It's Elementary.

Ika nga ni Sherlock Holmes: Change is afoot.

Well, no, that's not what he actually says, but it fits my narrative, so whatever.

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500 Days of Summer = Awesome Movie. In fact, it's the best movie I've seen this year. It's like the '00s version of Before Sunrise for me (the only other romantic movie that I actually like.) (Yes, I know neither movie actually ends up with anyone being together, which isn't really romantic, but that's what makes them awesome and true.) (and please don't judge me and my ideas of romance just based on the types of romantic movies I like) (yes I'm being defensive)

Also, Zooey Deschanel rocks my socks. Zooey is in a folksy band call She and Him, where she's all kinds of awesome.


See? Eto pa:


No wonder Tom went in and out of a couple of quarterlife crises because of her.

Nasty Santi

That typhoon was nasty, eh? Was up all night because of work, and the wind was howling like a hungry wolf. And when I say howling winds, I mean HOWLING (and yes, it was literally howling, I'm not even misusing "literally" here. However, I have to admit that I've never personally heard a hungry wolf howl before.)

The tube connecting our water tank to the pressure tank also got deattached during the typhoon, so I had to put my plumber's cap on and reattach it (by using a straw rope to tie the thing together, ha!)

I also just found out that the banana, jackfruit and other trees in my parents garden in Quezon got uprooted. But I get the feeling from my mom's text message that she's is more concerned about the TV antenna getting uprooted from the roof (there's no cable tv in their hilly provincial area.)

The good thing about this typhoon is it looks like it didn't create as much damage as Typhoon Ondoy (as of the moment, at least.) And it's gone within 24 hours, and right before Halloween and the Monday holiday comes around too. OTOH, a typhoon on Halloween would've made for one befittingly spooky night.

(and since tonight is Halloween, and electricity was out earlier in the morning, I decided to get in bed and re-read The Wake. The artwork on this Sandman volume is all kinds of epic.)

Keep safe and have a happy Halloween!

Da da da, da da, Da da da.

Great song, awesome voices.

Randomly stalking people while singing? Sounds like a great idea while walking around the streets of Paris.

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And here's another good one. Great old school song sung by a great old school voice.

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Been watching the 15th season of the Amazing Race on Studio 23. They broadcast it via satellite, so it starts on time, and with no commercial breaks. Best way to watch TAR! Only six teams left, and I like all of them. It's been a pretty good season so far, they've been to Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Dubai. The last Dubai episode was AWESOME.

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I had another bout with the flu 2 weeks ago which lasted for more than a week. Never went to the doctor though so I have no idea what kind of flu I had. What's annoying is this is the 2nd time I've gotten the flu this year, after paying for flu vaccine earlier. Before the vaccine, I've gotten the flu maybe once or twice in my life.

Thanks, flu vaccine. You were worthless.

Us vs Typhoon Pepeng

Typhoon Pepeng/Parma has really devastated Northern Luzon, and has been pouring a huge amount of rain for about a week now.

Barangay Balili, La Trinidad, Benguet

Here are some tweets from @mlq3 via Danny Durante:

Rainfall 8am yesterday to 8am today is 685 mm., more than Ondoy in Manila.

Ave rainfall in baguio october past 30 yrs only 461mm, but within 24 hours has reachd 685mm already.

(and again, it's been raining there for a week already...)

and via @PlanetEarth101:

NDCC said people affected by Pepeng has reached over 1million people with nearly 40,000 inside 162 evacuation centers

The mountainous topography of Northern Luzon means they're very prone to landslides, and at the same time, the heavy rains has already brought floods to the provinces

Typhoon Pepeng may not have affected Manila as badly as the tropical storm Ondoy did, but I hope people still pour in as much help this time as they did last week for Ondoy victims.

Let's donating as much as we can:

http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/wtd.aspx

http://www.quezon.ph/2009/09/26/how-to-help/

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/27/09/tropical-storm-ondoy-how-you-can-help

http://www.kapusofoundation.com/donate

Problem Record #66369

I'm not an expert on flood control... but I do hope the government finds a few of them, and ensure that the plans they come up with gets implemented. Also, I hope our infrastructures and disaster management (prevention, response and recovery) is improved in direct response to the Ondoy calamity.

I don't think I'm alone in wanting to read the post-mortem report on what went wrong and what are the next steps so that we can avoid another disaster like this (because storms like Ondoy will come to our islands again and again...) (Asiaaid, pagawa ng PR) (sorry, work-related line...)

I also hope people realize that we can do something about this. Nagging and blaming the government isn't the only option. Let's be more environmentally concerned (taking food out from a fast food store? Tell the server you don't need the plastic. Got trash? DON'T THROW IT ON THE STREETS!) Unfortunately, I still see people in the city throwing candy wrappers, cigarette butts and small papers around... As one of the better blog posts I've read about Ondoy said, in a democracy, we the people are the government, we don't need to wait for them to do something. And it's true. Getting pissed at government officials can only do so much... If we don't actually hold them (and ourselves) accountable for the problems that we are encountering, if we don't monitor their (and our own) actions, and if we don't make solutions for the problems on our level, then how can we expect change to happen for our country?

