Australian Open '11: Point by Point Coverage

[francienolan]

I was really pulling for Li Na, I'm not sure if I believe in the concept of a moral victory but at least it was entertaining.

I am very familiar with the site the Williams rumor came from & unless it concerns Real Housewives or other consorts of the NBA/NFL it's not credible at all.

[lt]

(BTW I think the players of that era, meaning Mac, Connors, Lendl, should be glad there were no message boards in the 70s-80s! Not a friendly bunch, especially with each other.)

Hoo, boy, do you speak the truth! Can you imagine? I was actually a fan of Lendl's back in the day but if I knew even a quarter about him that I know now, there would be no way.

I'm a huge fan of Kim's so I was rooting for her going in, but when Dick Enberg talked about all the little girls in China going out and finding a court to play on if Li Na won. . . well, I started rooting for her. Luckily for my sanity, either Pam or Mary Jo later talked about how that was happening just by having Li Na in the final. Then I felt better either way.

I did not watch live, I watched the ESPN re-broadcast because I needed some semblance of sleep to watch tonight. I am so excited about this match up between Andy and Djokovic. I hope they can play up to the hype I've built in my head.

Back to the women--I felt so badly when the crowd started getting to Li Na. And the Aussie crowd being who they are, they promptly started backing Kim when they were told to keep quiet during points because of Li Na's complaints. Bunch of asshats the crowd has proven to be this tournament. It's going to be chaos tonight--both men tend to get the crowds riled up.

I'm watching TTC's coverage now just because I want to see the full trophy ceremony. Another reason to wake up early to watch the men live--get to see the trophy ceremony and they won't skip games. ESPN skipped the first six games of the second set when they re-aired.

Oh, and Venus would be well suited to take a look at Li Na's skirt--very flirty, but not gross in any way.

[falafaclese]

Congrats to Kim. I was definitely rooting for Na today, but I can't feel too bad about Kim winning as I like her almost as much.

I thought that was an entertaining match even with the breaks in the third set. Breaks don't bother me if the person is still fighting. With the women, the ground strokes have gotten so powerful so fast, I kind of expect that it will be harder to hold since the women are not only not as strong as the men, but also not as tall. With those two issues, it makes it harder to generate power from scratch with a serve rather than adding your own power to your opponent's when you're returning. Obviously it's not a mistake that most of the biggest servers in the WTA are 5'10" and up. I'm probably stating the obvious here, but it's a lot harder to generate power and maintain consistency while serving with less clearance over the net.

I guess that was me giving my unsolicited two cents about some of the criticism about the women's game. While I agree that there's not enough fight in many of the women, I don't think the ones who do fight (and there are still plenty of them) get enough props. Ignore me, I'm ranting.

[lizm]

Ah parents... I was avoiding the board, because I had the women's final ready on the DVR. Cue my father dropping by, mentioning out of the blue that his favorite Clijsters won 'against that Chinese girl'. (My family is Chinese, you would think that there would be a bit more... I dunno.)

Sigh. Congrats to the Uterus, I guess. Heh, I'd be less snarky and blame the motherhood thing on the media, but then I found out that: Did you know her retro green outfit? (Which I do like...) Is a tribute? To the last mother who won a grand slam? She thought it was a great idea?

[breezybee]

I'm probably stating the obvious here, but it's a lot harder to generate power and maintain consistency while serving with less clearance over the net.

Yeah. I'm 5'4" and my return game is better than my service game for exactly that reason.

About Kim's outfit - I hate the colour. It's way too much green. I don't mind the style.

I would have liked to see Li Na win. I always enjoy when there is a first time champion. Kim winning is good though.

[falafaclese]

I feel so fickle. Kim has always been one of my favorites, and somehow she's been usurped by Na Li. I think I was so impressed by Na's improvement, the confidence and focus she was showing during her matches, and the kookie fun sense of humor she was showing after her matches.

Kim had better focus today, and I think that made the difference. It seemed like Na, in spite of the fact that she dominated for the first half of the match, eventually lost a little bit of focus at the end, and Kim was able to fight through the great play Li had at the beginning, and then maintain her focus at the end. When Kim upped her game at the end, Na didn't have that extra little bit that was needed. I think she's capable of it, but she couldn't focus and bring it out today. I'm glad that there was quality play from both of them.

[lt]

I'm glad that there was quality play from both of them.

Yeah, Martina was quite vocal about being happy about it being a solid, good final--same with Lindsay. I watched both ESPN and TTC and no one talked about Kim being a mom. All the commentators were concentrating on the play and the stress of the final, etc.

I thought it was kind of wacky that for Kim to win, she had to go to the Wozniacki style of lob-by play and leave the aggressive Kim-style behind. I LOVE to pieces that she could figure it out and change mid-match. Thinking on her feet and changing her game plan--that's wonderful.

[mooncreek]

I tried to watch the match live but only made it to 5-3 of the second set. I must say that it was nice to see a quality ladies' final. It figures that Kim's outfit was inspired by another mother because the boob sweat was incredibly distracting. Liked the style, not the color.

As for the guys, this is actually the final I picked (and I believe the first time I've won a bracket). The hot weather may play a factor - it doesn't seem like a Grand Slam tournament unless Novak has some health or heat issue. I am hoping Andy starts out better than he did in last year's final.

[oopssorry]

Watching the women now, about an hour ahead of the ESPN tape. So great to watch the desire on both ends, and to see the usual arcs up and down for both of them.

But can someone explain to me why the ESPN team feels obliged to use both names for Li? They say "Clijsters" all the time. Just wondering.

The mom references don't bother me, but I feel I'm owed an effing trophy every week as primary breadwinner and primary caregiver to my two toddlers! For me it's less the physical toll of having the child than the sheer recalibration of time in one's day. [/whine]

[tikigirl]

I feel I'm owed an effing trophy every week as primary breadwinner and primary caregiver to my two toddlers!

You deserve a trophy -- you and everyone else who manages this. I can't provide a trophy, but I can give a shout-out to all of you.

Is this mixed doubles final live? I can hardly tell (thank you, idiotic TTC). No way I am staying up for the men's final. I'm enjoying my favorite California wine (another shout-out: Caparone!) and listening to marauding coyotes here in the southwest, and perfectly happy not to see Groundskeeper Willie versus (in)Convenient Asthma Boy.

[lizm]

Rooting for Andy - I can tolerate lads if I have to, but not CelineMyHeartMustGoOn-chest thumping. Plus, Djokovic has a GS already.

ETA:
Oh geez, I thought it would be Andy's fans testing my patience, but the Novak chanting is totally worse.

[falafaclese]

Boring first set. I may go back to sleep.

[lizm]

Sigh, i'm GOING to bed. Depressed.

[boringmember]

Blah. Oh well

[oopssorry]

Heh. Thanks, tiki, for indulging my self-pity! I'm extra-cranky because I gave up caffeine this week, hoping AO adrenaline would pull me through. That was apparently short-sighted of me. Whole lot of meh this morning.

Not giving up alcohol, thank goodness. Will need that later on as I watch the tape. Ugh! Unless the reports here are so pitiful that I'll use my time otherwise!

Poor Andy. Shoot....