Rafa pranks Ferru

Fanatic Omes:

It must be love.

(Vid: RafaNadalOfficial on YouTube)

Davis Cup 2011 thoughts

Fanatic Omes:

Can I just use this opportunity to say, um, WOOP. I'm so pleased - this is exactly what Rafa needed! After a tumultuous year full of darkness, anger and despair (#blameNovak) us Rafa fans at least got the end we were hoping for.

It was a rollercoaster-tastic match. In the first game when Rafa was getting broken left right and centre, that feeling of misery echoed in those 6 finals resurfaced and it was horrific (#blameNovak). I thought the unthinkable would happen. A loss in front of a home crowd final on clay after the year Rafa had had would have, at the risk of sounding dramatic, destroyed him. (Bearing in mind Abu Dhabi starts at the end of this month.)

But that didn't happen and even though he final set had more breaks than holds of serve (was there even one??), I was confident that Rafa would take it in the tie break. I hope at that moment he too "let go of the fear" (#blameNovak) for 2012.

Anyway if Rafa gets an A for his part in the DC final, Daveeeeed (Ferrer) get's an A+, MVP and Man of the Match because he really did pull it out the bag for Spain.* That win against Delpo was just courageous. And I'm just gonna go ahead and choose to ignore what the hombres were saying about retiring from DC next year.  Lalalalalalalalalalalalalala.

Finally let's just all give a cyber group hug to Delpo who fought his arse off out there - it's not easy to convince people that you actually had an extremely realistic shot at winning Rafael Nadal on an important best of 5 clay final in from on a home crowd. It really wouldn't have been surprising if Delpo pulled off that match. (Well, it would have but you know what I mean). And it must be gut-wrenching thinking you'd lost it (twice) for your country. I guess our B.F.G can take solace in the fact that he's hitting the ball cray cray and everyone should be very afraid next year. And Nalby, oh Nalby. Watching him rehabilitate himself on twitter is giving me sadz, but he knows what Argentina accomplished and what he accomplished for them and he and he seems fine.

So that's all from our overworked and overpaid tennis boys for what, 3 weeks? Tennis never ends.

*Fernando also gets an A for being captain of cheer camp.

2012 is for all of the Big Four

Neutral Omes:

2011 has been the year of Novak Djokovic - and with the results of recent months lest we forget. Of course it wasn’t long ago that we’d crowned Rafael Nadal king of 2010. With the great era of tennis we currently find ourselves in - the likes of the best of the best all competing in such rich form at the same time - monopolies may come as a shock, as it’s often points here and there that determine results. But because with so little, in terms of skill and will to separate the best, confidence has become the most coveted and necessary weapon; and confidence is the fuel for monopoly. 

We are lucky to have a top four that is literally - in the literal sense of the word - a top four. They may shift amongst each other but it will be a huge ask for any outsider to penetrate that inner circle with audacity. Still it must be said that the remaining top ten is indeed worth boasting about and hardly comes as a surprise. But as long as Novak, Rafa, Roger and Andy are willing, it will be difficult to imagine a no.5 or higher next to any of their names.

It’s been Novak’s year, but it’s also been Rafa’s clay season, Andy’s Asian swing and Roger’s end of year. Even with the dominance of Novak this year, the rest of the big four never failed to remind everyone that they were still in the picture. I think 2012 will be a leveller. All have proven they have what it takes to take it. Novak’s gotten himself out of Rafa and Roger’s shadow, Rafa has shown everyone that in amidst of adversity, he still owns the clay, Andy has shown more of the kind of play that everyone wants him to adopt (remember 6-0 in the final set of Tokyo against Rafa?) and Roger has once again proven he’s not a decrepit old man descending into mediocrity. 

So as we hit the reset button and look ahead to the new season once again, we need be aware that there is plenty to prove for the big four. Each knows what can happen when one man’s confidence is allowed to overflow and all will be looking to stem that flow should it begin. Competitiveness in 2012 may just reach unprecedented levels; and with the Olympics being a welcome addition to the year, should certainly make for nail-biting 12 months.

