Tuesday saw the fall of men's favorite Andy Murray. Murray was the pick by a lot of people to dethrone king Roger Federer of his U.S. Open crown. Croatian Marin Cilic picked Murray apart, and never let the Scot get in a rhythm. Murray said later that he was, "a little tired". This was kind of odd since Murray is probably one of the fittest players on tour. Maybe its too much tennis during the summer, or it was a useful excuse. Either way Andy Murray has to re-group. Another major lost. Cilic kept Murray off balance and took advantage of points by being more aggressive. It was a tactic that proved to be valuable, for Murray had no answer for Cilic's new style of play.
In the next round Cilic will play another giant Juan Martin Del Potro. Both players are over 6'6" and should be an interesting match to see these two giraffe's meet up. Del Potro earned his way into the quarterfinals by beating down Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets.
The "Cheating Chilean" Fernando Gonzalez pulled the minor upset of defeating Jo-Willie Tsonga. Tsonga had been steamrolling people, and it seemed like it was going to happen again to Gonzalez. Tsonga won the first set and seemed to be well on his way to another victory. Then Gonzalez started making his shots, and closed the gap. It was too much for the Muhammad Ali look-a-like and Fernando moves on to face Rafa Nadal next.
Rafa Nadal outlasted Gael Monfils during the night match. Monfils won the first set in a tiebreaker, but after that it was all Rafa. Monfils was visibly tired and holding his knees and gasping for breaths after some of the rallys. Rallys that were some of the best I've seen in a long time. 30-35 shot rallys with both players running left-to-right and forward and back. Great shotmaking, but it was Monfils lack of conditioning or fitness that did him in. Rafa looked good, and it seemed his stomach problem wasn't much of a hinderance.
On the women's side there was only 2 matches. In the first match of the day Kim Clijsters back from retirement and having a baby totally dominated Na Li. Li playing on Arthur Ashe court for the first time seemed lost, and scared out on center stage. Her game was way off and Clijsters remained consistent in a easy beatdown.
The night match featured Serena Williams and Flavia Pennetta. Pennetta who was on the best streak of her life couldn't match the power of Serena. Serena had a serve clock 130 m.p.h. and the smaller Pennetta couldn't handle it. Most of the games were close and Pennetta had her opportunities to break, but just couldn't come through when it mattered. Serena wins in 2 very close sets, and will face Clijsters in the semifinals.
Real quick my picks for Day 10 (Wednesday):
Federer to stomp Soderling in straight sets. Possibly 4 if Soderling gets lucky
Djokovic to squeak by Fernando Verdasco in what will be the match of the day. Djokovic is playing great tennis, and I believe has just a little bit more than Fernando.
On the women's side look for Flying Bondarenko sister Kateryna to continue her improbable run and move into the semifinals. Also tonight will be the end of everyone's little darling Melanie Oudin, who meets up with a player that has the exact same game as her in Caroline Wozniacki, but is better and more consistent. This will be a match where whoever makes the least amount of mistakes wins, and that will be Wozniacki.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Day 8 at the U.S. Open
I want to take a minute to toot my own horn. If you read the "Day 7" blog and my predictions you will see I pretty much called every match exactly to how many sets. Yes, I'm that damn good.
So heres a recap:
Roger Federer thrashed Tommy Robredo in easy straight sets. Robin Soderling was up 2 sets to 1 when Nikolay Davydenko retired due to a bad leg, which he had heavily taped before the match. So now Federer will face Soderling, with the winner getting to the semifinals.
Novak Djokovic as I predicted smoked Radek "enemy mine" Stepanek in straight sets. The highlight of this match was after the match when the "Djoker" was being interviewed he made a sly comment to John McEnroe in the booth about coming down and hitting some balls, and Johnny Mac obliged. McEnroe came down in khakis and dress shirt with sneakers on and hit a few balls with Novak. It was a pretty cool moment......Djokovic will now face Fernando Verdasco who beat John Isner in thats right 4 sets. Who said it was going to go 4? Thats right, ME!! Anyways this is the first time EVER that no American male will be in the quarterfinals. And I say GOOD!!
On the womens side "Flying" Bondarenko sister Kateryna got revenge in the worst way over Gisela Dulko by "double bageling" her and downright embarrassing the Argentine. Kateryna will now face Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in the round of 8 for the crown of "biggest jobber to reach the semis" A great honor and career highlight for either of these ladies.
17 year old Melanie Oudin's improbable streak continues. She dispatched another Russian Natalie Petrova in a tough 3 set victory. Oudin has made a habit out of losing the first set easily, just to come back and snatch victory from another Russian. ::beavis laugh:: I said snatch. Melanie will now face Caroline Wozniacki who continues to defy the "curse of Verdasco's weiner" by defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in what is probably the match of the day. The score line said 2-6, 7-6, 7-6. How shitty for "Kuz" to lose both sets by tiebreaks. Pretty lame.
Lets get to my picks for Tuesday.
Na Li vs. Kim Clijsters: Kim Clijsters continues on out of retirement by rolling over the top Chinese women's player.
Flavia Pennetta vs. Serena Williams: I'm rooting for Pennetta, but my head tells me that Serena will unfortunately win this match. Pennetta has been playing a ton of tennis this summer, and no one would blame her if she starts showing some fatigue. Look for Serena to win this in straight sets.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Fernando Gonzalez: This will be the match of the day. Well atleast on paper it looks like an even matchup. Gonzalez is always steady, but seems to flame out at about this point in tournaments. He does well against lower competition, but when he plays the big boys he just folds. Tsonga seems to have that problem as well, but Tsonga beat Federer in his only loss of the hardcourt season, and has been playing on top of his game the past week in New York. I like Tsonga to win in 4 sets. Look for the "cheating Chilean" to possibly pull an injury excuse and retire at some point in the match.
Gael Monfils vs. Rafa Nadal: Rafa has been dealing with a nagging stomach injury. Monfils is so inconsistent and seems to flake out of matches with imaginary injuries. It allcomes down to how bad is Rafa's stomach strain. I'm thinking it will be good for one more round and he will be on his game for a big night match. Rafa to win in 4 sets.
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero: On paper Del Potro should steamroll over Ferrero. Ferrero has good fitness and that is the one thing that is Del Po's kryptonite. Del Po's skills should be enough to pull out a tough straigh setter. Maybe a tiebreak or 2 in a couple sets.
Andy Murray vs Marin Cilic: Cilic hasn't been playing that great, and Murray seems to be getting on top of his form. This will be an easy victory for Murray.
So heres a recap:
Roger Federer thrashed Tommy Robredo in easy straight sets. Robin Soderling was up 2 sets to 1 when Nikolay Davydenko retired due to a bad leg, which he had heavily taped before the match. So now Federer will face Soderling, with the winner getting to the semifinals.
Novak Djokovic as I predicted smoked Radek "enemy mine" Stepanek in straight sets. The highlight of this match was after the match when the "Djoker" was being interviewed he made a sly comment to John McEnroe in the booth about coming down and hitting some balls, and Johnny Mac obliged. McEnroe came down in khakis and dress shirt with sneakers on and hit a few balls with Novak. It was a pretty cool moment......Djokovic will now face Fernando Verdasco who beat John Isner in thats right 4 sets. Who said it was going to go 4? Thats right, ME!! Anyways this is the first time EVER that no American male will be in the quarterfinals. And I say GOOD!!
On the womens side "Flying" Bondarenko sister Kateryna got revenge in the worst way over Gisela Dulko by "double bageling" her and downright embarrassing the Argentine. Kateryna will now face Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in the round of 8 for the crown of "biggest jobber to reach the semis" A great honor and career highlight for either of these ladies.
17 year old Melanie Oudin's improbable streak continues. She dispatched another Russian Natalie Petrova in a tough 3 set victory. Oudin has made a habit out of losing the first set easily, just to come back and snatch victory from another Russian. ::beavis laugh:: I said snatch. Melanie will now face Caroline Wozniacki who continues to defy the "curse of Verdasco's weiner" by defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in what is probably the match of the day. The score line said 2-6, 7-6, 7-6. How shitty for "Kuz" to lose both sets by tiebreaks. Pretty lame.
Lets get to my picks for Tuesday.
Na Li vs. Kim Clijsters: Kim Clijsters continues on out of retirement by rolling over the top Chinese women's player.
