Slugfests In Queens

First of all, let's get one thing out of the way: James Blake did not choke, as a few commentators are alleging; Tommy Haas just brought his A game (finally) and made the proper adjustments to Blake's shot-making style.

Still, best match of the weekend that I saw. I've not seen Haas play all that much. But when I have, I've never seen him go to the net as much as he did yesterday afternoon. And it certainly paid off. Totally appropriate that the match ended with a 5th set tie breaker, and then on another Haas ace. (Blake challenged it, but when Tommy laughed I knew that he knew that Blake knew it was in.)

And, yep, that Sarah Foster, Tommy's girlfriend, is indeed the daughter of producer, David. What makes these matches so much fun for me is when the commentators are Dick Enberg, Mary Carillo and, obviously, John McEnroe. Why? Because when Haas received a warning from the chair for dropping a pretty loud F-bomb, Mary pointed out that she read Sarah's lips when Haas kept missing shots and noted that Miss Foster said, "What the fuck is he doing?" (I believe Mary said "bleep" instead of "fuck". Thanks. Family show.) It became a running joke throughout the match so much so that toward the end of set 4, Dick said something about playing better so as not to upset coaches and girlfriends alike. Funny stuff.

It's a shame Andy Roddick won on a retirement. Mary said that in his press conference, Berdych didn't even mention why he quit, but did say he was going for some blood tests. You could tell that that's exactly not the way Andy wanted to win. (After the retirement, Roddick hit for another hour and a half.)

The funniest match for me this weekend was the Federer/Isner bashout. Not the brawl that the Blake/Haas match was. It was more dance than fight. Isner stole the first set in a tie breaker, mostly with his massive serve. Roger made the appropriate adjustments and proceeded to shred him like a giant hunk of extra sharp cheddar. Great moment when Isner, 6'9", drop shot a forehand which Roger lobbed right over his head. After having made the shot, Federer shrugged his shoulders and smiled as if to say, "Sorry. I'm just that good."

Not following the women so much this year. Suffice it to say that those Williams sisters are scary talented. Quick shout out to m'lady, Shahar Peer, the first Israeli woman to make the singles quarterfinals. Is there nothing Zion cannot do (other than bend over backwards to try to appease insane lunatics surrounding her who refuse to acknowledge her existence)?

Rafael Nadal looked particularly strong against his afro haired French opponent, J.W. Tsonga. If Federer is tennis' ballet dancer, then Rafa is its crunk master.

If I'm not mistaken, and if I heard it right, CBS plans to show the Men's Final Sunday evening, primetime. Well done, "The Most Watched Network On TV"! I'll be there. Could there be any doubt it's going to be a Wimbledon rematch?