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U.S. Open Diary - Day 9
2007-09-05 08:24:00
If you needed any more proof that the best time to come to the U.S. Open is during the first week, you just needed to look at today's day schedule. The only three men's matches for the day were Moya/Gulbis, Chela/Wawrinka, and Djokovic/Monaco - hardly captivating stuff. Also consider that this is still very early in the second week, and the matches only get more infrequent from here on out. To any readers who haven't yet been to Flushing Meadows, I would urge you to go during the first or second rounds of the opening week, which is usually Monday-Friday. You'll get a much better experience for your money.With this lackluster schedule in mind, I needed to play my cards well today. Djokovic and Monaco were playing too late in the day for my taste (I have responsibilities at night as well), and Chela/Wawrinka was just too ghastly to consider. I quickly decided that I wanted to cover the Gulbis/Moya match, mainly becuase I had never seen Gulbis play before.Today's match revealed pl...
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 8
2007-09-04 06:59:00
Although devoid of much tennis analysis, yesterday's diary entry was nonetheless important for me in a therapeutic and symbolic way. Today marked the beginning of a new week, and after feeling the 90+ hours of work at times last week, I looked forward to today with the same vigor that I did last Monday. Thankfully, I was rewarded with great tennis and a memorable day in Flushing Meadows.Our morning meeting at the dining hall was just like any other, with zombified media members sipping coffee like it was beer at a frat party. My fellow USOpen .org writers took the back row of tables with the match schedule being read aloud. Options included watching Svetlana Kuznetsova, Andy Roddick, and Agnes Szavay, among others. But instead of taking any of these highly ranked singles players, I opted to cover an 11 a.m. women's doubles match between Sania Mirza/Bethanie Mattek and Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur.You read that right. One of the many things that I have taken out of this summer...
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 7
2007-09-03 08:00:00
I've been here a week, but it feels like a month.I know the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center like I know the Utica North-South Arterial (not 100%, but pretty damn good).I hate the N and W trains because of their infrequent stops at Queensboro Plaza at 1 a.m. But the 7 train? We're cool.I've seen the top six men's players in the world play.I get up at 8 a.m. every morning, and usually come back before 2 a.m at night.I got to talk to one of my idols, Roger Federer.I sleep on an air mattress that collapses into a cocoon by morning.I've never enjoyed working as much as I do in the mornings and afternoons.I've never been more tired than I am during this first week.I'm one of the luckiest people alive.I needed a break from a lengthy post tonight.I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 6
2007-09-02 08:51:00
Have you ever heard of the song "Grace is Gone" by the Dave Matthews Band? It has a introduction that is both poignant and emotionless:Neon shines through smokey eyes tonightIt's 2 A.M., I'm drunk againAnd it's heavy on my mindI listened to this on my walk back to my friend's apartment tonight, because I was that guy. Ditmars Boulevard is a quaint street, lined with tiny homes and urban shops, but there are some strings of colour that illuminate the night sky, even at 2:30 A.M.By the way, I wasn't drinking, but I could have used a pilsner after sitting through a 2.5 hour match between Nicole Vaidasova and Shahar Peer. There were some nice shots, the crowd was into it, and it was a close match. But if I can't into a women's match with all these factors in play - sitting courtside at Ashe Stadium, mind you - I never will. And honestly, I'm fine with that. There's so much of the men's game that I am still learning. I'd rather watch a Zagreb qualifier as opposed to Hen...
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 5
2007-09-01 06:45:00
After last night's 1:30 AM arrival back to Astoria, I needed an easier day in order to recharge myself. I'm not complaining whatsoever about the length of the Santoro/Blake match - that's what made it great - but I am wishing that I didn't have to get up only hours later and head straight back to the tennis centre. A number of personalities from USOpen .org were hurting after last night, but it could have been a lot worse. Blake's match went five sets, but it didn't surpass the four hour mark. If today's Djokovic/Stepanek match was the night feature, then the discussion of "do I even bother to take the train home" (4:44 in length) then becomes relevant.Thankfully, that wasn't the case tonight. I ended up working the night shift, which had its pros and cons. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet up with the TENNIS Mag clan in Manhattan, which would have been a nice time and a much needed break. However, I did get to finally see Rafael Nadal play, so I can cross his name off my...
