Melbourne Wrap-up... Saturday, January 26, 2008
Stories of 2008.
My Australian Open finished up on Wednesday as I was knocked out in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles. I had little time to worry about the loss as I was looking forward to watching the night match of Blake-Federer. James had given me a few extra tickets for his box so I could take my parents too. The match turned out good as I thought James played some great tennis. He pushed Federer and had a couple opportunities, but like usual, Fed just raised his level and prevailed. It reminded me so much of the Federer-Roddick match from the US Open where I thought Andy played his best tennis, but Roger has another level when he needs it. I guess Roger did not have another level against Djokovic though as he went down in straights. I missed this one unfortunately as I was in the middle of a 30hr journey from Melbourne back to Minneapolis.
Capsicum Spray
Violence and trouble in the stands - I don't know how much this portrayed in the states, but it was big in Australia. There was some trouble in the stands during the Econimidis-Gonzalez match, but I think it was blown out of proportion. As a player, Australia is usually the best slam to play because you can find a davis cup atmosphere on each court. There's nothing like this in the French or Wimby and while the US Open night matches can really get loud, they don't have the same patriotic feel where fans will dress up in their country's colors and sing songs and chant for their respective player. I hope the "Aussie" doesn't crack down too hard on fans cause if it does, it will lose one of its best qualities.
French Cassius
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga - I wrote in a blog that the first round match-up of Tsonga-Murray was going to be one of the best matches and was it ever. I knew Tsonga was capable of having big weeks due to the firepower that he has in his game, but I can't say I expected his run to continue bulldozing Gasquet, Yhouzny and Nadal. And tell me you see the Ali resemblance, its just too bad his english isn't good enough to hear what he really has to say. Have you noticed his post match speeches often focus on a new word he most likely recently learned. After he beat Nadal, it was "like a dream for him." When asked what his parents said when he called home, they said it was "like a dream for them." I've gotten to know him over the past few years and I'm so happy for him, because he's a light hearted, enjoyable, kind person....which can be rare among the French players.
The "Sharapova-throat shlash"
If you didn't see it, Maria's dad, Yuri, looking like an "assassin" according to her with his sunglasses and hood up gave a throat-slash motion after she best Henin in the quarterfinals. First of all, maybe it was a joke, maybe not, whether or not he should be punished is debatable. But I'll tell you from what I've seen, this guy is awful. He routinely treats people with no respect. As we were standing by the tv monitors at the practice court desk last week and someone walked in front of the monitor he was watching stopped, he yelled at them to get out of the way, through his arms up and let out a big puff of air as that person moved. My coach and I stood an watched for the next 10 minutes just hoping someone would stop in front of the monitor again. There's just no need to treat people the way he does, I would love to see him removed from the game or at least punished for some of the behavior he shows on a regular basis.
Doubles #1's?
Most people know who the #1 doubles team in the world is, its Bob and Mike Bryan. Do many doubt that they are the best team on tour? Probably not. But, we do have an issue here. The Bryans according to the rankings are #1, but they have not won a grand slam in the past 12 months (nor the year-end championships). I will have to check this, but I don't even know if they have reached a final. Now, Clement and Llodra, have won wimby and are looking on track to win Australia without even dropping a set. Depending on how you look at things, I think they have an adequate argument that they are the best team. I lost to them this week, and I can tell you they are every bit as tough as Bob and Mike.
I hope you enjoyed my stories from the '08 Australian, I'll be back again soon...
- Eric
My Australian Open finished up on Wednesday as I was knocked out in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles. I had little time to worry about the loss as I was looking forward to watching the night match of Blake-Federer. James had given me a few extra tickets for his box so I could take my parents too. The match turned out good as I thought James played some great tennis. He pushed Federer and had a couple opportunities, but like usual, Fed just raised his level and prevailed. It reminded me so much of the Federer-Roddick match from the US Open where I thought Andy played his best tennis, but Roger has another level when he needs it. I guess Roger did not have another level against Djokovic though as he went down in straights. I missed this one unfortunately as I was in the middle of a 30hr journey from Melbourne back to Minneapolis.
