Federer vs. Nadal, part VII

Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer have faced each other six times in Grand Slam finals -- three times each at the French Open and Wimbledon. Now they'll play a seventh time in the finals of the Australian Open. Federer had a relatively easy semi against Andy Roddick, winning in straight sets, but Nadal had to summon the best of his tennis-playing abilities to down Fernando Verdasco, who took a couple sets off him. The final is not until tomorrow, so Rafa will get a day of rest and should be ready to battle Federer in a hard-court major for the first time. I'm not completely sure when the match will start, but I think it'll be around 3:30 in the morning where I live. Not a great time for those of us in the US who want to watch. Not only that, but I'm sure it's on ESPN2, which I don't get. So I guess I'll wake up tomorrow morning and check the internet. No doubt the Australian Open site has a live scoreboard.

Nadal to play Verdasco in semis

The quarterfinals have now been completed. Nadal took out Gilles Simon earlier today, and Fernando Verdasco scored another upset by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I might as well just stop making predictions. The Verdasco-Nadal match will be an interesting one, not only because Verdasco is red hot. Nadal has never made it past the semis of a hard-court major, and it will be a huge step for him to finally do so. I'm sure he's capable of it, but he has a history of losing to inferior opponents such as Tsonga last year and Murray at the US Open. He really seems to be playing well, though, and I'd love to see him clash with Federer in the final. If that happens, it would be the 7th time those two have played in a Grand Slam final. Amazing. Unfortunately, I have no way of watching the match without cable TV, but I can follow on the internet, assuming it takes place while I'm awake. Tomorrow is the Federer-Roddick match. Can't wait to see how that one turns out.

Roddick defeats Djokovic

My Australian Open predictions are not going well so far. Andy Roddick upset Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals earlier today. Though I'm glad to see Roddick win, I certainly didn't expect it. Djokovic is #3 in the world and the defending champ at this event. He took the first set off Roddick in a tiebreaker but dropped the following two. In the fourth set, he started cramping due to the severe heat and retired, unable to continue playing. An unfortunate way to end the match, but I'm sure Roddick is just as glad to advance to the semis. In the other QF, Federer beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-0, 6-0. I don't know whether del Potro played horribly or Federer played amazingly well, but I suspect a little bit of both. That's just an incredible score. So, Federer will take on Roddick in the semis. The other quarterfinal matches are tomorrow. I'd guess that both Nadal and Tsonga will win, but my predicting ability is not the best.

Murray ousted

Looks like I was off on my prediction of Andy Murray making it to the finals. The #4 seed lost a 5-set match to Fernando Verdasco earlier today. Remarkably, Murray is the only seed in the top 8 who is not still alive. I've never before seen a Grand Slam where 7 of the top 8 seeds all make the quarterfinals. Amazing. Nadal continued to steamroll his competition, downing Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets. Next up for him is Gilles Simon, and if he wins that, he faces a potential showdown with Tsonga. I can't wait to see that. Last year when Tsonga beat Nadal in the semis here, it was a mammoth upset and hardly anyone had even heard of Tsonga. I know I hadn't. Now he's made a name for himself and is a solid top-10 player. I'm also looking forward to the Roddick-Djokovic match, which should be a good one.

Federer ekes out 5-set win

Lots of action going on down at the Australian Open. Roger Federer had a tough match against Tomas Berdych today, and I watched some of it (tape-delayed) this afternoon while at my grandma's place. Federer really looked off during the first couple of sets. He played well enough to take the second set to a tie-break, but he couldn't win it. He finally seemed to get into a groove in the third set and cruised from there. Next up for him is Juan Martin del Potro, and that should be a good match. Djokovic and Roddick are set to play each other in one of the other quarterfinal matches. On the other side of the draw, they're still in the fourth round. Nadal and Murray both play tomorrow, and if they win they'll be in the quarters as well.