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 4
2007-08-31 07:55:00
Real quick update tonight folks - I just got back from the Blake/Santoro five-setter, which was the first time at this year's Open that a match has gone into the next day. For five sets, the match didn't take all that long to complete (it was under four hours), but then again, I haven't gotten home from work at 1:30 AM before either. No matter - the match was fantastic and was the best one of the tournament so far. Every minute of sleep lost for watching another Fabrice two-handed forehand is worth it to me.The day got off to a very rocky start. Coming into Thursday, I almost thought this was inevitable considering how amazing Wednesday ended. I mean, the only thing that could top me asking Roger some questions was for him to ask me to play him in table tennis. Although there is a Nintendo Wii (with the tennis game) up in the player's lounge - which I have access to...Back to reality. I was hoping to cover the Gasquet/Young match, but someone else had already committed to...
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 3
2007-08-30 07:11:00
Oh, what a night. Roger Federer, Shade Adept, played tonight in all black, which was a sharp change from his usual U.S. Open blue. After Roger's match against Chilean Paul Capdeville(Jano, are you reading this?), I asked Roger about this during the press conference:Ed McGrogan: Was there any hesitancy to change color since you've worn blue here ever since you won in '04?Roger Federer: Yeah, I kind of saw the pictures and I realized they were all always blue. Got to change that. I'm just kidding.We had the idea of maybe doing something blue at the day, black at the night. I really liked the idea. I thought it really looks cool. In New York you can do such a thing. Nowhere else in the world. I really thought it looked good. I hope the fans enjoyed it too.Yes - this exchange actually happened. I still can't believe it. In fact, I can't believe I finally saw him play. Watching Federer is truly an experience - everything people say about seeing him live is completely t...
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 2
2007-08-29 06:25:00
I seem to have this knack of being assigned the longest matches of the day. Yesterday, I watched John Isner and Jarrko Nieminen go to three tiebreakers in their first three sets of their 3.5 hour tussle. Today I sat in on an even longer battle, this one contesting Arnaud Clement against Ivo Karlovic. At the morning assignments, I jumped at the chance to cover this match for a few reasons. First, none of the other matches on slate were very appealing - I actually thought this was a pretty luckluster day on the men's side. Second, this match featured "somewhat" obscure men's players, which is my specialty. And third, I'd never before seen Clement play live. I've seen some of his other Frenchmen on tour, most notably Gasquet and Sebastien Grosjean, but I hadn't see Arnaud up to this point. After seeing him play for four hours today, I'm a fan, and continue to be impressed with the caliber of the French players on the ATP Tour. They all seem to have this certain aura about them t...
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U.S. Open Diary - Day 1
2007-08-28 07:25:00
It was a hectic first day in Queens. For those of you who don't know, I have two tasks at this year's U.S. Open . In the mornings and afternoons, I'll be writing match reports and other pieces for http://www.usopen.org/, the official website of the tournament. At night, I change hats and become a glorified usher (media seat marshal) at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where I patrol a small section of seats reserved for credentialed members of the press. After that, I hop on the 7 train towards Manhattan, get off at Queensboro Plaza, and take the N or W train north to Astoria. And here I am after doing all of that today.This morning, I received two writing assignments - compose a pre-match analysis on Serena Williams' first round match (which can be seen here), and write a match report on the John Isner/Jarkko Nieminen tussle. I finished the Serena piece in about an hour, but then I had some time to kill, as I was still waiting for the Marcos Baghdatis/Max Mirnyi match to complete before Isn...
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Opening statements
2007-08-26 05:49:00
If you want to be successful in life, you need to look for your openings ? i.e., the opportunities that can be the gateways to reaching your goals. This analogy is very appropriate, and sometimes literal, for athletes ? as an ice hockey player looks to shoot at an unguarded corner of the net ? but it applies to nearly all aspects of life as well.For business entrepreneurs, an opening may be that specific group of clients you need to target, or that perfect business partner that can help get your idea in motion. For an aspiring lawyer, an opening may be talking to the right people at your law school, or performing like a seasoned professional at an interview.My opening starts next week. Appropriately enough, it?s called the U.S. Open.Starting on Monday, I will be at Flushing Meadows four fourteen straight days, working towards my goal of a career in tennis. From morning until night, I will be doing everything from writing match reports for USOpen.org, to ushering non-credentialed peo...
