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

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

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

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.

Image via Getty

Crazy day! My pick to win the men’s title, Andy Murray, was sent home in the third round by Stanislas Wawrinka. Some great matches on the women’s side; Venus Williams and Shahar Peer played a tight 2-setter and Elena Dementieva and Samantha Stosur played the best match on the women’s side so far this tournament.

After winning the first set in his match against Stan, Muzz played very passively and got very down on himself. Per usual. I don’t think anyone can explain why he does it but everyone can see that it needs to stop for him to be able to break through and win a slam.

Lena D and Sam played a great match where they both held and saved match points. This match started a little before 11pm and went late into the night, last call for alcohol late. Lena had 4 chances to win but was not able to convert any of them. Sam had 2 and won it on #2 in the 3rd set tiebreak after Lena sent a forehand long. Towards the end of the match, it was clear that Sam was mentally stronger and that got her the W.

Day 7 results:
Kim Clijsters [2] def. Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 6-1
Venus Williams [3] def. Shahar Peer [16] 7-6(3), 6-3
Samantha Stosur [5] def. Elena Dementieva [12] 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2)
Francesca Schiavone [6] def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [20] 6-3, 6-0

Image via Getty

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.

Day 7 is PACKED! The women start their R16 of action while the men finish off some exciting 3rd round matches.

• Ana Ivanovic vs Kim Clijsters [2]
  Ana’s been playing extremely well lately while Kim’s been showing okay form. I’m expecting to be transported to 2008.
• Rafael Nadal [1] vs Gilles Simon
  New dad, Gilles, has more things in his mind right now than tennis and you can’t blame him. I like both guys but I think Rafa’s focus and drive to win this major will help him win this match easily.
• Samantha Stosur [5] vs Elena Dementieva [12]
  This is a tough one to call. I like Lena D’s chances a little bit better because she has more experience in this surface and more specifically, this major. You can’t discount Sam’s incredible year but she’s always struggled in NYC.
• Andy Murray [4] vs Stanislas Wawrinka [25]
  Go, Muzz! I love both guys but let’s be real, Stan’s not looking to win this title this year.

Complete Day 7 schedule here.

Image via Getty

Don’t blow away. Day 6 was all about who was able to deal with Mach 50 winds best.

Among the top players, Jelena Jankovic was the only one who wasn’t able to handle it well. She was ousted by Kaia Kanepi in their 3rd round encounter.

A special shout out to the favorite, Maria Sharapova, for handing out a double bagel. I get butterflies when she does that. And it’s a very nice change up from a year ago where I almost had heart attacks… 21 times over.

I’m keeping this short and sexy because I am slightly drunk.

Complete Day 6 results here.

Image via Getty

Jacey sent me a few more pictures and a video from the US Open. She stalked some more over the past 2 days and watched matches in between. She caught Maria Sharapova practicing with Martina Navratilova and her lefty serve prior to Masha’s match against lefty Iveta Benesova.

All images and video by Jacey. Please credit!

Frazzle day!

• 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!

Image via Getty