I was this close to shutting up about tennis till the US Open. And I really wanted to. But, I just read today's (yesterday's) paper and, of course, they had a write-up of Serena Williams' Wimbledon victory over her sister Venus in the championship. That didn't bother me so much. It's what Serena said about Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina that really made me want to do something about Darth Williams. I just couldn't stay silent about Serena's comments. I really can't take it anymore. Dinara might not care, but I do. I've watched her endure enough criticism. It's gotta stop.
"If you hold three Grand Slam titles, mabe you should be number 1, but not on the WTA Tour, obviously." Serena said. "I see myself as number two." She continued sarcastically. "That's where I am. I think Dinara did a great job to get to No. 1. She won Rome and Madrid."
Which brings me to this: My open letter to Serena Williams. If any of you are familiar with David Cross, an actor/comedian, I got this idea from him. Cross once wrote an "Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy", which was basically a cheap shot at the redneck stand-up comedian. That is what inspired this. Serena, you've earned this from me. If you insult Dinara, you insult me and the rest of NadkarniSportsNation. Here it goes:
Dear Serena Williams,
Shut the hell up. I believe I speak for just about everyone in the world when I say that. Yes, you won Wimbledon. Yes, you have won three out of the last four Grand Slams. Yes, you have eleven career Grand Slam titles. But that does not give you the right to publicly insult someone who doesn't deserve it. Tell me, what exactly did Dinara Safina do to you?
If you really gave a damn about being the number one player in the world, you would do several things: First, you'd play in non-Grand Slam tournaments. When are you going to get it through your thick head that Grand Slams are not all that matter? If Grand Slams were all that mattered, I'll tell you one thing: Your sister would not be ranked third in the world, even with her Wimbledon runner-up finish. Second, you'd actually train when you're not playing. Instead, you're off going to NBA games (which is actually okay in my book), messing around with fashion design (oh, it's your name spelled backwards? How cute. NOT! What are you, five years old?), and writing TV scripts. Is that really the mark of a champion tennis player? No. That's the mark of a celebrity. There's a difference. Do you see Dinara Safina out in public, wearing glitzy outfits, or writing TV scripts? No. She's working her ass off to keep her rightful status as number one. Try it. It might get you to the top. Third, you'd shut up and let your racket do the talking, Instead, you decide to mouth off every time you win a title. We're getting tired of it. Please, just shut up.
You really need to take lessons from a man, a great man, in fact, he's the greatest tennis player who ever lived. His name is Roger Federer. He wins Grand Slams (and smaller tournaments) left and right. However, he actually has fans, unlike you. Why? Because he's a classy, polite, decent human being. After being overtaken by Rafael Nadal last year, do you think he said, "Well, I'm still number one. Rafael didn't earn it."? No. He took it in stride. He kept his mouth shut and just played tennis. And you know what? He's back on top. It's amazing what shutting your trap and playing the game can do for you.
And please don't give me all this bulls**t about "I'm from Compton. I had a hard childhood. I deserve this." No. Maria Sharapova rode to lessons on the handlebars of her dad's bike because they were so poor. Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic grew up playing tennis in a drained swimming pool because that was all Belgrade had to offer. James Blake had to wear a brace on his back for eighteen hours a day because he had scoliosis. Do any of them whine about that? No. You shouldn't either. Yeah, I wouldn't trade my childhood in beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia for one in Compton, California either, but you shouldn't even be playing that card.
And forget the race card. Black is the LAST thing people hate about you. You're loud, unappreciative, arrogant, inconsiderate, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. You may win a bunch of titles. You might be playing like the best player in the world, but you're not it. I'm tired of you. The world is tired of you. Please, do us all a favor and just go away.
Sincerely,
Luke Nadkarni
Czar, NadkarniSportsNation
Go ahead, refer me to the police. Send me the name of a good mental institution. Lock me up. I don't care. Dinara's worth it. Besides, it felt good to get all that off my chest.
I promise, I'll talk about something other than tennis in my next post.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Greatest Match Ever?
A year ago, when Rafael Nadal broke Roger Federer's stranglehold on Wimbledon by beating him 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 in the men's championship at the All England Club, everyone thought that that was the undisputed best match ever. The greatest of all time. Well, today's Wimbledon final has to be an extremely close second to, if not better than, last year's.
It was Federer again, for the seventh straight time, taking Centre Court at 2 p.m. GMT. Only, the man on the other side of the net was not the man who had stolen the show they year before. While that man was home in Spain nursing knee tendinitis, Andy Roddick was going up against the man who many consider the greatest for his second career Grand Slam title. Roddick's lone big win was the 2003 US Open title over Juan Carlos Ferrero, and that match was so far away. Now was a perfect opportunity for the American to pick up another milestone victory and shake his status as a one-tournament wonder.
Well, the J. Geils Band (god dammit, they ARE a one-hit wonder!) Curse continued for Roddick. But not before he played the match of his life. After taking the first set 7-5, the Nebraska Cornhuskers fan led 6-2 in the second set tiebreak. Next thing you know-BAM!-8-6 Federer. After Federer took the third set in a tiebreak as well, Roddick bounced back to take the fourth 6-3.
Though the fifth set was coming much like it did last year, there were some differences. There was no rain delay or oncoming darkness. By the time the decider started in last year's final, it was about 3 o'clock Eastern time (8 p.m. GMT). Today, it was only about 11:30 EDT. The sun was out and this set was primed to go on longer than last year's fifth.
And boy, did it ever. There were no service breaks for the longest time. Even deuces were scarce. There is no tiebreak in the fifth set at Wimbledon. So, at 6-all, both players' challenges were reset to three, and play went on.
Still no service breaks occured until Roddick served at 14-15. Roger finally managed to carve out a match point, and after Roddick mis-hit a forehand, Federer jumped at least two feet in the air and shouted "YES!" multiple times. Umpire Lars Graf announced "Game, set, and match, Mr. Federer, three sets to two, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14." And Federer had captured his record-breaking fifteenth career Grand Slam title. Just to top it off, Fed will regain the World No. 1 ranking as well.
The best part about this match for me: I could actually enjoy it. I wanted it to drag on for hours. If this were a match featuring a member of NSEEFTPC, I wouldn't be able to take it. I remember at the 2008 Australian Open, when Jelena Jankovic was locked in a dogfight with Tamira Paszek, I wasn't enjoying it. I wanted to chuck the TV out the window. So imagine the relief I felt when Jankovic pulled it out 12-10 in the third.
But this match was devoid of nerves from me. This tennis was of much higher quality than that Jankovic-Paszek match (yes, Jelena, it was. Stop whining). And I truly didn't care who won. That's the beauty of men's tennis in NadkarniSportsNation: I hold no real allegiances, so I can enjoy each and every match. It's kind of like the NBA-since I don't root for anybody, every game is fun to watch. I have players that I like more than others, but it's not like the women's game where my well-being depends on if my favorite players win or lose.
So which match was better? Federer-Nadal in 2008, or Federer-Roddick today? Nadkarni's SportSpot gives you the cases for each match.
