US OPEN 2013

Maria Sharapova, the richest female athlete in the world, is planning the most audacious move of her career — changing her surname to Sugarpova for the two-week duration of the US Open, in honour of her line of sweets.

The 26-year-old Russian, a former world No 1, has asked about a “quickie” name-change through the Supreme Court of Florida, where she has a base, and would revert to Sharapova after the tournament. It is understood also that the striking emblem of Sugarpova candy, a pair of red lips will feature somewhere on her attire during the final grand slam of the year.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/tennis/article3847544.ece

now i hope she wins

I can't believe that story is real. Her total commitment to shilling her nasty sweets is just embarrassing now. Serena and Vika must be laughing their asses off right now, especially as you know a first-week exit is impending.

Lol, it's silly beyond silly, to the point where you can hardly believe it's true, but as much as we're talking neon colored sugar lumps at least it's her thing yknow? She's not shilling Pepsi, she's shilling her own silly little business idea.

haha as mitigating factors go...

anyway qualies start today! http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/qs/index.html

lots of exciting names, I'm very interested in Mayo Hibi - she's 17, she won the USTA national playoffs (but already has a pro ranking in the top 300), and apparently her game = slice BH and big FH, which sounds intriguing...meanwhile Hlavackova, who reached the 4th round last year, is stuck in qualies this year; Paszek was 28th seed at Wimbledon and is unseeded in qualies here (!!!); thankfully Oudin didn't get a WC this year.

I really want Paszek to pull it together but I don't think she will.

sharapova is among the top seeds. sugarpova, however, will have to qualify.

My heart sank opening up twitter this morning. Not this shit again, no no no.

This isn't going to shift any sweets.

My first thought was that it was a protest against not being allowed to change her name.

I wonder if she knew all along. No chance to shill her sweets at the USO so toss that publicity stunt at the media and get a ton of coverage instead, then when you withdraw injured sympathy trumps the mockery.

Tsonga is out too :(

Oudin lost in the first round of qualies to Baltacha hahahahaha. Nicest story so far probably Pemra Ozgen, a 27-year-old Turkish woman who in over a decade in the ITFs had never played a Slam or been ranked in the top 250 until she won her first 25K in Woking a few weeks ago. That put her in USO qualies in the last week before the deadline - her first ever Slam - and she's taken advantage, beating Kudryavtseva. Apparently very emotional when she won. I saw her play at a 10K earlier this year, she has a really old-skool finesse/slice game and no power whatsoever.

Well no she was practicing on the courts with her dad.

DRAWS!

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/index.html

- Possible Serena vs Sloane R4...unless U-Rad or Hampton beat Sloane first
- Jankovic with the kind of "nightmare draw" that she'll probably end up coming through...Keys then Puig then Cirstea
- Give it up for Alisa Kleybanova, first post-cancer Slam
- LOL at the Wozniacki/Errani quarter though I won't be laughing if Woz comes through it. I think...Halep? Will Sweta suddenly peak at a Slam again?
- SO weird seeing Federer as the 7th seed, that's lower than Wozniacki. Another Fedal possible QF...maybe another hilarious Slam in which they both lose?
- The Ferrer/Gasquet quarter is the ATP version of Errani/Wozniacki. Gulbis or Janowicz to take advantage?
- If Paire vs Fognini in R3 happens it'll be insane

Predix:

Women

Serena Williams d. Sloane Stephens
Angelique Kerber d. Carla Suarez Navarro
Agnieszka Radwanska d. Ekaterina Makarova
Jelena Jankovic d. Na Li
Caroline Wozniacki d. Elena Vesnina
Simona Halep d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Samantha Stosur d. Andrea Petkovic
Victoria Azarenka d. Ana Ivanovic

Williams d. Kerber
Radwanska d. Jankovic
Halep d. Wozniacki
Azarenka d. Stosur

Williams d. Radwanska
Azarenka d. Halep

Azarenka d. Williams

Men

Djokovic d. Granollers
Del Potro d. Youzhny
Murray d. Almagro
Berdych d. Stepanek
Raonic d. Tursunov
Gulbis d. Janowicz
Federer d. Tomic
Nadal d. Isner

Del Potro d. Djokovic
Berdych d. Murray
Raonic d. Gulbis
Nadal d. Federer

Del Potro d. Berdych
Nadal d. Raonic

Nadal d. Del Potro :(

really really hope Sveta takes that quarter. i'd be happy with another Vika-Serena final and think both players would play way better than they did in the weird Cinci one.
draw looks good for Bouchard to make a breakthrough maybe. hope so, i really like her game.