(Pic: Getty)

Andy Murray Tennis: The Most Hilarious Video of Life

Fanatic Omes:

*DEAD*

(Vid: Tomfoolery Central on YouTube)

Marat champions the funny.

Fanatic Omes:

A winning Marat = a funny Marat. The beauteous creature scored his first ever win on the ATP Champions Tour, then continued to win at life:

Chortle chortle. Homeboy seems to be enjoying himself which is nice to see.

Ps. I'm not sure whether to be exceedingly petrified or thoroughly amused at the thought of Marat in office. So I'm gonna go ahead and say petrifused.

 

Andy brings the LOLZ

Fanatic Omes:

Andy plays that game where you pick your favourite answer out of two related categories. Sounds bland simple enough but it quickly turns into one of the most intentionally/unintentionally hilarious interviews ever with our dear boy. Observe:

(Vid: kikirikimiki2 on YouTube)

Andy Believes

Thumbs up indeed.

Neutral Omes: 

One thing I’ve always admired about Andy Murray is the belief he has in himself. Don’t let the grimaces and growls, shoe-lace attacks and sole-smacks on the court fool you – he doesn’t genuinely believe he’s rubbish. That habitual self-deprecation ensues because for every unforced (or indeed forced error) he makes, Andy strongly believes he could have, and definitely should have done better, idiot!

And that’s why he’s one of those guys that relishes a challenge. Whether it’s zapping Novak Djokovic’s winning streak - few players would have been as audacious as he was in taking it to red hot Novak (who was on match no. 37 in the streak at that time) the way he did in the semifinals of Rome (we won’t speak of the losing-despite-being-two-points-away-from-victory malarkey); or boosting the number on his side of a losing head to head battle against Rafa Nadal, bagel and all, to capture the 2011 Tokyo title. Andy Murray isn’t scared of playing anyone. This attitude is why after any loss the first thing you hear Andy say is how fast he’ll be back in the gym - as if to say “there’s always a way, I’m up for the next one”. When he takes to the court, he’s one of those few players that always believes he will win - whether he does is a different matter - but the self assurance is there.

So then how can a guy who believes in himself as much as you claim struggle with aggressive play so much? I hear you say. Well kind fellow, lack of belief in your ability to pull out a win against any player on any given day is different from the lack of belief you have in a certain playing style that’s not necessarily your go-to one - Andy doesn’t suffer from the former. And sometimes, when you face the best defenders in the game, your just not allowed to be aggressive. While in these cases it may be more difficult to win playing defense, for Andy it’s never ever far fetched.

Andy Murray may believe in himself, but I'm not sure he believes that statue is himself.

Much like Federer, Andy has what I would call a ‘decent reserve of natural confidence’ which stems from this deep rooted self-belief, and is different from the sort of confidence that grows and shrinks with form. Other guys like Rafa, believe it or not, need to keep reminding themselves they’re the best with match-play - without which self-doubt can easily creep in. I’m not saying Andy is immune from self-doubt (or indeed that Rafa lacks self-belief), neither am I ignoring the fact that Andy does tune out sometimes and never fails to post those resident questionable losses. But they never make him feel like he’s only as good as the matches he wins, and even when the big loss of 2010 in Melbourne Park saw him lose it for a while, I still maintain it never affected the underlying belief he had in himself.   

It’s interesting, not to mention very revealing that the main reason Andy is happy with his new no. 3 ranking (surpassing Roger Federer for the first time) following a flawless Asian swing, is literally because that’s the best he can do this year due to Rafa and Novak’s stellar results. In his post finals interview with Sky Sports at Shanghai, he stated that he was always aiming for the no. 1 spot at the beginning of the year: 

“[The no.3] is not something that I aimed for at the start of the year – you want to try and finish no. 1 if you can - and after US Open that just wasn’t possible, so I just re-assessed my goals and wanted to try and finish the year no. 3.”

