
Until next time
Grand Slam Gal
