Day 4: 32 to Tango

Wow, how great is it to have a grand slam that hasn't seen its opening week decimated by Mother Nature?

Right on schedule, we're down to the final thirty-two women in the draw. And, shocker, nearly a third of them are Russians... including two Marias and two Veras, plus a single Ekaterina. But that's not all.

We've also got THREE African-Americans -- two sisters and a wild card. There's a Pastry qualifier and AMG, too. A mommy and a teen -- but not one in the same -- from Austria. A Pole, and a hungry teenager from Hungary. "La Petit Taureau," and "La Trufflette." Tomas Berdych's girlfriend, and a Czech Dynamova with one less usable racquet in her bag than she did yesterday. Two Ukrainians, and a two-headed monster from Serbia. There's a Swiss Mrs. and a Swiss Miss-Who-Was-Almost-a-Mrs., just to even things out. A Princess. A Corporal. And a Belarussian, too.

And with all those, you get 32.

*WOMEN'S BOTTOM HALF (16/32) - BY NATION*
5...Russia (Chakvetadze, Kirilenko, Kuznetsova, Petrova, Sharapova)
2...Switzerland (Hingis, Schnyder)
1...Austria (Paszek)
1...Belarus (Azarenka)
1...Czech Republic (Vaidisova)
1...Hungary (Szavay)
1...India (Mirza)
1...Israel (Peer)
1...Poland (A.Radwanska)
1...Spain (Medina-Garrigues)
1...Ukraine (Vakulenko)

*WOMEN'S FINAL 32 - BY NATION*
10...Russia
3....United States
2....Austria
2....Czech Republic
2....France
2....Serbia
2....Switzerland
2....Ukraine
1....Belarus
1....Belgium
1....Hungary
1....India
1....Israel
1....Poland
1....Spain

Hmmm, no Italians... guess they're focused on defending their Fed Cup title, huh?

On to the Round of 16.


Love-Love...

=EARLY-ROUND (1st/2nd) AWARDS=
TOP PLAYERS:
1. Maria Sharapova / RUS
2. Justine Henin / BEL
3. Venus Williams / USA
...the Supernova hasn't been perfect, but she's only lost two games in two matches.
RISERS:
Nicole Vaidisova /CZE & Julia Vakulenko / UKR
SURPRISES:
Ahsha Rolle / USA & Ekaterina Makarova / RUS
VETERAN:
Venus Williams / USA
FRESH FACES
Agnes Szavay / HUN & Alize Cornet / FRA
DOWN:
Daniela Hantuchova / SVK & Tatiana Golovin / FRA
COMEBACK:
Vera Zvonareva / RUS

=MATCHES=
1st: (WC) Ahsha Rolle d. #17 Tatiana Golovin
...6-4/1-6/6-2. The spirit of Althea Gibson was with her.
1st: Julia Vakulenko d. #9 Daniela Hantuchova
...6-4/3-6/6-1. Amazing what a little better health can do for Julia, huh?
2nd: (Q) Ekaterina Makarova d. #28 Ai Sugiyama
...6-4/4-6/6-2. Yep, another Hordette has been born.

=FASHION DO's=
1. Sharapova's Big Apple red dress
2. Serena's little black dress
3. Venus' eleVen designs
4. The Man in Black
=FASHION DON'Ts=
1. Bethanie... come on, girl
2. Serena's pesky bow
3. Sania's nose ring... but only because it might give Mattek ideas (they ARE doubles partners, after all)

=============================
Love-15... See! See! You actually schedule a night match that might be a good one and, glory be, it actually is. After seven consecutive straight sets matches under the lights on Ashe, Fabrice Santoro (who tied Andre Agassi's record of 61 career grand slam appearances with this trip to the US Open) came along and put on a show along with James Blake to give us the match of the tournament thus far.

