Madrid Open Thread

by Craig Hickman

Getty

Thomaz Bellucci celebrates his victory against Czech Tomas Berdych after their match of the Madrid Masters on May 06, 2011 at the Caja Magic sports complex in Madrid. Bellucci won 7-6, 6-3, becoming the first Brazilian to contest a Masters semifinal since Gustavo Kuerten in Miami 2003.

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Reuters

David Ferrer of Spain returns the ball to Adrian Mannarino of France during their Madrid Open tennis match May 3, 2011.

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Potatoes in the clay today. More beets, spinach, arugula, peas, and lettuce too. Cheated the weather a bit and buried some tomato plants in the ground encircled by used tires. Creates heat. Shields wind. I'll cover the plants with recycled water cooler bottles after the rain that comes tonight ceases on Sunday. Tiny little greenhouses.

I caught a glimpse of Juan Martin del Potro's match today. Saw him injury his hip. He better be okay. The ATP needs him healthy. His forehand is outrageous again. Saw Fernando Verdasco upset too.

Talk about the tennis you saw.

I'm back to the field.

Tweet Of The Day

Happy New Year

I thought I would have up the Gonad Awards by Christmas. But life had other plans.

Today, my dog died.

Just like as last year, I'll get them up in the first week of the New Year.

Take care of your blessings.

Yuletide

Daedalus chomping, Orange Juice chilling, Wallpaper posing, Princess grazing in the distance.

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May your holidays be bathed in peace and love. Take care of your blessings.

Today

The Feast of Harvest
has passed. Yuletide
rapidly approaches.

Smack dab in the middle
is today, the day I came
to be 43 years ago.

I have now lived longer
than all my artist
mentor friends,
save one.

Today,
I sing.

Checking In

As many of you know, I have been MIA over the last several months because I was running an intense campaign for the Maine House of Representatives as an insurgent.

I ran alongside a popular, well-entrenched, three-term moderate incumbent. By the end of the campaign, we had done such a good job that word on the street suggested we would win.

Wasn't meant to be. The voters chose to give the incumbent his last two-year term with 60% of the vote.

I'm proud of our campaign and humbled by all the good will the people of my district bestowed upon me.

I had the time of my life.

Sorry I haven't been around to comment on so many of the intriguing stories in tennis, but I'll get back to that when the time comes.

I'd like to thank Savannah and MadProfessah for their contributions in my absence.

See you soon.

Where Tennis & Politics Meet

A screenshot form Kirkus. Click to enlarge.

David Nal-Davis-Cup-Ian

Getty

Argentinian player David Nalbandian celebrates after winning against Russian player Mikhail Youzhny on July 11, 2010, during their quarterfinal match of the Davis Cup World Group in Moscow. Nalbandian won 6-7, 4-6, 3-6.

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He can't seem to play anywhere else anymore. I can't even remember the last time I've seen him hit a tennis ball at an ATP event, yet here he is doing what he does in Davis Cup once again:

Winning.

Russian team players haven't exactly been in the mood for great tennis of late, but still: DaVEED led Argentina to a victory over Russia in Davis Cup in Moscow.

Mardy Fish added a grass court title to his resume in Newport, completing the career, all-surface title holder list with only his fourth career title.


AP

And Rafael Nadal was in South Africa to witness his nation's history-making performance in the World Cup.

I watched a bit of it. Given that my mate is from the Netherlands and we have a visitor from the Netherlands interning on the farm, it's safe to see I flew solo in the field for most of the day yesterday.

Depressed, they emerged after the final ready to sow fall crops. Carrots, beets, scallions, leeks, lettuce, rutabagas, celeriac, sugar peas, and more carrots. They were quite industrious.

Had to break the news to the mate, after the fact, of course, that while I couldn't exactly cheer for Spain, I didn't see the Netherlands winning their first World Cup title in South Africa. Karma and all that.

But that's an essay for another blog and another time.

Back in Davis Cup, France kicked Spain squarely in the teeth. Guess the Spanish team was somewhere else...