This is a good analysis of the physics behind why Roddick has the fastest serve on tour. Thanks to Bob Prichard at the Somax Performance Institute for forwarding this along.
Rafael Nadal Wins French Open 2010
Overcoming his surprising French Open 2009 defeat to Robin Soderling, Nadal easily beat his clay-court nemesis in this much-anticipated rematch.
This win is Nadal’s fifth French Open title and seventh grand-slam win. Nadal need only win one more French Open to match Borg’s record 6. He also tied Borg’s record of two French Open tournament’s without losing a set.
The first set was terrific. It looked like the maturing Soderling might do it again. But Soderling collapsed in the 2nd and third sets. Despite the tough first set, Rafael easily won the match.
It was a bit surprising how emotional Nadal was after his win. Having lost the French last year, followed by pulling out of Wimbledon, being injured for much of 2009 and having gone through the remainder of the year without winning another tournament, Nadal may have been questioning whether he had another slam in him. Given the caliber of his French Open play, I have little doubt that Nadal has several more slams in him.
In his post game interview with John McEnroe, Nadal made the point that he is looking forward to the U.S. Open – the only slam he hasn’t won. This is interesting because normally players would say they were looking forward to Wimbledon.
Francesca Schiavone Wins 2010 French Open
In what will probably be her only grand slam win, veteran Francesca Schiavone beat Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 to win the 2010 French Open – a few days shy of her 30th birthday.
I must admit that I know little about Schiavone. Turns out she is the first Italian woman to win any grand-slam in the modern era.
Aussie Stosur was rather emotionless. Schiavone played with passion and grit. It was a pleasure to watch. The tennis quality from both was high. The match was terrific.
Stosur did the heavy lifting for Schiavone having previously taken out world #1 Serena Williams 6-2, 6-7(2), 8-6, four-time French Open winner Justine Henin 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 and world #4 Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 6-2.
Ultimately, it was nice to enjoy a well-played women’s French Open final. Something that doesn’t happen often enough.
Nadal’s Designer Tennis Shoes – French Open 2010
Here are the Nike tennis shows worn by Nadal in the French Open 2010 final against Soderling. For the second year running he has only four winning icons on the shoe. Thanks to his 2010 win, we’ll be seeing five next year! 🙂
How to Watch Live Streamed 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Outside of the U.S.
As usual, Americans can watch live streams of 2009 U.S. Open tennis through the US Open 2009 Website.
Also, as usual, Canadians and the rest of the world can’t.
Below, I include links to two services offering live streamed 2009 U.S. Open tennis matches. When I tested these sites on Monday August 31, I could find every match I wanted to watch in English.
To schedule your viewing, the U.S. Open Tennis 2009 play schedule is here.
You can find several matches on MyP2P. You may have to click around awhile to find one that works and/or is showing the match you want in the language of your choice. Some links require a plug-in to be downloaded. I don’t trust them. I only access those that play without a plug-in.
Continue reading “How to Watch Live Streamed 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Outside of the U.S.”
Kim Clijsters is Back!
Kim Clijsters is back in Cincinnati this week and has received a Wild Card into the Rogers Cup. She’ll be returning to the U.S. Open in September where she won her first and only grand-slam title in 2003.
Kim was ranked No. 1 in the world for 19 weeks in 2003. She ‘retired’ to get married and have a daughter.
Whoo hoo! Kim is one of my all-time favorite women’s players. I missed her! Women’s tennis needs you! Henin, are you listening?
Roger Federer and Mirka have Twin Girls
They were born on July 23rd. Their names are Myla Rose and Charlene Riva. More on his Facebook fan page here. Congratulations Roger!
Federer’s 15-Slam Designer Cardigan
After winning his 15th grand-slam at Wimbledon 2009, Federer slipped into this designer cardigan with the number 15 on the lower right back side.
Federer’s Customized Cellophane Tennis Racket Bags
You know you are a super rich tennis star when your cellophane tennis racket bags bear your personalized logo!
The announcers were as surprised as I was when Federer reached for a replacement tennis racket during the Wimbledon 2009 final.
