Del Potro moving on up, where opportunity can see him.

 As they say, you may see the opportunity, but unless you position yourself, so opportunity can see you, your date with success is not happening.

Del Potro has climbed to No. 50 ATP ranking from 92 in January this year.

He just dispatched top ten player, No. 9, Robredo convincingly. Robredo was hot, coming off his second title of the year at France.  

Potro is 6’5″, and could be part of this new wave of tall bamboos, invading the tennis world.

Most likely, he will square off against Nadal or Murray in the quarters, after taking out Nalbandian in the next round.

It appears more and more possible, that the new cut off height requirement, will be 6’5″, instead of the recently revised 6′, just few years ago. Days of Agassi, Borg, McEnroe, Connors etc. are long gone.

You might get a flash in the pan, here and there, but from now on, if you are not a clone of Karlovic, choose another sport. 

Mario Ancic: Another perfect example of a player on fire.

 

Like I mentioned earlier, about players going on an absolute rampage, after a prolonged hiatus, due to injury, doping, whatever, Ancic is doing just that. He has already taken out Blake, and is certain to meet Djokovic in the quarters.

Murray, returning from his cave, is doing his thing at the bottom half of the draw.

Maybe, that’s what Baghdatis, Gasquet, Berdych etc. have to do, to get their juices flowing again. Go on a doping binge, rape someone, break the chair umpire’s chair’s legs, drive drunk… Do freaking something. You have already hit rock bottom. You can only go up from here.

BTW, Ancic is 6’5″. Does that ring a bell?

Nadal highlights, Djokovic interview etc.

Click here.

Third Federer-Canas match of the year, all set.

 

To me, the second match this year, was lost because of what happened inside Federer’s mind, quite similar to what happens to him, when Nadal is across the net.

Conversely, Canas gained something tangible there. It became a strong validation to what happened in the first meeting, which to Canas was conflicting, at best.

You can be sure, both will be carrying their respective intangible luggage, when they step on the court, irrespective of what has transpired to their individual season since then.

Federer’s loss here, will not be just another loss. Duh!!! It will affirm the reason, Nadal has been winning against him. His mental toughness and resiliency is under the microscope. This is just the second time, since his ascension to the throne, that a player has gained on him, mentally.

Win, on the other hand, will reassure Federer that he can duplicate it against Nadal too.

It is not an automatic win for Federer, as it was against Ginepri, despite the fact, that he has won five titles, including two Grand Slams, since that loss to Canas.

It could very well determine, if Federer will end up grabbing the year-end No. 1 ranking.

The three-musketeer tracker – Madrid Masters.

Joker/ Matches played	Sets played	Aces	D faults	Ist serve pct.	B Pts won	Tie breaks	Time on court
Federer-5 -out	11	41	4	62	25%	2	7:07
Nadal-3 – out	6	3	4	62	29%	1	5:04
Djokovic-4 -out	10	27	11	60	45%	3	8:15

For a bigger picture, click here.

Nadal takes out Baghdatis in straight sets.

 

More importantly it took him just 1 hour and 37 minutes. This was quite a dicey opening round match for him, since he had not played since his loss to Ferrer at the US Open, and the subsequent knee and other physical problems.

While on one side, such tough opening round matches can be a pain, if they stretch you, but on the other side, if you are able to steer through them with ease, they can be great confidence boosters.

Certainly, home court advantage for Nadal is going to play a significant role, in upgrading his usual form here. But that can also mean, you trying to go beyond yourself, to not make a fool of yourself at home. With Nadal’s track record at season ending events, standing at miserable and poor, there is fine line he needs to tread.

With the No. 1 ranking still up for grabs, that is not easy to do, specially when you are Nadal, who is still seeking validation at other surfaces, to his greatness as a tennis player, instead of a clay court master.

With Murray next, this was a good result for Nadal. Murray is on a streak and hyper, similar to Canas, when he came back after a hiatus. Nadal’s knees, and all those lasers, will be put to a severe test.

With Djokovic looming for the semi, followed by Federer in the finals, it is brutal.

Djokovic starts his bid for the sixth title of the year, with a three-setter.

 

Undoubtedly facing the toughest road to the finals, among the top three jokers, his goal has to be, to keep the points and the matches short, to avoid repeat of what happened at Wimbledon and at Cincy this year.

Verdasco took him to three sets, by taking the first set to a tie-break. The match lasted 2 hours and 34 minutes, compared to 1 hour and 25 minutes first match for Federer.

The tour is a constant reminder to Djokovic, of how much work he needs, to bring his physical conditioning up-to speed ASAP. That’s as far as he can go with what he’s got. The next level, clearly demands a much fitter and stronger athlete, both physically and mentally.

This event will be a great yardstick, to gauge if he did put any time, to upgrade his conditioning after the US Open. The draw is certainly laid out to test him aggressively.

