I love reading these post-match press conferences. Who the hell would ask Jelena Jankovic what she was going to do tonight, especially after a loss? What are these reporters doing, looking for a date? Good luck with that. Guess they haven't noticed that Jankovic goes everywhere with her mother.
Anyway, women's tennis remains as unpredictable as ever. Dinara Safina takes out Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. I wonder what she did with all that extra time that she would have otherwise used coming back from match point down. Let's see how she does against Ana Ivanovic, the new world No. 1 and survivor of a face-off with Jankovic. More on that tomorrow.
Because it's on for the men. Four words: Rafa Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic. (That might actually be five words. Does vs. count as a word?) This could be the match of the tournament, even if Fed ends up playing Nadal again. The problem for Djokovic is that Nadal looks untouchable right now. The problem for Nadal is that Djokovic is improving fast. I still say Nadal's going to beat Djokovic easily, but I'm hoping for a Hamburg repeat.
Roger Federer is stuck with Gael Monfils in the other semifinal. So, at the Australian, Frenchy Jo-Jo Tsonga makes some noise, and now there's another one who's having surprising results at a major. Does this mean that Richard Gasquet's next at Wimbledon? That depends. Is he having a lobotomy in the next couple weeks? Regardless, Monfils is the surprise of the tournament, and he didn't get lucky on the way, either. He had to beat Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Nicolay Davydenko, and David Ferrer, who was looking pretty good in this tournament. Anyway, Federer has been looking dodgy all season, and the clay just doesn't seem like the place for him to rediscover his form. So, my pick is ... Federer. What'd you think I'd say? Although Fed lost to MARDY FISH! this season, he doesn't falter too often at the Slams. Probably won't happen here, either. But what Monfils could get out of this Grand Slam showing is the realization of how far he could go. Or he could get beaten so badly he loses all confidence. No pressure, Gael. None at all
3 comments:
Great post...very well written. I particularly like the way you describe how dodgy Fed is looking this season and still pick him :P.
Hey Naf! I picked Federer going into the tournament to come through and win his first title here. It looks like he's just gotten back on track as the clay-court season has gone on. Some of those losses early in the season (Mardy Fish comes to mind) were ridiculous!
But for some reason, I can't shake this nagging feeling in the back of my head that Monfils could possibly come through. Maybe it's that whole thing with sports being so unpredictable. I hope R-Fed comes through, but you just never really know ...
Thanks for stopping in, Yasu, and for the kind words. I'm blushing over here.
And Van, you're obviously a wild and crazy guy. Monfils? (?) I guess you've got to live on the edge sometimes. :) I just don't see Fed having a great shot with Nadal looking the way he does, but I hope it's a classic -- assuming Fed gets through.
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