Lastly, just because it can't be said enough: Seeing the spirit of volunteerism and the amount of care and compassion that people have shown for the typhoon victims, and our general resilience against these kinds of dire situations makes me really proud as a Filipino. While do have our problems, we don't suck people! We're actually pretty great!

p.s. US Open 2009

I've been a bit busy the past 3 weeks (with work, with bugging/harassing PLDT customer service about my suddenly non-existent phone and internet connection, and finally, with watching out for crazy ass Ondoy), so I haven't been able to write about the semifinal and final matches of the US Open... and if you kept up with it, there were some crazy matches there.

After 3 weeks, I've finally been able to catch up with work (I think), my phone and net has finally been fixed (after 1 whole week, DAMN YOU PLDT!), and Ondoy and his evil stepbrother Pepeng have gone away, so I think this might be a good time to catch up...

On the men's side, Juan Martin Del Potro wins his first grand slam in sensational manner, beating 5-time US Open champ and world #1 Roger Federer in 5 sets, 3–6, 7–6 (7–5), 4–6, 7–6 (7–4), 6–2. JMDP previously defeated #2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets, 6–2, 6–2, 6–2. That was really huge result for the (then) 20 year-old Argentine. He joins Roger, Rafa and Novak as the recent Grand Slam winners, and puts himself firmly in contention for the grand slams next year (I'm putting Murray out of that circle until he bucks the trend and actually wins one.)

Congratulations JMDP!

Anyway, while DelPo won that tournament, I have post this, since it's definitely one for the Hall of Fame Career highlight reels:

On the women's side, Caroline Wozniacki got to her first grand slam final by beating Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3. That's a great result for Caroline, who's always been on the brink of a grand slam breakthrough the past two years. Unfortunately for her though, she ran into a more formidable Belgian, Kim Clijsters. If at the start of the year, someone said that Kim would win a grand slam in 2009, I think even Kim would've laughed at that person's face... But after playing in only 2 other WTA tournaments this year, Kim mounted an amazing career comeback by winning her second grand slam title, becoming the first non-ranked player to win the US Open, and the first mother to win a grand slam since 1980.

2005 and 2009 US Open Champ Kim Clijsters with daughter Jada

Kim did it by beating Venus in the fourth round and Serena in the semis too.

Speaking of Serena, it wasn't just the semifinal match that she lost...

Totally lost her mind too.

Before the semis start...

Just a quick review of the results just before the semifinal matches start... (it's been raining here in Manila the whole day and looks like it's been raining in NY too, the Kim-Serena semifinal match has been delayed by rain.)

On the men's side, Andy Murray followed the other Andy in an early exit, losing to the 16th seed Croatian Marin Cilic. Though Murray has had good results the past months (and even overtook Rafa for the #2 ranking), he hasn't been playing his best tennis (in the matches I've seen him play, at least). Losing to Cilic in straight sets in the 4th round might be a sign that he's not coping well with the "Can he win a Grand Slam"/"He's #2 over Rafa" pressure, or it might just spur him on to lift his game to match Roger and Rafa in the Grand Slams. The bottom line for him though is 0 Grand Slams for 2009.

But you know what the best news here is? We won't have to see this face while watching the US Open Men's Final:

/cheapshot

Cilic went on to lose to JMDP (who is my pick as the finalist who'll play Roger in the final) in the quarters. Roger will face Novak Djokovic in the first semis, while JMDP is still waiting for Rafa and Fernando Gonzales' match to finish (suspended last night due to rain.) Rafa's knee injury has flared up again, so Gonzo might sneak that one in...

For the women's draw, the news has been all about Melanie Oudin's huge run (with a little bit of Kim's great comeback sandwiched in the news). She beat 4 Russians to get to the quarters (former Junior #1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, 3-time Grand Slam champ and Screaming Shriekster extraordinaire Maria Sharapova, and former #3 and current top 10 player Nadia Petrova.) Unfortunately for her, current French Open champ

Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to #9 Caroline Wozniacki, and Oudin's tennis powers apprently doesn't work out as well versus blonde Danish tennis players. Caroline won their quarterfinal match easily, 6-2, 6-2.

I've been waiting for Caroline to get a big grand slam result since last year, but she would usually lose in the 3rd or 4th rounds, to the point that I was starting to think she won't make it and the Azarenka really was this year's teen queen... But now Caroline has made the semis (Azarenka's best was a QF at the French Open and Wimbledon), and has a pretty good chance to reach the finals. She'll be facing the other surprise of the tournament, unseeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer. With Dinara and Jelena getting the upset axe, Yanina sneaked in to the semis playing big, aggressive tennis. It's great to see another Belgian coming up the ranks, a year after Justine retired. And speaking of Belgians, Kim Clijsters' comeback is officially a success. She beat Venus Williams in the 4th round 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 and will now be up against Venus' little younger sister, Serena for a place in the final. I want Kim to win, if only to spur Justine Henin to make a comeback of her own, but this match (and the whole tournament) will probably go to Serena.

