{"id":29994,"date":"2017-08-28T06:45:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T06:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=29994"},"modified":"2017-08-28T06:45:31","modified_gmt":"2017-08-28T06:45:31","slug":"tennis-us-open-2017-begins-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/tennis-us-open-2017-begins-today\/","title":{"rendered":"TENNIS: US OPEN 2017 BEGINS TODAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

US OPEN 2017 BEGINS TODAY<\/h1>\n
\"Roger<\/a>

Roger Federer.<\/p><\/div>\n

As always, I\u2019m both excited and apprehensive about the U.S. Open, which begins today.\u00a0 Excited because it\u2019s such a fun, riveting event, of course.\u00a0 And apprehensive because I\u2019m always so concerned for Roger Federer, The Stranger I Love Most.\u00a0 I should probably relax a bit on his behalf, though, because, at the advanced age of almost thirty-six, (which he\u2019s since turned,) he\u2019s already won two of the three Majors that have been played so far this year!\u00a0 (I give his wife tons of credit\u2014I don\u2019t know how she keeps it together to not spook him out with her own nerves for him!\u00a0 He\u2019s lucky he\u2019s not married to\u00a0me<\/em>\u2014he wouldn\u2019t win even one<\/em> set if he had to deal with my<\/em> nuttiness!)<\/p>\n

As the final Major tournament of the year, this one has a lot of drama.\u00a0 That\u2019s usual for the US Open, but this<\/em> year has some extra intrigue.\u00a0 For starters,\u00a0several top players on the men\u2019s side are dropping like flies.\u00a0 And the tournament hasn\u2019t even started yet!!!\u00a0 Out with season-ending injuries are Top 10 player Kei Nishikori, Top 11 Milos Raonic, and worse than that, defending champion Stan Wawrinka.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The current top tennis rankings. Three of those Top 5 men didn’t make it to the US Open! Maybe that’s why they all look so miserable! Those pix look like mug shots, don’t they?<\/p><\/div>\n

And just two days ago, #2 seed, Andy Murray, dropped out with a hip injury. His withdrawal so close to the start of the tourney threw the entire men\u2019s draw into chaos. Had he withdrawn just two days before<\/em> that, Roger would have been the #2 seed, and could not have met Nadal before the Final. About a handful of other guys got moved up, but not Roger. The whole draw is screwy now, but that\u2019s just how it goes with these tennis tournaments. That one top guy\u2019s late opting-out will affect absolutely everything that goes on for the men, some adversely, some advantageously. That\u2019s so weird.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most puzzling of all is the absence of former World #1, Novak Djokovic, who went from his best year ever, culminating with his first French Open win in May 2016, to a stunning fall\u00a0from grace since then.\u00a0\u00a0When I saw him have to retire with a possible arm injury in the quarter-final at Wimbledon last month, I had a feeling his professional year would be done.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry for him that I was correct.<\/p>\n

\"Roger<\/a>

Roger Federer’s impressive image high above Times Square.<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s especially shocking when you compare Novak\u2019s fate to those of the two guys who have been his main competitors all these years, Rafael Nadal and my beloved Roger Federer. Both of those champions have come back from\u00a0being thought of as having their careers mainly behind them, to have amazing years so far.\u00a0 Truly<\/em> amazing.\u00a0 (Through mainly no credit of his own, but rather due to the failings of others, Rafa is, very shockingly, #1 again!\u00a0 Who ever saw that happening?!\u00a0 And Roger, who just turned thirty-six(!), has won two of the three Majors titles this year! That hasn\u2019t happened since 2009!)<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s side has it\u2019s own hoopla.\u00a0 Actually, it\u2019s even moreso than what the men are going through because these are all pretty personal.\u00a0 The saddest one is that\u00a0Victoria Azarenka won\u2019t be there competing.\u00a0 I\u2019m so upset for her.\u00a0 Here\u2019s\u00a0her<\/em> tale of woe: After so many years of one issue or another, she finally looked ready to win this one, especially without her arch tennis nemesis, Serena Williams, there this year. (In case you\u2019ve been living under a rock, Serena is having a baby any second.) For the past several years, Vika, who\u2019s won two Aussie Open titles, has been in and out of competition, after having even been World Number One for a bit. First she had several injuries,\u00a0then a mysterious break-up with much older boyfriend, Redfoo, (of singing duo LMFAO fame,)\u00a0and then, seemingly out of the blue, she had a baby!!! No one even knew about this boyfriend, Billy McKeague, the baby\u2019s father. He\u2019s, in my opinion, a no-count.<\/p>\n

