From the USTA Center in Flushing Meadows: US Open results (pre-men's final) 2008

Well, the men's final of the US Open is on Monday, September 8, 2008. The men are playing on Monday due to the tropical storm Hanna bombarding NYC on saturday, september 6, which postponed the 2nd men's semifinal match. In the first semifinal match, Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic in 4 sets to secure his spot in monday's final. In the second semifinal match, Rafa Nadal was down 2 sets to none to Andy Murray until rain suspended the match until today. In today's conclusion, Rafael Nadal was stunned by Andy Murray. Rafael Nadal won the third set, but Andy Murray won the 4th set to win the match. Down 3 to 1 in the fourth set, Murray battled to win the next 5 of 6 games to win the 4th set by the score of 6-4. G. Ripley is definitely pleased to see Murray vs. Federer in monday's final. Ripley is hoping for a great match. Federer will be vying for his 5th straight US Open title, while Andy Murray will be vying for his 1st title in a grand slam final ever. As for the women, Serena Williams won her 3rd US Open title by defeating Jelena Jankovic in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. It was a great match played by both ladies. In the end, Serena won the final 4 games of the 2nd set to close out the match. It was vintage Serena! She is now the new no. 1 player in the women's rankings. G. Ripley is hoping that she ends out the year No. 1 as that's his prediction. Hope it comes true!

The dramatic onslaught of the Beijing Olympic games 2008!

Four days ago, the 2008 Olympic games started in Beijing. It will continue for twelve more days, and NBC reported that ratings for the Opening Ceremonies were the most watched non-U.S. Olympic Games in history. That is incredible! US Swimmer Michael Phelps has already won four gold medals, and he is vying for eight golds at these Olympic games. So far, two nations are duking it out for the top spot in the medal tracker. These two nations are Team USA and the host country, China. Actually, I can't wait until the Track and Field part of the competition starts. I will have to wait until August 15. Then, Tyson Gay will battle the duo from Jamaica, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, for the title of world's fastest man! Plus, the US basketball team hopes to win gold in the men's & women's competition. The Olympics are always fun to watch and hope your favorite athlete performs at the highest level! Go Kobe and Team USA!

"The Dark Knight" continues to shatter the box office!

In a matter of 3 weeks, "The Dark Knight" has amassed $450 million at the US Box Office. It is utterly mindblowing. Heath Ledger should get nominated for an academy award in February 2009 for Best Supporting Actor. Hopefully, he will win posthumously. As for Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart, the film's other stars, they put on some great performances too. Aaron Eckhart has mentioned that he should be back for the next Batman movie. Holy cow, another batman movie! Yes, it is quite possible that chris nolan, christian bale, and the rest of the cast (minus Heath Ledger) could be back in a couple of years. We'll have to wait and see! Of course, Hollywood G. will be there to give another fun review on the Warner Bros. picture. Au revoir til next time!

"The Greatest Men's Wimbledon Final Ever"

In an epic five set match for the recordbooks, Rafael Nadal is the new 2008 Men's Wimbledon champion. By beating Roger Federer, the current No. 1, Rafa won his first Wimbledon trophy. Rafa won the fifth set, 9-7, right before darkness fell on centre court at 9:16 pm London time. It was the longest men's final ever. Rafa Nadal now leads the head to head battle by six victories over Roger Federer. Rafa has won 12 out of eighteen matches against Roger Federer. Roger only coverted one out of 14 break point chances. The match was 12 minutes short of the 5 hour mark. Rafa won the first two sets by the score of 6-4, then Roger won the next 2 sets in two wild tiebreaks. Nadal finally prevailed in the fifth set after two rain delays. Rafa Nadal has won two of the three majors this year. Roger still may be No. 1, but Rafa is not that far behind! Vamos Rafa!

French Open recap! Rafa wins lopsided final, plus Ana Ivanovic is the new #1.

Today, The men's final of the French open was one of the most lopsided finals ever. Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in 3 sets, and Rafa remains undefeated at Roland Garros. He ran his record to 28 wins, 0 losses. It brings in the question, "Is Rafa indeed unstoppable on the clay surface in Paris?" As for the ladies final, Ana Ivanovic won in 2 sets over Dinara Safina. Safina was the biggest surprise in the ladies final as she beat her other fellow russian teammates one by one. First, she beat Sharapova in the 4th round, followed by a stunning defeat of Dementieva in the quarters, and Kuznetsova in the semis. Safina seems to be following in her brother, Marat Safin's footsteps. Safin has won the US Open and the Australian Open in his career. With the french open title as her first grand slam championship, Ana Ivanovic is the new #1 in the WTA tour rankings. In two weeks, Ivanovic will begin her defense at Wimbledon. Will she win her first wimbledon? It will be tough, but anything is possible.

This week's shocker (Justine Henin retires abruptly!)

Two days ago, Justine Henin shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport. The current #1 ranked player will relinquish her top ranking this week. This means that the new #1 women's tennis player will be Maria Sharapova. Maria held the #1 ranking in 2007 for a short time, and in 2005 for a short period also. The top Russian femme fatale has won 3 tournaments (Doha, Melbourne, and Amelia Island) in 2008. But, it is quite sad to see Justine Henin leave the game. She won 7 Grand Slam titles, including 4 times at Roland Garros. She was dominant on the clay surface. Long Live the Belgian Baseliner!

It's April, and the top Two Men's Players are winless!

Yes, this is true. Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal have not won a single tournament in 2008 yet. Today, Rafael Nadal lost in the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, FL to Nikolay Davydenko. This year, Rafa is 0 for 2 in tournaments finals with losses to Mikhail Youhzny (in Chennai) & Nikolay Davydenko (in Miami). Roger F. has not made it to a tournament final this year. The tennis champion battled mononucleosis earlier this year. Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick have won 2 titles each already. Djokovic won the Australian Open, and in Indian Wells. Roddick won in San Jose, and in Dubai. On the women's side, Justine Henin has not made it to a tournament final in 2008 yet. Ana Ivanovic has made it to 2 finals, the Australian Open and Indian Wells. She beat Kuznetsova in Indian Wells, but lost to Maria Sharapova in Melbourne. Speaking of Sharapova, she has won 2 titles this year. In closing, both sides have no clear favorite yet. On the men's side, Federer is not dominating for now. On the women's side, familiar names are coming back to win big titles like Serena Williams (in Key Biscayne, FL and Maria S (in Dubai and Australia). The next 7 months should bring some more excitement to both genders. Let's see what happens next at Roland Garros at the end of May. Will Roger finally break through to win the one elusive, Grand Slam title that he's lost to Nadal 2 years in a row? Will Justine continue her dominance on clay courts in Paris? Finally, Andy Roddick got engaged to model, Brooklyn Decker. See the picture of the talented twosome below. Congrats, Andy!