US OPEN 2011: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Andrew Ong/usopen.org

By MAD PROFESSAH


Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) v. Andrea Petkovic GER (10). Wozniacki was hand delivered a get-out-of-jail free card from Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was leading 7-6(6) 4-2 40-15 when suddenly the Russian had (another) one of her epic collapses, losing 11 of the next 13 games in a draining 3-hour-plus match. This was something of a repeat of their 2009 US Open 4th round encounter which Wozniacki had won 2-6 7-6 7-6 on her way to only major final. Her opponent Petkovic played a much less dramatic match against talented Spaniard Carlos Suarez Navarro, winning in straight sets 6-1 6-4. If  2-time major champion Sveta couldn't blast "Sunshine" off the court, what chance does Petkorazzi have of winning? Regardless of who wins this match to reach the semifinal, they have almost no chance getting to the final since they are in Serena Williams half of the draw. PREDICTION: Wozniacki.


Serena Williams USA (28) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS (17). The young, talented Russian was finally able to outlast the Iron Woman herself, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, in a 5-7 6-3 6-4 win to reach her second major quarterfinal of the year, claiming revenge for the come-from-behind win Schiavone had eked out during her historic journey to the 2011 French Open final. Unsurprisingly, Serena is the lowest seeded player to be in the final 8, following her straight sets dismissal of #4 seed Victoria Azarenka and #16 seed Ana Ivanovic. It is extremely doubtful the hard-hitting Pavlyuchenkova playing in her 2nd career quarterfinal will be able to make much impact on the hardest-hitting player of her generation playing in her 32nd quarterfinal.The only thing that could stop Serena winning the tournament on Saturday is being hit by a bus. PREDICTION: Williams.


Flavia Pennetta ITA (26) v. Angelique Kerber GER. The mystery quarterfinalists. It's not surprising that two of the quarterfinalists are from Germany, but that one of those German quarterfinalists is Angelique Kerber is stunning. After going through a notable lull after the great Steffi Graf, Germany has had a recent resurgence with Julia Georges, Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic all having reached the Top 20 in the rankings. However, it is the #4 German player who is in her first major quarterfinal against Italy's #2, Flavia Pennetta. Pennetta relishes her reputation as a giant killer, and eliminated Maria Sharapova from the draw 2 rounds ago. It is an incredible opportunity for the Italian to reach her first major semifinal and perhaps become the second woman from her country ever to reach a major final, and shockingly, the second Italian player this year. PREDICTION: Pennetta.


Vera Zvonareva RUS (2) v. Samantha Stosur AUS (9). This should be the popcorn match of the round. Zvonareva has been in 2 major finals and is now an established hard-court force to be reckoned with, but no-one who has ever had the mental collapses Vera has exhibited can ever really be counted on to play up to their potential level when it counts. In Samantha Stosur she faces an opponent who has beaten her 6 times in a row, but who is also known to wilt under the pressure of an important moment. Stosur has been improving in this category, and battling back to win the third set convincingly after losing the longest women's tie-break in Grand Slam history (15-17) against Maria Kirilenko shows her strengthening mental fortitude. Zvonareva has tasted success on these courts before and that might be the difference in a 3rd set tiebreak. PREDICTION: Zvonareva.

“…I'd be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed your company... but the truth is you do bother me enormously”

 

getty

 

Perhaps I’ll never understand why Flavs gets under Sams skin so very much – but she does.

 

“I can return her kick serve. There are few shots that I have that can make her nervous all the time,” Pennetta said. “She’s one of the best servers. I am really comfortable with her ball. I can handle the speed.”
Said Stosur: “She makes a lot of balls and runs everything down. She really makes you work for every point you win. Sometimes that can be a little bit frustrating.”

-- tennis.com

 

The opinion makers have Pennetta’s backhand DtL as well as her ability to “get over the top” of Sam’s big serve as the defining feature of her winning H2H over the Aussie, which is now 3-0 for the loss of….no sets.

 

Probably all true. Though you could likely make that case for anyone that bothers Sam. Flavs does, clearly, have a grip on Sam’s serve, though there’s no reason she should be any more equipped than, say, someone over 6 ft tall, to “get over the top” of it.

 

For my money, Flavs is simply, pound-for-pound, a better player from the back of the court. And it showed.

 

As did Sam’s propensity to overpress or, worse yet, shank in any rally lasting more than 6 strokes.

 

It wasn’t, to be fair to Sam, her best day (Flavs served 8 aces, Sam, none eh?) – and she does have a niggle in her arm that’s been troubling her since before the event. But if someone is doing a good job of returning her serve, be it Flavs, Venus or anyone else, that’s not a good place to be in.

