Day 11: "Serbia's Got Talent"

Hmmm, let's see. What happened on Day 11 that we'll remember long after this tournament has packed up and gone away for another year?

David Ferrer advancing to his first slam semifinal? Nah. A pair of Belarussians becoming this year's first US Open champions? Nope. Novak Djokovic beating Carlos Moya and then putting on an exhibition of "Serbia's Got Talent" with some on-court impressions of Maria Sharapova and Rafa Nadal? Bingo.

And who would've ever thought that Justin Gimelstob's post-match on-court interview of his conqueror Andy Roddick could be topped?

He might not win his first grand slam title on Sunday in New York, though his win on Thursday at least helps what remains of the men's competition to retain at least a small amount of suspense and not have the trophy ENTIRELY conceded to Roger Federer's trophy's case before the SF are even contested, but Djokovic has most definitely become a fan-favorite and star over the past two weeks.


Love-Love...

*HENIN vs. V.WILLIAMS*
01 Berlin 3rd - Henin 6-1/6-4
01 Wimbledon F - Williams 6-1/3-6/6-0
01 New Haven QF - Williams 6-3/5-7/6-2
02 Gold Goast F - Williams 7-5/6-2
02 Antwerp F - Williams 6-3/5-7/6-3
02 A.Island F - Williams 2-6/7-5/7-6
02 Wimbledon SF - Williams 6-3/6-2
03 Australian SF - Williams 6-3/6-3

*KUZNETSOVA vs. CHAKVETADZE*
05 Eastbourne 3rd - Kuznetsova 1-6/6-4/7-6
06 Warsaw SF - Kuznetsova 6-1/6-1

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Love-15... Night 11 was the final scheduled night session on Ashe at this US Open, except for the women's final to be played under the lights on Saturday night. The rundown of this year's winners and losers:

*NIGHT 1*
Venus Williams def. Kira Nagy
Serena Williams def. Angelique Kerber
*NIGHT 2*
Maria Sharapova def. Roberta Vinci
Andy Roddick def. Justin Gimelstob
*NIGHT 3*
Serena Williams def. Maria Elena Camerin
Roger Federer def. Paul Capdeville
*NIGHT 4*
Maria Sharapova def. Casey Dellacqua
James Blake def. Fabrice Santoro
*NIGHT 5*
Venus Williams def. Alona Bondarenko
Rafael Nadal def. Janko Tipsarevic
*NIGHT 6*
Shahar Peer def. Nicole Vaidisova
James Blake def. Stefan Koubek
*NIGHT 7*
Justine Henin def. Dinara Safina
Novak Djokovic def. Juan Martin Del Potro
*NIGHT 8*
Anna Chakvetadze def. Tamira Paszek
Roger Federer def. Feliciano Lopez
*NIGHT 9*
Justine Henin def. Serena Williams
David Ferrer def. Rafael Nadal
*NIGHT 10*
Venus Williams def. Jelena Jankovic
Roger Federer def. Andy Roddick
*NIGHT 11*
Novak Djokovic def. Carlos Moya

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15-15...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: MIXED DOUBLES FINAL - Victoria Azarenka/Max Mirnyi BLR/BLR def. Meghann Shaughnessy/Leander Paes USA/IND - 6-4/7-6.
...Shaughnessy/Paes failed to send this first 2007 Open final to a deciding super tie-break despite holding four set points in the 2nd, as Azarenka followed up her Round of 16 singles result with her first slam title.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF - #5 Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang TPE/TPE def. Agnes Szavay/Vladimira Uhlirova HUN/CZE - 6-2/7-6.
...the Oz Open's Doubles RU, and the Doubles revelations of the season, get another shot at their first grand slam title.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: GIRLS SINGLES 3rd Rd. - Oksana Kalashnikova/GEO def. Simona Halep/ROU - 7-5/6-4.
...is another eastern European nation starting to stir? Remember, Georgian Anna Tatishvili has already made a few inroads herself.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #4: GIRLS SINGLES 3rd Rd. - #8 Lauren Albanese/USA def. #10 Ksenia Lykina/RUS - 6-3/2-6/6-4.
...Albanese, who got a main draw win as a WC a year ago, is the lone remaining American junior alive in Girls or Boys singles. In junior doubles, only Kristy Frilling & Asia Muhammad remain in the Girls SF.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #5: CHAMPIONS SINGLES - Martina Navratilova/USA def. Jana Novotna/CZE - 5-7/7-5 [10-8].
...no reports on whether Jana cried on the shoulder of royalty afterward.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #6: GIRLS SINGLES 3rd Rd. - Jessica Moore/AUS def. Coco Vandeweghe/USA - 6-4/4-6/6-3.
...Coco, we hardly knew ye. *sniff*

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30-15...