Federer Wins Wimbledon 2009 – Sets All-Time Grand Slam Record
In another terrific Wimbledon final, Roger Federer defeated the terrific Andy Roddick (7-5, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 14-16) making him the undisputed best tennis player of all time. With 15 slam titles he passed Pete Sampras’ 14 and stands alone. With his French Open victory a few weeks ago, he has won all four grand slams.
(click images for larger views)
See also: Brooklyn Decker Cheers for Andy Roddick at Wimbledon 2009
Sampras travelled to London (his first time back since winning in 2002) to attend the final match where his record 14 grand slam title record was surpassed. It’s too bad they didn’t have Pete hand the trophy to Roger.
Nobody could be certain that Roger would win, however. Following on from a fantastic semi-final win over Andy Murray, Andy Roddick played a beautiful final match – perhaps the best of his career.
Continue reading “Federer Wins Wimbledon 2009 – Sets All-Time Grand Slam Record”
Roger Federer’s Designer Tennis Shoes – Wimbledon 2009
(click for larger view)
Sorry, folks, but these are the best shots I could get of Federer’s tennis shoes during Wimbledon 2009. The camera never went up close in any of the matches I watched.
Continue reading “Roger Federer’s Designer Tennis Shoes – Wimbledon 2009”
Brooklyn Decker Cheers for Andy Roddick at Wimbledon 2009
Since my post about Brooklyn Decker being engaged to Andy Roddick drew such a huge number of visitors to The Daleisphere, I snapped these pictures of Brooklyn cheering her new husband, Andy Roddick, on at Wimbledon 2009.
As always, click the images for larger views.
Brooklyn During Semi Final Against Andy Murray
Andy Relieved After Tough Set in Andy Murray Semi Final
Continue reading “Brooklyn Decker Cheers for Andy Roddick at Wimbledon 2009”
Wimbledon Roof Closes for First Time During Match
On Monday June 29, 2009, during a fourth-round match between Amelie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina, at 6-4, 1-4. the new Wimbledon Centre Court roof was closed for the first time during a match. (Safina won) The subsequent match between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka was the first full Wimbledon match to be played under the new roof (Murray won).
The video above was shot by me off broadcast TV while I watched the match.
Click the roof-closing images below for larger views.
Continue reading “Wimbledon Roof Closes for First Time During Match”
Wimbledon 2009 Live Streaming – Bootleg Version
Last year (see my 2008 post), both live and downloadable versions of most Wimbledon matches were available to all over the Internet through the Wimbledon Live service for a flat fee of $24.99.
Unfortunately, Wimbledon’s 2009 licensing regime makes it so that honest viewers from many countries, including Canada and the U.S. (see complete list below) can no longer access the service for any fee.
Amercian’s can watch online through NBCSports or ESPN360.com. Unfortunately NBCSports must be using the same proxy-shield blocking technology as hulu because Hotspot Shield users can’t access the site outside of the U.S.
Below, I include links to several bootleg services offering 2009 Wimbledon matches live streamed. Some are fantastic. Some less so. When I clicked around I could usually find the match I wanted to watch in English.
Of course, these only work when Wimbledon matches are underway. To schedule your viewing, the play schedule is here.
Channelsurfing.net
As far as I know there is no legal way for me to watch streamed Wimbledon matches in Canada. Fortunately there is at least one bootleg service available where Canadians, and anyone else, can view live matches – Channelsurfing.net.
Once on Channelsurfing.net scroll down to the Wimbledon logos and click on one of the several available streams – available in different languages. As I’m watching now (June 24, 2009 at 3:00 pm Eastern) there are 7 available live streams. I am watching the ESPN stream on both my iMac and PC and both are working fine. [Update: The ESPN stream cut out midway through a Roddick match and hasn’t returned as 11:30.am Eastern June 25]
Continue reading “Wimbledon 2009 Live Streaming – Bootleg Version”
Federer – The Best Tennis Player of All Time: French Open 2009
(click images in this post for larger views)
Tying Pete Sampras’ 14 slam titles, and with a career grand slam under his belt (only the 6th man in history to do that – Sampras never won the French), Roger Federer is now, undeniably, the best tennis player – ever!
