Forty Deuce

Worth It For The Soundtrack Alone.

The ladies rocked the runway in Montreal and didn't look completely ridiculous. I mean, that's quite a feat if you've ever seen the runway shows they do at some other tourneys. But Montreal usually gets this part right.

Oh, what's that? You want to see what the players wore to the party? Click here.

And bring some popcorn. And a sweater. Because apparently it's cold. Or so Sveta's attire tells me.

Dude. STOP TALKING.

Totes cute.

The Hammer Returns.

So we meet again.  And apparently my iPod is just as enamored with Sam as I am because it completely fritzed out and I lost the audio from the session.  So the following is based on memory, which...take it for what you will.

Sam' AAH was 80% consumed with questions about her arm, which she says was fine after she started hitting a few days ago in Tampa.  The true test will be when she gets some match play.  The pain in her arm has been reoccurring and she's played through the pain in the past.  She noted that she's probably played as many matches this year as she had for the entire 2009 season so even though the doctors told her she couldn't injure the arm more by playing, she took the time off to rest the arm, knowing that it didn't make sense to keep going into tournaments with a curbed practice/preparation schedule.  The only treatment for the arm is complete rest so she's pulling out of doubles with Franny at the Open, presumably so she can rest the arm on off days.

She also talked about the reception in Australia, relaying the same story she told in Stanford with a bit more detail. She said she went for a hit with her brother and went to a court down the street as opposed to the club, thinking no one would notice. She was wrong. A family on holiday stopped her for pictures and a chat. You're big time now, Sammy. Get used to it.

All in all a positive presser from Sam.  Glad to hear that the arm is pain-free at the moment and that the doctors have told her it can't get worse.  At least that means skipping Cincy and Montreal will yield some positive results.  Hopefully she can get a few matches under her belt here in New Haven (she'll have to hit the ground running with a tough projected 2R match against Jay-Z) and finally get past the second round at the Open.  Time to grab some points, Corgi.

Oh, don't be like that.  Chin up!

"I Am Rafa." Now With Video.

Franny's So Over Roland Garros.

Franny (or Frank, as Sam calls her) was up first at AAH and much of the presser was spent talking about Roland Garros, which she seems pretty sick of talking about.  After being asked how her life has changed since RG, she snarked "This is the first time somebody ask me this question."  You can definitely understand her "over it" attitude.  Then again, she better get used to it because it is likely to be the most defining moment in her career.

Here she talks about whether she appreciates the title more because she's older:

"Yes, I think so.  I think when you are 29 you can understand much more what is going on about you because I grow up, I lived some bad moment and then good moments is mixed.  When you are 20 everyone wants that you do something because you have to and everything has to be in that moment when you are young.  If not [wipes hands], now is the moment to say you are old.  But I think every person are different.  And when you arrive 29 you say 'Now I can taste everything I did from when I start until now.'  And from this moment I want to thanks what I did but at the same time I want to go forward and have new goals and enjoy other tennis and try to catch another one."

And a funny moment when asked why she thinks Sam got good all of a sudden:

"I think she work a lot.  She work with the new physio, new coach, she's stronger, she's much more concentrated, focused.  And of course when you see her you can say she has all the quality to win a Grand Slam or became one of the best.  And she did it.  [pause]  Almost. [laughter]"

Other Frankie tidbits:

• The Coupe Suzanne Lenglen is sitting in her doorway.  She sees it every time she comes or goes from the house.
• She gave the Fed Cup trophy to her parents.
• In response to a question about her preparation for Fed Cup: "Oooh, you are scared?"
• Says she's ok with her form leading up to the USO.  Not perfect but ok.

She was great, as expected.  I want to drink beer with her.  Mainly because I think she's the only person in New Haven who could actually protect me at a bar in New Haven.

She'll cut you.  With a smile on her face.

Pic This: Mmmmmm...Evian.

Required Reading

• Bruce Jenkins calls out ESPN on their idiotic "coverage" of the USO Series.  (It's at the very end.)
• Some really great stuff this week in Boyfriend Jon's mailbag.
• Let Melanie Be Melanie.  Seriously, can we all just ignore her for a while?  That's what I've been doing.
• Did you miss the Rendy Lu drama in Cincy?  I know I did.  Talk about a complete and utter cock-up.
• I also missed the Dinara party in Montreal.  Thankfully Brodie was there and he was elated, as he should be.
• Ah the life of a tournament director.  I seriously do not envy them.  At all.
• Colors!  At Wimby!
• I think it's really cool that Ana has a woman as her fitness trainer.  Here, she talks about why it makes a difference.  One of the reasons why I'm really bummed she pulled out of New Haven is that I wanted to ask her more about it.

My Boy Cleans Up Well, No?

I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Anna Wintour.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

New Haven, Connecticut.  I had never been and I always wanted to check out the Yale campus.  So sure, why not?  Especially when my favorite tennis players were scheduled to show up at the last USO warm-up tournament, the James Blake Open.  Well, they try to maintain a veneer of impartiality so they call it the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale.  Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but I can't snark too hard.  Pilot G-2s have been my pen of choice for the past 15 years.  No really.  I still have a ziplock bag of all the stuff I took with me into the California Bar Examination.  It includes 2 completely empty Pilot G-2 .05s in blue. 

