French Open: Quarterfinal Preview

I still go back and forth regarding my sporadic blogging about tennis, but I guess waiting until the late stages of a slam to start posting is a temporary solution. With that said, the first 10 days of the French Open has come and gone and after we're left with the last 8 men and women of the tournament. Among them are many of the usual suspects including 5 former champions, but a few surprises as well like a couple of Tommys over 30 years old.

N. Djokovic [1] vs. T. Haas [12]
R. Nadal [3] vs. S. Wawrinka [9]
D. Ferrer [4] vs. T. Robredo [32]
R. Federer [2] vs. J. Tsonga [6]

Yes, Rafael Nadal is going for his 8th French Open title. Yes, top seed Novak Djokovic is looking to improve his results last year by winning and achieving a career Grand Slam. And yes, Roger Federer is attempting not only his second French Open title, but also his first title of the year. But can we just talk about 35 year-old Tommy Haas and 31st year-old Tommy Robredo? By this time last year Haas was ranked outside the top 100 while Robredo, beset with injuries, was ranked in the high 400s. Since then, they've played well enough to get seeded here and their performance is nothing by inspiring. Robredo actually becomes the first man since 1927 to come back two sets down in three consecutive matches while Haas is the first German to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals and the oldest major quarter-finalists since Andre Agassi at the 2005 US Open. Haas' 3rd round match with Isner has been dubbed by many as the match of the tournament so far with the German edging out the tall American 10-8 in the fifth set.

Both men will be underdogs in their next matches as Haas will face a rusty, but still solid Djokovic while Robredo will go up against relentless David Ferrer. Nadal, who had uncharacteristically slow starts in his first few matches, is the obvious favorite against Stan Wawrinka, who had to come back down 0-2 sets in his latest match versus perennial major non-quarterfinalist Richard Gasquet. The most intriguing quarterfinal match of the lot will be between Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga since despite Federer's 9-3 record H2H against the Frenchman, Federer was pushed to 5 sets in his last match while Tsonga hasn't even lost a set the entire tournament.

S. Williams [1] vs. S. Kuznetsova
A. Radwanska [4] vs. S. Errani [5]
V. Azarenka [3] vs. M. Kirilenko [12]
M. Sharapova [2] vs. J. Jankovic [18]

First and foremost, this is Serena Williams' tournament to lose. This is true even though she hasn't won the French Open in more than a decade and had only played ONE match total in Roland Garros the past two years! Of course anything can happen (see her first round loss last year), but she hasn't lost on clay this year and in terms of pure power and talent, there is no one left that should trouble her. She'll have to face former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova who hasn't had a great year since her quarterfinal result at this year's Australian Open and came into this tournament unseeded. On the same side of the draw is 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska who beat former champion Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round to reach her first French Open quarterfinals. She'll meet last year's "surprise" finalist Sara Errani who is so far backing up last year's result. That's probably the one match that could go either way.

Defending champion Maria Sharapova is playing like the defending champion and she can certainly repeat provided Serena isn't her opponent at the finals. First she'll have to get through Jelena Jankovic who has had mixed results this year, but seems to be finding some form here. Sharapova should still win based on form. On the same side, Victoria Azarenka took out former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone to reach another major quartefinal (her 7th in her past nine slams). She should be seen as the favorite against Maria Kirilenko who was blessed with an easy (hasn't faced anyone ranked above 50).

Australian Open: Women Semifinalists

It's somehow appropriate that my last tennis post on this blog was entitled "Tennis is Over, Now What?" back in early September right after the US Open since I haven't talked about tennis at all since then, not even my usual year-end review. Which is odd really since 2012 was probably the most fascinating tennis year in recent years with the Olympics being held at Wimbledon, the top 4 men dominating in the slams, Serena making a comeback, and a couple of high-profile retirements (Clijsters and Roddick). My love for the sport hasn't waned really, but perhaps my need to post about it on this blog is coming to an end. I'm still not sure though which is why even though I haven't at all talked about the Australian Open which is winding down in a few days, I'm going to start now by talking about the women's tournament and the four semifinalists.

Everyone knew that an American was going to make the final four, but those people were betting that it would be Serena Williams to be not only the sole American standing, but the woman to beat. It wasn't such a wild idea considering what she had accomplished last year and a win here would've meant re-capturing that #1 ranking. Instead, she fell to American teenager Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals who to her credit stay focused on her game as Serena became hampered with an injury in the middle of the match. Stephens was seeded 29th, but will be safely entrenched in the top 20 after the tournament. She could move up as high as #11 if she were to win, but she would have to get through defending champion and world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka has been in cruise control all tournament with the exception of a third-round brawl against Jamie Hampton, another young American. Most recently, Azarenka took out 2-time slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova who came into the tournament unseeded due to missing play for most of the year in 2012 due to a knee injury. Kuznetsova exceeded expectations to reach the final 8 and beating 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki.

The woman of the tournament, however, is second seed Maria Sharapova who has lost only 9 games through 5 matches including doling out an impressive two double-bagel matches to begin the tournament. She also took out 7-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in brutal fashion with many thinking it was going to be a much closer match-up. Her semifinal foe will be none other than Na Li playing her "hometown" slam. While hardly consistent, Li seems to really bring her A-game during the slams, especially the first two of the year. Her straight set victories over 18th seed Julia Goerges and especially 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska spoke volume. The latter is unfortunately still looking for her first major breakthrough. As far as predictions go, I'm banking on a 1 vs. 2 battle between Azarenka and Sharapova though I'm rooting for one or both of the underdogs to surprise.

