US Open 2010 Day 2 Open Thread

Schedule for Day 2: Tuesday, August 31 2010

Arthur Ashe Stadium 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4] v. Simona Halep (ROU)
Not Before:1:00
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Viktor Troicki (SRB) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Jarmila Groth (AUS) v. Maria Sharapova (RUS)[14]
Arthur Ashe Stadium 7:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Rafael Nadal (ESP)[1] v. Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[1] v. Chelsey Gullickson (USA)

Louis Armstrong Stadium 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)[16] v. Arnaud Clement (FRA)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Na Li (CHN)[8]
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Kristof Vliegen (BEL) v. James Blake (USA)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Zuzana Kucova (SVK) v. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[7]

Grandstand 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[11] v. Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN)
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Jan Hajek (CZE) v. Mardy Fish (USA)[19]
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Fabio Fognini (ITA) v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[8]
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) v. Sabine Lisicki (GER)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[22]
v. Jamie Hampton (USA)
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Eduardo Schwank (ARG) v. Robby Ginepri (USA)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[23]
4. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) v. Denis Istomin (UZB)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Alicia Molik (AUS) v. Mirjana Lucic (CRO)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Beatrice Capra (USA) v. Karolina Sprem (CRO)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Tommy Robredo (ESP) v. Lukas Rosol (CZE)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) v. Urszula Radwanska (POL)
5. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Stephen Huss (AUS) v. Rajeev Ram (USA)
Andre Sa (BRA) Bobby Reynolds (USA)

Court 7 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)[23] v. Santiago Giraldo (COL)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Shuai Peng (CHN) v. Shelby Rogers (USA)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
David Ferrer (ESP)[10] v. Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) v. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)

Court 8 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) v. Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) v. Jill Craybas (USA)
[B]3. Men's Singles - 1st Round [/B]
Benjamin Becker (GER) v. Daniel Brands (GER)
4. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)[3] v. Martin Damm (CZE)
Leander Paes (IND)[3] Filip Polasek (SVK)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Rainer Schuettler (GER) v. Benoit Paire (FRA)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Tamira Paszek (AUT) v. Lucie Safarova (CZE)[26]
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Florent Serra (FRA) v. Florian Mayer (GER)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) v. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)

Court 11 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Aravane Rezai (FRA)[18] v. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[9] v. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Juan Monaco (ARG)[30] v. Peter Polansky (CAN)
4. Men's Singles - 1st Round
David Nalbandian (ARG)[31] v. Rik De Voest (RSA)
5. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Andrea Petkovic (GER) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[17]

Court 12 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) v. Patty Schnyder (SUI)
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Philipp Petzschner (GER) v. Dusan Lojda (CZE)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Romina Oprandi (ITA) v. Julia Goerges (GER)
4. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Andrew Courtney (USA) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)[10]
Michael Shabaz (USA) Dick Norman (BEL)[10]

Court 13 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) v. Ernests Gulbis (LAT)[24]
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[15]
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Radek Stepanek (CZE)[28] v. Julien Benneteau (FRA)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Alize Cornet (FRA) v. Kaia Kanepi (EST)[31]

Court 14 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) v. Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Anne Keothavong (GBR) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Pere Riba (ESP) v. Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)

Court 15 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)[25] v. Julie Coin (FRA)
2. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)[5] v. Ross Hutchins (GBR)
Oliver Marach (AUT)[5] Scott Lipsky (USA)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)[30] v. Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP)
5. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Rohan Bopanna (IND)[16] v. Brian Battistone (USA)
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)[16] Ryler DeHeart (USA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Regina Kulikova (RUS) v. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)
2. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) v. David Martin (USA)
Lukas Lacko (SVK) Donald Young (USA)
3. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Frantisek Cermak (CZE)[6] v. Marcelo Melo (BRA)
Michal Mertinak (SVK)[6] Bruno Soares (BRA)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) v. Stefanie Voegele (SUI)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Pablo Cuevas (URU) v. Julio Silva (BRA)
2. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) v. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
3. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)[9] v. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
Marcin Matkowski (POL)[9] Albert Montanes (ESP)
4. Men's Doubles - 1st Round
Michael Russell (USA) v. Simon Aspelin (SWE)[14]
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) Paul Hanley (AUS)[14]

USO: Save it for the judge. Or something.

 

 

 

Much as I’m in favour of this sort of thing (and much as it makes the poor sod on the other side of the net LOATHE you), this is akin to a stand up comic using up all his best gags in a teaser. It also has something of the Christians and the lions about it.

 

A little more quotidian, not to mention a little more restraint, if you please.

 

Meanwhile, a little more abandon and  far more belligerence from Sod would go down nicely too.

 

Five sets in a first round match against a guy making his first appearance at a Slam?

 

Oh I’m sure Haider-Maurer played the match of his career. It’s also true that, since Wimby, Sod’s developed a most worrying tendency to storm through the early parts of a match before allowing his inner, more flatulent self to lose control of the ship.

 

 

Early on yesterday I casually surmised that if any one of Ivanovic, Stosur, LaMonf and Reeshie were to lose their opening round matches, we shouldn’t, in fact, consider it an upset however upsetting it might personally be.

 

All survived. Reeshie and Ana easily, LaMonf and Stosur less convincingly.

