⇒ wimbledon day 2 quote

Q. Which one of his (Federer's) records do you think is his most impressive?
RAFAEL NADAL: Every one. Every one is amazing. If I have to say something, 23 semifinals in a row of Grand Slam.

Q. Why?
RAFAEL NADAL: Because is five years, almost six years, playing all four Grand Slams. You can have no one injury, no one bad day, so is amazing. That's my feeling, no? So 23 semifinals in a row, in my opinion, impossible to do it another time.

.
.
.

Q. You spoke about what you felt was Roger's most amazing record. Of your tremendous accomplishments, what do you think your best achievement is?
RAFAEL NADAL: 81 matches straight on clay. That's a lot.

yup

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⇒ wimbledon 2010: it's on

Once the clay court season was going to come around, it was always logical that Rafa was going to pick up tournaments.

I don't know. I don't want to say nobody expected him to win all four. But I know his level of play on clay. It's supreme to anybody. So it was impressive to see how well he played. He deserves to be world No. 1 again.

-Roger Federer

speaking of Fed, he just survived 2 sets down, 4-4 0-40 in the third in the First Round! Alejandro Falla (Columbia) was the other guy. He's been pretty vulnerable of late.

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⇒ classy all the way

Never in my wildest dream would I have dreamt of such beautiful presents. Life was very kind to me.

Nadal on his career thus far

even Soderling was gracious in defeat:

Of course I can play better. I wish I could have done that, but, you know, he played great. So all credit to him.

and here's the writeup of Roland Garros 2010 Men's final.

Wimbledon starts soon!

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⇒ congratulations, Rafa!

Rafael Nadal (2) def. Robin Soderling (5) 6-4 6-2 6-4 at Roland Garros 2010 for his 7th slam.
He didn't drop a set the entire tournament (second time he's won Roland Garros without dropping a set--2008 was the other occasion) and only dropped 2 sets on clay the whole season (to Almagro in Madrid and Gulbis in Rome).

Decisive win in an engaging match-up: there is/was purported animosity and personal history between them. Soderling is still the only player to have ever beaten Rafa at Roland Garros.

That completes Rafa's run of sweeping 3 clay masters and the clay Grand Slam.
And reclaiming World #1.
And denying Federer a record equalling 286th week as #1 (actually it was Soderling and Nadal's combined actions which denied Federer).
And winning on front of Spanish royalty (Queen Sofia)--actually the 3rd slam(?) he's won in front of Spanish royalty (Roland Garros 2005 and Wimbeldon 2008 are the others).

Jay-Z and Beyonce were there too.

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⇒ US Open '09

Del Potro beat Federer!

3-6 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

I can't believe they didn't air this in Australia!

'Til now, only Nadal has beaten Federer at a Slam final (5 times in fact). Del Potro certainly earned this one, beating (an injured) Nadal en route. I thought Del Potro might b!tch out like Djokovic and Murray do in finals against Fed--he got stomped at AO'09 by Fed and beaten by Hewitt in SW19'09 just cause of awe, but no, Del Potro stayed strong. Unlike FO'09, where Del Potro was in the lead and caved, Del Potro came from behind to win this one. 5th set was pretty much no contest.

This kind of thing has been happening every couple of Slams now, Federer wins alot, and some young hothead comes from nowhere to take some (Safin, Nadal, Djokovic, Del Potro).

Fed must be steaming! Missed out on the six in a row and he had Del Potro beat in the 4th. I'm pretty shocked Del Potro beat Fed 6-2 in the 5th. Didn't think anyone but Nadal has it in them. So that' s the new tennis world order: Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Djokovic, Murray.

Yes, I rank them in order of greatness--Fed #1 obv; Nadal's 5 years Fed's junior but the superior player of his generation; Del Potro-the ONLY player not named Nadal to beat Federer in any slam final; Djokovic-beat Federer en route to a title, used to be better, but lost his bollocks because the crowd doesn't like him (boo-hoo); Murray-well behind these four, despite the rankings, he's not lived up to his skill--didn't even make a slam final this year!

Keep in mind, Del Potro is only 20, let's see him back it up with another win.

