Posted: September 8th, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: ATP, ATP: David Ferrer, ATP: Feliciano Lopez, ATP: Fernando Verdasco, ATP: Gael Monfils, ATP: Mikhail Youzhny, ATP: Novak Djokovic, ATP: Rafael Nadal, ATP: Robin Soderling, ATP: Roger Federer, ATP: Sam Querrey, ATP: Stanislas Wawrinka, ATP: Tommy Robredo, ATP: US Open, WTA, WTA: Caroline Wozniacki, WTA: Dominika Cibulkova, WTA: Francesca Schiavone, WTA: Kim Clijsters, WTA: Samantha Stosur, WTA: US Open, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Vera Zvonareva | No Comments »
Hey, sorry I disappeared for a second there. I couldn’t bring myself to watch tennis yesterday, Day 9, because of the recent development that is Caroline Wozniacki. I just didn’t want to hear about it. Pardon my moment of weakness.
I did, however, hear about (and later saw) Fernando Verdasco’s amazing match point against David Ferrer. Then, I read that Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur played a match that started off with high quality tennis but ended pretty poorly. With that, it’s hard to bet against Venus Williams now.
Day 9 results:
Quarterfinals
Kim Clijsters [2] def. Samantha Stosur [5] 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
Venus Williams [3] def. Francesca Schiavone [6] 7-6(5), 6-4
Round of 16
Rafael Nadal [1] def. Feliciano Lopez [23] 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Fernando Verdasco [8] def. David Ferrer [10] 5-7, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4)
Mikhail Youzhny [12] def. Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Stanislas Wawrinka [25] def. Sam Querrey [20] 7-6(9), 6-7(5), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
Day 10 was pretty uneventful. The wind made it hard for everyone. It was hard to play under those conditions and it was hard to watch the pros play under those conditions. The favorites all came through relatively easily. Straight sets on tap.
Day 10 results:
Quarterfinals
Caroline Wozniacki [1] def. Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 7-5
Vera Zvonareva [7] def. Kaia Kanepi [31] 6-3, 7-5
Roger Federer [2] def. Robin Soderling [5] 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
Novak Djokovic [3] def. Gael Monfils [17] 7-6(2), 6-1, 6-2
Image via Getty
Posted: September 7th, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: ATP, ATP: David Ferrer, ATP: Feliciano Lopez, ATP: Fernando Verdasco, ATP: Rafael Nadal, ATP: Stanislas Wawrinka, ATP: US Open, WTA, WTA: Francesca Schiavone, WTA: Kim Clijsters, WTA: Samantha Stosur, WTA: US Open, WTA: Venus Williams | No Comments »
Day 9 promises a lot of exciting tennis. Quarterfinal matches start for the women while the men begin their R16 tussles. On tap; Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Samantha Stosur.
- Francesca Schiavone [6] vs Venus Williams [3]
Like Vee said, 30 is the new 20. I love this match-up! I like both players and both have been flying under the radar all tournament long. And after this match, (boom!) in the semis. I hope they put on a great show!
- Stanislas Wawrinka [25] vs Sam Querrey [20]
You took out my favorite Stan, better not not take out my non-favorite.
- Samantha Stosur [5] vs Kim Clijsters [2]
Just like Sam’s previous match, this is tough to call. We all know what Sam can do but I feel like Kim can defend enough to weather Sam’s fire power and turn it into offense. Mmmm.. this has the makings of a tasty match.
- Rafael Nadal [1] vs Feliciano Lopez [23]
Feli doesn’t mind the hard courts and will probably look to attack as much as he can. He also knows and thinks he can beat Rafa on the fast stuff. It’ll be a fun battle to watch. It’ll be funner after Rafa wins it. Or after Feli wins it. Honestly, I’m fine with either result.
- David Ferrer [10] vs Fernando Verdasco [8]
I haven’t see Nando play much this tournament but I’ve read that he looked very good in his 3rd round match. Daveeed’s also been playing well, obviously, but I’d like to see Nando take this one. He needs another good run at a slam.
Complete Day 9 schedule here.
Image via Getty
Posted: September 5th, 2010 | Author: izzieraine | Filed under: ATP, ATP: Andy Murray, ATP: Ernests Gulbis, ATP: Fernando Verdasco, ATP: Gilles Simon, ATP: Jeremy Chardy, ATP: Nikolay Davydenko, ATP: Novak Djokovic, ATP: Rafael Nadal, ATP: Robin Soderling, ATP: Ryan Harrison, ATP: US Open, WTA, WTA: Agnieszka Radwanska, WTA: Andrea Petkovic, WTA: Maria Kirilenko, WTA: Maria Sharapova, WTA: US Open, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Victoria Azarenka | No Comments »
My friend, Izzie, who runs Ace Advantage was at The US Open for a few days. I asked her to share what it’s like at The Open and she was very generous to recount her entire experience there.