Back on the roads

On Wednesday I ran for the first time since the swollen knee. I only went out for 5 minutes just to be on the safe side, and everything felt fine. I still haven't had any pain in that knee, which is kind of bizarre, but I can't complain. Yesterday I ran for another uneventful 5 minutes, and today I went a little over a mile. No problems so far, so I'm being optimistic about getting my mileage back up to where it was before the mysterious injury.

Top players still alive in Melbourne

The Australian Open got underway this week, and so far there haven't been many notable upsets. Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, and Roddick all won their matches. Nadal and Murray will play their second-round matches while I'm sleeping tonight. Murray takes on Marcel Granollers, and Nadal plays a guy named Roko Karanusic, whom I've never heard of before. The other side of the draw is in the third round. Federer will play Marat Safin, which should be quite an interesting match. Those two have met in the Australian Open final before, with Federer winning, and in the semis the following year, with Safin winning.

Eagles fall to Arizona

Well, the Eagles' playoff run has come to an end after losing to the Cardinals 35-28 yesterday. It was an exciting game. The first half was not much fun to watch, as the Cards jumped out to a comfortable lead. At one point the score was 24-6, but after that the Eagles got hot. They scored three unanswered touchdowns, missing the extra point on the second one and failing to convert two points on the third. Up 25-24, I thought they were poised to pull off the victory, but the Cardinals got another touchdown with a two-point conversion to effectively stop the Eagles' momentum. I was disappointed in the outcome, but I'm sure I'll still enjoy watching the Superbowl. The Steelers defeated the Ravens in the second game last night, but I didn't stay awake for the end of that one.

Australian Open starts tomorrow

The first Grand Slam of the year gets underway tomorrow in Melbourne, and the men's side is going to be quite a tournament. There's a group of players at the top who have a shot at winning, as opposed to previous years where a single player (Federer) is heavily favored. My prediction is that the top 4 seeds will all make the semis. I think Murray will defeat Nadal, and Federer will defeat Djokovic. Look for Federer to win his 14th major. I also expect a good quarterfinal clash between Djokovic and Andy Roddick. At this point, I don't think Roddick is capable of winning that match, but he has an outside chance. Overall, this will be some exciting tennis. I don't think I'll get to watch any of it since it'll be on cable (not to mention most of the action will take place while I'm sleeping), but I plan to follow the results online.

Sixers win fifth straight

The Trailblazers came to town Wednesday night to take on the Sixers, and the Sixers dispatched them with ease for their fifth win in a row. This is a much needed winning streak, as they've slipped quite a bit below 500 and are still not back there yet. Right now they sit at 18-20. Tonight they'll play the Spurs, and that one should be quite a challenge. At 25-12, San Antonio leads their division and is one of the top teams in the West. I'll try to listen to the game tonight. I'm also excited about the big Eagles game on Sunday. Just a few weeks ago I never would have thought they'd even make the playoffs, yet here they are just one probable win away from the Superbowl. It will be fun to watch what happens.

Bursitis!

On Friday, after a perfectly normal, uneventful 4-mile run, I noticed a slight resistance when trying to bend my right knee. The following morning I could tell there was some fluid in the knee, but there was no pain. So I decided to go ahead with my planned 7-mile run that afternoon. It went fine, and my knee didn't seem to suffer any adverse effects imediately afterward. Unfortunately, the swelling gradually continued until Monday, when it was about twice it's usual size. At that point, running was out of the question, as I could barely bend the knee just to walk. Since I don't remember ever hurting my knee, I figure I must have bursitis. I don't know what triggered it, but it is definitely not a pleasant condition. Fortunately, things started to improve yesterday, and the swelling has been going down since then. I hope to be back to normal within the next few days. However, I am a little concerned about starting to run again. I don't want to aggravate my knee. I guess I just have to start out slowly and hope for the best.

