Week 33 - Brazil F5 ($10,000) - Natal (Clay)

korriban · Challenger level

Week 33 - Brazil F5 ($10,000) - Natal (Clay)

steven · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Congratulations, Steven ! 'Rebuked by Andrew Castle' - it sounds like something which should go on your masthead.

Your reply to his rather pompous tweet does you credit - one could have been forgiven for wondering that, if Andrew follows all the lower ranked British players so carefully, as he claims, then why doesn't he know - amongst a big range of things - the difference between WCs for the Qualies or the MD ??

(see daft ten minutes on national TV a couple of months ago at Wimbledon time with Andrew Castle going on about the LTA WC qualie play-offs that would give Britain WCs to the main draw, and wouldn't that be wonderful etc. etc. etc.)

And, frankly, I thought this post of his yesterday was rather out of place :

Andrew Castle ‏@AndrewCastle63 13h

Hats off to Nigel Sears who has spent years coaching some of the top women in tennis. A hazardous job requiring selflessness and patience.

And he asks for respect ?

Well yes, I was tempted to reply with something like "you do a good job of hiding your interest/knowledge on TV then" wink but why get into a pointless argument. Anyway, when I read back my original tweet, it came over less 'said with a smile' than it was meant to (not that he was meant to see it anyway), so I thought I would cut my losses without actually apologising - I mean, even if I had apologised, I know he feels that "sometimes sorry isn't enough." biggrin disbelief biggrin (if you're not in the UK, CD, you may have been spared the TV ads, so that might not make sense!)

No doubt he does follow a few players (e.g. I'm sure he knows a fair bit about Kyle) but my original tweet back to the person who was kind enough to recommend me to him was meant to come across as "thanks but I doubt he's the slightest bit interested in most of the players I tweet about" and I'd be surprised if I wasn't right about the "most" in that. Whether or not he should be is another matter. I'm also aware that if I had to go on TV and commentate, I'd probably manage to make it look like I knew next to nothing as well. Then again, I've never tried to become a TV commentator for that very reason!

As for his Nigel Sears comment, it was difficult to know whether he was having a dig at the WTA (anyone who has seen the way some of the women ignore their coaches after asking them to come on for on-court coaching might get where he was coming from there) or, obliquely, at Nigel - he wouldn't be the first person on Twitter to point out that Mr Sears tends to get the coaching gigs that, how can I put it subtly, many teenage boys might dream of. wink

However, I assumed that tweet was just intended as a gently humorous dig at Nigel that it would be unfair to take the wrong way ... in fact, I often find myself giving AC the benefit of the doubt when lots of other people are inferring evil intent on his part, hence my "if he's that easily offended, I wouldn't advise him to go on the main Andy Murray forum any time soon" comment above. He always comes across to me as more gauche/insecure than deliberately nasty.

Adding "once rebuked by Andrew Castle" to my profile might well have some comedy value but I think I'll give it a miss smile

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Steven, you're officially a Nice-Natured Person and I hope that Him/Her/Them Up There are watching and giving you brownie points . . .

NB I didn't really mean it about adding in to your profile - it would be a might childish (rather amusing but, net net, still a might childish).

And I thought, you're probably right, I should give AC the benefit of the doubt (nice thing to do and all that) so I went and looked down his tweets to see if I could find anything a bit clearer.

Well, I didn't find anything either way about Sears or women's tennis but i DID find this one :

Andrew Castle ‏@AndrewCastle63 20h

Oh my goodness Michael Johnson's ego just leapt out of his body, through the TV screen and bit me. Ouch.

That's it. I didn't see the programme but Michael Johnson is articulate, intelligent, very well-informed AND was indisputably the world number one in his discipline.

Unlike . . . .

indiana · Tennis legend

Totally agree re Michael Johnson vs Andrew Castle.

There was an internet clamour for Michael Johnson when he was missing at the start of the World Athletics Xhampionships ( he missed the first two days due to a family bereavement ).

Generaly folk in forums who know and enjoy their athletics have little but praise for Micharl regarfing his knowledge and understandable more impartiality. I don't see any real ego though at least he would have somethng to have an ego about !

Oh dear, more brownie points lost !

Bob in Brazil · Improver

Hello Peoples

Today very sad day. Brazil player win final, but no more tennis in Natal for WHOLE YEAR. Bob very unhappy cry

At least next year we have World Cup too. Bob excited about this. New stadium nearly half built already smile

But time has come for Bob say bye-bye. Trouble-maker leave now. Make RJA wish come true wink

So Bob say Tchau Tchau from Brazil

Até o proximo ano

PS. Back to day job. Who hungry

Bobs Burgers 1.jpg

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Bob in Brazil wrote:

biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin

Spectator · All-time great

Oh, Bob, we'll miss you. Leave the hamburgers behind and continue your sports reporting. Otherwise, how will we "cats-up" on Brazilian tennis news? We, the burghers of England, will be behind, and in a pickle. You must(ard)n't leave us like this!

(Yes, it's been a long day at work. Apologies.) In seriousness, BiB, are you rejoining your twin in Spain now?

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

OK. Now that my "alter-ego" has gone back to the day job - permanently - I thought I would give a bit more insight into the tennis here and there is one story that I just have to tell.

The overall standard of tennis wasn't great in my opinion. Now it may be I wasn't inspired because I didn't have a vested interest in supporting a particular player and therefore there was no tension or excitement for me. But I think it was more the case of the facilities simply not allowing the players to perform at their best.

