US OPEN 2010

Draws are out - men's, women's - and lil' wayne has bestowed us with his own predictions (handwritten! from jail!):

http://siusopen.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/wayne-small1.jpg

I agree with him about Clijsters, unfortunately.

He obv knows his stuff on the men's side but I take issue with "Roddick's aggressive game" - serve aside, he doesn't play aggressively these days - and I don't think I'd go with Nadal. I shall do my predictions anon!

Not sure if I want to do predictions this time... I have my assumptions and hopes but I feel like a bad luck charm.

Murray to finally get a slam w/out a coach sounds about right.

love Wayne using the phrase "simply adore".

and i was on fila meeting today!was fun ,had to try a lot of skorts and staff,the upcoming collections are very nice!i looove clouth
5 minutes ago via web

never change, swetlana!

what the bloody hell is Sharapova wearing here

http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/2010/08/24/spl200722_006.jpg

it's a tee she's wearing for Evian's "Live Young" month as seen here - but i have no idea why she's paired it with those shorts and that blazer.

predix!

R16
Sharapova d. Wozniacki*
Kuznetsova d. Chakvetadze**
Wickmayer d. Kanepi (or Q)***
Zvonareva d. Radwanska****
Azarenka d. A.Bondarenko (or Q)
Pennetta d. Williams
Kleybanova d. Dementieva
Clijsters d. Zakopalova

Kuznetsova d. Sharapova
Zvonareva d. Wickmayer
Azarenka d. Pennetta
Clijsters d. Kleybanova

Kuznetsova d. Zvonareva
Clijsters d. Azarenka

Clijsters d. Kuznetsova

*the biggest reason for an early Wozniacki loss is her insane warm-up schedule, I can't believe she didn't pull out of New Haven this week
**the Kuznetsova section is key to the whole draw - I originally picked Kirilenko to beat her before reading that Maria K suffered a back injury in her NH match yesterday. Every round is a big hurdle for Sweta, even if she's out of her slump; if she doesn't come through, we'll see Sharapova in the final for sure
***Jankovic has been DREADFUL since Wimbledon, her 1R opponent Simona Halep should see this as a golden opportunity to make a name for herself for something other than her breasts. Also, most of the qualifier spots are super-cushy.
****such a good draw for Bepa, but Vandeweghe in the 2R worries me, Bepa somehow managed to lose to her in San Diego. If she fucks this up...

Overall it's a pretty balanced draw, given how screwy it could have been with the current rankings weirdness/WTA's descent into free-for-all madness.

I hear Melanie Oudin is getting the word COURAGE printed on her shoes, as if BELIEVE wasn't annoying enough last year. She's won three matches since May and has spent most of the summer whining about how everyone expects her to win every match she plays (as if they care) and how she wants the Americans ranked between 80 and 150 to join her so she doesn't get all the attention and expectation. Don't worry about that, sweetcakes, in two weeks you'll be joining them when your fluke QF points from last year come off.

and the men's. This is like so many other Slams where everything points it towards it finally being Murray's Time, but we have been here before and he has failed to deliver. I think he has a great, great shot here, but all those other times I predicted him to break through and I'm not going to be taken in again.

Eyerolling SO much at Roddick's cushy hometown draw, btw. UGHHHH.

Nadal d. Stakhovsky
Nalbandian d. Ferrer
Murray d. Querrey
Malisse d. Stepanek
Roddick d. Gasquet
Fish d. Djokovic
Cilic d. Soderling
Federer d. Melzer (or Q)

Nadal d. Nalbandian
Murray d. Malisse
Roddick d. Fish
Federer d. Cilic

Murray d. Nadal
Federer d. Roddick

Federer d. Murray

*the biggest reason for an early Wozniacki loss is her insane warm-up schedule, I can't believe she didn't pull out of New Haven this week

You would think so, but she won New Haven last year and reached the final of the Open. Although I guess she's played more in the weeks leading up to NH this year.

Overall it's a pretty balanced draw

Yeah, I like it a lot. It's up to the players now.

yeah last year she also played 4 straight weeks, but lost her LA and Canada openers, so she'd only played 5 matches in the 3 weeks before New Haven. this year she won Copenhagen and Montréal AND she added a transatlantic flight between tournaments with no break AND Montréal got pushed into this week. I hate seeing players be stupid like this, Jankovic used to overplay all the time and then whine about getting fatigued in Slams. Why do you think that could be, dear.

First notable result, Hantuchova outblasts Safina.

Very excited, I will be attending the US Open this year, the first time I have ever seen a major played live! Only my second pro tournament overall, after I saw Roddick nearly lose to Malisse and Fish hilariously destroy Taylor Dent earlier this year.

yay Daniela!

lol Dinara

also YAY LARCHER DE BRITO LOST

it is amazing how much I hate her, considering I only ever saw her play one match

Thank christ. I was fearing that De Screamo's qualifying run would lead to a mini-resurgence.

My first sight of the 2010 US Open was Evgeny Korolev shirtless :D

Saw the end of Monfils' needlessly long five-setter against a US scrub. Monfils sure like to play with fire. He's serving at 4-4, Kendrick bashes two clean return winners...somehow pulls it back from there. Sometimes I think he plays stupid dummy points just to prove that he can still win them with his athleticism. Nice dropshot/pass combo on MP. Kendrick looked pissed at the end.

Why did Toaderling get taken to five by...who is this Andreas Haider-Maurer?

LOL, Kvitova won her first match since Wimbledon!

also I'm reasonably surprised by the Safina result, given that she beat Hanturexia last week!

I kind of want Kvitova to do really well here!

So do I, because "doing really well" in her section of the draw would mean beating St. Kim! :D

(Then she can lose to Zheng or CAKE in the last 16, thanks.)

ha I just realized TODAY that I have spent almost 18 months thinking Wozniak and Wozniacki were the same person

(the dangers of following tennis via stats rather than by watching the matches, lol)

They played each other a few times last year! Though I think the Molik vs Malek matches would be more hellish for the umps.

looool Azarenka taken to a third set after bagelling the first.

I predict Nadal defeats Roddick in the final.
as usual Murray eat a bag of dicks
Lil Wayne here

Taylor Dent: as fat as ever, serve as big as ever.

I can't watch this for the most part :( But am watching Hewitt v Mathieu and it is dreadful in a women's tennis fashion. Was that four breaks in a row? SMH!

Worst line calling I've ever seen. Mathieu has had to challenge at least 3 calls that were so far out the umpire should have been overruling.

lol federer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8h5zueXTWs

looool Azarenka taken to a third set after bagelling the first.

Azarenka's service game at *4-4 in the second was the most hilarious thing I've seen in time.

DF, 0-15.
DF, 0-30.
BH putaway 5 miles out, 0-40.
Niculescu shanks a routine groundstroke and starts yelling at herself and hitting herself and emitting the most unusual high-pitched squeals, 15-40.
DF, game.

Women's tennis!

Talking of women's tennis, Vesnina's performance in the second set TB when a dreadful Stosur was there for the taking was quite special. Every shot out out out out out.

um

can we talk about pam in the stands

ft. anna wintour

there are FIVE matches happening simultaneously that i want to watch. poor scheduling, US Open.

Which?

Jankovic/SimO_Ona, Sweta/Krumm, Hobak/Troicki, Caravane/Rybarikova, Chardy/Gulbis. Chose Jelena, who's actually playing shockingly well given her dreadful warm-ups.

Playing well and then rubbishing away a game.

Jankovic was so lucky to get away with that set. If Halep ever gets control of her serve, she'll win.

^^that seems to be happening now.

And LOLOLOLOLOLOL Krumm just won the second set against Sweta!

oh man

I like Sweta but... man

Mirjana Lucic just won her first Slam main draw match in eight-and-a-half years!

Kuzzy and JJ with vintage performances so far.

Halep about to serve for it against Jankovic...that 4-4 game where she broke was terrific.

Of course she's broken.

LOL. She could still win this, but I seriously think the newly-resurgent Lucic will beat the winner of this mess.

Kuz and Jank die another day.

Yeah, Jankovic is gonna be in trouble. Lucic! Very happy to see that she won today.

Q. Do you think people were attracted to you, to your game, because you took such risks, in the final, especially?
FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE: I think they attract -- I attract them because I'm beautiful.

<3 <3

Fish def. Hajek 6-0 3-6 4-6 6-0 6-1

Hilarious scoreline.

And Djoko on his way out...vs sparring partner Troicki.

Losing to K Bondarenko, Na?

Indeed she did. For a second I thought she'd be a dangerous floater.

Well done, Li Na, losing to a girl who's won five matches all year.

I tuned in at the turning point of the Djokovic match; he was down *0-2, 15-40 in the fourth, played four great points to avert the double break, a few games later had broken back courtesy of Troicki coming over all women's tennis, and now the match result is a foregone conclusion even if both players seem to want to needlessly prolong it with truly horrible play. Talking of truly horrible, WTF is that pattern on Djokovic's shirt? I feel like he's on the verge of emerging dressed in actual Ed Hardy these days.

What? Chak is losing to U-Rad, who's been out with a spine injury all year? Chak, I thought you were good again ;_;

Haha, Norm Chryst coming over all authoritarian on a whiny Troicki! "That's enough. ENOUGH. Just PLAY." :D

looks like sharapova's gonna lose to groth here.

Troicki has the talent to be a top 20 player, should have won this match.

Groth beat Sharapova 5-0 at the WTT, although that was... WTT. 1 set each now anyway.

gulbis: maybe next year (for a third time).

Gabashvili should not be in the 90s; tough luck for nadal that this is his first rounder.

LOL @ Vandeweghe winning ONE GAME off an injury-ravaged Lisicki who's barely been winning games in her comeback. Two Slam WCs this season...two games won. Can we cease the hype now.

