![\"Flavia](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/flavia-pennetta-us-open-tennis_3350325.jpg\")
<\/a>Flavia Penetta lifting her well-deserved Championship trophy.<\/p><\/div>\n
I’ll go in order in a second, but first I have to state what’s obvious to everyone who knows me\u2014I’m truly miserable that Roger Federer didn’t win the Championship, even though he came close once again. Yes, I know that he’s still won the most Majors in history, but I want even more for him. There’s never been a classier tennis player, or athlete, period! Or person!<\/p>\n
I can’t discuss much about the Men’s Final because I’m so miserable that Roger didn’t win it, but the Ladies was unbelievably fabulous! At least I can take that away from this.<\/p>\n
Actually, the whole tourney, in general, was pretty interesting, and easy enough for me to watch.<\/p>\n
So, let’s get to the wrap-up of it now.<\/strong><\/p>\n [Note #1: So, right after I published my first week updates on the first week of the Major tennis tourney, I began watching Week 2.\u00a0 And on Labor Day, no less, a day I should have been at some of the holiday parties I was invited to!\u00a0 (But I really had to stay home resting my broken ribs, to be ready for next week’s Emmys activities!\u00a0 I guess it’s true–there’s no rest for the weary.)]<\/p>\n [Note: #2 I realized later that I didn’t write about every interesting moment of Week 1, (like someone stealing\u00a0all of Donald Young’s sneakers,) but I have to have some undocumented moments in my life.\u00a0 So, please forgive me for that.]<\/p>\n [Note #3: And, again, because I watch every second of the TV coverage, I’ve been totally sleep-deprived during the entire US Open, so please excuse any errors this time.]<\/p>\n MONDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert said, in regard to Donald Young’s success here, \u201cTo say that we saw it coming would be an understatement.\u201d OMG! It would be an over<\/em>statement, not an under<\/em> one!!! Totally opposite meanings, dude. [Note: He said the same thing later in the week, about Roberta Vinci defeating Serena Williams in their Semi. Why has no one corrected him all week?! Do the producers and directors of these shows not listen to their on-camera personnel???]<\/p>\n John Isner. (I had no place else to put this pic of him, and I refer to it a bit later.) Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n — Being the Empath that I am, I’ve been feeling for the athletes who have to play in the daytime, because of the dreadful uneven shade that’s being thrown by the still-in-progress construction of the new roof.\u00a0 It’s so hard on them.\u00a0 But today I realized that it’s just as hard for us, the viewers!<\/p>\n — Victoria Azarenka is always so honest!\u00a0 I love her.\u00a0 She’s one of my favorite female players.<\/p>\n –I think Stan Wawrinka is hurt, either in the shoulder of arm.\u00a0 I’ve never seen a player put his bags down to do the brief pre-match interview, especially after he had just picked them up!<\/p>\n Sabine Lisicki, on the left, being rude to Simona Halep. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n — Sabine Lisiki gave such a rude handshake to Simona Halep, who beat her.\u00a0 This after what she carried on when she<\/em> won her previous match.\u00a0 She fell to the ground, and lay there, crying, for much longer than appropriate, while her just-defeated opponent had to wait at the net.\u00a0 Not nice of Sabine, either time.<\/p>\n — Now, former Champion here, Sam Stosur, knows how to do a polite handshake!\u00a0 Props to her!<\/p>\n –Roger Federer was even more stunning than ever in his match against the giant American, John Isner!\u00a0 He’s one of the few people I can say is truly amazing.\u00a0 What a privilege it is to see him play.<\/p>\n \u2013 Did John Isner have a nose job? Or is it just his better hair that’s making him look so much more attractive?<\/p>\n TUESDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n — The ESPN on-camera staff needs to stop kissing the Williams sisters’ butts!!!\u00a0 They’re giving all the other players way too short shrift.<\/p>\n 6′ Kristina Mladenovic and 5’4″ Roberta Vinci! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n — A couple of things about Kristina Mladenovic:\u00a0 She’s so pretty, as long as she doesn’t open her mouth.\u00a0 Why hasn’t anyone told her to get braces?\u00a0 She can certainly afford them.\u00a0 But I give her major props for being one of the few to wear eye make-up on the court!\u00a0 (Some cosmetics company should offer those girls contracts, just to get them all to wear it!)\u00a0 Why would you want to look your worst when millions are watching?!)<\/p>\n –The height difference between 5’4″ Roberta Vinci and her opponent 6′ Kristina Mladenovic looks so funny.<\/p>\n Kristina Mladenovic playing soccer with the ball, while her opponent waited to serve. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n –Mladenovic does have mad soccer skills, but it was rude to show them off when her opponent was serving, especially down break point!