Forty Deuce

Rajeev For President!

 

Congrats to Rajeev Ram for taking out the Sockless Wonder in straight sets.  Not much else to say other than "YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

As for the rest of the peens, Chucho took out Tommy, Bjorn upset Nico, and in a bit of a shocker, Florent Serra upset Jeremy.  Oh, and Janko keeps losing in second rounds.  That's fun.

Singles - Second Round
[1] N Davydenko (RUS) d R Kendrick (USA) 76(10) 63
[2] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d P Capdeville (CHI) 60 63
J Acasuso (ARG) d [3] T Robredo (ESP) 36 75 76(5)
[WC] R Ram (USA) d [5] M Fish (USA) 63 63
[7] I Andreev (RUS) d K Kim (USA) 63 61
[8] V Hanescu (ROU) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 64 67(8) 63
B Phau (GER) d [9] N Almagro (ESP) 26 63 75
F Serra (FRA) d [10] J Chardy (FRA) 67(8) 76(4) 61
[11] J Melzer (AUT) d [Q] P Cuevas (URU) 62 30 ret. (shoulder)
[Q] F Gil (POR) d [12] P Petzschner (GER) 67(2) 76(8) 63
S Bolelli (ITA) d [13] A Beck (GER) 64 64
[14] I Kunitsyn (RUS) d [WC] T Dent (USA) 63 64
[15] F Santoro (FRA) d P Starace (ITA) 75 60
[16] A Seppi (ITA) d Y Lu (TPE) 67(5) 63 75
L Mayer (ARG) d [LL] O Rochus (BEL) 60 64

Doubles - First Round
[2] B Soares (BRA) / K Ullyett (ZIM) d E Butorac (USA) / J Coetzee (RSA) 63 63
J Knowle (AUT) / J Melzer (AUT) d O Marach (AUT) / D Skoch (CZE) 63 64

LA, Now 700,000% Douchier

Sam and his lovely off-hand were on display today in LA, where he needed three sets to beat fellow Yankee Ryan Sweeting, 63 67 63.  Unfortunately his doucheclan was in tow for the affair.  Whatever.

Meanwhile, Darth Fish saved 3 match points to beat Gooch.  I don't even know why I'm writing about it.  Like I care.

And in somewhat depressing news, Marat finally lost.  He and Igor fell to the BryBros in fairly boring fashion.

Are they conjoined now?  Are they even technically a doubles team?  Hey ITF, instead of going after poor Tamira Pazcek, maybe you should be investigating these freaks of nature.  Just a suggestion.

Singles – Second Round
[2] M Fish (USA) d [WC] C Guccione (AUS) 67(3) 76(12) 64 - saved 3 M.P.
[4] D Sela (ISR) d R Kendrick (USA) 64 36 61
L Mayer (ARG) d [5] I Kunitsyn (RUS) 76(5) 67(7) 63
[6] S Querrey (USA) d [Q] R Sweeting (USA) 63 67(5) 63

Doubles - Quarter-finals
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) / M Safin (RUS) 63 62
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d J Coetzee (RSA) / J Erlich (ISR) 61 76(9)
D Istomin (UZB) / L Mayer (ARG) d E Gulbis (LAT) / D Tursunov (RUS) 75 76(8)

Friday OOP:

STRAUS STADIUM start 12:00 noon
J Isner (USA) vs [Q] C Ball (AUS)
[4] D Sela (ISR) vs [6] S Querrey (USA)
L Mayer (ARG) vs  [2] M Fish (USA)
Not Before 8:00 PM
[1] T Haas (GER) vs [8] M Safin (RUS)
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA)

GRANDSTAND start 12:00 noon
B Becker (GER) / F Moser (GER) vs Y Lu (TPE) / D Vemic (SRB)

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.

Suck It, ESPN.

64 64 64, assholes.

You Sockless Little Twit

 
The Sockless Wonder dispatched of the Socked Misogynist 64 36 61 64. 

Go to the corner, eat some Rice a Roni, and think about what you've done, asshole.


You and me, buddy.  You and me.

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.

Pic This: My Eyes. They Burn.

Can we all just take a moment and soak in what's going on with XXXL there?  I mean...wow.

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

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

Sydney Interviews

Interviews with Nole, Nalby, Dani, Sveta, Dina, A-Rad, and Mario here.

Pic This: Holy Crap! Everyone Looks Good!

Pics from the Sydney Medibank Player's Party.

 
 




But the winner, and still Heavyweight Champion of the World:

Hummuna hummuna hummuna.

Mardy Marries Fish Lips. No Word On Whether He Wore Socks.

All kidding aside, it looked like a gorgeous wedding.  I've always loved the black and red motif.

Rafa Wins.

I'm very proud of myself.  No "Fish" puns.

