US Open 2010: Day 8 wrap

Day 8 sucked! Svetlana Kuznetsova and the rest of the world was stunned by Dominika Cibulkova. My only favorite left in the draw was ousted by Caroline Wozniacki.

Guess I can’t give Caro shit anymore this summer, can I? She shut down Maria Sharapova in their R16 match and was definitely the steadier player out there today. True to her game, she got all of Masha’s balls back and forced the error. Caro’s first serves were also very effective and I think that threw Masha off. I’m still puzzled why Masha allowed very long rallies to happen but she did and they weren’t pretty.

Ah, well, Masha will learn and better never lose to Caro again.

Day 8 results:
Caroline Wozniacki [1] def. Maria Sharapova [14] 6-3, 6-4
Vera Zvonareva [7] def. Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-2
Dominika Cibulkova def. Svetlana Kuznetsova [11] 7-5, 7-6(4)
Kaia Kanepi [31] def. Yanina Wickmayer [15] 0-6, 7-6(2), 6-1

Roger Federer [2] def. Jurgen Melzer [13] 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3
Novak Djokovic [3] def. Mardy Fish [19] 6-3, 6-4, 6-1
Robin Soderling [5] def. Albert Montanes [21] 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
Gael Monfils [17] def. Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, 7-5

Image via Getty

US Open 2010: Day 1 preview

I can’t believe it’s already time for the last major of the year. It feels like Indian Wells was only a few weeks ago! But taking a second to really look back, it’s been a long season and a long summer. Just ask Caro.

I’m always very giddy the day before a Grand Slam starts. I’ve been grinning like an idiot all day and people at dinner got weirded out by it. Whatever, I don’t care about them because for the next two weeks I’m going to lose sleep, drink lots of beer, go through my entire pantry and glue myself to the TV and computer. That’s fucking living!

Day 1 starts in less than 12 hours and it’s packed with big names. Roger Federer, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick and Michal Przysiezny are all scheduled to play.

Matches to look out for:

• Daniela Hantuchova [24] vs Dinara Safina
  We all know both Dinara and Daniela are having a rough year. Dinara’s dealing with a nagging back injury while Danks is unable to put wins together consistently. It’s cruel that they both have to face each other in the first round. Dinara won their last meeting in New Haven a few days ago so she’ll carry a bit of confidence going into this match-up. But it’ll still be tough for Dinara because she’s Dinara. I feel like it could go either way. (Saying it could go “either way” is so duhhh but seriously, I have no clue!)
• Samantha Stosur [5] vs Elena Vesnina
  Lena V is having a good summer with a run to the finals in Istanbul, a good run in Cincinnati and that epicness in New Haven. I really like this girl and I flipped off the tennis gods for allowing her to draw Sam in the first round in New York.
• Ana Ivanovic vs Ekaterina Makarova
  All eyes will be on Ana and her foot.
• Jurgen Melzer [13] vs Dmitry Tursunov
  Who doesn’t want to see Dima in action?
• Michelle Larcher de Brito vs Sania Mirza
  May or may not be interesting. I’m keeping my eye on it.
• Janko Tipsarevic vs Olivier Rochus
  I don’t watch too many Oli matches but he seems to be one of those players who can give anyone trouble. Nothing will surprise me in this match.

Complete Day 1 schedule here.

Trophy case: July 25, 2010

Mardy Fish defeated John Isner 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in the finals of the Atlanta Tennis Championships in Georgia, USA. He defeated the first and second seeds, Andy Roddick and John, en route to the title. This is Mardy’s second title of the year and fifth of his career. He is riding on a nice 10-match winning streak and is in great form to do some damage in the US Open Series.

Chaky! I so happy.

Anna Chakvetadze won her first title in two years! She defeated Johanna Larsson 6-1, 6-2 in the finals of the Banka Koper Slovenia Open in Portoroz. I hope this win gives her the confidence she needs to tear shit up at the US Open Series again. Let’s party like it’s 2007!

Julia Goerges won her first career SEWTA title after she defeated Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 6-4 at the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies in Austria.

Andrey Golubev won his first ATP World Tour title after he defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 7-5 at the International German Open in Hamburg.

Great first title wins for Julia and Andrey. Now, both of you, get your butts to the hard courts.

Wimbledon 2010: Day 7 wrap

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

Wimbledon 2010: A look ahead to Day 7

There’s going to be blood and tears. Let’s get real, Serena would like to see Maria bleed to death in their Round of 16 match. Hence, the tears from me.

The second Monday at Wimbledon is single-handedly the best Monday in tennis. All R16 matches will be played and it is always wild. Sometimes the rain makes it wild but forecast says the matches will be the ones taking all the attention this year.

Day 7 schedule:

Centre Court

• Roger Federer [1] vs Jurgen Melzer [16]
• Serena Williams [1] vs Maria Sharapova [16]
• Sam Querrey [18] vs Andy Murray [4]

No. 1 Court

• Kim Clijsters [8] vs Justine Henin [17]
• Novak Djokovic [3] vs Lleyton Hewitt [15]
• Paul-Henri Mathieu vs Rafael Nadal [2]

No. 2 Court

• Jarmila Groth vs Venus Williams [2]
• Caroline Wozniacki [3] vs Petra Kvitova
• Yen-Hsun Lu vs Andy Roddick [5]

Court 5

• Tsvetana Pironkova vs Marion Bartoli [11]
• Klara Zakapalova vs Kaia Kanepi (Huh?)

