Day 8. I have a dream that Domawhoreska will win.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

Wow, that was some shot by Novak on the run. Crowd was silent assuming it was out.

Okay, vamos Nole. Finish him off in straights because I want to go to bed.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

Wow, having just said I want to go to bed, Juanqui decides to fight. From 0-3 to 1-3*, 0-30... Now 30-40. Now deuce. Now break point. Come on, you gotta do it here! Now or never. Deuce again, shit. Break point. DEUCE. Game point. 4-1. End.

Beautiful 27-shot rally won by Hewitt.

0-40 now for Hewitt.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

JCF is giving up. Wonderful! Broken at love for 5-1.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

Ferrer wins the last 11 points. lol at JCF.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

ESPN, kudos on the slow-mo zoom-in on Novak's face as he very legibly shouts "What the Fuck..."

Hewitt can't keep a lead. Broken back for 2-2. I see that happening every set. Novak is smart enough to be on top of his game when he needs to be.

Hmmm, that 2nd oldest Djokovic brother is so hot already. 15 is he? Yeah whatever I'd perv on him, all over him. He might turn out to be better looking than Nole.

PMac telling a Ferrer story I never knew: PMac was chatting with Alex Corretja last fall in Shanghai. Corretja said that in his younger days, Ferrer's major goal was to crack the Top 100 and stay a Top 100 player. Because apparently if you stay there long enough, the ATP gives you a benefits plan when you retire! He never believed he was a good enough player to get where he is today. But Alex said he kept working harder and harder, and getting better and better, reaching Top 50, then Top 30, and now he's still hungry to continue improving. You could tell he was more hungry than JCF from the first point of their match today.

I remember him coming up and everyone being like, "Awww his name is so similar to Juan Carlos's, just without the 'o.' How quaint. Whatever." And then the first time I really noticed him was when he took a set off of Agassi, I think it was Rome 2003 when Agassi was really good.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

UNBELIEVABLE set point from Novak. Hewitt has to be intimidated by that. Novak's movement is so aggressive, the way he slides to shots and changes directions so quickly and forcefully, purposefully. Just when I was forgetting why he is #3 and #2 on hardcourts, Novak is putting on a show against a former world #1.

[The Chloe]

Well, Djokovic is kind of a big deal, you know. This is why I almost banned you for suggesting that JCF could be better the other day.

[janie]

eww, so Hantu DID stage a tiresome comeback!

Djoko, thank you!

[sasha]

Why the hell does Gimelstob keep saying Nole and Hewitt's games are so similar.

Yes, they're both fast and have great footwork. But, one player has an obviously better serve. And a 10000x better forehand.

It can't be fun playing Nole. His serve is completely unreadable. His forehand is just scary good. How he can change direction so easily on ANYTHING is amazing. Only negative is he's still a little too confident in his FH at times.

[Calico]

cornblau said:

Wow, what a day of like, really crappy tennis. I was watching What Not To Wear on TLC for most of the time instead.

Ana, shame on you for almost losing a set to Wozniacki!

Good show, Marta. I've seen you play qualie and first round matches at the USO, but never realized you could hit the ball that hard against a big girl! Well done. More winners than Venus, who will now routine Ana like 7-5, 6-3.

Unsurprising that the bottom quarter has become the choke quarter. Kirilenko, Hantuchova, and Petrova need this so much, they'll never get such a chance for a GS SF again. Nadia has done it before, but she knows she is the suck and not a top player and really fat. Radwanska is going places. I'm impressed with her belief in herself.

Was Kirilenko really up 6-1, 3-1, 30-0, and had only dropped 3 points on serve total until then? She'll have nightmares for the rest of her career about that. I'm happy for Daniela, she's worked hard and it's been 5 years since she was last in a GS QF. We all knew it would eventually happen again. But please, for a moment let's travel back to AO 2003. When Dani beat Patty Schnyder in the Round of 16, who would have ever thought it would take 5 freaking years to reach this round in a Slam again?!!! No one, no one in the world would have believed it.

And Kirilenko was hyped briefly. Around the time when she took Davenport to 3 sets in Melbourne and then had a lead on Sharapova in Miami (?) before blowing.

I hope Radwanska wins the QF, but Hantuchova has that ability this past year to tough out ugly matches. So I predict Dani. Radwanska would definitely produce the more interesting SF!

I'm not sure Kirilenko will be haunted by that choke job she pulled off against Hantuchova for the rest of her career. It was a big opportunity she let slip by but she seems like a happy girl who is having a nice life on the WTA Tour. It would be nice if Maria had Aga Radwanska's toughness and her ability to play well in close matches early in her career. But Kirilenko doesn't have that nor do most of the Russina's as Leena keeps pointing out. That said Makiri will likely still become a top 20 player this year for the second time in her career and that is without a doubt a success story and a successful career.

Roger Federer likely having to beat James Blake, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal back to back to back to win the title is not a done deal. Nor is Nadal's being in the final for that matter.

[lexpretend]

cornblau said:

Hmmm, that 2nd oldest Djokovic brother is so hot already. 15 is he? Yeah whatever I'd perv on him, all over him. He might turn out to be better looking than Nole.

Oh, wow. I think we're still talking future tense here, but yeah...he will be hotter than Nole.

[GoDom]

I saw a Serbian Djokovic in the junior's draw. I assume that's him?

Any pics?

[corswandt]

I liked what I saw from Domachowska. Quick, compact strokes, clean hitting (loved the sound coming off her racquet) off both sides, excellent 1st serve (when it did go in - usually not when it really mattered). She seems like something of a cross between Sprem and Szavay.

Petrova was playing really well on those last few games of the 1st set and beginning of the 2nd that ES showed. Blowing A-Rad clean off the court, attacking her pitty pat 2nd serve, volleying well. I don't even want to know what happened next.

Wozniacki is weird. She's a tall blonde, but doesn't play like one. She's a solid defensive baseliner - very steady, moves well, but has no pop on her shots, particularly the FH.

[Edna Krabappel]

lexpretend said:

cornblau said:

Hmmm, that 2nd oldest Djokovic brother is so hot already. 15 is he? Yeah whatever I'd perv on him, all over him. He might turn out to be better looking than Nole.

Oh, wow. I think we're still talking future tense here, but yeah...he will be hotter than Nole.

I just don't see the sexxxxx factor in Novak. I really don't.
His brother is a cute kid though.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

youtube.com/watch?v=TcEJzAVFTbs

Marko will have the sex factor!!!

[Self-Love, Baby!]

admin said:

Well, Djokovic is kind of a big deal, you know. This is why I almost banned you for suggesting that JCF could be better the other day.

No, he could be. This was his only his second tournament back with short hair. Give him time.

[Self-Love, Baby!]

corswandt said:

I liked what I saw from Domachowska. Quick, compact strokes, clean hitting (loved the sound coming off her racquet) off both sides, excellent 1st serve (when it did go in - usually not when it really mattered). She seems like something of a cross between Sprem and Szavay.

That just goes to show how mental tennis is (and all sports), and that what separates the top 20 from those below is often largely mental. Doma's shots aren't any different than they used to be, but she's seemingly playing with so much more confidence and courage these days! What improvement in a couple of months.