The crafty/pesky/scrambling/fun as hell, 34-year old Frenchman battled cramps and father time on Night 4, but it didn't prevent him from putting a big scare into the #6 seed, stretching Blake to five sets before finally succumbing 6-4/3-6/6-2/4-6/6-4 in a match that lasted past midnight (finally!).

It was Blake's first five-set win in ten career attempts and, who knows, might just give him the confidence in high-pressure circumstances that will push him into a possible SF match against Roger Federer. Of course, what might happen THEN probably wouldn't be pretty based on past history... but why cry over future spilt milk?

Hmmmm... tomorrow brings us another of those hoped-for night matches, as Janko Tipsarevic faces Rafael Nadal under the lights. Could we have another post-midnight dance like the one we had with Blake and Santoro on Night 3? It might be too much to expect, but we can always hope.
=============================
15-15... every time you turn around, there are new Russians making names for themselves at a slam. At this US Open, lesser-ranked Russians knocked off three seeded players in the first two rounds. Some of the Hordettes and the victims which won them the "Upset Queens" award:

Vera Dushevina (1st -#25 M.Santangelo/ITA, 2nd-E.Bychkova/RUS)

Maria Kirilenko (2nd-#22 K.Srebotnik)

Ekaterina Makarova (1st-J.Schruff, 2nd-#28 Ai Sugiyama)

Anastassia Rodionova (1st-O.Savchuk)

*2007 UPSET QUEENS*
Australian: Czechs
Roland Garros: Romanians
Wimbledon: Austrians
US Open: Russians

Of course, if we were looking to crown a single "Upset QUEEN," it's probably Ahsha Rolle, the American wild card who's upset #17 Tatiana Golovin and Karin Knapp. Next up is Dinara Safina in the 3rd Round.
=============================
30-15... Ukraine is starting to make some noise as another of those eastern European "tennis nations that could." Alona Bondarenko and Julia Vakulenko have advanced to the 3rd Round (Alona's sister Kateryna missed out after losing to Dinara Safina in the 2nd). Along with the likes of Romania, Belarus, Poland and a few others, Ukraine is one of the nations to put on the "watch list." At the very least, matching the likes of France and the Czech Republic for the number of women remaining in the final 32 is enough to grab this slam's "Revelation Ladies" award.

*2007 REVELATION LADIES*
Australian: Belarussians
Roland Garros: Italians
Wimbledon: French
US Open: Ukrainians

Apologies to the Austrians, Sybille Bammer and Tamira Paszek, who just missed out on this award at Roland Garros, too. But, by this time, final 32 mom Bammer isn't so much of a revelation anymore, although she's sure to go down as the "Surprise Player" of the year on the tour.

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

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Men's Singles 2nd Rd. - (WC) Donald Young/USA walkover #13 Richard Gasquet/FRA.
...the Frenchman pulls out with a viral infection. What, no comments about how "it'll tarnish his career forever?"

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's Doubles 1st Rd. - #6 Kveta Peschke & Rennae Stubbs CZE/AUS def. Olga Poutchkova & Olga Govortsova RUS/BLR - 6-4/6-2.
...so, two Olgas are NOT better than one. Of course, considering they combined for one win in Singles, one Olga wasn't much better than two, either.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Women's Singles 2nd Rd. - Tamira Paszek/AUT def. #24 Francesca Schiavone/ITA - 6-3/7-5.
...the '06 US Open Girls RU to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reaches the final 32 in the Main Draw, while her conqueror a year ago failed to make it through qualifying.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #4: Women's Singles 2nd Rd. - #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS def. Camille Pin/FRA - 6-3/4-6/6-0.
...the slams of '07 have just been a case "close, but not nearly enough" for Mademoiselle Pin.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #5: Women's Singles 2nd Rd. - #13 Nicole Vaidisova/CZE def. Flavia Pennetta/ITA - 6-2/7-6.
...the old racquet-breaking Dynamova made a reappearance, but her singular return from a dual with mono has been pretty successful so far. Oh, and that potential first career match-up with the Supernova is still on schedule, too.