Eagles take down the Giants

What a weekend of football. First the Cardinals and Ravens both notch upset victories on Saturday, then the Eagles top the Giants on Sunday. I watched the beginning of the game down in Baltimore, then listened to the remainder in the car on my way home. I was very happy to hear the Eagles win. Now all they have to do is get past Arizona, and they'll be in the Superbowl. The AFC title game will be between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, who soundly defeated the Chargers Sunday evening. I watched the end of the game, but it did not interest me as much as the Eagles' one. So now there is a definite possibility of an all-Pennsylvania Superbowl. That would be quite a treat, although I wouldn't know for whom to root. I like both teams. I guess first I'll wait to see who actually wins the games this upcoming weekend.

Ravens sneak by the Titans

I'm down in Baltimore this weekend, so I haven't been following football as closely as if I were home, but I did catch the 4th quarter of the Ravens-Titans contest last night. Baltimore was up 10-7 when I turned it on, and then Tennessee managed to score a field goal to tie it up. They were close to a touchdown a few times, but the Ravens played great defense and forced some turnovers. They then scored a field goal of their own and stopped the Titans to get a 13-10 victory. Up next -- either the Chargers or the Steelers. Yesterday's second game was between the Cardinals and Panthers, and I didn't follow it very closely and went to bed at halftime. The Cardinals ended up winning, which means that the bye teams aren't doing very well so far.

In tennis, Andy Murray took home the title in Qatar, defeating Andy Roddick pretty easily 6-4, 6-2. Murray has been incredibly impressive the last few months, and I look for him to do a lot of damage at the Australian Open. It would be great to see him face Federer in the final, although they may end up playing in the semis, depending on the draw. Djokovic is also a factor.

Nadal, Federer, Murray in action in Qatar

The tennis season is underway once again after a short break in December. The big tournament currently being played is the one in Doha, where Nadal, Federer, Murray, and Roddick are all in action. The quarterfinal matches were played today, and Federer, Roddick, and Murray advanced to the semis. Nadal lost to Gael Monfils. It would be easy to overlook that loss as this is a "tune-up" for the Australian Open, but I think Nadal still needs to prove himself on hard courts. He will be strongly challenged in Melbourne by the likes of Federer, Djokovic, Murray, etc. Federer remains my pick to win, regardless of how the Qatar tournament plays out.

Eagles get a playoff win

Sunday was another day of football playoffs. I saw a little bit of the Ravens-Dolphins game in the afternoon, although I didn't think it was very interesting. The Ravens won on Miami's home field. The late afternoon game was exciting, though, as the Eagles took down the Vikings to set up a matchup with the Giants next week. That will be a fun game to watch. I'd love to see the Eagles pull off a victory in that one.

Cardinals, Chargers victorious

Yesterday was the first day of the NFL playoffs, and I watched a little bit of both games. They were both good contests. The 4:30 game was between Arizona and Atlanta, and I saw that one through to the end. The Cardinals came out on top 30-24. With a regular season record of 9-7, I would not have expected them to win, but, due to the rule that gives division champs home field advantage over wild card teams, they got to host an 11-5 Falcons squad. But I definitely credit them for getting the job done. Their next game will undoubtedly be more challenging. Yesterday's other game was the Colts against the Chargers. I only watched the first quarter and then went to bed. Today I learned that it came down to OT with the Chargers winning at home. Another semi-surprise, given that the Chargers had posted an 8-8 record while the Colts were 12-4. But apparently the Colts could not take care of business on the road, so now they're going home.

Two more games today, including an Eagles-Vikings matchup which definitely interests me. I'll see if I can get my run in early enough this afternoon to allow me to see the start.

Welcome to 2009

Today is the big day - the start of a new year! I celebrated by going to bed around 9:30 last night and tuning in to the start of the Sixers-Clippers game (which the Sixers ended up winning). I was sound asleep when the calendar changed to 2009, but I don't think I missed a whole lot. If there were fireworks, they weren't loud enough to wake me up. I continued my celebration today by heading out for a 6.2-mile run. It was nice and cold, but not too cold, and I was very comfortable out there.