The Girls of the French Open

[robertlouis]

RobertLouis, you are my hero!

Thank you. Here's another tennis cutie from the same era, Annabel Croft, another British hope who never quite made it to the top but has made a good career as coach and tv commentator. Met her once and you could drown in her eyes.

[JenniferParisHusband]

There was a sort of golden age, at least to me, where Gabriella Sabatini, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Barbara Schett, and Steffi Graff were just like the ultimate women. Never got to meet any of them. But I loved Tennis from that era.

[robertlouis]

There was a sort of golden age, at least to me, where Gabriella Sabatini, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Barbara Schett, and Steffi Graff were just like the ultimate women. Never got to meet any of them. But I loved Tennis from that era.

They were all attractive, but there has never been and probably never will be a female tennis player for all round ability and flair like Martina Navratilova, and all the lesbian=man jibes don't work with her. Grace, guile, technique, strength and guts. The best ever.

Best male ever, to watch, that is? Federer by a mile. I'd have his babies.

[JenniferParisHusband]

I'm showing my age, but male players, Bjorn Borg in his prime was the best there will ever be.

I like Martina as a player, but of her era, Chris Everett, was the easiest on the eyes.

[robertlouis]

I'm showing my age, but male players, Bjorn Borg in his prime was the best there will ever be.

I like Martina as a player, but of her era, Chris Everett, was the easiest on the eyes.

Borg started the baseline attrition which bores the arse off me. I was always rooting for McEnroe in their battles - touch, artistry and an all-court game against steady, reliable, boring Bjorn. Nowadays it's all 30 stroke rallies and the first one to get bored loses his concentration and then the yawn starts up again.

Give me serve and volley like Mac, Becker, Edberg even the unfairly maligned (at least in the UK) Henman any day. If they played doubles the way they play singles it would be awful to watch, but in doubles the old virtues of getting into the net still rule - doubles are infinitely more exciting to watch - and to play, for what it's worth. The only baseline player I've enjoyed watching was Agassi, because he could actually attack from the back rather than simply wear his opponent down. That's why nowadays I'll always root for Federer or Murray rather than Djokovic or Nadal because the first two use the whole court and vary their shots.

And as for the identikit -ova blondes with their ponytails and grunts, it's just shit. Awful. Come back Steffi, please!

[Joop1980]

Dutch hope: ARANXTA RUS, so cute

[alpha2117]

The tennis chicks traditionally have mad bodies. There are plenty of nice looking ladies Maria Sharapova, Samantha Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki, Ana Ivanovic, Dominika Cibulkova are all top 16 seeds and still in the tournament and they are all pretty hot.

[Token Williams-Black]

I still miss Anna Kournikova. I know she didn't Winn anything but goddamn she was hot!

[bassman2546]

Borg started the baseline attrition which bores the arse off me. I was always rooting for McEnroe in their battles - touch, artistry and an all-court game against steady, reliable, boring Bjorn. Nowadays it's all 30 stroke rallies and the first one to get bored loses his concentration and then the yawn starts up again.

Give me serve and volley like Mac, Becker, Edberg even the unfairly maligned (at least in the UK) Henman any day. If they played doubles the way they play singles it would be awful to watch, but in doubles the old virtues of getting into the net still rule - doubles are infinitely more exciting to watch - and to play, for what it's worth. The only baseline player I've enjoyed watching was Agassi, because he could actually attack from the back rather than simply wear his opponent down. That's why nowadays I'll always root for Federer or Murray rather than Djokovic or Nadal because the first two use the whole court and vary their shots.

And as for the identikit -ova blondes with their ponytails and grunts, it's just shit. Awful. Come back Steffi, please!

With Federer, Sampras, Emerson and Borg rounding out the top four in career majors, I have to think that entertainment isn't the key to great tennis. Serve and volley just shows me that all you need is a damn hard serve and nothing much else matters, hence why the Roscoe Tanners of the world never achieved greatness. I saw Borg win all five Wimbledons and many of his French Opens. He was anything but boring to watch. And when he won his fifth Wimbledon (over McEnroe) he serve and volleyed the crap (mostly served) out of him in that fifth set after that epic fourth-set tie-breaker.

[bassman2546]

TGas, thanks for taking the time to post these. Female tennis players have come a long way from the butchy Navratilova, Mandlikova, Austin and Shriver days.

And I can't help but love this shot.