What's your Dream Vacation?

I have several vacation ideas that I think would be really fun.

Visit The Great Barrier Reef of Australia. I've always thought this would be a lot of fun ever since I was a kid. I am fascinated by the coral and all the sealife. I love it. I even thought about becoming a Marine Biologist when I grew up. It is so gorgeous. I would go scuba diving and take a helicopter ride over the Reef. And of course who wouldn't want to hang out in Australia for a while.

Driving Historical Route-66 from beginning to end. I think this would be such a fun way to see the USA. From Chicago to Los Angeles. Across eight states. I want to drive the route in a nice classic car and with some friends. We'd listen to awesome 50s music and stop everywhere and talk to everyone.

Driving the Pacific Coast Highway, and related coastal roads, from beginning to end. I would absolutely love to do this as a honeymoon. We could stop at Bed and Breakfasts along the way. I would love to drive a nice convertible down the West coast. Maybe a Porsche Cayman. We'd take our time and stop and take lots of photos. I think it'd be absolutely fantastic!

Visit London, England for a long period of time. I have been to London twice and I absolutely LOVED it. I would live there if I could. I love the atmosphere, the people, the weather. I love everything about it. There are so many things and places I haven't seen around London. I would visit them all. I need to spend a month there. Seriously. I would see a ton of musicals and plays, visit museums and look at art, see the Globe Theatre, ride the Eye, I'd check out Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. I'd take lots of photos. Watch Doctor Who on tv. Drive tiny little cars on the left side of the road. Watch tennis. It'd be SO much fun. I need to go back sometime soon.

Yes. I took this photo.

Visit New York City, NY for a long period of time. Knowing how much I love London, it's a wonder to me how I have not been to NYC. I feel like the two cities are very similar. I love musicals and plays. I've wanted to go to NYC for a while actually. It's someplace I've never been to but always wanted to see. I'd, of course, see some musicals. I'd hang out in Central Park. Go to Times Square. I'd like to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I'd go visit Ground Zero and the new World Trade Center. I would have a grand old time.

Go to every tennis Major. I think my newest dream would be this one. But I still have had this idea for a few years. I'd like to go to the Australian Open (Brisbane), French Open (Paris), Wimbledon (London), and the US Open (NYC). Spending a fortnight at each location just to watch tennis! I have loved tennis for many years now and I think it would amazing to go watch tennis live. And if I got a chance to meet some of my tennis loves then I totally would.

It's Friday!

Let's celebrate with some random things I like.

Josh Groban.

Josh Groban and his AWESOME leather jacket.

Porsche. These are Cayman S.

Lime Green.

"Dance Me To The End Of Love" painted by Jack Vettriano

Dark Chocolate.

Roger Federer and tennis.

Doctor Who

NCIS

Calla Lilies.

"Black" tulips. I love them so much. ... But I just like any tulip.

Books.

And currently right now I am in love with this guy in this role...

Benedict Cumberbatch as the Baddie/Awesome Guy in Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Seriously... If you have not seen the new Star Trek. GO! Now! The whole movie is fantastic!

Australian Open 2013 Final

Novak Djokovic vs Andy Murray. Australian Open 2013 final.

The outcome of this match will make history. Novak going for three Australian Opens in a row. He won 2011 and 2012. Winning three has never done in this modern Open era. The last time it was done was in the 30s. And Andy, if he wins it'll be the first time someone has won the next major after winning their first major. He won the 2012 US Open. This Aussie Open is the next major.

These two players are so evenly matched. The first two sets ended with tiebreaks.

* * * * *

Novak won.

Novak Djokovic has won his third consecutive Australian Open title and fourth overall, defeating Andy Murray 6-7(2) 7-6(3) 6-3 6-2 in three hours and 40 minutes.

Novak with his fourth Australian Open trophy.

AO Semi - Roger Federer vs Andy Murray

Roger Federer vs Andy Murray. Australian Open 2013 semifinal.

So this match lasted exactly four hours. It definitely made up for the disappointing short match that Novak had.

It was intense and a nail biter match for me. Roger and Andy went to five sets. These two have never played five sets against each other. So that was a first.

And Roger lost.

