Forty Deuce

Pic This: No Thank You.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! 

PUT THE SUNGLASSES BACK ON, YOU ALIEN!

Oh put a ill-fitting extra-large sock in it, James.

Stop taking fashion advice from Rausa, Christy.

J-Blocked.

One thing you notice here in New Haven is how big a deal James Blake is to the tournament.  They've banked themselves on him in years past but now that he's sliding out of relevancy it can't be a coincidence that the tournament may not exist next year (Pilot Pen is withdrawing its sponsorship after this year).  After cruising to a 35 minute win two days ago, he went out in just over an hour to Dolgo this afternoon.  They have a designated J-Block section at the top of the stadium with a "J-Block" banner.  They took the banner down by the time the night session started.

I'm not sure Blah knows what he wants to do after all this.  Last week he said he would take a break after the US Open to think about things.  Today he said he hasn't ruled out playing Challengers to get his ranking up.  So who knows.

But I suppose the corollary to that question, rather cruelly, is "Who cares?"

In other dude news, Marcos came back from a set down to beat Chela, Evgeny won, Lucky Loser Steps scored a tough three set win over Hanescu, and Viktor scored a nice win over Dolgo, who had to play his second match of the day.  I'm interested to see where Dolgo falls in the USO draw tomorrow.  I think he could play the role of a spoiler.  The dude's got game and is riding a confidence wave right now.

Blah Keeps Blahing, And Other Things I Have No Interest In.

The James Blake Pre-Retirement tour continues.  Lost to Dent in three.

And Andy and Sunburst beat Tey-Tey and friends. 

Movingrightalong.

Can I Get A P-Block Shirt?

Todd Spiker over at WTA Backspin sums up my thoughts on the Blah vs. Aunt Pimmy verbal smackdown.  In case you missed it, you can see it here.

Was Pammy being rude?  Probably.  She could have apologized and kept her voice down.  Did James have any right to complain?  Absolutely not.  To quote Mr. Spiker:

For my part, I say Shriver should have talked louder, and maybe thrown in how she's a Hall of Famer while Blake is the most underachieving American tennis talent of the past twenty years. A choke artist par excellance (a couple of comeback wins last year don't erase that fact), Blake somehow doesn't find a problem with his J-Block group of supporting being rowdy and creating a ruckus at the U.S. Open (you know, doing everything they can to distract whoever Blake's opponent happens to be that day), but found it all right to jump on a single voice of someone doing their job from the perch provided to them by the All-England Club from which to comment on the match below.

Co-sign.  

I am so tempted to attend the US Open just so I can walk around with a bottle of Pimms, wear a pink "P-Block" shirt, and sit courtside at his matches with a microphone to commentate really loudly about all the ways he's fucking up the match and his career. 

Pic This: Photobomb!

(thanks to @ishneak for tweeting)

Ball Breaker

Yes, honey.  Your balls are big.  Proven.

Elfie had to gut out a five set 10-8 in the fifth win over an inspired James (64 67(3) 57 63 108).  Both players were hobbling by the end of it, with James suffering from a knee tweak early in the match and then an arm/shoulder injury towards the end.  As for Elf, he suffered a rib/back tweak towards the end and he looked completely exhausted.  Or maybe that's just how his face looks all the time.  Probably that.

But in the end it was his superior (and obscene) shot-making and, get this, *defense*, that won this match.  Elf looked like Nole out there at times, running down everything and desperately getting balls back until he finally got something he could hit.  It was impressive.

Confession: I actually feel bad for James.  I really do.  See?  I didn't even use his nickname.  Because at least for this post he deserves better than that.  He played as well as I've seen him play in years.  His forehand was off the chain.  James didn't give this match away.  DelPo won it. 

Which I suppose makes it worse for James.  For all the questions about his career he actually brought his A game and played the best he possibly could.  He pushed the world #4 and reigning USO champion to five full sets.  And he lost.  Maybe that's the reality check he needs.

This is a match worth watching.  So if you Tivo'd it, at least watch the last set.  Some remarkable stuff from both players.

Pic This: Shiny, Happy People

Emphasis on "shiny".  Jesus, Australia looks hot.

 

I can't decide if I hope that's Irina's bag or not.

Just a couple of d-bags, chillin'.

Happy and shiny.  Love the shorts.

That seems like it might be a bad idea.

Few people do pure joy like Sabine.  I saw this picture and forgot that she lost that match.

To quote the lady herself, "hahahaha."

So much awesome that you should probably avoid looking directly at it.

And, finally, some more belated C Note birthday presents.

 

Fed Cup Fever: It's Catching! (UPDATE)

Nice timing, guys.

Taking a page out of the Williams's book, Andy Roddick and James Blake have bowed out of next year's Davis Cup play.  Not only will it mark the first time in 10 years that neither of them have been on the squad, but that first round tie against Serbia is a tough one to leave to the B-team.

