US OPEN: DRAMA!
DRAMA in the last US Open quarter-final last night: Novak Djokovic beat Andy Roddick in four sets (an excellent result: I had been fearing a Roddick resurgence, which would have been the worst thing ever), and then DISSED RODDICK AND THE CROWD in his on-court interview afterwards! BOOOOOOO, went the crowd, I've rarely seen a crowd boo that much (video below). Background: after Djokovic's five-set 4th round victory over Tommy Robredo, he complained of many physical ailments; in Roddick's press conference two days ago he lightly mocked Djokovic's "16 injuries" and sort of insinuated that Djokovic was faking them. I don't think anyone was actually in the wrong here: Roddick was obviously speaking in jest, and he was genuinely funny, but he should have foreseen that Djokovic might take some offense at that, especially as the media and commentators apparently picked up on it and possibly made it a bigger deal. Anyway, I really admire Djokovic's chutzpah - he wasn't trying to be funny, he deliberately took the conversation there, knowing that it would rile up the NYC crowd, and didn't back down - indeed piled on the criticism even as the interviewer was frantically trying to move the conversation on. And, you know, he won - thrashed Roddick in the first two sets. So, verbal game/set/match to Nole too.
We're down to the semi-finals and shockingly, I love 7 out of 8 remaining semi-finalists (the odd one out being that overgrown toddler Serena Williams). They should all be good matches - it's tough to predict any of them with confidence - but it's a pity that I won't be able to watch them live, as they're on Sky Sports. Who even has that, anyway.
Dinara Safina vs Serena Williams - will predict Silliams though if fatigue from her long summer doesn't kick in, I think Safina has more than enough game to win. But mental strength is so important on the WTA, and so few of the women can summon it in a Slam semi-final against a Williams sister. Sigh.
Elena Dementieva vs Jelena Jankovic - could go either way: Jankovic owned Dementieva for a couple of years but Elena finally got revenge in Berlin this year, and is playing so well after winning the Olympics that I'll go with her this time; she seems to be so much more relaxed about her tennis, not even a hint of a choke so far!
Rafael Nadal vs Andy Murray - Nadal hasn't exactly looked sharp in his last two rounds, while Murray's been playing at a very high level, but the thing with Nadal is that you can easily envisage him giving a set away through lacklustre play, or an opponent catching fire and blitzing him for a set; but over five sets? That's an uphill slope which is pretty much vertical. Have to go with Rafa.
Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer - a few days ago, I thought Djokovic's "16 injuries" would be his undoing, but he put those worries to rest against Roddick. Federer has been as intermittently great as he's been all year, and really should have lost to Igor Andreev in the 4th round; I just don't think Roger's anywhere nearer to reaching his absolute top level, the one he needs to play at to beat Djokovic and Nadal, than he has been at any point in 2008. So: Nole!
Click to viewWe're down to the semi-finals and shockingly, I love 7 out of 8 remaining semi-finalists (the odd one out being that overgrown toddler Serena Williams). They should all be good matches - it's tough to predict any of them with confidence - but it's a pity that I won't be able to watch them live, as they're on Sky Sports. Who even has that, anyway.
Dinara Safina vs Serena Williams - will predict Silliams though if fatigue from her long summer doesn't kick in, I think Safina has more than enough game to win. But mental strength is so important on the WTA, and so few of the women can summon it in a Slam semi-final against a Williams sister. Sigh.
Elena Dementieva vs Jelena Jankovic - could go either way: Jankovic owned Dementieva for a couple of years but Elena finally got revenge in Berlin this year, and is playing so well after winning the Olympics that I'll go with her this time; she seems to be so much more relaxed about her tennis, not even a hint of a choke so far!
Rafael Nadal vs Andy Murray - Nadal hasn't exactly looked sharp in his last two rounds, while Murray's been playing at a very high level, but the thing with Nadal is that you can easily envisage him giving a set away through lacklustre play, or an opponent catching fire and blitzing him for a set; but over five sets? That's an uphill slope which is pretty much vertical. Have to go with Rafa.
Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer - a few days ago, I thought Djokovic's "16 injuries" would be his undoing, but he put those worries to rest against Roddick. Federer has been as intermittently great as he's been all year, and really should have lost to Igor Andreev in the 4th round; I just don't think Roger's anywhere nearer to reaching his absolute top level, the one he needs to play at to beat Djokovic and Nadal, than he has been at any point in 2008. So: Nole!