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The rebuttal
2007-08-24 07:13:00
[Editors Note: This article goes along with my post about the tennis wagering in Vegas, but from a differing point of view ? my opponent?s. Read on for more details. Also, I was at the U.S. Open qualifiers yesterday to pick up my media credentials ? I?ll have a post on Saturday before I leave for New York that talks about the Open, what?s in store for [G/R], and some other info I?m sure.]As I sit on the Amtrak 285 from the Big Apple back to my hometown in central New York, I find myself reminiscing about the past five days of pure and utter enjoyment in the City of Sin. Many people have said that leaving Las Vegas with any money is a victory in itself. So, I guess when all three of my friends and I leave Vegas with more money in our wallets than we came with, it is probably congruent to a double bagel victory in tennis. This of course, leads me to my reason to writing this post: to discuss our tennis betting.Although I have not read Ed?s initial post, I have a good idea of what he d...
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Breaking everyone except Federer
2007-08-22 05:20:00
There has been a lot of James Blake mentioned at [G/R] lately, but for good reason. His impressive summer on the tennis court culminated with a berth in the finals of AMS Cincinnati. Unfortunately for Blake, he met his undoing in Roger Federer , and became the name in the record books who will be associated with the maestro?s 50th career victory.Federer took advantage of a weakened field, as most of the top seeds fell extremely early in Ohio. But most importantly, Roger took care of the required business at hand: winning tennis matches. I named Roger as my ?hero? of the week in my Monday Net Post at TENNIS.com, and here?s why:Federer didn't have to contend with the big guns like Nadal, Djokovic, or Roddick this week, but he did face stern tests from Nicolas Almagro and Lleyton Hewitt, requiring three sets to defeat each player. He also gutted out a third-round victory over Marcos Baghdatis in tough weather conditions - it was an ugly match from both men, but an important one fo...
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AMS Vegas
2007-08-18 04:14:00
I?m waiting for my flight back to New York to take off from Las Vega s , so I?ll make this quick:- Looking back, it?s a good thing that casinos weren?t offering individual match bets for Cincinnati this week. So many highly ranked players were upset early on that the bracket resembles a mass gravesite more than anything else. Some of the early round exits included Andy Murray (who got slaughtered by Marcos Baghdatis 6-1, 6-2), Novak Djokovic (who, after his triumph in Canada, promptly fell to Carlos Moya in his first match), and Richard Gasquet (who retired with blister problems). In fact, on the left side of the draw, the only seeded player to advance to the third round was Roger Federer.My intentions coming into this week in Vegas was to amass a fortune by focusing on some of the unheralded matches going on in Cincinnati ? think first-rounders such as Moya/Nalbandian and Ginepri/Bjorkman. However, I know for a fact that I would have bet a fair amount on Gasquet, and surely mixed...

Where the sand turns to gold
2007-08-15 19:17:00
Hundreds of miles and three time zones away from my home state of New York, I?m finally in Las Vegas, where the sand turns to gold. Forget the chance of riches ? just getting out here is an achievement for me, being that the furthest I?ve ever been out west beforehand in the U.S. was Cleveland, Ohio.Our plane actually touched down in Nevada on Monday, so I?ve gotten the chance to be acquainted with the lay of the land for the past two days. When it comes down to it, you really just end up seeing one thing here ? light. The neon signage of the casinos that fills the night sky is primarily what I?m talking about, but in the daytime, I?m referring to the omnipresent sun. Afternoon temperatures are boiling at over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so tourists scamper to the air-conditioned casinos as quickly as possible. Even at night, you can?t avoid the sweltering heat. So, even if you?re outside of the lights, you can never really escape it. Las Vegas is an experience, that?s for sure. ...
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Welcome to the club
2007-08-14 20:51:00
*Editor's note: There have been a few technical and tennis-related issues in Las Vegas - nothing bad, so don't worry. A full report will come tomorrow. For now, this post focuses on Montreal and the performance of Novak Djokovic, which I haven't had a chance to write on yet:Novak Djokovic?s win in Montreal this past weekend confirmed many things. The first thing it confirmed was that he is undeniably the world?s third best player. Even if the rankings imply that Andy Roddick or Nikolay Davydenko are within shouting distance of Djokovic, that should be taken with a grain of salt. Just as Roger Federer is the world?s number one by a country mile, with the same applying to Rafael Nadal as second-in-command, Novak is clearly the third best player in the world by a similarly wide margin, further distancing himself from his competition with each passing tournament.The victory also confirmed what many of us already suspected - that Djokovic?s stellar play earlier in the year at Indian W...