I'm a bit particular about my writing instruments.

Where was I?  Oh yes.  New Haven.

So how does one get from Mason, Ohio to New Haven, Connecticut?  Well, if one is trying to do it on the cheap, one takes a cab from Mason to Dayton, takes a flight to Detroit, gets lost in conversation with a friend, sprints 20 gates to barely make a connecting flight, stew in one's own sweat for an hour and a half, lands at JFK in New York, takes the subway to Grand Central Station while watching a fellow subway rider do pull-ups between stations, races onto a crowded train to New Haven, stands for an hour and 40 minutes while desperately trying to track Rafa's match via Twitter, gets off at New Haven Union Station, waits for a trolley that never comes, and finally hops into a cab that charges $10 for a .9 mile ride to downtown New Haven. 

It was a long day.  I dropped my shit off in my room and headed straight for the hotel bar.  But 2 hours and three drinks later, I was good as new.

The town of New Haven is, to put it kindly, rather sketch.  Lots of loitering, lots of police cars and sirens, and lots of darkness at night.  I get a bit nervous when there isn't ample street lighting.  But I'm not here to go all Rick Steves on New Haven.  I'm here to watch some tennis.  And that's what I did yesterday.

After a tournament shuttle ride with the Sisters Bondarenko and Shuai Peng (K-Bond likes her Sudoku, btw), I made it to the grounds just in time to see Pico pull out a win in his first qualie match.  The side courts here are fantastic.  The bleachers are close to the court and which makes it very easy to take pictures and hear the players and the coaches. 

Pico's quite the monologist.  Makes me wish I understood Spanish.  Sadly, Pico would lose his second qualie match of the day.  Bye bye, Pico.

I also watched Sorana destroy Alla in the first set, only to blow three match points and lose the match in an 8-6 tiebreak.  She's a frustrating one to watch these days.  She has the weapons but lacks the consistency, and I'm not entirely sold on her tactics at the moment.  In addition, she wasn't serving particularly well, making it very difficult to hold her serve.  I stood right next to her coach, who had an amazing Burberry popped collar and was Vamosing like a motherfucker.  the kid was pretty sad after the match.

Oh, and Alla's on court demeanor blows.  But whatever floats her boat, I guess.

Unfortunately, the practice courts are tarped off, making practice court viewing (my favorite tourney pastime) really difficult.  It's better than San Diego, where they had double tarps making it impossible to watch unless you literally smushed your face up against the fence, but still not ideal.  Kind of a bummer but I'm sure I'll find a way to get my Sam practice fix as the week goes on.

The grounds themselves are great.  Small enough to get around fairly easily, though the main stadium is fairly large, so it's a pain to walk around.  Obviously yesterday was qualies only so the crowd was pretty small.  I'll be interested to see how things progress as the week goes on.

Blah is a huge part of this tournament, like it or not.  He gave a pre-tourney presser today, his mom is signing autographs, there are J-Block shirts for sale, he's at every promotional event, and I heard more people were watching him practice than were watching any of the qualie matches.  He's the hometown boy so it's expected.  But that doesn't mean I don't scratch my head.

I mean, he's Blah.

Sunday is All Access Hour for the WTA, but because Caro is still playing in Montreal and Elena has her first round match, it will just be Sam and Fran.  Fine by me.  I love them both and can't wait to talk to them.  Assuming that I sack up and actually say words out loud.  Which...is a 50/50 proposition.

So there you go.  An unnecessarily long, rambling post about New Haven.  It goes best with tequila.

Nice Girls Playing Footie.

Caro and Sveta played two games before their match was suspended for rain.  But that doesn't mean they didn't have themselves a good time.  I know I give Caro a lot of shit, but I really do like her for just being a sweet kid.  What can I say, I like my players on the "nice" side.

 

The super happy fun times ladies entertained the crowd and themselves by playing a little tennis-footie, much to the amusement of the crowd. 

And Kader.  He's obviously a leg man.

  (pics: Daylife)

Rain? But It's August!

You'll have to excuse my indignant and astonished Californian self.  See, for us, there simply is no concept of rain during the summer.  It's weird.  So here we are in August and it seems like rain is consistently wreaking havoc on tennis.  The Canadian and Cincy championship weekends have all been wet affairs leading to a number of "what if" results.  What if it hadn't rained?  Would A-Rod be in the Cincy final?  Would Masha have hoisted the trophy in Cincy?  Would Fed have solidified himself as the front runner by winning Toronto?  I know weather delays are part of the sport but sometimes they run against the notion of a "pure" result. 

And so it continues in Montreal.  Saturday's semifinals were essentially rained out so the ladies will have to (or try, as it may be) to play both the semis and finals on Sunday.  And it looks like we're going to get some rain up here in New Haven this week.