Score for the match. {Click to enlarge}

Andy was playing so awesome! He was just better then Roger today. I was shocked. I really wanted Roger to win because I love Roger and always want him to win. There were several times during the match when I found myself holding my breath. Also I talked to the computer a lot. And I might have yelled at it a few times. (I watch on my laptop from the comfort of my warm bed. lol.)

Overall stats for the match. {Click to enlarge}

I read two great articles about the match earlier this morning. One was about Andy (Murray makes it happen) and the other about Roger (No regrets for Federer).

Andy celebrates a point during the semifinal.

Roger gives a fist-pump celebration of a well made point.

So wrap-up. Andy Murray defeated Roger Federer 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 6-7(2) 6-2 in exactly four hours. And I cried.

* * * * *

It has taken me until today (Saturday) to write this post because I've had to deny the outcome while it sunk in. I really hate when Roger loses matches. It breaks my heart.

AO Semi - Novak Djokovic vs David Ferrer

Novak Djokovic vs David Ferrer. Australian Open 2013 semifinal.

Novak ran away with the first set in 29 minutes at 6-2. And also the second set in 34 minutes at 6-2. Novak was completely out-playing David. Just to clarify David is still playing great tennis and they had some great rallies. But he misses his shots a lot more then Novak does. Novak is just so much better. Novak took the third set at 6-1 in 26 minutes. So in an hour and half Novak wins the semifinal and moves on to defend his 2012 Australian Open title.

To be honest this match was quite boring and a little bit disappointing to watch because it was so one sided. Novak was playing better then David.

Novak goes to hit a ball during his semifinal match.

AO Quarterfinals

Last night I watched Roger Federer's quarterfinal vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It was kind of odd waking up when I heard my brother going to bed. lol. 1:30am was a little too early for my eyes to wake up to. I only got to sleep for about five or six hours before waking up to watch tennis. But I was able to go to sleep for a couple of hours after the match as well. This is the week that my sleep is all wonky though so I expect it I guess.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roger Federer before their quarterfinal match.

So the match ... Tsonga was able to get two sets on Federer. Federer won the first set at 7-6(4) in 50 minutes. Tsonga then got the second set at 6-4 in 32 minutes. The third set went to Federer at 7-6(4) in 53 minutes. Fourth set was the second set Tsonga won at 6-3 in 40 minutes. And finally Federer won the fifth set at 6-3 in 39 minutes. So over all Federer defeated Tsonga 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 in a total of three hours and 34 minutes. So it was Roger's first five set match this tournament as well as the first two times he has dropped a set. In Tsonga's defense he, Tsonga, was playing really good tennis. Roger had a few wonky shots. And a lot of unforced errors during this match. Also he only made 6 aces during the whole five set match. That is very odd of him. Hopefully he recovers and comes to the semifinal a lot more like his old playing self.

Overall Stats for Federer-Tsonga match. {Click to Enlarge.}

I thought there were a few times where Roger was not really himself. Tsonga was taking the initiative on some of these points. It was a very good match. I really enjoyed watching the whole thing.

* * * * *

The rest of the men's quarterfinals were quite good too.

The first quarterfinal we had was Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych. I watched this match as a rebroadcast. I really liked enjoyed it. Both players were playing well. Novak won 6-1 4-6 6-1 4-6 in 151 minutes.

The second quarterfinal was David Ferrer vs. Nicolas Almagro. I watched part of this match as well. It was very good. Almagro almost had Ferrer a couple of times but he couldn't capitalize on any points. David Ferrer won. 4-6 4-6 7-5 7-6(4) 6-2 in 224 minutes.

The third quarterfinal was between Andy Murray and Jeremy Chardy. Andy just ran away with this match. Andy winning in 111 minutes at 6-4 6-1 6-2. I did not watch this match but I saw highlights and Andy is playing great tennis. I think finally winning a major has really helped his confidence. Jeremey is an unseeded player that surprising got past some great players. But he couldn't beat Andy.

The last quarterfinal was Roger's.

Fourth Round AO Tennis

Last night (or very early this morning) was the first time this year that I woke up at 2am to watch a tennis match. I woke up to watch Roger Federer's fourth round match. I had to cheer him on. Plus I like watch tennis. I always forget how much I miss until I'm actually watching a match.

