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 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 6

With the All-England Club taking their traditional breather on the middle Sunday of the tournament, it was very important for the tournament to finish all of the third round matches, men and women, on this Saturday. Better weather and not a lot of super long matches, made this possible!


The cream of the crop is slowly rising as most of the top contenders are still alive and playing well. For the women, top seeds Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, and Serena Williams all move through today giving up only 5 games each to their opponents. For the men, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Juan Martin Del Potro also got through with straight-set wins. Nadal and Del Potro, however, had to dig deep to win their first two sets in tight tiebreaks, but was then able to close it out in the third much more easily. Federer faced long-time on-court foe and off-court friend, David Nalbandian.


Winning against 32nd seed Marcos Baghdatis, a relieved Novak Djokovic was happy to win by "playing ugly," losing his first set of the tournament. 9th seed Marion Bartoli also lost a set and had to come back to win it 9-7 in the third. Two former French Open champions weren't so lucky as 6th seed Francesca Schiavone and 18th seed Ana Ivanovic were ousted before the second week. Schiavone served for the match twice, but just couldn't finish it out. 16th seed Julia Georges was the only other women seed to go out early. And finally, if you had asked me a week ago if 10th seed Mardy Fish would reach his first ever Wimbledon fourth round while Robin Soderling, Gael Monfils, Jurgen Melzer, Gilles Simon, and even Nicolas Almagro won't (because they all lost today), I'd call you certifiable. And yet, here we are, even after Andy Roddick's shocking early-exit from the day before.

As I said, no tennis tomorrow, but I should be posting my general thoughts for what has happened so far and what it all means for the second week of the fortnight. Until then, time to rest.

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: The Finale

After 15 days on the red clay of Roland Garros, a pair of champions made history while a couple of runner-ups proved a lot of people wrong.


Rafael Nadal won his 6th French Open title, equaling Bjorn Borg's tally as well as making him only the 7th man to win at least 10 Grand Slam titles. Nadal defeated his archrival Roger Federer who pushed the Spaniard from the very first game. In fact it was probably Federer's best effort against Nadal at Roland Garros, which is small solace at the moment, but should prove beneficial for the rest of the season. Nadal was able to come back down a set point and 2-5 in the first set to win the next dozen or so game. Federer managed to level the second set all the way to a tiebreak, but even when he lost that, he found a way to win the third set. Nadal, however, took advantage of Federer's flagging energy in the fourth to win. With the trophy, Nadal remains #1 in the world with Novak Djokovic nipping at his heels.


Li Na became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam after she defeated defending champion Francesca Schiavone. Many people wouldn't have bet on seeing either of these players at the finals, but there they were, Schiavone showed everyone that last year's win was no fluke and Li Na impressed by taking down four top ten opponents en route to her first major victory. While Schiavone was seen as the more accomplished clay-court player, it was Li Na who dictated play from the start overpowering as well as outcrafting the Italian. Li Na was also a picture of poise as one would've expected her to buckle under the pressure of the moment, but she helf steady and in two sets, she found herself a winner. With the state of the women's game at the moment, with no clear frontrunners, one could do worse than these two.

In doubles, Daniel Nestor defended his title last year with a new partner this year, Max Mirnyi. Unseeded Czech team Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka won the women's doubles title.

French Open: Semifinal Report & Finals Preview

Unlike last year when I only set one set of one semifinal match, I saw most of the matches this year and was absolutely thrilled with all of them. Weather made most of the matches tricky with the wind whipping up at the most random times messing with the players' shots and moving around the clay beneath that troubled some, but in the end four tennis players came out on top and they will play for glory this weekend.


If some people thought that Francesca Schiavone's win last year was a fluke then the ever-jubilant Italian proved those people wrong as she fought valiantly to reach her second straight French Open final with a chance to defend her title. She got through Marion Bartoli, a tricky opponent with the crowd solely behind her, in two pretty straightforward sets. In the final, she will face an opponent that many people did not expect to be there at the end of the tournament.


Like Schiavone, Na Li probably felt like she had a lot to prove. After reaching her first Grand Slam final at this year's Australian Open, Li bottomed out unable to win many matches. That was until she got to Roland Garros, her least favorite slam, where she just kept winning... and winning. She already took down three top 10 players including her semifinal opponent Maria Sharapova who knew that this was her best chance to reach a French Open final for the first time. Too bad her solid serve let her down when she really needed it and instead it was the Chinese player to achieve yet another milestone for herself and for her country.