2008:
-High drama with three rain delays and advancing darkness
-Two true rivals squaring off on the biggest stage. Federer and Nadal are arguably the best tennis players of this generation
-Federer was on the ropes basically from the beginning of the third set on. Nadal had won the first two sets, and held a match point in the fourth set tiebreaker. Neither player was in danger on losing today until the fifth set.
-This match was actually longer than this one, lasting 4 hours and 48 minutes compared to 4 hours and 16 minutes today.
2009:
-The number of games in the fifth set (30) nearly doubled that of last year (16)
-The 77 total games in the match was a Wimbledon record.
-A lot more was at stake for Federer today. He was going for a record in Grand Slam wins and the number one ranking.
-Roddick came into this match 2-18 versus Federer in his career. Such a close match was not predicted by experts and fans alike. Last year, it wasn't such a surprise that Nadal-Federer was as epic as it was.
I'm sure this will be a debated topic in the coming weeks. The "experts" should refer here for information on which match was better.
At last, Wimbledon is over, and I'm liberated from stress over Grand Slams until the tail end of August when the US Open begins. Hopefully, Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina can defend her points during the smaller tournaments preceding the Open and keep the number one ranking that she's earned.
It was Federer again, for the seventh straight time, taking Centre Court at 2 p.m. GMT. Only, the man on the other side of the net was not the man who had stolen the show they year before. While that man was home in Spain nursing knee tendinitis, Andy Roddick was going up against the man who many consider the greatest for his second career Grand Slam title. Roddick's lone big win was the 2003 US Open title over Juan Carlos Ferrero, and that match was so far away. Now was a perfect opportunity for the American to pick up another milestone victory and shake his status as a one-tournament wonder.
Well, the J. Geils Band (god dammit, they ARE a one-hit wonder!) Curse continued for Roddick. But not before he played the match of his life. After taking the first set 7-5, the Nebraska Cornhuskers fan led 6-2 in the second set tiebreak. Next thing you know-BAM!-8-6 Federer. After Federer took the third set in a tiebreak as well, Roddick bounced back to take the fourth 6-3.
Though the fifth set was coming much like it did last year, there were some differences. There was no rain delay or oncoming darkness. By the time the decider started in last year's final, it was about 3 o'clock Eastern time (8 p.m. GMT). Today, it was only about 11:30 EDT. The sun was out and this set was primed to go on longer than last year's fifth.
And boy, did it ever. There were no service breaks for the longest time. Even deuces were scarce. There is no tiebreak in the fifth set at Wimbledon. So, at 6-all, both players' challenges were reset to three, and play went on.
Still no service breaks occured until Roddick served at 14-15. Roger finally managed to carve out a match point, and after Roddick mis-hit a forehand, Federer jumped at least two feet in the air and shouted "YES!" multiple times. Umpire Lars Graf announced "Game, set, and match, Mr. Federer, three sets to two, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14." And Federer had captured his record-breaking fifteenth career Grand Slam title. Just to top it off, Fed will regain the World No. 1 ranking as well.
The best part about this match for me: I could actually enjoy it. I wanted it to drag on for hours. If this were a match featuring a member of NSEEFTPC, I wouldn't be able to take it. I remember at the 2008 Australian Open, when Jelena Jankovic was locked in a dogfight with Tamira Paszek, I wasn't enjoying it. I wanted to chuck the TV out the window. So imagine the relief I felt when Jankovic pulled it out 12-10 in the third.
But this match was devoid of nerves from me. This tennis was of much higher quality than that Jankovic-Paszek match (yes, Jelena, it was. Stop whining). And I truly didn't care who won. That's the beauty of men's tennis in NadkarniSportsNation: I hold no real allegiances, so I can enjoy each and every match. It's kind of like the NBA-since I don't root for anybody, every game is fun to watch. I have players that I like more than others, but it's not like the women's game where my well-being depends on if my favorite players win or lose.
So which match was better? Federer-Nadal in 2008, or Federer-Roddick today? Nadkarni's SportSpot gives you the cases for each match.
2008:
-High drama with three rain delays and advancing darkness
-Two true rivals squaring off on the biggest stage. Federer and Nadal are arguably the best tennis players of this generation
-Federer was on the ropes basically from the beginning of the third set on. Nadal had won the first two sets, and held a match point in the fourth set tiebreaker. Neither player was in danger on losing today until the fifth set.
-This match was actually longer than this one, lasting 4 hours and 48 minutes compared to 4 hours and 16 minutes today.
2009:
-The number of games in the fifth set (30) nearly doubled that of last year (16)
-The 77 total games in the match was a Wimbledon record.
-A lot more was at stake for Federer today. He was going for a record in Grand Slam wins and the number one ranking.
-Roddick came into this match 2-18 versus Federer in his career. Such a close match was not predicted by experts and fans alike. Last year, it wasn't such a surprise that Nadal-Federer was as epic as it was.
I'm sure this will be a debated topic in the coming weeks. The "experts" should refer here for information on which match was better.
At last, Wimbledon is over, and I'm liberated from stress over Grand Slams until the tail end of August when the US Open begins. Hopefully, Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina can defend her points during the smaller tournaments preceding the Open and keep the number one ranking that she's earned.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Not Again!
"Estoy cansado de siempre lo mismo, la misma historia, quiero cambiar"
-El Canto del Loco
Translated into English, that line from ECDL's hit "Zapatillas" (I've rediscovered my love for power pop music-not just American, but Spanish too) means "I'm tired of always the same, the same story, I want to change.
Every female participant in Wimbledon without the surname "Williams" is probably saying the same thing. For the second straight year, the two least popular female players in NadkarniSportsNation will play for the Wimbledon women's singles title.
First, Serena Williams lucked out in her match against Elena Dementieva. Up 7-6, 4-3, and with a break point, Dementieva hit a picture-perfect crosscourt forehand that Darth Williams somehow tracked down and hit back. The ball appeared to be out. It was called in. Dementieva challenged the call. Replay showed, by the slimmest of margins and I truly mean SLIMMEST), that the ball was in. But if that ball is a centimeter to the right, game over, and probably match over. As it was, Dementieva blew a match point in the third set and lost 7-6, 5-7, 6-8. Well, that's one person from the evil empire into the final.
Realistically, I knew that Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina had no chance against the less hate-able of the Williamses, Venus. Regardless of the outlook, here's what I wanted the match to be like for Dinara:
(Aeroflot-Russia's national airline-nice touch, if I do say so myself)
Instead, here's what happened:
Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend some people there? Well, I myself am offended that I had to watch that awful match. I'm also offended that the "women's" final is going to be a men's match for the second straight year. I realize that not every women's final is going to feature two elegant, sweet-faced fairy princesses, but this is kind of ridiculous. I'm channeling my anger. I'm just doing it in a way that some of you might not like. And I'm okay with that. The next time someone gets thrown in jail for pissing people off, you let me know. Because I'll stop doing it. But until then, the pictures stay. And my thoughts stay. The pictures are symbolic of the match-I wanted Dinara to fly smoothly to the final, but instead, it was a disaster. Deal with it.
Besides, how do you think the Arabs feel? We here in America are taught that anyone who comes from that part of the world is evil, bloodthirsty, and out to get us. Ever seen "Aladdin"? Wonder why they Americanize Aladdin and Jasmine with Western accents and features, and make Jafar look Arabic with dark skin, facial hair, an Arabic accent, and less-than-flattering features? Do you honestly think that's an accident? Dinara, when we have kids, we're never letting them watch Disney movies.
