Dream Fed Returns

Last night I had another dream about Roger Federer. It was not like last time when he was screaming at me. This time he was my best friend and we were at summer camp. We were playing double's tennis on a court that was inside our bunk house. At one point we made out with these blonde girls in the next bunk over. It was such a cool dream even though I don't remember a lot of it now. I only remembered I had it at all just a moment ago. I don't know why Roger popped up in my dreams again. Nor do I know why we keep playing indoor racket sports together. Why is this recurring dream imagery? What does it MEAN?



I never got to post about how happy I was that Federer lost to Del Po in the US Open final earlier this month. It's not that Fed wasn't deserving, it's just nice to see someone new win every once in a while. It's nice to see someone win their 1st major title. And it's nice to know that there's someone other than Rafa out there who can beat Fed in a final. It just makes the sport more interesting this way. I don't think Fed is done winning major titles but it's good to have more names in the conversation of who can win a main event. This year was the first year since 2003 when no men's champion successfully defended their Slam title, and I think that made for some really memorable tennis. All four Grand Slam Finals were for the ages (The French more for Fed's breakthrough on clay and completing the Career Slam rather than the match itself, but still that's pretty major.)


But back to the dream. Fed and I were such great friends! And then I woke up and I had to accept that it wasn't true. Dream friendships can be so bittersweet. I think it's a worse feeling than when you dream of a bad fight with someone you DO know, and then the whole next day you're inexplicably mad at them or suspicious of their behavior. At least in that situation reality can reinforce that your friend is still there and still cares about you. In the "dream friends" situation, reality can only reinforce that something good you felt isn't based on anything. I think it's a terrible cheat.



Also... maybe I'm too hard on Fed when I'm awake. Maybe I should try to be more supportive out of respect for our dream friendship. In case he shows up again in Dream World, I want him to know that in reality I had his back.

Rafa Round Up - 3rd Round, Quarters and Semis

Much like Rafa's rain-delayed Quarterfinal match that stretched over three days, my posts about Nadal's matches also fell behind schedule. By now, Rafa's tourney is over but here's a recap of some of the highs and lows.

Tuesday Night, Rafa won his Round of 16 match against Gael Monfils with a solid 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. I'm not a big fan of Monfils because every time he wins a point he acts as if he has won the whole effing tournament. He jumps around all over the place, is hyper-animated and talks to himself. It's like he's a character in Street Fighter IV. It's too much. When he won the first set in a tie break, he acted like the match was over. Rafa didn't take too well to that, and he gave him a hard stare as if to ask "how much you got left in that tank, buddy? we're far from done." But to answer that unspoken question, Monfils didn't have much left in the tank at all. Rafa wore him down and halfway through the second set Monfils looked exhausted and his level of play dropped drastically. And then Rafa cruised to victory. Woohoo!



THURSDAY, he played against Gonzo in the Quarters, and during their match the skies effing opened up after almost of being completely overcast. Nadal was leading 7-6 2-2 when the rain first stopped play, but they managed to play again for a little while until another shower stopped things for good with Gonzo serving at 6-6 (2-3) down in the second-set tiebreak.



We made no progress on Friday as rain washed out the whole day and pushed the women's final to Sunday and the men's final back to Monday. On Saturday around noon they resumed the match and Rafa really just ran over Gonzalez winning the last four points of the tiebreak and the next set at love. The final score was -6 (7-4), 7-7 (7-2), 6-0. It was lucky for Rafa too, because shortly after they finished it started raining again! Rafa looked really good and it did not look like his ab injury was really affecting him...



Which cannot be said for his Semi-Final Match against del Potro. I was always worried about this match. Del Po had a very strong summer and a very good tourney heading into this match. Rafa never looked good in this match from the start. He couldn't make any kind of impact on the match at all - very unusual for Rafa! In the end, Del Po was just too strong and he beat Rafa easily in straight sets - 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. It's very sad, but Rafa did the best he could. I can ask for no more than that.



He managed to come back from his knee injury and equal his performance from last year's US Open. That's really impressive. And by making it to the semis, Rafa has gained enough points to retake the No. 2 ranking from Murray. So things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully Rafa will have time to rest his ab strain and he'll be able to make a good run of things for the last few tourney's of the season.

I'm proud of Rafa's effort in this tournament. He played some thrilling matches and went far into the field. For me, getting to see him in person on the practice courts on Labor Day and getting one of his practice balls afterwards was a huge thrill for me. I wish him the best and a speedy recovery. Rafa may not always win, but he never disappoints! Vamos!

