World Cup Fever

Sorry about the lack of posting, everyone. As you may or may not have heard, the World Cup has kicked off, as it has been threatening to do for some time, and consequently work is 50% more busy and stressful. I’m doing what I can. In the mean time, let us all join hands and pray for England to lose early so my life becomes easier.

Vamos Argentina.

The News From Your Bed

So I’m in a good mood (by which I mean I’m nicely drunk), and not that much interesting stuff happened at Roland Garros today, so I’m going to talk about Delpo for a minute. Any objections? Excellent.

Our man lives! And he’s wounded, yet hot. I am conflicted.

So it seems that after all the whining in the Argentinean press (and, to be fair, all the complaining by me), Delpo has got himself a twitter. The Argentinean press are certainly treating it as valid, and I’m assuming that it’s him because he’s posting, well, candid photos of himself. If it isn’t him and is instead some unknown person that has enough access to take and post that photo while pretending to be him … well, then, good on you, mysterious stranger. Keep it up. Try to get him in the bath. Anyway, he more or less christened his twitter by announcing he’s no longer in a cast. Hooray!

Meanwhile, he’s dropped to no. 6 in the rankings. Sad sad news, I hear you say. But wait … apparently, ‘sixth’ in Argentina is ‘sexto’, at least according to my fuzzy squinting at articles like this. Yep, Delpo is sexto, and if that doesn’t give you at least a tiny, tiny flicker of amusement, then you’re a far more mature person than I am.

Also, this seems like a good a time as any to post this recent-ish photo of Delpo being given a Santamarina shirt, for some reason. 

And if that doesn’t cheer you up, how about these oldies but fried goldies, courtesy of MTF …

And that concludes our random Elfday.

It Is Not Defended.

On his return from the States to check on the progress of his recuperation, Delpo confirmed that he won’t be playing the US Open.

Citing a desire not to rush his recovery, he said that he won’t play until Paris in the autumn at the earliest. A return in 2011 looks much more likely.

“If I have to return next year or at Paris Bercy, I will,” said Del Potro, referring to the Paris Open.

[…] “Thankfully, I’ve already undergone the operation and everything went well. Now I just have to recover,” said Del Potro, who will continue his recovery in his home town of Tandil, 350 km south of Buenos Aires.

“I don’t want to get desperate in rehab and I’m comfortable with the fact that if I do my time I’ll be playing again on the circuit,” he said.

“I know it’s going to take a long time to get back to being among the top players like I was before, but what I want more than anything is to return.”

source

(You can see some video of an extremely hairy airport Elf modelling the latest in a well-established tradition of awful baseball caps here.)

It always seemed wildly optimistic that he would be able to play the US Open, and obviously the last thing he should do is rush his recovery, if recovery there is to be.

Still …

(source)

Fairly Sure Jim Didn’t Fix This

So … huge thanks to Tracy, who emailed me the link to this equal parts sweet and odd video of Delpo. I’d be lying if I said I knew why this happened, but basically a Delpo fan gets the chance to hit with … Delpo, probably through some Argentine version of ‘Jim’ll Fix It’. Except that’s too easy, so Delpo dresses up as more or less a ’70s porn star and pretends to be someone else (‘Pablo del Potro’?), apparently fooling the kid, who displays Lois Lane levels of willing suspension of disbelief. And his reaction when he finds out is, if it’s possible, genuinely heartwarming.

Oh just watch it. It’s the closest thing you’re going to get to watching Delpo for a long, long time.

Also? I still love him when he’s in his Chuckle Brothers style garb.

I’m sick. I need help.

(Thanks again to Tracy for bringing this into my life.)

Elf Comes Home

Juan Martin del Potro (yes, we still care about him more than anyone else) has returned home to Argentina. He’s alive! I consider this the first hurdle successfully passed. He’ll have to go back to the US in 15 days to check on the progress of the wrist, though.

Why is he pushing that thing himself?!

Delpo said that the surgery had left him more relaxed and he was going to concentrate on relaxing and enjoying himself rather than concentrating on the tournaments that he’s missing, the ranking points he’s losing, the fact that the best years of his career are passing him by, etc. All of which is eminently sensible.

On a sweet note, he said that he’s had calls from Federer and Nadal, and that Andy Murray had written him an email. Presumably saying something other than “your mum”. Federer also had some encouraging words in Estoril today. Love the support. Love it.

Oh, and there’s glorious, unintelligible-to-me video here.

Elf, Interrupted

Let’s just get this over with, shall we? As of right this now, Delpo has had surgery on his troublesome right wrist. The surgery was performed by Dr Richard Berger of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, it took about 40 minutes, and the recovery time is anywhere between four and six months. That is, if you’re counting, most of 2011.

According to Fue Buena, Delpo broke the news via a letter to an Argentinean radio show he was due to appear on:

Dear friends,

I decided to write because I want them to know by my own words of what is happening to me. Today, Tuesday, May 4, I will be operated ulnar extensor tendon in my right wrist carpal. What will Dr. Berger, a specialist in the field, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Throughout this year, I wanted to avoid surgery with different treatments, but obviously the injury was more serious. Just came to the United States, the doctor did tests on the court and various studies to locate the points of pain. And there he made the decision to the operation.

As you all understand, is not a happy moment in my life. But I’m used to fighting adversity and I have all the forces to move this forward. So, I wanted to break the news myself. Unfortunately, circulated false and malicious versions on my mood and my physical condition. I’m not clear on what does not exist. But the bad information not only affects my family, my team and the people who care about me. Also affects you who end up reading news that are not true.

The recovery time is long but it depends on many factors that today can not be measured because it is so recent. I will spend the first postoperative days here and then return to the country, with more details, I will inform them every step of my recovery. I understand your anxiety, but I hope they understand my point.