And finally, I can't talk about the woman's tournament this year without mentioning 100th-ranked Kimiko Date-Krumm who defied her age yet again by reaching the third round of both the singles and the doubles draw taking out 12th seed Nadia Petrova in the first round and outlasting the 2nd seed doubles team of Hlavacka-Hradecka with partner Arantxa Parra Santonja in the 2nd round of doubles.

US Open Report: Day 8

Rain was forecast to interrupt play as early as 4pm, but apart from a few light sprinkles after midnight, the rain gods largely spared Flushing Meadows making it possible to complete every match scheduled including a match that has the distinction of being the latest starting men's match at the US Open.

So, let's start there. Five-time champion Roger Federer stepped out to a still quite full Arthur Ashe stadium at around 11:50pm to play his fourth round match against Juan Monaco. With breezy conditions and imminent threat of rain, he played majestically losing only three games the whole match. By winning, he reached his 30th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, the most underrated and amazing record not just in tennis, but in all of sports. Federer will next face his recent nemesis Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who valiantly came back from 2 sets to 1 down, taking out 8th seed Mardy Fish in five sets amidst rough conditions. A couple of Serbians joined them as top seed Novak Djokovic and 20th seed Janko Tipsarevic also moved on. Djokovic has not lost a set yet.


Three former Grand Slam champions were ousted today on the women's side as their quarterfinal lineup was completed today. The lone exception, Serena Williams, is also the only slam champion left in the entire draw! She took out 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic. Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was taken out by top seed Caroline Wozniacki in a tight three hour match while 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone went down to 17th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The last quarterfinalist is 10th seed Andrea Petkovic who moved on in straight sets.

Quarterfinal Preview
C. Wozniacki vs. N. Li A. Petkovic
S. Williams vs. J. Jankovic A. Pavlyuchenkova
M. Sharapova Flavia Pennetta vs. P. Kvitova A. Kerber
V. Zvonareva vs. S. Stosur

Predictions: Half of my pre-tournament guesses ended up being wrong, but I had higher expectations for those slam champions that fell way too early. That said, I predicted Serena to win the whole thing and none of the other ladies here is making me want to change my mind, so this is hers to lose. The question now is who she could face in the finals and my gut feeling says it'll be the winner of Zvonareva-Stosur with the slight edge to the Russian.

US Open Report: Days 6 and 7

The American men are doing a fine job disproving that tennis is dead in this country as four of them reach the round of 16s including US Open Series winner Mardy Fish, 2003 champion Andy Roddick, and 28th seed John Isner. But it's the breakthrough of Donald Young that's the big story as he has reached his first Grand Slam fourth round after taking out 24th seed Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets.

For the women, Serena Williams is the lone American representative and after she took out 4th seed Victoria Azarenka in a ridiculously high-quality match that many people saw as the defacto final, I'm finding it difficult to find anyone who could beat her. Her next opponent is 16th seed Ana Ivanovic who has done well to live up to her current ranking, but going against Serena will be a nearly impossible task. This top half also includes top ranked Caroline Wozniacki and Grand Slam champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone flying under-the-radar.

On Sunday, four women matches took place to book the first quarterfinalists of the tournament. Vera Zvonareva and Sam Stosur managed win against their lower-seeded opponents. It was a bit more complicated for Stosur as she had to recover from losing five match points in the second set tiebreak against Maria Kirilenko. 26th seed Flavia Pennetta was cruising along her match against higher-ranked Shuai Peng until nausea took a hold of her late in the second set. Somehow, she recovered from 1-6 down in the 2nd set tiebreak to finish the match in straight sets. Angelique Kerber is the fourth quarterfinalist.

Joining the four aforemention American men are the top five seeds--Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and David Ferrer. Nadal and Federer did well to get through tricky third round matches against Marin Cilic and David Nalbandian respectively. Their next matches should be a bit more straightforward. Other notable players to move through are 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 12th seed Gilles Simon. Simon took out 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro in four competitive sets.

And finally, since it's apparently a theme this year, there were two retirements. One by 9th seed Tomas Berdych (vs. Janko Tipsarevic) and 31st seed Marcel Granollers (vs. Juan Carolos Ferrero). Oh and apropos to nothing really, but somehow I'm still alive in both the men's and women's suicide pool.

US Open Report: Days 4 and 5

Just a quick update on Days 5 and 6 of the US Open before the beginning of the great Labor Day weekend stretch of tennis.

The big upset of the past two days was the ouster of 3rd seed and former champion Maria Sharapova to Flavia Pennetta. Her great results at the French, Wimbledon, and over the summer hardcourts made her one of the favorites, but instead her side of the draw is very up for grabs as not one single Slam champion is there. Other upsets include 7th seed Gael Monfils who was taken out by a resurgent Juan Carlos Ferrero, 13th seed seed Richard Gasquet going down to Ivo Karlovic, and 14th seed Stan Wawrinka losing in the fifth set to American Donald Young incidentally the youngest player left in the draw.

