which wimbledon runner-up will go further at the us open, venus williams or andy roddick?
there is no question that venus williams has a strong record at the open. she won there in 2000 and 2001 and also picked up a doubles title in 1999. sure, that was a decade ago, but she has made at least the quarterfinals every year in flushing meadows since 2005 (except when she missed the tournament in 2006).
andy roddick has been no schmuck either. other than a blip in 2005 when he dropped a stunner to poop on boozer favorite gilles muller, he has not failed to reach the quarterfinals since 2001, including a win in 2003 for his only major title.
that's history; what about the present?
both are coming off of wimbledon finals losses to their respective nemeses (serena and federer). venus is on shaky knees, whereas roddick looks healthy.
and look at the draws. venus faces an unknown (but top-50 player) in slovak rybarikova in the third round before a potential showdown with unretired-and-looking-really-good kim clijsters in the fourth. roddick, meanwhile, roddick would not face a seeded player until the fourth round, when he might face verdasco or haas. djokovic would likely be next, whereas azarenka might be a quarterfinal matchup for venus.
so what does this all wash out to? if clijsters can survive her third-round match, i think she can give creaky venus a lot of trouble. roddick is going to take 4 sets in the fourth round, but he'll get to the quarters. i'm going to have to go with roddick losing to djokovic (QF), and venus losing to clijsters (4th), meaning roddick goes further.
if they both get to the quarterfinals, though, venus is more likely to be playing serena in the semis than roddick is to be playing federer. wouldn't those be fun rematches, though?
Showing posts with label tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tennis. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
wednesday night sports digest
muller is at it again. the luxembourgish tennis star is ripping it up down under, into the third round at the australian open and on pace for another matchup with federer, the man who downed muller in the 2008 u.s. open quarterfinals en route to his 13th grand slam title. but if muller is going to have a shot at a rematch, he's going to have to take care of the powerful young juan martin del potro, the no. 8 seed who is sure to match muller's strong serve with some groundstroke blasts of his own.
in sports, retirement is always temporary. just ask 43-year-old claude lemieux, who is back on the ice in an NHL uniform in an attempt for yet another run at lord stanley's cup. and what better team to come back with than the sharks, who are guaranteed to have at least a share of the overall league lead heading into the all-star break? and this has to be good news from san jose's perspective. signing an old dude for the stretch run? this has all the makings of a p.j. brown / boston celtics kind of fairytale.
apparently, it's really hard to be no. 1. as i write, wake forest is trailing virginia tech by 10 in the second half. okay, the hokies are a good team, and they have done very well against top-ranked teams in recent history. but come on! this is a wake team that just beat clemson this past weekend! the only undefeated team in division I currently looks as helpless as can be. if jeff teague and co. can't turn this around, the blue devils stand to move into the top spot when the new rankings are released. will duke be able to avoid becoming the third acc team this season to fall from the mighty perch? or will they be denied that chance by getting owned by the terps on saturday? one can only hope for the latter.
in sports, retirement is always temporary. just ask 43-year-old claude lemieux, who is back on the ice in an NHL uniform in an attempt for yet another run at lord stanley's cup. and what better team to come back with than the sharks, who are guaranteed to have at least a share of the overall league lead heading into the all-star break? and this has to be good news from san jose's perspective. signing an old dude for the stretch run? this has all the makings of a p.j. brown / boston celtics kind of fairytale.
apparently, it's really hard to be no. 1. as i write, wake forest is trailing virginia tech by 10 in the second half. okay, the hokies are a good team, and they have done very well against top-ranked teams in recent history. but come on! this is a wake team that just beat clemson this past weekend! the only undefeated team in division I currently looks as helpless as can be. if jeff teague and co. can't turn this around, the blue devils stand to move into the top spot when the new rankings are released. will duke be able to avoid becoming the third acc team this season to fall from the mighty perch? or will they be denied that chance by getting owned by the terps on saturday? one can only hope for the latter.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
monday night sports digest
three-day weekend = bonus sports.
to the devil with it. so tampa bay drops the evil part of its name and suddenly can't be stopped? my predictions are still within reason, but the rays are making baseball fans scratch the back of their heads in confusion. you have to feel for lester, though - not only does he have the pressure of red sox nation upon him, but he's also fighting for all those cancer survivors that consider him their hero.