WIMBLEDON 2010: Women's Final Preview

AP

Serena Williams USA (1) vs Vera Zvonareva RUS (21). For the third consecutive year and sixth time in the last eight years, Serena Williams is in the Ladies' Final of the Wimbledon championships. Surprisingly, she is not facing her older sister this time, as she has four times before, winning three titles in the process. Serena did well to get past a spirited challenge from Petra Kvitova, but, as predicted, she left the court with a victory after two sets.

The 12-time major champion is playing Russian Vera Zvonareva who is in the first Grand Slam final of her career. Zvonareva has a very strong backhand and a good forehand. She has previously shown an extreme level of mental frailty (the celebrated collapse against Flavia Pennetta at the 2009 U.S. Open where she blew 6 match points in the second set and lost the third set 6-0 while in tears). However, by dispatching Kim Clijsters from a set down and outlasting a determined Tsvetana Pironkova in their closely contested semifinal demonstrate this is a brand new Vera.

AP

Unfortunately for her, she is playing a new Serena. This Serena has yet to lose a set in this entire Wimbledon tournament and is lapping the field in the number of aces delivered. The two have played 6 times before with Serena winning all but once. If Zvonareva can keep the game score close then perhaps Serena will get nervous and give her a chance. As Francesco Schiavone proved in the 2010 Roland Garros final, anything is possible.

Yeah, I don't think so either.

MadProfessah's PREDICTION: Serena in 2 sets.

Roland Garros 2010 Day 8 Open Thread

AP

Austria's Jurgen Melzer reacts after defeating Spain's David Ferrer during their third round match for the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday May 29, 2010. Straight. Sets. With a middle-set bagel. Upset of the event so far.

::

Just returned from my Harvard 20th anniversary reunion. Tennis comes on ESPN at noon in my market today, so I'm sure they're air matches that have already been decided and since I haven't watched a lick of tennis today, I'm posting this thread as though play has only just begun.

Humor me.

Right not, I'm barely watching this pushy pushy dogfight between Caroline Wozniacki and Flavia Pennetta on Tennis Channel. Ugly day in Paris.

I won't be commenting because I don't want to read any spoilers.

Schedule for Day 8: Sunday, 30 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Justine Henin (BEL)[22] To Finish 2-6 6-3
3. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19] v. Venus Williams (USA)[2]
4. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[20]
5. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11] v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[8]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[30] v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17]
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[14] v. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[3]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Marin Cilic (CRO)[10] v. Robin Soderling (SWE)[5]
4. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Andy Murray (GBR)[4] v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[15]

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Olga Govortsova (BLR)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)[15] v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)[15] v. Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Julian Knowle (AUT)/Andy Ram (ISR)[10] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP)
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)[16]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Leonardo Mayer (ARG)/Horacio Zeballos (ARG)
Not Before 13:00
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Guillaume Rufin (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Travis Rettenmaier (USA)
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Michaella Krajicek (NED) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[4]
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2]

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)[3] v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[13]
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Alexandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR)/Denis Istomin (UZB) v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
3. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11] v. Lisa Raymond (USA)/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[7]
4. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Eric Butorac (USA) v. Aurelie Vedy (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Danka Kovinic (MNE) v. Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)[8]
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Jozef Kovalik (SVK) v. Agustin Velotti (ARG)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Lucas Szewczyk (FRA) v. Dane Webb (USA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Micke Kontinen (FIN) v. John Morrissey (IRL)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) v. Katarena Paliivets (CAN)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Morgane Pons (FRA) v. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)[2]
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Sam Barry (IRL) v. Mitchell Frank (USA)[13]
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Sebastian Lavie (NZL) v. Tiago Fernandes (BRA)[5]
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Elina Svitolina (UKR) v. Jana Cepelova (SVK)
5. Boys' Singles - First Round
Filip Horansky (SVK) v. Darian King (BAR)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Gianni Mina (FRA)[3] v. Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Monica Puig (PUR)[1] v. Clothilde De Bernardi (FRA)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Daniel Berta (SWE)[1] v. Junior A. Ore (USA)
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Charlene Seateun (FRA) v. Jovana Jaksic (SRB)

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Colin Fleming (GBR)/Ken Skupski (GBR) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/Potito Starace (ITA)
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Marc Lopez (ESP)/Pere Riba (ESP) v. Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK)[9]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Zi Yan (CHN)[9] v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Julie Coin (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Grace Sari Ysidora (INA) v. Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR)
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Alessandro Colella (ITA) v. Hugo Dellien (BOL)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Nour Abbes (TUN) v. Daria Gavrilova (RUS)[7]
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mikhail Biryukov (RUS)[14] v. Juan Sebastian Gomez (COL)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Timea Babos (HUN)[5] v. Ilona Kremen (BLR)

