Serbia Wins 2010 Davis Cup

I'm really happy for Serbia, I am. But at the same time, I'm absolutely devastated for France. It's really tough to choose a favorite when both sides have so much heart, and to watch it come down to the fifth rubber, whoever lost would have been heartbroken. Serbia really does deserve this. It's been the same four guys all year (Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki, Nenad Zimonjic) and, while they wouldn't have had a chance without Djokovic, their wins weren't completely dependent on him. France doesn't have one superstar like Nole, but an amazing all star team that revolves around Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra, Gael Simon, Julien Benneteau, and Arnaud Clement. Each and every one of these guys can be a threat on any given day and three of them are perfect for Davis Cup because they can transition between singles and doubles, unlike Zimonjic who is strictly a doubles guy.

Novak Djokovic did exactly what his team needed him to this weekend. He tied things up on Friday, taking some of the pressure off the key doubles match on Saturday, and more importantly he kept his team alive at 2-1 on Sunday morning by beating Gael Monfils. However, the hard work would lay on the shoulders of the men chosen to play the fifth and final rubber. While I mentioned that personally I would have chosen Janko Tipsarevic to face off against Michael Llodra, clearly Victor Troicki was the right choice. He didn't let the expectations of an entire nation bother him and he was in control from the very beginning of Sunday's match. In France's defense, I truly believe Michael Llodra was the right choice. He was clutch in doubles and has carried his team through several ties this season. Plus, as much as I love Gilles Simon, he is not a pressure player and I doubt the outcome would have been different if Forget had played Simon instead of Llodra.

I've watched this video so many times and every single time, I feel the jubilation of Serbian team and I want to cry after watching the footage of the French team. While Nole and Co. celebrated, an inconsolable Llodra calmly walked off court hanging his head and proceeded to weep into a towel. It was possibly one of the most heartbreaking scenes in tennis. That's the trouble with playing the final rubber. Llodra was not to blame for the French to defeat, and even if you believe he was, Monfils was just as much at fault. Although, I have to say that Julien Benneteau trying to console his friends was quite adorable. The other guys just stood around awkwardly while Guy Forget patted Llodra on the back.

All in all, this was one of the most exciting Davis Cup ties in recent memory and Serbia truly deserved to win. It's obvious that it not only meant a lot to the Davis Cup team but to the nation as a whole. For a country like the US, a Davis Cup win would go unnoticed, but I believe they're still partying in Belgrade and that level of commitment to tennis is very exciting to see. But don't even get me started on the head shaving thing. That deserves its own post.

I've Got a Feeling: France's Road to the Davis Cup Final

Here is a series of three videos documenting France's journey to the 2010 Davis Cup final. As it stands, the French lead the tie 2-1 after some pretty heroic play by Clement/Llodra to come back from two sets to love down against Troicki/Zimonjic. Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils will face off in the morning to see if the tie will go to a decisive fifth rubber. If the fifth is live, I'd play Tipsarevic and Llodra, but there are plenty who disagree. Anyway, this weekend's final has nothing to do with the videos below. First, I would like to note that I do not speak French, at all. So, these clips may make perfect sense if you can understand what they're saying, but I think they were only made more amusing by the fact that I couldn't understand. Feel free to watch for yourself (although I warn you they're long,) but I've also included a few of the questions that really puzzled me. If you want to cut down on watching time, I suggest watching Part 2.



I like the music during the player introductions. I feel like I'm about to watch some kooky 'band of superheroes' movie. Why are they eating a formal dinner in a locker room and why is Richard cutting Gael's meat? Gilles and Richard have to carry Bennedra's bags as the non-participating members, lol. At 9:16, please note this is the first appearance of I've Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas, but by no means the last.



We kick things off again with I've Got a Feeling. Also, if you're going to watch anything from these three videos, watch the very beginning of Part 2. I want to party with the French Davis Cup team, and by that I mostly mean I want to hang with Michael Llodra because he is both crazy and awesome. Add in Gael's rockin' dance moves and Jo's flare for karaoke and we're good. I'm so tempted to make a Gasquet joke here, but I almost feel like it's in bad taste. 4:35-a) this is hilarious and b) Guy Forget can't do push ups correctly. Why do they sing so much? At 5:22, I would really like to know what possible situation occurred where Gilles had to go downstairs in jeans and no shirt. I'm not complaining, but I'm really curious. I really really wish I understood what went along with the hand motions at 6:25. Please note that I've Got a Feeling resumes at 8:15. Why isn't Feli wearing a shirt? Again, not complaining, just an observation.



Does Forget ever shut up? I know he's the captain, but I don't think anyone else has spoken for the entire 30 minutes. Also, I made up an entire monologue for this part since I don't understand it, but I somehow doubt my version is really how it went down. I'm guessing this conversation may have been Forget justifying his player choices for the semis. But I could be totally off the mark. I love the head bobbing at 6:20. It's so perfectly in sync. I also love the fact that they are playing scrabble. By now you should notice that I've Got a Feeling reemerges at 9:05. Finally, I've got nothing to describe what's going on at 9:42, but I thought I should point it out.

I promise a real post on Monday to recap all the Davis Cup action, or even tomorrow night if I get around to it. But for now, this late night rambling will have to do. If you happen to speak French and watch these videos, feel free to clue me in on anything I may have missed.

Davis Cup Roundup

So, I haven’t written in a few days. It’s tough to write about tennis when the season starts to slow down. This week, there are tournaments in Metz and Bucharest and a few even smaller tournaments in all kinds of places. However, there has been some exciting tennis since the end of the US Open. It’s come to us in the form of Davis Cup.

