We've all been there. What started out as a perfectly pleasant afternoon of day-drinking and fun in the sun has suddenly taken a dodgy turn. Next thing you know, you've doing eight car bombs in the span of an hour and a half* and the bar that seemed to be kinda cool and retro at the start of the night, now feels claustrophobic, creepy, and it may or may not reek of piss and puke and be full of stripe-shirted I-banking douchebags that you want to punch in the face.
How did I get here? When did my life come to this? What is my best exit strategy?
So there's that 30-45 minute window where, you're kinda convinced you can buckle down and wait out the storm. For some that means finding a quiet corner and dozing off for a bit. For others, it means standing in front of a firepit, staring deeply into the flames for a good hour. Still some might just put on a happy face and just try and pretend they're not as fucked up as they are, chattering and dancing about as if they're fooling anyone but really just slurring, spilling, and falling down a lot.
But dudes. PSA time. It all ends the same. No matter how you try and ride that wave to safety, it will always crash ashore. If you don't catch it in time, you're going to be the laughing stock of your friends forever. You're going to be known as the guy who passed out on the red leather couch like a beached whale, unconsciously puking up over the sides as if an invisible ghost was pumping your stomach. Or maybe you realized it all just in time to have made your way to the bathroom, lock yourself into it, and proceed to projectile vomit for a good 45 minutes as the bouncer threatens your friends that he's going to call 911 because at this point, your non-responsiveness is threatening upon "medical emergency".* Either way, these moments of crisis are best experienced alone and not in front of an audience.
So way to get yourself off the court ASAP and not puke in front of thousands of people, let alone millions watching at home, Petko. Do you know how quickly that puke would have gone viral?
"I felt so embarrassed. The last two points I was like, Okay, what are you going to do? Is it more embarrassing running off the court like a maniac or throwing up on the court and being on SportsCenter for the next 25 years? I was like, Yeah, running off the court is better, so that's what I did."
Yeah yeah yeah. It's late and no one cares about the Wimby player party anymore. BUT I HAVE THINGS TO SAY. So here we go.
Not digging the hair, but the dress is colorful, young, and fun. It kind of makes me want a strawberry daiquiri. Or a Jamba Juice. It is also just begging for a nip-slip. No word on whether that happened but if it didn't I would very much like to know the name of the fashion-tape manufacturer. I have a roof that needs to be reshingled to withstand gale force winds.
Sometimes people get scared of fashion. Like, they find it to be this weird place with weird people with weird vocab who make things that look pretty fucking weird and yet the world jizzes itself upon their unveiling and it makes you feel dumb cuz you don't get it. So people (like how I'm using anonymous "people" to make my argument? Stay with me.), being scared because they don't want to sound like a doof, basically excuse anything that looks nutty as "avant garde" which, apparently, automatically means it's amazing and good.
I mean, it's bullshit is what I'm saying.
Fashion, like any creative art, is obviously very subjective. But it's not *completely* subjective. I don't fucking care that Bethanie is awesome or that this was designed by Gaga's designer. THESE ARE NOT EXCUSES FOR CRAP. I mean, first of all, LITERAL MUCH??? Oh, you came dressed like a tennis ball because you are a tennis player who hits tennis balls about to play at a tennis tournament and this party has lots of tennis people who are also going to hit tennis balls at this tennis tournament and everyone loves tennis and oh yeah tennis. This is *literally* literal.
Second, aside and apart from the concept, let's go to construction. Did Alex Noble sit in his minimalist industrial loft in Hell's Kitchen with a can of tennis balls, an exacto knife, and a glue gun? The skirt is fine and whatever, I guess, but that whole tennis ball bustier fringe action is horrible. I can totally see Nina Garcia giving crazy stinkface as this goes down the judging runway. Auf Wiedersehen!
Last, concept and construction down, it just looks bad. People can talk about how they admire Bethanie for having the courage to wear it and that the courage itself should win the day. But dudes, I think it's really courageous for someone to walk around naked in a public space. Doesn't mean that I also don't think "Dude, have some self-respect. Stop trying so hard to attract attention. It's pathetic. Put some clothes on."
Ok, so it's Caro, right? So we totally know it could be worse. The fact that Stella didn't tack on a ruffle or 3000 to this thing is a victory. From this angle the dress looks nice. I actually quite like it. It drapes beautifully and I'm a sucker for that shit. But from the front it looks completely wonk. The waistline is all crooked and I can't tell if it's a Stella affectation or Woz is wearing it wrong.
As for the hair, look. I'm struggling to be nice here, really. But let's just say that Woz has a certain facial feature that is only highlighted when you put her hair up like that. Let it down, let it loose, and I think she could have really rocked this look.
Upshot: Lots to like, lots to hate, and in the end the look fell short. Sound familiar?
It was short-lived but long in fun. Ivanorazzi never fails to entertain for no other reason than Ana actually seems relaxed and Petko struts around like the big sister that she totally is and somehow gets Ana to act a fool at the drop of a hat. Glory.
Here's a photo montage of Ana putting on a shirt. I know the opposite would be preferable for you boys, but you're going to have to take what you can get. Don't shoot the messenger.
*snicker*
Mission Accomplished! WTG!
They played a great first round match that had to go very late to finish but then lost their second rounder to Nads and Rodio. But since they did win one match we got to see the Ivanorazzi jig. Not that it didn't take actual physical force from Petko to get Ana out onto the grassy dance floor:
Because if it's not I'd like to know now so that I can avoid heartbreak.
Masha's blasted her way into the semifinals, dropping a mere three games to Petko, 60 63. I've always said that if I had to pick one player to play for my life it would be Shazza. She competes like no one else and she does it whether she's on the Grand Slam stage or in some back-alley pick-up game.
Standing in her way are three talented wildcards, each of whom could either show up and perform brilliantly or completely be overwhelmed by the moment and lose easily. I find it completely impossible to figure out who the favorite is at this point. The complete player who has 3.8 billion people behind her, the shrieky blaster gunning for a career landmark, the clay court magician and defender of the Coupe, or the weird hometown genius playing inspired tennis. You have to love the variety that Na, Masha, Fran, and Marion bring to the slate. Every single one of them deserves it, every single one of them has the game to do it, and every single one of them would be a tremendous story.
But if it comes down to which one wants it the most, well, I'm going with the Blonde Banana. I'm scared she's peaking too early, but whatever. Whip it, Shazza.
Gools is way intense, yo. She almost reminds me of Ana in her constant intense cheering and fistpumping at her box. Even when she plays doubles with Petko, she's pretty intense and serious. Against Nads and Rodio, she was all business. Cracking her racquet out of frustration, getting pissed, doing her intense German Goolia thing. I mean, it's hot. Let's not be dumb.
And then, somehow, Petko relaxed her. I think they kind of just realized it wasn't their day and were like "Whatever. Let's make out!" Or at least the tennis equivalent of that.
They were way cute. Petko was slapping her ass and, at only point on a changeover, the two were engaged in a convo when Gools told Petko to hold still and picked an eyelash off her cheek. She showed it to Petko and Petko blew on it for good luck. It was way gay. And soooooooooo awesome.