Williams d. Li Na
Azarenka d. Vinci

Williams d. Azarenka

Murray d. Djokovic
Nadal d. Janowicz

Murray d. Nadal

or something

I can't believe that story is real. Her total commitment to shilling her nasty sweets is just embarrassing now. Serena and Vika must be laughing their asses off right now, especially as you know a first-week exit is impending.

― lex pretend, Monday, August 19, 2013 6:40 PM (3 days ago)

haha i was gonna say, she may only need to change it for one week instead of two

really had no idea sharapova was the richest female athlete in the world, but now that i think of it, i can't think of anyone else obvious (other than serena?)

because of all the shit women's tennis gets it's kind of easy to forget how far ahead it is of most other women's sports

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45imfe/10-yani-tseng/

yeah, 7 of the top 10 are tennis players

lol I forgot about Danica Patrick, oops

also I am surprised but kind of happy Li Na makes more than Serena

I think this report of Larcher de Brito's qualy win last night (from @unseededlooming who is a vg twitter follow for tennis) needs to be c/ped in full.

So we come back in approximately the next century, Diyas wins two quick points on serve & they sit down again for a changeover at 41*. MLDB broke back & held for *55 and I honestly thought she was going to finish in two sets. Then things got weird.

Diyas held and we get into this marathon game on MLDB's serve at *56 in which she has multiple GPs. Finally on set point, Michelle hit a forehand long that was called good by the lineswoman. Engzell overruled to give Diyas the set. You guys, if I had cat-like reflexes or could see the future, I would've loved to have taken a video of the next 10 minutes. It was the greatest experience of my 19-year, 11 & 1/2 month life.

ACTUAL CONVERSATION:

Michelle: "You've gotta be freaking kidding me?!?!"
Engzell: "She called it good but it's my call. Michelle, it's out like this. *gestures le space*"
(I was sitting on Michelle's side of the court & saw it out so it was a great overrule. She actually had like three really good ones in the second set.)
Michelle: "Well, then why didn't she call it?!"
Engzell: "......I don't know."
Michelle: "THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!!!"

MLDB then proceeded to go into hysterics on the set break, without the actual tears. Those came later.

Having a child + the time off has seriously been good for Engzell because I've never seen her be so authoritative and take command of things AND ACTUALLY MAKE GOOD UMPIRING DECISIONS (that mess at RG with AMG not withstanding since it was like her third match back) like she did today & in Peer/Pervak. I mean, I guess crying children are nbd for her now so props for her. (It won't last so I'll give her credit while I can tbh.)

So the third set starts and now MLDB is just on the edge. I honestly thought she was going to lose it, like totally lose it. She got broken in the second game, broke a racket and got a code violation. She channeled her inner McEnroe (You cannot be serious, this is so stupid!) and Janowicz (How many times are you going to let this happen?) on every call she disagreed with.

Diyas held in a marathon, 10-minute game for 30* (in which Michelle cracked another racket but continued to use it because I guess she was still of sound mind to realize that a point penalty was awaiting her) and that's when Michelle started crying on the changeover as Diyas was getting a consult from the trainer.

I honestly have no idea how she got herself back into the match. Questioning every call (mostly ones that were inside the line because why not at this point), shaking her head, gesticulating and saying 'Oh my goodness' a lot, and other such behavior. I think Diyas got distracted by all of her histrionics, took her foot off the gas a little bit and kind of let Michelle back in. So, Michelle breaks back and is serving at 32* when she and Engzell go at it again off of an overruled serve.

