Davis Cup Predictions.

The first round of the Davis Cup begins tomorrow, here are my picks.

Canada vs. Spain
Team Canada:  Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil, Frank Dancevic, Daniel Nestor
Team Spain: Marcel Granollers, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Albert Ramos, Marc Lopez

Spain sends a depleted squad, especially when its highest ranked player on the team is Marcelo Granollers.  They feature doubles specialist Marc Lopez who is currently ranked #3 in doubles.  Canada combats with Milos Raonic and #4 rated doubles player Daniel Nestor.

On paper you have to lean towards Canada with Raonic and being at home, but no way can I pick Canada to beat the Spaniards who have owned Davis Cup ties with as much regularity as their National Football Team has soccer.

Pick:  Spain 3-2

Italy vs. Croatia
Team Italy:  Andreas Seppi, Fabio Fognini, Paolo Lorenzi, Simone Bolelli
Team Croatia:  Marin Cilic, Ivan Dodig, Nikola Metkic, Mate Pavcic

The Italians will be at home, and their only tough foe will be Cilic.  Dodig is a serviceable "jobber", but the other two guys are nobodies.  Seppi is having a good start to the season, and Fognini plays well on clay.  Fognini will also get under the skin of the Croats with his shenanigans.

Pick:  Italy in a minor upset 4-1

Belgium vs. Serbia
Team Belgium:  David Goffin, Steve Darcis, Ruben Bemelmans, Olivier Rochus
Team Serbia:  Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki, Nenad Zimonjic, Boris Pashanski

Belgium is at home....Who cares? This will be an ass beating.

Pick:  Serbia 5-0

United States  vs. Brazil
Team USA:  John Isner, Sam Querrey, Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan.
Team Brazil: Thomaz Bellucci, Thiago Alves, Marcelo Melo, Bruno Soares

This is a perfect matchup for the United States here.  Isner is probably still complaining of fatigue from the match vs. Mahut at Wimbledon, but even on one leg he should be able to beat his opponent.  This will be a walkthrough for the home Americans.

Pick:  United States 4-1

France vs. Israel
Team France: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Julien Benneteau, Michael Llodra
Team Israel: Dudi Sela, Amir Weintraub, Jonathan Erlich, Noam Okun

France is way too powerful and talented.  On top of that, they are playing in France.  Maybe Israel pulls out a doubles win, or a match that will not matter on the 3rd day if they are lucky.

Pick:  France 5-0

Argentina  vs. Germany
Team Argentina:  Juan Monaco, Horacio Zeballos, Carlos Berlocq, David Nalbandian
Team Germany:  Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer, Tobias Kamke, Christopher Kas

This should be a highly competitive matchup.  Juan Monaco is the highest ranked player between both teams, but has not had a good start to this season.  Kohlschreiber and Mayer are playing fairly well.  But the matches will be played on clay in Argentina.  That may be the difference in a tie that may come down to the last match.

Pick:  Argentina 3-2

Kazakhstan  vs. Austria
Team Kazakhstan:  Mikhail Kukushkin, Andrey Golubev, Evgeny Korolev, Yuriy Schukin
Team Austria:  Jurgen Melzer, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Alexander Peya, Julian Knowle

I really like Kazakhstan in this matchup.  Beyond Melzer, Austria doesn't really have that strong of a team.  Kazakhstan playing at home, with a rowdy crowd behind them...Hell, when was the last time a major sporting event was played in Kazakhstan?  The Borat-like people will be stirred into a frenzy and push their tennis playing brethren to victory.

Pick:  Kazakhstan 3-2

Switzerland  vs. Czech Republic
Team Switzerland:  Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, Michael Lammer, Henri Laaksonen
Team Czech Republic:  Tomas Berdych, Lukas Rosol, Ivo Minar, Jiri Vesely

The defending champion Czech team start their cup defense on the road in Switzerland.  Switzerland's most famous resident Roger Federer decided not to play this time around.  Leaving Stanislas Wawrinka and 3 bums to defend the home soil.  The Czech team features Tomas Berdych, who is one of the elite players in the world, but is without their bothersome gnat Radek Stepanek.  The Czech team is just better, and who knows how Wawrinka will respond in his first match since the crushing defeat to Novak Djokovic.  His confidence may be slightly fractured at the moment.  I'm not ready to count the champs out yet.

Pick:  Czech Republic 4-1

First Power Rankings of the 2013 Season.

I'm back.....for now.  So here we go.

The first Grand Slam event is finished, and my power rankings have been updated. My rankings unlike the ATP official rankings start over at the beginning of the season.  Everyone starts at zero and accumulates points throughout the year.  How do you get points you ask.

This is how players get points in my rankings:

GRAND SLAM EVENTS

3 points are earned for every win at a grand slam tournament up until the final.
5 points is earned by the player who wins in the final.

example: Juan Martin Del Potro won 7 matches to win the U.S. Open.
1st round defeated Juan Monaco = 3 pts
2nd round defeated Jurgen Melzer = 3 pts
3rd round defeated Daniel Koellerer = 3 pts
4th round defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero = 3pts
Quarterfinals defeated Marin Cilic = 3 pts
Semifinals defeated Rafael Nadal = 3pts
Final defeated Roger Federer = 5 pts

For a total of 23 points for winning a major.

Masters Series Events
There are about 8 Masters Series tournaments a year and they normally have a field of 64 players. Which means you must win 6 matches to be the champion.

Rounds 1st to Semifinals = 2pts each
Final = 3 pts to the winner.

For a total of 13 points for winning a Masters Series tournament.

All Other Tournaments
Most other smaller tournaments have 32 player fields, so 5 matches are needed to win.
Rounds 1-4 = 1pt
Final = 2 pts to the winner.
For a total of winning 6 points for winning any smaller tournament.

So with my system the bigger the tournament the more points there are to be earned. Kind of makes sense to me. Also the same system is used for both the men and women.


So here are the first rankings for the 2013 season

Women
1. Na Li (CHN)                                              27pts
2. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)                            26
3. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)                     24
4. Sloane Stephens (USA)                              20
5. Serena Williams (USA)                               18
6. Elena Vesnina (RUS)                                  17
7. Maria Sharapova (RUS)                             15
8. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)                               14
8. Angelique Kerber (GER)                            14
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)                       14

Men
1. David Ferrer (ESP)                                    24 pts
1. Andy Murray (GBR)                                  24
3. Novak Djokovic (SRB)                             23
4. Roger Federer (SUI)                                 15
4. Richard Gasquet (FRA)                             15
4. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)                             15
7. Tomas Berdych (CZE)                               14
8. Kevin Anderson (RSA)                              13
9. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)                              12
9. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)                                12
9. Kei Nishikori (JPN)                                   12
9. Andrea Seppi (ITA)                                   12
9. Bernard Tomic (AUS)                                12
9. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)                          12

A new updated Power Rankings will come out at the end of each "Grand Slam" event, and Final Power Ranking at the end of the Tour Championships in November.

Is Melanie Oudin committed to tennis anymore?

I ask the question "Is Melanie Oudin committed to tennis anymore?" because of her recent results, and what I witnessed today.

Melanie Oudin has fallen to 166th in the world rankings, she is no longer a regular participant on the WTA circuit, and is an afterthought of being chosen for Fed Cup duties.  This week Melanie is playing in the ITF 100k event in Midland, Michigan.  She lost her first round match on Tuesday evening to Stephanie Foretz-Gacon in straight sets.  I did not see her singles match, but I did get to witness her play doubles today with partner Jamie Hampton.  I could not believe what I saw when she took off her warmups.  She had a nice size tummy, and bigger arms that were not well defined.  She wasn't even close to looking as fit as I remember seeing her on television making a run at the U.S. Open, or even when she was a regular on the WTA tour.  There was one point during the match where it was an overhead lob on Oudin's side of the court she jumped to try a overhead smash, but came up about 6 inches short.  Her vertical leap rivaled my 77 year old grandfather's on his worst day.  Oudin and Hampton ended up defeating Kustova and Scholl, but Hampton carried the team.  Oudin looked extremely rusty and definitely overweight.