 

Quite what this demonstrates – other than that I’m shit at making anti-predictions – I don’t claim to understand. Though the take out as far as Stosur’s concerned appears to be that she should be closing these matches out with significantly less pain.

Ana appeared to be striking the ball well though one competent win against a dithering opponent does not a comeback make. Zheng next.

 

 

 

US Open 2010 Day 1 Open Thread

Reuters

A boy carries an oversized tennis ball used for gathering autographs at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York August 29, 2010. The tournament begins here August 30.

::

The last Slam of the year is upon us and I won't have a whole lot of time to watch or write about it. I'm in the final stretch of my campaign to become a member of the Maine House of Representatives, it's already harvest season, and I'm already tired enough to hibernate for the winter.

I'll watch what I can watch and report what I can report as best I can. As always, we appreciate those of you who provide great match reports in the comments. If you've got a special report to submit, please use my email address. I'll check it more regularly throughout the fortnight.

Enjoy the US Open.

Schedule for Day 1: Monday, August 30 2010

Arthur Ashe Stadium 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Melanie Oudin (USA) v. Olga Savchuk (UKR)

Not Before:13:00
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Greta Arn (HUN) v.Kim Clijsters (BEL)[2]
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Stephane Robert (FRA) v. Andy Roddick (USA)[9]
Arthur Ashe Stadium 19:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Roberta Vinci (ITA) v. Venus Williams (USA)[3]
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Brian Dabul (ARG) v. Roger Federer (SUI)[2]

Louis Armstrong Stadium 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[6] v. Michael Russell (USA)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[24] v. Dinara Safina (RUS)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Samantha Stosur (AUS)[5] v. Elena Vesnina (RUS)
Not Before:17:00
4. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[32] v. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

Grandstand 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[6] v. Ayumi Morita (JPN)
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Robin Soderling (SWE)[5] v. Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Taylor Dent (USA) v. Alejandro Falla (COL)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) v. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Martin Klizan (SVK) v. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[22]
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Shahar Peer (ISR)[16] v. Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) v. Ryan Sweeting (USA)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) v. Jie Zheng (CHN)[21]

Court 6 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Johanna Larsson (SWE) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)[28]
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[20]
v. Kristina Barrois (GER)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[13] v. Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)
4. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Michael Berrer (GER) v. Andreas Beck (GER)

Court 7 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Illya Marchenko (UKR) v. Marin Cilic (CRO)[11]
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) v. Sania Mirza (IND)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)[32] v. Renata Voracova (CZE)
4. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v. Somdev Devvarman (IND)

Court 8 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Vera Dushevina (RUS) v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[29]
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Igor Andreev (RUS) v. Horacio Zeballos (ARG)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Virginie Razzano (FRA) v. Klara Zakopalova (CZE)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Rebecca Marino (CAN) v. Ksenia Pervak (RUS)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Simon Greul (GER) v. Richard Gasquet (FRA)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Petra Kvitova (CZE)[27] v. Lucie Hradecka (CZE)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Albert Montanes (ESP)[21] v. Michal Przysiezny (POL)

Court 11 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Olga Govortsova (BLR) v. Elena Dementieva (RUS)[12]
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Gael Monfils (FRA)[17] v. Robert Kendrick (USA)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Monica Niculescu (ROU) v. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[10]
4. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Tim Smyczek (USA) v. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[26]
5. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Irina Falconi (USA) v. Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[19]

Court 12 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Thiemo de Bakker (NED) v. Marc Gicquel (FRA)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Sally Peers (AUS) v. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Agnes Szavay (HUN) v. Sandra Zahlavova (CZE)

Court 13 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Kei Nishikori (JPN) v. Evgeny Korolev (KAZ)
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Ivan Dodig (CRO) v. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)[27]
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Marion Bartoli (FRA)[13] v. Edina Gallovits (ROU)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Vania King (USA) v. Christina McHale (USA)

Court 14 11:00 Start Time

1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Bjorn Phau (GER) v. Ricardo Mello (BRA)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE) v. Sybille Bammer (AUT)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) v. Alberta Brianti (ITA)

Court 15 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Sara Errani (ITA) v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) v. Olivier Rochus (BEL)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) v. Sophie Ferguson (AUS)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Gisela Dulko (ARG) v. Angelique Kerber (GER)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) v. Guillaume Rufin (FRA)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Elena Baltacha (GBR) v. Petra Martic (CRO)
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Polona Hercog (SLO) v. Mandy Minella (LUX)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Carsten Ball (AUS) v. Milos Raonic (CAN)

USO: Expect anything and *everything*…and nothing at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

» Rafa wins: Career Grand Slam –> World further divides into those for whom H2H’s never mattered less and those for whom ‘more’ never means *more*

 

» Muzz wins: Maiden Slam -->Monkey falls off his back and into a pond with a broken duck in it.

 

» Fed wins: Only an Open Era USO record….as if anyone cares about that.