There’s been a lot of debate recently about the Davis Cup format. Personally, I love the idea of having a national tournament for tennis. But, I also think it’s kind of silly to interrupt the regular tennis season four times a year for just a weekend and ship everyone off to countries around the world. The reason I like the national approach is because it brings a team aspect to our individual sport. We so often watch the triumphs of a few select players. In the case of Davis Cup, we actually get to see players supporting each other instead of competing against each other (within the teams at least.) It’s also great to see the pride that players take in playing for their country.

In 2007, DC stalwarts Andy Roddick, James Blake, and the Bryan Brothers led the US team to victory on home turf for the first time since 1995. This year, my team wasn’t playing for the title, but for the chance to try again next year. The US was in real danger of losing its place in the World Group this weekend. The 2010 squad included only one member of the victorious 2007 team, Mardy Fish, who didn’t even get to play that year. This weekend was all about Fish, who almost single handedly helped us keep our spot in the world group, winning two five set singles matches as well as a doubles match with John Isner. The guy practically won the whole tie for us, considering he won 3 of the 4 rubbers they actually played and Colombia won the other won. Due to rain, the organizers opted to skip the 5^th, dead rubber. So we know Fishy saved the day, he was briefly helped out by John Isner, poor Sam Querrey lost his only rubber, but who got left out of our four man team? 18 year old Ryan Harrison, who was making his Davis Cup debut. Had the dead rubber been played, I’m fairly certain Patrick McEnroe would’ve given Harrison the chance to play because there would’ve been no consequences. I can’t predict the future, but hopefully Harrison gets his shot at DC glory one day. While the squad may no longer consist of the successful DC players we’re used to, the US team looks strong (and really really tall.) I can’t wait for next year’s draw.

I have to talk about the US at least a little, but let’s move on to the teams that actually matter, the semifinalists. Argentina met France (in France) and the Czech Republic faced Serbia (in Serbia.) In the case of the French, it seemed like they could do no wrong and the Argentines could do nothing right. Even missing their main man, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, the squad, consisting of Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra, Gilles Simon, and Arnaud Clement, crushed Argentina, winning all five rubbers. The US had Mardy Fish, well France had Michael Llodra, a generally unsung hero. Llodra won the first singles match to give the French a 1-0 lead as well as the decisive third rubber doubles with Arnaud Clement. Monfils somehow managed to reign in the theatrics (at least a little) and defeat David Nalbandian. Simon and Clement continued the rout by winning both dead rubbers. France’s team looks incredibly strong and has an excellent chance of taking home the trophy for the first time since 2001. Poor Argentina has never won Davis Cup and they’ll have to wait until next year for their next chance.

On the other side of Europe, Serbia was hosting the Czech Republic in their Davis Cup semifinal tie. Novak Djokovic, the number 2 player in the world, is clearly a huge asset to the Serbian team. However, because of the rain in New York, Djokovic had to stay in NYC to play the US Open final on Monday, which meant he returned to Serbia just in time to play in this crucial tie. Djokovic was sick on the first day of Davis Cup play and the captain opted to substitute Troicki against Stepanek. Troicki lost in four sets, putting the Serbs one rubber behind the Czechs. Every tie had its hero this week and Serbia’s was surprisingly not Novak Djokovic. It was Janko Tipsarevic, who often surprises me with his brilliance. Tisparevic evened the tie on the first day by taking out Tomas Berdych, pretty impressive. You would think having the number 1 doubles player in the world and the number 2 singles player in the world team up for a doubles match would yield impressive results. It failed almost as miserably as the world 1 and 2 singles players teaming up in Toronto. Djokovic and Zimonjic lost pretty convincingly in four sets. Now Serbia was down 2-1. They would have to win both of Sundays singles matches to salvage the tie. First up, Djokovic managed to take down Tomas Berdych in four sets, tying everything up at 2-2. It all came down to Tipsarevic to beat Radek Stepanek in the final rubber. Tipsarevic came through with flying colors, winning in three sets and bageling Stepanek in the first. The Serbs went wild after making it to their very first Davis Cup final.

I’ll probably write an extensive preview in December before the final, but I’m tipping the French to win.

In the World Group playoffs, Austria edged out Israel, Germany demolished South Africa, Sweden won over Italy, India came back to defeat Brazil (really impressive play by the Indians,) Belgium beat Australia (which was missing Lleyton Hewitt after he injured his wrist in doubles,) Kazakhstan won 5-0 over a Federerless Switzerland (still confused,) and Romania beat Ecuador.

Andrea’s Top Five…of the 2010 US Open

Best Matches

5. Kim Clijsters d. Venus Williams – These two have some serious history at the US Open, but Kim’s got a pretty tight hold over Venus. In 2005, Kim won a three set quarterfinal against Venus before storming on to win her first major title. Last year, these two played what I consider to be the weirdest match of the 2009 US Open in the round of 16, each winning a 6-0 set before Kim won the decided 6-4. Again, Kim went on to win the title. This year, these two met in the semifinals. Venus had pretty much stormed through the draw up to this point, while Kim showed some vulnerability against Sam Stosur in the quarterfinals so it looked like Venus might have a shot at a third US Open title. It looked even more like that after she won the first set. However, Kim won a tiebreak in the second and it was easy sailing from there all the way to the championship title. If only the championship match was as exciting.

4. Mikhail Youzhny d. Stanislas Wawrinka – I’m guessing the television execs weren’t so pleased with this match up, which was supposed to feature Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, instead they got Mikhail Youzhny and Stanislas Wawrinka. The casual tennis fan wouldn’t even recognize these names. For those of us who do, these guys competed hard. Wawrinka took out Murray in four, Querrey in five, and went on to play five great sets against Youzhny. He had never previously made it past the fourth round in a major and was battling an injured leg. Youzhny is a previous US Open semifinalist, but has had mixed results in the last year. This was a great match for both guys. Too bad one of them had to go on to play Nadal.