Roger in his fourth round match.

So Roger's match... He played against Milos Raonic. Roger won easily. He made some awesome shots which almost felt like he was toying with the young 22-year-old. But I think he was just playing really good tennis and putting the shots away so that he could get the match over with quickly. He has the title in his sights. So as mentioned in an earlier post Roger has indeed moved on in straight sets yet again. He makes it to his 35 straight quarter-final in a Major. He is playing so good this year that he has not dropped a set so far in the tournament. That is so cool.

So fourth round for Roger. One hour and 53 minutes. Roger Federer defeats Milos Raonic. 6-4 7-6(4) 6-2.

Roger moves on to the quater-finals to play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

No Warm-Up

I knew that Roger Federer didn't play in any of the run-up tournaments to the Australian Open but I was reminded of that when one of the commentators mentioned it. Roger's first round matches were his warm-up tournament. lol. But the cool thing is Roger has yet to drop a set in this Australian Open. He is playing gorgeous tennis.

In this current fourth round match Roger has two sets. They are in the third set right now.

If Roger wins it'll be his 35th straight quarter-final. 35! That's almost nine years of straight quarter-finals. That is unprecedented. This is one reason why Roger is awesome. He makes history with out meaning to. He's just playing a sport that he loves.

Tennis Update

Roger Federer's third round match was against Bernard Tomic. Roger defeated him in one hour and 58 minutes at 6-4 7-6(5) 6-1.

Roger Federer and Bernard Tomic at the end of their match.

Novak Djokovic has done well. His third round match was played against Radek Stepanek. Novak defeating Radek in two hours and 22 minutes in straight sets of 6-4 6-3 7-5.

Novak Djokovic playing his third round match.

Roger's Second Round

Roger Federer's second round match was won with ease. He defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 6-4 6-4 in 119 minutes. I love his daytime outfit. Roger has accents of hot pink. Which is awesome.

Roger playing his second round match.

Roger's day match shoes are awesome. I like them.

Tennis Time

Last night I was to tired to stay up and watch Roger Federer's second round match. So I am waiting for 2pm when ESPN does their tennis coverage. They should (*crosses fingers*) re-show the match. Until then I am avoiding the AO website, Twitter, and Facebook. All of which will give my spoilers to the match outcome. lol. It's a good morning to read my book and not be on the laptop at all. lol.

It's tough when the tournaments are half way around the world. The time difference is killer for me. The night matches for the Australian Open start at 1am my time. And when the players are good the matches last for hours. And 1am is only if the game starts at 7pm Aussie-time. If my players are in the second night match I have to wait even longer. lol. It's silly but I still get up to watch the finals and semifinals anyway.

The other tournaments are not too bad of a time difference. If the night matches start at 7pm... London's night matches start at 12pm my time. Paris' night matches start at 11am my time. New York's night matches start at 5pm my time.

Australian Open 2013

The 2013 Australian Open started this week. The draw this year for men's singles tennis is really good. Here is the PDF version.

As always I am cheering for Roger Federer to win. I love that guy. He plays with grace and ease. It breaks my heart when he loses and has to leave tournaments. Seriously, I cry when he loses. Roger has gotten through his first round with no problems defeating Benoit Paire 6-2 6-4 6-1 in just one hour and 23 minutes.

Roger playing his first round match.

I will follow Novak Djokovic's progress throughout the tournament. He is another player I like. He, too, went through the first round fine. He defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2 6-4 7-5 in one hour and 42 minutes. Novak has already played his second round. He plowed over my USA's Ryan Harrison to get to the second round. (That kid will go places in his career though. I like watching Ryan play. He is young and just starting out his tennis career. He has a long way to go before he can beat the top four players though.) Novak defeated Ryan 6-1 6-2 6-3 win in 91 minutes.

Novak playing his second round match.

Rafael Nadal is not in the Australian Open this year. He has been having problems with his knee so he hasn't been playing tennis for the past few tournaments while he recovers. It's sad because I like watching him play tennis. I miss seeing him play.