Flavia Pennetta vs. Serena Williams: I'm rooting for Pennetta, but my head tells me that Serena will unfortunately win this match. Pennetta has been playing a ton of tennis this summer, and no one would blame her if she starts showing some fatigue. Look for Serena to win this in straight sets.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Fernando Gonzalez: This will be the match of the day. Well atleast on paper it looks like an even matchup. Gonzalez is always steady, but seems to flame out at about this point in tournaments. He does well against lower competition, but when he plays the big boys he just folds. Tsonga seems to have that problem as well, but Tsonga beat Federer in his only loss of the hardcourt season, and has been playing on top of his game the past week in New York. I like Tsonga to win in 4 sets. Look for the "cheating Chilean" to possibly pull an injury excuse and retire at some point in the match.
Gael Monfils vs. Rafa Nadal: Rafa has been dealing with a nagging stomach injury. Monfils is so inconsistent and seems to flake out of matches with imaginary injuries. It allcomes down to how bad is Rafa's stomach strain. I'm thinking it will be good for one more round and he will be on his game for a big night match. Rafa to win in 4 sets.
Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero: On paper Del Potro should steamroll over Ferrero. Ferrero has good fitness and that is the one thing that is Del Po's kryptonite. Del Po's skills should be enough to pull out a tough straigh setter. Maybe a tiebreak or 2 in a couple sets.
Andy Murray vs Marin Cilic: Cilic hasn't been playing that great, and Murray seems to be getting on top of his form. This will be an easy victory for Murray.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Day 7 of the U.S. Open
FINALLY!!! One of the Williams' sisters has been eliminated. "The Gimp" Venus with her bandaged leg, which I'm sure will be used as a casual excuse for her play, even though she hasn't played worth a piss since she jobbed and let Serena win Wimbledon. Kim Clijsters continues her comeback from retirement and did us all a favor knocking out Venus....Na Li will face Clijsters in the quarterfinals after beating Francesca Schiavone on Sunday.
Serena continued her dominance (ugh) by smashing Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-0.... Serena will play Italian Flavia Pennetta who is on a dominating hot streak of her own. Sunday night Pennetta beat Vera Zvonareva who was in full meltdown mode in the second half of the match. Zvonareva who looked like a mummy by all tape and bandages around both of her knees raced out and beat Pennetta 6-3 in the first set. The 2nd set was close and ended up going to a tiebreaker. Flavia was able to outlast Zvonareva and even the match with a close 7-6 set. After the tiebreaker is when it got good. Zvonareva began throwing a temper tantrum, throwing "F Bombs" at the chair umpire. Ripping at her bandages, crying, putting a towel over her head, hitting herself in the hand,knees, and head with her racket. It reallly was a thing of beauty. Reminded me of my sister at a young age. Hell at an older on as well. So that pretty much sealed the deal. Zvonareva totally went to the shitter and Pennetta dispatched her from the tournament with a 6-0 3rd set. Hopefully Pennetta can put Serena on tilt in the next round.
Mens side went as planned for the most part. Tsonga beat up on fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau...."Cheating Chilean" Fernando Gonzalez overwhelmed Tomas Berdych....Gail Monchichi Monfils put Jose Acasuso into submission who quit at the beginning of the 3rd set.....Rafa Nadal who showed signs of a stomach muscle problem got passed Nicolas Almagro, but a round of 16 matchup with Monfils will give him much more trouble.....Del Potro, Cilic, and Murray all won their matches with ease.....#9 seed Gilles Simon had to retire in his match with Juan Carlos Ferrero because of a knee injury. Simon was the only lower seed to lose on Sunday.
Monday will feature some excellent mens matchups and some not so great, but yet intriguing womens matchups.
Starting with the women: Petra Kvitova faces off with Yanina Wickmayer. I don't know diddly squat about either of these players. I do know that both will be making an improbably dream come true for them to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event. I'm picking Wickmayer to continue her cinderella run with a 3 set victory.
"Flying" Bondarenko sister named Kateryna plays Argentine Gisela Dulko. Gisela Dulko is looking to take the scalp of another Bondarenko sister. She beat Kateryna's sister Alona in the 2nd round. Well its not going to happen. Kateryna gets revenge for the family and scrapes past the clay court specialist.
In a interesting matchup the 17 year old American Melanie Oudin plays Nadia Petrova. Oudin who is on an amazing streak of beating down Russians Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, and will take out Nadia Petrova who is the worst of the 3. Oudin continues her storybook run with a comfortable victory over the up-and-down Petrova.
In what could be the best matchup on either the mens or womens side Caroline Wozniacki plays Svetlana Kuznetsova under the lights at Arthur Ashe stadium. Wozniacki has just been red-hot this summer (just ask Fernando Verdasco) and has been dispatching her opponents with ease now faces her stiffest challenge (thats not named Fernando Verdasco) Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova the French Open champion and former U.S. Open Champion is quietly working her way through the draw with little fan-fare. (thanks ESPN) Its about time both of these women get center stage in a great matchup. I would like to see Kuznetsova continue on, but I think Wozniacki who is on top of her game will come out with a victory. Either way, whoever wins this match can pretty much punch their ticket to the final. I called it here first.
Lets look at some of the mens matchups for Monday:
Roger Federer vs. Tommy Robredo. Federer should win fairly easily. Robredo is a clay courter who doesn't like the fast pace of the hard stuff. Should be too easy for "The Rog"
Robin Soderling vs. Nikolay Davydenko. This is an interesting matchup between 2 different styles. Davydenko is the small quick guy who doesn't make too many mistakes and just keeps returning anything you throw at him. Soderling has what Davydenko doesn't, and thats power. Soderlings forehand blew Rafa Nadal off the court in Paris. Its that nasty. Soderling although isn't much of a mover, he runs like his legs are in cement boots. So if Davydenko can get him going back and forth and keeping Soderling on the run he has a great chance to move on. Although I think Soderling has too much power on both his serve and ground strokes. I like Soderling to win in a tough 4 possibly 5 set match.
Novak Djokovic vs. Radek Stepanek: Stepanek is kind of a weirdo. He plays great about 35-40 percent of the time and the rest of his matches are a disaster. Well today will be a disaster. Djokovic has too much of a total game and will neutralize anything Radek throws at him. Djoker will move on in straight sets.
Fernando Verdasco vs. John Isner: Isner just played a greuling 5 setter against Roddick the other night. Verdasco also played a greuling 5 setter against Tommy Haas. The difference is Fernando is used to playing long tough matches back in Spain where playing on the clay is tough no matter how many sets. Isner blew his wad. Hes done. He's not used to playing deep into Grand Slam play, let alone 5 set matches. His lack of fitness and inexperience will show. Verdasco will win in 4 sets. Isner will win one (probably the 2nd set) in a tiebreaker and thats it.
8 pretty solid matches on Monday. Enjoy.
Serena continued her dominance (ugh) by smashing Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-0.... Serena will play Italian Flavia Pennetta who is on a dominating hot streak of her own. Sunday night Pennetta beat Vera Zvonareva who was in full meltdown mode in the second half of the match. Zvonareva who looked like a mummy by all tape and bandages around both of her knees raced out and beat Pennetta 6-3 in the first set. The 2nd set was close and ended up going to a tiebreaker. Flavia was able to outlast Zvonareva and even the match with a close 7-6 set. After the tiebreaker is when it got good. Zvonareva began throwing a temper tantrum, throwing "F Bombs" at the chair umpire. Ripping at her bandages, crying, putting a towel over her head, hitting herself in the hand,knees, and head with her racket. It reallly was a thing of beauty. Reminded me of my sister at a young age. Hell at an older on as well. So that pretty much sealed the deal. Zvonareva totally went to the shitter and Pennetta dispatched her from the tournament with a 6-0 3rd set. Hopefully Pennetta can put Serena on tilt in the next round.
Mens side went as planned for the most part. Tsonga beat up on fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau...."Cheating Chilean" Fernando Gonzalez overwhelmed Tomas Berdych....Gail Monchichi Monfils put Jose Acasuso into submission who quit at the beginning of the 3rd set.....Rafa Nadal who showed signs of a stomach muscle problem got passed Nicolas Almagro, but a round of 16 matchup with Monfils will give him much more trouble.....Del Potro, Cilic, and Murray all won their matches with ease.....#9 seed Gilles Simon had to retire in his match with Juan Carlos Ferrero because of a knee injury. Simon was the only lower seed to lose on Sunday.