Such perception of Arabs is not true. Middle Eastern culture is actually very civilized and interesting, a lot more interesting than American culture. It's one of the few regions of the world that wasn't adulterated by European colonization, so they're able to continue their traditions and preserve their customs. If the British, Germans, Dutch, French, or Spanish had colonized the Middle East, how many Muslims would this world have left? Probably not too many. What do you think the culture in the cradle of civilization would be? Probably a lot like it is in Western Europe. Wow. So interesting. NOT! It's not their fault that we pay out the wazzu for oil. It's ours! We invade their land, kill innocent civilians, and call it democracy, and we expect them to give us fair oil prices? Explain that logic to me. Why, America, is it always someone else's fault?
I bet Americans are happy that their beloved Williams "sisters" were able to vanquish the Russians. I mean, imagine the firestorm that would have happened over here if Safina and Dementieva had won. I bet NBC would just refuse to televise the final. Get over the xenophobia, people. Foreigners are not bad people. Except if they're French. I kid, I kid.
Whew. That was a monologue for the ages. Back on subject. Safina, a Muslim herself (though she doesn't practice it. And she's Tartar, not Arabic. Of course, the 300 million morons here in the States probably don't know the difference) got smashed into about a thousand pieces, 6-1, 6-0. Boy, it really couldn't have been uglier. But it's okay. Dinara's still number one in the world and in NadkarniSportsNation. Sure, she got destroyed, but let's remember, Venus is perhaps the best female grass-court player we've seen in a while (Roger Federer would still wipe the floor with her, though). Remember a couple months ago? Safina beat this same person, Venus Williams, on a clay court. What does that tell you? It should tell you that there's no one who's clearly the best in women's tennis. Dinara isn't going to go telling people that she's the best. The Williamses can make all the noise they want, but it's not going to get them anywhere. They might have better career results, like they say, but that's because they've BEEN PLAYING LONGER! Venus turned pro in 1994. Serena truned pro in 1995. Safina probably hadn't even lost all of her baby teeth when the Williamses started winning matches. Venus and Serena might have owned Wimbledon, but let's look at the entire body of work this season. Here are the year-to-date statistics for Safina, Serena, and Venus, who have set themselves ahead of the rest of the pack. Stats are as of today.
Total Tournaments Played: Safina: 11, Serena: 10, Venus: 9
Record: Safina: 42-9, Serena: 31-7, Venus: 27-6
Non-Grand Slam Record: Safina: 25-6, Serena: 13-6, Venus: 19-4
Titles: Safina: 2 (Rome, Madrid), Serena: 1 (Australian Open), Venus: 2 (Dubai, Acapulco)
Runner-Ups: Safina: 4 (Sydney, Australian Open, Stuttgart, French Open), Serena: 1 (Miami), Venus: 0
Grand Slam Results: Safina: Aussie Final, French Final, Wimbledon Semis. Serena: Aussie Champion, French Quarters, Wimbledon Final/Champion (pending final match). Venus: Aussie 2nd Round, French 3rd Round, Wimbledon Final/Champion (pending final match)
First Match Exits: Safina: 1. Serena: 3. Venus: 1
Worst Result of Year: Safina: Dubai 1st Round (Virginie Razzano, ranked 23rd). Serena: Marbella 1st round (Klara Zakopalova, ranked 100). Venus: Madrid Second Round (Alisa Kleybanova, ranked 31st).
See. Each player has their strengths and weaknesses. Venus has had two weak Grand Slam showings at the French and Australian Opens, losing to people she probably shouldn't have lost to (Carla Suarez Navarro in Melbourne, Agnes Szavay in Paris). However, she's come back with a vengeance at Wimbledon. Serena pretty much refuses to play outside of Grand Slams, when she does, she doesn't play nearly at the level she does on the big stages. It's out of balance. Safina has made at least the semifinals of every Grand Slam this season (no other player can stake that claim), but she chokes when she gets there. Not only does she do well in the big tournaments, but she does well in the smaller ones too. The WTA rankings system rewards consistency. Dinara is the only player who's displayed consistency over the course of this season, so she's the only one who makes sense at the top spot. Get it through your heads, people. And enjoy the match on Saturday morning, July 4th. I know I won't be watching. I'll be carving off my own package with a steak knife. Hey, that beats a Williams-Williams match any day.
-El Canto del Loco
Translated into English, that line from ECDL's hit "Zapatillas" (I've rediscovered my love for power pop music-not just American, but Spanish too) means "I'm tired of always the same, the same story, I want to change.
Every female participant in Wimbledon without the surname "Williams" is probably saying the same thing. For the second straight year, the two least popular female players in NadkarniSportsNation will play for the Wimbledon women's singles title.
First, Serena Williams lucked out in her match against Elena Dementieva. Up 7-6, 4-3, and with a break point, Dementieva hit a picture-perfect crosscourt forehand that Darth Williams somehow tracked down and hit back. The ball appeared to be out. It was called in. Dementieva challenged the call. Replay showed, by the slimmest of margins and I truly mean SLIMMEST), that the ball was in. But if that ball is a centimeter to the right, game over, and probably match over. As it was, Dementieva blew a match point in the third set and lost 7-6, 5-7, 6-8. Well, that's one person from the evil empire into the final.
Realistically, I knew that Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina had no chance against the less hate-able of the Williamses, Venus. Regardless of the outlook, here's what I wanted the match to be like for Dinara:
(Aeroflot-Russia's national airline-nice touch, if I do say so myself)
Instead, here's what happened:
Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend some people there? Well, I myself am offended that I had to watch that awful match. I'm also offended that the "women's" final is going to be a men's match for the second straight year. I realize that not every women's final is going to feature two elegant, sweet-faced fairy princesses, but this is kind of ridiculous. I'm channeling my anger. I'm just doing it in a way that some of you might not like. And I'm okay with that. The next time someone gets thrown in jail for pissing people off, you let me know. Because I'll stop doing it. But until then, the pictures stay. And my thoughts stay. The pictures are symbolic of the match-I wanted Dinara to fly smoothly to the final, but instead, it was a disaster. Deal with it.
Besides, how do you think the Arabs feel? We here in America are taught that anyone who comes from that part of the world is evil, bloodthirsty, and out to get us. Ever seen "Aladdin"? Wonder why they Americanize Aladdin and Jasmine with Western accents and features, and make Jafar look Arabic with dark skin, facial hair, an Arabic accent, and less-than-flattering features? Do you honestly think that's an accident? Dinara, when we have kids, we're never letting them watch Disney movies.
Such perception of Arabs is not true. Middle Eastern culture is actually very civilized and interesting, a lot more interesting than American culture. It's one of the few regions of the world that wasn't adulterated by European colonization, so they're able to continue their traditions and preserve their customs. If the British, Germans, Dutch, French, or Spanish had colonized the Middle East, how many Muslims would this world have left? Probably not too many. What do you think the culture in the cradle of civilization would be? Probably a lot like it is in Western Europe. Wow. So interesting. NOT! It's not their fault that we pay out the wazzu for oil. It's ours! We invade their land, kill innocent civilians, and call it democracy, and we expect them to give us fair oil prices? Explain that logic to me. Why, America, is it always someone else's fault?