Vacation Debriefing

Well we really didn't have a good connection up at Flaming Gorge so I didn't watch the US Open. I did check the scores on Thursday and I found out that Roger Federer didn't make into the semifinals. He always loses when I want to watch but can't. It's not cool. lol. And because of rain in NYC the finals are delayed to Monday. Too bad I'll be working. Maybe it will be sort of a slow day and I can watch it. Ooh! We have ESPN at work. I can watch it on tv. lol.

Flaming Gorge was really fun. We toured part of the lake, went on hikes, played games, had campfires. Today we headed home but made a detour to Dinosaur National Monument. We haven't been there for ten or fifteen years. It was cool.

Family Week

My family and I are on our way to spend the week at Flaming Gorge. It'll be fun but I'm sad that I'll be missing the second (and always best) week of the US Open. Hopefully we have a good internet signal because if we do Dad said I could watch tennis. I'm mostly just worried about the weekend when the semifinals and finals are being played. I finished all but one book that I borrowed from Colton. Well, two books but Green Rider I'll borrow from the library because it's part of a trilogy and I have read them before. And I think there is another series I want to read first. The book I brought this week is a 1050-page science fiction novel. It'll be nice to get out of the "real world" books that I have been reading and read a really long and completely different book. The book is by L. Ron Hubbard and it is called Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000. From the reviews in the book and the introduction that I read this morning apparently this book is Star Wars meets Indiana Jones or something like that. lol. I think it'll be interesting to read.

Tennis Fabric

So here's my idea for the tennis fabric which will be the backing and side panels of my tennis court quilt. I think some of the rackets need to be rotated more and I'm not sure about some of the colors of the rackets. But this is the idea. And I want it to be some sort of repeated pattern on the fabric itself. I want the fabric to look like it's not repeating and more of an all-over pattern. I might have to play around with the placement before I actually have Spoonflower print the fabric.

Here is the idea with the rackets in black.

Here is more of what I want with the rackets in color.

Times and Tangents

Sorry. It's been a while since I wrote here. I haven't busy per se but I haven't made time to update the blog. Well, I'm doing it now. lol.

Let's see ... Have I told you about Colton? He is my boyfriend. I like him. We have been hanging out a lot and it always fun. A while ago we started watching 'How I Met Your Mother' from the beginning. We are currently over halfway through the second season. I remember watching some of the episodes but they are all great. We also started playing LEGO Batman on his computer which is a lot of fun. The first day was hilarious because we found that you could punt the rats that are in the town. It's awesome. I think we just got through with the good guys side of the story. We found out you can play through as the bad guys and we are going to be next. And then we'll probably go back and get all the mini-kits and stuff. We have just played in story mode. I have been the second player as Robin. One night we somehow got switched and we confused because I was Batman and Colton was Robin. But we sorted it out. lol.

Speaking of LEGO games I have been continuing my quest to get a 100% in LEGO Star Wars. I bought all the characters yesterday. For some reason I haven't bought the last fifteen or so but I had the money so I did. I also bought all the gold bricks. It helps that I have times 12 coin bonus. lol. I am able to get a lot of coins really fast. I think I got all the Jedi bonuses for all six episodes and now I'm working on finding all the mini-kits.