Young is just one of the few Americans who has made a dent at this year's US Open. Vania King and Sloane Stephens both beat seeded players to reach the third round while Christina McHale and Jack Sock were given opportunities to play in Arthur Ashe after their great showing. Unfortunately they both lost pretty easily to Maria Kirilenko and Andy Roddick. John Isner and Mardy Fish won their matches, but not Robby Ginepri and James Blake.

Like the first three days, retirements and withdrawals abound. 23rd seed Radek Stepanek and Wimbledon fan favorite Nicholas Mahut retired from their matches, the latter while playing Rafael Nadal. Ana Ivanovic didn't even need to hit one ball as her opponent withdrew with injury before their match.

Probably related to all the injuries, there seems to be a lot of breadsticks (6-1) and bagels (6-0) sets this year. Francesca Schiavone, Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Tomas Berdych, Novak Djokovic, Sabine Lisicki, Marin Cilic, and a few others baked these sets for their poor opponents. Former US Open champions Roger Federer, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Juan Martin Del Potro also moved on easily to the next round. Meanwhile, Andy Murray had more difficulty going up against Robin Haase who was up two sets before injuring himself letting Murray run away with the next two sets. The fifth set was a bit nuts as Murray went up 4-0, only for Haase to even it up at 4-4. Murray managed to win the next two games to reach the next round.

Finally, let's hear it for the old fogies! Along with Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andy Roddick who beat their much younger opponents, let's give it up to Tommy Haas (who plays Juan Monaco next), Nikolay Davydeko, and David Nalbandian for reaching the round of 32. For their rankings and more importantly for their recent histories, it's already been a successful US Open for them all.

Wimbledon Report: Day 5

Crazy work day, family stuff, and a little something called Marriage Equality all conspired to make Wimbledon the last thing on my mind today, but there's no time like the present to talk about the fifth day of the tournament.


There were two big upsets today as former finalists 8th seed Andy Roddick and 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva were both ousted today. Roddick, who only reached the finals back in 2009, was beaten by solid grass court player Feliciano Lopez while Zvonareva, last year's losing finalist, was manhandled by 32nd seed Tsvetana Pironkova. Zvonareva was joined by 11th seed Andrea Petkovic and 12th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. The other seeded men to play today made it through with 4th seed Andy Murray and 1th seed Richard Gasquet setting up a mouth-watering 4th round duel between two former semifinalists after both winning their matches.


In keeping in line with what's happened so far, the women's match scheduled for Centre Court yet again went the distance as 4th seed Victoria Azarenka had to play a third set against 25th seed Daniela Hantuchova. They traded sets until rain forced a slight delay. When they came back, Azarenka dominated under the roof to reach the next round. A few of the other top contenders to win today include top seed Caroline Wozniacki, 5th seed Maria Sharapova, 8th seed Petra Kvitova, 9th seed Marion Bartoli, and 23rd seed Venus Williams.

Rain suspended and postponed play yet again with Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro, Gael Monfils, Francesca Schiavone, Mardy Fish, and Tomas Berdych all being affected. Fortunately, the forecast seem to indicate that this might be the last day the rain will effect play. With the tournament taking Sunday off, they are praying that all matches complete tomorrow.

Wimbledon Report: Day 4

As I said yesterday, I wouldn't be able to watch today's matches because of a family matter, but it did give me a chance to take advantage of Radio Wimbledon. It wasn't pitch perfect and just listening to a tennis match was a bit odd, but it was better than nothing. So with that said, what did transpire today other than rain YET AGAIN interrupting play?


It was another eventful day on Centre Court as two matches went the distance. One of those matches was 5th seed Robin Soderling against former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt did great to win the first 2 sets, but Soderling mounted a heroic comeback winning the next three tight sets to move on. 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 16th seed Nicolas Almagro also fought hard, winning in four grueling sets. Almagro defeated American John Isner who awaits another year to make a deep run on the grass. 24th seed Juan Martin Del Potro, losing the first set last night against Olivier Rochus, wins the next three sets today in easier fashion to move through.

Favorites Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic showed great and consistent form sweeping past their opponents today as they've done so far in the tournament. In the next round, they'll get a bit tested as they'll respectively meet David Nalbandian and Marcos Baghdatis who also won today. 13th seed Viktor Troiki, 20th seed Florian Mayer, and 26th seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez all fell.


The other long-distance match at Centre Court today was between wildcard recipient Sabine Lisicki and French Open champion Li Na. After winning the first set, it looked as if Li would go on cruise control, but Lisicki jumped ahead and eventually won the 2nd set. Li, for her part, composed herself and quickly led the 3rd set with a break. On Lisicki's serve, Li had 2 match points she just couldn't convert and then subsequently dropped served twice while serving for the match. At 6-7 with her forehand collapsing, Li had to serve again, this time to stay in the match. Happily for Lisicki, it wasn't meant to be for Li, as the German wins on her 3rd match point. A tough loss for sure for Li, but she can now fully savor her French Open win and hopefully be a bit more confident for the summer hardcourt season.

Funnily enough, a few former French Open champions did well to win today. 6th seed Francesca Schiavone, 12th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, and 18th seed Ana Ivanovic all made their matches look easy which is so unlike them. Elsewhere, Serena Williams, inexplicably relegated to Court 2, had to comeback yet again after dropping the first set. She clearly is still rusty, but every match is helping. There were a few seeded upsets, namely 13th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and 31st seed Lucie Safarova.