Okay, it's not quite the B-team; the Bryans are presumably still playing, and since Sammy Q and John Isner are both higher ranked than Blah now, really the US is only losing Andy.  And, of course, in an away tie on clay... well, it's probably not that important.  Hope Sammy Q and John Boy have an awesome time in Belgrade.

(And hey, any time I don't have to watch James Blake is a good time for me.  Have a nice weekend off, boys!)

 

UPDATE: A-Rod says he's not playing the first round in order to minimize the damage to his knee that comes with switching surfaces all the time, and since he can't commit to the first round, he's not playing the whole year.

 

          "'I'm not going to be one of the guys who plays when it's convenient, 
           when it's close to home and when it's good for him health-wise,' he said. 
           'My view has always been you decide at the beginning of the year if you're 
           going to go through everything or not.'"

 

I agree with him about not playing just when it's convenient for you, but this thing where if you're injured for one tie, you shouldn't play the whole year is... uh, okay.  Anyway, that's A-Rod's reasoning.  No word on why Blah decided to remove himself from the squad.  I'm going with general lameness.

Pic This: Brisbane Roundup

(When C Note was leaving for vaca, she asked me, "Are you sure you want to do all that by yourself?  The Aussie swing is a lot of work."  And I said, "Of course!  It'll be fine!  And if I get busy, I can ask for some help."

 Yeah.  I lasted 3 days.  An awful lot of today's content is coming to you courtesy of some other well-known Forty Deucers, who will be properly credited at the bottom of their posts.  Thanks, guys.)
 

 Breaking! WTA player of Polish descent gets clothing contract!  Not so fast, Aga.
 

Hey, remember when she was Australia's Next Big Thing?  Yeah, me either.
 

HALT.  Hammerzeit.
 

Wait, since when is Pavs not in Adidas?   Still cute, even if she's wearing a colour my Dad always described as "hippopotamus shit green".  (Serious question: When do those braces come off?)
 

Get your sexy on.  Go a-head be gone with it. 
 
 
Andy seems to be assuming Lacoste has a very generous return policy.  Try to rinse it out first, Andy.
 

 
 Drink!
 

No Andy, your Davis Cup team doesn't need an extra doubles player.  Nice try, though.

(pictures and some captions via sodapop)

Men at Work

Somehow I always forget Brisbane is a combined tournament.  So I was pretty surprised to wake up this morning and see that the men's draw was out.  Obviously this "new season" thing is going to require a couple days' adjustment.

Good to see Andy got some clothes that fit.  Well.  "Fit".

Draw

Top Seeds: A-Rod, Steps, Gael, Tomas

Potential Quarterfinals: A-Rod/Melzer, Tomas/Bellucci, Gael/Sammy Q, Steps/Chardy

Potentially Interesting First Round Matches: Mardy/Marcos, Gasquet/Nieminen, Sammy Q/Blah, Dent/Monfils

Interesting Questions: How's A-Rod's knee?  How's Sammy Q's arm?  What kind of shape are Gasquet and Baghdatis in?  Can any match involving James Blake actually be interesting?

Air Quotes: Like Father, Like Son

“In the confines of our home, he’d joke that he was a fashion guy,” Blake recalls of his father. “When he got dressed up for work, he’d look stylish. But when he went out to the golf course, he looked ridiculous. I think he did that more so we’d make fun of him and have a good time.”

(Source)

Anyone For Tennis?

Cuz clearly the pros are vacation in NYC. 

A-Rod's off doing some cross training at Yankee stadium.

Venus is busy stimulating the economy...

...and going on cruises.

Masha's off celebrating the other Serena's 22nd birthday...

...and 's dorking it up while schilling her wares. 

(The jury's out on the "comfortability" of the Cole Haan gear.)

Serena's going all retro and getting oiled up...wait a sec...

Well, of course.  I mean, duh.

And then everyone and their mother showed up to the BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis event as if it were a free buffet.  Even the Daveed's sensitive soul couldnt say no to that.  But trust me, he was way emo about it.  Well, or whatever the Spanish equivalent to emo is.

Thankfully Marin actually did show up and dear God I hope he did treat it like a buffet.

Andy broke out his evening hat and manned the bar.  You know, like a good Austin boy would.

Shit, even Bepa showed up.  BEPA!!!  That's how crazy this is!  And dudes!  She even went to the K Swiss event!  Dammit, now I want to just do Patron shots with her.  And that's saying something.  Because I feel about Patron the way Bepa feels about her racquets.

Does *anyone* want to play tennis? 

Let's face it, when Bepa is the only Russian at your cocktail party, something's gone horribly awry.  Unless it's like...a U.N. peacekeeping envoy cocktail party, in which case, you better get ready for a shot of peace with a harmony chaser.

But seriously, where are the Serbs in all this?  You're telling me a party was thrown and Ana wasn't the guest of honor, Nole wasn't invited, and JJ didn't crash it?  What is this world?  And where the fuck are Marat and Dina?  My head hurts.