I didn't bring my galoshes.  Because I thought I was going to a tennis tournament.  Not Glastonbury.

(pics: Found Shit, Daylife)

Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

So I leave Cincy for New Haven on Friday and while I'm in the air and on trains, this happens:

 

I mean, really. 

So now Cincy gets what they want.  An American in the final (Fish) and their beloved (Fed).  Seriously, I saw so many Fed fans roaming about in their red Swiss shirts and whatnot.

  Enjoy that.  I've moved on.

UPDATED: How Many Muppets Had To Die, JJ? HOW MANY???

WTA Superfans is saying this is JJ's USO dress. 

I'm totally hoping for an electrical storm just to see that thing under static duress.

I mean...she can't right?  SHE CAN'T!

#shetotallycanandwould

Thanks to @shay_jr for tweeting me the pic.

UPDATED: While we all know she totally can and she would, BoxiFrixi has pointed out that thankfully, that's not her USO dress.  That pic is from a photoshoot from a while ago.  PHEW!

General Hospital

 

Best JJ pic ever.

So let's just run this down, for posterity's sake:

• Serena (out) -- foot injury
• Venus -- knee injury
• JJ -- ankle injury
• Kim -- hip injury
• Sam -- right arm injury
• Masha -- ankle/foot injury
• Justine (out for the year) -- elbow injury
• MGMT -- recovering knee injury
• Ana -- ankle injury
• Dinara -- back and hip injuries

Let me know if I missed anyone.  Obviously we're talking about physical ailments.  For mental ailments I would have just cut and pasted the rankings.

Air Quotes: Don't Ever Change, Rafa.

"I think I played aggressive, but the ball sometimes wasn't inside the court when aggressive I played."

-- Rafa, after his win over Apricot Bars on Thursday.

It Ain't a Warning. It's a Promise.

I'm catching up on the Cincy haps and realized I never fully blogged the "Fuck is a warning" incident.  So during FeVer's hotly contested second round match with the Sockless Twit, he roared a pretty loud "FUUUUUUUUUUCK" due to some, uh, frustration.  The chair rightfully gave him a audible obscenity warning (I mean, the crowd was laughing it was so obvious) and FeVer completely lost his shit.

"What did I say?  Fuck?  Fuck?  Fuck is a warning?  He said it too."

 

He then proceeded to drop the game and as he crossed paths with Sockless on the change he said "Merry Christmas" and threw down his racquet.

Personally, I think the Merry Christmas is really the perfect cherry on top of the FuckSundae.

 

Tough luck for the dude, who dropped the match without being broken and hobbled his way through the last set, clearly bothered by the glute that was plastered all over TV in Toronto.  Thankfully he hasn't taken a wildcard to defend his title here in New Haven.  Rest up, FeVer.  It only gets crazier in a week.

Fuck is a warning.  Never forget.

Pic This: Anatomy of a Moose Presser.

A Moose presser is a thing of beauty.  First of all, he walks in like a grumpy teenage boy whose mother has just russled him out of bed to do his chores at the crack of dawn.  He's oddly out of breath all the time, too.  And then he proceeds to answer all the questions in his slow, deep monotone, giving very little by way of animation or energy.  He definitely doesn't waste any energy in the press room.

 

And I love him for it.

Nice Job, ESPN. And I Don't Say That Often.

This E:60 piece on Maria's return to Chernobyl is well-worth watching.  I'm a daddy's girl and a daughter of immigrants so a lot of the Yuri stuff made me tear up.  Good stuff by all.

Let Chaos Reign.

It's official.  On the injured heels of Serena's announcement that she's not going to play the Open due to her foot injury, DelPo has made it official:  There will be no defense of the title.

Disappointing but not shocking news.  I actually find Serena's announcement more nuclear than DelPo's sparkler firecracker.   But at least it's official and we can all move on grieving the best way we know how.  Mine involves hard liquor and cookies.  

With Serena's withdrawal, Caro will be the top seed in New York.  Hee!  With DelPo's non-defense, he'll drop out of the top 30.  Boo!

Required Reading

• Enjoy insight into what it's like to cover a tournament as press?  Loved this piece from Tignor.  Also liked this piece on whether Muzz is all up in Rafa's head.
• Bethanie's blogging from Montreal.  Which makes you REALLY wish she beat Kim last night.  But seriously, she's easily the best tennis blogger out there.  And yes, that's a shot over the bow, Petko.
• Nice stuff from blogger Maria about tennis player Maria.
• SamTracker5000: She's in a parking lot.
• Uncle Jamie is lovin' on Judy and decides to write Andy Murray a creepy letter.  I'm pissed he beat me to it.
• My friend Jackie was in Toronto covering the guys for Tennis.com.  Great write-ups.
• If you're one of the five Muzzard fans that read FD, these quotes give you a lot of hope.
• Sorry for the Muzz heavy post (the dude won a tournament convincingly, he earned some ink), but I loved this from Rich at Down The Line.

Air Quotes: I Am Rafa.