The French Open ended today/yesterday. The men's final was started yesterday but got rain-delayed to today. It was actually kind of funny for me. So the final started at 7am (UT-time) so I got up and got ready for church at around 6:30am so that I wouldn't have to miss anything. And then I watched tennis for the next three and a half hours. They did  have a 30 minute rain delay which I think help Novak Djokovic get his head in the match and out of life and his possibility of making history. He played like we know he can after the delay. At the time of the delay Rafa Nadal had won the first two sets. And after the delay, like I said, Novak really stepped up and was able to win the third set. At about 10:30am they were just closing the third set and I was sad because I had to go to church. I wanted to watch the whole match. I left. I went to church. After church I made Colton check the score to see who won. I wasn't really expecting the match the have play suspended due to rain. I was SO happy. Colton's family probably thought I was crazy. I was laughing because I was able to watch the rest of the match. And the funny thing is they suspended play only a few minutes after I left. So I was really only missing a few points. Anyways, this morning I got up around 5am so that I could watch the rest of the match. Rafa was killing the ball this morning. I'm sure he didn't want it to go to a fifth set. Final score: Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic. 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. He won his seventh French Open title becoming the winningest French Open holder in history. lol. On twitter Rafa had the hash-tag of #HIS7ORY. I thought that was pretty cool to have the number seven as the T. I was somewhat sad that Novak didn't get his first French Open title and hold all four majors at one time. But his still number one on the rankings. lol. Actually according to the ranking Rafa didn't change at all. But Novak went up more. Which doesn't seem right to me. I'm pretty sure that no one changes in position but the numbers should be different. Oh well. lol. Some interesting things that happened during the match ahd to do with the crowd and Novak. First the crowd was really subdued the first two sets but then they came alive and were supporting both players in the third set. I agree with one of the commentators when he said that the French Open spectators like drama and they haven't really seen that in the past few years because Rafa wins so easily on clay. And the other drama happened with Novak before the rain delay. He got very mad (with himself, I think) and he hit the side of the bench with his racket and broke a hole in the bench. I was disappointed in his conduct and I really think he should have gotten a fine for his outburst. But I'm not sure that he did. If I was his coach that's one of the things I would have told Novak during the 30 minute rain delay. "Calm down and get you're out of your nerves. Play tennis. Play one point at a time. You need to control your emotions or else this match might as well be over now." I feel like that is why Novak has become the number one player in the world. He is play great tennis but he also knows that his emotions can get the better of him and it affects how he plays. Rafa on the other hand never really shows emotion. I feel like that has helped him. He doesn't get angry and he doesn't let it affect his game much that we can see. I do feel like when his parent's were going through their divorce back in 2009 he was playing a little off but I also feel like that would affect anyone who has a tight family. I am glad that Rafa's parent's are friendly enough with each other to come and support Rafa at his matches. Yeah, emotions and tennis don't go hand in hand. If you want to win you have to focus on your opponent on the other side of the net not in your head.

The French Open has made me excited to create my tennis court blankets. Have I told you that idea? Several (several) months ago I got this idea to create a blanket of the tennis court for each tennis major. So a teal blue on for the Australian Open, a orange one for the French Open, a grass green one for Wimbledon, and a navy blue one for the US Open. So this last week a scaled down the dimensions of a tennis court to 1/9 scale. The length is good but since tennis courts are longer then they are wide it doesn't translate to a good sized blanket with just the court. So I have to add a panel to the side so the width is good. I think I might put the name of each major up the side of the blanket to add width to them. With that in mind I was attempting to design some bubble lettering that would translate well to fabric. But I gave up because my letters just looked crazy and didn't work at all. I did find on Etsy some awesome lettering that gets paper-pieced. And the pattern is under $10. So I'm thinking I'll just use that for the words. I was kind of hoping they have a numbers pattern too because then I'd have matching letters and numbers. I like the letters because they are somewhat wonky but they all work with each other. The seller does suggest you put a strip of fabric in-between the letters when making words so that the letters don't run into each other. And I do agree that it looks better. So I plan on doing that with the names. I have to figure out what fabric I am going to use for the panels and the backing still. I think I want something plain for the panels so that the letters standout somewhat. Ooh! I just an idea! What if I do the panel thing on the front but the names are across the back of the blanket. It would give some interest to the back then it's sort of a two-sided blanket that way. I'll sketch out each and show you what mean later.

You can see the first set of drawings have the court offset with the words on the front and the backing is very plain. And with the second set of drawings the words are on the backing with just the court on the front. The words would be able to be a bit bigger if they were on the back. I think I want all the words to be about the same size on all the blankets. But I haven't decided. Since "Australian Open" is so much longer than "US Open" I think I have to sketch out all four words in the blanket length to see what works best. The more I think about that solid color for the letter backing the more I like the idea to do the contrast color like the majors have in real life. I know that the French Open contrasts the clay orange with a teal green. Let me think AO and USO might now contrast much. I can't think of what Wimbledon does. Okay so maybe that idea doesn't work with "real life" much. Maybe I'll just do the same white as the lines for the lettering background. And while were on the subject of undetermined things with this blanket I haven't found the right backing fabric yet. I want something fun and tennis-like. I think something with tennis balls and/or rackets would be fun. But tennis fabric is hard to find and the ones I can find I don't like. So I might have to design my own fabric and print it with Spoonflower. I really like one of the French Open towel designs this year.