Prediction: Their H2H is tied at 2-2, but Schiavone has won their only clay court match which was at least year's French Open where the Italian won 4-2 in straight sets. Li will have the power, but Schiavone will have the variety and the movement giving her the edge. Schiavone in 2 sets for her 2nd French Open title.


Five-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal celebrated his 25th birthday on the day he played his semifinal match against Andy Murray. While the scoreline says it was a straight set victory, as everyone expected, it was probably a tighter match than everyone anticipated. The conditions affected both players flustering a usually unflappable Nadal. In the end though, the Spaniard book his spot in his 6th French Open final, one way away from tying the tally set by Bjorn Borg. In the final, he will meet an all too familiar rival.


It has been 16 months since Roger Federer reached a Grand Slam final, but tomorrow he will contest his record 23rd slam final after triumphantly defeating the hottest player of the year. His semifinal opponent Novak Djokovic has had an amazing half a year winning every single match he has played (41-0 record; 7-0 against Federer and Nadal). With a win, Djokovic would've also claimed the #1 ranking. Aggressive, but smart play from Federer coupled with a flat-footed and disheartened Djokovic quickly put the Swiss up 2 sets. Djokovic was able to gut out the third set and serve for the 4th set until Federer came back to take the 4th to a tiebreak. Federer won that with the weapon he used so effectively throughout the match: his serve. Long live the King indeed.

Prediction: Is there a point in going over their lopsided H2H in Nadal's favor esp. Nadal's absolute dominance on clay and at the French Open in particular? The best thing Federer can hope for is to not get embarrassed on court like he was three years ago. THEN AGAIN Nadal hasn't shown his A-game all tournament and Federer's match with Djokovic might light the fire within. Still, Nadal in four sets for his 6th French Open crown.

French Open: Quarterfinal Report

For the first time since 2006 at Roland Garros, the top four men's seed make it to the semifinals at a Grand Slam event giving us mouth-watering match-ups that is a tennis fans' dreams come true. Other than Novak Djokovic, who moved into this stage without having to play in the quarterfinals when his opponent had to withdraw with injury, the other three were pushed, but not hard enough.

Top seed Rafael Nadal met up with Robin Soderling, the only player to defeat him at this event. Nadal broke early in each three sets with Soderling only able to put up a bit of a fight in the first and third. Roger Federer had to deal with windy weather and a partisan crowd as he faced Gael Monfils, but though the Frenchman fought valiantly in the third set, it was another straight sets win for the Swiss. He's the only player left in the draw to not have lost a single set. Finally, Andy Murray fought off a determined Juan Ignacio Chela in the first two sets and was rewarded with an easier third set. His injured ankle seems to be doing just fine.

Semifinal Preview
Rafael Nadal [1] vs. Andy Murray [4]
Novak DJokovic [2] vs. Roger Federer [3]

They all have something to play for--Nadal to reassert his clay dominance, Djokovic to get that elusive #1 ranking, Federer to comeback strong, Murray to win his first slam title--which makes it all the more interesting. Based on performance this year, it's hard to see anything but a Nadal- Djokovic final. There's a chance that Federer, with all of his experience, could beat DJokovic to end his unbeaten run this year especially with all of the pressure the Serbian must be feeling. I'll definitely be rooting for Federer all the way!


Just... crazy. That's what I have to say about the women's draw. And yet as crazy as it has been the past two weeks, once the dust settles, the semifinalists aren't so shocking. I mean all four have reached Grand Slam finals and two are major champions. In fact the lowest ranked player is seeded 11th, which seems pretty formful if you ask me.

That 11th seed is also the only French player left in the draw in both the men's and the women's. Marion Bartoli reached her first French Open semifinals by taking out former Franch Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova who just couldn't handle Bartoli and the crazy weather. Defending champion Francesca Schiavone dug real deep to come back from a set and a break deficit to win the last two sets 7-5 against Russian youngster Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Na Li and Maria Sharapova both had far easier straight-set wins against 4th seed Victoria Azarenka and 15th seed Andrea Petkovic respectively, which was shocking since they both historically haven't done that well on clay and the players they beat were expected to put up more of a fight than they did.