I bet Americans are happy that their beloved Williams "sisters" were able to vanquish the Russians. I mean, imagine the firestorm that would have happened over here if Safina and Dementieva had won. I bet NBC would just refuse to televise the final. Get over the xenophobia, people. Foreigners are not bad people. Except if they're French. I kid, I kid.
Whew. That was a monologue for the ages. Back on subject. Safina, a Muslim herself (though she doesn't practice it. And she's Tartar, not Arabic. Of course, the 300 million morons here in the States probably don't know the difference) got smashed into about a thousand pieces, 6-1, 6-0. Boy, it really couldn't have been uglier. But it's okay. Dinara's still number one in the world and in NadkarniSportsNation. Sure, she got destroyed, but let's remember, Venus is perhaps the best female grass-court player we've seen in a while (Roger Federer would still wipe the floor with her, though). Remember a couple months ago? Safina beat this same person, Venus Williams, on a clay court. What does that tell you? It should tell you that there's no one who's clearly the best in women's tennis. Dinara isn't going to go telling people that she's the best. The Williamses can make all the noise they want, but it's not going to get them anywhere. They might have better career results, like they say, but that's because they've BEEN PLAYING LONGER! Venus turned pro in 1994. Serena truned pro in 1995. Safina probably hadn't even lost all of her baby teeth when the Williamses started winning matches. Venus and Serena might have owned Wimbledon, but let's look at the entire body of work this season. Here are the year-to-date statistics for Safina, Serena, and Venus, who have set themselves ahead of the rest of the pack. Stats are as of today.
Total Tournaments Played: Safina: 11, Serena: 10, Venus: 9
Record: Safina: 42-9, Serena: 31-7, Venus: 27-6
Non-Grand Slam Record: Safina: 25-6, Serena: 13-6, Venus: 19-4
Titles: Safina: 2 (Rome, Madrid), Serena: 1 (Australian Open), Venus: 2 (Dubai, Acapulco)
Runner-Ups: Safina: 4 (Sydney, Australian Open, Stuttgart, French Open), Serena: 1 (Miami), Venus: 0
Grand Slam Results: Safina: Aussie Final, French Final, Wimbledon Semis. Serena: Aussie Champion, French Quarters, Wimbledon Final/Champion (pending final match). Venus: Aussie 2nd Round, French 3rd Round, Wimbledon Final/Champion (pending final match)
First Match Exits: Safina: 1. Serena: 3. Venus: 1
Worst Result of Year: Safina: Dubai 1st Round (Virginie Razzano, ranked 23rd). Serena: Marbella 1st round (Klara Zakopalova, ranked 100). Venus: Madrid Second Round (Alisa Kleybanova, ranked 31st).
See. Each player has their strengths and weaknesses. Venus has had two weak Grand Slam showings at the French and Australian Opens, losing to people she probably shouldn't have lost to (Carla Suarez Navarro in Melbourne, Agnes Szavay in Paris). However, she's come back with a vengeance at Wimbledon. Serena pretty much refuses to play outside of Grand Slams, when she does, she doesn't play nearly at the level she does on the big stages. It's out of balance. Safina has made at least the semifinals of every Grand Slam this season (no other player can stake that claim), but she chokes when she gets there. Not only does she do well in the big tournaments, but she does well in the smaller ones too. The WTA rankings system rewards consistency. Dinara is the only player who's displayed consistency over the course of this season, so she's the only one who makes sense at the top spot. Get it through your heads, people. And enjoy the match on Saturday morning, July 4th. I know I won't be watching. I'll be carving off my own package with a steak knife. Hey, that beats a Williams-Williams match any day.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
NBC Sucks
Given NBC's pretty good coverage of the NFL, the Olympics, and the NBA over the years, one would expect that their coverage of Grand Slam tennis would follow suit too. Not the case.
Last month's coverage of the French Open men's semifinals are what got me going on here. Because I was so excited about Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina making it to the final of the women's side, I didn't fell the need to bash NBC's men's coverage. But now I'm going to bring it up.
On Friday, June 4th, Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez were the first men's semifinal due up. They began play at 7 a.m. Charlottesville, Virginia time. The problem-NBC felt the need to delay the coverage until 10 a.m. That's not all-the No Brains Channel also thought they could squeeze everything into a three-hour window. Epic fail.
Soderling-Gonzalez lasted almost four hours itself, and NBC began coverage at 10 a.m. as scheduled. However, they started the match from the beginning. Are you kidding me? Pick it up live. The next match was Roger Federer vs. Juan Martin Del Potro-a much more enticing matchup. However, I got to see none of that 5-set thriller. Why? Because the first match used up all of the coverage window. No disrepect to Soderling or Gonzalez, but I'd much rather watch Federer any day.
That was only the tip of the iceberg. What I learned today really hit me where it hurts. As you know, the Wimbledon women's semifinals are tomorrow, and I thought I'd be able to watch Safina with no problems. Thanks to NBC, I thought wrong.
Plsy begins at 8 a.m. EDT tomorrow. Serena Williams versus Elena Dementieva is the first match on. ESPN2 is allowed to show that match live in its entirety. But thanks to NBC's "embargo" on the semifinals, ESPN2 can't show Safina taking on Venus Williams. Here's what's going to happen: Even if Safina-Venus begins before noon (which it will barring an absolute marathon), which is when NBC begins coverage, it will not be available live anywhere in the US. NBC's coverage window runs from noon-5 p.m. Last year, they a showed a tape of the FIRST semifinal (this year it's Dementieva-Serena) and then a tape of the SECOND semifinal after it (that would be Safina's match). This year, they'll show Dinara right at noon, but I still want the matches live. The both could be over by the time coverage actually starts. It's a disservice to tennis fans all across the country.
First of all, why not just take the rights to both matches? That way there's no problems. And show them live. Believe me-nobody's going to give a s**t if they don't see the Today Show for just one day. Second of all, a tennis match is not a math problem. The process doesn't matter-just the result. NBC is going to be televising the matches when they're already over. So who's going to sit through a match that's already over when they can just go to about a million different sites on the internet to find out the score? Not many people. Even those who are obsessed with one of the players taking part (like the guy writing this) probably aren't going to. It's just not worth it. Dinara's probably going to get pasted anyway. Thank Dick Vitale for channelsurfing.net, which is where I watch my tennis WHEN IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING! I'll be doing that for Dinara tomorrow-otherwise I run the risk of accidentally going onto a site that has the score and spoiling it.
The men's semifinals on Friday are basically in the same boat-except ESPN2 can't show them live at all. Instead they show juniors and doubles (usually the Williams sisters-*sticks finger down throat*) from 7 a.m. until NBC takes over at noon and butchers the men's matches as well. NBC's coverage begins when the first match is already over and they show a tape of that, then show a tape of the second match just like the women. And you know what? Their ratings are in the crapper. Wonder why? It doesn't take a rocket scientist.
