Amazing ability from players

By watching the match between Marcos Baghdatis and Novak Djokovic in Australian Open, I realize how difficult for players to play in front of that kind of harsh atmosphere fans create. They both have tons of fans rooting for them crazily. It becomes so annoying to me. I have to turn off the volume in order to watch the whole game. Can't image to play in front of those kind of crowd all the time.

Australian Open_Day 3

I can't watch Djokovic's second round. However, I got to watch Yen-Hsun Lu who is from Taiwan playing until 3rd set when I got home. In Australia, They follow their rundown for their scheduled programs even though the game they prodcast doesn't finish. I really hate it. In Taiwan, TV station will keep broadcasting the game until the game finishes and then it will follow the rest of scheduled programs.

Because I really want to know what happen to the game, I turn on my computer and get to Australian Open website to watch live scoreboard. Of course, that's still totally different feeling from watching game. However, I still get very nervous about every game and every point.

Lu who ranks 61th in the world put up a great show to defeat 10th seed David Nalbandian of Argentina. Great.

Scoreboard watch for Australian Open_Day 2

Lleyton Hewitt was out of first round yesterday. I never like Hewitt, especially the way he plays and acts on the field. However, the longer I stay in Australia, the more I root for him playing well. I get a feeling his career may be over pretty soon.

Rafael Nadal passed his first round yesterday night. The way he played embarrassed his opponent. He almost turned whole audiences to root for his poor opponent.

Let's go Novak Djokovic

If you don't know who he is, don't worry about your baseball knowledge. Novak Djokovic is not a baseball player. Novak Djokovic is my favorite tennis player who is from Serbia and currently ranks 3 behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Why do I mention this? Yesterday was first day of 2009 Australian Open. Two years in a row, I almost decided to go to Melbourne for Australian Open. Last year, I didn't go and Djokovic won. If Djokovic wins again this year or gets into the final, I must admit I bring more luck to my favorite team or players because of my absence. I remember I went to many baseball games in Taiwan for my favorite Taiwanese team, they almost lost every time.

Scoreboard updated: Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer pass their first round yesterday. Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal will have their first round today.

Congrats to Nadal for title

I told you guys I was going to go to bed after second rain delay. When I was about turning off TV, they resumed the game. I am glad I was able to watch the whole game because this game can be put in one of classic games in Wimbledon history. Great game to watch.

Federer was down two sets quickly in this game, but he fought back to show why he is no. 1 in the world. Federer pushed Nadal so hard to win every point and almost came away with victory.

WoW! Federer fight back W/AL East

Federer just pulled out a unbelievable comeback when he was down 2 to 5 in the tie-break on the fourth set. Nadal even had a game point. At that moment, Federer is so calm and cool under the pressure which shows why he wins so many champions. On the other hand, Nadal made couple of unforgiving mistakes, such as double fault and unforced error.

I don't know the outcome of this game. But, the more I watch this game, the more I feel my prediction about second half of AL East is right.

Let me say one more thing on my prediction. When you look at the schedule of Yankees, RedSox and Rays on September, I think one thing is very important for Yankees: Making sure Wang is able to come back to help them in September.

Man, we are in the rain delay again. Last rain delay helped out Federer tremendously. Let us wait and see what happen after second rain delay. Unfortunately, I don't know how much longer I can stay up late for this game. Right now, it's almost 5am in Sydney.

Sorry about this, but I really need to take a nap to recharge. I will post the Wang's interview I promised very soon. I also want to write about the selection of All Star game and the exciting win against RedSox yesterday. Stay tuned.

Wimbledon Federer vs Nadal W/Devil Rays...

As I am writing now, Federer is down two sets to Nadal and the game is delayed by rain at this moment. Let me say this first, I am not fan of Federer and Nadal, so I can say I give an objective opinion. When I began watching tennis, I am fan of Goran Ivanisevic from Croatia. Right now, Novak Djokovic from Serbia is the player I keep my eyes on.

Be honest with you guys, I root for Nadal to beat Federer because I love more competition among any sport I watch. Since Federer keep winning for many years recently, I love to see someone challenge him.

I think people have a tendency to root against the one or the team that keep winning unless you are the fan of that person or that team. The same thing goes to the situation between Yankees, RedSox and Devil Rays this season.