So he’ll take the no.3 but he’s hungry for better. Yes every top player aims for that no. 1 spot, but it just seems Andy genuinely can’t imagine it won’t happen for him. He’s king of the post-Slam season so far, and if he takes this form to 2012 there’s no reason why, much like Novak did this year, he won’t perform the way he believed he could all along. 

(Pics: Getty)

Rafa's other ball game.

Fanatic Omes:

Per marca.com Rafa will supposedly be playing football for a third division Manacor team. He will play for the team when time permits and will be sporting the no. 9 shirt.

Wait, what?

(Info courtesy of onthegotennis on Twitter; Vid: ksyuzi on YouTube)

 

Upon my word, this is cute.

Fanatic Omes:

Uterus is happy.

(Pic: Tiurong Huatrust)

Marat Ma-wrong!

Fanatic Omes:

Marat Safin has been running his big mouth of late, claiming that little sis Dinara's career had all but come to an end due to the back problems she's sustained for the past two years. 

While Dinara's made no secret of her injury woes telling ESPN:

"Right now when I have this back pain, I don't think [of returning] at all. I'm sick of this pain." 

She also made this clear: "But I don't want to say officially that I'm going to retire."

Which is why Marat isn't helping matters by gobbing all over the place. Dinara's a big girl, she'll retire when she wants to retire and she'll say she's retiring when she wants to say she's retiring. And she seems to reiterate that sentiment somewhat passive aggressively. (Ok not passive aggressively at all - very nicely):

It takes a lot for an attractive man to incur the wrath of women, believe you me, but Marat's managed to do it. Well done Marat, as punishment there will be no watching of YouTube videos of you for two days.

What's that? You look like this?

...Ok I forgive you.

(Pic: asava-newflavours.blogspot.com)

 

Henri and Gael - a match made in crazy.

Henri watching Gael at Roland Garros

Fanatic Omes:

Hold on to your butts people. It's just been announced that former tennis pro Henri Leconte will be coaching none other than Gael Monfils for Valencia and Paris. What's the significance of this event I hear you ask? Well, allow me to introduce the man himself. Ladies and gents, Henri Leconte:

And just in case you needed your memory refreshed, here's our favourite head case, Monfils:

Simple maths suggests this can and will cause galactic shift in the space time continuum. I don't think any of us can honestly say we're ready for this jelly.
  
(Pic: Getty)
 

Wozz up with that?

Fanatic Omes:

So it's official. They are hereby deemed: Wozzilroy. And the 2nd Z? Well that just makes it gangsta.

(Pic: Caroline's Twitter)

 

Readme

 Fanatic Omes:

• Ok I sympathise with the players and everything re all the strike and schedule talk, but all I'm hearing from them is whine whine whine.
• Again, whine whine whine.
• Argentina and the essence of the Davis Cup.
• Rafa will bounce back - like a tennis ball that's hit a wall. AmIright?
• Cool piece from a photographer at the US Open.
• If the players do decide to strike, they'll need replacements right...? It could be more fun this way.
• So what you're saying is you can sit on bum watching tennis and still be training.
  
• Nice Q&A with Martina Hingis.
• Rafa and Quely - the perfect pair. My favourite is how many different camera angles they managed to find to film him eating the biscuits. 
• Tipsy wants his share of underwear action too. To be honest, I'm surprised it's taken him this long.
• I heart Momo Chan.
• WHAT COULD THIS MEAN???!!!