Rafa Round 3: Hurt So Good

Yesterday, Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro (7-5 6-4 6-4) to advance into the fourth round of the US Open. It was an odd match in that the server kept getting broken over and over again. That's very odd for Men's Tennis where it's usually one break of serve alone that will decide the set of a match.



Even stranger, in the third set Rafa was leading and then suddenly BOTH players needed a medical time out. Rafa was getting treated for an ab strain and Almagro was treated for his back. It was so odd to see both of them go from playing high level tennis to them lying on the court in pain.



Rafa had a patch applied to his stomach, and Almagro got some deep massage and thankfully they both got up to finish the match. Rather hilariously, Rafa had to switch shirts after being treated and the crowd shrieked about it like he was one of the stars of Twilight. He was asked about it in his court-side post-victory interview and it made him blush. Aw, Rafa!



For Rafa's winning efforts he gets to face 13th seed Gael Monfils of France on Tuesday. I'm a little bit nervous about this match. I hope he comes out strong tomorrow night and doesn't give Monfils a chance to get in the groove. Still it was a great effort in the third round. Vamos Rafa!

Rafa's Round 2: Crowd Control

So Nadal won on Friday night against his second round opponent Nicolas Kiefer, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. I thought it was a pretty solid second round display.

Nadal won the opening set quickly, blanking Kiefer 6-0, but then things got tricky in the second set. Kiefer upped his game considerably and it threw Rafa off his rhythm. It took Rafa time to adjust and in the process he lost the second set. Now, while I would love straight set wins for Rafa every time, that's just not possible. Even losing the second set and looking a bit rattled, I never thought he was in danger of losing the match. The commentators were wringing their hands over it, but I didn't see a big problem in Nadal's game.

I DID see a big problem in the crowd at Arthur Ashe stadium. When Rafa started making mistakes they started cheering for Kiefer and chanting his name. I understand the folks there wanted to see a real match and not a 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 rout, but it felt uncomfortably similar to when the French crowd cheered for Rafa to lose at Roland Garros this year. Don't cheer at Rafa's mistakes! What's wrong with you mo-fos? Rafa is coming back from injury, he was unable to defend his Wimbledon title, his ranking dropped from 1st to 3rd because he couldn't defend his ranking points, and you CHEER his mistakes in his first major tournament back? Does he not play with enough HEART for you? You can't wish for his opponent to play well without jumping on Rafa's errors?? It's unbelievable. You should've heard the expletives I was hurling at my TV on Friday night. I'm sure the Domestic Dispute Couple that lives in my building were taking copious notes for the next time they want to have a dramatic argument that wakes everyone up at 2:30 in the morning on a weeknight.


Nadal, for his part, didn't worry about it too much and focused on the game. "It was a very good test for me, no?," Rafa said courtside after the match. "When you win the first set easy and then he starts to play better it's difficult. Nicolas is a great player, he played a good match and I'm very happy to beat him," But seriously, spectators, get with it.

Today Nadal meets Nicolas Almagro (who won in 5 sets over my ex-girlfriends pretend boyfriend Robbie Ginepri) in the third round. I don't really know Almagro that well. Hopefully he will not pose too much trouble for Rafa and the crowd will be supportive as he deserves it to be.

Rome, If You Want To

Today I booked myself a weekend trip to Rome. I am very excited! I have always wanted to go to Italy and I had promised myself this year I'd take a vacation to somewhere outside of the country that I'd never been before, so this Columbus Day Weekend I'm going on an adventure. I now get to spend the next month figuring out what exactly I want to do in Rome while I'm there. I'm staying in a hotel right near the Coliseum, so clearly I will be seeing that, but everything else is up in the air and I'm on my own to go in search of it. I'm pretty much giddy over the possibilities.

This trip is an early birthday gift to myself, as turning 30 is only a few weeks away! If you've spent any time in Rome and would like to send me info on sites to see or skip, places to eat, etc. I would greatly appreciate it!

1st Round Victory! Vamos Rafa!

Congrats to Rafa for taking down his good friend and 1st round opponent, Richard Gasquet, Wednesday at the US Open. This match was a bit of a question mark in the press since Rafa has been sidelined with injury and Gasquet has been out under a cocaine suspension. When the actual match got under way, however, it was clear that Rafa was back in top form, while Gasquet still had a lot of rust to shake off. In the end it was a quick match; 6-2 6-2 6-3 in Rafa's favor.



"I felt well out there," Rafa said. "I served very well in the important moments and my backhand was very good today. My forehand was good at the start and then I made a few mistakes, but it doesn't matter. I am very happy to be in the second round."



Next up is Nicholas Kiefer. Destroy him, Rafa! Vamos!