It seems that her recent misgivings have pushed her into a depression where she packed on some pounds, or she just doesn't care about getting back to where she once was, and doesn't want to put in the work to get fit and fulfill her lofty expectations. 

The expectations put upon her are not her fault.  I remember reading an article by a respected longtime tennis journalist saying, "America has found its version of Justine Henin".  This was right after her amazing U.S. Open run where she pulled off upset after upset in a surprising deep run.  This wasn't fair, even I knew that a few of them matches were pure luck and she was in the zone them few days.  She doesn't have an overpowering game and must use deception and consistency to win.  She needs fitness, which is severely lacking at this point in time.

So those of you wanting and waiting for Melanie Oudin will be back in the top 20, please don't hold your breath.  It seems like she is rock bottom right now.  She is not playing well, and she does not even look close to being in match shape.

She can only go up from here, will Melanie Oudin fight from the depths and make a charge at the top again?

NO WAY!! STICK A FORK IN HER, SHE'S DONE!!

Swine steals Djokovic shirt from little girl.

After Novak Djokovic's Australian Open final win over Rafael Nadal, Djokovic walked over to the side of the court to give his shirt to a 14 year old girl who had been cheering him the entire match.  When Djokovic threw the shirt in her direction a "lady" and I use that term loosely snatches the shirt in mid air before it could get to the intended recipient.

After catching heat the last few days, the asshole that stole the shirt has decided not to give it to the young girl, but to put the shirt up for auction and the money would go to "charity".  My gut feeling is that this charity getting the money will be the shirt snatchers bank account.

The shirt eventually was auctioned off for 6,000 dollars.  The high bidder and winner of the shirt happened to be the mother of the little girl who was robbed.  So in the end the little girl got the shirt, but it cost her mom 6k to get it.  Not the smartest of business transactions, but good job mom.

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My Outlook on Some Womens Player's "Fortunes" for 2012.

Women are much harder to read.  You know, with all them hormones and stuff.  Crystal ball is a little foggy.

Victoria Azarenka:  Shocked she didn't come down with an illness, or take a header into the pavement on a jog forcing her out of the tournament.  Not only did she avoid those things she showed a consistent power game that blew off the rest of the competition.  Azarenka will have her dips, and meltdowns still, but they will be less frequent and she will be a factor in all tournaments she enters.

Petra Kvitova:  Nasty serve out-wide.  Wimbledon favorite.  She just needs to work on consistency and fitness.  Fast surfaces fit her best and will be tough to beat while playing on them.  She'll underwhelm on clay.

Serena Williams:  "All eyes on me".  Body seems to be breaking down from what I would imagine is taking too many "roids" or "HGH".  For someone who hates the game and hates to work out or do anything athletic, she is built like a "brick shithouse".  This "I'm girly at heart" routine isn't fooling anyone.  "Girly girls" don't have fits of roid' rage at the U.S. Open 2 years in a row.  Unfortunately Serena will probably win a Grand Slam this year.  Either Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.

Venus Williams:  Like Andy Roddick, washed up.  But Venus has the bigger penis of the two.

Maria Sharapova:  Somebody take her vocal chords out.  She will continue to choke on the biggest of stages.  No Grand Slam titles for you, Maria.  Way too inconsistent on ground strokes.

Jelena Jankovic:  Supposedly she worked out extremely hard in the off-season.  I think she will make a comeback and be a threat to hang around in the Top 5.  She still doesn't have the power game, or mental toughness to win a slam, but she will hang in there and make the quarterfinals and a semifinal or two.

Ana Ivanovic:  Meh.  Improved from last year, but that isn't saying much.
Simona Halep:  Proof that smaller boobs is better for the forehand.  Still isn't any good though.
Vera Zvonareva:  Last 2 years were "her run".  Look for her to start fading and falling off.
Svetlana Kuznetsova:  Her days as a Grand Slam title contender are over.
Na Li:  When she isn't "choking" she is quite good.  She may contend for a Slam this year.
Kim Clijsters:  You are always injured because you are no longer committed.  Retire already.
Sabine Liscki:  Nice story, but a one trick pony with the serve. Stuck in the 3rd-4th round range.
Andrea Petkovic:  If she fully recovers from back injury she is very serviceable and good.
Dinara Safina:  Does she play tennis anymore?
Agnieszka Radwanska:  Put Lisicki's serve with Radwanska's ground strokes and you have a new #1.
Francesca Schiavone:  So fun to watch,  but her only shot to compete with the big girls is on clay.
Samantha Stosur:  Bi-Polar. I'm not sure if i'm more confused over her game or if she is a lesbian.
Caroline Wozniacki:  None more annoying.  From her laugh to her overconfidence.  Pusher's suck.

My Outlook on Some Mens Player's "Fortunes" for 2012.

Lets take a look at some of the top players and not so top players on the mens side and try to break down how their 2012 will shape up.

Novak Djokovic:  Guy is an absolute stud, and the Australian Open proved that he now has both the physical and mental stamina to dominate on all surfaces.  He'll win 1-2 more Grand Slams this season.

Rafael Nadal:  A grinder and a fighter, but he seems to be breaking down.  He doesn't have the serve to win easy points, and has to depend on his mobility to win long drawn out points.  He'll be the favorite at Roland Garros, but will come up short at all the other Slams.  He'll also continue to whine about the ATP schedule and drug testing the rest of the year.  Uncle Toni will also continue to think of the best means of getting away with "on-court coaching", and also finding the best steroids "masking agents" money can buy.

Roger Federer:  He basically needs the luck of the draw to make it to a Grand Slam final, and then win it.  No way can he beat 2 of the Top 4 in a slam anymore.  He need to hope for early upsets and weasle his way to a final and a win.  Skills are starting to diminish a little, but still is elite enough to beat anyone anywhere no any given day.  The consistency just isn't there anymore.

Andy Murray:  Besides Djokovic, Murray was the 2nd biggest winner in Melbourne.  He came away from his semifinal loss with a renewed confidence in himself and that he belongs with the best in the world.  New coach Ivan Lendl has really improved Murray's mental strength which reinforced Murray's belief in his own game.  Murray will break out with his first Grand Slam win this year.  Probably at the U.S. Open, still a little too much pressure on Murray for him to win Wimbledon.

David Ferrer:  A little grinder, who never gives up on a point in any match, whether he's playing a qualifier in the 1st round of a 250 event, or playing a top ranked player in a Grand Slam.  One of the most fun to watch players on the tour, who will show bursts of energy and anger.  Ferrer isn't against smashing a racket or two.  His game just isn't at the level as the previous aforementioned.  He'll hang in the 5-12 range as far as rankings go.

Juan Martin Del Potro:  I still don't think he's fully healed from his wrist injury yet.  It may be more mental than actually physical.  This is the year many people believed Del Po would get back to his U.S. Open winning form, but I just don't see it.  He isn't fully ready to take the next step yet.  He will be good, but he won't be pushing for a spot in the "Big 4" this year.

Andy Roddick:  Washed-up.  Stick a fork in this guy.
Milos Raonic:  Overrated.  North America's answer to Ivo Karlovic.
John Isner:  Still whining about playing so long at 2010 Wimbledon.  Crap for fitness.
Fernando Verdasco:  (See Andy Roddick)  but add in "Pretty boy" instead of "guy".
Janko Tipsarevic:  Meteoric rise to #9 in world.  Will retire from 80% of his matches.  He's a tool.
Tomas Berdych: Has the game to compete with the best, but is a choker and shades of a whiner.
Mardy Fish:  Poor man's Andy Roddick.  Had a lucky year last year.  He'll go back to being a scrub.
Richard Gasquet:  Needs to quit doing blow off stripper's asses.  Great backhand.  Mental midget.
Gael Monfils:  Least intelligent player in the game.  But also extremely athletically gifted.
Sam Querrey:  This guy still plays tennis?
Robin Soderling:  Needs to dump his girlfriend and go back to being a bad ass.  His game has suffered.

