Novak the crowd loves you..........

Yesterday certainly has'nt been novak's day. He did good but federer was better, probably cuz it was nerve wrecking for novak as it was his first grandslam final. Federer had been through this too many times..he was DEAD CALM. Novak had a lead on the 1st set but double faulted a couple of times in the end and handed off the first set to roger. Novak told the press that he was mentally weaker than roger and that's why he lost this time. Yah its understandable, give this kid some time and he will beat the hell outta federer one day. Federer narrowly won the first 2 sets both with tie breakers. Federer won by 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. It was a pretty tight match, Novak has certainly shown the world that he is capable of beating federer one day.

What an impressive crowd that showed up. The US open is now the highest attended sporting event in the world. Among the celebs spotted in the stadium that day were robin williams, Robert de niro....and surprise surprise maria sharapova was sitting in the novak's box cheering for him. I was watching the entire match and the camera just turned to maria a couple of times. Give that woman a break she's just cheering for her homecountry friend. People might think sharapova and nadal might be furious after novak's live impersonation on court a few days ago, but clearly sharapova is not. She was cheering and that makes people suspicious. Hrm... is there a little crush going on and the fact that novak did a pretty good impersonation of maria that means he has been watching her play moves quite a lot. Yeah well, if there is something going on, good for them they make a pretty cute couple.

No doubt Roger is the greatest tennis player, with 12 grandslams to his name now, he is looking forward to break the record of the legendary pete sampras with 14 grandslams. With the consistent performance he delivers, there is a very high probability that by next year's US open he might be in the running to break sampras's record. With his win yesterday, Federer became the only man to have won three of four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same year three times, repeating his achievements of 2004, 2006 and 2007 . He achieved all 12 grandslams only at the age of 26 and took only 5 years to achieve it. He's NOT HUMAN.........

Grand Slam results (Federer)
Australian Open (W ) Year: 2004, 2006, 2007
French Open (F) Year: 2006, 2007
Wimbledon (W) Year: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
U.S. Open (W) Year: (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

I read the interview below and I find it soo true that Roger Federer plays GREAT tennis but he plays it with no personality . Novak has a lot of CHARISMA !! charisma YAH thats the right word. Like i said in my previous posting there are two kinds of players: (1)those that play for themselves and (2)those that play for the crowd. Federer, henin and kuznetsova falls in category 1 and novak just has the balance. He plays good tennis with some personality and charisma to it. What a character Novak is on and off court. He was just smilling even though he loss the title , unlike kuznetsova, her face was sour like a soursop . Even when he was on the verge of losing the title he just smiles and shakes his head most of the time. The president of USTA said to him "Novak you may not have won the tournament, but you have won our hearts". Yes, he did.

After he did the sharapova-nadal impersonation on US open Live he said:
"They made me do it," a smiling Djokovic said in the interview room. "I'm really happy the people accepted it in a positive way. I'm not trying to make fun of the players, just to make the people laugh and have a good time." Djokovic said he's been doing impersonations for years, always in private, "but now that I'm the No. 3 player in the world, people see these things on the practice court or wherever. I think tennis needs players with a lot of emotions, temperament and personality. I'm happy that people are looking at me in this way." -Djokovic-


Very well said indeed Novak. Watch Novak's impersonation on other tennis players.....he killed everyone's reputation. I laughed my tears out. The interview below had federer commenting about what novak did in the locker room. I posted the video below on what he did hahaha...he killed federer's coolness right there. Novak made him look like a weird sissy. HAHAHAHA!!!

September 9, 2007, 9:25 pm
Novak on Maria, De Niro and Set Points; Roger on Novak, Yellow and Playing Pete
By Kathleen McElroy

Tags: Maria Sharapova, novak djokovic, Roger Federer

Novak Djokovic is so funny in English, he must be a riot in Serbian. Here are the highlights of his and Federer’s post-match news conferences. Federer responds to a question about Djokovic’s personality, and announces an exhibition with Pete Sampras at Madison Square Garden on March 10, 2008.

