Curtain Call
Player: Facundo Arguello
Nation: Argentina
Age: 17
Current Doubles Ranking: 744
Current Doubles Partner: Agustin Velotti (Argentina)
Notable Conquests: Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina)/Mate Zsiga (Hungary) (1st seed), Victor Baluda/Mikhail Biryukov (3rd, Russia) and Guilherme Clezar/Tiago Fernandes (5th, Brazil)
Tour Page
Today's Result: loss to Duilio Beretta (Peru)/Roberto Quiroz (Ecuador) (7th seed) in straight sets
Arguello and Velotti lost today in the finals of the Boys' Doubles tournament but the unseeded team had a very good run. Velotti's Roland Garros isn't over yet. He plays in the Boys' Singles final tomorrow against American Andrea Collarini.
Catching Up with Old Friends
Francesca Schiavone (Curtain Call, US Open Day 7) - What a story! You're just a few weeks short of 30. You've never made it past the quarterfinals of a Slam. You didn't even win your first singles title at any tournament until three years ago, experiencing more success as a doubles player. You catch fire for two weeks. Now suddenly, your name is forever engraved in a list with tennis royalty. I can't imagine anyone beyond blood relations picked her to win this thing and here she is, Roland Garros champion. This is already up there with Butler basketball as the sports story of the year. Unlike Butler, Schiavone clinched the deal. I love those T-shirts her camp was wearing. "SCHIAVO Nothing is Impossible!" Huzzah!
Since I started following her at the US Open, Schiavone had already become one of my favorites. She plays with such passion! I teared up a little during her acceptance speech - how could one not? Can she win one again someday? At this moment, who cares?
All Part of My Fantasy
My women's bracket is an absolute disaster: top 94%, a nice way of saying bottom 6%. Better luck at Wimbledon.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Roland Garros Day 13: Not Too Old at 29
Curtain Call
Player: Jurgen Melzer
Nation: Austria
Age: 29
Current Ranking: 27
Notable Conquests: Novak Djokovic (3rd seed, Serbia) and David Ferrer (9th, Spain)
Tour Page
Today's Result: loss to Rafael Nadal (2nd, Spain) in straight sets
With his era-defining upset of Federer, Robin Soderling stole a bit of Melzer's thunder for the tournament. Melzer beat the two best players in his quarter, and two of the world's best on clay, just to make it to the semis. The win over Ferrer was a big surprise. Ferrer, long one of the underappreciated players on tour, had had a brilliant clay court season and was thoroughly tuned by Melzer. The Djokovic match was a five-set war but the lefty veteran made it through. Of course, he then hit the brick wall that is Nadal. Before now, Melzer had never even made it past the third round of a major. Bravo!
What a great match-up for Sunday: a rematch of THE defining match of the 2009 season. Nadal holds a 3-2 lifetime edge, including a 2-1 difference on clay. But with Soderling likely out to prove last year was no fluke, who knows?
Player: Jurgen Melzer
Nation: Austria
Age: 29
Current Ranking: 27
Notable Conquests: Novak Djokovic (3rd seed, Serbia) and David Ferrer (9th, Spain)
Tour Page
Today's Result: loss to Rafael Nadal (2nd, Spain) in straight sets
With his era-defining upset of Federer, Robin Soderling stole a bit of Melzer's thunder for the tournament. Melzer beat the two best players in his quarter, and two of the world's best on clay, just to make it to the semis. The win over Ferrer was a big surprise. Ferrer, long one of the underappreciated players on tour, had had a brilliant clay court season and was thoroughly tuned by Melzer. The Djokovic match was a five-set war but the lefty veteran made it through. Of course, he then hit the brick wall that is Nadal. Before now, Melzer had never even made it past the third round of a major. Bravo!