Please, Clarissa.  Explain it all.

Oh, and Blah put on a suit and signed some books somewhere.

Party In The USA

Well look at that.  Tennis being played right in front of my firm's NYC office.  How nice.

 

Lots of folks were on hand for the DirectTV ESPN promotional event, which saw a bunch of players showing off their USO kits.  Basically its a whole lotta color.  And James Blake.  Ironically.

Oh, old people.  You're adorable.

"I'm out of Wrists Assists!"

What, no pink socks to finish off the racquet/kit coordinating ensemble? 

YOU'RE HORRIBLE.

Class.

zzzzzzzz....

Air Quotes: "Also, I didn't sleep well. And I nicked my forehead shaving. And they only had plain bagels. And..."

Missed this the first time around, but Blah after his loss to Consumption:

Q. How did you feel out there physically?

JAMES BLAKE: Not my best. A little bit of an upset stomach. I don't know if that's from the heat or nerves. I don't know what it's from, but had an upset stomach and didn't feel great. Actually got a lot better in the third set. Maybe because it cooled off, I don't know. But I was feeling okay after that.

My toe was reacting pretty well. That hopefully is not gonna be a concern at all at the Open. That's a positive to take from it.

Please Revoke His Passport

Nice DC write up by Cronin, with some interesting stats about Andy and Blah:

On the other hand, Blake has scored just one live win on clay, over Austria's Stefan Koubek, and only one other singles win away from home in the past eight years. While he's had some spectacular moments playing at home, including during the United States' 2007 title run, Blake has been less than dependable away from the comforts of red, white and blue arenas.

"I think it's a great opportunity for James to slide into the No. 1 singles role," McEnroe said before the tie began. "He's always been the No. 2 guy on this team, with Andy playing the role of No. 1 quite well. But James has a lot of experience, and I think it's a nice change for him to be put in that position."

While that might have been the case at home, Blake did not embrace the change abroad.

...

Perhaps next year, if McEnroe is forced to select a team to play away on clay, he'll try his luck again with Querrey, or young lefthander Wayne Odesnik, who professes a love of dirt and has had some decent results on the surface. Whatever the case, without Roddick in the fold for every tough away tie, the U.S. is going to be a serious underdog.

After the match, Blake admitted that there was a comfort level in playing No. 2 behind Roddick, the de facto team leader with a Davis Cup singles record of 31-11.

"I got a ton of respect for Andy. I really can't see myself having any more respect for him than today," said Blake. "Being in the No. 1 spot, it shows me how hard his job has been for this many years and how outstanding he's really been as a teammate and a leader of this team because he's counted on as the No. 1 to put up two points, and he does it time after time. Davis Cup is always pressure-packed, but being in the No. 2 spot is less pressure-packed than being in that one spot."

So is it fair to assume that there will a bunch of articles written about James calling him out for his pathetic inability to handle pressure situations and perform on big stages?

Nah.  Probably not.

Air Quotes: STFU, James.

“To boo our fans is something I find unacceptable. . . To clap when I miss a first serve and things like that on a pretty consistent basis seems pretty hostile to me.”

-- Blah Blah Cry Baby, on the hostile Davis Cup atmosphere in Croatia.

Two words for you, asshole:

Tall vs. Douche: Which Do You Choose?

It's just not the same without Mario.  Not the same at all.

Ivo and Blah will kick things off tomorrow.  If you want to see a lot of rallies and baseline intelligence, tune into this one, folks.

Then Sockless and Marin will go at it in the second rubber.  At least this one could be mildly interesting.

Monday's Scores

Remember these?  Yes, I know they still sell them but I'm sitting here wondering why the hell I haven't had one in years.  They're fantastic.

Not a great day for the warm-up tourney breakouts.  S'hitogenbosch winner Tammy went out to a qualifier, Birmingham winner Rybarikova goes out in straights, and Eastbourne semifinalist CanWoz goes out in three, though to be fair to her she had a tough first round draw against Tranny.

Ladies Singles - First Round
(2) Serena Williams (USA) d. (Q) Neuza Silva (POR) 61 75
(4) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 64 61
(8) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Severine Brémond Beltrame (FRA) 62 ret. (left knee injury)
(10) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Anastasiya Yakimova (BLR) 61 61
(12) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) 60 60
(14) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Julie Coin (FRA) 64 36 63
(16) Zheng Jie (CHN) d. Kristina Barrois (GER) 76(2) 76(4)
Ai Sugiyama (JPN) d. (21) Patty Schnyder (SUI) 64 64
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (23) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 46 64 64
(24) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (Q) Viktoriya Kutuzova (UKR) 75 64
(26) Virginie Razzano (FRA) d Tamira Paszek (AUT) 60 31 ret. (low back injury)
(27) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. (Q) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) 62 75
(28) Sorana Cirstea (ROU) d. Edina Gallovits (ROU) 75 61
(31) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Petra Cetkovska (CZE) 62 62
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (WC) Laura Robson (GBR) 36 64 62
Elena Vesnina (RUS) d. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 61 61
Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. Stéphanie Foretz (FRA) 63 75
Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. Ayumi Morita (JPN) 62 62
Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 63 62
Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) 62 76(3)
Jarmila Groth (AUS) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 63 36 63
Urszula Radwanska (POL) d. Masa Zec Peskiric (SLO) 63 63
Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) d. Nathalie Dechy (FRA) 16 76(0) 62
Sania Mirza (IND) d. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) 62 26 62
Mathilde Johansson (FRA) d (WC) Melanie South (GBR) 75 76(5)
Jill Craybas (USA) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 64 75
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) d. (Q) Vesna Manasieva (RUS) 61 46 86
(Q) Regina Kulikova (RUS) d. Karolina Sprem (CRO) 46 75 63
(Q) Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) d. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 64 64
(WC) Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) d. (Q) Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 62 75