So I think I might use that idea of the different color so and the large rackets. But I did want to through in some tennis balls in the mix. I also don't want them all lined up like the towel. I want the design to be more turned and random looking. I like those fabrics more when it come to large scale usage. I also think it would look better when/if I need to cut part of it off. lol. I still can't decide what colors to make the rackets though. I want a match to the four colors I am using for the courts. But I also want some other colors as well. I'll have to do a few designs and figure out how many colors to do. I think seven or eight would be good. Which means I need to find three or four colors to go with the court colors. And I'll save yellow for the tennis ball color. So I could do the four court colors Teal (AO), Orange (FO), Green (W), Navy (USO) and also Red, Black, Pink. What other colors would work? Remember the tennis balls on the fabric are going to yellow so that can't be a racket. Maybe I'll do a quick mock up in just black to figure out more what the backing fabric will look like.

So enough about tennis quilts. lol. What else have I been doing? Oh I went on a vacation with my family a couple of weeks ago. We painted our rental house in Colorado. It was fun. lol. We painted the house fast so the last few days of our vacation were more fun. On Sunday while we were there my niece, Laura, was blessed. That was fun. They decided to do it that Sunday because both sets of baby Laura's grandparents were there and we thought it's a good a time as any. lol. Monday night we spent the night camping at Vedauwoo. It was fun but it was also windy at night. It was really hard to cook hot dogs or s'mores because the fire kept getting blown around by the wind. I couldn't find any good coal sport to roast my marshmallow but I still tried. It wasn't as nice and evenly cooked but it was still yummy. Eric and I went and hiked around the rocks Monday afternoon. At one point Dad showed up on top of the rock we were just on. It was odd. lol. When Dad showed up Eric and I were actually heading back to the motor home. We were working out way down the hill. We went and saw the beaver dam ponds after we got down. They are really neat. Eric has some photos of that. Maybe I'll snag one and show you. I didn't take any photos because I found that my camera was almost dead on battery. (I really should invest in a second battery for both my cameras someday.)

Next week I'm going back to Colorado for a wedding. My best friend from high school is getting married to her high school sweetheart. I remember when she met Tyler. She talked about him a lot. He was in college at that point and older then her. I think she liked that fact. lol. Anyways I guess she really likes Tyler because they have been together since then so it's been four or five years now. And they are getting married. I'm so happy for them. Anyways, that trip is going to be fun. Eric is coming with me. And we might be bringing a few of Eric's friends with us too. Eric wants to meet some of the Parkour people down there in CO so that's mostly why he is going. We'll be gone for a total of six days. (Two of those days are for driving there and back.)

I haven't really been reading much the past couple of weeks. I did read to really quick books because I was bored. Today I started reading Eragon. I want to read the conclusion to the series but first I'm reading the previous three books again. Reading Eragon again made me think about how horrible the movie was. lol. I hope someday that gets remade because it could be so awesome.

AO semifinal and final

I didn't watch either the second semifinal or the final. But I totally wish I had. I was just so tired and could not stay awake. Next year I really need to look into geting ESPN and tivo.

* * * * *

The second semifinal was between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. It took just under five hours to complete this match. Novak won.

Here are their stats ...

* * * * *

Then the Australian Open 2012 Finals were between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. I really tried to stay up for this match but the problem is we sort of had an impromptu party at my house that night so I was awake the whole time I was planning on sleeping. So when everyone went home around 1am I planned on staying up and watching the finals which were scheduled to begin at 1:30am. But I could not keep my eyes open. I needed sleep. lol.

Anyways, this final was the longest final in history. Not the longest match just the longest final. It lasted seven minutes shy of six hours.

Novak Djokovic won his third Australian Open. :)

Here are the stats ...

Novak and Rafa.

* * * * *

And in case you were wondering how this Open has shaken up the ATP Rankings ... It hasn't.

