{"id":244,"date":"2009-01-25T18:45:07","date_gmt":"2009-01-25T23:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=244"},"modified":"2009-01-26T21:06:57","modified_gmt":"2009-01-27T02:06:57","slug":"yes-i-carea-lot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=244","title":{"rendered":"Yes, I Care&#8230;A Lot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" align=\"left\" width=\"140\" src=\"http:\/\/baltimore.indymedia.org\/usermedia\/image\/3\/tennis_australian_open_logo.jpg\" height=\"140\" \/>I know I&#8217;m one of only 17 people in this country not named McEnroe who care about professional tennis, but it is certainly in my &#8220;Big Four&#8221; sports (MLB, NFL, NCAA basketball, and the ATP).\u00a0 The Australian Open\u00a0is always so incredibly interesting, being the first major of the year, usually played in extreme heat\u00a0in front of raucous late-night crowds\u00a0of sports-loving, beer-loving\u00a0Aussies.\u00a0\u00a0It is also the only major that does not closely precede or succeed another major on a different surface.\u00a0 The players get revved up for the hardcourts in New York in September and then have the entire winter (barring any Davis Cup matches) to keep their &#8220;hardcourt legs&#8221; under them to play the Australian Open.\u00a0 Plus, it is almost four months before the French Open, so no one is looking ahead to the clay court season.\u00a0 It is all about the hardcourts and starting off one&#8217;s season on the right foot, so to speak.\u00a0 Plus, you can throw in the fact that it takes place when only two NFL teams are still playing, spring training has yet to start, the NBA is still in the first half of its marathon season, and college hoops is good, but just beginning its crescendo to March.\u00a0 For all these reasons, the Australian Open is my favorite major of the year.\u00a0 And, it has NOT disappointed this year, in any way.<\/p>\n<p>Check out these Round of 16 matchups, leading into the quarterfinals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u><strong>#1 Rafael Nadal vs. #13 Fernando Gonzalez<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; The #1 player in the world has been absolutely phenomenal so far, and Gonzalez has struggled through two 5-setters so far.\u00a0 But, Gonzo, a finalist here two years ago, is supremely talented and he is just learning the importance of &#8220;heart.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>#6 Gilles Simon vs. #12 Gael Monfils<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; Two young, exciting, and extremely athletic\u00a0Frenchmen will play for the right&#8211;probably&#8211;to play Nadal in the quarters.\u00a0 These two are big parts of the &#8220;next wave&#8221; of great players<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>#4 Andy Murray vs. #14 Fernando Verdasco<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; This might be the &#8220;Year of Murray,&#8221; but watch out, as Verdasco has been playing very well, and he has the experience to pull the upset if Murray isn&#8217;t careful<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>#5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. #9 James Blake<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; Tsonga, last year&#8217;s surprise finalist,\u00a0was hampered with injuries.\u00a0 But, now he seems healthy and is ready to return to the forefront of men&#8217;s tennis.\u00a0 But, Blake is always a tough out on hardcourts and is playing with a lot of confidence right now.<\/li>\n<li><u><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"219\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/images\/gallery\/andy-roddick-picture_219x293.jpg\" height=\"293\" \/>#7 Andy Roddick vs. #21 Tommy Robredo<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; I took too long to post this, and now this side of the draw is complete, but\u00a0this match\u00a0was not that big of a surprise, as Roddick rolled over Robredo.\u00a0 Roddick is now 10-0 against Robredo in his career and has only dropped one set to the talented Spaniard.\u00a0 Roddick is looking strong, but the toughest is still to come.<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>#3 Novak Djokovic vs. Marcos Baghdatis<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; Baghdatis, the only unseeded player to make the Round of 16, is hardly your typical &#8220;qualifier,&#8221; and he showed that in taking Djokovic to\u00a04 sets&#8211;losing a tough tiebreaker in\u00a0the second, before winning the third, but falling short in the fourth.