And about fecking time. Okay, so Nadal beat Fed on a hard court, it went five sets (but the fifth was a huge anti-climax as Fed shockingly collapsed), Nadal has three of the four slams and is looking a better bet to win the US Open than Fed to win the French. Plus he's won Olympic Gold. Suddenly, all that arse-licking Fed-is-the-greatest-ever talk of the past five years isn't looking so certain. 'Twas a good, if predictable, final to end the Australian Open. Me, I'm just not that bothered about Fed-Nadal matches. I like them, they're an entertaining watch, but I'm a neutral, ultimately. Which is why I can't really bring myself to write more than a few sentences about it (well... that and also I'm sick to the back teeth of writing at this point). To sum up: Nadal fought and fought, despite his exhausting semifinal, and thoroughly deserved it. Fed disintegrated, and his tears in the trophy ceremony looked like a beaten man who had ran out of answers. Although I'm not writing him off yet. He can still beat anyone on his day. Except, maybe now, Nadal. We'll see.
Me, I'm still pissed at Mathieu for breaking my heart for the umpteenth time in the second round. Such is life when you're a fan of has-beens and never-wases. I'd like to just support whoever's winning, but I just can't bring myself to do it. If one of my guys breaks through and does something, whether it's a slam, a lesser title, or even just a significant win, that means more to me than watching someone I have no connection towards win a hundred slams.
Oh, in all my meandering I almost forgot the women's final. Well, Dementieva lived up to bridesmaid status once again by losing tamely to Serena in the semis, and Serena went on to annihilate Dinara Safina in the final 6-0 6-3 for her 10th grand slam title. She's not even as good as she used to be. But it's a rant for another time. I'm done for the evening. To sum up: a memorable AO. But personally, could have been better. As usual, eh.
Showing posts with label serena williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serena williams. Show all posts
Monday, 2 February 2009
Australian Open 2009 - A Summary: Round Two
On to round two - routine for the top four, neither Murray, Djokovic, Nadal or Federer facing any particularly stern tests with some rather nondescript matches - Federer's opponent Evgeny Korolev catching as much attention after posing for these shots on the ATP website as for his tennis.
Gasquet 'routined' Denis Istomin 6-3 6-4 6-4; Mario Ancic posted a not-entirely unexpected five-set win over Ivo Karlovic - condemning his fellow Croat to the worst five-set record in the open era with Karlovic having played ten, lost ten to overtake Markus Hipfl, who finished his career at 0-9; Fernando Verdasco showed ominous signs of later form, dismissing the experienced Clement for the loss of just five games; Kohlschreiber disappointed once more - Fabrice Santoro proving he can't be written off even at 35 with a 5-7 7-5 3-6 7-5 6-3 win; David Nalbandian was the most shocking second-round loser, out to little-known Yen-Hsun Lu; Baghdatis and Bolelli were up against two of my least-liked players in Robin Soderling and Mardy Fish (more on those two later) - Marcos showing some of the form from his 2006 run with a four-set win; Simone, meanwhile, continues to struggle against big servers, with Fish the victor in straights.
Gilles Muller, presumably still exhausted from his struggle with Lopez in the first round, must have thanked his lucky stars to be playing the inexperienced teenager Bernard Tomic, winning in four; Safin eased through past Garcia-Lopez, although few (including myself) were giving him much of a chance in his next match against Federer; so the stage was all set, of course, for the inevitable Paul-Henri Mathieu nightmare defeat. And he didn't disappoint: somehow turning a two-set lead of 6-1 6-3 into a 1-6 3-6 6-3 7-6 9-7 loss, against Amer Delic, of all people, who had scraped into the draw as a lucky loser upon Kiefer's withdrawal and had lost two sets 6-0 to Florian Mayer - yes, Florian Mayer! - in qualifying. Paulo may have been right to complain about some of the crowd's behaviour - but the fact remains, this was (yet another) match he should never have lost. I knew as soon as I saw that result, that it wasn't going to be my tournament.
As for the women, most of the top seeds cruised through with little trouble, but Venus Williams went down 2-6 6-3 7-5 to Carla Suarez Navarro - the biggest upset of the tournament on the women's side. Mauresmo continued to look a shadow of herself as she beat Baltacha in three; and the fortnight looked as though it would be decided on a likely semi-final match between Serena Williams and perennial bridesmaid, but recent Olympic Gold medallist (and unbeaten in '09) Elena Dementieva. Yawn.
Gasquet 'routined' Denis Istomin 6-3 6-4 6-4; Mario Ancic posted a not-entirely unexpected five-set win over Ivo Karlovic - condemning his fellow Croat to the worst five-set record in the open era with Karlovic having played ten, lost ten to overtake Markus Hipfl, who finished his career at 0-9; Fernando Verdasco showed ominous signs of later form, dismissing the experienced Clement for the loss of just five games; Kohlschreiber disappointed once more - Fabrice Santoro proving he can't be written off even at 35 with a 5-7 7-5 3-6 7-5 6-3 win; David Nalbandian was the most shocking second-round loser, out to little-known Yen-Hsun Lu; Baghdatis and Bolelli were up against two of my least-liked players in Robin Soderling and Mardy Fish (more on those two later) - Marcos showing some of the form from his 2006 run with a four-set win; Simone, meanwhile, continues to struggle against big servers, with Fish the victor in straights.
Gilles Muller, presumably still exhausted from his struggle with Lopez in the first round, must have thanked his lucky stars to be playing the inexperienced teenager Bernard Tomic, winning in four; Safin eased through past Garcia-Lopez, although few (including myself) were giving him much of a chance in his next match against Federer; so the stage was all set, of course, for the inevitable Paul-Henri Mathieu nightmare defeat. And he didn't disappoint: somehow turning a two-set lead of 6-1 6-3 into a 1-6 3-6 6-3 7-6 9-7 loss, against Amer Delic, of all people, who had scraped into the draw as a lucky loser upon Kiefer's withdrawal and had lost two sets 6-0 to Florian Mayer - yes, Florian Mayer! - in qualifying. Paulo may have been right to complain about some of the crowd's behaviour - but the fact remains, this was (yet another) match he should never have lost. I knew as soon as I saw that result, that it wasn't going to be my tournament.
As for the women, most of the top seeds cruised through with little trouble, but Venus Williams went down 2-6 6-3 7-5 to Carla Suarez Navarro - the biggest upset of the tournament on the women's side. Mauresmo continued to look a shadow of herself as she beat Baltacha in three; and the fortnight looked as though it would be decided on a likely semi-final match between Serena Williams and perennial bridesmaid, but recent Olympic Gold medallist (and unbeaten in '09) Elena Dementieva. Yawn.
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