Semifinal Preview
Francesca Schiavone [5] vs. Marion Bartoli [11]
Na Li [6] vs. Maria Sharapova [7]

Even though I didn't predict ANY of these women to reach this point of the tournament, mad props to all of them for doing so. Other than Schiavone, it's the first semifinals on Roland Garros clay for them and it's been a real fight to get here. Who will win? I WISH I HAD EVEN AN INKLING, but I really don't. Any of these four can win the title. I'd probably give a slight edge to Schiavone and Sharapova since they have already won a slam. In Sharapova's case, if she wins this, she gets a career Slam. I'm personally hoping for a Schiavone-Li final since I'd be ecstatic either way.

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: First Round Report

The first round is done and dusted and most of the favorites moved safely through to the second. Some though didn't make it look easy. Defending champion and 5-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal was forced to play a fifth set for the first time in Roland Garros in his brutal match with John Isner. The American won the 2nd and 3rd set in tiebreaks, but Nadal took control as Isner ran out of juice by the end. The other French Open defending champion, Francesca Schiavone, had a much easier time against another American youngsters as she absolutely demolished Melanie Oudin. But the news wasn't all bad for Americans. In fact even with some notable absences, Americans did well on the red clay. Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Jill Craybas, Bethany Mattek-Sands, Vania King, and Varvara Lepcheko all moved on to the next round. The latter two women took down seeded players. And while Lucky Loser Ryan Harrison was beaten by last year's finalist Robin Soderling, he still managed to win a set.

Sixth seed and last year's semifinalist Tomas Berdych gets the dishonor of being the highest seed in either draw to get booted in the first round; 18th seed Flavia Pennetta was the highest seed in the women's side to get upset. 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic also fell in the first round, a discouraging result for her especially in light of some of her gains in smaller tournaments. Other seeds to get upset include Nicolas Almagro, Marin Cilic, Shahar Peer, Dominika Cibulkova, Milos Raonic, Nadia Petrova, and Klara Zakapalova. And though not seeded, sad to see Tommy Haas exit early as well as Lleyton Hewitt withdraw at the last-minute. Finally, former top ten player Patty Schnyder called it a career after her first round lost here.

Novak Djokovic continued his unbeatable form, winning his 38th straight match. Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Juan Martin Del Potro all showed excellent form. Coming back to Roland Garros for the first time in five years, Kim Clijsters extends her unbeaten Grand Slam match win to 15 matches. Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka, Sam Stosur, and Maria Sharapova won in straights.

French Open Preview

So the world didn't end this weekend, which is not only fantastic news for, well everyone, but also for us tennis fans because Sunday marks the beginning of the French Open, the second tennis Grand Slam tournament of the year. Since I don't have time to do my usual draw analysis, here are my scattered thoughts for both the men and women instead.


The main story for the men this whole season has been the absolute dominance of 2nd seed Novak Djokovic. Undefeated this year, he has won 7 titles and shows no sign of slowing down. Defending champion and 1st seed Rafael Nadal is still the favorite, but the fact that Djokovic beat Nadal four straight times this year including twice on Nadal's beloved clay makes the whole thing just a bit more interesting. And even though 3rd seed Roger Federer is a former champion, his form and his chances here at least compared to Nadal and Djokovic aren't so good. Then again he IS the last person to defeat Djokovic (at last year's year-end championships). Then there's 4th seed Andy Murray who is slowly coming out of his post-Australian Open funk fighting Djokovic on clay this year closer than anyone else has.

Fifth seed Robin Soderling has reached the French Open finals two times in a row beating the defending champion en route each time. We doubt he'll do it a third time, but weirder things have happened. Other names to watch out for include David Ferrer (always a threat to test our your endurance), Richard Gasquet (beat Federer recently on clay), Milos Roanic (newcomer of the year, no?), and Juan Martin Del Potro (comeback of the year, no?).

