Another "Oh My" Moment for Dick Enberg

When is a Dick an Ass? When he's an Enberg.



2009 U.S. Open tennis winner Juan Martin Del Potro got a trophy, $2 million dollars and a Lexus, but all he really wanted to do was say a few words in Spanish.

Once again, Dick "Oh My!" Enberg has lived up to his name by squeezing the air out of big broadcasting moments and begging the question: why don't you retire and leave the airwaves to the competent? As a sports commentator for CBS Sports, 74-year-old Dick Enberg has stayed too long at the fair and should be put to pasture. All he can add are the usual bromides about the obvious stars, though even then he manages to mangle their names, tennis being an international sport and Enberg being the lazy and embarrassing embodiment of The Ugly American aesthetic. Remember Enberg's gaffe at the 2007 U.S. Open when he called Justine Henin - who was so shattered by a messy divorce settlement earlier in the year that she withdrew from the Australian Open - by her married name of Henin-Hardenne during the trophy presentation? But hey, as Shakespeare pondered, what's in a name, right?



And as far as international relations go, who cares if these award ceremonies - with the exception of the French Open (God bless the French!) - are by defacto conducted in English. Is that a problem, we monolingual Yanks ask? (Made me think of that Curb Your Enthusiasm episode in which a clueless Larry David mistakes the Norwegian golf pro for a Swede: "Swedish, Norwegian - what's the difference anyway?" to which Sven angrily retorts "Language, history, culture!") U.S. Open Women's Singles Runnerup Caroline Wozniacki conducted her post-match interview in English, Danish, and Polish. Federer speaks at least four laanguages fluently, and even Nadal has gotten savvy enough with his Spanglish to talk to the American press. But with the exception of soccer star Landon Donovan and Lakers star Kobe Bryant, I've never seen an American sports figure conduct an interview in a foreign language.

But I digress (as I usually do)...my point is, we're lucky that so many international sports figures - many of whom have bypassed school to turn pro at an early age - can speak English. But it is their second language at best. So during their Taylor Swift moment of glory in the spotlight, let them express themselves in their native language if they want. And don't first refuse and then grudgingly let them speak "quickly" as Dick Enberg did on Monday night. As Progressive pitchwoman Flo would say, "That's cold!"

What am I talking about? I'm talking about the U.S. Open trophy (or rather atrophied) ceremonies Monday night following world No. 6 Juan Martin Del Potro's exciting five set victory over five-time defending champion Roger Federer when Enberg brusquely brushed off Del Potro's request to say a few words in Spanish like the teary-eyed 20-year-old Argentine wunderkid was a panhandler asking for bus fare.



Del Potro's Spanish address prompted a huge ovation from the crowd (which included many Argentines in their national soccer jerseys and waving flags) and brought tears to his eyes. It was a big moment of national pride - one that Argentina needs in a year in which their soccer team is struggling to qualify for the World Cup.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one to criticize Enberg and CBS for the awkwardness of the trophy presentation ceremnonies. I agree with the viewer who wrote the following complaint to the U.S. Open officials, one that perfectly illustrates how demeaning this dis was to Del Potro:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I wish to register a very strong complaint about the US Open telecast last night - in particular, about your hosts’ behaviour at the presentation ceremony.

Juan Martin del Potro had just won his first major, defeating his idol in the final, and he wanted to address his friends and family in his native language - I don’t understand Spanish, but it was clearly something that meant a lot and was a very emotional moment for him.

It was most disrespectful and extremely crass of Dick Enberg to deny del Potro his moment by first declining outright his very polite request, and then later granting it only after being extremely condescending (”Quickly.”). I don’t know whether it was him personally, or whether someone from CBS was in his ear telling him to finish it quickly, but how can anyone possibly promote, defend or excuse such behaviour? In addition, the pathetic excuse given was a lack of time - but there was obviously enough time to tell del Potro that he was getting a nice Lexus (and making a pitch for the product at the same time)!! I am sure that Mr. Del Potro would have greatly preferred to speak to his people instead of being told what wonderful prizes he was getting for winning.