Court 9 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Dominic Thiem (AUT)[8] v. Ashley Hewitt (GBR)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Adriana Perez (VEN) v. Garbine Muguruza Blanco (ESP)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Paula Kania (POL) v. Silvia Njiric (CRO)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Andrea Collarini (USA) v. Jiri Vesely (CZE)[4]
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) v. Doroteja Eric (SRB)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Ons Jabeur (TUN) v. Sophia Kovalets (UKR)
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) v. Jannick Lupescu (NED)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Tamara Curovic (SRB)[12] v. Ester Goldfeld (USA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Andrew Whittington (AUS) v. Tobias Blomgren (SWE)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Zarah Razafimahatratra (MAD) v. Lauren Davis (USA)[10]

Court 11 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Guilherme Clezar (BRA) v. Raymond Sarmiento (USA)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) v. Grace Min (USA)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Facundo Arguello (ARG) v. Kevin Krawietz (GER)[7]
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Denis Kudla (USA)[6] v. Justin Eleveld (NED)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)[6] v. Chantal Skamlova (SVK)

Court 14 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Romain Arneodo (FRA) v. Renzo Olivo (ARG)[11]
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Risa Ozaki (JPN) v. Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)[13]
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mick Lescure (FRA) v. Oliver Golding (GBR)
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Akiko Omae (JPN) v. Nanuli Pipiya (RUS)[16]
5. Boys' Singles - First Round
Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN)[16] v. Karue Sell (BRA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Tristan Lamasine (FRA) v. Peter Heller (GER)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Jade Suvrijn (FRA) v. Richel Hogenkamp (NED)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Amandine Hesse (FRA) v. Luksika Kumkhum (THA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Thomas Szewczyk (FRA) v. Federico Gaio (ITA)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Natalija Kostic (SRB) v. Estelle Cascino (FRA)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Caroline Garcia (FRA)[15] v. Mai Grage (DEN)
Not Before 13:00
2. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Cara Black (ZIM)/Elena Vesnina (RUS)[6] v. Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[12]
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[8] v. Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mate Pavic (CRO) v. Mathias Bourgue (FRA)

17:00 Start Time
1. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)
2. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER) v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Indian Wells: Ladies Preview

A couple of days too late, but here it is.

1st Quarter

Contenders: Clijsters, Kuzzie and Jankovic, Penetta, Kleybanova

‘Upsets’ waiting to happen: Jankovic goes down to Peer/Penetta in R16, Kuzzie downed by Szavay R3

Needs to happen: Penetta v Clijsters QF

Good things for: Jankovic. I’ll say no more.

(Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

Dunno why, but despite Kuzzie’s presence and Jankovic’s assumed underdog status, I’m not the least bit invested in this quarter.

Maybe I’m worried Kimmie will clean up without so much as a peep from the competition.

Then again I’ve never seen Penetta give anything other than her very best, and emit rose-tinged smilies while doing it.

Jankovic has it all to do.

2nd Quarter

Contenders: Vika, Ivanovic(???), Zvonareva, Stosur and Wickmayer

‘Upsets’ waiting to happen: Safarova/Oudin down Wickmayer R2/R3, Ivanovic loses her opener

Needs to happen: Zvonareva v Azarenka QF

Good things for: Ana Ivanovic.

(Photo: AP)

There’s certainly plenty of ‘belief’ present here in the guise of Vika, Bepa and Oudin, for each of whom winning seems a birthright.

Maybe Heinz and Ana can infuse some of that into whatever regime they’re following.

But really, I see this one as Vika’s for the taking.

Her main malady over the last year has after all, been the presence of the Williamses. Though look out for stiff competition from Bepa – which really could turn out to be the match of the event.

3rd Quarter

Contenders: A-Rad(???), Bartoli, Schiavone, Dementieva, Henin

Upsets waiting to happen: Bartoli downs Henin R4 (As in Wimby 07)

Needs to happen: Demmie v Henin QF

Good things for: Anne Keothavong, at her first tier one back from a teary-eyed, injury blighted 2009

(Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

For any player not given a bye to round two, this is, for all intents and purposes, a Slam: seven (potential) three setters. In the desert. With opponents like Demmie and a ton of young blood bouncing around on the other side of the net.

Which means Henin’s fitness will be a key consideration if she doesn’t manage to keep her opening few rounds as short as poss (great start by the way).

Henin or Demmie really should get through this, though look out for Demmie v Franny and Henin v Bartoli, both in R4.

