US Open Report: Days 4 and 5

Just a quick update on days 4 and 5 of the US Open before the start of a hopefully beautiful holiday weekend of tennis.

The big story of course was Andy Roddick sudden announcement that he will retire after this tournament. He made the announcement on his 30th birthday and a day before he played his second round match against Bernard Tomic. That match, which was played last night was a blow out as Roddick feeding off from the appreciative crowd and perhaps playing free from pressure dominated the young Aussie feeding him a bagel for the third set to win. It was another story when it came to another Aussie as Lleyton Hewitt outlasted Gilles Muller to win in five sets. Veteran James Blake also found success upsetting 24th seed Marcel Granollers.

Speaking of upsets, the biggest one of the tournament so far has been Jo-Wilfred Tsonga's 4-set defeat in the hands of Martin Klizan of Slovakia. For the women, Olympic silver medalist Laura Robson took out another big name in 9th seed Li Na after beating Kim Clijsters the round before. Next match for Robson will be against defending champion Sam Stosur. As for Clijsters, she is still around albeit playing in doubles. She lost in the first round of women's doubles, but won a match in mixed with Bob Bryan.

Venus Williams was defeated by 6th seed Angelique Kerber in the tournament's most competitive night match on Ashe so far this year. Venus, however, is still alive in doubles with sister Serena Williams who, along with many of the top contenders including Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, David Ferrer, Petra Kvitova, and Tomas Berdych, easily moved into the next round with very little problems.

Along with Roddick, Blake, and Serena, the American presence is significant. Top American men John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Mardy Fish moved on with the latter becoming the 10th man in the tournament to come back from being down 2 sets, a US Open record.  Newcomers Steve Johnson, Sloane Stephens, and Jack Sock also won their matches. It wasn't all good news however as Varvara Lepchenko and Mallory Burdette were denied getting to their first ever major fourth round while Comeback Kid Brian Baker's progress was halted by 8th seed Janko Tipsarevic. Meanwhile, Ryan Harrison was beaten by 7th seed Juan Martin Del Potro.

Other notable results include 18th seed Stan Wawrinka, 19th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, and 30th seed Feliciano Lopez surviving their grueling five-set matches, 15th seed Lucie Safarova losing to 19th seed Nadia Petrova, and 14th seed Alexander Dolgopolov winning in 4 sets against Marcos Baghdatis. Perhaps the most surprising result so far are the lack of retirements (not including the career kinds) especially with the hot and humid conditions. There also hasn't been a single drop of... wait, I should stop now before I jinx it, right?

French Open 2012 So Far

The second Grand Slam tournament of the year has been going on for ten days. Interestingly enough, that's also how long I lasted in the suicide pool being taken out by Andy Murray's lost today. Neither here nor there! Now with the tennis world focused on the red clays of Roland Garros, here are just some of the storylines of the tournament...

Ups and Downs for American Women

Through their first 10 matches, American women went 10-0 including some impressive wins from young players against seeded layers. Of course, it also set up the improbable upset of Serena Williams in the first round, her earliest lost ever from a Grand Slam. With all of this said, there's a handful of women who was looking to do well to qualify for the Olympics including Venus Williams. Will be interested to see where all of that settles.

Top Women Struggle

Along with Serena, former champions fail to reach the latter stages including Francescha Schiavone, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, and defending champion Li Na. World no. 1 Victoria Azarenka also crashed early as well as Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, Jelena Jankovic and Caroline Wozkiacki.

Newcomers and Comebacks

Here are just a few names making their presence known by making it as far as they did. There's David Goffin who took out Radek Stepanek in the first round and played his childhood idol Federer hard in the fourth round. There are Sloane Stephens and Varvara Lepchenko, the two Americans to make it furthest in the draw, 4th Round, losing to eventual semifinalists. Or how about Yaroslava Shvedova, ranked 142, making it all the way to the QF and Nicolas Mahut getting some nice revenge on Americans in a big stage by taking out Andy Roddick in the first round? Finally there's Brian Baker, who came back to the game just last year and after a few weeks of non-stop winning including his run through qualifying and the 2nd round of the French Open, he's never been higher.

The Final Eight and Predictions

So after ten days, out of the 256 men and women 8 remain, the final four guys and the final four women. The final four guys are no strangers. Top seed Novak Djokovic is looking to complete a career Grand Slam while second seed and clay king Rafael Nadal is trying to get his record 7th French Open crown. Former champ Roger Federer is looking to win his first major since 2010 Australian Open and David Ferrer is celebrating reaching his first French Open SF. In the women's side Maria Sharapova, like Djokovic, is looking to complete a career Grand Slam (and recapture the #1 ranking) while Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur want to get back on top after lackluster results post their Grand Slam results last year. Finally, Sara Errani took out two previous French Open champions and now reaches her first ever major semifinals. All eyes will be on Sharapova-Kvitova and Djokovic-Federer since they look to be the blockbuster match-up the tournament has been waiting for. The winner of that woman's match should be seen as the favorite to win the whole thing while Nadal WILL win regardless of who he is facing. That's just the truth.

