The "Must" List: Horror Roll

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*I seriously cannot stop watching this video. Nice to know that the Manning family has a great sense of humor.

*Horror roll: embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (also known by his sexting name, Carlos Danger) doesn't know how to quit; NY Yankees' star Alex Rodriguez, accused of using performance enhancing drugs, is the guy at the party no one wants; the Napoles family, through their counsel, Atty. Lorna Kapunan, threatens Rappler with a poorly written demand letter and Bikram yoga founder is accused of rape, sexual harassment and racism.

*Tennis players dominate Forbes list of the highest paid female athletes. The WTA is indeed the leading women's sporting organization in the world.

*Want to encourage more people to read? A little creativity can go a long way.

*Forehand Policy's resident mascot, Ryan Gosling, is in the shortlist to play Batman in Man of Steel 2. 

*Roger Federer, who is celebrating his birthday today, could be ranked as low as #7 by the time the US Open starts later this month. 

*Probably the greatest power couple of all time.

*Cristiano Ronaldo has been on a charm offensive lately. I honestly have no snark on this. Keep it up, dude.

*Andy Murray and Jennifer Lawrence continue to be adorable.

*Filipino marketing executive Jonathan Yabut is Apprentice Asia's first winner. Highly successful Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes definitely hired the right person for the job. 

*Diplomacy 101

As revenge for this Snowden mess, Obama should stick to the summit with Putin, but staff it entirely with flamboyant gay dudes. #takethat
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) August 1, 2013

*Political trolling 101 

I just received this insane email: pic.twitter.com/ogEQB3oqha
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) July 29, 2013

Wimbleweird

Trophy troubles. It's all good ... (USAT) pic.twitter.com/aR7MUcZWfs
— Joe Fleming (@ByJoeFleming) July 7, 2013

Wimbleweird. Wimblegeddon. Wimble-done. These were just some of the puns that were  used by die hard and casual tennis fans alike to describe the recently concluded Wimbledon Championships. Who could blame them, really, after the tournament lost former champion Rafael Nadal in the first day (!) of the tournament? Who would have thought that Nadal would go out in straight sets to 135th-ranked Steve Darcis? Who also would have thought that Roger Federer would follow him out of Wimbledon by the third day of the tournament, losing to 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky? The leading women were also not exempt themselves as Victoria Azarenka (retiring due to a knee injury sustained while in the competition), Maria Sharapova (losing to young ace Michelle Larcher De Brito), Ana Ivanovic (bowing out to former Junior Wimbledon champ Eugenie Bouchard), Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic were all out of the competition by the time Federer and his orange-soled shoes said their goodbye. 

By the second week, things seemed back to normal. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (Britain's Great Hope), David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro were still in. So were Serena Williams (the heavy favorite to win), Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na. 

As the top seeds, Djokovic and Serena were now the overwhelming favorites to win. Djokovic stuck to the script and defeated a resurgent del Potro in an epic semifinal to forge a date with Murray, who many is expecting to finally extinguish the ghost of Fred Perry after 77 years. Murray's campaign last year, while so close, still ended in tears and heartbreak.  

Serena, on the other hand, bowed to the grass loving German Sabine Lisicki. Unfortunately for Serena, Lisicki's main specialty since 2009 has been to upset the current Roland Garros champion at Wimbledon.  When the dust finally settled on the women's side, Lisicki and quirky Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli (she of the comedic serve and hilarious practice swings in between points) were the only ones left. Thus, the Ladies Final featured two players that have never won a Grand Slam trophy before. In the end, it was second time Wimbledon finalist Bartoli who hoisted the trophy after Lisicki was rattled by a severe case of stage fright.

On the men's side, destiny seemed to be smiling on Murray's side. He almost never made it to the finals after being pushed to the brink by Fernando Verdasco (he of the perfectly gelled hair that never moves) in the quarterfinals and Polish up-and-comer Jerzy Janowicz in the semis. 

