Late-Night/Early-Morning Australian Open Running Diary

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It is 3 37 am in Torontoas I’m writing this. Why am I up you ask? It might be because I wanted to watchRoger Federer take On Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semifinal whilesharing my thoughts or it might be because university has given me a slight caseof insomnia. I also have Thursdays off so I can afford to sleep in tomorrow. Whatever it may be I am awake and excited for this match between the world’s #2 and 3 playersto begin. I have no real rooting interest in this match as I dislike bothplayers. If I had to pick though, I’d have to pick Nadal as I really dislikeFederer for reasons that aren’t really clear to me. The winner of this matchwill take on the winner of the other semi-final (Djokovic vs Murray) in thefinal so in all honesty I want this to go as long as possible so the winnerwill be tired when they have to (hopefully) face Nole.

• 3:42
• This was supposed to start 12 minutes ago, I am already annoyed and feeling slightly tired. My writing might end after the first set if this pace keeps up.
• 3:44
• First rally of the match ends in a Federer forehand winner. That woke me up a little. Also, Rafa picks his shorts out of his ass for the first out of what is sure to be many, many times tonight.
• 3:45
• Federer holds at love and is already up 1-0. That took about 30 seconds. Btw, are we sure Roger isn’t some sort of robot. The guy hasn’t aged at all in 10 years.
• 3:49
• Fantastic rally as Nadal somehow returns two overhead smashes by Federer. 30-30. How Federer gets power on his shots always confused me, he doesn’t seem built at all and seems to exert so little of himself when hitting the ball. Another point of proof for the robot theory.
• 3:52
• Federer with an unreal back hand as he breaks Nadal. 2-0 Roger. Not looking too good for Rafa at the moment. Nadal looks annoyed but that might have to do with the fact that he apparently has a perma-wedgie.
• 3:55
• Serve and volley, a fantastic drop shot, and two unforced errors by Nadal give Federer the 3-0 lead. Roger really looks on top of his game tonight while Rafa seems a step slow.
• 3:56
• Confused as to what the ball boys/girls are wearing on their heads. Some sort of turquoise hat with a curtain extending from the back to cover their necks. Is there a practical reason for this or did the event organizer just think they looked cool?
• 4:01
• Nadal holds for his first game of the match. 3-1 Federer. Also, I am now aware it is 4 am. Increased my tiredness by at least 25%.
• 4:03
• Federer looking like the Federer of a couple of years ago when he couldn’t lose. Standing in the middle of the court and making Nadal run back and forth. Easily holds and is now up 4-1.
• 4:10
• One thing that I never understood about tennis is how a young up and coming player hasn’t gone the Kevin Garnett route of yelling and shit-talking while he plays. I see no downside to this other than that your opponents would call you unsportsmanlike but seeing as you’re trying to beat them, who cares if they don’t like you? The Upside is as follows: you would immediately get media and fan attention at each one of your games. You would even be known among casual sports fans as “the shit-talking tennis player” and finally you would end up getting in your opponent's head while you play him/her. Tennis players get all frustrated and annoyed when someone yells out during a point. How would they react to a player telling them their mom receives balls better than they do? I’m guessing not well.
• So to all the young tennis players, do this. No downside, just pure potential for fame and success. All I ask is that when you win your first grand slam I get credited. Also, Nadal held serve. 4-2.
• 4:12
• Nadal breaks! 4-3. Great shot-making by Rafa in that game closing with a powerful crosscourt forehand. Nadal reacts by doing the Kobe Bryant/Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods fist pump.
• 4:15
• Federer with 3 awful mishits in this game as Nadal easily holds. 4-4 now as the momentum has completely switched. We also get our first shot at Rafa’s box which consists of 8 angry-looking Spanish guys.
• 4:16
• I love when the crowd competes for who will be the last one to yell before the players serve. You know that the guy who eventually ends up winning starts looking at the people around him with an overly-satisfied smile on his face.
• 4:18
• So much for the momentum shifting. Roger holds at love and is now up 5-4. We also get a shot of Roger’s wife. Looks like she must have a great personality.
• 4:25
• Nadal and Federer exchange holds. 6-5 Roger.
• 4:40
• My laptop just turned off because it’s an HP which means it sucks.