3. Sam Stosur d. Elena Dementieva – This was another match that didn’t get the attention it deserved. Honestly, I only saw highlights because it was never shown in its entirety, but from what I hear, it was the best women’s match of the event. These two played well into the early hours of the morning, the latest end to a women’s match in US Open history. Elena Dementieva is often touted as the best female player never to win a Grand Slam. Sam Stosur had never made it past the second round at Flushing Meadows. After three grueling sets and the late finish, Stosur came back and gave Kim Clijsters a run for her money in the quarterfinals. Awesome performance from Sam.

2. Fernando Verdasco d. David Ferrer – This match was awesome. I can’t remember which match/matches were being played simultaneously, but it didn’t get the TV coverage these guys deserved. The two Spaniards started playing in the afternoon and battled late into the evening, neither giving anything up. Fernando looked like the eventual loser when he went down a break in the fifth, but fought his way back on serve and hit the best match point of the tournament. It’s matches like these that make me sad there’s a loser.

1. Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer – The match of the tournament. Roger Federer has been the King of Tennis for a long time now. It’s tough for the King to give up his throne, but Federer is 29 and there are a lot of talented younger players out there. In the past couple years, Djokovic has been able to give Roger a run for his money, but for three years running, Novak’s US Open goal has been halted by Roger Federer. Not this year. While most of us believed Roger had things firmly under control, Novak came out fighting and played an incredible match to make it to his second US Open final. Photo by Emmanuel Dunand at Getty Images.

Surprising Moments

5. Foot Fault Déjà Vu – At least Andy Roddick didn’t threaten to kill the lineswoman. He just called her stupid. Come on, we all know Andy’s not the biggest fan of umpires. Remember when he told kids to stay in school so they wouldn’t become umpires at the Australian Open? I don’t think Andy’s reaction was all that surprising, even when he was still carrying on about it three or four games later. He likes to gripe and it works for him. The actual surprise here is how popular calling foot faults has become since the Serena incident. Watching the replay, Andy definitely did the first time, but he was called on it a couple of times, a real rarity in a professional match. It wasn’t just Roddick either. Several stars were called out for foot faults during the fortnight. It’s like the new umpire fad.

4. Donald Trump shows up in Wozniacki’s box – This is just weird, but I don’t have a category for that. What the hell does Donald Trump have to do with Caroline Wozniacki? He appeared in her box for the quarterfinals and semifinals. When asked about her strange new friend, Caroline responded that Trump’s agent had called Caro’s to get the seats. Was he just too cheap to buy good seats in Ashe?

3. Women’s Final Doesn’t Even Touch the 1 Hour Mark – This was really hard to watch. I like Vera Zvonareva and she’s come such a long way, but Kim stormed through this match. After the great Federer/Djokovic match from the day session, the women’s final was a real disappointment. Vera had played so well over the last two weeks, we all had high hopes she could take the final to three sets. It’s no surprise Kim won, but the way she won was pretty shocking.

2. Novak Djokovic wins a 5 set semifinal against Roger Federer – If you watch the playback of the end of this match, no one was more surprised about Novak Djokovic’s win than Novak Djokovic. The guy stood there in shock for an unsettling amount of time. Going into this semifinal, everyone was pretty certain Roger would come out on top. Don’t lie, you thought Roger would win. This surprising win also gave Djokovic back the number 2 spot in the rankings.

1. Victoria Azarenka faints during her match – Brad Gilbert was adamant that Victoria Azarenka would storm her way through the draw and win the whole thing. Bad luck, Brad. Vika gave us the most shocking moment of the tournament by fainting in her second round match. The secrecy that followed the event made it even more mysterious and enthralling. Finally, Vika explained she had fallen in the gym the day before and was suffering from a minor concussion. Talk about bad luck. Photo by Al Bello at Getty Images.

Upsets

5. Beatrice Capra d. Aravane Rezai – Beatrice Capra isn’t even a professional tennis player. Let me say that again, Trice is not a professional. I wasn’t aware that non-professionals could even enter the US Open. However, this 18 year old certainly proved she deserved the spot, beating 18th seed Aravane Rezai en route to the third round. If she had beaten Maria Sharapova, she probably could have been the next Melanie Oudin. But, isn’t it better this way? Look where Melanie ended up.

4. Vera Zvonareva d. Caroline Wozniacki – Vera Zvonareva was this year’s Wimbledon finalist and the number 7 seed, so it’s not a stretch that she made it to the final. However, Caroline Wozniacki came into this tournament as the number 1 seed and US Open Series Champion. As Serena was absent from the draw, this seemed like Caroline’s best shot at winning the US Open title, or at least the easiest chance she would get. Plus, Caroline had had little trouble getting to the semifinals, easily beating former champion Maria Sharapova in the 4th round. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the 20 year old Dane. She’s got a lot of career left and her return abilities rival that of a backboard.

3. Janko Tipsarevic d. Andy Roddick – Wishful thinking may have driven me to predict another semifinal appearance from Andy Roddick. He’s had a rough summer. He crashed out of DC and missed Toronto sighting a mild case of mono. I honestly don’t think Andy’s been the same since losing Wimbledon last year. I think that was his last great push at winning a major and like always, Roger Federer was standing in his way. Roddick was the 2003 US Open champion, but hasn’t been able to garner another Grand Slam since. For those of us who love him, it’s rough to see him fall in the second round at anything, no less the US Open. If you’re like me and you’re nostalgic for the days when Roddick was on top, check out this article from the Sports Illustrated vault (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1029811/1/index.htm). Thanks @linzsports for posting this link on twitter. Man, hindsight really is 20/20.

