Forty Deuce

Vanity Fair Knows What's Up.

Love it:

Choosing Bepa over Anna-K?  You just got yourselves a renewed subscription from one Courtney Note, Vanity Fair.

Hit Me Up

The players have been hitting the practice court at the BJK center. 

Which of course means practice pics.  

Preferably shirtless ones.  Let's be real.

I wanna lick it.  

I am A-OK with Lanky McLankerson keeping his XXL Fila shirt on though.

No one needs to see a concave chest.

Did LaMonf get a new tattoo?  Or have I just missed that one?

Dude, I am begging you.  Sandwich.  Stat.

Wonder how many racquets were broken in this practice session.

And where there are shirtless boys, you know there will be a JJ nearby.

No official word on how long that shirt stayed on.

Pic This: I Hope You Burn In The Sun

Why's he dressing all Godrick-y?  Creepy.

Drawing Blanks

The US Open draw is done.  Download them here.  I'm done trying to throw my chair out the window (this glass is way thicker than you'd think) so here are the highlights (and lowlights)

Men:

• Fed and Rafa are on opposite sides of the draw and can't meet before the final.
• Fed has A-Rod, Nole, and Kolya in his half.  So...there's that.
• Lurking in Fed's half are potential spoilers Sods and Sam, though there's really no reason to believe Sods can do anything of note here.
• Nole and Roddick are in the same quarter.  Nole gets Lubey in the first round.  Its a pretty tough quarter, as Andy could have to go through Isner, Haas, and FeVer before getting to Nole.  Nole on the other hand has it pretty easy, though he might get a chance to exact revenge on PEHK in the 3rd?4th? round.
• Muzz has a tricky quarter.  He pulls Ernie in the first round and could face Ivo in the third.  Stan, Marin also lurk in his 1/8.  But of course, the big potential bullet?  Crazy Elf is the other seed anchoring his quarter.  They could meet in the quarterfinals.  But DelPo will have to get through Pico. JCF, and Gilles to get there. 
• Marat has pulled DoucheStamp in the first round with the winner probably playing Elf.  Night match on Ashe if Marat wins?
• Which brings us to Rafa's draw, which is FUCKING BRUTAL.  I mean, come on, even if the dude makes it through his quarter there's no way he'll have the gas to power through the Big 2.
• First, Rafa pulls Gasquet in the first round.  Then he'll have to play what may be some brutal matches with Nico, Daveed, or Gael to get to the quarters.  And in the quarters he could play either Gonzo, Big Berd, or Jo.  In otherwords, he's going to have to grind through the early rounds against the dirtballers/pushers, and then deal with the big hitters in the quarters.  Lovely.
• All this is to say...16.

Women:

• Serena and Venus are in the same half.  Suck it, American press!
• Dinara has JJ, Lena, Kuz, and Pova in her half.  JJ anchors her quarter.  Lurking in her 1/8th, Kleybs, Lucie and Gypsy.
• JJ and Ana are in the same 1/8.
• Pavs and Oudin slated for 1R.
• Masha and Lena could meet in 3R.  Probably better for Maria to play her early before her arm gets tired.  But shhhh!  *whispers*Don't tell anyone her arm is tired.
• Kuz and Boots anchor the last 1/8 of Dina's half.  Lurking in that 1/8th is Sorana, who's coming off a foot injury.  She could play Boots in the 3R.
• Other side of the draw is Williamstastic, with Serena getting the Draw of Revenge.  She's pulled Alexa Glatch in the first round and Sammy Stones anchors her 1/8th.  She could also play Bammer in 3R.  Where's Klara?
• On the other side of Serena's quarter we have Headcases McGee.  Vera, Chakky, Vezzie, Momo, Sania, and Flavs are all gunning to make the quarters.  Let's face it, it's pretty wide open but if Flavs doesn't come out of that pack it'll be a damn disappointing end to her US hardcourt season.
• As for Venus' quarter, I just do not see her getting out of it.  Her 1/8th is anchored by Mono (heh, anchored indeed), who's drawn Kimmy in 2R. I see Kimmy taking out Venus in 4R.
• The other half of that quarter has Vika, Nails, Burrito, and A-Rad.  So I'm looking forward to a Vika/Kimmy quarterfinal, though really, I'd be interested to see a Vika/Venus quarter, too.

All in all, pencil Fed into the final.  If anyone but Muzz is on the otherside, then hell, chisel Fed on #16.  I personally still think Muzz can beat him so I'm not ready to just give Fed #16 yet.  Then again, I've been drinking since I saw Rafa's draw so this is all just crazy talk.

As for the ladies, does it really matter what the draw is?  In any two weeks Serena can either tear through it, or she can lose in the first round.  So whatever.  The real story (for anyone who *doesn't* work for the American media and is actually, oh I don't know, a tennis fan) is on Dina's half of the draw, where Dina, JJ, Lena, and Masha are all gunning for semifinal spots and Dina and Masha will be looking to avenge their rough losses during the USO Series. 

What are y'all's thoughts? 