Monday will feature some excellent mens matchups and some not so great, but yet intriguing womens matchups.
Starting with the women: Petra Kvitova faces off with Yanina Wickmayer. I don't know diddly squat about either of these players. I do know that both will be making an improbably dream come true for them to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event. I'm picking Wickmayer to continue her cinderella run with a 3 set victory.
"Flying" Bondarenko sister named Kateryna plays Argentine Gisela Dulko. Gisela Dulko is looking to take the scalp of another Bondarenko sister. She beat Kateryna's sister Alona in the 2nd round. Well its not going to happen. Kateryna gets revenge for the family and scrapes past the clay court specialist.
In a interesting matchup the 17 year old American Melanie Oudin plays Nadia Petrova. Oudin who is on an amazing streak of beating down Russians Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, and will take out Nadia Petrova who is the worst of the 3. Oudin continues her storybook run with a comfortable victory over the up-and-down Petrova.
In what could be the best matchup on either the mens or womens side Caroline Wozniacki plays Svetlana Kuznetsova under the lights at Arthur Ashe stadium. Wozniacki has just been red-hot this summer (just ask Fernando Verdasco) and has been dispatching her opponents with ease now faces her stiffest challenge (thats not named Fernando Verdasco) Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova the French Open champion and former U.S. Open Champion is quietly working her way through the draw with little fan-fare. (thanks ESPN) Its about time both of these women get center stage in a great matchup. I would like to see Kuznetsova continue on, but I think Wozniacki who is on top of her game will come out with a victory. Either way, whoever wins this match can pretty much punch their ticket to the final. I called it here first.
Lets look at some of the mens matchups for Monday:
Roger Federer vs. Tommy Robredo. Federer should win fairly easily. Robredo is a clay courter who doesn't like the fast pace of the hard stuff. Should be too easy for "The Rog"
Robin Soderling vs. Nikolay Davydenko. This is an interesting matchup between 2 different styles. Davydenko is the small quick guy who doesn't make too many mistakes and just keeps returning anything you throw at him. Soderling has what Davydenko doesn't, and thats power. Soderlings forehand blew Rafa Nadal off the court in Paris. Its that nasty. Soderling although isn't much of a mover, he runs like his legs are in cement boots. So if Davydenko can get him going back and forth and keeping Soderling on the run he has a great chance to move on. Although I think Soderling has too much power on both his serve and ground strokes. I like Soderling to win in a tough 4 possibly 5 set match.
Novak Djokovic vs. Radek Stepanek: Stepanek is kind of a weirdo. He plays great about 35-40 percent of the time and the rest of his matches are a disaster. Well today will be a disaster. Djokovic has too much of a total game and will neutralize anything Radek throws at him. Djoker will move on in straight sets.
Fernando Verdasco vs. John Isner: Isner just played a greuling 5 setter against Roddick the other night. Verdasco also played a greuling 5 setter against Tommy Haas. The difference is Fernando is used to playing long tough matches back in Spain where playing on the clay is tough no matter how many sets. Isner blew his wad. Hes done. He's not used to playing deep into Grand Slam play, let alone 5 set matches. His lack of fitness and inexperience will show. Verdasco will win in 4 sets. Isner will win one (probably the 2nd set) in a tiebreaker and thats it.
8 pretty solid matches on Monday. Enjoy.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Day 6 of the U.S. Open.
The recap for Saturday will be short and sweet...
Big news of the day had to be Andy Roddick losing to fellow American John Isner in a classic 5 set match. Its good to see douchebag Roddick gone. Isner will face Fernando Verdasco in the Round of 16. Verdasco won a hard fought 5 setter over Tommy Haas..... Soderling beat Sam Querrey in 4 and faces Davydenko next who beat Marco CHODEinelli......James Blake who is a chump finally lost. Tommy Robredo beat him easily in straight sets and earned a prize of getting his ass smoked by Roger Federer next......Djokovic and Stepanek both also won and will face eachother in the next round.
Dinara Safina who has been winning with smoke and mirrors over her opponents finally fell to Petra Kvitova. I have no idea who the hell Petra Kvitova is, but she will face Yanina Wickmayer in the next round for a berth to the quarterfinals. Basically this whole top of the bracket is fucked. There are no seeds left and in the other matchup will be Gisela Dulko and "Flying" Bondarenko sister named Kateryna. So either Bondarenko, Dulko, Wickmayer, or Kvitova will be in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Pretty Crazy.
Melanie Oudin continued her cinderella run by defeating the overrated and over-hyped Maria Sharapova. Oudin will now match up against another Russian Nadia Petrova, who is inconsistent and can meltdown at any moment or play great tennis. I think Oudin has a great chance of moving on to face the winner of Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova, who both won on Saturday. The odds on favorite to get through the top half draw will be the winner of Wozniacki and Kuznetsova.
A lot more matches are scheduled for Sunday featuring Rafa Nadal, Williams sisters, Del Po and an interesting matchup between Zvonareva and Pennetta.
Big news of the day had to be Andy Roddick losing to fellow American John Isner in a classic 5 set match. Its good to see douchebag Roddick gone. Isner will face Fernando Verdasco in the Round of 16. Verdasco won a hard fought 5 setter over Tommy Haas..... Soderling beat Sam Querrey in 4 and faces Davydenko next who beat Marco CHODEinelli......James Blake who is a chump finally lost. Tommy Robredo beat him easily in straight sets and earned a prize of getting his ass smoked by Roger Federer next......Djokovic and Stepanek both also won and will face eachother in the next round.
Dinara Safina who has been winning with smoke and mirrors over her opponents finally fell to Petra Kvitova. I have no idea who the hell Petra Kvitova is, but she will face Yanina Wickmayer in the next round for a berth to the quarterfinals. Basically this whole top of the bracket is fucked. There are no seeds left and in the other matchup will be Gisela Dulko and "Flying" Bondarenko sister named Kateryna. So either Bondarenko, Dulko, Wickmayer, or Kvitova will be in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Pretty Crazy.
Melanie Oudin continued her cinderella run by defeating the overrated and over-hyped Maria Sharapova. Oudin will now match up against another Russian Nadia Petrova, who is inconsistent and can meltdown at any moment or play great tennis. I think Oudin has a great chance of moving on to face the winner of Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova, who both won on Saturday. The odds on favorite to get through the top half draw will be the winner of Wozniacki and Kuznetsova.
A lot more matches are scheduled for Sunday featuring Rafa Nadal, Williams sisters, Del Po and an interesting matchup between Zvonareva and Pennetta.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Day 5 of the U.S. Open
Day 5 saw the elimination of David Ferrer in a 5 set marathon of a match, but the match of the day had to be between Ivan Navarro and "Pudge" Rodriguez look-a-like Taylor Dent in which Dent was lucky enough to pull out a 5-set win, with the 5th set featuring a 7-6 epic tiebreaker. The celebration will be short lived. "Teen Wolf" is awaiting in the next round for "Pudge" Dent.
Following the trend of top seeds being eliminated Victoria Azarenka fell to Italian Francesca Schiavone.... Flavia Pennetta continued her excellent run by crushing Aleksandra Wozniak.... Na Li moves on.....Vera Zvonareva is looking like she is back from her constantly nagging injuries. Maybe I won't pick against her anymore, or maybe I'm bringing her good luck by doubting her. She has Pennetta in the next round in what should be an interesting match.....Venus and Serena both advance. They get too much attention as it is, so thats all I will say. They won......Kim Clijsters continues her comeback by beating fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens and will now play the "gimp" Venus in the round of 16. GO KIM!!......Hantuchova won on Friday and will play Serena next. GO DANIELA!!
On the men's side no major upsets once again. The only seeds to lose was Viktor Troicki and David Ferrer. :( Nadal beat Nick Qweefer, or i mean Kiefer, Del Potro took out Melzer, and all the rest of the favorites prevailed.
Following the trend of top seeds being eliminated Victoria Azarenka fell to Italian Francesca Schiavone.... Flavia Pennetta continued her excellent run by crushing Aleksandra Wozniak.... Na Li moves on.....Vera Zvonareva is looking like she is back from her constantly nagging injuries. Maybe I won't pick against her anymore, or maybe I'm bringing her good luck by doubting her. She has Pennetta in the next round in what should be an interesting match.....Venus and Serena both advance. They get too much attention as it is, so thats all I will say. They won......Kim Clijsters continues her comeback by beating fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens and will now play the "gimp" Venus in the round of 16. GO KIM!!......Hantuchova won on Friday and will play Serena next. GO DANIELA!!