2. Michael Llodra d. Tomas Berdych – Tomas Berdych was always considering a tour underachiever, until he made the semifinals of the French Open and did the near impossible, taking out Roger Federer at Wimbledon, en route to his first major final. He’s had an amazing year. The problem is, once you “breakout,” people expect you to keep up that level of play. Everyone, including me, had already set up the Andy Murray/Tomas Berdych quarterfinal when the draw came out. Turns out neither of them made it there. Michael Llodra may have turned 30 this year, but he’s never played better. I guess he odd serve and volley game confused Tomas because this first round loss confused all of us. Photo by Al Bello at Getty Images.

1. Stanislas Wawrinka d. Andy Murray – I’m kind of glad I didn’t buy Sunday tickets to the US Open because this match would’ve made me miss my flight. I was shocked when I checked twitter and saw Murray was losing to Wawrinka. I was waiting for my plane in JFK and booked it over to the sports bar. Just as things were getting good, some jerky bartender changed over to the Mets game. Really, the Mets game? I just got up and walked out. Don’t worry, I hadn’t even ordered yet. Luckily I found somewhere to watch this match. Murray’s likely in the best form of his life and certainly the most talented player currently on tour who’s never won a Grand Slam. The guy can’t seem to catch a break. He’s made a couple major finals, but Roger Federer has always been there to stop him. Now that Federer isn’t the dominant force he used to be, it looked like Andy might have a chance. He WAS a better hardcourt player than Rafael Nadal. I certainly saw him making it to the semis, but Stan Wawrinka pulled off the shock win.

Fashion Dos

Maria Sharapova – I wasn’t sold on the Donna Reed outfit when Nike released pictures of their players’ kits. However, I did a complete 180 when Masha walked on court. The girl could wear a trash bag and she’d still look like a supermodel, but the retro turquoise number actually looked super cute. I liked her purple night dress even better. It’s just a shame she didn’t stick around to wear it more often. That being said, do not purchase either of these dresses from Nike. She’s an international tennis superstar and 6’2” blond with a modelesque physique. If you are a housewife who plays local league tennis and has some cash to burn, you will look like an idiot. Don’t worry, I would look just as silly. If you want to get some of Masha’s look, try her USO practice skirt. It’s got the same button details as the Donna Reed dress and it’s slate grey with turquoise accents. You’ll get a similar, but more subtle look. Photo by Matthew Stockman of Getty Images.

Ana Ivanovic/Daniela Hantuchova – I feel like these two should’ve been in an issue of People magazine’s “Who Wore it Better?” section. They both wore a pink/purple Adidas dress. It was very simple and fit them both great. These two are arguably some of the most attractive women on tour so I’m sure whatever they chose would’ve been a hit. Anyway, no one wins. I think they both wore it the best. In this case, you might be able to get away with purchasing this one, but it’s still iffy.

Sam Stosur and the Lacoste Ladies – I pretty much always love the way Lacoste dresses their lady tennis players. Sam Stosur’s outfit at the 2010 French Open is one of my favorite tennis dresses. It was simply and timeless. Sam wore both purple and white versions of the US Open dress, as did the rest of the Lacoste women. Again, it was a simple, practical tennis dress with some cute details. Best of all, normal people actually could wear this and I’m sure Lacoste sold a ton of them in their shop on site.

Roger Federer (the nighttime edition) – Roger Federer usually looks pretty good. I mean he is besties with Anna Wintour, that’s got to come with some kind of fashion sense. When he unveiled the all black look at the US Open a few years ago I was thrilled. In terms of men’s tennis fashion, I’ve never loved a match more than the Roger Federer/Andy Roddick match at the 2007 US Open. Both guys looked super classy in all black. Anyway, I can’t say I was thrilled with Fed’s daytime choice this year, but I’m a big fan of the night kit. Instead of an all black kit, like he’s worn for the last couple of years, he went for an all navy look. I recently expanded to wearing navy from all black so I’m a big fan of the look. It’s a twist on a classic. Plus his clothes always fit immaculately.

Rafa Nadal (also the nighttime edition) – I don’t think I’ve ever praised Nadal’s fashion before. Honestly, I took an early dislike to the guy because he wore Capri pants and tank tops. In case you’re wondering, men should never, I repeat never, wear Capri pants. However, he’s gotten way better in the last couple of years. I can’t say I was crazy about the neon green daytime outfit, but the all black looked great for night matches, definitely a fitting look for his first US Open title.

Fashion Don’ts

Nadia Petrova – Wow. Just wow. I don’t even have words to describe what I think about this dress. Was it some weird attempt to distract her opponent? Did a rainbow fall on her? Was she wearing white when someone threw up a jumbo bag of skittles? Someone, somewhere should have stopped this. Photo by John G. Mabanglo at Landov.

Janko Tipsarevic/Marin Cilic – I realize there were significantly worse monstrosities than this all maroon look. However, I really didn’t like it. Either the shirt or shorts could’ve been maroon, no problem there, but for some reason, both made the look overwhelming.

Venus Williams – Again, what can I say? She had a different outfit for every match and every one was just as bad if not worse than the last. I got to see the black fireworks number in person. It’s kind of see through, has almost no back, and you can see the sparkle from hundreds of feet in the air. Lucky for us, it came in lots of colors, not. Photo by Timothy A. Clary at Getty Images.

Novak Djokovic – The actual outfit was fine, but what was going on with the designs. It looked like Ed Hardy started his own tennis line.

