there he was, being interviewed on court by barcan. and then suddenly the crowd started booing. what had novak djokovic said in a post-match interview on centre court at flushing meadows? he had just beaten american andy roddick in four sets. there was a very cold handshake at the net and then a lot of fiery, intense heart jabbing and head thrown back with matching yell to the night sky.
roddick had said in an interview two days before that he thought nole had 16 injuries or so. as a fan of nole, i found this remark funny but i also knew that it could spur nole into an abyss of anger and resentment.
when nole came on court tonight, his eyes were dark, shooting daggers across the net. he calmly and coldly flattened roddick in the first two sets before the american found his bearings and managed to steal the third set. when nole grabbed the match by the throat in a tense fourth set tiebreak, little did anyone expect the dark, bitter molasses of his heart to spill out.
it doesn’t matter whether this crowd loves me or not, nole told the blubbering announcer darkly, they always think i’m faking it anyway.
barcan sputtered, wait, this crowd didn’t say this, only andy did and it was a joke.
nole would have none of it. it’s not a nice thing to say, nevertheless, he shot back. and i am absolutely thrilled to have beaten the homeboy in his home tournament and oh, his favourite too, right?
i will admit that i did not see it myself but read about it through impassioned roger fans for the most part. but when i read a transcription of what happened, my maverick balls just kicked in (after i dried the tears that had washed off my moisturiser).
you go, nole. you must be sick and tired of pleasing a crowd that is only critical of everything you do. the public is fickle but the people who matter aren’t. so know who they are. as for your parents, man, i wish you could get away from them for a while! but they’re the ones who love you unquestioningly. so it’s hard. who am i to judge?
just know i’m firmly in your camp, nole. firmly there.
ok, after seeing the youtube clip of the post-match interview, i’m grinning broadly and just LOVING nole. ajde!!! enjoy it with me. go, johnny mac! woohoooo!
*photo credit: corned beef hash
who wouldn’t love his spunk? and i am crossing my fingers for a nole-rafa finals
oh you’d be surprised, jey! lots of people would be quick to judge the guy and condemn him as some devil incarnate. no kidding!
but yeah, i’m still hankering for a rafa-nole final. but the top 4 in the semi’s right now are just pretty cool. think about it…
if murray wins the USO, it will be his first slam ever. he has said that the USO is his favourite slam. he prefers the atmosphere there to his home slam wimbledon (he is, after all, a scotsman, not an englishman) and says that hard courts suit his game the best.
if nole wins the USO, he will cement his reputation as the best hardcourt player of the year, edging out rafa, who won the USO series with his toronto title and semi-final showing in cincinnati. he and rafa would have split the major titles this year.
if rafa wins the USO, he will have won three majors on three different surfaces, a crowning achievement that has already been made more stellar by his beijing gold and titles in monte carlo, barcelona, hamburg, queen’s, and toronto. add to that a semifinal showing in the australian open and indian wells, a final showing in miami, and a semi-final showing in cincy.
if roger wins the USO, the old man’s going to salvage his year where he has so far won only two singles titles in tier 2 competitions, estoril (clay) and halle (grass). it is impressive that this is his 18th grand slam semifinal showing but in sport, it’s the title that counts, baby, and his title count this year has been dismal by his standards. if he does fall to nole (which seems likely) or to the finalist (rafa or murray), this will be his 13th defeat of the year, he loses points and… he falls to #3.
therefore, my goals are:
1. that nole beats him in tomorrow’s semi so that he becomes the world #2 for the first time in his career (and he beat roger to get there, not rafa, woohoooo! vaoms rafa!)
2. that a young gun win the USO, denying roger his fifth consecutive title in flushing meadows.
vamos rafa! ajde nole! go andy!
anything except a federer win will make me a happy girl. haha!
and we want the same things to happen in the USO, sister!
looks like it’s all up to murray now, jey.
the women’s final is in 1 1/2 hours! ajde jelena!
we didn’t get what we wanted from the USO ;(
Because Roger won. YES!
Finally, he got it right.