On the men's side no major upsets once again. The only seeds to lose was Viktor Troicki and David Ferrer. :( Nadal beat Nick Qweefer, or i mean Kiefer, Del Potro took out Melzer, and all the rest of the favorites prevailed.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Day 4 of the U.S. Open
Thursday was a day where 2 of the favorites on the women's side crashed and burned and were sent home packing. Elena Dementieva started the day off losing to upstart 17 year old American Melanie Oudin. Following #4 Dementieva's exit of Flushing Meadows, Jelena Jankovic the 5th seed was ousted by Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in a match Borat would of described as "very nice." After Serena Williams I believed Dementieva and/or Jankovic had the best shot of dethroning Serena of her crown and one of them winning their first major of their career. Now they must look to Australia in January and once again try to climb the mountain to reach that ever elusive goal.
Sabine Lisicki and Alona Bondarenko were two more seeds to lose today....Dinara Safina struggled again and barely got through to the 3rd round. Looking at the bracket her end of the draw just got a lot more easier and if she can somehow play into form, we may be seeing another Dinara meltdown again in about a week. The other woman in the top half of the draw is Svetlana Kuznetsova who continues to play well. It looks like "Kuzy" is now the favorite to be in the final if she can get by Caroline Wozniacki who is quietly destroying whoever is put in front of her.
As the women's seed drop like flies being shot down by Ricky and Billy, the mens top players keep winning with ease. With this predictability and lack of upsets come a lot more intriguing matchups in the 2nd week. Andy Roddick moved on with a night time thumping of Marc Gicquel.....James Blake beat midget Rochus Brother, Olivier......Tommy Haas, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Sam Querrery, Fernando Verdasco, Radek Stepanek, and Robin Soderling are all seeds who won easily......Kohlschreiber and Tommy Robredo also continued the seeds dominating in the mens half........John Isner set himself up for a 3rd round matchup with Andy Roddick by beating Marsel Ilhan of "gobble gobble" Turkey........Jobber Jesse Witten continued his amazing streak, by beating Maximo Gonzalez and getting to the 3rd round of a Grand Slam which is unchartered water for a guy who can barely get into the 3rd round of qualifying for challenger events. Which makes his story all the more amazing.
So Thursday showed some powerhouse favorites on the womens side falling and being eliminated and on the mens side everything is going as planned. The favorites are winning, and winning handily. We'll have to see if this trend continues into Friday and the rest of the weekend.
Quick upset pick for Friday: Elena Vesnina the #31 seed will beat #7 Vera Zvonareva. I know i keep picking on Zvonareva, but she hasn't been playing well and has been hampered by injuries. She's due to fall soon. Also it wouldn't shock me if the hot Flavia Pennetta cools off after her "double bagel" win on Wednesday to be surprised by solid Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak......Take this one to the bank, Julien Benneteau will beat the #30 Viktor Troicki. I have no idea how Troicki is seeded. Everytime I ever see him he gets totally blown off the court by whoever he plays. Take Benneteau to send him packing.....and unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if Jose Acasuso plays David Ferrer tough and ends up beating the tough Spaniard.
Maybe there will be surprises on the mens side for Friday. I don't really see it happening, but I didn't see the events of Thursday happening either. Crazier things have happened.
Sabine Lisicki and Alona Bondarenko were two more seeds to lose today....Dinara Safina struggled again and barely got through to the 3rd round. Looking at the bracket her end of the draw just got a lot more easier and if she can somehow play into form, we may be seeing another Dinara meltdown again in about a week. The other woman in the top half of the draw is Svetlana Kuznetsova who continues to play well. It looks like "Kuzy" is now the favorite to be in the final if she can get by Caroline Wozniacki who is quietly destroying whoever is put in front of her.
As the women's seed drop like flies being shot down by Ricky and Billy, the mens top players keep winning with ease. With this predictability and lack of upsets come a lot more intriguing matchups in the 2nd week. Andy Roddick moved on with a night time thumping of Marc Gicquel.....James Blake beat midget Rochus Brother, Olivier......Tommy Haas, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Sam Querrery, Fernando Verdasco, Radek Stepanek, and Robin Soderling are all seeds who won easily......Kohlschreiber and Tommy Robredo also continued the seeds dominating in the mens half........John Isner set himself up for a 3rd round matchup with Andy Roddick by beating Marsel Ilhan of "gobble gobble" Turkey........Jobber Jesse Witten continued his amazing streak, by beating Maximo Gonzalez and getting to the 3rd round of a Grand Slam which is unchartered water for a guy who can barely get into the 3rd round of qualifying for challenger events. Which makes his story all the more amazing.
So Thursday showed some powerhouse favorites on the womens side falling and being eliminated and on the mens side everything is going as planned. The favorites are winning, and winning handily. We'll have to see if this trend continues into Friday and the rest of the weekend.
Quick upset pick for Friday: Elena Vesnina the #31 seed will beat #7 Vera Zvonareva. I know i keep picking on Zvonareva, but she hasn't been playing well and has been hampered by injuries. She's due to fall soon. Also it wouldn't shock me if the hot Flavia Pennetta cools off after her "double bagel" win on Wednesday to be surprised by solid Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak......Take this one to the bank, Julien Benneteau will beat the #30 Viktor Troicki. I have no idea how Troicki is seeded. Everytime I ever see him he gets totally blown off the court by whoever he plays. Take Benneteau to send him packing.....and unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if Jose Acasuso plays David Ferrer tough and ends up beating the tough Spaniard.
Maybe there will be surprises on the mens side for Friday. I don't really see it happening, but I didn't see the events of Thursday happening either. Crazier things have happened.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Day 3 of the U.S. Open
I'm trying to shorten these up, so lets get right to the news and happenings of the day.
#15 seed Sam Stosur and #17 seed Amelie Mauresmo both lost today. Mauresmo losing to a game opponent in Aleksandra Wozniak, and Stosur losing to young American Vania King. Odds are you will see both Stosur and Mauresmo along with Martina Navratilova drowning their sorrows at a local pub with a rainbow on the door. I wonder if Martina's chopper seats three?
The women's side offered up a few more upsets today. Kim Clijsters outlasted #14 Marion Bartoli. A match which I made one of my upset picks of today. My other upset pick was Anna Chakvetadze over Vera Zvonareva. I was wrong on that one, but Chakvetadze gave her a good match. Zvonareva won a tough 3 set match..... #20 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues fell victim to Kristen Flipkens of Belgium, but probably the biggest shocker was #12 Aggie Radwanska losing to Russian Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko was at one time a top 15-20 player, but really had not done much of not the past year and a half surprised Radwanska who in all reality was playing pretty average tennis the past 6 months. Maybe Kirilenko is starting to put her game back together again and is ready to make another run. Or has Radwanska fallen victim to the curse of Verdasco? Wait and see I guess.
Both Venus and Serena overpowered lesser opponents in easy victories.....Victoria Azarenka made short work of Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova..... and the hot Flavia Pennetta "double bageled" Sania Mirza. On a side note there has been lots of attention to how gorgeous or pretty Sania Mirza is. I just don't see it. That is all.
The men's side of things was much more quiet. Rafa Nadal smoked, or should i say "snorted" Dick Gasquet in straight sets..... "The Rog" beat Simon Greul in straight sets in a night session match. Greul the Steve Nash lookalike gave Federer a tough hard fought match. He didn't just roll over and let the moment beat him......Lleyton Hewitt put a whoopin on his "loogie nemesis" Juan Ignacio Cha Cha Chela. After the beatdown they had a nice handshake. Looks like the hatchets were buried.......Seeded players Juan Martin Del Potro, David Ferrer, Gael Mon chi chi Monfils, and Gilles Simon all won their first round matchups with little trouble.....Today saw both Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro close out their Grand Slam careers in disappointing losses. Jurgen Melzer took out Safin in a match that I had predicted yesterday, and Juan Carlos Ferrero beat the magician Santoro. Both players will be missed. Safin for his volatile attitude, and Santoro for his odd and crazy style of play. Hopefully both have a change of heart and give it another go in 2010....... There was no real surprises in the men's side today. Everything pretty much went as predicted.