Suspended due to darkness
(7) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) is tied with (WC) Georgie Stoop (GBR) 76(0) 46
Vera Dushevina (RUS) leads (22) Alizé Cornet (FRA) 36 60 42

Doubles - First Round
Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) d. (Q) Fedak/Jugic-Salkic (UKR/BIH) 64 63
Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) d. Bammer/Glatch (AUT/USA)
62 26 75

 
As for the boys we have two relatively significant upsets as Blah and FeLo go out. 

Sad.  FeLo looks great in his Joma kit.

Gentlemen's Singles - First Round

[2] R Federer (SUI) d Lu, Yen-Hsun (TPE) 75 63 62
[4] N Djokovic (SRB) d J Benneteau (FRA) 67(8) 76(1) 62 64
[7] F Verdasco (ESP) d [WC] J Ward (GBR) 61 63 64
[9] J Tsonga (FRA) d A Golubev (KAZ) 63 57 76(4) 76(5)
[11] M Cilic (CRO) d A Martin (ESP) 63 64 64
[13] R Soderling (SWE) d G Muller (LUX) 67(4) 75 61 62
[15] T Robredo (ESP) d [Q] L Gregorc (SLO) 76(4) 64 57 76(3)
A Seppi (ITA) d [17] J Blake (USA) 75 64 76(5)
[18] R Schuettler (GER) d [Q] X Malisse (BEL) 67(9) 64 76(3) 61
[LL] K Beck (SVK) d [21] F Lopez (ESP) 16 75 63 46 10-8
[22] I Karlovic (CRO) d [Q] L Lacko (SVK) 63 76(4) 63
[27] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d F Serra (FRA) 76(3) 61 64
[28] M Fish (USA) d S Roitman (ARG) 63 62 41 ret.
[29] I Andreev (RUS) d E Korolev (RUS) 46 76(2) 64 76(4)
[32] A Montanes (ESP) d [Q] G Zemlja (SLO) 64 64 64
G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d A Calleri (ARG) 62 63 62
I Minar (CZE) d M Gonzalez (ARG) 64 36 75 60
M Gicquel (FRA) d [Q] A Mannarino (FRA) 62 62 64
N Almagro (ESP) d J Monaco (ARG) 67(3) 67(7) 76(5) 64 86
D Sela (ISR) d [Q] S Gonzalez (MEX) 64 46 76(2) 63
V Spadea (USA) d P Capdeville (CHI) 60 64 75
J Tipsarevic (SRB) d J Hernych (CZE) 64 64 76(4)
M Granollers (ESP) d A Beck (GER) 62 64 67(4) 62
S Bolelli (ITA) d D Koellerer (AUT) 67(3) 26 75 64 64
G Canas (ARG) d D Junqueira (ARG) 61 62 62
S Koubek (AUT) d [Q] E Roger-Vasselin 75 63 46 36 63
K Vliegen (BEL) d [WC] N Mahut (FRA) 63 76(6) 57 57 64
S Darcis (BEL) d F Dancevic (CAN) 64 76(4) 63
S Querrey (USA) d *[LL] D Udomchoke (THA) 63 64 64
[24] T Haas (GER) vs [Q] A Peya (AUT) 67(5) 76 (0) 63 44 - to resume Tuesday
M Llodra (FRA) vs [WC] J Goodall (GBR) 46 76(5) - to resume Tuesday

*[LL] D Udomchoke (THA) replaced I Ljubicic (CRO) - ankle

Doubles - First Round

S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d F Fognini (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) 61 64 57 64
[12] J Coetzee (RSA) / J Kerr (AUS) d D Ferrer (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) 61 62 75

Pic This: "Who The Hottest In The World Right Now, Just Touched Down In London Town."

Hmmm...ya think Blah's happy to get off clay?

God, the shirt.  THE SHIRT.

A-Rod's ready to rock and roll, too.  Incidentally, I never really notice now much weight Andy's lost until I see pics.  Dude is mildly manorexic.