Again, I am dismayed by the great disrespect shown to a worthy champion in favour of appeasing corporate sponsors and/or pursuing the regularly scheduled programmes, and hence I am of the opinion that Juan Martin del Potro is owed an official apology from CBS and Mr. Enberg

And a blogger named YoungGuns added:

During tonights US Open award ceremony Dick Enberg did a couple things that were more disrespectful than what Kanye West did last night. What Kanye did was a classless thing to do and whether or not he was drunk (which I believe he was) it was something that no entertainer should do to another.

What Dick Enberg did did is much worse however. Dick decided to treat Roger Federer like the winner of the tournament while Del Potro was treated like an aftershow. He allowed Federer more time at the mic and made many references to the past championships rather than the one at hand. To top things off he orginally did not allow Del Potro to speak in his native tongue to his fellow countrymen after the English interview stating that they were running out of time and needed to get on with the ceremony. Only after a little convincing did he allow the rebuffed and crestfallen Del Potro to speak "a few quick words in Spanish."

His U.S. Open quips won't make this edition

Naturally the suits at CBS defended Enberg and said he was only doing his job. As the National Post wrote, "Enberg's bosses were probably screaming in his earpiece to move quickly to get back-to-back episodes of How I Met Your Mother — reruns, no less — on the air." But as a supposed lover of the game of tennis, Enberg surely must know that regardless of the corporate vultures for whom he shills, there is the Sportscasting Moment that can never be replayed. This was it, this was Del Potro's moment, and Enberg the Company Man sided with the filthy lucre over The Beautiful Game. Swing and a miss, Dick. Again.

Related Links:
Can I Speak in Spanish? (NY Times)
Angry reaction to host who refused to let Del Potro speak in Spanish (Buenos Aires Herald)

Federer Doesn't Give a Shit!

And That's OK!


"It's not the end of the world"

Although I was initially sad that my man Roger Federer lost last night's U.S. Open final to Juan Martin Del Potro after five mentally and physically draining sets (6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 2-6,), upon reflection it made me appreciate the man and the athlete - and his accomplishments - even more. Federer made the finals of all four Grand Slams this year - for the unprecedented third time in his career! (2006, 2007, 2009) - and three of them went to five sets - five-set defeats at the Australian (to Nadal) and U.S. Open (to Del Potro) bookending the year, and a miraculous five-set tuff-it-out win over Andy Roddick (playing the Game of His Life) at Wimbledon being even more impressive to me than his French Open straight sets win over Robin Soderling (who in tennis terms became "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" for his upset dethroning of the King of Clay, Rafa Nadal) that gave him his career Grand Slam, broke his perennial run as Nadal's runnerup at Roland Garros, and reminded people once again that he was the Second Greatest Clay Court Player of his generation (a fact lost amidst all the "All-Time Greatest Player" talk). This was Roger's seventh consecutive Grand Slam final. He's appeared in a record 21 Grand Slam finals, winning 15 of them (but this was his first loss to someone not named Nadal). He had won 40 consecutive matches at Flushing Meadows. He had won 33 of his previous 34 Grand Slam matches. And he has made the final at 17 of the last 18 Grand Slam tournaments. And serving for the match at 5-4, 30-love, he was two points away from his 16th Slam.

He gave it his all, but at the end of the day maybe he just wasn't that hungry for it after all those accomplishments.

"Can't have them all," he said afterwards.

Federer's very competitive but even champions need their motivation recharged. I mean, even adult film star Johnny "Wadd" Holmes, after sleeping with over 1,000 women, must have reached a point where he found it hard to "erect the architecture of success" (if ya know what I mean, and I think ya do) at the sight of yet another nekkid babe. In other words, Federer's been there, done that (done it it all, in fact), and has no real hurtles to jump. As New Jersey Sports pointed out in its excellent "Grading the U.S. Open" review, "He's at a crossroads, really. There's no barriers left. He's conquered history and ruled the game for a while..." And let's face it, Roger's quip before the final that it would ne nice to win his first major as a Dad seemed a stretch even for him (the "First Dad To Win a Grand Slam" distinction isn't really a much coveted or sought-after goal on the men's tennis tour). Hardly a die-hard motivation, like beating Nadal at the French. But that's OK.

