Whereas other bloggers, sportswriters, and opinionated people write something to this effect before a tennis tournament starts, I wait ‘til its halfway over so I can ridicule them with the help of beautiful beautiful hindsight. Eat it Yahoo Sports.
Let’s take a look at the storylines, interesting points, and flat out infuriating shit that’s going on at this year’s open.
Who-din? – I have a name for you and it is Melanie Oudin. This 17 year old Georgia native won gold at the Beijing Olympics last year and even upset Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon earlier this summer. So far at the U.S. open she’s dropped both Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova, although the later isn’t surprising anyone. She may be unseeded this year but expect this to change quickly. She’s young, talented, quick footed, and wears shoes that probably glow in the dark. Her next match is against the Russian Nadia Petrova tomorrow. Prepare for Cold War references a plenty.
CBS Split Screens – CBS for some ungodly reason decided it would be cool to occasionally show two matches at once on the same channel. Nice right? NO. Instead of splitting the screen in half they’re putting two miniscule video feeds diagonal to each other with some odd hypnosis inducing background surrounding them. Not only can you not see either match well provided you aren’t watching in IMAX, but the background distracts you so much itis impossible to focus on them in the first place. Much like its showing matches on a 2 hour delay earlier this year CBS has once again screwed up America’s ability to watch good tennis.
Roddick? NO! – It was so perfect. A U.S. Open title in 2003, six years of sub standard play, a gorgeous wife and a simply amazing finals match at Wimbledon. Roddick was coming back home and everyone was looking for him to challenge for the championship. Well he lost yesterday to some 6’9” schmuck from North Carolina. I wonder what Federer’s up to?
Federer – He’s winning.
Women’s Singles Draw – The following players are already out: Dinara Safina (1), Venus Willians (3), Elena Dementieva (4), Jelena Jankovic (5), Victoria Azarenka (8). The last time a Top 10 was gutted this bad it was the 2007 NCAA Football season. At this point the tourney is Serena Williams’ to lose. On the other side of the draw I’m predicting Oudin vs. Kuznetsova in the quarter finals. Whoever wins can walk from the there to the finals considering every potential challenger is unseeded un-american/swiss and therefore unrelevant (save it, I can spell).
Kim Clijsters is still playing? – Yeah I know, I thought so too. Although unseeded in this tournament the former women’s number 1 beat Venus Williams this afternoon with the score of 6-0 6-4 with the minor note that somehow she lost a set 0-6 between the two. How this happened is still vexing me.
Rafa Nadal – Although recovering from tendinitis in his knees, a stomach muscle problem, lupus, avian flu, the mumps, and an acute case of the willies, Nadal has been solid so far reaching the quarterfinals while losing only one set. He beat Federer on hard court earlier this year during the Australian Open but considering the myriad of ailments that have struck him since then I can’t say he’s 100%. Either way renewing his rivalry with Federer in the finals paired with a Giants Dodgers series in the bay (our park is better) would make for one hell of a weekend.
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