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 8 preview

Day 8 is frazzle day! The men start their R16 matches while the women finish theirs off to setup all the quarterfinal match-ups. Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer and Svetlana Kuznetsova are all scheduled to play.

• Mardy Fish [19] vs Novak Djokovic [3]
  We all know Mardy’s been playing well all summer but did you know he lost 30 lbs? Oh. If Nole keeps it together, I think he’ll be able to weather the Mardy storm. I do feel like this will be a long and hard fought match.
• Caroline Wozniacki [1] vs Maria Sharapova [14]
  Unless Caro has somehow found a way to rip winner after winner and hit second serves at 95mph over the last 48 hours, the outcome of this one is all on Masha’s racket. Patience is a virtue, Mash. Goooo!
• Richard Gasquet vs Gael Monfils [17]
  Can Richie pull another upset? I hope so!

Complete Day 8 schedule here.

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Trophy case: August 22-23, 2010

Roger Federer defeated Mardy Fish 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 6-4 in the finals of the Western & Souther Financial Group Masters in Mason, OH to win his second title of the year and 63rd (!) of his career.

After winning Melbourne to start the year, 2010 has been a battle for RF. I’m sure he’s not used playing for 7 months without winning a title. But that happened and while I think he had a good run in Cincy- a much needed one, I’m still not convinced that he can go on and reclaim his crown in New York.

The same goes for Mardy and his USO sleeper status, I’m not convinced.

Caroline Wozniacki defeated Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 in the finals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada to claim her third title of the year and ninth of her career.

The semifinals and finals weekend in Montreal were rained out so Caro had to play her semifinal and final matches today. Props, girl. Props!

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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.

Something’s in the water in England

Joining Andy Roddick in the sidelines at Queen’s, Novak Djokovic. The slumping Serb also lost today. He was beaten by Xavier Malisse, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6.

Rafael Nadal was tried and tested by his body and Daniel Istomin. Thankfully, he showed them who’s boss and pulled out a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 victory. Phew! Although, I wouldn’t have been alarmed if he lost today. Boy just won a major 4 days ago!

Then, there was this. Andy Murray was poised to join Roddick and Nole in the sidelines but somehow found a way to get back into his match. Trailing 1-3 to Mardy Fish (who will now and forever be on my shitlist) in the third set, Muzz won the next two games to level when Mardy decided he’s not taking any part of this momentum shift. Mardy complained that it was too dark at 8:15PM, got up and left. Muzz was like WTF#%*@#)*.

“I was at a tournament last week where they played until 9:20. It’s like 8:15. It’s ridiculous,” said Andy Murray. “10 minutes ago he was was up a break 3-1 and was more than happy to play. ”

Total merde move, Mardy. But whatever, Muzz’s girlfriend is 1,000,000x prettier. The match will be resumed tomorrow at 3-3 in the third.

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Trophy case: March 1, 2009

World number 3, Novak Djokovic, won his first title in 2009 at the Barclay’s Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai, UAE. Despite his shaky form of late, Novak defeated David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3 in the finals. The tournament was without the top 2 players in the world, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, both withdrew prior to the beginning of the tournament with injuries.

Mardy Fish won his third career title at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, FL. He defeated qualifier, Evgeny Korolev, 7-5, 6-3 in the finals. Mardy is  the first top seed in the 17-year history of the tournament to win the title. Heading into the match, he was 2-10 in career finals. Mardy and I felt the same way about that stat:

“It’s been well chronicled that I’ve had a lot of losses in finals,” Fish said. “I’d certainly like to feel I’m a better player than three titles, but it is what it is.

Nicolas Almagro successfully defended his Mexican Open title in Acapulco, Mexico. He defeated Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 in the finals. This is Nicolas’ fifth career title.

Venus Williams, in her first ever Mexican Open tournament, won her second title in 2 weeks. She defeated 6-time finalist, Flavia Pennetta, 6-1, 6-2 in the finals. This is Venus’ forty-first career title and fourth in the last five tournaments she’s entered. It’s been a heck of a career for this Williams sister and it doesn’t seem like she’s stopping anytime soon.

Tennisfeeds

• Robby Ginepri has a case of the disappearing hair.
• Maria Sharapova keeps busy offcourt with charity.
• So does Ana Ivanovic who, again like Maria, is always offcourt.
• Mardy Fish ties the knot.
• Jelena Jankovic is back as Queen Bee of the WTA.

Weakend US Davis Cup team might just be fine

The US Davis Cup team will be playing it’s SF tie against Spain without James Blake and Bob Bryan. What will this mean for the defending champions? I’d like to think it’s close to nothing. Sam Querrey will be taking over James’ spot which I think is not a bad idea. Sam is younger and more eager and don’t forget he is riding on a “hay, I took a set off Rafael Nadal at the US Open” wave. Who knows maybe this time he’ll take a match off Rafa? Quite unlikely but we’ll wait and see. Mardy Fish will be taking over Bob’s spot and judging from the photo above, Mike is enjoying it. Even with just 1/2 of the best doubles team in the world, I think the US doubles against Spain’s will be quite alright. Now, we all know the Davis Cup brings out the best in Andy Roddick so I expect him to handle his business well. Even on clay, Andy.

Trophy case: August 23, 2008

Sorry for the delay. I’m actually having some sort of fun outside of tennis. Go figure.

Marin Cilin won his first ATP Tour title at New Haven, CT. Marin defeated Mardy Fish in the final 6-4 4-6 6-2. The best of luck to Marin at the US Open!

On the women’s side, Caroline Wozniacki won her second consecutive title and second of her career as well defeating top seed Anna Chakvetadze in the finals 3-6 6-4 6-1. The best of luck to Caroline at the US Open!

All images via Getty.