As those of you on the Twitter know, Roland Garros is not posting full transcripts of press conferences. There are many rumored reasons for this and I'm going to keep my mouth shut because apparently it gets me trouble. But RG.com's decision to not post transcripts is definitely a sucky one. Whether the tennis MSM like it or not, outside of a very very small handful of journalists and writers (and I'm thinking less than five), tennis fans have become extremely skeptical of journalists' use of player quotes. Things get taken out of context on a daily basis. Why can't RG.com just have a 24-48 hour embargo? Hold the transcripts, let the onsite journos get their stories out, and then release the raw information to the public?
And after reading Petko's presser after her win over Jarka, I would think the tours would push for transcripts to be released, too. Do you know how much awesome stuff is in there that journalists didn't bother using? It's fantastic and it makes Petko look great, which in turn helps the marketing of the tour.
Read the full presser after the jump. Thank you to the very kind soul who emailed it to me.
Petko always says she's like a diesel engine. She needs some time to get warmed up. But against Caro she raced to a 4-1 40-love lead and it quickly looked like we had an IW redux on our hands. With a chance to pull away and put the set to bed, she stalled, and Caro ran away with it from there.
Sigh. Bummer. Tumaini Cariol, who blogs for FootFault and is at Stuttgart on behalf Tennis Panorama, said that because no matches were scheduled on Good Friday, the tournament organizers had put together a breakfast for the journalists with the semifinalists. So while I was rooting for Petko for normal reasons, I was rooting for her extra hard because of the possibility of Tumaini getting to have breakfast with Sam, Julia, Aga, and Petko. IMAGINE!!!
But no. It's Caro. Not that it matters. Apparently not enough journalists were interested in the breakfast so they cancelled it. Ahem.
So it'll be Caro vs. Aga in the other semifinal. Their H2H is 3-1 to Caro, with Caro winning the last three easily. This will be their first meeting on clay. But perhaps more importantly, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
During an interview with a writer for the Sony Ericsson Open website (which was never posted, unfortunately, though I have the audio) Petko said that her favorite tournament outside of the Slams was Stuttgart. She cited the fact that it's the only tournament in Germany these days (which blows) and she loves any excuse to get home.
So it must have been quite the boon for Team Germany when they all got to fly home early for Fed Cup (which was held in the same arena this past weekend) and now get to show their stuff to their countrypeople.
So far, so good. Congratulations, Stuttgart. You've got four Germans in the quarters, with at least one guaranteed in the semis.
Petko fought off the nerves and a pesky JJ to advance, 36 61 63. Sabine took out a struggling-but-still-very-good-at-tennis Nails, 64 75. Kristina Barrois upset Mono, 64 62. And the in a shocking turn of events, the day ended with Vika taking the first set over Julia Goolia, only to *abruptly* retire seconds later without calling a trainer. The official word is that she retired with a right shoulder injury. Puzzling, no doubt.
Regardless, it's been a dazzling five days for the German Ladies of Wrestling and it's not over. Sabine and Julia will face off in one quarterfinal, Petko gets another chance at a big forehead scalp against Caro, and Barrois will try not to lose her head against Aga. All that AND Petko and Julia will face off against Sam and Sabine in doubles.
All aboard the GLOW revival. You know you missed it.
So back before Andrea Petkovic was even a glimmer in the Sony Ericsson Open's eye, I got to do a quick one-on-one interview with her. The funny thing is that it was a one-on-one interview because no one else was there. That's not true. A young woman who worked for the tournament website was there to do a "Getting to Know" interview with her. But it was just the two of us.
[A brief aside because I get asked about how pressers happen quite a bit:
Generally speaking, if a request is made for a top 10 player the player has to show up. If there are enough requests then the presser happens in the main press conference room. If there are only a few, you get a small interview room where you're literally sitting in chairs. For me, that can either be really cool and create a more conversational tone (Petko!) or really awkward, especially when you only have one or two questions for the player (uh...sorry about that one, Sam). So if you go and look for pressers and you don't see a presser from say Sam or Fran, it's because it wasn't requested or it happened in the small interview room where there is no transcribing service (I almost called them "court reporters", whoops).
Every time I explain this to fans they're shocked. "Who wouldn't want to talk to Fran??? She's such a great interview!!!" Well, when your mandate is to cover American players, Caro, and Masha, and you know you're not going to get any ink for a story about Fran's amazingness, you're probably not going to "waste your time" requesting the presser. Them's just the facts of life, tennis fans. This is why it's particularly helpful to the tours to have bloggers on site. We actually don't want to talk to Caro. We want to talk to Frank, Aga, Nails, etc. Of course, I say "we" when it actually doesn't apply to me. You see, in order for me to see what's going on on the outer courts and to pap the practice courts, I actually have to be outside of the press room. So I usually miss all the press conferences. But if I'm not out there, I definitely try to make as many small room pressers as possible. They're really fun.]
But back to Petko.
I wasn't even sure the interview would happen. Petko had just spent a brutal day on court, beating Jamie Hampton in the early afternoon and then teaming up with Ana for their historic first win as Ivanorazzi. She was running a good 10 minutes late. When she finally showed up with that wide grin, I found out why. She had fallen asleep on the massage table.
As most of us know, Petko is the bomb when it comes to music. Ask all the WTA ladies who their favorite artists are and they're much more likely to reel off artists and songs that make me want to punch the radio. But not Petko. She's tends to reel off artists that aren't only on my iPod, but are some of my favorite bands.
So I came armed with my hipster notebook prepared to ask Petko one question and one question only: As a professional athlete who is constantly traveling from country to country week to week, how the heck do you keep up with the ever-changing world of music? I mean, I'm unemployed and I blog from the couch and I spend 18 hours a day on the internet (pathetic, I know) and *I* still have problems finding the time to find new music to inspire me. So how does a traveling tennis professional do it? Pretty much how the rest of us do it: Rely on other people.
"I've started to suck. All my friends are really big into music and I was the one when I was at home spending hours just searching through the internet looking for new bands, watching shows on MTV that are being shown at 2am because no one wants to see it except Petko, so that was me. Then when I started playing and I developed to be more professional, I lost the time and I lost track. So now I'm rediscovering bands that 5 years ago they were in. But I don't really care. I just listen to what I like. The good thing is when I get back together with my friends they give me mixed tape CDs and then I'm a little bit back in because only one or two songs make me realize there's a new band. But it's hard. Every day you could listen to 1000 new songs and I just don't have the time."
So the obvious follow-up question: If you could curate a music festival, who would your five headlining bands be?
"I would pick Radiohead, Bloc Party, I haven't seen Radiohead live so this is definitely something I would die for. Mark Ronson, and I hope with this good looking singer he has sometimes. I think it's the Phantom Planet singer he has sometimes for guest appearances. I love Miike Snow. And Bright Eyes. I would probably be the only one because it's so different. You and me would be the only ones."
Petkorazzi's a little busy making deep runs in tournaments to do Petkorazzi videos. Luckily, Poporazzi takes over the Flip Camera and documents Team Petkorazzi's Indian Wells hijinks.