First Power Rankings of the Year.

The first Grand Slam event is finished, and my power rankings have been updated. My rankings unlike the ATP official rankings start over at the beginning of the season.  Everyone starts at zero and accumulates points throughout the year.  How do you get points you ask.

This is how players get points in my rankings:

GRAND SLAM EVENTS

3 points are earned for every win at a grand slam tournament up until the final.
5 points is earned by the player who wins in the final.

example: Juan Martin Del Potro won 7 matches to win the U.S. Open.
1st round defeated Juan Monaco = 3 pts
2nd round defeated Jurgen Melzer = 3 pts
3rd round defeated Daniel Koellerer = 3 pts
4th round defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero = 3pts
Quarterfinals defeated Marin Cilic = 3 pts
Semifinals defeated Rafael Nadal = 3pts
Final defeated Roger Federer = 5 pts

For a total of 23 points for winning a major.

Masters Series Events
There are about 8 Masters Series tournaments a year and they normally have a field of 64 players. Which means you must win 6 matches to be the champion.

Rounds 1st to Semifinals = 2pts each
Final = 3 pts to the winner.

For a total of 13 points for winning a Masters Series tournament.

All Other Tournaments
Most other smaller tournaments have 32 player fields, so 5 matches are needed to win.
Rounds 1-4 = 1pt
Final = 2 pts to the winner.
For a total of winning 6 points for winning any smaller tournament.

So with my system the bigger the tournament the more points there are to be earned. Kind of makes sense to me. Also the same system is used for both the men and women.


So here are the first rankings for the 2012 season


Women
1.  Victoria Azarenka (BLR)  34
2.  Petra Kvitova (CZE)  21
2.  Kim Clijsters (BEL)  21
4.  Maria Sharapova (RUS)  18
4.  Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)  18
4.  Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)  18
7.  Na Li (CHN)  17
8.  Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)  16
9.  Jelena Jankovic (SRB)  15
9.  Jie Zheng (CHN)  15
9.  Sara Errani  (ITA)  15




Men
1.  Novak Djokovic (SRB)  23
2.  Rafael Nadal (ESP)  21
2.  Andy Murray (GBR)  21
4.  Roger Federer (SUI)  18
4.  David Ferrer (ESP)  18
6.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)  15
7.  Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)  14
7.  Nicolas Almagro (ESP)  14
9.  Kei Nishikori (JPN)  13
10.  Tomas Berdych (CZE)  12
10.  Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)  12
10.  Milos Raonic (CAN)  12
10.  Bernard Tomic (AUS)  12

I may be making a comeback in the world of below average blogging.

It has been almost a year since I blogged last.  I am getting that itch again.  Look for my Australian Open wrap up blog and new Top 10 Men's and Women's power rankings in the next few days.

Like the facebook page, I will be keeping that up to date as well.

Mary Jo Fernandez needs to tell the Williams sisters to "Get Bent".

There is a ITF rule that states that a player must make themselves available for Fed Cup duty in 2 years out of the 4 to be eligible to play for their country in the Olympics.  Now this does not mean they have to play in every Fed Cup tie for 2 years.  In the least a player can play once each year.  Lets think about that, all you have to do is show up and play for 2 weekends in four years, and you are eligible to compete in the Olympic Games.  Sounds pretty simple, right?

Well not for the Williams sisters.  If they can't make a little money off of it, they will be sure to think of an injury or excuse for why they cannot play.  According to ITF officials, they have ruled that Venus and Serena have not made themselves available for Fed Cup duty in 2009 and 2010.  So that means they must play atleast once in 2011 and 2012 to be in the 2012 Olympics.

Here is when it gets a little tricky.  The U.S. has a Fed Cup matchup in April, and if they lose this matchup there will be no more Fed Cup ties for the U.S. in 2011.  So that means if the Williams sisters decide to get their nuts waxed that weekend they will be ineligible to represent their country in 2012.

Since when did the Williams sisters care about playing for their country?  They get the opportunity to do it 3-4 times a year and decline to do so in rare pathetic fashion.  If there is no money or a big time spotlight on it, they want nothing to do with it.  For instance in 2009 Serena Williams confimed that she would play in the Fed Cup final against Italy, 3 days later during the Tour Championship she pulled out of the Fed Cup final due to fatigue, yet 2 days after that she won the Tour Championship.

That would be like you or I shooting hoops in the yard, and your husband/wife/girlfriend asking you to take out the trash, you responding by saying "I'm too tired to do it." and then continuing to shoot hoops for another hour.  Its horse shit, plain and simple.

While the Williams sisters are getting vasectomies, plugging garbage on QVC, walking the red carpet for crappy films, going to weddings of fellow retards like LaLa and Carmelo Anthony, and players like Melanie Oudin and Bethany Mattek-Sands get on a plane and play wherever they are asked for Fed Cup.  They aren't the best players, but they actually do quite well and seem to play their best tennis while representing their country and being patriotic.  If anything, even when they lose, they are still there supporting their fellow teammates and enjoying the experience.

The Williams brats have yanked U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Jo Fernandez's chain so many times over the past few years by committing to play, yet to pull out due to hypochondria.  Fernandez needs to take the power back and stick it in their ear and not even ask them to play.  Let the players who have been loyal to Fernandez like Mattek-Sands, Oudin, and Liezel Huber play.  Its just utter garbage that Venus and Serena can have total control over something that in reality they don't care about.  Yet will pretend to care  once it comes time that it becomes in their best interest that they play.

In reality they are selfish in their tennis outlook and as fake as that garbage Serena peddles on QVC.  The USTA and ITF need to stand up and take a stand and not bend the rules if for some reason these babies come up with another excuse.  But we all know they don't have a back bone and will let Serena and Venus make the rules.

They need to grow a sac as big as Venus' and then maybe they could make a stand on this issue.

Milos Raonic? What is the big deal?

Everybody is raving about Milos Raonic lately.  For those of you unfamiliar with him he's the 20 year old from Canada via Yugoslavia.  He has been creating a buzz on tour this year for his big serve and what many perceive as tremendous upside.  Everybody from John McEnroe, and Martina Navratilova to Brad Gilbert and tennis writer Matt Cronin have been hanging from this kid's nuts saying how he is the next big thing and being ballsy enough to compare him to Pete Sampras.

I guess I just don't see it....yet.

Milos started his 2011 season trying to qualify for the ATP event in Chennai, India.  He didn't have the "goods" to get through qualifying and wasn't able to participate in the main draw.

Next came the 1st major of the season the Australian Open.  Raonic had a pretty good run in only his 2nd career major (lost in 1R of 2010 U.S. Open) making it to the 4th round.  He had quality wins over Bjorn Phau, Michael Llodra, and upset the 10th seeded Mikhail Youzhny, before losing to David Ferrer in the 4th round.  In the match against Ferrer, Raonic looked real good in the 1st set and won that set by keeping Ferrer off balance with his huge serve and solid net game.  Then the wheels came off for the young Canadian.  Ferrer who is one of the better return-of-servers in the game figured out the serve and made Raonic try to match him from the baseline and that was toxic to his chances of survival.  Ferrer took the next 3 sets easily, and his 2011 Australian Open run was dead.  But the buzz of this kid was just starting to begin.  ESPN's coverage had him sitting at their desk with Brad Gilbert drooling all over this kids potential.

