Tween.

And that in-betweener from Roger Federer signals the start of the 2011 tennis season!

Tons of tournaments in the first week of the year: there's the men's tournaments in Qatar and Chennai, the ladies' tournament in Auckland, and the mixed tournament in Brisbane. There's also the exhibition in Hong Kong featuring the WTA players and ATP legends, and the always awesome Hopman Cup in Perth. It's so awesome that Nicolas Mahut wore Kristina Mladenovic's tennis dress:

The Australian Open starts in about a week!

June/July Tennis Catch Up

I got lazy blogging about the rest of the French Open and Wimbledon...

So Rafa won both tournaments on the men's side, upping his grand slam count to 8 and putting him safely on top of the rankings. Roger, on the other hand, lost in the quarterfinals of both tournaments, sending his ranking spiraling down to a tragic #3 (tragic for Roger's standards, anyway.) While I don't think this is the end of Roger winning grand slam tournaments, I do think that he'll have a very hard time getting the #1 ranking back, given that he's turning 29 next month (that's old in tennis years), and the rest of the top 5 are all 25 years old and younger.

Good thing Roger's already won the French Open as well 15 other grand slam titles before, so this doesn't feel like we're watching the decline of a career of a should've, would've, could've been has-been. It's like a glory lap for the all-time champ. Although Roger probably has more plans than turning the next few years into a glory lap, seeing that he's hired Paul Annacone, as his new part-time coach. Annacone coached Pete Sampras from 1995 to 2001, during which Pete won 8 grand slam titles. He also worked with Tim Henman, another serve and volleyer, after coaching Pete. So it looks like Roger is looking to beef up his serve and volley game by hiring Annacone the same way that he was looking to beef up his clay-court game by hiring Jose Higueras a couple of years ago.

As for Rafa, he's regained his French Open crown from Roger, and added another Wimbledon title after some convincing wins over Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych in the semifinal and final, respectively. The next milestone for him is the US Open, the only grand slam that he has yet to win. Rafa's never reached the final at the US Open because he usually gets overpowered on hardcourts, or his body is usually not in its best state after the grueling US spring/clay season where he plays a lot of matches. A factor that swings in his favor is that there hasn't been much reports about any injuries (especially on his knees.)

Anyway, we had a first-time grand slam champion in last year's US Open, so if Roger and Rafa can't sort their stuff out by August, we might get another one this year.

On the women's side, Serena won her 4th Wimbledon title, and her 13th grand slam title overall, over surprise finalist Vera Zvonareva. Actually, the semifinal line-up on the women's side was filled with surprises, after Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova upset Venus in the quarterfinals and up-and-coming Czech Petra Kvitova beat the just-as-young but higher-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka.

The best moments of Wimbledon for me though would have to be 1) Federer's 1st round match against Colombian Alejandro Falla, where Roger had to claw his way back after losing the first two sets and then going down a break in the 3rd set to win in 5 sets (6-0 in the fifth) to avoid the biggest upset in Wimbledon history, and 2) the epic, historic, record-breaking 11-hour first round match between American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. The quality of play really wasn't as high as any of the matches in the later stages of the tournament, they were basically just trading aces and service winners... But they were doing it for 11 HOURS! That's a 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(9–7), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 scoreline! That's like 3 marathons! The sheer determination and will to win (not to mention the stamina and athleticism) displayed by both players just to survive the 11 hour match was just amazing to watch.

On to the US Open!

The Era of Roger/Serena

Roger Federer won his 4th Australian Open, and 16th grand slam title overall, after beating Andy Murray in dominant form, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(13-11). Roger played great tennis in the semis vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and carried that form through to the finals. Murray just couldn't find any openings to break down Roger's game. And honestly, when Roger is playing his best (or close to his best), Murray's best just isn't gonna be good enough on the day. So with Rafa struggling with a knee injury, will this be Roger's year to win THE grand slam? We'll just have to see. One down, three to go.

Better luck next time other Andy, at least you didn't bawl your eyes out like last year's losing finalist.

The women's final ended with Serena Williams winning her 5th Australian Open title and 12th singles grand slam title (She also won her 11th doubles grand slam title with Ate Venus) by beating Justine Henin in 3 sets. Serena is slowly inching her way to the Steffi Graf/Martina Navratilova/Chris Evert group of Best Ever. She's gonna have to survive Justine's return from retirement to get close to the 22/18/18 grand slams that the 3 aforementioned legends have won.