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I'm using Google Chrome right now instead of Firefox... And while I'm liking some of it's features, I don't think it can handle the US Open website too well. The browser hangs a lot, especially when I open the Live Scores page. Boooooo Google Chrome!

US Open Men's Draw, Update #1

While the women's field has been decimated, there are no such upsets on the Men's side. No teen-aged sensation to talk about either (I think that spot may be reserved for Grigor Dimitrov next year...) All the top 16 male players made it to the 3rd round, the first time in Open-era history, and in the Round of 16, the 14 of the top 16 made it.

The only two casualties? #9 Frenchman Gilles Simon, who had to retire in his 3rd round match vs former #1 (and former King of Clay before a guy named Rafael Nadal came around) Juan Carlos Ferrero. JCF was a finalist here a few years ago, so it's not like he's a pushover on the hard courts. Too bad for Gilles, who was in a bit of a slump during the clay season... he was starting to get good results again, the knee injury came at a really bad time for him.

The other casualty is #5 Andy Roddick, who got served out of the court by the unseeded 6'9'' giant John Isner in another heart-breaking (for Roddick) scoreline of 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5)

The only match I saw Roger play so far was the first one, against 18yo American Devin Britton. He played well enough there, but according to some reports I read, he didn't seem to be as precise in his match against Hewitt. Same thing with Rafa, I only saw his first round match. He easily dumped the just-returning-from-my-coccaine-ban Richard "Reeshard" Gasquet and I was really impressed with his shots and his movement. It didn't seem like he came from injury at all. It will be interesting to see if Roger can hang on to his good pre-US Open form, and if Rafa can keep his body injury-free even while playing 5-set hardcourt matches.

Dark horses? Last year's US Open runner-up Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro. Murray didn't play well Wimbledon, where the hometown pressure may have been a factor. This time he doesn't have as much pressure to win, so he might be able to pull this off. On the other hand, JMPD doesn't have to deal with much pressure. In fact, not much attention has been given to him since most of the contender spotlight still falls among the top 4. That may be good for him (I predicted that he'll go all the way to the finals... so he better not screw this up, at least for my sake.)


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Now playing: Sufjan Stevens - A Good Man Is Hard To Find
via FoxyTunes

US Open Women's Draw, Update #1

Ok, so far half of the players I picked to make the quarters in the women's draw have already lost. Olats. Including Elena Dementieva who I was rooting for to win it all... Booooo!!! The silver lining is it was 17-year old Melanie Oudin who beat her.

It's a silver lining to me because Oudin actually has a nice, thinking game (and not the brainless baseline ball-bashing style that makes the WTA Tour so booorrrriiing to watch.) She also reminds me a lot of Martina Hingis and Justine Henin, she's like a 17 year-old hybrid of the two (ok, ok, with less talent and less firepower than Hingis and Henin, but hey, she's got time to improve on that.) And also, she's got a hot fraternal twin watching her matches from the stands. (edit: wait, that hot girl isn't her twin sister, says this article)

Maybe Melanie just happens to play really well against tall, blonde, pretty Russians, because she followed her win over Elena with another win in the 3rd round against Maria Sharapova (who was serving awfully... 21 double faults in the match!) Their match lasted for almost 3 hours, but I only got to see the second half of the last set. Masha was really serving badly, but when her serve landed in, her groundstrokes looked as big as ever. Melanie did what she did against Elena, which was hit the ball deep and find the angles at the right moments. She was really able to control the rallies despite not having the same power that Shazza has. She also had great footwork, which was a good advantage to have over the taller-by-8-inches Shriekapova. (yes, I collect Maria Sharapova nicknames)

#1 Dinara Safina is also out, after barely surviving against Australian teenager Olivia Rogowska in the first round, and barely surviving again in the 2nd round, she finally fell to 19-yo Czech Petra Kvitova in the 3rd round. Last year's runner-up, Jelena Jankovic has also been booted out by Kazakh (by way of Russia) Yaroslava Shvedova, who could really pass for Scarlett Johansson's athletic sister. This year's tall blonde teen phenom, Victoria Azarenka, also fizzled after some good Grand Slam results earlier this year, losing in the 3rd round to the Italian Francesca "Sapakan Tayo sa Kanto" Schiavone.

In other, non-upset related news, Kim, Venus and Serena are all still in it, and Flavia Pennetta is ripping through the draw. She's lost just 6 games in 3 matches (though that didn't help Dinara at the French Open...) Caroline Wozniacki is also still in it, and she faces Svetlana Kuznetsova for a place in the quarters. If she doesn't choke, she's got a good chance to reach the finals. Interestingly enough, I think Melanie Oudin will be her biggest obstacle there.

And, in other, weird news: one of Yanina Wickmayer, Gisela Dulko, Kateryna Bondarenko and Petra Kvitova will reach the semis. This is not a prediction, this is an actual fact. A WTF how-the-hell-did-that-happen fact.

Lastly, and more importantly, Daniela Hantuchova is in the 4th round! Woohoo! She'll face Serena next, where she'll most likely lose, but I'm just glad that Daniela looks to be getting back her form and is getting to the 2nd week of the Grand Slams.


