U.S. Open '09: Point by point coverage

[lt]

falafaclese, you are good. That is indeed Srebotnik. And for you to tell without even seeing her face. . . .Good job.

[francienolan]

Sept 1, 2009 15:20:48 GMT falafaclese said:

As for the woman in the Rafa pic, it looks kind of like Katarina Srebotnik. She's tall and fit too, so that could be her.

If it's not Srebotnik, she surely could be her body double.

I didn't catch a lot of the Venus match but was distracted by Pam's floral pirate blouse in the post match interview. I'm completely w/o religion but I hope Venus' prayers do wonders for her knee!

[tikigirl]

I'm catching Wozniacki/Voskoboeva on TTC, and there is a LOT of fashion fug going on, between Vosko's wonky-boobed neckline and Woz's possibly most unfluttering ruffles evah. Is she huge these days or is it really just the dress? :: shudder :: Ruffles are way scarier than clowns.

Oh, and I'm not digging Tsonga's afro. I don't know why, I usually love naturals.

Thanks for the USO reports, lt, and the insights into bog snorkelling, admin. I also like the sound of nettle eating. I've had hot chile eating contests at my house...

[lt]

Whoa to the upsets. Wickmayer (who?) is up a set and a break over Razzano and Andreev (who's been having a very good summer) is down two sets. Bondarenko is down a set as well. Watching the feed, Court 13 is packed--everyone getting there early for the Verdasco/Becker match.

[amarathe]

Safina just lost the first set to a player I've never even heard of. I like Safina off court, but she can be painful to watch on court. It's uncomfortable watching her when she's on the verge of a mental breakdown.

[Jer2002]

I hope Safina loses. I kinda irrationally hate her.

[francienolan]

Yah for Melanie Oudin. Pavlyuchenkova was off from the start but Oudin still handled her business and didn't waste any time doing it.

I'm going to assume Safina going to pull this out but it's gotta be painful if you're a fan...

[admin]

Safina is so SO painful to watch, it's bad enough to see her choking in slam finals, but in the 1st round.. I think she might benefit from a blow to the head, maybe it would knock some sense into her and some of the craziness out!

[falafaclese]

I don't even get worked up over Safina anymore. In spite of the fact that I'm still a fan, she's been in this situation so many times before (the brink of defeat with no apparent escape) that it doesn't fill me with any urgency. If she manages to pull it out, it will be just like all the others, and if she loses, it will seem fitting because she always plays it so close to the edge.

And as wrote that last sentence, she just broke to get back on serve in the third at 3-4. What did I tell you?

PS: How did I know that jer2002 would be the one to resurrect that Nole avatar? ;D

[lt]

Okay, this is cracking me up--I'm watching on USopen.org (thanks to falafaclese's tip) and during the changeover Barry McKay and whoever the other guy is are not turning off their mikes so I can hear them make comments about other matches, what they're doing later, what they think of the current match, etc. Very funny. They're keeping an eye on Dinara too, btw.

[Jer2002]

Nole in his undies is <3 Would these bitches finish already so he can start?

[admin]

Jer is temping me to bring back the crotch close up avatar.. If it would make him happy, how could i NOT do it

Dinara, you are a pain in the ass. Now i have to go through that all again next round, in all probabilty.

[falafaclese]

You got your wish. Safina pulls it out at the last minute yet again.

Rogowska showed some nice poise smiling and waving to the crowd when her name was announced after she lost.

[splat]

It's interesting that Dinara plays a crap match, and all the ESPN talking heads talk about... her coach. Maybe they've been reading the discussion here.

[lt]

Someone just passed out in the crowd at the Gonzo/Massu match. I don't know if Gonzo knows them or not but he was the first one over there. Super packed court.