Quote For The Day

"On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right."

- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Today we honor the legacy of a man with a dream, a man called hero by all kinds of people in this nation and all over the globe. I hadn't gotten around to posting his words here because they didn't appear to have anything whatsoever to do with tennis.


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And then I saw the headline "Nadal Insults Federer" screaming at me from yahoo's homepage. Yesterday, I peeped a bit of what the controversy was all about but didn't find an insult in what Rafael Nadal said about Roger Federer. Didn't see a "rift" either. That's how most of the other headlines characterized it. To my ears, a man simply said what he had to say. Clearly, given all the headlines, what Nadal said was neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he obviously thought it was right. He even repeated it when asked again. Federer didn't seem at all insulted. He simply suggested that Nadal has matured and speaks his own mind more than he once did. As my mother is wont to say, "And that's about the size of it."

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Bernard Tomic came back from two sets to love down to defeat No. 22 seed Fernando Verdasco in the wilting heat. Throughout most of the first two sets, Darren Cahill could swear that his countryman didn't have the fitness to go toe-to-toe with Verdasco and there would be no way for him to come back from such a deep hole. Cahill even went so far as to suggest Tomic had done himself a disservice by requesting a day match. Surely the slower conditions at night would improve his chances against such a big hitter. But the teenager had the last word when his final forehand down the line blew by Verdasco, wrong-footed and stranded on the other side of the court.


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There's something about the Aussie's game that captures me. I still don't know what it is. When the draw came out, I was almost certain the underdog would upset the seed. I had no idea the drama would unfold as it did, but I'm oh, so glad it did. It's why I enjoy the Australian Open so much. You never have to wait more than a day or two before a match grabs you and doesn't let go.

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All of the televised women's matches were unremarkable.

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Now we head into Day 2. Of course I'm interested in seeing if Serena Williams is 100% and if Andy Roddick can hold off Robin Haase. Neither American has an easy out in their first match. I expect some drama for both.

Use this as your Day 2 Open Thread.