in love with an idiot

In other news, 2009 continues to suck

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:53:10 GMT

Was busy the last few days moving my stuff to the shiny new computer - it's unbeliveable how much junk I've aggregated on my old HDD through the last 5 years (yes, you heard that right, my rig was five years old, possibly even six, I'm not sure I remember correctly). Bitch to sort it all out. Photos, pictures, texts, videos, some unidentifiable random junk... old archives dating back to '97... i couldn't just erase it all, though I've no idea what purpose my old notes about videogames might serve in the future, really. Or dictionaries which I now can buy wholesale on one CD.

So, I didn't even know until today that Momo's announced her retirement. So let's count: 3 (three) of my favourite players were done this year. That's not including Richie, whose career, and I'm first to admit it, is going nowhere fast, and that was even before the coke hoopla. I'm in dire need of some new faves, cause who have I left? Djokovic and... hey, anyone? Cause with my luck, he will retire next year too.

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:36:50 GMT

Только что из френд-ленты узнала, что умер Тихонов. Это нехорошо с моей стороны, если мне все равно? Я всегда была равнодушна к актерам. Нет, мне нравится фильм про учителя, и "Война и мир" была замечательная. Штирлиц вгоняет меня в ипохондрию (кроме анекдотов). Но я никогда не понимала вселенской скорби по актерам и любви к ним: да, среди них есть хорошие, есть очень хорошие, но в конце-то концов сами они ничего не создают. В конце концов, они всего лишь сосуды для чужого творения. Тенденция делать из них властителей дум меня слегка озадачивает.

Все это безотносительно Тихонова, конечно. Мир праху.

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:15:51 GMT

My best wishes for you on this amazing day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

WTF round up

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:50:41 GMT

This Davydenko is good. Seriously, the guy didn't win a slam in 09, but he beat everyone who did. Just an awesome display of playstation tennis, in the final particularly, DelPo didn't know what hit him.
Excuse me, but when did he learn to serve that way? The hell?
DelPo is cute. I don't think it's possible to be any cuter. I want to ruffle him. Unfortunately, he plays and moves like a poorly animated golem. The gall of people who try to liken his game to Safin's!
In every match in London Fed lost the first set, looking like he really couldn't be bothered; against Verdasco and Murray he turned things around, against Davy and DelPo he couldn't. What was that, a sign of hot giving a damn, or a new trend of suckitude? If anything, Fed's always been sharp off the gates - it's later in the match where he sometimes falls apart.
The best match of the tournament: Kolya D. vs. Fed (the last two sets). Close second: Nole vs. Kolya D. (the first two sets). Watching DelPo vs. Sod was like watching two donkeys standing tail-to-tail and trying to bludgeon each other with their hinder legs.
The worst match of the tournament, well... do I even need to spell it out. The first set tiebreak of the Nole-Nadal shoud be placed in the dictionaries to illustrate the concept of EPIC FAIL
That being said, it's good that Nole got another win over Nadal in the last match of the season. That could come up handy later on.
Even better that he didn't play Fed the next day. Considering his form yeah... that wouldn't have been pretty.
I'm losing patience with Fed's outfits lately. Was that thing with white trimmings he was sporting out there, supposed to be "classy"? He looked like Little Lord Fountleroy, ffs.
Spain was the only country having two players at WTF - and they went 0-6 in their matches. Great preparation for the DC final guys. Really inspirational.
The twin destinies of Fed and Sod: both led their groups 2-0 going into the last match; both needed to win a set to top their groups; both won their sets and stopped playing after that though the outcome of both matches affected the third players in their groups; both lost their next matches.
"I want to get stronger. I want to get faster. I want to move better. I want to return better and I want to volley better. If I can do that, things will turn out well. - Robin Soderling
"My weight? I weigh exactly the same as other seasons. I can say it in English if you wish. The same, it’s the look that changed. I’ve been 85, 86 Kgs since 2005 and I don’t move from there, but when you are winning you look stronger and things are a lot simpler." - Rafael Nadal

So this is it for the 2009 season. There's also the Davis Cup final coming this week, but honestly, I don't give a damn. I'm glad that the season is over, the second half with all the watching and writing, and all the bad stuff happening, was really freaking hard. And there was work, too. So, I've already canceled my Tennis Channel subscription. Till January I plan to watch some movies, play some games, and write some tennis stuff that doesnt' require trailing the web, watching matches or looking up statistics. Okay, statistics will be necessary, probably. Still. The 10 season is 5 weeks away - I plan to use them to my advantage.

WTF - the final

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:46:14 GMT

Had a stupid argument with hubby this morning about a stupid old computer which's been gathering dust in a corner for 4 years. Some stupid fucking words were spoken, mood soured irretrievably for the day. Fuck.