*COMBINED FINAL FOURS BY NATION*
[MEN'S & WOMEN'S SINGLES]
3...Russia (Chakvetadze, Davydenko, Kuznetsova)
1...Belgium (Henin)
1...Serbia (Djokovic)
1...Spain (Ferrer)
1...Switzerland (Federer)
1...USA (V.Williams)

*2007 MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS*
AO: Elena Likhovtseva/Daniel Nestor (RUS/CAN)
RG: Nathalie Dechy/Andy Ram (FRA/ISR)
WI: Jelena Jankovic/Jamie Murray (SRB/GBR)
US: Victoria Azarenka/Max Mirnyi (BLR/BLR)

=============================
40-15...

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#7 Dechy/Safina (FRA/RUS) vs. #5 Chan/Chuang (TPE/TPE)
*GIRLS SINGLES QF*
#1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS v. Kristina Kucova/SVK
Oksana Kalashnikova/GEO v. Sacha Jones/NZL
#7 Ksenia Milevskaya/BLR v. Jessica Moore/AUS
#8 Lauren Albanese/USA v. #2 Urszula Radwanska/POL
*BOYS SINGLES QF*
#1 Uladzimir Ignatik/BLR v. #11 Thomas Fabbiano/ITA
Jerzy Janowicz/POL v. #5 Greg Jones/AUS
Daniel Evans/GBR v. #3 Matteo Trevisan/ITA
#8 Roman Jebavy/CZE v. #15 Ricardas Berankis/LTU
*GIRLS DOUBLES SF*
Misaki Doi/Kurumi Nara (JPN/JPN) v. #3 Oksana Kalashnikova/Ksenia Lykina (GEO/RUS)
Kristy Frilling/Asia Muhammad (USA/USA) v. #2 Ksenia Milevskaya/Urszula Radwanska (BLR/POL)
*BOYS DOUBLES SF*
#1 Uladzimir Ignatik/Roman Jebavy (BLR/CZE) v. #6 Jonathan Eysseric/Jerome Inzerillo (FRA/FRA)
Grigor Dimitrov/Vasek Pospisil (BUL/CAN) v. #2 Stephan Donald/Greg Jones (AUs/AUS)

=============================
40-30...

*SEMIFINAL MATCH-UPS*
[MEN]
#1 Federer/SUI vs. #4 Davydenko/RUS
#3 Djokovic/SRB vs. #15 Ferrer/ESP

*FOR-WHAT-GOOD-IT'LL-DO SF PICKS*
Federer def. Davydenko in 3 sets
...why not do it once more for old time's sake? Bet on it!
Djokovic def. Ferrer in 4 sets
...Mr. Fantastovic gets his shot against King Roger. Hmmm, would he dare to do an impression of HIM?

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MATCH, "Where was all this tennis broadcasting intelligence before now?..." No matter, it's nice to see Bud Collins get yet another job on the Tennis Channel after being left out in the cold by NBC this summer. At least he won't consistently make light of the prospects of a women's slam SF pitting the world's #4 (a US Open champ just three years ago) and #6 players against each other, as has been the case with a certain announcer on USA Network over the last twenty-four hours.




TOP QUALIFIER: Alina Jidkova / RUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Maria Sharapova / RUS
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Justine Henin / BEL
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #29 Samantha Stosur / AUS
UPSET QUEENS: Russians
REVELATION LADIES: Ukrainians
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: A.Cornet/FRA & E.Makarova/RUS (+WC A.Rolle/USA) to 3rd Rd.
IT GIRL: Agnieszka Radwanska / POL
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Vera Zvonareva / RUS
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
SPECIAL: CRASH & BURN- Maria Sharapova / RUS
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 11.