CAMELOT FANTASIES

que pasa lady TT, princess emma, and the others.

Andy is off to a great start. he removes his first adversary from the facilities. somdev devvarman was a legend in colleg here in america.



and rafa is back. he guns down tsonga in an exo.

Look no further. Here are the highlights:

Rafael Nadal vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Astana Exhibition 2014, highlights HD :

Youtube :

Dailymotion : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26...25-09-14_sport

there was some high level play from both there in the first set.


both were striking the ball fairly clean.

Jim Carrey is such an inspiring figure. I've read a lot of press on him over the years. He suffers from something, I can't remember what it is (I'll look it up later) yet, he uses much of his available energy helping others. I love the way he puts things into perspective. He's such a warm and endearing fellow. I must admit to loving his soft and vulnerable side more than his comedy.

No, I take that back, he is equally gifted in all of his endeavors.

Have you ever seen Doing Time on Maple Drive? It was a made for TV movie before Jim Carrey made it big. It's a drama about the "perfect" family who isn't so perfect after all. In a twist of fate Jim was cast in a dramatic role. Watching this movie makes it hard to believe how he would later be come to known as a comedic actor.

And yes, Jim's words were so powerful and really hit home with me. It's a lesson that I need to focus on, persevere with, and never give up. That clip really hit home.

He is. He's very endearing to me. A lot of people who don't know him as well as some of us do make ignorant comments but if they get to know who he is and what kind of life he had, they are bound to change their minds. I am always the one to change people minds but not by forcing them but by bringing them into light.

I have most certainly seen Doing Time on Maple Drive but quite unfortunately I've seen it such a long time ago that I only remember seeing it. Must have been in the late 90s or early 00s when I watched it. I do remember it being his first serious role.

My favourite Jim Carrey film is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. As far as I know it's critic favourite and perhaps Jim's best film to date. It has a unique story and Jim was his at absolute best. I really loved his other performance in the The Trueman Show - another critic favourite. Have you seen any of these by any chace?

Jim's comedy can be a bit over the top at times (like Robin Williams, he's also got a lot of energy to deal with so he needs to let it out a lot) but lately I've seen him having a great control over it and his timing is perfect too. This wasn't the case in his earlier movies. However, I really enjoyed watching him in The Mask. That role was very creative. Liar, Liar was also pretty good. I think Dumb and Dumber (2) is coming out soon - it's set to be released Nov. 14. Not a fan of D&D though.

I hate to bash players, but he gets on my nerves so much. What bothers me most is his weak mind. He is, IMO, every bit as talented as Federer, so why is he worshiping him? Anyway, I'll let up on him as it only wreaks havoc on my own high blood pressure.

Agree here too. Before Nadal, Federer was sleepwalking through the tour. Partly because of his incredible skills, but partly because of the reverence being thrust upon him. The media deified this guy to the point where many felt it was OK to lose against him.

In the early years Federer never even had to get out of first gear. Thanks goodness for Nadal, Nole, and Andy, who showed that Federer the player, was also human.

Had those pathetic displays continued I surely would have given up tennis, as I am not into non-competitiveness in sports. That's how I let my own aggression out, so they need to give me something to root about.

I must say to Federer's credit, that he did rise to the challenge and find another gear. Nadal was good for him because it showed him that he wasn't infallible, and they have given us some great battles over the years, so good on him for still fighting.

Tennis is not that huge in America. You'd be hard pressed to find many who watch it, know it, and follow it like forumites do. Practically no one in my circle watches it, or knows what's going on. Plus, much depends on which TV station you watch and whether or not the USO is advertised. Most of my comrades who do watch it, say they happen to catch it when it's on.

In America the focus is on MLB, Football, Golf, Nascar, and the NBA. Tennis, on media outlets is listed as Other. So, I'm not surprised by the ratings since it's viewed more as a niche sport.

I like Woz too and think she is headed in the right direction. For the first time I think she may win a major title. If she does it will be great for tennis.

Monfils just lacks the belief. He's not arrogant enough to believe he's as good as Federer. I wish he had done so then  he would have had a much better career. It's not only Monfils - there are lots of other players and people in general who lack self-esteem and a good dose of arrogance. Even Sampras was seen as slightly aloof but he had to be that way. He didn't want to show any emotion since he saw it as a weakness of character, especially against his opponents on court, so he let his racquet do all the talking. Monfils, on the other hand, is known as a clown and for a valid reason as well as he likes to put out shows which tend to cause him loads of distractions during matches. Not everyone is your Djokovic, you know. Besides, Djokovic is only funny after a match - when he's playing a match, he's deadly serious. You and I both know that and we know how mentally strong he is and it's mainly because he has a firm believe about himself and what he is capable of doing.

As to Federer, two things happened in his favour; one, he peaked at a time when tennis was lacking a healthy competition (2003-2007); second, he was much better than the remaining field. This combination of things had made him win 12 Slams in that time period. Though Nadal won his first Slam in 2005, he wouldn't see success anywhere until 2008 and by that time, not only he had played quite a few times against Federer, but also, he was so good on clay that it allowed him to beat Federer at RG a few times and that gave him enormous amount of strength to take it further down - to all the way to Wimbledon and rest is history. That was also the very first time we see in history of tennis a pure grass courter getting beaten by a pure clay courter on grass - at least by that time's standard anyway.

Anyway, I've got nothing against Federer but it's very dull to see this kind of domination in any era especially when you see a certain lack of competition. Thankfully there wasn't any era like this one at least in the Open era. The competition has always felt very strong and it has again picked up since 2008 - though the only player who has truly made this possible is Nole as Nadal has always been there alongside with Federer (since 2011 when competition took a new turn) and it felt like a two men show. I would have really liked Andy to win more since 2008. He had no business losing to Federer in 3 Slam finals and another series of losses to Nadal since then at GS level. But mentally Andy was so weak in those days and the Brits didn't make it any easier on him.

