Jelena Jankovic [4] vs Kaia Kanepi [31]
Kaia’s always been a tough opponent to anyone and JJ hasn’t really been impressive lately so an upset wouldn’t surprise me.
Beatrice Capra vs Maria Sharapova [14] We are so not thinking about last year. Masha’s in a different place in her career compared to last year’s nightmare so I expect her to come out of this 3rd round alive. Please, tennis gods?
James Blake vs Novak Djokovic [3]
Do it for nicely fitted clothes, Nole.
Svetlana Kuzentsova [11] vs Maria Kirilenko [23] Eeeeks! Probably the most interesting 3rd round match on the women’s side. Kiri’s been playing some good ball (minus half of her previous round match) and Sveta’s been showing signs of consistent play this summer. It should be a good one!
Gael Monfils [17] vs Janko Tipsarevic I’ll take self-inflicted pain over whining any day.
Off to ice my eye some more. See you in the morning!
While watching the Feliciano Lopez and James Blake match yesterday, I couldn’t help but compare both of these guys’ legs. I mean, Feli forces you to look at his and James… well, he was there and they switched sides every so often. Unfortunately for James, his legs looked like they were having a hard time holding him up. I know they are probably just as strong as any athlete’s but looking at them after staring at Feli’s? Ha!
I did sneak some glances at the actual match and I gotta say, James can really crack forehand (sometimes backhand) returns. Feli got a little lucky in that second set, James played a few loose points on those match points and gave him room to comeback. And he did and won the match 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4!
I revisited my Indian Wells gallery and here’s one more Feli porn. (Just because I can!)
The ATP is in Los Angeles this week and let me just say it’s so nice to have a tournament in your home town. (I’m still bummed that the WTA won’t be stopping by here anymore.) I’m volunteering at the event for the second straight year and it’s been a ton of fun. Always cool to see some behind-the-scenes action, mostly pre-tournament, that you don’t get to witness when you’re a spectator. I’m not talking about the dirt stuff but seeing how the tournament operates and the people who make them happen. It’s a lot of hard work!
When Serena Williams came to watch James Blake play on Tuesday, she was hounded by the crowd after the match. She left her seat, walked across the stadium and hid somewhere I couldn’t see until everyone left. Then, walked back across towards the tunnel where she hung out with James.
Some dirt.
Shino was calling James’ match and was working the right service line which was in front of Serena’s seat when Serena walked in. Awkward. 2 change overs later, Shino left the court. I don’t know if that had anything to do with Serena being there or her shift was over. I’d like to think it was the former.
I love how this is an ATP tournament and yet the funnest thing I’ve witnessed so far involved a WTAer. I need to figure out a better time to work next time because being at the stadium from 2-7p makes me miss all the action outside- Feli and Ernie’s signing and Muzz’s practice sessions!
Off to UCLA. I’ll try to tweet more today. My phone was dead all day yesterday.
The drama in Day 2 was definitely toned down. Unless you’re Pam Shriver and James Blake then Day 2 was definitely drama-filled for you.
You can skip over to 4:30 to see the James and Pam smack talk. I can’t stop laughing at Pam’s knee-jerk jab, rabbit ears. Tracey tweeted the truth, drunk people can’t whisper.
On to the actual tennis.
Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka were only slightly contested in their openers. Meaning, no one served up a double or triple bagel. Unfortunately. There were bagels and Masha and Caro came oh so close but it wasn’t to be today.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Aravane Rezai and Anna Chakvetadze lost sets but were able to recover and win their matches. One of those three is not like the others but I thought I’d give her credit. All because she made an effort not to offend the tradition at SW19. Props!
Today’s carnage; Samantha Stosur, Fernando Verdasco, James Blake and Anne Keothavong.
Sam still could not find her footing on the green stuff. It’s weird how the grass courts work. It’s either the players love playing there and immediately feel comfortable after a 24-hour turnaround from the clay or they hate it and would rather skip the season altogether. (Carlos Moya? Nikolay Davydenko?) It’s such a short season that I can see how some players can’t really work their way into getting comfortable on it.
Nando and James (not that those two are alike) were just plain crap today. There’s no other way to put it.
Anne blew a 4-0 lead in the 3rd set of her match and lost it 4-6. She lost her focus, probably got too excited to get out of there and just like that *snap*, her opponent’s caught up.