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Now playing: Adele - Chasing Pavements
via FoxyTunes

I've got no balls.

Dammit! The US Open starts in less than 30 minutes and there's no live coverage on my TV! Just got a text message from Ronnie that it's being covered by Balls, and my cable doesn't carry that channel. Bad trip! Now I'm just gonna have to content myself with watching live streamings from a 3x3 inch box on my laptop.

Oh well.Here are my predictions, starting off with the women:

Quarterfinals:
(1)Dinara Safina (RUS) vs (5)Jelena Jankovic (SRB)
(4)Elena Dementieva (RUS) vs (9)Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
(8)Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs Kim Clijsters (BEL)
(10) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) vs (2) Serena Williams (USA)

Semis:
(5)Jelena Jankovic (SRB) vs (4)Elena Dementieva (RUS)
Kim Clijsters (BEL) vs (2)Serena Williams (USA)

Final:
(4)Elena Dementieva (RUS) vs (2)Serena Williams (USA)

Champ: (2)Serena Williams (USA) (although I'm rooting for Elena to finally win her first Grand Slam)

and the men:

Quarterfinals:
(1)Roger Federer (SUI) vs (8)Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
(4)Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs (5)Andy Roddick (USA)
(7)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs (3)Rafael Nadal (ESP)
(6)Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG) vs (2)Andy Murray (GBR)
*look at that, the top 8 reaches the final 8! Although I have a feeling (22)Sam Querrey (USA) might beat Davydenko, and I'm also giving (20)Tommy Haas (GER) a fighting chance vs Roddick.

Semis:
(1)Roger Federer (SUI) vs (5)Andy Roddick (USA)
(7)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs (6)Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG)

Final:
(1)Roger Federer (SUI) vs (6)Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG)

Champ: (1)Roger Federer (SUI)

So I'm predicting another Fed/Serena win, just like last year's US Open, and just like this year's Wimbledon. Hey, history and talent is on their side.



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Now playing: Cold War Kids - Red Wine, Success!
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2009 vs 1983

Had Ninoy not taken the risk of returning to our country to fight for freedom, had he not been willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice, who knows? Maybe we'd still be under a more oppressive, more abusive dictatorial regime. Or under communists. Maybe our national debt will be even bigger, HP and P&G probably won't bring it's IT business here, the economy will be even worse, maybe the concept of human rights wouldn't even exist. Maybe we won't be able to travel around and enjoy the beauty of the Philippines, and see great Pixar movies in cinemas, or enjoy Parmesan-crusted white fish, juicy steaks and lamb chops in nice restaurants. Maybe internet and news sources will be censored and blocked. Maybe we won't be able to earn our own money and enjoy a good life, buy nice clothes and cool gadgets.

Maybe we won't even be able to have a comfortable life.

I know life is still far from perfect here in the Philippines. But if not for Ninoy and what he stood for, it'll probably be worse. And that's what we should appreciate. Not the holiday, or the long weekend. He is an honorable man who held our country and its people in the highest honor that he was willing to give up his freedom and his life for ours. That's what we should remember.

Here's a good read for today: The Conscience of the Filipino: The Sacrifice (1986)


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Now playing: Cold War Kids: Hospital Beds
via FoxyTunes

Ninoy Aquino Monument photo by Jon Voltaire B. Aquino

And One Not-So Classy

In fact, not classy at all.

Arroyo dined for 1M pesos in New York—report

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her party racked up a dinner bill of close to P1 million at a ritzy New York restaurant during her recent trip to the United States, according to an online news report.

Malacañang Palace's response:

Contrary to the report, Remonde insisted that the dinner was a “simple” one and was hosted by Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.

The original source of the news, (The New York Post's Page Six, which, yeah, is a gossip column):

THE economic downturn hasn't persuaded everyone to pinch pennies. Philippines President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was at Le Cirque the other night with a large entourage enjoying the good life, even though the former comptroller of her country's armed serv ices, Carlos Garcia, was found guilty earlier this year of per jury and two of his sons were arrested in the US on bulk cash-smuggling charges. Maca pagal-Arroyo ordered several bottles of very expensive wine, pushing the dinner tab up to $20,000.

GMA isn't just a public figure. She's a public servant. A public servant to a developing democratic country. Listen, no one's asking her to starve herself or eat in the streets on these official trips, but geez, a $20,000 dinner? Even if it was paid for by someone else, it doesn't justify the lavishness of it all. (And it doesn't help that that someone else who paid for dinner was also a Filipino public servant...) Especially when so many Filipinos are literally starving and can't enjoy having three basic meals a day. This is Imelda Marcos-levels of wasteful extravagance, and the height of classlessness.



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Now playing: Modest Mouse - never ending math equation
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One Classy Lady

Like most Filipinos, I watched the tributes, the coverage of her wake, the eulogy and the touching speeches, and her funeral procession. Cory's death was saddening, but at the same time, it was inspiring to see so many Filipinos uniting as a nation, honoring the very symbol of the democracy that we enjoy today. No one else in our recent history has contributed as much as Cory and her late great husband Ninoy did, and I'm glad that so many Filipinos are actually recognizing that fact. I wasn't born yet when Ninoy was assassinated, and I wasn't even 1 year old yet when the People Power revolution happened, yet I still live my days inspired by them, by what they stood for, by what they did. That's how powerful ideals are. And I'm happy to see that those ideals are not dead in the hearts of my countrymen.

