Curtain Call
Player: Marin Cilic
Age: 23
Nation: Croatia
Current Ranking: 24
Today's Result: lost to Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina, 9th seed) in straight sets
Photo via 123people
Not long ago, Marin Cilic (he's the one on the right) looked ready to emerge as tennis's next big star. In 2010, he stormed to the semis in Australia, taking out del Potro, himself the newly crowned US Open champ, along the way. The two are only five days apart in age and it looked at the time as if they might challenge the reigning monarchs (Federer and Nadal) together. Unfortunately, it hasn't really worked out that way for either of them. Cilic has yet to even make it to the quarters of a major since, even skipping the Australian this year. Of course, 23 is still young by tennis standards. Cilic may yet have another deep run in him, though hard courts are the more likely venue.
Golden Squid Report
Marina Erakovic - New Zealand's #1 matched last year's result, losing in the first round to Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) in straight sets. She fared better in doubles, teaming with Monica Niculescu (Romania) to form the 16th-seeded team. They lost in the second round today to Shuai Peng/Jie Zheng (China), again in straight sets.
But...but...what is up with the koala? I'll try to reread the post....nope. I got nothing.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure this was done as part of a promotional photo shoot for the Australian Open. There's one of him with a tree kangaroo, too.
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