Quarterfinals
Rafael Nadal d. Robin Soderling
Nicolas Almagro d. Andy Murray
Roger Federer d. David Ferrer
Novak Djokovic d. Mikhail Youzhny

Semifinals
Rafael Nadael d. Nicolas Almagro
Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer

Finals
Rafael Nadal d. Novak Djokovic


With Justine Henin retired and the Williams sisters injured, the big story here is that anyone, I repeat, ANYONE can win this thing. The one who seems to be a few people's favorite is 2-time French Open finalist and 2nd seed Kim Clijsters even though she's injured and hasn't played competitively in two months. Top seed Caroline Wozniacki should see this as yet another golden opportunity to win that maiden slam especially since she has probably been the most consistent player on the tour this year. Defending champion and 5th seed Francesca Schiavone should not be counted out (remember her implausible dream run last year?), but she really hasn't been the same player since. Then there's 7th seed Maria Sharopova who is one of the very few multi-Grand Slam champions on the list and with her recent successes in clay, you never know. She could win the career Grand Slam.

Third and fourth seeds Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka can most definitely claim the championship, but they're their worst enemies. Then again this pretty much goes for a whole slew of players such as Li Na (have struggled recently, but always a threat in slams) and Sam Stosur (she was last year's finalist!) as well former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic who both possess the talent obviously, but recently not the self-belief to win. All I really have to say is, Elena Dementieva surely retired from the game one year too early didn't she?

Quarterfinals
Caroline Wozniacki d. Samantha Stosur
Vera Zvonareva d. Francescha Schiavone
Victoria Azarenka d. Petra Kvitova
Kim Clijsters d. Maria Sharapova

Semifinals
Vera Zvonareva d. Caroline Wozniacki
Kim Clisjters d. Victoria Azarenka

Finals
Kim Clijsters d. Vera Zvonareva

FINAL WORLD: Somehow I find myself predicting the top four women seeds to reach the semifinals as improbable as that outcome may be, but that's what happens when I don't pay attention to the recent results. For the men, I predicted the top three plus Almagro since I just don't trust Murray to reach that far. In the end though Nadal will most likely repeat while there will be a first-time French Open champion for the women.

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.

Australian Open Report: Days 3 & 4

Slacking a bit on my supposedly daily Australian Open reports, but it's been a busy week so I'll cover two days of second round worth of action here. It's worth knowing that heading into the third round, there are 22 seeds (out of 32) still alive on the men's side while there are 20 seeds in the women's.


The biggest story on the men's side is most likely Roger Federer needing five sets to take out Gilles Simon. I think the fact that he cruised in the first two sets made the whole thing even more odd, but Gilles was a former top ten player only two years ago and had a H2H of 2-0 against Federer before the match. While Federer struggled, most of the other top men moved on easily including Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, David Ferrer, and Andy Roddick.

Some seeds that didn't fare as well and were eliminated include 27th seed David Nalbandian who had to retire due to just not having enough time to recover from his epic first round match with Lleyton Hewitt. 16h seed Mardy Fish was the highest men's seed to get the boot in the tournament so far. Other seeds to fall were 22nd seed Michael Llodra, 25th seed Albert Montanes, 26th seed Juan Monaco, 30th seed Thomaz Belluci, and 31st seed Feliciano Lopez.

Unseeded Juan Martin Del Potro and Janko Tipsarevic were ousted by 21st seed Marcos Baghdatis and 9th seed Fernando Verdasco. The latter, Tipsarevic, had match points in the fourth set, but when he was unable to convert, his disappeared completely from the match winning no points in the fourth set tiebreak and then getting bageled in the final set.


With Ana Ivanovic getting ousted in the first round, Serbian hopes were put on 7th seed Jelena Jankovic only for her to get beaten becoming the highest women's seed to get eliminated. Another former world no. 1 almost lost as well as Venus Williams suffered an injury mid-match right after losing a crucial first-set tiebreak. Inexplicably, Venus played through the pain and winning the next two sets, even dishing out a bagel to her confused opponent. The older Williams sister showed true grit in the face of injury and bad fashion.

Along with Jankovic, other seeds to fall include 15th seed Marion Bartoli, 18th seed Maria Kirilenko, 20th seed Kaia Kanepi, 21st seed Yanina Wickmayer, 24th seed Alisa Kleybanova, 26th seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and 32nd seed Tsvetana Pironkova.

The top contenders themselves are still in the running and some displaying dominant forms including Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Sam Stosur, Victoria Azarenka, Na Li, Shahar Peer, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Other notable survivors were Vera Zvonareva and Francesca Schiavone.