Thursday OOP

Stadium (from 10.30hrs)
1. Bondarenko/Bondarenko vs. Benesova/Hradecka
2. ATP: Davydenko vs. Querrey (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Virginie Razzano vs. Caroline Wozniacki
4. Amélie Mauresmo vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (NB 19.00hrs)
6. ATP: Acasuso vs. Serra

Grandstand (from 10.30hrs)
1. Anna Chakvetadze vs. Elena Vesnina
2. ATP: Andreev vs. Mayer
3. Magdalena Rybarikova vs. Flavia Pennetta (NB 16.00hrs)
4. ATP: Melzer vs. Verdasco (possible court change)

Court 1 (from 12.00hrs)
1. ATP: Hanley/Kerr vs. Martin/Ram
2. ATP: Cermak/Mertinak vs. Melo/Sa
3. ATP: Hanley/Kerr or Martin/Ram vs. Damm/Lindstedt (after suitable rest)

Sam Querrey. US Open Series Champion.

Wrap your mind grapes around that one.  A bit weird that Roger and Andy win the Masters titles but Sam walks away with the Series, but hey, commitment, consistency, blahblahblah.  Same arguments for rankings go here.

Side note: I've always wanted to call Sam "Skeletor".  But I actually like him so I never do.  But feel free.  Those sunken eyes and that upturned nose are way Power of Greyskull.

[1] N Davydenko (RUS) d [15] F Santoro (FRA) 75 63
[2] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d [16] A Seppi (ITA) 76(3) 62
[6] S Querrey (USA) d B Phau (GER) 75 63
[7] I Andreev (RUS) d [Q] F Gil (POR) 64 64
[11] J Melzer (AUT) d [8] V Hanescu (ROU) 76(5) 46 61
J Acasuso (ARG) d [14] I Kunitsyn (RUS) 36 76(3) 63
L Mayer (ARG) d S Bolelli (ITA) 62 64
F Serra (FRA) d [WC] R Ram (USA) 46 76(6) 75

Doubles – Quarter-finals
J Knowle (AUT) / J Melzer (AUT) d C Kas (GER) / P Petzschner (GER) 76(2) 46 10-8
[2] B Soares (BRA) / K Ullyett (ZIM) d J Chardy (FRA) / F Santoro (FRA) 61 76(3)

Doubles – First Round
[3] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) d W Moodie (RSA) / H Tecau (ROU) 76(4) 46 10-7
[4] M Damm (CZE) / R Lindstedt (SWE) d [WC] R Kendrick (USA) / S Lipsky (USA) 75 64
M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) d S Huss (AUS) / R Hutchins (GBR) 75 63

Grinders

Apparently beating Yanina Wickmayer in three sets inspires these types of celebrations. 

Who knew?

 
Boots had an easy win, which is nice.  Unfortunately it came at the expense of The Butterfly. 

Rest in Peace, Chevy.  See you in New York.

And with great sadness I am forced to report that Sammy Stones lost to Vezzie in three sets.  But in happy news, ELENA VESNINA beat Sam Stosur in three sets!  Oh, tennis.  How you torture me.

For all you folks who do the bracket challenges for the Slams, take note that A-Rad and Mono both retired with injuries.  Ruh roh.

Singles – Second Round
(1/WC) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. (Q) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 64 57 76(2)
(2) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 61 64
(3) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 76(1) 64
Virginie Razzano (FRA) d. (5) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 36 64 ret. (right hand injury)
(Q) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) d. (6) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 16 76(5) 20 ret. (left adductor strain)
Elena Vesnina (RUS) d. (9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) 36 63 64

Doubles – Quarterfinals
(1) Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez (ESP/ESP) d. Senoglu/Shvedova (TUR/KAZ) 62 61
(3) Craybas/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) 63 62
(4) Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR) d. Cornet/Gallovits (FRA/ROU) 63 75

"I'm just a boy with a new haircut, and that's a pretty nice hair cut..."

Rafa and the Nike crew took over the NYC streets to show of their kits (apparently that's the thing these days)...

...and do some giggles. 

And he was luscious.

I'm really loving the colors that Nike worked out for these two. 

They both look fresh and the colors totally pop.

Serena's legs compared to Rafa's.  Wow.

"I just flew in from Cincinnati and boy are my arms tired!"

LOVE this shot.  The two faces of Rafa.

Damn.  Myla's getting HUGE.

Pic This: Wait. I Thought He Had Twins...

Party In The USA

Well look at that.  Tennis being played right in front of my firm's NYC office.  How nice.

 

Lots of folks were on hand for the DirectTV ESPN promotional event, which saw a bunch of players showing off their USO kits.  Basically its a whole lotta color.  And James Blake.  Ironically.

Oh, old people.  You're adorable.

"I'm out of Wrists Assists!"

What, no pink socks to finish off the racquet/kit coordinating ensemble? 

YOU'RE HORRIBLE.

Class.

zzzzzzzz....

Pic This: So Wrong.

Didn't We Do This Last Year?

TMF's USO kit.  Stick with what works, I guess.

