Why do commentators insist on pronouncing "Rafael Nadal" as "Raf-ee-ell"? Who on earth is named Raf-ee-ell?
I'm not sure what bothers me more, people assuming Nadal will play in the finals or people discussing how Fernando Verdasco may win their quarterfinal match.
The day session today is kind of boring--actually, everything today is kind of boring, including the weather, except the Nadal vs. Verdasco match later tonight. So for lack of anything better to do, I am watching the mixed doubles final. (However I am, by the way, in the process of writing other things.) Bob Bryan just challenged the "in" call on his own serve... I've never seen that before.
According to Daren Cahill's research, Mary Joe Fernandez's fastest recorded serve was 107 mph, compared to Pam Shriver's 102 mph. This is driving Pam mad, which is beyond amusing. Daren's fastest serve, by the way, was 127 mph, which I believe is slower than Venus Williams' fastest recorded serve. Hee.
Mixed doubles has a funny dynamic to it, complete with sexist overtones. I love it. I actually love doubles, but you don't really get to see or follow much of it usually.
"That's not very good to do it in mixed. It's a little unfair to the woman." -Pam Shriver on the chest bumpHrm... the Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Mikhail Youzhny match is far from actually interesting, but I have to say I've sort of developed a soft spot for them based on their pre-match tunnel interviews (as pointless and awkward as they are).
I love it when Cliff Drysdale thinks it's appropriate to say things like "Now this Australian is gonna be all over me like a rash." LOVE IT.
The commentators keep comparing the attitudes of the Youzhny and Wawrinka camps:
Dear Brad Gilbert, Mikhail ≠ Michael.
This is what happens when temperatures cool down:
The scoreline suggests that there is drama going on in the match, but since it's not actually that interesting I decided to mix things up a bit and watch some wheelchair tennis. It can be pretty inspiring, although Shingo Kunieda vs. Ronald Vink was kind of a bland wipeout (6-0, 6-0). Although it was played on Louis Armstrong, the atmosphere of the US Open is just not there in these matches. There are fewer ballkids, the stands are pretty much empty, and of course there just aren't those highlight reel-worthy shots.
However, there were at least four fans on hand for Kunieda:
The man in the blue and white track jacket was so excited, he took pictures of his daughter shaking hands with Kunieda then asked the boy to take a picture of him shaking Kunieda's hand. During the match and immediately after it seemed like Kunieda had a bit of top-player haughtiness (which he is, but that attitude is not attractive or justified in anyone), but afterwards he seemed to soften up and have a lot of fun with the fans. Cute!Cliff needs to learn what "delight" actually means.
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