I called it: Del Potro just won, Tomic took the US Open Junior title and Caroline Wozniacki made it to the final.

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⇒ tennis roundup

So Federer won Wimbledon '09...feels totally wrong though, especially given Roddick's amazing form and incredible improvement all over the court and draining effort. Matter of fact, without Federer's 50 aces, he would have been destroyed by Andy. I'm sure Andy feels cheated and I do too--he really should have won that match/championship. His all-court improvements, fitness, gameplan and patience only offset by Federer's unreadable serves. Federer didn't win so much as Andy lost. Pretty good write up of the match here, particularly the last 2 paragraphs.

The reasons I used to trash Andy are now the reasons I trash Fed--way too much ego. Add to that, the ego is now unjustified as his play level and style are nowhere near the peak form which carried him to the top.

He's all gold man-purses and monogrammed sweater vests now--he's losing me as a fan. He needs some serious thrashin' by Rafa/Murray/Djoko/Roddick to keep him in check.

Andy on the other hand has matured and improved in ways I'd never imagine from the player I saw in the past. He's basically become Agassi--from young American jackass to American ambassador, great competitor and classy guy. Furthermore, he continually reels in Djoko when his unjustified ego and showboating get out of hand.

The match itself was okay-'08's final was better. The whole match was mostly watching the guys hit aces or unreturnable serves. Only in the last two sets did the overall match improve.

Fed got back his #1 ranking BUT, Rafa's on his way back, and next year Fed will have to defend his French Open and Wimbledon titles, while Rafa will only need to exceed the 4th round of Roland Garros and first round of Wimbledon to pick up extra points.

btw, 'Rocket' Rod Laver, commenting on 'greatest of all time' hype, postulates a 'greatest of their era' title is more appropriate, given the playing field, equipment, courts and rules have changed since. I agree, but I prefer a 'best since...' list:
Rod Laver, best since Open Era started
Roy Emerson, best Aussie since Rod Laver
John Newcombe, best Aussie since Roy Emerson
Jimmy Connors, best American
Bjorn Borg, best Swede, best clay court player, best grass court player, most consistent
Guillermo Vilas, best clay court player since Borg
John McEnroe, best American since Connors
Mats Wilander, best Swede since Borg
Ivan Lendl, best Czech, best workhorse, most consistent since Borg
Stefan Edberg, best Swede since Wilander
Boris Becker, best German
Pete Sampras, best American since McEnroe (tie), best grass court player since Borg
Andre Agassi, best American since McEnroe (tie)
Gustavo Kuerten, best Brazilian, best clay court player since Vilas
Marat Safin, best underachiever, best Russian
Lleyton Hewitt, best Aussie since Newcombe
Roger Federer, best Swiss, best since Laver, Borg, Sampras, most consistent since Lendl
Andy Roddick, best runner-up, best American since Sampras/Agassi
Gaston Gaudio, best 'worst' player
Rafael Nadal, best Spaniard, best clay court player, best since Borg, Vilas, Federer
source: wiki

I would still rate Borg higher than Federer--he got 11 slams (4 consecutive French, 5 consecutive Wimbledons, did the 'difficult double' 3 times) and finished with 63 titles (or 100, depending on how you count it) by the time he retired at 25. Then of course time's gonna tell with Rafa (6 slams by 23 compared to Fed's 3 slams - Wimbledon '03, AO '04, Wimbledon '04).

full federer-nadal rivalry thus far | borg's pre-wimbledon 2008 thoughts

I don't follow Women's tennis closely enough to comment--there's an Aussie Women's champion drought at the moment. Also, their ranking system is critically flawed--Serena Williams is the current champion of 3 of the last 4 slams, yet she's only #2? GTFO! However, I am in awe of the achievements of the following women's champions:
Margaret Smith Court, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Sharapova made the list purely based on her dream run to the title at Wimbledon, and her dominance at one Australian Open.

Picks for future grand slam champions:
Juan Martin Del Potro, Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dmitrov, Sorana Cirstea, Caroline Wozniacki


Three last things about tennis (I'm paraphrasing the first two):
1. "everybody is an underachiever" -Safin
2. "every grand slam could be your last" -Nadal
3. Federer should go back to the Steven Seagal look. If be a dick, at least play off it.

