Archive for September, 2009

forehand and backhand

forehand ..

more .. backhand

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Serena is on fire at the Women’s Doubles Final

Serena and Venus Williams disposed the number 1 doubles team Cara Black and Liezel Huber 2 and 2 – 6:2, 6:2. Their third major this year (only lost the French) and their last US Open was 10 years ago.

The match was very exciting – show more doubles games please!!! Aside from wonderful hands at net – ping pong volleys, clean passing shots, they whacked balls hard at each other. One male commented wondered that you may lose a friend that way. The court side commentator, the Aussie said there wasn’t many other angle you could hit to when one stays so close to the net.

Simon sometimes would say to me, not to hit to the net person. The truth is
1. I’m lazy – often the case – not moving my feet
2. have nowhere else to hit to
3. I don’t have much control

I have no desire to hit anyone. Yesterday I got hit on my banded up arm. The guy held up his hands to apologize. No need. Honestly, I wasn’t tad mad, not at all. The first thought hit my head was,
“Oh, Irene, move your feet.”

Ding and I have been winning a lot lately. He thinks that my game has improved a lot. It’s getting harder and harder to have all your body parts work at the same time: wrist, arm, elbow, shoulder, back, ankle .. mine are having truce at the moment, so I treasure the opportunity and play well.

The sisters earned US$420,000 from Olympus, and one trophy from Tiffany. How do they split the trophy?

You’ve got to see the trophy ceremony. Patrick Mcenroe is an terrible by pressing Serena. Was he trying to give her an outlet or egging on her?
Did anything changed in the last 48 hours?” then reduced to 24 hours
Serena laughed. Finally it’s Venus took over and said .. ..
“I think the crowds says let’s move on Patrick ..” that ended the interview.
What was he thinking? Out of line there.

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Her apology

Serena made a statement on Sunday after the foot fault incident.

“Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job. Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while I don’t agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans and supporters for understanding that I am human and I look forward to continuing the journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move forward and grow from this experience.”

No remorse, deemed the media.

So she made an apology today.

Hey guys!!!

I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want to make it clear as possible – I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate outburst. I’m a woman of great pride, faith and integrity, and I admit when I’m wrong.

I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled myself inappropriately and it’s not the way to act — win or lose, good call or bad call in any sport, in any manner.

I like to lead by example. We all learn from experiences both good and bad. I will learn and grow from this, and be a better person as a result.

Xxxx,
S

Was the line judge a volunteer? Did the judge know all the rules? Why couldn’t USTA spend little to hire someone who’s competent? Her conduct on court was unsportsmanlike. But why would major player tolerate a quasi-professional? And as if she never got a bad call.

As the USTA officials are saying that they’re launching an investigation, an INVEStigation!! – to decide if to levy more fines or even suspects Serena. It’s bogus. What’s there to investigate? The sisters are playing ladies doubles final – they won 6:2 n 6:2. Higher TV rating to have them in the tourney? Without Serena and Venus, what else do they have to offer? I know the limit shelve life the top players have, but the sisters are sure could dominate the tennis for few more years.

Serena was provoked.

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The player challenge system at the slams

in or out?According to Wimbledon, the player challenge system works like this ..

Players have unlimited opportunity to challenge, but once three incorrect challenges are made in a set, they cannot challenge again until the next set. If the set goes to a tie break, players are given additional opportunities to challenge.

How the On-Court Challenge System Works

Each player/team is allowed a maximum of three incorrect challenges in a normal set after which they are not permitted to challenge again in that set.

ball and the lineIf a set goes to a tiebreak, this limit of incorrect challenges is increased from three to four for the set.
Challenges may not be carried over from one set to another.
.. ..

