Running U.S. Open discussion

Goodbye my sweet, sweet, darling Marat. It was fun while it lasted.

 

At least he has two more Grand Slams than sweet, sweet Elena.

(but no Olympic gold, however).

 

Fuckabuncha Grand Slams. They're overrated anyway.

Do svidaniya, Lena. :'(

 

But Elena fans know better than to have faith... and this is why. Some of the best if not the best ground strokes in the game and she decides to play defensive tennis and lets an undersized player overpower her and push her off the baseline? Jeez. She really is the cubs of womens' tennis. It's unbelievable. Just unbelieveable. Wait till next year...

Having said that, if Maria makes it past McHale tonight, she might very well lose the 3rd match anyway. Oudin is exactly the kind of player that troubles Maria sometimes and it's probably going to be a day match due to CBS. If it's windy midday match and Maria (assuming a win tonight) is DFing it up Oudin has a great shot at making a run here.

Sucks since Maria has never lost a night match at any major.

And what is Jelena trying to do here? It's kind of scary that's she's officially the mentally tough Serb; which is not saying a lot. Hopefully she can pull this out, otherwise it's possible that Safina could "coast" into the SF without facing a single seeded player. Fuck. Come on JJ.

 

Catch just a snippet of the Oudin match on-line this morning and she has some nice groundstrokes and a decent serve (which is more than can be said for Elena).

Saw some Federer highlights yesterday and he's just oh so good; I lose sight of how he has everything. He's got a powerful serve, he can hit winners from the baseline; he can serve and volley; beautiful touch on volleys; chip and charge and put away the volley. He's so "easy on the eyes" to watch. He's literally so good, its not very fun unless he's challenged by someone I think can take him out (e.g. Nadal at the Australian this year and Wimbledon last year).

 

Justine Henin was "undersized." Didn't stop her from kicking even Serena's ass off the court for several years.

 

Disagree.

I think any athlete displaying utter brilliance is absolutely mesmerizing to watch.

Anyone in the world wishes he could have just one match where he plays like that. Federer does it ... routinely.

 

Huh? Justine was an exceptional case for a reason. There's a reason why everyone marveled at her ability to generate power. So I don't think it's fair to compare every small in stature up and coming player to her.

Speaking of... there are rumors Justine is planning a comeback. She's back to training with her old fitness coach and has dropped out of a play she was schedule to be in this fall. Even though her coach has denied it, Justine's been oddly silent. She has to announce her intentions coming up pretty soon here if she wants to play OZ. God I hope she does. She's one of my all time favorites.

And according to Doug Robson JJ's grandmother died last night. That's tough.

 

Can't disagree with any of that.

Post-shoulder injury, Sharapova has no weapon that Dementieva does not possess.

And Sharapova will beat Oudin 6-3, 6-2. Because she will go for the throat from the first shot. She's the only Russian like that. Maybe because she really doesn't consider herself Russian. She doesn't even speak with an accent.

They'll hold a wild-card for her until the last minute, if necessary. But I would hope that she would play a couple of warm-up tournaments. Because as an unseeded player, she could face 6 seeded players at Oz (I don't think it's possible to play 7). Serena pulled it off a few years ago, but then, she's Serena.

 

Well, I was a bit pissed when I wrote that. I like Elena and hated that she was the unlucky top 8 seed that got stuck with the Maria third rounder and conversely that Maria got matched with her. But none of that matters any more.

And now Vika's gone. Good riddance really. I can't stand her spoiled brat attitude. Way to go Franny! It's all about the Italians all of a sudden.

What I was talking about re Henin announcing her plans soon has to do with doping requirements. Since she retired she has to announce three months before OZ to be eligible. (Serena didn’t have to do this because she wasn’t retired and the rule didn’t exist then.) Maybe someone else has more details on that though. Regardless, she recently pulled out of the play she was going to star in this fall:

 

What the hell is up with the women's seeds? Azarenka's out now too.

 

Truthfully, other than the Williams sisters (if healthy) none of them is very good.

The collection of mediocrity on the women's tour right now is pathetic.