At least they have good commentators-Ted Robinson is one of my all-time favorites, and John McEnroe rocks. Even Mary Carillo is palatable-unless Jelena Jankovic is playing, then all Carillo does is butcher Jankovic's name and kill on her. I don't know what I'd do if people like Brad Gilbert and Pam Shriver were on NBC.
The next thing you know, NBC's going to start showing the championship matches on a tape delay...now if THAT happened, I would go up to New York and light their studios on fire-I'm not kidding. Hell, I'm about to right now. I want to see Dinara WHEN SHE'S PLAYING! Not after she's already lost (although you never know, Venus could turn an ankle or something).
Last month's coverage of the French Open men's semifinals are what got me going on here. Because I was so excited about Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina making it to the final of the women's side, I didn't fell the need to bash NBC's men's coverage. But now I'm going to bring it up.
On Friday, June 4th, Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez were the first men's semifinal due up. They began play at 7 a.m. Charlottesville, Virginia time. The problem-NBC felt the need to delay the coverage until 10 a.m. That's not all-the No Brains Channel also thought they could squeeze everything into a three-hour window. Epic fail.
Soderling-Gonzalez lasted almost four hours itself, and NBC began coverage at 10 a.m. as scheduled. However, they started the match from the beginning. Are you kidding me? Pick it up live. The next match was Roger Federer vs. Juan Martin Del Potro-a much more enticing matchup. However, I got to see none of that 5-set thriller. Why? Because the first match used up all of the coverage window. No disrepect to Soderling or Gonzalez, but I'd much rather watch Federer any day.
That was only the tip of the iceberg. What I learned today really hit me where it hurts. As you know, the Wimbledon women's semifinals are tomorrow, and I thought I'd be able to watch Safina with no problems. Thanks to NBC, I thought wrong.
Plsy begins at 8 a.m. EDT tomorrow. Serena Williams versus Elena Dementieva is the first match on. ESPN2 is allowed to show that match live in its entirety. But thanks to NBC's "embargo" on the semifinals, ESPN2 can't show Safina taking on Venus Williams. Here's what's going to happen: Even if Safina-Venus begins before noon (which it will barring an absolute marathon), which is when NBC begins coverage, it will not be available live anywhere in the US. NBC's coverage window runs from noon-5 p.m. Last year, they a showed a tape of the FIRST semifinal (this year it's Dementieva-Serena) and then a tape of the SECOND semifinal after it (that would be Safina's match). This year, they'll show Dinara right at noon, but I still want the matches live. The both could be over by the time coverage actually starts. It's a disservice to tennis fans all across the country.
First of all, why not just take the rights to both matches? That way there's no problems. And show them live. Believe me-nobody's going to give a s**t if they don't see the Today Show for just one day. Second of all, a tennis match is not a math problem. The process doesn't matter-just the result. NBC is going to be televising the matches when they're already over. So who's going to sit through a match that's already over when they can just go to about a million different sites on the internet to find out the score? Not many people. Even those who are obsessed with one of the players taking part (like the guy writing this) probably aren't going to. It's just not worth it. Dinara's probably going to get pasted anyway. Thank Dick Vitale for channelsurfing.net, which is where I watch my tennis WHEN IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING! I'll be doing that for Dinara tomorrow-otherwise I run the risk of accidentally going onto a site that has the score and spoiling it.
The men's semifinals on Friday are basically in the same boat-except ESPN2 can't show them live at all. Instead they show juniors and doubles (usually the Williams sisters-*sticks finger down throat*) from 7 a.m. until NBC takes over at noon and butchers the men's matches as well. NBC's coverage begins when the first match is already over and they show a tape of that, then show a tape of the second match just like the women. And you know what? Their ratings are in the crapper. Wonder why? It doesn't take a rocket scientist.
At least they have good commentators-Ted Robinson is one of my all-time favorites, and John McEnroe rocks. Even Mary Carillo is palatable-unless Jelena Jankovic is playing, then all Carillo does is butcher Jankovic's name and kill on her. I don't know what I'd do if people like Brad Gilbert and Pam Shriver were on NBC.
The next thing you know, NBC's going to start showing the championship matches on a tape delay...now if THAT happened, I would go up to New York and light their studios on fire-I'm not kidding. Hell, I'm about to right now. I want to see Dinara WHEN SHE'S PLAYING! Not after she's already lost (although you never know, Venus could turn an ankle or something).
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Safina Delivers Transatlantic Birthday Gift
The farther Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina gets in Grand Slam tournaments, the less I worry about her. I mean, it's good to win tournaments, but getting down to the last four or eight is okay for me. So if Safina had lost her quarterfinal match versus 19-year old Polish-born German Sabine Lisicki, it wouldn't have been a crisis even though today is my birthday. After all, she had already made the final eight of the Grand Slam being played on her least favorite surface. And, Venus Williams was waiting in the next round, and I know Dinara's not going to win that match.
But Safina wasn't about to disappoint me on my birthday. Not even after she double-faulted on set point to lose the first set in a tiebreak and recieved a code violation for slamming her racket (actually, that was a little gift unto itself-I love when she gets angry). So she sat down on her bench and said to herself, "No. It is Luke's birthday. I told him I would win for him." So, at 3-all in the second set, Safina finally broke Lisicki's booming serve and was able to hold her own serve. Then, after a hold by Lisicki, Dinara closed out the set.
From there, I had no doubt. Once a match gets to a third set, it's all Safina. So even after she failed to consolidate a break at 1-0, it was smooth sailing into the semifinals. Safina overcame zero aces, 15 double faults, and 38 unforced errors to beat the big-serving German 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 and mark the second straight birthday win for a future wife of mine (Nicole Vaidisova won her fourth round match at Wimbledon against Anna Chakvetadze on this day last year).
As I mentioned, Dinara will get Venus Williams, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Agnieszka Radwanska, who's working her way up NadkarniSports Minor Leagues. Dinara beat the "good" Williams in their last meeting (albeit on clay). Their match on Thursday in her maiden Wimbledon semifinal. I truly don't care if she loses 6-0, 6-0. She's gone far enough to make me happy. She's still going to keep the number one ranking. The pressure's off.
So with my elation over Dinara's win on my birthday, I shouldn't have cared less that Victoria Azarenka lost 6-2, 6-3. But she lost to Serena Williams, that was the problem. Serena is a disgrace to women's tennis. It's really a shame that she's one of the faces of American tennis. I wish some other country could have her-we don't want her. Loud, arrogant, ugly, masculine. She's a monstrosity. Jesus, I don't even hate Venus. There's no reason to hate her. She's actually a little bit classy. At least Venus sounds like a woman when she plays. Have you ever heard Serena grunt? I know men who don't sound like that.