Some gems from Rafa's Tuesday presser:

[R]ight now I don't think if I am No. 1 or I am No. 5.... I am Rafa, and I go to every tournament to try to play well and to try to be competitive and win as many matches as I can.  For me, important thing is that I feel that I play well, feel that I am competitive to try to win everybody.  And when we finish the season, we will see where I gonna be, no?

...

Physically I'm perfect.  Give me two weeks to broke everything.  (Laughter.)

...

And then there was this exchange, which I found funny and then interesting:

Q.  Do you think that if the US Open was at the start of the year rather than at the end of the year that you would have won it by now?  Is the timing of the tournament part of the reason why you've yet to win it, given all your efforts to do what you do throughout the year getting to this stage of the season?

RAFAEL NADAL:  I didn't understand nothing.  (Laughter.)  (Through translation.)

I don't know.  I really don't know.  That's is impossible to know.  The thing that I can say is little bit easier for me, no, because I lose a lot of energy with the clay season and grass court season.  That's true, no?  It's a lot matches for me, a lot of tension in that three months, so was ‑‑ it's a very important part of season for me, and I put everything there.  And after that, it's normal go down.  Since everything is very good like it was this year, it's normal go a little bit down.

But I am perfect mentally.  I say if I didn't win the US Open, it's because I wasn't ready to win the US Open in the past.  I don't know if I gonna be ready this year or in the future.  That's what I gonna work, and that's what I gonna try every year.

So I am focus on keep improving my tennis to have more options to do and to have more options to do when the matches are difficult in that tournament.  But I gonna do all what I can all my career.  But remember, is a Grand Slam, and every Grand Slams is very difficult.

Q.  So you don't think it's a physical thing?

RAFAEL NADAL:  Was a physical thing a few years; another years wasn't a physical thing.  2005 I was perfect physically.  That's true.  I was worse playing on this surface in 2005 than what I am today.

2006, I still was worse than what I am today on this surface, but I lost in quarterfinals because Youzhny played better than me.  In 2005 I lost against Blake in third round because he played better than me, and that's all.

In 2002 and 2007 I had problems on the knees, and I lost against David Ferrer in fourth round.

In 2008 I arrived perfect physically but destroyed mentally winning in Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Toronto, Olympics.  So it was crazy for me.  Very hard season.

And last year was another time.  I broked my abdominal in Montreal, so I played here with a little bit broken abdominal.  But every match was bigger and bigger ‑‑ (through translation)  the tear, the abdominal tear was bigger.

I finished the US Open destroyed, so for me it was amazing result being in semifinal last year.

I Know That Nest of Hair Anywhere...

So Jackie, who I know from TennisWorld and Indian Wells and is here writing for Tennis.com, and I caught Nalby vs. Lubey.  Armed with media badges and feeling a bit ambitious, we decided to sit second row baseline, which just happened to be behind Lubey's team.  WHOOPS! 

Ah, but then Jackie looked over and correctly identified one Pico Monaco sitting directly diagonally from us.  Well, shit, after that I didn't watch must of the match, with Nalby won in a tiebreak and bagel.  No really, that was the scoreline.  He's through to the third round after Isner had to retire from their match today with an ankle injury.

 

But back to this guy.  He's pretty and he's man enough to rock a lavender sweater around his shoulders.  COME ON.

"C'mon Baby, Be My Bad Boyfriend."

Hey, you.

Sticking to tradition, Andy drove from Toronto to Cincinnati, so he only took to the practice courts for the first time yesterday.  But it was glorious for a number of reasons.

 

First, he took the court over from Fer and Feli, who were practicing for their dubs match later in the day.  Basically everything you need to know about my friendship with DG can be captured in this picture of our two favorite players.  She dresses to the nines and looks sharp pretty much 24/7.  I on the other hand consistently rock a confused and sullen look and am a dork.  So there you go.

 

"Yo, Andy.  Say hi to your mutha for me, ok?"

And then there was this girl, who stood up against the fence when no one else was, holding up a picture of Andy that she wanted him to sign as though it were the boombox in Say Anything.  It was adorable.  I wanted to join her with an actual boombox.

And then he grabbed his ass.  And I squealed.  No, really, I did.

But last and not least, my new buddy Andrew (@BigShots_Photo) caught me photobombing.  Which, let's face it, is pretty fucking awesome.

 

What can I say.  I just get so excited.

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window? Ruff Ruff!

Viktor practicing yesterday. 

 

He was putting on quite the shirtless show for group of cougars sitting courtside.

Foreshadowing his match against Nole, which he lost.  But it does give me an excuse to post one of my favorite videos from Indian Wells this year:

Boner. Shrinker.

Mmmm...Tomas.  I confess, this is the first time I've seen Tomas practice up close.  And bless the humid and hot Cincy weather, he is one tasty morsel when he gets all sweaty and shit.  Unfortunately, I have no one to share my Tomas meltyness with because I happen to be hanging out with a bunch of VerdascoKADs this week.  Poor planning on my part, really.

Berd Belly!