This week is when Raonic hit an all time high.  He won the SAP Open in San Jose this past weekend.  His first ever ATP tournament win.  He had some nice wins in San Jose:  beating former roided out vet Xavier Malisse, "the fork" James Blake, fellow up-and-comer Richard Berankis, advanced to the final with a walkover victory over Gael Monfils who pulled out of the event with a wrist injury that will keep him sidelined for possibly the next couple months, and won the title with a 7-6, 7-6 win over Fernando Verdasco.

The "tennis world" now has a "boner" for Milos Raonic.

I'm not ready to crown this kid yet.  Sure its a possibility he could be a top 5 or top 10 player, but he has a lot to work on.  Currently he's at his all-time high of #59 in the world.  At 20 years old that is excellent and definetly could make a run at top 30 by the end of the year.  BUT I've seen this hype before.  Just a year and a half ago I heard how Melanie Oudin is going to be the American version of Justine Henin.  Currently Oudin is struggling to stay in the top 75 and is barely making it out of the 1st round of smaller WTA events.  Like Oudin, Raonic is going to get figured out by the competition.  The kid has a monster serve and that will keep him in matches against mid-level players, but when he starts facing top 20 guys he is going to have to do more than rely on aces to win matches.  In the Ferrer match his backhand was atrocious.  He didn't have the mental game to come to net, when it was working.  On court strategy especially in multi-set Grand Slams will be a weakness, but he's only 20 I keep telling myself.

I'm not sold yet.  American media loves to crown everyone as the next (put name in here).  I've been told by "experts" that Sam Querrey will be a top 10 player.  The guy is 1-8 in his last 9 matches.  And John Isner is going to be "special".  Well if being "special" is having a big serve, below average ground strokes, terrible return of serve, well then I guess Ivo Karlovic is "really special".

Raonic is in Memphis this week for the ATP 500 event.  In his first round he gets a rematch with Fernando Verdasco.  Lets see if he can mix his game up against a top 10 player who has seen him before.  Now that the world is on notice, lets see how he does when he won't sneak up on someone who isn't expecting anything.

You're on the radar now, Milos Raonic.  Time to step your game up and show the world if you are the next Pete Sampras or the next Ivo Karlovic.

Lets Try That Again...

Thursday was not a very good day.  Like I said do not bet real money on these picks.  If you were smart, you would take the opposite of who I take.

So with 3 losses I am now down to 700 imaginary dollars.  Lets try to win some money back.

Stockholm:
Jarkko Nieminen -275 vs.  James Blake + 190
For some dumb reason I really like the value bet.  James Blake is a good pick for doubling your money.  I'm not 100% confidant in this one, but in a match where its 50/50 and if one of the guys wins you can basically double your money.  It's too difficult to pass on
$100 on James Blake
RESULT: Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-2


Robin Soderling -600  vs.  Florian Mayer + 350
This is when I go "all in" with the rest of my money.  Soderling in his home country will just throttle journeyman Mayer.  I really like this play.  Pricey, but close to a sure thing....I think.....I hope.
$600 on Robin Soderling
RESULT:  Florian Mayer 7-6, 6-1.


Well this didn't go well.  Lesson learned, do not bet on tennis.  I just busted.

It's been a while.

It's been a while since my last post, and nothing real significant has happened.  Well Venus and Serena coincidentally got injuries, so now they have an excuse not to play in tournaments and skip Fed Cup.  How convenient that seems to work.

So I've now decided to do something fun.  Odds are good that I will not stick to doing it since I rarely stick to anything on this blog.

But I have come up with the idea to start off with $1000 of FAKE money and randomly bet on matches just to see how much I will have at the end of the year.  I will be using the money lines at betus.com.  This is not a plug for the site, its just the first one I found with tennis odds.  Repeat I will not be placing bets, nor do I advise you to place bets based on my picks.  This is just for fun.  There is a good chance I will bust in the first couple days and this will idea will be gone with the wind.

Let me explain the money line real quick.  Next to a players name there will be a + or a - and a number.  example -400 or +250   The minus number is always the favorite.  And that is how much money you would have to wager to earn $100.  Now if you bet on a underdog who has a +  That dollar amount is how much you would win if you put $100 on that player.  Confusing  I know, but you'll figure it out with time.

So here are my wagers for the matches on Thursday, October 21, 2010:

In Moscow,   Maria Kirilenko -400,  Kateryna Bondarenko +250
I like the value in taking Bondarenko in this one.  Kateryna could easily win this match.  This seems like a pretty even match, and I like the odds that Bondarenko is getting.
$100 on Bondarenko
RESULT:   Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 6-0

In Moscow,  Anna Chakvetadze -450,  Mariya Koryttseva +275
This one baffles me, there is no way Chakvetadze should be that big of a favorite over anyone.  Chakvetadze during the season went a few months without putting back-to-back victories together.  Well she won her first round match, so you know what that means?  That's right, she's losing this one.
$100 on Koryttseva
RESULT:  Anna Chakvetadze 6-1, 6-2.

In Stockholm, Ivan Ljubicic -225,  Arnaud Clement +175
Ljubicic is always hard to read.  He seems to go through the motions a lot, and throw in the towel in smaller tournaments.  He can go through periods of showing a lack of interest, and Clement is just the opposite.  Clement is always in shape and a grinder.  I like how if you take Clement you can double your money, when this is almost a pick'em match.  I'm banking on Ljubicic not caring and trying to get out of town as quick as possible.
$100 on Clement
RESULT:  Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-4.

Now I realize I took 3 underdogs.  These were the 3 matches on tomorrows schedule that looked like a good chance to make some quick $$$.  There was some favorites that were shoe-ins, but putting $900 down on Soderling to beat up on Benjamin Becker isn't the most fun.  Maybe once I get a big bank roll I can put down some money on the big favorites.

Check back tomorrow to see how much money I won or lost, and who I'll be taking for Friday.

Who wants to see my poll?

The last Grand Slam event is finished, and my power rankings have been updated. My rankings unlike the ATP official rankings start over at the beginning of the season.  Everyone starts at zero and accumulates points throughout the year.  How do you get points you ask.

This is how players get points in my rankings:

GRAND SLAM EVENTS

3 points are earned for every win at a grand slam tournament up until the final.
5 points is earned by the player who wins in the final.

example: Juan Martin Del Potro won 7 matches to win the U.S. Open.
1st round defeated Juan Monaco = 3 pts
2nd round defeated Jurgen Melzer = 3 pts
3rd round defeated Daniel Koellerer = 3 pts
4th round defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero = 3pts
Quarterfinals defeated Marin Cilic = 3 pts
Semifinals defeated Rafael Nadal = 3pts
Final defeated Roger Federer = 5 pts

For a total of 23 points for winning a major.

Masters Series Events
There are about 8 Masters Series tournaments a year and they normally have a field of 64 players. Which means you must win 6 matches to be the champion.

Rounds 1st to Semifinals = 2pts each
Final = 3 pts to the winner.

For a total of 13 points for winning a Masters Series tournament.

All Other Tournaments
Most other smaller tournaments have 32 player fields, so 5 matches are needed to win.
Rounds 1-4 = 1pt
Final = 2 pts to the winner.
For a total of winning 6 points for winning any smaller tournament.

So with my system the bigger the tournament the more points there are to be earned. Kind of makes sense to me. Also the same system is used for both the men and women.




My Womens Top 10 following the U.S. Open
1. Caroline Wozniacki (Den)  127
2. Samantha Stosur (AUS) 104
3. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 100
4. Venus Williams (USA) 95
5. Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 90
6. Kim Clijsters (BEL) 90
7. Shahar Peer (ISR) 82
8. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 80
8. Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 80
10. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 79


And you are thinking, "Where in the hell is Serena Williams?"  Well in my system, you do not accumulate points for faking injuries, and flaking out of tournaments.  If you did, Serena would be crowned the champion by the middle of March in most years.  She barely missed the top 10 by one point.  Serena is currently #11 with 78 points.  So maybe she will quit getting work done on her face and take it easy on the Michael Jackson-Sammy Sosa whitening formula and get her ass on the court and try to move up the rankings.