• In the meantime Nadal forced it to a tiebreak. In the tiebreak Federer was the aggressor and it paid off with him winning 7-5. Roger takes the first set 7-6
• Funny moment during the tiebreak when a girl yelled out “I love you Rafa!!!”, Rafa’s response – ‘pick shorts out of ass’.
• 4:42
• Just saw the creepy and disturbing ‘make death wait’ commercial. I am now aware I am watching the game alone in my dark basement
• 4:44
• The second set starts with Fed pushing Nadal up and down the court with his strokes to lead 0-40. Three break points for Federer.
• 4:45
• Federer breaks at love. Leads 1-0. How am I doing? I just cracked open a Coke can in the hope that it’ll keep me a bit more awake.
• 4:48
• Nadal just broke back at love as well. I’m beginning to think there’s no such thing as momentum in tennis.
• 4:53
• I am already beginning to regret the Coke as my stomach is not feeling it. Oh and Nadal manages to hold his serve and now leads 2-1.
• 4:56
• Federer holds at love and ties the match up at 2.
• 5:03
• Nadal saves a break point and takes the game to lead 3-2. Most impressive thing so far other than the great tennis on display is that I am still awake.
• 5:05
• Most exciting rally of the match thus far. First Nadal returns an incredible wide serve from Federer, then scrambles back to return a Roger forehand before lobbing it up and finally sprinting the length of the court to return a Federer backhand slam with a thunderous crosscourt forehand. Nadal with three break points.
• 5:07
• Federer saves two break points but on the third Rafa hits a crazy backhand passing shot up the line with Roger running up to the net. Nadal up 4-2. Federer has to be pissed off right now as he played great in that game and still got broken. Although I can’t tell because I think the last time Roger showed emotion was sometime in 2003.
• 5:11
• Nadal just held and made it 5-2. The rallies are becoming much more physical now with both players hitting the balls with a little more force (just realized how gay tennis sounds when simply reading the match description).
• 5:12
• Just saw the commercial for the movie, Safe House. What I learned from that was that Denzel Washington is a boss (This I already sort of knew) and that each movie commercial should have a Watch The Throne song playing in the background
• 5:15
• We come back to the game to learn that there will be a 10 minute break for fireworks because today is Australia Day. I am somehow not joking about this.
• 5:21
• The fireworks are over and the match is about to begin again. Federer set to serve down 5-2 in the second set.
• 5:23
• Nadal breaks Federer at love to win the game and the set 6-2. It seemed like Roger gave that game away in order to move on to the third set. Pretty smart move in conserving his energy now since he probably wasn’t going to win this set anyways.
• Remember how Nadal wore capris pants when he first burst out on the scene a few years back? Did we ever get an explanation from Rafa as to why he did this? Did he lose a bet to a friend or something?
• 5:29
• Nadal just easily won the first game of the set to lead 1-0. Roger looks extremely out of it for whatever reason. I don’t remember the last time he’s won a point. Nadal has to capitalize here as all the momentum is on his side. Of course every time I’ve said that so far the opposite has happened.
• 5:33
• Nadal begins the game with 3 straight points to lead 0-40 and then Roger who looks completely out of it hits 3 straight fantastic shots to even it up at deuce. This game has made no sense so far.
• 5:36
• Federer wins the game after 3 deuces. 1-1 in the third set. It’ll be interesting to see how Rafa responds to not capitalizing on three break points in that game.
• During this game Federer hit a shot that clipped the tape on top of the net and trickled over to give him a point. After this he did the customary tennis gesture and apologized for the shot by raising his hand to Nadal. This is so strange to me. It’d be like if an NBA player apologized to the other team after hitting a halfcourt shot.
• 5:39
• Extremely good composure from Nadal as he holds Roger at love to win the game. 2-1 for Rafa.
• Another thing I always wondered is how tennis players play while having a tennis ball in their pocket. Trying to run with anything in your pocket is pretty annoying and yet most if not all tennis players do this.
• 5:40
• Why does Harvey’s think a good way of selling burgers is to have a close-up shot of people’s faces talking about the burgers?
• 5:45
• They exchange games as Rafa now leads 3-2 in the third set. Roger set to serve. I am now realizing that it is no longer really late but really early. When does this shift happen? 5 am?
• 5:46
• Old people everywhere are beginning to wake up.