Federer beat Robin Söderling (6-1, 7-6, 6-5) easily. Söderling took down Nadal the prior Sunday, paving the way for Federer’s historic win. In the three sets Roger:
- lost just 17 points on his serve
- wasn’t broken
- served at 66%
- hit 41 winners
- suffered only 24 unforced errors
It was fun to watch my all time favourite men’s tennis player, Andre Agassi, present the trophies. Having won the French Open 10 years ago and being the last man to win the career grand slam, he was a fitting choice. It was nice to see his wife, Steffi Graf present the woman’s trophies.
Continue reading “Federer – The Best Tennis Player of All Time: French Open 2009”
Roger Federer’s Designer Tennis Shoes – French Open 2009
Svetlana Kuznetsova wins 2009 French Open
(click on images in post for larger view)
In yet another lack-luster women’s grand slam final, the world’s number 1, and my current women’s favourite, Dinara Safina, was soundly beaten by Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2.
This is Kuznetsova’s second grand slam title (the first being the 2004 U.S. Open). Safina has still not won a major. Good for Kuznetsova! But it’s hard to cheer for someone who doesn’t seem to have much of a personality.
On the up side, it was really nice to watch a women’s grand slam final without the Williams’ sisters. It was also nice to see Steffi Graf again!
I miss Clijsters, Davenport, Henin and Hingis!
The Champ Goes Down!
When Rafael Nadal’s tripped in the third set, Mary Carillo said this picture will be famous if Nadal goes on to loose – even suggesting a title – “the Champ goes Down”. How prescient! I’m doing my part to fulfill her prophecy.
In what was a surprising and yet terrific match, Nadal’s 2007 Wimbledon nemesis,Robin Soderling (they played a 5 setter lasting 5 days due to rain delays), did something nobody has ever done before – beat Nadal at the French Open. Amazing!
This sets Federer up to accomplish three big things next Sunday:
- winning his first French Open;
- thereby giving him a career grand slam; and
- tying Pete Sampras’s 14 major title record.
Assuming, that is, that Federer makes it to the finals next week. This is Federer’s big break. I’ll be cheering for him.
On a related note, Azarenka defeated the 2009 French Open women’s champion, Ana Ivanovic, in straight sets. That isn’t much of a surprise to me. I have thought for some time that Ivanovic was over-rated. Go Safina go!
Nadal’s Designer Tennis Shoes – French Open 2009
These are the Nike, Max-air, LunarLite tennis shoes Rafael Nadal was wearing today when Robin Soderling took him down in the quarter finals at the French Open 2009.
Note the four tennis-ball-with-flame insignia’s for each of his 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 French Open titles.
Click on all images for larger views.
Nadal’s Designer Sneakers at Australian Open 2009
Once again I’m posting pictures of the designer sneakers worn by Rafael Nadal at the 2009 Australian Open. As always, the bull logo appears on the left shoe with ‘Rafa’ on the right. Now that he has won an Aussie Open, we can expect an Aussie Open trophy on next year’s sneakers! 🙂
I am astonished by how much traffic these pictures of his designer tennis bring to The Daleisphere. What the heck. You want it, I’ll blog about it.
Cheers.
Australian Open (2009) Second Week – Nadal and Serena Win
[Click images for larger views.]
Nadal def. Federer: Nadal won his first major on a hard court while denying Federer‘s attempt to match Sampras’ 14 major record. This marks the first time a Spaniard has won the Aussie Open. The high level of play we saw in the 2008 Wimbledon final continued into the
early sets of the Aussie final. Given the record setting five hour, fourteen minute semi between Nadal and Verdasco, Federer’s attempted to capitalize on Nadal’s fatigue. It didn’t work. Nadal did seem tire out early on but was resilient enough to take it to a fifth set where Federer appeared to wither. Nadal’s strategy, to constantly serve and return to Federer’s backhand worked.
Federer broke down in tears during his acceptance speech. He had to walk away to compose himself. He stood their crying for what seemed like an eternity as the crowed cheered. He finished his speech, fighting back the tears after Nadal picked up his trophy. I’ve never seen anything like that.