Ok, enough. The above explanation is for non players. This blog is about how could a ball call in or out when only a fraction of the yellow-greenish furry thing bordering the line – the contact point of the ball is so small, yet it shows on the challenge screen un-proportionally large. I’m not good at science and unsure this would involve math or physics, but look at the shape of the dot on the review screen which represent the contact sportwhole shape of the ball, which is approximately 6.7 cm (2.7 in.) in diameter .. .. my point is when it lands on the floor, only tiny portion would kiss the earth .. shadow shouldn’t count.

Oh well, just wondering.

Just saw another screw up of the umpire: Novak Djokovic served an ace to Roger Federer from ad court. The line judge called out, late. After challenging or reviewing, it showed the ball was in. Yet, Joker had to go for the second serve. Where’s justice?

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Oh my ..

match pointI’m speechless.
why did Serena always get screwed by the linemen/officials? There should be a clear rule that prohibits a match be decided on a foot fault or by chair umpire.

The initial foot fault that began the fireworks was a terrible call. It was unconscionable. It cannot be made at the end of any match, let alone in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. This isn’t because a foot fault is a ridiculous call at that juncture (even though it is). It’s because it wasn’t a foot fault. The replays show that Serena’s foot was behind the line when she served. You could make the argument that it was close but not close enough to make the call.

Serena has been conducting herself graciously on court, I just couldn’t believe she’d lost her cool so badly. This isn’t the first time she’s been wronged at US Open. It was her tourney to lose and she lost it .. ..

Just saw the news flash indicating Serena is fined US$10,000.

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The Williams @ US Open

Photo by: Andrew Ong
williams .. papa williams

Richard Williams hits balls with his daughter, Serena, at the Indoor Tennis Facility on a rainy Day 12 of the 2009 US Open.

We’ve seen plenty of Serena playing, but rarely get a peek at the Dad who taught her and Venus .. .. One of very few successful tennis daddies. Think about ..
Mary Pierce
Jennifer Capriati (don’t think her dad was abusive but they did have fall out)
Jelena Dokic
Anna Kournikova has some dispute with her parents ..
..

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Jordan’s night to remember turns petty

I’m a Michael Jordan’s fan .. didn’t see this coming.

~ . ~

By Adrian Wojnarowski

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The tears tumbled, flooding his face and Michael Jordan had yet to march to the microphone at Symphony Hall. He had listened to the genuine stories and speeches of a remarkable class. He had watched a “This is Your Life” video compilation of his basketball genius. Everything flashed before him, a legacy that he’s fought with body and soul to never, ever let go into yesterday.

Yes, Michael Jordan was still fighting it on Friday night, and maybe he always will. Mostly, he was crying over the passing of that old Jordan, and it wouldn’t be long until he climbed out of his suit and back into his uniform and shorts, back into an adolescent act that’s turned so tedious.

This wasn’t a Hall of Fame induction speech, but a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria. He had a responsibility to his standing in history, to players past and present, and he let everyone down. This was a night to leave behind the petty grievances and past slights – real and imagined. This was a night to be gracious, to be generous with praise and credit.

Related Video Jordan speaks on honor Jordan speaks on honor

More NBA Videos More From Adrian WojnarowskiAgainst Jordan, defense never rested Sep 11, 2009 Trail of Crumbs leads Jordan to Hall’s doorstep Sep 9, 2009 “M.J. was introduced as the greatest player ever and he’s still standing there trying to settle scores,” one Hall of Famer said privately later.

Jordan didn’t hurt his image with the NBA community, as much as he reminded them of it. “That’s who Michael is,” one high-ranking team executive said. “It wasn’t like he was out of character. There’s no one else who could’ve gotten away with what he did tonight. But it was Michael, and everyone just goes along.”

Jordan wandered through an unfocused and uninspired speech at Symphony Hall, disparaging people who had little to do with his career, like Jeff Van Gundy and Bryon Russell. He ignored people who had so much to do with it, like his personal trainer, Tim Grover. This had been a moving and inspirational night for the NBA – one of its best ceremonies ever – and five minutes into Jordan’s speech it began to spiral into something else. Something unworthy of Jordan’s stature, something beneath him.

