Tennis Tattle Thursday

A bunch of upsets in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Sharapova has been upset by Stosur and Azarenka has pulled out from "fatigue." Azarenka said "I had low energy. I wasn't myself. It wasn't possible today. Azarenka told the press, "Maybe it was tiredness from the whole season. I need to have some tests. It's a little bit unknown what it is." Hopefully that won't be a huge issue! Radwanska will face Kerber, while Stosur plays Petrova in the other semifinal. 

Also a preview for Men's tennis for the rest of the season. You can read the full schedule here, but here's a short preview. There will be indoor tennis, the Masters, the Finals and then the Davis Cup Final. So there is plenty left. For now, the top 4 will be there. So you should be there too. You know. Btw, I enjoy this picture. Abbey Road whoo!
Not to neglect women's tennis or anything though. I will update my blog next week with some news about the upcoming WTA events for those who are interested. Look forward to it.

Tennis Tattle Tuesday

I'm sure any tennis fan knows that Nadal has been out with injury since Wimbledon and the bad news is that he doesn't know when he'll be able to come back to tennis. Rafa fans are disappointed, I'm sure about that. Other fans are unhappy too since he won't be there to compete in the great rivalries. It's a knee injury, which isn't surprising considering he's always had tape around his knee when playing.
And since there isn't much interesting news in tennis at this moment, let's go back in time. In September of 1973, there was a match called "Battle of the Sexes" where Billie Jean King played Bobby Riggs. And King won in straight sets. That's a bit surprising. What do you think would happen nowadays if we had like Serena Williams play Roger Federer? I'm sure Federer would win (right?), but she would get a few games. If you average her serve, it's about 106 mph and that's a dink in mens' tennis. It would not be as effective as it is in the women's circuit. Still, it would be very interesting to see how a women would fare against a man of the same rank. Hopefully ATP and WTA will get together to arrange something like that one day!

Tennis Tattle Thursday and Tennis Trends

Some heavier news for today. An umpire was accused of killing her husband, so she her DNA sample will be taken today to see if it matches with anything. It's a little sad how the rare times tennis gets into, it's for something so disturbing and unfortunate. I'll keep you updated on this news about Lois Goodman. 

Another political-ish piece of news, Nishikori will be playing in the China Open despite the China-Japan dispute that is happening at this moment. Hopefully he does well! It's a good time to see sports breaking political borders and such. Good luck to him and all the other players there. 

In Korea, Wozniacki is playing advances to the quarterfinals, but that's not the news here. It's her outfit. 

Honestly, I don't know what she is wearing. The top is ok, but the skirt is hideous. I guess if it was a dress, that might be better, but it's not. The skirt looks frumpy and unflattering on her. I believe it's the Stella McCarthy line, and to be honest I'm a little disappointed. They usually come out with cute things, but this is a complete miss in my book. 5.5/10. 

Tennis Tattle: Monday, Sept 17 2012

It's the first day of the week. Everyone needs a little booster to get through the week and nothing is better than a little gossip. So...I heard Serena might be dating her coach? Sure, we haven't heard any rumors before this, but it's hard to deny with this pictures. Anyway, I'm actually not a big fan of gossip, but I hope she is happy with him. She deserves it! Especially after her great tennis season, but regardless, hope this is something that will last. 
In other news, in the Spain vs USA Davis Cup match, Spain won 3-1 against an American team struggling to overcome the Spaniards on their home surface. Both Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick were missing from the team. Berdych has brought the Czech Republic to the finals of the Davis Cup where they will face Spain. I'm predicting Spain will win again just because of the depth of the squad. 
Also an update about our new US Open champ Andy Murray. He was welcomed home by 15,000 folks in Dublane, Scotland. He was "overwhelmed." Well, he better get used to it because he has many more grandslam victories coming his way. Victory and fame come in a combo pack. GET USED TO IT ANDY. 

US Open: Updates and Live Blog (Sort Of)

9:02 pm: AS I SPEAK, ANDY MURRAY IS WINNING 5-2 IN THE FIFTH SET. HE IS 3 POINTS AWAY FROM WINNING HIS FIRST GRANDSLAM.
It's been a 5 hour long match. They are mentally and physically putting it all out there to play their best.  And here we go, Murray has triple match point for his first grand slam. Unbelievable. He's really nervous. Goodness, the atmosphere is just buzzing. And Murray finally wins as Novak hits the ball long. GREAT BRITAIN HAS HAD A MAGNIFICENT YEAR IN TENNIS.
This is a definitely a breakthrough in his career that has always been in the shadow of "the big three." What a journey for him. He finally won the first of the five grandslam finals he's been in. Novak Djokovic must be feeling disappointed in himself, but I'm sure they will have an amazing rivalry in the future.
9:09 pm: Novak speaks about how "Andy absolutely deserves it." He's obviously unhappy with himself because he put everything into the match. You have to feel for him. Really, I don't think he wants to talk anymore with Mary Carillo, please let him go. He can do it next year.
9:11 pm: Andy Murray is up to speak with him mother looking proudly on. He says he "doesn't know how he managed to get through." And did we just see Ivan Lendl smile? I believe tears of joy  may begin to show? And I think he's too tired to be completely ecstatic.

tl;dr: Andy Murray wins the US Open and Novak is not too happy about it.

US Open 2012: Outfits, Updates and Upsets

Looks like there's only 4 more women left standing, 3 of whom I've already reviewed. I feel since Sara Errani is still in the draw, we should take a closer look at her outfit before she goes on court to face Serena Williams in the semifinals. 

Errani in her Nike gear

I've actually seen this outfit on sale somewhere. It's not as exclusive as some of the other outfits that Nike puts on their players, but the colors are still fresh and crisp. We will be seeing a lot of this outfit in the junior circuit soon. It's athletic and feminine. I'm more a fan of dresses, but I would probably still wear this. Probably a 7.5/10 will do. Sorry readers if I wasn't sounding too enthusiastic during this review. You will know why by the end of this post. Or by the next sentence.

Federer has lost. It is true. The Czechoslovakian, Berdych, has taken him out. I can imagine all Federer fans all around the world (like me) will say that Federer wasn't playing well and that his forehand was completely off, but credit must be given to Berdych. He played solid and smart, doing what he needed to win and nothing more. Federer has got to let other people have a shot at winning too, am I right? Kings have to be fair.

US Open 2012: Outfit and Updates

As we wait out the rain delay, let's take time to think about how Andy Roddick, at age 30, might be playing the last match of his career against Del Potro. He's been America's greatest hope since he went pro in 2000. We are going to have to say goodbye to one of tennis' most interesting and explosive players! Bye Roddick! I'm sure we will all miss your charisma! 

Let's continue. Victoria Azarenka, the top-seeded woman, has ousted Samantha Stosur in a match that pushed both to the brink. They both played well and it was a great match. Azarenka was a fair and square winner on the court and also in the outfit category.  

Azarenka in her NIke kit

Again, she goes with the bold contrast with the neon yellow and black. I think it makes her look very athletic and it's fits her style (in my opinion). I like the open back as well. The outfit itself is not too outstanding, but she wears it with some extra flair like the wrist bands and the head tie. The shoes really complete the outfit; if she had gone with neon shoes, I think they might have been too much, so black was a good choice. All in all, I think she deserves a 8/10 at least for her gear.