Harry24

Oh, for heaven's sake. Azarenka lost to Kerber? That means the final will be Serena v. Kerber/Zhang or Konta? The f&*k? Although I think there's a chance the semi with Radwanska could be good.

It is awful, isn't it? But, oddly, it makes me feel a bit nostalgic, because he sounds just like Dementieva, and I miss her! That said, it pales in comparison (or whatever the aural version of that is) to the hideous squawking of Azarenka and, especially, Sharapova.

When it's Pavarotti singing, it's still pretty awesome. When it's Il Divo ... ghastly. Happily Max Aaron's choreographer chose Pav. A big point in Aaron's favor. Exciting ladies event. Lovely, lovely dance winners.

Preach it, truthaboutluv! You absolutely nailed it. He's a great, great player, but his style of play is rather numbing. Granted, I'm a Roger fan, but when RF was dominating at least his game was so breathtaking it could still be entertaining. Same thing for Rafa; he didn't dominate for that long, but when he did his game is so f"&^-ing exciting. I think the only one who can challenge ND is Stan, so GO STAN!!!!! And agreed about Serena, although there is the chance that Azarenka can challenge her and produce an exciting final. (IIRC they're on opposite sides of the draw.) Actually it's Lubicic now. And is it strange that I find both Edberg and Lubicic very attractive? Their looks are so polar opposite for tall, slender Euro guys.

Just like Maddux did.

Holy, sh(*&, did you guys see the scores Hanyu racked up at NHK? That's got to be a record, right?.* It looked as though he nailed everything in both programs. His 4T-3T in the SP scored 17.17 on that one element (although Boyang Jin outdid him with his 4Lz-3T in the SP at 19.33. But even with that crazy element score and no major errors, Jin lost the SP by over ten points.) Then in the LP Hanyu had two elements over 17 points (his 4T-3T again and his 3A-1Lo-3Sal). He beat second place (Boyang again/) by over 40 points. *Just checked Wikipedia, and Hanyu's SP, LP and total (322.40 - first one ever over 300) are all new records. It will be interesting to see this. I hope Johnny Weir is doing the commentary.

Well, he looked great in the "news footage" of Robert running from the bull.

Ugh. I will definitely not be jumping on the Murphy bandwagon for this very reason. Still rooting for the Mets, though. (Very sad to hear Smoltz has expressed that same bs. I had always liked him.)

Here's a Yankee fan who is definitely pulling for the Mets. Now, part of that is my undying Curtis Granderson love. I just adore him and am so glad he's excelling on the big stage. With him, Wright and Syndegaard (sp?), they have the easy-on-the-eyes factor going. Plus, I like to think how much Jon Stewart must be enjoying this run (that is, if he allows himself to enjoy anything Mets-related. He seems to be a pretty classic masochistic Mets fan in that regard.)

It's a very valid factor to raise. I don't think it diminishes Graf's legacy at all, but it does, importantly, burnish Seles'. I wasn't a fan of Monica's tennis (but was and am a big fan of what a lovely person she is), but I remember vividly at the time that she seemed to be on a clear march to toward GOAT status. She was as unbeatable as any player I've ever seen. It was shocking just how completely she dominated the previously completely dominant Graf. I kept being reminded of that dynamic when the Federer-Rafa rivalry emerged. You had one player with a breathtaking but orthodox game who seemed to be playing at a level no one could comprehend and seemed to be clearly on the way to being the greatest ever, but here comes a player with a very unorthodox game who, amazingly, takes the game to an even greater height (at least in the one-on-one with the first player.) Thank heaven's no one stabbed Rafa. (Although both Roger and Rafa have had unsettling meetings with over-eager fans on a couple of center court occasions - In fact, I think Roger had TWO at Roland Garros, right? Including this year. Remember Roger's dumbfounded expression as the security guys stood around twiddling their thumbs as this guy went right up to RF? If the guy hadn't been an overly friendly nutcase but rather a nutcase with a gun or a knife, we could have all witnessed Roger Federer murdered right in front of us.)

I can't believe what I just saw. (Where have I heard that before?)

Thanks. And, btw: WTF, Simona?

Anyone know what channel the women's semis are on today? I've tried the USOPEN.org and ESPN twitter feed but without success.