Because of rain and/or extraordinarily long matches, a few players' matches were outright cancelled or will continue tomorrow. Among those displaced were Maria Sharapova, David Ferrer, Caroline Wozniacki, Marion Bartoli, Jurgen Melzer, and Shuai Peng.

Wimbledon Report: Day 1

The big story on the first day of Wimbledon is still the impending re-match between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut which will be taking place tomorrow on the newly built Court 3. The match will be fourth in that court in a jam-packed Tuesday that includes more than 30 matches that were suspended or cancelled today due to rain.


Top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal led the top half of the draw by playing first on Centre Court per tradition. He won his 15th consecutive match at Wimbledon after coming from a break down in the first set. Under the roof, 4th seed Andy Murray came back from losing the first set to then dominate the next three sets winning 15 consecutive games. Other seeded players to make it through before the rain include 6th seed Tomas Berdych, 9th seed Gael Monfils, 10th seed Mardy Fish, 14th seed Stan Wawrinka, 17th seed Richard Gasquet, and 31st seed Milos Raonic.

Only two men's seeds fell today, 27th seed Marin Cilic and 30th seed Thomaz Bellucci, but other notable names to exit early include 2009 semifinalist Tommy Haas and recent Halle champion Phillip Kohlschreiber.


Playing in only her fourth tournament this year, 5-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams played as if she's never left winning in straight sets. She left the court so fast, you almost missed out on her latest Wimbledon fashion. A few others didn't have as easy a time with 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva, 6th seed Francesca Schiavone, and 12th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova needing to go to three to move on.

Kimiko Date-Krumm continued to show everyone that age is just a number as she notched the first win at this year's tournament taking out Britain's Katie O'Brien. Joining the young Brit, these seeds went out today: 17th seed Kaia Kanepi, 22nd seed Shahar Peer, and 28th seed Ekaterina Makarova.

There's rain in the forecast tomorrow, so the schedule will undoubtedly be in chaos yet again, but I bet there will still be some great tennis!

French Open: Fourth Round Report

As I type this, the top five seeds are still alive in the draw. Of course 4th seed Andy Murray still has not officially moved on from the fourth round as he is currently 2-sets all with 15th seed Viktor Troicki and will play a one-man-takes-all set. Other top seeds such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Robin Soderling notched straight-set and relatively drama-free wins. Nadal beat veteran Ivan Ljubicic while Federer took down countryman and 14th seed Stan Wawrinka. Djokovic and Soderling defeated a pair of Frenchmen, 13th seed Richard Gasquet and 18th seed Gilles Simon.

The only Frenchman left in the draw, 9th seed Gael Monfils, made it worthwhile for his country though as he pushed 7th seed David Ferrer to five sets and winning 8-6 in the dramatic final set after blowing three prior match points earlier on. Fabio Fognini also made a valiant effort against another Spaniard Albert Montanes winning 11-9 in the fifth set after sustaining a muscle injury late in the final set severely hampering his movement. Despite his win, he had to default on his next match giving his opponent, Djokovic, a free ride into the semifinals. Finally, Juan Ignacio Chela also won in five sets against Alejandro Falla.

Quarterfinal Preview
Rafael Nadal vs. Robin Soderling
Andy Murray or Viktor Troicki vs. Nicolas Almagro Juan Ignacio Chela
Roger Federer vs. David Ferrer Gael Monfils
Novak Djokovic d. Mikhail Youzhny Fabio Fognini

As you can see, my predictions were a bit off only getting the usual suspects correct. Now depending on the result of Murray-Troicki, there'll either be all top four seeds in the quarters or there'll be two Serbians. Either way, it's fascinating. Djokovic continues his unbeaten run this year, but it's Federer who probably has the more impressive record of making his 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. In the end scheme of things, I'm still predicting a Nadal-Djokovic final with the Spaniard winning.


Not even sure where to start with the women. How about the fact that the top three seeds are gone with 3rd seed Vera Zvonareva going down to 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova? Truly that was the one lone "upset" in terms of the lower ranked player beating a higher one. Perhaps 6th seed Li Na winning against 9th seed Petra Kvitova could be looked at as an upset based on the forms these ladies have shown the past few months, but give all credit to Li Na for gutting this one out. 15th seed Andrea Petkovic continues her meteoric rise reaching the quarters.

The rest of the field look at once expected and at the same time completely surprising. There's Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli who has never done so well here, but move on after Gisela Dulko retired from their match. There is the pair of former French Open champions in 5th seed Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova taking out 10th seed Jelena Jankovic and 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova. And finally, there's 7th seed Maria Sharapova outlasting 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

Quarterfinal Preview
Caroline Wozniacki Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Sam Stosur Marion Bartoli
Francescha Schiavone vs. Vera Zvonareva Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Victoria Azarenka vs. Petra Kvitova Na Li
Maria Sharapova vs. Kim Clijsters Andrea Petkovic

Clearly, I messed up in my predictions, so moving on. Who is the favorite now? I don't even know. I'd probably give the edge to the former slam champions especially as they've all looked pretty good the past week or so. If Sharapova does manage to win here though, she completes a Career Grand Slam. As for the others, they can most definitely win as well and crazier things have ALREADY happened so I wouldn't be surprised about ANYTHING. Right now, I'm rooting for Svetlana.