Court 12

• Vera Zvonareva [21] vs Jelena Jankovic [4]
• Julien Benneteau [32] vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [10]
• Robin Soderling [6] vs David Ferrer [9]

Court 18

• Na Li [9] vs Agnieszka Radwanska [7]
• Tomas Berdych [12] vs Daniel Brands

Game on, boys and girls!

Wimbledon 2010: The Gentlemen

Gotta love Nike for making him do that.

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 Djokovic in 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?

Game on, boys!

Roland Garros 2010: Days 10 + 11 wrap

So… wow. These two days happened.

First there was this:

Roger Federer was bounced by Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals. Robin likes to take out defending champions in this major. Oye. I wonder if it was Robin’s incomplete game that did it for RF.

Day 10 scores:
Francesca Schiavone [17] def. Caroline Wozniacki [3] 6-2, 6-3
Elena Dementieva [5] def. Nadia Petrova [19] 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
Robin Soderling [5] def. Roger Federer [1] 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
Tomas Berdych [15] def. Mikhail Youzhny [11] 6-3, 6-1, 6-2

Then, there was this:

Serena Williams ran into the clay court beast that is Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals. Sam’s playing crazy crazy good and that serve is… HELLO! I have no words for it. They were locked in a nice battle (I’m currently watching the replay as I type this) on Philippe Chatrier with a good amount of drama. Sam served for the match in the second set but Serena broke to stay in and won the tiebreak. In the third, Serena had a match point on Sam’s serve but couldn’t convert. Finally, Sam broke in the 13th game and was able to serve out the match. Phew.

Day 11 scores:
Samantha Stosur [7] def. Serena Williams [1] 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 8-6
Jelena Jankovic [4] def. Yaroslava Shvedova 7-5, 6-4
Rafael Nadal [2] def. Nicolas Almagro [19] 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
Jurgen Melzer [22] def. Novak Djokovic [3] 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4

Images via Getty

Roland Garros 2010: Day 9 wrap

Thanks, Justine. Thanks.

4-time French Open champion and everyone else’s pick to win this year, Justine Henin, was sent home in the round of 16 by Samantha Stosur. I didn’t see the match but based on the stats and tweets, Sam played super solid tennis more solid than Justine (unlike someone else I know). Good on you, Sam! Now, Justine no longer holds any kind of streak in RG. ;-)

Also sent home in the Round of 16 was Fernando Verdasco. He was stunned by fellow Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro. No super hot quarterfinal for us. I hate this slam.

Day 9 scores:
Serena Williams [1] def. Shahar Peer [18] 6-2, 6-2
Jelena Jankovic [4] def. Daniela Hantuchova [23] 6-4, 6-2
Samantha Stosur [7] def. Justine Henin [22] 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Yaroslava Shvedova def. Jarmila Groth 6-4, 6-3

Rafael Nadal [2] def. Thomaz Bellucci [24] 6-2, 7-5, 6-4
Novak Djokovic [3] def. Robby Ginepri 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
Nicolas Almagro [19] def. Fernando Verdasco [7] 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Jurgen Melzer [22] def. Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

Image via Getty

Roland Garros 2010: Day 7 wrap

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that Day 7 started out really shitty. Andy Roddick lost to a qualifier, Teimuraz Gabashvili, in the 3rd round. Serena Williams almost passed out on court but somehow pulled out that match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Then, it started to turn around when Nadia Petrova defeated Aravane Rezai, her mouth and the entire city of Paris. Good on you, Russian Headcase. I’ve never rooted for Nads so hard before. Daniela Hantuchova joined the happy party when she defeated Yanina Wickmayer.

The match of the week came, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova took on the slightly damp Philippe Chatrier court and all of it’s gloom. Masha matched that gloom well early on with how she played. The Queen of Clay looked in shape to deliver a total beat down of the Cow. But the cow is Maria Sharapova and she channels her emotions well. She came out firing in the second, dropping only 1 point on her first serve, and took it. This is the first time since 2005 that Queen lost a set in Roland Garros. Moo! It was too dark for them to continue on to a decider so we’ll have to wait for that tomorrow.

Notable wins and losses:

Complete list of today’s scores here.

Image via Getty

Olympics watch: Kuznetsova and other seeds fall

Count on the Olympics to always bring early round upsets and surprise winners when it comes to tennis. I’m sure Massu winning gold in Athens made you think “WTF?” just like these early round exits:

• Svetlanta Kuznetsova was defeated by Li Na in the 1st round 7-6 6-4.
• Daniela Hantuchova was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 6-3. Something’s very wrong with Danka, I hope she fixes it ASAP.
• Andy Murray was defeated by Yen-Hsun Lu (SRSLY!) 7- 6-4. Where the heck did this come from? Yes, only in the Olympics. Maybe Andy was too spent from winning his first AMS shield and wants to recharge for the USO. I hope that’s his plan because this is just.. no.
• Defending gold medalist Nicolas Massu was defeated by David Nalbandian 7-6 6-1. Well, this is a new year so new surprises are in store Nicolas, sorry but you are so 2004.
• Stanislas Wawrinka was defeated by Jurgen Melzer 6-4 6-0.