US Open '10: Point by Point Coverage

[lt]

John and PMac: SHUT UP! Fer hasn't lost yet. Yeesh! And I wish they'd stop talking about how "everyone" wants Rafa/Roger in the final.

If I was ESPN I might tell them to stop doing the equivalent of telling people to change the channel.

Heh, Chrissy embarrassing the hell out of her kid.

[kfc]

Just curious, has Chris ever referred to Martina as a "friend"? I only caught the tail end of her interview with Pam, but I've noticed Martina goes out of her way to say the two are friends, whereas Chris is usually more reserved in describing their relationship. She's always very complimentary, but she tends to make it clear they haven't always been tremendously close.

[falafaclese]

I don't specifically remember her using the word "friend", but I do remember her saying that they got along and liked each other. I also remember her saying somewhere that, at one point she felt that Martina let the competition get the best of her, and she distanced herself from Chris. Chris seemed to be hurt by it. They do seem to have gotten past that now, and they refer to each other with affection and admiration nowadays. Maybe that history has something to do with what you're seeing.

[tikigirl]

Blech, Wonky. That. Is. All.

[oopssorry]

Every year the second Wednesday and Thursday make me hate the admins of the USO. These days are usually so exciting and packed with amazing matches. They seem anemic at the USO.

I guess I'm cranky - time for bed, no doubt - as I find this match really un-fun to watch. Tell me, O Fer lovers, why I should like this guy?

[tikigirl]

Hey, don't ask me, oops. I like to look at him, not watch him play. Especially tonight.

[kfc]

I saw on another board that Nicole Vaidisova is training at Bollettieri's for a comeback in 2011. It's amazing that she's still only 21.

fala, could be. The contrast in their reactions to the other always struck me as interesting. Martina always seems way more effusive about Chris and talks up their friendship. I don't doubt that Chris admires and respects Martina, she just seems very careful to declare them best buds in the way Martina does.

[oopssorry]

I almost called it the tiki model! Is it that way for everyone? Am I misreading the investment in him? (The Collette commercial has been the only antidote to my crankiness this evening.)

[breezybee]

Just curious, has Chris ever referred to Martina as a "friend"?

When they were both on Oprah she did. They talked about hugging each other in the locker room after matches.

[falafaclese]

I've always found Martina to be very straightforward and plain-speaking, and Chris to be more guarded in general. Maybe that's just my own observation, but that could have something to do with it too.

[falafaclese]

I enjoy watching Verdasco play. He's had some great matches. The match against Ferrer in the last round was great, the Aussie Open match against Rafa last year, and he played quite well during the clay court season this year. I like his shotmaking and his movement.

[oopssorry]

Bleah. Thank goodness Ver-lame-o isn't more prominent in the game.

Just to make sure we don't feel we're the lone victims, Brad Gilbert thinks it's ok to butcher names in front of live people too.

[pokey]

Sept 10, 2010 2:32:00 GMT kfc said:

fala, could be. The contrast in their reactions to the other always struck me as interesting. Martina always seems way more effusive about Chris and talks up their friendship. I don't doubt that Chris admires and respects Martina, she just seems very careful to declare them best buds in the way Martina does.

I wonder if some of that isn't just their personalities a little bit? Martina seems to be a more open person in general and a little less afraid to just put herself out there emotionally (always has seemed that way, though I don't fully buy into the Ice Queen thing for Chris). I think that contributed to making their rivalry so much fun to watch. I already have the DVR set for the 30 for 30 episode next week; some of those shows have been lame but I'm hopeful for this one.

[lt]

Tell me, O Fer lovers, why I should like this guy?

falafaclese already mentioned it, but I will elaborate: Fer is like low-percentage tennis--thrilling and exciting but it's not going to work a lot of the time. His shot-making is absolutely stupendous and a joy to watch. There are a lot of players who play high-percentage tennis and you can watch knowing they have a good chance of winning most of their matches but *yawn* it's the same old, same old baseline rallies waiting for the opponent to mess up. With Fer you have to keep an eye on him when watching because something interesting is going to happen.

My favorite players--Fer, Feli, Max--are all like that. Keeping the game interesting but your guy is not going to win every time they are supposed to. I don't know if they are okay with that, but I am.

Brad Gilbert thinks it's ok to butcher names in front of live people too.

Did you see Rafa's face when Brad called Mikhail "Michael?" He looked like he wanted to correct him but wasn't sure what was going on so let it go. And how annoying that even with Rafa, whose english is quite good but wacky made-up terminology is going to stump him, Brad cannot just speak plain english. With the exception of names. For those, everyone gets the english language treatment.

I've always found Martina to be very straightforward and plain-speaking, and Chris to be more guarded in general.

That's what I see as well. Defecting and coming out seemed to free up Martina into this kind of joyousness with everything, and that's how she talks. Chris has a more "why is this your business?" reaction to personal questions. Weirdly, I like both ways of reacting to questions.

[breezybee]

Brad Gilbert thinks it's ok to butcher names in front of live people too.

Oh yeah listening to him talk about David Fururrrrrr the other night was lovely. I noticed Cahill kept saying Ferrer very loudly and clearly but of course to no avail. Probably the worst is when Gilbert is pronouncing the French names. Dickie Gasket being the epitome of his toolish pronunciations.