Wimbledon Update: Day 2

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Day 2 at Wimbledon:

Serena scared me a little by dropping a set. But, ever the champion, she served her way out and won it in three: 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. It was so great to see her back on court. All the commentators are predicting she'll have a hard time during this tournament, since she's been gone for so long. But I have a feeling that she'll make it all the way to the finals. She always performs amazingly well in majors. Go for #5, Serena!

Djokovic looked liked the amazing player he's been all year and won easily: 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. I love his new game, serve and confidence! If for some reason Nadal gets knocked out, you better take it all, Nole!

World #1 Caroline Wozniacki had a shaky start, but her vigilance paid off. She beat down Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-1. Caroline doesn't have a lot of umpf to her game. But give her time and steadily, she wins. I'm still not convinced that she should be ranked #1 and has yet to win a major, but no one asked me when they came up with ranking system.

The infamous Isner/Mahut rematch! As I guessed, someone (Isner) won it in straight sets: 7-6, 6-2, 7-6. Mahut didn't seem like the same Mahut from last year. And Isner made some great shots. Let's hope he does well next round, too.

Soderling struggled a little bit, but pulled it out in four sets: 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6. Eh, Soderling is my least favorite player besides Federer, so I would have been okay if he lost.

Oh yeah, Fed won.

Roddick rocked it in straight sets -- 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 -- and had 30 aces! He's looking good and I hope he goes far this year.

Sharapova also beat down her opponent, Anna Chakvetadze, 6-2, 6-1. She look confident and I like it. Though, I'm still hoping Serena wins it all.

Azarenka advanced after Magdalena Rybarikova had to retire. But Vika was already leading with a set, so I think she would have advanced anyway.

What a great day 2! I can't wait until day 3!

The allure of grass

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It's Day 1 of Wimbledon. Venus is back from injury. So is Roddick. And of course Rafa is ready to defend his title. Tomorrow my beloved Serena is finally back after 50 weeks away due to injuries. Also tomorrow, Djokovic continues his amazing 2011 season. I'm excited to keep up with all the players and see the results of their matches. I even joined twitter so I could follow my favorites and get the inside scoop; you can find me: @brynspeak.

Probably the most interesting thing about this year's tournament thus far is the re-match of John Isner (USA) & Nicolas Mahut (FRA). You might (or might not probably don't) remember their infamous 1st round match last year. The longest match in history, spanning three days, taking more than 11 hours to complete and with the 5th set score of 70-68. I'm pretty sure that with all the hype surrounding this re-match one of them will win in straight sets tomorrow. But it's pretty unbelievable that they're meeting at Wimbledon in the first round, again.

 

While you're waiting for tennis coverage to resume - because you're all waiting, right? - you can check out this article that a lovely friend passed along to me: The most beautiful game by Geoff Dyer. Aside from his obvious adoration of Federer (ack!) it's a wonderful love letter to tennis. And I can't resist a good love letter to tennis.

Anyone else a tennis fan? Oh, just me? That's okay. I'll be sure to keep you all updated. Happy Monday!

Dream come true

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Now I really can Eat Mor Chikin. Chick-fil-a opened its first Chicago location today at the corner of Chicago & Wabash. (Remember when I got a little worked up a few months ago?) It just so happens it's right on Loyola's Water Tower Campus. And steps away from the Chicago Red Line stop. I'm just a little bit excited.

I plan on going this weekend. I also plan on bringing my elbows and a little sass as I'm sure it's going to be cri-zay-zy up in there. Don't worry, it'll be worth it. I can almost taste those waffle fries. Mmmm.

Check out all the people who lined up to win Chick-fil-a for a year.

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I don't think my mom will know what to do when I come home now since the first stop I request is always Chick-fil-a.

True-ly too brief

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About two years ago, right around this time, I was in Best Buy getting some new cds. (Side note: yes, I still buy actual cds.) I came across True Blood season 1 on DVD. Best Buy was having a sale and I had been hearing great things about the series. Let's face it, anything vampire was hot. So I got it and Neal & I started watching.

The first episode of season 1 is intense; I wasn't sure if I would like the series. But as any fan of the show knows, each episode ends with a climatic moment. Neal & I were hooked. These were the days of wedding planning, so True Blood was a nice distraction from phone calls and decision making. These were also the days of separate apartments. Neal would come over (my tv was larger) and we'd settle into my brown couch and crank up the volume. My old apartment lacked air conditioning, so the windows were open. And the noises of Clark Street tended to assault us as we watched tv.

HBO makes great series. But it is a cruel company. Not only do they have only one season per year. The seasons have only 12 episodes each. And the DVD is released a year after it originally airs. So we are forced to wait, wait and wait some more. All the while trying not to hear about spoilers that will damage our viewing.

On June 3rd we received True Blood Season 3. The wait was over! Four days later we had watched nine episodes.  

Neal: How did that happen? Me: We wanted to find out what happened.

This weekend we knocked out two more. So we're down to the season 3 finale. True Blood, I love you. Truly I do. But why do your seasons have to be so short and come only once a year? I guess it's like Christmas. Was the Sopranos like this?

Sixth time's the charm

(Roland Garros)

Yesterday Rafael Nadal won the French Open for the sixth time. Yes, sixth. His record at the French is 45-1. Meaning for six out of seven years he's entered the tournament and won it. Rafa's my favorite male tennis player. There are so many great things about him, but what I love most about him comes from his coach, his uncle, Toni. Uncle Toni has said that he taught Rafa how to be a good person, not just a good tennis player. And that if Rafa ever starting acting cocky instead of humble, or ever let fame, money or winning change him, Uncle Toni wouldn't coach him anymore.

So congrats, Rafa! A well deserved win for one of the best tennis players ever. And also one of the best people ever. Looking forward to watching you defend you title at Wimbledon is just a couple short weeks!