My 2011 Australian Open Predictions! January 14, 2011
Posted by johnthrasher in technology, Television, tennis.Tags: Australian Open, Kim Clijsters, Li Na, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer
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Well there isn’t a ton of drama heading in to this year’s Australian Open, which begins on Monday. On the women’s side Serena Williams is still absent from the game (nursing a foot injury from July), one of my favorites Elena Dementieva retired in November, and Li Na just beat Clijsters in Sydney to win the title.
On the men’s side, the top 100 players are entered, Nadal is looking to be the first man in 42 years to hold all four grand slams at once, and Roger Federer is now 30 – usually the beginning of the end in players past. With all of this considered, including the draw, here are my semis, finals, and champions for the 2011 Australian Open:
Women’s Singles
Semis: 11 Henin vs. 9 Li and 3 Clijsters vs. 2 Zvonareva
Final: 9 Li vs. 3 Clijsters
Champion: 9 Li
It’s a bit of a long shot for Li to win a slam considering she never has, and she’d have to beat Aussie favorite, and U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters to do it probably. However, Li just beat Clijsters today to win in Sydney. Maybe Clijsters is a little more fatigued than usual? Either way I expect Li to make a deep run.
Men’s Singles:
Semis: 1 Nadal vs 4 Soderling and 4 Djokovic vs. 2 Federer
Final: 1 Nadal vs. 2 Djokovic
Champion: 1 Nadal
I really went back and forth about putting Djokovic or Federer in the final, but am thinking that with an aging Federer and a vengeful Djokovic, maybe Djokovic could win. Djokovic has beaten Federer before so it’s not a long-shot really. I just hope that Nadal is over his recent flu that derailed him 2 weeks ago. It would be amazing to see him hit yet another career record!
My U.S. Open 2010 Predictions! August 29, 2010
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Personally John, Television, tennis, Travel.Tags: Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, New York City, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, U.S. Open, Venus Williams
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Though I am not entirely sure yet, there is a very high possibility that I will be attending the U.S. Open this year again! I’m really excited and will definitely be reporting on it when I am there. Click here to see my pics, and review of the Open last year.
But, for now I wanted to post my thoughts on who will win this year’s U.S. Open – both men and women. I used USOpen.org’s Bracket Challenge to plan out my quarterfinals, semis, finals, and champions. So without further ado.
Serena withdrew last week as she recovers from a freak accident a few months ago where she cut her foot on a glass at a restaurant and required emergency surgery. With Serena out of the mix, the field is actually very wide open. For the women’s side I have:
1 Caroline Wozniacki def. 2 Kim Clijsters in the final.
Caroline has been on absolute fire this summer and is the U.S. Open series winner, which means she will add a million dollar bonus to whatever prize money she makes during her run this year. Kim has been doing well this summer, but there is a bit more of a spark in Caroline’s play. Caroline doesn’t possess any major weapons but her consistency seems to be enough to really make it far in this tournament. Here’s how I think the women’s draw will go:
As for the men, Rafael Nadal goes in to the U.S. Open as the No.1 seed…though this is the only major he hasn’t won. I got to see Rafa play last year when I went to the Open. He definitely has what it takes to win this tournament – there’s no doubt about that. With Federer aging, and a not-s0-hot draw, I predict:
1 Rafael Nadal def. 19 Mardy Fish in the final.
Mardy has never played like a champion until this summer. He won a couple of tournaments and is in the best shape of his life. It’s a long shot to have him beating Federer – the greatest player of all time – but Federe has proved that he is not infallible. Here’s how I think the men’s singles draw will go:
In 2 weeks we’ll know the winner of both! Will someone surprise us (like Del Potro did last year) or will we see the No.1 seeds win? I’ll be back after the fortnight to analyze my usually accurate predictions! 
Justine Henin Coming Out of Retirement September 21, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Movies/Film, Personally John, Sports, technology, Television, tennis.Tags: Belgium, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Sports, tennis, U.S. Open, Women's tennis, WTA
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Former world No.1 tennis player, and current world No. 1 most annoying person in the world, Justine Henin, will be announcing her return to professional tennis after dramatically, yet thankfully for everyone who watches tennis, announcing her abrupt retirement in May 2008.
Justine, who has been the center of many unsportsmanlike scenarios in her tennis career, and who has no personality to offer the game of tennis, will be boring us to death with her cranky, selfish, and what now seems like desperate attempts to win more majors.
We can only assume that Justine saw the success of fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters winning the U.S. Open, and used her win as a selfish means of motivation to get back in the game of tennis.
Frankly, Justine’s retirement was welcomed, not only by me, but most of the tennis world as well. As recently as May, Justine had said that a possible return to tennis in the future was “unthinkable.” We wish she would have stopped thinking and stayed retired!
We share Justine’s expression in the picture above, knowing that she’ll be in the draws of events in the future.
David Archuleta Sings At the U.S. Open! September 13, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Music, Television, tennis.Tags: Caroline Wozniacki, David Archuleta, Jive Records, Kim Clijsters, singing, Sports, tennis, U.S. Open
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David Archuleta, the greatest singer in the history of music, sang “America the Beautiful” at the opening of the Women’s Final at the U.S. Open tonight.