As a favor to Maria (I’m just kidding, I’m honored to be asked), I’ll be sharing some of my photos and experiences from my week at the US Open. I attended two days before the tournament started and three days during it.
I have been coming to the US Open for 5 years-since I was 12. But I’d never experienced the awesomeness that is the week before. My goal was simple-to see players practicing and perhaps catch a qualifying match. On Friday, August 28th, I went to the grounds with my mom. Firstly, American Express had the players practice schedule posted…and as a huge Sharapova fan, I was ecstatic to see her schedule for Practice Court 1 at 1:00 pm.
With time to kill before that, I headed over to Louis Armstrong, where Novak was. He was hitting with Gulbis and having some fun, ‘challenging’ calls and whatnot. I got his autograph and moved on, getting to the courts where Maria would be. Maria walked onto the court while Sveta and Dina were hitting together- they laughed about something all together and Maria started hitting. I noticed Maria biting her nails and laughed to myself. Luckily, I had made friends with Eddie, the security guard, earlier and was fortunate enough to have him bring my tennis ball to Maria to sign. She looked over when handed the ball and smiled a little- I could have died.
An hour or so after Maria practiced, Rafa was on Practice Court 5 (god, I wish Maria practiced there). But first, I met up with Courtney (aka @FortyDeuceTwits). We chatted and then I was off to Rafa. I had a nice spot, right next to where he was sitting. Muzz was hanging out too. Rafa signed my ball at the end of his practice through the fence (I was holding his hands, bandaged knuckles and all!). I ended my day watching Feli/Sam Q practice for a bit.
On Sunday I was on the grounds very shortly, but got Vika’s autograph and watched her practice with KBond. Vika was hitting beautifully-it’s a shame she got that concussion. Throughout her practice she threw the racket a few times, but afterwards was all smiles.
The first day I attended the US Open was Tuesday, for the day and night session. I started off watching Chardy/Gulbis. After a set, I moved on, caught Kiri practicing for a bit and then Maria (again). She was, as usual, on Practice Court 1. They had barricaded the place I was taking pictures at previously, so I was forced to shoot from very far away (I am getting a telephoto lens for next year!). Nando was on the court closest to me while Maria was practicing, too. After this, I went back to Chardy/Gulbis, where I saw Gulbis lose.
Next up was Yanina’s practice which I stayed at until I went to watch Vika practice. I got Vika’s autograph again (for my brother) and took a few pictures of Soderling (instead of trying to make my way through the mob). Later, I watched Nando briefly, struggling against Fognini.
My dad and I decided to head over to Novak/Troicki where the fifth set was starting. Novak’s comment about sleeping with his girlfriend had everyone laughing. Maria was out shortly after this. I was anxious but my dad was with me, so I kept cool. Until she lost the first set. I swear, everyone around me thought I was nuts. I was screaming “davai!” “come on!” “let’s go!” and talking to her like she could hear me. But she pulled through in three sets after nearly killing me. My adrenaline was so high after the match that I couldn’t eat. That night, the night session started close to 8 pm, where Rafa pulled through a long match and Caro a short one. We were at Ashe until 1 am!
On Thursday, I made my way to Flushing with two of my friends who had never been to the US Open. I brought them to Yanina’s match, in which we sat next to her coach and team. They were cheering loudly, and I was cheering with them. My friends wanted her autograph, so we all got her signature after a good match.
We then headed over to the Gasquet/Davydenko match. I told them that Gasquet was going to win (called it!). We stayed for a set but it was miserably hot in the sun at Grandstand so we left and headed to watch Kiri. When Kiri lost the first and was down 4-2 in the second, we all started to get nervous. I had been shouting ”davai” the whole match and we were all clapping quite loudly (Kiri definitely did a glance over to us). I even spotted Igor looking nervous in the stands. Kiri, however, made an awesome comeback.
During Kiri’s long match, I left twice to catch Maria on the practice courts while my friends held my seat. I knew Maria would be practicing, it was 2 hours before her scheduled 7 pm match. Maria was hitting with Michael Joyce, but soon after I got there, she made her way over to Martina Navratilova. Martina and her talked for a bit, laughed, and soon went to play. Martina was hitting lefty serves to Maria (which I slowly realized was to prepare for Benesova that night). After practicing, Maria came out to sign autographs- much to the crowd’s pleasure after Venus left them cold. I was trying to get a picture but my 5’1″ self had some difficulties.
