Wow, what a shocking loss. Andy could've played better, but Mueller also hit a tremendous number of winners.

The folks at American Express must be beside themselves.

I can't believe Roddick's out in the first round. Was his backhand on vacation tonight?

Muller's no slouch, he's beaten Agassi, and beat Nadal at Wimbledon this year, but Roddick was having a routine first set and after having lost serve, watched 3 tiebreaks waste away. To be honest, I don't think even Muller can believe how well Muller played tonight, he was out of his head, hitting line, after line, after line. Too bad he picked tonight to play a quality of tennis he probably won't be able to duplicate again, and will probably lose in the next round or the round after, because I would have liked to see Roddick do some damage later in the draw. [/bitter and sour grapes fan rant]

Where is Andy's mojo, indeed?

My grouchy and irrational bitterness aside, I'm beginning to wonder what it was he and Brad Gilbert disagreed on. He needs something drastic again, like switching to Gilbert the first time, to get back to his winning ways.

Well well well..congratulations Muller. Scoville Jenkins is somewhere smiling right now. At least he got to the second round this year which is as far as probably get but I love this kind of upset, first round, in primetime, under the lights of the great Arthur Ashe stadium. I can't wait to get there next week and watch the action. Andy got a taste of his own medicine tonight. I have always said that he's as good as his serve. His ground game is not all that good. And its not like he played badly tonight but he came up against a great server as well who was better off the ground tonight. The sponsors are going to have a fit. A couple friends of mine said that mojo commercial was going to be a jinx and they were right. The Lexus ads, the Amex ads..tsk tsk tsk. Thats gotta be the suckiest birthday Andy has ever had. Congrats Muller...excellent display. Andy got a taste of his own medicine tonight and again knows how frustrating it is to have a guy have as good a serve to fire aces and service winners to win a match. I LOVE IT!!!

This opens up the draw nicely. Muller and Ginepri could really make a run. Agassi and Nadal are slated to meet in the quarters and the winner was supposed to meet Andy according to the seeds. This is a result Nadal and Agassi surely won't be upset about. Nadal's chances for making the final just went up by a lot.

[ August 30, 2005, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

Perhaps Roddick will think more carefully about the next ad campaigns he signs up for.

I do hope Muller at least wins the next match so today's match doesn't look like a fluke. It's possible. He's playing Ginepri, also his doubles partner, who he beat a few weeks ago.

Maybe Andy can fall back on his fat ass.
He has a lot of hype for not winning very often.

I wonder whose jockstrap Patrick McEnroe will sniff for the next two weeks. His nose is usually so far up Andy's ass its ridiculous. Thats a lot of filler he's gonna have to come up with.

I am a little tired this morning. But it was worth it just to see Andy Roddick go down in straight sets !

[ August 31, 2005, 04:42 AM: Message edited by: Cattledog ]

Andy is indeed a great player but this guy took it to him last night. Muller had all the right shots and was painting lines all night long. I liked the way he came in against Roddick and made some really sweet volleys. Give this guy the credit he deserves, Andy was outclassed and beaten by someone who played better tennis.

Those are fighting words, cattledog. Mighty early in the morning for that kind of talk. wink

Finally a match that makes a long-time "lurker" to the boards feel like posting. Watching Muller win last night (as opposed to Roddick losing) reenforced 3 keys.

1. Variety and creativity. Roddick relied solely and heavily on his serve. Opponents aren't stymied by 155 mph fastballs. Would he be better off taking a few digits off the speedometer and adding spin? Looking solely at his serving statistics (72% first serve, 80% won on first serve, 17 aces) you'd think damn good game. It was a damn good game, but the winners, I think, tell the tale. Roddick is one-dimensional and his opponents have figured out that dimension. Block it back and wait for the opportunity to hit a winner, because Andy probably won't.

2. Spice and emotion. Down 4-1 in the 3rd tiebreak, Roddick seemed more concerned with an errant ball hit towards a ballboy or his opponent than in preparing for the opportunity to mini-break back. Yes he's one of the great statesmen of tennis, but sheesh, get pissed a bit! My hope for a comeback was lost at that point. His head was gone.

3. Sheer awe. Thankfully there exists an entity like 'sport' that allows us the opportunity to critique some of the finest specimens on the planet. Yeah Roddick is a bit unidimensional in his game....but a hell of a dimension it is. I was amazed at the poise Muller maintained despite what must be obvious nerves. Think he just raised his fantasy price a bit? Dark horse for 2006? I was a bit troubled by some of the mainstream media calling him an 'unknown,' though. Am I the only freak with both ATP and WTA rankings boards in my office?