Well, the run is officially over for Petko, but what an amazing run it was. On some level it was reminiscent of Sam's 2010 run at Roland Garros, taking out the #1 player and former #1 player in surprising fashion. I might have let my imagination run a little bit and think that Petko's run would follow the same turn: take out yet another former #1 and then lose to a non-former #1 in the final.
I don't think Masha liked that story. And I'm pretty sure she didn't want to see that damn dance ever again. Leave it to her to retire it for good. Based on her presser comments, I'm thinking that dance was on her mind:
Q: She thought you would be tired in the third after the long match you had the previous night. Didn't seem to be that way.
Sharapova: Because I didn't do the dance after. I wasn't tired.
AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA. HAH. Haha. Heh.
Petko came out firing on a windy day in Stadium Court, playing just like she had been practicing a few hours before. She played steadily and let Maria make the early mistakes, which she seemed happy to do. Whether it was the wind or concern over her ankle, Masha wasn't moving her feet to the ball, often finding herself either jammed or reaching. Petko's steady play, it wasn't spectacular, just steady, got her the first set without too much drama, 6-3.
"I felt like I was just making a lot of errors in the first set and I wasn't moving my feet at all. And especially with the wind I wasn't moving towards the ball and letting the ball come to me and not really being aggressive. That's what's won me so many matches in my career is that I step in and I hit my strokes and they come deep. I just wasn't doing that.
So first and foremost I felt like I had to start doing that and making little steps and adjusting my game a little bit."
Adjust she did. This is Maria Motherfuckin' Sharapova (she doesn't actually fuck her mother, it's just a colorful turn of phrase us bloggers like to use). She wasn't going down without a fight and you got the sense that if she would just step up her game, clean it up a little bit, she was right back in this. Petko wasn't overpowering her. Maria was just making mistakes.
Well, she didn't just step it up a little bit. She stepped it up a hell of a whole lot.
"In the second set, on one hand, I felt like Maria really stepped up her game; on the other hand, there were so many close games, deuce, advantage, advantage, so many breakpoints, game points, and I didn't manage to stay close to her. All of a sudden, it was 3-0, 4-0, 5-0. A champion like Maria goes with it and starts to play much better."
Andrea's right. That was the weirdest 6-0 set I've seen in a long time. It was six games that could have easily gone 3-3 or 6-0 the other way. Masha finally started moving her feet and getting to the ball, attacking the lines with precision. She also started to figure out Petko's serve. As the set wore on, Petko started to feel the toll of her back-to-back three setters and the frustration of not being able to pull out any of those deuce games:
"By the end of the second set I was getting frustrated with myself because I felt my energy slowly slipping away. Of course I'm in a semifinal and I want to win this, so it's a little dialog inside of you. You're like, Come on, you can win this, but your body is like, No, I don't want to.
So, yeah, I was fighting with myself inside. In the third set, as I said, my energy was slipping away. A champion like Maria, she just feels kind of weakness, and she just played much, much better. It was very tough for me to get inside the match.
I was telling myself she also had a three-and-a-half hour match. She must be feeling tired, too. You're not the only one who's tired here, so come on, move your ass."
And Masha knew it.
"More than anything, I sensed that she was tired -- probably a lot of the dancing that she's been doing -- and I took advantage of it."
SNOOOOOOOOOOOORT.
Anyway, Petko was honest and gracious in her presser. No shock there. She was eager to point out that, basically, Masha's got that "thing" that separates her from the rest:
The thing is the top 10 players or champions, they just feel any kind of weakness that, even if you're not showing it or you think you're not showing it, they just feel it. That's what makes them so much better. So I really think she felt it and she went for and she exploited it.... I think that's the difference actually in the end between the Grand Slam champions and the other top 10 players maybe.
And she admitted that this was going hurt for a bit, though she didn't have to say anything. Her red puffy eyes already gave her away:
"Right now I'm still a little disappointed, and I think I still -- I will feel empty the next two or three days trying to work things out. But I think after a week maybe or so I will be able to look at it, at the positive things, and I think I will gain a lot of confidence from especially the two victories over Caroline and Jelena. I think it was the next step for me, beating two top 10 in a row. I showed some good tennis, you know, on peaks and points. But if I really want to reach the goals I have set for myself, I need to keep up my consistency."
I raise my mass of Spaten Optimator and salute you, Petko. She really did make my stint in Miami a lot of fun. It was fun to sit in the back of the room and watch her charm the press corps. But it was even more fun to see her gain a legion of fans on court with her tennis. Death Cab for Cutie gettin' name-checked on The OC, you guys. It's happening and I couldn't be more happy for her. People need to know the Petko.
So have a cheeseburger and beer on me, dude!
Just tell them to put it on Forty's tab.
Oh, and Masha? You better fucking win this whole goddamned thing.
While "the pros" were sitting in the shaded media seats watching Masha warm up from 100 yards away for her semifinal clash with Petko, I was sweating it out on Court 1 watching Petko warm up from up close. Why in the world would this amateur skip watching Masha to go see Petko? Because I trudged out to the practice courts yesterday, you know, the day after Masha endured a rough ankle sprain, to see her gingerly test out her ankle under the damn hot sun. I don't recall seeing "the pros" at that practice session. I clearly don't know the rules.
Had they been at that practice session, they would have seen a concerned Team Sharapova whispering about the ankle, applying tape, pulling off tape, pointing, prodding, etc.
The ankle was definitely an issue and at least to this ignorant tennis fan, kind of a big story coming into this afternoon's match. We all know Masha can go through sketchy bouts of play and she really had to rely on her fight to get past an on-fire Dulgheru on Tuesday night. But we also know she can bounce back from a match like that and play lights out. But if she's physically hampered? The likelihood of a win over Petko, who is riding high on confidence and playing really well, takes a hit.
The good news is that it looked like Masha came into the practice session with the ankle practically immobilized with two tape jobs, one on top of the other. About 30 minutes into the session she went to the corner and removed one layer of tape. So hopefully that means it wasn't as bad as they were suspecting.
Of course, while Masha was fiddling with her ankle, Petko was on the next court over serving balls at Petar's ass:
"New motivation for body serve," Petar said. We'll see how that works out.
So Petko's blowing up. We all know this. Yesterday she got the Pete Bodo treatment. Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking, but surprisingly, no, he did not describe her as being "strong like a Munich beer wench."
I know. I was shocked, too.
It was actually a very nice, positive take on Petko's refreshing personality. Unfortunately, it's kinda totally factually wrong:
"Remember, Petkovic knocked out Venus Williams and Sharapova in back-to-back matches just a few months ago at the Australian Open."
Um. No she didn't. She was standing on the court when Venus screamed out in pain and retired from their match. And yes, that's kind of a huge difference, especially when you're using these facts to pump up Petko's chances against Masha. You know what would have been a better way to do that? Maybe mentioning that Maria sprained her ankle pretty badly during her match with Dulgheru, a fact that for whatever reason, was left out.
"Petkovic is only just making her move (her current ranking is 23), but that's partly because she chose to complete a university-level education in Germany before taking her chances on the pro tour. As the daughter of a teaching pro whose dreams of playing the tour were crushed, she not only understood the risks of trying to become a pro, she had them drilled into her. She practiced and played a bit while she was school, but didn't really fling herself into the tennis culture with the requisite commitment until around 2009."