During this time, I also got my pictures with Gilles, who was doing a signing at the ATP booth. Then, my friends and I went to Petko/Bethanie in the second set. I was rooting for Petko but we couldn’t stay long. Plus, Maria was starting in 10 minutes. We went to the food court where I listened to Maria through my American Express radio (not on the screen thanks to James Blake). I left the US Open knowing she was up 6-1 and doing fairly well.
Going on Friday with my dad seemed like a bummer-we were supposed to get hit by Hurricane Earl. We went to watch Ryan Harrison and 4 sets in, the rain began. We left the court (Harrison lost after blowing 3 MPs) and went over to Verdasco instead. I only stayed there briefly because Aga/Kiri were playing doubles against Oudin/Hampton. I think I was the only one on the crowd not rooting for the Americans. Aga got pissed about a line call and Kiri couldn’t keep a straight face while she yelled at the umpire. I left there a set in and watched Ana for a game or two.
I would definitely call my week a successful one. Tennis in New York is always great, even in the heat. I was covered in sweat everyday, but I enjoyed every second of it. I am psyched to bring my experience of the practice courts and everything else to the USO next year.
Posted: September 1st, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: ATP, ATP: Andy Murray, ATP: Andy Roddick, ATP: Gael Monfils, ATP: Gilles Simon, ATP: Igor Andreev, ATP: Janko Tipsarevic, ATP: Tomas Berdych, ATP: US Open, WTA, WTA: Ana Ivanovic, WTA: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, WTA: Gisela Dulko, WTA: Jie Zheng, WTA: Kim Clijsters, WTA: Sania Mirza, WTA: US Open, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Victoria Azarenka | No Comments »
I won’t be around my TV and computer much for Day 3. *boo face* The OOP offers a lot of potential tasty matches and it should be another fun day. Two of my faves, Andy Murray and Tomas Berydch, will play their opening round matches. Gael Monfils will do some tricks for everyone again. Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka are all scheduled to play.
Look out for these for me. Or for you. Whatever works.
- Ana Ivanovic vs Jie Zheng [21]
Oh, boy. Zheng’s always and forever a tricky customer. Nothing’s going to be easy in this match for either baller. Play your hearts out, kids.
- Janko Tipsarevic vs Andy Roddick [9]
Will the whining end here? Will it? Goodness, let’s hope so. Get ‘em, Andrew!
- Gisela Dulko vs Victoria Azarenka [9]
Vika looked a little shaky in her opening round match and Gisela likes to pull out upsets on big stages. This should be fun.
- Michael Llodra vs Tomas Berdych [7]
How can you not watch Berd play his first match? Llodra’s another one of those players who you’d want to stay away from early on in a tournament. Berd should be fine but it won’t be a cake walk.
- Gael Monfils [17] vs Igor Andreev
See Gael fly. Casual tennis fans really like him for his crazy shot making and acrobatics on court but it makes me cringe. Sure, it makes for great entertainment but OMGED, why hurt yourself on purpose?! I haven’t seen Igor play since his injury but he’s always been a solid player and is capable of beating the top guys on a good day.
- Anastasia Palyuchenkova [20] vs Sania Mirza
This looks interesting. Who knows if it’ll actually be.
- Gilles Simon vs Donald Young
For the love of tennis, win this Gilles.
Complete Day 3 schedule here.
Image via Getty
Posted: August 31st, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: ATP, ATP: Andy Roddick, ATP: Gael Monfils, ATP: Nikolay Davydenko, ATP: Richard Gasquet, ATP: Robin Soderling, ATP: Roger Federer, ATP: US Open, WTA, WTA: Ana Ivanovic, WTA: Daniela Hantuchova, WTA: Dinara Safina, WTA: Ekaterina Makarova, WTA: Elena Dementieva, WTA: Elena Vesnina, WTA: Samantha Stosur, WTA: US Open, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Victoria Azarenka | No Comments »
I’m not going to lie, Day 1 at the US Open was a little boring. This is what happens when Day 1 of the slam prior was ridiculous, you expect a little too much. It’s supposed to be a good thing that there weren’t any upsets. Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko, Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic (!) and Elena Dementieva all breezed through their opening round matches.
The match I looked forward to the most was the Daniela Hantuchova and Dinara Safina slugfest. Ah, yes, it was painful to watch but I’m a masochist- aren’t all WTA fans? Daniela showed more consistency throughout the match that eventually lead to the victory. Dinara also imploded a little bit but that’s nothing new. I’m not Dinara’s biggest fan but I just really want this, whatever this is, to end and for her to start winning again. The back injury did not seem to be an issue today. Break my heart like it’s Roland Garros 2008 again, Dinara.