 

» QF Night Match worth staying up for: Rafa/Nalbie

 

» QF Death Match worth looking out for: Djoko/ARod (Roddick’s won their past 4 meetings and is 5-2 overall)

 

 

 

 

LEGEND

Top Guns, supposedly

Big Bad Denizens

Britain’s Got Talent

Sympathy Vote

(First Round Fracas underlined)

 

ATP

 

Q1	Rafa, Istomin, Kohls Feli, Ljubicic	Easy-peasy though I’d still say Rafa’s got no business being around “Upset Merchants” Istomin and Kohls this early in the game.
	Ferru/Dolgo, Ernie Nalbie, Dasco	Ernie and Nalbie. At least one will be gone by round four. Winner plays Rafa in the Quarters.
Q2	Muzz, Wawa Querrey, Almagro	Muzz arrives wrecked in the quarters having dropped far too many sets along the way. Maybe.
	Misha, Xman, Isner Steps/B’teau, L’dra/Berd	Berd surrounded by a bunch of nutters-at-the-net. You can’t always fight madness.
Q3	Kolya, Reeshie, Bellucci LaMonf, Tipsy, ARod	Half full: Reeshie finds a way to round four. Half empty: ARod doesn’t
	Baggy, Fish Pico, Blake, Djoko	Djoko breezes through in straights until he has one of those matches against Baggy/Fish
Q4	Sod, Falla, Gonzo Cilic	Sod to survive a R2 5-setter against Fire, before cutting down Cilic in his subprime.
	Yoyo, JCF Hewitt, Federer	Fed to avenge Halle convincingly. And to then struggle against Yoyo/JCF – equally convincingly

 

 

WTA

 

With firm favourite Kimmie coming in with hip concerns and CazWoz your number one seed, expect anything and everything…and nothing at all.

 

 

Q1	Caz, Navarro, K’vong, Safarova Rezai, Benny, Groth/Masha	Groth could put out Masha in R1. A couple of poor service games, cement-block focus from Groth. BOOM. Could totally happen.
	Sveta/Date, Kiri Shvedova, AChak, Domi, Li	Remember how Kimiko toughed out a 3 setter over Dina in R1 of RG, and then went out the very next round basically spent? Yeah, try and forget that.
Q2	JJ, Kanepi MJMS, Wickmayer	I won’t list all the reasons JJ shouldn’t do well here – there’s so many I almost expect her to make something of it.
	ARad, Petkovic/Petrova  Coco, Bepa	Bepa gets her Coco revenge and Nadia goes down to ARad in straights
Q3	Franny, 'Courage’, ABond Pavs, Vika	Can Vika’s belief' trump ‘Courage’ itself?
	Peer, Flavs Pironkova, Venus	Will Venus get her Wimby revenge? Does Venus even know what revenge is?
Q4	Stosur, Kleybs Dani/Dina, Demmie	Can Dina use Demmie/Stosur’s struggles to her advantage? Assuming she emerges in one piece from that New Haven reunion.
	Bartoli, Ivanovic, Zheng Kvitova, Baltacha, Kimmie	Who wants to be brave and predict Kimmie cleans up? (Hint: Not me)

 

(Images: Getty)

US Open 2010 Women's Draw

by Savannah


Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) v Chelsey Gullickson USA
Kai-Chen Chang TPE v Carla Suarez Navarro ESP
Anne Keothavong GBR v Yung-Jan Chan TPE
Qualifier v Lucie Safarova CZE (26)

Aravane Rezai FRA (18) v Magdalena Rybarikova SVK
Beatrice Capra USA v Karolina Sprem CRO
Qualifier v Iveta Benesova CZE
Jarmila Groth AUS v Maria Sharapova RUS (14)

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (11) v Kimiko Date Krumm JPN
Regina Kulikova RUS v Anastasija Sevastova LAT
Yvonne Meusburger AUT v Jill Craybas USA
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE v Maria Kirilenko RUS (23)

Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ (30) v Qualifier
Anna Chakvetadze RUS v Urszula Radwanska POL
Dominika Cibulkova SVK v Stefanie Voegele SUI
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR v Na Li CHN (8)



Jelena Jankovic SRB (4) v Simona Halep ROU
Alicia Molik AUS v Qualifier
Chanelle Scheepers RSA v Qualifier
Alize Cornet FRA v Kaia Kanepi EST (31)

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP (22) v Jamie Hampton USA
Kirsten Flipkens BEL v Patty Schnyder SUI
Romina Oprandi ITA v Julia Goerges GER
Alla Kudryavtseva RUS v Yanina Wickmayer BEL (15)

Agnieszka Radwanska POL (9) v Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP
Shuai Peng CHN vShelby Rogers USA
Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA v Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP
Andrea Petkovic GER v Nadia Petrova RUS (17)

Alexandra Dulgheru ROU (25) v Julie Coin FRA
Sofia Arvidsson SWE v Sorana Cirstea ROU
Coco Vandeweghe USA v Sabine Lisicki GER
Qualifier v Vera Zvonareva RUS (7)



Francesca Schiavone ITA (6) v Ayumi Morita JPN
Qualifier v Sophie Ferguson AUS
Melanie Oudin USA v Qualifier
Vera Dushevina RUS v Alona Bondarenko UKR (29)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS (20) v Kristina Barrois GER
Qualifier v Qualifier
Gisela Dulko ARG v Angelique Kerber GER
Qualifier v Victoria Azarenka BLR (10)

Shahar Peer ISR (16) v Jelena Kostanic Tosic CRO
Pauline Parmentier FRA v Alberta Brianti ITA
Agnes Szavay HUN v Sandra Zahlavova CZE
Qualifier v Flavia Pennetta ITA (19)

Tsvetana Pironkova BUL (32) v Renata Voracova CZE
Polona Hercog SLO v Qualifier
Qualifier v Ksenia Pervak RUS
Roberta Vinci ITA v Venus Williams USA (3)