Tennis Superman Starting to Show He's All Too Human

Just as we get less tolerant as we age and let our true feelings be known (because we don't care what people think when we're running out of time and don't have anything to lose), Roger's starting to loosen up, show more emotion, show some human frailty, and let it all hang out - for better or worse. Witness him tossing a racket in a match earlier this year and then his heated expletive-not-deleted exchange with the chair umpire during the final when Juan Martin Del Potro was allowed to challenge a call after a lengthy period of time. Federer had already headed to his chair where, seated, he argued "I wasn't allowed to challenge after two seconds. The guy takes like 10 every time. Don't you have any rules?"

When the umpire told Federer to be quiet, the usually overly polite and gentlemanly champion took umbrage: Stop showing me the hand, OK? Don't tell me to be quiet, OK? When I want to talk I'll talk, all right...I don't give a shit what he said, OK? I just say he waited too long. Don't fucking tell me the rules. I was not allowed to challenge..."



Opening Up at the U.S. Open

I like it. It's controlled petulance and it makes it easier for us mere mortals to relate to The Living Legend. In this regard, perhaps only this regard, he is just like us. I'm actually finding the runner-up Federer to be a much more interesting and complex character than Roger the unassailable King. It may just keep him hungry instead of being merely sated once again, sitting at the head of the banquet table. Now he not only has Nadal chowing down at the fete, but now a giant of a giant-slayer in Del Potro (who also seems to have Nadal's number) - not to mention Andy Murray, Djokovic, and other would-be spoilers in the ever-competitive Top 10.

Back to New Jersey Sports' and their spot-on question of the hour about the man already called The Greatest Tennis Player Ever: "Can he keep himself motivated enough to maintain his place? The talent is there. But he needs to respond better when players punch him in the mouth. He rallied past Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, but couldn't conjure up the same spirit in the final against del Potro. Now that all the barriers are gone, will Federer keep his form up?"

So far, the form's there. But maybe there's just that little suggestion of, "Well, it's not so bad if I let this one slip away" lurking in deepest recesses of his will. Don't forget, back in August at the Montreal Masters, Roger inexplicably let a 5-1 third-set lead against Jo-Wilfried Tsongo slip away to lose his quarterfinal match 7-6, 1-6, 7-6. "I never should have allowed it," Roger said afterwards. "But it did happen."

We're all waiting to see what happens with Roger Federer from this point on. To see if he really doesn't give a shit, as he told that chair umpire. Or if he can rekindle the kind of competitive fire that saw him break down in tears after Nadal defeated him at this year's Australian Open final. Either way is OK, Roger; you've more than earned your place in tennis history. I'm just curious how this drama is going to play out.

Who's Laughing Now?

Joke-a-vic Spoils A-Rod's Punchline

Some people just can't take a joke. Novak Djokavic is one of them (pictured at left, not laughing). Picking up where sore loser Tommy Robredo left off, world no. 8 Andy Roddick had a little fun mocking the third-ranked Djokovic's injury woes (he called the trainer to address back and ankle injuries during his five-set win over Robredo in the Fourth Round of the 2008 U.S. Open) at a press conference leading up to last night's match between the two. Asked about Djokovich's sore ankle, this exchange transpired:

Roddick: Isn't it both of them? And a back and a hip?

Reporter: And when he said there are too many to count ...

Roddick: And a cramp.

Reporter: Do you get a sense right now that he is ...

Roddick: Bird flu.

Reporter: A lot of things. Beijing hangover. He's got a pretty long list of illness.