It's not fair-it really isn't. Safina, Azarenka, Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Ivanovic, etc, they train their asses off and work harder than anyone could possibly imagine. They play in smaller tournaments. They give their lives to the sport of tennis. What did they do in between Roland Garros and Wimbledon? Trained on grass courts, played in grass court tournaments, got themselves prepared. What did the Williamses do? Went back to Florida, didn't play in any tournaments, and basically did things you wouldn't expect champion players to do in preparation for a Grand Slam. Last I checked, going to an NBA Finals game is not standard procedure for training for a tennis tournament. Serena hasn't won a non-Grand Slam match since beating her sister in Miami nearly three months ago. She doesn't deserve the number one ranking. Why can a player like Safina who cares so much and busts her ass day in and day out to get on top of the tennis world constantly come up short, and why can someone like Serena or Venus who doesn't even dedicate half her life to the game beat the hard working, deserving players like an incompetent spouse? It makes no sense. Far be it for me to make accusations, but I have to say that performance-enhancing drugs can't be ruled out. Yeah, I said it. I said it in NadkarniSportsNation, I said it! (Homage to Chris Rock-he's awesome. That'll get the NAACP off my back). Of course, you know this is not a racially motivated rant. I've explained this before. But there are lots of stupid people out there, and I bet if they read my that last paragraph or two, I'd have a lot of explaining to do. My blog, my rules, let's remember that. It's my birthday, too, so I can say and do whatever the hell I want. And since I know it's going to be an all-Williams final, GO VENUS!
Anyway, I'm not letting Serena ruin my birthday. Safina, my woman, won. That's all I needed. I'm going to Outback Steakhouse tonight to celebrate my seventeenth anniversary of birth, and I'm sure Dinara is jumping on a plane right now. I guess some things really are more important than winning a Grand Slam title, right, Dinara?
Hey, I'm not the only person who celebrates a birthday today. Plenty of people turn another year older, including Michael Phelps, Matisyahu (a favorite musician of mine), Mike Tyson (I'm proud to have him as a birthday buddy), and Chan-Ho Park (an MLB pitcher-I saw him pitch in person at a World Champion Philadelphia Phillies game so he's worth mentioning).
Some notable events also happened on this day. Today is the 19th anniversary of East and West Germany merging their economies. June 30th is when the legal US voting age was lowered to 18 (come on, one more year). In 1960, Congo received independence from Belgium on this day. In 1941, the Nazis captured Lviv, Ukraine, birthplace of Elena Vesnina, my seventh-favorite female tennis player, as their march through the Soviet Union continued. Lastly worth noting, in 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States, making Taft the only person to serve as both President and Chief Justice in his political career.
But Safina wasn't about to disappoint me on my birthday. Not even after she double-faulted on set point to lose the first set in a tiebreak and recieved a code violation for slamming her racket (actually, that was a little gift unto itself-I love when she gets angry). So she sat down on her bench and said to herself, "No. It is Luke's birthday. I told him I would win for him." So, at 3-all in the second set, Safina finally broke Lisicki's booming serve and was able to hold her own serve. Then, after a hold by Lisicki, Dinara closed out the set.
From there, I had no doubt. Once a match gets to a third set, it's all Safina. So even after she failed to consolidate a break at 1-0, it was smooth sailing into the semifinals. Safina overcame zero aces, 15 double faults, and 38 unforced errors to beat the big-serving German 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 and mark the second straight birthday win for a future wife of mine (Nicole Vaidisova won her fourth round match at Wimbledon against Anna Chakvetadze on this day last year).
As I mentioned, Dinara will get Venus Williams, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Agnieszka Radwanska, who's working her way up NadkarniSports Minor Leagues. Dinara beat the "good" Williams in their last meeting (albeit on clay). Their match on Thursday in her maiden Wimbledon semifinal. I truly don't care if she loses 6-0, 6-0. She's gone far enough to make me happy. She's still going to keep the number one ranking. The pressure's off.
So with my elation over Dinara's win on my birthday, I shouldn't have cared less that Victoria Azarenka lost 6-2, 6-3. But she lost to Serena Williams, that was the problem. Serena is a disgrace to women's tennis. It's really a shame that she's one of the faces of American tennis. I wish some other country could have her-we don't want her. Loud, arrogant, ugly, masculine. She's a monstrosity. Jesus, I don't even hate Venus. There's no reason to hate her. She's actually a little bit classy. At least Venus sounds like a woman when she plays. Have you ever heard Serena grunt? I know men who don't sound like that.
It's not fair-it really isn't. Safina, Azarenka, Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Ivanovic, etc, they train their asses off and work harder than anyone could possibly imagine. They play in smaller tournaments. They give their lives to the sport of tennis. What did they do in between Roland Garros and Wimbledon? Trained on grass courts, played in grass court tournaments, got themselves prepared. What did the Williamses do? Went back to Florida, didn't play in any tournaments, and basically did things you wouldn't expect champion players to do in preparation for a Grand Slam. Last I checked, going to an NBA Finals game is not standard procedure for training for a tennis tournament. Serena hasn't won a non-Grand Slam match since beating her sister in Miami nearly three months ago. She doesn't deserve the number one ranking. Why can a player like Safina who cares so much and busts her ass day in and day out to get on top of the tennis world constantly come up short, and why can someone like Serena or Venus who doesn't even dedicate half her life to the game beat the hard working, deserving players like an incompetent spouse? It makes no sense. Far be it for me to make accusations, but I have to say that performance-enhancing drugs can't be ruled out. Yeah, I said it. I said it in NadkarniSportsNation, I said it! (Homage to Chris Rock-he's awesome. That'll get the NAACP off my back). Of course, you know this is not a racially motivated rant. I've explained this before. But there are lots of stupid people out there, and I bet if they read my that last paragraph or two, I'd have a lot of explaining to do. My blog, my rules, let's remember that. It's my birthday, too, so I can say and do whatever the hell I want. And since I know it's going to be an all-Williams final, GO VENUS!
Anyway, I'm not letting Serena ruin my birthday. Safina, my woman, won. That's all I needed. I'm going to Outback Steakhouse tonight to celebrate my seventeenth anniversary of birth, and I'm sure Dinara is jumping on a plane right now. I guess some things really are more important than winning a Grand Slam title, right, Dinara?
Hey, I'm not the only person who celebrates a birthday today. Plenty of people turn another year older, including Michael Phelps, Matisyahu (a favorite musician of mine), Mike Tyson (I'm proud to have him as a birthday buddy), and Chan-Ho Park (an MLB pitcher-I saw him pitch in person at a World Champion Philadelphia Phillies game so he's worth mentioning).
Some notable events also happened on this day. Today is the 19th anniversary of East and West Germany merging their economies. June 30th is when the legal US voting age was lowered to 18 (come on, one more year). In 1960, Congo received independence from Belgium on this day. In 1941, the Nazis captured Lviv, Ukraine, birthplace of Elena Vesnina, my seventh-favorite female tennis player, as their march through the Soviet Union continued. Lastly worth noting, in 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States, making Taft the only person to serve as both President and Chief Justice in his political career.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Safina Claws Into Wimbledon Quarters
Early in her fourth round match against France's Amelie Mauresmo, Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina took a 3-0 lead in the first set. "Wow", I thought, "this is going to be a slaughter." I was wrong.
Back up. This was actually the final Cabaret match to go on. Daniela Hantuchova was playing Serena Williams on Court 2 and Victoria Azarenka took on Nadia Petrova on Court 3. Those matches ended almost simultaneously.
Hantuchova was beaten to death by Darth Williams, who belongs in the men's draw, but not as bad as I had predicted. The 6-3, 6-1 score was better than my 6-0, 6-0 projection. Still, it's disappointing. It's okay, Dani, we all know Serena packs like Richard Simmons. There's no shame in losing to her, especially at Wimbledon. Still, I didn't feel very good.
