insightsports

For all of you armchair athletes, ESPA has come up with the remote to solve all your viewing problems. Dubbed the ESPN Ultimate Remote, this little gadget is packed with features. And no, I’m not getting a cut on any of the sales, but I thought you would want to know about it. For a mere $300, you can get all of this: wireless connection to the Internet that allows you to text message, send and check e-mail plus watch television via the 2-inch screen. It will even turn itself on when it senses nearby movement and automatically adjusts the brightness of its screen based on surrounding light. How could you possibly get along without it?

Justin Henin is gone and Venus Williams, last year’s Wimbledon Champion isn’t likely to repeat in a couple weeks, so the All-England championship is up for grabs. There are four big favorites as far as I can see. I’ll list them in order of my own power ranking and we’ll see how close I can come to predicting it. First off, I love the Serbians, so I see them finishing first and third. And then there are the Russians, and I see them at two and four. Here’s How it is going to end up: 1) Ana Ivanovic; 2) Maria Sharapova; 3) Jelena Jankovic; 4) Dinara Safina. I love them all and I hate to see any of them lose, but there has to be a winner and I see Ivanovic continuing to roll over her competitors the same way she did in Paris. What about the U.S. Open in August? Well, reigning champ Henin has put her racquet on the shelf, so it won’t be her. Right now I’ll stick with the same four listed above, but I’d really like to see Jankovic take one of these two majors. She seems to be a continuous also-ran and she deserves better.

Rafael Nadal took it to Roger Federer a couple weeks ago at the French Open. Rafe was brilliant and dominated Federer like never before. But that was on clay, which happens to be Nadal’s favorite surface. The final two majors—Wimbledon and the U.S. open—will be played on surfaces that are more favorable to Roger Federer. The Belgian is way overdue for a big win and I think the friendly grass of London will welcome him. Federer is the defending champion and I see him continuing to continue his reign for another year at least. He also won the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows last year and barring an injury he’ll repeat there as well. You heard it here first and I’ll keep you posted on developments.

The French Open is now history and it turned out pretty much as I expected. Roger Federer won’t ever win this one. He just can’t handle the big guns on clay. He may very likely win Wimbledon in a couple weeks when he returns to grass, one of the surfaces upon which he dominates. The clear-cut decisiveness by which Rafael Nadal defeated Federer (6-1, 6-3, 6-0) was testament to his strength on clay.  On the women’s side, Ana Ivanovic worked a little harder for her 6-4. 6-3 victory over up-and-coming Dinara Safina. Ivanovic’s first Grand Slam victory brought her an extra bonus on top of her trophy. She also was able to compile enough points to take over the world’s top ranking among women, bumping the statuesque Maria Sharipova aside during her assent to the throne. Good job, Ana and I hope you stay there for a long time to come. Next comes Wimbledon starting on June 23 and I am looking forward to some more great court action.

There may be some red, white and blue flags flying over the tennis courts at Roland Garros during the next several days, but most of them won’t have stars and stripes. Out of 10 men and nine women from the United States who traveled to Paris for the May 25 start of the French Open, only obscure Robby Ginepri remains. The big guns are gone—James Blake, Andy Murray and the Williams sisters (Serena and Venus) for example. Andy Roddick, America’s best hope, passed up the year’s second Grand Slam event because of a shoulder injury. So let’s all get behind Robby and show him some support. Interestingly, before this year’s French, Robby Ginepri had not even won a set at Roland Garros. Now he’s advanced to the fourth round and he has a real shot at defeating 24^th ranked Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Both men struggled in earlier matches in this tourney. Gonzalez nearly lost in the third round to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. After losing the first two sets, Gonzalez rallied to take the final three, all by scores of 6-4.

Sunday will be a real challenge for the American sports buff. Start out with a full slate of MLB games—15 games in all. Then toss in game three of the NBA Western Division finals, with Kobe Bryant’s Lakers leading 2-0. With this game being in San Antonio it’s time for the Spurs to get back on track. They lose this one and it’s all she wrote. They would have to win the next four straight and that isn’t going to happen. Also on tap is auto racing, starting with the Indianapolis 500 and then NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600. Add it up, that’s 1,100 miles of racing this Sunday. Perhaps golf is your forte. No problem, the final round of the Colonial in Fort Worth is on tap with fan-favorite Phil Mickelson leading the pack. I haven’t really been a big Mickelson fan, but I’m starting to come around a little bit, plus I picked him to win in my fantasy golf league, so I guess I’ll be rooting for him tomorrow. Oh, and did I mention tennis? It’s one of the big four starting tomorrow at Roland Garos—the French Open, this year’s second Grand Slam. Favorites Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova will be taking on a formidable group of challenges led by Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic. The only major professional sport that won’t take place tomorrow is NHL. First game of the Stanley Cup final between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penquins takes place tonight in Detroit. Sunday is an off day and then they will all be back out on the ice on Monday. So good luck in choosing what to watch. Personally I’ll be toggling back and forth between the Indy 500 and the French Open, with quick checks of basketball and golf during commercials. Baseball can take a back seat at this juncture in the season.