What a great match-up for Sunday: a rematch of THE defining match of the 2009 season. Nadal holds a 3-2 lifetime edge, including a 2-1 difference on clay. But with Soderling likely out to prove last year was no fluke, who knows?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Roland Garros Day 12: Some Love for Doubles
Curtain Call
Player: Andy Ram
Nation: Israel
Age: 30
Current Doubles Ranking: 16
Current Doubles Partner: Julian Knowle (Austria)
Tour Page
Today's Result: loss to Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic)/Leander Paes (India) (3rd seed) in straight sets
This is a good result for Ram who has had a pretty rocky road over the past year-and-a-half. His usual partner, coutryman Jonathan Erlich, was out with an injury for quite a while so Ram has been floating between partners for a while. Erlich is back in action but playing with others - Dudi Sela (Israel) this tournament. They made it to the second round. My guess is that they're letting Erlich build up his ranking before they team up again.
Ram lost in the first round last year so the semis is a huge improvement.
All Part of My Fantasy
With Dementieva bowing out in the semis, my women's bracket is officially toast.
Player: Andy Ram
Nation: Israel
Age: 30
Current Doubles Ranking: 16
Current Doubles Partner: Julian Knowle (Austria)
Tour Page
Today's Result: loss to Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic)/Leander Paes (India) (3rd seed) in straight sets
This is a good result for Ram who has had a pretty rocky road over the past year-and-a-half. His usual partner, coutryman Jonathan Erlich, was out with an injury for quite a while so Ram has been floating between partners for a while. Erlich is back in action but playing with others - Dudi Sela (Israel) this tournament. They made it to the second round. My guess is that they're letting Erlich build up his ranking before they team up again.
Ram lost in the first round last year so the semis is a huge improvement.
All Part of My Fantasy
With Dementieva bowing out in the semis, my women's bracket is officially toast.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Roland Garros Day 11: Almagro
Curtain Call
Player: Nicolas Almagro
Nation: SpainAge: 24
Current Ranking: 21Notable Conquest: Fernando Verdasco (7th seed, Spain)
Tour PageToday's Result: loss to Rafael Nadal (2nd, Spain) in straight sets
It's more than a little surprising that Almagro has never gotten past the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. On the week-to-week tour, he's one of the best clay court players in the world. He has five tournament titles for his career, all of them on clay. But he's never made much noise at the Slams compared to his compatriots such as Verdasco, Lopez, Ferrer or, of course, Nadal. As such, the win over Verdasco must have felt pretty good. Fernando had been one of the hottest players coming into the tournament. Losing to Rafa puts him in good company, to be sure. Still, it would be nice to see him make a deeper run at some point.
But for today, a job well done, sir. Take your bow.
Sam Stosur's victory over Serena Williams guarantees a first time Slam winner on the women's side: very exciting!
But for today, a job well done, sir. Take your bow.
Sam Stosur's victory over Serena Williams guarantees a first time Slam winner on the women's side: very exciting!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Roland Garros Day 10: It Had to Happen Eventually
Curtain Call
Player: Nadia Petrova
Nation: RussiaAge: 27
Current Ranking: 20
Notable Conquests: Venus Williams (2nd seed, USA) and Aravane Rezai (15th, France)
Today's Result: loss to Elena Dementieva (5th, Russia) in three sets
It's been a great tournament for Petrova. She always seems to be around in these middle rounds. The quarters is a big improvement on her 2nd round finish last year. She'll have more points to defend at Wimbledon: 4th round last year.
It's worth noting that Federer still has a quarterfinal streak to build on - 24 straight Slams. The more interesting question to me, though, is can Soderling keep another streak alive. Over the last 23 Slam tournaments, Federer has either won the title or lost to the man who did. Can Soderling do it? His record against Berdych, his semifinal opponent, is 4-3 in Soderling's favor but he lost their only match on clay. But then what is history worth? This was his first time beating Fed in 13 tries.
All Part of My Fantasy
Federer's loss is a huge blow to my bracket, though Nadal, my champ, is still alive.
All Part of My Fantasy
Federer's loss is a huge blow to my bracket, though Nadal, my champ, is still alive.