The Sockless Wonder came out firing and reminded us all of the form he showed against Roger at Indian Wells.  He was serving huge, volleying well, and basically taking it to Rafa.  But let's face it.  You knew it couldn't last because (1) Mardy got a haircut and a shave, breaking the long standing tradition of athlete's not changing anything when they're on a win streak, (2) Boyd Tinsley, the violinist for Dave Matthews Band, was in his box cheering him on, meaning he's inherently lame, and (3) dude wears no-show socks, which speak for themselves.

This is why I think Rafa, Roger, and Nole are so above the rest of the field.  Because you may beat them 2 out of 3 at a tour event.  But taking three sets from them?  That is a very tall task and these three just find a way to figure it out and gut it out.  And against the field, with the exception of a few players (namely Murray, Roddick), no one can stay with them for five sets and no one scares those three to the point that they drop their level and lose.

And that's what happened here.  Mardy was out of this world in the first set.  And then he came crashing down, dumping easy volleys into the net, whacking groundstrokes 2-3 feet long, and missing first serves at an alarming rate.  And Rafa, the bull that he is, was relentless.  Is there nothing more inevitable than seeing Rafa sprint across the court to hit a blind cross-court passing shot?  Amazing.

So Rafa advances, though he didn't finish until 2:30am.  But again, just like Muzzah he'll have time to rest as they won't play their semi until Saturday afternoon.  So get some rest, Rafa.

Oh, and with the win, Rafa joins the elite group of players to reach at least the semifinals of every Grand Slam in a calendar year.  Boy, the kid just keeps checking off boxes on his to do list, doesn't he?

Do You Have a King of Clubs? Go Fish!

No way the Mardy Fish takes three sets from Rafa.  No way.

Ok, there is a way.  The Sockless Wonder could (a) go for his shots from the baseline and execute and (b) get to the net 70% of the time and (b) Rafa has to miss.  A lot.

All these scenarios are possible.  But the chances are very very low.  I was at Mardy's Indian Wells final against Nole and I see the same thing happening.  Nole just ground him down, ran everything down, and executed a winner when the opportunity presented itself.  Rafa is even better and against a player like Mardy who doesn't move particularly well (which is why he needs to get to the net) he will just force Mardy out of his comfort zone.

Then again, after today's events, who knows?  But remember, despite all the drama today, Nole and Fed found a way to win.  Because that's what champions do.

Bagels, Breadsticks, and Gut Checks.

Well well well.  The results were not surprising, but the matches were.  Thank God for Tivo!

I have learned since seeing Mardy Fish destroy (and yes, I mean DESTROY) Roger at Indian Wells that you can't really count the dude out.  The fact is that when he is on, he is awfully hard to beat.  But I also know that he's a bit of a flake and against a guy like Monfils I figured it would go at least four sets with a few sets being very close.  But for all the upside to Monfils (athletic ability, court coverage, shot making ability) there's also a downside, which was harped upon at RG before he made his run.  He is your quintiscential counterpuncher who is content to hang behind the baseline and let his opponent make mistakes.  I've always had a problem with these types of players because how can they are essentially going into a match hoping that the other guys screws up, as opposed to taking their game to the other player and beating them.  Seems awfully risky to me to put the match on the other guy's racquet instead of your own.

Well today, LaMonf was taken to the shed by Mardy Fish.  He was patient and went for his blazing shots when they were there and he executed.  All credit to Mardy for two very impressive back to back wins.  He's having an Indian Wells-like run here.

Mardy's next opponent is Rafa, who had a rather adventurous afternoon.  Sure, he won in four sets but boy, it was a lot closer than the score indicated.  Querrey California showed up to play and he was hell bent on (a) not getting embarrassed and (b) maximizing his air time on CBS (the kid IS from Southern California after all).  Rafa seemed on a roll until he had a break point at 4-2 and sent a forehand flying out of bounds on an easy second serve.  That seemed to rattle him and Querrey came back and rattled off a 7-5 win.  From then it it was a complete gut-out by Rafa.  He was completely off his game, sending a load of UFEs (for him) and serving horribly.  The world #1 was sending in 90 mph serves.  But in the end Querrey couldn't capitalize.  The epic 4-2 game in the fourth set that saw seven break points for Querrey, would eventually go Rafa's way.  And the rest is history.

I think this was a good match for Rafa to have.  Every top player needs one game in the tournament to test their fight and their gut.  This was Rafa's.

As for the ladies, it was a bagel and breadstick buffet.  ALG gave Dinara a run in the first set, eventually losing 7-5, and that must have broken her spirit.  Baby Beluga would eventually force feed the resurgent German a bagel in the second.  Dinara will face Flava Flav who has had a fantastic few months.  She destroyed Momo 3 and 0.  Dinara holds the 4-0 lead on the H2H, beating Flavia just a month ago in the LA final, 4 and 2. 

As for Venus, well, she was Venus.  She looks absolutely unbeatable, beating Agi 1 and 3.  Radwanska made it a tick more competitive in the second set but in the end there was zero doubt who was the favorite and who had the game to take the tournament.  The more the Sisters play the more bummed I get that they're going to meet in the next round (assuming Serena wins her match tonight).  It's a darn shame.