Skip to main content

Just before they are done Down Under

Some ranting before they wrap things up in Melbourne.

I really dislike watching one-sided matches. They are not only sometimes disheartening but they are also often BORING. And I can't stand commetators ooh-ing and ah-ing about the better player's better shots. I mean, shouldn't we expect the better player to hit better?

Then, there's the matter of the glinting watch face. An excerpt from Serena Williams' interview when she was asked about the watch:

Q. Commentary on Channel 7, an allegation that someone in your box using the reflection from their watch in the sunlight to try and distract your opponent. It was something that Nicole has denied. What was your response to it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: "Ha‑ha‑ha‑ha." That's the most outrageous thing I've ever heard. As if anyone would do that on purpose. I think everyone wears watches these days, except for me. Most people do. So, yeah, ha‑a‑ha, like I said. That's so funny.


This sure beats the complaints about fathers coaching and holding up bananas, water bottles and hand signals from the sidelines.

Well, pretty Miss Only Seventeen Years Old, at whom the glints were supposedly directed, did not notice the watch.

Actually, it looks so hot out there. The glare from the sun is probably worse than anything.

A nice touch during the other ladies' semi-final. Sharapova said of the retiring Kim Clijsters: 'She's such a champion on and off the court.'

It really sounds like many people will miss Kim. I'm happy for her that she has come into her own these last couple of years or so, after playing in Justine's shadow for so long. Somehow, every time I watch her matches, I also remember a certain person in her players' box cheering for her with such gusto... but... I guess it's time for a new chapter in her life. Hope she plays in at least one of this year's remaining Grand Slam finals.

And, let's hope tomorrow's final will be a match worth watching.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

True train school

‘Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.’ How would you like to have such a headmaster? I finally re-read (read it first as a teenager) Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window , a ‘school story’ by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, translated by Dorothy Britton. Totto-chan is the name Tesuko Kuroyanagi called herself, and the book is about her life during her school days at Tomoe Gakuen. Totto-chan was expelled from her first elementary school because of her ‘disruptive’ behaviour, which included constantly opening and closing her desk top (because she was so thrilled by it), ‘vandalising’ her desk (because there wasn’t enough space on the piece of paper to draw) and standing by the classroom window waiting for street musicians to pass by or talking to swallows. Her mother, although probably alarmed about the ...

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse (2023)

The title has an airy, genial feel and the show does have its airy, genial side, but also think of it as TRAPPED, since everyone was trapped by the past.   It was fun trying to figure out who was who, who was on whose side and how the awful king would fall.   The scholars It wasn’t too hard to guess that Kang San (Ryeo Un) is the deposed/missing prince and that he isn’t really gruff and disinterested although he’s exasperated and rolling his eyes most of the time.  Shi-yeol (Kang Hoon) has the best ‘disguise’, with the nice contrast between his highly-skilled fighting and loyalty versus his silliness.  It felt at times that Yoo-ha (Jung Gun-joo) was an extra but finally, he gets that one brave act of letting himself be captured to protect the rest.   Shi-yeol identifying himself to Kang San as his watchman was dramatic but the most shocking revelation in the show was that the Old Guy (Shi-yeol’s mentor) is the king’s watchman!  Howe...

No wonder

According to a poll of about 300 people, reported in yesterday's Sunday Times, (how come nobody ever asks me these things?) , the Seven Wonders of Singapore are (in order of merit): 1. The Esplanade (a whopping 82 votes) 2. Changi Airport (53 votes) 3. Sentosa 4. The Merlion 5. The Singapore River 6. Food 7. Mount Faber and LKY (tie - 10 votes each) Some 'offbeat choices' which didn't make it to the top 7: aunties selling tissue paper at coffee shops, Singlish, kiasuism, 4D-Toto outlets and Newater (said someone of Newater: 'We are probably the only country with branded recycled sewage.' Well said, ha ha.). Maybe it's a personal bias but I feel that a 'Wonder' must also have strong historical and cultural/social value (so I'm rather miffed that Angkor Wat didn't make it to the 7 Wonders of the World; in fact it was never in the running for the top 7). Therefore, these choices are a little too modern for me. The Esplanade, for example, is a...