Michelle: "Why do you wait so long to call it though?"
Engzell: "Because I have to wait for the line umpire...that's his job."

Diyas' coach was on the opposite side of the court from me and you could see him getting nervous in the later stages. I guess he's experienced her choking a lot or something. I also don't know if these two have any history because they were fistpumping and celebrating each other's errors the whole time, barely looked at each other during the handshake. Michelle made like no eye contact with Engzell either. Diyas got tight and MLDB really seized her opportunity. Credit to her, but if she considers herself 'calmer than ever' now, yeah I don't really know what to say about that. I kept track & she screamed "Come on", "Vamos", "Let's go", "Forza"???, and "Davai"??? at various portions in the match.

Kvitova GOATing out of nowhere in New Haven semis :D :D :D

her form seems to be sort of heading in the right direction. and she's been grinding out wins when she hasn't been playing well. hope she isn't too knackered for USO

New Haven Open ‏@newhavenopen 3h
Zakopalova: "I have to forget this match. Anyone who would have played her would have lost. She was too good" #nho13

Giorgi wins her final qualifying round 6-1 6-0. she's so great

halep takes out woz in n haven; first time woz has ever lost in nh actually

woz badly missed an overhead smash @ 5-5 40/40 in the 2nd set

the New Halep is really impressive. never been high on her game before but haven't seen much of her since she suddenly started killing everyone. good to see her new level is sufficient to take out Woz - bodes well for their possible USO QF.

I have no faith in Kvitova, I think the phrase Always In Doubt sums her up these days.

Surprised Townsend lost in qualies, happy to see Slam debuts for Ying-Ying Duan and Aleksandra Krunic. Disgusted that Vandeweghe qualified tbh.

Happy to see Monfils hitting form in Winston-Salem, we'll need him to beat Isner in R2.

Halep has scored nine top 20 wins since May, which is more than both Wozniacki in 2013 and Stephens in her whole career.

didn't know it was that many. that's incredible

While Nadal's form has been impressive I just don't have the confidence he'll pull it out of the bag over two weeks anywhere but the French.

Murray or Del Potro to win.

yeah i think his Masters record this year is as much down to his hunger to win absolutely everything as it is down to his actual level, high as that may be.
finding it really hard to separate the top 3 but surprised that the bookies all have Murray as 3rd favourite.

can't see delpo getting past djokovic tbh

Murray's having a (quite understandable) post-Wim slump atm...I think it's more "comedown" than "peaking for the USO".

Think the Big, er...three? are more vulnerable than we've seen in an age, and Delpo is ready to take advantage imo. He nearly got Nole at Wim and hard courts are far more his thing.

(And I think he can beat Rafa in the final, that prediction was more "bet on the result you don't want")

trying not to get too excited about Delpo in case he goes and gets injured again. if he makes it to the last 8 then he's as credible a champion as any of them though for sure

And we're off. Suggest some matches plz.

robson-ldl has been alright so far. wanted to watch kanepi-king but it's not streaming apparently

why is Nishikori down two sets to a person I don't know? :/

Ramos/Tomic is going along nicely enough.

xp it's Dan Evans! he's playing really well and nishikori has been awful

nishikori's ranking is such a joke

venus beat flipkens easily?!? no drama? how did this happen!

i'm in texas doing a study abroad year. i already miss the insomnia involved in staying up for the night matches actually :(

minella is up *5-2 against stephens lmao
ffs at none of these streams working :@

oh wait i can actually watch the official HQ usopen.org streams now! FUN

Dan Evans! Who was the last male Brit in the top 100 who wasn't Andy Murray? Seems he's on his way at last.

dodic/verdasco is p entertaining

lol Gulbis out in the first round. I doubt even Lex, who tipped him to make the quarters, is surprised at this.

minella played p decent! i feel bad for her

omfg verdascos break game @ 4-4 4th set

I was at carnival yesterday, it doesn't feel like I missed much. Rybarikova's exit is the only surprise on the WTA side (seriously WTF happened there though). Gulbis flopping is actually a major shock to me, for all his craziness he hasn't really had any WTF losses this year...until now. Maybe he looked at his open draw, I don't think Ernie deals well with Slam pressure. Very disappointing from Kei as well.

