Prehistoric

Wow. It's been ages since I last went on this and I really do apologise.

When was the last time I blogged? I don't even remember now...

But yeah, some pretty awesome stuff has been happening, like the thing coming straight to my mind right now; the US Open - which I totally did not blog about, and also Andy Murray lifting this year's US Open Series trophy - total awesomeness :)

(Sorry for the crappy picture quality - it was kinda hard to find a good pic of this)

Also stuff like Gilles Simon hoisting a title this year - right after the birth of little Timothee... AWWW! :D And also the French Davis Cup team getting to the finals this year. Which I am surprisedly excited about.. hmm. I'm not sure I ever remember being this excited about Davis Cup before, LOLs.




Too cute.

Also, (once again) the re-emergence of Ana Ivanovic. I always liked her. And when she started dying, that killed me a bit on the inside. But after some impressive showings (for her, anyway) during and after the US Open swing, she's becoming more of that Ana that we used to know and love back in 2008 :D


DELPO. IS. BACK.


Rafael Nadal became the youngest person EVA to achieve the historic Career Grand Slam - and in conjunction with that 2008 Gold Medal in Beijing, he's also the youngest EVA to achieve the Golden Slam. Freak.

Oh, and these publicity stunts for the WTF? AWESOMEEEEEEEEE.

But some pretty crappy stuff has been happening as well, like Andy Murray totally crashing out of the 3rd round of the US Open, losing to Wawrinka. DUDE WTF HAPPENED THERE?! I mean, you were kinda half-scheduled into at least the quarters after winning the US Open Series this year!! D:


Hmm... Andy Murray losing any match just pretty much sums it up for me, LOL.

And no doubt some pretty weird stuff has been happening too. Like what on earth; Vera getting to her 2nd and consecutive slam final at the US Open? What... the... heck... I mean, sure she was playing strong, but heck I wasn't fooled. And then she comes to the final, losing in straight sets 61 62 or something? Weirdo.


And Andy Murray dropping longtime coach Miles Maclagan? .... Weirddddd.

Oh, and also, the thought of Andy Murray ever sitting through a fashion show, then becoming a fan of Burberry on Twitter and Facebook... WEIRDDD! (Believe me, it's true; I checked!) ...But you gotta give the man some credit. He did something that even I probably wouldn't be able to do - sit through hours looking at clothes...


Plus: the rankings. I mean, Roddick falling out of the top 8 and the top 10 in, I dunno, a million years? And then having Youzhny in the top 8 after the US Open? And Tomas Berdych still in, what, the top 7 even after his first round loss or something? Weird. It's amazing what some events can do to some people.


Anyway, they were just some of the thoughts that came to mind while I was thinking about the tennis world. I'd obviously love to talk about it all but if I did, by the time I'm done I'd be 152 :D

Once again, sorry about the lack of blogging over the past couple of months - but I'm sure that not a lot of people read this blog, so it's not like it'd make a difference anyway, haha :D

Talk to you guys soon,
thetennishopper x

Wow

I'm really sorry.

I've been doing craploads of work during these past 2 weeks and I have missed out on blogging about Wimbledon (And boy, was it a loadedddd Wimbledon, or what?!) Life sucks. Sometimes, it has to present you with a crapload of work to do and it just punches you in the face. Or the heart. So I'm really sorry. Right now, I'm just sitting here, holding a box of strawberry gelato and eating it verrrry slowly. The only consolation I have is comfort food.

Damn I wish I was in Wimbledon.

Anyway, let's see what I missed out on.

On the WTA Tour:

... Well, let's just say; the WTA does what it does best - stuffing up women's tennis, and Wimbledon was no different as Serena (aka. The Incredible Hulk) served an amazing 89 aces overall in the tourney to achieve her 4th Wimby title (1 behind sister Venus). She now has 13 Grand Slam titles and has surpassed Billy Jean King.

ARGHHHH!!! I AM... THE INCREDIBLE HULKKKKKKKKKK!

Serena Williams [1] d. Vera Zvonereva [21] - 63 62

Of course, let's not forget one Vera Zvonereva who made the finals of both the women's Singles and Doubles. Ahem, yeah, we weren't exactly expecting that, were we...? However, she was simply just not cool enough to defeat a feisty ReRe, who reigned supreme in little over an hour. And she lost doubles too. Aw shucks. Just wasn't her day, was it?