Tomas was warming up for his match.  I find it really odd that he was the only seed to play yesterday (Tuesday).  7 of the 8 seeds are in action today and I personally think that's really weird planning.  Great for fans who have tickets today but I guess I don't see the rationale of not spreading the seeds out over two days. 

 

I want. to lick.  his neck.  

And other stuff too, but I figure you all know that's a given.

 

And then that motherfucker had to show up and ruin everything. 

Rafa Haz A Happee!

A day after Rafa bummed through a practice sesh, he was back to his jolly ways, hitting with Sam Q for a good two hours, much to the delight of a horde of fans who braved the heat to just get a glimpse, a touch, maybe a lick.  

 

Maybe Sam's laid back California style rubbed off?  Let's hope not, actually.  Sam just went down to Daveed today, which means he hasn't won a match since beating Moose for the LA title two weeks ago.

Grinny McGrinnerson over here.

 

This is what it feels like to be 5'2'' in the midwest trying to get a view of Rafa.  It's pretty awesome.  I know you're jealous.

But if you tough it out, it's pretty well worth it, methinks.

Air Quotes: But Good Enough For What?

"I don’t know that I feel perfect, but good enough."

-- A-Rod, after his three set win over Stakhovsky, on the lingering mono that forced him out of Toronto. 

I like his shirt. And his cap, which, contrary to what it may look like in that picture, is in fact cotton, not nylon. 

And that is my cutting tennis analysis of the day.

(pic: Getty)

Cincinnati. Oh How You've Changed.

So my first full day at the [Wait, It A Bank? A Mortgage Company? In The Southwest?] Open kicked off with a little bit of Ernie action.  I was actually watching Rafa when I saw some puff of hair bopping along on the court behind him.  Sure enough, some Latvian homeless man had jumped the fence to go for a light hit with Mischa. 

Just a quick note about the tournament venue: It's awesome.  I really really mean that and I've been to my share of big and small tourneys.  The event is really well-organized, the staff have been more than friendly, and the grounds are spacious enough so that you don't feel overwhelmed by crowds, but small enough so that you can walk them without packing a lunch.  We'll see if this assessment holds up as crowds grow over the week but right now, I'm impressed.  This has the potential to be an amazing joint event next year.

 

After Ernie/Rafa, it was off to sit with my good buddy DonkeyGrooming to watch a shirtless Fernando practice for nearly two hours.  It actually ended up being pretty fun. 

He was in a pissy mood for most of his practice session but started to lighten up in the last 20 minutes, chatting with the crowd, trash talking with his hitting partner, and trying to catch returns in his pocket.

A smiley Fernando is the best kind of Fernando.  Now if only we can get him to cut that damn hair.

 

In the end, the two hours of FerWatching was worth it.  Not only was he looking fine he also stopped for a picture with DG.  And I must say, the picture is awesome.  He's smiling, she's smiling, everyone was happy. 

Except for me.  I needed some shade (though I have to give a shout out to the weather gods because it was damn near perfect today compared to the searing heat and humidity of yesterday), some spaghetti topped with chili, cheese, and onions, and a beer.  OH YES, A BEER.

 

I did sneak off for a few minutes of Fernando's tan-fest to catch me some Gilles.  And once again, I was reminded how much I adore him.  Uh...please ignore that evil blue blob in the background.  I sure did.

 

Unfortuntately, because of my much needed 45 minutes of cool down, this is all that I saw of Pico today.  He to de Bakker.  Here's hoping he sticks around and hits the practice courts tomorrow.  I promise I'll be on it.

Then it was off to see some Ferru, who had his hands full with the always confusing Alexander Dolgopolov.  First of all, Dolgo's got really bad subcutaneous acne.  I'm sorry, I don't like talking about it, but it's relevant insofar as I find him really difficult to watch.  And for whatever reason it actually looks worse in person.  Second, he's got a crazy serve that is literally a "throw it up and hit it hard" motion that clocks him 115-120mph.  I have no idea how he gets that power with such limited motion. 

Third, I do not know why he insists on wearing a telephone cord when he plays.

Anywho, Daveed pulled off the win in three sets, which meant that a rather craptastic day of tennis (match-wise) ended on a high note.

A-Rod's playing right now.  Um...we all know how I feel about that.  I'm going back to the hotel and getting my drank on. 

Tomorrow's OOP looks awesome:  Gilles and Jeremy in action, PHM/BigBerd, Reeshie/Mischa, Llodra/Benneteau, and Feli/Fer doubles.  Oh, and Nalby vs. Lubey on Grandstand tomorrow.  STOKED.

Videos That Require No Commentary.

My coup de grace. I had to get down, dirty, and super fucking creepy to get this one.

Rafa Haz A Sadz.

I caught the last 45 minutes of Rafa's two hour practice session and to say the kid wasn't in a good mood is a bit of an understatement.  Now, to be fair, I'm not a RafaKAD.  I don't go out of my way to watch his practices or matches or anything.  So these are observations from a fairly unsophisticated eye for Rafa.

