Picspam: Truly Aaaaaasia.

The tournament in KL is underway as the PMO organisers arranged a players party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. 
Go back to your room Reeshie, you’re GROUNDED.
 

 
One of the great things about having tournaments in non-Western countries is that the organisers always feel obliged to dress the players up in traditional costumes.
Can you imagine tournaments in [...]

Picspam: Sometimes, even Anna Wintour can’t save you from a bad shirt.

With the next month free from tennis, Roger Federer took the time to catch up with his buddies at Jura. 
 
Normally, I’m all for the whole “shirt + jeans + no tie” thing. But Roger, Roger, Roger… there is no shame in just a plain white shirt. You know? 
 

 
Luckily, he still has a killer smile and [...]

Picket Fence Vid: Someone get this girl her own show.

My life wouldn’t be complete without Flavs and reality TV.
Dear Italians, subtitles would be much appreciated. 
 

 
LOVE this bit:
“Would you do Federer?” 
“No.” 
“Nadal?” 
“No.” 
“Del Potro?” 
“[Starts laughing] NO.” 
“Yannick Noah?” 
“[suspicious pause] … No.”  
 
Really Flavia? You had to think about Yannick Noah? 
 
“Maria Sharapova?”
“No.”
 
Heh? Please don’t pretend to out Sharapova. 
 
“With (Carlos) Moya I had free sex all [...]

One.

Cupcakes anyone?
My baby blog just turned one! Partay! 
 

 
Having realised I’ve left a few things unexplained, here are the answers to some questions you were all too lazy to ask.
 
1. Why is this blog called “All I need is a picket fence”?
A) Secret fence fetish
B) Psychoanalytic insight into humanity’s need for security and closure.
C) [...]

Tokyo: So who wants to play tennis?

Dinara Safina: OUT.
Venus Williams: OUT.
Elena Dementieva: OUT.
Svetlana Kuznetsova: OUT.
Caroline Wozniacki: OUT. 
Vera Zvonareva: OUT.
Flavia Pennetta: OUT.
Nadia Petrova: OUT. 
Ana Ivanovic: OUT. 
 
Hardly excusable for any of these players. With the exception of CWoz and Flavia, none of them made it beyond 4th round at the US Open. Even with an extended break, none of them came to Tokyo [...]

ZOMG! FREAK ACCIDENTS SOUND FREAKIER IN CAPS LOCK!

Okay, OUCH:
 
Sam Querrey needed surgery after badly cutting his right arm when he fell through a glass table in Bangkok.
The American world number 25, broke the table when he sat on it following a practice session at the Thailand Open.
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) said he is expected to be out of action for [...]

Tokyo: Just retire for 2 years, okay?

The headlines read “Safina stunned by Toyko loss”, “Ivanovic upset by Safarova“. Unfortunately it was just one of those cliches that journalists like to fall back on when they run out of worthwhile things to say.
There was nothin stunning or upsetting about Safina or Ivanovic losing first round. 
 

 
Self-professedly, I’m not an Ivanovic-fan, but cheering against her [...]

Picspam: It must be love.

So it’s time to say goodbye to Ai Sugiyama. 
 

 
The reaction of her fellow players speaks volumes about Ai as a player and as a person. Like Fabrice Santoro, she combined the talent she had with excellent work ethic, making a record 62 grand slam main draw appearances in a career that spanned 17 years. As [...]

Picket Fence Vid: 5 slams in a year, y’all.

This is the video version of the interview I posted a few days ago. It’s amazing how much gets lost when the press translates an English interview into Italian only to have Federer fans translate it back. 
Massive “awww” when Roger said that marrying Mirka was his fifth slam. 
 

Open Post: this thing called sport…

 
AFL is not my sport. You know?
For those who don’t know: AFL stands for the Aussie Football League, the biggest sport in this country. As Melbournians celebrate AFL Grand Final day with more zest than they do on Australia Day, even if it’s not my sport, it’s hard for me not [...]