Why DVRs Were Invented

So I can go back and enjoy things like this, see?

Looks like it's time for these two to settle down with a steaming plate of Rice-a-Roni and a copy of Breaking Back. As a fellow ESPN commentator said to PMac, "It's a good thing this isn't Davis Cup, right?" Both defeated at the hands of Argentinians, the Sockless Wonder went out in 4 sets to Maximo Gonzalez, who is at least ranked in the top 100. But Blah... Blah went out in straights to a qualifier (God bless Leonardo Mayer)! Who was playing his second major, ever! So, uh, good work there, Blah. Since I possess an almost complete inability to watch American players on American TV (so sycophantic!) I didn't see much of either match, but I saw more of Blah's and he was his usual Blah self-- waddling around the court, looking petulant, pouting to himself about when he could finally get back on a hard court and play some real tennis... As soon as possible, looks like. 

The upsides (well, the upsides besides two of my least favourite people in tennis losing on the same day): 

• Two fewer Americans to show, so now when there are actual interesting matches going on, ESPN will be less tempted to kick me to some outside court where some jackass is looking completely uninterested in what's going on around him. Although, they'll probably just show me more Williams sisters matches. Okay, so maybe never mind on that one. 
• No more ridiculous posturing about Blah's chances at RG, due to his "great clay season" coming in. Zilch. His chances are nonexistent, y'all. 
• Drastically increases Sammy Q's chances of making the Davis Cup team for Croatia! (Hey, at least he lost to Ernie.) 

One last note...

Pretty sure that only works for Safins, Mardy. Nice try though.

1-1

That's Serena's new record against Klara Zakopalova for the '09 clay court season.  So... there's that.  I can't really say anything about anyone's level of play since I didn't watch very much of it, but I can say that Serena's knee wrap looked oddly high tech.  Although I could be making that up in my head.

I don't think she's even wearing jewelry from her own line. What kind of marketing strategy is that, Serena?  

There were other matches this morning, of course, mostly wrapped around a two hour rain delay...

Jelena's new not-entirely-horrible, but not-entirely-awesome Anta dress made its debut today. That's also a pretty good summary of how she played against Petra Cetkovska-- it's kind of like her game is currently on a factory reset: the big problem is gone, but none of the old programming has been reinstalled yet. Competent, and certainly enough to get her through the first two or three rounds, but not entirely solid yet. Meanwhile, look who's wearing pink!

Man. If, in some alternate universe, it ended up being a Dinara/Sveta final, Sveta would immediately have the upper hand because Dinara would be so. Jealous. Sveta played a really solid match against Claire Feuerstein, a French journeywoman who turned out to be much better than anyone thought she'd be-- possibly including Feuerstein herself.

'Round the ATP side, Nicolas Lapentti did his part to get Philippe Chartrier back on schedule by retiring down 4-6, 1-3 to Nole.  

  

Lapentti rolled his ankle-- which was already heavily taped-- towards the end of the first set, and obviously never got comfortable again. Nole looked calm and collected, had some silly misses, but mostly looked in perfectly good shape for the beginning of the tournament. 

Other results thus far: Monfils, Kohlscreiber, JMDP, Gicquel, Seppi and Disco Tommy all through easily in straight sets. Juan Monaco just knocked out Marcos-- Marcos, we hardly knew ye.  Caro, unsurprisingly, took the third set against Vera D fairly easily (6-1). The Gypsy prolonged Dani's misery by beating her in straight sets, Ruano Pascal did the same to Nikki V. Aleks Wozniak went through in 3, U-Rad went out in 3. Lena D through in straights, but went down a couple of breaks in the first. Sania's out and Dokic is through (only her second win since the AO?!). Quality guy Ivan Ljubicic is in a deciding set with Ferrero and Jo Willy and Apricot Bars are locked down in battle on Chartrier, but ESPN2 has decided I'd rather watch Blah. They are incorrect. Thank god for livestreaming. One note: conditions today have been terrible-- hours of rain delays this morning, terrible wind ever since. It looks like hell out there.

The ATP: Death & Taxes

Of course, the headline would make sense if Gilles had rounded off the top 8 making the quarters, but given his form lately, unfortunately I can't say I'm surprised.  Has Lubey been tested for doping?  That's the only explanation for his recent form.  That or he read a good book or something.

 

Rafa and A-Rod benefitted from walkovers, with PEHK and Kolya withdrawing with left leg injuries.  Fed proved that no matter what, he still pwns Blah, Muzz and Fer had quality wins over solid dirtballers (something tells me Pico's going to be RG spoiler), and Elf had to mount a strong comeback to overcome Stanley the Manley.

Oh, and the Falcon just keeps on flying, y'all.