=============================
MATCH, "Bethanie Mattek returned to the court today for a Doubles match with Sania Mirza. I wonder what they talked about between points?"...



Sania: "No, Beth. For the last time -- I'm not going to let you borrow my nose ring."

Bethanie: "Oh, come on, Sania. I mean, it's not like I'm going to wear it in my nose or anything. No one else will even see it."

Sania: (shaking her head) "Yeah, you know, that's what scares me." (walks away)

Bethanie: "I'll wash it before I give it back to you... I promise."

Oh, Bethanie.





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 QUALIFIER STANDING: (vacant)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 4.

Read more...

Day 3: The Man in Black

It's tempting to say that the top half of the Men's draw isn't as top heavy as the corresponding half of the Women's draw, but then Roger Federer comes out on Night 3 and shows why his presence in the top half is worth more than that of all those women -- Justine, Serena, Venus, Jelena and Ana -- combined.



The Man in Black put on quite a show in his straight sets win against Paul Capdeville on Ashe Stadium, but what happened earlier in the day was potentially the biggest news so far in the Men's draw, as Novak Djokovic could likely have been caught smiling privately to himself today after Rafael Nadal struggled past wild card Alun Jones in a 1st Round match.

With both knees taped, and wincing in pain throughout, Rafa's physical brand of tennis once again makes one wonder if he and the US Open just aren't a match made in tennis heaven. At the end of a long summer, especially after some odd scheduling that possibly didn't allow him to properly heal the knee injury he suffered in the Wimbledon final, it's difficult seeing Nadal finding a way to make it to the end of this event for an eleventh career meeting in a final against Federer. And with him not playing his 1st Round match until Wednesday, Nadal's now faced with an even more time-crunching bind than usual in order to get through the six matches he'd need to win to play on the final Sunday of the tournament.

So, even though he may have been the slight favorite to outlast Nadal and reach the final when play began on Monday anyway, Djokovic will now have all eyes on him and expectations sky-high when he plays his 2nd Round match against Radek Stepanek, and beyond. The bottom half of the men's draw -- as with the women's and Maria Sharapova -- looks to be his to lose.

Not that Djokovic is ever lacking in confidence, but now he has a little bit more evidence beyond just his Roddick-Nadal-Federer sweep in Montreal that says he might be less than two weeks away from getting his shot at the first grand slam title that most everyone now seems to believe is his destiny (if not here, then somewhere... and soon).

Problem is, the Man in Black will likely have something to say about it. And he has a long memory, too. As much as Djokovic remembers what happened in Canada, Federer has tucked it away in a secure corner of his mind. When the time comes, he'll set the memory free and, well, Novak might not want to be in the general vicinity when it happens.


Love-Love... on a day that was more about what ALMOST happened -- Nadal nearly had a real scare, Marat Safin kept one experienced half-step ahead of Frank Dancevic, one of the bigger events that DID happen was Tim Henman managing to take out #27-seed Dmitry Tursunov in the 1st Round of what will be the Brit's final grand slam event (he'll retire after playing Davis Cup at SW19 later this year). One more win over youngster Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and he might even get to face a potentially hobbled Nadal in the 3rd Round.

Hey, maybe ol' Tim has one more big moment left in him... and Ashe at Night would be a nice place to see him try to make it happen, wouldn't it?

Speaking of which, kudos to the schedule-makers for putting the Blake-Santoro match under the lights for Night 4. Hmmm, what shall I wish for next?
=============================
15-Love...