French Open: Third Round Report

The most anticipated match of this round that everyone was looking forward to was Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin Del Potro and yet there was some drama. The mixture of being scheduled last in the main show court, the previous matches going the distance, and the weather being gloomy meant that both men had to wait a long time with the chance that their match might be postponed altogether and/or moved to another court. Both happened. They moved to the other show court, but only managed to play two sets (both men winning one each) before the match was suspended for darkness. Djokovic then went on to extend his win streak to 40 by winning the next two sets they played the next day.

In more shocking news, top seed Caroline Wozniacki falls to 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova managing to win only four games and thereby extending the question of her credibility as the "number one player of the world." While people question her status, people are also wondering what's up with the other top seed, Rafael Nadal. But despite being pushed in his first two rounds, it was vintage Nadal in the third round sweeping a qualifier (who still broke the Spaniard twice in the second set) in straight sets. And despite his earlier problems, one should not be surprised if Nadal makes it look easy the rest of the tournament.

No Americans make it to the second week of the tournament (again... or is that redundant?) with Mardy Fish, Vania King, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands all losing. It's another story for the French though as four French players (Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, and Marion Bartoli) make it to the second week. It could've been five, but Stanislas Wawrinka mounted an impressive five-set comeback against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (who was up two sets and a break). Other notable losses include last year's semifinalist Sam Stosur, Kaia Kanepi, Fernando Verdasco, and Mikhail Youzhny.

There was a slight scare for 4th seed Andy Murray as he sprained his ankle in the middle of his match. In obvious pain, he managed to power through to a relatively "easy" straight-set win, but one hopes that he can recover quickly from the injury especially with the cupcake draw that he has been offered. Other notable straight-set winners include Roger "Under the Radar" Federer, David Ferrer, Robin Soderling, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Francescha Schiavone, Jelena Jankovic, Vera Zvonareva, and Na Li.

Ten of the top 16 seeds are still alive in the men's draw, while 12 remain in the women's draw. Bring on the second week!

French Open: Second Round Report

The biggest news during the second round is the lost of 2nd seed Kim Clijsters who was a lot of people's pick, including mine, to win the tournament. A determined opponent, difficult conditions, possibly lingering health issues, and lots and lots of errors brought the 4-time major champion down making her the highest seed to leave the tournament. Another big upset is 8th seed Jurgen Melzer who joins fellow 2010 French Open semi-finalist Tomas Berdych in the sidelines. Other seeds to go down in the second round include Florian Mayer, Sam Querrey, Marcos Baghdatis, Alexandra Dulgheru, Nikolay Davydenko, Kevin Anderson, and Tsvetana Pironkova.

Top seed Rafael Nadal found himself once again in a tough and physical match against fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar. Andujar was up 5-1 in the third set, but wasted eight set points giving Nadal a straight-set win. Third seed Vera Zvonareva was down and out until her opponent Sabine Lisicki injured herself. Lisicki finished the match, but had to be taken out on a stretcher. Similarly Maria Sharapova was two points away from being upset early against French phenom Caroline Garcia. She reeled off 11 straight games through, bageling her young opponent in the final set. Speaking of the French though, they continue to have a strong presence with the top men and woman still around (Marion Bartoli, Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Richard Gasquet).

As for the Americans, three are left--Vania King, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Mardy Fish--all of them reaching the third round of Roland Garros for the first time. Other than Nadal, most of the men frontrunners are still around and doing well (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, and David Ferrer). Djokovic is set for a blockbuster match with Juan Martin Del Potro next round. With Clijsters out, the open women's draw opened up a lot more giving players such as Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Francesca Schiavone, Sam Stosur, Svetlana Kuznetsova, among others, their best chance to win. Hell, I think an injured Serena Williams or an un-retired Martina Hingis could've done a lot of damage with this draw!

The Neverending Match II

When John Isner and Nicholas Mahut played last year in the first round of Wimbledon, no one knew that they were about to take part in tennis history. Over three days and 11 hours later, they would finish their match and lay claim to having played the longest tennis match ever. Yesterday at the Australian Open, that record remained safely intact, but a similarly record-breaking dramatic match did happen.

The two most recent French Open champions, 6th seed Francesca Schiavone and 23rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, met for a fourth round match that had the lower seeded Kuznetsova favored especially in light of her great H2H record against the Italian on hardcourts. Schiavone won the very tight first set though shocking a few people, but Kuznetsova was able to sneak out a 6-1 (it was much closer than this score makes it seem) second set. At that point, both players had already played nearly two hours under the hot Australian sun. It was clear how tired and physically spent they were.


The third set would last exactly three hours long full of twists, turns, drama, and general epicness. There would be match points, break points, shanks, errors, winners, deuces, and love holds for both. With better numbers and a more powerful ground game, Kuznetsova almost had this match in the bag. She had six match points in that final set, but couldn't convert a single one. In the meantime, Schiavone was relentless in defense and outlasted the Russian 6-4 1-6 16-14. The entire match lasted 4 hours and 44 minutes becoming the longest women's tennis match at a Grand Slam tournament. And while the time is considerably less than that epic men's match between Isner-Mahut, this match had unbelievable rallies that the other one just didn't have.