Wednesday OOP

Stadium (from 10.00hrs)
1. Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Yanina Wickmayer
2. ATP: Davydenko vs. Santoro
3. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Caroline Wozniacki (NB 13.00hrs)
4. ATP: Phau vs. Querrey
5. ATP: Seppi vs. Verdasco (NB 19.00hrs)
6. Marion Bartoli vs. Magdalena Rybarikova

Grandstand (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Hanescu vs. Melzer
2. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Virginie Razzano
3. Iveta Benesova vs. Flavia Pennetta (NB 13.00hrs)
4. ATP: Serra vs. Ram
5. ATP: Hanley/Kerr vs. Martin/Ram (after suitable rest)

Court 1 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Andreev vs. Gil
2. Elena Vesnina vs. Samantha Stosur
3. ATP: Kendrick/Lipsky vs. Damm/Lindstedt
4. Craybas/Raymond vs. Borwell/Kops-Jones
5. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez vs. Senoglu/Shvedova

Court 2 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Bolleli vs. Mayer
2. ATP: Acasuso vs. Kunitsyn
3. ATP: Huss/Hutchins vs. Melo/Sa
4. ATP: Kaz/Petzschner vs. Knowle/Melzer (after suitable rest)
5. ATP: Chardy/Santoro vs. Santoro/Ullyett (after suitable rest)

Court 3 (from 12.00hrs)
1. ATP: Cermak/Mertinak vs. Moodie/Tecau
2. Cornet/Gallovits vs. Bondarenko/Bondarenko

Rajeev For President!

 

Congrats to Rajeev Ram for taking out the Sockless Wonder in straight sets.  Not much else to say other than "YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

As for the rest of the peens, Chucho took out Tommy, Bjorn upset Nico, and in a bit of a shocker, Florent Serra upset Jeremy.  Oh, and Janko keeps losing in second rounds.  That's fun.

Singles - Second Round
[1] N Davydenko (RUS) d R Kendrick (USA) 76(10) 63
[2] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d P Capdeville (CHI) 60 63
J Acasuso (ARG) d [3] T Robredo (ESP) 36 75 76(5)
[WC] R Ram (USA) d [5] M Fish (USA) 63 63
[7] I Andreev (RUS) d K Kim (USA) 63 61
[8] V Hanescu (ROU) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 64 67(8) 63
B Phau (GER) d [9] N Almagro (ESP) 26 63 75
F Serra (FRA) d [10] J Chardy (FRA) 67(8) 76(4) 61
[11] J Melzer (AUT) d [Q] P Cuevas (URU) 62 30 ret. (shoulder)
[Q] F Gil (POR) d [12] P Petzschner (GER) 67(2) 76(8) 63
S Bolelli (ITA) d [13] A Beck (GER) 64 64
[14] I Kunitsyn (RUS) d [WC] T Dent (USA) 63 64
[15] F Santoro (FRA) d P Starace (ITA) 75 60
[16] A Seppi (ITA) d Y Lu (TPE) 67(5) 63 75
L Mayer (ARG) d [LL] O Rochus (BEL) 60 64

Doubles - First Round
[2] B Soares (BRA) / K Ullyett (ZIM) d E Butorac (USA) / J Coetzee (RSA) 63 63
J Knowle (AUT) / J Melzer (AUT) d O Marach (AUT) / D Skoch (CZE) 63 64

Bagels and Sticks.

It's nice to see Momo back and gaining some momentum going into NYC.  She 'sticked A-Bond 1 and 1.

And Boots kept the hurt coming during the evening session, as she double bageled Edina Gallovits.

In other warm and fuzzy news, Chakky came back to beat Bammer in three sets, rightfully putting her on the short list for #1.  Recognize.

Oh, and look at that.  Alicia Molik is playing dubs with Megan Shaughnessy.  Well, not anymore.  They lost to the Spaniards.  But nice to see her name again.

Singles - Second Round
(8) Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) d. Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 61 61
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 46 64 75

Singles - First Round
(2) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (LL) Edina Gallovits (ROU) 60 60
(3) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (Q) Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) 61 62
(6) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) 46 63 61
(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Alizé Cornet (FRA) 67(8) 62 64

Doubles - Quarterfinals
Benesova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) d. Dekmeijere/U.Radwanska (LAT/POL) 36 62 107

Doubles - First Round
(1) Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez (ESP/ESP) d. (WC) Molik/Shaughnessy (AUS/USA) 61 61
(3) Craybas/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Jans/Rosolska (POL/POL) 63 62

Do They Make "Win" Badges?

Because let's face it, between the camo capris, Ed Hardy-esque shirt, oversized headphones, sock tan, and flops, that's what Kuz is.  Win. 

The sad thing is that these poor little girls don't even know that they are standing in close proximity to Radness personified.  

Cool As A Cucumber

Sam reminds me of my dog.  Mainly because if Chase, who is piss-in-his-pants shy, could hide behind sunglasses all the time, he totally would.  And no, I do not make my dog wear pants.

 

Sam kept her cool after dropping the first set in a tight tiebreaker, 10-8, to come back and take out the Cone, who was hilariously Coney as usual. 

Copycat

Fred Perry bites off Adidas for Muzz's USO kit. 

That said, I like it.  I like it even more that Muzz buttoned all the way and clearly pulled those shorts out of the plastic bag about 2 minutes before this pic was taken. 

Nerd.

It's Complicated

And thus my relationship with New York continues.  

Don't get me wrong.  I love New York.  All those epic quotes about how New York is the greatest city on earth?  Don't be shocked if they come out of my mouth because I truly believe them.  The food, the culture, just life in New York generally is like nothing else on earth.  And believe me when I say I have mad respect for anyone who has ever grown up in Manhattan or has lived there for a prolonged period of time.