Justine made an impressive comeback at Brisbane on the first week of January, where she lost a brilliant final to fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. She then followed that up by making the Grand Slam final in only her 2nd tournament after more than a year off of tennis. She couldn't quite replicate Kim's run at the US Open (and Serena fortunately didn't have a line judge-related meltdown too), but with a more aggressive game and the same Allez-screaming, fist pumping, never-say-die attitude, Justine will probably add a few more grand slams to the 7 she already has.

Also, big props to:

1. The Chinese ladies Jie Zheng and Li na who both made it to the semifinals. This is the first time that two Chinese players (heck, two Asians) ever made it to the semifinals of a grand slam.

2. Croat Marin Cilic, who survived several 5 set matches against Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Roddick to reach his first grand slam semifinal. Cilic is having a great year so far. He has played in two other tournaments besides the Australian Open, and won both of them.

3. Blonde Eastern Europeans - Maria Kirilenko, who followed up her upset win over the other Maria by making it all the way to her first grand slam quarterfinals, and Victoria Azarenka, who made her first Aussie Open quarterfinals and had a 6-4, 4-0 lead over Serena before succumbing to an avalanche of Serena's aces and winners.

*pictures courtesy of the Australian Open website/Getty Images

Best Of '09... Part 1

Best movie I saw this year:
(500) Days of Summer

In second place:

Up

Most under-appreciated TV shows (because I don't know any friend who watches this show):

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

In second place:

The Soup

Best Trip I Took In 2009:

Coron, April 2-6

In second place:

Caramoan/CWC, Feb 21-24

Best Nickelodeon TV show:

Spongebob Squarepants

In second place:

The Fairly Odd Parents

Best "The Amazing Race" elimination:

Season 15, Dubai Leg Part 2: Mika and Canaan gets eliminated after Mika refuses to go down a 90-foot waterslide, allowing Globetrooters Flight Time and Big Easy to overtake them (this after the GTs fell behind by almost an hour when they couldn't figure out the right sequence that would open the combination lock of a briefcase that holds their next clue)

In second place:

Season 14, Beijing Leg Part 2: Kisha and Jen gets eliminated after Jen insists on taking a bathroom break, allowing Jaime and Cara to overtake them (this after Kisha and Jen gets U-Turned, and Jaime and Cara got lost for 3 hours++ finding a Chinese Opera House)

Most Unwelcome News of the Year:

Typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma) Flood + Damages. :(

In second place:

Ampatuan Massacre. Grrrr.

Most Addicting Website of the Year:

Facebook

In second place:

Tie: Television Without Pity/Twitter

Best Sporting Event of the Year:

Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in Wimbledon, 16-14 in the 5th set, over Andy Roddick

In second place:

Roger Federer wins his 14th Grand Slam title and 1st ever French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

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.

-------------------------------------

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.)


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



----------------
Now playing: Cold War Kids - Red Wine, Success!
via FoxyTunes

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. :-)


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

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!)












----------------
Now playing: Wolfgang - Matter of Time
via FoxyTunes

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!


----------------
Now playing: The Libertines - Narcissist
via FoxyTunes

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.

----------------
Now playing: Arctic Monkeys - Stickin To The Floor
via FoxyTunes

Some Tennis News

Some tennis news catch-ups:

After breaking into the top 10 a few months ago, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and wins the biggest tournament of her career by beating world no. 1 Serena Williams at the SonyEricsson Open in Miami.

After announcing that they're having a baby this summer, Roger Federer and his longtime girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec got married last week in Switzerland, just before Fed flew in to Monaco for the Monte Carlo Masters.

Even before that, Roger did this:

Awesome or what?

And apparently, Andy Roddick has also gotten married to his fiancee, swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker.

Even more bad news for Serena, she will lose her top ranking to Dinara Safina by next week, after Serena lost in the first round in Marbella, Spain and pulling out of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. Dinara will head into the clay court season as the #1 player in the world while attempting to win her first Grand Slam title on her favorite surface and prove that she deserves the top ranking as much as Jelena Jankovic did last year. Dinara and her older brother Marat Safin will also be the first brother-sister players to ever be ranked #1 in the world. Marat held the #1 ranking before the Federer era.

The French Open starts in a little over a month.



----------------
Now playing: Duffy - Mercy (Live On The Live Lounge)
via FoxyTunes

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Just Rolls Off Your Tounge, Doesn't It?

Most people who enjoy riding thrill rides do it not only because they want to enjoy feeling of the fall and the rush of adrenaline up their spines, but also because they know that despite the danger it presents, they'll land safely after the ride.