Roddick: Anthrax. SARS. Common cough and cold.

Asked whether he believed all the injuries...

Roddick: If it's there, it's there. There's just a lot. You know, he's either quick to call the trainer or he's the most courageous guy of all time. I think it's up for you guys to decide."

Turns out the joke was on Andy as the Djokerman spoiled A-Rod's punchline in four sets, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5). I have a lot of problems with Roddick, both with his game and his attitude. First off...

Here's the thing about injuries, Andy. You get them from playing a busy tour schedule, not by "resting up" for the U.S. Open. You see, Roddick was the only Top 10 tennis player in world to skip the Olympics, opting to rest up for his vanity project, the U.S. Open - incidentally, the only Grand Slam he's ever one, though it was way back in 2003. Selfish? Of course - he chose personal glory over representing his country at the Olympics. I know, I know - he's the most consistent Davis Cup player and Patrick McEnroes loves him and all that jazz, but this was a major miscalculation.

Moreover, what should have been a walkover at the tune-up Legg Mason Tennis Classic tournament in Washington, D.C., turned into an embarassment, as Roddick lost to Viktor Troicki - not just another Serb, but a B-list one at that (world ranking no. 71). Only then did Roddick question his Cowboy Diplomacy, fire his brother as coach and hire patrick McEnroe in a panic to get him prepped for the Open. But it was all downhill from the moment he made the poor decision to wear that hideous Lacoste shirt - the worst clothing at the U.S. Open this year. That black bumble-bee Lacoste ensemble (officially known as the "Short Sleeve Tennis Super Dry Stripe Polo with Zip") was just ridiculous-looking, too aggressively preppy for my taste. Good thing that it was specially made for Roddick and unavailable in that color for the masses. (The best kit was easily Marty Fish's burgundy K-Swiss Primacy Crewneck, which reminds me of FC Barcelona's soccer logo and colors).

And while I'm harping on A-Rod, let me just add that his fiancee has a dumb, trendy name. C'mon now, Brooklyn? (Isn't that what Posh Spice and her tattooed love boy Becks named one of their progeny?) That's like Djokavic having a girlfriend named Belgradia. It guess it could be worse - at least she's not named Yonkers! But what kind of parents name their daughter after New York City's reigning bastion of Yuppiedom? Rich ones, I reckon.

As the blogger at The Spoke put it, "Brooklyn Decker has the legs of a runway model, the body of a swimsuit model, and the face and hair of your local trailer trash lady that likes to hang out at 7-11 while drinking her big gulp...Fortunately for Brooklyn, only 2 of the above said things really matter." And speaking of big gulps, check out her cups-runneth-over picture below:


Brooklyn: A Match Made in 7-11 Heaven

Anyway, before the U.S. Open, when sports pundits questioned whether Roddick - approaching his 26th birthday at this year's Open - was finished, Roddick angrily retorted: “They said I was through in 2006, which was ridiculous - so I’ve been under the radar before, and responded very big.” This comment was an obvious reference to his runner-up finish to Roger Federer that year in the U.S. Open Final. Then Roddick added, “I know I can compete in the Open, and I know this is the one slam that fits my game. If it wasn’t for a couple of injuries, this would be a different conversation.”

Ah yes, playing the injury card...guess it takes a whiner to know one, right Andy?

Strive For Five

LABOR DAY WEEKEND'S HERCULEAN TENNIS LABORS

Flushing, NY (Saturday, August 30, 2008) - Day six of the U.S. Open featured four Third Round matches in the bottom half the Men's Singles section one draw, and every single one of them went to five sets.


Murray Mans Up in Marathon Match

Britain's No. 6-ranked Andy Murray and Switzerland's No. 10-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka overcame two-sets-to-nil deficits to claim victory Saturday, Murray showing the stamina that comes with improved fitness in overpowering Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-3 on the Grandstand court, while Wawrinka - fresh off winning 2008 Olympic Gold in Doubles with fellow compatriot Roger Federer - outlasted Italian Flavio (what a great name!) Cipolla 5-7, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 over on Court 11.