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where in the world did he get *this* origin story? Let me break it down for you:
She never chose to pursue university instead of pro-tennis.
She did not and has not completed a university-level education in Germany. She's still studying.
As she never went to university, she did not in fact "practice and play a bit while she was in school."
She *did* actually "fling herself into the tennis culture" before 2009.
How do I know this? Because I actually asked her about it in Melbourne. And I wrote it up. I even fact-checked! Like a real-live journalist!!! Which Pete's supposed to be!!!
Like...how in the world did he even come up with that story? If you go to the WTA website and look up Petko's profile, you can easily see with a few clicks of a mouse that she turned pro in 2006. If you were to keep clicking through you'd see that she was playing tournaments every year. How was she going to university at the same time?
So if the story is that she didn't "fling herself" into the tennis culture with the requisite commitment until 2009, wouldn't one want to ask why that was? Well, if one were the curious blogging type, one could just look at Ms. Petkovic's Wikipedia page and see that she tore her ACL in 2008 and was off the court for eight months. If one were to ask Ms. Petkovic actual investigative questions, one would have been told that in that eight months, she had to decide whether she still wanted to pursue a pro career or her studies.
I mean, the way Monsieur Bodo writes it Petko never took tennis all that seriously, had her nose in a book and did keg stands for four years, and then decided, "You know what? I'm going to try now."
That's not the story. That's not even close to the story.
Normally I would just let this shit go. Errors aside, his piece is a nice write-up of how she's taken over Miami. But if I have to sit on Twitter for a week as the established media publicly takes a shit on bloggers for deigning to be in their press room, calling us "fans with typewriters", then I'm going to start taking a closer look at the shit you write. If you're so much better than me and think you deserve to be the authoritative voices of the tennis community, prove it.
I may be a fan with a typewriter, but at least my typewriter has an ethernet connection so I can, like, Google shit.
Yo. Adidas. Can she have her own "All Petko" shirt now? I think she's fucking earned it.
How many times have we been left with head in hands as a player pulls off a career performance one day only to turn around the next and barely look like a person worthy of the court? It happens all the time, whether it's our favorite players or the players that beat our favorite players, only to stink up the joint the next round. You hear it all the time from the women of the WTA: Anyone can beat anyone on any given day. Some argue that's because of parity, some argue inconsistency. But anyone who follows the tour knows it's true. It happens all the time.
So I think as tennis fans we are savvy enough to know that one win does not a career make. One win does not transform you into a player to be reckoned with. One win can easily be shrugged off as a mere blip, excused as an outlier. But string some quality wins together? That's a signal. Do it at a high-level tournament? Air-horn. And do it with solid performances over the course of a two-week tournament? Ticker tape parade. Even the ignorant jerks who try to pretend that women's tennis isn't a thing have to put down their Playboys and go "Hmmmm."
Petko's having one of those runs. Sure, her big personality is making a splash here in Miami and she's charming the pants off the local media who clearly have no idea that she's, you know, a thing. Her first press conference was attended by me and a writer for the tournament website. Now they're events. I mean, talk about your favorite indie band blowing up overnight. It's like Death Cab before they were on The OC. All of a sudden people who know shit about shit are acting like they discovered something new. "Wow. That Ben Gibbard is talented. He can really craft a song." NO SHIT, SHERLOCK! WE'VE KNOWN THAT FOR YEARS!
Imagine my eye-rolling when the first question posed to Petko after her win over Caro was, "So, do you have a name for that dance?" Come on, homie. You had 45 minutes to get ready for this presser. Google is your friend.
You can understand why she's ready to retire it.
But enough of my ranting. Back to the tennis.
A day after ousting Caro in three sets, Petko backed up her win with a three-set tussle with JJ that saw more ups and downs than something other than a rollercoaster because that rollercoaster analogy is trite. JJ came out firing in the first set and wasn't giving Petko much of a chance to do anything. Then the rain came at 5-2, the players were called off the court, and Petko harnessed her chi:
"I started off very slow, especially my feet were not moving well. I was always one step late, I had the feeling. I also had the feeling that Jelena was playing really, really great in the beginning and she didn't really give me the chance to play my best. So I think the rain delay slowed her down a little bit and gave me also the moments and the time to calm down a little bit because I was also getting emotional and frustrated with myself.
[My coach] just told me to remain calm, that she was playing really great, and if she plays a whole match like this then you can just say 'Okay, very well played.' So that calmed me down a little bit because I felt like, okay, I'm playing bad, but I didn't really acknowledge the fact that she was playing great. That really calmed me down to know that, Okay, if she really plays that well I'm just going to shake her hand and say, Hey, well played today."
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of the post-chi-harnessing play. I was over on Court 2 watching Ana and Kim. But it sounds like Petko upped her level, JJ dropped hers and it was all to play for in the third, which saw JJ get an early break at 4-2 before Petko was able to fight to reel off the next four games, fighting off multiple break points at 4-4 to hold, and then breaking JJ in a nine-deuce game for the match.
The theme of the day seemed to be fitness. A bit more on that later. But physically, Petko's a beast, and her fitness level drives her confidence:
"Physically I'm, I think, one of the most prepared girls in the tour. My coach actually said to me when he came on the changeover, I said, Man, I'm dying. He said, Okay, imagine you are dying, how is she feeling? I was like, Okay, she's dead already."
This is why you hit the gym, ladies. There are enough things to be worried about on the court. Freaking out because you're not sure you can last very long doesn't need to be one of them.
As for your Daily Petko Quippy-Quips:
"I have a very good coach who's gonna bring me all the food I need. I'm going to go to a steakhouse, eat eight steaks, and I'm gonna be fine."
"I like it much more to play doubles with a friend, with a good friend, instead of practicing with your coach who bores me after a while. (Laughter.)"
"I believe in myself. But unfortunate in tennis, it's not only about you. There are also other players who have a word to say. But that's at least a step, the first step to believe in yourself and believe that you can win. I mean, I took out the world #1 and I took out the former world #1, so I think there is nothing that stands in the way. Just two more girls stand in the way. (Laughter.)"
"I'm doing intervals. So in the beginning I started with 30/30, and the closer it gets to the tennis I start to do it as related as possible to rallies. So 15 seconds, 15 seconds for my type of game is maybe the -- I think Karlovic does 2 seconds, 2 seconds. (Laughter.)
During Ana's third round win over Razzano, Petko popped in to watch the match after her practice. Awfully nice, I thought. She just happened to be standing waiting for the changeover when an absolutely horrible line call went against Ana.
Just like her BFF, Petko has a HORRIBLE poker face.
Uh...you're not helping things, Petko. You're only encouraging her.
"It's cool, Anci. I got your back. This isn't creepy at all. I promise."
So Petko has a nickname for me: "Forty". I feel like this is such cosmic justice for the fact that I run a blog that revolves around nicknames. Anyway, not only did she bring it up during our interview earlier in the week, but she's hellbent on actually using it whenever she sees me.
This would include press conferences:
Q: Has [Ana] paid the $20?
Petkovic: Ana? Yeah, immediately. You have to pay in the changeovers. We already exchange -- yeah it's true. (Laughter) It's true. Forty has pictures. You have?