Questions to Djokovic:

Q. How long will those seven set points haunt you?
A. My next book is going to be called, “7 Set Points.” I’m joking. …

Q. Maria Sharapova was in your box and also Robert De Niro. What are those two relationships with you? [Novak smiles] Somebody had to ask.
A. Yeah, I was expecting that question in the first place. No, let’s not go too much with Maria. It’s just a friendship we have. It was nice for her to come and support me. as well, Robert, he was yesterday on the match, and today. I mean, it’s amazing feeling to see such successful people, you know, in my box supporting me, playing with me I can say, living every emotional moment. It’s great. It’s great.

Q. What does she think of your imitation?
A. She said she’s going to kill me. Of course, she accepted it in the right way. Of course, she found it funny, not offended.

Q. How did you meet Robert De Niro? Did he just show up in your box?
A. I met him randomly on the street. I was sitting in a bar. He was coming, smoking a cigarette [smiling]. No, no. We were invited — I went with a couple of players, Ana Ivanovic, we got invited from he and his wife to dinner. …

Q. While it’s true that how you play physically depends on how you play mentally, if for the sake of examining your game, you could separate the physical from the mental part, do you feel your game is right there with Roger physically right now?
A. You’re getting into really deep, philsophic questions.

Q. You’re a deep guy.
A. I am deep. [Pause.] Let me think. …

Q. You came into this tournament not well-known by the American tennis fans except as the guy you beat Rafa, Roddick and Federer in Montreal. As they said in the awards ceremony, you stole our hearts. Do you have a sense of really what you’ve done? You said you’re very happy with what you’ve done on and off the court.
A. Yeah, well, as you’re saying, I mean I’m listening to you and I’m sweating because I feel really flattered and emotional in that moment when I heard that at the ceremony when they told me that I stole their hearts. Even when I didn’t win that match, for me, it was very, very emotional.
To get, you know, American people behind you, especially a crowd here in U.S. Open, is not so easy. Obviously they like my character on and off the court. So I get a lot of compliments on my impersonation, more than I get on tennis. I was a bit worried if the people look at me as, you know, imitator more than a tennis player.
But it was all nice. You know, I made a lot of friends here in the States. It’s gonna be a big pleasure coming next year for sure. Really looking forward to it.

Q. You said throughout this you take positives, you learn from matches. Tangibly what did you take from this match, learn about your game or yourself?
A. Well, I learned that I need to win the set points, obviously [smiling], that I shouldn’t play it safe or risk too much.
But, you know, it’s a part of tennis, of course. As I was saying, I always learn something. I have to look in a positive way. I’ll try, of course — with my coach, in the first place, all the people around me — to do everything I can to improve my game and to, of course, see this match again and see what I did bad and what I need to practice so I can make a better success next time.

Questions to Federer:

Q. … I see you’re wearing your black [outfit] tonight, an afternoon match. Also walking in to the Darth Vader theme song. How much of that is you? How much of that is other people? What do you think of all of that.
A. Look, in the end I call the shots on what I want to wear. If they want to put me out in yellow, I don’t do it [laughter]. I’ve done those mistakes in the past. I don’t want to do it again. But I thought all black is kind of a cool thing. I can only pull it off in New York. I started wearing the jacket at Wimbledon, kind of bringing something new to the Open, because I see many shirts out there I don’t like. I just want to make sure that one guy dresses kind of normal out there.
… I kind of like the idea of having a day-session, a night-session outfit. They’re really nice and classical shirts. I just thought, you know, even the black shoes and black socks, I’m not the biggest fans of them, but you have to complete the outfit.

Q. When you were down in the first set, what did you try to focus on? What went through your mind at that moment, down 40-love?
A. I thought he was going to serve another big serve and I would be out of a set, really. At this point, you have no hope. It’s obvious, you know.