My Mens Top 10 following the U.S. Open
1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 161
2. Roger Federer (SUI) 115
3. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 104
4. Andy Murray (GBR) 92
5. Robin Soderling (SWE) 91
6. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 90
7. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 84
7. Andy Roddick (USA) 84
9. David Ferrer (ESP) 83
10. Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 75

And that is the current rankings, there are still a lot more tournaments left in the season, including the season ending tour championships.  So there is a chance for players to move up or fall completely out of the top 10.  I'll post the final top 10 once the season is complete.

Day 10 of the U.S. Open

Sorry for being late.  The internet was down last evening.

I didn't have much to say anyways, other than "THE WIND SUCKS!"  The wind made for some terrible matches yesterday.  All 4 matches were straight set victories for the favorites.

Results:
Vera Zvonareva over Kaia Kanepi
Novak Djokovic over Gael Monfils
Caroline Wozniacki over Dominika Cibulkova
Roger Federer over Robin Soderling

PICKS FOR THURSDAY:

Mikhail Youzhny will beat a tired Stanislas Wawrinka.  Stan has had to battle his last two matches.  He upset Andy Murray, and went the five set distance with Sam Querrey.  Before the Querrey match, Wawrinka admitted before the Querrey match that he was having leg problems, and that he hoped would be okay.  Well after going five I guarantee his leg isn't any better, odds are it is a lot worse.  Youzhny normally has injury issues of his own, but seems to be fit and playing well.  Because Wawrinka is tired and a little banged up, I have to pick Youzhny in four sets in this one.

The night match will be Rafael Nadal vs. Fernando Verdasco.  I'm still a little bummed that it isn't going to be David Ferrer kicking Nadal's ass at night, on Ashe Stadium.  Verdasco played a great last 3 sets and deserved the win, but like Wawrinka, Verdasco is having some minor injury problems of his own.  During the Ferrer match, Verdasco called the trainer to look at his ankle.  So there may be questions about his mobility tonight.  Even at 100% health, Verdasco had a slim chance of winning, so at 80% its almost no shot.  Nadal wins in 4 sets.

Day 9 of the U.S. Open

Lets start with the match of the day, maybe match of the year behind that boring ass Isner-Mahut match.  If either of them scrubs had the shot making abilities as David Ferrer or Fernando Verdasco, they wouldn't of had to play for 3 damn days.  So in my opinion the Ferrer-Verdasco match was better in quality.  The only thing the Isner-Mahut match had was longevity.

David Ferrer known for being scrappy and not giving up on any point during a match got up to a 2 sets to zero lead on Verdasco.  They were tight sets, with just a point here or there being the difference in the set.  So with two close sets (7-5, 7-6) in his pocket, Ferrer looked to move into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open for the first time since 2007.  In the third set Ferrer's intensity seemed to drift just enough for Verdasco to get a crucial break and take the set.  With his confidence starting to grow, and the support of the crowd getting behind him, Verdasco controlled the 4th set, and sent the match to a deciding 5th set.

With momentum on the side of Verdasco, it looked like Ferrer was laboring physically.  He seemed to have a minor cramp in one leg, which added to an already bleak outlook.  Somehow, someway Ferrer got a second wind, and was able to break serve early in the 5th set and took a 4-2 lead.  He had a break point to go up 5-2 which would of probably put the match away, but Verdasco was able to fight back and hold serve.Verdasco then able to break the serve of Ferrer's and once again hold.  He was looking into the eyes of a 5-2 deficit, and now he was up 5-4 in a matter of a few moments.  The tide of momentum had once again shifted, but this wouldn't be the last shift of the match.  Ferrer held serve and the match eventually went to a 5th set tiebreaker.  Ferrer looked good early in the tiebreaker racing out to a 4-1 lead, and then the wheels fell off.  Verdasco won the next 6 points and on match point he made one of the most amazing points to finish a match you could ever see.  Ferrer laid down a nice drop volley that looked almost impossible for Verdasco to even get to.  Verdasco sprinting from one corner of the court to the other was able to not only get a racket on the ball, but hit it around the pole of the net and in for a winner...Once again David Ferrer let victory slip from his hands.

-------------------------

Lets get to another match today.  Sam Querrey has been pissing and moaning about how he hasn't played at Arthur Ashe Stadium this U.S. Open.  Well Sam, here is a news break for you:  You aren't good.  You are solid, but that is about it.  You are not even in the top 20, so before you go barking about how you should be on the court reserved for the "big boys", you should concentrate on getting past the 2nd round of Grand Slams, since that seems to be a struggle in itself for you.

Sam finally got his chance to play at Arthur Ashe today.  And in typical Sam Querrey fashion he went out and got beat by Stanislas Wawrinka in 5 sets.  Just like most American's have this sense of entitlement from the Williams sisters right on down to a turd like Sam Querrey.  He probably had a list of excuses as to why he lost, just like his homey John Isner who is still blaming his fatigue on a match that happened over 2 months ago.  Yo John, blame that fatigue on you not being fit, blame your loss on your pathetic ground strokes.  Dude you are a one trick pony, you'll never be a factor.  Say hello to America's, Ivo Karlovic.  Although Dr. Ivo is way cooler than Isner will ever be.  Hope Dr. Ivo is recovering well from his foot surgery...Well I've managed to get off track.  This was about Sam Querrey being a whiney bitch, but that seems to be the way all the American players are.  All the credit in the world to Wawrinka for knocking out the last American male in the tournament...Wawrinka now plays Mikhail Youzhny who pretty much handled Tommy Robredo on Tuesday.  Taking control of the match from the beginning, having a hiccup in the 3rd set, just to put Robredo away in the 4th.

Here is a result that shocks nobody.  Rafael Nadal beat Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.  He'll play and kick Verdasco's ass next.

---------------------------

Lets talk about the ladies now.  Francesca Schiavone and Venus Williams had a good battle in their quarterfinal matchup.  There was probably more testosterone between these two "ladies" than what Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco could muster up....Back to the match.  Schiavone was able to break Williams' serve multiple times, and was able to show the other women in the bracket that the once intimidating serve can be beaten.  The difference in the match was that Venus was able to out-muscle the smaller Schiavone, and she also took advantage of quite a few mistakes made by Schiavone.  You cannot give Venus free points, and that is exactly what the veteran from Italy did.

Venus will now get a chance at revenge in the semifinals when she plays the new "Williams killer"  Kim Clijsters.  Clijsters was able to win a rollercoaster of a match with Samantha Stosur, that featured both players getting up a couple games just to be caught and past and so on.  Stosur probably has a better serve than Venus, so if Kim could handle that, she can definitely and probably will not have a lot of trouble with Venus....More like hopefully.

PICKS FOR WEDNESDAY:

All singles matches will be at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Vera Zvonareva will end the "Cinderella" run of Kaia Kanepi.  Zvonareva has the experience and know-how to handle Kanepi's power.  Zvonareva wins in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic has the tactics and brains to beat Gael Monfils who is all athleticism, but not much between the ears other than being a "showoff".  Monfils would rather look good than play good, Djokovic will have little to no trouble with Monfils.  Djokovic in 4 sets

Caroline Wozniacki is on a roll.  Dominika Cibulkova, before this tournament hadn't done anything of note in months.  She was struggling to win matches and somehow she put a few together this past week.  Well her new found form will not be enough.  Wozniacki wins in 2 comfortable sets.

And in the final night match of the day Roger Federer will battle with Robin Soderling.  I'm not positive, but I believe that this will be Soderling's first ever time playing at night at the U.S. Open.  Soderling was able to upset Federer at the French Open, but before then Federer had owned him.  I see no way in Federer losing this match in what will be a great atmosphere on a court where he has had so much success.  He'll keep Soderling moving both vertically and horizontally and just wear out the big man from Sweden.  Federer takes this match in 4 sets.