What the hell, Nadezhda.

[Removed Illegal Image]

What the hell, bb code.

[Removed Illegal Image]

Oh for fuck's sake. http://www.usopen.org/images/pics/large/b_08312010_Don__Petrova_059.jpg

Also, Virginia Wade talking about how Li is a "consistent" player who "doesn't give away many free points".

Either she has never watched a Li Na match, or senility has set in. WTF? Li pretty much specialises in cascades of unforced errors for no reason.

The seven WTA players with service games won percentage of 75 percent or better

Serena Williams -- 81.4
Sam Stosur -- 77.9
Kim Clijsters -- 76.8
Karolina Sprem -- 75.9
Justine Henin -- 75.7
Venus Williams -- 75.3
Maria Sharapova -- 75.2

Surprised Slammin Sam is there what with all the sets she completely throws away.

I thought Li could pull it together and be a dark-horse finalist, and that first set against K-Bond made me think I was a genius. Just impeccable clean big hitting. And then she couldn't find the court.

Petrova's dress has to be the worst of the year, right?

I'm both sad and thankful that I never got to see that dress in action (also, yay Petkovic. :))

Oh btw, happy belated birthday The Lex! :) :) sorry for the late-ness - haven't been online in a while.

Hey look, Azarenka pulled out. Also Ivanovic won the first set over Zheng. Can anybody report how Ana seems to be playing?

Oh Azarenka, before I'd even remembered play had started. So Dulko does for her at two of four Slams this year. The future of the WTA!

I don't know about Ivanovic, but Zheng's been mediocre for half a year now.

np Roz, this year I barely remembered my bday myself /getting older

Azarenka collapsed on the court, it looked frightening.

Ivanovic is playing well, if inconsistent. When she's on balance she's hitting the ball like it's early 08. And when the ball toss is right (which is half of the time, if that), the serve looks as strong too.

Azarenka out in a wheelchair.. she looked completely dead there for a while, heat must've triggered something today and when she retired against Serena.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that, even when it's not hot, she looks permanently flushed. Which many times I've genuinely ascribed to her temper. I can't recall any long match she's gutted out under tough conditions before?

The girl trains in Arizona, so you'd think she'd be used to heat (unless it's humidity that gets to her...it's oppressive here in NYC right now)

Anyway, now my other dark-horse women's finalist is out. Good thing I didn't put any money on it.

Ivanovic's gonna take out Clijsters in the 4th round. You heard it here first!

CAKE knows what she needs to do to Ivanovic in the next round: a repeat of last month in Stanford, please.

Interesting (so far) youth v. experience match so far between Ryan Harrison (new Young American Hope) and Ljubicic, tied at a set all. Harrison is a lot more versatile than I'd imagined; he attacks the net!

speaking of ^^^^, Harrison just won

Hello everyone! Hurray I have finally got round to watching some actual tennis! What interesting matches are on at the moment? Murray is playing reasonably well but it's a bit of an old snoozefest.

I was going to check in on that then I forgot, bah.

Harrison was born in 1992, fyi. I am old old old old.

CAKE was up 4-1 against La Razz and blew it. Look, one of you has to beat Ivanovic in the next round, get it together.

Why are there so many 1R men's matches still happening? Every other Slam can do this right.

I would go for CAKE and La Razz, Kat. They hate each other, for added spice (there's a great video of CAKE quitting mid-match in one of their previous encounters, and then just turning up her nose and looking away when La Razz tries to shake her hand).

Harrison looks like my boyfriend 10 years ago, which is weird. I am OLD.

LOLOLOL I just turned into the Bartoli/Razzano match and is that a trainer I see? Bien sur.

I support this Ana comeback, but I'd take ANYone over Cakeoli. Her serve just gets uglier every year. Well, Ana's serve is ugly as well... in-between points would be dreadful in that match.

A back-to-back double medical timeout! The classic momentum-breaker! LOLOL their beef started because La Razz said something like "she'll do anything to win", specifically referring to her medical timeouts. CAKE is so brazen.

xp I was just gonna say, CAKE's serve is wacky (in a different way every time I see her) but really, Ivanovic's toss ten metres to the right and then vain lunge at the ball is an abomination.

Bartoli's serve makes me laugh. So does Ivanovic's, but in an entirely different way. "Vain lunge" is the perfect description, it's so horrid.

Though when it's on, her motion now looks Graf-esque, which is new to me. I wonder if that's something Heinz installed.

Found them! Good contrast to the Millibands bitching at each other on C4 news.

Meanwhile, Lloda up two sets and a break over Berdych.

Llodra, I mean.

Bartoli's dress is seriously awful, like a lemon cake gone wrong.

Did you see Petrova's dress upthread, Kat?

YES MEIN EYES. Razz wins!

Azarenka, Bartoli, Berdych, Ljubicic all out. Hantuchova just lost the first set to Vania King, of all people. Today is wacky.

I believe Hantuchova had a set point too. Obviously.

Azarenka: "However, we can say that this does not seem to be primarily a heat-related illness."

Hanturexia attempting to close out a set never fails to entertain. That "smash"!

omg, I just looked at the Young/Simon scoreline

remember when he was the next great American tennis player?

The sad thing is that Young, having just snuck back into the top 100, is at his highest ranking in years. It's sad, if he'd been from any other country, his lightweight finesse game would never have received any hype. I don't know how good he could have been without that pressure, but if...well, if Simon could crack the top 10 with HIS lightweight finesse game, I'm sure Young could have made a decent career on the main tour.

I just got a text from ESPN Tennis:

USTA statement: Victoria Azarenka retired from her match with headache-like symptoms

Since when is "collapsing on the ground and being carted off in a wheelchair" symptomatic of a headache?

there's something really poignant and depressing about watching Donald Young matches...

Schiavone gets broken trying to serve out the first set against Camerin at 5-1 up :/

maybe they'll stay on break

According to the announcers, Young didn't get a wildcard last year because his parents were bickering with the USTA over not hiring him an actual coach (Young's parents have always coached him). So he had to grind the qualifying and didn't make it in.

This year, they said they've put him in because he made the top 100, but they think this is the last time the USTA will give him a wildcard because they're fed up with his parents.

Great management!

man, that sucks

also, Berdych just got zapped in straight sets

The sad thing is that Young, having just snuck back into the top 100, is at his highest ranking in years. It's sad, if he'd been from any other country, his lightweight finesse game would never have received any hype. I don't know how good he could have been without that pressure, but if...well, if Simon could crack the top 10 with HIS lightweight finesse game, I'm sure Young could have made a decent career on the main tour.

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Wednesday, September 1, 2010 7:42 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

McEnroe said Young had the best hands he'd ever seen in the Juniors. But instead of building his game around volleys, Young baselines and gets blown off the court.

Llodra was on fire, he could have beaten anyone today.

HEY. This Rebecca Marino from Canada is actually good. And she's 6-5 up against Venus!

It was just a little wobble after all. Schiavone through 6-2, 6-1.

Well, that was a fabulous TB between Marino and Venus...Venus had to play so well to get through it. That point with both of them at net was O_O

Venus is a fucking pro, turning it up when she needed to. But this Marino kid is really impressive, def one to watch.

well looks like Venus was kind of "okay time to play" in that second set

I wish I was watching this

holy hell looking at the match stats this seems like it was a pretty fantastic match

boo work

Oudin and her stupid BELIEVE/COURAGE shoes out. Yes! She lost the last 12 points of the match, hilariously. Now quit whining about pressure and people expecting you to win, you'll be ranked in the 70s now and no one will care.

Disappointed that King didn't pull that match out, looked like she was making a comeback towards the end. Such a good attitude and tennis brain but she'll just always be hampered by the fact that she's, like, five foot one or whatever.

Dustin Brown was the first Jamaican to crack the top 100 in June, I assume he's now become the first Jamaican to win a Slam match? Really looking forward to seeing him against Murray in the next round.

Argh, Tipsarevic was rallying really well, doing a good job of returning Roddick's serve and all that but ONE loose game and he goes down a break :(

great match.

ya only caught the last set but what I saw was pretty terrific. roddick wasn't even playing badly, Tipsy was just in one of those rare spells where he simply couldn't miss.

well my final prediction is already off. but that's okay, it was a wild guess in the first place and I don't keep up with tennis enough. when the announcers were calling Tipsarevic a mathematician I honestly thought he might be a mathematician even though I here stuff like the "clinical precision" of Federer all the time.

lol i didn't see all this but it explains Roddick's little obscenity-filled rant after he challenged a call correctly late in the fourth set: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/sports/tennis/02tennis.html?_r=1&hp

AMAZING result to wake up to! yes! ahahahaha Roddick couldn't even get through his soft home-town draw - Tipsarevic was literally the only semi-threat in it. WELL DONE TIPSY, ILU.

Sigh. Why does every player refuse to believe they could possibly foot fault.

Haha I've watched Roddick being a dick now. Hilarious because the lineswoman was a formidable old bat who clearly won't be intimidated like Shino was - her "are you serious?" eyebrow-raise at 0:22 is a thing of beauty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=764euVHKAmk

the foot fault thing was a fucking opera:

1. lineswoman calls a foot fault (very rare occurrence for Roddick). It's the correct call. Explains that Roddick's right foot crossed the line (which didn't happen, and couldn't happen given his motion).

2. Roddick flips shit for like 10 minutes, Lineswoman pulled.

3. New linesman calls a foot fault CLEARLY, WILDLY incorrectly. Says it was the left foot so Roddick is ok with it.

4. Roddick clearly foot faults, linesman lets it go.

I read that one of the foot faults was correct, but the lineswoman said the wrong foot in explaining? Oh well maybe this will finally make Serena realise that she isn't the only player who gets dodgy calls against her.

