Tennis is beautiful on all those surfaces.
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Yes but some make it look more beautiful than othrers.

absolutely.

This piece of music has been played by thousands of virtuosos, but this particular performance is closest to my heart.
So is the violinist himself.

Many would argue that Menuhin is the one. And he is great. Undeniably.

However, it's the Bell that sets me alive.

Menuhin or Bell, it's Vivaldi the real maestro!

Shame his performance couldn't be recorded!

That aside....this tournament in Madrid and the blue clay...opened up a real provoking door in my mind of how surfaces draw different stuff from different players.

Although I was disappointed by Novak's faint performance, this has really been a fascinating experience on quite a few levels.

"Menuhin or Bell, it's Vivaldi the real maestro!"

Actually, that's quite an interesting comment to apply to tennis and modern tennis following.

You have the court and the ball, you have the rules, recquets. That's your "composition".

And then you have all these variations on the same theme.
And all these people preferring various interpretators.
And all the reasons for preferring them.

And then there's Gav.

Another huge thing of beauty in tennis is the fans.

Despite all the millions of "Facebook followers" and what have you, I haven't come across that many.

Most are half-hearted and fair-weather kind of fans.

I am particularly disappointed by the lack of quality Nadal fans, I am yet to find one.

A totally irrational, blinkered one.

Mabye it's Wooffie. Maybe that's the way to be a Nadal fan.
I wish they could be more articulate and properly passionate about their man.

I reckon Banbro is a decent Murray fan

Although I was disappointed by Novak's faint performance, this has really been a fascinating experience on quite a few levels.
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I agree. I quite enjoyed the tennis itself. It said that teh quality went down cause the players could not run but I really enjoyed watching players trying to hurt first.
It was obvious that like on grass in the 90s, the first who pulled the trigger did most damage.

It was quality shot making to me. And I don't want to say but Federer looked pretty at ease on it today.

Mabye it's Wooffie. Maybe that's the way to be a Nadal fan.
I wish they could be more articulate and properly passionate about their man.
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It's a difficult thing to be a Nadal fan. Well one can be but to justify the players' antics on court is hard work.

If he had (or used) a bit more talent, it woudl be much easier to support him but everything he does is to destroy any influence talent could have in a game.

And back to performances...I remember your comment from the last year's Fed's O2 match, stg about the tears in the eyes.
It was lovely.
There are a lot of Fed fans, and some of them are quite articulate.
Luis, mio amigo Mexicano, was besotted...the guy travelled to all 4 slams to watch him. He was probably in his late 50s, and loved Fed like a little boy loved his hero.
Quite something.
Same when Fed trounced that racquet in , I think Miami two or three years ago against Nole and then the crowd went silent, not sure whether to boo the Great Fed as they definitely would've anybody else at least a bit.
Instead, when he got the new racquet the crowd went mad bout him, almost trying to breathe life into him.
Whatever "beast" he managed to create, it's living a life of its own nowl
People valuing him and treasuring him, sensing that even he has an expiring date.

That's how I've been with Nole since last year. Funny and he's not even 25

I'm still undecided about tennis in Madrid.

I did enjoy Fed Raonic match as well as Simon Tipsarevic, Dolgo Delpo, and Delpo Bird, even bits of Chokasco Nadal.
It was more the thrill of seeing something totally new and different.
I mena fast grass was a safe surface to play on, but with this one, you could see players struggle.Every one of them did.
They all looked like they were non-swimmers thrown into water and told to swim.
I enojoyed watching them all adjust. That was new.
Nobody was fluid.
There were patches of fluidity, but I don't think anybody mastered the beast of blue clay completely this week.
That to me was also great in a way.
I'd say Nole could've been the worst on it. He really hated it.
Maybe I"m saying complete nonsense, but I would like this tournament to remain exactly as it is.
And to watch all the players fight that surface again.

No.

Ok yes.

But change the timing of the tournament.

How would you change it?

After RG, move RG forward.

Tenez,

in my opinion the blue clay affected the play in two ways:
1) the underlay obviously made the game fast

2) the actual clay didn't blend with it/stick to it so it made skidding stopping virtually impossible hence seriously messing up clay court tennis movement.

How do yo see the effect of the two elements; which one you think affected the play most overall.
To me, it's like a chicken and egg situation a bit.

"After RG, move RG forward."
that's never going to happen.

NITB:
I wish they could be more articulate and properly passionate about their man.
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I meant move RG back sorry.
It's not going to happen but this current situation is farcical.

No NITB I don't think the clay was faster than normal.
It is at a high altitude so the pace is always quite high.
The bounce was a bit lower though.

Tenez: It's a difficult thing to be a Nadal fan.
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How on earth would you know what it is like to be a Nadal fan?
You have a superiority complex.
I believe everyone can support who they want, and everyone is an individual. I am a huge fan of Nadal, but unlike you I am not narrow minded.

Amri,
a real fan has to be narrow-minded
I'm as blinkered as it gets

No a real fan doesn't have to be narrow minded.
A real fan has to care about a player, a real fan has to be passionate about a player.
I love it when Nadal wins, he is my idol, my hero. For me, he is a living legend.

And I'm a 10 times bigger fan of Nadal then Tenez is of Federer, 100%. Yes I don't sit and make up pathetic excuses when he loses, but that doesn't mean I, or any other true fan of a player, isn't passionate.

I couldn't give less of a **** whether Tenez stays up late in the night with a timer in his hand, watching replays of nadal matches, and starts jumping for joy everytime nadal takes over 20 secs an his timer starts beeping.
I couldn't care less whether Tenez dreams about ATP conspiracy theories in his sleep, I don't care how many times he writes 18-10 on a piece of paper and then puts it in the shredder.
Being a fan isn't about making stupid excuses, being narrow minded, or obsessing over your idols rivals and building up hate inside your body.
Perhaps Tenez can copy and paste this comment and place this alongside pictures of Nadals face as a new dartboard, I don't care.

He,he, now you're talking Amri

As a Nole fan, I still haven't recovered from some of the very brutal losses Nole suffered from Nadal.
It's not the losses per se, but the manner.
I think that's what grates the most.

among other things, of course

I won't go into those now, as I'm well past my bedtime
I look forward to some beautiful tennis tomorrow.
From two guys who conquered the beast of blue clay best so far.

amri,

you seem to have a penchant for getting in trouble on forums but I still have to say that in many ways you are one of my favorite Nadal fan posters.

You are smart, passionate, have a sense of humor, and you do not get offended when the discussion overheats.

Enjoyed reading your post here.

Yes Amri is certainly a fan.

Thanks Summerblues