The whole Murray-Djokovic final was, sorry for the word, dreadful in the sense that there were lots of looooong rallies and not a lot of taking chances and hitting winners from both sides. Djokovic seemed not himself as he was missing a lot on his favored backhand down the line shots. I guess losing last year's final endeared Murray to a lot of hometown fans since one can feel how immensely invested they were in every Murray point. (In the past, Britons seemed to cheer for Murray out of duty because they had no other British guy to cheer for.) Fans were totally behind him, even cheering belatedly (and mistakenly) for points that did not go their countryman's way. You can also feel how Murray was soaking all the love and adoration in as he seemed very positive and happy to be out there. Murray finally defeats Djokovic after a dramatic final game (which, if Djokovic had won, could've led to a momentum shift) to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years. Tears of joy and goosebumps everywhere! 

In the end, this year's Wimbledon was a tournament for dreamers and believers. A tournament that will be remembered for the crazy ones who believed that they could defeat the Rafas, Rogers, Serenas and Marias of the world. It showed that everyone, no matter what their rank is or no matter the amount of struggle that they had to endure in the past, has an equal chance at Grand Slam glory. So, yeah, I think this video somewhat sums up this year's Wimbledon perfectly:

Did I just see a smile there?

Remember Haymitch's line in the Hunger Games about Katniss having as much charm as a dead slug? Well, some people make the same comment about Andy Murray. While Andy may not be as lively or vivacious as Jennifer Lawrence,  he's equally as adorable. I just love his Scottish sense of humor. To prove my point, I humbly present to you the following videos. They're marked as Exhibits A and B.

Exhibit A: Andy reveals that Roger Federer is not picky. He also says that he doesn't know if both Roger and Rafa (Nadal) read books. LOL. Priceless.

Exhibit B: It's nice to know that tennis players are talented enough to also have a career outside tennis when they finally get tired of it. Doubles players Jean-Julien Rojer and Colin Fleming could definitely give the hosts of E!'s Fashion Police a run for their money. It's pretty hilarious when they rib on Andy for the effort that he exerted in dressing up for the Indian Wells Players' Party. I also love it when they ask him about his tan (or lack thereof) and when they start giving him fashion advice. Oh and Andy, please. No more excuses on that pasty skin. Also, tie your shoes.

The "Must" List: Muppets against Romney? LOL.

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys might find interesting.

* So, there's Sesame Street Diplomacy and now there's US presidential candidate Mitt Romney going after Big Bird during his first live debate with incumbent president Barack Obama. Who knew that these muppets could wield so much power and influence?  

* Thanks, Patricia Evangelista, for telling us what the future could look like with Sen. Tito Sotto as the King of Cyberspace. God save the Philippines.

* Roger Federer being, well, like Roger Federer:

"I think he's done so well," Federer added. "His reaction was amazing after not winning Wimbledon against me.
"Then coming back to win the Olympics and bringing the victory home for his first Grand Slam at the US Open was great to see.
"I was very impressed and I'm sure that's going to give him confidence for what's to come.
"How me, Novak and Rafa - whenever he comes back - and the rest of the players will play will have a little bit of an impact.
"But, overall, Andy has some control over that himself now."

* Novak Djokovic dancing Psy's Gangnam Style. Tennis is so cool.

* And I've missed you too.

* Anna Wintour is a big fan of tennis. She's also a big fan of Homeland. Who knew that we had a lot of things in common?

* Team Nicki Minaj or Team Mariah? Let BuzzFeed help you decide.

Why do you do this to him, British press?!

And the prize for the best @andy_murray headline goes to...The Sun. #Genius twitter.com/eleanorpres/st…
— eleanorpres (@eleanorpres) September 12, 2012

I already celebrated on Twitter but .... I'M STILL SO HAPPY FOR ANDY! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The "Must" List: Defending the right to copy-paste

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys might find interesting.

Asked if there was moment when she doubted herself, Ana Ivanovic laughs. Replies: "There was not a moment. There were many moments." #usopen
— James Henry (@olerafa) August 28, 2012

*That was the money quote of the interview. Self-deprecating humor for the win!