I hope that a year, a decade, a century from now, we still feel the same intensity, the same spirit of unity, the same love and pride for country, the same desire for positive change and need for great leadership and governance that we felt last week, as we honored President Cory. May she rest in peace, and may our nation move forward steadily, strongly, with her as an inspiration.



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Now playing: Adele - Hometown Glory (Live)
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Roger's 15 Trophies

So here's a sure sign that I've been too busy/sick the past few weeks: Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam and 6th Wimbledon, and ascends back to the #1 ranking, and I wasn't able to write anything about it.

So to catch up, here's a great tribute video made by the ATP Website (and of course, they use Sigur Ros's Hoppipolla for the background music.)



Ladies and Gentlemen, 2 weeks late (but that's just how I roll), your Wimbledon 2009 Champions:
Gentlemen
Roger Federer (SUI) def. Andy Roddick (USA), in an epic 5-7, 7-6(8-6), 7-6(7-5), 3-6, 16-14,

Ladies
Serena Williams (USA) def. Venus Williams (USA), 7-6(7-3), 6-2, Serena wins her 11th Grand Slam title and 3rd Wimbledon after surviving a match point against Elena Dementieva in the semifinals (eventually winning in the longest Women's semifinal match in Wimbledon history, 6-7(4-7), 7-5, 8-6)

Men's Doubles
Daniel Nestor (CAN) / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) def. Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA), 7-6(9-7), 6-7 (3-7), 7-6(7-3), 6-3

Women's Doubles
Serena Williams (USA) / Venus Williams (USA) def. Samantha Stosur (AUS) / Rennae Stubbs (AUS), 7-6(7-4), 6-4

Mixed Doubles
Mark Knowles (BAH) / Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) def. Leander Paes (IND) / Cara Black (ZIM), 7-5, 6-3

Juniors, Boys
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) def. Jordan Cox (USA), 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

Juniors, Girls
Nopparan Lertcheewakarn (THA) def. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA), 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

That was a great Wimbledon, especially towards the end when we saw that Federer-Roddick final and the Serena-Elena semifinal.

Now it's time for the US hardcourt season, where will see Rafael Nadal return to action on the men's side. And we'll also see how brand-new father Roger Federer comes back to the court, after his wife Mirka gave birth to twin girls Myla and Charlene (Congrats Roger and Mirka!)

On the women's side, will see if Venus and Serena can build on their Wimbledon success or if Elena or current #1 Dinara can win their first Grand Slam title at the US Open. The next few months should be fun.

Before the Finals @SW19

So the women's final is set, with the Williams sisters again facing each other, after beating their Russian opponents in contrasting manners. Defending Champ (and 5-time Wimbledon champion) Venus decimated supposed world #1 (and Marat Safin's little sister) Dinara Safina, 6-1, 6-0, while younger sister (and 2-time Wimbledon Champ) Serena struggled, and even had to save a match point against #4 (and Olympic Champion) Elena Dementieva in the longest women's semifinal match in Wimbledon, 6-7, 7-5, 8-6. I was rooting for Elena but was still surprised that she was able to give Serena, who played so well against #8 Victoria Azarenka in the quarters, a huge scare. Too bad Elena lost in the end, but hopefully this match helps her confidence for the rest of the year.

Venus has been playing great the whole tournament though, and I think she should take her 6th Wimbledon over Serena in the Ladies' Final tomorrow.

On the men's side, Roger Federer has just beaten a resurgent Tommy Haas in the semis and goes on for a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title on Sunday's final against an Andy. Right now, I'm watching Andy Murray and Andy Roddick battle each other in the second semifinal for the chance to be beaten by Federer in the final.

No matter who he faces in the final, I think Roger has a great chance of winning his 6th Wimbledon crown. He's been playing well and with a lot of confidence the whole tournament against quality opponents. Whoever wins between the two Andy's today needs to really lift their level of play if they want to win their first Wimbledon. (edit: The American Andy just beat the Brit Andy, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. Roddick goes on to play his 3rd Wimbledon final. He lost his first two to Federer. Murray on the other hand, loses the chance to be the first homeboy to win Wimbledon in 70-something years.)

So, just like what I said before the French Open final last month: Be The Legend, Federer!

Oh wait, he already is. :-)


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Now playing: James Morrison - Man in the Mirror (Napster Live Acoustic Session)
via FoxyTunes

The Big W, Week 2

The first week of Wimbledon has ended and now we've got the final 16 players remaining on the men's and ladies' draw.