Australian Open Report: Quarterfinals

Australian tennis fans are in for a double treat today as not only are they celebrating a national holiday (Australia Day of course), but the tennis lineup is just ridiculously awesome as both women semifinal matches will be played as well as an epic blockbuster of a men's semifinal match at night, but before that let's quickly rundown what happened in the quarters...


Roger Federer d. Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4 6-3 6-2

Federer has only lost to two players in Grand Slam finals and Del Potro is one of them, so Federer has a lot of respect for the Argentine's game. It clearly showed when Federer put on a masterclass and wowed not only the crowd, but himself on his great play. Not to say Del Potro played badly, but Federer was just on another level. He is the only player left in the draw not to drop a set. He'll take this momentum and use it to his advantage when he next faces a very familiar foe...

Rafael Nadal d. Tomas Berdych 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-4 6-2

Two days earlier, Berdych made headlines when he refused to shake Almagro's hands at the end of his fourth round match garnering a ton of bad press. Many thought that would color the match between Berdych and another Spaniard Nadal. I don't think it did, especially since both already have a contentious history. With that said, Berdych played Nadal tough in the first few sets seemingly fearless. But Nadal stepped it up and took care of business in the fourth to setup a tantalizing match-up with Federer.

Novak Djokovic d. David Ferrer 6-4 7-6(4) 6-1

Defending champion Djokovic has been in cruise control all tournament long until he met up with Hewitt a round before where he lost his first set. Indefatigable Ferrer would seem like a bigger obstacle for him, but Djokovic was able to take advantage of Ferrer's non-threatening serve, especially in that crucial second-set tie break to jump ahead. Djokovic has won 19th straight Grand Slam matches and will try to make it 20 games to reach the final. But before that, he'll have to play in a rematch of last year's final with...

Andy Murray d. Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 6-1

It's obvious that Murray is the lone non-Slam winning member of the Big Four, but reaching nine major semifinals and three finals deserves credit. In this tournament, Murray has been blessed by the draw gods with his most dangerous opponents losing before they get to him. It was in this way that he faced Nishikori instead of Tsonga. The scoreline may seem overtly one-sided, but Nishikori played pretty Murray quite closely especially in those first two sets making Murray work hard. In the end, Murray was just too much.


Kim Clijsters d. Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 7-6(4)

This was a do or die situation for both players. If Wozniacki lost to Clijsters, she would relinquishes her no. 1 ranking. If she had won, she would be Clijsters final Australian Open opponent. Clijsters, still tentative especially with the ankle injury she sustained a match prior, really took it to Wozniacki in the first set. It was closer and more nervy, from both, in the second, but Clijsters finally came out on top in the tiebreak. She next faces...

Victoria Azarenka d. Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7(0) 6-0 6-2

Azarenka must have been super frustrated at herself after losing the first set tiebreak at love, but she took a break and came back a different player. That and she also got some help from Radwanska would couldn't string together points after winning the first set. This match has actually been very similar to many of their matches with Radwanska winning the first then losing composure for the last two. It's pretty bad since Radwanska is also the highest ranked women's player to never reach a Grand Slam semifinals.

Maria Sharapova d. Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-3

If you ask around, it seems that everyone is calling Sharapova the favorite to win the tournament. It's certainly a sound prediction especially with the way she has been in cruise control all tournament long. She continued her great form against an outpowered and outshrieked Makarova. But she'll have to get by another 'ova in the next round and this one has been on a roll...

Petra Kvitova d. Sara Errani 6-4 6-4

Kvitova is probably the best player in the women's game at the moment, but she really needs to live up to her seeding and reach the finals and possibly win to solidify this. Her match against Errani wasn't as straightforward as the straight-sets scoreline indicate. She was actually down a couple of break points in the second before reeling off five straight games to win the match. It's that fighting spirit she will need when she goes up against Sharapova.

Final Note: The semifinal stage is seriously stacked. Not only do we have the top 4 men, but also 3 of the top 4 women along with Clijsters. Both of the defending champions are still alive and amongst all of them, they have 38 Grand Slam titles. There's not one match that isn't intriguing, but I do admit that there is one match that is the MOST intriguing and that is Nadal-Federer XXVII. I will be up until the break of dawn for that one.

