Defying the odds: upsets and comebacks

I am taking a quick break from watching - as well as taping - the Rafael Nadal and Gael Monfil match. As expected the match is filled with brilliant shot making and incredible displays of athletic ability on both ends. I have followed Gael Monfil ever since he was a junior, when he won grand slams on three different surfaces – grass at the All England club, the red dirt of Roland Garros, and the Australian Open hardcourts. But like many before him the transition to the pro circuit has not been as seamless as one would expect. And the fluctuations in the match is an indication why: Gael Monfil is able wow the audience with his wide array of skill and natural talent, but has not yet – although he still has time - been able to kick it up a notch during crunch time, something Rafael Nadal, winner of six major titles so far in his relatively young tennis career, is obviously more than capable of doing. Will this US Open be the moment when Gael Monfil is finally able to live up to his true potential?

First on the women’s side but now increasingly on the men’s, additionally, we are seeing the futility of a great number of seeded players in the face of the depth of the field and consequent fierceness of the competition. Andy Murray, one of only a small number of players on tour with a good record against Roger Federer, and a player I thought had a better than average shot of winning the title this year, succumbed to Marin Cilic, a player Andy Murray has actually beaten in the past, although not decisively. Also, after a long fought match, Andy Roddick went down to John Isner, who then had no answers for the shot making variety and athletic versatility of Fernando Verdasco (a player Andy Roddick, nonetheless, stood a good chance of beating). And Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: a player with an abundance of skill and talent and energy, apparently overpowered (I did not get to see this match) by lower seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who has long been a dangerous prospect for any opponent and is showing no signs of slowing down. The difficulty in predicting who would win any given match has certainly added to the suspense and excitement of the tournament this year. Below are a few photographs of today’s action at Flushing Meadows, courtesy of the Times.



Kim Clijsters greeted opponent, 18th-seeded Li Na of China, after storming into the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Photo: Andrew Gombert/European Pressphoto Agency



Spraying ground strokes and misreading returns, Murray bore little resemblance to the steady, self-assured counterpuncher who has thrived on North American hardcourts this year and displaced Rafael Nadal as the world's No. 2 player.

Photo: Josh Haner/The New York Times



Cilic fought off two set points at 4-5 in the opening set, then rolled to a strangely straightforward 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory in 2 hours 8 minutes.

Photo: Josh Haner/The New York Times

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Tennis stars and celebrities have fun for charity

Tennis, Movies and the allure of Jazz

I have not written much lately because I have been really busy, so this post will be a brief summation of some of the stuff I would like to discuss in greater detail but cannot due to time constraints. The first, of course, is the US Open. On the women’s side, the seeds have fallen off at an astonishing rate, which I believe is testimony to the depth of the field. Few to watch on the women side include Melanie Oudin, whose upset wins over tennis stalwarts Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva has put her in the conversation as one of the serious contenders for the title and earned her, in my view, the mantle of breakthrough tennis star this year; Kim Clijsters, whose comeback culminated, recently, in an upset win over Venus Williams; Na Li, who is quietly but expertly making her through the draw; and Serena Williams, who is full of confidence and is playing on her favorite surface, hard courts. On the men’s side, the seeds are holding steady for the most part, but there has been some major upsets, most notably Andy Roddick and Gilles Simon. Roger Federer, whose versatile style of play I admire most, "looks" to be the favorite to repeat. But either Juan Del Potro or Andy Murray is more than capable, when push comes to shove, of staging a huge upset. I cannot say with any certainty who I think could ultimately win – the level of play is universally strong. However, if I were to go out on a limb, I would pick Serena Williams and Andy Murray to win.

Beside tennis, other extraneous things I would like to talk about briefly include: movies, Jazz, and news. First, movies. I have seen most, though not all, of the critically acclaimed films that came out this year, as well as a few that are best forgotten. So far, I liked Star Trek the most, followed by Public Enemies and Harry Potter. District 9 and Up were good (particularly the first fifteen or so minutes of the latter), but not great. I am looking forward to the Oscar race in the fall; the new change implemented by the Academy, namely to showcase ten films in the Best Picture category instead of the customary five, should allow a broader range of deserving films to be honored. Also: while studying I have been listening to Bebop music over the internet. My favorite joints are actually the ones with “love” and “tranquility” as the theme. Perfect quiet is ideal, but the sound of Jazz in the background keeps me attuned and helps the time go by. And finally, I made a few changes to the blog: I added a new “Thought of the Day” feature, which is basically a gadget that tracks the news stories of a particular news topic, which I set periodically to correspond with thoughts and issues I am discussing in my blog entries; and, since I get most of my news about international affairs from the BBC World News America program, I provided a link under “Cool Links” (just below NPR, which is my primary source for things national and local). Until next time.

National Parks, Ken Burns' new documentary, due out this month

Few quotations on nature

I live by a creek, Tinker Creek, in a valley in Virginia's Blue Ridge... - Anne Dillard

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars. - Martin Luther

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. - Galileo