Of course, it was the most beautiful rendition of the song that has ever been sung.
Serena Williams To Explain Her Meltdown to International Tennis Federation September 13, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, technology, Television, tennis, Travel.Tags: Brian Earley, China Open, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, tennis, U.S. Open, Venus Williams, Yahoo Tennis
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Yahoo! Tennis is reporting that Serena Williams is scheduled to explain her verbal meltdown to tennis’ governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Serena, along with members of the ITF, as well as the Grand Slam committee, will convene on Sunday with U.S. Open referee Brian Earley to discuss the situation and possible consequences.
The group is expected to review video footage of the incident, seek clarification from the line judge and most likely hand down a heavy fine to Williams. A representative from the WTA Tour is also expected to be included, although the Tour does not have jurisdiction over Grand Slam events.
I’m not really sure what will happen here. Probably something dramatic, because that always seems to happen with Serena. Maybe it will just be a huge fine. In comparison to some of the other fines that tennis players have received, I would expect the fine to be somewhere around $20,000.
It will be interesting to see how this situation pans out, and how Serena responds to interviewers and the press. Serena is scheduled to play the China Open in Beijing, which starts on October 3. Other than that tournament and the season ending Championships, that’s all the tennis obligations that Serena has to fulfill. Something tells me that if she gets a heavy fine, she may pull out of both events and just take the rest of the year off.
Serena and Venus are scheduled to play the women’s doubles final tomorrow as well. I wonder if the meeting with the officials will come before or after the match, and how it will effect Serena’s game. There’s a part of me that wonders if she will just pull out of the final and hop on a plane home to get out of NYC. When she and Venus were heckled at Indian Wells in 2001, they never returned.
My U.S. Open Experience! September 9, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Personally John, Sports, Television, tennis, Travel.Tags: Caroline Wozniacki, Daniela Hantuchova, Grand Slam, Juan Martin Del Potro, Kim Clijsters, New York City, Nicolas Almagro, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Sorana Cirstea, tennis, U.S. Open, Venus Williams
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On Sunday, September 6, 2009, I got the chance to go to the U.S. Open in New York City! I bought my ticket the night before, and got decent seats on Arthur Ashe stadium. I was so excited to go, and could barely sleep the night before because all I thought about was being there. I have dreamed about going to the U.S. Open since I was 16 and started playing tennis. The all-star lineup made my day at the Open a dream come true, to say the least.
I took the 7 train to Willets Point, which is a stop right between Mets Stadium and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. I got to my seat in the promenade of Arthur Ashe stadium at about 10a.m. On my way to my seat, I saw tennis legend Nick Bollettieri! I wanted to ask him for a photo, but he was talking to someone and seemed engaged in the conversation.
First up was the main reason I was there! Serena Williams! Her 4th round match versus Daniela Hantuchova was to start at 11a.m. Serena had a very easy time winning the match 6-2, 6-0 in about an hour.
After Serena’s match was finished, the man I hope wins the tournament, world No.3 Rafael Nadal took to the court. He was very energetic, powerful, and played very well in beating the 32 seed, Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
The last match of the day session might have been the most anticipated. It was world No.3 Venus Williams versus 2005 champion, and wild card, Kim Clijsters. Clijsters is back after 2 years off, and without a ranking. Clijsters ended up winning the match 6-0, 0-6, 6-4. It was kind of sad to see Venus lose the match because her leg was very heavily taped, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
After the day session on Arthur Ashe stadium was over, I ran as quickly as I could over to Louis Armstrong stadium to see the Williams sisters doubles match versus Caroline Wozniacki and Sorana Cirstea. But when I got there, the match between world No.6 Juan Martin del Potro was just finishing up. He played unseeded Daniel Koellerer, and won 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
After the men’s singles match, the Williams sisters came on and I got fantastic seats! I was literally about 6 feet from the court and took lots of awesome pictures. Before the match began I had to get to a closer seat and had to shift my way around Oracene Price, their mother! Oracene is just as popular of a person as Serena and Venus in the tennis-world. Anyone who is a fan of Venus or Serena is a fan of Oracene. Also, Serean’s boyfriend, rapper Common, was in the stands. You can see the picture here. He’s the one in the blue shirt. Oracene is the one in red just behind him.
The best part of the night happened after the doubles match. I was leaving Louis Armstrong stadium with the rest of the crowd when I suddenly hear everyone clapping and cheering. I look behind me to see what people are clapping about, and Venus and Serena are literally walking RIGHT BEHIND me! I couldn’t believe it. I was walking out of the stadium with Serena Williams! My battery was dying on my camera, so the flash didn’t take, but as you can see in the picture below I was literally right next to her.
Needless to say I had an absolute blast fulfilling my dreams at the U.S. Open, and being able to walk out of Louis Armstrong Stadium with the one and only Serena Williams. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love her, and how blessed I am to have been there. I can’t wait to go again next year. Maybe I’ll go to the Australian Open in January!
For an entire gallery of the photos that I took check on Facebook or click here for my MobileMe gallery.