That's in addition to Petko shutting down a reporter when we asked her a question at the same time. "Sorry. It's Forty." Heh.
Anyway, since she asked, yes, I have pictures of the cash exchange from yesterday's match:
In case you're wondering:
"I won 20 bucks. Ana, I think she shed one tear, because I hit aces. I usually go more for percentage and trying to mix it up. Yesterday, like in the first or second game I hit three aces, which is 15 bucks already. Also on the decisive point I hit a return winner, which is also 5 bucks, so 20 bucks all in all. She earned -- I think she had one ace and one important volley, so that was $7. So $13. (Laughter)"
Since Petko's known that she was going to play Caro she's been vocal about her intent to employ a new gameplan against her, one that other WTAers just don't seem to want to adopt: be patient, work the ball, use the angles, get Caro moving with well-placed shots, wait for the short ball, and terminate it. It sounds simple but for an aggressive player like Petko, it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to trust that gameplan and execute.
While she benefited from Caro's uncharacteristically flat play, (50 UFEs!!!!!!!!!!!!), I was convinced that she'd panic and abandon the gameplan after Caro took the second set. I have never been more happy to be wrong. Andrea kept her head, stayed focused, got the decisive break after losing a break advantage, and then served out the match with an ace. Quite the performance from the woman who used to be known for that epic 4MP collapse against Sveta at RG.
"Most of the players think they can overpower Caroline. I think that's the wrong approach, because that's where she's most comfortable, when she can run and bring the most balls back. Then once you lose your concentration for once on your shot, she goes for it. Some like to say that she's pushing, but it's not like the balls are slow and not short, you know. They are quite deep, so you cannot really attack them.
What I try to do is mix it up and to make her play, and then when I had the short ball to go for it. Because if you try to hit every single shot with full power, full power, she just gets more comfortable, more comfortable, and eventually you're gonna miss. She's not gonna miss the last one.
So this is what I tried to do, just be patient and wait for the short ball, and until then try to mix it up and also give her the initiative to try to play.
So there's the book on Caro. And it is dead-on. The question of course is whether it would work when Caro has her A-Game. Tough call. But Petko looked like a genius today.
As for Caro, she gave one of the more evasive, sarcastic pressers I've seen from her. On being asked about Petko's very public game plan:
"I lost a match. That happens. If she had a plan, good for her."
LOLOLOLOL. Love it.
On being asked what was going on with her forehand today:
"Nothing was going on with my forehand. Nothing was going on with my backhand. You know, I lost the match. She played a good match."
And on whether she was more emotional on court than normal:
"I don't know. I was playing a match. I wanted to win, and that's it."
I found the whole thing hilarious. Her energy reminded me of Moose's post-loss pressers. "I don't want to be here but I'll answer your stupid fucking question using minimum effort and I'm not going to give you shit."
As for Petko, she advances to take on JJ. Same game plan maybe? Tough call. I feel like you actually can hit through JJ and a conservative game plan won't work. She has more firepower with that backhand than Caro. But what do I know. I'm not the one who just snapped the World #1's 23-match win streak at Premier Mandatory events.
I think that stat is right. I don't have my abacus with me.
One piece of breaking news regarding the Petko Dance:
I wanted to get rid of it after the US Open, but the fans, they said like, Hey, we are just coming to see the dance and you're not doing anymore. So I brought it back in. But this is definitely the last tournament where it's gonna happen, and then I'm moving on to something else. (Laughter)
I'm a little sad, but it was a nice phase and it was nice fun, but now I'm getting a little tired of it. Time to move on.
So long as you keep winning, I don't think any of us mind, Andrea. But here's hoping we get to see the Petko Dance a few more times before the week is over.
Ana had a successful day at the office but a rough day with the umpires. Her singles match was riddled with questionable calls and her doubles match saw Ivanorazzi get broken in the second set on an overrule from the chair. Ana was...not pleased. But as Petko's facial expressions show, a pissed off Ana is a hilarious Ana.
The funny thing is that it wasn't even on her shot. It was on Petko's. What a good teammate.
Ivanorazzi!!! Totally the highlight of yesterday's viewing schedule. After spending much of the morning watching Sveta and Sam cruise, I was off to watch me the doubles pairing of two of the more charming and delightful ladies on tour. And while they're actually not horrible at the game of tennis, they haven't actually won matches together. And by that I mean, no really, they actually haven't won a match together.
Whoops. I wasn't the only one stoked for this match. It took me four changeovers to finally get into the stands. The Sveta/Bepa dubs was packed later in the day as well. Take a lesson from your preppy twin, Sony Ericsson Open: People love doubles, even when girls play.
Once inside it was everything I hoped it would be.
There were lots of adorable high-fives.
Adorabler high 2.5s.
Actually, that one's more of a high 0.92.
And Ana was a dork. Seriously. She was suuuuuuuuuuuuch a dork throughout the match. During the changeover after this point, Ana went to wallet and gave Petko some cash. Want to know why? Well, this is what Petko told me afterwards:
She actually gave me $10 but I had to give her change. So [the rules are] if you serve an ace on an important point, $5. If you serve a service winner on an important point, $2, return winner, $2. And this, where she gave me $2, was she said "OK, I'm going to serve a first serve and if you cross and put the volley away I'll give you $2." And she just had $10 so she gave it to me and I said I would give her the change later. Then, after that amazing most epic point ever, she said "OK. You can keep the change." We said that probably we would be the #1 and #2 in the world if the prize money was visible on the net post. So that's our way of motivating.
So there you go. I'm bringing an abacus to their next match to keep tally. Just kidding. I always have an abacus on me. Because I'm Asian.
After losing the first set 6-4, Ivanorazzi quickly built a 4-0 lead over Angry Rodionova and Chuang. In fact, they served for the match at 5-1. Of course, it would have to be Ana serving. My viewing companion, the lovely Aisha, leaned over and whispered, "How much you want to bet it'll be 5-2?" House money, girl. I ain't dumb.
As if we needed any reminder that these two were playing under an invisible Serbian flag, 5-1 became 5-2, which evolved to 5-3, which morphed to 5-4, which metastasised to 5-5. NERVOOOOOOOS! As if the match needed any more twists and turns, Ana served at 5-5 and...HELD!!! Then on set point, Petko put away a volley and turned to Ana as if to say "See? Was that so hard?"
On to the Super Tiebreak, where Ivanorazzi have seen their hopes and dreams dashed almost every time. But they both played fantastic! Ana was flying around the net, intercepting crosses and putting away her volleys. At one point she hit a high flying backhand volley which caused me to wonder out loud, "Is it just me or was that...actually...balletic?" People laughed. As they should.
Of course Rodio wouldn't go down easily. With coach Conchita Martinez cheering her on, Rodio thwapped an overhead that Petko had to hit the deck to avoid. BISH WHAT??? It's a good thing there were steel barriers. I was ready to charge the court and throw down. But I should know better. Petko can handle herself. On the very next point she hit an overhead in the general vicinity of Rodio. Heh. That's our Petko. From there the ladies built up quite the lead and finally closed it out 10-5.
Hugs, smiles, high fives, WHATEVER!!! I WANT TO SEE THE DANCE, DAMMIT!
