Somewhat Manly Nerd » u.s. open

Thanks for Making Me Looking Bad, Federer. Asshole.

CajoleJuice — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:40:52 +0000

I swear to God, I go all-out with a post declaring your greatness, and you repay me by losing to some 20-year-old giant. Who the fuck is Juan Martin Del Potro? What the flying fuck was that 5th set, anyway? That was just goddamn embarrassing. Did you need some more oil in your gears? Did your neural net processor malfunction? You double-faulted on deuce! DAMN IT!

This is what I get for betraying Rafael Nadal. I want Nadal to start making you cry again next year, please. I guess you only use your tear ducts when you get beaten by a Spaniard, since Del Potro didn’t make you bring on the waterworks. I can’t believe this shit. I specifically remember last night writing “I have little doubt that Fed will go on to win the U.S. Open tomorrow,” but then I changed it to “no doubt,” because how could there be any doubt when Federer’s the best at anything ever? You Swiss bastard.

I guess you got a new trophy today, though. You never got that runner-up U.S. Open trophy. That’s a positive, right? Another piece of silverware to add to the massive collection. I hope you get used to it, old man. Nadal and Del Potro are going to be on your ass next year. Del Potro possibly even moreso, considering the 6’6′ Argentinian isn’t even 21 years old yet. He’s going to smash that forehand down your throat. He dismantled two of the greatest tennis players ever in back-to-back days with that booming shot. On the other hand, one was hurt and the other played like shit. I’ll try not to get too excited, like I stupidly did when Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open last year.

The best thing to come out of the final tonight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NfLZGZ-ULg

Roger Federer Is Better At Tennis Than Anyone At Anything Ever

CajoleJuice — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:40:33 +0000

22 straight Grand Slam semis and now 17 out of the past 18 Grand Slam finals, with the one he missed being undoubtedly due to mono. I tried to downplay the effect mono must have had on Federer’s reign last year, but with the way he’s bounced back this year it’s obvious that the illness had a lingering effect. It’s amazing — since the Australian Open — how much of a better year Federer has had compared to Rafael Nadal. Nadal destroyed his body to beat Federer, outplaying him by pushing his body to the absolute limit, and it seems as if now he’s caught in a downward spiral of injuries. I have no doubt that Fed will go on to win the U.S. Open tomorrow, which will make for another 3 for 4 year. Pretty much the typical Federer year. 2008 was the anomaly.

But I don’t make this post to talk about this crap, I make this post to embed this YouTube video, which includes a shot that will be played a million times over the course of human civilization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVQhIEPbM0g

Federer made that shot on the next-to-last point of the game. It would have been too perfect for him to end a straight-set victory with such an insane shot. We’ve all seen the between-the-legs shot made before, but not with the ball 6 inches off the ground, with the ball making it 6 inches over the net, and the shot landing 6 inches from the corner. Holy fuck.

Hey, notice how I ignored Nadal getting totally dismantled the other day? Yeah. That sucked.

So How About That Roger Federer?

CajoleJuice — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:27:57 +0000

I wasn’t posting much before and during the U.S. Open, so I never bothered to dedicate a lot of words to it. And maybe because I didn’t know where to go with a post. I thought the tournament was more open than any slutty Hollywood starlet I could’ve used to finish that predictable joke. Nadal was the best player this year and my personal favorite, but this Grand Slam showed he still has work to do to catch up with the other top players on hard courts. His style of play is obviously not suited to hard surfaces, and after seeing Andy Murray beat him at his own game — so soundly that Nadal was visibly exhausted by the end of the match –Â I’m not sure if he’ll ever win an Australian or U.S. Open, quite honestly. Maybe the shock of seeing Nadal completely spent has gotten to me. Murray was just hitting the ball SO HARD, while moving around almost as well as Nadal. The capri-pants superman just didn’t have an answer.

Anyway, the real story was Roger Federer dismantling the field and shutting everyone the hell up in the process — including myself. I still think that the total, absolute dominance he displayed for quite a few years is over, but I guess he still has it in him to shatter Sampras’ Grand Slam record. Maybe the effects of mono have been lingering the entire season up til now. Maybe the fast surface of the U.S. Open is actually better for him at this point than Wimbledon, which has apparently slowed down in recent years. Either way, he looked like himself this tournament.

I just felt like I needed to make this post, since I’ve been posting about most of his disappointments this year. You can sleep well tonight, Roger. Your victory is now documented in my blog.