Hometown Love for Federer, Ferrer Plus Ivanovic, Italy Win

Roger Federer is suddenly on fire reaching three consecutive finals and winning two titles in a row. After he finished second to Andy Murray in Beijing, he traveled to Stockholm to capture his 64th title of his career tying for all-time fourth place with Pete Sampras. He then went one better by getting his 65th title in his hometown of Basel in front of his family and twin daughters. The final was a rematch of last year's duel between Federer and Novak Djokovic which the Serbian eventually won. This time around Federer kept his composure even after losing his concentration in the second set to win 6-1 in the third set to get his fourth title of the year. With his win, Federer puts just a little bit more distance between him and Djokovic for the #2 end-of-year ranking. More good news for Federer, he can gain a lot of points in the last Masters tournament in Paris taking place this week while Djokovic is defending a ton of points.

David Ferrer went on to win in his hometown of Valencia defeating Robin Soderling in the semifinals and lucky loser Marcel Granollers in the finals. Disappointing single results, however, for defending champion Murray, but he did win his first ATP doubles titles and with his brother Jamie Murray to boot!


Finally, if you thought the WTA ended their season last week when Kim Clijsters won the WTA Championships, think again. Over in San Diego, the Fed Cup finals were held between the USA and Italy. With the Williams sisters missing, the USA were trounced by defending champion Italy led by Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta. Over on the other side of the world in Bali, a few also-rans played the very last tournament of the year. Former world #1 player Ana Ivanovic finished the year on a high note by capturing the title. With the win and her great record of winning 13 of her last 15 matches, she recovers from a sub-50 ranking earlier this year to end the year within the top 20.

Clijsters Wins Doha, Player of the Year?

Kim Clijsters continued reshaping her legacy during her second tennis career after her comeback to the game last year as she defeated world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at the WTA Championships in Doha. She becomes only the fifth player in WTA history to win the year-end event three or more times tying Monica Seles with three wins. Only Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Chris Evert have won more. With her win in Doha, Clijsters has compiled an amazing 6-0 record in finals since her comeback. Her other five titles include two Grand Slam wins at the US Open as well as titles from Brisbane, Miami, and Cincinnati.

Wozniacki ended her year bitter-sweetly, clearly happy for clinching that year-end #1 ranking and winning the most titles on the tour and yet obviously disappointed for not winning any of the major titles, hearkening back to the slam-less #1 reigns of Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic.

The match itself was worthy of a final between two top-tier players. Clijsters cruised to a 6-3 4-1 lead with Wozniacki digging deep to even the second set at 5-5. Clijsters' concentration and level of play dipped and suddenly it was the third set with Wozniacki up an early break. Clijsters finally came alive again, breaking the Dane right back and rushing to a 5-2 lead. Two games later, Clijsters was able to serve it out winning 6-3 5-7 6-3.

The question to ask now is who is the Player of the Year?

As I wrote above, Wozniacki ends the year as the top ranked player in the world amassing more titles than anyone, but her lack of success in majors is suspect. Serena Williams won the most majors out of anyone, 2, one at the Australian Open and another in Wimbledon. Those would be her only titles of the year, however, and she was largely absent during the second half of the year. Francesca Schiavone and Clijsters grabbed the other two majors with Clijsters also winning Doha and three other titles. Plus there are those who have made career breakthroughs this year such as Samantha Stosur and Vera Zvonareva who both reached their first Grand Slam finals as well as their highest rankings. If I had to pick someone, it would be Clijsters. She won a Grand Slam as well as multiple titles both in the first and second halves of the year. Coincidentally, she does top the tour on one thing, prize money won.

WTA: YEC Semifinals Set; Dementieva Retires

After twelve round-robin matches, four ladies moved through to the semifinal stages at the WTA Championships. Along the way a player clinched the year-end #1 ranking while another said goodbye to professional tennis.


By winning at least two matches, top seed Caroline Wozniacki secured her first ever year-end #1 ranking. The only round-robin match she lost was against Samantha Stosur who took the top spot in the Maroon Group heading into the semifinals. In the White Group, Vera Zvonerava went undefeated taking the top spot while Kim Clijsters, only losing to Zvonareva, took the last semis berth. Zvonareva will now face Wozniacki while Stosur will take on Clijsters. The winners will face each other in the finals for the last big title of the year.