Um. So that was awesome. As they walked off the court a guy called out to Ana to do the dance again. "Next match," she said through a shy smile. Let's hope so!
I asked Petko what took more time, convincing Ana to do the dance or teaching it to her:
Convincing was hard work because last week in Indian Wells, I think, in the tiebreaker, I felt like she hit one or two double faults and didn't hit the returns quite as she's used to. Because I told her before the breaker, I thought it would be motivation but obviously it was some kind of scaring her. I told her "Ana we do the Petko dance if we win!" and I thought like, she's gonna go like "Yeah! Now I'm going to run even more!" but she went, like "Yeah. I'm going to serve two doubles and not put the return in." So I think she was scared back then. But now we practiced and now she's more comfortable. But she said before the match points she said she was getting so nervous because now we were winning it and she would have to do the Petko dance.
Way to hold your nerve, Ana. And well done with the booty-shaking.
It was a long but successful day at the office for Petko, who took out Jamie Hampton in singles under the blazing early afternoon sun and then had to turn around for dubs under the low, hot late-afternoon sun. She was wiped (she apparently fell asleep during her massage) but elated:
Emotion-wise, today winning doubles with Ana was really, I was more happy about that than about my singles win because I haven't won a doubles match in a year. And I'm not that bad of a doubles player, I just don't win. Today I was so happy and Ana also, because we tried a couple of times to play together and we always lost in the Champions tie-break. So probably I had good emotions today after winning the doubles. And I got her to do the Petko dance.
Yes, you did, Andrea. And *that* was your biggest triumph of the day.
This is Josh. He's been my traveling this year. He braved the heat and rain of Australia and on his first trip to Indian Wells, he went a little nuts. You'll be seeing more of Josh, trust.
So the Three Stripes seem to have unveiled a new slogan here at Indian Wells: Adidas Is All In. Kind of random and not the most inspiring choice, especially when "Impossible Is Nothing" works so well. I'm guessing it's less directed towards consumers and more a statement of reassurance for their stable of players. "We got your back," is perhaps what they intend, while all I hear is "We bet the ranch on you so go out there and win or else we're homeless. No pressure!"
As it is, Adidas literally does have their backs, although again, if you really think about it, sense it makes none:
And yes, that is "All Fernando" goosing Rafa. The dude likes titties and he doesn't care what they're attached to.
So you can imagine the amount of scrambling and sprinting involved when, thanks to the glorious combination of Twitter and cellular telephone (or "cell phone" if you're one of those "hip" kids), I found out Petko and Ana were practicing with each other.
It was awesome.
Except for the part where Ana kinda sucked at tennis. Lots of quiet frustration from her throughout their practice set, which continued through her practice set with her hitting partner. Her timing just looked off.
The Forty Deuce Nation is firmly on Team Petkovic, right? I mean, I don't think I've ever heard or read a negative thing about her in the comments from you guys. Therefore, I accept her awesomeness and badassery as incontrovertable fact.
Well yesterday, on the heels of my idiotic tribute to "cut and paste" (or "cute and pastey" depending on how you see things) wouldn't you know it, Petko popped on Twitter and held an impromptu Q&A sesh.
I'm not proud that I took part in this charade, but I did. And the whole Halpert/Petko Twitter flirtation has now become one of the most uncomfortable things ever. What started out kind of adorable has somehow morphed into this game of who can make the Twitter world yell "GET A ROOM" first.
But really, doesn't this all just seem like the entire German Fed Cup team is just following the whole thing and laughing at John? Which they have every right to do, really. The guy asked a girl who cites Bloc Party and German dance music whether she likes an Avril Lavigne song. He deserves what he has coming. But I totally feel like this is some tween comedy where Petko's going to convince him to strip down, put on her panties, and wait for her blindfolded inside a closet, and the door of that closet will actually turn out to be the entrance to Arthur Ashe.
OMG. I should write movies.
Anyway. Here's their exchange:
(Oh god. Here we go.)
(Petko plays it cool. Totes veteran move.)
...
(DUDE. NO.)
(Oh, clearly you two don't know each other very well.)
(Wait. Canadians think Avril's an upgrade from Celine? Huh.)
(Aaaaand Petko's figured it out.)
(Oh no! You admitted you like the song! Rookie mistake! You can't back out of it now. We are officially upgrading this to Threat Level Midnight.)
(Andrea Petkovic is so awesomely normal.)
(Oh god. This is veering toward the David Brentian level of cringe-worthy. If you suggest a song and a girl starts laughing her ass off, unless it was a track off a Tenacious D record, you're fucked. I mean, insofar as you're not getting fucked. Gently or otherwise.)
(SARCASMO!)
(Translation: Here's why I was being sarcastic. That pop shit ain't my jam.)
(Oh, puppy. So excite!)
...
(Red alert, John. Her friends are getting in on this now.)
(And they're so brazenly fucking with you they're tweeting around you in German but totes letting you know that they're talking about you. This is so pro I can't even high five them enough.)
(Puppy want more treats!) ...
(ROUND 3!)
(Seriously, are you 13?)
(Love that she brought up Avril and the chest business, which let's face it, is comedic genius.)
Oh, Petko. Don't hurt him. He's like a little puppy and you're like...Andrea Petkovic.
Also, if I may take the time for a PSA for the boys: Asking a girl if she likes the new Avril Lavigne song is a really easy way to ensure that you will forever be known among her and circle of friends as "The Avril Dude." The Avril Dude NEVER GETS LAID. Trust.
I've never understood this whole "dinner on the beach" business. Why do you want (a) sand in your food, (b) wind turning your hair into a Bride of Frankenstein fro, (c) having to scream over the sound of crashing waves and wind to have a conversation, and (d) sand up your butt?
Have I mentioned that I'm not fond of the beach generally? Or Valentine's Day? (High five, Petko. Concert and beer. Word).
But side-ponytailed Bepa asking for a surprise? I just heard a lot of men and women squee their pants.
Inner Monologue: "What language are they speaking? Also, WHERE AM I???"
It's like she plays a version of tennis that only exists in her mind. She's like the anti-Neo.
It's cute that you guys all get along, but GODDAMMIT, FLAVIA.
Just wanted to confirm: She's still little.
Nice try, ladies. But despite what you may have heard, a drunk vagina is still going to get pregnant. Alcohol and bubbles ain't gonna stop those little fuckers.
As is always the case with Fran, the pictures tell the story.
In case we leave the weekend and forget, Jarka capped off a fantastic swing on her new home soil, winning Hobart, a solid run in Melbourne, and a three-set win over a top 5 player. Something tells me Australia welcomes you, Jarka.
Ah, Fed Cup. I always always always forget how much I love you and then you remind me every damn time. I don't know why I thought I wouldn't care all that much about Fed Cup this past weekend. I mean, for Christsakes I was flying to Hobart to go to a tie (more on that later), but I suppose I always need reminding as to how badass these ladies can be when they play for their flag.
First off, how about Sveta bouncing back after losing to THE CONE on Saturday (Alize had never won a Fed Cup rubber. Like...ever) to help Russia come back from an 0-2 hole (Uh...good job, Masha). But really, much props to Pavs for stepping up after Tarpi benched Masha, to beat Cones and pair up with Sveta to win the deciding doubles tie.
