Player: Andrey Kuznetsov
Age: 21
Nation: Russia
Current Ranking: 79
Notable Conquest: Juan Monaco (11th seed, Argentina)
Today's Result: lost to Kevin Anderson (South Africa) in straight sets
Photo via bettor.com
This was Kuznetsov first main draw appearance at the Australian. His second round finish is his career-best for a Major. He was the Wimbledon boys champion is 2009.
Golden Squid Report
Christina McHale (Golden Squid since 6/29/2012) - McHale's in a bit of a tail spin at the moment. Her first round loss to Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) was her eight consecutive lost match. She didn't fair much better in doubles. She and partner Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) lost in the first round the second-seeded team of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Hopefully, she can get back on track with the upcoming North American hard court swing.
What does it take to earn a Golden Squid?
ReplyDeletePromise of the first born child. Of course, they can break the curse if they learn my real name and say it three times...
DeleteBinkley, Binkley ... Binkley?
DeleteHa!
DeleteSo basically, they need to catch my attention as a Curtain Call at one Major, then continue to improve through the next three.
Do I expect anyone to care except for me? No, not really. Do I dream of a day when players' agents are sending me bon-bons for the publicity I can offer them? Sure, why not?
Do you ever feel like you missed a calling as a sports commentator? :)
DeleteWell, yes. That's sort of why I started the blog in the first place. Since, however, I've decided that it's really nice to have a hobby such as this one that is entirely separate from my job. When hobbies become careers, you never see them quite the same way again. This way, it's all on my own terms.
DeleteI'm sitting here trying to think of how to respond to one of the more perfect sentiments I've ever read. I guess there's this: I can see that.
DeleteWhat's interesting, though, is how the idea has evolved since the beginning. I didn't expect the social aspect of blogging to be so gratifying. I've done my best to follow where the conversations have led me - ultimately driven by my own various interests, of course. I have found that I write better when I know people are reading.
DeleteBack in the summer of 2008, a painter and writer named Raul was reading Music Major as I was writing it. I would send him the fresh chapters every day for two months. He was writing his own novel and sent me some material here and there, as well. That summer, it didn't flow for him as quickly as it flowed for me because I think he wanted to take ten years to write his novel set in South America, *Paniagua.* (Which breaks down phonetically to bread and water in spanish.)
DeleteAnyway, he was an amazing encourager. I had no idea, at the time, just how lucky I was to have had his eyes looking over the work to encourage me to get that original 128,000-word draft out.
An observer, for better or for worse, changes everything.
I like the pom-pom. Thank you.
DeleteRah, rah, rah.
Delete:)
Delete