But GOD DAMN, do I hate New York.  The bottom line is that I am, first and foremost, a kid from the Bay Area.  We're inherently nice people.  If I'm sitting on Muni and some dude starts to take a shit in the car, NO ONE SAYS A DAMN THING.  Because really, who are we to judge?  Dude, probably really has to go.  All power to him.  But you know what really pisses us off?  Bad manners.  Like seriously, the only time I've ever been involved in a near riot on Muni was when this girl was clamoring away on her laptop with her earphones in on one of the "Senior Benches" and was totally oblivious to the fact that an old woman had just boarded Muni.  People were screaming at her to get her attention and when she finally realized what was up, she quickly got up and apologized profusely.  Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Where was I going with this...

Oh yeah, the US Open.  It's coming up.  And while I used to get really excited about it, I just can't bring myself up for it this year.  Maybe it's because I'm dreading the coronations of Mr. Federer and Ms. Serena.  That might be part of it.  Maybe it's because I hate the timing of having tennis on my continent, that when I'm heading off to work, tennis is just starting.  I really don't know what it is.

But I'm trying to stay positive here.  So here are the things I am looking forward to at the US Open:

• Honey Deuces for everyone!
• Hearing the J-Block get booed.  From my house.
• Pimmy.
• Marin making it to the second week, even though he's given me no reason to hope for this.
• The return of the Glitter Queen.  Please?
• Being absolutely useless at work because of all my scoreboard checking.
• Further adventures from the Coconut.  It's New York. So many possibilities...
• Rafa making it to the semifinals.  That would be HUGE.
• Fernando turning in an epic 5 setter that he eventually loses.  But its a beautiful loss.
• Crazy Eyez Fed.  Though something tells me he's all got it locked down now.  Boo.
• Marat drawing A-Rod in the first round and playing a night match on Ashe.  Because I hate myself and want to die.
• Ana making it to the second week.  I'm a KAD, what can I say?
• Masha's return to Ashe.
• Nole withdrawing from a match due to heat exhaustion.  I'm not a hater, I just know what's up.
• Kim Clijsters upsetting either JJ, Venus, Serena, or Lena in the early rounds.
• Sammy Stones' run to the second week. 
• Muzz taking his first Slam by beating Fed in four sets.  You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

But the one thing that would make the USO absolute shite?

Fed taking out A-Rod, Rafa, and Muzz to capture his third straight Slam.

Sigh.  I need to start preparing myself.

So let's hear it folks.  What are you looking forward to?

Because Awesomeness Easily Translates In Any Language

Lots of beautiful tan, white teethed, toe bouncing awesomeness. My favorite part has to be Mo chastising the dude for cussing in front of the ball girl. All class, Mo. All class.

Thanks to GoToTennis for finding this.

Ah, Delusion Can Be Fun.

The burning question I have?  Who's behind this and can I have a bit of what he's smoking?

Thanks to Sabrina for sending it along.

"Thanks, Coach"

Flavia and Boots attempt to play tennis on a football pitch. Hilarity insues. And awesomeness. But more hilarity.  Is Boots not the WTA's dream?  They just keep finding ways to rope her into these promos.  

 

Tuesday OOP

Stadium (from 10.00hrs)
1. Alizé Cornet vs. Samantha Stosur
2. ATP: Davydenko vs. Kendrick
3. ATP: Capdeville vs. Verdasco
4. Alona Bondarenko vs. Amélie Mauresmo
5. Edina Gallovits vs. Caroline Wozniacki (NB 19.00hrs)
6. ATP: Ram vs. Fish

Grandstand (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Dent vs. Kunitsyn
2. Marion Bartoli vs. María José Martínez Sánchez
3. Ioana Raluca Olaru vs. Flavia Pennetta
4. ATP: Robredo vs. Acasuso
5. Craybas/Raymond vs. Jans/Rosolska

Court 1 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Almagro vs. Phau
2. ATP: Hanescu vs. Tipsarevic
3. Anna Chakvetadze vs. Sybille Bammer
4. ATP: Chardy vs. Serra
5. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez vs. Molik/Shaughnessy

Court 2 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Andreev vs. Kim
2. ATP: Cuevas vs. Melzer
3. ATP: Gil vs. Petzschner
4. ATP: Seppi vs. Lu
5. Benesova/Hradecka vs. Dekmeijere/U.Radwanska

Court 3 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Mayer vs. Rochus
2. ATP: Beck vs. Bolelli
3. ATP: Starace vs. Santoro
4. ATP: Marach/Skoch vs. Knowle/Melzer
5. ATP: Butorac/Coetzee vs. Soares/Ullyett

Phew.

It's never easy drawing Jay Z in the first round of a tournament.  But Kuz was able to hold her nerve (kinda) and win in three.  

