2024 Wimbledon

(7) Paolini 2/6/4 - 6/2/6 (31) Krejcikova

As Paolini was stepping up to take the opening serve, Krejcikova asked for a moment and they each mumbled around the court for an extra second before starting; but it struck me that Krejcikova wasn't saying, 'hey, could you give me a second?' to Paolini it was more like 'no, no, you're not supposed to start yet'. A brilliant little eye of the tiger moment. And in the opening set, Paolini struggled to find her serve and Krejcikova played solid (if rather vanilla) and easily rolled up over her diminutive  competitor. Krejcikova's serve was pretty much the same fast ball down the middle every time, not overpowering but consistent (even robotic) and Krejcikova was putting her forehand returns deep to the baseline and pushing Paolini back. Often times, especially in Ladies' tennis, the one who has to work harder will not be the victor, so as active as Paolini was, it felt like in the long run she was working against herself. Felt like Krejcikova was in control and Paolini was flailing, felt like this was gonna be over quick. 

But after dropping the 1st set, Paolini found her serve, suddenly Krejcikova was making a lot of unforced errors and the second set was the opposite of the first: Paolini's work was paying off and it was Krejcikova lumbering around out there. Another detail: in the 2nd set Krejcikova went through this phase of not hitting her serves and letting the ball drop back down; the commentator fretted that she was losing her confidence but I thought it was another psych-out technique: she was trying to put Paolini on the puppet string and get her thinking about tennis instead of playing it. 

Once they both went through their ups and downs and settled into themselves, the 3rd set was good stuff. Paolini had some nasty returns, Krejcikova had some nifty winners, it was back and forth action. Then tied at 3-3, Paolini double faulted away the game and that felt like the death blow. At 5-4, serving for the match, Krejcikova brought back her non-serving thing and, again, it didn't strike me as nerves, it struck me as a psych-out move. But sometimes that can backfire: instead of just playing your best tennis, you're trying to tiptoe through some game you're playing in your head and you lose focus. It felt for a moment like Paolini was gonna steal the break back and we might get to a tie break. But Krejcikova got over her shakiness, made enough winning plays to seal the match.

Fun match! These were two totally different players, different styles, different temperaments, different strategies and they both overcome their adversities to put on a good show. Good win for Krejcikova, not sure if she's back on track or if this was just a good two weeks for her. Tough L for Paolini but I think she's gonna be a tough out at the US Open, looking forward to seeing her. 

(2) Djokovic 2/2/6 - 6/6/7 (3) Alcaraz

Man, I've seen Djokovic lose before but I don't recall ever seeing him just get stomped like a bug before. Alcaraz was returning every ball which pushed Djokovic into really weird unforced errors compounded by the fact that Djokovic never got his serve going either. Really, the only moment of hope for Djokovic was when Alcaraz got the yips when serving for the match: he's up 40-love and then somehow loses the game. Alcaraz pretty well dominated from beginning to end. When Medvedev took out Sinner in the quarters (kept waiting for Medvedev to blow it in the 5th, kept waitng for Sinner to take over, but it never happened--good win for Medvedev), Djokovic must've been thinking that the tourney was his now, but he forgot about Alcaraz, who is officially the man now. I presume he'll be #1 going into the US Open and I'd put him as the fave.

2022 World Cup (Final)

Semifinals

Argentina 3-0 Croatia

This game was as wide open unpredictable as any match I've seen in ages, maybe like an NCAA Final with two great teams or a Masters where everyone is balling out. I had no idea what would transpire, so when Argentina was up 2-0 at the half, I still figured Croatia could win 3-2--I would not have been shocked. But, man, Messi was so fuckin' good in the 2nd half, just owned the game, took it over like Nikola Jokic: he just did whatever needed to be done like a boss. That third goal was pure Messi, thing o' beauty. I thought the PK that kicked off the scoring in the 1st half was 50/50: there was clearly contact so a replay isn't gonna change anything, I'm just so used to the keeper being given more leeway than everyone else that I'm surprised they called that contact, I thought it was even; Messi nailed the perfect finish (the one Harry Kane couldn't put away against France). Then soon after that Croatia gave up a video game goal: you're playing FIFA, you start thinking about getting an oil change or something, the computer's got the ball but he's not doing anything, you expect the ball to get poked away, it never does, now you're down 2-nothing. It was one of those, not a brilliant play but Argentina, just good ol' persistence kept the possession and went coast to coast with it. Nice work by Argentina, Messi played great, Croatia just never got lucky, made a coupla bonehead plays and that was that. 