Now, I'm in a sort of a conundrum re: today's final. On one hand, I'd like Kolya D. to win: he's russian, after all, he's played awesome and he deserved. On the other hand. DelPo will overtake Muzz in the ranking if he wins the title, and that day couldn't come soon enough (overtaking I mean, not winning the title). Better DelPo than Muzz for sure; I just wish the boy's shots wouldn't look like donkey punches.

Oh well. I've promised myself to not give a shit about london, and kept it so far, so... I'll watch it nice and relaxed, and whoever wins, well... good for him.

Now that point from Kolya-Fed match, you know the one:

Now it's time to take Monkey boy for a walk.

COME ON KOLYA D.!!!!

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:38:17 GMT

SEVERODONETSK FTW!!!! Nobody beats you thirteen times in a row!111!!!

r00flez Feddy, the GOAT of bogus challenges. What a pissy handshake lol, he looked like someone's shat on his white jacket.

Up yours, Anna Wintour.

(photo lifted from amazing greatgloomer )

Pilfered from MTF

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:44:57 GMT

Bwahahahahah, courtesy of fmolinari2005:

What a comedy of a match, unreal.

Kick a Ginger

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:49:59 GMT

Yea, well done Fed, and after a shanktastic 1st set too. The old man takes a while to get going these days. Truly gave that so-called "second serve" the treatment it deserves.

Now from Murray's presser, the money quote:

If you give someone (the) opportunity to dictate, not only on his own service games, but on yours, it’s very difficult to win,” said Murray, who had eight double-faults in the match. “I served so poorly that anyone would have looked good against me tonight.

O rly, Squaremouth? Geez, what an arrogant, deluded fuck.

WTF - first impressions, bitchy to the extreme

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:37:40 GMT

1. I hate the O2 arena and the lighting - it looks like a giant morgue. Obnoxious blue coloring.

2. I never thought that my hatred for Andy Murray could get any greater, but it did yesterday. I don't think I've ever hated a tennis player with such a gut-deep loathing. I admit that it's not healthy.

3. I've never seen Feddy play as badly as he did in the first set against Verdasco. Literally, never. Maybe the Miami match of the racquet-smashing fame comes close, I'm not sure. He was moving like Myla was clinging to one of his ankles and Charlene to the other.

4. I promise myself that I won't give a shit about WTF. Honestly, I won't. Judging from yesterday's matches, it's all about who sucks the least at the moment. I'm so ready for the season to be over.

5. That being said, anyone but Murray, plskthxbai.

6. Congratulations, Fernando Verdasco, you're dumber than Berdych. You've borrowed a page from Nadal's book about pounding Feddy's pathetic bh, and you were implementing that plan successfully, so why did you abandon it at the lightest wiff of pressure, ffs? Dumb fuck.

7. It's okay, DelPo, you still have a slam and Murray doesn't. That being said, it's not okay to fold so pathetically in the decider, especially to that hateful twat.

8. I don't even want to talk about that Tacchini switch. So you've learned nothing from the Head switch, Nole? Well, fuck your goddamned greedy arse, you stupid bastard. I hope at least the shoes stay the same.

9. Max Mirnyi is not a relation of Monkey boy's school teacher. Woe.

10. Oh, and there was also Federbear.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:02:23 GMT

Marat, part the 3rd: http://www.sports.ru/tennis/48148797.html. The London pre-tournament write-up should be up tomorrow. I promised to write every day during WTF, so wish me luck.

Now, omg:

I realised that Max Mirnyi looks exactly like Monkey boy's school teacher! It's incredible, exactly the same face, she could easily be his mother. And the age fits too. I knew that something bugged me about her face, but could never place it, now I know! Come Monday, I shall ask her if they're by chance related.

Meanwhile, the rest of photos are trickling in:

The umbrella is not quite long enough for DelPo, hee. And I love how excited Sod looks.

I think Nadal might be balding.

Stunning eyes:

The bridges of London are coming down
My fair lady!

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:09:58 GMT

Our cat died today, at the age of 13. She had kidney stone disease for quite some time, had a surgery two years ago, and this morning she was finally put to sleep. R.I.P., kitty. You were very independent and particular, you could purr like no other, and we will remember you always.

God, the year two thousand and nine cannot end soon enough - what an utterly shitty, heartwrecking, miserable year it had been. 42 days to go.

2nd part of the Marat awesomeness is up: http://www.sports.ru/tennis/48148791.html. 2001-2006.

And Steve Tignor the Bandwagon Jumper picked Djoko to win WTF. Oh noes, we're surely doomed now.