Singles - First Round
(1/WC) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 61 67(5) 64
(5) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (Q) Roberta Vinci (ITA) 26 62 76(5)
(8) Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) d. Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 64 61
Virginie Razzano (FRA) d. Patty Schnyder (SUI) 63 36 63
Elena Vesnina (RUS) d. Gisela Dulko (ARG) 76(6) 62
Iveta Benesova (CZE) d. (LL) Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 46 62 61
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 63 63
(Q) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) d. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 64 64
(Q) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 36 61 64

Doubles - First Round
Dekmeijere/U.Radwanska (LAT/POL) d. (2) Chuang/Yan (TPE/CHN) 75 46 108
(4) Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR) d. Garbin/Medina Garrigues (ITA/ESP) 62 36 107
Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) d. Niculescu/Olaru (ROU/ROU) 62 36 108

As for the boys, it was biz as yoosh.  Sad to see Marco lose early, though.

Singles - Second Round
[6] S Querrey (USA) d M Gicquel (FRA) 64 67(3) 62

Singles - First Round
S Bolelli (ITA) d C Rochus (BEL) 63 64 
P Starace (ITA) d M Zverev (GER) 63 26 63
[Q] P Cuevas (URU) d A Golubev (KAZ) 63 64
K Kim (USA) d T Gabashvili (RUS) 64 57 63 
B Phau (GER) d B Becker (GER) 26 62 63
R Kendrick (USA) d [Q] F Nielsen (DEN) 63 75
[Q] F Gil (POR) d [WC] M Baghdatis (CYP) 64 63
Y Lu (TPE) d G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 62 62
J Acasuso (ARG) d M Gonzalez (ARG) 61 67(7) 62
[WC] R Ram (USA) d [Q] N Lapentti (ECU) 75 16 76(3)

Doubles - First Round
C Kas (GER) / P Petzschner (GER) d [1] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 75 63
J Chardy (FRA) / F Santoro (FRA) d T Parrott (USA) / F Polasek (SVK) 64 36 10-7

Stop. It.

The dick bump is bad enough, but did they really need the creep smiles on their faces?

Reason 4,253 why the USO is my least favorite slam:  All the media attention on the American players.  New York Magazine's profile on the BryBros.  No, I didn't bother to read it.

Pic This: Does Flavia Have To Cut A Bitch?

Thanks to Steve for catching this.

Principally Hot

Head on over to New Balls, Please for news on Pico's love life.  Michael Buble?  

This guy???

Oh, did I mention she has pictures too?  

Yeah, she does. 

So for all your Pico needs, head over there.

 

Burrito and the Butterfly

With all the chaos of Toronto and Cincy last week this little news item flew under the radar.  The Burrito is leaving Bollitieri's and will join Pavs and Grigor at the Mouratoglou Academy in France. 

Hmmm...one of these things is not like the other....

But Did He Leave The Court?

I didn't get a chance to watch the Toronto final, but thanks to Double Bagel, we get a nice little recap of Mike Joyce's frustrated coaching timeout.

“All right I’m wrong. It’s fine. You do what you want to do.(!!!!!) Everybody knows you’re tired but either you just give in to yourself and get out of here or fight for it.”

Ah, good times.  If only he had dropped a "shitting the pants".  Then all would have been right in the world.

Pic This: Bite Me.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I do when I watch you play.

Chak-er

 

Well you go on with your bad self, girl.

The Yale Open kicked off yesterday with a mild upset, as Chakky took out #4 seed Nads, coming back from a bagel in the first to take the next two sets 76 64.

As for today, A-Rad was under serious threat from Roberta Vinci but came away with a three set win, 76(5) in the third.

Today's OOP:

Stadium (from 10.00hrs)
1. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Roberta Vinci
2. ATP: Nielsen vs. Kendrick
3. ATP: Gil vs. Baghdatis (NB 13.00hrs)
4. Ai Sugiyama vs. Amélie Mauresmo
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Zheng Jie (NB 19.00hrs)
6. ATP: Gicquel vs. Querrey

Grandstand (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Kim vs. Gabashvili
2. Francesca Schiavone vs. Magdalena Rybarikova
3. Patty Schnyder vs. Virginie Razzano
4. ATP: Lapentti vs. Ram
5. Garbin/Medina Garrigues vs. Bondarenko/Bondarenko

Court 1 (from 10.00hrs)
1. Elena Vesnina vs. Gisela Dulko
2. ATP: Phau vs. Becker
3. ATP: Lu vs. García-López
4. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Alisa Kleybanova (NB 15.00hrs)
5. Dekmeijere/U.Radwanska vs. Chuang/Yan

Court 2 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Bolelli vs. Rochus
2. Ekaterina Makarova vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
3. Iveta Benesova vs. Varvara Lepchenko
4. ATP: Parrott/Polasek vs. Chardy/Santoro
5. ATP: Fyrstenberg/Matkowski vs. Kas/Petzschner

Court 3 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Zverev vs. Starace
2. ATP: Golubev vs. Cuevas
3. ATP: González vs. Acasuso
4. Borwell/Kops-Jones vs. Niculescu/Olaru

Runnin' Down A Dream

Nike's cool ad for Rafa.

US Open Favorites. Or Something.

I've made my feelings for Lena known so I won't go through it all again.  But congrats to her for seizing the opportunity to bag her third title of the year in Toronto by beating Masha.  A serveless Masha is a breakable Masha, which will be her downfall at the USO.  But not before she wreaks some havoc through the quarters.  If she gets a favorable draw and the top seed fall early, she has a legitimate shot at the USO title.  