*Nice article from Patricia Evangelista on the plagiarism issue and Sen. Tito Sotto's pathetic attempt to defend his right to copy-paste from blogs for his anti-RH speeches . An excerpt:

The public—and he makes a delineation between the public attacking him and the public who knows him—knows how to perceive right and wrong, and they know better than to believe his attackers.

“Do we know if they are good people? Do we know if they are kind, if they are drunks, if they batter their wives? We don’t know who they are, but they are so good at destroying my name.”

And yet he destroys that name, and continues to cling to his innocence, invoking his position as senator and public figure, placing himself above those he plagiarized, setting up rules for himself. The medium is tainted—a man whose ideas are not his own, whose sources are questionable, whose ethics have been proven false, is a difficult man to trust when he claims moral authority.

*Bond, James Bond, crashes Andy Murray's US Open presser. How do you top this? Maybe we can ask the Queen (aka the new Bond girl) to jump off a helicopter again if Andy wins his first Grand Slam (*fingers crossed*) on Monday.

*She's smart, pretty, has well-toned arms and is married to the president of the most powerful country in the world. Like Angelina Jolie, Michelle Obama is living the life that I want. Isn't she the best First Lady ever?

*Oh, Cristiano Ronaldo. You amuse me so.

The "Must" List: Grand Deception?

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the 5 people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*I humbly submit the above video as evidence as to why women tennis players deserve equal prize money. Oh. Hi there, Gilles Simon. Who's the most popular out of the four of you there? (Video courtesy of @OnTheGoTennis)

*Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and probably the best cyclist that ever lived, is going to be stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport that he dominated after refusing to defend himself from allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. This early 2011 investigative piece from Sports Illustrated sheds some light into the issue and even hints at a grand deception on the part of Armstrong and his entourage to cover-up his long-term doping. After reading this article, I can't help but compare Armstrong to Tiger Woods, another superstar who spectacularly fell from grace after being involved in a sex addiction controversy, and how far celebrities and their handlers would go to appear "clean", deceive people and cover up any negative publicity. I know that Armstrong is revered more than Woods mainly because of his work with Livestrong but, after reading SI's article, I can't help but still feel betrayed. I love sports and admire athletes who work really hard and sacrifice a lot of things just to be able to compete and be the best that they can be. It's a shame when they cheat by relying on performance-enhancing drugs and don't do the hard work that other athletes do. It's also unforgivable when they act out like Mafia bosses and ruin the lives and career of people who dare expose them as frauds.

*Here's a nice Strong is Beautiful campaign photo featuring Ana Ivanovic from the WTA. I can't help but feel emotional (you know how we tennis fans can be) after reading the following tagline: "Strong is…never giving up the struggle to be as great as you know you can be. Strong is Women’s Tennis." It's no secret that I'm a big Ana Ivanovic fan (just run through my previous posts) and, of course, I know very well how enormously talented she is and how hard she works to get back to where she once was before the slump happened (Grand Slam champion, former world no. 1). It just sucks big time that her results since late 2008 have not been commensurate to her abilities. I still hope against hope that someday she will somehow recover what she lost during her long slump (e.g. ranking points, a couple of titles, Queen Bee locker room status, endorsement deals). Thanks for keeping the faith, Hitler.

*How hard is it to be a wannabe Secretary of State or Foreign Affairs Secretary? Just ask Steve Walt.

*Vladimir Putin doesn't have a sense of humor. Another post from Steve Walt: 

Meanwhile, over in Moscow, the punk band Pussy Riot got sentenced to two years in jail for "hooliganism," all because they had the temerity to poke some harmless fun at Vladimir Putin and made the mistake of doing it inside a Russian Orthodox Church. Now there's a real threat to public order!  And the government's lame response is revealing: throwing young female musicians in jail is like taking out a full page ad in the world's leading newspapers announcing "We are afraid of independent thinking and have absolutely no sense of humor." In a world where success increasingly depends on tapping into the energy, imagination, and initiative of the citizenry, Putin is telling young Russians to be dull and conformist. I think he's also betraying a profound sense of insecurity: when a three-person punk band is a threat to society, you know that the government has lost all perspective. He's got Madonna ticked off too, although I'm not sure that matters all that much. 

