Forty Deuce

Thursday @ IW: Andy's Special, Bethanie's Back, and Masha's Homeless

You Win Some, You Lose Some

 
Fun times at the SAP Open last night.  Of course, it could have been a lot more fun if Ernie didn't serve like a moron, but whatever. 

 

Love All and I sat third row courtside, right by the player's entrance.  The row in front of us was empty and a number of players came out to watch and sat right in front of us. 

We were right behind Canas and Ginepri, and Haas and Querrey also hung around.  That was kinda cool.

The matches were drama filled for stupid reasons, primarily related to the poor line calling.  Elf went a little nuts on the umpire in the second set, slamming his racquet into the padding by the umpire's chair.  He then went off to sulk at the back of the court.  Sensing this as my moment, I yelled "Vamos!" pretty loudly (there weren't that many JMDP fans in the arena) .  All of a sudden Elf started spouting off in Spanish for a good 15-20 seconds.  I have no idea what he said but I'd like to believe that my well-timed "Vamos!" instigated it.

Elf is damn impressive to watch live.  The kid is tall and not as lanky as he seems on TV.  He's seems sturdier.  And boy can he cover the court.  I have no idea how he doesn't trip over those legs of his, but it's impressive.

 
As for Ernie/Andy, it really came down to Ernie just serving like crap.  Couldn't get a first serve in to save his life in the first set, and he couldn't get a second serve in a few times, throwing in back to back double faults eary in the first set. Twas a real shame he couldn't make more of a match of it.  There were about 4 of us in the crowd rooting for him.  Again, I got a lot of weird looks from the people sitting around us whenever I cheered for Ernie.

Andy was Andy.  His serve is ridiculous when you're sitting that close.  Seriously, you can't see the ball. 

The Andy/Ernie match ended on a weird note.  Andy served an ace that Ernie thought was out.  They had some words at the net and kept glaring at each other while they were packing up their things.  During his post-match interview Andy was asked what was said, to which he replied "Pleasantries.  You know it's Valentine's Day" or something to that effect.  Charming to some I'm sure.  Not to me.

You're not as funny as you think you are, Andy.  Just sayin'.

Capped off the night with a nice In 'n Out run.  Fun times.  Hopefully, depending on who makes the semis and final, I'll make it down there again this weekend.

Here are links to the rest of the pics:

http://tinyurl.com/am5fny
http://tinyurl.com/d3vkre
http://tinyurl.com/ajkjdr

I hope they work.  Let me know if they don't.

Here were the scores out of San Jose:

[1] A Roddick (USA) d E Gulbis (LAT) 63 76(3)
[2] J Del Potro (ARG) d K Nishikori (JPN) 62 62
[3] J Blake (USA) d F Serra (FRA) 64 63
[5] M Fish (USA) d [WC] J Isner (USA) 62 67(4) 75
[6] S Querrey (USA) d D Gremelmayr (GER) 63 62
[Q] T Widom (USA) d T Dent (USA) 67(5) 63 62

That's a lot of red, white and blue.

Young and Old Gather In The 'Ho

 

The SAP Open in San Jose kicked off yesterday and Pete Sampras shook the dust off his Pro Staff to show the packed crowd what it kinda sorta looked like when he used to play, if he was slower, less flexible, less explosive, and wasn't as good.  He was supposed to play Blah in the exo but Blah, ironically, had to pull out due to a sore back.  So in stepped Tommy Haas.

What is this, 2002?


The night session was capped with Special K taking on the ever annoying Gilles Muller.  Kei took him out in straight sets, 75 62.

Scores:
[4] Radek STEPANEK (CZE) d [Q] Dominik MEFFERT (GER) 5-7 6-3 6-1
Christophe ROCHUS (BEL) d [7] Igor KUNITSYN (RUS) 6-2 7-6(7)
Tommy HAAS (GER) d [WC] Loerschke POERSCHKE (GER) 6-1 7-6(8)
Taylor Dent (USA) d Bobby REYNOLDS (USA) 6-3 6-4
Florent SERRA (FRA) d Jarkko NIEMINEN (FIN) 7-5 6-7(1) 6-4
Kei NISHIKORI (JPN) d Gilles MULLER (LUX) 7-5 6-2
Denis GREMELMAYR (GER) d Roko KARANUSIC (CRO) 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2

Asia In Da House!

It started out as a rough day for Team Asia, as we saw Project 45 go down listlessly to the douchestamped Melzer.  The kid just didn't look right all match and I wonder how much of it had to do in the drop in confidence because of the arm injury that forced him out of Auckland last week.  He lost 75 62 61.