4th Quarter

Contenders: Li Na, Zheng Jie, Shaza, Caz-Woz, Petrova

‘Upsets’ waiting to happen: Too many - Kirilenko downs Caz-Woz, Bondarenko downs Petrova, Medina-Garrigues downs Li Na and Zheng Jie downs Shaza, all in R3

Needs to happen: Cirstea v Shaza

Good things for: Shaza.

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Really hope Caz-Woz lives up to her #2 seeding.

I can totally see Shaza making the quarters. Then again I can totally see her returning to service purgatory and crashing out to Zheng Jie or Cirstea.

On Henin’s Return and the Reconcilability of “Where” and “Back”

(Photo: AP)

"It is another Justine Henin who will try and go out and achieve her dream of finally winning Wimbledon," she said.

"I don't know if it's possible but that makes it an even more passionate challenge for me."

…

"To be honest, I don't have any big expectations as regards results in Australia," she said.

"But I will be delighted just to return to the country again, I love it there, and to the official circuit.

"I've never regretted my decision to stop playing but now I'm really excited about the prospect of starting a second career that probably won't look anything like the first, at least in my mind."

(BBC)

Quite how probable a Wimbledon Title is for Justine 2.0 (or Justine 0.6 for that matter), is anyone’s guess.

She could quite reasonably be expected to blow away the competition, or be blown away by it.

I like it that she’s playing it cautious with regards to Oz , where she’ll face stiff competition from Shaza, Kimmie and the Williamses.

I don’t have any intention of mentioning anyone else in the same breath as that esteemed foursome, unless and until they prove themselves worthy of it.

As with Nadal, clay should answer a lot of philosophical and semantic questions of quite “where” Henin is - an altogether different question from whether one is “back”.

One may be “back” without us having the strictest idea of “where” they are; though we may also understand “where” they are without them necessarily being “back”.

Despite what happened in Davis Cup this weekend, it is not at all certain whether Nadal is “back”. Though we know only a little more about “where” he is. A frightening prospect for anyone but the very best, who tend to thrive on their instincts and abundant reserves of confidence.

In contrast, Djoko may or may not be “back”, but most of us have a well-defined appreciation of “where” he is.

The question of being “back” and of “where” a player is, is not subject to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: it is incorrect to assert that being “back” somehow compromises our abilities (partially or in full) to determine “where” one is – indeed it is quite possible for us to determine that a player is “back”, having already gathered significant knowledge on their “whereabouts”.

But enough of that.

Justine defeated Flavlova at an Exho in Belgium this week – her first title of her second career. I’ve heard reports that the only discernible change to her serve is that she throws it a little higher.

But to me, it looks pretty good.

Flushing Meadows: "Microbial" Tennis

"There's life beyond the Williamses."

Conclusive lab testing conducted under the most exacting of conditions late into the night leaves little doubt.

The only question remaining is just how microbial and enduring it may or may not be.

Clijsters d. V.Williams 6-0, 0-6, 6-4

The flip-flop scoreline of the first two sets really does tell the whole story. For what seemed like an absolute eternity, but was actually only around 23 minutes, Venus flailed around like she was lost in a dust storm, unable to buy a first serve, and not many more groundstrokes either. They switched roles in the second, with Clijsters this time going AWOL and Venus assuming the role of the aggressor.

Things were eventually decided in an evenly contested last set with Kimmie managing to serve it out after going a break up: something many of her critics probably thought they'd never live to see.

Fairly uninspiring stuff until that last set, though an absolute boon in comparison with the womens matches on offer this week.

Pennetta d. Zvonareva 3-6, 7-6, 6-0

Quite unlike this one though. This was in a class of it's own.



That was the first of six match points Flavia wrenched painfully from Vera's grip who went on to lose that set and with it her grip on reality.

I didn't stay up to see the final set, and am now glad to see that I didn't miss very much, other than the sight of Vera unravelling even more rapidly than her heavily strapped legs.

She even involved Lynn Welch in a skirmish over whether she ought to be allowed to get the trainer on to attend to the damages to the strapping she herself had inflicted. Welch politely declined.

But I forgive Vera her histrionics this time.

For the hitting from these two women in the first two sets, was nothing short of astounding.

It made up, very satisfyingly for the smut masquerading as womens tennis this last week.

We all know of Vera's talent. If anything, she was playing a better quality of tennis than she did at Indian Wells.
But it's Flavia that's the really transformed player. Despite her win over Venus Williams last year, there still seemed to me to be a lot she could improve.

On the back of this performance however, you can't in all seriousness doubt her top ten credentials.

