Day 8: All Champions Eve

Time to take a deep breath, for we may need all of them we can spare one day from now.

It's less than twenty-four hours before the BIG NIGHT, when Justine Henin and Serena Williams face off in their third QF slam dance of 2007. So, it's time for a little historical perspective. Between them, they own 14 slam singles crowns and have made 20 appearances in slam finals. They've been ranked #1 for a combined total of 138 weeks (more than two and a half years) since Williams became the first of the two to reach the top ranking in July '02, and claimed 63 tour singles titles during their careers.

**JUSTINE vs. SERENA**
01 US 4th - Serena 7-5/6-0
01 YEC QF - Serena 6-3/7-6
02 Berlin F - Justine 6-2/1-6/7-6
02 Rome F - Serena 7-6/6-4
02 Leipzig SF - Serena 6-4/6-2
03 Charleston F - Justine 6-3/6-4
03 Roland Garros SF - Justine 6-2/4-6/7-5
03 Wimbledon SF - Serena 6-3/6-2
07 Miami F - Serena 0-6/7-5/6-3
07 Roland Garros QF - Justine 6-4/6-3
07 Wimbledon QF - 6-4/3-6/6-3
07 US QF - ???

Career meeting #12 isn't necessarily for all the US Open marbles, but it sure feels like something close... especially if Venus were to have an off night against Jelena Jankovic on Wednesday.

Okay, all together now. Breath in... and out. Breath in... and out. Repeat several times between now and Tuesday night and MAYBE everyone will be fully prepared for a safe evening of tennis viewing of a match between the two most successful women's champions (or at least two of the three, but since #3 is also named Williams it's all right to cheat a little, right?) of their generation.

Let the countdown begin.


Love-Love...

*2007 WOMEN'S SLAM QUARTERFINALS*
[PLAYER]
4...SERENA WILLIAMS
3...ANNA CHAKVETADZE
3...JUSTINE HENIN
3...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
3...Nicole Vaidisova
2...Ana Ivanovic
2...JELENA JANKOVIC
2...SHAHAR PEER
2...Maria Sharapova
2...VENUS WILLIAMS
1...Marion Bartoli
1...Kim Clijsters
1...Martina Hingis
1...Michaella Krajicek
1...Lucie Safarova
1...AGNES SZAVAY
[NATION]
8...Russia
6...United States
4...Belgium
4...Czech Republic
4...Serbia
2...Israel
1...France
1...Hungary
1...Netherlands
1...Switzerland

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Love-15... with "Miss Opportunity" waiting to be awarded to whichever player eventually reaches the women's final from the bottom half of the draw, A-Rad officially grabs the "It Girl" prize for her draw-changing 3rd Round upset of Maria Sharapova. And on a related note, the Open's "Special" award goes to the Supernova for her early "Crash & Burn" exit.

*2007 "IT GIRL" WINNERS*
Australian: Shahar Peer / ISR
Roland Garros: Ana Ivanovic / SRB
Wimbledon: Ana Ivanovic / SRB
US Open: Agnieszka Radwanska / POL

*2007 SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS*
Wimbledon (Zombie Queen): Venus Williams / USA
US Open (Crash & Burn): Maria Sharapova / RUS

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15-15...

*DAY 8...BY THE NUMBERS*
2...the number of players who've retired against Andy Roddick at this year's Open after 4th Round opponent Tomas Berdych did so at 7-6/2-0 today due to breathing difficulties.
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3... number of match points held by James Blake in his five-set, 4-6/6-4/3-6/6-0/7-6 loss in the 4th Round to Tommy Haas. Sure, Haas served his way out of difficulty, but it'll be difficult to view this one as anything other than a lost opportunity after the American held a two sets to one lead.
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5... games Agnieszka Radwanska won in her Round of 16 match against Shahar Peer two days after defeating defending champ Maria Sharapova. The Corporal advanced to her second slam QF of 2007 by a 6-4/6-1 score.
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13-1... Roger Federer's career record against quarterfinal opponent Andy Roddick, who he'll beat, err, I mean meet on Wednesday night after Venus plays Jankovic.
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37-of-38... the number of points won by Federer on his own serve to close out the match against Feliciano Lopez on Night 8. You know, it truly is amazing sometimes to watch Federer's game shift into another gear just when the match momentum threatens to give his opponent a distinct advantage. After playing about as well as he could for nearly two sets, Lopez actually led 6-3/4-4 and found himself in a 30-30 game on Federer's serve. Two points away from seeing his opponent serve for a two-set lead, Federer held serve, broke Lopez to take the 2nd set, then erased a Love-40 deficit on his own serve in the opening game of the 3rd to begin a streak of 35 consecutive service points won. He advanced by a 3-6/6-4/6-1/6-4 scoreline, proving once again just why he's Roger Freakin' Federer.