The world’s top two tennis players will both be trying for the one Grand Slam title that has eluded them over the years when they pull out their racquets in Paris this weekend for the start of the French Open that goes through June 8. Roger Federer, ranked No. 1 for the men, and Maria Sharapova, ranked No. 1 for the women, are both competing for French Open titles. Both have titles in the other Grand Slam events—the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open—and both badly want to win the title at Roland Garros to complete their ensemble. It won’t be a stroll in the park for either one, as there are plenty of strong challengers for both men and women. For the men, one can’t overlook perennial favorite Rafael Nadal. Also pushing hard for the title are No. 3 Novak Djokovic, the fun-loving Serbian, and No. 4 Nikolay Davydanko, the hard-hitting Russian. On the women’s side of the draw, Sharapova will need to watch out for a pair of Serbians. Maria had little trouble with No. 2 ranked Ana Ivanovic in the Australian Open final a couple months ago, but this time the match will be played on clay, a much slower surface and Sharapova’s power game will be somewhat neutralized. Anything can happen. And don’t discount Ana’s compatriot Jelena Jankovic, who is ranked No. 3. Jelena has never won a Grand Slam event and I know that has to be eating away at her. And then of course there’s Serena Williams, ranked No. 5 and winner of eight Grand Slams, including the French Open in 2002. There will be a lot of action and it all starts on June 8.

I love tennis! I love playing tennis and I love watching tennis. As a member of the U.S. Tennis Association I particpate in several leagues each year, singles and doubles, men’s and mixed. I play at least four times a week and can’t seem to get enough. Last weekend I played in a “Wooden Racquet” tournament at my club. Everyone showed up in tennis whites and played with 50-year-old racquets. It was a blast. I have some pristine Jack Kramer racquets in my collection, but opted for a Tad Davis Blackstreak racquet from the 1950s. I also brought along my 1919 Wilson Wilding racquet that is in unbelievably good condition for a racquet that is 90 years old. It still has its original gut strings and wrap. By the way, although it is called a Wilson, it was manufactured by Wilson Western Sporting Goods Company. Wilson dropped the Western name in 1931. The “Wilding” refers to Tony Wilding, a New Zealander who was the No. 1 player in the world in the early 1910s, winning several Wimbledon singles and doubles titles. After winning Wimbledon in 1914, Wilding went to war. He was killed in action in France in 1915. What a waste of a life. It would be interesting to see how today’s players—people like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams—would fare with these racquets. It could make for a very interesting French Open.

The great Roger Federer has 12 Grand Slam titles to his name—5 Wimbledon, 4 U.S. Open and 3 Australian Open. But there’s a big empty spot on his mantle. He has never won a French Open.   After reaching the semi-final in the 2001 French Open, Federer has been a dominating force on the court. Unless of course the court’s surface happens to be clay. His arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal has won the last three championships at Roland Garros, beating Federer in 2006 and 2007.  Nadal bested Federer again a couple weeks ago in Monte Carlo in a tune-up to the May 25-June 8 French.  I think this will be Roger’s year to win the last remaining Grand Slam and fill in that empty spot in his mantle. We won’t have long to wait. I for one will be watching the excitement. Stay tuned for my prediction on the ladies’ side of the tournament as well.

Remember when Roger Federer was unstoppable?  In what was considered a tune-up tournament for the upcoming French Open, Federer lost 7-6,7-6 to 27^th ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in a tournament called the Rome Masters. The loss was Federer’s 6^th of the year, and it’s only May. He’ll hold his No. 1 ranking for now, especially since No. 2 Rafael Nadal also got booted from the same tournament earlier in the week (second round defeat by Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.

On the distaff side, keep an eye on 17^th ranked Dinara Safina, who knocked Serena Williams out of the German Open, ending Serena’s 17-match winning streak. The win was no fluke, especially when you consider that Dinara sent top-ranked Justine Henin packing from the same tournament the day before. This does not bode well for defending French Open champion Henin with that Grand Slam event only about two weeks away. Ph, and in case you were wondering, Yes, Dinara has a brother who is well known in tennis circles. He is of course Marat Safin, two-time grand slam champion. Got an opinion about pro tennis? Post it here and I’ll be sure to respond.