Day 9: The Opening Act

As a prelude to Part 1 of the 2007 US Open's back-to-back "Night of Champions," the Day 9 daytime session was a bit sparse.

Of course, there WERE some noteworthy results before the big night arrived, so...


Love-Love...

*2007 MEN'S SLAM QUARTERFINALISTS*
[PLAYERS...before Nadal/Ferrer SF]
4...ROGER FEDERER / SUI
3...NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO / RUS
3...NOVAK DJOKOVIC / SRB
3...Rafael Nadal / ESP
3...ANDY RODDICK / USA
2...TOMMY HAAS / GER
2...CARLOS MOYA / ESP
2...Tommy Robredo / ESP
1...Igor Andreev / RUS
1...Marcos Baghdatis / CYP
1...Tomas Berdych / CZE
1...Guillermo Canas / ARG
1...JUAN IGNACIO CHELA / ARG
1...Juan Carlos Ferrero / ESP
1...Mardy Fish / USA
1...Richard Gasquet / FRA
1...Fernando Gonzalez / CHI
[NATION]
9...Spain
4...Russia
4...Switzerland
4...United States
3...Serbia
2...Argentina
2...Germany
1...Chile
1...Czech Republic
1...Cyprus
1...France

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Love-15...

*DAY 9...BY THE NUMBERS*
0... the answer that most people would give to the question, "How many other Cypriot tennis players can you name other than Marcos Baghdatis?" Well, after today you might be able to say "one." Cyprus' Andrew Thomas upset #6-seed Jonathan Eysseric 5-7/7-5/6-4 in the 2nd Round of Boys competition.
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1... number of matches Polona Hercog played before losing after Backspin's mention yesterday that she could last a while in the Girls competition. She lost today to Slovak Kristina Kucova 6-0/4-6/6-1. Nice to see I've still got the ol' touch.
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2...the number of career slams won by the two former players who met in Champions action at the Open today, '98 Wimbledon winner Jana Novotna and '97 Roland Garros champ Iva Majoli. Novotna's victory was the culmination of the effort of a career that had always come up just short of her slam goals, while Majoli's surprise win prevented Martina Hingis from winning a true Grand Slam that season. On Day 9, Novotna won 6-2/6-4.
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3... the number of Top 5 Girls seeds that have already been eliminated by either Australian or New Zealand teens. Today, Kiwi Sacha Jones took out #5-seed Ksenia Pervak of Russia, 5-7/7-5/6-3.

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15-30...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF - #5 Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang TPE/TPE d. #16 Bethanie Mattek/Sania Mirza USA/IND 6-3/3-6/6-4.
...still, Mattek and Mirza provided everyone with loads of entertainment the last nine days.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: MIXED DOUBLES SF - Victoria Azarenka/Max Mirnyi BLR/BLR vs. #3 Zi Yan/Mark Knowles CHI/BAH.
...this one will last into the night. It should be noted that Azarenka/Mirnyi are playing for their second slam final appearance this season after being RU in Oz in January.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: MIXED DOUBLES SF - Meghann Shaughnessy/Leander Paes USA/IND d. Liezel Huber/Jamie Murray USA/GBR 6-7/7-6 [10-5].
...now the debate will begin about whether Huber gets a spot on the American Olympic team next year in Beijing. Shaughnessy, by the way, is still alive in the Women's Doubles QF with Corina Morariu.

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30-30...

*2007 US OPEN QUARTERFINALISTS*
[WOMEN + MEN NATIONS]
3...Russia
3...United States
2...Serbia
2...Spain
1...Argentina
1...Belgium
1...Germany
1...Hungary
1...Israel
1...Switzerland

*2007 SLAM QUARTERFINALISTS*
[WOMEN + MEN NATIONS]
12...Russia
10...United States
9....Spain
7....Serbia
5....Czech Republic
5....Switzerland
4....Belgium
2....Argentina
2....France
2....Germany
2....Israel
1....Chile
1....Cyprus
1....Hungary
1....Netherlands

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

*MEN'S DOUBLES SF*
#10 Aspelin/Knowle (SWE/AUT) v. Benneteau/Mahut (FRA/FRA)
#5 Hanley/Ullyett (AUS/ZIM) v. #9 Dlouhy/Vizner (CZE/CZE)
*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
Azarenka/Mirnyi (BLR/BLR) or #3 Yan/Knowles (CHN/BAH) vs. Shaughnessy/Paes (USA/IND)

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Deuce...

*QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS*
[MEN]
#1 Federer/SUI vs. #5 Roddick/USA
#4 Davydenko/RUS vs. #10 Haas/GER
#17 Moya/ESP vs. #3 Djokovic/SRB
#20 Chela/ARG vs. #2 Nadal/ESP or #15 Ferrer/ESP

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Ad...

*FOR-WHAT-GOOD-IT'LL-DO QF PICKS*
Federer def. Roddick in 3 sets
...though maybe Roddick will sneak out a tie-break win one of the first two sets.
Davydenko def. Haas in 5 sets
...it's such an easy joke, but I don't care. Bet on it!
Djokovic def. Moya in 3 sets
...but he'd better not let this one last TOO long or he might not survive to play another day.
Nadal/Ferrer def. Chela in 3/4 sets
...3 if it's Nadal, 4 if it's Ferrer.

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MATCH, "Yes, the Night of Champions is just too big to have to be included along with the EVERYDAY events of the ninth day of a grand slam..." plus, with the long and exciting "Opening Act" that was the Djokovic-Monaco 4th Round match (the Serb is going to wear himself out again before he can face Nadal in the SF, isn't he?), this could turn out to be a VERY long night, so... this Daily Backspin is to be continued.




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)
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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 9.