Federer - what can you say!?

I apologize to my legions of fans all across the world about not updating for a couple of days. I'm sure you missed it. Ahem. Anyhow, I have been fighting school and weather (damn you, Colorado) and then yesterday I was in Denver for a Nuggets game. They lost, so that was a bummer, but I got back in time to watch the final, and what a performance. I'm not even going to say anything about Federer because seriously, what else could I say? If Gonzo, playing the way he was playing, couldn't beat Federer, then there was no one else in the world who was going to beat him last night. Roddick said something earlier about Federer not widening the gap...ho k... He has now won 3 grand slams 3 times. Think about that. That's a piss load. Out of the first 16 grand slams he played, he got to the QF twice and that was it. Out of the next like 15, he's won 10. Holy crap!

And Serena. I must admit, it was ballsy as hell to come back and win the entire tournament and demolish Sharapova in the process. Good for her I guess. But never again.

So now we will see what the rest of the tennis world has to offer. It's been an amazing start to the season. We've had Mary Carillo, Serena Williams, Federer, Hurricane Fena, extreme heat, bush fires, and that's all just in Australia. One thing, though, is clear after this first grand slam. It's Roger Federer's universe; everyone else is just trying to get a game or two.

Federer ROLLLLLLS

I wasn't around yesterday, but I do have plenty of match updates, so let's just get to it.

• Federer just beat the hell out of Roddick. 6-4, 6-0. 6-2 was the score, which is indeed a tremendous beat down. He outplayed, outhit, and generally outclassed Andy, which is no real surprise. I noticed that Roddick mentioned something about Federer "not widening the gap" between himself and other players recently, which I'm sure Federer saw and said "Oh reeeaallly..."




• Gonzo...what!? He DOMINATED Nadal like I haven't seen before. He hit 41 winners to 14 for Nadal. He's got 76 aces in the tournament!? He's going to roll all over Haas and at least take a set from Fed.




• No one has beaten Serena...yet. Sharapova had better pull through for me. I'm going to be upset if Williams manages to come through with a victory. Although I guess it would be a sweet moment for overweight athletes everywhere.




• And a quick quip from Serena: "I'm like a chameleon. I can kind of change and get my game going to whatever the situation is." Ho k...if you say so. I hope she gets blown off the court. I guess if "changing your game" means getting let off the hook by nervous opponents match after match, then yes, you can adapt very well. If Vaidisova can win that set point at 5-4 in the first, you'd be doneski right now and complaining about the conditions. Whatever.




• Also, Kim Clisters is retiring after this season, for those of you that didn't know. How crazy is that? 23 years old and just deciding to call it a career? Don't count on a comeback a la Martina Hingis either. I guess she just figured to hell with all the injuries and the training; just get married and chill for a while before figuring out how to spend her millions for the rest of her life. Tip of the cap to her then; wish I could do that.

And now for the beat down...

I called it 3-0 into the first set - Roddick slapped his old roomie around 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. That's impressive. Part of me wants to say, "Well, it was Mardy Fish..." but a 2, 2, and 2 assault is what it is. He has to play Federer now, so we'll see how far he has come. They will both be amped up for it. Everyone is making such a big deal out of this match, but no one is going beyond the typical dialogue of "Well Roddick is playing better but Federer is Federer." I can. Roddick is confident and playing well, that's for sure. He also thinks he can beat Federer. Some of the matches he has gone into against Federer in the past, I'm sure he went in and said "Uhh...shit. What do I do!?" Now he has a little bit of an idea of how to play him. He wants to be aggressive, but he has started to learn that "being agressive" means more than "hitting hard." He's being creative, mixing up his approaches; he's volleying much better than I've seen him before. His serve has always been there. It has always been the biggest strength of his game, and if he holds serve every time and can focus enough to get a break here and there, he could do it. That said, I still think he will lose.

Gonzo and Nadal are going to go at it in a little while; they will need new balls every 6 points.

My hope is that Sharapova can beat down Williams in the final...if she gets that far. Serena has fought off some big challenges, but I'm not sure she can beat Vaidisova though, who is a hottie.

Also, does anyone else got a little annoyed by the constant conversation of "OMG!! Americans crashed out in the quarter-finals!! Why!?" Mary Carillo and friends are soooooo concerned that there be an American in every final and a loaf of white bread in every winner's cup. Damn. That's why I don't care if Federer wins.

Davydenko and Haas are going to grind it out this afternoon. I look for a Haas win either in straights or four sets. The Russian is solid, but I don't think he has the firepower to take Haas off his game.

