Liezel Huber/Cara Black

Vs

Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur

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Coco Vandeweghe

Vs

Gabriela Paz Franco

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1 Boys’ Singles - Finals

Grigor Dimitrov

vs

Devin Britton

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I haven't been too hungry. I had a Guinness and two oatmeal raisin cookies that I made. I had to test them out before taking them out to the BBQ tomorrow, right? It was probably in the eighties today so it was quite hot on the fourth floor where I'm at. Of course, there is no air conditioning so I opened all the windows and even the door to my apartment so I could get some cross breeze. The oven was running at 350F so that didn't help at all either. The cookies are good though so I'm happy about that.

Backing up several steps, after dropping off my shirt at the tailors and getting lunch, I went home and took a nap. I was just too tired from having gotten up early in the morning watching the drunks. I took about an hour nap and in that time had the video from our tennis match today processed.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8713032208328871668&hl=en]

The video above is from our match today. Tony is wearing the blue shorts and John is his partner. They are probably the best team that I have and they won their match very easily. Tony is the best player on our team.

After getting the video posted online, I downloaded Pandora, which is an application that allows you to play music on your computer or iPhone. It's a great service. You enter in a song, album or artist that you like and then they'll play music that fits that criteria i.e. genre. Very cool. Right now, I'm listening to some Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe). I got there from searching for Grateful Dead. I put on my headphones and took a walk around the lake. I had to get ingredients for the cookies and I figured I could take the long way around to get some exercise. Also, I could stop by Trader Joe's and get some beer. They have some variety so I wanted to try something different even though Guinness is very difficult to beat.

After shopping, I started on the cookies. I'm still working on the cookies, actually. I'm going to make some chocolate chip, mint cookies. I've never tried these. Figured it's worth trying something else for the heck of it. I made 40 of the oatmeal cookies and there are going to be something like 25 people there. I doubt people will be eating too many cookies because there should be a lot of other foods out there. Left-overs shouldn't be a problem though.

So the other day, I was sitting around waiting for some samples to finish on the HPLC at work. Tom K. stopped by and we chatted for about a half an hour. He's a scientist at the lab and also a musician. He plays the guitar and drums so I told him that I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar but never really got myself moving on that forefront. Quite frankly, I don't really have much time to be learning how to play guitar right now but still, I think it'd be fun. He said he would show me how to play and would even go to the store with me to help pick-out a guitar. That's pretty nice of him because I know he's also quite busy with three young kids (eldest is seven). He told me that I should budget $350-$400 for a beginner guitar. They make guitars that cost like $150 but he said they weren't worth it because you can't get rid of them like you can better made guitars. I guess he assumes I won't pull a Jimi Hendrix on the guitar and set it afire. It's tempting to get one and I looked in the window of the local music store this afternoon. It's just the time and commitment thing that tough right now with tennis and work. I'd have to give something up like sleep to squeeze practice in. Ugh.

Indian tennis ace Leander Paes and Zimbabwe's Cara Black won the mixed doubles crown at the season-ending Grand Slam on Thursday. The fifth seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair beat the American-British pairing of Liezel Huber and Jamie Murray 7-6, 6-4 in the final.

The triumph increased Paes's  tally of Grand Slam crowns to eight. In 1999, Paes had partnered Mahesh Bhupathi and Lisa Raymond to win the men's doubles and mixed doubles crowns at Wimbledon.

American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won their seventh Grand Slam men's doubles crown Friday, defeating India's Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (12/10) to take the US Open title. The Bryans, who ran through the tournament without losing a set, previously won Slam crowns at Roland Garros in 2003, the US Open in 2005, Wimbledon in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2006 and 2007.

The defeat denied Paes a chance at a US Open doubles double, having already claimed the mixed crown with Zimbabwe's Cara Black. Paes had claimed such doubles in 1999 at Wimbledon and the French Open, partnered with American Lisa Raymond in mixed and compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in the men's doubles.

The victory enables the Bryans to move back into the world number one ranking from second.

