Go America… wait, what?
September 6th, 2009 • ace ace andy, bb safina, demented, john isner, maria shutupova, melanie oudin new goat
It’s almost 4 am as I write this but, what can I say, I wanted to post this before going to bed. So, please, pardon the grammar and altogether fhddfsjdjdjdjdj that is presented at this unholy time.
I’m not American and I’m not used to cheering for Americans in sports. But today? Bloody good day for American tennis.
It all started with the second match of the day on Ashe. 17-year-old Melanie Oudin defeated another seeded player in a row and ousted Maria Sharapova in a thriller three-setter 3-6 6-4 7-5. Sure it was full of unforced errors and double faults, Oudin herself played in a worse level than she did in her match against Elena. However, the crowd was completely into it. As a spectator from the other side of the continent, I can say I was screaming at the TV and tweeting in all caps (see how srs it was?). I think people forget what sport really is about. It’s not about clean stats and perfect percentages. It’s about getting fans excited, anxious, sentimental. It was a match full of drama that gave the local crowd the pleasure of seeing their homegirl leave the court teary-eyed after being victorious. It’s about the emotion, folks.
The last day match (when it finished, it wasn’t so much as day), certainly had the emotional fact down.
6″9′ John Isner defeated the biggest American hope, Andy Roddick, at his own game. It took him 38 aces, almost four hours, and a fifth-set tiebreak to beat the national poster child. And he did. This match was the epitome of American hardcourt tennis. Two Americans, in the Central Court of Flushing Meadows, acing each other to death. And, as a bonus, with the underdog taking the win. Great stuff for the crowd, locals and American TV stations, I guess.
P.S. We’ll close our eyes and pretend Dina-Kvitova never happened. It’s easier on my heart.
Answer: I have tried and failed several times to keep blogs up. Why? Because I don’t like doing serious journalism unless there’s money showing up in my bank account — and there wasn’t. This blog will have no interest in being impartial or, you know, actually talking about the sport (ok, maybe from time to time). There are tons of other blogs (and news websites) that do this job pretty well already. Here we will discuss the shallow part: the outfits, the gossip, the outrages and who Fernando Verdasco is currently dating.