Mama and Papa Djokovic – If Novak’s outfit looked Ed Hardy-esque, I don’t even know who designed these t-shirts. I’m sure you’ve heard, because they got an awful lot of press, but Nole’s parents donned t-shirts prominently featuring his face. I’m glad this happened though. It gave me the opportunity to remind my own parents that regardless of my accomplishments, my face should never appear on a t-shirt.

Players Who Reminded Me Why I Love Them

Tommy Robredo – The forgotten member of the Spanish armada, Tommy made it to the 4th round of singles as well as the semifinals in men’s doubles. He’s a cutie pie and seems like an all around nice guy. He may not be number 5 in the world anymore, but he’s too often forgotten amongst other Spanish players like Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco.

Vera Zvonareva – I don’t care that she lost embarrassingly in the final. She showed heart and kept her cool. She made two major finals this year. Even though the commentators couldn’t let her forget last year’s massive breakdown, she proved them all wrong. Would it have been even better if she won? Yes. But, she’s a career high number 4 and donated her winnings to charity. She’s also got one of the hottest coaches around. Who wouldn’t love her? My favorite thing about Bepa is how relatable she is. She shows the emotions everyone else is feeling. If I were in her place, I’m pretty sure I’d be the same way. Photo by EPA.

Novak Djokovic – Dude fought hard. And, for me to like anyone who beat Roger, well that’s big news. He was also basically the classiest loser I’ve seen in a long time. In addition to all this, he gave us some of the best sound bites of the whole tournament. I don’t have a bad thing to say about the guy.

Caroline Wozniacki – She’s adorable. The idea that this girl is six months younger than me still blows my mind. She did an awesome job of dealing with the pressure of being the number 1 seed. I was pretty sure she was going to win the tournament after watching her beat Maria Sharapova, but she played respectably all the way into the semis. Frankly, I’m happy to see someone on top who’s not Serena Williams. Wozniacki isn’t jaded yet and still seems to revel in each win. Plus, her ability to return pretty much anything astounds me.

Sam Querrey – He was the last American standing in the men’s draw. I think he really is the future of American tennis. I got to see Sam practice on one of the outer courts over Labor Day weekend. His behavior is really the reason he ended up on my list. I don’t think I’ve seen a player who was better with fans. He stuck around for a really long time to take pictures with everyone who asked. I’ve seen players spend extra time before, but they usually look like they can’t wait to get out of there. Sam was super relaxed. For some reason, I find the fact that he still says “you’re welcome” to be incredibly endearing. Plus, he played an awesome five setter against Wawrinka. No worries Sam, you’ll make the quarterfinals soon.

Players Who Reminded Me Why I Don’t

Gael Monfils – I don’t think I even have to explain this. What the hell was he thinking? This kind of reminded me of that time that the Olympic snowboarder was going to win the gold medal and then did a trick because she was so far ahead, ended up falling and taking home a silver medal instead. Not quite the same, Monfils had no real shot at the title, but he was actually up a break on Novak Djokovic early in the first set. Gael, you really shouldn’t showboat unless you’re up two sets to love and a couple of breaks. He let the match get away from him fast. What’s really sad about this is that Monfils is actually really talented. I’m not sure he’ll ever really live up to his potential. Photo by Emmanuel Dunand at Getty Images.

Melanie Oudin – The media hyped her up way too much. I have no issue with the fact that she lost in the second round. Making the quarters last year was pretty extraordinary and I thought she was really cute. However, this year, all she’s done is complain about the expectations put on her.

Venus Williams – I find her incredibly pretentious and annoying, things I often think about Serena as well. Did she really need a new outfit for every match?

Teymuraz Gabashvili – Maybe he’s a great guy. I don’t know. I’m too distracted by the fact that his head is shaped like a lightbulb. This wouldn’t normally bother me because I just don’t watch him, but he played Nadal in round one which meant it was televised.

You Decide – Send me a suggestion. Which player bothers you the most and why? I’ll post the best response, which pretty much means one that I find amusing. Email me at achangeofends@gmail.com.

“Newbies” I Adore

Mandy Minella – I saw Venus beat her soundly, but she still stuck around after the match to sign autographs. Even in defeat, she was smiling.

Beatrice Capra – The media loved her. Like I mentioned earlier, she’s not even a professional. She may have gotten bageled by Maria Sharapova, but she definitely made an impression.

Peter Polansky – I love Canadians. He’s young. He’s cute. He almost beat James Blake. All great things in my book.

Ryan Harrison – The media jumped on this. He beat Ivan Ljubicic in the first round, which honestly didn’t surprise me that much. He’s 18, good looking, and well spoken, a real media dream. Too bad he didn’t make it further in the tournament. He did book himself a spot in this week’s Davis Cup tie though.

Andrea Petkovic – She’s not exactly new, but she’s only become recently popular. Petko’s personality is awesome. She’s funny in that great sarcastic, self-deprecating way, which is pretty much my favorite. She dances when she wins! The second I saw the Petko dance I was done for. She also makes YouTube videos, which are kind of weird, but I like the intentions. Plus, she’s got an awesome first name. :) Photo by AP.

Twitter Storylines

John Isner and Caroline Wozniacki’s shameless flirting

Feliciano Lopez complains about the ex

Fernando Verdasco loves taking pictures

Dmitry Tursunov mocks his tweeps, albeit subtly

Brad Gilbert shares outrageous opinions on the GOAT

A Weekend of Tweets

I know a lot of people still don't like to use twitter. I was very reluctant to join, but it's become an excellent source of information about tennis players. I've got some followers now, but not nearly as many as read A Change of Ends. I think some of my observations from this weekend are amusing, so the following post is simply an exact recap of what I posted on twitter this weekend, so please don't pay attention to some of the misspellings, etc. Twitter isn't exactly conducive to proper grammar.

