You had to be there.

 

getty

 

Kuznetsova d. Radwanska 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3

 

A mostly dominating performance from Sveta apart from a joke of a second set tie break when the wee gremlins occupying her brain took control of the ship, putting the ‘case’ firmly back in front of the ‘head’.

 

In what has to be the the single most spontaneous act of cerebral combustion seen this year, Sveta blew away Championship after Championship point and with it the second set tie break – allowing Aga back in, all after being 4-0 and 6-3 up.

 

"It was very hard to close and I choked for first time in my life," said the two-time Grand Slam champion.

…

"My knees were shaking and I couldn't push on my serve and now I know why people double fault on match points," added Kuznetsova.

"I just shook. The trophy was very important to me. I was very embarrassed and I just got it back together and dictated.

"To play that bad at end of the second set and then to let her come back and see me choke, I had to be twice as strong in the third set and I was.

"It's pretty funny now that I won the match, but if I lost I might be thinking: 'should I finish playing tennis?' I doubt it will happen again."

-- BBC

 

“First time in her life?” Quite possibly.

 

You really had to be there.

 

It’s easy to assume Sveta’s simply talking up her confidence – blowing away unassailable leads is, after all, as familiar to her as the act of creating them in the first place.

 

But that’s mostly been through her aggravating tendency to believe she’ll make winners where none exist.

 

This was about nerve. Nerve so palpable, you could practically taste it behind your teeth – knowing that a double was on it’s way well before Sveta stepped up to serve.  Icky-unnerving and not at all for the faint of heart.

 

Difficult not to feel for Aga who, for two sets, played to the best of her ability. Reaching the finals here should further entrench her top ten ranking and, as I think I said earlier, I think she’s kinda earnt it.

 

getty

 

Nalbandian d. Baghdatis 6-2, 7-6 (4)

 

I know. I know.

 

All the narratives are in place. An unseeded wildcard. Ranked outside the top 100. Back from a hip injury. Not played since April.

 

And yet I remain unmoved.

 

It’s quite simple really. It’s as much a mistake to believe Nalbie will be upended by anything so trifling as hip surgery as it is to believe he’ll carry over this form wreaking havoc in the USO.

 

“If he plays like that,” Baghdatis said, “he can beat a lot of guys in the top 10.”

 

And if he doesn’t?

 

The real joy and wonder comes from knowing that in Sveta and Nalbie we have two stellar players whose form week in week out is as elusive as the location of a quantum particle.

 

In any given week they’re as likely to beat a string of top ten players as they are to exit in the first round of Warsaw.

 

If you were to attempt to jump into a wall a couple of trillion times, quantum theory predicts that your atoms  would, eventually, reconstitute on the other side.

 

Magic when it happens – nothing more than a sore head most of the other time.

 

For now I’ll content myself with knowing that they’ve made themselves relevant again.

Fancy meeting you here.

 

 

 

I’d have liked to have seen a Malisse/Nalbie final -- it’s been that sort of event – but this works too.

Ne’er do wells 1, Should’a would’a could’aves 0

 

[13] G Simon (FRA) d [2] A Roddick (USA) 63 63

[3] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d [Q] R Sweeting (USA) 64 75

[4] M Cilic (CRO) d [15] M Fish (USA) 64 46 62

X Malisse (BEL) d [5] J Isner (USA) 64 36 76(5)

 

I don’t buy into the US Open Series as a concept – never have, never will. A situation not helped by LA and Washington getting practically zero coverage here.

 

Incentivising players, not likely to bag the USO (and thereby double their earnings), amidst a climate of injury and burn out doesn’t strike me as that plausible nor desirable.

 

getty

 

Not unlike these results, of which, perhaps, only Dasco’s win over Sweeting doesn’t cause mild whiplash. Unlike, say, Izzy’s shirt.

 

There’s also the smallish matter of Squerio, last week’s winner in LA, falling in the first round to Tipsy, leaving, guess what, not a single American left in the draw.

 

Oh, and Roddick falls to #11 next week.

Who is Keyser Söze? And is he playing the USO?

 

So, tennis. Remember that?

 

Or a trimmed down version of what I care to comment on.

 

Big Rob reached the finals of Bastad before losing in three to Nico Almagro.

 

Nico admitted to having spent the night before thinking about how Sod might play and even said that he “tried to be him”.

 

I’m interested in how that works.  Is it like method acting?  Does it involve dolphins and jelly beans? Or dolphin-shaped jellybeans even?

 

Big Rob, meanwhile,  has now pulled out of Washington citing “personal reasons”.

 

Though not before this emerged.

 

 

…and the legend, evidently, wouldn’t let go.

 

They can be clingy like that.  Koala-bear clingy.

 

Coming into Russia’s Davis Cup Tie with the Argies, Kolya had this to say on his state of play:

 

"I haven't played for three months and have just had a couple of matches on grass, which I do not like," ... "So I cannot say right now how I am playing. Only time will tell."

 

Leaving aside his aversion to grass “which I do not like” much either, time did tell: a sorry tale of a 2nd round loss in Stuttgart followed by a 3rd round exit in Hamburg – an event he won last year.

 

That’s a loss of at least 400 points in Hamburg and counting, during what’s normally quite a prolific section of the season for him.

 

Word is he’s no longer being coached by Eduardo either. His wife Irena is. Make of that what you will.

 

Nole pulled out of LA citing “personal reasons” too.

 

The same event Muzzard just accepted a wildcard into.

 

It’s difficult to read too much into any of that. The trouble I find with this part of the season is no ones played enough tennis post-Wimby to be able to say anything substantive about their USO prospects and most of what’s going on isn’t broadcast here anyway.

 

 

There’s been the odd pic of a freshly-shorn ARod braving the Atlanta heat winning over Xavier Malisse. But to be honest I’m having a tough time believing that one’s even happening.

 

With that in mind it’s been curiously entertaining watching the whole Delpo situation unfold given that he hasn’t actually struck a ball in 7 months.

 

The train of thought goes something like this.

 

Delpo says he will be playing Thailand –> Which means Delpo might have recovered enough to play the USO –>Delpo will play the USO, or so it’s claimed –> Except, isn’t the USO a mandatory event? –> And Delpo hasn’t officially signalled his withdrawal either –> Which means what exactly?

 

Nothing mostly.

 

It also leaves us back where we started.

 

Thankfully Delpo took charge to confirm that whilst he’s improving he doesn't actually know when he’ll return.

 

Which is kinda what most people thought anyway.

 

Even so, a small part of me wishes he’d let the Twitter frenzy snowball even further – after all, Lord Lucan and Keyser Soze haven’t said they’re not playing the USO either.

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)