Sorry for the length. I've got 3 years to make up for!

Watching the Roddick match, all I could think of was how much mileage people would get out of the Andy's mojo commercials ...

The upset is shocking. Muller's a difficult draw and everyone knew it, but I think most people expected Andy to pull out the close games. Muller attacked the backhand relentlessly and most of the time Andy was not able to defend against it. Roddick's using the one-handed slice more and I don't think it suits him. He's better off going for the two-handed backhands and missing sometimes rather than putting himself into defensive positions, which results in his backing up too far behind the baseline and taking away some bite from his forehand as well. He's too far back to take control of the point even when opportunities present themselves, especially for someone who's defense is alright but certainly not on the level of people like Nadal or Hewitt who can hang back that far but then move in quickly to change defense to offense.

I'm not an Andy Roddick fan, but I felt a little bad for him. Sucks to lose on your birthday. I'd probably be happier about it if I didn't pick him to make the final!

Yeah, well we will see just how much of a fluke Mullers victory may have been last night when he plays Ginepri next. Go Robby! It would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall in the dressing room last night after Andy walked in. If I were his Coach, I would be walking on eggshells right about now. Andy will be back. He is a good player, but not a great player..yet.

Watching Cold Pizza this morning on ESPN, not really a regular of the show, but wanted to see if they talk about last night's upset--and not a word, here now 12 minutes into the show--and they are talking about classic upsets, but only focusing on baseball. I am surprised that this is making little news today.

And I saw the first set live at the Open yesterday of the Ginepri match--not interesting at all, and he's smaller in person than he looks on tv. He got the job done against GArcia Lopez but I wasn't really impressed with his game. Maybe he was just doing enough to win and no more--he didn't take the court unitl 9pm, after his match was moved from the Grandstand to Armstrong because the Pavel-Murray match went five sets and over three hours. Then Pierce came on, and you know that took a while.

In the Murray match we came into the stadium in the fifth to see that action was suspended, and then we noticed they were cleaning the court. Then we figured it out--someone had thrown up on court. At first we thought it was Pavel becuase Murray was on court and we didn't see Pavel. But later Pavel emerged from the other side of the court where he had been hanging low, Murray had thrown up twice in from of Pavel's chair--it was all very amusing.

Then the set get really interesting. The crowd really behind Murray, and Pavel feeling the partisanship. Really interesting final set, with questionable line calls, overrules, Pavel pissed. And Murry finally triumphant, with the BBC close at hand to get it all. The Heir Apparent.

[ August 31, 2005, 06:32 AM: Message edited by: shore ]

On another note, is anyone else as frustrated with usopen.org and the irregularity of updating? The official websites for all of the other majors had almost constant updates, interviews, insights, photos, etc. As of this morning there are only three interviews transcribed from yesterday. GIVE ME MORE!!!

The point about variety is a good one. Roddick does need to start to add more angles to his game. In the (I think) third set when he was down 0-40, he spun a couple serves in out wide and to the body, and volleyed. He should add more of this, because then his "big boomer" would be more effective. Further, what the hell was he doing so far back behind the baseline. For most of the match he was 8 feet back! I mean at one point he backed up 10 feet from where he was standing to receive a first serve, to receive a second serve. I just didn't understand that one at all.

Now lets go Robby! I do love that man.

The Pavel-Murray match was great. It was on USA when they left the air at six and still going when they came back on at seven, which is when the real fifth set drama started. Jim Courier could tell Murray was having stomach problems as early as the second set. Gross!

I love Andrei Pavel, so I was sorry to see him lose, especially given that rough call in the fifth. But Andy Murray's got game. He's alot of fun to watch. The crowd was so into it!

I was going to bring that up as well, but my issue is more with their IBM tracker. This is the only way that we 8-5 working guys can really keep up with the action during the day. IBM has been slow in updating set points and in several instances, I have actually witnessed the system changing who won a specific game. For example, I got excited when Jonas Bjorkman had broken through either the fourth or fifth game of the second set against Tomas Behrend. Then, the IBM tracker reversed itself and said that Behrend had actually won that particular game. I've seen this happen several times in other matches as well. I don't recall these problems with the system when following Wimbledon.

[ August 31, 2005, 07:36 AM: Message edited by: Cattledog ]

I think it's obvious that Federer is the favorite to win. I missed Andy's losing match. But he's always been a simplistic player, relying on just one or two tricks. Almost like an Ivan Lendl. But he's young and he's learning so I think he'll come back next year with a lot more variety in skills.