*Cute guys edition: Ryan Gosling does ballet? I need a video ASAP. Brody Jenner's single, y'all. (Oh wait, I shouldn't have announced that. Darn.)  Unintentional hilarity still follows Andy Murray.

*The Philippines lost a good public servant last week. While a lot of tributes have been written about DILG Secretary and multi-awarded former Naga City major Jesse Robredo, this piece written by Patricia Evangelista is probably my favorite. RIP, Sec. Robredo. Your brand of leadership will surely be missed. 

Golden Boy

Roger Federer has a Rafa Nadal problem. Rafa has a Novak Djokovic problem. Novak has a Roger problem. Poor Andy Murray has a lot of problems. Andy lost to Novak in the semis of the Australian Open. He was no match for Rafa at the semis of Roland Garros. He was reduced to tears after losing to Roger in the finals of Wimbledon just a couple of weeks ago.

This has been the story of Andy Murray's career. He has been to four Grand Slam finals already but has never managed to win one. The Scot was simply unlucky to be Britain's only tennis hope during the time that Roger, Rafa and Novak were extremely dominant. It has been said several times that Murray's tactical, but defensive, game would not be enough to topple the big 3 and win him a Grand Slam. His strategy of just waiting for his opponents to make mistakes was just not going to cut it.

I can't remember the specific match that I saw that made me a big Andy Murray fan. I remember becoming a big Ana Ivanovic fan when I saw a replay of her semifinal match on tv against fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic during Roland Garros '08. I just remember being impressed by how cleanly she hit her forehand. Up to this day, I still think it's the most beautiful shot in the game. I took tennis lessons before just to be able to copy the Ivanovic forehand (to no success). I know Ana's game like the back of my hand and heck even her body language when she enters the court. My friend Erny and I would text each other every time we are able to catch a match of hers live on tv. We would make predictions as to how she would play judging by how she looked and acted as she entered the court. It may be a talent but we are rarely wrong when making Ana-related predictions.

I have seen a lot of Andy's matches even before I became a big fan of his. While I admired his very tactical game, I just wasn't that enamored with it in the beginning. On the men's side I tended to root for Roger or Novak a lot. In a match that doesn't feature any of them, I root for the, uhm, more good-looking player (e.g. Ernests Gulbis, Tomas Berdych, Juan Monaco, Simone Bolelli). But then came one eureka moment when I was watching Andy in a Wimbledon 2010 match. I can't remember who he was playing against but something just clicked inside my brain. I was suddenly able to distinguish how differently he adjusted his game, specifically how he hits his backhand, from one surface to another. It was like my mind became a television screen and Andy's game was shown on slo-mo and in several split screens playing on a slow hard court, a clay court, a grass court and a fast hard court. I think it was during that time that I realized, for better or worse, that I was a bona fide tennis nerd. From then on I realized that I was watching tennis from a very technical point of view.

After that match, I just couldn't switch the channel every time an Andy Murray match is on tv. I started reading articles about him and I just totally fell in love with the guy's dry British (or Scottish?) humor and with the unintentional hilarity that seemed to follow him.  It also helped that he is very complimentary of women's tennis (I'm looking at you, Gilles Simon) and that his girlfriend's dad (Nigel Sears, dad of Kim Sears) is currently coaching Ana. Probably what I found most endearing about him was how honest and aware he was of the pressure of being Britain's great tennis hope in probably the greatest men's tennis era of all time. Andy knows how talented he is but is just unable to get to the next level. He's a classic Feza fave: an extremely talented person who chokes when they are about to reach their moment. I guess I'm lucky that I attended a school for fans that taught students how to poke fun at their favorites that's why I am still able to  root for the likes of Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray a.k.a. headcases. I still believe, no matter what, that (a) Ana can win another Slam, (b) that Andy will defeat one of the top 3 in a Slam final and win at least Wimbledon and that (c) they can still be multiple Slam champions. I always add, though, in the end that (d) "I'm  delusional" and that (e) "the tennis gods have put a curse on me". I know. It's like believing in unicorns and in flying pigs.