Looking forward to tomorrow (Thursday) there isn't very many intriguing matchups. On Ashe Dementieva-Oudin start it out. Dementieva should crush the youngster. Jankovic plays some girl from Kazakhstan. When you play someone from Kazakhstan its like getting a bye. James Blake plays one of the midget Rochus brothers named Olivier. Knowing Blake he could pull a choke job, but I don't see it happening. In the night session Maria Sharapova plays jabroni American Christina McHale. Someone tell me how Sharapova gets these primetime night matches. It doesn't make sense. Rounding out the night session is Andy Roddick and Marc Gicquel. One thing I will predict is Roddick will be a sweaty pig by about the first changeover. The crafty Frenchman won't put up much of a fight. Roddick in straight sets.
Lets see if there might be any upset specials for day 4. I can see Gisela Dulko giving "Flying" Bondarenko sister Alona a tough match. Also American Jesse Witten may surprise Maximo Gonzalez and move into the 3rd round. I'm not real confident in either pick, but just a couple things to look for..... My one upset pick I do like is #15 Radek Stepanek losing to Leonardo Mayer of Argentina. Stepanek plays like he doesn't really care if he wins or loses a lot of the time and Mayer has been playing well since his upset of James Blake at the French. Look for him to keep his hot streak going and take out the Czech who bones Nicole Vaidisova. (yeah, i don't get that one either. She could do so much better, just ask Gimeldouche.)
No real "BIG" matches tomorrow. No matchups that make you all excited. But these are normally the days when weird things happen. And hopefully one of them weird things is Roddick getting his ass kicked on center stage in primetime.
#15 seed Sam Stosur and #17 seed Amelie Mauresmo both lost today. Mauresmo losing to a game opponent in Aleksandra Wozniak, and Stosur losing to young American Vania King. Odds are you will see both Stosur and Mauresmo along with Martina Navratilova drowning their sorrows at a local pub with a rainbow on the door. I wonder if Martina's chopper seats three?
The women's side offered up a few more upsets today. Kim Clijsters outlasted #14 Marion Bartoli. A match which I made one of my upset picks of today. My other upset pick was Anna Chakvetadze over Vera Zvonareva. I was wrong on that one, but Chakvetadze gave her a good match. Zvonareva won a tough 3 set match..... #20 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues fell victim to Kristen Flipkens of Belgium, but probably the biggest shocker was #12 Aggie Radwanska losing to Russian Maria Kirilenko. Kirilenko was at one time a top 15-20 player, but really had not done much of not the past year and a half surprised Radwanska who in all reality was playing pretty average tennis the past 6 months. Maybe Kirilenko is starting to put her game back together again and is ready to make another run. Or has Radwanska fallen victim to the curse of Verdasco? Wait and see I guess.
Both Venus and Serena overpowered lesser opponents in easy victories.....Victoria Azarenka made short work of Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova..... and the hot Flavia Pennetta "double bageled" Sania Mirza. On a side note there has been lots of attention to how gorgeous or pretty Sania Mirza is. I just don't see it. That is all.
The men's side of things was much more quiet. Rafa Nadal smoked, or should i say "snorted" Dick Gasquet in straight sets..... "The Rog" beat Simon Greul in straight sets in a night session match. Greul the Steve Nash lookalike gave Federer a tough hard fought match. He didn't just roll over and let the moment beat him......Lleyton Hewitt put a whoopin on his "loogie nemesis" Juan Ignacio Cha Cha Chela. After the beatdown they had a nice handshake. Looks like the hatchets were buried.......Seeded players Juan Martin Del Potro, David Ferrer, Gael Mon chi chi Monfils, and Gilles Simon all won their first round matchups with little trouble.....Today saw both Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro close out their Grand Slam careers in disappointing losses. Jurgen Melzer took out Safin in a match that I had predicted yesterday, and Juan Carlos Ferrero beat the magician Santoro. Both players will be missed. Safin for his volatile attitude, and Santoro for his odd and crazy style of play. Hopefully both have a change of heart and give it another go in 2010....... There was no real surprises in the men's side today. Everything pretty much went as predicted.
Looking forward to tomorrow (Thursday) there isn't very many intriguing matchups. On Ashe Dementieva-Oudin start it out. Dementieva should crush the youngster. Jankovic plays some girl from Kazakhstan. When you play someone from Kazakhstan its like getting a bye. James Blake plays one of the midget Rochus brothers named Olivier. Knowing Blake he could pull a choke job, but I don't see it happening. In the night session Maria Sharapova plays jabroni American Christina McHale. Someone tell me how Sharapova gets these primetime night matches. It doesn't make sense. Rounding out the night session is Andy Roddick and Marc Gicquel. One thing I will predict is Roddick will be a sweaty pig by about the first changeover. The crafty Frenchman won't put up much of a fight. Roddick in straight sets.
Lets see if there might be any upset specials for day 4. I can see Gisela Dulko giving "Flying" Bondarenko sister Alona a tough match. Also American Jesse Witten may surprise Maximo Gonzalez and move into the 3rd round. I'm not real confident in either pick, but just a couple things to look for..... My one upset pick I do like is #15 Radek Stepanek losing to Leonardo Mayer of Argentina. Stepanek plays like he doesn't really care if he wins or loses a lot of the time and Mayer has been playing well since his upset of James Blake at the French. Look for him to keep his hot streak going and take out the Czech who bones Nicole Vaidisova. (yeah, i don't get that one either. She could do so much better, just ask Gimeldouche.)
No real "BIG" matches tomorrow. No matchups that make you all excited. But these are normally the days when weird things happen. And hopefully one of them weird things is Roddick getting his ass kicked on center stage in primetime.
Day 2 of the U.S. Open
The Second day of the U.S. Open had a bit more drama and a few more unlikely upsets than the previous day. Looks as if things are starting to "heat" up.
Ana Ivanovic who has been a wreck pretty much all year long sunk to a new low losing in the first round to the "Flying" Bondarenko sister named Kateryna. The sad thing is, Kateryna isn't even the best Bondarenko sister. Looks like the curse of "Verdasco's weiner" continues to live on and affect Ana in the worst of ways.
Dinara Safina escaped being the first womens #1 seed to loser in her opening match. Safina was down 3-0 in the final set and mounted an ugly error filled comeback to beat some chick with a Eastern European name and nationality of Australia. The final score of the 3rd set was 6-4. She barely avoided being the first #1 to lose in the first round of a grand slam since 2001 when Martina Hingis lost at Wimbledon. Should be interesting to see how Dinara reacts in her next match, because the way she played today she isn't ready to move on much further.
In a few more happenings on the womens side: Kuznetsova and Wozniacki both advance with easy wins today......American Melanie Oudin looked impressive in her first round match, but the reality of having to face Elena Dementieva in the 2nd round will sink in and ruin her high......Petra Kvitova upset #27 seed Alisa Kleybanova and her belly pouch.....The good, bad, great, terrible rollercoaster ride continues and ended up stopping horribly for inconsistent Virginie Razzano who lost to Yanina Wickmayer in an upset.......I ended up going 1-1 on my upset picks for the day. Shahar Peer came through and beat Agnes Szavay, but Lucie Safarova was unable to make it 2 for 2. She almost came through, but the #17 seed Patty Schnyder proved to be too tough winning 7-6 in the 3rd set...... And finally I know everyone was wondering. Maria Sharapova showed off her new USO dress. It was a bland navy blue dress with a few silverish stripes. Nothing special, just like her game. Although she was good enough to beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.
The mens side of the bracket didn't really have too many shocking results, but did have some surprises.
Jo-Willie Tsonga started the day off by crushing some American dude named Chase Buchanan. You have to love all these wild card entrants who can't even get into an ATP event getting a free pass to get their asses kicked. I'm sure the guys who just fall short in qualifying are just loving seeing these results. Jesse Witten who was a "free passer" did pop up out of nowhere to beat #29 seed Igor Andreev quite easily in straight sets. He was an exception to the rule.
Feliciano Lopez's pathetic year continued by losing to American Taylor Dent. Feliciano Lopez is probably now better known as being Fernando Verdasco's doubles partner, and I cannot help but think "Is he a victim to Verdasco's weiner, just like Ivanovic"? I guess only he would know.....Speaking of Verdasco he won in straight sets and moves on to the 2nd round.