<\/p>\n –The commentators have pointed out a couple of times that the crowd just doesn’t get into Novak Djokovic, even though he’s funny and nice, and they don’t get it. I think it’s because he gets crazy in the middle of matches, which Roger Federer would never<\/em> do!<\/p>\n –At the end of his quarter-final, you could tell that Novak hated the crowd, but had to thank them anyway.\u00a0 And he controlled his dislike of them. So, good for him for that.<\/p>\n WEDNESDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 They finally mentioned that Fabio and Flavia Penetta are an item! It’s about time; they’re actually engaged!<\/p>\n \u2013 I’m so sorry that either Flavia Penetta or Petra Kvitova had to lose.\u00a0 I love them both.<\/p>\n But Petra was a very gracious loser, and Flavia was an equally lovely, and honest, winner.<\/p>\n \u2013 Roger’s victory over Richard Gasquet was just amazing!<\/p>\n FRIDAY<\/strong><\/span> (As with all the other days, these thoughts are written as they happened. But it’s especially pertinent today. You’ll see why in a second.)<\/p>\n \u2013 The Ladies’ Semis were postponed from yesterday due to the rain, which had stayed at bay for the whole tourney, until they showed-up on Wednesday for a little bit. So today, we got to see all four semi-finals, both men and women. How exciting!!!<\/p>\n \u2013 I’m officially disgusted with ESPN!\u00a0 They not only didn’t interview Roberta Vinci after her win in the quarter-final, like they do with everyone, but they showed only the one with her opponent, Serena Williams, before the Semi!!!\u00a0 This, so they could show a YouTube video of a little girl loving Serena.\u00a0 Roberta is a semi-finalist at a Major, and I’ve never even heard her talk!\u00a0 These ESPN people are really horrible.\u00a0 They almost make me not to want to watch them ever again.<\/p>\n \u2013 Serena is just the worst sport ever!\u00a0 She was actually crying in the middle of the second set that she was losing.\u00a0 I seriously can’t stand that woman.\u00a0 (And for those few of you who like to point-out her accomplishments to me\u2014yes, I do<\/em> recognize that they are incredible.\u00a0 But that has nothing to do with how she comports herself as a person, which is quite the opposite.)<\/p>\n \u2013 Roberta Vinci!!!\u00a0 OMG! What a feat, to defeat the great Serena Williams! That was truly one of the most amazing wins I’ve ever seen, in any sport!<\/p>\n And contrary to how the commentators made believe they saw it, the crowd jumped up and went nuts when Vinci won!<\/p>\n And she gave the best post-match interview, ever, in the history of the sport! (That makes me extra-sad that ESPN denied us all her other pre- and post-match interviews during this tourney.)<\/p>\n \u2013 I swear, I think that the ESPN interviewer Tom Rinaldi secretly told Roberta Vinci that he’s happy for her!\u00a0 While waiting to begin the interview, he whispered to her, she smiled, and then he looked sheepish, like he hoped that he was off camera for that exchange.<\/p>\n \u2013 The only person who’s happier than I am that Serena won’t get her Calendar Grand Slam is Steffi Graf, the last person to accomplish that..in 1988! (And it was actually her first year winning any<\/em> of them!) And the announcers had wondered aloud all week if Steffi would show-up there to give Serena her trophy. Nice of them to award it to her, before she even played her semi-final!<\/p>\n \u2013 I lost some of the respect I had had for Mary Jo Fernandez because she was almost crying on camera when Serena lost.\u00a0 Then she said the win was a combo of her defeater, Roberta Vinci, and Serena beating herself.\u00a0 She stated, “Vinci played a big part in it, too.”\u00a0 Too??? You think???\u00a0 She added, “It was a combination of both.”\u00a0 No, you moron–it was all Vinci<\/em>!<\/p>\n \u2013 I love that they all<\/em> gave Vinci no chance whatsoever.\u00a0 They totally counted her out.<\/p>\n \u2013 The ESPN idiots are all acting like someone died!<\/p>\n \u2013 And they don’t stop making excuses for Serena losing.\u00a0 Guess what, you morons?\u00a0 Vinci had all the same conditions!!!<\/p>\n \u2013 When a great friend of mine, (who was among all the people who were downright gleeful that Serena lost,) and I were discussing why so many people really don’t like her, she said it’s because Serena is \u201ca person who is not easy to love.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Brad Gilbert showed why he’s the way he is with this revelation. On Sports Center<\/em>, when discussing the Vinci win, he lauded Tom Rinaldi, who did that wonderful interview with Roberta, for \u201cnot making the interview about him.\u201d\u00a0 I have news for you, Brad–no one ever does that to the players but you<\/em>!<\/p>\n \u2013 Marin Cilic is such a sweet, pleasant guy. Too bad he had to go out that way.<\/p>\n \u2013 Roger Federer was perhaps even more amazing than ever in his beat-down of his countryman, the #5 seed, Stan Wawrinka! I can’t believe he’s thirty-four-years-old!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>