starting with AO, this year, tennis had so many feel good stories and moments, which showed how phenomenal athletes can have world class battles along with great sportsmanship and friendly rivalries. i do like that rog puts it out there. i’m sure he’d prefer to be in the locker room with his emotions, but i agree that he lets us see what he’s really feeling. it makes him all the more likable and human.

The epic celebration after that was even worth getting the worst sunburn of my life sitting out there all day

Thanks for your review! Love this line: “elena’s serve and groundstrokes, so good” Did you ever think you’d write that Elena’s serve was actually good! I think it was decent during this match but perhaps the serving problems of the rest of the field have just made her own yips less apparent! Maybe it’s contagious! I really would love to see her win a slam – she’s gotta do it soon, though. This year, I fear, was her big chance.

I agree we had some great trohy ceremonies this year. My fave, obviously was the French Open. And Kim winning the US Open. Obviously the AO trophy ceremony was a huge deal – rarely do those events have so much meaning. Of course credit goes to Rafa for being so gracious and trying to comfort Rog. But I also admire Rog, in some ways, for letting the emotions flow. It’s special that we get to see that.

It will be really interesting to see them play again! I really hope we have a Rafa vs. Rog final Down Under. Even though 1. I doubt that will happen and 2. I’ll be freaking out if it does.

Which is good for you because the french Federation has taken all the footage from off of youtube! I wanted to post some video of the FO trophy ceremony but nothing good was available. Pff!

I liked what Roddick had to say about Roger after their Wimbledon final (I think it’s included in the highlights, above) – he said that Rog never gets credit for his mental toughness, because he usually makes it look so easy. It’s been a bit of a ride, emotionally, this year, but I do think Rog found a way to hang tough when the stakes were highest.

I do hope that he and Rafa get a rematch Down Under – I miss watching them play each other!

btw, the atp site has a great set of photos from this year and also put together the biggest upsets of the year. see the photos:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Media/Photo-Landing.aspx?gt=Photos+Of+Year&q=Best+Photos+of+2009

there’s a great pic of rafa and nole and also one of fed and roddick. yay!

we also had some of the best trophy ceremony moments. rog’s tears and rafa’s hug at AO, soderling’s no yoke and rog’s eloquent FO speech, roddick’s grace in defeat and rog’s apology for wimby drama to super pregnant mirka, del po’s dream come true (minus being robbed of well deserved speech in spanish), mama kim with jada and brian. honorable mention: rafa and rog at madrid ceremony clusterf–k, smiley and adorable!

cincy was also great, fed playing his strongest hard court tennis, confident shot making and getting vendetta for recent losses to murray and nole, back to back! a long way from the racquet smashing.

yes! FO – best tourny of the year! king of clay upset, rog digging deep, gutsy matches vs haas and del po. i will forever remember that inside out forehand winner against haas, which turned the match around! rog handling the immense pressure, being lifted to history making victory at RG. watching that final was the emotional highlight of the year. it felt like the entire tennis world wanted fed to win. the crowd chanting and clapping, crazy guy on court, fed emotional before the end, falling to his knees in sweet relief and joy, fed’s tears while pascal maria read the final score in french, tears during the swiss anthem and fed kissing the coup as rain drops fell. c’est magnifique!

sveta match vs serena at FO, impressive and dramatic. nice to see kutzy shine!

i kind of miss hairdasco, but i admire his improvements. nando did all he could to tire nadal out, but the bull would not quit, even vs fed. was so disappointed fed lost AO, after he escaped from berdych in 5 and for the final i got up at like 3 am, confident it would be rog’s wimby vendetta and record tying slam. rafa pushed mental and physical toughness to new heights.

elena v serena wimby was the best. elena’s serve and groundstrokes, so good. one of the few who can match the w sisters for depth and power. thought elena would finally win a major. hope she keeps staying strong.

i heart andy roddick! i always cheer for andy when he’s not playing fed, but in the wimby final i was cheering for both. so stressed, focused and excited that my family and i skipped a fantastic brunch to finish the match! fed amazingly outserved andy and it was totally fitting that rog broke the record in dramatic fashion. andy played with so much heart and fight! i was almost ok with fed losing.

missed the madrid semi, but loved the madrid final. i kept saying, ‘yes! why can’t you play rafa like this all the time roger?!’ rafa was beat from epic semi, but rog played aggressively, moved him around, esp with forehand dropper. it was nice to see him beat nadal in a big match on clay in spain!

i wanted stan to beat andy, but it was an excellent match and so interesting under the roof and lights.

flavia was so strong at the USO. this match was the epitome of vera dramareva! i was scared of and felt bad for vera throughout. she needs to be mentally tougher because her game is really great. yay kim!

and i’m done. thanks for reading.

Verdasco – Nadal – AO SF.
Federer – Nadal – AO final.
Federer – Delpo – FO SF.
Federer – Roddick – Wimby final.
Djoko – Nadal – Madrid SF.

as a Fed freak, i think he played his best tennis in AO, Madrid, Wimby, Cincinnati and USO (till the final).

if i could abolish only one Fed loss throughout the year it would definitelly be the one to Nadal at the AO final – such a gut wrenching loss… (by the way the semi between Rafa and Nando was played on Friday and the final on Sunday, not the day after).

on that match Fed topped Nadal with 21 more winners (50 to 71) and played way more aggressive… still the count of UFE was devastating and the low 1st serve % was the Achilles’ heel. i’m glad this year has turned around for TMF still i ache every time i think of that final.

i’m w/u on the nole/rafa madrid match. felt the same way and never watched the whole thing.

also, many thanks to u for ur great witty, smart, funny writing, blogging site.

2010 should be a great year and we have justine back….

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