But the ladies kept their end of the bargain.  The un-Nike'd Zheng Jie won in straights over Camille Pin, 63 63.  And Shuai Peng scored a bit of an upset when she beat Tranny Schiavone 76 61.

Too bad Na Li isn't here. 

Auckland Roundup: Day 2

Over in Auckland, Sammy, Viktor, and Robbie all won.  For a split second I thought Robbie beat Jason Statham.  Alas, it was Jose Statham.  Less hot.

But in bad news, Special Kei had to retire with an elbow injury against Juan Carlos Ferrero.  Hope he gets himself healed for the AO.

(As aside, it totally is an Asian thing.  Kei has the racquet too.)

Scores:
[6] S Querrey (USA) d [WC] D King-Turner (NZL) 64 75
J Ferrero (ESP) d K Nishikori (JPN) 53 ret. (right forearm)
V Troicki (SRB) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) 61 62
R Ginepri (USA) d [WC] J Statham (NZL) 62 63

Wilsons Are Good Racquets

Jo started his 2009 campaign off right, beating Calleri, 62 75.

I don't know what it is, but Jo looks different.  Shorter hair?  Gained weight?  Lost weight?  I really don't know what it is.

As for the rest of the night session in Brisbane, Special Kei got a nice win over Bobby Reynolds, and Reeeshard and The Evil One also won.

Here are your scores:
[2] J Tsonga (FRA) d A Calleri (ARG) 62 75
[4] R Soderling (SWE) d J Benneteau (FRA) 63 63
[7] R Gasquet (FRA) d T Dent (USA) 75 64

There was only one ladies match on tap for the evening, and local girl Sam Stosur fell to a hopefully resurgent Lucie Safarova, 64 64.

Kei In, Ivo Out.

Special Kei used his wildcard status in Stockholm to continue his solid rise through the rankings, taking out the number 8 seed Granollers, 26 64 62.  Go Kei!  Project 45 is still alive.

Other scores from Stockholm:
D Hrbaty (SVK) d P Andujar (ESP) 62 61
N Lapentti (ECU) d I Navarro (ESP) 36 76(5) 75

OOP for tomorrow is here.  Headbandian and Super Mario are in action.

Over in Vienna, the premier men's tourney of the week, JCF scored an upset by downing Dr. Ivo, 64 76(4).  I had a feeling JCF was going to take this one but not in straight sets.  A nice win for him.  Other than Ivo's ousting, the matches pretty much went to form, with Tabasco Ivanovic, Canas, FeLo, and Moya all victorious. 

OOP for tomorrow is here.  I'll have my eye on Gonzo/Bolleli, Ernests/Volandri, and Schwank/Simon.  I may also watch those matches.

Hey O!

Project 45 Loves Cup O Noodles.

The face of Asian tennis already has a three-year deal with Sony.  Now Special Kei has signed an endorsement deal with Nissin Food Products, the maker of Cup o' Noodles, the sustenance of choice for college kids around the world. 

From Tennis Week:

The 18-year-old Japanese has signed an endorsement and patch contract with Nissin Food Product Co. Nishikori will wear the "Cup Noodles" logo on his adidas shirt starting today at the AIG Open at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Nissin manufacturers the popular Ramen instant noodle mix.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"I am glad to announce that I have signed a contract with Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd., Japan’s most famous food manufacturer," Nishikori said in a statement. "I have loved Ramen since I was a little boy. Even now that my life is based out of the United States I continue to spend a lot of time traveling around the world and often enjoy Nissin Noodles. Instant noodles is a food culture that Nissin Food Product Co., Ltd. has spread all over the world and always reminds me of Japan.  Diet is a very important aspect of my life as a professional athlete and will be a key factor to my success as a tennis player. Through my relationship with Nissin Food Product Co., Ltd., I will be able to receive great nutritional advice and strong support regarding my diet."

As my college roommate would always say as she rested her notebook on top of the steaming hot styrofoam cup (you know, to create a tight seal for the lid as it steeps for the required three minutes), "It's brain food.  And now I have more beer money."  I argue the former point. Can't argue with the latter.

Though I will say this.  If I ate a hot cup of Cup o' Noodles before hitting the court, I'd be throwing up noodles, peas, and corn almost immediately.  That stuff is NOT good for you.

Project 45 did his new sponsor proud by winning his first round match at the AIG Open, beating Robert Kendrick in three sets.  Go get em, Kei!