Singles - Third Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d P Kohlschreiber (GER) W/O (left leg)
[2] R Federer (SUI) d [14] J Blake (USA) 62 64
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) d A Seppi (ITA) 64 64
[4] A Murray (GBR) d [16] T Robredo (ESP) 75 61
[5] J Del Potro (ARG) d [11] S Wawrinka (SUI) 46 64 64
[6] A Roddick (USA) d [10] N Davydenko (RUS) W/O (left leg)
[WC] I Ljubicic (CRO) d [8] G Simon (FRA) 36 64 63
[7] F Verdasco [ESP] d [WC] J Monaco (ARG) 75 62

Doubles - Quarter-finals
J Del Potro (ARG) / M Fish (USA) d S Huss (AUS) / R Hutchins (GBR) 67(9) 62 10-4

Doubles - Second Round
[2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [WC] M Lopez (ESP) / R Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 63 67(7) 10-6
N Djokovic (SRB) / D Vemic (SRB) d [8] M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 62 76(9)

Pic This: It's A Shame The BryBros Were Stuck In MC

This pic could have been way more awesome.  Or is it "awesomer"?

Sigh....Wasted Chance To Stinkeye Blah

Is stinkeye a verb? Whatevs. We totally wanted to go and just ask for Anna's autograph. Bepa also had an autograph session. Too bad neither of us had a copy of Kofi Annan's biography for her to sign.

Air Quotes: Yeah, You're Not Over It.

"What happened in China is out of my mind. I haven't lost any sleep about it since then. Once I get off the tennis court, I don't think about it as much."

-- James Blake, on Racquetgate

Stanley The Manley

Hee.  Hee.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Take that all you haters who thought the Stripes would cruise through this tie to a 5-0 win.  Stan beat Blah 36 64 63 76(3).  A-Rod took his match over Chiudinelli in easy straight sets so it's 1-1 going into tomorrow's doubles tie.

Can Stan summon some Swiss Doubles Magic to beat the BryBros?  Here's hop!ing.

AO: Day 2 Nightcap

Rafa showed no mercy against wee Rochus, winning 0, 2, and 2.  Love the new Nike kit though:

The cut is obviously more consdervative but the colors keep it young and fun.  Yup, Nike will be selling a lot of these.

In the other night matches, stupid Blah just gets blaher in his powder blue Fila gear.  Doesn't it look like Fila gave him the most generic Fila gear possible?  And four sizes too big to boot. 

Anyway, he won, as did Flava Flav, Julie !@#$ing Coin, and Sam Stosur.

Melbourne Park Gets Testosteronetastic

The boys fine tuning on the practice courts.


I haven't given A-Rod much love in these practice pics.  So here we go.





MAnady and RAndy chatting it up.


Mmm...that might be the perfect balance between clean Gilly and scruffy Gilly.


I"m a little concerned about the tape job on Muzz's knee.  That said, cute that it matches his shoes!


Call animal control, cuz there're some pythons on the loose!


I don't know how Blah's going to deal with the new Fila gear.  He's swimming in it.


For the Haas fans.  I still don't get it.

Just Can't Do It.

In my sleepless daze the other day I didn't even catch that Blah was wearing Fila instead of Nike.  Apparently he's switched.  Nice signing for Fila I guess, though does this mean we'll be seeing Blah in sleeves?  Or is that the "Blake inspired line".  I would assume that line will be nicely tailored, look good, perfectly functional, and totally blah.

WILL ANYONE BE SLEEVELESS ANYMORE?!?!?!?

More Boys On The Practice Courts

Yeah, add it all up, and it's still not Marat.

Blah Won A Match! Not That It Mattered.

The US is out of the running for the Hopman Cup after they lost to Germany 2-1.  Sabine Lisicki beat Meghan Shaughnessy in three and then Blah beat Colin Farrell Kiefer in three tough sets, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, which meant that it would come down to the mixed doubles.  And of course America lost, 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.

And what is up with Team Germany?  Get a room.

Tennis Is Back, Y'all. And So Are Rafa's Press Conferences.

The top ballers are in Abu Dhabi for the Capitala World Tennis Championship exo.  For whatever reason, Blah was invited to come along too. 

Blah will be leaving Abu Dhabi with a nice chunk of change and an ass whoopin', courtesy of The Muzz, who beat him soundly 62 62.

In the other match of the day, Kolya The Invisible picked up where he left off in Shanghai, beating A-Rod, 64 64.

Muzz will face Fed and Kolya draws Rafa.  Both matches will be played tomorrow with Muzz/Fed kicking off at 3pm local time (3am PST).

Speaking of Rafa, he's back to his usual presser antics, which means a load of hilarious pictures:

 
He knows that's not a trophy, right?

"Maybe the fourth bottle of Veuve was a bad idea."

 
"This humidity is really fucking with my hair."

"I did Not.  Have.  Sexual.  Relations.  With That Woman."

Paris Update: Down Goes Nole

Well there's a break in the action over in Paris, so here's your quick roundup of this morning's action.

Jo Willy pulled off the non-shocking upset of the day, taking out Nole in three sets, 64 16 63.  A nice win for Jo, as he stays in the running for one of the final two spots in Shanghai. 