The big upset on the men's side was Argentine 5th seed JMDP (that's Juan Martin Del Potro) losing to oldster and former #1 player (before the era of Federer) Lleyton Hewitt in the second round. Hewitt is also a one-time Wimbledon champ (again, before the era of Federer), so while it shouldn't be a huge shock, I expected more from JMDP, who plays well on the fast hard court surfaces. I guess he hasn't figured out how to play on grass yet. Also going out early are:

• Russian #14 seed Marat Safin, who is making his final Wimbledon appearance this year after he lost to American qualifier Jesse Levine
• #9 JWT (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), who lost to Croatian ace machine Ivo Karlovic
• #10 Gonzo (Fernando Gonzales), who lost to another former #1, pre-Federer, Juan Carlos Ferrero (or as I'd like to call him: Juanqui) (Great result for JCF, who has fallen even further in the rankings than Hewitt)
  
• #12 Nikolay Davydenko, who lost to big-hitting Czech Tomas Berdych, in a not-so-huge-upset.
• Croat youngster Marin Cilic lost in an epic match (10-8 in the fifth set) to Tommy Haas, but I was expecting Tommy to get to the semifinals here, so I wasn't that surprised of the result even if Cilic, at #11, was the higher ranked player.
  

A few years ago, it would've been easy to predict that most of the upsets would come from the men's side, because the higher-ranked ladies would usually just breeze through the first few rounds without breaking a sweat... But that's not the case anymore. Whether it's because the depth of competition among the women has improved or because the top women are just much more vulnerable to playing badly these days is hard to say (I'd say it's a mixture of both...) If anything, at least the upsets make the women's draw a bit more unpredictable.

The big upsets on the women's side are the losses of French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and former #1 Jelena Jankovic. Sveta Kuz lost in straight sets to 19 year-old German Sabine Lisicki, who is ranked #41, while the Serbian JJ lost to 17 year-old American Melanie Oudin. Oudin is currently ranked 124, so she had to go through the qualifying stage before getting into the main draw. She won 3 matches in the qualies, and 2 more matches in the main draw before beating JJ, so this has been a great tournament for her.

Other players who lost early were:

• #7 Vera Zvonareva, who had to pull out because of an injury
  
• #12 and former finalist Marion Bartoli of France
• #14 and recent French Open semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia
• #15 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who lost to former #1 and 2006 Wimbledon Champion Amelie Mauresmo, in a slight upset
• and #16 and last year's surprise semifinalist Jie Zheng of China, who lost to my awesome girlfriend Daniela Hantuchova. Daniela is back in the 4th round of Wimbledon after she defeated her doubles partner Ai Sugiyama last Friday. Woohoo! She'll be facing #2 Serena Williams in the round of 16. That's gonna be a tough match for sure.
  
• Maria Sharapova, seeded #24 here thanks to the Wimbledon seeding committee's power to give out random seedings to players they like, lost to unseeded Gisela Dulko (who's actually ranked higher than her.) Shazza was seeded by the Wimbledon powers that be despite being ranking #60, having played only 2 tournaments this year because of a shoulder injury, and having not gone past the 4th round of Wimbledon in the past two years. Yup, I'm pretty sure looks counted in the "formula" for figuring out the player seeding.

Can't wait for the second week action to start!



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The Big W

Wimbledon is on the TV right now... (at last, a Grand Slam tournament that my cable provider covers!)

Earlier, I caught the the Roger Federer-Yen Hsun Lu 1st round match, and Fed played a good match there, showing some flashes of genius especially in the 3rd set. Rafael Nadal isn't defending his title here because of an injury (tendinitis on both his knees), but just because Rafa's not playing this year doesn't mean it's gonna be smooth sailing for Roger. The main contender (in fact, the only main contender) to Roger winning his 6th Wimbledon and a 15th Grand Slam title is local hope Andy Murray. After winning his first grass court title at The Queen's Club last week, Murray has Britain all hyped up, as he might finally end the drought of British champions in Wimbledon since Fred Perry last won in 1936.

I think the final will be between Murray and Federer, and while I want Federer to win #15 in two weeks' time, I wouldn't mind seeing Murray win against Federer, as long as he challenges Fed the way Rafa did in last year's epic final.

On the women's side, Venus and Serena are the obvious choices for the final, since every other top player is either coming from injury (Sharapova), or are having trouble finding their form (the Serbians), or are just generally chokers (the rest of the Russians.) On the other hand, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka are two young players who could sneak through the semis. I've been waiting for these two to have their Grand Slam breakthroughs first at the Aussie Open last January, and at the French Open earlier this month, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe they're just waiting for Wimbledon to come around, nothing like making the big splash at the most prestigious tournament in tennis after all.

Caroline just won her first grass court title over the weekend, and she has won Wimbledon before (albeit as a junior), so she know her way around the grass. Vika on the other hand, essentially has the same power game as Sharapova, and that power game is bound to bring her success on the grass, just like it has for Masha. Unless she goes the way of Nicole Vaidisova...

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I just came back from Gumaca over the weekend, to attend my grandmother's (on my mother's side) funeral. She suffered a mild stroke a week before, then suffered another one last Friday. The second stroke took her. Before going to Gumaca, I have to admit that I was feeling really numb. I wasn't sure how to react, so I started writing a blog post (that I won't be publishing), about the sad things that happen in life, and how I generally deal with them. I just had such a hard time articulating how I felt at that time, and I thought writing about it would calm me down and help me understand what was going on.