News and pictures courtesy: AFP, Daijiworld

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We have all wondered why the great Nadal picks his rear in the middle of matches. He has admitted he has some sort of a problem, but its rather compulsive. It really bugs most people, and I'm sure he would have more fans if he could stop.

I kept waiting for Jokeyvich to break out the gut busting, side splitting imitations that he did last year, but he was too busy getting his ass spanked today.

That's all I got. Show me the way to go home. I'm tired and I want to go to bed. I had a little drink about an hour ago and it got right to my head.

Which, by the way, is newly purple. For autumn.

Ok, on to the tennis match last night, in my case early morning, I've missed the last match between Federer vs Djokovic. By the time I woke up, Nadal is already playing against Murray. So after that, I quickly went to sleep and had only about 6 hours worth of good sleep. That wasn't good enough time for me. I usually slept about 9-10 hours, I know I am very much a sleepy head.

Anyway, I checked the tennis score at yahoo site. Hoho, Federer won after 4 sets and the score is 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Impressive! I am so happy coz I'm very much looking to the final match. And adding to the great news, the final match will be played on Monday at 5 pm in US, in my case probably about Tuesday morning and that's good coz I start work late that day. Whoo hoo, I'm so happy coz I finally get to watch the final match that before I thought I could not (I was so gloomy when I've found out I could not watch it).

Well... That is my highlight of the day but now I still have my exploding head which I have to endure throughout the day :( Ok then, back to my real world and enjoy it...

My fave Rafa Nadal on the other hand is struggling against Andy Murray. Rafa Nadal is two sets down against the Brit. But I think Rafa should continue fighting for it and  face  Federer in the finals. When asked by reporters who he thinks he would face or would like to face in the finals, the answer surpirsed some- he wants Rafa Nadal.

Somehow the heat's off Roddick, who in my mind is just a frat boy who somehow ended up in the tennis world. His swagger and bravado are unappealing and he's boring to watch. If you want to hit hard and not have a good game altogether, join the MLB Andy. They can be amazed by your 143 mph swings.

Who hasn't had a meltdown when you're stressed out and the pressure's on?  This is New York Novak, it happens all the time.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article4686441.ece

2 - Evite ficar parado depois de bater um golpe. Mantenha seus pés em movimento.

3 - Sempre entre na quadra para jogar com uma estratégia básica. Você não vai aprender a nadar depois que já está se afogando.

 4 -  Explore sempre o lado fraco do seu oponente.

5 - O próximo ponto sempre é mais importante do que o último jogado.

6 - Um bom esmache não precisa ser batido com toda a potência que possa gerar. Um bom esmache é bem colocado e com 50 % de sua total potência.

7 - Para ganhar mais pontos do fundo de quadra não é necessário bater mais forte na bola. Pegue a bola na subida para apressar o seu oponente, deixá-lo fora de posição e assim ganhar mais pontos.

8 - Desenvolva a colocação de bola antes de querer desenvolver a potência.

9 - Um approach shot não é uma bola para matar o ponto, mas para preparar para matar o ponto na próxima bola. Desenvolva a colocação de bola no approach.

10 - Ter um bom serviço é muito mais do que simplesmente mexer o braço. Desenvolva um bom giro de quadril e peito e use as pernas para alcançar a bola no ponto mais alto.

11 - Se você tem as cordas de sua raquete encordoadas a mais de dois meses, corte-as e encordoe-as com cordas novas. A USTA recomenda que se troque as cordas a cada 10 horas de uso mesmo que ela não tenha arrebentado.

12 - Tente olhar a bola por trás das cordas da sua raquete, na hora do ponto de contato. E continue olhando para o ponto de contato mesmo depois de ter batido na bola. Isso aumentará sua concentração, seu equilíbrio e sua sensibilidade ao bater na bola.

13 - Faça o swing do segundo saque tão rápido como o primeiro saque. Apenas “raspe” mais na bola usando spin. O segundo saque não é “mais fraco” que o primeiro. É com mais efeito.