ESPN's coverage is garbage.

Day 8 of the U.S. Open

How impressive has Caroline Wozniacki been this week?  For someone who's game isn't that powerful, and has been criticized for being a "pusher", which basically means she just gets the ball in, almost never trying to hit a winner.  Relying on her opponent to make the errors, for her to get points and therefore a win.  She must be damn good, to be a "pusher" and kick everyone's ass put in front of her.  Its not only this week, but she has won the previous 2 tournaments coming into the U.S. Open.  She is absolutely on fire, playing excellent tennis.  I really cannot see how anyone can beat her right now.  If you break it down, she has Dominika Cibulkova next.  Well they have almost mirror image games, but Wozniacki is about 2 steps ahead of her.  So that should be a fairly easy win.  After that would be a semifinal match between Zvonareva or Kanepi.  Wozniacki will be the heavy favorite against either of those women.  The final will be a tough match against either Clijsters, Venus, Schiavone or Stosur.  Wozniacki matches up really well against all them players other than Clijsters.   It would make for a rematch of last years final, and a really good matchup sylistically to watch.  Who knows how its all going to unfold, but after this week, and watching Wozniacki dismantle a lot of the experts pick to win this Maria Sharapova, I always doubted Wozniacki, and her style, but she has gained my respect.  She definitely is for real.

While Wozniacki is the real deal,  Svetlana Kuznetsova, not so much.  Kuznetsova has been on the WTA Tour for what seems like forever, and has 2 Grand Slam titles. Basically a shoe-in for the tennis hall-of-fame, but for all the experience she has gained you would think she would be mentally prepared for hard times on the court.  That is not the case for "Kuzie", on Monday she got frazzled by Dominika Cibulkova who is a little waterbug on the court.  She is Melanie Oudin, but actually good.  Cibulkova is only 5'2" but is quick and makes you play every point.  Cibulkova does not have the talent of Kuznetsova, but there is one thing she has that Svetlana does not, and that is mental toughness.  Kuznetsova lost the match in 7-5, 7-6, but "Kuzie" had all the opportunities in the world to make this an easy win.  She ran out to a 4-2 lead in the first set, and was a point away from being up 5-1.  Then in the 2nd set Kuznetsova had a 3-1 lead, but in both of the sets Cibulkova fought for every point and managed to get back into the match.  I'm not sure what Kuznetsova expected from Cibulkova, maybe that she would roll over and die?  Instead, Svetlana got tight, and in the match served 10 double faults and had 42 unforced errors.  When the things got tough, it was Kuznetsova rolling over and dying on the court.  You would think that someone so engaging, and intelligent would be able to work through these types of problems.  It just seems like she is cursed with having mental blocks while on the court.  It makes me think, "How did she win 2 grand slam tournaments?"  Well the answer is in who she beat for them titles.  Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina.  Two people with bigger mental problems than Kuznetsova.  So if you are a fan of Svetlana Kuznetsova, get used to this kind of play from her.  I don't see it improving anytime soon.  If anything, you know her matches will not be boring.  There will be lots of ups and downs, so hop on the rollercoaster, and enjoy the ride.

In other womens matches, Kaia Kanepi was getting blown out of the water by Yanina Wickmayer in the first set.  Wickmayer took the first set 6-0, and then got up a break in the 2nd set.  It was time to put Yanina into the quarterfinals on the bracket, but then Kanepi woke up and harnessed her power, and totally shifted the momentum of the match.  Kanepi was able to win the second set in a tiebreaker 7-6.  Wickmayer then seemed to "gas out".  She has had some long grueling matches this week, and add on Kanepi's power, it just wore down the young Belgian.  Kanepi took the third set and match 6-1, and it sets up a matchup with the underrated Vera Zvonareva who had no problems with Andrea Petkovic, winning 6-1, 6-2.

The mens matches on Monday were not the most thrilling.  Gael Monfils started the day off by winning in straight sets over fellow countryman, Richard Gasquet.  Monfils now advances to the quarterfinals and face Novak Djokovic next.  Djokovic toyed with Mardy Fish and used his great athleticism and even better tactics to keep Fish on the run, and totally uncomfortable.  This was Djokovic's best match so far this tournament.  His game was on, and if he can keep this up, he'll be tough to beat.

Robin Soderling was supposed to blow Albert Montanes off the court (well atleast in my opinion), but that wasn't really the case.  Montanes won the first set over the heavily favorited Soderling.  The old Solderling would of gotten frustrated and probably lost this match, but he seemed to just accept the challenge and then got into a rhythm with his heavy ground strokes.  Once in the rhythm Montanes couldn't really do much.  Soderling pushed him well behind the baseline and when Montanes tried to answer he was so far back he didn't have much "juice" on his shots.  That would go on for the next 3 sets and Soderling was able to set up his quarterfinal date with Roger Federer, who beat Jurgen Melzer in straight sets.  It wasn't easy for Federer though, Melzer hung tough and stayed with Roger for a good two-and-a-half sets.  It was just that whenever there was a "big" point to be won, it was Federer winning it.  He was just more clutch, or a little more lucky.  Either way he was better on the scoreboard, and that is where it matters.

PREVIEW FOR TUESDAY:

Stanislas Wawrinka will beat Sam Querrey.  Wawrinka is looking really good, especially after that win over Andy Murray, and Querrey is a "choker".  That all adds up to a Wawrinka 4 set victory.

Venus Williams will get a win over Francesca Schiavone in a highly entertaining match.  Schiavone when on is as fun to watch as anyone, and she will give Venus a good fight, but for some reason I just feel that Venus is somehow going going to pull this one off, which is really unfortunate.

Kim Clijsters the defending champion will move on to the semifinals with a win over Samantha Stosur.  Stosur I have a feeling will still be fatigued from that battle with Elena Dementieva that took them past 1:30 a.m. on Sunday night.  That will be enough for Clijsters to get a straight set victory.

Rafael Nadal will spank Feliciano Lopez.  Yes, I know Lopez beat Nadal just a few weeks ago on hardcourt, well that doesn't matter.  Nadal is motivated, and the much much much better player.  Lopez will not even win a set.  Just what we all wanted, another night match blowout.

Mikhail Youzhny will take out Tommy Robredo in 4 sets.  Youzhny is playing well, but I pretty much have no faith in Robredo.  I picked him to lose in the first round, so with every win he shocks me more and more, and makes me think the next match is the one he will lose.  Which will be this match.

And last but not least, the best match of the day:  David Ferrer vs. Fernando Verdasco.  Coming into the U.S. Open, neither one of these guys did anything substantial on the hardcourts over the summer.  Verdasco lost early at Wimbledon and was really struggling.  Ferrer was a little more solid, but not getting tremendous results.  Now fast forwarding to today, Ferrer has yet to lose a set at the U.S. Open and Verdasco is coming off a impressive blowout of a in-form David Nalbandian.  Verdasco has a history of hardcourt success, like last years Australian Open run that took him to the semifinals and almost to the final, but he lost that epic 5 set battle with Rafael Nadal.  Going by trends, this is also the time that Ferrer normally flames out of Grand Slam tournaments.  I would absolutely love to see Ferrer beat Verdasco, and get his chance to play at night against Rafael Nadal, but that almost seems too good to be true.  Verdasco will win this match in 4 sets.

Day 7 of the U.S. Open

Will Andy Murray ever win a Grand Slam?  He hasn't had the greatest of seasons by  his standards, but this was probably his best, and self professed favorite slam.  Is the pressure starting to get to him, where he can win the first set over a solid Stanislas Wawrinka and then just go in the tank and lose the next 3?