France 2-0 Morocco

When Morocco gave up an early goal (5th minute) to France, I wasn't that worried; I knew Morocco wasn't gonna change anything about their game, though maybe they had a chance to get an equalizer. Well, Morocco really did control possession for the most part, but France's counter was pretty good. So even though Morcco held the ball and moved it well for the most part, the French still seemed more dangerous around the goal. When France got that 2nd goal (in the 80th minute), it finally let off the tension, because Morocco really could've tied that game up. Morocco was good at all phases of the game except shooting, they never really get one decent rip in the whole game, even though they held possession well and were sneaky in the offensive mid. But, France was able to overcome the chaos, got two kooky goals out of it and they're moving on. France has the home run potential of Brazil but more confidence in the midfield like Portugal or Spain, they're a good team; but if Morocco had a little more shot making up front, France might be playing the consolation game. 

3) Morocco (legit top notch defense, loved the keeper, their attacking midfield was effective against a lot of different teams; but they're goal scoring just wasn't effective enough; they deserved this run, this is a good squad, though I didn't get a feel for how old/young they are and the African teams are notoriously up and down, so not sure if they'll be nearly as tough in 2026)

4) Croatia (good team, savvy veterans, classy footballers, but they needed some luck and they did not get any against Argentina; Croatia is definitely on the map, their recent success is not a surprised, but I'm not sure this team makes it back in 2026)

Final

Croatia - Morocco

Could be a fun match. Morocco is sturdy, good in defense (though they get stretched on the counter), pretty good holding the ball. Croatia is a veteran side, patient, opportunistic but I think a little more geared toward making the big play than they ought to be. Also, gotta factor in who actually wants to play another game after losing in the semis and who is ready to just go home; I think they'll wanna play and should be rather conservative. I think I like Morocco to find the goal (maybe in OT) and I think Croatia fails to counter. I'll take Morocco.  

France - Argentina

My pre-tourney prediction was Belgium over France in the Final. Belgium did not live up to my expectations--even after they were gifted an opening game W against Canada, a team that more or less dominated them for 89 minutes and 55 seconds. But I'm not shocked to France here in the Final. They've got a ton of talent all over the field, Mbappe has been pretty great and has plenty of speed and moxy to the outside to make plays even at the highest of levels. I've been sandbagging Argentina all the way through because they didn't look special to me and I'm more used to see decline in the older teams; but then again this is the era of Lebron and Tom Brady, Federer and Nadal and, well, Messi. This team is and has been much better than I've given them credit for and their big man is feeling it. I like Argentina, I expect Messi to play the game of his life and while I expect France to be good, they look kinda half-ass to me, like they're waiting for the miracle instead of putting in the work. I think France has the better, younger talent, but I think Argentina is in it to win it like nobody I've seen in a while. I like Argentina (they're playing like they really fucking want it).

2022 Champions League (final)

Liverpool 0-1 Real Madrid

Dang, what a pass!

Well, not completely unexpected: Liverpool was the better team for 90 minutes, but Real made the right play, got the only goal and they are your 2022 Champions League Champions. Fun match, seems anti-climactic but not at all, there was a lot of good action throughout. Liverpool got desperate in the last 15 minutes or so, felt like Real might get another goal on the counterattack.

Liverpool had way more good chances, hit the post a coupla times, made Thibaut Courtois (man of the match!) make a number of killer saves, dominated possession. But they just never found the net and Real did. 

All the way this year's tourney, Real Madrid just kept finding ways to get by even though they felt overmatched most of the time. Karim Benzema was great, Vinicius Jr balled out consistently, and Courtois was the rock in the goal. But the rest of the squad felt disappointing to me. But, oh well, they are the champs (though I wouldn't be surprised if they're totally different next year).