Lets move to a couple upsets that surprised me just a little bit. #19 Stanislas Wawrinka who had been struggling during the summer hardcourt season raced out to a 2 set to none lead just to fall apart and lose to to Ecuadorian journeyman/jobber Nicolas Lapentti in 5 sets......Also, #27 seed Dr. Ivo Karlovic lost in straight sets to Ivan Navarro of Spain.
A couple Serb men were in action today as well. "Whack-job" Janko Tipsarevic lost to Florent Serra in straight sets all by tie breaker, which I thought was kinda of odd.....Fellow Serb Novak Djokovic smoked Ivan Ljubicic on Arthur Ashe court. Ljubicic seemed out of sorts from the beginning, and it showed. His game was a disaster and it turned into a glorified practice session for Novak who could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted easily. Ljubicic the one time #3 in the world just laid down and took the thrashing.
Andy Murray closed the night with a straight set win over underacheiving youngster Ernests Gulbis. Murray won fairly easily, but showed some weakness in his game and had moments of looking somewhat beatable. Its just the first round and odds are he'll play himself into the tournament and turn it on when facing tougher competition. Just a slight moment of complacency and nothing to worry about.
Looking forward to some of tomorrows matches. One that sticks out to me is Rafael Nadal welcoming back Richard Gasquet from his supposed "coke suspension". This will be his first match back since being suspended for kissing a girl on coke and accidentally getting it into his system. Yeah, i don't believe this bullshit either. Karma is a bitch Richard. Have fun tomorrow..... Both Venus and Serena will be in action tomorrow against a couple turds they should pound. .... Roger Federer is scheduled to play in the first night match against Simon Greul tomorrow......Del Po plays fellow Argentine Juan Monaco, and the return of the great David Ferrer to action is the highlight of tomorrow. lol
Heres some upset specials to look for tomorrow: Jurgen Melzer to beat Marat Safin and end his grand slam career, Kim Clijsters will beat the #14 seed Marion Bartoli, and Anna Chakvetadze will beat #7 Vera Zvonareva.
Rafa, Rog, Del Po, Williams Sisters, and David Ferrer all in action tomorrow. Should make for a fun and interesting day.
Ana Ivanovic who has been a wreck pretty much all year long sunk to a new low losing in the first round to the "Flying" Bondarenko sister named Kateryna. The sad thing is, Kateryna isn't even the best Bondarenko sister. Looks like the curse of "Verdasco's weiner" continues to live on and affect Ana in the worst of ways.
Dinara Safina escaped being the first womens #1 seed to loser in her opening match. Safina was down 3-0 in the final set and mounted an ugly error filled comeback to beat some chick with a Eastern European name and nationality of Australia. The final score of the 3rd set was 6-4. She barely avoided being the first #1 to lose in the first round of a grand slam since 2001 when Martina Hingis lost at Wimbledon. Should be interesting to see how Dinara reacts in her next match, because the way she played today she isn't ready to move on much further.
In a few more happenings on the womens side: Kuznetsova and Wozniacki both advance with easy wins today......American Melanie Oudin looked impressive in her first round match, but the reality of having to face Elena Dementieva in the 2nd round will sink in and ruin her high......Petra Kvitova upset #27 seed Alisa Kleybanova and her belly pouch.....The good, bad, great, terrible rollercoaster ride continues and ended up stopping horribly for inconsistent Virginie Razzano who lost to Yanina Wickmayer in an upset.......I ended up going 1-1 on my upset picks for the day. Shahar Peer came through and beat Agnes Szavay, but Lucie Safarova was unable to make it 2 for 2. She almost came through, but the #17 seed Patty Schnyder proved to be too tough winning 7-6 in the 3rd set...... And finally I know everyone was wondering. Maria Sharapova showed off her new USO dress. It was a bland navy blue dress with a few silverish stripes. Nothing special, just like her game. Although she was good enough to beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.
The mens side of the bracket didn't really have too many shocking results, but did have some surprises.
Jo-Willie Tsonga started the day off by crushing some American dude named Chase Buchanan. You have to love all these wild card entrants who can't even get into an ATP event getting a free pass to get their asses kicked. I'm sure the guys who just fall short in qualifying are just loving seeing these results. Jesse Witten who was a "free passer" did pop up out of nowhere to beat #29 seed Igor Andreev quite easily in straight sets. He was an exception to the rule.
Feliciano Lopez's pathetic year continued by losing to American Taylor Dent. Feliciano Lopez is probably now better known as being Fernando Verdasco's doubles partner, and I cannot help but think "Is he a victim to Verdasco's weiner, just like Ivanovic"? I guess only he would know.....Speaking of Verdasco he won in straight sets and moves on to the 2nd round.
Lets move to a couple upsets that surprised me just a little bit. #19 Stanislas Wawrinka who had been struggling during the summer hardcourt season raced out to a 2 set to none lead just to fall apart and lose to to Ecuadorian journeyman/jobber Nicolas Lapentti in 5 sets......Also, #27 seed Dr. Ivo Karlovic lost in straight sets to Ivan Navarro of Spain.
A couple Serb men were in action today as well. "Whack-job" Janko Tipsarevic lost to Florent Serra in straight sets all by tie breaker, which I thought was kinda of odd.....Fellow Serb Novak Djokovic smoked Ivan Ljubicic on Arthur Ashe court. Ljubicic seemed out of sorts from the beginning, and it showed. His game was a disaster and it turned into a glorified practice session for Novak who could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted easily. Ljubicic the one time #3 in the world just laid down and took the thrashing.
Andy Murray closed the night with a straight set win over underacheiving youngster Ernests Gulbis. Murray won fairly easily, but showed some weakness in his game and had moments of looking somewhat beatable. Its just the first round and odds are he'll play himself into the tournament and turn it on when facing tougher competition. Just a slight moment of complacency and nothing to worry about.
Looking forward to some of tomorrows matches. One that sticks out to me is Rafael Nadal welcoming back Richard Gasquet from his supposed "coke suspension". This will be his first match back since being suspended for kissing a girl on coke and accidentally getting it into his system. Yeah, i don't believe this bullshit either. Karma is a bitch Richard. Have fun tomorrow..... Both Venus and Serena will be in action tomorrow against a couple turds they should pound. .... Roger Federer is scheduled to play in the first night match against Simon Greul tomorrow......Del Po plays fellow Argentine Juan Monaco, and the return of the great David Ferrer to action is the highlight of tomorrow. lol
Heres some upset specials to look for tomorrow: Jurgen Melzer to beat Marat Safin and end his grand slam career, Kim Clijsters will beat the #14 seed Marion Bartoli, and Anna Chakvetadze will beat #7 Vera Zvonareva.
Rafa, Rog, Del Po, Williams Sisters, and David Ferrer all in action tomorrow. Should make for a fun and interesting day.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Day 1 of The U.S. Open
Day 1 at the U.S. Open on the women's side pretty much went as planned. There was no "huge" upsets. The big surprise was how razor thin close Venus Williams was to being given the boot out of the tournament by a relative unknown, but one of my favorite names Vera Dushevina. Venus was 2 points away from being eliminated in straight sets, and being sent home for the first time in the 1st round of the U.S. Open. But on a bad knee she fought hard, and with the combination of Dushevina's nerves kicking it, Venus was able to come back and win the 2nd set and take control of the 3rd and not look back and luckily advance. In her post match interview she talked about how she is going to need "prayer, ice, and do whatever she can do", to make it better so she can play. Its a little dramatic if you ask me. These types of injuries are more and more common in tennis at this moment. Plus she seemed to look better and better as the match went on. So i'm not really buying it. She may be hurt, but its not as bad as she wants everyone to believe it is. Keep playing to the crown Venus I'm sure it will help in some future matches, and if that knee still is bothering you, you can always amputate.
Serena in her match today cruised to an easy win over fellow American Alexa Glatch....Kim Clijsters rolled to an easy win in her return to Grand Slam action, after having a baby and retiring..... WTA tour "geezer" Jill Craybas won and advances to a 2nd round matchup with Elena Vesnina...... Flavia Pennetta continues her hot summer and will be in the 2nd round...... Only 2 seeds lost in the first day on the women's side. Tennis mom Sybille Bammer the 28 seed lost to the Spanish woman with 4 names Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and the 25th seed Kaia Kanepi also lost, but to an unknown named Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei or for those that recognize them as Taiwan..... Day 1 on the womens side was quite quiet even for a day with both Williams' sisters playing. Kind of shocking really.