(Pic: christinefeehan.com)

The Real Winners of the Davis Cup

Fanatic Omes:

Sure Spain beat France and Argentina beat Serbia to set up a nice Hispanic-y clash in the final. Sure Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Italy, Croatia, Canada, Russia and the Czech Republic all came through in the world group playoffs. These countries may have won their ties, but nobody won over our hearts, LOLZ and WTFs like this lot:

Rafa Nadal: For playing 3 days after losing that grueling US Open final, which must have felt like assault. Rafa had just 45 minutes to practice transitioning from hard to clay and disclosed that he was "close to the end of his energy". And he still PWNED poor Gasquet and Jo-Willy, reminding us that he is no doubt the GOATOC. (Greatest of all time on clay).

Córdoba: For making that the killer poster above (click to enlarge and read). Unless it was the thing responsible for spurring on Fer's jacket.

Nalbandian: For being the anchor of the Argentina. Nobody does a Davis like Daveed. He brings out his best for it and it brings out the best in him. You'd have to smile thinking about how much making this final must mean to him. But then you'd soon frown knowing that Spain will probably kick their asses. And then you'd smile again because: vamos.

That Judy fan: For that t-shirt. Andy, this is what you get for having a cool mum.

Hewitt and Guccione: For upsetting Olympic Gold pair Stanislas and Roger, having teamed up for just the second time ever. Did you LOL? I did.

Sela: For not letting a little thing like height keep him from making his voice heard.

Popsicle (Vasek Pospisil): For leading Canada to victory in a stand out performance, complete with a 5 set epic against Sela, a doubles shocker with Nestor and a straight sets final over Weintraub. The 21 year old moved up a couple of ranking spots with the performance declaring it "the best moment of [his] career". And those rosy cheeks!

Nole: For going out there with a failing back and trying the best he could. It must have been tough to come crashing down on the same stage that was so integral to his unbelievable success this year. I'm sure if all his ligaments etc. had snapped so that his skeleton was only being held by his skin, and there was a way he could still play, he would have. Also a couple of points for the tears. Grown men crying gets me every time.

Del Potro: Again the crying thing - every time. 

Roger: For being the tournie's class clown.  

Fer: For being brave enough to don that jacket. And also for redeeming himself after his shocktastic performance with Feli in the doubles match against Tsonga and Llodra.

(Pics: AP, Getty, Reuters, SMP Images, Yahoo)

Serena admits fault for her actions at US Open final

Fanatic Omes:

"My emotions did get the best of me this past weekend when I disagreed with the umpire. It has been a long road to get back to the US Open this year, and I am thankful to have had such a great two weeks in New York." - Serena

Good good.
 

US Open 2011: Rafa Reflections

Fanatic Omes:

I don't think I'm going to write a neutral post about Nole only because I've done it before and nothing's changed - if you want to know what I (neutrally) think of him and his season (fine then, and fanatically too) - go here and just add in his hard court results. 

Well what can I say? Do I feel like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat has ripped out my heart through my stomach? Yes. Do I want to hurl my laptop, TV and myself out the window? Yes. But am I unbelievably proud of Rafael Nadal? Hell to the yeah! He had NO serve and probably a total of two cheap points the entire match. He was up early twice, only to get broken back straight away. He was facing a monster-alien with the "luckiest" returns in the business that served for the championships. I can't imagine how much that 24 hour game in the 2nd set took a toll mentally. But he fighted. Boy he fighted. I've never seen anyone fight that hard on a tennis court - he had no right to win that 3rd set, break point down, but every right thereafter. 

And yes I do believe if Rafa brought his best from the start, it could've gone either way. But many times he wasn't allowed to do that both as a result of his opponent and the disappearance of some crucial aspects of his game (dude, where was the forehand down the line? And seriously enough with the short balls; thankyouplease). Regardless, he's not totally unhappy with the match: 

"I am happy with a lot of things, much happier than the previous matches against him. ...I go back home knowing that I am on the way. You know, I like to fight, I want to enjoy about this battle against him. Six straight loses, for sure that’s painful. But I’m going to work every day until that changes. So I have a goal, easy goal for me now. It’s going to be tough to change the situation, but the goal is easy to see. To have a goal always you know how to work every day."