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Happy days
2007-08-11 23:06:00
It?s been a happy time for many people that I know recently. For the past few days, I?ve been taking part in various wedding-related activities for one of my best friends, John, and his new bride, Kristen. The wedding was yesterday, and the rehearsal was the day before, so I?ve had to catch up on a lot of tennis material sans the television. More on that in a bit ? but in the meantime, here?s a newlywed shot (of two fellow graduates from THE State University of New York College at Geneseo):I?m also pretty happy, because that wedding officially kicked off ?The August and September to Remember?, a self-titled orgy of vacation/tennis that will conclude with the U.S. Open. It?s just like the U.S. Open Series, except that my west coast swing starts on Monday when I depart for Las Vegas. I posted here earlier that a friend of mine, who will go by the handle of ?Squeak?, is competing against me in a battle of tennis wagering. (It wasn?t us that made those $7 million wagers on the Davydenko...
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Don't forget
2007-08-08 06:25:00
Andy Murray has finally returned to the ATP tour. He?s been injured since Hamburg, and since then, it?s been a week-by-week injury report, with last-minute withdrawals being commonplace. The great British hope and former top-10 talent will be back in time for his self-proclaimed ?favourite Grand Slam?, the U.S. Open ? and not a moment too soon, being that it?s later this month.Murray?s comeback may have actually overshadowed something else of note ? and it doesn?t even have to do with him. There?s another player coming back on the courts this week after a long hiatus of his own. Think Hamburg was a while ago? Now think back to Marseille, back in early February ? that was the last time we saw Mario Ancic playing.The towering Croat has largely been forgotten by many, with most of the ?injured list? talk centering on Murray. Ancic?s ranking ? which was at number nine when he became afflicted with mononucleosis ? has now plummeted to number 38, which is well off the mainstream ten...
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Isn't it strange
2007-08-06 04:23:00
I thought for sure that I was going to wait until Montreal to start posting again, but that was before I saw the John Isner show unfold in Washington, D.C. While he didn?t win the title (Andy Roddick won his third Legg Mason crown by a 6-4, 7-6 score), this was truly one of the most impressive tennis performances that I?ve seen this year. For those of you that don?t know Isner or weren?t following this week, here?s the scoop: Isner is a recent graduate from the University of Georgia, where he achieved collegiate fame by playing a large (6 foot 9 inch) role in leading the Bulldogs to a NCAA team title. He?s been playing Futures and Challengers events recently, and had success in them this year ? winning one of each. He played in his first ATP Tour level match a few weeks ago in Newport, losing to Dick Norman 6-7, 3-6.This past week, Isner received a wild card into the Legg Mason tournament. Quickly, he made the tournament director look like a very smart man by beating Tim Henman...
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Agent Orange
2007-08-03 04:57:00
In my last post, the uninspiring opening weeks of the U.S. Open Series were discussed. Now, I want to focus on the last tournament in Europe for some time - the Orange Prokom Open.Oh, don't worry - there will be plenty of time to talk about North American hard court events in the next few weeks. But since very few people are even aware that tennis is being played overseas, this Polish event is a worthwhile diversion, in my view.European tennis has been good to us this year - Hamburg featured a memorable Roger/Rafa final, Roland Garros brought Henmania back to life (for a few days, at least), and Wimbledon was the stage for the breakthrough of Richard Gasquet. I want to give back, in the only way I know how, to the last tennis in Europe...until it returns once again in early September (Bucharest). Hey, they love their tennis over there, and should be recognized for it. So even though the "second" clay season in Europe may run a bit too long, and goes largely unnoticed, there's stil...
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I've seen this before
2007-08-01 05:41:00
I will be the first to admit that [G/R] has been a little light on content ever since the conclusion of Wimbledon, and I?m not particularly proud of it. One big reason for this idle time is because I?ve been occupied with other tennis endeavours (see my previous post). Things have been very busy ? in a good way ? but that has led to a bit of a time crunch.However, there is another, more relevant reason for the lack of posts. The U.S. Open Series, by nature, is a string of events that preface the year?s final Grand Slam, and it is touted as such. But when I read somewhere recently that the earlier events of the series in actuality lead into to the two Masters Series events in Canada and Cincinnati, I thought that explanation was more appropriate.The first few events of the summer (Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C.) have almost identical draw sheets, so much so that I?ve come to identify non-Americans who I always see in the brackets as ?U.S. Open Series Cover Boys?. Thi...