\"Victoria<\/a>

Victoria Azarenka and baby Leo.<\/p><\/div>\n

So, they broke-up after Wimbledon, and even though I believe that Leo, the baby boy, was born in Vika\u2019s native Belarus, for some reason he\u2019s in California now. (I think that Billy is from there.) And, in the midst of a custody battle, (which I feel Billy is waging solely for financial gain,) a judge ruled that the baby can\u2019t leave Cali right now! What a horrible judge! And Vika won\u2019t leave the baby for a possible fortnight, (if she would make it to the Final,) so she had to withdraw from the tournament. What an absolute shame. And what a disgusting person her former boyfriend is! How can he live with himself to hurt her like this?! A tennis player has only so many good years. And doesn\u2019t he realize he could get more money from her if he let her compete in this big money tourney??? So he\u2019s also an idiot! This whole situation is such a shame for such a talented athlete.<\/p>\n

Then we have the other end of the spectrum with the return of Maria Sharapova. She\u2019s been out of the sport for almost a year and a half due to a doping suspension. (She actually returned briefly in April, but was quickly beset by injuries. And this is her first Grand Slam<\/em> appearance since she was suspended.) At the Australian Open in January 2016, Maria had tested positive for meldonium, a drug that was newly-banned back then, so her defense was that she didn\u2019t realize it had been banned. But no one seems to like her, so they still suspended her, with a reduction in sentence when she appealed.<\/p>\n

\"Maria<\/a>

Maria Sharapova.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why she wants to put herself through this, I have no idea. She\u2019s already thirty-years-old, and is one of the most successful athletes, both in wins and financially, in history! She has endorsements up the yin yang, and even has her own line of candy<\/em>, of all commodities! But she says she\u2019s missed tennis and that her passion for the game has grown stronger, so I give her props for subjecting herself to all the ridicule and mean comments she\u2019s going to have to endure as long as she continues to play.<\/p>\n

Which might not be much longer this year because in the very first round of the US Open, she\u2019s going to face Simona Halep, the #2 seed! Maria is ranked 147th in the world right now, so she had to get a wild card from the organizers to play this tourney, which means you get the opponent you get. And this will be a very hard match-up. For both<\/em> of them! I\u2019m sure Simona would have rather faced a qualifier, and not a former Champion. But at least she knows that the crowd will be routing for her, because everyone hates a cheater, and that\u2019s what tennis fans consider Maria to be.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s see how it all plays out. I cannot wait! All I really care about is that Roger Federer wins, and that, no matter what, Rafael loses. That\u2019s because I never want Rafa to get closer to Roger\u2019s Majors titles record, especially when he\u2019s five years younger.<\/p>\n

So I say, as always, Go, Roger!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

[Note: I will try my best to tweet my thoughts along the way, so if you don\u2019t already follow me, please do so now. @MajorCelebrity. I already know that I won\u2019t be able to do much the first two days, but I\u2019ll weigh-in as much as I can.]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US OPEN 2017 BEGINS TODAY As always, I\u2019m both excited and apprehensive about the U.S. Open, which begins today.\u00a0 Excited because it\u2019s such a fun, riveting event, of course.\u00a0 And apprehensive because I\u2019m always so concerned for Roger Federer, The Stranger I Love Most.\u00a0 I should probably relax a bit on his behalf, though, because,<\/p>\n

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