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Post by falafaclese on Aug 25, 2011 0:05:31 GMT
Draws come out tomorrow! I'm worried we're gonna get a Venus/Serena first round match. USOPEN.ORG
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Post by breezybee on Aug 25, 2011 0:17:36 GMT
OMG Fala - I hadn't even thought of that. Venus isn't seeded is she so it could happen. That would be awful.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Aug 25, 2011 13:11:23 GMT
That's where home court advantage takes effect. No worries.
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Post by falafaclese on Aug 25, 2011 16:46:53 GMT
Are you implying that the draw isn't completely random? Perish the thought!
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Aug 25, 2011 17:01:22 GMT
Everyone keeping a super-close eye on the weather? Irene looks like she's moving faster/farther east than originally thought and Monday might not be a complete washout. Keeping my fingers crossed. Kid's Day is on Saturday but the rain might not start until a little later in the afternoon. Right now, Sunday is the worst day we're going to get up here but I don't know how much rain the tail end of the hurricane will bring. (Floods, earthquakes and hurricanes. Someone is trying to tell us something. Now I know who I'd be in a disaster movie--the one who shrugs off all the signs and dies first because I won't have left the area.)
Darn it--just like Wimbledon, the app is only for the iPhone and not Android/Blackberries. I want the radio! Speaking of the radio, the website says you can listen to the draw ceremony going on now, but it is currently off the air.
Looking at the men's seeds, Fer and Isner have dropped pretty far but at least they're both still seeded. Dolgopolov has a nice #22 seed and Feli is #25. Good for those two. Yikes. Just noticed Roddick at #20. Tough year for him. Can I just say how much I do NOT want to go to London in November and see Mardy Fish? I know, I should look at his game again and I might change my mind but I'm just not ready for that. I do, however, want to see Monfils there. He'd have the time of his life with the crowd.
falafaclese, heh. Believe it or not, I don't have a problem with home court advantage. I figure it's universal.
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Post by falafaclese on Aug 25, 2011 17:28:33 GMT
Lt, I know you said that you couldn't listen to RG radio because you don't have Flash on your phone, but you should be able to download it. have you tried? One of the main draws Android was touting early on was that they'd be able to handle Flash. I find that when I try to use use a website with a flash video or audio player, it first pops up as an empty box but if I touch the box it will load up. I found that worked with the RG radio player. It just seems strange that it would work on my phone and not yours since they're both Android.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Aug 25, 2011 17:34:47 GMT
falafaclese, I'll try that--hitting the empty box. I just kept getting those errors.
Taking a quick peak at the draw which is finally posted, Djokovic has some good players in his way, but I don't think there is anyone that he'll have a problem with in his quarter. Setting aside Ferrer and Roddick (I don't think Rafa will have a problem with either), I think Rafa's quarter might be the easiest. The way he's currently playing, I don't think Roger will make it out of his quarter--he's got both Tsonga and Fish waiting (although he wouldn't meet either of them until the quarters). Roger does have Stepanek as an early round and sometimes that worm scares me. Actually, Murray's draw doesn't look too tough for him either. (eta: Wait! I didn't notice JMdP lurking in his quarter. Hmmm, guess that will go the way of Delpo's health.) It looks like the top half is quite a bit stronger than the bottom half.
Looking super-quick at the women, Serena and Venus are on opposite halves and if Lisicki doesn't stop her (potential 2nd round match), Venus's first real test will be Zvonareva. Actually, Serena's quarter looks harder on paper--she has a potential third round match with Azarenka and the up-and-down Jankovic is there too as well as Schiavone. Hmmm, for Maria, I see a Wimbledon-final rematch in the quarters.
Potential third-round of Murray vs. Feli. I hope that's a day I'm going. . . I have to hope they start with the top half on Monday so that match would be middle Sunday. (Although, argh!, I didn't buy Ash tickets for that day. Guess I'm also hoping that they keep Rafa on Ash and put Murray on Armstrong.) Okay, maybe (definitely), I'm thinking a little too ahead of the game right now. But it's US Open time! (Sung to the cadence of "It's Rex Manning Day!" [Empire Records is one of the best guilty pleasure movies. . . ever.])
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Post by mooncreek on Aug 25, 2011 20:03:40 GMT
ITA regarding Empire Records.
People who lucked out with the draw: If Wozniacki is going to win a Slam, she got a rather kind quarter of the draw, full of threats who are too inconsistent to make it to the round she'd face them.
Murray would be the beneficiary in the quarters of Soderling and del Potro slugging against each other first (throw in Isner or Baghdatis if Soderling's health is iffy). Andy would have to get payback on Wawrinka for last year and Feli for all the drama in the press at Wimbledon but not a big problem.
Roddick has a nice chance of getting to the quarterfinals. Even though he's struggled against top players, I'm sure he's thrilled to get Almagro and Ferrer when there were so many minefields he needed to avoid. He even would have a decent shot against Rafa if he'd gained enough confidence.
Person who is cursing the seeding people: Azarenka. I'd say Lisicki as well but I never expected Venus to be bumped to a seed.
People who are just screwed due to last year's success: Zvonareva and Youzhny. Vera, obviously thanks to Venus or Lisicki 3rd round. Youzhny is a much tougher situation. Hasn't really done much this year and has all those points from making the semis. Now he's got Gulbis first round... and as bad as Ernie is at slams, the pressure for Mikhail to defend those points is so much worse.
Oh and seriously, just say that the draw is rigged so that it's Djokovic/Federer are always in the same half and Nadal/Murray in the other half because you want your stupid Federer/Nadal final. It's absolutely insane!
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Aug 25, 2011 20:11:08 GMT
Agreed! I was so annoyed when I saw it wasn't going to be Djokovic/Andy in one half and Roger/Rafa in the other. Change is good. . . this same ol' same ol' is not.
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Post by breezybee on Aug 26, 2011 1:07:59 GMT
Also agree about the Murray/Nadal and Federer/Djoker rigging. It's getting silly.
Except that he just lost to Ferrer last month in straight sets on a super fast court at Davis Cup in Texas.
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Post by mooncreek on Aug 26, 2011 4:06:09 GMT
True but Ferrer got hurt after that and did not look all that impressive at Cincinnati. In Roddick's case, he was going to face a Top 8 player no matter what. Given the options, getting Nadal's quarter (the player in the Big Four he'd match up best against at this point), ducking both the Soderling/del Potro section and the psychological warfare of dealing with new-and-improved best bud Fish early is not too shabby.
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Post by breezybee on Aug 26, 2011 10:20:25 GMT
I agree Mooncreek - Roddick has a pretty good draw. I'm just not super confident in him beating any player in the top 10.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Aug 26, 2011 13:15:59 GMT
Quite a bit painful, but ]here's Rafa on Letterman. Rafa has to concentrate so hard in english that he answers all the questions very seriously and that doesn't work so good with Letterman. And he has that pained "I'm so uncomfortable" grimace on his face. But boy, he sure does look good in street clothes.
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Post by acre on Aug 26, 2011 16:21:30 GMT
Indeed, in addition to all his other obvious qualities, Rafa is a handsome and charming young man. I didn't think he looked so pained, but yes you can see the translation going back and forth in his head.
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Post by harry24 on Aug 26, 2011 16:32:27 GMT
That he is.
But the hair. Dear God, what are we going to do about the hair?
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