\u00a0 Djokovic and Roddick&#8217;s quarterfinal collision course is now set&#8211;it is going to be fantastic.<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>#8 Juan-Martin Del Potro vs. #19 Marin Cilic<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; Two BIG-hitting 20-year olds that are the core of the &#8220;next wave.&#8221;\u00a0 The 6&#8217;8&#8243; Del Potro was just a little too tough for Cilic, but both players have a VERY bright future ahead of themselves.<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>#2 Roger Federer vs. #20 Tomas Berdych<\/strong><\/u> &#8211; In, what looked to be the shocker of the men&#8217;s draw, Berdych took the first two sets&#8211;rather convincingly&#8211;from &#8220;The Federer,&#8221; but in majestic fashion, as always, Federer roared back and won in 5.\u00a0 It could have been different had Berdych made one of two easy volleys that would have given him a 5-3 lead in the third set.\u00a0 He would have forced Federer to hold and break to avoid losing in straights.\u00a0 But, the Czech tightened up and dumped them both into the net, ended up being broken and lost the last three sets.\u00a0 In the round before, Federer looked like the 2007 version as he dismantled a very game Marat Safin, in straights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>MY 4th ROUND PREDICTIONS:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nadal beats an exhausted Gonzalez easily in straights<\/li>\n<li>Murray drops at least one set, but outlasts Verdasco<\/li>\n<li>Blake upsets Tsonga in 5 (now that he has gotten over the 5-set\u00a0hurdle)<\/li>\n<li>Simon capitalizes on a lot of errors from a game Monfils to win in straights<\/li>\n<li>Federer, Djokovic, Roddick, and Del Potro have already won<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>MY QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nadal overmatches Simon, wins in straight sets<\/li>\n<li>Murray beats a tired Blake in straight sets<\/li>\n<li>Rod Laver Arena is just too big for the 20-year old Del Potro, as he loses to Federer in straights<\/li>\n<li>Roddick upsets Djokovic in a 5-set thriller (I know it seems that I am too pro-American with the Roddick and Blake picks, but I really am not.\u00a0 I actually usually pick against the &#8220;homeboys,&#8221; but I think that it actually looks good for Blake and Roddick in their next matches)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"416\" src=\"http:\/\/lawntennismag.com\/french-open\/2008\/roger-federer-rafael-nadal1.jpg\" height=\"207\" \/>MY SEMIFINAL PREDICTIONS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nadal, after\u00a0dropping the first set,\u00a0turns on the jets and cruises past Murray to win in 4<\/li>\n<li>Roddick\u00a0throws everything he&#8217;s got, but it&#8217;s only good enough to take one set from The Federer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>MY FINAL PREDICTION:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Federer beats Nadal in yet another INCREDIBLE match.\u00a0 A five-setter that puts\u00a0Federer in the record books, as tying Pete\u00a0Sampras&#8217;s 14 Grand Slam titles.\u00a0 This is a tough one because I think that if\u00a0Federer\u00a0needs more than 7 sets to\u00a0win in the quarters and semis, he might not have enough to outlast the Spaniard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I know I&#8217;m one of only 17 people in this country not named McEnroe who care about professional tennis, but it is certainly in my &#8220;Big Four&#8221; sports (MLB, NFL, NCAA basketball, and the ATP).\u00a0 The Australian Open\u00a0is always so &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=244\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[434,436,435,439,442,441,440,443,444,438,446,447,437,302,301,448,445],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tennis","tag-2009-australian-open","tag-andy-murray","tag-andy-roddick","tag-fernando-gonzalez","tag-fernando-verdasco","tag-gael-monfils","tag-gilles-simon","tag-james-blake","tag-jo-wilfried-tsonga","tag-juan-martin-del-potro","tag-marcos-baghdatis","tag-marin-cilic","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-rafael-nadal","tag-roger-federer","tag-tomas-berdych","tag-tommy-robredo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}