Stan the Man survives Flavio of the Month

Later, Argentine teen Juan Martin del Potro outlasted Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on the Grandstand and the 126th-ranked Japanese juvie Kei Nishikori pulled off the upset of the tournament in beating world No. 4 David Ferrer - the Spanish reincarnation of indefatigable retriever Michael Chang - on Louis Armstrong court after almost blowing a two set lead (and a match point serving at 5-3 in the fifth set), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5.

Quite a lot of labor for Labor Day Weekend - no wonder the young guns are prevailing at this Open (Del Potro is 19 while 18-year-old Nishikori is the youngest player on the ATP tour; earlier, 19-year-old lefty Donald Young lost a 5-setter to fellow American James Blake in the first round). Now five setters take a lot of time - at least three hours and up to five (as anyone who caught the 2008 Wimbleton final between Nadal and Federer - hereafter known simply as "The Greatest Match Ever Played" - knows well). So I was only able to see two of them - the Del Potro-Simon and Ferrer-Nishikori matches.

The Streaker and the Squeaker


Goddamn the Pusher Man: Simon Says "Beat Me"

I had seen Simon, fresh off his Indianapolis Masters win over Dmitry Tursunov, upset Roger Federer in the first round of the Toronto Masters (inexplicably, as Federer seemed to have the match in hand when he was serving for the match at 6-2, 5-4 only to let it slip away 6-2, 5-7, 4-6) and knew this would be a good one. On paper, the opponents certainly looked close - Simon ranked No. 16 in the world and del Potro No. 17. But the slight, 5-10 and 143-pound Simon ultimately didn't have the strength of the 6-5 del Potro who, after Nadal, is the hottest player of the moment on the ATP tour.


Argenteen Del Potro is in the swing of things

Juan Martin del Potro has won 22 straight matches since June - the second longest streak on the ATP circuit behind Nadal's 35 - and four consecutive ATP titles. The most recent title was a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbia's Viktor Troicki in the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C.; previously, del Potro captured the Kitzbuhel, Stuttgart, and Los Angeles titles (beating Andy Roddick in the final) and reached the semifinals at Hertogenbosch (as well as the QFs in doubles there with fellow Argentine Canas) and the quarterfinals at Munich. Del Potro's streak is also the longest by a teenager since Nadal’s 24 successive victories in 2005 and the joint third longest in history from an Argentine (Vilas 44, Clerc 28, Vilas 19). Prior to del Potro's winning streak, only one player ranked outside the Top 10 in the last 20 years had won at least 15 consecutive matches - Karel Novacek (15) in 1992. Admittedly, he won two titles on hardcourts while most of the top players were in Beijing... but even a cynic would have to admit the kid's got some game, right?

But Frenchman Gilles had the guiles to match del Potro's athletic wiles on Saturday. Though both men looked winded, especially in the legs, ultimately it was del Potro's power that proved too much for the counterpunching Simon. Del Potro hit an insane number of forehand winners - something like 40 - to Simon's single-digit tally. (Surprisingly, though, Simon out-aced del Potro, like 16 to 9. Go figure.) The only way Simon was going to beat del Potro, as astute commentator Jim Courier pointed out, was by having del Potro beat himself. Sports handicapper Andres Gomez (who picked Simon to win because he thought del Potro was tired from a exhausting tournament schedule), observed:

Gilles Simon is the best “pusher” of the circuit, as he does nothing but return balls to the other side of the court, while expecting for errors from his opponents. Well, this clearly works and Federer, Tursunov, Querrey, Cilic, Soderling and Acasuso were some of his victims on this Summer. Simon is also in a great run, being 14-3 on the Summer hardcourt season, so he has nothing to fear in this match, not even Del Potro's winning streak of 21 matches.