Q. Do you see the potential for a rivalry with Djokovic along with Nadal?
A. Very possible, you know. Honestly, I’ve enjoyed the challenge of young guys challenging me. This is probably my biggest motivation out there. You know, seeing them challenge me, beating them in the final, it’s really for me the best feeling, to be honest [smiles].

Q. Novak obviously has a lot of charisma off the court. He sort of won over the fans, and here in the media room, he’s very funny and [a] quick wit. What do the players think of him? What’s his reputation among the players on tour? What do you think of his personality?
A. Well, we don’t talk too much about different players.

Q. What do you think of his personality?
A. Well, in the locker room, he’s always very respectful toward me, you know. He’s pretty quiet. I only hear stuff. I didn’t see the stuff he did on court the other day. I didn’t see what apparently he did on the locker room either [that’s the YouTube skit mentioned in the game story; it took place in the Open men’s locker room].
For me, these things, you know, I only hear. But people don’t really talk about it. I know some guys weren’t happy. I know some guys might think it’s funny.
He’s walking a tightrope, for sure. If fans like it, it’s good for tennis, to be honest. It’s good to have a character like him out there, there’s no doubt. [All of this said with no expression on his face.] ****

Q. This morning I heard a suggestion that you could be playing an exhibition early next year against Pete Sampras in the U.S. What’s the story on that?
A. Yeah, well, we gonna play exo’s obviously in Seoul, Korea, Kuala Lumpur and also Macau at the end of the year after Shanghai [ the season-ending championships], three of them in a row.
The idea came along obviously to do it in the States as well. We’re going to play March 10 at Madison Square Garden here. I’m really looking forward to that. We’ll see how the first three matches go. Hopefully, I don’t have to come from behind, huh [smile]?

Another impersonation by Novak this time on US open 07 LIVE

Ok this guy is really funny and cute. Seriously, lol what does sharapova and nadal think of this? He has the guts to pull that off in front of 24,000 audience and on LIVE TV. He officially won my heart..put your hands together for novak the impersonater ppl!!!

Funny Novak Djokovic at the UsOpen 07 Exclusive!

He's really FUNNNYY... he's mocking the players like crazy. Wonder what the playes think of this? LOL

Djokovic the Impersonater

I hafta admit he's really good with imitating everyone's moves esp the sharapova's one..keep an eye on his imitation on Nadal. I could'nt stop laughing. Novak has a funny personality. Real charming guy..

US OPEN

After 2 weeks of nail bitting tennis matches...its finally coming to the end. This year there are really huge dissapointments in some players but definetely the list does'nt include the world number 1, J.Henin. I have soo much respect for that woman, though she is small in size but there is no doubt about her powerful backhand. This year, not only did SHE WON the US open, she won every match without dropping a set and she swept OFF the two williams sistas straight. Boy!! she is THE champion, she breezes through the finals and grab the title. This year, though being in the difficult part of the draw ..Justine Henin was simply UNSTOPPABLE. She has proven that she is the WORLD NUMBER ONE... with her win on her seventh grandslam title of her career.

All hail HENIN!!!

Maria sharapova was a total dissapoinment. The defending champion had a shocking early exit although she was in the easier half of the draw. With henin, serena, venus,hingis, ivanovic, jankovic all in the top half..it is really shocking to see sharapova walk off soo early from the US open. She breezed through the first two rounds without dropping a set. Sharapova had made some changes to her game this time around, she became more agressive with the volleying, usually she is known to be hitting most of her shots further down from the baseline, this time she really turn it up a notch and went nearer to the net to deliver some good volleys. Also, she changed her serve a lil..and in the first two rounds of her match, it seemed that her new serve was putting in more speed to the ball BUT she totally flopped with her serve in the third round against Radwanska and was slammed out of the Open .