Roddick throwing his rackets into the crowd in that weird "fuck y'all" way as he was walking off court was o_0

Why is his i/v transcript not on usopen.org yet? GET A MOVE ON, WEB PEOPLE.

Yes Lex, they called it a foot fault on his back foot, which isn't even possible. But it was definitely a foot fault on his front foot. I watched this match and Roddick looked pretty listless. But early Roddick slam exits never get old.

Maybe she meant "my right, your left"... :)

Great news to wake up to.

I wanted Roddick to win but that shit was straight-up comedy, also standing in one spot hitting slices like someone's aging grandfather is not going to get you into the third round of a Slam.

lol for all eternity at that match, forever classic

oh geez apparently Vika collapsed because she fell in the gym and banged her head. She had a concussion. damn girl, head injuries are nothing to sneeze at - she should never have gone on court.

This Zvonareva - Lisicki match has potential. Some firework displays so far. Lisicki is a bit too error-prone, but some amazing attacking play.

Turned out to be a case of Vera rubbishing the German.

Cilic/Nishikori is an aggravating match. Where has Nishikori's attacking game gone? Why is Cilic failing to take advantage of this passivity by offering Nishikori chance after chance to win the first set/lead in the second with a stupid UE every second point? Why is Nishikori only responding to these offers with stupidity of his own? Stupidity rife on Court 13.

Doooouble faaaaults. Whyyyyyyy are you both playing so terribly, morons.

So I turned over to Bepa and the first shot I saw was a lovely, lovely soft pass behind Lisicki to win the game <3 <3

Caravane out!

Also Wozniacki is so damn secure against lower-ranked players but it's always hard to judge whether she'll do any harm to the top ones. Beating Kuzzy last year was a surprise. I'm slightly worried that she'll win the 4th round.

Sweta loses to anyone and everyone, though. Well, so does Maria now, lol.

We'll see.

Impressive start from Gasquet over Davydenko. So... five set match confirmed?

3-6 4-6 7-6 6-2 6-0 is my prediction

A wise prediction. How many Slams in a row is it now that Wussquet's blown a two-set lead?

Just watched interview w Vera on Eurosport, and she's so lovely and considered in her replies. Looked great as well.

Not even Gasquet can throw away this.

Jankovic has finally woken up and won the first set after going 2-4 down to Lucic. She won a terrific rally in the last game, chasing down everything in sight. Also the umpire managed to forget the score after a corrected line call, oh dear.

That was quite special of him.

I'd forgotten how...tactically lacking Lucic is. Bash bash bash out out out. So many service games lost from 30-0 or 40-0 up, if she'd kept the ball in play on just one or two more points she'd have the set by now. At her best, Jankovic thrives on players like that.

Did you see one of her service games earlier on when she was 40-0 up, double faulted then lost the next 5 points in a row?

yes ;_;

Wooo another 2 DFs from Lucic. JJ taking full advantage of her, er, advantage (sorry).

ooh, switched over to the Nishikori/Cilic match as Nishikori seems on the verge of a come-from-two-sets-down win, and immediately greeted w/shirtless Cilic.

Oh god, the match is still utter garbage though.

JJ is doing her best to mess things up - was a break up but lost it again to love after challenging a service line call that was blatantly out and then promptly DFing. WT!

Wow, Lucic takes the last four games of the second set with some incredible shotmaking towards the end.

Only after a lot of screaming. That's loosened my earwax, that has.

JJ wins 6-4 3-6 6-2, Lucic with 21 unforced errors in the last set according to slamtracker.

Hahaha this is basically Jelena Jankovic in a nutshell:

Q. How much do you know about [Tipsarevic's] game?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Can I please talk about myself?

Discovered the live streaming today. Watching Mattek-Sands v Petkorazzi. The commentators are really annoying. And hella condescending.

Discovered the live streaming today. Watching Mattek-Sands v Petkorazzi. The commentators are really annoying. And hella condescending.

Without hyperbole that was the worst I've ever seen Maria play. The fact that she won the match 6-1, 6-2 tells you everything you need to know about Benesova, who gave us a BRAND NEW perspective on the term 'professional athlete'. Nauseating.

Hantuchoka served for the first set and had three set points... classic choke :|

Beautiful tennis from Ana.

WTA strikes back with tweener shocker!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlaC9lBqfeY

man I love her so much

damn good tweener, women's or men's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E19D_-h9MIo

I <3 Schiavone. Our RG champ doing so much for women's tennis this year. I just love how swashbuckling she is. Totally gunning for her to take her SECOND SLAM here. Not even that implausible!

I assume Kanepi will put Jankovic out of her misery today. And a good chance for Wozniacki to go 24-0 against the entire nation of Taiwan.

Just catching up on yesterday's highlights - blimey Kim was 0-3 down to Kvitova then won 12 games on the trot :O

re: the younger douchebag in that fight - i'd hit it.

except she got there first lol.

It pretty much looks as though Kanepi is the top player here. Playing within herself and it's more than enough. Not even Jelena's signature BH DTL is working.

Also so impressed with how KK's worked on her fitness. Not even just looking good in comparison to how she used to be, she's in great shape by any standards.

Still windy.

Let it be reiterated: Jelena Jankovic will never win a Slam. Dreadful from her, even considering the wind.

Good for Kaia though! That improved fitness won her a couple of very key points. And so good to see that her epic Wimbledon choke hasn't affected her in the long run (given how poor Kvitova and Pironkova have been since their Wimbledon SFs, maybe it was for the best for Kanepi).

Wind blowing hats, towels, paper cups on court.

Sharapova is mauling Capra. It's a little hard to watch.

Monfils/Tipsy is so entertainingly stupid. So much showmanship, I swear these two just start hitting drop shots and lobs mid-rally because they get bored otherwise. That last point that Monfils broke Tipsy on was O_O

Petkovic into 4th rd on walkover.

i can see her losing.

Wozniacki and Sharapova warm up for their monday meeting with a 6-1 6-0 and 6-0 6-0 victory respectively.

What's the grand slam set average for Monfils matches? That is, number of sets per Monfils match. He always goes on and on.

Um, I just tuned in to Bepa/Dulgheru, and...Dulgheru is on fire in this second set. She's an incredibly talented player. Volleys, lobs, her ability to change direction and hit winners off both sides (her FH is massively improved since I last saw her)...everything working.

Last few games she's been an unforced error machine!

Note to Dulgheru: don't try drop shots, ever.

Yeah, my post was with regards to the three games in the second set when she went up a double break. Then just started missing everything. Her drop shots are normally really good, too.

Your women's last 16!

(1) Caroline Wozniacki vs. (14) Maria Sharapova
(11) Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Dominika Cibulkova
(31) Kaia Kanepi vs. (15) Yanina Wickmayer
Andrea Petkovic vs. (7) Vera Zvonareva
(6) Francesca Schiavone vs. (20) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
(16) Shahar Peer vs. (3) Venus Williams
(5) Samantha Stosur vs. (12) Elena Dementieva
Ana Ivanovic vs. (2) Kim Clijsters

I'll go with...Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Kanepi, Zvonareva, Schiavone, Williams, Dementieva, Clijsters.

Sharapova would have to play really badly to lose to WozDen. Which is possible, but so is the scenario of Maria just going Kvitova on her. It'll probably be like the Justine match in IW, where everyone foresees a beatdown but ends up being an annoying and poor-quality three-setter. Sweta's being very overlooked as a potential finalist, that was a good win over Kirilenko, who's beaten her twice this year. Bepa is still favourite for the SF, but in the bits and pieces I've seen of her, she definitely looks edgy, and she was really lucky that Dulgheru started missing when she did last night. I fear that she's really, really close to a meltdown, but she's not playing as well as she can either. Venus has definitely lucked out with regards to match-ups. I have such a hard time imagining A-Pav as ever amounting to anything good...another, like Cirstea, where I just don't get the hype. But the only player with even a half-chance at beating St. Kim in her half is...Demented.

Good to see both surprise French Open finalists getting onto the 2nd week in another slam in the same year.

FML Clijsters is gonna win this championship.

looooool @ Ivanovic, over before I even realised the match was happening.

Of course St. Kim is going to win it, that was evident from the start. And Ivanovic would never have had a chance against Kim even at her "best". lest we forget her RG title and no 1 ranking are both entirely due to Justine up and quitting that year.

Fran is putting on a virtuoso display against useless A-Pav. Serve-and-volley on her second serve! Dropshot-lob combo, then two points later dropshot-exquisite BH pass! I love her.

Murray is imploding in the 3rd - he's just lost the last 4 games in a row to Stan through some dreadful unforced errors and DFs. He's standing still and swearing to himself constantly.

Maybe Murray is confused and thinks he's playing Fed.

Annnnnnnnd wawrinka promptly injures himself. ILX jinx!

At 40-15! OK this is just bizarre now. Foot faults as well...

Oh hang Murray did break in this set. It just felt like he was, what with all the forehead plashing etc

ARGH I am destined never to write sentences that make sense on ilx :(

incredibly awful performance by Murray.

just tuned in and already I can tell it's a bizarre match :/

Yes, apart from the run of games to get back into the first set he's been second best for most of the match. Can't see him getting back into this unless Wawrinka's injury gets worse.

xp

bahahaha what was that "drop shot" on set point

Murray is acting like he's hurt, but it's impossible to tell whether it's in his mind.

That was a hell of a dropshot from Wawrinka there.

Murray not even trying anymore.

fucking hate that the coverage drops at 6pm over here

Murray proves Gukbe wrong by coming back from 40-0 down on his serve. Can't see it being enough, right enough.

Wawrinka missed a great opportunity to go up 5-2 there...

WOW at that Stan shot!