Is anyone watching Rafa do the draw? He is so fidgety! 5:27 PM Aug 6th via web
Very limited internet. Here are some fun facts from today. 6:50 PM Aug 7th via web

Rafa and Nole did practice together this morning. It was a mob scene. Sadly, I deided to stay away from the madness. 6:50 PM Aug 7th via web

Fed practiced on a court that is very difficult for spectators to see. It was still mobbed. He snuck out the back entrance at the end. 1,281,217,899,000.00 via web

FYI, Federer practiced with Robin Soderling. 1,281,217,916,000.00 via web

Spent a full hour watching sam Querrey practiced. He seems like a really nice guy. Fun fact: he hit the gym this morning with his trainer at around 10:30. 1,281,217,981,000.00 via web

I'm in love with Tommy Robredo. He's adorable. 1,281,217,997,000.00 via web

Just saw Gulbis and Davydenko chatting in the lobby before going their separate ways. 1,281,218,027,000.00 via web

I consistently end up in the evelator alone with Julien Benneteau and never actually say anything to him. I wonder if he'll start to notice. 1,281,218,067,000.00 via web

just saw Stan and Peter Lundgren jovially walking through the lobby. Those guys look happy! 1,281,219,141,000.00 via web

Stan and I are now work out buddies. He just doesn't know it. Looks like he and Peter are getting along great. Lots of laughing. 1,281,228,582,000.00 via web

Michael Llodra cleans up nice. Just saw him on his way to dinner. 1,281,228,598,000.00 via web

Feliciano Lopez is here, just saw him checking into the hotel. Had an urge to follow the bellhop up to his room, but resisted. 1,281,228,647,000.00 via web

Monfils is out with his crew. Looks like he could take some fashion advice from Llodra. 1,281,229,201,000.00 via web

Tomorrow's Legg Mason final will feature Baghdatis and Nalbandian. My money's on Nalbanian. He's been on fire this week. 1,281,229,399,000.00 via web

Robin Soderling just looked at me funny. Weird, cause I wasn't even staring at him or anything. 1,281,229,785,000.00 via web

Soderling is in the lobby with finace, Jenni, and Robert Lindstedt, the Swedish doubles player. 1,281,229,837,000.00 via web

Victor Hanescu looks kind of surly, but quite tall in person. 1,281,230,343,000.00 via web

Davydenko just walked by with a woman I assume is his wife. She was wearing a very sparkly shirt with Bugs Bunny on it. 1,281,230,503,000.00 via web

Richard Gasquet and coach just came back. I shared an elevator with them earlier today. 1,281,230,604,000.00 via web

Alright, I've got to go get some dinner myself, but I'll try get some juicy updates later. 1,281,230,745,000.00 via web

@MTFadout I'll do my best to find Ernie tomrorow. So far, I've only seen him off site, I'll try to hit up a practice tomorrow. 1,281,239,321,000.00 via web in reply to MTFadout

some incredibly androdgenous tennis player i don't recognize with the skinniest gf i've ever seen just walked in. No idea who it could be. 1,281,240,749,000.00 via web

Breakfast time in toronto! 1,281,278,047,000.00 via web

Saw Ernie sitting alone in the lobby waiting for transport. Didn't stop to bother him though.. It looked like he had a rough night. 1,281,278,082,000.00 via web

Mr androgenous was at breakfast this morning with twiggy, but I still have no idea who he is. 1,281,278,114,000.00 via web

Almost didn't notice Gilles. He seems to be breakfasting with mom and dad. How cute! Coach and son are also here. Man, that kid is lucky! 1,281,278,157,000.00 via web

Gael and Gilles had a nice catch up when they saw each other. 1,281,278,185,000.00 via web

Feli was eating alone for a while, but was eventually joined by some guy. Where was Ferenando? I thought they were inseperable. 1,281,278,244,000.00 via web

Fun Fact: Feli wears a Yankee's baseball cap with his initials embroidered in the side. 1,281,278,291,000.00 via web

Mrs Davydenko was wearing the same flashy Bugs Bunny shirt to breakfast, but no sighting of hubby. 1,281,278,355,000.00 via web

I think I used to underestimate the attractiveness of Gilles Simon. He is adorable. I love that he's here with his parents. 1,281,278,405,000.00 via web

Almost forgot, saw Robin Soderling in the gym this morning cycling. 1,281,278,477,000.00 via web

I think something about me creeps Sod out. I was just walking by the door and all of the sudden he turned around and looked at me. 1,281,278,526,000.00 via web

It's a little rainy today, so hopefully we can get in some tennis. I've got to check out fo the hotel at 12 and my flight's not til 9. 1,281,278,570,000.00 via web

Also, it is Mr. Federer's 29th birthday. So birthday wishes for Roger this morning. 1,281,279,016,000.00 via web

just got a photo with Gilles, taken by the lovely gf of Julien Benneteau. 1,281,281,713,000.00 via web

someone's coach just said hello to me in French. I wonder who it is. 1,281,281,852,000.00 via web

Mystery solved. It was one of Monfils' team. 1,281,282,264,000.00 via web

still trying to figure out who mr. androgenous is. 1,281,282,280,000.00 via web

Also, Julien Benneteau's gf was sitting next to me waiting for her car and he is super pretty. 1,281,282,384,000.00 via web

You know you go to too many of these things when you start to recognize the coaches. 1,281,282,474,000.00 via web

Unfortunately the rain cut my day at the tennis short, as in I didn't see any before I had to leave the site. Oh well, sitting in the lobby. 1,281,299,748,000.00 via web

Nikolay is right in front of me with his ipad about 24 hours ago via web

what's up with WAGS and Bugs Bunny? Andrey Golubev's gf was only wearing a Bugs Bunny t-shirt, allbeit less flashy. about 24 hours ago via web

*** This should have read "Andrey Golubev's gf was ALSO wearing a Bugs Bunny t-shirt." Let me be clear, she was also wearing pants.