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⇒ misc

This vid won me over

Cracked:
Nuns who could kick your ass

8 moments from MMA

gourmet foods that used to be cheap

Mary's Room

Digit Ratio


sweet! Tatsunoko vs capcom coming to english territories!

Men's Fitness:
lose weight faster

muscle tricks

whup someone's ass

test your strength


tips for a better you
here's my summary:

• love what you do


• look after yourself


• never back down


• listen, observe


• come prepared


• got lemons? make lemonade


• don't lie to yourself


• finish what you start

Tennis time

:
Federer just won FO'09 and beat Rafa in Madrid Masters finals, straight sets. I'm guilty of having written off Fed. Impressive, not to take anything from Fed's win, but Rafa did just come off a (greatest best-of-3 clay) 4hr match the day before. Also, Rafa's most vulnerable in best of 3 matches, he's said so himself...then again, for Fed to win on clay in Rafa's home/dominant tournaments, is pretty big.
Federer's bagel party stats


Rafa training

Rafa interview | Rafa the unstoppable

pre-french open '09 mens predictions
ha ha...none of it accurate!

french open stats

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⇒ french open '09 first semi

ok so Soderling beat a spotty Gonzo in 5, with Gonzo squandering a 4-1 fifth set lead. To his credit, Gonzo did try to get some Rafa-revenge, squaling 'VAMOS!!!' between bludgeoning the ball.

Should Federer come through as everyone expects him to (even JM Del Potro, his next opponent), I predict an absolute mauling of Soderling. That's my issue with guys like Del Potro, Soderling, etc. They see Fed and they mentally lose the match before the first serve.

on the women's side, I pick Kuznetsova over Safina. Kuznetsova's game/technique is tactically better than Safina, who chokes bigtime.

more bad news for/from Rafa: pulled out of Queen's club tournament due to knee issues.

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⇒ mo' tennis

cool hand davydenko

too bad he got whupped by Soda head-oh wellz...Go FerGonzo! Show him you power!
Yeh, that's my pick for FO'09 win, Fer Gonzales-paid his dues, good enough clay courter, not a prick.

I guess this is one of those years the journeyman makes a run to the finals and dumps the perennial favorite just cause he's on a hot streak (cf. AusOpen '02 final, AusOpen '08 both semis)

I'm sure Rafa will stomp Soda head at some point down the line...mess with the bull you get the horns!

last words about Rafa's loss:
"Um, he didn't retire, right? (Laughter) No, he'll bounce back strong. I'm convinced about that. Sure, it was a big upset, but I mean, the focus wasn't really there, to be quite honest.

Of course, my dream scenario is to beat Rafa here in the finals, but I gotta concentrate on my part of the draw and make sure I come through like today.

...

Well, I mean, I think it's the same for all the players right there, you know, to be quite honest. It's like if you've just beaten a great player, and then you have to back it. Like Kohlschreiber has to do or Soderling has to do.

It's not an easy task,because how often does it happen in your life? It happens just a few times, and it's hard to back them up. I went through it when I beat Sampras at Wimbledon and then lost to Tim. I didn't play that bad against Tim, but youjust realize that not only Sampras can play tennis, but Henman can and there are so many other players that play so well.

Just because you beat this one particular player, it doesn't mean you're going to now beat everybody easily. That's where it's hard mentally to be able to shift. Yourself you have to keep on playing dream tennis, and that's a hard thing to do sometimes."
-Roger Federer
source

"My reaction was surprise obviously, like you or everyone here, because normally Rafa is the winner here, so nobody expected him to lose that quick.

But anyway, it shows that in sport anything can happen. Even Rafa, that it seems that he can never lose, when he's not 100% in a match and the other player is 200%, then things can happen.

Anyway, I think that it was really close. If Rafa would have won the fourth set, maybe he will win the match. But Soderling was hitting great, and Rafa, he wasn't the Rafa that we are used to seeing."
-Tommy Robredo
source

Toni Nadal's thoughts on the Parisian crowd here...I'm inclined to agree purely on my past experiences and personal history with French people.