It's a crushing blow for Kuznetsova who did so well in working hard off-season to be match-ready and then seeing that pay off in her amazing win over Justine Henin a match prior. Schiavone, too, shouldn't celebrate too much as she is playing in less than 48 hours to a much younger and less physically spent player. Hope the emotional low (for Kuznetsova) or the emotional high (for Schiavone) doesn't affect their year. It's worth noting that both Isner and Mahut of that epic aforementioned match were seriously deflated for the rest of the year.

US Open: Women's Fourth Round Preview

Caroline Wozniacki [1] vs. Maria Sharapova [14]
Svetlana Kuznetsova [14] vs. Dominika Cibulkova
Yanina Wickmayer [15] vs. Kaia Kanepi [31]
Vera Zvonareva [7] vs. Andrea Petkovic

Francesca Schiavone [6] vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [20]
Venus Williams [3] vs. Shahar Peer [16]
Samantha Stosur [5] vs. Elena Dementieva [12]
Kim Clijsters [2] vs. Ana Ivanovic

We have certainly heard ad-nauseum the past week or so how open the women's draw is especially with the absences of Serena Williams and Justine Henin and looking at the names of the final 16 ladies fighting for the title, I'd have to say they were right. With that said, even without Serena and Justine, this is quite an impressive array of women containing six major champions and three major finalists.

The bottom half of the draw are set to play later today while the top half will play tomorrow on Monday. Most of these match-ups are quite juicy, but the two matches everyone will be buzzing about are the Wozniacki-Sharapova and the Clijsters-Ivanovic matches because of the star-studded names involved. Clijsters is a heavy favorite in her match, even though Ivanovic seems to finally be playing as if her past issues have been solved. The match between Sharapova and Wozniacki is a bit of toss-up since both are showing great form leading to and during this tournament.

As for the other matches, other than Stosur-Dementieva which is another toss-up for a match, the higher ranked player should pull through, but as everyone says, it's an open draw.

Predictions: I'll pick the ladies who I predicted to make the quarterfinals before the tournament started. I'm proud to see six of my eight still around. I'll pick Zvonareva and Schiavone to replace my initial picks of Radwanska and Azarenka (both of whom I also predicted to reach the semifinals... d'oh!).

US Open: Women's Preview

In only her third tournament last year after her comeback, Kim Clijsters won her 2nd US Open title sweeter this time because she had daughter Jada with her. This year she's seeded second and will ride a 14-match win streak at Flushing to get her third major title. She has a great quarter with Marion Bartoli or Jie Zheng as possible fourth round opponents then either French Open finalist and 5th seed Samantha Stosur or last year's US Open series champion Elena Dementieva at the quarterfinals. Unranked Ana Ivanovic is in this section as well as last year's top seed Dinara Safina who has a tough first round match with Daniela Hantuchova.

With Serena Williams out of the tournament recovering from injury, sister Venus Williams will have to hold down the fort. The 2-time US Open winner is going into this year's open cold, not playing since her quarterfinal lost at Wimbledon this year. With that said, her quarter is pretty open containing French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 10th seed Victoria Azarenka, and last year's US Open quartefinalist Melanie Oudin. Venus would meet them all in the quarterfinals if she reaches that far since on paper she should get through to the second week. But as I said, she hasn't played tennis in a few weeks. Who knows?

In the top half of the draw, US Open series champion and last year's finalist, Caroline Wozniacki is the top seed of a major tournament for the first time in her career. She won two titles last week and has played very well this summer. The issue now is if she is fresh and rested to take on her stacked draw. She could face 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova in the fourth round then could face another former US Open champion, 2004 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova meanwhile has a must-see first round match against Kimiko Date Krumm. Also lurking in this section is 8th seed and last year's quarterfinalist Na Li.

Finally, former finalist and third seed Jelena Jankovic look to get her maiden major title. She had discouraging results this summer, but she likes the big lights of the big city. On paper, the first trouble she could face is Yanina Wickmayer in the fourth round. Possible quarterfinalist opponents include 7th seed Vera Zvonareva, 9th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, and Nadia Petrova. I'm thinking one of these three will make it through this part of the section if Jankovic is not 100% this year.

Quarterfinals:
Caroline Wozniacki d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Agnieszka Radwanska d. Yanina Wickmayer
Victoria Azarenka d. Venus Williams
Kim Clijsters d. Elena Dementieva

Semifinals:
Caroline Wozniacki d. Agnieszka Radwanska
Kim Clijsters d. Victoria Azarenka

Finals:
Kim Clijsters d. Caroline Wozniacki

Storylines at the US Open

The US Open is only a couple of days away and for some, it has already started with the qualifying tournament currently underway. The draws for the big show were held today and aired live on ESPN2. Defending champion Kim Clijsters was on hand to help out. Haven't had time to pore over them myself, but I'll do a more extensive analysis on how the draws fell this weekend. For now let's look at some of the storylines to watch out for.

- Can Clijsters continue her unbeaten run in Flushing Meadows? Clijsters is riding a 14-match win streak at the US Open, winning in 2005 and not playing until last year which she also won. Her current form got her a title in Cincinnati and through to the quarterfinals in Montreal, but she's slightly injured. Still New York is a special place for her and she is definitely the favorite.