 

He kept fiddling with his right knee when I saw him, bending over to rub it.  Could be something, could be nothing.  But, you know, it could be something is all I'm sayin.

 

Bicep!

 

I mainly watched him practice his serve.  He didn't seem too pleased with how that was going.

Poor puppy.

 

But like a good boy, he stuck around and signed for his adoring fans.  For long time, actually.

Looking forward to seeing him practice again.  It's always a sight.

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!

After a waterlogged final that morphed into more of a test of mental strength than anything else, the Moose reigned supreme in the land of...well...moose.

I didn't see the match so I can't comment on much else (for those who did see it, feel free to discuss in the comments).  But it's nice to see all that hard work pay off, Andy.  What a fantastic run, beating Nalby, Rafa, and Fed to hoist your first title of the year (I know, right?). 

I look forward to licking your birthmark in Cincy.

Put Your Voodoo Doll Down, Kim.

Not that Kim's voodoo doll had much to do with the outcome of this match.  Masha had three match points before the super weird rain delay and couldn't convert any of them, missing two returns and going for a winner on a long rally that went wide.  Then the skies opened up, the players were off court for over an hour, which, as Kim said after the match, she used to go back to the hotel room to get her serve, Kim held serve and Masha somehow hurt her foot.  She says she felt it in the tiebreak.

 

Don't worry, Pam.  She'll be ok.

The last set went quickly, as Shazz couldn't serve for shit, move for shit, or hit for shit.  Credit to her for sticking it out and not retiring.  A rough way to end yet another fine week for her.  And in case there was any doubt, Masha's withdrawn from Montreal.

As for Kim a solid start to her USO defense, though let's face it, she was a wee bit lucky through the week with the foot injuries and whatnot.  But that shouldn't take away from what she did here.  Her match against an in-form Flavia was probably her best of the week and it was an impressive display.  I don't think she's serving particularly well but we'll see if she's shaken off the rust once she crosses the Canadian border.

Jada!

Were They Playing For Ana?

Fernando was working hard today, hitting the practice courts for over two hours with Touchdown Tommy.  Unlike his good buddy Feli, Fernando knows what the people want. 

 

 

 

Isn't it cute when couples pick up on each other's habits?

Greetings From Cincy!

So I walk onto the grounds, check into the media center, drop off my shit, head to the practice grounds, and what do I see?  A little Feli vs. Pico practice action.

 

For some inexplicable reason, despite the humidity being particularly horrible today (or so says resident Cincy expert @tisenfine), the boys practiced with their shirts on. 

I mean, they were soaked in their sweat and their shirts were basically see through, but still, THAT'S BULLSHIT.

Thankfully, Feli knows what's up and gave us a nice little show at the end of the practice session:

 

 

 

 

Thanks, dude.  Your'e a gem. 

I mean, you're so Sam Stosur, but what can you do.

Oh, Andy, You Dirty Boy.

A fantastic pair of back-to-back matches for Moose, as he backed up his dominant display over Nalby with an equally impressive straight setter over Rafa.  He's moving well, serving well, and, to the relief of his fans, cracking that forehand aggressively when he should.  It was sexy stuff. 

And Andy knew it:

 

A little bit of this...

 

A little bit of slap...

Hell, even Rafa threw in a little nipple rub. 

I'm right there with you, Rafa.  Right.  There.

(pics: Yahoo! Sports)

UPDATED: FUCK!

It was supposed to be a true test of Ana's form after a resurgent week made her a topic of conversation and marginally relevant again.  Instead, her body gave out four games into the match. 

After stepping in to try an put away a short forehand down the line, Ana hit the shot, immediately dropped her racquet, and bent over a suddenly gimpy left foot. 

She walked to the back of the court to try and compose herself but finally called the trainer in tears.

The injury looks to be on the inside of her left foot, around the bone, muscle, and tissue that make up her arch/instep.  She stepped back on the court to try and continue (cracking a forehand return winner in her first shot), but was clearly hobbling. 

She retired in tears after the next point, giving Kim a kiss at the net and saying "I'm sorry."  After the match, Kim said Ana told her she heard "a crack".  That could mean a whole lot of things but she didn't do press after the match, instead going immediately to the hospital. 

Sigh.  You have to feel the kid.  She tries so hard, works so hard, all with a smile on her face as she's had to answer for over a year now a barrage of questions as to why she sucks so hard.  Then she has a week where everything clicks and her body gives out on her.  Had she won the title here she would have potentially been seeded for the USO.  Even if she lost today, a mediocre showing at New Haven would have probably earned her a seeded spot, too.  But no.  The tennis gods simply would not allow it.  It's almost Job-like.  And I mean the biblical Job, not the awesome GOB.

Her website says it'll be a race to get ready for New Haven.  Screw New Haven.  Just get healthy, kid.  No race needed.

(Pics: Daylife)

Venus Out of Montreal

“If we didn’t already have the best players in the world, if we didn’t get all the players we think we can get, my choice would certainly be for the wild cards to go to international players, because you want to sell the attraction.  But we have them, so it’s normal to give the chance to young players.”