phillies keep thumpin'. for all the talk about the weakness of the NL, LA and philadelphia are certainly putting on an offensive show. while kuroda silenced the phillies' bats in game 3, victorino and stairs put some juice behind the ball in the come-from-behind victory tonight. a victor-in-y, perhaps? nah, guess not.
no mo' romo. go figure: of all the things he could have hurt, tony romo goes and breaks his pinkie - and now he's out for a month. now dallas isn't even in position to take advantage of the suddenly beatable new york football giants. if the nfc east looked invincible two weeks ago, it's just another division again come tuesday morning. but hey, new york, at least the market's back on track!
year of the serbian. djokovic and ivanovic are pretty sweet, but jelena is proving that she is the serbian you don't want to mess with. ousting zvonareva in the final of the kremlin cup, jankovic won her third title in three weeks and solidified her spot as the no. 1 player in the world. she may not be a (singles) grand slam champion, but she is by far one of the most competitive women on the circuit.
a hockey tragedy. unfortunately, this digest ends on a sad note. new york rangers prospect alexei cherepanov, 19, died of an apparent heart attack towards the end of a game in the continental hockey league. authorities are currently investigating whether adequate medical care was available at the rink, and one can only hope that this terrible occurrence leads pro sports franchises around the country to reexamine their emergency preparations to ensure that such health-related occurrences can be avoided in the future.
to the devil with it. so tampa bay drops the evil part of its name and suddenly can't be stopped? my predictions are still within reason, but the rays are making baseball fans scratch the back of their heads in confusion. you have to feel for lester, though - not only does he have the pressure of red sox nation upon him, but he's also fighting for all those cancer survivors that consider him their hero.
phillies keep thumpin'. for all the talk about the weakness of the NL, LA and philadelphia are certainly putting on an offensive show. while kuroda silenced the phillies' bats in game 3, victorino and stairs put some juice behind the ball in the come-from-behind victory tonight. a victor-in-y, perhaps? nah, guess not.
no mo' romo. go figure: of all the things he could have hurt, tony romo goes and breaks his pinkie - and now he's out for a month. now dallas isn't even in position to take advantage of the suddenly beatable new york football giants. if the nfc east looked invincible two weeks ago, it's just another division again come tuesday morning. but hey, new york, at least the market's back on track!
year of the serbian. djokovic and ivanovic are pretty sweet, but jelena is proving that she is the serbian you don't want to mess with. ousting zvonareva in the final of the kremlin cup, jankovic won her third title in three weeks and solidified her spot as the no. 1 player in the world. she may not be a (singles) grand slam champion, but she is by far one of the most competitive women on the circuit.
a hockey tragedy. unfortunately, this digest ends on a sad note. new york rangers prospect alexei cherepanov, 19, died of an apparent heart attack towards the end of a game in the continental hockey league. authorities are currently investigating whether adequate medical care was available at the rink, and one can only hope that this terrible occurrence leads pro sports franchises around the country to reexamine their emergency preparations to ensure that such health-related occurrences can be avoided in the future.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
re: sometimes, lightning does strike twice
and, sometimes... it strikes four times?!?!
qualifier gilles muller, ranked 130th in the world, dropped five-seed davydenko like nobody's business, prevailing in four sets to reach the us open quarterfinals.
meanwhile, as i write, federer is a break down in the fourth set (although he has a 2 sets to 1 lead). did muller really reach the quarters more easily than federer? and, regardless of who wins the federer-andreev match, is muller going to pull off yet another amazing win and end up in the semis?!?
as my good friend gwen stefani says, this shit is bananas.
qualifier gilles muller, ranked 130th in the world, dropped five-seed davydenko like nobody's business, prevailing in four sets to reach the us open quarterfinals.
meanwhile, as i write, federer is a break down in the fourth set (although he has a 2 sets to 1 lead). did muller really reach the quarters more easily than federer? and, regardless of who wins the federer-andreev match, is muller going to pull off yet another amazing win and end up in the semis?!?
as my good friend gwen stefani says, this shit is bananas.