Too bad that's not something I can use to describe how the global economic situation is affecting our company. It's not thrilling, nor is it exciting. It's not even pleasant. Just dizzying.

------------------

On a less depressing, more tennis-related matter, the US spring harcourt season has started in Indian Wells, California with the BNP Paribas Open. It's one of the 3 big tournaments of the first quarter of the year (the others being January's Australian Open and next week's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami), and it's been a really interesting tournament so far.

On the men's side, #2 Roger Federer (who's gonna be a new dad soon) has advanced to the semis after beating Verdasco in the quarters and will be facing #4 Andy Murray. On the other half of the draw, #1 Rafael Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic are on track to meet in the semis. Rafa survived 5 match points against David Nalbandian before eventually winning in 3 sets. (Rafa has never beaten Daveed before this match.) He'll next beat face JMDP. Djokovic defeated Roger's Olympic doubles partner Stan the Man Wawrinka in 2 tie-breakers and will next face American Andy Roddick.

On the women's side, there have been lots of upsets, and the final 4 standing are:
Victoria Azarenka, (8) def. Dinara Safina, (1), 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-3
Vera Zvonareva, (4) def. Caroline Wozniacki, (9), 6-4, 6-2
Ana Ivanovic, (5) def. Sybille Bammer, (23) walkover
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, def. Agnieszka Radwanska, (7) 7-6 (10-8), 6-4

Vika has been blazing her way in the rankings lately, and she'll most probably enter the top 10 for the first time after this tournament. She also prevented Lil Sis Dinara from becoming the new #1 in the women's draw (With Serena's absence from this tournament, Dinara could've been #1 had she reached the finals.)

The big surprise of the tournament though, is AP (because her name is not only long, but also complicated to type), who has already beaten #3 Jelena Jankovic in the earlier rounds. She got her second top 10 scalp in Aga Rad, and I think she could take her third by beating defending champ AI in the semis. AP is a talented, 17 year old blonde Russian. I don't think she'll go on to be as commercially popular as Anna K and Masha, but a successful tennis career? Looks promising.

All I can say is good luck on handling the financial crisis, AP.

----------------
Now playing: Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
via FoxyTunes

Gods and Forehands

Wow. Just wow.

That was a highly entertaining final match, but the trophy presentation? With Federer crying? And Rafa saying sorry and telling Roger that he'll get Sampras' record eventually? If I was Barney Stinson, I would've come up with a hundred ways to say legendary already. The match didn't reach the tension and drama of their Wimbledon '08 final, but those two speeches from two of the greatest players of all time made up for it.

So, in summary, Serena Williams wins her 10th Grand Slam over Dinara Safina (easily) and regains the #1 ranking, the Williams sisters beat Daniela and Ai for the women's doubles title, the Bryan brothers win the men's doubles, Indians Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi win the mixed doubles, a Filipino wins a Grand Slam title for the very first time, Rafael Nadal wins his first hardcourt Grand Slam title, and GodFed cries.

And I still haven't recovered from it.



----------------
Now playing: Arctic Monkeys - if you were there, beware
via FoxyTunes

And Here Comes The Tail End, Part 2

The Australian Open men's finals almost became a match between 13-time Grand Slam champ Roger Federer and 14th seed Fernando Verdasco. Almost, as Verdasco gave his countryman Rafael Nadal the most difficult match he's had in Melbourne. Rafa eventually pulled out the win, but only after battling Verdasco for 5 hours and 14 minutes and earned the right to stand as the obstacle to Federer's quest of eqauling Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

The last time Roger and Rafa played each other on a Grand Slam tournament was in last year's Wimbledon final, which lasted for 4 hour and 48 mins, and was virtually universally tagged as TGMEP (The Greatest Match Ever Played) in the history of tennis.

This coming final should be a treat.

But before that, (and before I write about Serena's win over Dinara in the women's final), let me just congratulate 16-year old Pinoy tennis player Francis Casey Alcantara, who has done something no other Filipino has ever done before: win a Grand Slam title. Sure, it's a juniors' doubles title, but it's still a Grand Slam. Here's to hoping he goes on to bigger things after this!







In Picture: Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines (right) and Cheng-Peng Hsieh of Chinese Taipei, Australian Open 2009 Boys' Doubles Champions
Photo by: Getty Images





----------------
Now playing: Snow Patrol - You Could Be Happy
via FoxyTunes

Near Misses and Actual Casualties

Lots of huge results happened earlier today during some 4th round action at the Aussie Open.