Among those left behind, only Jelena Jankovic was unable to win a match. In fact she failed to even win a set in three matches! Victoria Azarenka and Francesca Schiavone managed to get a win on the last day of the round-robin matches.


Finally, veteran Elena Dementieva announced her retirement from competitive tennis after losing to Schiavone earlier today. The 29-year-old Olympic gold medalist made the semifinals or better in all the Grand Slam tournaments including two finals. She was the epitome of hard work and class as she stayed in the upper echelons of tennis for the better part of the decade (top 20 for 524 of last 529 weeks). It was so easy to root for her and unfortunately part of her legacy will consist of the title "Best Player to Never Have Won a Grand Slam Title," but I hope that's not all she would be remembered for. In any case, she will be greatly missed and hope we see her in some tennis capacity in the very near future.

WTA: Year-End Championships

Seven of the eight players entered into the WTA Championships
pose in Doha alongside the brand-new logo for the WTA.

Even though there are three former (and current) no. 1s and two 2010 Grand Slam winners in the mix, the field at the WTA Championships still seems to be somewhat lacking star power especially with the absences of Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Justine Henin. Also not in the mix are fan-favorites such as Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

In any case, the following top-10 women who make up the elite eight are not too shabby in their own right and deserve the spot for a chance to win the final tournament of the year. And they are...

1. Caroline Wozniacki - While she didn't reach a Grand Slam final this year, she topped the tour in number of titles and became the 20th woman to be ranked #1.

Grand Slam Results: 4r, QF, 4r, SF
Titles: Tokyo, Beijing, Montreal, New Haven, Ponte Vedra Beach, Copenhagen
Runner-Up: Indian Wells

2. Vera Zvonareva - Now at career-high ranking of #2, she reached her first and second Grand Slam finals this year, but was unable to close the deal both times.

Grand Slam Results: 4r, 2r, F, F
Titles: Pattaya City
Runner-Up: Wimbledon, US Open, Montreal, Beijing, Charleston

3. Kim Clijsters - Made lots of noise in her first full year of her comeback by getting some nice hardcourt titles including her third US Open title.

Grand Slam Results: 3r, -, QF, W
Titles: US Open, Miami, Cincinnati, Brisbane
Runner-Up: N/A

4. Francesca Schiavone - Oldest player in the draw won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, but took awhile to recover from win.

Grand Slam Results: 4r, W, 1r, QF
Titles: Roland Garros, Barcelona
Runner-Up: N/A

5. Samantha Stosur - Strong year for the Australian, who dominated at the French Open until losing in her very first Grand Slam final.

Grand Slam Results: 4r, F, 1r, QF
Titles: Charleston
Runner-Up: Roland Garros, Stuttgart

6. Jelena Jankovic - Relatively quiet and subdued year for the former no. 1, though posted good enough results to make her fourth consecutive year-end appearance.

Grand Slam Results: 3r, SF, 4r, 3r
Titles: Indian Wells
Runner-Up: Rome

7. Elena Dementieva - Veteran whose best years may be behind her, but with solid results, made her 10th showing at the year-end tournament, more than any player in the draw.

Grand Slam Results: 2r, SF, -, 4r
Titles: Paris, Sydney
Runner-Up: Tokyo, Kuala Lampur

8. Victoria Azarenka - Recovered fully from the freak concussion incident at this year's US Open, she became the last player entered after winning in Moscow.

Grand Slam Results: QF, 1r, 3r, 2r
Titles: Moscow, Stanford
Runner-Up: Dubai, Eastbourne

Injuries have plagued the tour for the whole year and it was even more troubling the second half of the year sidelining many top players. Even heading into this tournament, at least half of the eight players entered are nursing recent injuries which is why Li Na and Shahar Peer, who are both in Doha as alternates, shouldn't be too surprised if they're called to play this week.

Fun Fact #1: Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva both have a chance to end the year as the #1 ranked player in the world.

Fun Fact #2: Kim Clijsters is the only player to have a winning record against the rest of the field.

Fun Fact #3: Victoria Azarenka is the only player to not reach a Grand Slam final in her career. She is also the only player this year to not reach a SF or better at a Grand Slam tournament.