Ah, but sometimes tennis operates on the simplest rules of Darwinian logic: the big and strong guys tend to prevail over the slight finese guys on any given day, even when tired. Case in point today - though del Potro was pushed to the limits of that theory, over the course of three and a half hours, by Simon. A great, exciting, and entertaining match!

The Importance of Being Ernests

OK, after Friday night's impressive loss to the insufferably hyper Andy Roddick (Personal Pet Peeve Disclaimer: I can't stand Roddick's flippant ball toss before his big serves and his constant hat and shirt-tugging - not to mention the fact that he always has to wear his stupid baseball cap, like it's some sort of Linus security blanket!), Latvia's Ernests Gulbis was my favorite new player on the ATP tour. Another 19-year-old rising star, he stands 6-3 and looks like pop star Beck Hansen.


The Importance of Being Ernests: Gulbis and lookalike Beck Hansen

And the Riga Rocket actually outpowered Roddick with forehand winners clocking close to the MPH of Roddick's serves. But it didn't hold up after the first set, with Gulbis losing in four sets to the 2003 U.S. Open champion. Oh, by the time that night match ended, Gulbis and Roddick - both of whom were born on August 30 - turned a year older, so now Gulbis is a 20-year-old prodigy and Roddick an old man of 26. Here's what Wikipedia had to say about Gulbis' style of play:

Gulbis primarily employs an offensive baseline playing style, although is fairly comfortable playing from all court positions. Gulbis' most consistent shot is his forehand, which has been likened to that of American James Blake's for its rapid pace and relatively flat execution; his forehand is taken with a medium swing and with high levels of wrist action, which attributes to the explosive nature of the shot. His arsenal of forehand shots is nearly complete, and thus can be extremely disruptive and turn a defensive position into an offensive one. His running forehand has a slice action, but consistently lands extremely deep in the court, allowing for adequate recoil time to regain court position. Gulbis also has a particularly excellent array of finesse shots, including the high lob and drop shot, both of which he can strike from any position, including from deep in the court. Gulbis' primary weakness is his backhand, which while remaining adequately deep tends to lack variety, unless a particularly advantageous situation presents itself. Gulbis' foot speed is only moderate, although his return of serve is varied and dangerous, particularly on second serves and, due to his height, kick serves. In his televised matches in 2007 and early 2008 his serve would have been described as moderate, but has recently vastly improved in speed and variety, having served out several games with no returns against the incredible returners David Nalbandian and Rafael Nadal. - "Ernests Gulbis" (Wikipedia)

So there you have it about my boy Gulbis, Yesterday's Hero.

Teen Titans

But now I must switch allegiance to Kei Nishikori (錦織 圭, Nishikori Kei), the 18-year-old phenom from Shimane, Japan who I saw blow James Blake off the court when he won his first ATP title at Delray Beach, Florida, back in February of this year.


Kei Nishikori after winning Delray Beach title

If Gulbis resembles pop star Beck, then Nishikori is a clone for Chinese action star Jet Li. Unbelievable resemblance.


Jet and Kei compare their crushing forehands

The classic underdog storyline has David slaying Goliath, but on this day, a giant killer slew David. By defeating Ferrer in five sets (6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5) over the course of 3 1/2 hours, Nishikori advanced to the Fourth Round, where he where he will face another teen phenom, Argentina's smoking-hot Juan Martin Del Potro. In doing so, Nishikori became the first Japanese man to advance to the fourth round of a Masters event, and the youngest to do so since Marat Safin in 1998. It was also the first time a teenager has beaten a top five player at the U.S. Open since Bjorn Borg defeated Arthur Ashe in 1973.

But Ferrer certainly didn't make it easy.


Ferocious Fighter Ferrer flicking forehand forcefully

"He started playing great in the third and fourth set," said Nishikori afterwards. "I was tired and my legs were almost cramping, but I tried to think, 'I am playing David; he's No. 4 in the world, and playing five sets with him. I felt, like, kind of happy and [started to] think more positive. That's why I think I could fight through everything."