Sharapova double faulted 12 times and had a lot of unforced errors done. Maria double faulted all at the wrong time in the third round, giving off the game points to radwanska. Sharapova lost the first set to radwanska but later regain her rhythm to play and won the second set 6-1, and head to the third with a 2-0 lead. At that point just when everyone thought that sharapova would win, she lost the next six games to Radwanska !! Shocking!! . Sharapova was really shaky with her serves esp on the third set of the match , I held my breath for every serve she made , what a dissapoinment she just kept the double faults going and commited 20 unforced errors on that set alone and that eventually killed her game. Somewhere between the third set of the match, i think when the score was around 5-2, her dad started packing and left. Ouch!!! that was painful. He could'nt bear to watch another minute. When asked about how she felt with her dad leaving the box..she just said that he was there .Sharapova did not have an answer after the match for how she lost the momentum she had going into the third set.

“You know, you’d think I’d have the momentum in the third with a break,’’ she said. “But I just didn’t really feel that way inside of me for some reason today. You know, just going to have those kind of days where you’re always trying to come through and always trying to find a way, even though you don’t feel like things are exactly going your way.’’ -SHARAPOVA-

Dissapointment with the 3rd round..BUT one things for sure, her outfit this year for the day and night match was SUPERHOT!!! if only she could have stayed longer in the Open.. she only wore the daytime outfit once and the little red dress twice at night. Sighss wasted.. Sharapova's dress received sooo much publicity even before the US Open began. On her first match of US open, she strutted out on court as if its a fashion runway wearing dangly earrings, what she called a "couture" black jacket, and with a racket-bag on one shoulder, a handbag on the other. The Arthur Ashe Stadium doubled as a court and a catwalk.

This was tennis power-dressing at its finest. "I was trying to get through my pre-match warm-up as fast as I could so I could put the dress on actually. That's not a joke," Sharapova said. "I was pretty excited about putting it on. So I told my coach, 'Last return and I'm out of here. I'm going in the locker-room'. It makes a difference when you feel good about what you're wearing and you feel good about putting it on. You know what it's like. You feel like you're the bomb. I had never worn red before. And there's no better place to do it than at a night match in New York City." “Put on a nice outfit and some makeup and you're the bomb.” -SHARAPOVA-

Yes Maria Sharapova you're the bomb........


People were actually anticipating what sharapova's outfit gonna be like after last years Open, where she won the Us open in that CLASSY outfit nicknamed the little black dress which was inspired by Breakfast at Tiffany's. After the 2006 Us open, it auctioned out for a staggering, if I am not mistaken 21K U$ dollar. Impressive.. and this year Sharapova collaborated with Nike again to design a dress with 600 Swarovski crystals sewn into the neckline. The Russian's red dress received more pre-tournament publicity than most of the other leading players combined. The dress even had its own launch party, a fashion event at Manhattan's Rockefeller Centre where it was explained that its design had been inspired by the New York City skyline. What a smart marketing move by Nike..... but then again Sharapova is a marketing magnet.


Last year was:

Simply classy and elegant..

This year.....

The night dress is a bright flaming red — in honor of the Big Apple — in a flared shift silhouette. It’s a sleek garment made of a breathable wicking jersey and constructed with a no-sew technique with seams bonded with heat and silicone instead of thread. There are more than 600 Swarovski crystals incorporated into the design, which makes the dress sparkle. Additionally, there are three crystal buttons down the back, creating a keyhole effect.


For the daytime, the look is similar but without the flashiness of the crystals. The dress is mostly white with a gray skyline image against a black backdrop. It has a scoop-back design that facilitates movement, according to Sandieson. Performance is always the priority, Sandieson said, but she and Sharapova strive for designs that marry function with fashion.





SIMPLY FLAMING HOT AND STUNNING

....there is no better colour for sharapova to walk out as the defending champion of the title for the first night of the match. FLAMING RED...

More than ever, players are using more than just their racquets to make a statement on court, but maria sharapova is the one that shines out.

Don't you agree?