AO Semifinal: Roger vs. Rafa

The first semifinal of the Australian Open was played last night. I had to watch it. My two favorite guys in tennis. How could I not watch it. Whenever Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal take the court against (or with) each other I always try and watch it. The match was played at 7:30pm Australian-time. So 1:30am Utah-time. (I just love the time difference. *said sarcastically*) I made a plan and stuck with it. I went to bed early and got about four hours of sleep before I woke up at 1:15am to settle in for a long match. I knew it would be long because these two great guys always battle it out on the court. I love the on-court rivalry that Roger and Rafa have. It's epic. Anyways, the match was so intense but totally awesome! I was always rooting for Roger because I love him. But I also really like Rafa so I was torn at certain parts. lol. The first set had a tiebreaker (with Roger winning) and it lasted 57 minutes. The second set went to Rafa. And the third set also had a tiebreaker with Rafa winning. That third set was so intense. I was yelling at the computer and willing Roger to hold his serves and break Rafa's. (But he did really listen to me. lol.) I was pretty downhearted for a minute after that set. But I mustered my will and happy thoughts and directed them toward Roger. I really wanted him to do good and win. At one point the commentator said that if Roger won then Rafa wins as well because everyone will know that he put his all into the match. But if Rafa won then Roger loses because he just loses. That was his mindset at least. And I have to disagree with that thought. I think that whoever wins the match between Roger and Rafa put all their energy into it. No one really lost. But I guess it's an opinion that I don't share. lol. Before the match started when the commentators were analyzing the match and making all their predictions and all that fun stuff I did agree with something they said. They said that this match would be great because there was no pressure of actually winning the Australian Open. It was just a semifinal so it could just be really good tennis. And it was! I painted my nails early on just so that I wouldn't be tempted to bite them during the match. lol. (They are a lovely shade of gold.) Something random and fun was that it was Australia Day so during the match they actually had a break while the fireworks were set of for the celebration. I don't think it helped or hindered either Roger or Rafa. They did get a little bit of a respite so they were ready for the rest of the set.

Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer in the semifinal of the 2012 Australian Open.

So stats ... 

It was a great 3 and a half hours. lol.

AO update

The Australian Open is going well. There are two more matches to be played before we find out who is playing the two semifinal matches. Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer play today's day quarterfinal match. And Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori play today's night quarterfinal match. And the winners of those two matches make up the second semifinal. We already know that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be playing one of the semifinal matches. I was hoping that would be the case. I always like watching those two play. But I also always root for Roger. I like him a tiny bit more then Rafa. lol. The semifinals aren't played for a day or so. I really hope that they are on tv here and I can watch them because if not I'm gonna be sad. I am pretty sure that CBS Sports broadcasts the finals on tv but I can't remember if the show the semis as well. I miss having ESPN. lol.

BTW, writing down the results of the draw on the print-out has been really fun. I am definitely doing it for the other majors this year. :)

Australian Open 2012

The 2012 Australian Open started this weekend. Since Australia is six hours ahead of me in terms of time, it was Monday for them but it was Sunday night for me when the tournament started. I did some prep work beforehand. I decided to print out the men's draw and keep track on paper. I did want to listen to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play their matches but I was tired around 11pm when they were getting ready to play. Well, Roger had a night match so it was more like 1am for me when he played. But Rafa played a day match. They both made it past the first round. I wasn't too worried about them not making it. I read their post match interviews today. It's very interesting reading the interviews this year. The politics of tennis is changing. And the press is gonna ask about it. (Rafa already told the press he won't talk anymore about it. Only tennis.) I think that things do need to change. The players need more of a say in what goes on with these tournaments. They need a player's union. Especially for the US Open with all the rain that goes on there. I think last September is when all this talk started. I'm sure this year will be very interesting to watch the behind-the-scenes of tennis as well as the actual tennis this year. I am hoping that Roger can get on top of things this year and win a few majors. In terms of ATP rankings, as of today, Monday, January 16, Novak Djokovic is #1 with 13,630 points. Rafael Nadal is #2 with 9,595 points. Roger Federer is #3 with 8,010 points. And Andy Murray is #4 with 7,380 points. So I'm not sure if Roger can overtake Novak unless Novak is having a bad year. Which I'm pretty sure he won't. But we'll have to see what the future holds in the world of tennis.