Gilles, Gilles, Gilles ... Je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime. =)

I could ramble about Roddick's predictability hurting him again, but hell ... we already know this. Gilles played his backhand, Andy has no variety ... and honestly, I would be amazed if Roddick ever changes from playing Caveman Tennis. I did feel badly for the guy ... until I remembered his pompous antics last year.

Gasquet has a very appealing draw, although his struggles against Martin (*swoon*) worry me somewhat. Roddick's loss could really help a player like Coria, Soderling, etc.

I kinda like Muller's chances against Ginepri. Robby has a solid baseline game, but Gilles can overpower him. Bottom line, if Gilles can paint the lines as well as he did against Andy last night ... he would be untouchable against almost anyone. HUGE lefty serve out wide, a powerful topspin forehand consistently deep in the court ... *shrug*, Robby is going to have to play patiently and hope for some chances because stroke for stroke, Muller's game is bigger. *shrug* Bigger isn't always better, but on a faster court, it's going to help Gilles more so than Ginepri.

Nick

Poor Andy...one loss and everyone's demoted him to the minors. Muller played a remarkable match, hitting unexpected winner after winner. Sure, Andy's got some variety issues, but he's worked very hard to add to his game and IMHO successfully so. The men's field is remarkably deep and on any given day a top player can lose. It was a close match and if anything needs to change for Andy, it's his mental game during tiebreaks. He's lost several big ones over the past two years. But, let's not write him off yet...the men always take longer to mature and i'm sure Andy's got a long successful career ahead.

Have mercy Nadal is FINE!! Did you see that ass jiggling as he jumped up and down? eek! This rain delay needs to hurry up and come on so I can see that ass!!!!!!!!!! Oh..and some good tennis too...hopefully.

Erm ... I don't think that anyone has demoted The Caveman to the minors, HOWEVER ... when Andy says that his main goal is to win a Grand Slam, a first round loss is a disappointment ... especially to a relatively streaky prospect.

Has he improved his game? Yes ... However, is it STILL predictable? Yes. Does he have a knack for struggling with his return of serve against big servers? Yes. These are not new questions for Sir Roddick.

While he may be improving his game as a whole, his results are lagging ... and while a large role in that is due to the increased depth of the field, they are still lagging none the less. Maybe some of the pundits and such are harsh, but you must admit ... it was an extremely surprising loss and after surprising losses, some harsh questions and comments are raised ...

Now, back to the booty watch ...

Nick

Can we perhaps propose for next year to have players take their rain delays, but not be allowed to go into the locker room. That way when they resume play they are dripping wet with their clothes sticking to them. Wimbledon (and the dress whites) would take on a whole new marketing schematic.

Is that just a bit too Roman Colliseum?

WAY TO GO SCOVILLE! He didn't make it easy for Nadal tonight and Nadal had moments there where he was actin like a pissy little bottom. That was a much better showing than last year when Roddick's big ego initiated Scoville under the lights of Ashe. That was tighter than I thought it was going to be. Scoville's forehand is NOT A GAME!!! If he gets that thing more consistent and that serve more consistent watch out. I think his game could translate well to grass too but he needs to improve that net game. Andy is proving that big serve and big forehand will only get you so far. But I'm proud of Scoville for really getting the crowd into it tonight and making it an entertaining match. And at least he broke Nadal at the end. I can't wait to see where he'll be this time next year.

Cheers to Scoville Jenkins for making a potential ho-hum match with Nadal interesting. He's got game, but he's green and it shows. He'll get better though. He's also unlucky with the draws he gets - last year he played Roddick in the first round. I hope to see more of him in the future. It's nice seeing more African-Americans having success on the tour.

As for Nadal, OMG. I can't believe that backside of his, firm with just the righ amount of jiggle. I loved the tight muscle shirt - hope that becomes a trend on the tour.

Nadal's ass is NOT A GAME!! Those white pants made Nadal's ass look even bigger tonight. When the camera man would follow him from the side walking away that ass had some major movement in it. He's the Serena of the ATP tour. That ass is just sick and I love it.

Well, the boyfriend surprised me with tickets for Friday's afternoon session. We won't be able to see my guys Andre Agassi, James Blake, or Jonas Bjorkman (who all play their singles matches today). But, there is a chance that Olivier Rochus could play his singles match during the day tomorrow, and Bjorkman might play a doubles match during the day as well. Nevertheless, I cannot wait to see some great tennis! :cool:

I think the Outsports Fireman needs to throw some water on a couple of you guys....and you know who you are! eek!

meanwhile .... back at the ranch.