Jordan spent more time pointlessly admonishing Van Gundy and Russell for crossing him with taunts a dozen years ago than he did singling out his three children. When he finally acknowledged his family, Jordan blurted, in part, to them, “I wouldn’t want to be you guys.”

Well, um, thanks Dad. He meant it, too. If not the NBA, he should’ve thought of his children before he started spraying fire at everyone.

No one ever feels sorry for Isiah Thomas, but Jordan tsk-tsked him and George Gervin and Magic Johnson for the 1985 All-Star game “freeze-out.” Jordan was a rookie, and the older stars decided to isolate him. It was a long time ago, and he obliterated them all for six NBA championships and five MVP trophies. Isiah and the Ice Man looked stunned, as intimidated 50 feet from the stage, as they might have been on the basketball court.

The cheering and laughter egged Jordan on, but this was no public service for him. Just because he was smiling didn’t mean this speech hadn’t dissolved into a downright vicious volley.

Worst of all, he flew his old high school teammate, Leroy Smith, to Springfield for the induction. Remember, Smith was the upperclassman his coach, Pop Herring, kept on varsity over him as a high school sophomore. He waggled to the old coach, “I wanted to make sure you understood: You made a mistake, dude.”

Whatever, Michael. Everyone gets it. Truth be told, everyone got it years ago, but somehow he thinks this is a cleansing exercise. When basketball wanted to celebrate Jordan as the greatest player ever, wanted to honor him for changing basketball everywhere, he was petty and punitive. Yes, there was some wink-wink teasing with his beloved Dean Smith, but make no mistake: Jordan revealed himself to be strangely bitter. You won, Michael. You won it all. Yet, he keeps chasing something that he’ll never catch, and sometimes, well, it all seems so hollow for him.

This is why he’s a terrible basketball executive because he still hasn’t learned to channel his aggressions into hard work on that job. For the Charlotte Bobcats, Jordan remains an absentee boss who keeps searching for basketball players on fairways and greens.

From the speeches of David Robinson to John Stockton, Jerry Sloan to Vivian Stringer, there was an unmistakable thread of peace of mind and purpose. At times, they were self-deprecating and deflective of praise. Jordan hasn’t mastered that art, and it reveals him to be oddly insecure. When Jordan should’ve thanked the Bulls ex-GM, Jerry Krause, for surrounding him with championship coaches and talent, he ridiculed him. It was me, Jordan was saying. Not him. “The organization didn’t play with the flu in Utah,” Jordan grumbled.

For Jordan to let someone else share in the Bulls’ dynasty will never diminish his greatness. Just enhance it. Only, he’s 46 years old and he still doesn’t get it. Yes, Jordan did gush over Scottie Pippen, but he failed to confess that he had wanted Krause to draft North Carolina’s Joe Wolf. Sometimes, no one is better with a half a story, half a truth, than Jordan. All his life, no one’s ever called him on it.

Whatever Jordan wants to believe, understand this: The reason that Van Gundy’s declaration of him as a “con man” so angered him is because it was true on so many levels.

It was part of his competitiveness edge, part of his marketability, and yes, part of his human frailty.

Jordan wasn’t crying over sentimentality on Friday night, as much as he was the loss of a life that he returned from two retirements to have again. The finality of his basketball genius hit him at the induction ceremony, hit him hard. Jordan showed little poise and less grace.

Once again, he turned the evening into something bordering between vicious and vapid, an empty exercise for a night that should’ve had staying power, that should’ve been transformative for basketball and its greatest player. What fueled his fury as a thirtysomething now fuels his bitterness as a lost, wandering fortysomething who threatened a comeback at 50.

“Don’t laugh,” Michael Jordan warned.

No one’s laughing anymore.

Once and for all, Michael: It’s over.

You won.