Samantha Stosur AUS (5) v Elena Vesnina RUS
Bojana Jovanovski SRB v Anastasia Rodionova AUS
Sara Errani ITA v Tathiana Garbin ITA
Johanna Larsson SWE v Alisa Kleybanova RUS (28)

Daniela Hantuchova SVK (24) v Dinara Safina RUS
Vania King USA v Christina McHale USA
Qualifier v Sybille Bammer AUT
Olga Govortsova BLR v Elena Dementieva RUS (12)

Marion Bartoli FRA (13) v Edina Gallovits ROU
Virginie Razzano FRA v Klara Zakopalova CZE
Ana Ivanovic SRB v Ekaterina Makarova RUS
Timea Bacsinszky SUI v Jie Zheng CHN (21)

Petra Kvitova CZE (27) v Lucie Hradecka CZE
Elena Baltacha GBR v Petra Martic CRO
Qualifier v Aleksandra Wozniak CAN
Greta Arn HUN v Kim Clijsters BEL (2)

US Open 2010 Men's Draw

by Savannah

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) v Teymuraz Gabashvili RUS
Maximo Gonzalez ARG v Denis Istomin UZB
Gilles Simon FRA v Donald Young USA
Tobias Kamke GER v Philipp Kohlschreiber GER (29)

Feliciano Lopez ESP (23) v Santiago Giraldo COL
Rainer Schuettler GER v Qualifier
Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR v Peter Luczak AUS
Qualifier v Ivan Ljubicic CRO (15)

David Ferrer ESP (10) v Alexandr Dolgopolov UKR
Benjamin Becker GER v Daniel Brands GER
Jarkko Nieminen FIN v Daniel Gimeno-Traver ESP
Jeremy Chardy FRA v Ernests Gulbis LAT (24)

David Nalbandian ARG (31) v Qualifier
Florent Serra FRA v Florian Mayer GER
Pere Riba ESP v Qualifier
Fabio Fognini ITA v Fernando Verdasco ESP (8)


Andy Murray GBR (4) v Lukas Lacko SVK
Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo ESP v Dustin Brown JAM
Juan Ignacio Chela ARG v Yen-Hsun Lu TPE
Mikhail Kukushkin KAZ v Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (25)

Sam Querrey USA (20) v Bradley Klahn USA
Marcel Granollers ESP v Andreas Seppi ITA
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP v Lukasz Kubot POL
Potito Starace ITA v Nicolas Almagro ESP (14)

Mikhail Youzhny RUS (12) v Andrey Golubev KAZ
Dudi Sela ISR v Xavier Malisse BEL
Jack Sock USA v Marco Chiudinelli SUI
Frederico Gil POR v John Isner USA (18)

Radek Stepanek CZE (28) v Julien Benneteau FRA
Tommy Robredo ESP v Qualifier
Victor Hanescu ROU v Carlos Berlocq ARG
Michael Llodra FRA v Tomas Berdych CZE (7)


Nikolay Davydenko RUS (6) v Michael Russell USA
Simon Greul GER v Richard Gasquet FRA
Kevin Anderson RSA v Somdev Devvarman IND
Tim Smyczek USA v Thomaz Bellucci BRA (26)

Gael Monfils FRA (17) v Qualifier
Igor Andreev RUS v Horacio Zeballos ARG
Janko Tipsarevic SRB v Olivier Rochus BEL
Stephane Robert FRA v Andy Roddick USA (9)

Marcos Baghdatis CYP (16) v Arnaud Clement FRA
Eduardo Schwank ARG v Robby Ginepri USA
Pablo Cuevas URU v Qualifier
Jan Hajek CZE v Mardy Fish USA (19)

Juan Monaco ARG (30) v Qualifier
Kristof Vliegen BEL v James Blake USA
Philipp Petzschner GER v Qualifier
Viktor Troicki SRB v Novak Djokovic SRB (3)


Robin Soderling SWE (5) v Qualifier
Taylor Dent USA v Alejandro Falla COL
Thiemo de Bakker NED v Qualifier
Qualifier v Fernando Gonzalez CHI (27)

Albert Montanes ESP (21) v Michal Przysiezny POL
Carsten Ball AUS v Qualifier
Qualifier v Evgeny Korolev KAZ
Illya Marchenko UKR v Marin Cilic CRO (11)

Jurgen Melzer AUT (13) v Dmitry Tursunov RUS
Qualifier v Ryan Sweeting USA
Bjorn Phau GER v Ricardo Mello BRA
Qualifier v Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (22)

Lleyton Hewitt AUS (32) v Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA
Leonardo Mayer ARG v Guillaume Rufin FRA
Michael Berrer GER v Andreas Beck GER
Brian Dabul ARG v Roger Federer SUI (2)

Cincy: Third Degree Burns.

 

There’s to be no getting around it: it would have been a consummate disaster for him not to win this one given the industrial-grade hydraulic leg-up he had received.

 

 

There were retirements: Istomin’s foot deprived us of what could have been a telling match either way (I’ve been following Dennis since he almost put Rafa out of Queens and, if you aren’t already, I suggest you do the same).

 

There were walk-overs: though for all we know, Kohls injured his shoulder falling off a bar stool in convulsive fits after viewing a scratchy DVD labelled ‘GiggleFest’ someone had sneakily slid under his hotel door overnight.

