2010 US Open: Day 7

This was never meant to be a collection of the weirdest things that are said during the broadcasts, but indeed that is what these posts have become.

The US Open reports that at the tournament's halfway point, "115,682 hamburgers have been eaten." I'm not even going to go into how gross that is.

"This is big folks, 115,682-plus hamburgers, and we're not EVEN TALKING HOT DOGS YET!" -Dick Enberg

All through this morning, people were predicting a tight match between Ana Ivanovic and Kim Clijsters, and I have to admit I was a little concerned that Ivanovic might somehow ride her recent wave of good results and really hand it to Clijsters. At the same time, though, I more reasonably thought that the players Ivanovic had defeated so far in this tournament were second- or even third-tier at best, and that her confidence issues would resurface against a top player.

(I can never really figure out what Ivanovic's problem is, anyway--she lacks confidence in herself now that she's won a Grand Slam? Whatever. I guess it's difficult for me to relate because I played tennis for something not to stress about, and not for, say, a living, but still.)

At first it really did look like it would be a competitive match. Stats-wise, Ivanovic was initially playing the cleaner match, and although I expected that the first break in the first set (for 1-3) would immediately wreak havoc with her game, Ivanovic promptly broke back instead. Things did fall apart after that, though, and in the end it was nowhere near close. How she decides to move on from here should be interesting, but I for one don't really see her ever getting back to the top of the rankings. Near the top, maybe, but not the top.

"I can stay with her in the beginning of those first few games where she was playing really good tennis, if I could just stay with her and kind of just, make her doubt once in a while." -Kim Clijsters

It would probably help Ivanovic to not read this quote, hah...

Rafael Nadal looked like some kind of traffic cop or something today, but he still adorably won. Actually, Gilles Simon is kind of adorable too, just in a different way.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/photos/2010-09-05/201009051283704201342.html?glryid=2010-09-05/201009051283705427618

Actually, what has annoyed me particularly in the past several days is the whole commentary on Nadal's English. What gives, people? His English is fine. No one would ever mistake him for a native, but he is certainly conversational, and even knows how to understand humor and be humorous. For anyone who has really studied a foreign language (and that rules out most of the United States, so don't even try), mastering humor is one of the most difficult things. The timing, the word choice, even a grasp of what is considered funny in one culture but boring or even offensive in another--these are all nuanced things that no one can teach. In his whirlwind life as one of the top two tennis players in the world, Nadal has found the time and motivation to improve both his textbook and colloquial English.

Ugh. I'm not the only one who hates Justin Gimelstob, right?

I'm trying to figure out why John Isner vs. Mikhail Youzhny was scheduled for the night session on Arthur Ashe. Sure, Isner is a popular American, but really? Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray (tear), Ana Ivanovic/Kim Clijsters, and Venus Williams all played during the day. All hail the power of CBS?