Forty Deuce

Rain: It's Only Charming When You Don't Have Shit To Do.

Play in both New Haven and Montreal has been rained out today.  They will attempt to play the semis simultaneously tomorrow at 10am and then the final at 1pm.  That's a damn rough schedule.  Oh, and Pavs has withdrawn from New Haven citing hydrophobia, or as the WTA calls it, a right hip injury.  So no Believe vs. Pavs match.  Boo face.  Mardy Fish has also withdrawn from New Haven.  Not so much boo face for me, but boo face for the tournament.

I'm going to head home for the day, primarily because there are probably more tennis players at my hotel than are on the grounds right now.  Also, my bed is significantly warmer than this media room. 

I was warned to bring a parka.  I should have listened.  I never listen.

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.

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)

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:

Of Glutes and Back.

Toronto:

FeVer and Sam Q were the surprise losers of the day.  Fer had to get some medical attention on his ass in the third set.  You think I'm making a joke, but I'm really not.  There was a whole lot of ass massaging going on. 

Totally clinical, of course.  Totally.

Singles - Second Round

[1] R Nadal (ESP) d S Wawrinka (SUI) 76(12) 63
[2] N Djokovic (SRB) d J Benneteau (FRA) 75 75
[4] A Murray (GBR) d X Malisse (BEL) 75 62
[6] N Davydenko (RUS) d [Q] F Fognini (ITA) 75 61
J Chardy (FRA) d [9] F Verdasco (ESP) 67(7) 76(5) 62
O Dolgopolov (UKR) d [12] M Youzhny (RUS) 16 76(4) 75
M Llodra (FRA) d [14] N Almagro (ESP) 76(5) 62
[15] G Monfils (FRA) d T de Bakker (NED) 75 63
[Q] K Anderson (RSA) d [16] S Querrey (USA) 76(4) 46 64
P Kohlschreiber (GER) d V Troicki (SRB) 64 36 60
[Q] Y Lu (TPE) d *[LL] P Mathieu (FRA) 36 76(3) 76(5)
D Nalbandian (ARG) d T Robredo (ESP) 63 60
V Hanescu (ROU) d [WC] P Polansky (CAN) 64 76(4)

*[LL] P Mathieu replaces [8] A Roddick (illness)

Doubles - Second Round
[2] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) 63 64
J Benneteau (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d [3] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) 61 76(6)
S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Youzhny (RUS) d [6] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 46 63 10-4
P Kohlschreiber (GER) / G Monfils (FRA) d [7] O Marach (AUT) / D Norman (BEL) 64 57 10-8

Doubles - First Round
M Knowles (BAH) / R Stepanek (CZE) d N Almagro (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) 57 63 12-10

F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) d R Bopanna (IND) / E Butorac (USA) 36 63 10-5

Cincy:

Bepa somehow survived MaKiri, who was 5-2 up in the third set before a rain delay.  And Kim returned just in time to send Dinara plummeting in the rankings with her back somehow intact.  She'll head into Montreal no highter than #70.  Le sigh.

Singles - Second Round
(2) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 60 62
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (3) Elena Dementieva (RUS) 61 63
(4) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. Dinara Safina (RUS) 75 62
Elena Vesnina (RUS) d. (5) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 64 64
(6) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 75 26 76(2)
(7) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 64 62
(8) Li Na (CHN) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 62 62
(10) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 63 61
(11) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (Q) Monica Niculescu (ROU) 60 61
(12) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Gisela Dulko (ARG) 76(3) 62
(13) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. (Q) Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) 63 62
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 61 75
(WC) Christina McHale (USA) d. (Q) Ayumi Morita (JPN) 62 64

Doubles - Second Round
(4) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) d. Grandin/Spears (RSA/USA) 63 62
Mirza/Niculescu (IND/ROU) d. (5) King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) 63 16 106
(WC) Gullickson/Gullickson (USA/USA) d. Coin/Hradecka (FRA/CZE) 62 46 105

Doubles - First Round
(7) Chan/Zheng (TPE/CHN) d. Kondratieva/Uhlirova (RUS/CZE) 63 62
Azarenka/Kirilenko (BLR/RUS) d. Kops-Jones/Rosolska (USA/POL) 75 61
Shaughnessy/Vesnina (USA/RUS) d. Amanmuradova/Dushevina (UZB/RUS) 46 64 107

Hrmph. Well I'm Not Ok With That.

While the Besties enjoyed their winning day, my sausage stable took a hit in Toronto, as Gilles, Richie, and Feli all got bounced in the first round of a wet Rogers Cup.  Between those three and Rafole losing, clearly God, who is a woman, cried at the lack of hotness. 

Or maybe God's a gay man.  You know what?  Let's go with that.

Singles - First Round
[WC] P Polansky (CAN) d [13] J Melzer (AUT) 76(6) 64
[14] N Almagro (ESP) d [Q] I Marchenko (UKR) 75 57 64
[12] M Youzhny (RUS) d G Simon (FRA) 64 64
[Q] M Russell (USA) vs [16] S Querrey (USA) - postponed to Tuesday
S Stakhovsky (UKR) d R Gasquet (FRA) 75 61
V Hanescu (ROU) d [WC] M Raonic (CAN) 64 64 
T Robredo (ESP) d [Q] J Nieminen (FIN) 61 64 
T de Bakker (NED) d F Lopez (ESP) 76(2) 63
E Gulbis (LAT) d T Bellucci (BRA) 61 64 
J Chela (ARG) d A Falla (COL) 60 63 
J Benneteau (FRA) d [Q] D Istomin (UZB) 64 64
[Q] K Anderson (RSA) d L Mayer (ARG) 76(2) 64
A Dolgopolov (UKR) vs P Petzschner (GER) - postponed to Tuesday

Doubles - First Round
[WC] V Pospisil (CAN) / M Raonic (CAN) d N Djokovic (SRB) / R Nadal (ESP) 57 63 10-8
P Kohlschreiber (GER) / G Monfils (FRA) d R Hutchins (GBR) / A Murray (GBR) 63 62
S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d [WC] F Dancevic (CAN) / A Shamasdin (CAN) 75 76(3)
J Benneteau (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d J Nieminen (FIN) / R Soderling (SWE) 63 75 

As for the ladies, the Bestie success overshadowed some unfortunate results.  Bojangles upset WeatherVane, which theoretically opens up JJ's quarter even more than it already was.  And in not surprising but kinda bummer news, Sabine and Kimiko-Tan are out.

Singles - First Round
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. (9) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 26 76(6) 62
(13) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Olga Govortsova (BLR) 63 41 ret. (heat illness)
(Q) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) d. (14) Aravane Rezai (FRA) 46 63 64
(16) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 64 60
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 64 64
Alona Bondarenko (UKR) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 36 62 63
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) d. (Q) Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 75 64
Dinara Safina (RUS) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 75 64
Sara Errani (ITA) d. (WC) Jamie Hampton (USA) 64 62
(Q) Vera Dushevina (RUS) d. (Q) Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 62 76(7)
(Q) Ayumi Morita (JPN) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 76(7) 62
(Q) Monica Niculescu (ROU) d. Sabine Lisicki (GER) 63 60
(Q) Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) d. (Q) Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) 61 62
(Q) Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) d. (Q) Vania King (USA) 36 63 61

Doubles - First Round
(WC) Gullickson/Gullickson (USA/USA) d. (6) Kleybanova/Makarova (RUS/RUS) 36 61 108
Mirza/Niculescu (IND/ROU) d. (WC) Hampton/Oudin (USA/USA) 64 76(5)
Coin/Hradecka (USA/CZE) d. Craybas/Gallovits (USA/ROU) 64 76(5)

(Pics: Daylife)

Come Out and Play.

The shit gets real this week as the USO Series gets two top level mandatory events for the men and women.  The top ladies, sans Serena (foot), Venus (knee), and Sam (forecep) are in Cincy and my big question is whether Vika and Masha can back up their form and results from Stanford.  They both took last week off. 

As for JJ, THE NUMBER TWO PLAYER IN THE WORLD (it's on her business cards), she'll get a chance to rebound from her loss to Kleybs in the second round of San Diego.  She blamed the loss on her injured ankle, which she said she couldn't practice on at SD, but she's been on the courts in Cincy.  So...I'm assuming it's better?  I guess we'll get the definitive answer if she loses, which she shouldn't, seeing as how she's got two qualifiers in the first two rounds.  Then again, if I'm one of those qualifiers, I'm smelling blood.

Cincy also sees Kim returning to action.  I mean, who knows how that's going to turn out.  And Aga will be playing her third tourney in three weeks.  I get that she's fit now and everything, but she was fiddling with her foot throughout yesterday's final. 