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⇒ tennis

I figured some day Nadal would lose, but in the 4th round?!?! To Soderling?!?!
FD: time for vacay
Pete Bodo writes up the loss
someone guessed this would happen

some writeups about the loss--the consensus agrees, that Swedish douche ruined the tournament. Cut his ass up, Davydenko!
excerpts I agree with:
"IT'S THAT HE LOST TO THIS F#CKER!!!"
"Kneel before Sod? As in to show respect? Never. Well, maybe to cut his ### off..."
"...I don't mind him (Fed) winning RG (ok, that's not true, but let's accept it s true for argument's sake) but I just feel like he *has* to beat Rafa for it."
"Go Kolya! Go Gonzo!" (that's Davydenko and Fer Gonzales)

on a side note, I always thought FD was way bitchy but I'm riding shotgun on the bandwagon how...that F#CKEN asshole Soderling ruined tennis history...he's a filler guy, not a champion!

ok...enough tearing the guy down, he won fair--Rafa wasn't up to the challenge today (same thing happened to Federer in FO'08 finals), but bashing him is cathartic for denying tennis fans (and Federer) some hard earned history.

early part of the tennis year is cursed...every player who's won early in the year has faltered at Roland Garros...Federer won AO in 04, 06, 07 and failed to win FO those years...Djoko won in '08 and went down early in Wimbledon...now it's Nadal's turn. BUT they all bounced back...Federer took SW19/USO each of those years, while Djoko won the Masters cup (admittedly, he didn't play Nadal or Federer but still, winning is winning)

consolation for Nadal: he'll bounce back from this, more invincible than ever, he's like Doomsday, once you beat him, he adapts and returns impervious to previous punishment. Just look at his slam records--every year, improve improve improve. I think winning FO'08 too easily last year held him back--had he been challenged by anyone, he would have made adjustments that might've been all the difference...oh well, let's see who will avenge Rafa? I'm rooting for:

• Davydenko - seems like a cool guy, aloof enough to be likeable, unlike that Meatwad Meatball Soderling


• Tsonga - exciting play style and spirit.


• Federer - the man's due. Besides, Rafa and Novak are gone, NO ONE should be able to trouble a stable Fed...?

Rafa and Djokovic out, (downed by Soderling and Kohlschreiber!!!)
GFC
Swine Flu
Floods

If Federer exits early, hell hath frozen over.

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⇒ Rafa LOST!

Rafa beaten at Roland Garros '09 by no-name f#cking Soderling!!! Come on Rafa, you stomped him in Rome, wtf?!?!? Beaten in 4 sets on clay? Totally ruined the French Open for me...and the calendar year Grand Slam! Gah! just so pissed off some random cheated us out of some new Tennis history making, and another possible Rafa-Federer final. Whoever wins Roland Garros '09 has gotta feel RELIEF (that they're not facing Rafa in the final) or REGRET (no-name f#cktard cheated them out of true glory...it's like winning Wimbledon these days without beating Federer...it's just not right!).

Well, I guess Federer's finally due. Djokovic knocked out in 3rd round, now Rafa gone, what else could happen?
Know this: no number 1 seed has won the French Open in 8 years...although Federer's got a good trend in his favour: the number 2 seed has won the French Open the last 4 years.

shiiit

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⇒ burst mode: misc

Sensitive Object's Anywhere MultiTouch extends touch sensitivity to the whole device

Carnegie Mellon morphs 'pop-up buttons' onto multi-touch display

Inventors develop transistor to change color of any surface, your face notwithstanding

GE microholographic storage promises cheap 500GB discs, Blu-ray and DVD compatibility

Scientists create walking goo

superpunch:

take a comic book panel and blend system stats into text bubbles, adding a useful touch to a really fun desktop

JavaScript rockstar
Can also be found by going to jQuery homepage and entering the Konami cheat code: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Enter

Vangelis' music projects

Tetris: the Grand Master: notes, thoughts and strategies

cracked's The Top 8 ‘Oh Shit!’ Moments from Mixed Martial Arts
awesome

make pong in flash:
method #1

method #2

flash breakout tutorial

Apple tips:
Burning a disk image file on a CD or DVD in Mac OS X

About "You need to restart your computer" (kernel panic) messages

Mac Pro: Power consumption and thermal output (BTU) information

Lock Your Data with Disk Images

article perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the new Capt. Kirk
That said, I still liked the movie.