The "aeroclub" has an old colonial feel to it with an outdoor "lido" type swimming pool, areas for various other sports such as five-a-side footy, hockey and equestrian sports etc and the 5 tennis courts were of a pretty low standard. I saw a lot of variable bounce and even allowing for the fact these were clay courts, these variations were at times extreme. Many players got very frustrated with the uneven bounce. The main court also looked to be concave in nature, with a ridge running right down the centre service line from one end to the other.

But the strangest story of all was this. At the far end of the 5 courts, which were side by side in a line, was a low wall (about 3 feet), behind which, at one point in time, there was a guy watering the horse.

Now, now people. Keep your minds out of the gutter. I have already mentioned the word equestrian and I am using the phrase literally on this occasion. The end court was only being used for warm up and hitting practice, while on the other side of this low wall, a guy with a hosepipe and brush was giving this big white stallion a rub down. The stallion however, was more intent on standing with his head over the wall watching the tennis. It was a surreal moment and certainly seemed to bring more than a few chuckles from the locals. Just wish I had my camera with me that day.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Spectator wrote:
Oh, Bob, we'll miss you. Leave the hamburgers behind and continue your sports reporting. Otherwise, how will we "cats-up" on Brazilian tennis news? We, the burghers of England, will be behind, and in a pickle. You must(ard)n't leave us like this!

(Yes, it's been a long day at work. Apologies.) In seriousness, BiB, are you rejoining your twin in Spain now?

Sorry Spectator but it really is time for me to say goodbye to my alter-ego. Funny that whenever I was planning what I wanted to say, I found myself talking "meerkat" to myself - simples. And there is no doubt that this alter-ego is borne out of boredom which at times is killing me here. Without meaning a reference to anyone on this board, I have definitely been going stir crazy this last few weeks and am looking forward to a break.

I am travelling home next weekend - at last. Having said that, it is only a brief respite. The plan is to have two weeks back in Spain, a week in Croatia for the Davis Cup before heading back over here for the rest of the year. Mind you, there are still many factors that need to fall into place before that schedule is confirmed. And if they DO fall into place, I will hopefully be a lot busier on the next trip which should help time pass more quickly.

Tchau

Bob (both of us)

Salmon · Tennis legend

We want a 'Bob in Croatia'.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Salmon wrote:
We want a 'Bob in Croatia'.

So do I, Salmon, so do I smile

SMC1809 · All-time great

Steven, does Bouncy follow you on Twitter?

steven · Tennis legend

CD - Thanks - not sure about the 'nice-natured' person bit LOL, but I do tend to shy away from the "rush to condemn" bandwagon that so many seem to jump on these days unless/until the person concerned really gives me no choice! (I say "these days" but of course in many ways it used to be worse - think proper lynch mobs and the like - it's just that now there is so much more news and information available, it is much easier for people to find new people and things to condemn every day if they want to)

Korriban - Now you mention it, I remember someone retweeting Andrew Castle's comment on Michael Johnson and thinking "What?! How can he say that?" but I don't follow Bouncy and wasn't watching the athletics at the time so hadn't seen the context and didn't have time to investigate. I imagine MJ does have quite a big ego (and fair enough) but as well as his greater achievements, he always comes across as very professional and knowledgeable in a way that Bouncy usually doesn't! His main entertainment value though comes from the long-suffering look on his face when the Brits with him are going bonkers while someone like Mo is racing.

It's also quite ironic that had this forum been around in 1989, we would probably have been lauding the kind of progress Bouncy had made and getting fed up of people slagging him off for being 'no good' simply because he had committed the heinous 'crime' of being the best we had at the time - and fair enough, if I remember right, he did do his best to make the most of his ability. Of course, if he did get the kind of treatment someone like Boggo has got in more recent years, it might explain why he is so defensive these days.

I also agree with korriban that AC's main weakness is that he seems overly keen on idle gossip - I don't watch morning TV but I can imagine his style might well be much better suited to that, though that may be an unfairly harsh comment on morning TV viewers! wink Of course, it's not his fault that he gets the main BBC commentary gig based on former GB no. 1-ness and morning TV presenting skills. Very few people would say "thank you but no, I don't think I'm quite good enough" - it's the BBC gettng their priorities wrong, in my opinion.

SMC - You won't be surprised to hear he doesn't - this whole minor incident arose out of one of my followers recommending that he should. Oops! wink

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain (or are you Bob in Brazil again now?) - very sorry to read about your shoulder - is the op a biggie ? when are you getting it done ? And, indeed WHERE ? Look after yourself . . .

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Thanks CD. Just finished 22 hours travelling and have now arrived back in Brazil where I will be until early December. We are 4 hours behind the UK here.

As for my shoulder, it has been coming for a long time. I have had issues for over 12 months now and it is mostly down to wear and tear. Physiotherapy managed to recover about 80% of the movement that I had lost, although didn't remove all of the discomfort. Trying to play tennis is almost impossible and when I can, it takes weeks to recover.

In simply terms, it is a calcification of the joint which is restricting the movement of the tendons. Stretching the arm leads to a snapping sound like someone "twanging" an elastic band as the tendon tries to squeeze through a diminishing gap.

So the only solution is to "sand down" the calcified parts of the bone to open up the spaces and allowing the tendons to move freely again.

It is going to have to wait until I get back to Spain. I have been told it will be 2 weeks in a sling and the 3 to 6 months recovery before I can start playing tennis again. Sounds bad, but when you compare it against the possibility of never playing again (which was my fear), I see this as a positive.

And just reading the news since I got here, it sounds like ALL the best players are facing operations right now wink

Thanks again for your concern.