Fortunately, Azarenka instantly returned things to normal. As if to say, "Quit your whining, crybaby", she came back from an acid trip-like second set to knock off Petrova 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3. After that second set, I thought Vika was done for, but apparently Petrova's concentration issues came at a more critical juncture. She next gets Darth Williams tomorrow, my birthday, as she tries to avenge Hantuchova. In their last meeting, Azarenka was a 6-3, 6-1 winner on the hardcourts in Miami. Grass is a bit different, but If Victoria can play a high-quality match and keep her temper in check, she has a very realistic shot.
But, of course, Safina is the real reason I watch women's tennis. Be it her powerful groundstrokes, fighting spirit, or willingness to expose her midriff, she's got me hooked. So we pick it up with her in the lead 3-0 in the first. Usually, when Dinara's got a lead, she keeps it. Not the case today. Safina then proceeded to lose six of the next seven games to drop the first set 4-6.
No problem, I thought. She's the queen of fighting back. And sure enough, she went up 4-1 in the second set. Then, the rains came, and we had our first ever indoor match at Wimbledon. After a nearly half-hour delay, the players returned, and Dinara was able to hold on to take the second set 6-3.
The third set exemplified what got Dinara into the position of my future wife in the first place. Back at the Australian Open, in this same round, against another Frenchwoman, she was down three games in the final set. But she's a tigress. She battled back to take the set and the match over Alize Cornet.
So even though Mauresmo raced out to a 3-0 advantage in the final set, I still felt like Dinara could pull this one out. When she broke back to 3-2, I was yelling "Come on!" in my TV room. I was into this. Safina held serve to even it at 3-all, then Mauresmo held her own serve. But that would be the last game the 2006 Wimbledon champion would win. After a hold, Safina broke again, and on her second match point in the final game, she came through, taking a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory and setting up a very winnable clash with Germany's Sabine Lisicki, an unseeded 19-year old, tomorrow. Lisicki, however, is not to be taken lightly-she's already knocked off 5th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and the nine seed Caroline Wozniacki in consecutive matches. Still, this is a better matchup than it could have been.
After Safina's win, though, I was pretty excited. So I tapped into my ESP and got to her in London all the way from Charlottesville, Virginia. It went like this:
Luke Nadkarni: Sweet! Nice win. Nice [freakin'] job! Way to pull through! God, I love you. You are a saint.
Dinara Safina: Thank you, thank you, I knew you would be freaking out, you know.
LN: Hell yeah I was. I have to confess, though, after that first set, I was about to tell Victoria "Win tomorrow, and you're it."
DS: Oh, really, well good thing I won, then, right? I know I can win tomorrow for your birthday
LN: Yeah, you should, and even if you don't it's cool. I almost don't want you to face the Williamses. You've made it far enough anyway. You don't have to prove anything to anybody. You're number one. Screw everyone else.
DS: I wish you weren't the only one who thought that way.
LN: Well it's a good thing I'm the only one that matters.
DS: Oh, that's right. I forgot. My job is just to make you happy.
LN: You did today. Go celebrate. Good luck with the next match. Why the hell am I not there?
DS: Good question. I come to America soon.
LN: You better.
DS: Goodbye, baby. And if I don't win tomorrow, happy birthday.
LN: Thanks. I'll be watching tomorrow.
[END]
-As for other action that took place, my last remaining "minor leaguer", Elena Vesnina, was beaten by another Elena, Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-3. Oh well. It's not like I dislike Dementieva.
Thank Dick Vitale that Melanie Oudin's fairy tale run is over. The 17-year old American qualifier was eliminated by Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 7-5. Serves you right for taking out Jelena Jankovic, Melanie. That was all ESPN was talking about. Radwanska is probably going to get shelled by Venus Williams tomorrow.
-The men were in action today, too. Shortly after Safina took me to cloud nine with her win, Lleyton Hewitt banished the Osama bin Laden of tennis (maybe that's putting it too kindly) Radek Stepanek. Osama bin Radek took the first two sets 6-2, 6-4, but from there it was all Rusty. After completing the comeback to win 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, Hewitt screamed his signature "COME AWWWWWNNNN!!!" and pumped his fist as his yellow-clad fanatics burst into joy.
Andy Roddick was a straight set winner over the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych.
-"Roger Federer, report to Dr. Ivo's office immediately." Sorry, I really wanted to say that, but in all seriousness, the second seed will face the 6'10' Croat in the quarterfinals, as both players won today, Fed in three over Robin Soderling, and Karlovic in four over Spanish lefty Fernando Verdasco. Big Dr. Ivo is the tournament's aces leader with a staggering 137 over four matches.
-Tomorrow, all four women's quarterfinal matches will be played. There are two matches each on Centre Court and Court 1. Both angels, Safina and Azarenka, will be on Centre.
Cabaret Matches:
(1)Dinara Safina (RUS) vs. Sabine Lisicki (GER)-1st match on Centre Court
(8)Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs. (2)Serena Williams (USA)-2nd match on Centre Court
Back up. This was actually the final Cabaret match to go on. Daniela Hantuchova was playing Serena Williams on Court 2 and Victoria Azarenka took on Nadia Petrova on Court 3. Those matches ended almost simultaneously.
Hantuchova was beaten to death by Darth Williams, who belongs in the men's draw, but not as bad as I had predicted. The 6-3, 6-1 score was better than my 6-0, 6-0 projection. Still, it's disappointing. It's okay, Dani, we all know Serena packs like Richard Simmons. There's no shame in losing to her, especially at Wimbledon. Still, I didn't feel very good.
Fortunately, Azarenka instantly returned things to normal. As if to say, "Quit your whining, crybaby", she came back from an acid trip-like second set to knock off Petrova 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3. After that second set, I thought Vika was done for, but apparently Petrova's concentration issues came at a more critical juncture. She next gets Darth Williams tomorrow, my birthday, as she tries to avenge Hantuchova. In their last meeting, Azarenka was a 6-3, 6-1 winner on the hardcourts in Miami. Grass is a bit different, but If Victoria can play a high-quality match and keep her temper in check, she has a very realistic shot.
But, of course, Safina is the real reason I watch women's tennis. Be it her powerful groundstrokes, fighting spirit, or willingness to expose her midriff, she's got me hooked. So we pick it up with her in the lead 3-0 in the first. Usually, when Dinara's got a lead, she keeps it. Not the case today. Safina then proceeded to lose six of the next seven games to drop the first set 4-6.
No problem, I thought. She's the queen of fighting back. And sure enough, she went up 4-1 in the second set. Then, the rains came, and we had our first ever indoor match at Wimbledon. After a nearly half-hour delay, the players returned, and Dinara was able to hold on to take the second set 6-3.
The third set exemplified what got Dinara into the position of my future wife in the first place. Back at the Australian Open, in this same round, against another Frenchwoman, she was down three games in the final set. But she's a tigress. She battled back to take the set and the match over Alize Cornet.