Tickets for Davis Cup matches in Portland sell within 30 minutes. Are you freaking kidding me!!!

WOW!!! That’s 30 freaking minutes for 12,000 freaking seats. And Davis Cup has not been played in the US for the past 15 freaking years. Isn’t that supposed to dampen the interest, or is this the case of reverse psychology?

Where are these jokers coming out of? Imagine if this was being played in a major city, like New York and Los Angeles. There is a reason why all Grand Slams are scheduled in metropolitan cities around the globe.

Maybe these thumb-doodling engineers, need to figure out a way to re-design the stadium, so it can house a larger crowd. The largest tennis facility, at the US Open, can only take about 25,000 some fans. Do you know how many can squeeze in at a football game? Almost 100,000. And soccer? I have no idea, but it has got to be up there.

Are we looking at binoculars as a mandatory exhibit, to watch tennis matches live, in the future?

I have no doubt, if the stadium could take it, 100,000 tickets would have sold in about the same time.

This puts tremendous pressure on jokers like Roddick, Blake and the Bryan sisters to perform. Prepare to dodge rotten eggs and tomatoes, if you let this slip by. You are freaking at home and at a surface, that is being built from the ground up, to favor your game.

US has won a record 31 Davis Cups, but the last one came 12 years ago, when Sampras, Agassi and McEnroe defeated Switzerland???, in 1992. Roddick watched the duel from the stands, when he was 10 years old.

Apply for vacation at your crappy job from Nov 30 through Dec 2, and buy a  plasma TV, you cheap freaks.

Are we in for a battle extraordinaire, at the Federer-Sampras exhibitions, or is this all hype? From Anand 101. Thanks.

 

Anand_101 | 

Sampras dismantles Ginepri
————————–

Did you see this?? Is Pete is thinking of a mini comeback?

http://news.dallasobserver.com/2007-09-27/news/re-pete/

Murray following a typical pattern: Destroys Chela.

 

If you have been following sports with your mind, and both your hands, you have seen this a million times.

Player is sidelined from the sport for injury, drug use, dog fighting, rape, rehab, you name it. When he gets back, he goes on a tear, before finally stabilizing the graph.

Murray is on such a trip, as was Canas, early this year. It is temporary, but it is fun to watch a player with fire under his ass.

Another example of how much of all this BS is mental.

British bookmaker confirms, what I have been crying for years: Betting cannot be stopped.

Why do you think, I always get what I want? And do what I want.

There is a way, and no one can stop you. It’s beautiful.

Leave your crappy job, and come to my ‘beautiful life 101′ class for full details. Sorry, class full for this semester. You don’t need to know, WHO all are taking the class.

Click here.

Just checked my ‘crystal balls’: Federer is meeting Mr. Injury, before the season is over.

 

If he continues to be adamant, by continuing, even after he locks the No. 1 ranking, he will be meeting the rare visitor, before the curtain falls.

Four tournaments in five weeks? At the end of this long season? With those stupid exhibitions to follow? After four-year compression?

Might as well roll out the red carpet, and print out the invitation card, for that dreadful sighting.

Lesson to be learnt, is to crank it up in the front end of the season, to avoid the ‘must win’ situation this late. With the backdrop of heavy duty compression of four years, you don’t need this tension, so late in the season.

Is this going to be the classic case of ‘higher they go, harder they fall’, or will Federer, or someone in his camp, realize it’s time to reschedule and pace?

That analogy of riding a tiger, comes to mind. The thought of being eaten alive if you get off, sometimes takes you straight into the wall, with obvious consequences.

Now, the question is whether he wants to continue the frenetic activity of the last four years, and get what he wants NOW, or pace himself and spread the jam over a longer haul, while still achieving the desired result.

He needs to sit down and write a goal, which he must have. Anything over, is all gravy. You cannot just go blindly, trying to get as much booty as you can. For instance, 18 Grand Slams is realistically possible, if meticulously planned without killing yourself in the process, and with a strong possibility of falling short.

At times, it becomes an ego issue, since scaling down the schedule would mean, you are admitting, to be not fit enough to run with the wolves anymore. Besides, any time you are out of circulation, it takes a while to psychologically get back on the tour.

It’s like being absent in school for a couple of days. When you come back, you have that strange ‘not in the groove’ feeling for a couple of days.

Federer has to take the ‘post 26′ era as a marathon race. All the stats are enough proof, as to what one can reasonably expect, as a norm. You cannot go by the exceptions, like Agassi and Connors. If that happens, great.

But you have to err on the side of caution, and base your plans now, on what has been the rule, not the exception. Specially with the crazy activity you have had for the past four years.

With the post FO hiatus, followed by Wimbledon leave, and then the doctor’s advice crap, Federer is certainly pushing it. Maybe he knows it, but has little choice, knowing how dear the No. 1 ranking is to him.

If he follows through with his current schedule, and comes clean, I will release one goat to wilderness. You have no idea, how hard that is.