Man, netcord...this is just wall-to-wall WAU now

...and over. I can go to bed now. Murray, it has to be said, is now at least on the brink of "will never win a Slam" territory, and that's if he hasn't already joined Jankovic and Demented there.

looks like we're gonna get another fed-nadal classic! Been a while.

fuck that

2 games in and Sammy/Diva is fairly entertaining - lots of good clean hitting. Stosur's forehand at deuce in the first game was zomg. Break to Stosur but I bet she loses her serve at least once before the set's through.

Dementieva's outfit does her no favours. How is this even possible, she has an astonishing figure! Stosur looks great in purple. Though she just shanked a forehand so far out it went out of court before even hitting the net.

lol Stosur didn't hold serve once in the second set

Funny how an entertaining first set has given way to a shocking error-fest. Stosur's blown leads in just about every service game - losing five in a row!

Don't give Diva much of a shot against Clijsters. Though her serve isn't too awful today - she's even had aces!

am not watching this due to work but I saw a bit of Dementieva's last match and uh, how long has she had that weird-looking serve? I don't remember seeing it when I saw her back in March. Seems to be working well though.

Seems to change motion quite regularly.

wtf is this women's tennis. Now 3-3 in the decider!

It looks pretty similar to the motion she was using at the Australian - maybe a tiny bit slower?

Superb game from Stosur to break as Diva fails to serve it out at 5-3. And it wasn't because of bad serving either! But I expect an immediate break to close it here for Lena.

The music being pumped during the changeover is "Cotton Eye Joe" lololol

Four missed match points and counting. 5-5. Stosur seems to not be getting many first serves in on the deuce court. Diva's doing just fine on both wings, though.

re: demented's serve... it's just odd how her racquet is above her head before she tosses the ball up now.

*facepalming* just watching the live score counter of this match.

no women's tennis cracks from me, great match.

That guy who yelled "YEAH!" when Diva hit a ball out to go down 15-40 : you are not cool.

Bits of the match have been GREAT. You just have to erase that whole second set.

Blind to patriotism, I really really want Diva to come through here.

Great match point save from Elena. Fierce fierce hitting - and good pinning of Stosur into the backhand corner where all her bad errors are coming fron.

Blimey. What happened to her forehand there? Only thing she did right in that tie breaker was the challenge. Well done Sam, but I fear you are about to go through the mijncer.

MORE SCHIAVONE LOVE:

Q. I assume you grew up on a clay courts at home. How did you get so good on a hardcourt?

FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE: I think I have physically the possibility because I am fast. And also to keep going, to mix this kind of shot, that is my quality.

Is not easy to play on hardcourt, so I think I put some problems to the players to play so different.

Q. With your spin?

FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE: For sure on the clay I have more time, so I can take you and go 10 shots, 20 shots, 30 shots.

Here is not like this. But in the same way, I can do serve and volley, I can play faster, I can play slow and back. Is a mix.

It's like Capricciosa pizza. I don't give you margherita, I give you Capricciosa, different kind of ingredient.

<3 <3 <3

She is well on the way to being my favourite female tennis player of all time.

Schiavone seems to be a walking example of how sometimes, when people don't speak English as their first language, they use it in a way that is just so much more evocative and descriptive than boring native speakers with their grammar and convention. A++++

(though it has to be admitted that Li Na does it even better)

Oh, your men's round of 16:

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (23) Feliciano Lopez
(10) David Ferrer vs. (8) Fernando Verdasco
(25) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. (20) Sam Querrey
(12) Mikhail Youzhny vs. Tommy Robredo
Richard Gasquet vs. (17) Gael Monfils
(19) Mardy Fish vs. (3) Novak Djokovic
(5) Robin Soderling vs. (21) Albert Montanes
(13) Jurgen Melzer vs. (2) Roger Federer

I'll go with: Nadal, Ferrer, Querrey, Youzhny, Monfils, Fish, Soderling, Federer.

- Ferrer/Nando is such a toss-up...idk, Verdasco is definitely the ~better player~ in terms of having more weapons, but against Nalbandian I thought he played well but not great. Ferrer's just killed all his opponents so far and can be so solid, I just have a feeling about this. Verdasco leads the h2h 6-4, all but one on clay (which Ferrer won, back in '04). Verdasco's dominated their matches since he became a top tenner, but Ferrer won their last match. It should be a good one, anyway.
- ughhhhhh how have I only noticed that the worst thing about Murray's loss is that it paves the way for a Queer Eye SF. C'MON STAN YOU HAVE TO DO THIS.
- Gasquet vs. Monfils should be a hilariously, entertainingly stupid match! Can't wait m8.
- I picked Fish to win before the tournament started but going five sets with Hajek and Clement is really unconvincing. And I haven't really seen Djokovic really stamp his authority on this kind of match in so long...I don't know, I'm sticking with Fish on the basis that the results I really don't want tend to be more likely, but if I have to hear US commentators falling over themselves to praise him for finally getting fit at the age of THIRTY and going on and on and on, I might stab someone.
- LOL I am fairly sure Montanes is engaged in some sort of experiment to see how far he can make it up the rankings without anyone noticing or caring. Nearly top 20 now!

Monfils just returned FOUR smashes in a row before, obviously, Gasquet missed the final putaway volley. And is up a set and a break now. Allez!

Impressed/surprised that Cibulkova is out there to play.

That set was definitely one for connoisseurs of both Gasquet appreciation and Gasquet mockery. Wonderful purple patch mid-set to break back and lead 5-4, missed a few set points on Monfils' serve and then HILARIOUS COLLAPSE. Monfils generally playing at a very high standard, it has to be said, though you get the sense that he doesn't have to over-press because he can rely on Gasquet being a choking dog.

Cibulkova had a 7-5, 5-3, 40-15 and serving lead on Sweta. Guess how things have gone since! Oh, women's tennis.

Sweta repays her with a truly woeful TB.

Gotta a sick feeling while listening to the Murray match on five live. A couple of years ago you could have said a hat-trick of US Opens with the American public's affection, mirrowing Kuerten at the French, as a possibility.

Now its a tears, many more tantrums, the odd injury to a slam at 29, if that.

Please please another Sod-Fed match up!

I thought Maria Sharapova was immune from "women's tennis" but she just served a double on break point to go down in the second. Wozniacki is playing well and hitting quite a few winners, who'd have thought!

It's taken her many years, but Maria has finally learnt how to serve like a true Russian!

I...did not expect this result. Gotta respect Wozniacki, like her style or not she's bringing results. I'm also impressed that her stupid schedule hasn't caught up to her yet. And she's so mentally tough, literally nothing gets her down - and that's not just re: stuff that happens in matches, it's bigger-picture career stuff, too. Look at how Safina's entire career died after she failed to live up to No 1. And Wozniacki's been facing similar mockery all season, especially given results like getting mauled by Kvitova at Wimbledon, and yet she just sticks around and plugs away and here we are. Everyone would say Azarenka is the more talented up-and-comer of the two, but look how far ahead Wozniacki is in terms of achievements now.

Kaia! So amazing. When I left for the pub, she hadn't won a game!

So happy that Nole kicked Fish's ass too.

Bepa is making short work of Petkovic so far.

yeah, this one of those 'happy to be there' matches.

Not counting chickens yet, Bepa's first sets against Lisicki and Dulgheru were as one-sided as this...

It's funny, Petkorazzi always goes on about how she's a political nut but I don't think I've ever seen her actually talk about where her sympathies lie. I don't even know if she leans left or right.

So happy that Nole kicked Fish's ass too.

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Monday, September 6, 2010 7:11 PM (1 hour ago)

fish is an extremely boring player but way more likeable than djokovic. extremely bummed that 1) gasquet lost and 2) that he had to play monfils - love both of them.

aw, Petkorazzi has lasted an hour and she's got a break under her belt. good job. /condescending

What is Bepa trying to do here. Is she seriously trying to choke from 6-1, 5-0 up. God. She's totally done this before, too.

Not seen anything from Petrovic to suggest she could pull something like that off tbh. It's as much her errors as Bepa's quality so far.

As that last game demonstrated!

still <3 Petkorazzi though. annoyed with commentator's 'embarassing game' jibe, though perhaps it was.

Heh. This from a friend on Wozniacki's best shot, her emergency moonball (this was w/r/t the New Haven final against Petrova, I guess it applies here too):

Wozniacki: running running running down an ostensible winner, reaches it, loops it up up up into the air
Ball: lands DIRECTLY ON OPPOSING BASELINE
Russian opponent: mostly cries about it, hits UE within next 1-3 strokes

I attended the US Open on Saturday. It was fun. Louis Armstrong Stadium has the smallest seats I have ever sat in.

Saw:

Gasquet/Anderson (1st and 3rd sets): Gasquet looked really good! As to be expected, he was prone to amazing backhands and terrible mental errors. He displayed the worst dropshotting technique I have ever seen.

Wozniacki/Chan (2nd set): Not much to be said. It was a blowout.

Wickmayer/Schnyder (whole match): The crowd was very pro-Patty for some reason. Schnyder made some of the weirdest errors I've ever seen. A ball would be hit right to her in a rally and she'd lazily hit the backhand about 6 feet out. My wife: "Why does it look like she's not even trying?" Me: "I don't know." Anyways, since they are both terrible at serving this was an exciting match. All the games went deep and there was a 3rd set tiebreak. Hilariously women's tennis, though. The 2nd set was 9 games/7 breaks of service. Wickmayer's game looks pretty good if she can cobble together any sort of reasonable service game.

Vesnina & Andy Ram/Groenefeld & Mark Knowles (2nd set and closing tiebreak): Nothing to report really. Anna-Lena won.