You did well, chucky.

Oh, and did I mention that she has a hot coach/hitting partner? DAMN, girl. I don't care if his name is Crapbag; he is .. hot.

*...* Just the tiniest bit... speechless.

But let's not forget the drama - Wimbledon had some upsets like Sam Stosur in the first round, Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams, who were all knocked out by people that I really don't know of, but that's probably because I follow the ATP World Tour more closely than the WTA - but anywho, this left us with some really stuffed-up semis.

WTF GIVES.

But anywho, let's move away from that. Let's move onto the good stuff ;)

On the ATP World Tour:

It was slightly more normal-er with men's tennis - but it still had its fair share of dramas.

First; Wimbledon 2010 marked the downfall of resident GOAT Roger Federer. Now, I'm not really one to actually like the Fed. I never really did, simply because I got tired of him winning all the time and I wanted the good stuff to go to people like the Muzz... but you know, this time I felt the tiniest bit ... *gasp* SORRY.. for him.

Awww.. cheer up. You and your personalised gold cap.

But then again, I watched the first 20 min of the Fed vs. Falla match, and all I thought was "He's not gonna make it past semis... no wayy.." So yeah. I was right. He got knocked out in the quarters by one Tomas Berdych. Woot! But we'll talk about him later.

Second; this happened.

Then, this happened.

Oh, and this happened too.

11 hours. 70-68. 12 records. Legend.

Third; Tomas Berdych. He defeated Federer in the Quarters (4 sets) and then Djokovic in the Semis (3 sets) to secure a place in the Wimby finals. Now I didn't see the Fed match, but I did see a tiny, tinyyy bit of the Djoko match and can I say - whoa. He was strong, he was determined, he returned well, he played great shots, he had good timing; I'm proud of him. He's come a long way.

And is it just me, or does this pic remind you of Luke Skywalker?

Fourth; MOMA MOMENTS. Andy Murray fell to Rafa in the semis. In straight sets. I haza sad D: But it's okay, apparently he played really well, it was just that at the end of the day, Rafa was simply the better player. *Sigh* I guess this is why he's no.1.

So cute.

And the post-match pressers? They were sweet too.

"Just I felt sorry for him because he's a very nice person, very good person. I am sure he gonna win a Grand Slam very soon, because when you have final in US Open, final in Australia, semifinals here this year and the last year, you are there all the time. So one day you win. I am sure he gonna win. He deserve to win." -- Rafael Nadal.

Awwww cheer up xx

But as well as that, there was this. Although it has no relation to Wimbledon whatsoever. Just; LOLLLLLL.

And fifth; Wimbledon has some awesome celebrities! Such as:

Becks... or the bad luck charm?

Colin Firth & Entourage

And also; THE QUEEEEN!!!

Frankly, anyone who can make Andy Murray bow is just plain awesome. Just sayin'. He looks so cute with Jarkko in this piccy :D

And just to end:

Well, that's my Wimbledon wrap-up for now. All we gotta do is just wait for the Rafa vs. Berdych match tonight. I guess I don't really mind who wins either way, because they are both just as awesome, but I still think Rafa is gonna take it home tonight.

Peace out,
thetennishopper

And how does this make you feel?

...Slightly umm.. confused? Ah well. Now that Wimby 2010 is coming up I guess we can afford to look to the millions of Tennis Apparel and Racquet ads coming up, yeah? But you gotta love that couch. Nice!

Oh... and just a little side note, Roger; don't ever give up your day job. I don't think really think acting's your "thing"...

Aheh.

Once again, I repeat - Aheh.

Lleyton Hewitt.. defeated Roger Federer.. in 3 sets.

Yeah.. I can't really say I'm surprised. But despite that, I'm still a tiny bit surprised. Roger hasn't really been perfect in form leading up to Halle especially with that loss in Roland Garros, but still. I didn't really think Lleyton Hewitt was thattttttt great. No offence...

At least Roger wasn't tooooo upset/pissed about it, right?

I mean, his John McEnroe expression sucks.

Results, Results and more Results...

While I was out and about, a lot of stuff happened today. So.. let me fill you in.

FIRST OF ALL:

Rafa won. Roger lost. 64 76.


