interest in the atp masters event. sure, lleyton hewitt, juan carlos ferrero, and carlos moya were some oldies still left in the draw, but what did they stand against the might of roger federer? the final which is at 10 pm my time between james blake and federer seems a foregone conclusion already, this in spite of roger not playing at his best all week and last.
now, the rogers cup in toronto is another matter, even if big names were scratched from the roster last wednesday as well (ana ivanovic, anna chakvetadze, elena dementieva). if it wasn't a mouthwatering ana-justine final predicted after ana's carson triumph exactly a week ago, it's now a j&j encounter, still a serbian, this time jelena jankovic against the feisty belgian justine. the world number 1 against the world number 3, mirroring somewhat the roger-nole final that took place in montréal a week ago, same time. this will most certainly be broadcast live here in belgium at 8 pm our time and i will be on hand to watch this come about.
jelena has a rather dismal head-to-head record against the belgian, 0-6, including big match choke-fests at last year's US open semifinals and this year's French Open semifinals. it's a long shot that she is ready to face the mentally tough wallonian, seeing as how she is still bothered by line calls that don't go her way. barring that, however, i am still crossing my fingers that somehow, just maybe, she might throw this persistent monkey off her back and get a decisive win heading into the last grand slam of the year.
so, dear jelena, hajde hajde hajde!