But, at least for the past week or so, Andy was able to prove that (d) and (e) are not always true. He was able to prove that rooting for headcases is not always a lost cause. I know that winning a gold medal at the Olympics may not mean the same as winning a Grand Slam for many people but, hello, how many tennis players can claim that they've won a singles gold medal? Not even Roger, who has won a career Slam and has 17 Grand Slam titles, can claim that he has won a gold medal on his own (I refuse to include his doubles gold medal with Stan Wawrinka in the statistic). Not even Novak with his invincible 43-0 win-loss record at the start of 2011 has a gold medal. With the right mix of defense and aggression (and an improved forehand, thanks to his coach and tennis great Ivan Lendl), Andy defeated both Roger and Novak on his way to winning the gold medal at the Olympics, in front of a hard to please home crowd. (Rafa, I hope he gets a chance against you next.) Obviously I'm praying that it could lead to a US Open title but I'll try not to think too far ahead. This is still Britain's first gold medal in tennis since 1908 (!). So, as a fan, I'm savoring this moment. This is as good as a Grand Slam and he officially won the gold medal as a representative of his country. The British tabloids can mock him some other time.

Quotes: He's getting closer.

From Reuters:

"I'm going to try this - it isn't going to be easy," Murray told the crowd as he tried to hold back tears to get through his runners-up speech.

"I was told the other day that 'this is your best chance because Roger is 30 now.' He's not bad for a 30-year-old. He had some struggles early on (this tournament) with his back and today he showed us what fight he has got left in him.

"I'm going to start crying again... Everybody always talks about the pressure of playing at Wimbledon, how tough it is, ... the people watching make it so much easier to play - they make it incredible," Murray added as he was given a rapturous round of applause.

Sigh. I never choose my favorites. They pick me.

My fave tennis tantrum. EVER.

The look on the umpire's face is just priceless. Don't ever change, Andy.

To find your own favorite tennis outburst, click here.

Unintentional hilarity: Sesame Street diplomacy

*I didn't know that there's such a thing as Sesame Street diplomacy. I wonder who among Ernie, Bert, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Oscar the grouch and Elmo would've made a fantastic Ambassador?

*A couple of observations from Maroon 5's Payphone video: (1) Adam Levine and his female companion in the video were running in front of the robbers and they couldn't get a clear shot of him?! (2) why are the cops running after Adam's character? Aren't the robbers STILL inside the bank? (3) Adam's sexy but he's still no Jason Statham.

*This book about marriage and game theory totally makes sense. Really, props to the author. I would've made a thesis out of it if only I was able to think about it first.

*Who knew that googling Scottish tennis player, Andy Murray, could yield these hilarious photos of other players?

*For the record, I wouldn't mind seeing a Bollywood number during the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I'll take that over Beijing's fake fireworks and lip-synching.

UPDATED: French Open round-up

*Uhm, Adolf, Ana Ivanovic doesn't have a Twitter account. (But you could threaten to "unlike" her on Facebook.)

*Ana Ivanovic is already out of Roland Garros after suffering a 6-1 5-7 3-6 defeat at the hands of Sara Errani. (I'm as pissed as Hitler is with this result.) Reaching the 3rd round this year was, of course, a much better showing than her 1st round exit last year. However, this was another squandered opportunity for Ana because a win against Errani would've given her an easier road to the semifinals after the losses of Venus Williams, Aga Radwanska and Marion Bartoli. She could've also entered the top 10 and inched closer to a spot for the year-end championships. It's also unfortunate since Roland Garros has been her best slam to date (was a back-to-back finalist from 2007-'08 and winner in '08). Hopefully the second half of the tennis season would be kinder to the former world number 1.

*Old man (and "drama queen", at least according to Virginia Wade) Andy Murray, who is struggling with a back injury, has defied early exit predictions from pundits and is now in the 4th round of RG. He is set to face hugely talented but incredibly inconsistent Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, who took him to five sets in their previous match at RG last 2010.

*Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal have both cruised in all of their matches so far. The Djoker is bidding to match Rod Laver's record of holding all four major titles simultaneously. Those who could prevent him on his side of the draw are Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roger Federer, who prevented him from winning RG last year. Federer has, however, struggled in his last two matches, dropping two sets in his matches against Adrian Ungur and Nicolas Mahut. Rafa, considered the King of Clay, is gunning for a seventh RG crown. Those who could stand in his way to the finals are Janko Tipsarevic, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro and Murray.

*Like Djokovic, Maria Sharapova is also after history as she chases a career slam. RG is so far the only trophy that is missing in her Grand Slam cabinet. Her road to RG has gotten easier as the tennis gods have eliminated Serena Williams (who could've been her quarterfinal opponent), Caroline Wozniacki and Francesca Schiavone. Petra Kvitova and last year's champion, Li Na, could play spoilers to her date with destiny.

UPDATED
*With Vika Azarenka's loss to Domi Cibulkova in the 4th round, Masha would now have the chance to take over number 1 ranking if she reaches the final. Destiny is indeed smiling at the self-described Siberian "cow on ice".

Why Novak Djokovic should return to Adidas

From CNBC's Darren Rovell:

In November of 2009, Novak Djokovic signed a 10-year apparel deal with Sergio Tacchini, as his former sponsor adidas put its money in Andy Murray. It was a huge coup for the brand, who once had Pete Sampras and John McEnroe, but hadn’t been able to find relevance. 

But on Tuesday, Tacchini announced in a statement that the two had mutually decided to part ways. The reasoning? The small brand couldn’t handle the success that the Serbian player had with them.

In their clothes, Djokovic has won four majors, including the Australian Open twice. He has also won 84.7 percent of his matches (161 out of 190) and has been No. 1 in the world for nearly 11 consecutive months.

Novak Djokovic has also recently confirmed on his Twitter account that he is now officially with Uniqlo, a Japanese apparel company. Uniqlo also sponsors Japanese tennis ace, Kei Nishikori. I'm a bit disappointed that Nole didn't sign up with either of the two biggest apparel brands in sports, Nike and Adidas.

It's unfortunate that Sergio Tacchini wasn't able to capitalize on the Djoker's success. I also feel sorry for Djokovic since Sergio Tacchini was also unable to help him solidify his personal brand. Despite his enormous success last year, he still couldn't compete against Roger Federer's or Rafa Nadal's drawing power. The two are still the biggest names in men's tennis and this can also be attributed to the fact that they're backed by Nike, a global apparel giant that's not only able to create lovely designs for the two, but are also able to come up with very interesting marketing campaigns.

If I'm not mistaken, the only Grand Slam champion on Adidas' roster right now is French Open winner and former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic. (Sorry, Andy Murray, those GS finals do not count. Caroline Wozniacki, being a slamless former no. 1 will also not cut it.) This is unfortunate considering that Adidas had the likes of Steffi Graff, Martina Hingis, Marat Safin and Anna Kournikova (she actually partnered with Hingis to win a women's doubles GS title) in the past. Nike, on the other hand, still has Federer, Nadal, US Open 2009 champion Juan Martin Del Potro, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, defending French Open champ Li Na, current women's world no. 1 and current Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka and defending Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova. Thus, it would be smart for both Adidas and Djokovic to get back together. Adidas needs another marketable GS champ. Djokovic needs a big time apparel sponsor that: (a) would not be burdened by his success and (b) would also help him build his personal brand.

Here are other reasons why Djokovic should come back to Adidas:

1) He looks great in Adidas (despite the weird color combos of some designs):

2 )They gave him a signature Adidas Falcon range that was perfect for his image. It was said that Djokovic, who also goes by the nickname "Nole", was playfully called "Nole Sokole " (Nole the Falcon) growing up.