And he's definitely on the way. I now see this as a work in progress. No one has been better than Nole this year, and to expect Rafa to snap out of a 0-5 final scoreline just like that would be unfair. He knows what he needs to do and that's a huge step up from being totally lost at Wimbledon. 

Things are definitely looking up - this will not last forever. And if the thing that Nole has sold his soul to makes it so that some way it does (kidding guys), being the sort of champion that he is, Rafa has nothing to left to prove. 

So just can say, BRAVA to our man and bring on 2012! Oh wait, it's Davis Cup this weekend (vamos España) then Shanghai, then Paris then the World Tour Finals. Tennis never ends.

Vamos.

(Pic: Getty)

Sam Stosur: 2011 US Open Champ

Neutral Omes:

For me, Sunday's ladies' final was more about Samantha Stosur who played the best match of her life, and less about Serena Williams who didn't conduct herself in the best of manners. 

Stosur played a flawless match. Her movement was impeccable, she employed the glorious tactic of slicing Serena on the backhand to draw her to the net and pass her - and said backhand did not break down. Her winners from both wings were innumerable, and she remained mentally stubborn from start to finish.

I defy the entire tennis world to deny that they put their money (or at at least their mouth) on Stosur being dominated by her 13 time Slam winner opponent; but she felt something we all couldn't  - she knew could win. Even after all the commotion, save a momentary lull to lose a break, she kept her head - she was not about to let anything get in the way of her first Slam. When you look back at her tournament, she seems to have had one of those performances poised for such a moment. She's responded well to adversity - unintentionally undermined by the USTA and their scheduling difficulties on more than one occasion; not to mention the injustice of reaching the final without once having played on Ashe. She's broken US Open records including the longest women's tie-break with 32 points and the longest US Open women's match in the tie-break era which lasted for 3 hours 16 minutes. She's won tough, easy, come from a set down, a set up; and yesterday she found herself the underdog with no pressure and nothing to lose.

For Serena - an American playing her home Slam final on the melancholic 10th year anniversary of 9/11 - there was all the pressure. Fatigue may have played a part in her final performance - she didn't arrive back at the hotel till 2.30 am after the men's semi-finals ran late - in fact for the first set her legs looked uncharacteristically heavy. With her first serve percentage finding itself in the 30s in the first set, she was in definite need of a lift, but especially considering 2009, no one would have guessed she'd find that lift in the way that she did at the start of the second. A loud "come on" on a heavy forehand before Stosur had a chance to get her racquet on her ball saw umpire Eva Asderaki invoke the hindrance rule. Serena was livid to say the least. Despite being in the rule book, arguments could be made on Serena's behalf- should the umpire have used discretion to replay the point, choosing to deem Serena's actions as 'unintentional'? It's hard to believe it would have been intentional. However no argument can be made in favour of her consequent offensive behaviour towards the Asderaki, who cannot be blamed for Serena's poor play. That being said (and it's certainly not an excuse but,) it was an extremely high pressure moment - it's not easy with all that expectation to feel the trophy slipping from your grasp partly due to you failing to bring out your best. 

The anger seemed to bring the American back to life and it looked as if we finally had a match on our hands. But Samantha. The way she didn't let it phase her. Even after Serena took that long pause, which saw some 22,500 members of the Arthur Ashe stadium let out a sustained roar, to gather herself, Stosur kept her composure and the level of her game beautifully. She isn't the most emotional or extroverted character on the tour and you got the feeling that this sort of event could have left her wanting to run away; but the exact opposite was true. In her mind there was no way anything but exceptional play from Williams was going to get in the way of her maiden Slam. And when she got the break she played with audacity and broke to close it out. This was a prime example of will to win taking over - Stosur had had a fantastic hard court season, but prior to that, her results certainly did not reflect her 9 in the world ranking. Not only that, but it should be pointed out that this US Open trophy is in fact her third title ever. Ergo it certainly can't be said that experience in finals led her to the win; and while confidence did play a huge part, as did ability - it was more of a case of the Australian just bringing out her best, not failing to make the most of the opportunity at hand.

