Howdy. Just got a nice note from my friend, Malka Wickramatilake (try saying that three times, fast!), who's over in Paris working with the ASAP transcription services crew. Those folks - Jamie, Tracy, Pam, a shout out to y'all! - do great work.
BTW, I'm supposed to appear before a kangaroo court in Paris to explain why I went public with my complaints about the International Tennis Writers' Association's official policy of leaning on tournaments to embargo press conference transcripts and thing like streaming press conference video, in order to somehow "protect" the interests or jobs of reporters. I think it's wrong for a press group to lobby to keep information from the public and even tournament websites (if you want the backstory, just punch up my previous post "Whistle-Blower Me" via the "Search" window). I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Things are kind of hectic around here. We're moving offices and on top of that I need to get up to the farm in Andes to mow a little hay, write an Aaron Krickstein Tennis Life column forTennis, and make sure our feral cat, Biscuit, little son Luke's best friend, knows we're not abandoning him to the coyotes for the next few weeks.
You should see the way this mouse-terminating,dog smacking, never-spent-a-night indoors cat lets Luke haul him around! And how bonded he is to the little fella! Anyway, I like to leave Biscuit some emergency provisions (Meow Mix) just in case he wipes out the entire mouse and vole population, or merely wants a change of diet. He has an elevated, two-way cat door that he uses to get in and out of the mud room.
So Malka reports that it's raining and cold in Paris, kind of a dead-zone over there at the moment. Think I'll take this opportunity to hit the dusty trail. I'll be posting sporadically over the next few days, until I arrive in Paris on Sunday - then I'll be on fire for the entire second week, I promise!
Meanwhile, why don't you all use this space to talk amongst yourselves? Here are some of the issues i've been thinking about:
1 - Who's No. 1 in the Safin family? And, is Dinara for real, in the sense that she could win this thing? BTW, check out the image; how about that resemblance?
2 - Does anyone else smell potential upset in the Roger Federer - Nicolas Massu pairing? I mean, if I were a good clay court player, I'd certainly try to sieze this opportunity to be the man who shot Billy the Kid (BTW, can you name the guy who did shoot Billy? Hint: Thunderbird). Beyond that, is there any way TMF can survive week 1 if the weather doesn't turn dry and hot?
3 - Is Maria Sharapova going to surprise us all with her clay-court prowess, a la Mary Pierce, so many years ago. Now there was another "Big Babe" slugger who was thought to move way too poorly to win on clay.
4 - Who's going to emerge as (on paper) the semifinalist in the second quarter of the men's draw? (that is, TMF's opponent if the seedings hold up).
5 - Will Mauresmo accumulate confidence or feel more pressure as the event rolls on?
6 - How did Shenay Perry get so good, so quick (yeah, i know this is an American thing, but give us our moment, okay folks)
7 - Can James Blake get by Almagro and Tommy Haas to have a shot at Dirty Boy Rafa?
8 - What are the chances that we get a TMF - DBR final? Right now, i'd say pretty slim.
I'll be checking in periodically, posting if and when I have the chance. Enjoy!