 

And he didn’t even display the sense of fair play or good breeding by “manning up” to  face a top five player now, did he?

 

Personally, I don’t think Muzz and Djoko were ever a factor last week.

 

And whose fault is it that Rafa went out to Baggy anyway? Or that “Baggy-was-as Baggy-usually-is” a mere twenty four hours later?

 

There were, believe it or not, other talking points. There’s to be no getting around that either:

 

-- Fed’s kamikaze chip-and-charges; they got him burned at the net so many times I almost expected to hear of skin grafts being applied during a carefully screened MTO. And yet he persisted. Occasionally it paid off. Some even went as far as to suggest the match went on for as long as it did because he was “trying out stuff”.

 

I doubt that very much.  Mardy was simply serving too well.

 

 

Though there’s no question he’s been experimenting and, quite evidently, has been since Toronto: those opening sets he played against Djoko and Berd were so suffocatingly swift, so intoxicating in their intensity that had he polished up any sooner, would likely have been called up for a false start.

 

Though you get a sense that none of that somewhat dismissive brilliance would have been possible were it not also accompanied by it’s evil twin: those macabre, episodes of fug we saw later - so “neuerratic” in nature they might almost have been born of a dysfunctional aura and under a full moon.

 

“Cincy Tennis”, on the other hand, was a whole lot more straightforward. Where he might once have swung he sliced, where he might once have shanked he held back. And when he did deem it appropriate to end the rally, did so knowing he could end it on his terms either with either a very dressy drive volley at the net or a more routine forehand belted crisply from the back of the court.

 

I like what what I’m seeing – whether or not and however we choose to credit Annacone’s involvement is, at this stage, almost irrelevant.

 

 

 

 

-- Fish lost this on a single break deep in the final set. The previous two sets went to lengthy tie breaks. Fed wasn’t holding back one bit. All of which speaks volumes for a guy everyone seems so keen to hurl pejorative shit at (myself inc.).

 

It’s completely disingenuous to suggest that the match went on for as long as it did because of Fed’s ambivalence at his own play – almost as disingenuous as it is to harp on about Fed’s crappy breakpoint conversion rate without once giving a nod to the Mardy serve.

 

So now, if you don’t mind, I intend to give that nod.

 

And now, if you don’t mind, I intend to go back to hurling pejorative shit.

 

-- ARod posted back to back wins over Djoko and Sod. Ok, so it didn’t end the way he wanted (he only narrowly avoided a final set bagel against Fish)  and he really should have known better than to come down on the ump in the way he did – an act that is now as hammy as it is bedraggled.  But his last comparable spell was back at IW/Miami.

 

All things considered, an uplifting week not least in terms of his #9 ranking. That’s right, that great American rankings crisis was….not quite the subprime credit crunch we thought it was.

Federer Defends Cincinnati Title Over Fish

Roger Federer won his first non-major final of the year after losing 3 finals in a row (on 3 different surfaces: Madrid to Rafael Nadal, Halle to Lleyton Hewitt and Toronto to Andy Murray) in Cincinnati on Sunday over American Mardy Fish. The title was his 53rd overall, tying Bjorn Borg on the all-time list at 5th. It was Federer's 17th ATP Masters series title, tying Andre Agassi but still one behind Nadal's 18.

Federer has now won the Cincinnati title in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010. Next year it will become a combined male-female 8-day event (immediately following simultaneous men's and women's tournaments in Toronto and Montreal).

The match with Fish was a close, high-quality 3-set affair featuring 2 tiebreaks, one break of serve and only 6 breakpoints between the two players. The final score was 6-7(5) 7-6(1) 6-4. In the first set, Federer had 4 breakpoints and failed to convert any of them due to brilliant serving by Fish. Federer faced one breakpoint in the second set but was able to get through to a tiebreak. In the first set tiebreaker Federer held a 5-4 lead, but Fish played a brilliant point to even the breaker at 5-all and Federer played a loose point to be down 6-5. Fish won the first set on a service winner. In the second set tiebreaker Federer was much sharper, jumping to a quick 4-1 lead and never looked in danger of losing that breaker. The only break in the match came in the 9th game of the third set where, for once, after facing a break point Fish was unable to make a first serve and eventually lost the breakpoint and the game, and eventually the match when Federer served it out pretty easily on his second match point.

“It is with every small act of kookiness that we veer ever closer to the stars.”

 

 

 

 

When  it finally does go down, it’ll be these four ladies contesting the semi finals in Montreal.

 

   

 

Sveta and CazWoz did manage to get a couple of games in (Woz broke) before the rain forced them off again….they used the down time to indulge us with a spot of footy-tennis.

 

 

 

Sveta rocks the world of footy-tennis like no other - with either a tennis or a football (mixed doubles with Muzz?). But a special mention and an A* to Woz for effort who has, for now at least, earnt the dissolution of her “anyone-but-Woz” status.

 

 

Being kooky on court with Sveta is a good thing – your efforts have been noted.

Four Weddings and a FeduNadal

 

 

getty

 

We can be jovial about this.

 

I went to bed - on a Friday night,

With Nadal-and-Baggee on ma teh-lleee…

 

When I woke up,

The whole world was shook up,

 

And Fed and Nadal but a storeeee….