Q. What went wrong today?
ANNE KEOTHAVONG: I think nerves just got the better of me, to be honest. You know, I really fought my heart out out there. You know, she held her nerve better than I did. She’s the one who walks off the court with a win.
Despite the missed opportunity (she *had* it), I still wouldn’t say she should be depressed and take fault for the failure of British tennis. No one’s at fault. You’ll get your champ, GBR, I swear.
Q. Obviously you’re disappointed on a personal level. How depressed are you on a more general level that once again we talk about a British failure for British tennis at Wimbledon?
ANNE KEOTHAVONG: It’s disappointing right now, but I’m not going to send myself into depression mode. I’ve got to find a way, pick myself up. In another few weeks, I’ll have another opportunity to compete at a high level. It won’t be Wimbledon, but you just have to move on.
You know, all of us girls, we’re working hard in each of our own ways. You know, Wimbledon’s important. Sure, we all want to do well here as British players, but that’s not the be‑all and end‑all.
You’re not doing any of these athletes any favors, British press. Thank you and go away.
ANNE KEOTHAVONG: You know, unless you’re kind of involved in tennis day in and day out, you know, if you could witness what we do, we train really hard. We put ourselves through a lot. It’s unfortunate that we get judged on just one tournament.
But I can tell you, you know, just to get myself fit, you know, in a position to compete here with the world’s best players, you know, I was working so hard. I was in the gym with physios, fitness trainers, last year learning again to walk properly. You know, you guys don’t see that. So it’s just that.
Notable wins and losses:
Serena Williams (1) def. Michelle Larcher De Brito 6-0, 6-4
Caroline Wozniacki (3) def. Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 6-1
Victoria Azarenka (14) def. Mirjana Lucic 6-3, 6-3
Maria Sharapova (16) def. Anastasia Pivovarova 6-1, 6-0
Aravane Rezai (18) def. Magdalena Rybarikova 6-7 (8-10), 6-2, 7-5
Svetlana Kuznetsova (19) def. Akgul Amanmuradova 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4
Anna Chakvetadze def. Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Anastasia Rodionova def. Anne Keothavong 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Rafael Nadal (2) def. Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
Andy Murray (4) def. Jan Hajek 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
Robin Soderling (6) def. Robby Ginepri 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Fabio Fognini def. Fernando Verdasco (8) 7-6 (11-9), 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) def. Robert Kendrick 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-4
Robin Haase def. James Blake 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
Roger Federer leads the top half of the draw with Nikolay Davydenko in his quarter. I don’t see anyone giving Fed any real trouble throughout the first four rounds. Jurgen Melzer in the Round of 16 could be interesting. But not really.
Kolya, on the other hand, I do not see reaching the quarters to face Fed. Tomas Berdych, Kolya’s Round of 16 opponent, will most likely come through to the quarters.
Andy Roddick is in Fed’s half with Novak Djokovicin his quarter. Roddick has his work cut out for him. He could face either of the big serving Croats, Marin Cilic or Ivan Ljubicic, in the Round of 16.
Nole also has to battle in the Round of 16 against Lleyton Hewitt.
Rafael Nadal leads the bottom half of the draw with Robin Soderling in his quarter. I think Rafa has the trickiest draw out of all the top guys. Early on, he has James Blake and Ernests Gulbis in the second and third rounds, respectively. Then, John Isner in the Round of 16. He’s going to play against a tree to start the second week. No fun.
Sod’s got his footing on being a top guy and I don’t think he’ll bring the same mess he did at SW19 last year after reaching his first major final. I expect him to get through to the quarters without a lot of trouble.
When I see Murray and Wimbledon in the same sentence, all I can think of is, no pressure. Yeah, right.
Andy Murray is in Rafa’s half with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his quarter. It should be a straight forward first week for Muzz with only Gilles Simon in the third round posing some threat. Sam Querrey in the Round of 16 is going to give him and The Queen major worries.
Jo. If Jo’s not hurt (and please let him not be hurt), he has a pretty good chance of making the quarters. A battle with Fernando Verdasco in the Round of 16 will be tasty. What?
A ball hasn’t been struck in Paris yet but we’ve already lost notable names due to injury.
Kim Clijsters (left foot), Juan Martin del Potro (wrist surgery), Tommy Haas (hip surgery, out until the summer hard courts), Nikolay Davydenko (wrist), James Blake (knee), Igor Andreev (left ankle), Gilles Simon (knee), Sania Mirza (wrist) and Sabine Lisicki (left ankle).