What is going on with the US open coverage?

Last night was rained out... so they show the same Muller-Roddick match they showed the night before???

How about showing a match that those of us who work in the day time might have missed?

By the way... I've been super busy lately. What's happening with the mens side? I know Federer looks just incredible..... and his tennis game is mighty impressive too (ba da bing! Ba da boom!) But does anyone look like they can challenge the King?

How bout the hunk from Nashville, Brian Baker?? Playing well again this morning. Leads Malisse now 5-4 in the first set. Keep it up Brian!!
Ung, to early to tell. Fed. probably still a favorite, but Nadal is still there, as is Agassi, so its to early yet, but Fed. has looked just incredible in the matches I have seen so far. Will see what happens.

Ginepri is beating the shit out of Muller. Robby takes the first set 6-1, and is up 4-0 in the second. Go Robby!!!

Brian Baker a hunk? Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. Meanwhile....Ginepri has a real opportunity to make a run at this year's Open. With Roddick out his draw has opened up immensely. I can see him getting to the quarters, semis. I used to think Ginepri was cute until he took his hat off. Yikes. Not that cute. He's 24 I think and looks like he's in his 30s. The aging gods aren't going to be nice to him.

If Ginepri makes it to the qtrs of the USOpen, I'll definitely know that there is no depth to men's tennis. He is definitely NOT a top player.

That seems pretty counterintuitive. Wouldn't that suggest that there is a lot of depth in men's tennis, if a player with a bad ranking makes a deep run in a major? Other than Federer, it seems like any player can be beaten by anyone else on any given day.

Not really.. what I am saying is that there is a real dearth of true talent on th emen's side if a journeyman like Ginepri can make the qtrs. what that says to me is that the talent drops precipitously after the top 5 men are counted.

Ginepri may make it to the qtrs because of the lack of true tennis talent i his qtr. But do I think he has a chance of beating a Nadal, Federer or Hewitt? No way.

Ung, have you not noticed Ginepri's run over the past couple months? Yeah, he's been up and down all of his career, but recent (consistent) results seem to show he's turned that corner. He won the RCA's in July (beat Roddick in the final), and just before the Open in Cincinnati, he beat Puerta, Ferrer, Moya, and Safin before losing in the semis 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 to Federer (a match he could've won as well).

Robby's got game, so a run to the quarters wouldn't surprise me in the least...especially on US soil.

Would love to see Ginepri march on, myself. Right now Agassi is rolling over Ivo. Go Andre!!

Ginepri owes Muller a big, sloppy wet kiss for taking Roddick out of the way. Just like a lot of us predicted, Muller was out of his head when he played Roddick, a quality of tennis he couldn't sustain, and later got his ass kicked by Ginepri. I do hope Ginepri makes the most of the situation, though.

don't know if he played out of his head...just don't think he was able to string two days together. he's had the game and pulled just short of breaking through on a number of occasions. looked like he put too much pressure on himself, ginepri didn't have to do too much other than play his game, albeit a much improved game, but not all that spectacular.

well fellas....i just got back to apartment from the open and i have to make some comments on the guys....

in general tennis players are a great looking group of guys, but there were some standouts...

youzny....wow, so hot
feliciano lopez....love those sweaty pants, nice package
giorgoi galimberi....yikes i hope he is around for a while
ginepri...great body
haas....what can you say
ljubicic....i have always found him ruggedly good looking

some fresh meat...
richard gasquet
cyril saulnier...he's a dark horse, too bad the legs are shaved
bobby reynolds....nice

i feel like a dirty old man!

Muller had one huge emotional letdown today. Thats my opinion on what happened to him. Blake looked awesome tonight in his win, and I agree with Johnny Mac, that he does have a legitimat shot at Nadal on Saturday.

Assapalooza is set: Blake vs Nadal on Saturday.

Sometimes I think Johnny Mac is still snorting the white stuff. Ted Robinson said that the crowd will be overwhelmingly pro-Blake on Saturday and McEnroe said "no no...anyone who plays with the passion of Nadal will win over some fans". Umm...didn't John watch last nights match of Scoville vs Nadal. That was CLEARLY a crowd pulling for Scoville. All the American tennis fans know the story of James Blake and his resurgence this year after the struggles he went through and everyone in that match will. If John McEnroe thinks that Nadal is gonna get anything more than a sprinkling of Vamos from the scattered Spaniards that are there he is nuts. That match may as well be DAVIS CUP. Between the J-Block and the rest of the NY fans rooting for their fellow American Blake, Nadal will once again NOT be feeling the love!!! James has a legitimate shot at beating Nadal. If Scoville could play him that well I think James has more than a legitimate shot. We saw tonight that Blake is rather speedy as well and if the serve and forehand are clicking James will at least keep it close.