• 5:50
• Rafa wins an incredible rally to tighten up the game and then gives it away with a terrible mis-hit that lands about 8 feet behind the service line. Roger holds. 3-3.
• 5:59
• 4-3 Federer. Rafa saves 3 break points but cannot hold off Roger on the fourth as Federer gets a key game in this third set. Nadal has shown great mental composure thus far but it will be interesting to see how he reacts to losing the longest game of the match on his serve.
• Also due to my growing tiredness I now look like Harry from ‘3rd Rock From The Sun’ (If you don’t recognize that picture then I feel bad for your childhood)
• 6:03
• Nadal breaks back. 4-4. These two guys are extremely evenly matched. Every time one of them looks to have the upper hand the other immediately raises his game to get back in the match. Great stuff.
• 6:07
• 5-4 for Rafa as he holds fairly easily putting pressure on Roger to serve well in order to keep the third set going. They just showed Rafa’s box again. They look as angry and Spanish as before.
• Anyone else notice how female tennis players only look either very young and vibrant or like middle aged moms? There is no in between. I’m not sure if this offensive or not because at this point I’m as sleep deprived as the kids who try and stay awake in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies.
• 6:11
• The game ends with both players at the net resulting in a clever Federer volley. 5-5 in the third set.
• 6:22
• Nadal holds easily to make it 6-5 and then Federer manages to stave off one set point from Rafa to make it 6-6. We’re going to a tiebreak in the third set. This should be great.
• 6:23
• Federer misses an easy volley followed by an easy Nadal volley winner. Nadal with the mini-break in the tie-break. Up 2-0.
• 6:31
• Nadal goes up 6-1 in the tiebreak only to have Federer save 4 straight set points before finally forcing Roger to send a backhand into the net giving Rafa the third set with a tiebreak of 7-5.
• That set felt as if Rafa was laying back and waiting for Roger to self-destruct and make errors. An interesting strategy that ended up working out in the end.
• 6:36
• Roger easily wins the first game of the fourth set. So much for a letdown. These two guys are not going to let me sleep and now I’d feel like I especially wasted my time if I don’t watch till the end.
• 6:43
• Nadal easily holds then fails to capitalize on a break point as Roger wins the third game to lead 2-1. The relentless back and forth just keeps on going as does this running diary. I am beginning to doze off during some of the points so the descriptions may become less and less detailed/frequent.
• They just showed a commercial for the Pro Bowl. Other than every CFL and WNBA game, is there anything less worth watching?
• 6:53
• More of the same. Nadal easily holds on his serve to tie the game up, then has another chance (2 break points) to break Federer and take control of the match and yet fails to do so as Roger comes back to take the game. 3-2 Federer. Nadal is playing a dangerous game letting Roger stay in this match. Has to take advantage of break points in the future.
• 7:00
• I am currently regretting staying up. Not because the tennis is lacking in any way but because I’m feeling that if this goes to a fifth set (and it certainly could) then I won’t be awake for it. Both guys just traded games to make the score 4-3 in favor of Roger Federer. Nadal set to serve.
• I’m doing everything I can to stay awake like listening to music like this song by Joe Budden. Anytime you can mention Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Joe Budden in the same sentence it has to be done.
• 7:15
• Key stretch here as Federer has a break point but fails to convert as Rafa holds on to tie the match up at 4. Federer then saves 2 break points from Rafa but can’t do anything with the third as he sends a backhand wide. Nadal breaks to take the 5-4 lead. He will serve for a spot in the finals now.
• 7:20
• First match point for Rafael Nadal.
• Nadal hits a passing backhand shot just wide. Federer saves one match point. Deuce.
• Federer just will not lie down. Nadal hits a backhand long. Advantage Federer.
• Wow, Nadal somehow keeps a falling down, pray for the best lob in as it nicks the service line before Federer mis-hits a return long. Deuce.
• Federer with a very good return forcing Nadal into an error. Advantage Federer.
• Roger unable to return a powerful Rafa serve. Deuce #3.
• Nadal with his second match point of the game as Roger completely misses on a backhand sending it wide right.
• 7:26
• Federer sends a forehand long as Nadal lets out a cry of joy.
• 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
• Great game between two of tennis’ all-time greats.

As the sun rises I am off to bed to sleep until sometime inthe afternoon. I had a great time watching and an even better time writing downmy thoughts on the match. Hope you enjoy reading them.

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