Early round jaw droppers: Sveta vs. Masha, Ana vs. Vika, Flavia vs. Zheng.  Other fun ones: Dani vs. Pavs, Petko vs. Coq au Vin.  If only because I get to keep using that nickname.

Here's a fun game: Who will get dumped out first: Aga or Franny.  Discuss.

Cincy draw and OOP.

Center Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Vania King vs. Nuria Llagostera Vives
2. Dinara Safina vs. Roberta Vinci
3. Marion Bartoli vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues
4. Victoria Azarenka vs. Ana Ivanovic (NB 19.20hrs)
5. Gullickson/Gullickson vs. Kleybanova/Makarova

Grandstand (from 11.00hrs)
1. Monica Niculescu vs. Sabine Lisicki
2. Jamie Hampton vs. Sara Errani
3. Shahar Peer vs. Olga Govortsova
4. Mirza/Niculescu vs. Hampton/Oudin
5. Craybas/Gallovits vs. Coin/Hradecka (NB 19.00hrs)

Court 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Bojana Jovanovski vs. Aravane Rezai
2. Dominika Cibulkova vs. Alona Bondarenko
3. Alisa Kleybanova vs. Alexandra Dulgheru
4. Ayumi Morita vs. Arantxa Parra Santonja

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Kimiko Date Krumm vs. Akgul Amanmuradova
2. Vera Dushevina vs. Anastasia Rodionova
3. Yaroslava Shvedova vs. Alla Kudryavtseva

As for the dudes, we've got a sausage smorgasbord in Toronto, as all the top guys are in action.  So far, the story has been Rafa and Nole playing dubs together, starting tonight, but apart from that piece of marketing genius it feels like a whole lot of "wait and see".  Rafa and Roger are on opposite sides of the draw and can't meet until the finals but each of the top four will have some work to do to get there.  Ok, maybe not Nole.  His draw is pretty cake.  He just has to survive himself.

Rafa's got A-Rod is his quarter (and Sam Q in his 1/8), Moose has Sodz (who, incidentally, could move up to #4 depending on how those two do here), Fed has Big Berd, and Nole has the Broken Playstation.  

Match I want to see: Nalby vs. Sod (R3).  Hell, how about Ernie vs. Sod (R2)?

Match you couldn't pay me to watch: Fabio vs. Radek (R1).  Barf.

Toronto draw and OOP:

Roger That.

Rafa in a hockey sweater.  Of course you would, Canada.

Rogers Cup draw is out.  Enjoy.  As for me, I'm a little too tipsy to analyze it right now.  But I'm definitely not happy to see Sodz in Moose's quarter, though Tomas in Fed's is quite intriguing.

In some notable news, Lleyton and Isner pulled out due to injury.

What the Fuck is Going On In D.C.?

One day after A-Rod fell in two easy sets to Gilles, Nalby continues his crazy form, beating Gilles in three, X-Man takes out Tomas, Baggy dismisses Fer, and Marin actually shows his January form in beating Janko.  Nutty McNutterson.

Oh, and Tomas does not wear the top seed well.  Kid's all pissed and shit that he was scheduled for a night match and then had to turn around to play a day match.  Yeah, talk to Masha.  It's called being the top seed and the tournament wanting to use you to sell tickets.  Does it suck?  Absolutely.  But your'e going to have to get used to it, bucko.

Geez, Nike. Why Didn't You Just Use Penrose Stairs And Be Done With It?

Halpert wore that eyesore of a shirt and gave the fans in Atlanta what they wanted: A go-the-distance three set win over Gilles Muller.

So is Gael going to wear the sleeveless version of that thing?  With all of his deking and jooking I'm going to need to take some Dramamine to get through a set of his matches.

Four Americans won in Atlanta today (Halpert, Mardy, Dent, Ginepri).  God Bless America, and the like.

Journeyman Glory

While the rest of us are taking a much needed break from the intense first half of the season, the journeymen and women of the ATP and WTA keep plugging away with success.  How do you define a journeyman?  To me it's someone who literally plays tennis for a living.  They probably don't have coffers of cash to fall back on from prior Slam/Masters/Premier wins, or an easy payday from sponsors that allow them to play tennis without too much stress over how they're going to afford their apartment at home.  These are the men and women who plug away week in and week out, picking up paychecks wherever they can.  Glory may come every once in a while, but really, they're playing to win matches so that they pay to get to their next tournament.  You have to tip your cap to them.

 

So big ups to Albie, for taking the title in Stuttgart.  Sure, Gael had to retire due to an ankle injury he sustained in the first set.  But Albie plugged away all week, played some quality tennis, and walks away with a pretty swanky Merc.  Maybe it's just the lawyer in me but all I can think whenever I see prizes like that is "Shit, the taxes are gonna suck."

 

And how about the month Kaia's had?  She's someone that has to play with confidence to win and she seems to be putting it together.  People seem to forget that just over a year ago she was ranked #18 in the world and she was a legitimate upset threat at any tournament she entered.  Nice to see her back-up her win over Sam at Wimbly with a solid run in London and now a tournament title in Palermo.

Sorry, Flavs.

 

And Agnes!  You keep giving me false hope that you're on your way back, but I'll take it, even if you insist on wearing the samurai headband.

 

And then there was Nico, who beat Sod in his own backyard in Bastaad.  Sod wasn't all too happy about it.
I get being pissed at the umpire, but come on.  At least congratulate your opponent.

He's Off The Market, Ladies

Steps and Nik finally tied the knot.  And all snarking aside, they look both look lovely.

But maybe don't use frame this one on the mantel.

Pic This: "Make Me Forget My Own Name."

I want it in my pants.

 

See more sponge-worthy pics over at HCFoo's blog.

All Shook Up.

Roger's #3 for the first time since November 2003, and A-Rod drops to #9.  And for all his hard work, Halpert got a 1 spot boost.  This tennis is a harsh-ass sport.

JJ's #2.  That's all you need to know.

Dub Luv.

 

Deutschland, Deutschland, Ja, Ja, Ja!  And Austria.  I guess.

 

Totes adorbz.

Suck it, Huber.

Chase Buchanan: Homophobe

First of all, Chase, you should be so lucky.  Secondly, the fact that you play a sport where there are "legit gays" means you've already sinned and God's not listening.  Thirdly, God help the "legit gay kid" who got stuck rooming with your homophobic ass.

How exactly does one become a "legit" gay?  Do you apply for a "gay visa"?  Do you wear a shiny gold stamp?  Is there a certification procedure?  If so, can I watch?

#82 Is The New #1.

LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Look, Rendy's not a nobody, despite all the "Rendy WHO???" commentary that came with this match.  But oh, Andy.  The bottom line is that he couldn't find his A game on Monday and Rendy played an inspired match.  To beat Andy Roddick on grass, 9-7 in the fifth?  What an effort!

 

A-Rod was understandably gutted after the match.  As the years tick by and Andy is convinced that Wimbledon is his only real shot at another Slam, these losses have to weigh heavily on his psyche.  The window is closing.  Everyone knows it.  And this one's gotta hurt even more knowing what we know now about how the draw worked itself out.

But back to Rendy.  First Asian man into the quarterfinals of a Slam in 15 years.  What an amazing run.  With the focus on the ATP and WTA on the Asian markets and the recent success of the Nails and Jay Z, this bodes well for Asian tennis.  I can't wait for the day, hopefully in my lifetime, to see an Asian man or woman raise a Grand Slam trophy.  Get on it, Asia! 

Also, you might want to start camping out at chicken farms for talent.

 

And we have Tsvetana Pironkova, another non-nobody, who goes into the semifinals without having dropped a set and ousting the Queen of Grass, Venus, in straights.  Let's not forget that she also took out Mono.  Similar to A-Rod, Venus clearly didn't have her A game.  But again, to beat Venus on grass 2 and 3, and hold your nerve to close out the match and not succumb to the "Williams Aura" is a feat in and of itself.  

I saw her do an interview on Wimbledon Tonight and she's an absolute sweetheart.  Good head, good perspective, and she doesn't seem overwhelmed by the moment.  If anything, she looked like a kid who believes. 

Watch out, Bepa.

Pic This: Day 4

Another ridiculous day at Wimbledon.  God bless and help us all.

"I loved you in Teaching Mrs. Tingle!!!"

Andy: "Well I was able to dominate him with my serve.  Didn't think he played particularly well today.  Couldn't hurt me with his serve and his forehand was rubbish."

Jarkko: "Dude.  I'm right. here."

brb.

zomg! r u ok?

"But why is the other one wearing ski boots?"

Souvenir shopping, with Mohamed Lahyani.

 

"Alright, gentlemen.  Whip 'em out.  I brought a tape measure today."