WTF - draw

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:34:42 GMT

Me like. I'd swapped Denko for DelPo, but can't have everything.

The top group is kinda straightforward - Fed and Murray to the semis, the only question is in which order. DelPo is 2-3 since USO (retired from matches twice), and the future of tennis is incapable of beating anyone of significance to save his hide. So Fed&Muzz it is.

The bottom group is more interesting: anyone is capable of beating anyone else there. Plus Sod did get drawn to meet Rafa, so yay! Dramatic possibilities galore! Nole looks like a solid favorite, but with his history of dramatic flameouts and not defending titles, well... let's not count our chickens yet. Kolya could beat Nole and Rafa, but has match-up problems with Sod. Rafa got beat by all 3 of his group mates in their last meetings (often badly) but has winning h2h over all of them save Kolya. The surface is reported to be really fast and low-bouncing, so additional problems for Nadal (and for DelPo too. And for Nole, who also likes 'em a little higher.). The only thing that looks guaranteed is a Nole win over Sod (5-0 h2h), if Nole's not comatose a-la '07. My bet? Nole and Denko to the semis in whatever order. Rafa getting a revenge win over Sod but no more.

Let's all watch now how all my predictions will get butchered to hell. And then laugh at me. And point fingers.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:40:47 GMT

Now, I dunno where Forty Deuce got this, but it's simply brilliant:

Robin Bo Karl Söderling to replace Andy Roddick at WTF London (that "Bo Karl" just slays me).

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?????

Now to Nadal's group, please.

PS. The first part of my Marat epic is up on sports.ru: http://www.sports.ru/tennis/48148793.html

WTF breaking news

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:19:44 GMT

Roddick out, Soderling in: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article6918010.ece

Not unexpected, but still kind of a pity. Tsonga is the first alternate, waiting if DelPo pulls out.

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:13:16 GMT

'bout Nole's celebration (which some people already have their knickers in a twist about), I just imagine Feddy doing something like that: writing his name on the lens and yelling "Switzerland!!!" with bulging eyes. Makes me cackle, it does. )))

Bercy final

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:45:55 GMT

Nole, when I get a cardiac arrest (or lung cancer) I'm counting on you to pay for my medical bills. Just so you know. Still, grats boyo. 10-match winning streak!

If anyone's wondering why I'm not blogging about Bercy, I've been busy composing a ginormous piece on Marat which should be published shortly )))

Who's your daddy now Robin?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:37:45 GMT

Phew. What a clusterfuck.

Yeah Noley, exactly. Was it just a horrible day at the office, or are you simply exhausted? Bet the latter.

In all seriousness, I was prepared for him to take one for the team today - all for the noble purpose of not allowing the future of tennis into WTF, of course. My hopes lie with Jo now.

ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ JO-WI!

I'm too sexy, too sexy, too sexy for my shirt!

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:56:27 GMT

And in particular for you, Squarekilt!!! The Worm in the end would've made it perfect but hey.

Sic transit Safin

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:57:31 GMT

Wanted to write yesterday, but got fatally disconnected.

I'm actually in equal parts sad and relieved - the struggle is over. Did I cry? Yes, yes I admit I did, but not during the farewell, slightly after - kind of a delayed reaction I guess. Couldn't find a better way to go out, really - in a good, tight match, against a bright rising star, in a tournament that he's won 3 times. The previous day there was a horrible feeling that he was gonna end his carreer with a loss to Ascione, but thank you Marat for finding those aces, saving thoae matchpoints and living another day. This, yesterday, was perfect.

Good farewell ceremony, not too cheesy. Rosset's getting fat. There was also Nole in a Black Hoodie of Sex. And mad props to Karlovic - he'd lost to Soderling earlier that day, and still came.

Well done to DelPo for the match and for being so classy after. I think Marat liked that his last match was againt him.

Anyway, caahhh-razey day in Paris yesterday, no?

Davydenko d. Djokovic

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:49:55 GMT

Too good, Kolya D. Just too freaking good. Must qualify for WTF with that win.

Please win it all tomorrow.

Upd. Oh, and Nadal? Please tear Lopez apart. Show no mercy, okay? Thanks.

Mommy, mommy, they made me play Rotterdam!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:52:19 GMT

tennisdeva over at worldpress made a post conserning, among other things, the most recent hulabaloo about the ATP schedule. Well, I have an opinion too, and I'm posting it here for futute reference. In four words:

c’mon. do you actually believe that an exhibition in abu dhabi is about fulfilling a duty to the tennis fans? lol, it’s a money grab, pure and simple, there’s no double meaning there. And if the season miraculaosly got shorter somehow, do you actually believe that Rafa (or Fed, or any other top player) would be sitting on their bums rcuperating for 2-3 months? No, they would be touring Middle and Far East in order to grab even more cash. Meanwhile, all the other players (all the 1500 of them not named Fed, Rafa, maybe Djoko and Murray too) would be twiddling their thumbs not earning anything. Those guys, from No 10 down, heed MORE tournaments, not less.