In my opinion, the outcome of game in sport world depends on three things: skill, experience(mental aspect), and luck(seize chances, avoid injury). I put mental aspect in the experience category and take chances and avoid injury in luck category. Whoever can take 2 out of 3 will be champion. Of course. Keep in mind. When those compete with each other have to have their skills on the similar level.

This leads to my prediction for second half of season. I still think the battle of AL East is between Yankees and RedSox, but how Rays play with these two teams will play an important role. The reason I come up with this conclusion is based on three reasons.

First of all, Rays will have tougher schedule ahead of them in the second half of season than Yankees and Red Sox, especially when you consider those tough matchup on the road which they haven't played as well as at home.

Secondly, the major problem for young team is they can't play as consistent as veterans teams for the entire season because workload may catches up with those young players and they may not be able to make adjustment when scouts from other teams find their holes. On top of that, you have to consider mental aspect and experience as well. For example, Can they still perform well under the pressure when season is on the line? Can they still perform well when they feel steps from Yankees or RedSox?

Thirdly, Rays haven't been hit hard by injury to their position players or rotation, especially to their star players. This is not the case for Yankees and Red Sox.

We are family....

I wasn't happy when Yankees lost those two close games to Texas Rangers and screamed at my computer "Where is our offense?". Of course, it includes the final game against Mets. As a fan, I actually feel funny about Hank's comment. I know, I know, our bombers work very hard to try to score and sometimes opposing pitchers just pitch better. If the thing is that easy, we can let Hank speak as much as he wants. I am just kidding.

But, I actually wasn't that upset during three games losing streak for three reasons. First of all, our two kids from our farm play well. I was impressed by the way David Robertson and Brett Gardner play their games. I said this before and I will say that again. No matter what happen to bombers this season, I think we have a bright future.

Secondly, I met some people wear Yankees hat when I went to coastal walk from Coogee beach to Bondi beach with my Korea friend, Grace, last week during my vocation. It's amazing for me to see how many Yankees fans around the world. One of those people is sister. Wow! The other day I went to eat Subway with Grace. A guy sat nearby also wearing a Yankees hat. Cool. This makes me feel really good, especially when Yankees are losing.

The final reason is Wimbledon. ha! Sorry about this. I switch my attention a little bit toward tennis.

One thing from tennis I don’t understand

I know...I know... This is a Yankee blog and I shouldn't talked tennis this much. But, there are a lot of common grounds between different sports.

In Baseball, Fans always play important role on the outcome of baseball games. That’s why mental toughness is essential when we come to justice a baseball player. They have to be able to deal with pressure and hostile environment. The better one player deal with this, the better player he will become.

But, In tennis, they require fans not to stay in one player's side in order to not to effect their performance on the court. Throughout the whole Australian open, tons of players get upset and angry at fans' support for their opponents. I am watching Australian Open Men Final now, Novak Djokovic's father even complained about fans' reactions with official staff and then Jo-Wilfried Tsonga complained about Novak Djokovic how much time he took for his serves.

No excuse, guys. Where are these tons of complains coming from? Just play game and deal with that.

Updated 11pm:Novak Djokovic overcome nerve, pressure, less support from crowd and a hamstring strain injury happened during game to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

I just hope Yankees has injury-free 2008 season when I saw Novak Djokovic injuring his hamstring.

Roger Federer may lose this time…

Roger Federer has 10 consecutive gram slam final appearance record....Now... That record may be in jeopardy....Federer is down 2 sets now…

I am just wondering it may help Yankees out for winning a champion if Yankees becomes underdog this season. Sometimes it gets boring for people watching sport if someone or some teams just keep winning.

Updated 10:20pm in Sydney:Novak Djokovic(Serbia) just beat Roger Federer in a 7-5 6-3 7-6 semi-final. The last time Roger Federer lost three straight sets to opponents is 5 years ago. The last time two players are going to play in gram slam final for their first time is ten years ago. WoW!

You know what...Novak Djokovic is just 20 year old. When I saw Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer, One picture emerged from my mind. Phil Hughes outpitch Josh Beckett in the American League Champion Series and "Young" Yankees Rotation bring us 27th World Series Title.