Whew, I’ve been watching a lot of tennis lately! Here are some random thoughts and observations that have entered my mind while watching all the action unfold on the flexicushion blue surface.
Just when I decide that Bud Collins has gone the way of Grandpa Simpson, he coins a great word during the Fed v. Berdych match: FEDEROCITY. Could it be this year’s w00t?
Patrick McEnroe also had something interesting to say during Roger’s match (a mildly uncomfortable straight set victory for the world No. 1.) P-Mac claimed that Roger often prefers not to ace his opponents because he likes to have the chance to set up the point and show off his shot making. “Roger thinks this is more intimidating than just laying down the ace.” Patrick’s comment makes sense: the more Roger’s tested (and even bested) on the baseline, the more aces he racks up. He set a personal best ace count against Janko the other night, and his serving saved him in last year’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals. It’s pretty wicked when a player can put “acing opponents” into the Plan B column.
Marta Domachowska is my new player-to-watch on the WTA tour. I haven’t been this impressed with a gal since watching Jelena Jankovic play in Carson a couple years ago. She lost in two sets, but she still came close to beating Venus. I think we’ll see Marta doing big things this year.
Did anyone else catch that funny broadcasting blip today during the Blake/Cilic match? There was a shot of the chair ump, Pascal Maria, on the screen, but the caption said “Mirka Vavrinec.” Which got me to thinking – has a tennis player ever hooked up with a chair umpire? A quick Google didn’t bring up anything, but I vote this as our sport’s next big scandal (anything to take the heat off Davydenko!) The pickings are slim, but if I was say, Nicole Vaidisova, I might consider Enric Molina.
Speaking of officiating, I loved the quote from tennis-x calling Hawk-Eye Federer’s most “loathed enemy.” I think the writer’s right; Roger’s not only horrible at calling his own lines, he also gets downright bitchy about it. Hey, he’s human, right?
Separated at birth: Actor Michael Biehn from Terminator 1 & Paul-Henri Mathieu?
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