The men on day one were just as boring as the women unfortunately. Roger Federer in an attempt to win his 6th straight U.S. Open beat up on an 18 year old American by the name of Devin Britton. (yeah, I've never heard of him either) Britton although didn't look all that bad and could be the next Mardy Fish or Robert Kendrick. Hopefully he continues to work on his game and doesn't become the next Justin Gimelstob..... Andy Roddick put the "POW" to Bjorn Phau in straight sets in a match that didn't end until almost 1 in the morning. Roddick will face veteran Frenchman Marc Gicquel in round 2......James Blake who has been bothered by a broken toe, because he got pissed he lost a previous match and kicked a wall won on Monday, defeating unknown Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. Blake will face one of the midget Rochus brothers Olivier in the 2nd round..... Soderling, Davydenko, Hewitt, Kohlschreiber, Stepanek, and Haas were the other seeds advancing.......2 seeds became upset victims. 26 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu lost to Russian Mikhail Youzhny, which in my opinion isn't much of an upset. Both players are pretty even..... American John Isner who has been playing well this summer in the U.S. Open series events upset 28 seed Victor Hanescu of Romania. And this as well isn't that huge of an upset. Isner playing in front of a home crowd and on somewhat on a roll outlasted the seeded Romanian.
I can't really complain about the TV coverage on the first day. ESPN did a solid job and stayed on the air from 1p.m until the completion of the Roddick-Phau match which ended at about 10 minutes to 1. Seeing Mike and Mike on the grounds makes me gag a little bit, and wondering why in the hell Hannah Storm is a studio analyst is confusing, for how she struggles to say many of the foreign players names. Oh well, its atleast tennis and I don't have to see Colin Cowherds face for a couple weeks. Thank you ESPN.
Anyways looking forward to tomorrow: Kuznetsova, Safina, Djokovic will all play their day matches at Arthur Ashe stadium court. The night matches will feature the overrated Maria Sharapova and a interesting match between up-and-comer Ernests Gulbis and the favorite of many to win this tournament Andy Murray. Gulbis has struggled for most of this season, but has the hard hitting tools to make it a competitive match.
Upset pick for Day 2: The 19th seeded woman Patty Schnyder of Switzerland will lose to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, also look for Shahar Peer of Isreal to take out the 32nd seed Agnes Szavay. I do not see any real upsets on the men's side for Day 2.
Day One was a solid day of tennis without any real shocking moments. Maybe day 2 will be a day where a favorite will lose. We'll have to wait and see.
Serena in her match today cruised to an easy win over fellow American Alexa Glatch....Kim Clijsters rolled to an easy win in her return to Grand Slam action, after having a baby and retiring..... WTA tour "geezer" Jill Craybas won and advances to a 2nd round matchup with Elena Vesnina...... Flavia Pennetta continues her hot summer and will be in the 2nd round...... Only 2 seeds lost in the first day on the women's side. Tennis mom Sybille Bammer the 28 seed lost to the Spanish woman with 4 names Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and the 25th seed Kaia Kanepi also lost, but to an unknown named Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei or for those that recognize them as Taiwan..... Day 1 on the womens side was quite quiet even for a day with both Williams' sisters playing. Kind of shocking really.
The men on day one were just as boring as the women unfortunately. Roger Federer in an attempt to win his 6th straight U.S. Open beat up on an 18 year old American by the name of Devin Britton. (yeah, I've never heard of him either) Britton although didn't look all that bad and could be the next Mardy Fish or Robert Kendrick. Hopefully he continues to work on his game and doesn't become the next Justin Gimelstob..... Andy Roddick put the "POW" to Bjorn Phau in straight sets in a match that didn't end until almost 1 in the morning. Roddick will face veteran Frenchman Marc Gicquel in round 2......James Blake who has been bothered by a broken toe, because he got pissed he lost a previous match and kicked a wall won on Monday, defeating unknown Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. Blake will face one of the midget Rochus brothers Olivier in the 2nd round..... Soderling, Davydenko, Hewitt, Kohlschreiber, Stepanek, and Haas were the other seeds advancing.......2 seeds became upset victims. 26 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu lost to Russian Mikhail Youzhny, which in my opinion isn't much of an upset. Both players are pretty even..... American John Isner who has been playing well this summer in the U.S. Open series events upset 28 seed Victor Hanescu of Romania. And this as well isn't that huge of an upset. Isner playing in front of a home crowd and on somewhat on a roll outlasted the seeded Romanian.
I can't really complain about the TV coverage on the first day. ESPN did a solid job and stayed on the air from 1p.m until the completion of the Roddick-Phau match which ended at about 10 minutes to 1. Seeing Mike and Mike on the grounds makes me gag a little bit, and wondering why in the hell Hannah Storm is a studio analyst is confusing, for how she struggles to say many of the foreign players names. Oh well, its atleast tennis and I don't have to see Colin Cowherds face for a couple weeks. Thank you ESPN.
Anyways looking forward to tomorrow: Kuznetsova, Safina, Djokovic will all play their day matches at Arthur Ashe stadium court. The night matches will feature the overrated Maria Sharapova and a interesting match between up-and-comer Ernests Gulbis and the favorite of many to win this tournament Andy Murray. Gulbis has struggled for most of this season, but has the hard hitting tools to make it a competitive match.
Upset pick for Day 2: The 19th seeded woman Patty Schnyder of Switzerland will lose to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, also look for Shahar Peer of Isreal to take out the 32nd seed Agnes Szavay. I do not see any real upsets on the men's side for Day 2.
Day One was a solid day of tennis without any real shocking moments. Maybe day 2 will be a day where a favorite will lose. We'll have to wait and see.
Friday, August 28, 2009
U.S. Open preview.
The first matches of this years U.S. Open is about 2 and a half days away, and I should be excited. I am excited, but my pessimistic nature has me dwelling on how bad ESPN will mess up the television coverage. I keep finding myself wanting for USA network to have the rights to the Open once again. I know with ESPN at the helm all I am going to hear about is the Williams sisters, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Rafa, and Roger for the most part. With a slight mixing of Dinara, Kuz, the Serbs, and Andy Murray. After that the remaining 250 players don't really matter.
I can see it now. Tennis being pre-empted by a Brett Favre, or Michael Vick press conference just to announce that they had a good day of practice. Or having a 5 set, 5 hour long match between Jose Acasuso and Victor Hanescu, two relative unknowns to the casual audience not being shown so that ESPN can reshow Roger Federer or Andy Roddick tooling a qualifier in the first round on tape delay. ESPN has become oh too known for their botched tennis programming, and how they would rather show 4 retired has-beens breaking down Serena's "cat suit" rather than show a dramatic conclusion to a live tennis match between to unknowns. I guess 2 guys or busting ass for 5 hours and the match coming down to a net-cord bounce isn't as exciting as a skin tight leotard on a she-male. I should of known better. After all Jerry Springer has been on for almost 2 decades and these are the viewers they cater to all for the sake of ratings.
I've already heard that ESPN will begin coverage at 1 p.m. daily. USA would come on when the first matches were to be played at 11a.m. So there is 2 less hours ESPN has cut out. Yeah, I know, Skip Bayless getting into a pissing match with Jemele Hill is more important and needs to be shown. Totally understandable. My bad....... ugh, this is gonna suck.
I promise to not let ESPN get me down, for this is the last major until next January. So let me take a look at the mens draw.
The favorite to repeat for the 6th straight time has to be Roger Federer. He has been playing well on hardcourts this summer. Although he has shown chinks in the armor with his meltdown against Jo-Willie Tsonga and squeaking by with a victory over David Ferrer. A match Ferrer had control of and let it slip through his grasp. So this isn't the same "Rog" who is used to dominating everyone. He has some weaknesses and more and more players are becoming aware of them.