Australian Open Preview

Another year and another tennis season begins. There have already been title winners and injury withdrawals and in that sense it's as if the tennis season didn't even have an off-season. And so it goes as the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the season, begins in a few hours. Here's a preview of the the men and women's draw and its top contenders...


Last year's champion and world no. 1 Novak Djokovic begins his daunting task of defending the massive amount of points he earned last year going undefeated for the first half of the season. Winning Doha a couple of weeks ago, he seems fit and ready to go. His toughest "test" will be from a couple of North Americans in the fourth round where he'll either face American Andy Roddick or Canadian Milos Raonic. It's worth noting that Lleyton Hewitt has a potential second round clash with Roddick. The quarters are a bit more dangerous with a potential match-up with 5th seed David Ferrer or 9th seed Janko Tipsarevic.

On the same side of the draw as Djokovic and his likely semifinal opponent, world no. 4 and two-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray will try to win his first Grand Slam trophy. It won't be easy. His first round match with Ryan Harrison will probably be straightforward, but it's something to watch as is his possible third round clash with Alex Bogomolov Jr. Victor Troiki or Gael Monfils are his potential fourth round opponents and should give him some trouble. Troiki himself has a very tricky first round with Juan Carlos Ferrero. The biggest obstacle for Murray to reach his third Australian final in a row however will be 6th seed and also former finalist Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, his likely quarterfinal foe.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are on the same side of the draw for the first time since 2005 and it's easy to pencil them both in for the semifinals. For world no. 2 Nadal, it's less about his opponents and more about his physical condition. He had shoulder problems late last season so we'll see. His first real test will be big-serving John Isner in the fourth round though we'll also see how John deals with not only the Australian heat, but also a possible second round match-up with David Nalbandian. Even in the quarterfinals, Nadal should be favored over 7th seed Tomas Berdych, 10th seed Nicolas Almagro, or Stan Wawrinka. The latter could meet former finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the 2nd round.

Three-time champion and world no. 3 Federer should be okay in the early rounds which will be good for him after retiring from Doha a couple weeks ago with a bad back. Before that, he was on a 20-match win streak going back to his phenomenal fall season last year. His fourth round opponent include Alexandr Dolgopolov or Fernando Verdasco. The latter will have to contend with the highest ranked non-seeded player in the draw Bernard Tomic in the first round. Eight seed Mardy Fish and 11th seed Juan Martin Del Potro await Federer in the quarterfinal with the latter being a lot more dangerous.

Quarterfinals
Novak Djokovic d. David Ferrer
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Andy Murray
Roger Federer d. Juan-Martin Del Potro
Rafael Nadal d. Tomas Berdych

Semifinals
Novak Djokovic d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Roger Federer d. Rafael Nadal

Finals
Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer



Defending champion Kim Clijsters thrilled many by winning last year's Australian Open title, but she was out with injury for most of the year and is just returning to the game. She also admitted this was most likely her last year playing. She can meet and should win her third round match with Daniela Hantuchova, but the draw gods were mean and her fourth round clash with 5th seed Li Na will be a rematch of their final from last year. Whoever wins that should be favored for the semifinals since world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and 13th seed Jelena Jankovic await them in the quarters.

Third seed Victoria Azarenka heads up a pretty easy quarter giving her a real good chance to make it all the way. Potential fourth round opponents include Shuai Peng and Flavia Pennetta. The quarters will be a little trickier, but still doable with 10th seed Francesca Schiavone and 8th seed Agnieszka Radwanska as her biggest threat.

Second seed Petra Kvitova and defacto "best player on tour right now" will try to get her second Grand Slam event victory after capturing last year's Wimbledon. She should be able to handle the early rounds including possible fourth round match-ups with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Ana Ivanonic. Sixth seed Samantha Stosur will be her biggest obstacle in the quarterfinals especially since she won last year's US Open and is playing in her home country (though latter could be more a curse than a blessing sometimes). Also on this side is the always unpredictable and should never be underestimated 9th seed Marion Bartoli.

Finally, fourth seed and former champion Maria Sharapova will have to get through a very tricky draw starting with her first round match with Gisela Dulko. The third round could see her meet up with Angelique Kerber and then the fourth round could bring either Sabine Lisicki or Svetlana Kuznetsova. If she gets through all of that, 7th seed Vera Zvonareva and more notably 12th seed Serena Williams await in the quarterfinals. The latter is also trying to make her comeback, but Serena is Serena.