Normally I would join in wholeheartedly on the "Fuck ESPN!" sentiments, but this year all the TV courts are available live and on replay on the usopen.org website. It's the ESPN3 service they're always touting, but this year was the first time I could use it. They used to restrict it to customers of certain cable providers, but suddenly I can watch it this year. It's really very good if you don't mind watching on your computer or phone or whatever. I expect they'll be showing all the doubles. I've watched several doubles matches on there during the tournament.

What was this story? It seems like every single black man in America has one of these stories, Harvard or no. Just ask Henry Louis Gates. Sigh. Thank heavens the situation is finally coming to light. And, yes, he made the year-end finals one year and then made the finals of that tournament. I think he's one player who maximized his ability. I remember first seeing him on TV and not much was expected of him. I remembered how attractive he was, but then was so impressed that he ended up a pretty consistently top-20 player.

Probably true, but unfortunately he and Young had a similar issue as super talented juniors moving into the seniors: they just didn't grow to be as powerful or as athletic as the very top players. When they were world-beaters at 15, no one knew their genes were going to let them down. But I give big credit to both of them for getting in really top notch shape in recent months/years and so are closer to fulfilling their potential. So sorry JWT went out (he's so beautiful and charming!), but I'm really impressed with Cilic's fight to retain his title. Plus, with that knee Jo would have had very little chance against Djokovic, and I'm all about someone taking out Djokovic. Go Marin!!! I've also been enjoying Mike Tirico's very genuine-sounding enthusiasm calling the matches. It's the quality that made Chris Fowler so charming when he first was calling tennis, but now he's all "Mr. Expert/ESPN Sell the Story Hype Machine." MT also brings out a more appealing and interesting side of John McEnroe.

Having seen Stan annihilate Roger at Roland Garros, I think it's far more than possible that he could make it to the final and take out Djokovic to boot. That is all predicated on his finding that amazing groove he can sometimes find. I for one am definitely not looking forward to the likely Serena-Vinci/Mladenovic semi. Both women are good players, but ... come on. That will be ugly and probably boring. And the other women's semi could also be horrible if Kvitova (whom I love, but who looked absolutely gassed in her match tonight - she's recovering from mono, in case some of you might have missed it) and an obviously injured Halep make it through. The only chance of a really good match in the women's is if Serena and Azarenka come through. Now, if Venus manages to beat Serena, then the chances of interesting matches increase. I wonder in her heart of hearts how Venus feels about trying to beat Serena tomorrow.

Whoa, I hadn't thought of THAT. You're right. I don't feel bad for the players in that situation. I feel bad for the interviewer and the audience because those are the WORST INTERVIEWS EVER. So boring and pointless. Give it up, tennis TV directors and production people (desperate to come up with interesting stuff to put on the air).

Ooh, interesting story about Mamma Young, ohwell. I just logged on to give enormous props to Doug Adler (of ESPN2 at the moment) for his superb piece on Serena's ball toss and how relatively erratic it's been at this tournament as opposed to the entire Wimbledon. He also noted that the toss was much more consistent in the last two sets against Mattek-Sands.

Reminds me of Andy Roddick's "Mojo" campaign for AmEx right before the US Open. He lost in the first round.

I've been surprised to see Rafa's cheeky ad during baseball coverage. I sort of assumed the ads are targeted at gay men and hetero women who buy undies for their men, less so to hetero men. Or to put it in Tom and Lorenzo terms, more for the "do me" market than the "be me" market.

I don't particularly like that one either, but it has the saving grace of a Father Hubley appearance, complete with awesome stink-eye.

Has NK been up to something since Wimbledon?

Totally agree. I REALLY like Mugurutha. I love the big game. She's doing amazingly well against Aggie, fighting through her nerves and having to be prepared for her best shots coming back. I think Mugurutha is so lovely. She has kind of a stately, elegant quality. She reminds me of Irene Dunn or Renata Tebaldi, icons of a much earlier era. That said, i think she and Nishikori are kind of Separated-at-Birth. Also, why is Keith Olbermann in Mugurutha's box? (JK - but doesn't that guy in the back row look like KE?)

She was appalling. But why did the bride bring such a rotten "friend" on this trip in the first place? Surely this miserable woman has shown her colors before now. We never saw the bride (or anyone except the consultant) saying something critical about the friend, just bemoaning that the appointment was ruined, not who ruined it.