Capsicum Spray
Violence and trouble in the stands - I don't know how much this portrayed in the states, but it was big in Australia. There was some trouble in the stands during the Econimidis-Gonzalez match, but I think it was blown out of proportion. As a player, Australia is usually the best slam to play because you can find a davis cup atmosphere on each court. There's nothing like this in the French or Wimby and while the US Open night matches can really get loud, they don't have the same patriotic feel where fans will dress up in their country's colors and sing songs and chant for their respective player. I hope the "Aussie" doesn't crack down too hard on fans cause if it does, it will lose one of its best qualities.
French Cassius
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga - I wrote in a blog that the first round match-up of Tsonga-Murray was going to be one of the best matches and was it ever. I knew Tsonga was capable of having big weeks due to the firepower that he has in his game, but I can't say I expected his run to continue bulldozing Gasquet, Yhouzny and Nadal. And tell me you see the Ali resemblance, its just too bad his english isn't good enough to hear what he really has to say. Have you noticed his post match speeches often focus on a new word he most likely recently learned. After he beat Nadal, it was "like a dream for him." When asked what his parents said when he called home, they said it was "like a dream for them." I've gotten to know him over the past few years and I'm so happy for him, because he's a light hearted, enjoyable, kind person....which can be rare among the French players.
The "Sharapova-throat shlash"
If you didn't see it, Maria's dad, Yuri, looking like an "assassin" according to her with his sunglasses and hood up gave a throat-slash motion after she best Henin in the quarterfinals. First of all, maybe it was a joke, maybe not, whether or not he should be punished is debatable. But I'll tell you from what I've seen, this guy is awful. He routinely treats people with no respect. As we were standing by the tv monitors at the practice court desk last week and someone walked in front of the monitor he was watching stopped, he yelled at them to get out of the way, through his arms up and let out a big puff of air as that person moved. My coach and I stood an watched for the next 10 minutes just hoping someone would stop in front of the monitor again. There's just no need to treat people the way he does, I would love to see him removed from the game or at least punished for some of the behavior he shows on a regular basis.
Doubles #1's?
Most people know who the #1 doubles team in the world is, its Bob and Mike Bryan. Do many doubt that they are the best team on tour? Probably not. But, we do have an issue here. The Bryans according to the rankings are #1, but they have not won a grand slam in the past 12 months (nor the year-end championships). I will have to check this, but I don't even know if they have reached a final. Now, Clement and Llodra, have won wimby and are looking on track to win Australia without even dropping a set. Depending on how you look at things, I think they have an adequate argument that they are the best team. I lost to them this week, and I can tell you they are every bit as tough as Bob and Mike.
I hope you enjoyed my stories from the '08 Australian, I'll be back again soon...
- Eric
6 recent comments + add comment
Feb 3, 2008 11:44 pm
booty if you are reading this this is zak from the medibank tournement the one that you gave the broken racket to and if you could pass a message to lleyton hewitt for me that would be great and can you come back to australia to play with me
Jan 26, 2008 8:50 pm
Llodra/Clement lost. Beaten by Smokin Mirrors (as Brad Gilbert said in San Jose).
Jan 26, 2008 8:06 pm
Well said, booty. Hope you're well. See you in next tournament. :))
Jan 26, 2008 7:42 pm
very interesting insite into the world of the aussie o - also have to add bob and mike last got to a grand slam final in wimbldon 2007 ,semi in french open 2007 they have won 11 titles 3 of which were masters in that year they werent at shanghi due to injury and they still had enough points on claim the number 1 spot well before then , i think the french players have alot to live up to before they can go anywhere near that top spot
Jan 26, 2008 1:08 pm
Keep up the good tennis and the good writing. Very fun to live 'vicariously' through your endeavors, since many of hoped to, but did not ascend to your level of tennis. Live the dream and good luck on your next tourney!
Jan 26, 2008 9:45 am
It's really fun to hear your inside beat of these players and your experiences. I played for Bethel and my partner Dan and I lost to Butorac and Whipple 8-1, but at least we had them shaking in their shoes by winning the 1st game, uh yeah right! Cheers, Anthony Branitski