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Li Na 李娜

Li Na is playing quarter final against Kim Clijsters, losing first set 6:2 and trails Kim 4:5 in the second. The announcers kept saying that Li doesn’t seem to have a plan. Li’s path to tennis actually began with badminton:

From the central China metropolis of Wuhan, Li was a badminton player when she was 6 but her coach kept noticing that she looked as if she were playing tennis. By the time she was 8, her coach asked her parents if she could switch to tennis.

She’s currently #1 ranking female player in China. Her outfit is ok, but the white bra partially shown on her back, unevenly. Can’t she find some thing that’ll fit under her deep pinky purple top? And does Hannah Storm feeling cold in her striking blue tank top? She looks great .. while Mary Carillo in a dress shirt with scarf. It’s only little over 60 degress out there.

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A little boy who can play

William is taking lesson with a coach whom I saw from time to time when we arrived. His younger bro was running around the court, and his parents and an uncle [?] were milling around the court, sitting on their lawn chairs with cooler on the side, looking on. Quite an entourage.

“How old is he?” I asked as his mother was picking up balls near me.
“6.” He looks small for his age. I’ve estimated him to be 3 or 4 years old.
“Which school does he go to?” I was quite enamored by his bravado.
“What do you mean school?” The mother questioned me, rather sternly, with an accent.
“?? School .. where he attends ..”
“Normal school?” She asked. I began having this sneaky feeling they were not my neighbors.
“Yes, regular school he goes.”
“Oh, we are not from here.” She said. Paused for a second, then added “We’re from from Middle Village [in Queens]”.
“Does the coach live here?”
“No, he doesn’t.”

The tennis courts at school were packed with players when we got there. While playing, I saw more cars came and left, few players decided to wait for a court. It’s been a struggle with the courts, many non residents come to play which isn’t allowed but they come anyway. Two weeks ago, the same coach was giving lesson to another family. The father came to me chatted briefly [with an accent]. It turned out, his daughter attends high school at Francis Lewis, also in Queens.

Our schools are for residents only. It used to be free but for about 10 years ago, they began to charge a meager fee to use, $10 per year. Before Mr. Fred Gunn, the athletic head retired, he would police the school often and checked IDs, now schools have young kids doing it. With newly renovated courts, players come in doves. Not sure if those non residents feel embarrassed when they were asked to leave. It’s kind of ironic that we’re paying high taxes, plus the $10 to play while non residents come to play for free.

Proud Mom looks onYesterday morning, after I finished my game, the courts were packed with the school team. I ran into Don in the parking lot. He said DQ called for a game.
“She said there are new courts. .. ”
Both of them aren’t residents. Come to play as a guest is fine ..
Not sure why didn’t they go to Andy’s house where no IDs are needed.
There is a group of dads (all immigrants) that play in a park near by for years. I sometimes play with them because they start at 7am. For a few years they seemed to disappear. When they resurfaced, they told me they were at a high school next town with new courts.
“Initially it’s fine with the school. But when our group mushroomed to more than 10 players, we took 3 of 5 courts school guardians began playing us visit.”
They moved back to the park where we used to play. The park belongs to the county. The majority of the players in this group are from Queens. Beginning this year, the park opens late and some times would post a guard at entrance checking IDs.
It seems to me that the ethnic players tend to form a larger group to play. I have never found that many native players to play at one time – even 4 considered hard to arrange. All the large groups I play with were all immigrants.

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Oui Oudin

sharapova day dress us-open-2009The little 17 years old girl Melanie Oudin won her 4th round match against Nadia Petrova, 6:3 in the third set. Wow ..

At the moment, Li Na is in the quarter too who’ll play Kim Clijsters next. They’re in the same half with Serena. May Oudin meet Serena in the final? I do hope so.

Maria Sharapova wore this day dress on Saturday, who looked very striking; but Oudin beat her in 3 sets.

Oudin isn’t big nor monstrously powerful but she wins.

Some good news in tennis.

She has to look up to her opponents all the time, the tall Russians. Four of them in a row.

Cold war? Nay, that sounds so stale.

Doesn’t she remind you of Amanda Coetzer?

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