As to Serena again, I know tennis is not as popular especially in NA but the rating of the women's final was lower than the previous years, so that's a bit of a mystery. I am not even comparing it to other sports. Anyway, doesn't matter really. Perhaps a fresh face would helped.

I agree. The favoritism is blatantly unfair and has been since his ascension. It's unfair to the other players and to the tour overall. He will definitely continue to get these favors. Why would they stop? They have a poor marketing strategy as their goal seems to be to generate interest by proclaiming a GOAT to lure fans. This too has backfired. Ignoring the proletariat in favor of the bourgeoisie is never a good idea, although it is effective.

I am a fan of the big four, but am disheartened at the level of disrespect leveled at the rest of the tour. After Rafa retires I'll probably quit watching tennis as I do not like many of the policies that I see enacted.

As I mentioned before, I was never a big fan of the four (past tense as they don't exist anymore) as I don't enjoy seeing such monopoly of any kind. But more importantly, I've always been a big supporter of the lesser ranked players - reasons why I became a fan of Nole and Andy way back when they just turned pro, as I wanted to see them do well and didn't want them to be under the shadow of Federer and Nadal. Same reasons apply now as well though I do like to see Andy win a few more Slams and I won't mind it at all if Nole ends up winning a couple of more Slams but younger ones must win a lot too. Everything is earned however.

On a personal level, I always tend to support the weak, the poor, the sick, the vulnerables, the misunderstood, the misjudged ones etc. etc. They are my kind of people. I love to stand by them and love to extend my love and support towards them because they are the ones who need it the most. And also, it gives me the greatest joy and pleasure. Supporting the big four feels like supporting the rich and strong and I feel at this stage, they no longer need it as they already have enough. That's just my take on things. I am perfectly fine with people feeling differently. It's what makes things interesting. As someone said, the contrasts are there for a reason. It lets us to choose and gives birth to preferences and makes us who we want to be in this apparentgrand illusion. 

I see Beijing draw is out. If things go as on paper then Nole is set to meet Dimitrov in the qtr, Cilic vs Murray, Isner vs Berdych and finally, Nadal vs Gulbis.

A couple of tough first rounders for both Nadal and Murray - Gasquet and Janowicz  - in that order. I don't think though either is in good forum, but of course, they can feel hot and heavy on particular days.

The potential Cilic vs Murray looks very, very interesting.

I didn't do anything last night given that it was a Friday night but anyway. I ended up googling all sorts of stuff on the internet. And no, by that I don't mean adult stuff. Anyway, one of them was I wanted to know the most disliked (hate is too strong a word for a whole country so I wanted to be careful of that) countries in the world - the countries that are constantly putting rest of the world in dangerous situations over the last 100 years or so.

These are the countries that came up on top as the most negatively viewed by rest of the world - North Korea, Iran, Israel, US, Pakistan, Russia, China, Belgium, India, Mexico, Japan, England, Germany, France, South Africa, Congo etc.

The criteria being militarism, entangled foreign policy, monopoly on global culture, invasion, possessions of nuclear weapons, terrorism, dictatorship, rude to its neighbors etc.

China, for example, has seen the biggest execution rate in their country. Though Germany's stock is quite on the rise and it's now fast becoming a popular country for its least global involvement since the Hitler days. North Korea, Israel, China, US, Pakistan, Russia, Iran remain as the worst ones and in fact, declining even more.

SHENZHEN OPEN 2014 

Murray Digs Deep, Faces Robredo In Shenzhen Final

Shenzhen, China

by ATP Staff
  | 27.09.2014
 

Robredo
© AFP/Getty Images

Tommy Robredo will challenge Andy Murray in the Shenzhen final.

With qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on his mind, Andy Murray dug deep to reach the Shenzhen Open final on Saturday, fighting from a set down to defeat Juan Monaco 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

 From 3-3 in the second set, Murray reeled off nine straight games to beat Monaco in one hour and 42 minutes. In the third set, Murray dropped just four points on serve and converted all three of his break point chances.

"He started the match well," said Murray. "I was struggling a little bit with my timing. Obviously, the conditions were very hard today. But I feel good and I'm into my first final for a while. I'll try tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be a good match. Robredo's been playing some good tennis this year, so it'll be tough. I'm enjoying myself here and winning always helps.

 "It's been a tough year for me. The first few months coming back from surgery were hard, then I lost a bit of confidence. But I've felt better the past few months and hopefully I can have a strong end to the season."

 The Scot needs a strong finish to the season to mount a late charge in the Emirates ATP Race To London, in which he is currently in 11th position, and will look to end a 15-month title drought at the inaugural Shenzhen Open.

 Against Tommy Robredo in Sunday’s final, Murray will be bidding for his first title since his historic Wimbledon triumph in July 2013. The Dunblane native has a 3-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Robredo and has won their past three meetings.

 The 32-year-old Robredo will contest his 21st ATP World Tour final after defeating Santiago Giraldo 6-1, 6-4. The Spaniard, who has a 12-8 finals record, is looking to win his first title since victory in Umag in July 2013 and his first hard-court title since triumphing in Metz seven years ago.

 Robredo inched ever closer to his 500th tour-level win (493-310 record) as he fired 10 aces and converted four of his seven break points to beat Giraldo in 70 minutes. Victory saw Robredo level his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Giraldo at 2-2.

 Robredo has a 35-20 record on the season and will contest his second final, having finished runner-up on clay in Umag in July (l. to Cuevas).