Bepa/Dulgheru: Really fun match! Lots of long rallies and lots of unforced errors. Dulgheru is a really good lobber! Very impressed overall by the completeness of Bepa's game. As noted above, Dulgheru was absolutely on fire for a while. Actually, she was pretty impressive too, if she can get her stuff together she could be a top player. By the way, this match was played in Louis Armstrong and the court was at most 5% full.

god bless u twitter - would never be able to witness all the ATP boys hitting on Caro Wozniacki otherwise.

UGHHHH Stan gagged so hard in trying to close out the second set. Served for it, blew four SPs with truly horrible play.

And now he follows the fiasco that was failing to serve out the set by losing six points in a row from 3-0 up in the TB. WHATEVER. Useless player.

oh - and btw, totes jealous, Greg!

Wawrinka seems determined to lose here. Fun fact, both Wawrinka and Querrey are fighting for their first ever slam quarterfinal appearance.

Fun fact 2: In the Wickmayer/Schnyder match, Schnyder, as is to be expected, double faulted down 6-7 in the third set tiebreaker to lose the match.

yeah, I saw that DF. re: what you said about Schnyder not trying - this is rumoured to be her final year and she's turned in several, er, desultory performances this year; I didn't see the bulk of the match, but it honestly shocked me that she cared enough to make it so close.

Stanislas the Manislas takes it, 6-4 in the fifth! Thrilling stuff at the close of the match, really brave play from Wawrinka - charging the net on Querrey second serves &c.

Villiams/Fransexa is a REALLY terrific, enjoyable match. Though Venus' attempt to serve for it at 5-3 in the second was all sorts of lol - including a blatant (but uncalled) time violation, a double-fault and a lololol error right into the net. It's definitely required to watch with the volume low but lots of attractive tennis.

Except Fran's backahdn's been a bit rub at times. If she just were hitting it better she'd be the one who just served for the match.

.. rather than being broken to lose it. Villiams is going to be pretty hard to beat on that. Also pink on her = very good.

Stosur up a break in double-quick time in first set. LOL at Clijsters hitting a double-fault, a preposterous error and then LOSING a duel of backhands with Stosur!

Clijsters breaks back with some quality scrambling.

Bet Lex isn't watching this.

And that was a pretty quick charge back into gear for Clijsters from 2-4 to 6-4. Bet she wraps this up within an hour total.

wtf women's tennis

He, and you, dear reader, are missing a whole lot of Clijsters' forehand being ugly and making a lot of errors. And losing her serve to go down 4-5 in the second on a double fault.

And then Stosur falling apart completely on serve to make it 5-5. Especially after the high quality Schiavone/Venus game, more than ever, WOMEN'S TENNIS.

Note to Stosur: the high part of the net is high. You have to hit higher over it.

Well, a third set for the match that doesn't deserve one it is.

Just thinking how badly Clijsters would be being smacked down right now if she were playing Zvonareva. Or Villiams. Or, yep, Wozniacki.

Villiams v Wozniacki final - you read it here.. at some point.

And Stosur goes from a break up in the third to losing her serve twice in a row to lose the set. Clijsters didn't even play halfway to well.

no one comes out the winner in this one

That was one of the most poorly-competed matches I've ever seen. Almost as bad as the infamous Kuznetsova-Chakvetadze US Open semi in '07, though that had the added displeasure of me being there in 90-degree weather.

oh my god, what a shot to win it from verdasco! curling FH pass down the line on the dead run to the net! really wish i could have seen more of this one - these guys were on the court for 4.5 hrs and you could tell ferrer was feeling it, missing three straight easy shots early in points to go from 4-2 up to dbl set pt down

(in 5th set breaker)

Saw that final point. Wish I'd watched that match instead.

only managed to catch the last 2 sets of verdasco - ferrer but can't complain. great tennis. not sure if i've seen it correctly but did verdasco really serve about 11 dfs? my first post on here so hi!

didn't see the match but serving a million DFs is kind of par for the course for Verdasco - in fact his late-blooming success is partly due to him dialing back his first serve because he didn’t trust his second. He could probably hit upwards of 125 kmh on his first serve more often but he doesn't.

damn work and time zone differences - missed a ton of good matches this Open. :(

I just bunged $5 on Bepa to win the tournament, and $10 on a Nadal/Villiams double. Why? Why not. I like Kim fine but tbh she doesn't deserve another one if she's going to nearly lose sets to Greta Arn and then play like that, Vera deserves this more.

damn damn damn damn, would've loved to see Ferrer/Verdasco. sounds amazing.

saw first set of Venus/Fran, that was pretty good. I don't think you could have paid me to watch Stosur and St. Kim. I think Kim will beat Venus, she's the sort of player who can be hideous one match and great in the next, and also I remember what happened when they met in Miami earlier this year - 2 and 1 to Kim, and the scoreline flattered Venus.

Billy I can't believe you were ACTUALLY THERE for that legendary Chak/Sweta SF!

I watched the first two and a bit sets of Ferrer vs Verdasco and it was the most enjoyable match of the tournament so far - I just couldn't stay up any later for the rest of it. The old boxing adage that 'styles make fights' sort of applies to those two.

Verdasco was really fighting to stay in it for most of the second set then when he lost the tie-break after having a couple of set points I couldn't see any way back for him. I hope he's got enough in the tank to go further.

Ferrer vs Verdasco highlights on Eurosport in two minutes.

Hardly worth watching, showing two points from each set :(

Oh wait they're showing from 2-2 in the fifth

Bepa time! I am trying to make potato wedges at the same time though so can only pay sporadic attention :(

Wow, awesome twisty lob from Bepa into the corner of the court, to get 3 set points.

That Kanepi then saves.

KK double faults to give Bepa another SP, then an unforced error into the net to give her the set.

Did Kanepi and Fish go on the same diet? I've never seen her this trim.

Billy I can't believe you were ACTUALLY THERE for that legendary Chak/Sweta SF!

omg it was horrible/amazing. I kept saying to my friend, "I wonder if this is the worst big match that has ever been played," or if I was just biased because it was so fucking hot and I couldn't stand to watch as they both hit the ball 6 feet off the court. Then coming home to see that other people said the same thing.

Best moment: sometime in the first set, Sveta asked the umpire to tell the crowd to be quiet. Which was odd, since no one was making any noise, because there was nothing to make noise about (I don't think anyone clapped or cheered until Chak won the first set). I burst out laughing.

It was at least followed by a great Henin-Venus match, so the day wasn't a total waste.

I never actually saw Chak/Sweta, but if it was really worse than, say, Safina/Lisicki at Wimbledon last year (or hell, just take your pick of Safina matches in the latter stages of 2009 Slams)...I can't even imagine. Justine's b2b wins over the Williamses in that USO were probably my favourite moment of her career though. OMG I just remembered, that was Silliams' legendary "she hit a lot of lucky shots" moment - no, dear, I think you'll find most people call them "winners".

Anyway I think I tuned in to Bepa/Canapé just in time for that pivotal game where Bepa broke Canapé back. I like Kaia a lot, and serious kudos for getting herself in shape, but this must be BEPA TIME.

I don't know when Bepa began a) shrieking, b) hitting everything down the centre of the court on every shot, c) doing a creepy smile after lost points. I would say I wish she'd stop on all counts, but ANYTHING TO WIN.

According to match stats, Kanepi has 54 unforced errors in only 18 games. How efficient!

BEPAAAAAA!!!! :D

Great job of managing the wind. Kanepi was trying to hit through it more but Bepa's impeccable footwork allowed her to deal with it easier. Lovely lob in the last game. Third Slam SF! Win it all!

Go Bepa! She was definitely the deserving winner judging by the set I saw. My potato wedges were a success, unlike Monfils' service game right now.

To be fair it looks so windy I can't blame either of them for UEs all over the shop. Nole is coping with it better tho.

I thought you'd given up cooking Kat!

Gael Force is such a dummy. Astonishing ability to give away winning positions in rallies/sets/matches.

What was that shot in the last game all about? GAEL, NO.

Cooking = fine if all it involves is covering starch with oil and shoving it in the oven.

Looks like another 6-1 at this rate. That rally was tick vg until the last shot though.

Oh, that's alright then, even I could cope with that.

That shot on such a big point was just...I can't even. When you think about how many chances Gael had to take the first set, like, 6-2 or something, this has been a pretty woeful performance since then.

I mean, if he had held serve like he just did throughout the last set, this might be a bit more meaty.

Hahahaha worst volley ever, Nole!

What was that FH. Why is Nole needlessly prolonging this.

WTF was that? There's a time and a place, dude.

2 sets down and 2-5 in the third, and you pretend to be an aeroplane at the net in the middle of a point???

Haha what was it? I heard the commentators tut-tut but I missed it, was looking at the article I'm writing instead.

haha xp lolwut

I would like to cover Monfils in oil and do some cooking. No oven though.

went to PLAY tennis and monfils was up 4-2, what the fuck happened? surely no one is happy with this result

stoked for fed-soderling - i'm sure this cibulkova-woz match will be horrendous so i'll try to get some work done for now

It's very windy. I predict two sets of this: Fault, second serve, pat balls from Wozniacki, then Cibulkova forehands going about six miles out. Tis monotony to be broken up mostly by double faults.

a few minutes ago cibulkova either caught her toss or restarted her service motion i think seven consecutive times

i would throw my racquet across the net at her at that point

The wind is horrendous. All the players have been taking wayyyyy longer than the 25 seconds or whatever it is they're allotted between points to serve. It's made for some ugly tennis, but it's quite funny to watch them get angry and shout at the wind (though frankly none of today's lot will come close to Jankovic).

I watch Cibulkova and just wonder what the hell she can physically do against WozDen. Caroline just never misses and if Sharapova couldn't outhit her, what hope does Cibulkova have?

