It's On Like Donkey Kong!

No we're not talking about the Super Bowl.

In a few hours Federer and Nadal will square off against each other in Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena, initiating ActI of what could be the most fascinating sporting contests in recent history. Federer's sublime skill versus Nadal's strength and dogged determination. The idea of these two tennis giants matching up in the finals of tennis' four Grand Slams, each one equally capable of winning all four, a feat not seen in tennis in over forty years, makes the heart beat. Whoever wins the Australian Open will be in the driving seat headed into the spring and Roland Garros.

Sit down, and strap yourselves in, this one's going to be a real ride.

Wimbledon And A Whole New Ballgame?

A warm welcome to all of our friends who have checked in with us since Wimbledon and have been disappointed to see the lack of updates. We have been out in our secluded mountain retreat, communing with nature and crunchy little insects, armed only with our cellphones - one of which includes a shiny new iPhone, but none of which is capable of posting to blogger. Anyways, we hope to make up for our seemingly lacklustre July, with a more fulfilling and robust (some might say august) month ahead.

As for Wimbledon itself, as much as we enjoyed watching Safin and Federer go head to head, hope that this bodes well for Safin in his return to New York next month, the Federer v. Nadal final was everything that one could hope for - Sports Illustrated and many tennis commentators seem inclined to agree that it was perhaps the greatest match of all time, certainly of the last ten years. What is even more fascinating to us, is the potential of what is to come, and frankly, we are surprised that more commentators have not picked up on this yet. With Federer losing in the opening round of Toronto last week, and Nadal winning the tournement, it is increasing looking like Nadal will win the overall No.1 spot by the end of the year, regardless of who wins the U.S. Open.

In some instances though, who wins the Open is immaterial provided both Nadal and Federer make it to the same approximate stages, the excitement comes in what happens next. If Nadal proves that he can at least equal Federer on hard court, then the Australian Open will witness perhaps the greatest race in all of sport: the quest for the tennis' Grand Slam. It is hard to imagine an athletic feat as rare to accomplish, simultaneously being pursued by two players, both with equal chances to pull it off.

Safin to the Semis!

Marat "I Don't Like Wimbledon" Safin, is about to enter the semi-finals of the famed grass court tennis competition on Friday, facing down the sublime Roger Federer. For all the anticipation over yet another showdown between Federer and Rafael Nadal, this particular meeting of Safin and Federer is looking to be one of the most long-awaited match-ups in recent tennis history. As we write, Nadal is up two sets on Andy Murray, and really ought to be able to close out his match, setting himself up for a next round match against Clement or Schuettler, two opponents ranked around 140th on tour and not likely to offer a healthy Nadal much of a challenge.

Which brings us back to Safin. For all of the greatness of Federer, it was once fairly commonplace to hear Federer referred to as "the most talented male tennis player outside of Marat Safin", or "the only person with a forehand better than Roger Federer is Marat Safin". Of course, Safin's inconsistency has allowed Federer to take an 8-2 career lead over the Russian, including a third round dismissal at Wimbledon last year. What's different this year, is the composure that Safin is showing, much more reminiscent of when he beat Federer in the Australian Open semi-finals en route to his second Grand Slam.

Should Safin beat Federer, then a final featuring Safin and Nadal will be extremely exciting, as it truly will be anyone's game.

Excuses and Expectations

Maybe we just should have announced we were taking the summer off, since our publication rate has been below what we were expecting. That is not to say that we have been slacking off, it just seems that we have been enjoying our "researches" a little more than we've enjoyed writing about them. Our afternoon Kino Matinee count is almost at forty movies since the end of June, far too many to update one and all on, though perhaps we might be able to offer some sort of summary nearer the end of the month. A similar story exists in music, where a flood of mediocre new releases has seen us retreat into some stellar archives.

But for now, we are preparing ourselves (and our drinks) for the highly anticipated tennis match-up of Marat Safin and Rafael Nadal at the Rogers' Cup in Montreal. How we wish we were there, watching perhaps from some patio along St. Laurent our Sherbrooke.

When Rafael Nadal advanced to centre court yesterday, the rivalry that everyone in tennis had hoped for, finally arrived. Nadal has been dogging Federer's steps for the last three years, but last year at Wimbledon Federer made it known that Nadal may be the King of the Clay Court Sandbox, but Roger still ruled the playground. His convincing dismantling of Rafa seemed to indicate that Federer was still peerless on three of four major surfaces.

Not so this morning.

Nadal's stunning early play in the first and second sets demonstrated that play on grass was no longer a mystery to the Mallorcan. How much playing six straight days on grass benefited or hurt his game we may never know, but the way he rushed the net and deftly delivered half-volleys took everyone, including Federer, by surprise. The Swiss maestro was clearly undone in the fourth set, as much by his surprise at Nadal's play, as by Hawkeye, the electronic line review system.

Easily one of the best matches of the last seven years, it signals the arrival of a rivalry that has been long if the offing. No longer is Roger Federer the default favourite, nor is the No.1 ranking without doubt. There is a very real possibility that Nadal could take the U.S. Open, as there was the moment when it looked like Wimbledon was in his grasp - you could see it plainly on Federer's face.

This fall, Flushing Meadows will be a very interesting place.

Early Morning History in the Making

It has almost become a ritual, a match-up we all wait for Nadal vs. Federer, Roland Garros. One of these two men will make history this morning, but it remains to be seen just how large of scale, that history will be. Will it be Nadal, becoming the first man in over twenty years to win three consecutive French Open titles? Or will Federer become well and truly on his way to winning the first Grand Slam in men's tennis since the 1960s?

These two met a few weeks ago at the finals of the Hamburg clay courts, and Federer dismantled the young Spaniard with authority, ending his impressive clay court unbeaten streak. It was the first time that Federer beat Nadal on clay, and it could not have come at a better time. Federer wants the Grand Slam, having won everything else tennis has to offer, but as Bud Collins said, Roland Garros is the gateway to the slam, and Nadal is Cerberus.