Apple release 10.5.7 update

what a trillion looks like

WtF?!?! Amazing yoga ball trick!

great writeup of federer and nadal
I liked the bit about the RPM on their respective topspins (Nadal: 3200, Federer: 2500).

wiki Nettop

PS3 slim spyshots?

intel fined $billions in anti-trust case


above: US pole dancing championship. What?!? I'm admiring the athleticism and artistry of their carefully choreographed moves, jeez!

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⇒ Nadal V Federer: VII - Aus Open '09

Federer and Nadal's 7th grand slam final meeting. Only player Nadal has lost to in a grand slam final? Federer (Wimbledon '06, '07). Only player Federer has lost to in a grand slam final? Nadal (Roland Garros '06-'08, Wimbledon '08). Add Aus Open '09 to that, Nadal has triumphed!

7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2

Another amazing match on a surface considered 'neutral' for the two. Nadal is a beast. His like a brick wall, very little gets past him...then there's his attacking...all areas have improved, especially his serving. Three of four matches I can think of being described as 'the best' or 'best ever' (Safin d Federer Aus Open Semi-Final 2005; Nadal d Federer Wimbledon Final 2008; Nadal d Verdasco Aus Open Semi-Final 2009; Nadal d Federer Aus Open Final 2009) have been won by Nadal!

Here's a roundup of headlines and thoughts on the match:
Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer in epic five-set Australian Open final | Rafael Nadal triumphs in an Australian Open classic | | Rafael Nadal triumphs in battle of titans | Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer to claim Aussie Open crown | Rafa Nadal, the king of tennis | Nadal beats Federer to win Australian Open | Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer in epic five-set Australian Open final | Rafael Nadal triumphs in an Australian Open classic | Rafa reigns supreme to claim Aust Open crown | Federer overwhelmed by emotions of big loss | Forty Deuce's Aus Open '09 final highlights | a play-by-play transcript of the final | funny ballkid comment | full Australian Open results here

It should be noted that Nadal spent 10 of his total 18+ tournament hours playing in the final 3 days! Add to that his late finish in the semifinal. Just amazing. See, that's how you do it (I'm looking in your direction quitter Djokovic. Nadal's got heart...never say die, never too much to handle, just do it? Nope, he just did it!

During a fortnight of competition which featured quality players (Andy Roddick, J.M. Del Potro, Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), dangerous players (Fernando Verdasco, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Gael Mofils, Fernando Gonzales, Tommy Haas), competitive players (Lleyton Hewitt, Tomas Berdych, Marcos Baghdatis) or the best players (Roger Federer, Marat Safin), Nadal emerged King of the Hill (beat Christophe Rochus (R1), Roko Karanusic (R2), Gonzales (R3), Haas (R4), Simon (QF), Verdasco (SF) and Federer (F)).

Now he's got a chance to exceed Federer--a calendar year grand slam--he's the only person likely to win the French (again), a strong Wimbledon contender, and he just won a hardcourt grand slam, so why not the US Open?

Such a loss is tough for Federer but if Federer really is the greatest of all time, he needs to act like it, learn from defeat, come back stronger and take apart Nadal's game. Every time Nadal loses and goes away, he comes back stronger, better and with new weapons. Federer needs to do this to get to and exceed 14 slams. Only by rightfully earning victory over Nadal in grand slams will be be the greatest. You only become the best if you beat the best.

top three players of the tournament (IMO):

1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) - beat Verdasco in the semis, beat Federer in the final, played unbelievably for the whole tournament (unbelievable defense and court coverage), showed professionalism, grace and sportsmanship.


2. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) - kicked serious ass to reach the 4th round (dropped just 14 games), scalped Andy Murray (GBR) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) en route to a brutal semi-final with Nadal which went down to the wire!