Cheerios!
And then there was Flavia, who drove the business end of her Wilson racquet through Stubbsy's heart by taking her two singles rubbers and continuing her domination over Sam (she's now 4-0).
The good news is that Sam played two tough three setters and she's not playing poorly. She's just not 100% dialed in yet and I think she was overusing the slice against Flavia. I'm confident she'll be alright though, despite being on a 3 match losing streak (Kvitova, Pennetta, Schiavone). Just as with Masha, the kid just don't play good on home soil. Moving on.
Belgium destroyed the Americans. They reacted accordingly.
Funny thing I read: Mel won 7 points in one set against Kim. Like I said, funny.
Germany did what they do. They perfectly combine being badassedly adorable.
But how about the Serbian Sisters? No, no THOSE ones. The ones that are good at tennis!
Bojangles and wee little AK47 took out Canada, 3-2. AK lost her two singles rubbers, but she acquitted herself well and teamed up with Bojo to win the decisive doubles rubber. She actually came back from 0-5 down in the third to Marino, only to lose it eventually, 7-5. As for Bojangles, there's no way she's not top 25 before the end of the year. Fantastic stuff in front of a not-even-close-to-sell-out-crowd in Belgrade.
It's been almost a week since the last ball skid across the blue courts of Melbourne Park and, to be honest, I'm still in a complete daze. So much happened and yet, given the gut-punch of Sunday night, it's taken me a while to even remember all the awesome stuff from this year's Aussie Open.
Thank GOD for pictures.
Don't worry. That's just how ninjas recharge. It's meditation, homes.
I hear ya, Fran. I totes hear ya.
Hey. Remember when Andy looked good in white and was also pretty good at tennis?
Do I dare say it? Do I jinx it for all of Asia and hard-working, sassy, no-nonsense Asian girls? I've been trying to ignore Nails as much as possible but, just as sneaky Asians do, she's been quietly kicking-ass, gaining a head of steam, and she now takes the court with an air of inevitability. Petko definitely experienced the ass-kicking part, as she went up 2-0 in the first set before Nails reeled off the next six games. The second set was much the same.
Nails just looks to be a different class of player these days. She's a subscriber of the Sveta School of "JUST PLAY STUPID, STUPID". "If you thinking too much, of course you mistake a lot. So tennis, you don't need to thinking too much, just focus."
Focused is exactly the word to describe her right now. She's 10-0 for 2011, hasn't dropped a set here in Melbourne, hasn't dropped more than 6 games in any match here, and beat Kim in Sydney. She's playing with intent and direction, knowing precisely what she wants to do on every single shot. There's no hesitation and it really doesn't look like there's any thought. It's automatic. And when a player is in that "automatic" zone, all you can hope as an opponent is that a bucket of cold water drops from the heavens.
That bucket never came for Petko, just like it never came from Vika. It was enough for Petko to anoint Nails her favorite for the tournament.
"I think she's going to win the tournament.
You know, I haven't seen the other players. It's more a feeling. It's nothing that I can tell you her forehand is good or her backhand. It's just the feeling, how she is on court, her confidence and the way she's playing. I just feel she has a great chance to win the tournament.
Sometimes you get the feeling during the match that somebody is really strong and just has that confidence going on, that aura maybe. Is this a word in English? Okay."
I'm pretty sure it's a word in Mandarin, too.
Could you imagine how huge it would be for an Asian player, let alone a Chinese player, to win this tournament? I mean, yeah, Rafa Slams and Britain snapping their streak are big stories, too, but Na Li pulling a Mulan and taking this title for China would change the tennis landscape overnight. We're talking about a nation of 1.3 billion people that has, so far, left a negligible imprint on one of the most lucrative global sports. Not only would we be talking of a new generation of Chinese tennis players in 10-20 years, the WTA and ATP Tours could potentially crack open a huge new market.
This would be a really big deal, is what I'm saying. Nails will have to get past Caroline first to even have a crack at it. But I can't say that this isn't my favorite storyline coming out of the WTA side of things.
I'm lighting incense and putting persimmons on the mantle as we speak.
Welcome to the Australian Open quarterfinals, Petko. She busted a completely-off-her-game Masha 62 63 to ensure that a German would be the women's AO quarters for the first time since Steffi in 1999. A fantastic result for her but let's be real: Masha was a complete no-show. Girl wasn't just missing by centimeters. She was missing by yards. It was ridiculous.
Q. Did you feel comfortable out there tonight?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Did it look like it?
Not really. In a cute little exchange though, the post-match pressers were backed up so as Sveta was finishing her presser, which ran a bit long due to a rambling answer about her millions of prize winnings, Masha poked her head in and with a wide smile, caught Sveta's eye and said "Sveta, you're done!" Sveta smiled, walked towards the door and kept on rambling. "They keep asking me what I do with my millions." "She gives it to me!" They shared a warm and tired hello, patted each other on the back and carried on. A nice moment between two tired and disappointed champions.
Masha admitted that it was "a bad day at the office", but when asked about whether it was disappointing to no longer be at the top of the game, she reassured everyone that this, tennis, is what she loves.
I have achieved, like you said, done many things in my career. I've won many matches and been No. 1 in the world, and also had an opportunity to say that I've had enough.
You know, I could do many other things in my life. I have enough money; I have a great family around me. But when I was away from the sport, everything I wanted to do was to wake up in the morning and not put my ballerinas on, but to put on my Nikes and go out there and run and play.
When it was taken away from me, I realized how much I loved it. When you go through it every single day, you almost forget a little bit. You take a step back and, you know, I miss this. I really wanted it.
I believe her. But I'm not sure she ever thought it would be this hard.
Petko's got the absolutely en fuego Nails next. Nails derailed the Vika train in rather perfunctory fashion, 63 63. So once again, Vika's a dark horse choice for hard court Slam, and once again she crashes out earlier than expected. She's still never been past a quarterfinal at a Slam. It's a really curious run of Slam results for her. She just did not have any answers for Nails' flat hitting.
If you want some good tennis analysis, Nails is your girl:
Q. Could you tell us what you thought of the match and why you won.
Poor Venus. She gamely made her way out to Laver, gingerly warmed up, and listlessly got broken by Petko. Then, trying to return a serve down the tee, she lunged and screamed in pain, walked to the chair, requested the physio, had a conversation that involved the words "sharp pain", walked over to Petko, gave her a hug, packed her back and walked off the court to retire from a Slam match for the first time in her career.
And people booed. Fuck them.
She said that she hoped for a miracle and that maybe, just maybe, the adrenaline would kick in and she'd be able to get through the match. But it was too painful and she couldn't go on. Oracene was in the press conference and in response to a question about whether or not Venus consulted any doctors to determine whether she should play tonight, she chimed in and said she didn't think Venus' should have come to Australia in the first place. Funny, but rough.
On when she expects to return to the tour: "When I come back to play next time, I'll be a 100%. So I won't be back until whenever that is. Hopefully, who knows, maybe it'll be for Fed Cup." But don't worry, the end ain't here yet.
