a conflict that lasted for fifty years is back --- on centre court in melbourne park. when the women's final begins tomorrow in the rod laver arena, an american squares off against her russian opponent. the sentimental favourite is out of contention, freed to move closer to her dream of marrying and having kids of her own, a family entire that may some day be sitting in the stands and cheering the players on court.who will you be rooting for? will it be the player who played only 2 matches prior to her australian open tournament, ranked 81st in the world, is unseeded in the year's first grand slam, and hounded by injuries in the last two years? there is, of course, the tiny fact of her having never lost a semi-final or final at melbourne, as were the cases in 2003 and 2005. or that she's a former world #1 and dubbed as a comeback queen, the label manifesting itself in her dramtic wins over 5th seed nadia petrova (who served for the match at 5-3 in the 2nd set) and 16th seed army private shahar peer.
or will you be rooting for the #1 seed golden girl and face of women's tennis, the nike/land cruiser/*insert any product brand here* model of russian descent yet american sensibilities who won the most recent grand slam in new york last september? the tall, "i feel pretty" blonde, whose face my older son likes is a fighter of mental grit that belies her 19 years, and has a 2-2 win-loss record against her opponent tomorrow. (2004 wimby final and year end championships that sharpie won; miami 2004 and the 2005 australian semi that serena won)
both girls are based in florida and play with the bollietteri brand of tennis, shrieks and "come on!"'s included. both have achieved diva status in their off-court lives and this rem
atch of their 2005 australian semi-final will be an interesting one to see. i hope they bring their best on court, hopefully sans the screaming (reach for the stars, svelte rogue!) and we are party to an exciting match. aesthetic tennis police, keep out!as for me, bring on the serena train. and keep the hubris out when she does win. go, serena!
4 comments:
i'm not a big fan of the williams sisters but... anybody BUT Sharapova! puh-leeze!!!!!
what do you think about the federer vs. gonzalez finals? i'm still a federer fan but i am in awe of gonzalez! did you see their differentials for the whole aussie open? federer is at +95 but gonzalez is at +169 (thereabouts).
serena schooled the shrieker on the biggest stage of all. yeah!!! serena was simply sublime. check out the stats of winner to errors!!! she dictated play every single time! :)
as for the men's final, i'm hoping that gonzo brings his mature "new" self to the game and not crumble under the relentless pressure from the elegant swiss. i would like to see a match that goes the distance, really. esp with roger. because if that happens, then it will be a beautiful thing to behold.
it was an unexpected victory. lesson learned: never under estimate the underdogs.
cold war was a period of conflict between US and Soviet Union
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