Oh, Roger!
Yesterday were the two semi-finals of the Rome Masters 1000. It was Rafa Nadal vs. David Ferrer. I cheered for Ferrer. I like him. He's 30 but very feisty. The thing about him I don't understand is that apparently he's a chain smoker but still goes out and runs 5 miles before a match, and then gets all the way to the semi finals. *boggles* He has yet to win a major because Rafa and Novak Djokovic keep getting in his way.
The other match was Roger Federer (my favourite) vs. Djokovic. The first SF aired from 8 a.m. to just about 10:30. Rafa won. That's okay. I love Rafa too, but poor David. The commentators said, "See you in a about an hour and a half." Then a Blue Jays/NY Mets game came on. Uh oh This did not bode well for the tennis to air live. Not at all.
After baseball was cricket. Hmm Tennis was probably over by then but I had to stay away from BleacherReport and ESPN and all the usual sites to avoid spoilers. The whole time I was terrified about the outcome.
I went out and ran errands, came back and watched The Preakness. I'll Have Another won the second jewel of the Triple Crown! Yay!! I'd picked him to win the Derby, too. \o/ Another baseball game. Cycling. NBA. NBA wrap up. TENNIS!! It was around 11:10 p.m.
Yeah.
I watched most of the match with my eyes shut. Roger had been on fire all week, after his win in Madrid. He decided to play in Rome only after a practice Wednesday morning. He said he felt good and went for it. I think his ego got in the way and he decided to defend his new #2 ranking. If he won Rome it would guarantee that he'd enter the French Open next week as #2 and that way he wouldn't have to go through Djoker and Rafa to get to the final. He absolutely obliterated the hometown favourite Seppi in the quarters. It was like he was on a mission. Get in there and get it over with. Basically he steamrolled most of his opponents. Seppi went down in straight sets after his very exciting match the night before against Roger's countryman (and another favourite of mine) Stan Wawrinka.
This weekend was the first time Roger had played Djoker this year. He did well against him in 2011 and on the message boards most people were picking him to win against Novak. I do not like Djoker. Don't like his attitude and how he shows off when he wins. I cheer for anyone playing against him. Roger has the chops to beat him, he did it in the 2011 US Open. Just didn't happen yesterday.
He went down in straight sets, which is always disappointing and somewhat embarrassing. He looked tired, too. Probably overdid it with his schedule and that worries me. It's so full through the summer with the five-set slams to contend with. He needs to work on his stamina. He and his coach have figured out how to beat Rafa. Now they need to figure out how to beat Djoker.
The upside is that Roger now has one more day to rest up for Roland Garros (French Open). Rafa and Djoker will have an epic battle -- starting in 18 minutes -- to get over. But Roger will still have to go through both of them at RG if Rafa wins and takes back #2 ranking. I don't know who to cheer for! I refuse to hope Djoker wins, but if Rafa wins Roger's next two weeks will be tough. If he's really tired guys like Ferrer and even Raonic could get past him. Not good for his plan to make it back to #1 this year.
But. This is Roger Federer we're talking about. (Well, I am. You guys have probably moved on to someone else's journal by now.) Roger may be slowing down a little, but he's got more going on upstairs than a lot of these other guys, and a lot more shots to pull out of his arsenal. Here's hoping Rome is just a small glitch.
Allez Roger!
EDIT: The final was delayed due to rain and will play tomorrow at noon Rome time. That's 4 a.m. my time. I have to get up around 5 anyway, so should be able to catch some of it live.
Also found a streaming live site that I wish I had known about yesterday. Wouldn't have had to go through all of that angst or stayed up til 1:30 a.m. to see Roger go down in straight sets. Now I just have to figure out how to get out of work and still earn enough money to live on, so I can stay home and watch tennis. Wish I could afford to go to Toronto in August for the Rogers Cup. Waaay too expensive a trip for me this year. I want to see these guys play live!! "whine*
The other match was Roger Federer (my favourite) vs. Djokovic. The first SF aired from 8 a.m. to just about 10:30. Rafa won. That's okay. I love Rafa too, but poor David. The commentators said, "See you in a about an hour and a half." Then a Blue Jays/NY Mets game came on. Uh oh This did not bode well for the tennis to air live. Not at all.
After baseball was cricket. Hmm Tennis was probably over by then but I had to stay away from BleacherReport and ESPN and all the usual sites to avoid spoilers. The whole time I was terrified about the outcome.
I went out and ran errands, came back and watched The Preakness. I'll Have Another won the second jewel of the Triple Crown! Yay!! I'd picked him to win the Derby, too. \o/ Another baseball game. Cycling. NBA. NBA wrap up. TENNIS!! It was around 11:10 p.m.
Yeah.
I watched most of the match with my eyes shut. Roger had been on fire all week, after his win in Madrid. He decided to play in Rome only after a practice Wednesday morning. He said he felt good and went for it. I think his ego got in the way and he decided to defend his new #2 ranking. If he won Rome it would guarantee that he'd enter the French Open next week as #2 and that way he wouldn't have to go through Djoker and Rafa to get to the final. He absolutely obliterated the hometown favourite Seppi in the quarters. It was like he was on a mission. Get in there and get it over with. Basically he steamrolled most of his opponents. Seppi went down in straight sets after his very exciting match the night before against Roger's countryman (and another favourite of mine) Stan Wawrinka.
This weekend was the first time Roger had played Djoker this year. He did well against him in 2011 and on the message boards most people were picking him to win against Novak. I do not like Djoker. Don't like his attitude and how he shows off when he wins. I cheer for anyone playing against him. Roger has the chops to beat him, he did it in the 2011 US Open. Just didn't happen yesterday.
He went down in straight sets, which is always disappointing and somewhat embarrassing. He looked tired, too. Probably overdid it with his schedule and that worries me. It's so full through the summer with the five-set slams to contend with. He needs to work on his stamina. He and his coach have figured out how to beat Rafa. Now they need to figure out how to beat Djoker.
The upside is that Roger now has one more day to rest up for Roland Garros (French Open). Rafa and Djoker will have an epic battle -- starting in 18 minutes -- to get over. But Roger will still have to go through both of them at RG if Rafa wins and takes back #2 ranking. I don't know who to cheer for! I refuse to hope Djoker wins, but if Rafa wins Roger's next two weeks will be tough. If he's really tired guys like Ferrer and even Raonic could get past him. Not good for his plan to make it back to #1 this year.
But. This is Roger Federer we're talking about. (Well, I am. You guys have probably moved on to someone else's journal by now.) Roger may be slowing down a little, but he's got more going on upstairs than a lot of these other guys, and a lot more shots to pull out of his arsenal. Here's hoping Rome is just a small glitch.
Allez Roger!
EDIT: The final was delayed due to rain and will play tomorrow at noon Rome time. That's 4 a.m. my time. I have to get up around 5 anyway, so should be able to catch some of it live.
Also found a streaming live site that I wish I had known about yesterday. Wouldn't have had to go through all of that angst or stayed up til 1:30 a.m. to see Roger go down in straight sets. Now I just have to figure out how to get out of work and still earn enough money to live on, so I can stay home and watch tennis. Wish I could afford to go to Toronto in August for the Rogers Cup. Waaay too expensive a trip for me this year. I want to see these guys play live!! "whine*