Lovely.

"Psst!  Judy!  You brought the Bacardi, right?"

You confuse me.  So much.

Your loss, Queenie.

 

Ruh roh.  Halpert started a fashion trend.

"The old hag never comes to any of my matches and she shows up to that miserable git's second rounder?  Fuck 'em all."

Air Quotes: :) :( ;)

Q. Your bow had a lot of rhythm to it, tremendous depth. Some critics thought it might be a tad overproduced. Can you analyze it?

SERENA WILLIAMS: My bow didn't go the way I wanted. I didn't get my wrist action that I thought I would have, and then I got nervous. So my knee kind of got tight, and I felt a lot of pain in my left knee, so I couldn't get as low as I wanted to.

Q. So you're blaming your injuries?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I'm going to blame my injury.

...

Q. Yesterday Venus told me your curtsy was unreal. She also said you'd beat her in a curtsy‑off. Do you think there was too much hype for your curtsy?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was definitely too much hype. I feel like I had the number one curtsy and then I just got nervous. Next time I'll have to take more Advil.

I definitely handle pressure way better on the court than off. No comparison.

...

Q. How did you find playing on Court 2?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I have mixed feelings about that. You know, I don't think I should be out there. But in a way, I feel like, you know, with my popularity, it's cool to see ‑‑ when I was leaving, I stayed for a while, and I signed tons of autographs. A lot of these people can't get into the Centre Court and stuff.

Other than that, that definitely made up for it, to see fans I wouldn't normally see.

...

Q. You talked in Paris about the strings you're using, giving you more spin. Do you feel the same kind of effect here on the grass with the ball?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, always the same, no? The string can help you, but you are the person, you are the player, not the string. You play; the string doesn't play. That's my feeling.

Sure, the string can help you for moments, for maybe the string is better than the other one because give me the chance to feel the ball more time inside the racquet. That's give me a little bit more control. But that's my feeling, that you are the person. You lose, you win, not the string. 

...

Q. How did you feel when you woke up this morning physically? What did you do to prepare for this afternoon's match? Did you weigh yourself today and whether you lost any weight?

JOHN ISNER: I actually haven't weighed. I told myself I wanted to do that. When I go back to the locker room, I will.

But I'm one of the heaviest guys actually, I am the heaviest guy on the tour. I have a little bit of excess in the stomach area (smiling). I knew that was going to come in handy one day. It was kind of the reserve tank.

It's not that I eat unhealthy. I work hard. I just can't get rid of it.

Q. Is it still there?

JOHN ISNER: Yeah. It went down a little bit, I think (smiling).

...

Q. After shedding so much weight in the last 24 hours, do you think you would make a good face of Weight Watchers in America?

JOHN ISNER: I guess. It's not like I'm a heifer or anything (laughter). Maybe.

...

I'm Psychic! Or Is It Psycho? I'm Going With Psychic. Which Is What a Psycho Would Say...

So throughout the whole Isnut spectacle one thing has been nagging me:  Court 18.  Something about that court seemed familiar to me.  Tonight it finally clicked.  When I visited Wimbledon in October I took pictures of only two courts:  Center Court and...

Court 18.

I remember being struck by the intimacy of that court so I jumped up on the ledge and snapped a few pictures.  I also really loved the broadcast booths that lined the court.  It just seemed like a court that I would totally camp at if I were to attend.  

 

Take your pick, boys.  It's on me and Donkeygrooming.

Who knew?

Bonus shot: The Royal Box.

Um...Can You Show Up All The Time?

 

Look at that fucking hipster.

The Queen showed up and The Moose put on a show.  He served huge and sliced and diced his way to a solid win backed up, importantly, by a solid performance.  If that didn't impress you, Queen Lady, I don't know what will.  It was really beautiful tennis.

I love, so much, how nervous Muzz seemed to be about the whole ordeal.  Apparently the idea to drop their bags was Jarkko's, as he was worried he might fall down if he had to bow with it on his back.  The hand behind the back?  A classy and adorable move. 

Kim approves!

MoLay Flies Economy. Consider My Mind Blown.

MoLaaaaay, MoLay MoLay MoLaaaay, MoLaaaay, MoLaaaay.

Get the man an ice cream cone!

If Nico and Halpert needed to look anywhere for inspiration for they classy and professional performance over the past three days, they need look no further than Forty Deuce's favorite umpire, The Bladder of Steel.

Bulldog.

Wheeeee!

 

Yes, it's a huge cliche.  But if ever "There are no losers, here" meant something it was here.  Nicola's singles campaign is over after Halpert finally broke him to take the final set, 70-68.  But to his credit, he didn't lose.  He didn't choke.  He didn't shrink in the moment.  John simply won the match.  He hit a tremendous forehand to give himself match point, gamely returned a first serve into the court, and then polished it off with a backhand passer to take the match.  Mahut didn't lose.  John won.

Not that any of that makes Nicola feel any better.  He was absolutely gutted after the match, sobbing into a towel and then struggling to hold himself together during the post-match ceremony.  Don't know what "gutted" means?  Read this.  There it is.

Absolute class from both guys. 

John and Nico's Infinite Playlist

What can be said that hasn't already been said?  On a day that brought American soccer fans the most dramatic and important goal in our young history, tennis gave us an event that transcended the sport itself, instead morphing, with each game and minute that ticked by, a blink-and-you-won't-miss-it-but-you'll-never-see-this-again sporting event that left spectators riveted.

It all started innocuously enough.  Nick and John, second on Court 18, took the court at 3:08pm. They would play one set to decide the match.  It wasn't pretty tennis.  Heck, I'm not entirely convinced it was tennis at all.  There were no rallies and very little shot-making.  But that didn't matter today.  This wasn't about the sport of tennis.  This was about courage, heart, and desire.  Mind over matter.  Bending without breaking.  This was about sport.

The last few weeks have given us multi-millionaires from storied franchises taking center stage to win championships.  We've seen the most famous and richest athletes in the world take center stage in South Africa and, with the world watching, bicker, dive, and fail to put egos aside in pursuit of individual glory.  We saw Tigers and Phils standing within reach of history, only to buckle under the pressure on the coast of California.  

And so, on a tiny court on the hallowed grounds of the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, two men, neither household names, wearing non-descript white uniforms and carrying their equipment on their backs, took the court to finish their first round match at Wimbledon.  The crowd was small at the beginning, but seven hours later the entire world would be watching as these two relatively unknown warriors, playing for nothing other than the right to progress to the second round, would push their minds, bodies, and each other to the brink.

For over seven hours neither man would lose two consecutive games.  They would play 118 games.  That's almost two five-setters (13 games x 5 sets x 2 matches) in one day.  The fifth set alone, which remains uncompleted, was longer than any other full match in the history of tennis.  The prior record?  6 hours and 33 minutes.  There were no breaks of serve in the fifth set (and only 2 for the entire match).  That's 59 straight holds each.  All told, these two broke a slew of records.

And they're not even done.

Who knows what will happen when they take the court again tomorrow.  The match could be over in 10 minutes, it could be over in another 10 hours.  Again, it doesn't matter.  It doesn't matter how tanked these guys will be tomorrow or the rest of the tournament.  What so impressed me today was their ability to reach back and find that big serve, forehand, or volley to get them out of a jam.  

In the last few hours of the set, Halpert looked like he was going to topple over any second.  He tried to conserve his energy a few times by hitting 90 mph serves into the box only to find, not surprisingly, that they weren't effective.  So what did he do?  He lumbered to the line, set his jaw, grimaced, and fired down a 120+ mph ace down the tee.  Knowing that only his best would do, the kid delivered, game after game.

While Isner looked to hold with his serve and forehand, Nico was holding by serving big, dictating points, and getting to the net to finish off points.  I kept waiting for him to lose his concentration or stumble with his footwork to muff some volleys to give John a chance.  I don't remember him missing one.  I don't know Nico's game well-enough to know how comfortable he is at the net.  If he's comfortable up there than all credit to him for willing his legs and arms to get up quickly and finish with precision.  If he's not, then even more credit to him for living on the edge and coming out on top every time.  Either way, that's all desire and courage.

Two weeks ago, Francesca Schiavone showed us all what it looks like when a world-class athlete takes their chance, plays courageously, and refuses to buckle under the pressure.  John and Nico made tennis fans proud today, setting an example for sportsmen everywhere.  We have warriors from #1 to #148 who will battle.

Cheers, boys.  It was fun as hell.

 

Air Quotes: Lucky Idiots, Feelings, and Jamaica.

Q. What were your feelings when the draw came out and it was Federer?

ALEJANDRO FALLA: Well, I knew I'm playing really well at this point of the year. And just sometimes bad luck. Everybody wants to play Federer. But three times in one month is a lot (smiling).