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Lucky seven
2007-07-26 01:32:00
With the U.S. Open Series underway here in the States, there will now be weekly opportunities to watch televised tennis; something I haven?t been able to experience since way back in March, during the four weeks of Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami. This summer run of hard court tournaments has been dubbed ?The Greatest Road Trip in Sports? by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), and with two Masters Series events (Canada and Cincinnati) on the schedule, it?s tough to argue with that slogan. As for the commercials and advertising? Well, let?s just say that I think the concept might be getting a tad tiresome ? but judge for yourself (see the 2005, 2006, and 2007 versions).Of course, these broadcasts will be limited almost exclusively to the semis and finals of each tournament, which leaves tennis fans in the dark (or online checking scores) during the weekdays. Today happens to be in the middle of one of these idle stretches, so I thought I?d speak of someth...
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The clock is ticking
2007-07-21 04:51:00
Two years ago, I remember staying up well into the morning to watch the now-classic U.S. Open quarterfinal between James Blake and Andre Agassi. It?s commonly pointed to as the stage in Blake?s career when his comeback to the ATP Tour had ?officially? been recognized, even though his results prior to Flushing Meadows showed signs of hope for the once fallen American.One of these earlier moments took place in New Haven, only days before the U.S. Open began. I also remember watching a match of Blake?s at this tournament ? the final against Feliciano Lopez. Blake took this match in three sets to give him his second title of the summer, and along with it a tremendous boost of confidence (which couldn?t have came at a better time) heading into the year?s final Grand Slam. This also happened to be the time when I, along with many others, saw Blake in an entirely new light.Gone were the dreadlocks, the youth, and the label of ?American tennis player not named Andy Roddick?. Instead, J...
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The big question
2007-07-19 06:08:00
Hi everyone ?First off, I would like to say thanks for checking in on [G/R] throughout the past week ? I noticed that the site?s hits were still pretty stable during this week of inactivity. It was a nice break to have considering how busy things were during the French Open and Wimbledon, but it?s good to be back, especially when things are pretty calm on tour at the moment.The Fed Cup in Stowe, Vermont was a tremendous experience for me as a writer and as a tennis junkie. I penned three articles for TENNIS.com, and should you wish to see them, they can be viewed here:- Friday- Saturday- SundayBefore I get back into the men?s game, I?d like to say one last thing about my experience at the Fed Cup. To all my fellow ATP Tour diehards: don?t worry, I haven?t been converted to the women?s game. But there?s one element of women?s tennis which I discovered that I actually prefer, as opposed to the men?s version. In singles play, I feel strongly that the harder hit balls from the men d...
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A friendly [G/R] reminder
2007-07-14 16:28:00
Hello subscribers and internet wanderers - Just wanted to remind you all that [G/R] posts will be kept to a minimum this weekend, due to my Fed Cup commitments in Stowe, Vermont. However, this doesn't mean my writing will cease completely - I encourage you all to frequent Tennis.com's "TennisWorld" blog, which I will be posting on with some regularity in the next few days. You can see the first entry by this direct link.- Ed
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Bizarro week
2007-07-12 05:36:00
Two reasons I chose this title for my post:1) Take a look here, here, and here. What's the ONE thing you see in common? That's right - all three number one seeds fell in the first round. Poor performances by the top seed has actually become a bit of a frequent occurrence this year, but this week takes the cake for unbelievably. Davydenko falling to Monfils on clay is tough to surmise, and the same can be said for Tommy Robredo, who fell to Luis Horna. Both of these top dogs are exceptional dirt players - I think it's a sign from above to MOVE ON TO NON-CLAY TOURNAMENTS...its July already. Saying that, the ATP scheduling is partially to blame as well.* As for Mardy Fish, I'll give him a free pass based on his recent return to tour, but just look at that Newport draw...someone with Fish's grass court prowess should breeze through that (it looks like a glorified qualifying tournament).*Did you notice that none of this week's events takes place on a hard court, even though the cla...