Rafa's knees and and match rust are a question. Is he fit enough to go 5 sets. Odds are he probably is, since he is one of if not the fittest player on the ATP tour. Djokovic has the game on hardcourts to win the U.S. Open, but his mental fitness as well as his physical fitness when it comes to a long grueling match are a question. Roddick is playing well and will have the fans in his corner, but he's still Andy Roddick and thats another word for "just not good enough". Juan Martin Del Potro isn't fit enough to go five. He can breeze through a win, but when it comes to guts and determination he is weak. He's young and still learning the ropes. Del Potro will be the owner of a Grand Slam trophy more sooner than later though. The main threat to overtake Roger Federer in Flushing Meadows is Scotland's Andy Murray. Murray has the physical and mental toughness to win against anyone with any type of game. He has all the tools to impove on being last year's runner-up and win it this year. Of late Murray's serve has been inconsistent and he needs to do some tweaking to get it back in form for a late push to win a grand slam for the first time. Seeing how everything shapes up and works itself out will be fun for the next 2 weeks. Maybe there will be an unknown like Tsonga in Australia last year. or Soderling in the French this year and a new surprise star will be born.
Moving to the women's side. Serena Williams is everyone's favorite at the moment. Serena seems to play her best on the biggest of stages. And defending her title seems more likely than not, especially if she is on her game. Williams' biggest challengers will be 2 Russians by the name of Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina, and a Serb Jelena Jankovic. All 3 girls have holes in their games, but do have enough to compete and possibly beat anyone in the world. Safina's struggles are all mental. She needs to get over the multiple collapses in finals of grand slam events. If she can get over that hurdle she may be unstoppable. Dementieva has the ground strokes to blow anyone off the court, but her serve leaves a lot to be desired. If her first serve isn't working an elite player can pick apart her second serve and make it a long day for Elena. Jankovic has been playing well in the U.S. Open "tune-up" events and she seems to be getting back to her old form of last year when she reached being ranked No. 1 in the world. Her movement and defense is her strength. She will get back any ball hit at her, and make her opponent work for every point. Jelena will not over-power anyone, and she can become rattled mentally, but when everything is clicking she can beat anyone making her a worthy contender to win her first grand slam.
Some other players who may make some noise are Maria Sharapova, who isn't fully back from a "bum" shoulder, but is improving every week and will make some noise. Look for her and Venus to both make it to about the round of 16 or quarterfinals and bow out. Ana Ivanovic is really struggling right now and will make it to probably the 3rd round and be defeated. Ana is ripe for an upset. Even when she was doing well she was always upset prone at the U.S. Open. This year's French Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova is between Maria and Venus and Ana Ivanovic. I see "The Kuz" losing in probably the 4th round, if not earlier. A couple up and comers who are making noise are Italy's Flavia Pennetta who has been doing tremendous work this summer on the hardcourts as well as Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The only downside is that Wozniacki has the "curse of Verdasco" working against her. Just ask Ivanovic about this dreaded curse. ::wink::. With the comeback of Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur playing well the women's side is wide open. Anyone can be upset, and anyone can get hot and make a run at the last Grand Slam of the year. Serena is in the drivers seat, but there are a dozen or so girls who are ready to kick her out. Right, Akgul Amanmuradova?
Hopefully ESPN won't totally sour my excitement for the seasons last major, and I can enjoy watching the Williams' sisters lose with a smile on my face. Knowing my luck, just the opposite will happen.
coming Sunday Evening, and everyday through the U.S. Open breakdowns of the following days matches and recaps and opinions of the previous days events and results.
I can see it now. Tennis being pre-empted by a Brett Favre, or Michael Vick press conference just to announce that they had a good day of practice. Or having a 5 set, 5 hour long match between Jose Acasuso and Victor Hanescu, two relative unknowns to the casual audience not being shown so that ESPN can reshow Roger Federer or Andy Roddick tooling a qualifier in the first round on tape delay. ESPN has become oh too known for their botched tennis programming, and how they would rather show 4 retired has-beens breaking down Serena's "cat suit" rather than show a dramatic conclusion to a live tennis match between to unknowns. I guess 2 guys or busting ass for 5 hours and the match coming down to a net-cord bounce isn't as exciting as a skin tight leotard on a she-male. I should of known better. After all Jerry Springer has been on for almost 2 decades and these are the viewers they cater to all for the sake of ratings.
I've already heard that ESPN will begin coverage at 1 p.m. daily. USA would come on when the first matches were to be played at 11a.m. So there is 2 less hours ESPN has cut out. Yeah, I know, Skip Bayless getting into a pissing match with Jemele Hill is more important and needs to be shown. Totally understandable. My bad....... ugh, this is gonna suck.
I promise to not let ESPN get me down, for this is the last major until next January. So let me take a look at the mens draw.
The favorite to repeat for the 6th straight time has to be Roger Federer. He has been playing well on hardcourts this summer. Although he has shown chinks in the armor with his meltdown against Jo-Willie Tsonga and squeaking by with a victory over David Ferrer. A match Ferrer had control of and let it slip through his grasp. So this isn't the same "Rog" who is used to dominating everyone. He has some weaknesses and more and more players are becoming aware of them.
Rafa's knees and and match rust are a question. Is he fit enough to go 5 sets. Odds are he probably is, since he is one of if not the fittest player on the ATP tour. Djokovic has the game on hardcourts to win the U.S. Open, but his mental fitness as well as his physical fitness when it comes to a long grueling match are a question. Roddick is playing well and will have the fans in his corner, but he's still Andy Roddick and thats another word for "just not good enough". Juan Martin Del Potro isn't fit enough to go five. He can breeze through a win, but when it comes to guts and determination he is weak. He's young and still learning the ropes. Del Potro will be the owner of a Grand Slam trophy more sooner than later though. The main threat to overtake Roger Federer in Flushing Meadows is Scotland's Andy Murray. Murray has the physical and mental toughness to win against anyone with any type of game. He has all the tools to impove on being last year's runner-up and win it this year. Of late Murray's serve has been inconsistent and he needs to do some tweaking to get it back in form for a late push to win a grand slam for the first time. Seeing how everything shapes up and works itself out will be fun for the next 2 weeks. Maybe there will be an unknown like Tsonga in Australia last year. or Soderling in the French this year and a new surprise star will be born.
Moving to the women's side. Serena Williams is everyone's favorite at the moment. Serena seems to play her best on the biggest of stages. And defending her title seems more likely than not, especially if she is on her game. Williams' biggest challengers will be 2 Russians by the name of Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina, and a Serb Jelena Jankovic. All 3 girls have holes in their games, but do have enough to compete and possibly beat anyone in the world. Safina's struggles are all mental. She needs to get over the multiple collapses in finals of grand slam events. If she can get over that hurdle she may be unstoppable. Dementieva has the ground strokes to blow anyone off the court, but her serve leaves a lot to be desired. If her first serve isn't working an elite player can pick apart her second serve and make it a long day for Elena. Jankovic has been playing well in the U.S. Open "tune-up" events and she seems to be getting back to her old form of last year when she reached being ranked No. 1 in the world. Her movement and defense is her strength. She will get back any ball hit at her, and make her opponent work for every point. Jelena will not over-power anyone, and she can become rattled mentally, but when everything is clicking she can beat anyone making her a worthy contender to win her first grand slam.
Some other players who may make some noise are Maria Sharapova, who isn't fully back from a "bum" shoulder, but is improving every week and will make some noise. Look for her and Venus to both make it to about the round of 16 or quarterfinals and bow out. Ana Ivanovic is really struggling right now and will make it to probably the 3rd round and be defeated. Ana is ripe for an upset. Even when she was doing well she was always upset prone at the U.S. Open. This year's French Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova is between Maria and Venus and Ana Ivanovic. I see "The Kuz" losing in probably the 4th round, if not earlier. A couple up and comers who are making noise are Italy's Flavia Pennetta who has been doing tremendous work this summer on the hardcourts as well as Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The only downside is that Wozniacki has the "curse of Verdasco" working against her. Just ask Ivanovic about this dreaded curse. ::wink::. With the comeback of Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur playing well the women's side is wide open. Anyone can be upset, and anyone can get hot and make a run at the last Grand Slam of the year. Serena is in the drivers seat, but there are a dozen or so girls who are ready to kick her out. Right, Akgul Amanmuradova?
Hopefully ESPN won't totally sour my excitement for the seasons last major, and I can enjoy watching the Williams' sisters lose with a smile on my face. Knowing my luck, just the opposite will happen.
coming Sunday Evening, and everyday through the U.S. Open breakdowns of the following days matches and recaps and opinions of the previous days events and results.
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