...
Q. Do you think it might have helped you to play him three times in a row?

ROGER FEDERER: It shouldn't have, no, especially after Halle. He should have known that I was going to beat him. But he forgot I beat him (smiling). 

...

Q. We'd all like to see you one day win Wimbledon. It would be brilliant.

LAURA ROBSON: I would, too. I'd like that (smiling).

Q. When do you think? You don't have a crystal ball, but...

LAURA ROBSON: It's hard to say. Ideally I would have liked to have won it this year, but that's obviously not going to happen (smiling).

Why don't you give me a year. Your guess would be just as good as mine.

...

Q. You had to wait over four hours to get on Court 1 today. What did you do in that time?

ANDY RODDICK: Play some Monopoly. Dominated some Scrabble. I watched some tennis. Watched some football. That was pretty much it.

Q. Which tennis match were you watching?

ANDY RODDICK: Challenger that was going on, a future back home in the States.

Q. You were watching Roger's match?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I think everyone was watching that one.

...

Drama Kings.

Usually it's the Ladies who provide all the crazy drama in the early rounds.  But the ATP did their best WTA impression today, taking, nay, demanding center stage and, in Nole's case, the spotlight.

Kolya had to go 9-7 in the fifth to finally dispatch the big serving Kevin Anderson in a match that lasted over four hours.  Uh...that can't be good for his hopefully no longer broken wrist. But it sure was nice to see Kolya back.  You'd think the media would be excited too, seeing as how he charmed the pants off everyone in Melbourne.  You'd be wrong.

JJ was depressingly drama-free today so Nole decided he'd pick up the slack, needing five sets, a roof closure, and lots of falling down to survive the ever so pesky Little Roch.  And thanks to Nole we learned a new piece of trivia: Wimbledon has an 11pm curfew.  I don't know about you but I'm relieved.  Without a curfew you know Wimbledon would be out and about getting knocked up.  Don't let her prim and proper nature foll you.  She a ho.  Fo sho.

Inspired stuff from little Ollie though.  Gutsy hitting for four sets and two games before Nole reeled off the next six games to finish the match at 10:58pm.  He's a procrastinator, that one.  But big ups to Ollie.  I dedicate this gem, which I caught myself singing throughout the match, to the Wee Little Belgian That Could But Didn't:

Fed Won. I'm Not Gonna Pun About It.

Don't worry, guys.  Your brackets are safe.  Resume your steady breathing.

 

I honestly don't know what annoyed me more.  Waking up hungover only to see Fed down two sets to love and knowing that there was no way Falla was going to close this out, seeing Falla go down 0-40 while serving for the match, enduring all the horrible puns on Falla, falling, and fire being bandied about by commentators and journos, or seeing this:

Nevermind.  I know the answer.

Fed dodged a bullet and he knows it.  His post-match comments were complimentary of Falla and acknowledged that he should have lost this match but I was struck by his body language during his BBC interview immediately following the match.  He didn't seem relieved to me.  He looked concerned.  Sure, Falla played the match of his life but Fed totally let him.  And it's not like Fed raised his level for those last three sets.  Falla choked on the moment and gave it away.  Fed was tactically unsure of himself and his groundies were really rusty.

Who knows.  In two weeks we may completely forget this match ever occurred.  Or we'll be thanking Alejandro Falla for giving the locker room the confidence to know that yes, even the Great One, on his home turf, can fall down.

All I know is, after today's performance, I wouldn't bet against the field.

Congrats. Whatever.

Justine came back from a set and 3-0 down in the third set to win in s'Hertogenbosch.  Nice comeback, but her penchant for digging herself into third set holes is disconcerting if you're a Justine fan.  Which, I presume no one who reads this blog is so I'm moving on.

Oh, PetKo.  So close!  Your love of third set drama is commendable but the drama only works if you win.  It's like in Alias.  Sydney's idiocy as a spy that requires her to be rescued week by week is only forgiveable if she actually gets rescued.  I mean, if she really were to die, that's no fun, right?  Take heed, PetKo.  All that unsolicited constructive criticism aside, well done this week!

 

Speaking of well done, how about a standing ovation for Ekaterina Makarova?  She went through Eastbourne qualies, then beat Flavs, Nads, Sveta, Sam, and Vika for her first WTA title.  And here's the kicker: She didn't drop a set.  Yes, Vika practically had to be hauled off in an ambulance in the final (looks like a right leg injury), but credit to Maks for not freezing in any of these matches and keeping her nerve.  She could have easily headcased it once Vika started being all drama and shit.  A much deserved ovation, kiddo.  She could meet Venus in the second round of Wimby.

 

Much love to Team MomoLlodes!  Mikey came through in the final to capture his first singles title of the year.

Fear the Scrunchie.  FEAR IT.

And Sergiy Staks demolished a deranged homeless man in the Bosch final, 63 60.

Breaking Down My Broken Spirit

My German boys get hosed by the refs.  My US boys get hosed by the refs.  My English boys decide to hose themselves.  Then I sit down with the Wimby draws to cap off my day and, well, let's just say that I'm three deep into my sixer of Pacifico.

By now I assume that you've seen the draw, read what other more educated and insightful people have said about the draw, and are simply tuning in here to see me embarrass myself.  Allow me to oblige:

Ladies:

There are a lot of interesting first round matches that could jumble the early rounds.  But I think Serena/Masha in the fourth round is a pretty sure bet.  Maria had a great run to the finals in Birmingham but it's really hard to pick her over Serena here.  It's a damn shame.  Maria is one who could have benefited from a good draw to get her into the semis.  Not going to happen here.

Pretty lax draw for Sammy the Invisible Corgi.  Then again, she lost this morning in the Eastbourne semis to Makarova, giving up dominant leads along the way.  Sam's camp has been pretty public about her modest ambition here.  She just wants to make the fourth round, which I can't see not happening.  I have her slotted to play Aravane in the fourth round, a winnable match for her, but I have questions regarding her mental fitness for this tournament.  All that said, based on my fandom, I have her slotted into the semis, beating Vika along the way.

Which brings me to the Belgian quarter, with Kim, Justine, Wicky, and Flips.  JJ is in the bottom half of that quarter and she's got an easy walk to the quarters.  I'm super bummed L-Rob got drawn against her in the first round, but so it goes. 

Kim and Justine are slated to meet in the fourth round, but I'm not so sure. If Nads is healthy (which is a question mark) I can see her taking out Justine in the third round.  Justine's chances will live and die with her serve.  If she's left defending her serve game after game she's hosed.  No matter what Carlos says, Wimbledon is the reason Justine came back.  Full stop.  She's not playing for the love of the game or the competition.  She's playing to win this tournament.  I still haven't been able to figure out Justine's psyche on this point, whether that pressure will lead to that extra level of competitive fire or a complete competitive freeze.  I would argue that she totally choked against Sam in Paris and a lot of that has to do with the fact that she isn't 100% convinced in her game these days.  All the tinkering has left her with some doubt and that doubt might be enough for Kim, JJ, or Venus to come out on top.

As for Venus, write her into the semis.  Mono's having a good grass leadup and she's always a looker on grass (uh...not like that), but it's Venus at Wimbledon and this year she should be even more confident given her play over the last 6 months.  And for the record, Ana will go down to Peer in the first round.  I've already accepted this as fact.  You should too.

My quarterfinalist picks: Serena, Aga (heh), Vika, Sam, Kim, JJ, Mono, Venus.
Winner: Venus

First Rounders To Watch (some on mute): Serena/Burrito, Chak/PetKo, Domi/Lucie, Masha/KBond, Sveta/Agkul, Kvitova/Sorana, Sam/Kaia, Justine/Sevastova, Wicky/Riske, Oudin/Flips, Robbie/JJ, Peer/Ana.

Da Boys:

No doubt that of the top two seeds, Rafa's got the "Quarter of Death".  There's no easing into this tournament.  He's going to have to hit the ground running, probably playing big server/hitter after big server/hitter just to get to the semis.  Here's who I have him playing after the first round: Blah --> Ernie --> Isner --> Sod.  I honestly don't see him getting through all that and then beating Muzz.  But I'm hoping he proves me wrong and at least gets to the semis, where I have him beating the Scottish Moose.  But my heart will be rooting for Andy, even if it's not clear he'll make it to the semis either.  Let's face it, it's hard to count on the guy for anything these days so I'll be holding my breath.  He'll probably have Sam the Tank in the fourth round, an easily losable match, and then Fer or Jo in the quarters.  C'mon, Tim!

As for Fed, write him into the semis unless you really think Feli or Berd is going to take him out.  Yeah, that's what I thought. 

