Those of you who aren't tennis fans will have to indulge me for the next couple of weeks while I watch the Australian Open tennis tournament. I'm not going to gripe about the night sessions being on at 2:30 AM here in the central U.S. (Australia is 17 hours ahead of us). Instead, I'll tell you that I've moved a small television into my room and placed it right next to my bed so I can watch matches throughout the night.
I woke up a couple of nights ago in time to see Roger Federer annihilating Diego Hartfield. Federer was striking the ball so cleanly that it had to send shivers down the spine of every potential opponent in the draw. There might be one exception though--Fabrice Santoro. I've blogged about this guy before. As I said in one of my posts about him:
He's one of the most unorthodox players I've ever seen. He hits a two-handed backhand and a two-handed forehand. He cuts and slices at the ball from both sides and his shots often appear to be trick shots--but they are all he knows, and he's found a way to make his style work. But regardless of his style, the guy has heart. Over the years, I've seen him push some of the best players in the world to their limit, simply because he wouldn't quit.
In fact, he pushed Federer at the 2005 U.S. Open before Federer finally won 7-5, 7-5, 7-6. I'm hoping Santoro plays that well again when he faces Federer in the second round of the 2008 Australian Open. Go Fabrice!
Another second round match I was looking forward to didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. Maria Sharapova crushed Lindsay Davenport. I've always liked Davenport and it's nice to have her back on tour again after a brief flirtation with retirement. She got married and had a baby. Even though she's out of the Australian Open, she's planning to play quite a bit of tennis in 2008 (with the exception of the clay court season--which she's planning to skip) and I'll be rooting for her.
The best match of the tournament so far that I've seen was the first round match up between Jelena Jankovic and Tamira Paszek in which Jankovic won in three sets. The third set game score was 12-10, Jankovic. Both players called trainers to work on various muscles that had been pushed to the brink. I love watching gut-checks and this match had plenty of them. Jankovic bounced back strong in her second round match and took out Edina Gallovits in straight sets.
So, I know that Little Nuances has a few readers who are into tennis. Anybody want to talk a little tennis? If so, comment away.