-- Montreal tournament director, Eugene Lapierre, back when he initially denied AI a wildcard. 

Now, two days before the start of his tournament, he doesn't have Serena, Venus, or Sam (three of the top five players in he world), and depending on what happens in Sunday's final, it's entirely possible he won't have Masha.  I'm just saying.

But it's ok, you guys!  They have Stephanie Dubois and Valerie Tetreault!  They'll be fine.

And honestly, it took longer for me to figure out how to spell Valerie's name than it did to write this whole goddamned post.

Whatever. He Was Injured.

A crazy intense match in Toronto saw Fed come back from 2-5 in the third to eek out a tiebreak win over an arguably gimpy Tomas, who had to take an MTO and get his thigh taped.  But really, he was moving ok, I thought.

Poor Tomas had to fight not only himself (because, you know, he's Tomas) but also the dumb Toronto crowd who just couldn't seem to shut up when he was serving or even mid-point.  Trying to serve for the match, he had to deal with shouts between serve, cheers for faults, and mid-point "out" calls.  He was clearly annoyed, pleaded to Lars Graff to do something, but to no avail.  Once Fed got that break back I think we all knew what was going happen.  Tomas did well to bounce back and hold his serve to force the tiebreak, but from there, Fed had new life and was able to battle it out.

Regardless, it was a telling match for both guys.  Tomas was back up his Wimbledon performance with an "I'm for real" tennis statement, and Roger gutted out the win but hit enough shambolic groundies at key moments to show that he's still vulnerable. 

And so we have the top 4 into the semis.  It'll be Rafa vs. Andy and Fed vs. Nole.  I think we all know where my vaginal rooting interests lie.  And it's not with Pootie Pink up there.

 

Shrieky Good.

It's downright scary how Masha's been playing through this USO Series.  She demolished Mono tonight, and barring a minor hiccup trying to close out the match, she looks absolutely unstoppable.  She's moving well, huge off the ground, and most importantly, that serve is looking pretty damn solid. 

If she's not the USO frontrunner, I don't know who is.  Oh yeah, Serena.  But seriously, I don't know...

Impulsive? Yes. Wise? Probably Not.

So after much cajoling from one DonkeyGrooming, I'm headed out to Cincy tomorrow night to enjoy the sausage and beerfest that is the [Insert impossibly long bank name here] Open.  I'll be there through Thursday.  As I started looking at flights it became abundantly clear that it would actually be cheaper for me to fly all over the country rather than directly back to San Francisco.  So as of now, it looks like I'll catch Cincy through Thursday, fly to JFK on Friday, take a bus up to New Haven, watch Sam and Ana lose in their first round matches while simultaneously avoiding James Blake, then head back to New York and stick around to catch the first couple of days of the USO. 

Seriously, this all happened in the span of four hours.

So there it is.  C Note hits the road and lives out of a suitcase, braving impossibly horrible weather (for me, anyway) in an attempt to cram in as much tennis as possible over the next three weeks.  I think I have Cincy and New York in the bag but if anyone has any tips on New Haven, I'd appreciate it.  I've never been there.  Hell, I don't even know how I'm getting there, where I'm going to stay, or how I'm going to get to and from wherever I'm staying to the grounds. 

Anyone got a grandmother who has an extra room?  If she promises not to kill me and wear my skin around New Haven, I promise not to do the same. 

Tit for tat.

Pic This: So There's That.

She won, she's back in the top 40, and she'll play Kim tomorrow.

Good stuff.

(pic: Daylife)

Everyone Wins.

Moose played beautifully in his straight set win over Nalby.  Even Nalby gave him a "too good, too good" at the net.  So Andy's quest to retain his #4 ranking (he has to make the final) continues and Nalby gets a bit of break going into Cincy, which I honestly think he needs.  I know you're excited, Dave, but let's keep our eye on the New York prize, shall we?

Friday OOPs

Man, what's not to love about today's matchups?  Kim/Flavs, Masha/Mono, Moose/Nalby, Fed/Berd, and the Gods smile down on the Serbs for once, with Ana getting Akgul for a shot at a semifinal and Nole playing a night match.

Get your popcorn. 

Cincy:

Center Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2. Akgul Amanmuradova vs. Ana Ivanovic (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Kim Clijsters vs. Flavia Pennetta
4. Maria Sharapova vs. Marion Bartoli (NB 19.00hrs)
5. Huber/Petrova vs. Chan/Zheng

Grandstand (from 11.00hrs)
1. Mirza/Niculescu vs. Azarenka/Kirilenko
2. Black/Rodionova vs. Dulko/Pennetta (NB 16.00hrs; after suitable rest)

Toronto:

Please Tell Me It Comes With A Mute Button.

Found this hidden in the USTA's press release on "Fan Enhancements" at this year's USO:

Microphones in the Players Boxes: For the first time, microphones have been installed in the player boxes in Arthur Ashe Stadium, which will help viewers get even closer to the emotion and drama of the US Open by adding the perspective of the players’ guests as matches unfold.

