In the blink of an eye

Posted by BESS: I promise to stop whining. Sometime. Hopefully soon. But before I do, allow me to just complain about how... in the blink of an eye... the bottom half of my women's bracket was decimated.

DECIMATED.

Last night I was feeling pretty cocky about that half of the women's bracket. Easily my best showing so far this tournament, with 27 of 32 correct predictions. The amount of yellow highlighter (how I track my correct picks) on that page made my tennis-loving heart swell with pride. I daresay it put a little spring in my step.

And then today happened.

• Wickmayer retired in the second set of her match. I had her through to the quarters.

• Cibulkova fell to Falconi. I had Cibulkova through to the quarters, as well.

• Bartoli fell to my girl Christina McHale. I mean, good for Christina, but I had taken Bartoli to the semis!! Oy vey.
  

• And Venus withdrew from the tournament. I had only predicted one more win for her, but still.

Sharapova is just about my only hope in this half of the women's bracket. And she's up next.
Maria, no pressure, but... this all rests on your recently rehabbed shoulder(s).

Perhaps I should start a rosary.

In other humbling news, I'm in 7,186th place in the online men's bracket challenge.
One year I ended in the top 100! So this is just A+ patheticness on display.

In his luxury box up in heaven, my grandfather is preparing to quietly disown me.

The Open begins; all is right with the world

Posted by BESS: Dave said it first, and he said it well. Thank goodness the U.S. Open is here. It's the last major of the year, and there are some scores to be settled!

• Nadal needs to beat Djokovic (unlikely).


• Sharapova needs to win (pretty unlikely, but maybe).
  


• Dave needs to beat Bess in the bracket challenge (highly likely, despite my glorious Wimbledon win.)

It's the first day of the tournament, and I was ready for a humdinger of an opening celebration. But tonight's program included some lackluster comments made to tepid applause. Some kid named Greyson Chance (sp?) oversinging some songs, including the national anthem.

And... that was... about it.

I'm used to Aretha. Gospel choirs. Production value. Even the beautiful, ginormous U.S. flag unfurling across the court seemed less impressive than in the past. Bottom line, I was let down. It was just like last night's VMAs all over again. And no one really needed that.

Just as I was blogging this, Dave commented via FB that he's bored. And I quote, "I'm bored with the Open tonight. Couldn't stand that Harry Potter kid who sang (so poorly) the opening number. Chris Evert needs a longer skirt {amen!} and a more interesting personality. And Venus' outfit makes her look six months pregnant. The end."

This is why I like Dave.

And let me tell you, I had already concocted in my head the moment when Venus would win her first round match, then turn to the camera and caress her belly, a la Beyonce, announcing her pregnancy to all the world. It would totally explain that outfit. Not to mention the "virus" that kept her off court all summer.

I guess the night is still young!

Federer's up next. Can the GOAT rescue the evening?

No matter what, all is not lost. There are some things to discuss.

• Like how hell has frozen over and Dave and I have predicted the same two champions... Djokovic and Sharapova! Egads. That means every point we score in these earlier rounds is that much more important.

• Also, during boring evenings, like this one may continue to be, I can be comforted and entertained by my latest literary purchase... Oh yes. >>Rafa - the biography. I cannot wait to begin it.

• Finally, my friend Mark Movic sent me a link to this NYT Magazine photo special , featuring Andy Samburg re-enacting famous tennis moments. Be sure to check it out. And thanks to Mark for feeding the blog!

Special shout out to loyal reader Vernon Johnson for prompting Dave and I to start blogging again. Almost as if he enjoys this blog! We are honored. Even if we're making way too many assumptions there.

And now... I'm off to see if Federer can entertain me live, on-screen, or if I'll have to resort to Rafa, on paper. Either way... TENNIS IS BACK! Hurrah.

Men's Quarters, Bracket update

Posted by BESS: So Fed loses. From two sets up to being simply outplayed. While I mourn his loss, I have to rejoice for Tsonga, because he's just so darn jubilant. And his performance was quite impressive.

I agree with the commentators who were criticizing Federer for seeming to go down without a fight. In two of the other matches today you saw players adeptly adjusting their strategy in order to turn things around. Not so with Fed. He stubbornly kept plodding away with his losing strategy. And while his calm demeanor is often something to admire, at times like this it also makes him seem indifferent.

I have no doubt he wanted to win. I just didn't really see the evidence.

Aside from Fed's continued dejectory (my new term for a downward trajectory that makes me sad), we're now also not likely to see Pete Sampras at Sunday's final. If Fed had been playing in the final with a chance to tie Pete's record seven Wimbledon titles, Pete likely would have been on hand to witness it. I don't know why I care about that--Pete was never my favorite player--but it's just sort of fun. Adds a little je ne sais quoi to the wonder that is Breakfast at Wimbledon.

Perhaps next year, Fed. Perhaps next year, Pete.

Later in the day Nadal beat the lone remaining American, Mardy Fish. Fish just couldn't muster the type of tennis he's been delighting us with all tournament. There were glimmers in that third set, and a tad in the fourth, but he was the lesser player today. I'm sad for him, but I hope he's proud of the effort he made in this tournament--his best result at Wimbledon yet.