Once we got to Gumaca however, I started to feel much better. There's just something about being in my hometown that grounds me. And when we got to my grandparents' barrio, the mood at the wake was actually very good. The whole family was in good spirits, and my aunt was even telling us some funny things that happened while they were at the hospital, in between the days of my grandmother's two strokes. That's when I realized the wake was there to celebrate my grandmother's well-lived life. And in a way, it made accepting the facts easier.

Side note: One thing that bothered me though, was the gambling that was going on at the wake. I guess gambling is traditionally part of wakes especially in the province, but man... when I die, I DO NOT WANT PEOPLE GAMBLING at my funeral. I guess that would be one of my dying wishes (also: no cheesy dramatic ballads on the procession to my final resting place.)


Our Inay was 83, lived a very humble life, and I'm nothing but proud to be one of her many grandchildren.


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Ang Kambing

a.k.a. The GOAT

a.k.a.: The Greatest Of All Time.

There's nothing more awesome than watching Roger Federer play tennis. I'm a Federer fanatic (yes, a Fedtard), obviously, and it isn't just because of how many grand slams he's won (a record 14, in all 4 grand slams events), or how long he has stayed at the #1 ranking (that would be 237 consecutive weeks, another record by the way). It's about how great this man is at playing the sport. From the booming aces and forehand winners, to the deft volleys and smooth drop shots (and those half-volleys and no-backswing groundstrokes from the baseline that only he can do), to his footwork and fitness... He has also played and won without the help of a coach for most of his career, which speaks volumes about how sharp his thinking game is.

Roger Federer is simply the most talented man to have ever played the sport.

Winning the French Open meant that Roger Federer is now undeniably part of that ultra-exclusive group of Greatest Tennis Player Ever candidates, together with Rod Laver and Pete Sampras on the men's side.

Laver, of course represents the old school. He won THE grand slam (all four grand slam events in the same year) twice, first in 1962 when grand slams were still an amatuer-only affair, and again in 1969, in the Open era, when pros were allowed to play in Grand Slams, ushering in the fame and multi-million prize money era of tennis.

Pete on the other hand represents the school of quantity (not that he lacks quality.) He won 14 grand slams (the record recently tied by Federer) which includes seven Wimbledons, but no French Opens. Pete also ended as the year-end world #1 six consecutive years, a record on the men's tour, and kept a winning record against his rival Andre Agassi.

Roger is probably a hybrid of the two: employing a great mixture of the old school game filled with fluidity and finesse, and the all-out aggression and power game of the more recent breed of champions. At his peak, he absolutely dominated the sport, holding a 92% match win percentage from 2004-2007. With the barrage of much younger competitors like Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, 27 year-old Federer has ceased to be the sole dominant force, but he has still managed to stay at the top-most level, winning 2 of the last 4 grand slams (and making the finals of the other 2.)

It feels fitting for Roger to claim his piece of history at the French Open: the very tournament that has eluded him so many times, at the exact venue that wounded his champion stature exactly a year before. But now it's no longer elusive, and no matter what happens, he will never again be a wounded champion.

Congrats on the career grand slam Roger! (And good luck at Wimbledon! Let's go for Grand Slam #15!)












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Before it starts...

I realized that I never got to blog about Soderling's super-sized upset over Rafa last week... So before the French Open men's final starts, let me just summarize my initial reactions (via facebook, twitter, tennis forums, and YM) right after Nadal lost that 4th round match:

Fuck! Nadal LOST???

Alvin: i'm still in shock
Alvin: biggest shock since justine lost to bartoli
Alvin: but this was insane haha
Alvin: soderling isn't even a clay courter

That was a huge upset! I'm a bit speechless.

HOLY SHIT! NADAL IS OUT???!?!!?? CRAZY. (And I really am screaming at my laptop right now)

insane, right?

OMFG

Wooooaah! Is Rafa really out?!?? Shit shit SHIT... don't fuck this up Roger!!!

And let me just add my facebook status right now: Be the Legend, Federer!


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Svetlana is Not a One-Slam Wonder. (Anymore.)

I just finished watching the Roland Garros women's final, where #7 Svetlana Kuznetsova convincingly defeated #1 Dinara Safina to win her second Grand Slam title, adding to the US Open title she won as a teenager back in 2004.

Svetlana kisses her trophy after easily winning the champhionship match, 6-4, 6-2.

I think a lot of people were expecting Dinara to win her first grand slam title today, since she's been the most dominant player on clay this year, riding a 16-match win streak after getting victories at big tournaments in Rome and Madrid (beating Kuznetsova in Rome.) She did finish runner-up to Kuzy in Stuttgart though, but that the first tournament in the European clay season. Dinara also won her first four matches at the French Open in devastating form: 6-0, 6-0 in the 1st round, 6-1, 6-1 in the 2nd, 6-2, 6-0 in the 3rd, and 6-1, 6-0 in the 4th.

