Genie Bouchard says that the Genie Army--a group of fans who have serenaded her from the beginning of the Australian Open--have made such an impact on her that she hears their songs in her head, even after they have stopped singing. Yesterday, the Army had to go against a huge crowd of Aussies who were cheering for their own player, Casey Dellacqua. Dellacaqua took the first set off of Bouchard in a tiebreak, but after that, it was pretty much all about the Canadian, who took the other sets 6-2 and 6-0.
Bouchard served impressively, and tended to keep the rallies very short. Her next job will be to play 14th seed Ana Ivanovic, who upset Serena Williams in the round of 16. This scenario is probably not what Bouchard was expecting. If Ivanovic continues to play at her current level, the Genie Army will be well advised to keep their day jobs. But this is tennis, and this is Ivanovic, and anything can happen. At any rate, Bouchard appears ready to give her opponent a good fight.
I'll go on record here as saying I really, really like Genie Bouchard's outfit. I believe Ted Tinling would have been tempted to "take on" Bouchard as his own, after seeing her Australian Open ensemble. (I wish she had a different color top, but that's a quibble.)
Most of the outfits at this Australian Open have bored me, though I liked Venus's EleVen dress and I liked Serena's pink and black Nike outfit.
Round of 16 competition will be completed today, with Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbine Mugurza getting the night match in Rod Laver Arena. Jelena Jankovic will play Simona Halep (do I dare even watch?), Maria Sharapova will play Dominika Cibulkova, and defending champion Victoria Azarenka will play Sloane Stephens. Those of us who live in the USA are going to be forced to watch this match on ESPN, so turning off the sound may be a good option.
5 comments:
Did you find it a little strange -- well, for them, I guess not -- that on ESPN2 Stephens was being questioned about whether or not she was distracted by Svitolina's dress during their match? The way she responded, it was clear that Stephens -- as should be the case, since she should have other things on her mind -- hadn't really given it much thought, though she did humor the question and say something about it being different.
Of course, a case can be made that the ESPNers were simply warming up for Vika/Sloane, sharpening their "such a distraction" knives for whenever Azarenka makes a noise during a rally. Drysdale has been practicing all week, I think.
Yes, I thought it was yet another ridiculous ESPN comment. It's not like Svitolina showed up in the Anne White bodysuit, and even if she had--what difference would that make to Sloane?
It's nice that Sloane isn't taking any of the bait because they're going to keep tossing it at her. Most interesting potential scenario: Sloane has to take a MTO :D
Oh, they'd twist themselves up like the end was the beginning and the beginning was the end! :D
We can avoid ESPN by going to streamhunter.eu or atdhe.sx The links are spotty, but the Brit announcers on BritishEuroSport there are very good. Mats and Annabel, among others.
Sometimes those work for me and sometimes they don't. Thanks for the reminder!
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