Sentimental favorite A-Rod has a tough road through his half given his lack of match play leading up to the tournament.  He's got Ramjet the Rookie, who likes the grass, in the first round, a Momo'd Llodra in the second, the always dogged PEHK in the third, and possibly Marin the fourth, only to have to go up against Nole/Lleyton in the quarters.  Oh yeah, and then there's Fed looming in the semis.  I don't think this is the year, Andy.

My quarterfinalist picks: Fed, Berd, Lleyton, A-Rod, Jo (I'm assuming he's fit, if not, Fer), Moose, Sod, Rafa.
Winner: Fed

First Rounders To Watch: Brown/Melzer, Dima/Schuettler, Kolya/Anderson, Nole/Rochus, Fish/ATomic, A-Rod/Ram, Fer/Fognini, Nico/Seppi, Chiuds/Dolgopolov, Tsonga/Kendrick, Sod/Ginepri.

Churnin' Butter

Oh I've missed you and your legendary Ho!Yay!

I'm a bit busy with some personal stuff this week (don't worry, it's nothing serious or anything) so I apologize for falling behind on the blogging.  To be honest, I normally don't feel bad about it (because I'm a dick) but seeing as how Wimbledon starts in less than a week, I feel particularly derelict in my responsibilities to you, the sometimes-loyal-but-would-totally-stab-me-in-the-back reader.

Thankfully there are other great tennis bloggers who aren't ignoring the tennis.  I don't really like churning links, but again, it's the week before Wimbledon and I feel like if I don't set the table for all the jokes I plan to drop in the next couple of weeks, well, the jokes will fail.  And nothing pisses me off more than someone making unfunny jokes especially when that someone is me.

So here's my churnalistic attempt to get you caught up with the goings on in Yellow Ball Land.  And by "Yellow Ball Land" I mean tennis, not Asian porn.  Get your head out of the gutter and into the game, pervies.

• Uncle Jamie throws his Wimbly thoughts out into the information superhighway.  You should read it because I always agree with him.  Except for the times when I don't.
• Stephanie Myles, thankfully, breaks down how the Wimbledon seeds are calculated for the ATP side.  Why did she feel compelled to Mathnet?  Because Fed has been seeded #1 and the Twitterverse had a cow.  And by Twitterverse I mean me because I was apparently the only one in the world who didn't know that the formula only applies to the ATP, not the WTA.  My thoughts in a nutshell: I don't really care that Fed's #1.  It had no effect on the draw.  It's more symbolic than anything else, you know, like THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND.  But what does annoy me is that this formula isn't used for the ladies.  Think about it and you will come to the same conclusion that I did: Wimbledon hates Venus.
• C Note read at Down The Line that Franny is referring to herself in the third-person.  C Note thinks it's just...weird. 
• GoToTennis sat on a conference call with Brad and Mary and didn't bother asking whether there would be a "Big Babe Tennis 2: Electric Buggaloo" installment this year.  Also they both pick Rafa to win.  Where was Aunty Pimmy?!?
• I love Andy Murray.  Just thought I'd mention it.
• Vika and Sveta won back to back matches.  That seems like news.
• You don't want to know how this makes me feel, Roger.
• Best. Coach. EVAH.
• Sam just wants to make the fourth round at Wimbledon.  Now if people could please stop paying attention to her, I'd appreciate it.  Thanks.  Meanwhile, she's doing ok on grass so far, making the quarters of Eastbourne against Elena Baltacha.
• Boom Boom Sabine is out of Wimbledon.
• Great piece on Shazza in The Guardian.
• JJ's boxing.  If JJ doesn't like fistpumps in her face, I can't think she's a fan of fists in her face.  Also, "WATCH THE NOSE!"
• Welcome back, Kimmy.  I see you've left your mercy in Belgium.
• Thanks to Jane Peng for getting Boyfriend to link to my Rafa piece.  That's how the Kong rolls.
• WTA Boo Boo Boo Watch: MaKiri retired with an ab injury; Aravane retired with a right wrist injury; Nails also retired.
• ATP Boo Boo Boo Watch: Nico retired with a right hip injury; Feli retired two points from losing with some sort of injury, I'm thinking it was either a brain injury or World Cup fever; Special Kei also retired.
• Via Twitter, Nalby announced he's not playing Wimbledon.  So enjoy your crumpets as per yoosh.
• I would like to be introduced to these "people" who thought it was the coolest thing they'd ever seen.  Seriously, Serena.  I want a list.  Tweet it.  
• Oh, and Rafa's in Mallorca hanging with Xisca.  And probably crying.  A lot.

And that's the news I care about.  Oh, Ana lost to PetKo.  Shit happens.  Moving on.

Tuesday OOPs

Kim makes her return against Wicky and Caro plays Aravane, which seems like it could easily be a final of any other tournament.  Also, thank God the early rounds of Unicef are being streamed.  I guess I can finally see Janko once this year.  Here's hoping he doesn't look like an old man this time.

Eastbourne:

Centre Court (from 11.30hrs)
1. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Aravane Rezai
2. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Kim Clijsters
3. ATP: Ward vs. López (NB 14.00hrs)
4. ATP: Almagro vs. Kubot
5. Li Na vs. Elena Baltacha

Court 1 (from 11.30hrs)
1. ATP: Lu vs. Beck
2. ATP: Schuettler vs. Golubev (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Sorana Cirstea vs. Francesca Schiavone
4. Alisa Kleybanova vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova
5. ATP: Hutchins/Kerr vs. Aspelin/Hanley

Court 2 (from 11.30hrs)
1. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Victoria Azarenka
2. Flavia Pennetta vs. Ekaterina Makarova (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Aleksandra Wozniak vs. Heather Watson
4. ATP: Fognini vs. García-López
5. ATP: Friedl/Vemic vs. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski

Court 3 (from 11.30hrs)
1. Karolina Sprem vs. Nadia Petrova
2. ATP: Marchenko vs. Zeballos
3. Shahar Peer vs. Zheng Jie
4. Huber/Martínez Sánchez vs. Gallovits/Petrova
5. Dushevina/Makarova vs. Chan/Zheng

Court 4 (from 11.30hrs)
1. Keothavong/South vs. Ruano Pascual/Shaughnessy
2. Chuang/Govortsova vs. Grandin/Spears
3. ATP: Delgado/Inglot vs. Benneteau/Llodra
4. Amanmuradova/Voracova vs. Black/Hantuchova
5. ATP: Emmrich/Siljestrom vs. Mayer/Zeballos

Den Bosche

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Becker vs. Nieminen
2. Andrea Petkovic vs. Ana Ivanovic (NB 12.30hrs)
3. Arantxa Rus vs. Dominika Cibulkova
4. ATP: Ljubicic vs. Falla (NB 16.30hrs)

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Tipsarevic vs. Chardy
2. Kirsten Flipkens vs. Maria Kirilenko
3. ATP: Brands vs. Malisse
4. ATP: Marx/Zelenay vs. Sijsling/Wassen

Court 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Vliegen vs. Stakhovsky
2. Yaroslava Shvedova vs. Arantxa Parra Santonja
3. ATP: Chardy/Stakhovsky vs. Lindstedt/Tecau
4. Dekmeijere/Zalameda vs. King/Shvedova (NB 14.30hrs; after suitable rest)

Court 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Sandra Zahlavova vs. Magdalena Rybarikova
2. ATP: Brunstrom/Rojer vs. Moodie/Norman
3. Hsieh/Medina Garrigues vs. Barrois/Zahlavova Strycova
4. Malek/Petkovic vs. Errani/Vinci (NB 14.30hrs; after suitable rest)

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Butorac/Ram vs. Bopanna/Qureshi
2. ATP: Damm/Polasek vs. Chiudinelli/Clément
3. Kudryavtseva/Rodionova vs. Borwell/Kops-Jones

But...It's *Her* Tournament!

The biggest upset of the day?  Touchdown Tammy goes out in the first round of the Tammy Annual.  WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD???

In happy news, Gilles starts his comeback with a tricky win over Evgeny, Apricot saved us from the XXL idiocy of Blah, and Ana somehow threw down a stick and a bagel. 