 

 

…or we can wallow in our grief over one of W. H. Auden’s lesser known works:

 

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and paint your house grey,
Throw out the face-paint; there’ll be no Fedal today

 

 

 

Although, hand on heart, how many of you can really say you wanted it this soon?

 

I know many will disagree, but for me their last meeting drew a blank. Like two drunk and disorderlies forced to patch up their differences at a makeshift charity do no one wants to attend.

 

They’re both inching towards finding their form. Feds shown more flourish but also more confunktion. Rafa was roundly outplayed last night but is also the more steadier of the two.

 

Give it another week I say, let them play themselves into more affable spirits before we once again force them upon one another.

 

As for Baggy, you’d be a fool to ever doubt him. You’d be a fool to bet the house on him too but that’s part of the deal and, I daresay, the appeal. For some people.For others, just like that recent Fedal fail, he too draws a blank.

 

Me, I’m in the middle. I don’t think his smile is tennis’s solution to world peace (Franny’s is) but I do enjoy his groundies and elephant-on-ice dance moves as much as I enjoy Nalbandian’s.

 

 

It’s not often such impeccable timing, efficient weight transfer and fluid movement unite in one player. When that player looks more like a Highland Caber Tosser than a tennis player, it makes the spectacle more-peculiar still.

 

Federer was sublime over Kolya. To be fair, in the first set they both were.

 

The surprising thing this time, however, was Fed’s defence – if I didn’t know any better I’d almost believe he’s found the patience to sustain rallies under pressure. As I say, I know better.

 

With that single break and that first set gone, Kolya began a spraying spree that almost certainly prevented this from going into a third set. Twas a shame because for one set we had the makings of what could have been the match of the week.

 

No one should be surprised at Nole’s and Muzz’s departure. The only amazing thing is how long Muzz ,in particular, lasted in the heat.

 

The good: He’ll get plenty of time to rest up ahead of Flushing.

 

The bad: Mardy Fish might win the US Open Series.

 

The ugly: CazWoz is seeded #1 at the USO (don’t expect me to ‘drop it’ any time soon).

Four Times In A Row

Reuters

That's how many times each Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick have now defeated their Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals opponents to face-off in the first all-American semifinal at this event since Andre Agassi defeated Andy in a third-set breaker six years ago.

You may recall the year before that Andy and Mardy met up in the finals and played one of the best matches of 2003. Mardy lost in a third-set breaker and fell to the eventual US Open champion without ever even dropping his serve.

Yesterday, he almost did the same. Andy Murray, one of the best returners in the game, so some say, wasn't able to breakthrough in three sets, so when he forced a third-set breaker, I wasn't sure if Mardy would be able to come through. But he fought like a pit bull and pulled out the victory.

Reuters

Novak Djokovic simply can't stand the heat and so, once again, Roddick had his way with him. It really wasn't a match at all.

If you listen to the propagandists and even some of the readers of this blog, you'd think Roddick has never been out of the top 10 for even a week since he first arrived there 8 years ago (he has) and that American men's tennis is totally in the toilet.

Consider this. Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

I'm going to say that again: Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

Carry on.

“You had me at ‘speedy recovery’…now STFU”

 

Serena Williams withdraws from 2010 US Open

Friday, August 20, 2010

Top-ranked Serena Williams has officially withdrawn from the 2010 US Open as she continues to recover from a cut to her right foot.
Williams cut her foot on a piece of broken glass in July, which required surgery, and has not competed on the WTA Tour since winning her 13th career Grand Slam tournament title at Wimbledon. She is a three-time US Open champion.
"It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the US Open," Williams said in a statement released by her publicist. "My doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal."
She called missing the tournament "one of the most devastating moments of my career."
US Open Tournament Director Jim Curley released the following statement regarding Williams' withdrawal:
"We regret that Serena Williams is unable to play the US Open and wish her a speedy recovery. She will be missed, but the tournament is about the competition and the players on the court. This year's US Open will be a memorable event, as it has been every year."

 

*coffee splutter*

 

The USO’s clearly bigger than any one player, but am I alone in thinking the professional response would be to wish her a speedy recovery and leave it at that?

 

But then that’s been in somewhat short supply this month as far as tournament directors are concerned. Must be in a weak era.

 

Feel free to rub coal tar in the faces of the injury doubters/snarkers.

 

I will personally be supplying pots. Form an orderly queue.

 

Woz will now be the #1 seed.

 

How the not-so-mighty have risen.

Breaking News

by Savannah

Serena Williams is out of the US Open. I'm assuming her foot injury has not healed enough for her to play. More details, and official announcement will be posted later.


With Serena's withdrawal Caroline Wozniacki will be the top seed at the US Open. A Grand Slam. WTA you will have a lot of 'splaining to do.

USTA Announcement

Serena Williams withdraws from 2010 US Open

Friday, August 20, 2010

Top-ranked Serena Williams has officially withdrawn from the 2010 US Open as she continues to recover from a cut to her right foot.

Williams cut her foot on a piece of broken glass in July, which required surgery, and has not competed on the WTA Tour since winning her 13th career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. She is a three-time US Open champion.

"It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the US Open," Williams said in a statement released by her publicist. "My doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal."

She called missing the tournament "one of the most devastating moments of my career."

US Open Tournament Director Jim Curley released the following statement regarding Williams' withdrawal:

"We regret that Serena Williams is unable to play the US Open and wish her a speedy recovery. She will be missed, but the tournament is about the competition and the players on the court. This year's US Open will be a memorable event, as it has been every year."