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15-30...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: WOMEN'S DOUBLES 3rd Rd. - #16 Bethanie Mattek/Sania Mirza USA/IND d. #2 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur USA/AUS - 2-6/7-5/7-5.
...hey, Bethanie is actually making headlines with her TENNIS, as the Women's Doubles draw is now missing its #1 AND #2-seeded teams. Next up for Mattek/Mirza is #5 Chan/Chuang.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: MEN'S DOUBLES QF - #10 Simon Aspelin/Julien Knowle SWE/AUT d. #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan USA/USA - 7-5/6-4.
...the only top-seeded team to reach the QF in any of the three doubles draws, the Bryan brothers are no more.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Mixed Doubles QF - Meghann Shaughnessy/Leander Paes USA/IND d. Justin Gimelstob/Ashley Harkleroad USA/USA - 6-3/6-4.
...okay, NOW he's done. Be sure to catch Justin soon on USA Network, or ESPN, or CBS, or the Tennis Channel, or...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #4: Girls Singles 1st Rd. - Polona Hercog/SLO d. #6 Julia Cohen/USA - 6-3/6-2.
...there's probably no player in the Girls draw on more of a roll than Hercog, so it wouldn't be a shock to see her going a long way in this thing.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #5: Girls Singles 1st Rd. - Jessica Moore/AUS d. #3 Madison Brengle/USA - 6-4/6-2.
...payback for Brenglefly reaching the Oz Girls final? Either way, this makes two big junior wins by the Aussie girls after Tyra Calderwood's win over #4-seeded Nikola Hofmanova on Day 7.

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30-30... while everyone's attention was on New York City, Russian Anna Lapushchenkova won yet another $50K event in Moscow over the weekend.
=============================
40-30...

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#13 Morariu/Shaughnessy (USA/USA) v. #6 Peschke/Stubbs (CZE/AUS)
#3 Srebotnik/Sugiyama (SLO/JPN) v. #7 Dechy/Safina (FRA/RUS)
Foretz/Shvedova (FRA/RUS) v. #14 Szavay/Uhlirova (HUN/CZE)
#5 Chan/Chuang (TPE/TPE) v. #16 Mattek/Mirza (USA/IND)
*MIXED DOUBLES SF*
Azarenka/Mirnyi (BLR/BLR) v. #3 Yan/Knowles (CHN/BAH)
Huber/J.Murray (USA/GBR) v. Shaughnessy/Paes (USA/IND)

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Deuce...

*QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS*
[WOMEN]
#1 Henin vs. #8 S.Williams/USA
#3 Jankovic/SRB vs. #12 V.Williams/USA
#4 Kuznetsova/RUS vs. Szavay/HUN
#6 Chakvetadze/RUS vs. #18 Peer/ISR

*FOR-WHAT-GOOD-IT'LL-DO QF PICKS*
Henin def. S.Williams in 2
...there's really no good pick here, considering who you'd be predicting to lose. So, I'll go with Henin, maybe in two tie-breaks, just because I'm not going to risk picking against her again and end up being wrong.
V.Williams def. Jankovic in 2
...sometimes, just when you think she's rolling, Venus will have a bad day with her forehand and it's all over. Maybe this'll be one of those days, but probably not.
Szavay def. Kuznetsova in 3
...in a rematch of New Haven, because Szavay was leading the Contessova in the final a little over a week ago even while she was battling a back injury. Ultimately, she retired in the 2nd set after winning the 1st.
Chakvetadze def. Peer
...for no good reason, really. But I guess I'd pick the player who wins here to reach the final. Well, unless Szavay defeats Kuznetsova and looks REALLY good doing it, that is. It HAS been the "Late Szummer of Szavay," remember.

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*NOTABLE UNDEFEATED OPEN NIGHT MATCH RECORDS*
20-0...Pete Sampras
16-0...Martina Navratilova
14-0...Chris Evert
10-0...Maria Sharapova (07: 2-0)
9-0....Roger Federer (07: 2-0)
8-0....Jim Courier
7-0....Pam Shriver
6-0....Tracy Austin

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MATCH, "A Night for the Ages?"... well, that very well MIGHT be amongst the headlines after Tuesday's night session on Ashe Stadium. With Rafa Nadal's career slam titles added to that of Williams and Henin, the court will play host to the winners of seventeen slams in the span of a few hours on Night 9. Yeah, yeah... it'll play host to the winners of EIGHTEEN slams on Night 10, but it's sort of unbalanced since Federer will be in the mix then.

Everyone knows about the potential greatness of the Serena-Justine match, but what about Nadal-Ferrer? Many people had David Ferrer winning this potential match-up before the tournament, after all. Could we get a two-for-the-price-of-one deal to end Day 9? Could we get two classic battles that combine for a total of eight sets and last into the early morning hours? Oh, to dream.




TOP QUALIFIER: Alina Jidkova / RUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Maria Sharapova / RUS
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
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 8.