But in today's final, she played like shit. I was expecting a tight 3-setter from the two fo them, but Dinara just came up short, which was too bad, and just reinforces the stigma that she can't handle the big match pressure. She was making too many errors and wasn't really controlling the points. She also had this scared/nervous look on her face all throughout the match which was a pretty clear signal that she wasn't gonna be able to pull this one out. And just like Ronnie, I knew she'd hit a double fault on match point.

Hats off to Svetlana though, she just didn't allow Dinara to play her game at all. She hit with loads of power from both wings, and her some of the forehands she hit were just sweet. And I loved it when she started bouncing a tennis ball on her foot towards the end of the second set, like she wasn't feeling any pressure at all.

Congratulations Kuzy! You are no longer a one-slam wonder.

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10th out of 17241

For posterity's sake, just in case my ranking drops like a rock in the next few rounds. :D


I joined the ATP World Tour Draw Challenge for Roland Garros (fancy name for the French Open). It's sort of a fantasy league contest and it goes like this: before the tournament begins, you predict which players will win their first round matches and proceed to the 2nd round, where you again predict which players will win those matches and go on to the next round and the next round and the next round... until you pick who wins in the final match. You get points for each correct prediction you make, and if you get the most points at the end of the tournament, you win... something. (The grand prize is a 4-night trip for 2 to London to watch the ATP World Tour Finals, and it goes to the highest total scorer in 12 major ATP tournaments that the contest covers... although after reading the terms and conditions, I'm apparently not eligible to win the prize because I live in the Philippines. BOOOOOOOO!)

Anyway, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to sustain my top ten ranking. But seeing that I won't get a chance to win prizes anyway, I'm not sure why I should care.

I wish the WTA Tour would have something like this too. It'd be interesting, with all the inconsistent results from the top players, choke jobs from the youngsters and the head cases... And it'll give me 1 more reason to shout "C'mon Caroline Wozniacki!"



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Action on the Red Clay

I've been meaning to post about Roger's win last week but never found the time, so let me just sneak in a hearty WOOOOHOOOOO!

Federer won his first title of the year last week by beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets, on clay, in Madrid. I literally woohoo'ed at my laptop screen right after Roger served an ace on match point, because I didn't expect him to actually win over Rafa that day (Roger played a "tired" Rafa at the Aussie Open and still lost, and I still remember that Italian Open final a few years ago when Roger had several match points and lost all of them while Rafa converted on his very first match point to win 7-6 in the fifth set), so suffice it to say, I was holding off my cheers until Roger actually won the final point.

Having said that, I still think Rafa is going to win the French Open. He's never lost a match at the red clay courts of Roland Garros, so despite that loss in Madrid (a high-altitude city which played to Fed's advantage), it's crazy to bet against the greatest claycourt player of all time.

Rafa's main challenge will come from Roger (obviously) and #4 Novak Djokovic. Fotunately for Rafa, those two could face/eliminate each other in the semis. Despite Andy Murray's recent climb to the #3 ranking over Novak, clay isn't his thing. He can beat Rafa on hardcourts, but on clay, he's got a long way to go. As for the French Brigade, clay isn't JWT's best surface, Gilles Simon is on a slump, and I want to say this is Reeshard Gasquet's year, but he went the Hingis route and is currently unable to play after returning a positive drug test for cocaine... so maybe in 2 years?

Anyway, this is once again Rafa's title to lose.

The women's side is much more open. Defending Champ Ana Ivanovic hasn't played well since winning the title last year and ascending to the #1 ranking. She has since fallen to #8 and has been nursing a knee injury just a few weeks before the French Open. Fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic also has lost the form that took her to the #1 ranking. New #1 Dinara Safina is probably the best bet, she won the 2 big clay tournaments before the French Open, and it doesn't look like her status as the new #1 isn't daunting her the way it scared Ana.

On the other hand, getting daunted or scared has never been a factor for Serena Williams. It's her health that's been her downfall. She's been injured since losing the final in Miami to 19 year-old Victoria Azarenka, and has lost 4 consecutive matches coming into the French Open (all on clay.) Serena's older sis Venus is a wild card, since her clay court results have been pretty inconsistent. Besides Dinara, Russia has two more strong contenders for the title: Svetlana Kuznetsova and (my facebook friend) Elena Dementieva, who have both finished as runner-up at the French Open a few years ago. They've both got great baseline games which serves them well on this surface, but the problem lies more on their (lack of) belief that they can actually win it all. Seeing that there really isn't a Henin-like dominant player this year, this could be their big chance (Go Elena!)

As for the youngsters, French Alize Cornet, Pole Agnieszka Radwanska and Slovak Dominika Cibulkova all had good years last year, but they haven't had that much great results this year. Meanwhile, Azarenka and fellow teen Caroline Wozniacki have broken through with some big results, and both are now in the top 10. I'm personally rooting for Caroline to get to the quarterfinals, at least.

So as I said, the women's draw is a lot more open than Rafa's draw... But I think at the end of the tournament, Dinara will walk away with her first Grand Slam title along with her #1 ranking. And I'll finally stop calling her Lil Sis and start calling Marat Big Bro.

Roland Garros 2009 started today and ends June 7.

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