LOL @ "peaking for the Slams" Stephens getting taken to a 3rd set TB by MINELLA. I'd now be quite surprised if she got through U-Rad let alone Hampton.

I didn't expect CSN to double bagel Davis! Excellent! Do the same to Vandeweghe next!

Keys withdrew from Toronto injured and has had a disappointing USO series - that was a popcorn match on paper but I'm not really surprised JaJa routined her.

Ugh, Ashleigh Barty getting inflated points handed to her on a plate. So gross that she's been wild carded into SIX of the past eight Slams just because she's Australian.

No mention of Kleybanova? Best/biggest R1 story - her first post-cancer Slam win. So happy for her.

i love watching rafa do subtle things brilliantly

its closer than that, any novak hesitancy and rafa is up again

another case for the dropshot defence

all the dropshots earlier were rubbish mind you

novak has largely done away with hesitancy in the last few games, for worse and largely better

laaaaargely

underestimated his capacity to go to shit i guess

nadal is not playing the dominant, forward-stepping tennis of the first set but typical nadal scrappery; novak seems to have lost his zone. weird. probably not unexpected.

i'll enjoy it whilst i can

yep. was good whilst it lasted.

sexy slice lob

does novak regularly just take breathers in the middle of sets before resuming beastmode?

hold.

Nice point there.

aaargh

that was incredible. how did he just win that set wtf

while nilmar analyses exactly what subtle shift in playing-style brought about that hideous collapse, i think i might go to sleep

wau

I have basically just sat here going wau for ages now.

ya really. sick get & angle by novak

I can't believe I drifted off to sleep just as Nole was on the verge of going a double break up in the 3rd, then woke up just in time to see him lose the set. UGHHHHH FML. I assume it's p much over now, I might go back to sleep

ugh finally home in time to watch this, ugh f nadal

while nilmar analyses exactly what subtle shift in playing-style brought about that hideous collapse, i think i might go to sleep

― ... Jenkinson ... Neu! military spending ... snkkt! ... Özil ... ... (imago), Tuesday, 10 September 2013 00:55 (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol my peak tennis ITK was probably winning prep school tennis cup vs the only good player in the year who had the disadvantage of being just about the smallest too, im just slams and the odd cincy/atp finals now

"tennis has never been played like this"

Collapse from Nole now. Those errors :(

stop shushing

oh well, as I predicted. Nole probably did better than I expected and I'll never know what happened in the stupid third set. BEDTIME now.

oh I just remembered I put money on a Rafa win. silver lining

rafa is just so great

nole gave it to him but even another set of form and purporse from him and rafa would have kept it competitive just out of will

Nole gave it to him b/c he's out of ideas in this match-up

if i watched more of the atp id probably become slightly tired of the relative lack of variety in his game compared to nole/fed but i love the simplicity, the contorted geometry, the power and the force of will

of all the things I dislike about Rafa, his game is not one of them

the intensity of their matches really disguises the fact that apart from Nole's streak of 7 in 2011-12, Rafa has dominated their h2h pretty comprehensively

for about half an hour there nole was running tings, its more lack of composure than limitations in the matchup i think, some of his errors was as mindless as that failed smash at rg