Eastbourne:

Men's Singles - First Round
[3] [WC] G Simon (FRA) d E Korolev (KAZ) 63 67(6) 64
[4] J Benneteau (FRA) d J Blake (USA) 76(3) 75
[6] H Zeballos (ARG) d L Lacko (SVK) 64 46 75
[8] M Llodra (FRA) d [Q] M Emmrich (GER) 60 63 
D Sela (ISR) d K Anderson (RSA) 57 63 ret. (left shoulder)
S Robert (FRA) d L Mayer (ARG) 76(4) 64
D Istomin (UZB) d E Schwank (ARG) 60 63
F Fognini (ITA) d [Q] G Lapentti (ECU) 76(11) 67(3) 63
[Q] A Kuznetsov (RUS) d [Q] K Nishikori (JPN) 64 31 ret. (hip) 

Men's Doubles - First Round
M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) d [1] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) 61 63
A Golubev (KAZ) / A Seppi (ITA) d J Marray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR) 64 57 10-2
[WC] J Baker (GBR) / J Ward (GBR) d N Almagro (ESP) / E Schwank (ARG) 62 76(4)

Women's Singles - First Round
(3) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Melanie Oudin (USA) 64 64
(8) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. Vera Dushevina (RUS) 64 75
María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 63 36 75
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (WC) Anne Keothavong (GBR) 64 62
Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 64 36 64
Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Olga Govortsova (BLR) 36 62 76(2)

Women's Doubles - First Round
(2) Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) d. Peer/Pennetta (ISR/ITA) 61 75
Rosolska/Yan (POL/CHN) d. (3) Kleybanova/Schiavone (RUS/ITA) 63 76(9)

Den Bosch:

Men's Singles - First Round
X Malisse (BEL) d *[LL] R Ram (USA) 63 62
[WC] I Sijsling (NED) d [6] T de Bakker (NED) 46 62 76(4) 
A Clement (FRA) d [Q] S Stadler (GER) 61 36 61
D Brands (GER) d [Q] R Junaid (AUS) 61 63
[WC] H Kontinen (FIN) d [Q] D Brown (JAM) 75 26 76(5)

*[LL] R Ram (USA) replaced [5] P Petzschner (GER) - (left hip)

Men's Doubles - First Round
[1] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) d F Serra (FRA) / K Vliegen (BEL) 61 67(5) 10-6
B Becker (GER) / S Lipsky (USA) d [3] C Kas (GER) / M Kohlmann (GER) 76(3) 46 10-7

Women's Singles - First Round
(1/WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. Angelique Kerber (GER) 64 62
(3) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) 64 61
(5) Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) d. (Q) Julie Coin (FRA) 46 76(4) 76(4)
Sybille Bammer (AUT) d. (6) Sara Errani (ITA) 61 63
(WC) Arantxa Rus (NED) d. (8) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 46 62 63
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 46 60 61
Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 64 76(5)
Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) d. Vania King (USA) 61 62
Kristina Barrois (GER) d. Melinda Czink (HUN) 75 62
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) d. Alberta Brianti (ITA) 36 64 64
(Q) Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) d. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 16 76(5) 63
(Q) Sandra Zahlavova (CZE) d. Elena Vesnina (RUS) 75 62

Women's Doubles - First Round
Poutchek/Senoglu (BLR/TUR) d. Kondratieva/Uhlirova (RUS/CZE) 75 67(1) 107
Jans/Olaru (POL/ROU) d. Peers/Robson (AUS/GBR) 75 16 106
Czink/Parra Santonja (HUN/ESP) d. Lefèvre/Pelletier (FRA/CAN) 62 63

Serbia Wins! And Loses. But Wins!

Never leave the tour, Novak. 

The ATP needs your contagious brand of disarming charm.

Your football team could probably use some of that, too, actually.

Sunday OOPs

Play starts in the Charity Open tomorrow.  Sleep in and you could miss Dinara.  And Petkorazzi.  And Robbie, for that matter.  Boo.

Queens:

Centre Court (from 14:30hrs)
1. Singles Final: Sam Querrey vs. Mardy Fish
2. Doubles Final: Beck/Skoch vs. Djokovic/Ehrlich

Birmingham:

Centre Court (from 13.00hrs)
1. Singles Final: Li Na vs. Maria Sharapova
2. Doubles Final: Huber/Mattek-Sands vs. Black/Raymond

Halle:

Center Court (from 13:00hrs)
1. Singles Final: Roger Federer vs. Lleyton Hewitt
2. Doubles Final: Stakhovsky/Youzhny vs. Damm/Polasek

s'Hertogenbosch:

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Laura Robson vs. Dominika Cibulkova
2. ATP: Greul vs. Haase (NB 12.30hrs)
3. Magdalena Rybarikova vs. Dinara Safina (NB 14.30hrs)
4. ATP: Giraldo vs. Chiudinelli (NB 16.30hrs)

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Arantxa Parra Santonja vs. Anastasia Pivovarova (Singles Q Final)
2. Andrea Petkovic vs. Petra Kvitova
3. ATP: Falla vs. Serra
4. ATP: Russell vs. Luczak

Court 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Tatjana Malek vs. Julie Coin (Singles Q Final)
2. Arvidsson/Rus vs. Kirilenko/Vesnina

Court 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Sandra Zahlavova vs. Anne Kremer (Singles Q Final)
2. Anastasia Rodionova vs. Greta Arn (Singles Q Final)

Court 5 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Brown vs. Sadecky
2. ATP: Vliegen vs. Desein

Court 6 (from 11.00hrs)
1. ATP: Kindlmann vs. Stadler
2. ATP: Ram vs. Junaid

Turn Up, Tune Up.

Eastbourne Draws: Men.  Women.

The top ladies will be in Eastbourne in a field led by Caro, Fran, Sam, and A-Rad.  Seriously, how is A-Rad still ranked so high?  My intellectual grasp of her ranking is like her grasp of the nuances of sports marketing.  Kim also makes her return at Eastbourne.  The men's field is topped by Nico and Feli and we'll see the return of Gilles, who was granted a wildcard.  And to the extent anyone still thinks this is relevant information, James Blake also returns.

Shitgenhogenbosch Draws: Men. Women.

Over at the "Wait, Is This For Charity?" tournament, Justine and Dinara "lead" a field that, while maybe not populated with highly ranked players, contains many C Note faves: Baby E, Baby Baby E, MaKiri, and Petkorazzi.  And Dominika Cibulkova.

JUST KIDDING!  I mean, she's in the field.  I was just kidding about liking her.  Because I don't.  I DON'T.

As for the guys, well, Lubey is the top seed.  So you do the math. 

The way the draws worked out there are going to be some great matchups in each of these tourneys starting immediately.  Robbie/Domi, Ana/Sofia, Apricot/Blah, Gilles/Evgeny, Janko/Jeremy.  Ok, I was kidding about that last one.  That match is going to be horrible on everything but the eyes.

Oh, You're Still Here?

 

Huh.  Nole's still in Queens.  He and Jonathan Ehrlich are into the dubs finals to face Beck and Skoch, who upset Daniel and Zimo today.  Bummer.  Could have been a Serbtastic final.

That Was Some Seedy Shit.

Kim was not happy with today's events.  Not happy at all.

Queens:

Singles - Third Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d [16] D Istomin (UZB) 76(4) 46 64 
X Malisse (BEL) d [2] N Djokovic (SRB) 63 46 62 
[3] A Murray (GBR) vs M Fish (USA) 46 61 3-3 - suspended due to darkness 
[14] D Sela (ISR) d [4] A Roddick (USA) 64 76(8)
R Schuettler (GER) d [11] R Gasquet (FRA) W/O (back)
[12] M Llodra (FRA) d [5] M Cilic (CRO) 76(2) 62  
[7] S Querrey (USA) d M Granollers (ESP) 64 76(5)
[8] F Lopez (ESP) d [9] J Benneteau (FRA) 62 64

Doubles - Second Round
[2] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) d A Clement (FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) 75 76(3)
M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) vs [6] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) - postponed until Friday
[8] J Benneteau (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d M Cilic (CRO) / A Sa (BRA) 61 64

Doubles - First Round
A Clement (FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) d M Granollers (ESP) / F Lopez (ESP) 63 64

Sania was back.  And then she wasn't.

Birmingham:

Suspended due to darkness
(1) Li Na (CHN) vs. (13) Angelique Kerber (GER) 46 63
(5) Sara Errani (ITA) vs. Marina Erakovic (NZL) 76(5)
(Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) vs. Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) 42

Singles - Third Round
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 63 61
(3) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. (14) Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 64 64
(4) Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. (Q) Mirjana Lucic (CRO) 75 63
(Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) d. (10) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 62 67(3) 62
(Q) Alison Riske (USA) d. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 46 75 61

Singles - Second Round
(1) Li Na (CHN) d. Anne Keothavong (GBR) 62 64
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 60 63
(3) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. (Q) Laura Robson (GBR) 75 64
(4) Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 63 64
Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) d. (7) Olga Govortsova (BLR) 61 46 75
(Q) Alison Riske (USA) d. (9) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 62 64
(14) Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) d. Sania Mirza (IND) 46 75 61
Marina Erakovic (NZL) d. Jill Craybas (USA) 36 64 64
(Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Jarmila Groth (AUS) 76(5) 75
(Q) Mirjana Lucic (CRO) d. Karolina Sprem (CRO) 63 57 76(3)

Doubles - First Round
Grandin/Spears (RSA/USA) d. Kondratieva/Uhlirova (RUS/CZE) 61 62

Thursday OOPs

Given the rain delays throughout the week, basically, if you're still alive in any of these three tournaments, you're playing tomorrow.  In some cases, twice.  Hell, in Birmingham, maybe three times.

