Ohio Takes No Prisoners

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djokovic, federer, ferrer, fish, jankovic, kvitova, mchale, murray, nadal, petkovic, roddick, serena, simon, verdasco, wozniacki

It has been a tough week so far in Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Financial Group Open. It is the first time that the tournament is being played as a joint tournament, much like Indian Wells, Miami, and Madrid. The weirdness has been left in Canada… somewhat. What that means is that not too many seeds have been randomly plucked off in first few rounds.

There have been multiple story lines coming into this match; will Serena continue her majestic return? Will someone take out Djokovic? Will Murray return to form? Will Rafa win a match? Will the WTA no. 1 play like her ranking denotes?

And my personal favorite: Where is Rory McIlroy going to be spotted next?

State of Mind

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baghdatis, djokovic, federer, indian wells, isner, jankovic, kleybanova, kuznetsova, ljubicic, m. lopez, murray, nadal, peschke, roddick, sharapova, soderling, srebotnik, twitter, zheng

I know I haven’t updated in… forever. Sorry about that. I’ve been lacking inspiration as of late. But, I found some in the least likely of places: Indian Wells.

Indian Wells yielded some surprises, as it usually does. It is my least favorite of all the Masters 1000 tournaments. It has awkward scheduling since I’m on the east coast of the US, three hours ahead. That means their night matches are usually around when I get tired. But, being the tennis nut I am, I suffer the tireless nights. After all, if I can do the 16-hour difference that Melbourne offers, I can do the 3-hour difference that California gives me.

Back on topic, Jelena Jankovic (and her lime green dress) was not that big of surprise for the winner on the women’s side. Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik weren’t that big of surprise. They’re good doubles players as well as decent singles players. The men’s side is where you scratch your head and go “WTH happened?”

Umm… 2 Days After…

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australian open, azarenka, cilic, davydenko, djokovic, espn, federer, henin, li, murray, nadal, roddick, serena, Tennis, tsonga, venus, zheng

I’ve been suffering from some serious “Australian Open Lag.”

What’s that mean? Well, living on the east coast of the US does no favors for the body during the start of the Grand Slam season. When you are a TENNIS FAN (as opposed to a CASUAL FAN), you stay up until 3:30am to catch the matches live on ESPN2 and not wait until the replay later on in the day. This has adverse effects, of course; effects like lack of sleep, irritablity, and all-around lethargy. So, when the major is finally over, I need a day or two to recover. That is why this post is coming a couple days late.

The Sex

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blake, davydenko, del potro, djokovic, federer, gonzalez, isner, karlovic, murray, nadal, roddick, Tennis

Normally, I watch the ball when I watch a tennis match. But, every-so-often, my eyes will drift away from the ball to whoever is making the better plays. There are some players that I just like watching. What I mean by that is that I like watching them move. I like watching their strokes; the way they hustle about the court.

Sure, some of them may not exactly be textbook, clean strikers of the ball. But that’s what makes it exciting. I’m not looking for fairies fluttering about the court on their toes. This is not ballet. I’m not looking for flat-footed big-hitters. I’m looking for the ones who can make the plays from impossible positions and do it with flare.

I’m also looking for the ones who also have a little something extra in a particular shot. Who every now and then will just for no particular reason haul off and destroy the ball with this stroke. This shot leaves the opposition stunned beyond belief and they either shake their head in dismay or clap in recognition of the genius. This shot has the crowd going “OOOOHHH!!!” in the middle of the point; and that’s only if the other player somehow manages to get it back.

These shots are widely described as “The Sex.”

Who Says Men Don’t Grunt?

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clijsters, djokovic, federer, hewitt, nadal, roddick, serena, stosur, Tennis, tomic

This is probably the funniest thing I have ever seen Shank-a-Lot do. He is the dorkiest person in the world, but he knows how to please the crowd. It’s from the Hits for Haiti exo in Rod Laver Arena that Shanx put on (very kind of him). The two World No. 1′s attended (Shanx and Serena) as well as Rafa, Kim C., Andy R., Rusty, Sam Stosur, Nole, and Bernard Tomic.

It. Was. Hilarious. And it was all for a good cause, too.

In the fore-court, it’s Shanx and Sam; the back-court is Nole and Rafa, Rafa serving to Shanx.

The thing about it is, Shanx had the whole motion of Rafa’s forehand down, crazy whipping motion to the swinging of his whole body and all. And the lob off the ground by Nole was pure hilarity. That’s pretty much how it was the whole time. If you missed it, you missed something great. You can go here to see most of it though.

P.S. Rafa and Kim make the best mixed doubles team and Rafole is the best doubles team EVER.

The Aussie Open has a lot to live up to after that.