Tennis is far from popular in Japan, where it is more of a recreational sport. Japanese photographer Hiromasa Mano, covering the match, commented that " "For many people it's difficult to understand and also very long. People have no time to watch."

But a producer at WOWOW, the network with the exclusive rights to broadcast the U.S. Open tournament in Japan, said he was certain that when the ratings are released Nishikori's match against Ferrer would be the highest rated tennis-related program in Japan's history.

It's been quite a long time since Japan has had a talented tennis player to root for. Shuzo Matsuoka, currently a sports broadcaster in Japan, was the last Japanese-born player to win an ATP title (Seoul, 1992), reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbleton in 1995 (where he lost in four sets to Pete Sampras) and achieving the highest-ever ranking of world No. 46 in 1992. Matsuoka is most famous for effecting a rules change for injuries. At the 1995 U.S. Open, he was left writhing in pain on court after being stricken by cramps during his first round match against Petr Korda. From Wikpedia: "The rules at the time meant that Matsuoka would have forfeited the match if he had gotten medical attention, so he was left to suffer until he defaulted for delaying the match. The incident led to a change in the rules of professional tennis to allow players to receive medical treatment during matches."


Shuzo Matsuoka: Don't cramp his style

But Nishikori, who lives in Bradenton, Florida (where he trains at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and is known there as "Project 45") looks to be the rising star from the land of the Rising Sun.

"He's a very good player, no?" Ferrer told Newsday reporters afterwards. "He's a young player, plays very well and serves really well. [He plays at] a good level."

Lame Lasses

Yup, the Nishikori-Ferrer match was a dogfight, and easily the best match of the day - not to mention the best Japanese match the day (Serena Williams having easily dispatched Japan's Ai Sugiyama earlier in the day). But unfortunately, NBC (or was it USA Network?) saw fit to cut away to the listless, boring, error-prone match on Arthur Ashe court between Russia's world No. 6 Darina Safina and Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky, which the Swiss Miss blew, 6-3, 5-7, 2-6. USA Network was guilty of pushing the hype in the overrated women's tennis game, as Safina, a potential World No. 1 - following Justine Henin's retirement, injuries to Sharapova, lack of tour commitment (prior to Wimbleton and the Olympics) of the Williams sisters, and the frustratingly inconsistent play of the skittish Serbs, No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and No. 2 Jelena Jankovic - was playing the best tennis of her life coming into this match. But it was a no-brainer to leave this match and go for the big show between Nashikori and Ferrer over on Armstrong. Inexcusable!

Let me repeat: the women's game today sucks! The action and the storylines are all over on the men's side. The only reason why I rank Nishikori's win over No. 4 David Ferrer a bigger upset than 188th-ranked Julie Coin's defeat of world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) is that Ivanovic was over-ranked to begin with. On any given day, anyone can beat her. She got her position by default, by a twist of fate and circumstances. Her game is still very immature, in inverse proportion to her gargantuan physical stature. She's still growing into both her body and her game and has worse nerves than chronic head case Amelie Mauresmo, who's mastered the art of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Ivanovic rightly scurried off the court in shame following her Second Round come-uppance.

A Final Note: Mulling Over Muller

Now when it comes to snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, I'd be remiss not to mention Gilles Muller's strong early round performances in this post about five setters.


Red Alert: Muller twice rallies from two sets down

The 25-year-old 103rd-ranked Luxembourg native rallied from two sets down to defeat veteran Tommy Hass in the Second Round (2-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3), then repeated the trick on Sunday to move past No. 18 Nicolas Almagro into the Fourth Round by a score of 6-7 (3-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 7-5. Like Nishikori, he's the first man or woman from his country to get that far at a Grand Slam event. But Muller remains most famous for his First Round upset of Andy Roddick in straight sets here back in 2005. That was also the year the 6-5 giant killer beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbleton. It's been hard times ever since for the lanky Luxembourg lefty, who despite being the 2001 junior U.S. Open Champion, has still never won an ATP title.