It was gutsy but measured, calm but aggressive - finally Stosur played the sort of game that she, a few months back, didn't dream, but the rest of us knew, she was capable of. 

Congratulations to the deserving 2011 US Open champion.

(Pic: Getty)

US Open semi-final blurps.

Novak's box.

Fanatic Omes:

- I can't even talk about the match, I'm so devastated for Rog. 2 sets to 0 up playing lights out tennis, then serving for the match (THAT FOREHAND) only to double-fault to give it away and lose the next service game so his opponent could serve for it and ohhhhhh, it's so sad. Mirka and the girls have some work to do. Rog says he is now "extremely hungry going into Australia" - oh shoot, he's gonna win the damn thing, isn't he?

- Andy just couldn't pull it together against Rafa. Even the upwards of four imaginary friends to berate wasn't enough to lift him. He had a resurrgence in the 3rd, but lack of appropriate wristbands saw him lose his serve at 1-2 in the 4th and that was it. Rafa thought that that was his best match of the year! I thought his best match of the year was the semi at Wimbly...against Andy. Poor fuzzy bear. Oh, and WOOOOOOOOH!

- And so I will try to doge the obvious outcome of these two semi-finals and say, hope everyone had a good weekend. I will be needing a sick-bucket all of Monday.

- Couldn't stay up till after 4am to watch Rere and Wozza (I know, grow up, right?) but heard that the great dane just couldn't cut it against a below par Serena. Well a Serena/Sam final makes sense doesn't it? We got there in the end, even though there was a whole lot of crazy en route. If Sam plays 100% she can bother the big butt-ed one - half a percent less and she's toast.

(Pic: Andrew Ong/USTA)

US Open: Super Saturday

Fanatic Omes:

With both men and women semi-finals today, surely this is the superiest of them all? So sit back, relax and enjoy. I'll be the one peeing my pants.

Order of play.

Ladies' match of the day: Wozniacki vs Williams; 1st night match, Ashe.

Men's match of the day: Really really can't decide.

(Pic: nicey200 on Photobucket)

OMG only 3 days left! Hold me.

Fanatic Omes:

- Rafa came back from a 3-0 deficit during the few minutes of play before rain emphatically told us to say hello to its little friend, for a straight sets win. Homeboy was agreeeessive - so at least the whole prospect of 4 best of 5 matches in 4 days was good for something. (Small mercies).

- Adventures were had on Armstrong where Roddick was to play Ferru. Believe it or not a water bubble appeared on court so the guys had to go straight back off. First a ball boy tried to towel it off, then the tournament director himself had a go. It came to that. Anyway after a long wait the boys stepped back on court and a "baffled" Roddo had had enough - he rallied for the match to be moved over to Hawk-eye-less court 13 which has a capacity of, what 500? The players and their entourages then made their way over, the crowd and an ESPN camera followed behind. And hey presto. This was the first time in 9 years that Roddo hadn't played on Ashe. And the power of 13 seemed to work for him. A very focussed Roddo raced to a two set lead, but then a very grindy Ferrer won the 3rd. But then focussed Roddick came back to take it in four. And he was so happy that he walked around the court slapping hi-fives to all. Gotta love.

- Andy Murray taught Donald Young a lesson winning 6-2 6-3 6-3. DY got so peeved at one point that the actually told a fan who was cheering for him to "shut up". Way to turn around perceptions, Young.

- Serena and Pavs traded consecutive breaks till 3 all. Pavs has some serious game. Potential is ridonk. But Serena is Serena. It was an error stricken performance and I'm not gonna not blame her player box, which was full of the Kardashian Krew komplete with Kim, Lala and Ciara.