Meanwhile, the Djoker beat rising star Tomic. But that wasn't even the worst Djokovic news of the day... No, no. The worst news is that if Djokovic wins his semi-final on Friday, he will become the No. 1 player, knocking Nadal out of the top spot. Blurgh. Can I live in a world where the Djokster is No. 1? I hope I don't have to find out. At least not this week.

And, in utterly uncompelling news, Murray beat Lopez in straight (and likely boring) sets. Take that, United Kingdom! I simply don't care if Murray wins or loses! Except on Friday when he'll play Nadal. Then Murray should lose.


B-R-A-C-K-E-T U-P-D-A-T-E

Dave and I tied this round, both picking three correct on the men's side and two correct on the women's. My, my.

Standings after the quarterfinals...

Bess
Men: 91/124
Women: 72/124
Total: 163/248

Dave
Men: 78/124
Women: 69/124
Total: 147/248

We're getting down to the nitty gritty now. Women's semis tomorrow!

Fourth round bracketology

I'm still in the lead, but Dave did slightly better than me in this round, so he's gaining.

Current standings...

Bess
Men: 88/120
Women: 70/120
Total: 158/240

Dave
Men: 75/120
Women: 67/120
Total: 142/240

w00t!

As far as I know, all four of my picks for the men's and women's finals are still in the mix--at least they were when I left the house this morning.

Fingers crossed both Sharapova and Azarenka make it through today.

Bracket update, shout out

I am still in the lead, and Dave actually thinks I may win this thing. Hooray for me!

Standings after round 2:

Bess
Men: 75/96
Women: 59/96
Total: 134/192

Dave
Men: 61/96
Women: 56/96
Total: 117/192

Dave can relax, though, because I've already picked out my $145 prize. So he won't have to worry about that. ;-)

On an unrelated but really appreciative note, a shout out to some of our newest readers:

• Rhonda, who said she had no idea what we were talking about, but enjoyed it anyway

• Diane, who said reading the blog may cause her to start following tennis again (yes!)

• Vernon, who said Dave and I should promote this blog more because he finds it entertaining

• Maggie, who posted our first non-Dave/non-Bess comment on the blog and re-promoted Mixed Doubles on Facebook with a positive review
  

Thanks to them and to all of you for clicking through to hear us babble on (and on) about the sport we love.

Shout out also to my boy Baghdatis. If you've been watching the NBC coverage today, you may understand why I love him--such heart. And such a good guy!

Forevernomore Young

Dave's rooting for Donald Young, too? I'm seeing a pattern here, Dave.

Young's been pretty obnoxious lately and resisting of team USA's recommendations on how he could improve. It's one thing to be stubborn and resist advice if you have your own plan that's working. But his results have been dismal of late, and I'm afraid he's digging a pretty deep hole as far as patience and support from the powers that be. And as far as my fandom goes, as well.

Speaking of Venus's outfit (Dave mentioned it in his post below), please note that we will definitely be discussing the best and worst ensembles of the tournament. It's just another great aspect of the game. Even at Wimbledon, where the rule is to wear "mostly white," players can express their individuality through their attire. Sometimes individuality in tennis attire is good, like Sharapova's glamorous black look which she only wore for night matches at the U.S. Open. Sometimes that's bad, like many of Agassi's early looks or this head scratcher by Serena.

I had a lot of complaints about retired champion Justine Henin. She was just... not my favorite player. But my biggest complaint was that for about four years she wore the same lame outfit. I think she bored herself into retirement.

I'm off to work. I hope Dave watches enough tennis for both of us today. I hope to check my brackets later to see how I'm doing so far. I know all of our readers -- all two of you -- are interested in who's ahead... Dave or Bess!? I'm interested, as well.

Preparing the gauntlet for the throwing down

Dave is right that I adore Rafa. But if you assume I adore him solely because he's a sultry Spaniard with one really big muscle (I'm referring to his left bicep, sheesh), you would be mistaken. It's that, yes, but also how he competes--as if every point were match point--and how awe-inspiring his tennis and athleticism can be. I want to compete in life like he competes on the court! (I also want to get paid in life like he gets paid on the court, but that's neither here nor there.)

So here's hoping the upcoming fortnight treats Rafa well. I, for one, am hoping for another Fed/Nadal final in two weeks time. We shall see.

On the women's side, I often have trouble picking a favorite. Whereas the men's side has been clearly dominated for the past 4-5 years, the women have been a little all over the place. And with Kim Clijsters out with an injury (or maybe just too ashamed of her new haircut?), I'm at a bit of a loss. I'll likely root for Maria Sharapova to finally break back after injuries, surgery and some tough months of competition. But there are a lot of great stories I could get behind. Let's see who starts to truly impress next week!

Speaking of next week, the Wimbledon draws came out today. And while everyone's talking about the crazy first round match-up between Isner and Mahut (who played the longest match ever -- in the whole history of anything -- in the first round here last year), I'd like to focus on another first round match I find particularly heartbreaking.

James Blake vs. Marcos Baghdatis.

Why, tennis gods? Whyyyyyy!? (Invoke the Nancy Kerrigan intonation.) I love them both, I root for them both, and now... one's guaranteed a loss in the first round.

Plenty of people I don't care about will win matches and advance to later rounds that I also won't care about. But either James or Marcos is packing up and shipping out of London in a mere 72-96 hours.

It's a cruel sport.
Yet I cannot look away.

And with that, I'm off to fill out my Wimbledon brackets so I can take Dave down this year*.

*Dave is totally gonna win.