So even though Mauresmo raced out to a 3-0 advantage in the final set, I still felt like Dinara could pull this one out. When she broke back to 3-2, I was yelling "Come on!" in my TV room. I was into this. Safina held serve to even it at 3-all, then Mauresmo held her own serve. But that would be the last game the 2006 Wimbledon champion would win. After a hold, Safina broke again, and on her second match point in the final game, she came through, taking a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory and setting up a very winnable clash with Germany's Sabine Lisicki, an unseeded 19-year old, tomorrow. Lisicki, however, is not to be taken lightly-she's already knocked off 5th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and the nine seed Caroline Wozniacki in consecutive matches. Still, this is a better matchup than it could have been.
After Safina's win, though, I was pretty excited. So I tapped into my ESP and got to her in London all the way from Charlottesville, Virginia. It went like this:
Luke Nadkarni: Sweet! Nice win. Nice [freakin'] job! Way to pull through! God, I love you. You are a saint.
Dinara Safina: Thank you, thank you, I knew you would be freaking out, you know.
LN: Hell yeah I was. I have to confess, though, after that first set, I was about to tell Victoria "Win tomorrow, and you're it."
DS: Oh, really, well good thing I won, then, right? I know I can win tomorrow for your birthday
LN: Yeah, you should, and even if you don't it's cool. I almost don't want you to face the Williamses. You've made it far enough anyway. You don't have to prove anything to anybody. You're number one. Screw everyone else.
DS: I wish you weren't the only one who thought that way.
LN: Well it's a good thing I'm the only one that matters.
DS: Oh, that's right. I forgot. My job is just to make you happy.
LN: You did today. Go celebrate. Good luck with the next match. Why the hell am I not there?
DS: Good question. I come to America soon.
LN: You better.
DS: Goodbye, baby. And if I don't win tomorrow, happy birthday.
LN: Thanks. I'll be watching tomorrow.
[END]
-As for other action that took place, my last remaining "minor leaguer", Elena Vesnina, was beaten by another Elena, Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-3. Oh well. It's not like I dislike Dementieva.
Thank Dick Vitale that Melanie Oudin's fairy tale run is over. The 17-year old American qualifier was eliminated by Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 7-5. Serves you right for taking out Jelena Jankovic, Melanie. That was all ESPN was talking about. Radwanska is probably going to get shelled by Venus Williams tomorrow.
-The men were in action today, too. Shortly after Safina took me to cloud nine with her win, Lleyton Hewitt banished the Osama bin Laden of tennis (maybe that's putting it too kindly) Radek Stepanek. Osama bin Radek took the first two sets 6-2, 6-4, but from there it was all Rusty. After completing the comeback to win 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, Hewitt screamed his signature "COME AWWWWWNNNN!!!" and pumped his fist as his yellow-clad fanatics burst into joy.
Andy Roddick was a straight set winner over the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych.
-"Roger Federer, report to Dr. Ivo's office immediately." Sorry, I really wanted to say that, but in all seriousness, the second seed will face the 6'10' Croat in the quarterfinals, as both players won today, Fed in three over Robin Soderling, and Karlovic in four over Spanish lefty Fernando Verdasco. Big Dr. Ivo is the tournament's aces leader with a staggering 137 over four matches.
-Tomorrow, all four women's quarterfinal matches will be played. There are two matches each on Centre Court and Court 1. Both angels, Safina and Azarenka, will be on Centre.
Cabaret Matches:
(1)Dinara Safina (RUS) vs. Sabine Lisicki (GER)-1st match on Centre Court
(8)Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs. (2)Serena Williams (USA)-2nd match on Centre Court
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Spotlight-Sorana Cirstea
so-RAH-nuh kur-STAY-uh
You see it in baseball all the time. If a player isn't producing, he gets sent down to the minor leagues for some rehab. And if a player is tearing up the minors, he gets called up to the big league squad to see what he's made of.
The same applies in Nadkarni Sports Eastern European Female Tennis Player Cabaret. With her first round loss to Rossana De Los Rios at Wimbledon, Nicole Vaidisova fell out of the top 130 and was subsequently sent down, as I've alluded to. Who gets called up to replace her? The comely figure you see above this text, that's who.
Sorana Cirstea of Romania, a land perhaps best known for Dracula (I bet he'd like to find this girl asleep), isn't a household name. Yet. But judging from her results and rise in ranking over the past couple of months (not to mention looks), it's only a matter of time before she is.
I first started noticing her during the French Open, but for the wrong reason. She was playing against Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round and giving Jelly a battle. Jankovic, as you know, is one of my favorite players, and initially I thought, "Dammit, why the hell isn't this Cirstea person rolling over and playing dead?" Cirstea ended up winning that match 9-7 in the third set and I was mad at first, but then realized, "Wait, wait, 19 years old from Romania? 5'10"? Hold on a second."
So I kept following her until a few days ago at Wimbledon, when Cirstea, now ranked 27th in the world, drew another NSEEFTPC angel, Victoria Azarenka, in the third round. That match was on Centre Court, so ESPN ended up showing a decent amount of it. And the parts that I saw were sufficient to add Cirstea to the Cabaret, even though she lost the match 6-7, 3-6. Of course, if Vaidisova hadn't become one of the most pathetic tennis players in history, the door might not have opened. But it did.
Sorana was born on April 7th, 1990, making her the youngest Cabaret member, about 9 months younger than Azarenka. She grew up in the capital city of Bucharest but now resides in Targoviste, which, for you Communist Era buffs, is where the trial and execution of Nicolae Ceauşescu was held in 1989, when Cirstea was still in her mother's womb. In addition to her native Romanian, she speaks English and Spanish (sweet, I can talk to her in two languages). She owns two parrots, which makes her probably the only female tennis player in that category. She actually played doubles with Russian tennis star and my future wife Dinara Safina at the Ordina Open in the Netherlands, a Wimbledon warm-up, so I know the Czarina is okay with her entrance to the Cabaret.
Like the majority of my favorite female players, I know pretty much nothing about Cirstea's love life other than the fact that it doesn't involve me in any way, shape, or form. Maybe when I go back to the US Open this year I can change that, eh? As for positioning in the Cabaret, Cirstea will be positioned fourth, ahead of Jankovic (fifth), who lost yesterday when she clearly wasn't at 100% health, and Alona Bondarenko (sixth), who hasn't strung two wins together in what seems like a decade but is still pretty freakin' hot. Safina, Azarenka, and Daniela Hantuchova, all of whom play tomorrow, are ahead of Cirstea as of today.
Tomorrow, Wimbledon resumes, and it's a big day for the Cabaret. Azarenka goes first against Nadia Petrova. Safina takes on Amelie Mauresmo, and Hantuchova will get eviscerated by Serena Williams. My prediction for that one: 6-0, 6-0, Williams. It's going to be a slaughter. Safina and Azarenka should be favored in their matches.
Cabaret Matches:
(1)Dinara Safina (RUS) vs. (17) Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)-2nd match on Centre Court
(8)Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs. (10)Nadia Petrova (RUS)-1st match on Court 3
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) vs. (2)Serena Williams (USA)-2nd match on Court 2
Other Matches I Care About:
(2)Roger Federer (SUI) vs. (13)Robin Soderling (SWE)-1st match on Centre Court
Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs. (4)Elena Dementieva (RUS)-1st match on Court 2
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs. Radek Stepanek (CZE)-3rd match on Court 2
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