It Must Be Love

Fanatic Omes:

I gotta tell you guys, I'm itching and scratching for the US Open. And not just because I've downed half a pack of peanuts, which I'm slightly allergic to. I often try to ask myself what my favourite Slam is 'cause for me there is no obvious answer. 

I mean the Aussie ends off-season suffering and carries all the 'omg-omg-what's-going-to-happen-this-season' excitement. Then there's Roly G which Rafa WILL NEVER LOSE OK? HE WILL NEVER LOSE >: O so yay for me. And to be fair I love clay court tennis. Then Wimbly which I'm sure I don't have to explain why it's always ballin' and/or pimpin'. 

But the US Open. The US Open. I don't know maybe because it's the last Slam of the year, but I just love when it rolls up. I mean the US Open isn't just a tournament, it's a freaking Oracular Spectacular. And that's because it's American. Americans love their glitz, glamour, hype, mayhem, maddddnessss. So their tennis tournament naturally has to feature all these sorry nouns. 

When you watch it, you're not just watching a tournament, you're watching a TV show. You sit back and wait for all the little sub-stories to unfold until the cresendo of foot-faults and the like breaks out. And then Rafa wins his second trophy. (Sorry, that was my inner-monologue.)

So the Olympus US Open Series kicks off on Monday in Atlanta to wet our appetites; with Montreal and Cincy helping to start piecing back together the small sections of our hearts that had been shattered due to lack of ATP Masters events. But for the month and a half till the US Open begins, we'll be left wondering: which celebrities will show up this time? Will there be a fight? Oh my gosh, where on earth could Venus go with her outfit??

It's gonna be entertaining stuff peoples. 

(Vid: tennis [- seriously])

That Serena ESPY Dress

Fanatic Omes:

Ok now imagine it without the (very artistic) yellow smear. ...Or just google it. 

Am I the only one that wanted to say Serena, NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO?
 

(Pic: Getty)

A Portrait of Roger

Fanatic Omes:

So artist Jean-Pierre Blanchard painted a portrait of Rog from scratch, in under four minutes. I don't know where all this need to create extravagant art pieces of Roger's face came from, but it's pretty impressive.

Anyway this went down a the presentation of the SVC Entrepreneur Award in Zurich and the portrait was auctioned off for charity. Here it is:

Highlights:

1. The Nike tick.

2. The general dementedness of Jean-Pierre.

(Vid: creditsuisse)

Readme

Fanatic Omes:

Are you suffering from lack of major tennis or tennis on TV? Do you not have £3.99 a month for a Eurosport player subscription to keep an eye on Bastad and Stuttgart? Have you repeatedly refreshed tennis.com seven or more times? Is everyone on your twitter asleep?

If so, you're in luck! Here is a list of articles (and a couple of vids) for you which you've probably read already.

• Love Rafa articles in Spanish. They're just so much more revealing. 
• Fed being lovely.
• Candid Andy. (Candied Andy hehe.)
• Ahahahahahahaahaha.
• AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW BABOO.
• Happy Dancing Spaniards, enough said. (Courtesy of Nadal News).
• Ferru is a class act, even with his emphatic Davis Cup win he says this.
• Oh Isner. At least he won the darn thing.

(Pic: sueeves.com)

The Davis Cup Effect

Neutral Omes:

This year is Novak Djokovic’s year; there’s no question about that. Naturally with the emergence of a tennis monster like himself, there will be a plethora of theories surrounding who or what was responsible for its creation. Was it the cutting out of gluten? Marian Vajda stepping up? The fruits of labour finally paying off? Of course in however big or small a way these things all played their parts, but the monster himself attested that it was mostly due to his part in Serbia’s Davis Cup win last year. There’s no doubt that a small nation like Serbia, who’s been recovering from a tumultuous past, loves and needs their heroes (c.f. Novak Djokovic’s Serbian welcome after Wimbledon). And in the tennis world – they’ve found themselves with heroes-a-plenty. The Davis Cup is big for Serbia and therefore big for Djokovic. The win helped him to let go of his fear, which evidently was the only thing holding him back from being at the top of men’s tennis.

My theory is that Novak Djokovic paved the way for other top (but not quite at the top at the moment) players who are looking for inspiration in their careers. Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and Roger Federer all hadn’t competed for their countries since 2009. Call me a conspiracy theorist (if there is such a thing) but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they’re all playing now (post Djokovic 2.0).

And how has their quest for stimulation paid off? Well it definitely sparked something in Andy Murray who was in floods of happy tears after an emotional winning weekend in his hometown. Roger Federer has to be pleased that he’s lead Switzerland back into the World Group – his absence proves costly. That said we’ll keep an eye on their American seasons. Let’s hope for Andy Roddick that there are no adverse effects.

(Pic: be0grad.com)