Preview for BNP Paribas Open

Are you watching the Australian Open?

Did you see the new Roger Federer with his new enlarged racquet? I’m glad to see Roger is back to playing well and hungry again for a win.

Did you see Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori’s match the other day? Nadal had to work for it and for once, I saw his knees. He didn’t have any bandages until later on, when he decided to wrap up his hand.

Did you see Ana Ivanovic against Serena Williams? Upset. Then Maria Sharapova exits early. A bigger upset. And last night, our Canadian Eugenie Bouchard ousted Ana Ivanovic, big upset!

Tonight’s match will be good to see. Roger Federer against Andy Murray. I wanted to see this at Indian Wells last year but both Roger and Andy exited before the Championship weekend. Perhaps, this year at the BNP Paribas Open will be different.

We have our tickets and we can’t wait.

A Day of Celebration

In the morning hours, I had the chance to watch a fantastic match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at the French Open in Paris. Believe it or not, it was only a semi-final round. The winner was going to face either Tsonga or Ferrer. The match took five sets to decide a winner and Novak Djokovic hit one long to lose the game to Rafael Nadal. It was incredible. They were head to head, pound for pound. You couldn’t have asked for a better match. I would have loved to had seen this match up at Indian Wells back in March but Novak didn’t make it to the end like Rafa did.

Later in the afternoon, I watched Yani Tseng hit a beautiful iron to the green on the 15th hole for a hole-in-one. It was a perfect swing. In balance, patient and confident. It was a 145 yard par 3 and Yani hit it about a foot past the hole but spun back. She was smiling ear to ear, something she hasn’t been doing since her game went south.

I’m watching Lydia Ko, the 16-year old New Zealand youngster and Michelle Wie with her table top putting technique. I hope all these girls make the cut tomorrow and play the weekend. The rough is long and the forecast calls for rain. It’ll be a tough major but Yani, Michelle and all the girls on the LPGA are talented and can win with some luck. They have plenty of skill and ambition.

And on the courts at the Roland-Garros tournament, I’ll be watching Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova duel it out. It’ll be a great sports weekend to watch.

 

Congrats to Murray

Maria Sharapova

I can’t believe how fast time flies. It almost felt like yesterday that Indian Wells was hosting the BNP Paribas Open. And now the Sony Open in Miami is over. Did anyone watch the WTA finals yesterday when Serena Williams cruised by Maria Sharapova? You know how much I love Maria but she lost to Serena. It was a tough match for her, unlike the one that she breezed through at Indian Wells. Then there was the ATP finals today where Andy Murray was victorious over David Ferrer. David played admirably like Del Potro at Indian Wells. He was up a set then Murray managed to barely scrape by on the second set. The third and deciding set came to a tiebreaker where David’s legs started stiffening up. He could barely walk, let alone run around the court. Both players were ready to keel over as the humidity and the length of the match wore them both out.

After today’s match, Andy Murray is second to Novak Djokovic. Roger Federer is at third, Rafael Nadal at fourth and David Ferrer at fifth. Congratulations to Andy Murray for winning the Sony Open. Rest up my friend and we’ll see you at Monte Carlo in April.