Tracked the final game of that match and it went a little something like this: Danka FH error 0-15, Dina winner at net 0-30, Dina dumps BH into the net 15-30, Dina FH winner + roar 15-40, Dina return error (really!?) 30-40, Danka attacks Dina’s BH draws error deuce, ACE?! MP, Danka takes it 3 & 4. That’s basically how the entire match looked like except more deuces and roaring and puta!
Gael Monfils, Robin Soderling and Samantha Stosur narrowly escaped first round exits.
Notable wins and losses:
Samantha Stosur [5] def. Elena Vesnina 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-1
Victoria Azarenka [10] def. Monica Niculescu 6-0, 5-7, 6-1
Ana Ivanovic def. Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-2
Robin Soderling [5] def. Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(2), 5-7, 6-4
Gael Monfils [17] def. Robert Kendrick 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4
Richard Gasquet def. Simon Greul 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Complete Day 1 results here.
Image via Getty
Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: ATP, ATP: Andy Roddick, ATP: Rafael Nadal, ATP: Roger Federer, Offcourt, WTA, WTA: Maria Sharapova, WTA: Serena Williams, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Victoria Azarenka | No Comments »
*Internet high five* to everyone who has covered the pre-US Open parties going on all around New York City. I want to go to there.
- Rich sure loves to party, goes on for a 3rd straight night of tennis debauchery at the BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis on Thursday with the biggest ballers in the world and the world’s top chefs.
- Erwin from Tennis Served Fresh was at the Ralph Lauren and Venus Williams legends clinic also on Thursday.
CHANCE YEH/PatrickMcMullan.com
Masha stepped out with the boyfriend and took pictures? I’m telling you, it’s one big party in NYC. I don’t think any of the bloggers TSF’s Erwin was at the Interview + Cole Haan + Maria Sharapova (+ The Selby) event and fall collection launch. The event also raised some money to benefit Common Cents.
Posted: July 5th, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: ATP, ATP: Andy Roddick, ATP: John Isner, ATP: Nicolas Mahut, ATP: Novak Djokovic, ATP: Rafael Nadal, ATP: Roger Federer, ATP: Tomas Berdych, ATP: Wimbledon, WTA, WTA: Maria Sharapova, WTA: Serena Williams, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Wimbledon | 1 Comment »
You’ve been the best, Wimbledon ’10. Just the best.
Here’s a big thank you…
- For stopping the tennis world with Roger Federer/Alejandro Falla and Novak Djokovic/Olivier Rochus on opening day. I wish I read more into your hints that this was going to be a crazy year.
- For proving that James Blake can really be an ass and Pam Shriver is always drunk.
- For stopping the whole world with IsnUt. Tennis needed that!
- For introducing me to Robin Haase. He’s such a cutie.
- For the awkward curtseys and bows that only Her Majesty and Great Britain can make these million-dollar athletes succumb to.
- For never letting a day pass without drama.
- For showing me that Maria Sharapova can win the big ones again.
- For alerting the fans of Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer that their clocks are ticking and maybe it’s time to find other players to learn to love. It doesn’t necessarily mean right away but sooner than later. Harsh but true. I wouldn’t want you any other way.
- For leading Tomas Berdych back home- at the top with the big boys.
- For maintaining the balance between crazy and reality by, in spite of the explosion this fortnight, still having both World Number 1s win the Championships.
And most of all, thank you for making me fall in love with tennis all over again. It’s been seven years but you made me feel like the best has yet to come and all of us are really only getting started!
I’ll remember you forever. xx
Posted: June 29th, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: WTA, WTA: Kim Clijsters, WTA: Na Li, WTA: Serena Williams, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Vera Zvonareva, WTA: Wimbledon | No Comments »
What a day. No, what a tournament it has been.
You’d think as we get down to the wire, the upsets would be fewer and farther in between. I mean, this is the time where the champions show why they’re champions- clutch play, come-from-behind wins, those kinds of things. But no, not at this year’s Championships.
Going into the women’s quarterfinals, we had 3 players who are multiple major title holders and none of them were to meet each other. There were also 3 players who are outside of the Top 50. How does that Jay-Z song go? Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t. Yeah, that song is bullsh (or does not apply in sports but it came to my mind). Only 1 of the multiple major title holder players survived while 2 of the players outside the Top 50 got through. “That’s why we play and why they put the net up everyday,” is what someone once said.
Venus Williams, 5-time Wimbledon champion, was defeated by Tsvetana Pironkova in a shocking 2-set routine-like scoreline, 2-6, 3-6. Tsvetana knows how to play Vee, she’s defeated the former champ at a major before- the Australian Open in 2006.
