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.

Giants of Washington

London Bus System tennis coverage has seen us go from sketchy highlights to more or less round the clock, and not particularly stellar tennis from Washington and LA.

To be fair I haven't been particularly attentive.

But does anyone else find it weird how Washington has turned into a kind of gunslingers' festival, and how Roddick has had to get past Querrey, Karlovic and now Isner. A shock therapy return to tour. At least the rallies will be short.

In the other semi, del Potro put out Gonzales which means unless Isner pulls off an upset, the rightful two geezers, based on form, talent, commitment and any other measure you care to base your assessment on, will contest the final.

In LA, Stosur put out Cirstea 6-3, 6-2, which disappoints me. Much.

I guess it shouldn't given how young she is. It's just that Lisicki and Cirstea have really taken me, and much of the tour it seems, by surprise with that big serve and risky style of play.

That serve was in great form during the quarters.




As was the willingness to take it too Radwanska.





What bugs me is the apparent one-sidedness of the loss. It's what generally happens whenever she loses. Good news is the losses don't seem to have any lasting effect.

Someone else I was disappointed to see go out was Zheng Jie who'd put out Dinara a round earlier. I don't see that as an upset, not because of any lack of faith in Dinara's abilities, but because of what a talent Zheng is.

It's not her style to hit outrageous winners. I admire her more for her focused and measured approach, sometimes more effective than outrageous winners.



Then again, I admire Stosur's game too. That kick serve and ability at the net are all textbook stuff. All evident in the way in which she closed it out against Zheng.



I'm betting on Sharapova to get past Penetta, which means a Sharapova-Stosur final. I've followed Maria's comeback with some interest, but I believe this one belongs to Stosur.

The Chemical Properties of Steel and other Conspiracy Theories

Yes I know she lost.

Vika lost and Maria won. In what sounds like a riveting three sets of tennis.

Yet all I can discern of the matter is that Maria 'enjoyed herself', Vika made her hit a 'ton of balls', Maria's mum in Russia probably heard the cries of a baby that interrupted play during the first set, and that Vika was 'not happy' with her inability to execute.

All a little 'manufactured'. More on that later.

(Photo: AP)

I'm guessing that Maria's will played an all-important role in a match that saw her fire a dozen double-faults; and that, with it being Vika's first match back since Wimbledon, her intensity may have served that self-destructive role it sometimes does when she's not able to execute.

What that says to me is that -- surprise, surprise -- Maria continues to trump most bright young things, in a battle of steel. Those that are familiar with steel that is; and it's constituent elements within the periodic table. There's plenty that haven't the faintest idea what steel is, and conduct themselves on court with all the reactivity and bravado of an inert gas.

Except I refuse to accept it even happened.

I find it both galling and suspicious that during arguably one of the best post Wimbledon encounters we've had, not a single live feed was available anywhere, and nor, from what I've now gathered from two separate sources, was it broadcast on TV.

Why the cloak and dagger secrecy?

As you've probably gathered from my previous rants, UK broadcasters tend to categorise the early parts of the US Open Series within the same file as 'The Loch Ness Monster'. Nobody's ever seen it, yet no one's prepared to either confirm or deny it's existence.

A bit like what I think's happening over in LA.

And the fact that it wasn't broadcast in the States either, simply smacks of a cover-up.

Did the match take place anywhere near 'Area 51'?

Yes it did. Three hundred or so miles south of it, in fact.

Does anyone else find the close proximity of the two venues a little strange?

Did you know that a vast underground transcontinental railroad system is rumoured to exist in that region? Along with reports of a disappearing airstrip, and engineering based on alien technology.

Did we have an alien streaker named J-Rod race on to court, having made it's way through that vast, undocumented subterranean system?

Is the similarity with 'A-Rod' a coincidence? And what sort of service speeds is J-Rod capable of?

Has everybody that happened to be in live attendance, had their recollection of the event DVR'd out of their heads?

Here's what I think really happened.

J-Rod is an alien entity brought in as an aide to secretive governmental research into super sonic service speeds.

In an, as of yet unaccountable lapse in security, J-Rod somehow made it's way from Area 51, on to court and cracked a serve that broke the sound barrier. What Maria's mother heard in Russia wasn't the sound of a baby crying at all, but of the resultant sonic boom, that had made it's way right through the earths core.

J-Rod was quickly carted back to area 51 in a super-slick men-in-black style operation.

Everyone present on court had sounds and images of a baby crying, and it's mother taking it off court, supplanted into their memories.

Spurious news feeds were also released to the media within minutes of the incident occurring.

***

The rather more terrestrial A-Rod was back in action at Washington this week, and dispatched Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-3, proclaiming afterwards that his serve was the one rusty element of his game "that he didn't worry about it coming around".

I've no idea what that means, but someone whose tennis I do worry about coming around is Jo-Willy, who went out in three to John Isner. I remain largely unimpressed with French tennis. The fact that the authorities won't let things rest with Gasquet, may mean this trend is set to continue.

Dinara put out Hantuchova in straights, saying afterwards:

"I didn’t do anything spectacular. We play the same way, so it depends on who’s going to take charge of the points"

I winced instinctively when I read this. You could probably describe just about any WTA match you see these days with that caption. It does little to dispel the image of of a WTA tree of life withering away through lack of diversity.

I'd hazard a guess the same description applied to the way in which Sorana Cirstea upended Caroline Wozniacki in three sets. Caroline won a grass court title this year, but for the most part seems unable to change the trend that's seen her make finals she doesn't win. My theory is she's reached the limits of her well-rounded, non-threatening game, and needs to step out of her comfort zone.

Someone that has been able to put right a failing trend is Sabine Lisicki, who won what seems like her first three set match in months yesterday, putting out the 38 year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5

(Quotes: tennis.com)

Best of the Rest...

So Maria mowed down Groth 6-0, 6-4 in LA yesterday. Convincing stuff.

But now is the time for calm.

I've made a lot of noise about the somewhat symbiotic nature of the effect Maria's return to tour will have, but I think it's now more appropriate to give the girl both the time and space to grow into whatever born-again player she's now destined to become. It's too soon to begin entertaining questions on whether that'll be at the top of the game sharing the prime cutlets with the Sisters, or something markedly less, that probably involves becoming one of their prime cutlets.

Best to wait until after the Aussie Open next year, when with the hindsight of the intervening two Slams, we will at least find ourselves better placed to gush, critique or even to simply adopt an air of indifference. Educated indifference.

To tell you the truth I'll be quite surprised to see her get the better of Azarenka tomorrow, who for me presents the tour's most compelling best-of-the-rest argument. Not that there's that many of them.


Though there are those who think otherwise, her Slam results to me are impressive. She did well to manage to even walk off court after suffering heat stroke at Melbourne. She was unfortunate enough to have Serena peak during that quarter final of an already very convincing Wimbledon campaign conducted on her part. And I don't hold it against her that she couldn't see her way past a Safina playing in tune with her #1 ranking at the same stage of RG this year.

Taken with that title at Miami, and a singular intensity that doesn't seem to recognise most conventional boundaries of taste, she is what might rightly be described as both 'hungry for success' and 'ripe for success'.

In a manner you can't really ascribe to either one of the rest-of-the-rest.