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15-40: Five sets, five Wimbledons
2007-07-08 21:59:00
In the Grand Slam matches that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have competed in so far in their careers (2005-2007 French Open, 2006 Wimbledon), we've never had the pleasure of seeing these two kings of the court duel for five sets. It finally occurred on Sunday, and no matter who you supported in this match, admirers of this rivalry have to be elated that today's contest went the distance. Tennis fans have been waiting for another classic between these two ever since the five sets at the Foro Italico last year, where Nadal prevailed by the slimmest of margins in a final set tiebreaker. On this day, Federer claimed victory, and although the fifth set reads 6-2 in the history books, in some ways it was just as close of an affair.At two sets a piece, a new match began with the start of final, fifth chapter of this highly entertaining novel. The preceding chapters were a fine read, but being that everything came down to the last stanza, I feel that the only fitting place to start ...
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The home stretch
2007-07-07 19:17:00
Today?s semifinals were a bit anticlimactic, wouldn?t you say? To be honest, it was hard to expect a repeat performance of Friday?s golden array of tennis because of two factors: expectations and time.If the Federer/Gasquet and Djokovic/Nadal semifinal matches somehow equaled the excitement of the Djokovic/Baghdatis and Gasquet/Roddick five-set brawls that we saw on Friday, I think my head would have just exploded. Keep in mind that the winners of those marathons yesterday now had to play the undisputed top two seeds in tennis ? we?re not talking Baghdatis and Roddick here. From my perspective, if matches of similar quality could occur once again today, I wouldn?t be averse to it, but I wasn?t expecting it by any means either.The timing of these matches is also something to consider. Because of all the rain, the men?s matches have been lumped together tighter than fans leaving the Syracuse Orange basketball games via shuttle bus. As soon as Gasquet snagged victory by handcuffing Rod...
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A fine meal
2007-07-07 01:52:00
After watching nine hours of tennis (which amazingly could be restated as two matches) I don?t even know where to start when it comes to discussing the men?s quarterfinal action on Friday at the All England Club. It was an extremely satisfying experience, with a spread of contests that are still leaving me in awe. Just like on reality cooking shows such as The Next Food Network Star and Top Chef, it?s often best to let the meal itself do the talking:First Course - Appetizers: Rafael Nadal and Roger FedererIt?s not too often that these two aren?t a more focal point of the meal, but Friday?s matches featuring the world?s top two players were shorter by comparison to other tennis on display, and gave us just a sample of their already splendid games. Nadal had absolutely no trouble containing Tomas Berdych after the first two games of their match, and in relatively quick fashion, it was three and out for the Czech. The serve of Berdych wasn?t as potent as it could have been, and he had ...
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Czech mate?
2007-07-06 06:48:00
I really apologize for how late this is getting posted, but as a writer, sometimes you just have an epiphany that gets you out of bed and sits you back on the computer desk (which is exactly what happened to me now).There?s one additional note that I wanted to put into my last post about Richard Gasquet which speaks to why this is such an important match for him. For better or worse, Gasquet has been lumped in with the rest of the ?young guns?, which includes Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Marcos Baghdatis, and Tomas Berdych (I?m keeping Rafael Nadal exempt due to his accelerated accolades). Looking at all of these players, you could easily make the case that Gasquet, after a promising 2005 and 2006, has really started to fall behind this pack of players. Djokovic is in the top five, Baghdatis has made a name for himself at multiple Grand Slams, Murray was in the top ten and has been more consistent, and even Berdych has been making more noise lately on tour than Gasquet has.Now, c...
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Gasquet & Roddick
2007-07-04 23:39:00
When I looked at what was on slate for Wednesday, July 4 at Wimbledon last week, I saw that the play at the All England Club would be exclusively of the men?s variety. All four quarterfinals were to take place, much to the delight of this ATP Tour fanatic. Obviously, things didn?t turn out that way due to the weather, so instead of a day filled to the brim with four quality matches, I instead took in a paltry two hours of men?s tennis ? and not a fully completed match amongst it.Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling completed their never-ending story, Andy Roddick crushed the spirit of Paul-Henri Mathieu, and Novak Djokovic continued to excel in big tournaments in his defeat of Nicolas Kiefer. Being that I saw about 20 minutes (tops) of each of these three matches, an equally quick snippet is in order:- Still can?t believe that the forehand from Nadal a few days ago wasn?t called in by the replay. This would have been a crushing loss for Rafa if he was to have lost in five sets, but he a...