- Will we get the first Federer-Nadal final at the US Open? Well, they are in opposite ends of the draw for the bazillionth time so if they are going to meet, it will be in the finals. Top seed Rafael Nadal has never done particularly well here, but he has reached the semifinals two years in a row including last year where he obviously had physical issues. His showing in Cincinnati and Toronto these past few weeks were okay, but not great. After winning the French Open this year, he told reporters "See you in New York," so he wants this bad to complete a career Grand Slam. Last year's finalist and this year's second seed, Roger Federer wants it bad, too. Very strong showing at Cincinnati (champion) and Toronto (finalist) indicate he's the man to beat yet again.

- Can the Andys step it up? It seems every year, every Grand Slam tournament not played on a clay court, someone is touting Andy Murray's chances. And why not? He is probably the best hardcourt player in the men's game right now and while he went on a post-Australian Open funk, he is still one of the favorites. And speaking of favorites, this is the home of Andy Roddick's one and only Slam. Other than Wimbledon, this is the place to recapture that glory.

- Other than Clijsters, who is the woman to watch? With Serena Williams withdrawing due to a foot laceration, everyoneis feeling just a little bit better about possibly winning this year. Top seed and US Open Series winner Caroline Wozniacki was last year's finalist and if she's not winded from playing so much tennis, she's a real danger. Others who have done well during the US Open Series include former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, and Vera Zvonareva. Even though she hasn't played since Wimbledon, you could also never discount former champion and third seed Venus Williams.

- And what about the men? Dangerous floaters include Mardy Fish, Marcos Baghdatis, and David Nalbandian who had great showings at the US Open Series. It's also hard to discount former finalist Novak Djokovic (if the weather cooperates), hard-hitting Robin Soderling, and Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych. Sadly, defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro is not in the draw as he is still recovering from an injury he sustained earlier in the year.

- Will there be any upsets and/or crazy results at the US Open? It's New York. Most definitely.

Federer Defends Title; Wozniacki Wins

With the US Open set to begin in a week's time, the top men and women (at least those not injured) took to the courts of Cincinnati and Montreal for the last big tournament before the last Grand Slam of the year.


The men were on deck in Cincinnati which saw the top four men reach the quarterfinals. Unlike last year though when the top four made it to the semifinals, only third seed Roger Federer made it this year. Joining him were Marcos Baghdatis, Andy Roddick, and Mardy Fish. The latter two contested an all-American semifinal match that saw Fish overcoming being down a set and a break with Roddick serving for the match.

Meeting Fish in the finals was defending champion Federer. Both men split the first two sets which went to tiebreaks with both players not being broken once. The third set remained just as tight until Federer converted the one and only break point of the match during the ninth game. Federer them served out the match capturing only his second title of the year, 63rd overall tying him in fifth place with Bjorn Borg in the all-time list.


The women were in Montreal, but with the withdrawal of Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova and the early losses of top seeds Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva, the star wattage seemed muted for this premier event. Even so, Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova as well as second seed Caroline Wozniacki made it through the quarterfinals. The latter two made it through the semifinals along with Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva.

Then the rain came. And came. And came. The semifinal matches, scheduled for Saturday, were delayed until Monday morning with Wozniacki and Zvonareva eventually reaching the finals. Wozniacki overpowered Zvonareva for a quick 6-3 6-2 victory for her third title of the year. She is only the second player to win three titles this year, the second being Clijsters. Interestingly enough, both met each other at last year's US Open finals and will be seeded 1 and 2 at this year's event.

Wimbledon Report: Day 4

© Getty

Day 4 served up plenty of drama and spectacle to rival the first three days of the tournament. Not only did it see the resumption and the conclusion of The Neverending Match, but the All England Club got a visit from royalty, the Queen of England herself!

The Queen, decked out in a turquoise outfit that popped with the green lawns of the club, had a busy day. After touring the grounds, she met up with a few tennis players including Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Laura Robson, Anne Keothavong, Elena Baltacha, and Heather Watson. Afterward, she watched from the Royal Box as British number 1 Andy Murray defeat Jarkko Nieminen. Both players did a traditional bow in front of the Queen upon entering and leaving the court.

© AELTC / M. Hangst

The Queen promptly left after the match, which meant she missed Wozniacki and Rafael Nadal win in their matches. The latter was oddly pushed to five sets by Robin Haase continuing the trend of top men being pushed early on in this tournament. Other five-set survivors today other than Isner and Nadal include Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Philipp Petzschner, Julien Benneteau, Fabio Fognini, and Jeremy Chardy. Others who had a relatively easier time winning were Robin Soderling, Sam Querrey, David Ferrer, and Gilles Simon (who won with a walkover).

Wozniacki and Serena moved on in straight sets, with the latter playing unexpectedly in Court 2 where she dominated former top 5 player Anna Chakvetadze in 48 minutes. Former champion Maria Sharapova, Agnieska Radwanska, Na Li, Flavia Pennetta, and Victoria Azarenka all won. These seeded players, however, lost: Aravane Rezai, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jie Zheng, and Daniela Hantuchova.

Wimbledon Report: Day 2

© AELTC

The top seeds of the bottom half of the draw moved swiftly to the next round during Day 2 of the championships.

2008 Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal wins his 8th consecutive Wimbledon match defeating Kei Nishikori of Japan in straight sets. Other top contenders that won in straight sets include 4th seed Andy Murray, 6th seed Robin Soderling, 9th seed David Ferrer, and 18th seed Sam Querrey. Other notable seeds to make it through to the next round are 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny, 25th seed Thomaz Belluci, and 26th seed Gilles Simon.