Queens:

Birmingham:

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Li Na vs. Anne Keothavong
2. Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. Maria Sharapova (to finish)
3. [Li Na or Anne Keothavong] vs. Angelique Kerber
4. Alla Kudryavtseva vs. [Bethanie Mattek-Sands or Maria Sharapova]

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Laura Robson vs. Yanina Wickmayer
2. Alison Riske vs. Aleksandra Wozniak (to finish)
3. Grandin/Spears vs. Kondratieva/Uhlirova
4. Anna Chakvetadze vs. Alison Riske or Aleksandra Wozniak

Court 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Kaia Kanepi vs. Jarmila Groth
2. Tamarine Tanasugarn vs. Sania Mirza (to finish)
3. Sesil Karatantcheva vs. Magdalena Rybarikova
4. [Tamarine Tanasugarn or Sania Mirza] vs. [Laura Robson or Yanina Wickmayer]

Court 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Marina Erakovic vs. Jill Craybas
2. Aravane Rezai vs. Anastasia Rodionova (to finish)
3. [Marina Erakovic or Jill Craybas] vs. Sara Errani

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Mirjana Lucic vs. Karolina Sprem
2. Michelle Larcher de Brito vs. Olga Govortsova (to finish)
3. [Kaia Kanepi or Jarmila Groth] vs. [Michelle Larcher de Brito or Olga Govortsova] (after suitable rest)

Court/Time TBA (NB 14.00hrs)
1. Huber/Mattek-Sands vs. Robson/Watson
2. Czink/Errani vs. King/Shvedova
3. Keothavong/South vs. Pelletier/Senoglu
4. Ditty/Savchuk vs. Chuang/Govortsova
5. Hsieh/Kudryavtseva vs. Dzehalevich/Poutchek
6. Borwell/Kops-Jones vs.Rodionova/Rodionova
7. Erakovic/Tanasugarn vs. Black/Raymond

Wet 'n Not-So-Wild

Queens:

The boys cruised (yes, in Marin's case I'm using "cruised" loosely) through the day.  Thankfully ATomic lost.  So that's not gonna be a thing.

Singles - Second Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d M Daniel (BRA) 62 62
[2] N Djokovic (SRB) d P Lorenzi (ITA) 63 63
[5] M Cilic (CRO) d [Q] N Mahut (FRA) 67(5) 63 62
[7] S Querrey (USA) d R Ginepri (USA) 76(4) 62
[8] F Lopez (ESP) d [WC] G Dimitrov (BUL) 62 64 
[9] J Benneteau (FRA) d K Anderson (RSA) 75 63
[12] M Llodra (FRA) d J Levine (USA) 64 62
M Fish (USA) d [13] S Giraldo (COL) 76(5) 62
[14] D Sela (ISR) d G Muller (LUX) 75 62
[16] D Istomin (UZB) d D Brown (JAM) 76(7) 64
M Granollers (ESP) d M Gicquel (FRA) 61 64
X Malisse (BEL) d [WC] B Tomic (AUS) 62 36 62

Doubles - Second Round
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d C Fleming (GBR) / K Skupski (GBR) 64 36 10-5
A Golubev (KAZ) / D Istomin (UZB) d [3] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) 76(4) 61 
K Beck (SVK) / D Skoch (CZE) d [4] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 64 36 10-5
[5] M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) d A Murray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR) 63 63
N Djokovic (SRB) / J Erlich (ISR) d [7] M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) 76(3) 46 10-3

Doubles - First Round
M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) d R Schuettler (GER) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) 64 63
A Clement (FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) vs M Granollers (ESP) / F Lopez (ESP) 52 - To Finish Thursday

Birmingham:

Blame the rain all you want, Birmingham, but the real reason for the 5+ hour rain delay?  Their court covers were too small so despite the fact that the rain stopped, the courts were too wet to play.  Idiots.

Needless to say, Robbie's singles and doubles matches were pushed.

Suspended due to rain
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 40
(4) Aravane Rezai (FRA) vs. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 20
Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) vs. (7) Olga Govortsova (BLR) 61 13
(Q) Alison Riske (USA) vs. (9) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 42
Sania Mirza (IND) vs. (14) Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 64

Singles - Second Round
(5) Sara Errani (ITA) d. Shenay Perry (USA) 62 46 61
(Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) d. (6) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 64 64
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) d. (8) Andrea Petkovic (GER) 64 64
(10) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) d. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 75 46 76(5)
(13) Angelique Kerber (GER) d. Ayumi Morita (JPN) 61 76(7)
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) d. (16) Vania King (USA) 61 62

Singles - First Round
(Q) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. (12) Elena Baltacha (GBR) 61 ret. (GI illness)
Karolina Sprem (CRO) d. (15) Kristina Barrois (GER) 57 76(5) 76(4)
Jill Craybas (USA) d. (LL) Sophie Ferguson (AUS) 75 46 76(3)
Anne Keothavong (GBR) d. Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 46 75 75

And over in Schlafburg, Germany...

Wednesday OOPs

Queens:

Rafa and Nole finally take the court after what is trule an "Amuse Bouche" of a first match on Court 1.

Oh, and try not to tank this one, Sam.

Birmingham:

Let's try this again...

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Aravane Rezai vs. Anastasia Rodionova
2. Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. Maria Sharapova
3. Laura Robson vs. Yanina Wickmayer
4. Li Na vs. [Pauline Parmentier or Anne Keothavong]
5. Huber/Mattek-Sands vs. Robson/Watson

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Vania King vs. Alla Kudryavtseva
2. Pauline Parmentier vs. Anne Keothavong (NB 12.00hrs)
3. Alison Riske vs. Aleksandra Wozniak
4. [Elena Baltacha or Kaia Kanepi] vs. Jarmila Groth
5. Borwell/Kops-Jones vs. Rodionova/Rodionova
6. Keothavong/South vs. Pelletier/Senoglu

Court 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Ekaterina Makarova vs. Magdalena Rybarikova
2. Sophie Ferguson vs. Jill Craybas (NB 12.00hrs)
3. Tamarine Tanasugarn vs. Sania Mirza
4. Marina Erakovic vs. [Sophie Ferguson or Jill Craybas]
5. Hsieh/Kudryavtseva vs. Dzehalevich/Poutchek
6. Erakovic/Tanasugarn vs. Black/Raymond

Court 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Yaroslava Shvedova vs. Sesil Karatantcheva
2. Elena Baltacha vs. Kaia Kanepi (NB 12.00hrs)
3. Andrea Petkovic vs. Anna Chakvetadze
4. Ayumi Morita vs. Angelique Kerber
5. Czink/Errani vs. King/Shvedova
6. Grandin/Spears vs. Kondratieva/Uhlirova

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Shenay Perry vs. Sara Errani
2. Karolina Sprem vs. Kristina Barrois (NB 12.00hrs)
3. Michelle Larcher de Brito vs. Olga Govortsova
4. Mirjana Lucic vs. [Karolina Sprem or Kristina Barrois]
5. Ditty/Savchuk vs. Chuang/Govortsova

What Can You Do? Grass Needs Water.

So far the weather has not been cooperating in Jolly Ol' England.  But at least the big boys got to see the court in Queens.

Queens:

The Andys return triumphant, Gael is...Gael, Reeshie keeps winning, Janko keeps losing, and G-Spot and Dima scored some wins.  Oh, and ATomic bounced Seppi.  Don't let that get to his head.  No really.  Don't.