Andy needs to think more about getting rid of Momma Murray, and getting a real coach.  He has a whole pack of people following him around, but none of them knows who is the boss.  I'm sure he is being pulled in different directions, whether tactically or fitness.  When you have 3 trainers, I can see where they wouldn't always agree.  Its time to simplify things.  Andy leave mom at home with Kimmy.  They can go shopping together and do your laundry.  Hire a real coach, and get the rest of your team all on the same page.  If you don't, there is no way in hell you will ever win a slam or realize your dream of being the #1 player in the world.  You're still young, and have time.  Get your shit together before you waste your potential.

Alright, good talk, Andy.  Now go get em' tiger.  BREAK!

Now lets start with the mens matches of the day.  As expected Rafael Nadal gave Gilles Simon a working over winning in straight sets.  Nadal's next opponent in the 4th round will be Feliciano Lopez who made Sergiy Stakhovsky say "uncle" in the 2nd set.  Stakhovsky retired down a set and 0-4 in the 2nd.... "The man" David Ferrer put a beat down on Daniel Gimeno-Traver in 3 easy sets.  Ferrer now has a date with buddy Fernando Verdasco in the next round, because Verdasco beat the in form David Nalbandian on Sunday.  This will be a tough one to call.  Normally this is about the time where Ferrer crashes and burns in majors, and the same can be said about Verdasco.  Flip a coin...As you know Stan Wawrinka beat Murray and now will play Sam Querrey who beat Nicolas Almagro... John Isner shit the bed against Mikhail Youzhny.  Isner has absolutely no stamina and will never go real deep in majors.  After about 2-3 rounds he is like a zombie out there.  Slow as shit, and nothing left to give.  Luke Jensen doing commentary on the live feed on usopen.org kept telling Isner to suck it up and play.  And to quit playing with his hat, going as far as to call him a "pretty boy".  It was awesome.  He basically called him out for being a bitch without saying it.  Youzhny now plays Tommy Robredo next.  Robredo beat the surprising Michael Llodra by retirement, when Llodra tapped out in the 3rd set.

How crazy is this, either Stanislas Wawrinka, Sam Querrey, Mikhail Youzhny, or Tommy Robredo will be in the semifinals.

"SCHEEVER SCHEEVER SCHEEVER"  Francesca Schiavone.  She hasn't done anything since winning the French Open, but is now looking like the form when she won on the red clay.  Schiavone the wily vet gave Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova a lesson in how to whoop some ass.  The testosterone should be flowing when Schiavone faces Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.  Venus was able to advance with a predictable win over Shahar Peer...Kim Clijsters pulled out the whoopin stick on Ana Ivanovic, handing her a 6-1, 6-2 spanking.  Clijster's quarterfinal opponent will be Samantha Stosur who beat Elena Dementieva in a highly entertaining match that didn't end until 1:37 a.m.  Dementieva had 4 match points in the 3rd set, but couldn't close out the match.  She left the door wide open for Stosur who had a chance to serve out the match, but Dementieva broke back and forced the match to be decided by a 3rd set tiebreaker.  Stosur was able to jump out to a quick lead in the tiebreak and hold on for the victory 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.

PREDICTIONS FOR MONDAY:

Arthur Ashe Stadium
#11 Svetlana Kuznetsova  vs.  Dominika Cibulkova
Kuznetsova has too much power and is in way better form than the often injured and struggling Cibulkova. "Kuz" takes this one in straight sets.
#19 Mardy Fish  vs.  #3 Novak Djokovic
Fish has been battling all week.  Much weaker opponents have been giving him fits.  Djokovic seems to be playing into form and getting better with each match.  The weather should be a little cooler, so Novak should be able to breathe okay.  Djokovic in 4 sets.
#1 Caroline Wozniacki  vs.  #14 Maria Sharapova
Wozniacki is looking unstoppable right now.  She is showing pure dominance over all her opponents.  She has the consistency in her game to give a hot and cold Sharapova fits.  Sharapova will have quite a few unforced errors, and that will be her downfall.  Wozniacki in 2 close sets.
Andrea Petkovic  vs.  #7 Vera Zvonareva (night match)
I'm not sold on Zvonareva, this is about the time where she has a meltdown and pisses away a match she should win.  Petkovic hasn't been lighting the world on fire either though.  I'll be a pansy and stick with the favorite.  Zvonareva wins in 3, but don't be surprised if its Petkovic in 3 either.
#2 Roger Federer  vs.  #13 Jurgen Melzer (night match)
Melzer is a cool dude, but "The Rog" is going to bitch-slap him all over the court.  Nothing in Melzer's arsenal  will even come close to damaging Federer.  Federer wins in 3 easy sets.


Louis Armstrong Stadium
#17 Gael Monfils  vs.  Richard Gasquet
I'm liking the way  Gasquet has been playing.  He has been on target all week.  Mostly against inferior opponents with the exception of Nikolay Davydenko.  But the way he outclassed Davydenko was impressive.  "Monchichi" Monfils would rather be a showman and do his "look at me" clown act than grind out a win.  He likes to "flake out" and a retirement wouldn't be a surprise either.  Gasquet in 4 unless Monfils quits before then.
#15 Yanina Wickmayer  vs.  #31 Kaia Kanepi
***UPSET OF THE DAY-  Kanepi is a hard hitter and will give Wickmayer fits.  Wickmayer has been winning, but by the skin of her teeth.  Her luck will end, and Kanepi will be the surprise quarterfinalist in the womens draw.
#5 Robin Soderling  vs. #21 Albert Montanes
Montanes has absolutely no shot of winning this match.  Soderling is going to blow him off the court with his power.  Montanes is a excellent clay player, but he is a one trick or one surface pony.  His serve is weak, and on a quick court he can't compete with someone like Robin Soderling.  This match won't last long.


ESPN's tennis coverage is a joke, even when they aren't on the air.  Hannah Storm?  Get real.

Day 6 of the U.S. Open

Not the greatest day of tennis in history on Saturday.  Pretty much all the matches went according to form, and were straight set wins. 

The upset of the day was #4 seed Jelena Jankovic struggling in the high winds of Arthur Ashe Stadium, and getting out muscled by the hard hitting 31st seed Kaia Kanepi.  Jankovic just couldn't find a rhythm or put pace on the ball in the winds.  And if she cannot play her game, she is shot mentally, which equaled a straight set win for Kanepi.  Jankovic was my pick to win this tournament, and I have to laugh at myself for picking such a mental midget to win.  Especially over another cluts like Victoria Azarenka.  What the hell was I thinking?

The best match of the day was Mardy Fish vs. Arnaud Clement.  Clement the fit Frenchman gave Fish all he could handle, but Fish was just good enough to escape with a 5 set win.

America's next teenage hopeful, Beatrice Capra got taken to the woodshed by Maria Sharapova.  It was total and utter destruction.  Reginald Denny taking a brick off the face thought it was ugly.  Sharapova outclassed Capra 6-0, 6-0.  Time to put your collective boners away ESPN, this isn't the great American hope you wished for.