All that whinging about schedule is hypocritical to the extreme: those guys, the very top ones, are reach beyond the dreams of avarice by teh time they hit their mid-20s. They got paid insane money for doing work that they love, and they have the GALL to bitch about having only one month to rest? Newsflash: the rest of the human population work 11 months a year also, sometimes even more. Noone bitches about that fact; well, maybe some people do, but who the fuck listens?

I have one great piece of advice to Rafa (and to Roddick and all the other whigners): if you think that you play too much, then play less. Is someone holding uncle Tony hostage forcing Nadal to sign up for tournaments? Threatens to publish compromising photos of Roddick without his cap on? The worst outcome for them would be zero points and a measly fine. Boo freaking hoo.

Yes, they should structure the calendar better (have the players fly half over the world for 3 weeks worth of play, and then fly back again is borderline cruelty). No warm up before the Australian, RG and Wimbly too close together, all those destriers that’d been clobbered to death, and after reaching the pearly gates clobbered some more. Also, the ATP can try cutting down the number of mandatory tournaments for, I dunno, top 15? But other than that? Quit you bitching and manage your schedule better. Roddick is especially hilarious, as usually he can't be arsed through the entire clay season. And teh poor darling still plays too much. Well, play the fuck less.

Come on old man Ljubo!

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:14:05 GMT

Send this clown home! Tear him up! AJMO!

Upd. Boo Monfils! Boo on you!

Shut up Marat

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:52:41 GMT

“Just come on; just grow up a little bit; 26 years old; just deal with that. If you’re losing, just be a man; be a man and lose as a man.
“Don’t pretend that you are injured and then you start running around and start to hit winners and then all of a sudden you pull the hands up in the air after winning the match?
“So then of course the guy will say: ‘No, I’ve been injured but then I felt a little bit better’.
“Of course he will find 10,000 excuses. Still, it’s not enough. You’re playing or you’re not playing. If you’re playing, so just shut…up and play.”

I love you man, but stop embarrassing yourself. First, if at 30 y.o and after 13 years of pro life you're still getting fooled by that, than you're a tool who deserves no better. Second, I distinctly remember someone taking a mto at RG '04, just as Starace was about to serve for the match. And against Hewitt in the AO '05 final - to get leg massage, of all things? Now who might that have been? Errm... let me remember... you!Everybody does that, just,,, stfu for chrissakes.

On the other hand, was pretty interesting to know at last why he had a spit with Roddick at the Athenes Olympics - because of the schedule, it turned out. I was mildly disappointed tbh hoped for somehing more epic.

On the third hand, DelPo's fall season is really shaping up in the footsteps of Nole's '07 fall season, only with an injury on top of that. No wonder the stands were empty - why would fans go to a tournament if every top player who takes the court just fucking retires?

Nole started his match playing short to Fabio's forehand like a moron, but let's chalk it up for not knowing what the guy's up to. Then lifted up his return game, blasted Fabio's candy-ass. Fabio's really too pretty, almost indecently so.

That was the only match that I've seen today, some pretty entertaining rallies by the by.

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:56:43 GMT

andyroddick i just dont think it makes sense that we have a year as long as we do, and then people act shocked when injuries play a part

Andy Roddick wrote that on twitter this morning. Five hours later he retired from his match against Stan the Man with knee injury - that's what I call self-jinx (or would that be a self-fulfilling prophesy?) par excellence. Poor A-Rod, tennis's been fucking him sideways since that Wimbly final.

On a separate creepy note, Wawa now has two wins over Andy, both by retirement.

Gulbis returned to his usual stellar form, losing to Fognini on hard in the 1st rd in straights. Cilic also went out in the 1st rd - to Berdych.

Tokyo champion

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:26:19 GMT

Yes, I know for a fact that there are people out there who don't like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I'm even friends with some of them. It still doesn't make sense to me though - I mean how can you not like the awesomeness and fun that is Jo-Wi? It's just unnatural.

Jo-Wi won Tokyo over Youzhny in a dominating fashion - that will help him immencely in the race to Barklay's, but I don't know about his Shanghai chances now - he will be playing for the 3rd week in a row. Good luck anyway.

Looks like play in Beijing is suspended for rain. I'm heading out with Monkey boy - Nole will have to find his way without me.