Slippage.

getty

 

Zheng d. Dementieva 7-6 (3) 6-4

 

It’s not quite James Blake proportions just yet, but many would argue the slippage has begun.

 

If so, I can’t watch.

“Sun is Energy”, remember? Turns out it’s also plain hot.

 

It’s that ‘pit-sniffing’ forehand again.

 

 

“The heat here is important,” Nadal said. “It’s not easy to play here.”

 

You know it’s been bad when “the solar-powered one” declares it unfit for purpose.

 

He wasn’t the only one.

 

“The conditions are tough here,” Murray said. “I’ve played seven matches in nine days, and every one was between noon and 3 o’clock, when it’s warmest. I think anybody would be feeling (tired) in my position.”

 

Both toughed out three setters over Ernie and Benneteau respectively.

 

It wasn’t USO winning form. Few expected it to be.

 

Benneteau, in particular, seemed set to repeat the kind of upset he pulled off in Paris against Fed last year – ya know, when he turns into that nutter at the net.

 

Unfortunately, in doing so, he also succumbed to a bout of muscle cramp allowing Rafa to meekly close it out 5-7 7-6 6-2.

 

Djoko had what, perhaps on paper, seems the easier 6-1 7-6 win over Daveed.

 

Anything but, as it turns out: as has been the case all too often recently, he found a way of making things more difficult for himself and when he did finally make  his victory wave, did so looking scrawnier than usual and with his eyes bulging out a little more than usual.

 

Heat? Clearly not an issue.

 

Roddick won over Sod in three, but not before being dragged kicking and screaming into a 2nd set tie break, in which he blew match point and then went all “fire and brimstone” on the ump for allowing Sod to challenge what he presumably thought was well outside the scope of time allowed either by the rulebook or umpire’s discretion (also, funnily enough, part of the rulebook).

 

Roddick’s version of events:

 

 

 

Discretion: Can’t live with it, can’t live without it….

 

Love you Andy, but a piece of string is as long as discretion says it is.

 

Robin didn’t hear the call and the ump obviously exercised discretion in allowing him to challenge once he had realised the true score.

 

It’s the very same discretion that allows Rafa to habitually creep over the unofficial 25 secs allotted to complete your serve.

 

In either case, no malice is involved and so, well, it should be ok.

 

It was very close, but ARod would likely have gone on to lose that set anyway: Sod seemed to have picked up his game and was crunching those groundies in the way only he can. He saved match point by finishing at the net – do we need further proof he was in the zone?

 

It’s become increasingly difficult to stomach the patronising way in which Roddick takes aim at officials: it’s both insulting and counterproductive – berating an ump with poor English about his communication skills makes for a far uglier spectacle.

 

In other news Brad Gilbert almost got arrested by a rentacop and was practically frogmarched out, after demanding access to the locker room on the back of his “former champ” status:

 

 

 

 

“Commentating Ugly”. Look out for the forthcoming book.

 

Why is it that all the best shit seems to go down when I’m tucked up in bed dreaming about jellybeans?

 

When TopSpin’s away, the mice will play…

7 Games, Walkover

That's what Roger Federer played/received to advance to the quarterfinals in Cincy, where he awaits the winner of, well...

It should be another walkover, virtual or otherwise.

Seven games played total and Raja is into the quarterfinals of what remains the hottest, most humid event on the ATP calendar.

It's nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if.....

You're lucky.

Moody, Muscley and…..RAW

 

What’s a pretty boy like you doing banged up in a damp, squalid……

 

 

 

 

…..S&M dungeon like…*oh*.

 

The pictures are actually from Muzz’s garage in his £5M Surrey home. The guy that did the photoshoot was so struck by the grind of the tour that he wanted them taken “where he works”.

 

 

“Airy”…*camera-click*….“oh that’s good”….. “playful”…..*click*….“very gooood”….*click*…..“can we get some Coldplay vocals going here?”

 

 

 

There’s an article in there somewhere. Lot’s more talk on how to be RAW. It’s the done thing apparently.

I’ll take it.

 

 

 

 

 

Someone won two consecutive matches – only her fourth in the past 11 months.

 

I only saw her win over Petkovic. It wasn’t pretty and I doubt it was any different against Nadia – who doesn’t need any help snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

Still, a win’s a win. And a win over a top twenty player when you yourself are ranked #70 probably benefits you in more ways than you can hope to understand.

 

I’ll take it.

 

Franny next.

I almost died and went to Outtake Heaven…

 

“It’s not you…it’s me….” *GUFFAWS UNCONTROLLABLY*

 

 

 

 

For the record, it took them a full 9 minutes and 18 seconds to get a workable four line exchange out of the door.

 

And what a glorious nine minutes it was.

 

There’s a small chance I wet myself. But it was totally worth it.

 

My personal highlights:

 

-- 5:00: What I assume is the director, sadistically moving the goalposts after they’ve spent 5 minutes getting out their first successful (rehearsal) take - “…if you wouldn’t mind saying the following in Basel dialect”

 

-- 6:10/6:18 : “he looks at me……..he gives me the look”. Yeah, it’s all Rafa’s fault Rog! Maybe he should start doing that during your ball toss!

 

-- 1:48/7:10: Roger’s attempting to paper over the giggly cracks by pretending to take the process seriously. Your studious demeanour’s fooling no one.