And congrats to TMF, who withstood a challenge from Nole in the second set to take his first Masters title of the season in straight sets.  I think Nole comes out of this tournament with some momentum, as he has to believe that he can beat Rafa in NYC and he can give Fed a run for his money.  The question for me is whether he believes he can beat either of the Andys, which is going to be more of an issue considering he can't be in Rafa's half at the Open.  But a run to the semis would do the kid some good.

As for Fed, he won, he was phenomenal, and in his two matches against Andy and Nole he didn't collapse when the pressure was on late in the second set.  He looks confident and and calm and is playing with clarity.  So that's AWESOME.

They Do Make Nice Pens.

I have mad love for the Pilot G-2 (.5).  They were my pen of choice for college, law school, and the bar.  I actually still have the four empty blue ones from the exam.  Yup, I'm a nerd.  I like my school supplies.

Last USO Series tournament this week in New Haven, as the guys and dolls will play a joint tourney. Let the flirting begin.  

Men's Draw.  Kolya, Fer, Boredo, and Daveed are the top 4 seeds.  Interestingly, Sammy Q can win the USO Series with a win here.  Random.

Women's Draw.  Sveta, Caro, Flavs, and Nads lead the draw, with Sam, Pavs, A-Rad, and Jay=Z among the field.  And poor Sveta.  She takes the last minute wild card and she draws Jay-Z in the first round and could get Kleybs in the second.

And, since it's a tourney right before a Slam, main draw play actually starts today, a Sunday.  Here's the OOP:

Stadium (from 13.00hrs)
1. ATP: Ljubicic vs. Dent
2. Nadia Petrova vs. Anna Chakvetadze
3. ATP: Gicquel vs. Vassallo Arguello

Grandstand (from 13.00hrs)
1. Sybille Bammer vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues
2. ATP: Tipsarevic vs. Fognini
3. Alona Bondarenko vs. Meghann Shaughnessy

Court 1 (from 10.00hrs)
1. Roberta Vinci vs. Camille Pin (Singles Q Final)
2. ATP: Bester vs. Nielsen
3. ATP: Darcis vs. Serra
4. Errani/Pennetta vs. Benesova/Hradecka (NB 16.00hrs)

Court 2 (from 10.00hrs)
1. ATP: Cuevas vs. Rochus
2. Yanina Wickmayer vs. Tsvetana Pironkova (Singles Q Final)
3. ATP: Nieminen vs. Capdeville
4. Husarova/Kirilenko vs. Senoglu/Shvedova

Court 3 (from 10.00hrs)
1. Magdalena Rybarikova vs. Edina Gallovits (Singles Q Final)
2. ATP: Vemic vs. Gil
3. ATP: Istomin vs. Mayer
4. Kondratieva/Lefèvre vs. Cornet/Gallovits

Court C (from 10.00hrs)
1. Varvara Lepchenko vs. Ioana Raluca Olaru (Singles Q Final)
2. ATP: Martirosyan vs. Lapentti (NB 11.00hrs)

Survivor

For all the ups and downs and momentum shifts in the match, Masha/Kleybs was actually a really fun match to watch.  Well, maybe not aesthetically, but tennis-wise, it had its moments.

After the first set it looked like Maria had this in control.  Kleybs looked overwhelmed by her power.  But then the serving woes hit and she dropped the second 64 and fell behind 3-1 in the third.  Kleybs was doing a better job handling Maria's pace and more importantly she was showing off that very perplexing ability of running down balls you would never expect her to.

But then Maria called out Mike Joyce and he seemed to be able to calm her down and give her clarity.  From there, Maria just ground it out and came back to take the last set 64.

She advances to the All-Russian Final against Lena today, who she owns, 8-2.  That said, I don't give her much of a chance against Lena.  But congrats on getting to your first final since the comeback and last night's win means Masha will be seeded at the USO.  Is it weird that I'm kind of bummed about that. I liked the thought of Masha as a floater, taking out top seeds early.  It's not like she's got a chance to win the whole thing anyway.  Might as well make it entertaining.

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send The Real Nole Right Over

Oh, Nole.  You kill me.  Just when I'm ready to write you off you play a match like this and you give me hope again.  Hope that will last at least for another 12 hours until you get your ass handed to you by Fed.  But hope nonetheless.

Really nice match from the Forgotten Falcon today.  Perfectly executed game plan.  And what gave me hope in particular was his ability to step up during key points and hit the ball confidently and dictate play.  That hasn't been the norm over these past few months, when Nole seemed to get too conservative during key moments.  Please, Falcon.  Take this play into NYC.

As for Rafa, his hardcourt season played out better than I would have expected.  He got a good number of matches under his belt, scored some solid wins, and engaged in some pretty tough competitive battles.  So all is good in Rafa world.

Unless it isn't.  Towards the end of the match it looked like Rafa tweaked something.  Possibly an abdominal problem.  Hopefully whatever it is heals in time for NYC.  The healthier the Rafa, the better.

Flying High

Ha.  I had a conversation with a friend this morning and predicted Lena would win.  As I am omniscient, Lena beat Serena in straight sets, 76 61.

Lena played a quality match.  Served well on the big points, ran down a crap load of balls, and painted the lines when she needed to.  She absolutely deserved the win.  Serena was simply outplayed.