Still...Nadal is a BEAST!!! Nadal will be trying to pick on the Blake backhand which is better, but not as solid as his forehand. Blake should pick on the Nadal backhand as well which, again, is improving but is the weaker part to Nadal's game. James CANNOT get into rallies with Nadal because that is feeding right into what Nadal wants. I also think that the longer the match the more it benefits Nadal so if James is to win he needs to do it in straight sets, 4 at the most. When he sees an opportunity to drive the ball deep he needs to go for it and close in on the net and end the point. Yes, he'll make some errors but I just hope he doesn't make too many. Its a winnable match for Blake, but I still give the edge to Nadal, BUT... would not be at all surprised if James is the victor. The kind of high he is on right now makes him a dangerous opponent. I've been salivating for this match since the draw came out!! I love both Nadal and James but I'll be pulling for James in this one because it could really be a career changing win for him.

As for James' "trophy wife" girlfriend why am I not surprised she is a clone of Tiger Woods' wife? His real "girlfriend" Mardy I see was there to cheer him on. wink

[ September 02, 2005, 09:16 AM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

We just got back from the US Open. We got to see Paradorn Srichaphan completely take it to Nikolay Davydenko at the Grandstand. The Thailand contigent was out in full force, and loud and loyal for Srichaphan. After that, we went to see Maria Sharapova have an easy time with Julia Schruff at Arthur Ashe Stadium. ...and last, but not least, we sat at courtside to watch my guy, the gorgeous Olivier Rochus (who is even shorter than me), knock out a very pissed off Albert Montanes in four sets. It was a great day at the US Open. By the way, when I say Rochus is gorgeous, I really, really mean gorgeous. We cannot wait to look at our close-up pictures!

just back from open again....couldn't agree about rochus, so very hot. i was standing right next to the court where he'd go to towel off. impressed by the tennis and by his good looks he think he oes to the top of the list...see ya kiefer!

I can't get over how well little Fabrice Santoro played Federer. If I were the coach of the players left in Federer's draw, I'd study a tape of that match. (They have Santoro listed as 5'10" in a profile section, yeah right, it's kind of like Serena's weight when she lists it at 135 or 140....Riiiiiiiiiiiight!.......)

A little guy like this kept storming the net, he even served and vollied quite a bit. You'd think Federer, with his immaculate groundstrokes, and this guy's lack of height would make him a sitting duck at the net, but look how effective the pressure was on Federer. Granted, Federer won in straights, but those were 3 very tough sets, and you could see how uncomfortable and grouchy Roger was getting. Maybe the other players can learn from this.

Just like they can learn from Jenkins. Another tough 3 set match where he found ways to frustrate Nadal. He had some great shallower shots with low-hanging backspin that bothered Nadal for a while. Nadal has a lot of loopy stuff coming under the ball, and it was hard for him to do it when Jenkins threw some of that slice at him.

As far as Roddick, I think people already know how easy he is. Find a way to return his serve, and just pick on his backhand. Jeeze, I hope Roddick adds more to his game so it's not that easy for other players in the future. I'm not writing him off like others are just yet, but I do hope he adds some strategy and patience to his repetoire (taking the net often, even when it doesn't work, obviously didn't fly) because I'd love to see him win more slams and claw his way back to number one.

It was a very interesting match for sure. Now we know why they call Santoro "the magician". He did keep Roger guessing, and I could tell he was stressing a bit when he started to sweat. I loved the between the legs return from Santoro in one game, and Johhny Macs' comment, " I wouldn't recommend this shot unless you have had children"! eek!

Yeah, I chuckled at that too.

The crowd loved Santoro, and rightly so. That was some tennis of the highest quality. Santoro never gave up. He never stopped trying to chase everything down. At the final changeover of the 3rd set tiebreak, he smiled at Federer, and said something to him, and Federer laughed a bit too. Man, talk about being gentlemen, and good sports. Absolutely refreshing to see. And Santoro's a handsome little guy, too.

watching a little of the gasquet match...something about the guy is hot, hot, hot. anyone around here share the sentiment? he's not playing his best stuff (gasquet) (gotta love that forehand), but thumbs up to ljubicic.

james wins the first set. woohooo!!!

blake looks soooo hot!

Blake is..playing the best tennis of his career! How fun is this???? Love it.