3. Roger Federer (SUI) - recapturing his great form, great match with Berdych (CZE) in the 4th round, routing #8 seed J.M. Del Potro (ARG) and Andy Roddick (USA) in quarterfinals and semis, battling Nadal all the way.

on the women's side, only Jelena Dokic held my attention. An amazing run, she arose from the ashes of controversies past like a phoenix. Serena Williams may have won, but that's because the field she competed against was rather flat--even her own game was terribly flat up until the final.

Again, congrats to the top 3 players of the tournament for a great show and bringing their A+ game, but the victory belongs to Rafa. Vamos Rafa

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⇒ aus open '09 semi-final 2

rafa d. verdasco in possibly one of the best matches/slugfests ever played, and up alongside 2005 safin d federer as one of the best in aus open history.

very few breaks of serve, both guys came out and threw everything at each other from the very first point! the match went to 5 sets, and lasted 5'14"!!! Verdasco is a different/new kind of beast, something rare, and Rafa was goin nuts trying to figure out his serve.

Verdasco's shot making was outstanding but Rafa's defense was 'Pong'-like--he ran down almost everything and never gave up, despite Verdasco's 90 winners hit. Some amazing rallys covering the entire court several times, too.

Amazing growth and progress for Verdasco--his tournament achievements included stomping Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-0 6-0, dropping just 14 games en route to 4th round, scalping Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and taking Rafael Nadal to his limits in the semi-final (including bouncing back from looking dead and gone in the 4th to winning the tie break 7-0).

Unbelievable! Now it's Nadal vs Federer, their 7 grand slam final against each other, the Aus Open 2009 men's final

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⇒ tennis at the olympics

Rafa defeats Novak Djokovic 6-4 1-6 6-4 to reach the Gold medal match. He will play Fernando Gonzales, who edged out James Blake 4-6 7-5 11-9. Blake wasn't happy about that.

Yahoo's coverage here and here.

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⇒ weekly #17, part 1

ttp://www.engadget.com/2008/07/26/zune-guy-calls-microsoft-liars-says-zune-situation-is-f-in/

finally, a device that harnesses heat-energy:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/25/another-team-figures-out-how-to-convert-waste-heat-into-energy/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/25/brandos-usb-m-a-d-game-pad-has-removable-steering-wheel/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/25/back-to-the-future-hoverboard-up-for-auction-30k-to-play/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/24/nes-belt-buckle-most-inelegant-awesome-nes-in-a-whatever-mod-o/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/23/robot-dragonfly-gets-outfitted-with-camera-plans-to-record-upri/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/22/golden-shellback-waterproofing-defies-water-reality/

Nadal wins Toronto masters. He is definetly the player of the year! 29 consecutive wins now, including a double-stomping of Roger Federer in 2 grand slam finals (Roland Garros and the All-England Club)

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⇒ tennis roundup

about the Nadal d. Federer Wimbledon '08 epic:
best rating final in 8 years here

aftermath
matches of the tournament
Nadal new king
Spaniard stretches imagination
Nadal delighted
darkest hour for Federer
Wimbledon '08 roundup
Nadal’s much more humble in defeat than Federer.
This loss really hurt Federer. He took the loss pretty personally (press conference), but was he upset at the press or himself?
I can’t stop thinking about the blistering final! It was gddmn spectacular! I also felt involvement:
Two of the very best, possibly in the history of their sport (Federer: all-time best? Nadal: best-clay-courter ever?) throwing everything
they’ve got at each other. Two of my favorites. One so smooth and dominating, he casually wins upto 95% of his season.
The other, so unyielding, fearless and intimidating that he regularly disposes of the former, and has an incredulous record on clay at
the ripe old age of 22.
The 3rd consecutive Wimbledon final between them. The dream final. The winner will create history. So much at stake.

