Posted by BESS: So far my bracket is fairly intact, although I haven't checked results yet today. But after evaluating the standings last night, I have to name Troicki and Kvitova as my biggest disappointments to date. I had them both through to the fourth round, but they didn't even make it to the second. Ah well.
Kvitova's clearly got the curse of winning your first major upon her. Better luck next time, Petra. As for Troicki, I was looking forward to a fourth round match against Federer (who did not look all that great in his win last night, I must say). Alas, that is not to be. Troicki gave it his all, though, losing in the fifth set and barely able to walk due to fatigue and cramping. Ouch.
I did accurately predict first round wins for my hometown girls... Christina McHale who mc-hails (sorry, I had to) from New Jersey. And Madison Keys, who's from the Quad Cities. Nice job, young Americans. Unfortunately I took the young American love too far, actually betting on Oudin to win round one (and round one alone). She couldn't even muster that, losing to a qualifier from Italy. Things are not so good for dear Melanie. A pity.
Hoping things will look up tonight, what with Nadal on Arthur Ashe to begin his defense of last year's title. The schedule includes Serena, as well. Anyone want to place bets on what her outfit will look like!? And if it will be better or worse than Venus's?
Finally, in truly WTF news, Djokovic is now not only pimping the gluten-free diet, but a $75,000, egg-shaped pressure chamber... the CVAC Pod. According to the Wall Street Journal, it "looks like a cross between a tanning bed and the giant egg Lady Gaga emerged from at the Grammys."
Supposedly it boosts athletic performance.
I may need to get one.
Sort of unrelated to tennis, Nike built and entire house similar to the CVAC Pod, where top US runners lived and trained under Alberto Salazar, 3 time winner of the NYC Marathon. I think the jury is still out on that experiment, though.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/nike_pr.html
Well, you're in luck. I'd taken Kvitova to the quarters, so you're up on me in points, at least in that singular case. I had Hantuchova through to the fourth round, so that's another big bummer on my women's draw. Men's isn't a whole lot better; I'd taken Nishikori and Youzhny (big gambles, I know) both to the fourth round. Oops.
ReplyDeleteDave: I had Hantuchova to the third round. Luckily, I only had Nishikori and Youzhny winning one round each.
ReplyDeleteMark: Interesting! I'm a little fascinated by this whole concept. While it's not banned, it's essentially deemed not really fair play in the tennis world. Very interesting to have an athlete on such an incredible winning streak crediting part of his success to something the tennis establishment does not endorse/frowns upon. Tricky! No wonder he hasn't talked about it much.