Trivia Tidbit: The coin toss is irrelevant for every Federer/Nadal match. No matter who wins, Nadal always elects to server and Federer always elects to receive.
S. Williams def. Safina: Serena Williams embarrassed Dinara Safina in 
a 6-0, 6-3 loss lasting less than an hour. This was Williams’ fourth Aussie Open win and 10th grand slam title. Safina’s performance tournament-wide was less than spectacular. She needs more work. She apologized to the crowd for her poor performance. The crowd forgave her.
Continue reading “Australian Open (2009) Second Week – Nadal and Serena Win”
Australian Open (2009) – First Week Roundup
Below is a roundup of my thoughts and observations concerning the first week matches at the 2009 Australian Open.
Click on the photos below to view full-sized versions.
Men’s Singles
Nadal Tweaks his Game & His Outfit: Number 1 seeded Nadal has changed his service stance (a little more open, left leg further back and tighter in) to try and get more speed on his serve. It seems to be working so far. His average first serve speed at the Aussie Open in 2009 is 113 mph. His average speed in 2008 was 109 mph. He is also dropping the elbow close to the body to take topspin off his forehand and flattening his forehand to work better on the slower Australian courts. As for fashion, his shorts are a little shorter and he has shirt sleeves for the first time. You’d think that with all his millions, he’d be able to hire a designer to solve his constant wedge problem. But no, he was tugging at the back of his new shorts as much as he ever has.
Roddick: Roddick lost 15 pounds in the off-season. He lost the weight to gain speed. Speed is needed to compete with the top players these days. Fabrice Santoro did Roddick a big favor by knocking out Kohlschreiber in the second round. Kohlschreiber defeated Roddick at the 2008 Aussie Open. I’m looking forward to his next match with Djokovic (assuming Djokovic beats Baghdatis) in the quarters. I’ll be cheering for Roddick! Is it just me, or does that KIA logo make you hunger for a Kit-Kat too?
Continue reading “Australian Open (2009) – First Week Roundup”
Wimbledon 2008 – Nadal and Venus Win Championship
Official Wimbledon Site | Men’s Draw | Ladies’ Draw | 
Wow! John McEnroe opined that the 2008 Wimbledon men’s final was the best match he’d ever seen. At 4 hours and 48 minutes it was certainly the longest (the previous record was the 1982 Connors v. McEnroe final at 4 hours, 16 minutes). I loved it, stomach twisting and turning all the way.
In the end Rafael Nadal won the a gut-wrenching five set 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 match that spanned two rain delays and threatened to go into Monday. Nadal had two championship points in the 3rd and 4th sets that Roger Federer managed to stave off. But Nadal was just too good. As hard as it is for me to say it, Nadal deserved that win. Point for point he chased down everything Federer threw at him.
(Nadal collapses after his hard-fought win)
(Nadal hugs trophy – Federer contemplates defeat)
Continue reading “Wimbledon 2008 – Nadal and Venus Win Championship”
Roger Federer’s Designer Tennis Shoes
Since I wrote about Rafael Nadal’s designer tennis shoes at the 2008 French Open, it is only fitting to post pictures the designer shoes worn by Federer at Wimbledon 2008.
As you can see, he wear’s custom Nike, Zoom Air, Fit Frame tennis shoes. On the left heal, his RF trademark is displayed. On the right heal, the Wimbledon gold trophy is emblazoned with the number 5 – signifying his 5 prior Wimbledon singles championships.
[June 6, 2008 Update: Having lost to Nadal in the finals, it appears that the insignia on the right heal won’t be changing any time soon 🙁 ]
A Week of Wimbledon in HD
Ah …. Finally …. Wimbledon in HD!
I’m happy to report that NBC lived up to its promise to provide high def coverage of Wimbledon for the first time this weekend. And, surprisingly, they’ll be broadcasting all of the second week at Wimbledon in HD too.
With the U.S. Feb 17, 2009 digital cut over deadline looming, my bet is that the 2009 Australian Open will be carried in HD too, making all four grand slams available in HD in North America for the first time.