Update: David Nalbandian is out too due to a left hamstring injury. (Thanks, Tracey!)
Update 2: Radek Stepanek, Ivo Karlovic and Carlos Moya (wait, he’s still playing?) have all pulled out.
Day 2 was all right. It was all about Igor Andreev for me. I really thought he was going to pull a Kirilenko during his first round match against Roger Federer. Igor and Kiri did agree to start the year loud. Of course, RF is a tougher task to take on compared to Maria Sharapova (he has more tricks up his… shorts) but Igor came thisclose. That third set, damn that third set.
A few notable upsets on Day 2:
[8] Robin Soderling (SWE) lost to Marcel Granollers (ESP) 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 2-6
[18] Tommy Robredo (ESP) lost to Santiago Giraldo (COL) 4-6, 2-6, 2-6
Richard Gasquet (FRA) lost to [20] Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(4), 4-6
[25] Sam Querrey (USA) lost to Rainer Schuttler (GER) 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6
[23] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) lost to Vania King (USA) (after leading 5-1 in the third) 3-6, 7-6(5), 5-7
Day 3 came and gone with me just catching no more than 5 minutes of the Elena Dementieva/Justine Henin second round battle. Apparently, it was super close with high quality shot making and enough drama to be called a great WTA match. Awesome. Justine’s mental capabilities were superior to Lena’s (she is Russian) and that won her the match, of course.
The ATP had some drama too when Juan Martin del Potro and James Blake took the court for their second round battle. After 3 sets, it looked like James was going to pull off a huge upset leading 2-1 in sets and 2-0 to start the fourth but he failed to hold on to his next service game and DelPo stepped up in that fourth set. Then, the decider came, all 18 games of it, and both players threw everything they could at each other. Clearly, both weren’t 100% but they toughed it out, showed lots of heart and grit and put on a real 5th set battle. DelPo just edged James (mind + body) in the end, winning it 10-8.
Day 3′s notable wins and losses:
[4] Juan Martin del Potrp (ARG) def James Blake (USA) 6-4, 6-7(3), 5-7, 6-3, 10-8
[14] Marin Cilic (CRO) def Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-7(6), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
[5] Elena Dementieva (RUS) lost to Justine Henin (BEL) 5-7, 6-7(6)
[12] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) lost to Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 6-7(2), 1-6
Rafael Nadal was pushed by James Blake (!) in their second round meeting at the China Open in Beijing. He needed 3 sets to take out James, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3. Lots of mind fuck games in that match and the mentally tougher player definitely came out on top.
Rafa will play Marat Safin in the quarterfinals.
Rafael Nadal and Marat Safin on the same court. Try to keep your panties on.
James Blake launched his Thomas Reynolds line, named after his late father, with Fila last night at the Lord & Taylor store in New York City.
Down The Line!had the pleasure of checking out the event.
The evening began with a meet-and-greet with James on the main floor followed by a VIP party held on the retailer’s rooftop. It was an absolutely spectacular evening under the lights of The Big Apple and featured big beats by DJ Sky Nellor and the ubiquitous Honey Deuce, the official cocktail for this year’s US Open. Guests included people from the worlds of tennis, media, fashion, and music. James’ coach Brian Barker was in attendance along with brother Thomas and momma Betty.
Click here for more photos from the event and to see who popped in to show James some love!
Images via Down The Line!
Always the fashionista, Maria Sharapova also launched her collection with Cole Haan at the Rockerfeller Center last night. Can I just say, she looked absolutely stunning! Perfect hair, gorgeous dress and those ankle booties from her line look amazing!
“It’s my hope that other young women will embrace the spirit of the collection; it’s fun, chic, fashionable and most importantly, able to take you from day to night,” says Maria.
The Maria Sharapova by Cole Haan footwear collection, featuring Nike Air technology, includes a ballet flat, an ankle-wrapped stiletto, a flat over-the-knee boot, an ankle bootie and a strappy platform sandal. With prices ranging from $138 – $328, the collection offers luxe options at an attainable level.
Highlights of the handbag offering include a small frame clutch, a lambskin hobo, and Maria’s signature chain-link satchel in a range of eye-catching colors. Each silhouette is characterized by an oversized pleating detail, creating a luxe, yet casual feel. Prices range from $248 for a convertible clutch to $428 for a lambskin hobo.
Click here to check out the entire collection and maybe you can buy me those damn ankle booties.