But I had to snicker when Cliffy said that his favorites for the Open are Serena, Venus, and Lena.  Uh, first of all, no on Venus.  That's just a stupid pick.  Second, the knock of Lena isn't that she sucks.  We all know she's a solid tennis player who has the technical skill to win a Slam.  But she's a headcase.  Sure she can outperform Serena at a non-Slam event.  Serena didn't look like she cared at all.

But put both of these ladies back on center court in a Slam?  Yeah, the only way Lena's winning a Slam is if someone even headcasier than she is is across the net.  And considering she lost in at the USO to Kuz, I venture to say that there is no one more headcasey than Lena D.

Well, except for Dinara.  But I digress.

That's not to say that Lena doesn't have a good chance in NYC.  But in my opinion, she has no better a chance than Dinara or JJ.  I guess if I had to give my "most likely to win" picks, I'd say Serena, Dina, Lena, and JJ.  But I certainly wouldn't single out Lena as the best of the non-Williamses.

Riker, Meet Picard.

Brain. Cramp.

Not that the match completely turned on it or anything, but WTF, Muzz?  Stopping play to challenge a serve?  IDIOT.

Nice match from Fed, who played contained aggressive tennis.  Not sure what was up with the Muzzard.  Seemed like he couldn't get a shot over the net to save his life in the first set.  Well, that and he had no first serve whatsoever.  So...yeah.  Probably not best for both your groundies and your serve to break down against Fed.  

Pic This: I'm A Horrible Person.

Searching For A Seed

In what was one of Masha's better matches in her comeback, she was able to exact revenge on poor Agi, who beat her at the USO two years ago.  The serve is still wonky but Maria was able to tee off on Agi's puff serves and take advantage of anything short.  Really nice performance from Maria, who got the 62 76 win.  Maria actually came back from 2-5 down in the second set and 0-2 in the tiebreak.  

So the semis will be Pova vs. Kleybs and Lena vs. ReRe.  Uh...Davai!  If Maria can make the final then it's likely she'll be seeded for the USO.  So yes, there is something riding on this tournament.

As a side note: Dear Toronto fans -- Cheering between first and second serves and applauding double faults?  Come on.  

Rafa! Rafa! Rafa!

Awesome.  Just really awesome stuff tonight from Rafa.  Best match he's played yet.  

And thus, we celebrate:

 

Vamos!

"No More Yankee My Wankee!"

 

Wait, what?

This was the one match today that I was actually felt safe predicting.  How the hell did Kleybs pull this off?  Well, one thing that I learned watching her pick Ana apart in Melbourne is that she is (a) surprisingly mobile and (b) surprisingly fit.  

 

 She outlasted JJ in a 3+ hour brawl wherein JJ fought and scrapped to get the first set after being down 5-1 in the tiebreak.  Apparently there were idiot linesmen who were getting calls wrong left and right, but all credit to Kleybs for sticking with JJ and busting the win, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.  Kleybs is one of those players, just like Lucie, who has the weapons to blast you off the court.  Sounds like that's what happened here.  

This is a tough loss for JJ, who looked to be gaining a head of steam into the USO.  It's losses like these that make other players believe that you're always beatable.  Bummer.  I really was looking forward to a Masha/JJ semi and a JJ/Serena final.

You Kneed To Relax, Boys

Aw, poor Gilly.  But he had a great run and I think he's got some confidence back.  Does anyone else get the sense that he's playing tight?  Either from the pressure, lack of confidence, or injury?  He just doesn't seem to be the same smiley Gilles from last year.  Hell, I guess we can say the same for Nole.

Magician, Joker, Entertainer.  Kid got through in straight sets.

He'll face the winner of Big Berd and Rafa.  Here's hoping for a 1, 2, 3, 4 semis.

 

"It's not me, it's you."

I don't know what happened this week but I have completely turned on Lena.  I started the week calling her the Kolya of the WTA, a player who sneaks through, who I don't mind, and who I generally don't root against or for.  They're just there.  But now?  I'm so over it.  Her matches are hell to watch/follow and I don't even like her game that much.  So yeah, you won.  Feh.

You know what my problem with her is?  She wins but it's never convincing.  Very rarely do I ever say "wow, Elena was just the better player today."  Her game just reeks of "whoa, you escaped one there" or the other player choked (which is saying something).  But I very rarely think she wins because she simply took the match. 

But we do have a potentially interesting set of matches for the weekend.  We'll get a rematch tomorrow of the Wimbledon semi between Serena and Elena, and then a possible USO 08 final rematch between Serena and JJ.  And to be honest, I'm pretty stoked for that.

So yeah, don't be stupid ladies.  Bring your game and duke it out. 

GOAT vs. Deuce

Well, Lleyton, at least you made him sweat for this one. Actually it was probably just the heat and humidity of Cincy that caused all that tasty goodness, but you know, you don't have to tell yourself that.  Fed cruised to a 3 and 4 win in an hour and 10 minutes.  It's his 13th straight win over the Lawnmower Man.  Make of that what you will.

So Fed did his part, but what about Andy?  Uh...let's not talk about it.  He beat Apricot in three sets. 