3) I don't understand what they're saying in this 2008 video but he looks great promoting the brand with the queen of Adidas, childhood friend Ivanovic:

P.S.
Just to defend Murray, the Djoker was still not his invincible self during the time that he was with Adidas. Murray was, arguably, the more marketable one during that time since Adidas could use Murray's popularity to secure a bigger share in the UK market. The apparel brand probably couldn't also offer Djokovic a better deal because of Ivanovic's lifetime deal (which could have been much, much more lucrative if not for the career slump that followed her ascent to world no. 1). Ugh, now I'm sad for Ana, too. Oh, the what-could-have-beens...

Quotes: I Am Number Four

Andy Murray gives everyone a lesson in perspective in his recent interview with Sport magazine (via Beyond the Baseline):

“I’d be disappointed [if I don't reach the last four at a Grand Slam], but very few people can say they’re in the top four in the world at what they do. You wouldn’t view the fourth-best businessman in the world as a failure.”

Why I love tennis, especially the clay season.

From Steve Tignor's latest TENNIS.com article:

For a long time I wondered why I liked watching tennis on clay so much, and why it looked so different, so much more flowing, than it does on hard courts. Finally a friend clued me in: “I think it’s the sliding.” Oh right, the sliding. That was it. Why hadn’t I thought of that before?

I’ve read that all art forms aspire to musicality; to lose themselves in the flow. So it must be with tennis. Its players expand their palette when they walk onto clay—the drop, the lob, the angled volley, we’ve seen plenty of all of them already this week in Monte Carlo. These days, it seems more natural for players to find themselves at the net, at least temporarily, on clay than it does on hard courts. Here you get some help from the court: You can slide forward to pick up a drop shot, and then slide back to the baseline to reach the lob that comes after it.

Yes, it's also about the sliding for me. Amidst all that red (and even blue) dirt, I think players actually look more graceful playing on this surface than in a hard court or a grass court. 

More from the article:

Perhaps, also, it's because genius doesn’t get you all that much. Think about Andy Murray, another player gifted by the Hands Gods. The ever-sober Murray can do virtually anything with the ball, but he mostly chooses to play it straight and solid. Every so often, though, he’ll relax enough to do a little showing off. Up 5-0 in the first set against Viktor Troicki on Monday, Murray hit a forehand at an extreme angle, and with an extreme amount of topspin, that crossed the net and immediately dove to the court—it was a circus shot, and something I’d never seen before. Pleased with his success, Murray tried it again on the next ball, put it in the net, and yelled at himself. He must know that geniuses look cool, but you can’t count on them.

Ok, got it. No more acting cool from now on, Andy.

Another excerpt:

“Stay hungry, stay humble,” was how Mary Carillo once summed up the tennis, and life, advice that Toni Nadal gives to his nephew Rafael. It’s worked well. Today, Nadal made his 2012 debut at Monte Carlo, a tournament he’s won the last seven years. Toni was where he’s been for all of those years, in the front row at the end of one sideline.

What, rationally, could Rafa have to prove, to himself or anyone there, after all of those wins? Plenty. Everything. Watching him—this year in a peach shirt—you might have thought he was still trying to break through for title number one. He played with the same look of concerned concentration, the same nervous energy contained by a semi-superstitious attention to ritual, the same earnest looks of encouragement shared with Toni, the same temporary jitters when trying to serve out a set, the same spring in his step after winning a point and slowed-down tempo after losing one, and, when he needed them, the same dive-bomb passing shots hit on the full, clay-scattering slide. Otherwise, it was a pretty routine win.

Hunger: The most useful talent of all.

I may not be a big Rafa Nadal fan but I really appreciate the guy's desire to always improve himself and his dedication to the sport.

#areyoukiddingme

Andy Murray just debuted his new battle look for the upcoming clay and grass tournaments. I just don't know if this bald look is menacing enough, though. Is he strategizing this early or does he simply adore his current coach (tennis legend Ivan Lendl) too much?

Heartbreak behind the bubbles...

Novak Djokovic defeats Andy Murray, 6-1 7-6 (7-4), in the finals of the Miami Masters. Congrats, Novak. Oh, Andy...