"I'm just going to focus obviously on getting healthy and coming back. Because I love tennis and I've got a lot of great tennis in me. I love my job, so no end in sight."
Good to hear. Now we'll just have to wait and see.
So Petko backs up her 4R performance at the USO with a 4R here in Melbourne, benefiting both times by a retirement in the third round. She was definitely amped for the match and said she was really looking forward to play Venus because you don't get a chance to play a Champion all the time. She also hopes that she hasn't become a weird jinx at Slams for her 3R opponent. But she was really happy to be in the fourth round. I'm happy for her, too.
Has it really only been four days? It feels like a week already, to be honest. But it's been pretty great so far, even if I feel as loopy as that girl looks.
You know how there are some guys you look at and you're like "Oooh. I bet you he'd be total gentle and kind in the sex."
Yeah, Lleyton is not that guy.
You can always count on some good MaKiri Grit Face when she comes through in a tight three-setter. Always. Couldn't follow it up though, and she's out to Iveta today.
What's the best way to cope the day after your favorite player plays an epic three setter, saves match points, only to lose? Crawling back under my covers this morning didn't seem like a viable (or healthy) option. I perused the order of play on my tram ride to Melbourne Park and came up with a game plan: I was going to watch matches that didn't require me to pick sides or root for any players. I just didn't have it in me to get emotionally attached to any matches today and I certainly didn't have the capacity for heartbreak or disappointment.
Luckily, two matches fit the bill: Fernando vs. Janko and Petko vs. AKO. I like all four players, I'm fine if any one of them win, and since they were playing each other, I was ok if any one of them lost. This seemed like a fool-proof plan. I could just sit and enjoy the tennis and just hope and root for each player to put in a good performance.
After strolling the grounds to soak in some practice courts (I saw Big John smiling and chatting up some fans as he signed autographs after practice) I returned to the scene of the crime: Hisense Arena. It was another overcast day as I settled into a chilly dome for Fernando vs. Janko. I made it a point to avoid the seat I was firmly lodged in for almost three hours yesterday. Post-traumatic stress disorder is real and it must be managed.
For two sets Janko was, as he tends to be, early-round-Slam Janko. He was hitting his serve and going for his shots and Fer just couldn't find his range or figure out how to get him out of his rhythm. It was kind of a bummer, actually. I wanted to see a good match and Fernando wasn't obliging. It was looking like the men's side would suffer their first top seed exit. He was at times frustrated, at times listless, and at times, racquet-breaky.
But somewhere along the way -- maybe it was all the Serb flags in the crowd -- Janko remembered that he is Serbian. Serbs just don't do straightforward. Serbs do drama. And there has been no bigger or better stage for Serbian drama in the past 24 hours than Hisense Arena.
So Janko would find himself, after dropping the third set, twice serving for the match in the fourth set. In fact, he would have three match points. Somewhere in those three match points, Fernando would twist his ankle and get gimpy. And yet. AND YET. Janko would choke on a backhand volley that, instead of putting away, he put back into the middle of the court to give Fer a chance to pass. He did, and it was all downhill from there. Janko would blow the rest of his match points, Fernando would break to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-0, crushing forehands left and right.
From there the Serbian fatalism that I have come to know and love/hate kicked in and you just knew it was over. Fernando would drop a bagel in the fifth set, crushing forehands and serves, and Janko looked like he would rather be anywhere than Hisense. I knew the feeling. He said afterwards that he was "dead in the legs". Probably true, but he was dead in the heart, too.
It was a disappointing end to the match for sure. I would have loved to have seen these two play at their best. But it happens and after Janko blew that one MP that he should have converted the result was inevitable.
Good win for Fernando, though. Not sure how this match will get written up but I wouldn't label the win an "epic comeback". I mean, Fernando definitely stepped up a bit, but by then Janko was long gone. Hopefully it knocked something loose in Fernando's head and he plays better going forward. It was a rather shocking performance after his masterful destruction of Rainer Schuettler on Monday.
But the match served it's purpose. I was able to sit there and watch some good tennis without any frazzling or real vested interest. So go me. My plan was working.
I bookended the day (or at least I thought it would be the bookend) with Petko vs. AKO on Court 3. Again, a match that I could be happy about either way. Anne has been on the brink of retirement and had a great qualifying run to get into the main draw here to get her back into the Top 100. A spot in the third round to face a possibly gimpy Venus would be HUGE for her. But then there's Petko, who's trying to kick off her year positively after a pretty heartbreaking 2010.
You could tell from the get-go that this match meant a lot to these two, who are good buddies off the court. I mean, of course they would be good buddies. Awesome people find awesome people and become friends. Those are the rules of the universe.
Anne came out of the blocks on fire, moving really well and playing steady, patient tennis. She would take the first set convincingly, 6-2. But after Petko left the court for a toilet break and then had to call an MTO at the first change to get her ankle taped (she twisted it in the first game of the second set), Anne cooled off a bit. It was a tense second set but you got the impression that Petko was going to be able to pull away. Anne's a fighter and she broke her while she was serving for the set, only to be broken back and eventually lose the second set. From there it was all Andrea, who ran away with the third 6-0 to send her good buddy packing. Another disappointing end to an otherwise well-played match, but no real disappointment from me. I'm looking forward to the Petko/Venus third rounder.
I came back to the media center with a bit of pep in my step. I felt recharged and ready to go for tomorrow's day of stress. I thought that would be the end of the day.
Ah, Petko. A sight for sore eyes. She rolled over Jill Craybas in straight sets and she was absolutely rocking the white Adidas kit. She's looking fit and hitting the ball well. Nice performance for her.
Great start of the year for Petko, who takes out Groth in a hard-fought three-setter to make the semis in Brisbane. As is her trademark, she shot her gun and did a little dance before sending a heartfelt racquet clap Jarka's way.
Sidenote: Jarka's husband, the newly mohawked Sam Groth, served as her coach during the coaching timeout. It was like watching an episode of The Sopranos. F-bombs EVERYWHERE. Awesome.
As expected, the Petko backlashing has begun, with Twitter folks starting the campaign for her to stop with the Petko Dance. Me? I say, DANCE, PETKO, DANCE! Anyone who's read any interviews with her knows she means absolutely nothing by it. It's her thing in the same way that Jo does his thumb dance after matches. It's her trademark, it's harmless, and I'd hate to see her forced back into the cookie cutter mix of personality-less WTA hackers. He was sidelined with injury, had a heartbreaking 2010, and is justifiably excited to be back on court and playing well. Let the kid dance and shoot her guns.
My Serbian sources tell me that this is how crazy Belgrade Arena could get for Davis Cup. At least, it's how crazy Belgrade Arena *should* get for Davis Cup. But from what I understand, people who actually want to go and cheer on their boys are having trouble getting tickets, and fancy bougies who just want to go to be seen are buying up all the tickets. They'll probably sit courtside and look bored and shit.
Huh. That sounds a hell of a lot like the U.S. Open.
But hey, if I can incite a near-riot* by cheering on Janko from the last row in the upper decks at Ashe, the hardcore fans, even if few in number, should be deafening in Belgrade.
Hell, give Ana and Petko some thundersticks and let them go at it.