MEN's TENNIS

For once, the women didn’t entirely monopolize the field of COURT FASHION. Top seed Roger Federer came out as the man in black for his opening night match, wearing black Nike shoes, socks, shirt and striped “tuxedo” shorts. There was no shortage of high fashion experts to critique the look, either – Federer not only had friend and Vogue editor Anna Wintour in attendance, but his girlfriend Mirka was sitting next to designer Oscar de la Renta. Ralph Lauren also looked on. Amongst the other stars present at the US open were janet jackson, tate donovon, martha stewart and many more. So, the Open is also for the place to hunt down some celebs. Who knows who might be sitting next to you?

On the Men side of the US open, nadal was a dissapoinment, first was the knee injury then when everything seem fine, all of a sudden he got kicked out at the quaters. Marat safin as usual a dissapointmet he threw his tantrums and abuse his racquet all the way throughtout the matches but only manage to reach 2 or 3rd round.

Novak djokovic on the other hand, was really impressive, through repeated visits from trainers, through all manner of momentum shifts. Novak djokovic outlasted Stephanek in a lengthy 4 hours and 44 minute match. When the match ended Stepanek stepped over the net, dropped his racket and trudged over to apply a bearhug so hearty the weary Djokovic nearly toppled over.It definetely looks like novak has emerged as a a potential challenger to No. 1 Roger Federer and NOW he's at the finals up against roger federer. Novak won over federer recently at the ATP masters in montreal. Do it again Novak!! sweep that coolness out of federer's face. I would love to watch federer lose..just shows that he is a human cuz I am starting to feel like he isn't one.

He's young, funny, charming and talented. Give some support to Novak Djokovic.

Someone once said that there are two types of tennis players: one that plays for themselves and the other that plays for the crowd. I don't know about you, but I find this statement kinda have some sense in it.

It is said that players like Marat Safin and Anna kournikova are all considered to be players that play for the crowd.. Sharapova said that tennis players are entertainers, people pay hundreds of dollars to watch a good show on court just like people pay to go watch a concert. People pay to watch what other people do best and in this case its tennis. Marat Safin said that people like to see some dramas on court so he smashes his raquet to give some drama. People like watching Marat because he's so emotional on court not because he always wins. Anna rarely wins but people go crazy over her. That woman knows how to work the crowd in and off court. Marat and Anna too much personality on court but flopped on in tennis.

Whereas, players like Federer , Nadal, Henin, Kuznetsova are good examples of players that play for themselves. They view tennis tournaments strictly as a tournament and nothing more. Its not a show. The court is a battleground for the title and they will give their very best to win. They don't really have a fuss about what they wear .They rarely talk about how big , small, cheerful or whatever crowd that turns up. All they ever talk about is TENNIS. Federer is a really good example, he is expressionless during a match ...he just plays his best on court and that's it..who gives a damm about what kinda crowd is around me and who is watching. Anything off court well is none of your damm business. Their personality is unknown. People love them for their tennis. All they ever have in their minds is winning. They give their VERY best tennis with no personality to it. They win and win it without personality.

Maria Sharapova, Venus, Serena, and Novak on the other hand are a blend of the two categories, they have a kinda balance. Novak has a real personality on court..he takes off his shirt and throws off his wristbands to the crowd ...offcourt he's a real funny guy. the William sistas shows up on court beat the hell out of their opponent and offcourt Venus has recently launch her fashion line "eleven". Serena always tries too look her best on court. Maria sharapova needless to say..offcourt she is a celeb on her own..on court she blows kisses everytime she wins. These players have the sheer determination to win and they do it with some personality not only tennis. Their presence on court are soo different from players like federer and henin. Novak, the Williams, and Maria all see tennis pros like themselves not only as just tennis pros but also entertainers. They Win the match and win it with some PERSONALITY. Play good tennis , play it with some personality....




Okies I am done with my tennis ranting madness. i need to get some sleep..for the next match at 4.am. Finals for mens singles and the last grandslam of the year is over. The US open 2007.

Signing out....