- The 2-7 head to head reared its ugly head for Bepa, who went out rather emphatically to Stosur. She was just a mental midget and Stosur was on point. Simples.

- Nole and Janko's match was a so much fun for the first 2 sets. It was a damn shame Tipsy had to retire. How dumb would it be if the fact that Nole ground Tipsy like whole peppercorns ruined their chances at the davis Cup this weekend? Woopsies.

- Federer, who beared a striking resemblance to FedererGOAT, bossed Jo-Willy to set up a clash with Nole in the semis. Oops! I think I just drooled.

(Vid: ArjunJethwa on YouTube)

US Open: We live in hope.

Fanatic Omes:

Say it with me, 'hope'.

Order of play.

Ladies' match of the day: Federer vs Tsonga; only night match, Ashe.

Men's match of the day: Stosur vs Zvonareva; 2nd on Grandstand.

(Pic: keeponsledding.blogspot.com)
 

Readme

Fanatic Omes:

• The 'case of the magic draw' has been quite the topic of controversy this US Open, and it's easy to see why.
• Because it's always fun to read an Ernests Gulbis article.
• Nice article on whether Roddick's meltdown mania was kindddda justified.
• Now everyone is a racquet diva.
• Wondrous illustrative article showing the best fistpumps through the years. Glorious; just glorious.
• Article about the abusive tennis coach, who's now been named and shamed as hall of famer, Bob Hewitt. Appalling.
• Exhibit A. Exhibit B. But there's nothing wrong with Harrison's temper - according to Jim courier. (No comment on Gimelstob btw. Wow.)
• Toni being candid and a little pessimistic about Rafa (sky is blue).
• Glorious animation on Rafa's forehand from the New York times. And it's informative too kids!
• With the number of retirements  as numerous as sand grains on the seashore at the USO - this certainly springs to mind.
• We all know about Ball Boys and Girls, but meet Spitz - the (over) enthusiastic Ball Lawyer.

(Pic: dcanimals.org)

The rain, the drama and the need for a union.

 

Neutral Omes:

On day 10 of the US Open, Rafael Nadal and the two Andys (Murray and Roddick) were the big names to start off rain-delayed play on Ashe. Seven minutes in and the rain returned. The players had to go off - but not without getting visibly irate about their having to go on court in the first place in the misty and damp conditions. Rafa was supposedly heard saying to tournament referee Brian Early: "It's the same old story, all you think about is money." And so it began. 

Rafa went off to complain to Early further behind closed doors, with Roddick and Murray close by. A little later all three players were interviewed by Pam Shriver on ESPN:

“Everyone’s relaxed about it now, but when we went out on court, it was still wet, and the balls too. It doesn’t make sense to get out there for seven or eight minutes and I don’t think that will happen again. I knew that Rafa was going to see [Brian Earley]. I spoke to David Ferrer, and he was saying: ‘It was still raining when we went on there.’ The lines are slippy and very dangerous. I said I will go in and mention it as well, then Andy [Roddick] came.”- Murray

 

“They need to put tennis on television, I understand the business side of it, but they need to make sure the players are safe. If I were by myself I’d feel uncomfortable going in there, as an American. We said if conditions are similar to that again, it might be uncomfortable. To Brian Earley’s credit, he listened to what we had to say. He was very nice in the conversation.” - Roddick

“It was a tough day. We don’t feel protected here. The tournament grand slams, they are [getting] a lot of money and they are working for that, but not [for] us.“The rain really never stopped. The court was dry for 10 minutes and they know we have to go out there. The health of the players is important. This is part of the show – and we don’t feel protected. We are here working hard and we want to feel good when were playing a tournament.“Things happened today and at [other] slams and for sure we cannot accept these things. We have to be together and not accept situations. We have to fight to change that, so we don’t go on court when it’s raining. If I have to, I go on court, but it’s not fair.” - Nadal