@RagingBitch You solved my mystery. It was indeed Dolgopolov. about 24 hours ago via web in reply to RagingBitch

Querrey's coach is all over the place. Looks like he's on his way to the gym. about 23 hours ago via web

hoping for some fun sightings before I have to leave for the airport. about 23 hours ago via web

Forgot to mention earlier. A player was actually squeegeeing his own court. Just as it was looking pretty good, it rained again. about 23 hours ago via web

If they let me watch up close, I would've helped squeegee. about 23 hours ago via web

Gonzo is in the house. Very blue tape of his calf. about 23 hours ago via web

now it's super sunny. I hate you toronto. Why couldn't you have been sunny this morning? about 23 hours ago via web

the WAGS are almost as easy to spot as the players. They're all tall, thin, and gorgeous. Well, not all, but most. about 23 hours ago via web

The lobby in the hotel is very dark. It both hurts my eyes and makes me feel creepier than usual. about 23 hours ago via web

So Canada and America Are Actually Different?

Ok, so I think I've officially started this post 10 times in my attempt to be witty; however, the exhaustion has set in and I'm pretty sure that my attempts at humor have only been funny to me. I think I'll just keep it simple and give you guys a general recap of my weekend. I'm also planning to follow this post with a timeline of tweets from Saturday and Sunday for those of you who don't have twitter. Those have my more off-the-cuff comments and probably read as an interesting stream of consciousness. I flew out late Friday night and landed in Toronto around 10:30pm. Theoretically I knew I would have to clear immigration to get into Canada, but I really thought this would be an easy walk through job. Nope. I got grilled by the gate agent. Apparently a young woman, spending a weekend in Toronto, to watch a tennis tournament, alone is very suspicious behavior. FYI, I'm not sure I could look less threatening. Anyway, I finally made it through and I was on my way.

I stayed at the Hilton Toronto, with the majority of the players, excluding the Top 3. A special thanks to the hotel for my free upgrade to a junior suite. The Hilton was lovely, but a bit of a letdown after my amazing stay at the W last weekend. The hotel was fairly unimportant anyway. Saturday, I left for the tournament around noon. It was a long trip on the metro/bus, but not too difficult. Plus tournament tickets for the weekend were free, which was awesome. The weather Saturday was nice, alternating between a little bit chilly and warm, but no rain. When I arrived at the site, I did a lap of the grounds to get my bearings. Toronto is nice and posts a board of who's practicing where at what time. This is super convenient for picking out your favorites, but also means that when Federer/Nadal/Djokovic/Murray are practicing, fans camp out in those seats from like 10am onwards. It so happened that Nadal was practicing with Djokovic when I got there, but there was no chance I was going near that mob scene. The crowd must have been at least 20 people deep on any side. Plus, there were plenty of great players out practicing and I'd rather be up close. I spent some time checking out Youzhny's practice before moving on to Belucci/Gonzalez practice. I decided to check out the next court and was pleasantly surprised to find Davydenko and Monfils. Nikolay Davydenko is so unassuming in person. He's currently ranked sixth in the world, but you would never look at him on the street and guess he was a tennis player. Monfils is always a good laugh, so I stuck around for a little while to watch. I kept wandering and eventually ran into Sam Querrey's court.

The Rexall Center is pretty good for watching practice sessions, as each court has bleachers, so you can actually see. I spent the full hour watching Sam. He looked pretty relaxed and his coach was quick to provide tips. I didn't recognize his practice partner (it could've been someone he brought for this purpose or a less well known player.) Sam's coach was very clear about how the practice partner should hit the ball over to Sam's side to practice certain shots. All in all, it looked like both guys were having fun out there. The fence on the bleachers side of the court is probably only 3 feet high, so small children kept running over during water breaks asking Sam to sign various items. He was very accommodating, considering the interruptions. It was a great session for me because I could clearly hear everything said on court, and it was all in English. There was one long rally in particular that got very exciting and Sam ended it with a beautifully executed drop shot. The crowd applauded and Sam bashfully held up his racket in acknowledgement. In general, he seemed very down to Earth and was very nice to his fans. He still says "You're Welcome" when people thank him. I really appreciate those qualities in a player and will definitely seek him out next time. In terms of tennis, he's got a wicked forehand and hit several shots that made his opponent smile in defeat. He also had a couple of not so great moments, mostly at the net. It looked like his coach was encouraging Sam to practice volleys. His shots were so powerful that they often sailed straight over the baseline.

I took a quick breather by the retail tents and ended up with a new pair of Marc Jacobs sunglasses. I'm not quite sure how this happened. All I remember are the words $50 gift card and I was sold. All the tournaments I've been to have had retail tents. Most of them sell tennis gear and equipment, which makes sense. Tennis fans are likely to buy a new kit or bag if they see it on their favorite player. Some of them are just plain weird. See my post of Rotterdam. There was a meat tent. Toronto had all the regulars as well as sunglasses, some kind of pain relief spray, and cameras. All of these kind of made sense. I checked out the price of the glasses I bought this morning at work, and it looks like I actually got quite a good deal. I digress...