And a final thought for now: I know that I will look silly if Roddick beats Federer. But with Federer's routine tooling of Robredo fresh in mind, I just don't think Roddick can do it. Now I kind of hope I'm wrong. Let's watch.

nooooooo, and yesssssss

I was literally points away from nirvana, as Shahar Peer came this close to slaying Serena. But no. Didn't happen. Too bad. Roddick is up 3-0 on Fish right now and will probably win in straights. I'm calling it now.

Now for the good news. I think all I really need to do is show you this score to realize that yes, the AI-Melo combo is not only going to work, but it's going to be amazing. That is all.

oh well...

So this was disappointing. Not really too happy about that. I didn't watch the match, but I do know that Gonzo is a stud. He hits the piss out of the ball, big strokes from both sides, nice serve; he is a guy that will give anyone problems. Apparently, he just overpowered Blake, which is not easy to do at all. Trust me, there will be some banging with him and Nadal in the quarters. That would have been huge for Blake to make the QF at somewhere not named Flushing Meadows, or BJKNTC or whatever it is now.

And speaking of Nadal...the Murray match was amazing, I guess, since I haven't seen that either. This school schedule and practice and what not has been cutting into my couch time, so I haven't seen much tennis in the past two days. Except, of course, for my own tennis. So clever. Moving on.

Really looking forward to seeing this guy in the QFs. That will be an interesting match, although I think Roddick may pancake him. Hopefully it is competitive.

Serena Williams just keeps winning, much to my chagrin. Hopefully someone knocks her off soon. As long as she doesn't bring back the stare. In that case I will go to Australia myself and beat her down.

I'm off now to watch Carmelo Anthony dominate, hopefully. It may be a good evening to be a Nuggets fan, or it may not, in which case I won't be back tonight. Also, as a side note, I love how KG got suspended for 1 game for throwing a punch and hitting Antonio McDyess with a basketball but 1/5 of the Nuggets got suspended for various (and extraordinary) lengths for what they did. I'm not defending Melo, just saying this...I'm coming for you, David Stern!! Tool!

believe the hype! i guess

Remember the "mojo" commercials that American Express threw together after Roddick started bombing out at every tournament he played? He was predictable - a big serve, some groundies, no volleys, nothing special beyond the power (which has always been there). Well, apparently Roddick is starting to figure out how to play tennis. I said I wanted Safin to beat him down a little bit, and he did...for a set. Roddick played well though! He was impressive in spots, dominant in others, and although Safin snuck out a set, Roddick deserved to win. His serve was overpowering, his groundstrokes were authoritative, and he was more creative with his approaches and volleys than I have ever seen him. It was intriguing. I was pretty glad that Safin got his outburst in too.

Nadal went from looking shabby to spectacular, which is good news for him and bad news for Andy Murray, he has to play him next. Murray is weird; he mopes around like a 12 year old on the court and yells at Brad Gilbert and never really looks like he's into the match at all, but he wins. He doesn't look like he should be a professional athlete of any kind at first, and he seems to be a little off the pace of play, but he's freaking good for some reason. That will be a nice little match though.

James Blake nailed Robbie Ginepri in straights today too. Blake is my favorite player on tour right now, so I was pleased with that. It's too bad that he had to dispose of Ginepri so early on though. I hope he gets back on track this year.

Back to Roddick for a minute though. I thought his match with Ancic might be even more difficult than the Safin match, because Safin is going to attack or miss, but Ancic is a little more pesky. He was. It's nice to see Mardy Fish in the QF at a grand slam now too. Actually it's just nice to see him anywhere. I remember back in 2003 when he had match points on Roddick in Cincinati but couldn't finish it. Roddick went on to win the Open and Fish has fizzled in the meantime. But that will be a fun match too.

Most pleasant upset of the day: I have actually never met anyone who enjoys Amelie Mauresmo. If you like her and you're reading this, my apologies. But since no one is reading this anyhow I can say what I want. I hope Serena Williams loses later today too. There are probably more arrogant and spoiled tennis players out there in the world, and there are certainly athletes who behave much worse (one Terrell Owens springs to mind) but there is something about the Williams sisters that just makes me irritated. It might have been the "Serena stare" from a few years ago (OMG!! I'm so intimidated!!) or it could be the abysmal attempts at making tennis and "fashion" meet halfway, but I am never upset to see them upset. BUT since their matches will always be featured on American television, I guess I'll have to live with it.

You'll have to forgive me for not updating on the entire Australian Open draw. I would love to have the time to break down all the men's and women's matches, but alas, I have other things to do, like sleeping, so here is the actual website for you to dissect at your own pace.