Friday, August 29, 2008
sometimes, lightning does strike twice
no, i am not talking about usain bolt.
who is gilles muller? you probably have no idea. (but then again, you also probably don't know who kim kirchen and frank schleck are, either.)
unless, of course, you were watching the u.s. open on that fateful day in 2005. as andy roddick took the court against a 22-year-old from schifflange, luxembourg, little did he know what he was in for. three tiebreaker-determined sets later, roddick had lost his mojo and a small nation in europe had found a bit of non-GDP-related glory.
muller went on to lose to then-doubles partner robby ginepri - who is also half-luxembourgish - in 2005, and he faded pretty quickly from the international tennis spotlight. had he used up his 15 minutes of fame?
apparently not. today, after having won three matches in the qualifying tournament and held off laurent recouderc of france in the first round, muller overcame a 2-6, 2-6 start to come from behind and shock grizzled veteran tommy haas in five sets, using his strong serve and a willingness to try and paint the lines - he had 75 unforced errors in the match - to propel himself into the third round for the the first time in his brief flushing meadows history.
in the next round, he will face either californian sam warburg or 18th-seeded nicolas almagro of spain, neither of whom have been into the fourth round at the open. might the fireballer from luxembourg continue to surprise his opponents?
we here at poop on boozer will certainly be watching.
who is gilles muller? you probably have no idea. (but then again, you also probably don't know who kim kirchen and frank schleck are, either.)
unless, of course, you were watching the u.s. open on that fateful day in 2005. as andy roddick took the court against a 22-year-old from schifflange, luxembourg, little did he know what he was in for. three tiebreaker-determined sets later, roddick had lost his mojo and a small nation in europe had found a bit of non-GDP-related glory.
muller went on to lose to then-doubles partner robby ginepri - who is also half-luxembourgish - in 2005, and he faded pretty quickly from the international tennis spotlight. had he used up his 15 minutes of fame?
apparently not. today, after having won three matches in the qualifying tournament and held off laurent recouderc of france in the first round, muller overcame a 2-6, 2-6 start to come from behind and shock grizzled veteran tommy haas in five sets, using his strong serve and a willingness to try and paint the lines - he had 75 unforced errors in the match - to propel himself into the third round for the the first time in his brief flushing meadows history.
in the next round, he will face either californian sam warburg or 18th-seeded nicolas almagro of spain, neither of whom have been into the fourth round at the open. might the fireballer from luxembourg continue to surprise his opponents?
we here at poop on boozer will certainly be watching.
Monday, August 11, 2008
cross-training, harvard style
i always walk by that section of shoes in a sports store and wonder, hmm, what exactly does cross-training mean? all sexual and gender innuendos aside - and oh yes, there are many - i'm not sure how often i hear about reggie bush grabbing a badminton racket or jason giambi hitting the hurdles.
but amidst another nasty cambridge summer, harvard's no. 1 men's racket chris clayton is hitting the field for some football drills with the "summer dogs," donning cleats to condition himself into a frenzy. the workout packed with "dominators" certainly sounds intense... 13-second drills with only 24-second breaks? i'd love to see lindsay davenport put herself through that. if anyone can use the workout, though, it's clayton, who seems to have a penchant for marathon three-setters.
really, though, i want to see crimson basketballer evan harris out there breaking a sweat. if he puts in the work now - and learns how to go right when he's posting up - maybe he'll actually have the ability to score against guys half his size. and if not, well, he better get his exercise for the season in now, because tommy amaker will have him riding more wood than jenna jameson.
either way, the kid's nba prospects aren't looking any better.
but amidst another nasty cambridge summer, harvard's no. 1 men's racket chris clayton is hitting the field for some football drills with the "summer dogs," donning cleats to condition himself into a frenzy. the workout packed with "dominators" certainly sounds intense... 13-second drills with only 24-second breaks? i'd love to see lindsay davenport put herself through that. if anyone can use the workout, though, it's clayton, who seems to have a penchant for marathon three-setters.
really, though, i want to see crimson basketballer evan harris out there breaking a sweat. if he puts in the work now - and learns how to go right when he's posting up - maybe he'll actually have the ability to score against guys half his size. and if not, well, he better get his exercise for the season in now, because tommy amaker will have him riding more wood than jenna jameson.
either way, the kid's nba prospects aren't looking any better.
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