Ok, fine I'll talk about it.  Crap play from Andy generally.  I mean, you really should be needing to fight for a three set win over a Lucky Loser, Deuce.  But Andy did what Andy does and he gutted out the win and basically broke Apricot's spirit.  In case you haven't heard (and seriously, I don't know how you could avoid this news) a 53 shot rally in the second set pretty much broke 'Cot.  He would go on to win only two games after that rally and he looked WIPED.  So once again, Andy "Fitness Freak" Murray outlasted another one.

So we'll get Fed vs. Murray.  6-2 in favor of Muzz, H2H.  This is a big one going into the USO.

Friday OOPs

Stadium (from 11.00hrs)
1. Black/Huber vs. Dushevina/Rodionova
2. Samantha Stosur vs. Elena Dementieva (NB 13.00hrs)
3. Lucie Safarova vs. Serena Williams
4. Alisa Kleybanova vs. Jelena Jankovic (NB 19.30hrs)
5. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Maria Sharapova

Grandstand (from 12.00hrs)
1. Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez vs. Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova
2. Stosur/Stubbs vs. Amanmuradova/Kudryavtseva (NB 15.30hrs - after suitable rest)

En Fuego

Slowly but surely, he's working his way back to form.  Rafa started slowly (literally) against Paulie, eventually finding himself down 4-1.  He looked a step slow and fairly tentative, and Paulie capitalized by jumping on every short ball that Rafa hit.  But then he hit a ridiculous backhand flick passing shot and something seemed to flip.  He got that fire back and the fistpumping and vamosing kicked into high gear.  

I was gchatting with donkeygrooming at the time and she asked what the score was.  I told her Rafa was down 1-4 but he would be fine.  You could see it.  Once he secured the first set 75, the rest was history.  He closed out the match and played well.  I still think he's a step slow and he doesn't trust his legs.  But if he can keep notching some wins he'll be able to work himself out of it.

In the other matches of the evening, Gilles was able to close out on Kolya in three sets, and Big Berd bombed his way to a straight set win.  He'll clash with Rafa tomorrow in what will be a tricky one for Rafa.  Then again, they're all feeling a bit tricky these days, no?

"Shady's back, tell a friend..."

 

Well the evening in Toronto kicked up with an insane thunderstorm/tornado that pretty much foreshadow the things to come.  Luckily everyone was ok (well, not everyone -- there was one fatality) and they had enough Shamewows (TM Sodapop) to clean up the court and resume play.

 

Bepa was all out of sorts during her match with Pova.  Clearly her right ankle was bothering her again.  She couldn't push off on her serve (serving 4 DFs in a game to give away the break, for example) and she couldn't mover particularly well.  Which of course meant she spent much of the match on the verge of tears.  Masha's level would drop in the second and Bepa somehow found herself up a break.  But she dropped the tiebreak and that's all she wrote. I agree with Carrie's assessment: She looks like someone who came back too early from injury.  It's pretty tough to watch.

 

Meanwhile, JJ's found her confidence, her fighting spirit, and more importantly, her game.  At least that's all I assume because there were zero streams for her highly anticipated (at least by about 30 of us) match against Kim.  Kim blitzed her in the first set 61, dropped the second, and then the fun seemed to begin.  JJ was able to claw back from 3-5 down to take the final set 75.  Even though I was rooting for Kim (yeah, I'm starting to believe) this is a great win for JJ.  I'm really hoping for a JJ/Serena final with JJ taking the title.  

Leave it to the Glitter Queen to complete fuck up everyone's analysis for the USO.

Lucy In The Sky With Raindrops

Someone ate a Jolly Rancher.  Nice win for Lucie over Jay-Z to follow up her dismantling of Ana last night.  I have a soft spot for Lucie so I'm happy to see her progress.  She'll get Serena next, who took out A-Bond pretty darn easily.

Sammy Stones keeps flexing that fore-cep of hers (seriously, look at that thing!), taking out The Gypsy pretty easily in straight sets.  She gets Lena D in the quarters, who was involved in what was, by all accounts, a horrifically played match with Shahar.

In other matches, Kleybs beat Rezai and will face the winner of the JJ/Kim match, and A-Rad beat K-Bond and will face the winner of Masha/Bepa.

There was a crazy thunderstorm/tornado this evening in Toronto.  Sodapop and Carrie, and other ticket holders were ushered into the VIP hall to wait it out.  Just got a tweet about 20 minutes ago that things have subsided so play should start by 9pm EST.

Do The Hippy Hippy Shake Shake...

The Lawnmower man with a bit of a resurgent run in Cincy.  After beating Sods in the first round, he's now into the quarterfinals with a quality win over Sam.

Tough luck, Q-Boy.  Now rest up for the USO.

Nole's through without much incident.  Ajde, Falcon!

 

And in the battle of dudes dating chicks hotter than them, Muzz dished a bagel on Steps, who was never in the match.  Muzz is starting to walk around with the strut, folks.  

Muzz is still on track to meet Fed in the semis as Fed withstood a challenge by Daveed, who took the first set from Fed and lead 3-1 in the third before pulling a "Ferrer" and just playing like a stone cold idiot.  But you know, congrats to Fed or whatever.

Rafa just took the court and Gilles and Kolya have split sets.