Australian Open

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Last night I stayed up until 1AM watching my pick to win the 2009 Australian Open.

I am very upset that Venus Williams has lost in the 2nd round, and so are my neighbours.

Just to share the magnitude of this loss... let's talk about some facts... Venus Williams ranked 6th in the world. 6'1" tall, 7 Grand Slam titles. Carla Suarez Navarro (you're not alone if you've never heard of her...) ranked in the 40s, 5'4" tall, 1st time in a Grand Slam event. I am just shocked. Ms. Carla Suarez Navarro never served over 100 mph. After the 2nd set and Venus was up a break on the 3rd, I thought the game was hers...

Ugh! I really could talk about this for days. I was thinking I'd love to see Venus in Melbourne (my fav city)... If I went down there this year and saw her lose, I'd lose it. SERIOUSLY.

I'm tired and cranky. blah.


Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

Wednesday Night Television

WEDNESDAY NIGHT TELEVISION
After Bikram yoga, I got home, cooked dinner and started watching my DVR.

US Open
The US Open was on my DVR and for a very good reason. The Williams sisters are playing in the Quarterfinals. Last time they played was at the final of the Wimbledon. What an exciting game that was and this match was no exception. Venus was up a break in the first set. Serena was able to rally and break back and force a tie breaker. Venus has 2 break points but Serena managed to rally and win the tie breaker 8-6. The second set was the same story. Venus up a break, and was up 40 - love to serve for the set. OMG, Serena manages to win 5 points in a row to stay in the set 4-5, and win her serve to tie it up 5-5. Venus wins her serve and had another break point to win the set on Serena's serve and Serena wins the point for deuce and after 4 additional deuce points, Serena forces the tie break for the 2nd set. This time around Venus wins the first 3 points and serves a double fault. The 7th point on the tie breaker was the craziest point ever! I was standing up and yelling for Venus! Loses a point and wins another one and Venus sets up 3 set points. Like the first set, she was up 4-2 in the change over. Like the first set Serena came back to win 9-7 tie breaker. This will stay in my DVR like the Wimbledon finals as it truly was an exciting game. I wanted Venus to win, but now that Serena is through, I have no doubt she will win the US open. The remaining women don't have the caliber, fierceness that Serena and Venus has. The match lasted over 2 hours.

DETERMINATION


PROJECT RUNWAY
The challenge this week was with Diane Von Furstenberg. She issued a challenge to make a design based on a movie Foreign Affairs. The winning look will be available to purchase by American Express card members and part of the proceeds will be donated to CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America). The winning look was designed by Leanne and its truly stunning. The coat hides some of the details and the back of the dress was extremely beautiful. Kudos, that's 2 wins in a row Leanne!




ANTM
Yes, today was the season premier of the 11th cycle of America's Next Top Model and I'm afraid I will have to watch it tomorrow as its really late!




Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

Venus vs. Serena - Wimbledon 2008

VENUS VS SERENA

Venus beat Dementieva, the latter never really standing a chance. Watching the 1st set was really painful. Venus just played way inside the baseline and with Dementieva's serve, Venus just punished her with her returns. The second set was quite different, but needless to say Venus is onto the Wimbledon Finals...

And so is Serena. This was tough for me to watch because I was cheering for Serena and for Jie. I've watched all of Jie's previous matches, and yeah she's awesome. She's only 5'4" and is ranked like 130+ in the world. Ok, first I admire her. She is donating all of her winning to her hometown, which was devastated by the earthquake. It was like she was playing for her country. She beat the #1 player in the world, Ana, in straight sets. She's the first Chinese person to make it to a semi-final of a Grand slam event! That's huge! The 2nd set was SOOOO exciting! I was literally cheering and screaming for Jie! She almost forced a 3rd set against Serena in the semi-finals. She had a set point against Serena, but the final score: 6-2 7-6 to Serena's favor. Congrats Zheng Jie!

I'm really excited about the final. The previous finals they have played against each other has really been one-sided. I think they've come a long way, and its been a while since they played in a Grand slam final.

My monies are on Venus Williams. I've always been a fan, and she's a 4 time winner, losing twice in the finals to Serena at Wimbledon, but times are a changing.

Go VENUS!

Height


Zheng Jie


Serena Williams


Venus Williams


UPDATE
Williams/Williams are also in the doubles final. Yes, not only are Venus and Serena playing in the final, but they are also in the Ladies doubles Final. They just won 6-3, 6-3 and they're looking great. What most people might not know, is they have 6 major doubles title, but they haven't been playing doubles, but I think its more of a preparation for the Olympics and not to mention to compliment their singles game. There aren't any grass courts here in the US, so the more time you spend playing, the more comfortable you'll be in court.

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.