Former top ten player James Blake was ousted, in straights, by Robin Haase. With that said, some seeded players were also eliminated early on, such as 8th seed Fernando Verdasco, 14th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, 19th seed Nicolas Almagro, and 24th seed Marcos Baghdatis. The match between 23rd seed John Isner and Nicolas Mahut were suspended as the American tied it with 2 sets a piece. They will play the final set tomorrow.

© AELTC

Like the men, the top half of the women's draw more or less stayed to form as some of the matches barely lasted an hour.

Defending champion Serena Williams needed only 63 minutes to defeat Michelle Larcher De Brito. And yet that was still too long compared to the 47-minute rout 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki delivered to poor Tathiana Garbin or the 54 minutes required by 16th seed Maria Sharapova to dispatch her opponent. Other seeded players with straight set wins include 7th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 9th seed Na Li, 10th seed Flavia Pennetta, 14th seed Victoria Azarenka, and 23rd seed Jie Zheng.

Following Francesca Schiavone's surprising early exit yesterday, her fellow 2010 French Open finalist and 6th seed Samantha Stosur was shockingly taken out in straights by Kaia Kanepi. 25th seed Lucie Safarova was the only other seeded player to get eliminated today. 18th seed Aravane Rezai, 19th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, and unseeded Anna Chakvetadze all had to go the distance to stay around while 24th seed Daniela Hantuchova and American Vania King have to wait until tomorrow to resume their suspended match. Finally, we say goodbye to familiar names such as Jill Craybas, Sybille Bammer, and Kimiko Date Krumm.

French Open: Third Round Report

Unlike the second round, the third round went without a hitch as the weather finally improved. This doesn't mean there weren't shocking results in the meantime.

Who could've predicted that the last American man standing would be 98th ranked Robby Ginepri? Ginepri defeated 16th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in five sets while his fellow Americans 6th seed Andy Roddick and 17th seed John Isner lost to Teimuraz Gabashvilli and 15th seed Tomas Berdych respectively in straight sets. The Isner-Berdych result was to be expected, but Roddick must be kicking himself at the results. It stings even more because his projected opponent, 9th seed David Ferrer, was also inexplicably beaten by 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer! 14th seed Ivan Ljubicic was taken out as well, defeated by 24th seed Thomaz Bellucci.

Top seed Roger Federer was the first one through to the fourth round with an easy win while 2nd seed Rafael Nadal also had a relatively comfortable time in his match with 28th seed Lleyton Hewitt. And finally, here's a fascinating scoreline from the Andy Murray-Marcos Baghdatis match: 6-2, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. Did Murray fall asleep in the third set?

For the women, one third round match was not completed and it's the one everyone has been buzzing about. Multiple Grand Slam winners Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova were tied at one set a piece before play was suspended for the day. Based on their clay histories, one would've expected Henin to walk away with the win, so this is quite interesting. Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to fellow countrywomen and 30th seed Maria Kirilenko, which just continues the recent bad results for the two time Grand Slam winner.

Top 16 seeds Na Li, Marion Bartoli, and Yanina Wickmayer were defeated in straight sets by 17th seed Francesca Schiavone, 18th seed Shahar Peer, and 23rd seed Daniela Hantuchova respectively. Meanwhile, 19th seed Nadia Petrova survived her match with 15th seed Aravane Rezai winning 10-8 in the third set. Meanwhile, the top four seeds--Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, and Jelena Jankovic all move through to the fourth round.

The second week begins tomorrow.

French Open: Second Round Report

Rain caused havoc in the schedule of play forcing the tournament directors to extend some second round matches into a third day. Despite an almost wash-out on Thursday, all of the second round matches were completed by Friday due to good weather.

The seeds in the men's side held strong with dominant showings from top ten players Robin Soderling (5th seed), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (8th seed), and David Ferrer (9th seed). Combining their second round results, they only lost 11 games! 6th seed Andy Roddick, 17th seed John Isner, and unseeded Robby Ginepri show Americans can play on clay by moving on to the third round. Another American, Mardy Fish, was this close to joining his compatriots. Instead he lost 8-10 in the fifth and final set to veteran and 14th seed Ivan Ljubicic.

Speaking of fifth sets, 28th seed Lleyton Hewitt was able to grind out a win in a match that had a rollercoaster quality of up and down. The scoreline was 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Fifth setters were less kind to 13th seed Gael Monfils who ended up losing to Fabio Fognini 7-9 in the fifth set. Their match lasted two days, rescheduled due to "insufficient light," which according to reports, was an understatement. They resumed their match 5-5 in the fifth set on Friday. Other seeds that fell in the second round were Fernando Gonzalez (12) and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (32).

For the women, it was business as usual as favorites such as Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Justine Henin cruised to the next round. After upsetting Dinara Safina in the first round, 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm was unable to extend her Cinderella run losing to Jarmila Groth of Australia 0-6, 3-6. This score is a bit of a mirror image of the beating that 28th seed Alisa Kleybanova delivered to former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic.

Another former French Open champion, last year's champion, 6th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was this close to getting ousted. Her opponent, Andrea Petkovic, had four match points, but got tight and was unable to capitalize on what certainly would've been one of the biggest wins of her career. These seeded players weren't as lucky as Kuznetsova: Agnieszka Radwanska (8), Vera Zvonareva (21), Lucie Safarova (24), and Jie Zheng (25).