Sports
Sports and Stuff. 1/31
Posted by Leena on Jan 31, 2006, 13:34
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Welcome. I will be
writing about a smorgasbord of sports, sports entertainment, and whatever else
catches my fancy. Yes, I�m a girl. Yes, I�m hot.
No, don�t annoy me about it.
Today will be all about the recently completed Australian
Open. As February rolls around, I�ll be
getting more into college basketball, the Olympics, golf, more tennis, and
other things�
ROGER FEDERERER IS UNSTOPPABLE!
No, he isn�t. This
notion about how Roger dominating is a foregone conclusion at every tournament
is ridiculous. With the absence of
Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and bumbling oaf Marat Safin, I could see why people
thought Roger would cruise to victory in Melbourne. However, look at every match from the Round
of 16 to the Final. They were all tight
scuffles. Also, look at how many tight 3
set matches he�s won in the past 12 months, where his opponent has gagged under
the pressure of possibly beating the undoubted #1 player in the world.
I�m not slighting Roger, in any way. He�s already one of the 5 best players of the
Open Era (behind Sampras, Connors, Agassi, and Borg), at the age of 24. However, the tour is far too talented, and
far too deep to think Roger can just step out on court and stomp people. Players know they have to improve to compete
with Roger, and they definitely are.
Now, the big question on everyone�s mind is will Roger win
Roland Garros? (And, please, everyone
stop calling it the French Open. That�s
incorrect. We don�t call Wimbledon
the British Open, do we?) At the moment,
he is one of the secondary favorites to win.
After Nadal�s beatdown of Roger in last year�s semifinal, he�s currently
the clear favorite. However, we have to
see how the clay season transpires.
THE MARCOS BAGHDATIS BANDWAGON
Marcos was a great story in Melbourne. But, unfortunately, he�s not ready for the
immediate success he earned. Notice the
3rd set he played against Roger, the 2nd set against
Andy, and many more examples. One cannot
mentally go away for periods like that and consistently survive as a top 10
player. There�s no doubt that Marcos has
loads of game, especially with his Federer-like forehand. We�ve known this for a while. Marcos still has a lot of room to improve,
though. So, I suggest not putting your
hopes too high on him yet. Remember that
he was regularly playing in challengers for most of 2005. Marcos is still a youngin'. Don't pressure him.
AMELIE MAURESMO WINS THE WEIRDEST SLAM EVER
It was a wacky win, indeed.
3rd round � Michaella Krajicek retires after the first set
with heat problems. 4th round
� Nicole Vaidisova plays one of the worst matches ever. Quarterfinal � Patty Schnyder, noted freak,
plays ugly tennis in the first set, and tanks with gusto in the second. Semifinal � Kim Clijsters, retires in the
third set with an ankle sprain. Oh,
karma is a bitch. Final � Justine
Henin-Hardenne, retires with a tummy ache.
All credit for Amelie for playing fine tennis in all of
these matches, conquering her fears in grand slam play. However, this still doesn�t prove her choking
days are over to me. Roland Garros has
been the huge struggle for her, and that will be her true proving ground. I hope Amelie does so, as well. She�s a joy to watch when she believes in her
game, as she isn�t brainless power groundstroke bashing like all the Williams�
and Sharapova clones in the WTA.
JUSTINE IS A CHEATER!
EVEN WHEN SHE LOSES!
For some reason, many people love to hate Justine. I find it sad, since Justine is truly a great
success story. She had a difficult
childhood, with her mother dying at a young age, and a father who disowned
her. Plus, she would not be mistaken for
an attractive-looking female, at the very least. And, she�s a very petite girl. But, she worked diligently through all this,
by herself, and got to be one of the best players of all-time.
Then after getting to #1, she starts getting many illnesses
that basically forced her out of the game for over a year. That�s why I give her somewhat of a pass with
her weak retirement in the Aussie Open final.
Justine knows she can�t work herself to death anymore. She was worried. Put yourself in her shoes, and you�d likely
feel the same.
Would it really have been a great moment for Amelie if
Justine just stood out there struggling for another four games? I don�t think it would have proven a
thing. It�s a shame for all people
involved, and you know Justine is very disappointed by it. With Amelie�s past history in attempting to
close out wins in important matches, Justine definitely wanted to make her earn
it.
SERENA WILLIAMS IS RANKED 39TH
No, that�s not a typo, stupid American tennis fans. Venus and Serena are not #1 and #1a! And they haven�t been for nearly 3 years
now! I�ll gleefully cackle if Serena is
unseeded for Roland Garros. The
struggles for both players are well-deserved since they do not put the effort
into being tennis players any longer.
Let�s make a decision, Serena:
Either focus on being a horrible �actress� who whores around, or be a
tennis player. Because trying to do both
is not working, and it�s not fair to the rest of the WTA tour who do put in the
hard work to be successful, but are all much less talented than you are.
WELCOME BACK, MARTINA HINGIS
Yes, the bitch is back!
Her comeback has been more successful than most could imagine thus far,
with a Quarterfinal appearance at the Aussie Open, and a Semifinal showing at
the Gold Coast warm-up. And both of
those losses were very close. Granted,
her draw in Melbourne was very
kind, but it�s hard not to be impressed with her game already. The obvious question is how Martina will deal
with power the girls have on tour now, the power that frustrated her and forced
her out of the game in 2002. That
remains to be seen. But, just taking one
look at the incredible shape she�s in shows she�s very serious about this
comeback. We all wish her well, even her
many haters. Women�s tennis desperately
needs her charisma and character back.
LOOKING AHEAD IN THE TENNIS WORLD�
Most people ignore February tennis from the Aussie Open to
Indian Wells/Miami, but there�s still some important tournaments being
played. This week, on the women�s side,
we have Tier I Tokyo Pan Pacific Open.
There�s the possible interesting matchup of Sharapova-Hingis in the
Semifinal. Other than that, the field is horrible, as Tokyo
is poorly scheduled. What top players
are going to want to play immediately after a grand slam on a much, much faster
surface? There�s just the usual Russian
scrubs like Myskina and Dementieva who play 35 tournaments a year.
On the men�s side, Andy Roddick is whining because he didn�t
get a wild card for a tiny event in Delray Beach. It�s just match practice for Davis Cup coming
up next week, so it�s not too important.
And nobody cares about Davis Cup in the US,
so it means even less. That being said, Delray
Beach still has a surprisingly strong draw. Andre Agassi makes his 2006 debut, and has
already won his 1st round match.
Other top players such as James Blake, Robby Ginepri and Tommy Haas are
in the draw. There�s also a new tournament this week in Zagreb, Croatia where some European
players are. And the start of the
neverending clay season for the dirtballers in Vina Del
Mar, where Gaston Girly Gaudio hopes to defend.
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That's all.
Next week, or whenever I feel like writing again, there will be more than tennis.
If you must send me feedback, [email protected]. Please don't send me anything stupid.
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