14 - Não tente passar seu oponente na rede no primeiro golpe. Faça a passada em duas etapas. No primeiro golpe sempre procure a cruzada, no segundo escolha a melhor opção.

15 - Apenas jogar tênis duas ou três vezes por semana não é exercício suficiente para melhorar seu jogo e ter mais prazer em joga-lo. Faça musculação, caminhe ou faça algum tipo de ginástica para ter um melhor aproveitamento do seu tênis e de sua vida em geral.

16 - Um bom drop-shot- deve quicar oito vezes antes de sair da quadra pela linha de fundo ou duas vezes antes de sair do quadrado de saque.

17 - Mire sues golpes. Tenha sempre uma mira. Não bata por bater, apenas para colocar na quadra. A diferença entre um bom atirador e um excelente atirador é que o bom acerta na mira, o excelente acerta na mosca.

18 - Não saque bolas mal lançadas. Pegue a bolinha e tente outra vez. Isso demonstrará que você está maduro para diferenciar um bom lançamento de um mau lançamento.

19 - Use pequenos passos para se ajustar ao bater na bola e grandes passos para correr até ela. Como em rádio de dial. Ao chegar perto da estação que você quer, você faz pequenos movimentos com o ponteiro para ajustar a sintonia.

20 - Tenha diferentes saques para poder surpreender seu oponente. Um bom exercício é lançar a bola e seu treinador dizer, quando a bola está no ar, qual tipo de saque que você tem que dar (chapado, slice ou spin; aberto, no corpo ou no centro).

21 - No aquecimento com bola, aqueça seu ponto de contato e sua terminação. Não vá a bolas muito longe de você para evitar esticar as pernas ou o braço e ter estiramentos.

22 - No voleio, tente sempre manter a bola perto da cabeça. Não estique o braço para volear. Vá até a bola e mantenha a bola perto de sua cabeça.

23 - Evite fugir da esquerda para bater de direita se você não tem certeza que machucará seu oponente com o golpe. 

24 -  Evite dar contra-pés quando voleia. Voleie sempre no lado aberto.

25 - Não segure a raquete apertada demais. Relaxe os últimos três dedos da mão que estão no final do grip.

26 - Bater cruzada é mais seguro que bater paralelas. A rede é mais baixa no centro, e você tem mais dois metros de quadra na cruzada.

27 - Para esmachar quando a bola está atrás de você, use a pronação ou “quebre o pulso” para a bola se manter dentro da quadra.

28 - Treine seu saque 40% mais do que treina os outros golpes. Não deixe para treina-lo somente quando entra na quadra para jogar.

29 - Não tenha receio de levantar a bola quando necessário. Nos dias de hoje, ainda é a melhor opção.

Fonte: Tennis Company

With Rafael Nadal down two sets to none in his semi-final match against the Scotsman Andy Murray, the rough and tough Spaniard and the "Grapple in the Apple" dream re-match hangs on by the thinnest of RCH.

CAP's Notes:

- With his win today against Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer is one match away from giving the last word to all his critics. Though Federer has yet to play the kind of match that has made him look invincible on a tennis court for the past four plus years, I believe his champion spirit returned to it's brightest point in his match against the Serbian Terminator, Novak Djokovic.

- Speaking of Novak, not only did he come off sluggish and without spark during his match against Federer, I truly believe that his misunderstood comments from the other night after defeating Roddick which saw him get booed off court really deflated the young player. It never feels good to get booed anywhere. But add to that the fact that Djokovic is still young, impressionable, generally a class act and booed in front of a global audience, I challenge anyone to prove to me to not be affected and deflated by that. The last couple of games of the match, he just wanted to end it all and go home with his parents. End of story. It was a great learning experience though.

- Andy Murray not only is looking for his first win over the world's number one player but going up two sets to none in his best grand slam showing sure isn't a bad way to make your mark. Showing all the talent, speed and total youthful disregard for the magnitude of the moment, Murray is growing into a champion before o