Finally, I want to thank all the fans who showed me unconditional support. Those who crossed the streets of my country and those who encouraged me anywhere in the world via the Internet. Now I need more than ever. They are phenomena and strength that will give me great motivation to return everything. So enjoy and be together.

Thank you very much everybody,
Juan Martin Del Potro

source

The ‘false and malicious versions’ he refers to are the unsubstantiated rumours, denied by his manager Ugo Colombini, that his absence from the circuit was due to more psychological than physical factors and a case of ‘stage fright’ … Yeah. Because if we know nothing else about Delpo, it’s that he’s terrified of the big stage.

Anyway, even assuming that the surgery constitutes an effective, long-term solution to the wrist problem, we’re not going to be seeing Delpo for a long, long time. But to quote Starbuck, “So life’s a bitch. What are you gonna do? Cry about it?”

Meh … probably. But as appropriate responses go, I don’t think you could do much better than this:

And it’s not often I find myself completely agreeing with Andy Roddick.

End transmission.

This Is Really Starting To Suck

And the ‘what’s wrong with Andy Murray?’ kicks into overdrive as he gets schooled by Philipp Kohlschreiber, 62 61.

It’s not like there’s any particular shame in losing to Kohlschreiber on clay (right, Nole?), but there kind of is when you get just three games, serve at 37% and reportedly really, really suck. Coupled with early losses in Miami and Dubai and a less than impressive performance against an admittedly inspired Soderling in Indian Wells, it’s definitely starting to look like we have a slump – or, possibly, a crater.

I haven’t seen him play since Dubai (bad fan) so I don’t really have an opinion on What’s Wrong. Not that that really matters when everybody else does.

Of course the only opinion that counts is that of the man himself, not that it makes cheery reading:

“The last few tournaments have been bad,” he admitted. “It’s been a long time since I lost a couple of matches like this. I have to make sure that I don’t panic. […]

“It was the first time in a few years that the court felt so small. I just could not find the court. When it’s like that, it’s difficult to play.”

Murray, who lost his serve five times, added, “I tried different things. I tried serve and volleying a couple of times. I tried hitting some high balls. It did not really make a whole lot of difference.

You know, I was all ready to attempt some kind of analytic post-mortem, but after reading 17,3986 variations on the theme of ‘Murray’s a loser and now everyone knows it’, I’ve lost my taste for it. He’ll get over it. He’ll be fine.

I hope.

Anyway, one outgrowth of Murray’s failure to defend his semifinal points from last year is that Delpo is once again back up to #4 in the rankings – despite not having played since January. Er, yay? Have a photo to prove he’s alive …

… albeit not in any meaningful tennistical way.

ATP Injury Count Rises

First, the worst: Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from Monte Carlo and Barcelona because the tendonitis in his right wrist still won’t allow him to train properly. After spending Easter in Tandil he’s gone to Rochester, Minnesota (the town where I was born! OK, not important) to consult a specialist called Dr Richard Berger, and been diagnosed with a ‘small residual tendonitis’. So … more rest until Rome at the earliest? I don’t even know what to say any more.

I’m starting to seriously wonder if we’re ever getting him back. And seeing as how I’m a hollow shell of a woman and this blog is a shallow facsimile of a hollow shell of a woman’s blog without Delpo, that really isn’t good news for anyone except my enemies. And I hate those guys.

OK, enough Futurama references. Life goes on. Except not really if you’re any one of these guys: Gilles Simon, who will be out for a month with his ongoing knee problems and may miss Roland Garros; Robin Soderling, whose S&M-style knee strapping in Miami was the result of a knee strain that will keep him out of Monte Carlo; or Radek Stepanek, who’s out for a couple of months with exhaustion (in the interests of gender equality, we really should start talking about how Nicole Vaidisova is clearly ruining his career). And I haven’t heard any further update on Fernando Verdasco’s back problem either.

Can we just call the tour off for a couple of weeks? Maybe a month?

We could call it an ‘off season’.

Wristgate: The Latest

Quick update on Delpo’s progress towards not being tennistically dead, courtesy of Fue buena:

Juan Martin Del Potro practiced for the first time yesterday since pulling out of Marseille and Dubai. He did half an hour of very easy training, without exhausting himself. He didn’t feel any pain and thinks he’ll be able to return at Miami.

I couldn’t decide on a photo to illustrate this news (and then I got very distracted looking at photos), so have an old classic.

This update brought to you by Julia.

Delpo With a Splint Makes Me a Sad Panda

La Nacion has an interview with Delpo in Buenos Aires. Headlines: he’s taken a complete break from training, is healing and hopes to return for Miami. And there are photos that make me sad.

This is what I picked up from the google translate version:

• The problem is an edema (?) of the ulna (??). So … not tendonitis, then. Unless it’s the same thing. Is there a doctor in the house?
• On medical advice, he’s taken four weeks off with the splint. Next week will be week number four. Doesn’t leave a lot of time to get into playing shape for Miami, which is his likely return.
• In case you were wondering, there’s basically nothing that can be done to get rid of this problem. It’s just chronic and has to be managed.
• He’s cautiously optimistic about the Davis Cup tie with Sweden, noting that Pico (who loves him like a brother, lest we forget) is playing really well at the moment.
• Gives a fairly flat denial to the whole World Cup replacing Davis Cup idea.
• He’s in favour (unlike Boss) of Buenos Aires becoming a hard court tournament.
• He says that he and his team made some variations to his game to try to take the strain off the wrist before the Australian Open. That worked out well, eh?

I am concerned that he’ll rush his recovery and come back too soon. But mainly, I’m just miserable.

Artist’s impression of my emotional state.

Anyway … he’s still adorable. Thanks to my fellow suffering Argy fan Julia at VamosDavid for the link.