Now lets get to the rest of the routine boring results:
Federer schooled Mathieu in straight sets.
Djokovic sent Blake home withought much trouble.
Kuznetsova was able to beat Kirilenko in 2 sets
Soderling outpowered De Bakker in yet another match that ended in straight sets.
Wozniacki continued her dominance over Asians, beating Yung-Jan Chan 6-1, 6-0.
Vera Zvonareva was a straight set winner over Alexandra Dulgheru
Gael "monchichi" Monfils beat a gimpy Janko Tipsarevic in 4 sets.
Yanina Wickmayer was pushed to a 3rd set tiebreaker by Patty Schnyder, but still got the win.
Jurgen Melzer had little difficulty dispatching Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Albert Montanes won when Kei Nishikori hurt his hamstring in the 2nd set, and had to retire.
Richard Gasquet outmuscled Kevin Anderson in straight sets
Andrea Petkovic won by walkover when Shuai Peng pulled out of the tournament.
Dominka Cibulkova dominated Lourdes Dominguez Lino

Preview and Picks for Sunday:

Arthur Ashe Stadium court-
#2 seed Kim Clijsters vs. Ana Ivanovic
Ivanovic is playing much better than she has been of late, but Clijsters is too good.  Clijsters in 3 sets.
#3 Venus Williams  vs.  #16 Shahar Peer
I haven't been impressed by Venus, but Shahar Peer doesn't have the game to give Venus much trouble.  Unfortunately, Venus moves on in straight sets.
#1 Rafael Nadal  vs. Gilles Simon
Rafa normally struggles against the big hitters who hit a flat ball.  Well Gilles is more crafty than strong, and Rafa eats them guys for lunch.  Rafa rolls over Simon in 3 sets.
#12 Mikhail Youzhny  vs.  #18 John Isner
This is the first night match on Ashe.  Flip a coin on this one.  If the focused Youzhny shows up he can easily beat Isner.  But his game is as flakey as John Isner is big.  It all depends on what kind of Youzhny you get, and my guess is a not so great one comes to play.  Isner wins in a 4.
#5 Samantha Stosur  vs.  #12 Elena Dementieva
Two players who haven't been playing at their best the last few weeks.  I think the winds will still be around and that should wreak havoc on Dementieva's weak serving.  Stosur will win a good 3 set match.

Louis Armstrong Stadium-
#6 Francesca Schiavone  vs.  #20 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
This will be a fun match to watch.  Pavlyuchenkova is solid and young, Schiavone has been finding her form and will put on a show.  I like the French Open Champion, Schiavone to win a tough 3 set battle.
#20 Sam Querrey vs. #14 Nicolas Almagro
Sam Querrey normally bitches out in grand slams. So getting to the 3rd round is pretty good for him.  His clock has just hit midnight, Almagro wins in 4.
#4 Andy Murray vs. #25 Stanislas Wawrinka
Murray kicks Stan the man's ass all over the court.

Grandstand-
#31 David Nalbandian vs. #8 Fernando Verdasco
Verdasco would rather chase skirts and model underwear than win tennis matches.  Nalbandian is back in form and wants to get back to where he once was.  Nalbandian wins this one in 5.
#23 Feliciano Lopez vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky
Lopez is probably the worst #23 seed in the history of the U.S. Open.  I'll be nice and give him one set, probably in a tiebreaker, but Stakhovsky takes this one in 4.
Tommy Robredo vs. Michael Llodra
2 scrubs right here. I'm going to take Llodra just based on his serve and volley style. 

Court 11-
#10 David Ferrer vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver
Somebody tell me how in the hell does Ferrer get put out on court 11?  Hell the team of Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova can play on Louis Armstrong, yet the 10th seeded male is out on some shit court?  What a bunch of garbage.  Hopefully Daveeeeeeed is as worked up about this as I am and takes his aggressions out on Gimeno-Traver, then the Nalbandian-Verdasco winner, and then in primetime at night beats the piss out of that squirrelly bastard Rafa Nadal...Lets not get ahead of ourselves now.  Ferrer will beat his on/off doubles partner Gimeno-Traver in straight sets.

No ESPN coverage for the weekend, but they still suck nuts.

Day 5 of the U.S. Open.

Day 5 was a break from the oppressive heat that was a major factor in the first few days of the tournament.  There wasn't anyone doing face plants during sprints, or any monumental upsets.  It was just a solid day of tennis with quite a few matches going the distance.

Lets start with the men first:

My upset special of Marco Chiudinelli fell short.  He pushed the 18th seed John Isner to his limits, but couldn't overcome the big serve of Isner to break when he needed to.  "Chode"inelli was able to take the match to 4 close sets though.  Isner's whole game is his serve.  His ground strokes, movement, and conditioning are below average, or maybe average.  I know, many you think: "What about Wimbledon, his conditioning has to be good to go for 11 some odd hours."  Well if you watched that match, Isner and Mahut were mere clones of eachother.  Both had excellent serves, but were lame in the other areas.  Neither could come close to breaking.  That is what happens when you are a one dimentional player.  Isner will soon begin to break down like he always does.  His U.S. Open is nearing an end.

A fun thing to watch was the "choke job" Ryan Harrison pulled.  The young American was facing Sergiy Stakhovsky, who won the tournament last week in New Haven, Connecticut.  The match went to the farthest limit it could go, a 5th set tiebreak.  Now comes the best part:  Harrison had 3 match points up 6-3 in the tiebreaker.  Then he just folded and lost the next 5 points and the match.  The announcers were rooting for Harrison, the whole New York crowd cheered every mistake made by Stakhovsky.  All the while ESPN was ready to declare Harrison the winner, and break down his future matches.  Then for him to do a nose dive was awesome.  I loved every second of it.

Tommy Robredo who has been struggling most of the year, surprisingly has gotten into the 3rd round.  He got the victory when Julien Benneteau retired in the 2nd set.  Benneteau puked up a lung in his first round match, he clearly wasn't fit for this tournament.  Time to climb some stairs Julien... Michael Llodra continues to play good tennis.  He backed up his first round upset of Tomas Berdych, to win again and now faces Tommy Robredo in the 3rd round.

David Ferrer kicked Benjamin Becker's ass, just like I had called...Fernando Verdasco "schooled" Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-2, 6-2...#20 Sam Querrey advanced, as did #31 David Nalbandian, #14 Nicolas Almagro, and #1 Rafael Nadal

Gilles Simon pulled a mild upset of 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in 5 sets...Oh yeah, Andy Murray beat the hell out of some Jamaican dude.

Nothing really out of the ordinary on the side of the women.  Kim Clijsters crushed Petra Kvitova, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova smoked Gisela Dulko in lopsided matches.

Elena Dementieva and Samantha Stosur both won in straight sets and will now face eachother in what will be an interesting 4th round match

Venus Williams won in her night match against Mandy Minella, and will face Shahar Peer in the 4th round.  Peer earned her way to the next round with a tough win over Flavia Pennetta.

Predictions for Saturday:

Arthur Ashe Matches-
#4 Jelena Jankovic will be pushed hard against #31 Kaia Kanepi, but will squeak by with another tough 3 set win.
Beatrice Capra's "cinderella" run will end with a titanic ass whooping at the hands of #14 Maria Sharapova.  This will be brutal and ugly. 
#2 Roger Federer over Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets.  Too easy for "The Rog".
In the first night match on Ashe,#3 Novak Djokovic will beat James Blake, but I would not be surprised if Blake takes a set off Djokovic.
And the last match of the day will be between #11 Svetlana Kuznetsova and #23 Maria Kirilenko.  This will be a good one, but I think Kuznetsova will come through with a tight 3-set win.

Louis Armstrong Matches-
#5 Robin Soderling will not have much trouble with Thiemo De Bakker.
#1 Caroline Wozniacki  rolls over Yung-Jan Chan.
#19 Mardy Fish will struggle to beat Arnaud Clement, but will do so in 4 hard fought sets.
#7 Vera Zvonareva will edge #25 Alexandra Dulgheru in 2 close sets.

Grandstand Matches-
UPSET SPECIAL***  Janko Tipsarevic will defeat #17 Gael "monchichi" Monfils in 5 sets.
#15 Yanina Wickmayer will cruise past Patty Schnyder.
#13 Jurgen Melzer will win a dog fight of a match with #22 Juan Carlos Ferrero.  This will probably be the best match of the day.

Court 11 Matches-
ANOTHER UPSET SPECIAL*** Kei Nishikori over the 21 seeded clay court specialist Albert Montanes.
Richard Gasquet has too much firepower for Kevin Anderson.  He'll win in straight sets.
Andrea Petkovic gets the win over Shuai Peng.
Dominika Cibulkova edges Loudes Dominguez Lino in 3 sets.

Should be another great day of tennis on Saturday.  and don't forget ESPN STILL BLOWS!!