I always love the sportsmanship from these two. 

As for Nole, I'm not all surprised.  The kid just doesn't have the fitness to get through a full ATP season AND added pressure.  I hope he has a good showing in Shanghai and at least makes the semis.  But I'm not holding my breath.  I get the sense that he just wants this season to be done with, for people to start being so negative about him, and get a clean slate in January.

As for our good friend Commodus, it's now a waiting game to see if his season is over, as A-Rod took him out, 63 75.  A very nice win for Andy, who now clinches the #6 spot to Shanghai.  Gilly is going to have to sit and wait to see what Jo and Blah to here in the tournament.

Speaking of Blah, he won over our Techno Queen (PEHK), 64 64.  So his hopes for Shanghai are still alive.  Nalby DEE-STROYED the Crazy Train (64 60), who will also have to sit in the green room with Gilly and wait out his Shanghai fate.

And in boring news, Fed and Muzzah won.

Still on tap for the evening, Rafa/La Monf and Kolya/Big Berd.

Still Alive For Shanghai

Blah and Jo had to fight for it and Gilly got a lot of help today from new BFF PEHK.  The result?  All three are still in the running for those final two spots to Shanghai.  Blah and Jo had rough three setters but came through, while Gilly won his in straight sets over Andreev and also benefitted from PEHK's "upset" of Daveed (really?  3 and 2?) and Big Berd's win over Stan (3 and 5).  Both Stan and Daveed are now out of the running for Shanghai and since Daveed was the one chomping at Gilly's heels, he's sure looking good to secure that last spot.  But a huge result by Blah or Jo could derail him.

As for the big boys, everyone's a winner!  Rafa destroyed Serra, 2 and 4, and Murray sent Querrey California packing, 2 and 4.  And Roger?  He was tested but in the end he outlasted this fucker:

Other results:
[6] N Davydenko (RUS) d [Q] I Ljubicic (CRO) 76(5) 75
[8] D Nalbandian (ARG) d N Kiefer (GER) 76(5) 63
M Cilic (CRO) d [Q] M Granollers (ESP) 64 76(2)

ReRe and Blah To Rep U.S. at Hopman Cup

Not a bad team, actually.  ReRe better watch her head though.  Those errant Blah forehands are bound to hit her at some point.

Basel: Bye Bye Blah

Too bad, James, but your chances for Shanghai aren't looking great.  Then again, I'm not losing sleep over that because if anyone were to ask me who the top 8 players have been this year, I'm not sure you even crack the top 12.  So as Virgania Hortson would say, "See ya later, sucker."

Blah Blah's chances were dashed by the serve and volleying FeLo, who upset the #4 seed, 64 76(7).

Other than that upset, the top three seeds, Fed, Nalby, and JMDP are all through.

Tomorrow's Semfinal Lineup and OOP:
JMDP vs. Nalby (NB 14.45 hrs)
FeLo vs. Fed

Look at this cute sign the Baselites made for Fed.

Aww...how ador-- Oh wait, those are adults? They're not 7 year old kids?  Oh.  Well then that's just embarassing.

While I Was Busy Drooling Over the New MacBooks...

Ernie Linguine was busy drooling over Rafa.  Ernie once again aquitted himself well against Rafa, but Rafa was able to take the third, winning 75 36 63.  Nice job, Ernie.  You're still one of those "aw crap, I gotta face that guy in the first round?" players.  Nothing but love for you!

In other Linguine news, Reeshard was able to come back and outlast The Sockless Wonder in three sets, 67(3) 64 63.  A nice win for Reeshie, but can I just go ahead and say that Mardy Fish looks like an old man on the court?  He doesn't move well, nothing other than his serve looks natural, he just swats at everything.  Blah.

Speaking of Blah, Blah Blah Blake (trying something new here) crashed out as I expected against the ever pesky Gilles Simon, 36 61 64.  Simon is just the type of player that drives the Blah Blahs and the Gonzos of the world crazy.  They like to go for their shots, Simon runs them all down, and then they try for too much out of frustration and impatience and they miss. 

Here are the rest of the day's results.  Quite a fun one!
[4] A Murray (GBR) d [LL] S Bolelli (ITA) 60 21 - ret. (shoulder)
M Cilic (CRO) d [13] F Verdasco (ESP) 62 63
G Monfils (FRA) d [WC] F Fognini (ITA) 62 64
[Q] M Granollers (ESP) d P Mathieu (FRA) 64 64
J Nieminen (FIN) d M Youzhny (RUS) 75 36 62
P Kohlschreiber (GER) d C Moya (ESP) 62 62
[Q] R Ginepri (USA) d M Llodra (FRA) 64 64
R Soderling (SWE) d [Q] F Serra (FRA) 63 64
[Q] V Hanescu (ROU) d D Tursunov (RUS) 46 62 63

How many elephants can you fit in a Peugeot? What if they're Baby Elephants?