Kim Clijsters, 2-time Grand Slam champion, was defeated by a not so shocking opponent, Vera Zvonareva, 6-3, 4-6, 2-6.
Both Vee and Kim showed some below par play in their Round of 16 matches but were able to gut them out. Unfortunately, the 24-hour turnaround was not enough for them to shake off the below par play and they came up against much tougher opponents today.
Day 8 results:
Serena Williams (1) def. Na Li (9) 7-5, 6-3
Tsvetana Pironkova def. Venus Williams (2) 6-2, 6-3
Vera Zvonareva (21) def. Kim Clijsters (8) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Petra Kvitova def. Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 8-6
Image via Getty
Posted: June 28th, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: WTA, WTA: Kim Clijsters, WTA: Na Li, WTA: Serena Williams, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Vera Zvonareva, WTA: Wimbledon | 1 Comment »
Quarterfinal day for the ladies at Wimbledon! It’s going to be interesting to see if the Williamses can keep rolling and keep the dream (yawn) of another all-Williams final alive. Na Li will be looking to crash that party and so will Tsvetana Pironkova.
Day 8 schedule:
Centre Court
- Kim Clijsters [8] vs Vera Zvonareva [21]
- Serena Williams [1] vs Na Li [9]
Court No. 1
- Tsvetana Pironkova vs Venus Williams [2]
- Petra Kvitova vs Kaia Kanepi
Image via Getty
Posted: June 28th, 2010 | Author: thedoublebagel | Filed under: ATP, ATP: Andy Murray, ATP: Andy Roddick, ATP: David Ferrer, ATP: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, ATP: Jurgen Melzer, ATP: Lleyton Hewitt, ATP: Novak Djokovic, ATP: Rafael Nadal, ATP: Robin Soderling, ATP: Roger Federer, ATP: Tomas Berdych, ATP: Wimbledon, WTA, WTA: Agnieszka Radwanska, WTA: Caroline Wozniacki, WTA: Jelena Jankovic, WTA: Justine Henin, WTA: Kim Clijsters, WTA: Maria Sharapova, WTA: Na Li, WTA: Serena Williams, WTA: Venus Williams, WTA: Vera Zvonareva, WTA: Wimbledon | 2 Comments »
Ah, yes. Of course they both lose on the same day. When the world decides it hates you on one particular day, it really makes you feel it.
In Andy Roddick’s own words, he played like “crap” in his return games. He’s letting himself off too easily. He actually played shit return games in the entire 5-set match against Yen-Hsun Lu. To Lu’s credit, he hung in there with Andy when he couldn’t even sniff a break point on Andy’s serve and was definitely more aggressive on most of the points during the tiebreaks.
Maria Sharapova, on the other hand, didn’t play like crap or shit. Far from it. She played some of her best tennis since her return from surgery. She served huge and cracked returns against the best server on the women’s tour. Maria had her chances but was unable to step up and take them. On set point on her own racket in that first set tiebreak, a forehand error cost her big time. Then, a double fault to go down set point cost her the first set. Those mistakes you cannot afford against a champion like Serena Williams. Maria got broken early in the second set and Serena never looked back. Yes, Serena is still the serving machine of the tournament.
Right, Masha. Her name is Masha.
In other news, Kim Clijsters started slow against Justine Henin but found her form early in the second set and was able to get past Justine in 3 sets.
Petra Kvitova, Tsvetana Pironkova and Kaia Kanepi are still in the tournament somehow. Leave it to the WTA to always have surprise quater- or semi- finalists.
Day 7 results:
Serena Williams (1) def. Maria Sharapova (16) 7-6 (11-9), 6-4
Venus Williams (2) def. Jarmila Groth 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
Petra Kvitova def. Caroline Wozniacki (3) 6-2, 6-0
Vera Zvonareva (21) def. Jelena Jankovic (4) 6-1, 3-0 retired
Na Li (9) def. Agnieszka Radwanska (7) 6-3, 6-2
Kim Clijsters (8) def. Justine Henin (17) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Tsvetana Pironkova def. Marion Bartoli (11) 6-4, 6-4
Kaia Kanepi def. Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-4
Roger Federer (1) def. Jurgen Melzer (16) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
Rafael Nadal (2) def. Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Novak Djokovic (3) def. Lleyton Hewitt (15) 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Andy Murray (4) def. Sam Querrey (18) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Yen-Hsun Lu def. Andy Roddick (5) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 9-7
Robin Soderling (6) def. David Ferrer (9) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) def. Julien Benneteau (32) 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Tomas Berdych (12) def. Daniel Brands 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5, 6-3