Suddenly the double bagelling of Mirza, which at the time I put down as a believable, if somewhat curious result, makes perfect sense. So does the fact that it took a match the like of which I don't expect to see again for a very long time, for her to drop her first set of the Championships.

I made a call that whoever came out on top in this match had a more than respectable chance of going the whole distance. I remain convinced of that, though you still have to think that Serena would have to have a slow start to allow Flavs to impress herself on the match.

I'll be rooting for Flavs.

It's not just that we need a new face in womens tennis and it certainly feels strange to take a position against the best player on the planet.

But I need to believe that it's not all microbial life out there, with the correspondingly shortened lifespan, playing to the limits of their very limited tennis, before dying mysteriously having not managed to string more than a couple of convincing wins out there.

Who else am I gonna rely on? Kuzzie?

***

Am I the only one not on the Oudin bandwagon?

It's not that I don't think she deserved each of those wins, but you'd have to have oversized blinkers on not to recognise the way each of the Russians more or less rolled over. As did Petrova today. I tell a lie - Shaza was injured. Or did the media miss that too? Rolling over isn't something she's accustomed with.

Flushing Meadows: At last, Tennis IS Served...

I'm just about to leave the Zvonareva Penetta match at one set all.

They're doing this weird thing where they actually play tennis.

With what's gone on in the womens draw, I didn't think I'd see any of that this week.

But seriously now.

Every point is being played at a relentless pace with little or no UFEs. Double faults are not in season.

Just long, scrumptious rallies where every other shot hits the line.

Would you think I was getting carried away if I said that whoever wins here is a contender for the title?

Flavia's getting what's probably the world's most deserved back massage; the sight of which for once doesn't repel me.

Chargrilled Haystacks and other Warm Things...

“Coming in here after being off for a month, you want to find out where your form’s at, you want to get a bunch of matches in,” Roddick said. “I feel I’m on the right path toward the Open.”

(tennis.com)

I think so too. I wasn't even sure who to root for, and found my levels of support divided keenly along the lines of form, talent and brand loyalty.

Evenly poised matches like this tend either to be char-grilled affairs, laden with the kind of skill and emotion usually reserved for the second week a Slam, or like one of those insipid productions that never seem to end, that you regret ever having signed up to, full of needlessly protracted rallies that demonstrate little talent and about as much flair as a haystack that's not even interesting enough to be hoarding a needle or two.

(Photo: AP)

This one was neither.

Truth be told, it hasn't been the most enthralling week of tennis I've seen in either the ladies or mens' events, but it's difficult to complain when the fifth and sixth best players in the world (and the top two seeds) make the final and neither has a let off.

Penetta capped of a near perfect week that's seen her score wins over Zvonareva, Sharapova and Stosur. Not bad.

But both Zvonareva and Sharapova are on the comeback trail and Stosur....well, that's now 5 and oh, in finals.

I'm not about to bash on what's been a very convincing year for her. She's more or less followed up on her well publicised statement of intent to focus on singles.

If there's one criticism I have though, it's that she seems to be approaching matches with the same risk-averse brand of structure and discipline that have done wonders for her on the doubles court. It's not very daring and allows players like Flavia to run away with the match if you're not having a good day.

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Again though, it's difficult to criticise when two of your faves make the final in what seemed to be quite a strong field. Besides, I like my tennis players to exude warmth and humility. Female Italian Tennis players tend to score well in both those categories. And in coming out on top in what she describes as 'her biggest win ever', Flavia has given me further reason to warm up to her very earthy brand of warmth.And to feel warm in doing so.

Not that I ever needed a push in that direction.

Sam Stosur: No longer a doubles specialist

I know that taking down big servers might rightly be considered up Roddick's street. But there's still something incredibly sensationalist in having consecutive wins over three of the biggest baddest servers in the game. The only downside might be that he's been conditioned to receive nothing more than 130mph serves over the past few days.

(Photo: AP)

Sharapova's fine run came to an end with a three set loss to Flavia Penetta, who has an odd way of reappearing whenever there's a gap to be filled. Not that there's not much to appreciate in her game.

"It's almost like new territory for me. With every tournament I feel physically I'm getting better and getting a good sense of the court, but it's still a work in progress."

(BBC)

16 doubles and 61 UFEs certainly is a work in progress, and that serve still needs a lot of work without which a strong showing at Flushing Meadows might prove difficult.

Stosur meanwhile continues to impress with her newfound dedication to singles.

"My whole career I've been trying to get to this point," said Stosur, who was widely regarded as a doubles specialist before a superb recent run of form.

"It kind of looks like I've done it late, but I don't worry too much about that. I took a little longer to develop."

(BBC)

And with her ability to hit shots like this, I'd say the title is now hers for the taking.