 

-- 11:12: Actual proof that Roger Federer sweats. You just have to meet his eye. Having Rafa’s eyelashes doesn’t hurt too.

 

-- 11:16: Rafa’s somewhat surly hair swooshes – there are swear words, I’m told – anyone?

 

The best part? I can imagine the two returning as Grandpas in rocking chairs fifty years from now on some dusty veranda doing it all over again.

I’m not that into you….just yet.

 

Not my favourite person Benny.

 

There’s steely focus and there’s just plain rude. But a little of more of this and I might get on board.

 

 

 

Benesova d. Jankovic 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

 

Nothing shoddy about her straight sets dismissal of JJ, who, now just two weeks away from the USO, has some real thinking to do.

 

 

 

"I didn't feel like a top-five player out there," said Jankovic, who lost to Serena Williams at the 2008 US Open in her only Grand Slam final appearance.

"My game hasn't been at the top level for the last couple of tournaments."

…

"I really wanted to play matches here, and at the last tournament, but I didn't do that and now I haven't played many matches before the US Open," she added.

"I'll just try my best over there, and hopefully I'll be better."

-- BBC

 

Hopefully. Though “famous last words” and all that…

 

More Benny. On a trial basis for now.

 

 

Pull yourself together….or not.

 

 

Darned if I know what’s come over Reeshie recently.

 

Putting together consecutive wins and knocking out Misha the #12 seed ?

 

Pull yourself together man.

 

Describing the incident as “unacceptable”, Reeshie has reportedly apologised, takes full responsibility and has vowed “to never allow that to happen again”.

“Sorry”, no apology necessary.

 

 

Falla d. Monfils 6-3 6-4

 

Really?

 

Someone obviously forgot to ‘CC’ Gael in: Losing to Falla no longer merits an apology.

Not saying he doesn’t need a coach but…

 

First title of the year. First coachless title ever.

 

AP

Murray d. Federer 7-5 7-5

 

Muzz wasn’t in as breathtaking form as he was against Rafa and the match wasn’t, frankly, the envy of the world.

 

Neither were the conditions, though the rain delays appeared to affect Fed more than they did Muzz.

 

Even so, if his newly unveiled forehand is here to stay it will all have been worth it.

 

AND IT IS NEW.

 

Prior to this week, Murrays forehand, or rather the frequency with which he used it to attack (i.e. almost never), was a barometer of sorts as to his levels of confidence. Now, it appears to be something he can use to end rallies with on a regular basis.

 

With consecutive wins over Daveed, Rafa and Fed (all without dropping a set), the week’s best player won and that is as it should be.

 

Now on to that man in pink, whose escapades in Toronto last week are like some curious hybrid of “Citizen Kane” and “Sesame Street”.

 

One the one hand, reaching the finals on the back of some, frankly, tragic episodes of spontaneous human confunktion should inspire confidence.

 

The opening sets he played against Berd and Djoko in particular were as good as anything we’ve seen from him and suggest he is still in touch with the kind of form that wins Slams.

 

The stuff that transpired after both those first sets, however, suggests he’s also in touch with the type of form that loses them.

 

getty

 

Interestingly enough he may have unwittingly stumbled upon a strategy with which to trouble big-hitting Krakens –part of me wonders how much of this is to do with Annacone.

 

You can’t down a Kraken once it gets going – we all know that, folly to even try.

 

But if his match against Berd tells us anything, it’s that racing through the opening stages of a match in that deadly hypnotic way can smother the “big hitting genie” before it gets out of the bottle - and if he’s able to do that, then he’s in with a chance. A very good chance.

 

It’s an interesting thought. Kraken’s aren’t half so scary with their head forcibly dunked underwater.

Fun Yes….”Unbelievable” No…

 

 

And here’s why.

 

a) It’s probably fake. Even if we don’t doubt his ability to pull it off (see b), there’s no way Gillette would risk the avalanche of lawsuits that would emerge from taking someone’s eye out.

 

b) If I, a lowly club denizen, can hit an empty canister of balls placed at different locations in the service box about eight times out of ten (really), then…….

Apocalypse Now.

 

 

 

 

 

I can live with the occasional rain delay (I dare say after the Toronto final we all can).

 

I can -- just about -- live with Masha welching on three Championship points, allowing an erratic Kimmie back into playing a final set she should have had no hope of being involved in.

 

Filthy, dark clouds brewing up apocalyptic storms and other variations on the Doomsday scenario during those Championship points, however, make me wonder whether something more malevolent is involved.

 

Whatever the case, when they returned from the rain delay,it was Kimmie, now miraculously free of the serving problems that had plagued the first set, firmly in charge.

 

No Photoshopped night necessary

 

All of that took place before my Sky Box went on the blink, which meant I was reduced to watching Masha suffer problems with her foot and Kimmie mop up a largely one-sided final set on a grainy internet stream that’s probably only reserved for UFC.

 

Conspiracy, much?

 

Yeah, I was probably in a fouler mood than whatever malevolence lay within those dark clouds. And there’s a small chance I may have been a little ungracious about the whole Kimmie situation who now, quite deservedly, shoots up to world #4.

 

Hearty Congrats Kim. No agenda. Promise.

 

 

Does that make her a USO contender? Is any top ten player not named Serena a contender?

 

Masha, as expected, is out of Montreal.