Quarterfinals
Kim Clijsters d. Caroline Wozniacki
Victoria Azarenka d. Julia Georges
Serena Williams d. Sabine Lisicki
Petra Kvitova d. Samantha Stosur

Semifinals
Kim Clijsters d. Victoria Azarenka
Serena Williams d. Petra Kvitova

Finals
Serena Williams d. Kim Clijsters

FINAL WORD: I'm looking at my Women Predictions and just shaking my head. Do I honestly believe these results? My heart and head says no, but here they are anyways. As for the men, I'm probably less off since the top men are THAT consistent, but Federer in the final isn't as automatic as it once was. Then again I'm predicting Serena to win, so I honestly don't know.

Brief Tennis Year-In-Review

Happy New Year to all, but especially fellow tennis fans who will be glad to have new tennis matches already underway to obsess over. Of course, the tennis offseason is notoriously short to nonexistent, but before we dive headlong to the new year, let's take a quick look back at the year that was via a couple of its most notable players...

Novak Djokovic - He went on a historic and undefeated run for most of the year and compiled an unreal 10-1 record against Nadal and Federer. He won 10 titles including 3 Grand Slams and earned more money than any tennis player ever. He faded a bit in the end, but

Petra Kvitova - She ended the year as the player to beat, rising to #2 and beating the best at the year-end championship as well as leading her Czech team to a Fed Cup win. On top of all of that, she also won her first major at Wimbledon.

Kim Clijsters - Started out the year very well winning her first non-US Open Grand Slam at Melbourne then reaches the top ranking soon after becoming the first mother to ever hold the top spot. She dropped off the rest of th year skipping Wimbledon and playing her last match in Toronto.

Rafael Nadal - Won his sixth French Open title and made the finals in two others, but the big story this year for him was his inability to beat Djokovic in every surface including his beloved clay. He went out on top though by leading Spain for their 5th win.

Roger Federer - He didn't win a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002, but he was the only person to defeat a fully healthy Djokovic and ended his year on a great note going on a 17-match run winning his 6th year-end championship for his 70th title in 100 career ATP finals.

Li Na - Not only did she become the first Asian player to reach a Grand Slam singles final (at the Australian Open), but she became the first Asian Grand Slam champion at Roland Garros after taking out defending champion Francesca Schiavone.

Caroline Wozniacki - She ended the year at no. 1 two years in a row and while she won the most matches and tied with Kvitova for the most titles won, she was still slam-less. She didn't even reach a Grand Slam final all year.

Sam Stosur - She won only one title last year, but it was for her first Grand Slam championship at the US Open taking out Serena.

Andy Murray - Won the second most titles on the ATP and reached the Australian Open final for the second time, but still slam-less and still ended the year ranked as #4.

Serena Williams - Out for most of the year due to illness and injury, she won Toronto and reached the US Open final only to lose to Stosur on 9/11.

Venus Williams - Like her sister, she was out of the year due to illness and injury and was eventually diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease.

What will 2012 bring to all of these players? It's an Olympic year, of course, so all of them will have that on the back of their heads for most of the year especially since it'll be held at Wimbledon. Kvitova and Federer are hoping their late-season momentum continues through the new year while Djokovic and Wozniacki hope to play well enough to keep their top ranking. But simply they all just want to win. We won't have to wait very long to see how they all handle the big tournaments. The Australian Open begins on January 16th!

2011 WTA Tour Awards

Today was all about the ladies or at least that's what it felt like today. First there was the seemingly simultaneous release of the trailers for The Iron Lady and The Hunger Games which had the web buzzing. No long-winded comment on either one, but I loved seeing Anthony Stewart Head in the former and I got goosebumps (and tears started welling up) when I saw the latter.

But there was also the announcement of the WTA Tour Awards which signals the official end of the year. Other than my brief post on Roger Federer's 800th win a couple of days ago, I haven't talked about tennis in almost two months so I'd like to take this opportunity to see how the women's tour ended their year.


It's actually not that hard since all we have to really talk about is Petra Kvitova. She won Player of the Year and for good reason. Finishing the year at a career-high ranking of #2, she capped off her great year by demolishing the field at the year-end tournament and then led her Czech team to win Fed Cup. She also won tournaments in the first half as well as the second half, including her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon. She won three other year-end awards including Most Improved Player, Fan Favorite Breakthrough Player, and the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award.

The other player to have noteworthy post-US Open results was Agnieszka Radwanksa winning the Toray Pan Pacific Open and China Open securing the last spot at the year-end WTA Championships. She was honored as the Fan Favorite Singles Player. Victoria Azarenka & Maria Kirilenko took the Fan Favorite Doubles Team.

Other players honored with WTA Tour Awards include Sabine Lisicki for Comeback Player of the Year, Irina-Camelia Begu for Newcomer of the Year, Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik for Doubles Team of the Year, and Francesca Schiavone for the Player Service Award. It is also worth noting that while not part of the awards, Caroline Wozniacki ended the year at #1 for two years in a row.