Radek Stepanek and Dinara Safina pulled off major upsets...except they weren't upsets, because Federer and Williams had been touched by the Niles "Kiss of Death."
Yep, the “Kiss of Death” is still in effect. I did apologize to Serena Williams last night for picking her to win, and that apology was well warranted. Dinara Safina played as tough a set as I’ve seen her play against Serena in the third set, and I’m sure that was fueled by the “Kiss.”
Safina was reminiscent of her brother Marat Safin when he was on his game and had his mind together. She hit some incredible shots and moved better than she has ever moved. A little fitness does wonders for one’s confidence.
I should have apologized to Jelena Jankovic in advance as well, since I cursed her too with my pick. Elena Dementieva actually had fewer double faults than Jankovic, and won more point on serve than Jankovic.
Federer is likely to be a repeat victim because I just can’t pick against the guy. And Stepanek is a serve volley player, beating the Fed on clay! I can get away with that sometimes, but Stepanek against Federer? I’m guilty on Robredo as well, as he fell to Roddick in a third-set breaker.
This Kiss isn’t totally guaranteed however. I figured Blake would wilt and he did. I thought Victoria Azarenka would prevail over Alona Bondarenko and she did. Djokovic did get past Almagro.
That’s 50% on the men, and the best I can do is 50% on the women. It may take me a while to perfect the “Kiss of Death,” but when I do, it will compel players to offer me large sums of money not to pick them. I can smell the green$$$.
So, next round I’m picking Djokovic over Stepanek, and Roddick over Wawrinka in the men’s draw, Azarenka over Safina, and Dementieva over either Ivanovic or Szavay. We’ll see tomorrow. Game, set, match…
