TOPIC: US Open - Day 7: The Moon is in Venus
Rafa Nadal won his last ten games to beat Joey Tsonga in straight sets (mentioned in my earlier post). Venus Williams is leading Serbian tennis hottie Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 2-0 as I type. Venus is playing like she could reach the moon. Ivanovic looks hot, as always. But Ana really isn't playing up to her ability. She seems sluggish in the third game of the second set. Ivanovic needs to attack Williams' serve more. Ivanovic, who is ranked #5 in the world, has the power and accuracy to pressure Venus. From the looks of the match thus far, I'd say Venus will retire Ana in two sets. Even though I like Venus, I'd like to see Ana Ivanovic win. A ranking of number five is not shabby, but she's not a household name either. It's always exciting to see younger, lesser-known players break the ranks and move into grand slam finals.

More to come tonight...

TOPIC: US Open - Day 5: Nadal Picks His Seat... and Other Player Quirks
Not much in my fan camp occurred today at the US Open. Tonight, Rafael Nadal played Janko Tipsarevic in a rather uneventful match. The kids and I had a little fun with Rafa, though. It seems that the young Spaniard has a pre-serve quirk that is quite hilarious, if not a bit gross. Nadal picks his seat -- or what we call, a butt crack snack. If you don't believe me, watch him Sunday afternoon as he plays.
The norm is to take three balls from the ball-boy. Switch them around once; drop one. Stick one ball in his right pocket, swoop his hair behinds his ears and then for the finale -- Nadal pulls out a wedgie from his butt crack. On second serves, he generally doesn't take the third ball or swoop the hair. BUTT, he still goes digging for gold.
My wife thought I was being cruel, saying Nadal doesn't pick his seat on almost every play. I challenged her that he does it dozens of times every match I've ever seen him play. So, we counted. Yeah, I know... but the kid got a great laugh out of slow-motion TiVo of the "butt crack snack". In fact, we counted each Rafa butt crack snack for the match -- until Tipsarevic retired from a rib injury during the third set. The total = 67 butt crack snacks for Rafael Nadal. His pants even showed a large wet spot from all that digging crack with his right hand.
My wife asked me if other players have odd quirks. The only ones I have seen during the 2007 US Open are Maria Sharapova's two high bounces before shreeking on every serve. John Isner generally bounces the ball between his legs, from behind, on his first serve.

Can you think of other tennis players with odd quirks? If so, feel free to leave a comment.