Following in the footsteps of fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic (who's Grand Slam disasters continued with a 3-set loss in the 3rd round to Russian Alisa Kleybanova 3 days ago, which by the way, I predicted in my previous post), world #1 Jelena Jankovic lost to 16th seed Marion Bartoli of France (scoreline: 6-1, 6-4). Bartoli was the same player who upset then #1 Justine Henin couple of years ago at the Wimbledon semifinals when no one expected her to. I don't think anyone (except maybe her coach/father) ever predicted that she'd be able to beat Justine at a Wimbledon semifinal match, but she did. And I definitely didn't expect her to beat Jelena today, but she did it again.

I don't get how Bartoli does it. It's like her game is just a 7 usually, and once every two years, she manages to raise her game to an 11 against the No. 1 player in the world at a Grand Slam event. Maybe she sells her soul as a shared stock to the devil, thus the sometimes bug results, and the usually mediocre ones. Anyway, she's one hell of a quirky French player, so I guess I... like her?

Dinara Safina was another player who had a huge struggle in her match against another French player, #15 Alize Cornet (who defeated Daniela in the previous round.) The difference was she managed to win. Lil Sis Dinara (I've decided that she'll always be Marat's lil sis until she wins a grand slam...) was down 2-5 in the 3rd set, and Alize even held one match point before Dinara staged a huge comeback to win the match 7-5 in the 3rd set. With the two Sebs out of her way, I think Dinara has a huge chance to reach her 2nd Grand Slam final here, unless of course, the devil decides to buy stocks from Bartoli again. And in that case Lil Sis is toast.

Last but not the least among the players who were on a sinking ship today was, surprisingly(?), Roger Federer, who had to come back from 0-2 sets down to win in 5 sets against Czech #20 seed Tomas Berdych. Federer started off playing a bit wobbly, making a lot of errors and hitting some short, loopy shots that allowed Berdych to pound the daylights out of the ball. But as the match wore on, Berdych started to miss his big shots and Fed was able to steady himself and hang tough. He better clean up his game though, if he expects to beat Murray in the final.




----------------
Now playing: Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game
via FoxyTunes

13th and 9th

The best thing about Roger Federer winning the 2008 US Open yesterday was that fact that I didn't expect him to actually win it. Don't get me wrong, I was hoping for him to win the year's final Grand Slam. But with Fed's game seemingly off this year and with his closest rivals Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray all stepping up their hard court games, it looked like an uphill battle for Federer when the tournament started.

Fed's year thus far was disappointing, by his high standards. Any other player would be extremely satisfied to reach two Grand Slam finals and one semifinal in single year. Not so much for Federer, who has been winning 2-3 Grand Slams each season for the past 4 years. He's already lost 12 matches this year, in contrast to his '04-'07 seasons, where he only lost 6, 4, 5 and 9 matches respectively (playing ~80-90 matches a year). Included in those 12 losses were his stinging loss to Nadal in Paris and again in London. And with his descent from #1 to #2 in the rankings, it was obvious that he wasn't the invincible Federer that I rooted for the past few years.

But enough of the statistics. Because Federer is more than just that. Federer picked up the pieces of his game and built it up again in New York, like the master that he is. He kept Djokovic at bay in the semis, and swept past Murray in the final 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win his 5th consecutive US Open, and his 13th Grand Slam title overall.

Federer had a lot of doubters, saying that he has lost his touch, and that his best tennis is behind him, and his chase for Sampras' record 14 Grand Slams is over. Over the past two weeks in New York, he proved that he hasn't, and it isn't, and the chase is still on. That's what real champions do. There shouldn't have been any doubt about that.

----------------------------------

On the women's side, Serena Williams was going for her 9th Grand Slam title against Jelena Jankovic, who was going for her 1st. The top ranking was also at stake in the women's final, where both women were looking to take the #1 ranking from Ana Ivanovic (Serena was #1 for 57 weeks way back in 2002-2003, while JJ held the #1 ranking last Aug 18 for one week.)

Serena was the Federer of women's tennis six years ago, she was dominant and was practically unbeatable, but her winning streak ended, and injuries followed. She still had her big wins, but they were too few and far between for her to be able to reach the #1 ranking again. But Justine Henin's sudden retirement gave her the opportunity to get there, and she did. After losing in the Wimbledon final to big sister Venus, Serena sealed her return to the top of the rankings with a 6-4, 7-5 win over JJ. Inasmuch as Fed had his critics and doubters, so did Serena (and even more, probably.) Serena's 9th Grand Slam and return to the top is probably a good enough answer to hers.


----------------
Now playing: Modest Mouse - One Chance
via FoxyTunes