/were/

yeah but he can't sustain that level across the three necessary sets

i mean if nole had that cold impeturbability id guess the hth would be roughly equal, rafa is just so tough

also, the weird stat of Serena and Nole never winning the same Slam continues

caveated by watching fewer of their games of course, but unforced errors roughly 5:2 is not just nole being unable to sustain precision beyond 20minute periods

anyway i will try to watch a couple more tournaments before the australian, is jmdp going to get his shit together

caveated by watching fewer of their games of course, but unforced errors roughly 5:2 is not just nole being unable to sustain precision beyond 20minute periods

not precision, aggression

Novak's game is not tailored to relentlessly blowing an opponent away but post-2011 he can't outgrind Rafa any more

anyway bedtime so I can wake up to watch a bit of Tashkent, the tennis calendar moves on and so do I :)

just went down a tennis wiki hole and learned that nole's first GS singles match was an 0,2, and 1 drubbing by none other than marat safin

not precision, aggression

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 01:54 (3 minutes ago)

yeah that's it i think

reducing sports to alpha oneupmanship crap is the least interesting way to analyse them but when the technical disparities are small, it becomes evident how especially resilient rafa is

i wondered if the injuries would grind him down to the lower reaches of the top 10 and an enforced early retirement

oh I think people have been wondering about that since he first started winning Slams, he's outlasted everyone's predictions really. Good for him.

Roll of honour:

Men's singles: Rafael Nadal
Women's singles: Serena Williams
Men's doubles: Leander Paes & Radek Stepanek
Women's doubles: Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka
Mixed doubles: Andrea Hlavackova & Max Mirnyi
Boys' singles: Borna Coric
Girls' singles: Ana Konjuh
Boys' doubles: Kamil Majchrzak & Martin Redlicki
Girls' doubles: Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova

- Well done Hlavackova, suddenly a three-time Slam champion. It's funny how doubles and singles success rarely correlates - both she and Hradecka's singles rankings have been tanking all year (and Wim champs Hsieh and Peng have been having terrible results in singles this year too). You'd think some confidence at least would carry over
- Croat junior double - if (probably when) Coric, Konjuh and Vekic come good (maybe Tomljanovic as well), this will be a huge story
- Krejcikova and Siniakova started playing doubles at RG and since then have gone 24-0, including three Slams, without dropping a set. Quite the winning streak

Enthralling new men's rankings.

1. Novak Djokovic (1)
2. Rafael Nadal (2)
3. Andy Murray (3)
4. David Ferrer (4)
5. Tomas Berdych (5)
6. Roger Federer (7)
7. Juan Martin Del Potro (6)
8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (8)
9. Richard Gasquet (9)
10. Stanislas Wawrinka (10)
11. Milos Raonic (11)
12. Tommy Haas (12)
13. Kei Nishikori (13)
14. Jerzy Janowicz (14)
15. John Isner (17)
16. Gilles Simon (16)
17. Fabio Fognini (18)
18. Nicolas Almagro (15)
19. Tommy Robredo (22)
20. Mikhail Youzhny (24)
21. Kevin Anderson (20)
22. Andreas Seppi (23)
23. Janko Tipsarevic (21)
24. Marin Cilic (19)
25. Philipp Kohlschreiber (25)
26. Feliciano Lopez (26)
27. Jurgen Melzer (27)
28. Benoit Paire (28)
29. Grigor Dimitrov (29)
30. Juan Monaco (32)
...
47. Denis Istomin (65)
58. Lleyton Hewitt (66)
65. Martin Klizan (46)
149. Daniel Evans (179)

Anyway this tournament puts Rafa and Serena on the brink of some big historical milestones - he's one behind Sampras (hahahahahaha yessss) and she's one behind Navratilova/Evert. Arguably Rafa's career slam puts him ahead of Sampras already - I would argue this - but whatever, hard to imagine both won't get at least one more Slam each, and will probably surpass those greats.

It's actually not remotely implausible to start thinking about Rafa catching Roger's 17 and Serena catching Steffi's 22.

Very interested to see what Rafa does indoors for the rest of the year. This is usually where his year drops off (has he ever won an ATP-level indoor event? Runner-up in Paris, Shanghai and Rotterdam, but I think that's it).

he's only won three post-USO titles in his career - Beijing and Madrid 2005, Tokyo 2010. (Madrid was indoors.) The YEC is the only significant trophy missing from his cabinet.

Oh, I was forgetting about the Madrid event being indoors before 2009.

http://deadspin.com/what-does-it-take-to-get-kicked-out-of-the-u-s-open-1302446054?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

this is great