#69 - US Open: First Round

ahh... first round of play at the us open. what could be better? i've gotta argue that wimbledon is THE tournament of all tournaments, but the us open brings so much more excitement and action, it's a better sports event. i mean, even though maria looks hot in all white, take a look at her in all RED! woo hoo! love that game face.
and as hot as she looks her game is just as hot. as is ana ivanovic, her forehand is looking sweet!
on the men's side, djokovic and roddick are both starting out playing well, if only andy didn't have to face federer in the quarters (if they both make it there), but actually, it might be better for him to face roger in something other than a final, given roger's immaculate record in finals. as far a djokovic goes, he's the man to beat in the bottom half of the draw in my opinion, forget nadal, who likes nadal? no one. and on hard courts that's for good reason. still, whoever picked hewitt in my little poll on the right, good for you! woo hoo! now we're getting some debate going! even though i think hewitt can beat djokovic, right now i'd say hewitt is still second best in the bottom half of that draw and so i'm sticking with my prediction for djokovic in his first grand slam final.
how can you bet against roger? geez, in all black his game is monster right now. he'll still have to mow down john isner (a rookie american, like 8 feet tall), richard gasquet, roddick, and james blake and then djokovic to win it all, but c'mon, that sounds like another day at the office for roger.,
and here's what i didn't expect on the women's side... venus williams is looking sharp as a very sharp thing. serve is crackin' (i think she got up to 129 mph in her first round), groundstrokes are lasers, and her footwork is impeccable. unfortunately she's got a REAL tough road if she wants to win, gotta go through (should all seed hold) ivanovic, jankovic, justine henin/sister serena, and then maria in the finals. geez, can't get harder than that... but she is venus williams...