Yesterday night, I toiled and forced myself to stay up to watch the second semifinal of the 2009 Australian Open between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco. This all-spanish contest between fellow lefty's took an Australian Open record 5 hours and 44 minutes to complete. The phenom, Rafael Nadal, eventually maintained and extended his unbeaten record against Verdasco to 7-0, but it was anything but easy!!! This was a very gruelling game, but Nadal came through. However, the toughest part remains ahead -- a finals contest against the one and only Roger Federer, who seems to be oozing with confidence after he demolished Andy Roddick in his semifinal bout. It took him a total of 2 hours and 7 minutes to dismantle Roddick -- In contrast, that wasn't even enough to finish the first two sets of the Nadal-Verdasco game.
Well, now we have to wait till Sunday for the Federer-Nadal bout -- The Number 1 player in the world against the Number 2 player. One player trying to win his first hard court Grand Slam tournament, and the other trying to tie one of the all-time great's record of 14 Grand Slam wins. If their previous finals contests are anything to go by, then this match will be yet another thriller. Logical thinking dictates that the faster hard courts will play into Federer's hands, and he will tie Pete Sampras and win his 14th Grand Slam. However, my personal biases are forcing me to secretly root for Nadal -- whose herculian 2008 effort finally toppled over tennis' giant for many years, Federer, to become the new world #1!!!
Nadal Vs Federer for the 2009 Australian Open Title
The next major sport event will be the Superbowl. Superbowl 43 will pit the fearsome Pittsburgh Steelers against the surprising Arizona Cardinals. Pittsburgh's impossible-to-tackle Roethlisberger against Arizona's Cinderalla Man Kurt Warner. I shouldn't really say Cinderalla Man, since Warner's had that magic when he won the Superbowl in 1999 with the St. Louis Rams. There are other subplots -- such as Arizona's head coach, Ken Weisenhunt, being part of Pittsburgh's Superbowl winning coaching staff a couple of years ago, only to be looked over as the head coach of the Steelers when then-head coach Bill Cowher retired. Either way, I'm rooting for any team led by Kurt Warner, and hence, GO CARDINALS!!!!!