It is amazing how Wozniacki is almost never out of position. Mostly this is due to her hitting the ball SO SLOWLY that she has time to run to her hotel and back while waiting for the ball to travel over the net.

I think Wozniacki's actually been mischaracterised as a defensive player. She's an amazing retriever, but the majority of points she doesn't play in defence. Her real skill is that she somehow manages to keep the majority of rallies firmly in neutral. Hits deep and hard enough that you can only rarely go all-out and attack her, but hardly ever goes for winners herself. Neutral, neutral, neutral, and then her opponents miss, and then they cry.

That I miss Henin is no surprise. God, this tournament could have done with some Justine. But.. dear god, I swear I'll regret this later, but I MISS SERENA.

I mean, it's ALWAYS been amusing how when you look at Cibulkova you think the aspect ratio on your screen is fucked, though!

It's interesting that Wozniacki has such a poor record against Martinez Sanchez, who as a net-rusher has the ideal game to counter her. And of course the massive ball-bashers like Li/Kvitova/Rezai who, when they're on, can just go buckwild on Woz because they just don't do neutral.

Oh my god did you see that Cibulkova serve which went into the tramlines on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE COURT TO WHICH SHE WAS SERVING

Yes! It was amazing.

Cibulkova drinking game - every time she throws her hands up after a point ending in an error. Dead within two games.

That point at 2-2 30-30 was amazing til Cibulkova hit the retrieve on the drop shot about 7000m out. Wozniacki's earlier drop shot in this set was pretty amazing though.

ffs get other words please

They've started holding their serve and it's become a bit of a grim tussle. Watchable, at least.

serve speed: 69 mph

u_________________u

match point, there is a god

In 1.5 sets Fed and Sod have produced more quality shot-making than the womens' QFs put together, really. A few consecutive breaks, but it's not just down to wind, there's been some good returning.

(tbh the sum total of the women's QF's shotmaking comes almost exclusively from Villiams and Sexa)

pretty decent tennis but really disappointing result - soderling should have put fed away a couple times, in that first set and the third too, for sure

Yes, that 5-3 game in the third was a bit of a wilt. Though the Fed shot at 30/30 was great.

Please please let the Chak Attack's twitter page be real. I KNEW she was a massive bitch!

http://twitter.com/AnnaChak/status/24019541037 <3 <3

7:00 PM
Exhibition Doubles - Semifinals
Martina Hingis(SUI) /
Anna Kournikova(RUS) vs. Pat Cash(AUS) /
Mats Wilander(SWE)

Couldn't they get a female ex-player who spends as much time on court as these two still-young-and-well-trained men instead of Kournikova? Would've made the match somewhat unpredictable!

I thought Soderling actually played really well apart from his serve (which understandably suffered in Arthur's Wind Tunnel.)

Federer just plays big points so well. Same with Nadal-- he "should" have lost a set against Istomin, but didn't.

What a set point for Youzhny.

I like both of these guys and find them both oddly attractive, so I'm not really sure who to root for, though I guess I was pulling for Youzhny in the second set. Plus, Youzhny once hit his face with a racquet, which pretty much won me over for life (much like all of Bepa's moments of crazy).

Youzhny with a tweener!

haha that was great

Wawrinka/Youzhny is a v entertaining match!

think Wawrinka threw it away in the last game but pretty unpredictable all around.

Racket abuse for Stan! Bepa-worthy. Yeah, Youzhny all but has this now...

I hope this is a good match and all, but I really don't want it lasting longer than 2 and a half hours because there's an MLS game on straight afterwards.

Verdasco really not adapting well to the wind.

I take it back.

That was some amazing shotmaking from FeVer to be the first person to break Rafa this tournament.

i'm thinking this may look a lot like yesterday's fed-sod match though - with verdasco playing well but struggling with his serve, and rafa winning it due to ability to playing better under pressure.

ugh apologies for the bad grammar, it's too early here.

Supposedly the wind carnage is supposed to stop by the weekend. Sunday's forecast calls for rain. Wimby '08 redux?

First break of the match to Nu-Bepa.

I think if Bepa wins the tourney she becomes #2, which is all kinds of o_0

Bepa in two grand slam finals in a row would me mindblowing.

Fucking Bryan twins spoiling the India/Pakistan team's dream run.

Lex you pointed this out earlier, but Bepa's weird smile after she loses a point really creeps me the fuck out.

And then she did a goofy dance after missing a backhand. <3 nu-Bepa.

I think it's creepy because it's so obvious that someone's told her to do it :/

Maybe it was her hot coach. I'd do whatever he told me.

First set!

GREAT play to take the last three points of the set. Perfect dropshot-lob combo and two gorgeous volleys. Now, I'm just anticipating the eventual choke from a commanding position in set two.

If Wozzy's on her way out here, I'll give her credit. I've enjoyed being on the Wozzy hater train for a long time, but she's improved. She's not content only running up balls and blocking them. Her forehand isn't an absolute loopy disgrace anymore. She sometimes puts balls away in the corner even whe she isn't on a desperate run. And that kinky dress (and hairstyle) is more flattering than the ugly things Stella has made for her before.

I'll enjoy seeing her lose here enormously, though. Loved the way BEPA closed out the first set.

^co-sign. Really hated watching her make that run to the finals last year, but she's beefed up her game a little and I'm actually pretty impressed by her. It's great to see a non-Williams/Sharapova who seems mentally solid.

Still, GO BEPA.

RUH-ROH.

Seeds of meltdown possibly sown there. Gah.

I agree that Wozniacki will emerge from this tournament with a much better rep than before. Also, this summer swing has established that she WILL be around for years to come, so we may as well get used to her.

I guess Wozniacki basically proves the importance of a) mental toughness, b) a serve. If her serve is on, she gets many free points off it, even if she's in full-on push mode otherwise. It's a pity that no other up-and-comer possesses those two things, but...women's tennis, 2010.

What is Bepa doing with all those racquets. Oh god.

Bepa has had like 5 racquets w/ broken strings, wtf.

Well that was a stress-free win for Bepa! New Grand Slam final stalwart!!

No drama! No choking! Hurrah!

Man, I am so proud of Bepa. What a smart, incredibly well-played match.

Now, do I stay in for Venus/Kim or go out. I'm supporting Venus b/c St. Kim is horrendous, but I don't really care about either...if I go out, it'll be a Greatest Match Ever thriller, if I stay in it'll be Miami redux.

I'm supporting Venus, but for Bepa's sake she better hope Kim takes it.

Yeah, she just does not play Venus well, even when Venus is playing badly. I mean, I don't think her game matches up well against Kim's either, but...it did the last two times!

Kim is just a flakier player in general. I could see her losing to any top 10'er in the finals, but Venus would just lose to someone who really stepped it up.

First set to Venus! She's playing extremely well. I hope this continues.

Ugh, Kim.

Was that Venus' last best shot at a major? Sure seems like it.

Well, I just saw a clip of the Kim/Venus TB, and that may actually be the worst run of nine points I've ever seen two professionals play before.

WIN IT ALL, BEPA.

I can't believe the USO still has the "Super Saturday" bs, Stupid Saturday more like.

I can't believe the USO still has the "Super Saturday" bs, Stupid Saturday more like.

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Saturday, 11 September 2010 00:37 (52 minutes ago)

? You mean you don't think they should have to play back to back days?

nah it's just pretty unfair to the second men's semifinalists, having to wait for a whole final/presentation while the first SF winner is already home and dry, with the final the next day. and of course any bad weather means it gets thrown off completely. all the Slams have scheduling problems - Wimbledon has its very own Stupid Sunday I guess - but this is most egregious.

meanwhile I really really really should not be getting up any hopes that Bepa can actually win this thing, right? I am going to start psychologically preparing myself for the eventual 6-3, 6-7(12), 1-6 loss. Or just a straightforward 3 and 4 score. But definitely a loss.

It would be really nice to see Hobak step up and prove himself a threat to the Fed/Nad duopoly again, but I doubt he wins a set. Unless Fed gets bored.

Nah take issues with Wimbledon Sunday - even if I get to see less Tennis than usual - it means that you get Monday Last 16, which must be erally great. I wanna get tickets for the 2nd Monday one of these years.

Totally OK with Kim winning this - don't get the hate, I like a really good, successful comeback.

Also, Belgians.

Manic Monday is great in theory but in practice it just means all the good matches are on at the same time.

I just noticed that both men's SFs are on before the women's final today, but it's still stupid - the women's US Open final shouldn't have an unpredictable starting time. Have some sense of occasion.

Also, there's really no defending taking a DAY OFF mid-Slam, especially one of the few days when ordinary Londoners can actually watch the tennis, and especially given the chances of weather fuckery. Stupid Sunday needs to die asap.

I agree that the men's and women's final should be the only singles match on the day.

With Wimbledon, and any slam, until you get to the last few remaining matches you're always getting good matches at the same time.

xxp = the weather is usually pretty good in Wimbledon forthnight. Only one year when the weather was so bad that the final got moved to a monday (Rafter - Ivanesivic).

The weather's been good recently but before that you were pretty much guaranteed weather fuckery. remember that Nadal/Soderling match that took about 3 weeks to finish? iirc they still stuck to Stupid Sunday that year too. I can't see anything defensible about it - it's not player-friendly, schedule-friendly, fan-friendly or business-friendly. It's not even hard to fix. Half the 4R on Sunday and half the 4R on Monday >>>> all the 4R on Monday, no matter which way you cut it.

Ivanisevic, that should be.

Most ordinary Londoners lose most days due to work. Allocating the Sunday doesn't make that much of a difference, but that's the slam fortnight for you.

Its not football, where matches can be scheduled in the evening/weekends.

xp = Any matches that go over 3 days...its a summer sport, you can't play in the rain, how does a Sunday help really? Its only if a large number are behind schedule. I think they have the option of playing on a Sunday (in fact I think there was one year where matches were played on a Sunday.)