So does this mean we're going to have Srdjan, Dijana, and little Djokos screaming in on my SAP channel?  Because I do not approve.

That augmented reality iPhone app sounds pretty dope though. 

The Kids Are All Right.

What's the point of getting a media pass, getting all excited about interviewing players, crafting beautifully worded questions on interesting topics, only to show up and see these two pistol whips do you your job better than you could ever dream of.

Absolutely demoralizing.

Air Quotes: "It's Gettin' Hot in Hurrr, So Take Off All Your Clothes..."

Q. You mentioned the heat issues. Could you explain what feelings you go through when it starts to get to you? What actually happens?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, it's really hard to explain. Anybody who didn't play a professional level will not understand quite what's going on, but it's definitely not easy on the days where you have over 30 Celsius and court adds up another 10 degrees, or 15, and it gets really hot and it absorbs the heat, the hardcourts.

So I'm not finding definitely no excuses, but everybody is different. I might react on the heat differently than somebody else, so you cannot compare myself to another player. You know, I might be faster than somebody for some reason. It's just genetics and nature, I guess.... 

Nobody can turn off the sun and just do me a favor, even though I would like it. (Laughter.)

Q. Back to the heat, are you working with your team on nutrition or types of fluids to drink or things to eat in between changeovers like that? Are you doing anything differently there to stave off...

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, we're just waiting DHL to give us a canister of oxygen that I will put next to me on the changeovers so I'll breathe in. No. (Laughter.)

Well Now I'm Having A Stress Reaction, Too.

A few more details on the injury that's keeping the Hammer of Thor grounded for these two weeks.  From her site, David Taylor said she was diagnosed with a "stress reaction in her distal humerus", which basically sounds like she had a bad reaction to an unfunny joke.  Considering that our shared love of the comedic stylings of Anchorman, I can totally sympathize.  I hate when people try to be funny and aren't.  I would have a stress reaction, too.  And if the joke fail were bad enough, I might have to call in sick to work for two weeks.

So I'm with you, Sam.  I'm so with you.

Hopefully she'll be 100% for New Haven, where she's just been granted a wildcard.  Ana and Sam at New Haven?  Together?  Don't think I haven't thought about it, folks. 

In the meantime, enjoy this really really boring video of Sam regripping her racquets.  It's only slightly more interesting than the one of her making coffee and driving to work, if only for her revelation that she only plays with one side of the racquet, which is a completely fascinating and confuzzling notion to Victoria and I. 

Neapolitan Jesus.

Fed's winning and whatnot.  He could recapture the #2 ranking if he gets further than Nole.

As for the kit, I think it looks fine.  But thanks to @samstosurnews for making the connection.

(pic: Yahoo! Sports)

#2 and #3, Respect-ish-ively

The court conditions were tough today folks, with on-court thermometers hitting the 120F mark.  But you know what they say, the conditions are the same for everyone and everyone's gotta deal.  JJ, the top seed at her second straight tournament, got bounced in straight sets by Akgul, denying us a JJ/Ana quarterfinal.  I know that Akgul's big server, but this is a match that you expect JJ to win, using her movement and strokes to grind down her slower opponent in the blazing heat.  But I guess Cincy is to Akgul as California is to Dani.  She just seems to find some mojo there.  The last time a qualifier made the quarters in Cincy?  2007.  And yes, it was Akgul.  Which means she's building quite the fan base:

A more respectable loss for Caro, losing to Mono in straights in her first tournament in the US after her run to the title in Copenhagen last week.  Word on the street is that Caro's beefed up her serve.  That's nice to hear, but once again she plays a match that shows that she, just like JJ and Aga, can be hit through.  If the field wasn't quivering in their shoes at the thought of playing these counterpunchers before, they definitely aren't quivering now.

It'll be interesting to see how these two rebound in Montreal.  Oh, and in a stroke of comedy, they'll swap places heading into to Montreal.  That's right, Caro's back to #2.

(pics: Daylife)

Nom Nom Nom.

No!  Don't eat it!  Stay hungry!

I feel like every single fucking day I'm writing some form of "Nalby makes a statement with his win today over [insert defeated foe here].  BUT THIS TIME I REALLY MEAN IT. 

He takes out #5 Robin "Evil is as Evil Does" Sodz in three sets.  And as far as I can tell, Sodz wasn't stinking up the joint either.  With each win the bettors keep moving Nalby up the charts, though I'm still a bit worried he's shooting his load too early.  He'll play Moose next, who played an idiot dumb match with Gael, winning 62 06 63.  Gael kept hurting himself diving on the court.  Like repeatedly.  Like, "Hey, I hurt my shoulder diving on a hard court and had to call a trainer but I guess I'll just keep on diving onto that shoulder!" dumb.  Whatever.  Thanks for keeping him out on court for two hours, Gael.

See you tomorrow when I have figure out yet another way to say that Nalby's back and he's taking scalps instead of cake orders.  Can't wait.

(pics from Daylife)