Baby Elephant just keeps getting cuter and more awesomer.  From Forbes Auto:

Tennis star Ana Ivanovic doesn't have much time to drive, but that hasn't stopped Verano, the Serbian distributor of French automaker Peugeot, from sponsoring her.

"Actually, my current car is the only one I've ever owned. I only passed my test two years ago," says the 20-year old Serb of the 2007 Peugeot 207 she got as part of the endorsement deal.

Ivanovic spends most of the year traveling to tournaments, where she's whisked from place to place by a hired driver. When not on tour, she relishes every opportunity to get behind the wheel.

"For me it's relaxing to just go out in my car and drive for an hour or so," Ivanovic says. "At home in Switzerland there is beautiful countryside, and it's the same in Belgrade. When I visit my family I sometimes drive near the rivers."

Ivanovic is the top-ranked player on the WTA Tour. She's the ninth highest paid pro tennis player, according to Forbes.com's latest ranking of Tennis' Top Paid Stars, having pulled in $8 million in prize money and sponsorship fees over the past 12 months.

This is Baby Elephant's car:


I actually love small compact cars that look like European rally cars, so I dig the Peugeot.  But seriously, where do I begin.

She is 6'1''.  How the hail does she fit into that thing and toodle around in it.  Just the thought of her all folded up cruising the Swiss countryside is making me laugh uncontrollably.

According to Motor Trend, the Peugeot 207 is a subcompact, which is the equivalent to a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris, both sold in the States.  She is one of the top 10 grossing female athletes according to Forbes, and this is her car?  How AWESOME is that?  That's like when I found out that Helen Hunt, back in her Mad About You days, drove a Volvo.  It's just so practical and down to earth of her.  I have a lot of friends who live in San Francisco and make 7 figure salaries who drive beat up Hondas and old Toyota Camries because they travel too much to make it practical to own a nice car.  I find that quite admirable, especially in today's keeping up with the Joneses society.

Anyway, good on Ana.  I didn't think you could go up in my book but you just did.  And here's hoping that Peugeot springs for a convertible model next.  Because seriously, it's adorable!

Other tennis players' cars according to the article:

• James Blake: 07 Lincoln Navigator, 07 Porsche 911 Turbo, and 04 Cadillac Escalade
• Jelena Jankovic: 08 Porsche 911, eyeing an Aston Martin
• Agnes Szavay: Audi A3 Cabriolet 2.0 TDI
• Maria Sharapova: Land Rover Supercharged
• Daniela Hantuchova: 02 Porsche Boxster, 05 Land Rover Range Rover, 08 Porsche Cayenne
• Robby Ginepri: 03 Cadillac Escalade, 06 BMW M6
• Tommy Robredo: 07 Mercedes Benz ML500
• Nadia Petrova: 08 Porsche Cayenne
  

For shame, Barry Watson. No Seventh Heaven for you!

First, let me just say this.  Fernando Gonzalez looks like Barry Watson.  There's no way around it.  And Barry Watson has always creeped me out.  Something about him looks skeletal.  I think it's the nose.

Anyway, Gonzo beat James Blake today in a thrilling three setter that saw the last set go 11-9.  It was a tough loss for James, who just yesterday ousted The Mighty Fed in straight sets.  But what's pissing off James isn't the loss in and of itself, but a disputed point wherein Gonzo showed his true non-sportsmanlike colors.  From ESPN.com:

The incident that upset Blake occurred with Gonzalez serving at 8-9 in the final set. On the first point, Blake hit a backhand passing shot long but contended the ball ticked Gonzalez's racket before landing, as TV replays confirmed.

Blake appealed in vain to the chair umpire, and said Gonzalez should have conceded the point. He went on to lose the game to make it 9-all.

"Playing in the Olympics, in what's supposed to be considered a gentleman's sport, that's a time to call it on yourself," Blake said. "Fernando looked me square in the eye and didn't call it."

Gonzalez said he was uncertain whether the ball hit his racket.

"I didn't feel anything," Gonzalez said. "I mean, it's just one point. There is an umpire. If I'm 100 percent sure about it, I mean, I will give it. But I'm not sure."

Let me be clear.  Gonzo's cheating didn't cost James the match, much like Justine's infamous "Hand" incident didn't cost Serena the match.  In fact, Blake is retarded for letting it affect him as much as it did.  But it's still a horribly unsportsmanlike thing to do and I am a big fan of classy sportsmanship.  Replays of the incident clearly show that the ball hit Gonzo's racquet with enough pace that any world-class tennis player would have felt it.

I guess if you're busy staring at your Olympic medal you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror.  This isn't going to sit well in the locker room, that's for sure.

Fed was a raver? Who knew?

Just for kicks, some pictures of ATP players when they were kids.  I'll post some of the ladies in a few days.

#1: The Mighty Fed

#2: Rafa

#3: Nole

Others:

James Blake

Andy

LIl' Fish

Andre

Le Monf