But whether you allocate the Sunday (or not) I won’t feel any better about losing most matches. When I was at school I took the holiday and spent 5-7 hours in front of the TV watching Tennis.

Are kids off school at the of June? I do remember spending a lot more time watching, anyway.

Twitter + tennis = joy.

http://cowbell.typepad.com/forty_deuce/2010/09/caroline-wozniacki-sitting-in-a-tree-oh-wait.html

the women's US Open final shouldn't have an unpredictable starting time. Have some sense of occasion.

Women's final is at 7 EST, has been at 7 EST ever since 2001 (when they made it a Prime Time Event--trying to capitalize on Williams sisters dominance--with bells and whistles and military people and big honkin' flags and Aretha Franklin or whoever big diva they've gotten to perform every final since) unless for some reason the men's semis run way long, which I don't remember happening (and don't foresee happening today).

So if anything, they make it a little TOO MUCH of an occasion, in the grand American sports tradition.

I love Super Saturday, because I'm an American who appreciates gluttony, and plan to sit on my couch, eat sandwiches and watch tennis all day.

Go Rafa (even though I love Misha)! Go...Nole, I guess. And I really hope Bepa destroys St Kim, but fat chance.

Big Diva prediction for tonight btw: Alicia Keys singing that godawful "Empire State of Mind"

does america's 9/11 corniness extend to 9/12? because things could get much worse than Alica Keys.

America's 9/11 corniness is 24/7, see: GOP.

What's the significance of the ribbon on Misha's shoulder?

At least if it's Alicia Keys and ESOM, you can...think about all the better songs she's done.

Only just started watching Rafa and Youzhny, it's a bit boring tbh. I like Youzhny but he needs to lose swiftly so we can get down to tonight's real business.

St. Kim is the only one of the four SFists to have dropped any sets so far!

If Bepa wins the final, she'll be ranked...No 2!

Tennis, you are odd sometimes.

BLIMEY Youzhny gets a break! Only Nadal's second of the tournament...

And gets broken back immediately. Rafa serving for the match now...

For about two minutes there it looked like Youzhny would lose in four, rather than three.

That flubbed volley!

I know - I was half ignoring it all in the background until the last couple of games.

Do you think Nole has a chance against Fed? I haven't managed to catch any of Fed's matches at all this tournament.

Poor Misha, that backhand off the tape. Now get it tomorrow, Rafa.

Hobak should have a chance against Fed, and since his early struggles he's been impressive, but since his AO win he's underwhelmed so much in Slams, and seems to be settling a bit too much into his role as perennial SFist. He really really needs to push Fed to retain what elite cred he still has...obv he's talented enough, but I have no faith in it happening.

Whenever I see Barbara Schett these days I just wonder what drugs she's on. Children's TV presenter levels of perkiness.

poor youzhny: so handsome, so overmatched

also the isner/woz twitter flirting is p fukken amazing

I have to watch this match on my computer because my dad has tv privileges with football

also the isner/woz twitter flirting is p fukken amazing

plz say he's made some allusion to keeping going for 11 hours

federer falling apart in this game

The Fed broken. So 4 sets?

And he breaks right back

error-strewn

lol fed

This match is really good so far, I think. Bit less so since Hobak broke/got broken back, but hardly "error-strewn".

I can't really get over Hobak's cap. Or his dad's T-shirt. A Serbian friend says: "That family is so šaban, ljakse and džiber that it's painful to see," then just laughs when asked to translate. I assume those are all bad things.

federer bossing it now

fed w/ an easy break but his serve still p shaky?

Hobak kind of stopped playing well after he broke. Reminiscent of their '07 USO match.

why is Fed racking up all these errors

I think Fed-error has joined us!

ha xp

djokovic with two shitty second-serve returns, once more the quality has nosedived. weird match

it's almost as if Fed is playing bad purposely for a gambling conspiracy
but no
he's just playing bad

lol

I think he's kinda given up on this set

I mean, players do that to conserve energy, right?

they do, but not when they're only one break down.

Yay Hobak.

Best passage of play = first six games, those were really great. After that, the first set was Chokovic and the second set Federror. WHAT WILL THE THIRD HOLD!

was gonna say Federer looks much better + more focused now but another baffling error :/

OK, Federror gone again. I think Hobak might have cause to regret not getting the break in the first game of this set when it was there for the taking.

that backhand had a definite whiff of federror

that drop-volley otoh <3

some nice points being played atm. that Fed FH about a game ago was incredible.

what the one onto the line at the end of a lengthy-ish rally? otm

the really really really fast one, yeah

and that Hobak reflex volley!

oooh and Djokovic with a little stutter...

...blap.

love how federer pounces tbh

I think Fed's comeback is mindfucking Djokovic

Wow. Hobak had lost four points on his serve until that last game...then that doubled, just like that. Amazing BH DTL from Fed.

And Hobak gets the first break in the fourth. Five sets! Five sets!

As long as Bepa's coronation as US OPEN QUEEN isn't delayed, of course.

holy smoke, the return from hell there :D

I really want Djokovic to win this set to 1. 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 #symmetrypleasesme

symmetry would be bad news for Novak in the 5th set

I'm really dreading 30 more years of mary carillo calling tennis.

this is pretty huge now

These points are just O_O

That was an EPIC game

what a forehand

Impressive hold from Hobak considering what preceded that game.

30-30. COME ON HOBAK.

Federer getting steely I think - those two defensive lobs!

oh my

Amazing way to save those MPs

5th set of this match absolutely incredible. Finals tomorrow going to be amazing.

I hope Novak gets this game, he deserves it after those 2 math point saves

and now another great shot

I just can't believe you'd go for shots like that match point down. Incredibly ballsy.

he holds!

What a game.

