David Ferrer US Open 2012

Maria Sharapova US Open 2012

Victoria Azarenka US Open 2012

Andy Roddick - US Open 2012

Can You Tell The Chinese Don't Teach Me How To Play Tennis

Li Na absolutely hated her fellow Chinese country men.

US Open - Jersey Shore Edition

When on court action isn't much, looks off court.



Novak Djokovic and Philipp Petzschner should have done some soul searching.  Should they have played a little bit harder, to make the match a bit more mesmerizing, maybe the fans don't have to resort to fight each other to get entertained. Djokovic and Petzschner are somewhat responsible for this melee--should be fined or even suspended in my opinion.

The New York Times also reported that it says "two men tumbled down a few rows of $45 seats."  Next time forget about the $450 seats, get the $45 seats if you want to be close to where the real action is.

US Open - Venus Williams

Picture added 9/4/2010 Chang W. Lee/New York Times, copyright belong to its rightful owners.

Picasso once said good taste is the enemy of creativity.  The Williams sisters got to be the most awesome creative tennis players in the history of tennis.

With Serena not playing this US Open, and mind you, all the line judges are breathing a collective sigh of relief, knowing nobody would shove down tennis balls down their throats, Roddick is such a pussy so he doesn't count, Venus single-handedly shoulders the responsibility of wearing the most woefully designed outfits to shock and awe tennis fans world wide.  And I have to say she has succeeded spectacularly.  As if her play is not firework enough on the court, she literally put firework on her little tiny bitsy black dress which is sequined with firework motif.  And of course she won the match against French woman Mandy Manella.  She is such a tennis royalty and whatever, everybody, of course including that Pam Shriver, is complimenting her outfit. I feel like it's some kind of Emperor's new clothes moments whenever somebody complimenting their outfits.   Serena is not playing this tournament but she still will not leave us in peace, she has to come fully and spectacularly dressed to haunt us all ... Scary, isn't it?

US Open - Djokovic

Djokovic is The Man With the Dragon Tattoo ... tennis outfit.  Black on crimson red.  I am sure the dragon design is inspired by the now ubiquitous Millennium series.  With a touch of Chinese color scheme thrown in, it's tastefully done without the kitsch.  I wish the Williams sisters can take heart.  But seeing what I see here, I think they just have a very unique sense of style.  But hey, if you play that well in tennis, you can dress any way you want.

Update: picture added from Sergio Tacchini.  Copyright belongs to its rightful owners.

Roddick Fails

Roddick fails miserably.  Sure he lost to number 1,980 Janko Tipsarevic on the second round but what's worse is he couldn't disparage the line judge like Serena did--with unprecedented ferocity and gusto that mesmerized the stadium.  He did a terrible job; it was half hearted, protracted and lacked conviction and at no point did we feel the life of the line judge was threatened or in moral danger.  Serena was a thousand times more menacing.  He should have studied Serena's moves before he even thought about disparaging the line judge.  The only upside of this:  he didn't get any warning or fine from USTA or whatever tennis governing body.  Serena is still number one in that department, Roddick, at best, a very distant second, very sad.

US OPEN 2010 - Stanislas Wawrinka

UPDATE 9/5/10: I think it really should be Gilles Simon of France. Nadal is punishing the guy in Arthur Ashe right now.

I hope he is what I say he is.  Because I really have no idea.  I ran through the US Open site player by player and he looks like Wawrinka.  If he is not, sorry dude.

It was the second time, I got everything ready except one thing, my memory card.  I left my 4GB CF card home and I thought that would be it for the day.  For reason I couldn't explain, I did have an extra 64MB CF card I brought with me.  Wow, it can take about 16 images or so if I left my image at the usual setting, i.e. Large and Fine.  Would I be just shooting 16 images?  I guess not.  I have no choice but to dial the setting to Large and Basic, that allows me to shoot 88 images--I just counted.  Here are the best of the very best, or rather somewhat appear to be OKAY.

I also brought along my Nikon FE and 28mm 1:2 just for fun.  At some point I mounted my Nikkor 80-200 onto my FE, wow, the viewfinder looked so much better, it's like day and night.  More reason to get a full frame camera just for the viewfinder if not anything else.

Ethics check or otherwise known as delusion of grandeur:  If you think you can use these pictures for non commercial purpose, please cite attribution and link back here.  Thank you.

US OPEN 2010 - Robin Soderling

Has yet to win a Slam.

US OPEN 2010 - Maria Sharapova

Everybody comes to see her play.  She signs everything got shoved in front of her.

US OPEN 2010 - Andy Murray

Murray, so close yet so far away.

US OPEN 2010

Ralph Lauren:  I mean, I'm not gonna be ignored.

Roger Federer Hits Water Bottle

Instead of or in addition to hitting aces, Federer is hitting water bottles off court.  I don't know if it's pure tennis wizardry or cinematic trickery or a combination of both--got to be a combination of both, but it does look impressive and interesting.  I bet millions of kids are practicing this shot with their reluctant younger siblings at home.

US Open is around the corner, can Federer rule the court?  We don't have to wait long to find out.

Alejandro Falla Is Making Roger Work in Wimbledon

Lady Gaga made him a household name even before he hit the manicured lawn in England.  Alejandro Falla is making Federer sweat on the first round.  Now that's pretty unbelievable.



UPDATE:
After R.Fed rallied from behind, Alejandro just got nothing else in the tank to bother with the fifth set and gave it to Roger. Federer once again proves what's made of.

We Are Safe, Sort Of

The Williams sisters are out of the singles game .  We (OKAY, I) can breathe a collective sigh of relief not to be tormented by Venus' skanky tennis outfit and rest assured that there won't be any Serena on court outbursts.

French Open - The (Almost) Emancipation of the Venus Two

Venus Williams got more than tennis balls to take care of on Roland Garros.  Her boobies (click at your own risk) are at any time going to burst out of her lingerie.  At least it looks that way through out the entire match.  She spends a better part of her court time trying to put them back in their place, plenty of tucking and pulling between plays.  The broadcast is reluctant to show any slow mo of her play out of respect to viewers because not all the viewers have the stomach for this constant booby attack.  Santonja of Spain lost the match largely because of Williams' bouncing booby attack and bare-bottom like flesh color undergarment distraction.  I wonder what the English would do should Williams choose to wear this this whorish outfit in Wimbledon.

French Open

Despite Germany's Andrea Petkovic incessant heartwrenching pleas for Oprah's help, she was beaten by Svetlana Kuznetsova after failing to convert four match points against the Russian on the second set.  Petkovic was heard squeaking "Oprah" through out the entire match.  Alas, Oprah was no where to be seen and even if she was there, I couldn't imagine she could be of any help to the 22-year old once Kuznetsova saved the second set and began to strong-arm the third.

Thoughts on Roland Garros

It's not like the French haven't seen any well paved tennis courts before.  The English have well manicured lawn tennis courts (though by the end of the fortnight tournament, all the grass would turn into hay or the courts simply develop large bald spots like some middle aged men), and the American and Australian,always rational and practical, have well cemented hard courts  And what do the Frenchmen do to their tennis courts?  Nothing.  It's basically courts filled with dirt.  Players, some actually millionaires in shorts and skirts, have to suffer the indignity of getting their tennis shoes and socks all caked up with mud for all the world to see.  It just goes to show how ridiculous the Frenchmen can sometimes be.