Smash season
The Australian Open starts on Monday. I’m tempted to have my cable reconnected, but will camp out at friends’ houses instead. My cats and I are rooting for Marat Safin, but we don’t consider it disloyal to also cheer on Roger Federer, our default setting, for a four-slam sweep. Marat was the last person to beat the Fed at the Australian, in 2005’s classic semifinal, en route to victory in the final. (He did not play last year due to injury.) In the first round Marat meets David Nalbandian, always a dangerous opponent, but the Russian tends to play brilliantly against the top players, and lose to those he should’ve beaten without breaking a sweat. Ah Marat, watching him is like reading a novel by Dostoevsky. If you’re in the mood for a novel about tennis, here’s a short list:
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace – Not just amazing, but also useful as a coffee table.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani – Tennis in the afternoons on a lovely estate in Ferrara as fascists strut around and WWII looms.
Double Fault by Lionel Shriver – An earlier novel from the author of We Need To Talk About Kevin; the doomed marriage of two professional tennis players—she’s ranked in the 300s, he in the 800s.
My favorite tennis-related movie quote comes from A Room With A View. Cecil (Daniel Day-Lewis) learns that he’s being dumped and cries, “Because I wouldn’t play tennis with Freddy?”
Correction. Marat’s first round opponent was Benjamin Becker (no relation to Boris). Marat won in four sets (breathe). His second round opponent is Dudi Sela.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
January 14th, 2007 at 14:39
i am supposed to read my books like crazy for my comprehensive exam, which is on the 25th, the tennis gods should help me pass because i will be trying my best to read my books while watching the games. talk about putting my grad life on the line, all in the name of tennis, and a tennis master named roger. whew!
January 15th, 2007 at 10:46
i’m looking forward to the australian open, which starts today! but i’m a bit sad lindsay davenport is not playing because of a pregnancy. and she’s talking about retiring soon. i wish she’d get the roland garros first before retiring. haha
January 15th, 2007 at 14:58
I don’t like watching Federer. What’s the point? He won’t lose even at his worst. He is probably more dominant than Pete Sampras ever was. In the past, I was also bored to death by Sampras when nobody can touch him. I’m more of a Michael Chang sort of guy- where every point is sheer struggle. Watching someone overcome their flaws through pure guts is a more entertaining experience than Federer with his cool, controlled ground strokes- hardly breaking a sweat. When he turns 50 and he is still playing, that’s the day I’ll tune in.
January 15th, 2007 at 17:58
but roddick beat federer at Kooyong!
January 15th, 2007 at 19:43
I watched the Kooyang Classics Final and even from the start The Fed wasn’t in his peak. Roddick got the first set in 31 mins, The Fed bounced back in the second set but wasn’t able to maintain it until third. His loss to Roddick made me worry. A bit.
If ever he wins this year’s Aussie Open, I wish he’d cry again. Last year was so romantic.
January 25th, 2007 at 16:18
was rooting for marat and serena in day one. both unseeded, both former aussie champs. but marat left in the hands of hot andy. i guess it’s another noisy finals, with serena and maria head to head again. hehe :)