Singles - Second Round
[3] A Murray (GBR) d I Navarro (ESP) 76(8) 63
[4] A Roddick (USA) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) 62 61
R Schuettler (GER) d [6] G Monfils (FRA) 63 67(4) 62
[14] D Sela (ISR) vs G Muller (LUX) - to finish Wednesday 75
R Gasquet (FRA) d R Ram (USA) 63 75

Singles - First Round
M Granollers (ESP) d [10] J Tipsarevic (SRB) 64 36 63
[13] S Giraldo (COL) d E Korolev (KAZ) 76(8) 46 63
[WC] B Tomic (AUS) d [15] A Seppi (ITA) 63 57 63
M Fish (USA) d S Devvarman (IND) 61 64
M Gicquel (FRA) d M Russell (USA) 76(6) 63
N Mahut (FRA) d Y Lu (TPE) 76(2) 64
[WC] G Dimitrov (BUL) d A Bogdanovic 46 63 64
[Q] D Tursunov (RUS) d X Malisse (BEL) 62 76(3) 
D Brown (JAM) d [Q] F Dancevic (CAN) 75 67(4) 64

Doubles - First Round
R Schuettler (GER) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) vs M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) - postponed to Wednesday
A Murray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR) d S Lipsky (USA) / S Querrey (USA) 62 64
C Fleming (GBR) / K Skupski (GBR) d S Huss (AUS) / G Monfils (FRA) 64 64
A Clement (FRA) / N Mahut (FRA) vs M Granollers (ESP) / F Lopez (ESP) - to finish Wednesday 52
N Djokovic (SRB) / J Erlich (ISR) d [WC] J Delgado (GBR) / J Marray (GBR) 75 63
A Golubev (KAZ) / D Istomin (UZB) d E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) 64 67(5) 10-7
K Beck (SVK) / D Skoch (CZE) d R Hutchins (GBR) / J Kerr (AUS) 63 64
M Cilic (CRO) / A Sa (BRA) d [WC] C Eaton (GBR) / D Inglot (GBR) 62 60

A shitload of rain pushed off all the fun matches at Edgbaston.  Nice win for Vania, though.

Birmingham:

Singles - First Round
(9) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) d. Alicia Molik (AUS) 75 61
(16) Vania King (USA) d. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 64 60
Ayumi Morita (JPN) d. Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) 62 36 62

Suspended due to rain
(15) Kristina Barrois (GER) vs. Karolina Sprem (CRO) 21
Jill Craybas (USA) vs. (LL) Sophie Ferguson (AUS) 75 34

Pic This: Judy Must Have Had 2-for-1 Coupon.

The MurBros also won their doubles match over Sam Querrey and someone not named John Isner.

Well, that was definitely one way to go, Jamie.

Tuesday OOPs

Busy day in Queens as rain suspended play on the late matches on Monday.

Queens: Moose, A-Rod, Gael, Janko, Reeshie, Evgeny, Grigor, and Nole, Rafa, Feli, Marin, are up in doubles.

Birmingham:

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Pauline Parmentier vs. Anne Keothavong
2. Laura Robson vs. Yanina Wickmayer
3. Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. Maria Sharapova
4. Aravane Rezai vs. Anastasia Rodionova
5. Erakovic/Tanasugarn vs. Black/Raymond

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Alicia Molik vs. Aleksandra Wozniak
2. Karolina Sprem vs. Kristina Barrois
3. Elena Baltacha vs. Kaia Kanepi
4. Ditty/Savchuk vs. Chuang/Govortsova

Court 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Sophie Ferguson vs. Jill Craybas
2. Michelle Larcher de Brito vs. Olga Govortsova
3. Andrea Petkovic vs. Anna Chakvetadze
4. Czink/Errani vs. King/Shvedova

Court 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Vania King vs. Kirsten Flipkens
2. Ayumi Morita vs. Maria Elena Camerin
3. Hsieh/Kudryavtseva vs. Dzehalevich/Poutchek (NB 13.00hrs)

Squats and Back Extensions, People.

Gotta love the early grass tournaments, as all the veterans have to struggle to get their grass legs under them after months of clay court tournaments.  I'm going to assume that's the explanation for JCF and Marcos going out in the first round of Halle.  It also explains the relative success of the qualifiers in Birmingham, who've already had a few grass matches under the belts.  

Robbie made it through after Voegele retired, after losing the first set, due to a low back injury (a common ailment on grass).

Other notable winners: Apricot, Reeshie, Viktor, Lleyton, Sania, Bethanie, A-Chak, Burrito.

At Least It's Soft.

It's a shame that I don't like grass court tennis.  I love the look of the grass and I love Wimbledon.  I kind of think Pete Sampras ruined it for me.  Watching that hairy dude serve and volley his way to title after title drove me away from tennis.  

But I still love the look of it.  Especially when people are falling down!

Come On, C Note. Get Your Fucking Head In The Game.

I was hoping to take a breather this week.  But then I looked at the draws for Queens, Birmingham, and Halle and I got sucked back in.  I mean, I can't take a week off when Rafa, Muzz, Robbie, and Masha are playing.  Like, I physically can't. 

Queens: Monday OOP

Birmingham:

Centre Court (from 11.00hrs)
1. Regina Kulikova vs. Magdalena Rybarikova
2. Laura Robson vs. Stefanie Voegele
3. Alla Kudryavtseva vs. Heather Watson
4. Shenay Perry vs. Naomi Broady

Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Anna Chakvetadze vs. Melanie South
2. Chan Yung-Jan vs. Sania Mirza
3. Tamarine Tanasugarn vs. Lilia Osterloh
4. Sesil Karatantcheva vs. Katie O'Brien

Court 2 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Melinda Czink vs. Marina Erakovic
2. Michaella Krajicek vs. Anastasia Rodionova
3. Julie Coin vs. Jarmila Groth

Court 3 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Chang Kai-Chen vs. Ekaterina Makarova
2. Ekaterina Dzehalevich vs. Michelle Larcher de Brito
3. Misaki Doi vs. Angelique Kerber

Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Alberta Brianti vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands
2. Mariana Duque Marino vs. Mirjana Lucic
3. Alison Riske vs. Sandra Zahlavova

Pic This: Au Revoir.

 

And so another RG comes to a close.  All in all, it was an odd tournament that had some unexpected twists and turns that ended in two memorable feel good moments that made you happy and proud to be a tennis fan.  You can't ask for more than that.

 

Autograph request fail.  Or win.  I'm actually not sure.

 

Come to Mama.  I'll make it all better.

 

Hey, does anyone have 3-Across?

It's all fun and games until Rafa doesn't show up.

 

I'm happy to see you too, Andy.  At ease.

All Is Love.

Congrats to Nenad and Buscemi, 2010 Roland Garros Men's Doubles Champs.  Nice tournament for Nenad, who picked up the trophy in mixed, too.

But thanks to this picture, we're all winners.  SQUEEEEEEE!

Aw, Stefan. Your Attempt At Violence Is Adorable.

The only thing this video really confirms is this: Stefan Koubek is the opposite of intimidating. He would have been better off trying the Vader Death Pinch.  Oh, and Koellerer is a douche.  He has to be if he incited a hobbit to violence.

Sister, Sister Slam

I don't think Serena's loving her trophy.

Venus and Serena finally got that elusive French Open doubles title, thus giving them not only the career Slam, but also the "Venus and Serena Slam".  They currently hold all four Slam titles.

Which means they were in a good mood in the presser:

Q. And also, how old were you when you played your first doubles match together?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Super young. (Laughing.)
VENUS WILLIAMS: Extremely young. That's what we were saying the other day. We're the longest standing doubles team. We've been playing since the '80s together. We've got quite a record.
It's been we don't even remember the first time. It's been forever.

Q. Do you remember anything about that? What you wore? What happened on the court?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I remember a couple things. I remember sorry. (Laughing.)
VENUS WILLIAMS: Oh, no.

Q. Oh, yes.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I remember my dad told Venus you remember this? (Laughing.) He told Venus to cross you remember now?
VENUS WILLIAMS: No. I can't.
SERENA WILLIAMS: (Laughing.) He told Venus to that she had to cross more, and so I think she got upset and she crossed when the person was serving. (Laughter.)
She ended up volleying the serve. Oh, it was so funny.
I remember my dad, he's so positive. He's like, Oh, no, no, Venus, not that. Just wait until after the serve.
I promise you every tournament I think about that when we're in doubles. I'm thinking, Okay, I got to get aggressive. I just always think about that.
VENUS WILLIAMS: I remember that.
SERENA WILLIAMS: You remember?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Isha was serving. Our older sister was serving.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, my gosh. That was so funny.
VENUS WILLIAMS: Wow.
SERENA WILLIAMS: And I also remember my dad told me I had to play the forehand because I was young and I was smaller, and then he put Venus on the backhand. It's been like that ever since. That was 20 years ago?
VENUS WILLIAMS: At least.
SERENA WILLIAMS: At least.
VENUS WILLIAMS: More than 20.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah.

Cute.  Still bummed they didn't whack a ball at Liezel in the semis though.

If you've grown up with a little sister, this is *totally* what happens. 

EVERY. FUCKING. TIME.

In in mixed doubles news, Kata and Nenad! 

I mean, any team involving Kata and Nenad pretty much rules at anything.  But it's nice that they got a trophy to reward their general awesomeness.  Plus it's an excuse for pictures of Nenad.  So a round of win for everyone.