this is incredible

yea this shit is bonkers

~~~~novak breaks~~~~

YES! Hobak on fire.

THAT PT

what a fucking first point!!

literally jumped outta my seat when that serve was called out~~~

oh fed

WOW why didn't Fed go DTL w/that pass?!

Nice work Djokovic. What a match!

right whatever, nadal in 3

so many missed opportunities on fed's part. still djoko really went 4 it cant h8

Such a huge win for Nole! Amazing match, so glad I saw all of that.

Yeah, that was brilliant. And more tennis yet to come! Super Saturday right guys!?!

Oh no, here come the Kim hate posts again

;-)

I have no idea who to support tomorrow. Rafa needs the Career Slam, obviously. But Nole equally needs a long overdue sequel to AO '08. And after winning the match of the tournament, it'll be an anticlimax to come away the runner-up. So I guess HOBAK again.

WOW why didn't Fed go DTL w/that pass?!

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Saturday, September 11, 2010 10:48 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

probably because Djokovic covered down the line really aggressively down then line when Fed had a chance to pass him earlier (I think Novak's previous service game).

It was a mistake though because Novak was too tired to do anything.

As much as we all snark and criticize tennis players (Nole included), it's nice to just see a great, great match and have nothing to say other than how great it was.

really emphasizing the down the line there.

a bit like how that phrase will echo in Fed's mind tonight

Brad Gilbert said that Rafa would be the greatest of all time if he beat Roger in the final, so I guess it's a victory for Federer!

I agree that it would be nice for Djokovic to win another one tomorrow. The whole two guy act is getting old, especially now that Murray looks like a lost cause.

BEPA TIME.

Bepa is apparently the YOUNGEST Slam finalist this year, which is...weird.

ugh do not want to watch this match

whole fad-djokovic match was pretty good but those last few games were truly thrilling - some cold-blooded shots outta djokovic there, esp the ones match point down

fed's forehand was just all over the place

You do want to watch this match. Bepa is amazing.

what is it you like so much about Bepa?

I've loved her since she first emerged - love watching her play, such clean, sound groundstrokes and great point construction ability. And her insanity really draws you into her matches, you can't help be compelled by someone permanently on the brink of a meltdown. Every one of my favourites ever has been a headcase. Starting off with Jana Novotna was not, I guess, a good omen for an easy ride through tennis fandom.

Or, as a friend on another board put it when Bepa won Indian Wells in 2008: "We elitists have been longing for a top player since Queen Justine abandoned us. She must 1) care about tennis, 2) not be a stupid basher, and 3) not hyped to the moon by non-tennis fans/pervs. Bepa fills this void nicely. Along with her being the underdog, since she's been at this on the main tour for over 6 years now, losing 1242343 straight matches to top players."

looool she's getting pissed

2009, even!

Bepa became my favourite player when Justine and Nastya retired. And Justine's comeback has been such a flop that she may well still be.

Hey, she's starting to hit herself and smash her racquet already.

Every one of my favourites ever has been a headcase.

god damnit i miss safin so much

Oh god why did I ever think this match could end well.

oh dear

meltdown. clijsters barely has to play.

I think we just have the tears left to cross off our Bepa Meltdown Bingo cards.

omg clijsters is just toying with her

Losing a 27-shot rally on a netted BH will do wonders for her state of mind, I'm sure!

there were moments in that 27 stroke rally there where bepa looked like was she hoping they'd be too far to chase.

Ugh ugh ugh, that game was so nearly a turning point. Some great rallies, Bepa going all out to attack, and St. Kim will just not. miss. anything. ever. HATE.

she knows she only gets two serves, right?

Oh dear.

I think we just have the tears left to cross off our Bepa Meltdown Bingo cards.

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Saturday, September 11, 2010 9:10 PM (23 minutes ago)

does it count if it's on the podium?

I am obviously not watching that.

Bepa 2010 = Demented 2004 EXCEPT WORSE.

I'm glad I went out to dinner, came home and started watching the recording, sort of dozed off into daydream land, started fast forwarding and accidentally jumped 8 games (maybe the thunderstorm outside had something to do with it), realized now that this match is embarrassingly bad, fastforwarded to the last game, saw some replay of a a racket smash... quickest match ever

but Kim Clijsters did look like she was playing great if that means anything

We elitists have been longing for a top player since Queen Justine abandoned us. She must 1) care about tennis, 2) not be a stupid basher, and 3) not hyped to the moon by non-tennis fans/pervs. Bepa fills this void nicely. Along with her being the underdog, since she's been at this on the main tour for over 6 years now, losing 1242343 straight matches to top players."

Add 'she must have any sort of temperament' to this. To think that Zvonareva as any sort of replacement to Justine is just...

No patience for headcases though the more finals she gets into without winning the more I'll want her to win.

So I got into Goran and Novotna for a while, v glad when they won.

What sort of condition will Djoko be in for this, is the question? Damn US Open scheduling to hell.

^^that is what I was talking about w/r/t Stupid Saturday.

St. Kim and Tracy Austin are the only two women in the Open Era with multiple Slam titles, but only at one Slam (Austin has two USOs). Much more common on the men's side. I can see her adding an AO or several, but not so much RG/Wimbledon.

I suspect Bepa will not be in any more Slam finals. At least she was slightly less disastrous than Safina.

[Removed Illegal Image]

28 games won across six Slam finals combined for these three stupid women.

http://tennisinfoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/russian-gold-medal-women-tennis.jpg

I hope they invite the Vertigo actress for the festivities if Djoko wins.

WIN. Been out at tapas dinner party, feared I'd miss this. Monday final is good for me and good for Hobak.

that is what I was talking about w/r/t Stupid Saturday

It used to be worse though - they used to have the women's final inbetween the men's semis, which managed to piss everyone off (the women wouldn't know for sure when they were playing THE FINAL, FFS*; the second men's semi would be entirely under lights, finishing within 15 hours of the final**).

(* - OK, I'm not sure if this ever had a serious impact, but McEnroe-Wilander seemed to push Mandlikova-Navratilova deep into floodlit territory in '85, and Edberg-Chang in '92 was one of the longest Slam matches ever played, so I can't believe Seles and Sanchez-Vicario got on court on time;
** - I think of McEnroe-Connors in '80 and '84 as the prime examples of late-finish semis, but they didn't seem to hurt Mac too much the next day!)

Thinking more about this - Agassi seemed to seriously underperform in each of his USO finals vs Sampras; was he in the second semi each time? (Though tearing a muscle on match point vs Becker in '95 had more of an impact).

All slam finals should be on a Monday evening just long enough after University Challenge for me to have finished the washing up.

what streaming are people in the UK (or elsewhere) are using for this?

Nadal already a break up in the 1st

My atdhe.net one is pretty good - McEnroe commentating.

Nole breaks back!

Thanks Kat! I will try that, otherwise I'll carry on the radio.

Gotta say I'm for Djoko (but Nadal breaks back again as i type)

I'm using one of the ones at livescorehunter.com

It's a pretty great match already!

Sorry break back point, which is not converted

Ooooo temper! I don't blame him though.

What a FH from Rafa! What a racquet smash from Hobak! Worthy of Bepa, that one.

Well, that's a mind-blowing stat: Nadal is 106-1 in Slams when he wins the first set. Time's running out, Nole.

The 1 loss being his loss to Ferrer here three years ago!

(Had to RACK MY BRAINS for that one.)

Meanwhile, Hobak should just not use the dropshot at all in this match.

^^^rong

That dropshot was all right!

Haha xpost

he shouldn't use it again after now though :D

Haha I knew that would happen at some point.

God, then all that work for nothing with two horrible missed returns.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

he's gonna serve 3 aces now isn't he

BLIMEY

:D

Whoa.

A bit like Hobak's SF! Multiple breaks and wasted chances in the first set, but instead of falling away in the second, takes advantage of his opponent's lull.

boooooooooooooooooooom

that is my impression of his forehand

At least nine points in a row for Nole, can't remember how the pre-break service game went!

And suddenly, you remember all those times when Rafa just got blown off the court by an uber-aggressive basher...Tsonga, Gonzalez, Youzhny, Del Potro.

Oh, that was a McEnroe stop volley!

an uber-aggressive basher with a nice line in drop-shots

Incredible rally there!

Also, Djokovic had chances to win this set like 6-2.

why doesn't nadal just gtfo

why

they're both gonna gtfo in 15 mins or so when the rain arrives

RAIN

or like 2 minutes, whatever

incredibly important final point before the rain mind

HAHAHAHA the rain delay choice on this Eurosport stream is the women's final. NEIN FUCKING DANKE.

Argh I am going to have to go to bed :( Hope it rains until er, 9pm BST tomorrow?

Sky Sports are showing last year's men's final. Keep raining until I get home tomorrow, eh?

On whichever channel McEnroe's on we got a whimsical feature about "feet"...going from Roddick's foot faults through to the punchline of the boys' champion being Jack Sock.

I'm going to check some weather forecasts for Queens and then possibly go to bed... 12:30am BST resumption at best, apparently.

Drying out the courts just now, back in about half an hour.

i guess the britishes are all in bed, so i'll just tidy up in here.

http://beta555.eog.com/uploadedImages/articles/training/Nadal.jpg

federer's age when he made the career grand slam:27
nadal's: 24
federer's total major titles the year he turned 24: 6
nadal's: 9

So happy, <3 Rafa.

he is playing so well this year. i'm not sure federer would have done much better against him than novak did. if he manages to not get hurt (big if, obv) he's gonna add at least two more majors to his total next year.

also worth noting that lil wayne correctly picked both champions.

^^first thing I thought as well!

Huge for Rafa. If he stays healthy he WILL overtake Fed's 16. Only saw up til the rain delay, but it was a beast performance. And the way he altered his game so effectively for the USO is legendary.

The end of the women's doubles was fun too, King and Shvedova are so likeable (and Liezel Huber is completely horrendous).

Roll of honour!

Men's singles: Rafael Nadal
Women's singles: Kim Clijsters
Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
Women's doubles: Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova
Mixed doubles: Bob Bryan & Liezel Huber
Boys' singles: Jack Sock
Girls' singles: Daria Gavrilova
Boys' doubles: Duilio Beretta & Roberto Quiroz
Girls' doubles: Timea Babos & Sloane Stephens

two really good doubles pressers - King and Shvedova, awww, they're just lovely, and Qureshi and Bopanna on the politics of being an Indian/Pakistani team. I really, really hate the Bryans for winning that final, do they not know how these stories are supposed to go. SMH.

aaaand the post-USO rankings:

1. Serena Williams (1)
2. Caroline Wozniacki (2)
3. Venus Williams (4)
4. Vera Zvonareva (8)
5. Kim Clijsters (3)
6. Jelena Jankovic (5)
7. Samantha Stosur (6)
8. Francesca Schiavone (7)
9. Agnieszka Radwanska (10)
10. Elena Dementieva (12)
11. Victoria Azarenka (11)
12. Na Li (9)
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova (13)
14. Marion Bartoli (14)
15. Maria Sharapova (17)
16. Justine Henin (15)
17. Shahar Peer (19)
18. Aravane Rezai (20)
19. Nadia Petrova (16)
20. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (22)
21. Yanina Wickmayer (18)
22. Flavia Pennetta (21)
23. Jie Zheng (23)
24. Maria Kirilenko (25)
25. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (24)
26. Kaia Kanepi (32)
27. Alexandra Dulgheru (27)
28. Lucie Safarova (28)
29. Alisa Kleybanova (30)
30. Daniela Hantuchova (26)
...
33. Dominika Cibulkova (45)
50. Kimiko Date-Krumm (51) <= Mrs. Krumm in the top 50!!!!
73. Melanie Oudin (43)
118. Mirjana Lucic (150)

1. Rafael Nadal (1)
2. Novak Djokovic (3)
3. Roger Federer (2)
4. Andy Murray (4)
5. Robin Soderling (5)
6. Nikolay Davydenko (6)
7. Tomas Berrdych (7)
8. Fernando Verdasco (8)
9. Mikhail Youzhny (14)
10. David Ferrer (12)
11. Andy Roddick (9)
12. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (11)
13. Jurgen Melzer (15)
14. Marin Cilic (13)
15. Gael Monfils (19)
16. Nicolas Almagro (16)
17. Ivan Ljubicic (17)
18. Marcos Baghdatis (18)
19. Mardy Fish (21)
20. Stanislas Wawrinka (27)
21. Sam Querrey (22)
22. Albert Montanes (23)
23. John Isner (20)
24. Feliciano Lopez (25)
25. Ernests Gulbis (26)
26. Juan Carlos Ferrero (24)
27. Thomaz Bellucci (28)
28. David Nalbandian (33)
29. Richard Gasquet (38)
30. Michael Llodra (35)
...
34. Juan Martin Del Potro (10)

how does clijsters win the uso and drop in the rankings?

Good job Rafa. That haircut worked out well for him after all.

how does clijsters win the uso and drop in the rankings?

she didn't gain or lose any points from last year, while Venus and Vera (both 4R exits in '09) gained enough to overtake her.

I assume everybody but fanatics forgot all about this once play was suspended and the remainder somehow wound up on ABC-owned ESPN2 instead of CBS. Bad job.

"Jack Sock"?

Sounds unpleasant

The Onion on Rafa:

http://o.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/18068/Feature-Nadal-redo_jpg_445x1000_upscale_q85.jpg

watched until Nole won the second set and then had to leave for work. was rooting for Djoker but equally happy with this result - I've really come around to Rafa in the past couple of years or so. :) :)

is he the first male player to win a slam on all three surfaces in one year?