Hah! All I can say is - YESSSSS! Finally, there's a record that Roger hasn't broken.. Rafa is now the record-holder for the most amount of ATP Master's Titles at 18, beating the wighead meth dude - yeah, Andre Agassi. Roger is at 16. Suck. No offence. But it was pretty close too if you don't mind me saying so myself.

SECONDLY:

Aravene Rezai won. Venus died. 62 75.


BIG WIN FOR ARAVENE in the gold. Congrats to her! :) Her 3rd WTA title and the biggest one yet. Suck Venus! But congratulations - you're now officially no.2 behind ReRe. With the notable absence of Svetlana, one has gotta wonder; what's to become of the defending champ and this year's Roland Garros title?

AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST:

The Bryan Brothers won. Nestor and Zimonjic lost. 63 64.


The brothers now tie with the Woodies being the doubles team with the most titles - they're now at 61. This is their 3rd Madrid, 5th title of 2010 and 15th Masters title. And now they'll be ranked the no.1 team again. BONUS! :D

I shoulda seen it coming

Nononononono! Why is this happening to me?

While others may like the prospect of another Madrid final match-up from last year (where Roger won)... I DO NOT. Let me list my reasons;

#1. DUDE! My draw is way too stuffed up now it's unbelievable.

#2. Roger has won way too many titles (especially slams) and I personally believe that winning another would be sort of selfish. DUDE! He is chasing his 63rd title. SIXTY-THREE. I'm sorry Roger but what is your problem... you should be leaving the titles for people like him.

#3. I would like to see Rafa win his 18th ATP World Tour 1000's title. Because I think he really deserves it, and he deserves to be known as 'the man who beat Andre Agassi's record of 17' BEFORE Roger does.

#4. It would show Roger that Rafa is totally awesome and that he is totally gonna KICK ASS in Roland Garros after this.

#5. Because Rafa is the King of Clay. Full stop. Period. Whatever.

GOOD LUCK RAFA!

The King of Clay

DAMN

I am an avid, avid fan of the ATP World Tour Fantasy League.

...And when I found out that SOME were starting to suck, while OTHERS were actually playing well [because I'm going to be honest here; I don't take notice of OTHERS except during the slams]...

I was very, very pissed.
DAMN.

Off-court news

We've all obviously heard about the hype about Roger Federer. And when I say "we" I mean ESPN of course... and they've celebrated this by putting Fed's face on the cover with the tagline: Who's the world's greatest athlete? Roger Federer Looks The Part.

Yes... but I'm sorta scratching my head and I'm thinking; why are you saying this now? Is it because you've run out of things to say and you needed someone big to brace the cover...? Or have I missed something really really important like Roger Federer getting knighted by the Queen...?

Anywho, here's a nice picture of his face! Maestro-fans: ENJOY.

To other magazine/tabloid/front cover news: Robin Soderling decided that he couldn't stand the hubbub being all about the Swiss Maestro, so he decided to pull his own Roger;

Nice... yeup. Hot... I suppose? I'm not a big fan of the Sod to be honest so Imma just gonna leave it at that.

thetennishopper

Um...

Rafa Nadal's Post-Match Monte-Carlo Presser:


Okay, first of all -- how can you not stare at that... thigh?
It's a particularly interesting angle that they've decided to take this picture at...

Anyway, continuing on...

"I never felt I am invincible on one surface even on clay. Sure I'm not feeling the same now, no? For me, doesn't matter what the rest of the players think." -- Rafael Nadal, when asked whether his mentality has changed now that the other players think he's beatable on clay.

Well, for somebody that's never felt invicible on clay, the 5-time defending champion certainly got off to an explosive start, crushing Thiemo De Bakker 61 60 to advance to the 3rd Round, next facing Berrer of Germany.

But seriously, the reporters must be pretty blunt or something because I doubt that Rafa's confidence has "wavered on clay". Seriously, he's only lost 5 clay matches in 5 years (from 2005 to now). That's 5 losses in 163 matches on the surface! Dude that's like 3.07%! You know.. to be mathematical and everything.

And sure, he lost to the Maestro in Madrid, and to Soderling in Roland Garros, and hasn't won a title in 11 months or something... but come on! He's the KING OF CLAY! It'd be like saying that Federer isn't the GOAT because he lost a match against Tomas Berdych in Miami.

What do you think?

thetennishopper