Let's Talk Baseball: Bold Proposal May Standings
Following are the current standings for my bold proposal for baseball realignment. The basic idea is two divisions, upper and lower, determined by last year's final standings. The bottom three of the First Division are relegated for next year. The top two of the Second are promoted, along with the winner of a playoff between the next four.
First Division
1. Rays (unchanged from April)
2. Yankees (unchanged)
3. Twins (+1)
4. Cardinals (-1)
5. Dodgers (+10)
6. Braves (+10)
7. Phillies (unchanged)
8. Red Sox (+1)
9. Giants (-4)
10. Rockies (unchanged)
11. Tigers (-5)
12. Rangers (unchanged)
13. Marlins (-2)
14. Angels (-6)
15. Cubs (-1)
16. Mariners (-3)
Second Division
1. Padres (unchanged)
2. Blue Jays (+4)
3. Reds (+1)
4. A's (+1)
5. Mets (-3)
6. Nationals (-3)
7. White Sox (+4)
8. Brewers (+2)
9. Pirates (-1)
10. Royals (+2)
11. Diamondbacks (-4)
12. Indians (-3)
13. Astros (unchanged)
14. Orioles (unchanged)
Biggest rises: Dodgers and Braves, both pulling their way well clear of relegation position.
Greatest fall: Angels. Suddenly their slump seems a lot more perilous!
We now have three division winners in the Second Division: Padres, Reds and A's. I will declare the experiment a failure if one of the Second Division teams wins the World Series.
Most interesting to me is what has now happened to the American League East. Three of the teams in baseball's toughest division are now in playoff position (top eight in First Division): Rays, Yankees and Red Sox. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are in promotion position in the Second Division. In the real world, the Jays are ahead of the Sox in the standings but still a game behind the Yanks for the wild card. At least two of those four teams will miss the real world playoffs no matter what, despite the fact that all four have better records than the West Division-leading A's. My way, they're now suddenly all having very meaningful and exciting seasons. The Red Sox' fourth place standing doesn't look so worrisome.
The Orioles still stink.
First Division
1. Rays (unchanged from April)
2. Yankees (unchanged)
3. Twins (+1)
4. Cardinals (-1)
5. Dodgers (+10)
6. Braves (+10)
7. Phillies (unchanged)
8. Red Sox (+1)
9. Giants (-4)
10. Rockies (unchanged)
11. Tigers (-5)
12. Rangers (unchanged)
13. Marlins (-2)
14. Angels (-6)
15. Cubs (-1)
16. Mariners (-3)
Second Division
1. Padres (unchanged)
2. Blue Jays (+4)
3. Reds (+1)
4. A's (+1)
5. Mets (-3)
6. Nationals (-3)
7. White Sox (+4)
8. Brewers (+2)
9. Pirates (-1)
10. Royals (+2)
11. Diamondbacks (-4)
12. Indians (-3)
13. Astros (unchanged)
14. Orioles (unchanged)
Biggest rises: Dodgers and Braves, both pulling their way well clear of relegation position.
Greatest fall: Angels. Suddenly their slump seems a lot more perilous!
We now have three division winners in the Second Division: Padres, Reds and A's. I will declare the experiment a failure if one of the Second Division teams wins the World Series.
Most interesting to me is what has now happened to the American League East. Three of the teams in baseball's toughest division are now in playoff position (top eight in First Division): Rays, Yankees and Red Sox. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are in promotion position in the Second Division. In the real world, the Jays are ahead of the Sox in the standings but still a game behind the Yanks for the wild card. At least two of those four teams will miss the real world playoffs no matter what, despite the fact that all four have better records than the West Division-leading A's. My way, they're now suddenly all having very meaningful and exciting seasons. The Red Sox' fourth place standing doesn't look so worrisome.
The Orioles still stink.
All Part of My Fantasy: May's Player of the Month
Photo from LA Times
Player: Jonathan Broxton
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Position: Relief Pitcher
Stats for the Month: 2 wins, 12 saves, 21 strikeouts, 1.84 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP
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