Australian Open '12: Point By Point Coverage

[skyz]

I love this Sports Center commercial with the Manning brothers.

[lt]

I love how conflicted the crowd is. Usually I can tell just listening which guy wins a point but it's pretty damn even here.

tiki, unlike previous years, staying awake all night or waking up super early wasn't an option. My commute right now is driving all the way into the city (instead of driving to a park 'n ride and taking a bus) and a NYC commute isn't one you can be tired during. . . Of course in previous years you could stay up all night, catch some sleep and do your freelance so this work day should be interesting for you. . .

eta:

I love this Sports Center commercial with the Manning brothers.

I know! I was going to say something but I've already put too much Giants into this tennis thread. But since you brought it up I'm allowing myself to agree with you (and one more tick against me. . .)

Hey, Darren showed up. Just don't add BG.

no, no, no, not a good time for a tight game. Oh dear, another second serve. PHEW! Now win this tiebreak Roger!

[tikigirl]

Hey, lt!

Of course in previous years you could stay up all night, catch some sleep and do your freelance so this work day should be interesting for you. . .

I'm still contract, so I might use that...

[lt]

NOOOOO!!!!! I was going to wait until the end of this tiebreak to start getting ready for work but I think I'll go now.

[tikigirl]

GO, lt.

Stupid Roger.

[tikigirl]

So now they just mentioned that the rule is 20 seconds between points (?). Federer is averaging 23, which is bad enough -- but Nadal is 30. Hey, fuckwits? Enforce the rule or change it. Man, you suck.

[lizm]

Whew, just caught up to my DVR time delay, so I could catch up to the forum.

I'd like to see them all naked - I'm not picky Ok, sometimes NOT Nalbandian or Bagdatis. /bitchy

With these two, I tend to root for whoever's losing since I like them both. But I'm trying to root for Nadal. But what I'd really like is for them both to be playing their best at the same time, which doesn't seem to be happening.

I can actually 'commercial skip' between Nadal's points, so it's a bit ridiculous, but very convenient.

[printwhore2012]

Went home after the third set tiebreak.

Azarenka grunts during practice, she was the first player I saw when I went on the grounds last week. Maria, however, does not. Interesting, no?

Oh well. If Rafa wins this and I expect he will, at least I am several hundred bucks richer. Sometimes it's great when bookies are on crack.

[tikigirl]

Shoot. Me. Now.

[lizm]

The bookies had Fed winning this? They ARE totally on crack. Odds are/were even at the very best.

[skyz]

Fuck. I knew it would end like this.

[printwhore2012]

I got 2.35 which I thought was a good price and then today I saw 2.45. Cracked out bookies, yo! I wanted to increase my bet but I didn't get the time to drop by the sports betting office.

As I said, it's all mental. Federer collapses. It reminds me of when I play this friend of mine: she simply can't beat me because our h2h is so skewed in my favor. Even when she's playing well, she'll start over hitting when she has the lead and I am always easy breezy because I know I can beat her because she is doing the job for me in her own head.

[skyz]

Roger just can't get Rafa out of his head. He had his chances and blew them. I can't say I'm disappointed but more frustrated because Roger can beat Rafa, but obviously does not believe this himself. It's a shame.

Jim does great on court interviews with Rafa. Rafa is very personable and honest. But I still would like to see Nole defend his title with a win. Interested to see if Rafa's figured out Nole or not if Nole makes the final.

[printwhore2012]

Oh shiitake mushrooms, I did not get to lay down my twenty bucks when the bookies had Rafa at a 7x payout and now I am forced to deal with 2.3 odds on the guy. Mothereffer.

Anyway, I will put in some cash on this. Just because I don't like the guy does not mean I cannot use him for profit. Gotta love Aussie betting laws.

[printwhore2012]

Just wanted to add, as a note of consolation: Roger will be fine. He makes forty million dollars a year and he hangs out with Gwen Stefani. I think the one thing that really hit home for me was when I saw him practice: here I am, paying good money to see someone who makes far far more than what I make in a year just giving tennis lessons to sheiks in Dubai. So yes, the sympathy is there but ultimately he is going home to his warm, cushy palace and his millions while I am still slogging away at the postgrad level. He'll live.

If he cannot get his act together and use his millions to hire a good sports psychologist, he runs the risk of losing that record of Grand Slams. Rafa will probably get it in a year or two, if Roger does not realize there is a lot of work to be done on the mental level. NLP, fMRI, he needs to go get his brain scanned so it doesn't go into overdrive every time Rafa is one the other side of the court.