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Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are set to meet in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday, in a match scheduled to begin at 3:30 a.m. ET. It's the 27th time the pair have met on a tennis court, with the Majorcan matador holding a 17-9 edge all-time, 7-2 in Grand Slams. The meeting is notable, considering Nadal's uncharacteristically salty comments about his hirsute Swiss rival before the tournament. The last time Nadal and Federer met Down Under was in the 2009 final, an epic four-hour, five-setter that ended with an inconsolable Federer in tears. More »
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The television networks employ former athletes as analysts because of the uncommon insight they can offer from having been there. Those ex-athletes will, on occasion, uphold their end of the bargain by informing us of something we might not have known or understood without the benefit of their perspective. But just as often, we get banality, cliches, or lunges at outright asininity like this, courtesy former tennis great Jim Courier. Novak Djokovic was visibly ill during much of his Australian Open quarterfinal victory last night against David Ferrer, so it was certainly worth asking him how he powered through. But this wasn't the way to do it. More »
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Czech Tomas Berdych faced deafening boos and squeals (which are apparently some kind of Australian version of hissing) after refusing to shake the hand of Spain's Nicolas Almagro following Berdych's four-set win today in Melbourne. More »
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After falling behind by two sets to Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round of the Australian Open last night, Marcos Baghdatis went to his chair and calmly smashed four consecutive Tecnifibre rackets. The rage propelled him to win the following set, but Wawrinka took the match, 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. At least Baghdatis won the crowd. More »
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While Americans were freezing their Tebows off watching playoff football, the first major tennis tournament of the year kicked off in Australia, with temperatures in Melbourne hitting 92 on day one. Dylan Stableford, Deadspin's tennis editor, has a preview of the action Down Under. More »
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Margaret (Smith) Court is a former Australian tennis great turned pastor in something called the Victory Life Church. Earlier in the week she made statements with regard to homosexuality, marriage and political correctness. Some of her thoughts are listed below: More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5742645&view=rss&microfeed=true

Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5740598&view=rss&microfeed=true Is there anything worse than press conferences? The same boring questions get asked every time, and answered in the same boring way. Caroline Wozniacki noticed this, and decided she didn't need the media's help to continue on with the charade. More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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The Australian Open starts tomorrow, with Rafael Nadal going for a not-quite Grand Slam. It's "not-quite" because while he'd win a fourth consecutive grand slam, it's not in the same season and Rod Laver won't let that historical-aggression stand. More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like athletes who are suddenly going to get a lot more attention now that football season is drawing to a close. You've heard of "sports," right? More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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The most pressing question of our time is, naturally, was Venus Williams wearing underwear at the Australian Open yesterday? We dig deep, breaking down the footage, to give you a definitive answer. More »
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Ain't live TV grand? Upset with virtually every call going against him on a match point, Roddick berates the umpire for his "bullshit" call. He then drops an f-bomb for good measure. Roddick won, by the way. More »
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An Australian Open match was delayed by 40 minutes today when a (nervous? sick?) ballboy peed himself on the court. At least he has a long fruitful life of intense psychological therapy ahead of him. [The Age/Fanhouse] More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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Roger Federer is still the best tennis player in the world—provided he isn't playing Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard outlasted him once again to win the Australian Open while you were sleeping in. More »
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Got an image you'd like to see in here first thing in the morning? Send it to tips@deadspin.com. Subject: Morning crap More »
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Andy Roddick adopted a strict new workout regimen, shedding 15 pounds so he could move quicker and last longer in the blistering Australian heat. It worked—but it still wasn't enough. More »
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Here's a fun fact: when I look out my window I see snow, yet somehow at this very moment it's summer in Australia! How does that work?! More »
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Andy Roddick on Serena Williams: "When we were ten, I had to literally run around in the shower to get wet. She was bench pressing dump trucks already at that time." [Yahoo Sports] More »
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In a nice change of pace, today's Aussie Open produced no disturbing video images. Unless you happen to be Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray's opponent. More »
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Now why wouldn't somebody throw a chair at the guy running across the court without his pants? [SportsRubbish] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5138115&view=rss&microfeed=true Bosnian and Serbian spectators attacked each other with lawn chairs after the third-round Australian Open match between Serbian Novak Djokovic and Bosnian-born Amer Delic. Police arrested two men and kicked 30 people off the grounds for fighting. More »
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What's this? Another Australian Open update? It seems Croatian and Serbian fans are not getting along in Melbourne, which is shocking because they've known each other for so long! [Fanhouse] More »
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Sixth-seeded Venus Williams loses, failing to face her sister in the Australian Open final—which is just rude, don't you think? [Open News] More »
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When they tell you to keep your eye on the ball, I don't think they mean let a professional tennis player drill you in the socket with a forehand. [Simon On Sports] More »
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Hey, gang. The Australian Open is under way! Seriously, does anyone care about this, because I am honestly curious about the state of tennis' popularity. [Aussie Open] More »
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What happens when you get close to John Daly with an item that isn't either donuts or booze; he destroys it. Here's Australian Open fan Brad Clegg and what used to be his camera. More »
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So a man named Dan Hopper has sent us a photo of a kangaroo invading the Australian Open. And suddenly, our existence on this Earth makes total sense. It's the circle of liiiife ... More »
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For the majority of her yearly tournament appearances, 17-year-old Austrian tennis star Tamira Paszek manages to keep the twins indoors, as they say. (OK, no one says that but me). But when the Australian Open rolls around, things change. She's out there, Jerry! And she's lovin' every minute of it! More »
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It's looking like there will be exactly one interesting men's professional tennis match played this year, and that will be Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal in the finals of the French Open. Federer is probably going to win every other match he plays, and any match that doesn't involve Federer amounts to just two guys jerking off. More »
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Playing like a slightly more masculine version of Roger Federer, Serena Williams spanked Maria Sharapova in the finals of the Australian Open yesterday, winning 6-1, 6-2. It is the third biggest upset in Australian Open history, sort of. Serena came into the tournament ranked 81st in the world. Turns out, her ranking was slightly misleading. Sharapova called her "flawless." More »
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