Old, but hilarious news from the Age. Basically Mats Wilander criticizes Federer's lack of chutzpah.
French open '08
Wimbeldon '08 final match statistics
Becker's assessment of the final
Nadal closing in on #1 ranking
videos
best final ever?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7493099.stm
supermac calls ‘08 Wimbledon Mens’ Singles finals “The greatest match I've ever seen” here
and here
bud collins’ tennis book
the Independent report from UK


Play by play
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2008-07-06/200807061215337388343.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7491696.stm

ATP World Rankings After Wimbledon

1. Roger Federer (SUI) 6600
2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6055
3. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4945
4. David Ferrer (ESP) 3045 (+1)
5. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 2970 (-1)
6. Andy Roddick (USA) 2065
7. David Nalbandian (ARG) 2030
8. James Blake (USA) 1975
9. Andy Murray (GBR) 1805 (+2)
10. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 1760 (-1)
11. Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 1515 (+1)
12. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 1430 (+3)
13. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 1375 (+5)
14. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 1365
15. Richard Gasquet (FRA) 1310 (-5)
16. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 1305 (+1)
17. Tommy Robredo (ESP) 1300 (+2)
18. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 1270 (-2)
19. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 1265 (-6)
20. Juan Monaco (ARG) 1240 (+1)

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⇒ Winner: NADAL!

holy sh!t!!! amazing final. dramatic with twists and turns--2 rain delays and a resurgent Federer again and again and again. 2 championship points saved and a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(7-5), 6-7(10-8), 9-7 five-set thriller! the final set was played by gods! They pulled off shots most players don't even dream about! Nadal was RELENTLESS. Attack, attack, attack...non-stop, never backed down. Federer could not handle the new shots Nadal was coming up with--stuff Federer used to do to his opponents!

Unbelievable...they finished after almost 5 hours of play! In fact, they almost played in darkness...any later, they would have had to resume play the next day!

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⇒ a matter of life and HD

trying hard to make an informed decision before dropping serious money on HDTV (via Plasma or LCD). Manufacturers aren't making it easy--sales tactics, jargon and bullshit keep getting in the way.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/04/87-of-playstation-3-owners-watching-blu-ray-movies-survey-says/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/03/sony-talks-future-of-oled-blu-rays-chances-against-dvd/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/03/pioneers-60-inch-kuro-pdp-lx6090-plasma-gets-unboxed/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/02/field-emission-technologies-to-produce-60-inch-fed-panels/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/06/18/ask-engadget-hd-using-a-hdtv-to-distribute-audio/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/07/ask-engadget-hd-whats-the-best-60-inch-or-more-1080p-monitor/
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/02/ask-engadget-hd-how-do-i-get-more-hd-programming-on-my-mac/ http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/02/ask-engadget-hd-when-does-contrast-ratio-fail-to-matter/
http://www.metareview.com/product-sony-bravia-xbr-series-kdl-40xbr4-40-inch-1080p-lcd-hdtv/B000TAEGMO
http://www.metareview.com/product-sony-kdl-40xbr5-40-bravia%C2%AE-xbr%C2%AE-1080p-lcd-hdtv-with-120hz-refresh-rate/B000TAEGLU
http://www.metareview.com/product-pioneer-kuro-pdp-5020fd-50-inch-1080p-plasma-hdtv/B001AAPEDC

gymmed today, but no energy. More weights than anything.
About 6' of pathetic cardio = < 1Km and 76KCALs
-->I'm losing my competitive edge!

Here's something inspiring/tennis related:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=AsVZiaSdwUpDxpbRxTsNhz8gv7YF?slug=ap-wimbledon-men&prov=ap&type=lgns

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⇒ bad to worse

terrible day started at 11pm last nite and only got worse.

List of the bad to worse:
-I couldn't get back to sleep until 3am.
-still can't find that black shirt in spite of turning the room inside out
-frustration at the lack of living space
-frustration at the current petrol/housing crisis! WTF?!?!??
-frustration at work--personnel restructuring and the excitement die-ing down.
-wake up about 630am.
-run for the train and still miss it. sh!t!
-trudging to and from work
-cold, windy, miserable weather.
-overall headache and drowsiness today.
-annoying 16' mobile phone call!
-arriving home late.

for the record, I've scalped PwC, IBM AND QBE now! I passed all their tests and progressed through all the rounds. Ha! in yo face, world! Before, you didn't want me, now what's up!?!??!

In tennis news, Rafa wins Queens club, a grasscourt tourney. This brings his bad-ass-ness to an all new level. He already scares Federer real good but now he's won a tournament on Federer's turf! He beat Djokovic to do it too...up 9-3!

buyable: squishable.com

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