Benneteau and de Bakker were up next on Sam's recently vacated court. I've seen them both several times so I moved on. I walked through Gasquet's practice and took a few photos. When I came back out to check the practice schedule, there was a giant crowd by the connected practice courts. At the tournament, there are several outer courts that are used as stand alone practice courts, but there is also a series of four courts all in a row that have seating on two ends and fencing on the other sides. Sure enough the giant crowd was trying to watch Roger. Every surface imaginable was being sat on or stood on and people were doing anything they could think of to get a look. He was on one of the middle courts, quite far from most of the spectators. I adore Roger Federer. I'm fairly certain he's the reason I love tennis, so I definitely wanted a few pictures. There was no way I was getting close to the front of the mob, so I blindly held me camera above my head and started shooting. Luckily he was nice enough to wear a bright pink shirt that day, so even though the photos are blurry and far away, you can still pick him out. The truly unfortunate part of this mob, was that I had no chance of seeing Tommy Robredo. I don't know why, but since seeing him in Rotterdam, I have had some serious love for Mr. Robredo. He was practicing on the court next to Roger. Had he been on one of the stand alone courts, I'm sure I would've gotten the intimate experience I was looking for because everyone would've still been huddled around Fed. So, I decided it was time for a some fries and a beer. Fun fact about Canada, you can give them US money almost anywhere, but they will give you back Canadian money, which is completely useless outside of Canada. I finished up and started walking back in the direction of the mob. After scoping out the grounds, I knew that the connected practice courts had a side entrance and after seeing the crowd, thought it likely that Roger would choose that route out. He did. His fans were pissed. However, my lovely Tommy braved the crowd (although I don't think anyone even bothered with him.) As he was passing me by, I held out my little book of autographs and a sharpie. He just kept walking, but because he is such a nice guy, he turned around and walked back over to sign it.

It was late afternoon by this point and I decided it was time to call it a day. I made my way back to the hotel decided to hit the gym. I was pleasantly surprised to find Stanislas Wawrinka and Peter Lundgren in the middle of a workout. I got a good chuckle from watching them while I was on the elliptical. Stan was trying to help Peter workout by trying a series of different style crunches. It wasn't going that well. He was laughing pretty hard by the end. Finally, Peter left Stan to his own workout. Stan proceeded to play with his Ipod for a good 15 minutes before he started running. I was actively trying not to be a creeper and finished my own workout in a timely manner.

I sat in the lobby for a while to use the wifi and posts all of my tweets for the day. I had more and more to say as I sat and watched players go by. Other than that, I had a relatively tennis free night and headed out for dinner.

I woke up pretty early on Sunday and decided my best tennis player sightings would probably occur at breakfast, so I headed over to Tundra for the buffet. I saw Gulbis sitting outside on the restaurant waiting for his car. He didn't look so good. I'm guessing he had a late night on Saturday. The food in the restaurant was mediocre, but I did see Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra, a lonely Feliciano Lopez, and Alexandr Dolgopolov. I decided not to leave for the tournament until noon because it looked like rain, so I sat in the lobby next to the tournament table and continued to update twitter. Julien Benneteau's girlfriend sat down right next to me to wait for her car to the site. I desperately wanted to make friends, but wasn't quite sure how to go about that. Before I could hatch a game plan, Gilles Simon and co. showed up and Julien's girl got to chatting with Gilles and his coach. They were just waiting for a car, so, when I caught a lull in the conversation, I stood up and asked if we could take a photo. Gilles was really nice about it and Julien's girlfriend volunteered to take the picture.

It was finally time for me to check out and head over to the tournament. Unfortunately, it had rained quite heavily and all of the courts were soaked when I got there. The practice board had been updated and Federer and Nadal were set to take adjacent courts on the connected practice courts. Who could pass up the opportunity to see them practicing at the same time? So, I decided to camp out in one of the seats in hopes that the tournament staff would be out to dry the courts soon. About a half an hour into waiting (I wasn't the only one, all the seats were full and there were plenty of people standing,) Ross Hutchins and his coach came out onto one of the courts to survey the damage. There were giant puddles. There was no way that they were going to be able to play like that. So, the coach popped out the side entrance to look for some help. All he got from the staff were two squeegees. All of the dryers and staff were being used to dry the match courts as the qualifying matches needed to be completed. So, as tons of people watched, Ross proceeded to squeegee his own court (noticeably absent was any help from doubles partner Andy.) It was hard, tiring work, and frankly wasn't going so well. A while later, Andy Murray walked out on court. The squeegee man, aka "Ross," had done a pretty good job, but not quite enough to dry the whole court. Murray squelched around for a while debating whether to practice, but the fates sealed it when it started to rain all over again. Poor squeegee guy. Murray walked off the opposite end of the court and stopped to sign some balls/t-shirts/etc. However, the crowd on my side was not pleased. One woman yelled, "Andy, we've been waiting for 3 hours, why did you go over there?" A small child started repeatedly yelling "Murray, you suck" quite loudly as it started to rain harder and Andy jogged off court. It was mid afternoon and I decided to cut my losses and return to the hotel. Of course, my luck is pretty horrendous and the sun came out a few hours later, but I had to catch a flight back to Boston.

As you can tell, day 2 didn't work out so well, but overall it was a good trip. I would definitely go back to Toronto for the Rogers Cup next year. The tournament is very spectator friendly and the practice courts are accessible which is one of my big measures of how much I like a tournament. Even though the Rexall Center is part of York University, it is absolutely massive. I don't know anything about Canadian colleges, but I can't imagine there's a tennis match outside of Rogers Cup that could fill the Center Court arena.

It looks like it will be a while before I can get to another live event. I was hoping to drive out to Cincinnati for finals weekend, but I will be setting up my new apartment in St. Louis instead. I still have high hopes for making it to the US Open, so I will keep you all posted.