*WOMEN'S TOP HALF (16/32) - BY NATION*
5...Russia (Dementieva, Dushevina, Makarova, Safina, Zvonareva)
3...United States (Rolle, Williams, Williams)
2...France (Bartoli, Cornet)
2...Serbia (Ivanovic, Jankovic)
1...Austria (Bammer)
1...Belgium (Henin)
1...Czech Republic (Safarova)
1...Ukraine (A.Bondarenko)

=============================
30-Love...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Men's Singles 1st Rd. - Teimuraz Gabashvili/RUS def. #7 Fernando Gonzalez/CHI - 6-4/6-1/3-6/5-7/6-4.
...Gonzo's post-Oz final free fall continues.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's Singles 2nd Round - (Q) Ekaterina Makarova/RUS def. #28 Ai Sugiyama/JPN 6-4/4-6/6-2.
...the Russians just keep coming.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Women's Singles 2nd Round - (WC) Ahsha Rolle/USA def. Caroline Wozniacki/DEN - 3-6/6-4/6-3.
...I think it's safe to say that Rolle is going to get the "Surprise" award in Backspin's Early Round Awards tomorrow. Just a hunch.

=============================
Love-40...

*SURVIVING WOMEN'S QUALIFIER/WILD CARDS*
=QUALIFIERS=
Ekaterina Makarova / RUS...to 3rd Round vs. Henin
Alize Cornet / FRA...to 3rd Round vs. Jankovic
Pauline Parmentier / FRA...in 2nd Round (Hingis)
=WILD CARD=
Ahsha Rolle / USA...to 3rd Round vs. Safina

=============================
MATCH, "Is anyone else getting an eerie feeling?"... I mean, after a slow, somewhat indifferent, start against Angelique Kerber on Monday, Serena powered through and won. Maria Elena Camerin made her work in the 1st set tonight, but Williams pushed herself and put away the Italian in straight sets. In Melbourne, Serena slowly worked her way into the tournament and, well, you know how that ended up turning out. Hmmm...




TOP QUALIFIER: Alina Jidkova / RUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): (vacant)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: (vacant)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: (vacant)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: (vacant)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 3. Tomorrow: Early-Round Awards.

Read more...

Day 2: Mercy Mercy, Maria

Maria Sharapova began her quest for a third-time charm of a grand slam title on Night 2 of the US Open. After she nearly bageled Roberta Vinci, it can be said that the crown is still resting fairly easily on the head of the defending champion.



Decked out in her Big Apple red dress, and with enough sparkles on her on-court carry bags to make the sky above the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center jealous, the Supernova was truly the Queen of the Night. And why not? That's all she's ever been, after all. While Venus Williams has won more US Open night matches (18) than any other woman, she HAS lost twice. Sharapova's record is still spotless.

*NOTABLE UNDEFEATED US OPEN NIGHT MATCH RECORDS*
20-0...Pete Sampras
16-0...Martina Navratilova
14-0...Chris Evert
9-0....MARIA SHARAPOVA
8-0....Jim Courier
7-0....Roger Federer
7-0....Pam Shriver
6-0....Tracy Austin

The only thing that prevented a "perfect" Round 1 of Sharapova's title defense attempt was the single game that the Italian won at 6-0/5-0, preventing a scoreline that would have been unfortunate for the world's #51st-ranked woman, who won her first career tour singles title earlier this year. Relieved to have finally gotten on the board just before the buzzer, Vinci actually reacted with more outward joy than Sharapova displayed throughout her single-minded, show-no-mercy destruction of her opponent.

Surely, Yuri will remind her of the no-bagel over the next two days. She wasn't "perfect" on Tuesday night, and even threw in back-to-back double-faults on match point to give father Sharapov something to chew on... which would have otherwise been difficult after a 6-0/6-1 match that lasted all of fifty minutes.

Hey, it works for the Supernova, so who's to argue? Especially since her goal for this Open still calls for seven total match wins.

One down, six to go.


Love-Love... the "Upset Queens" have yet to gain enough steam to have any hard-charging favorites for the honor at the year's final slam, but the Ukrainians (led by Julia Vakulenko & Kateryna Bondarenko) and Russians (Vera Dushevina & Ekaterina Makarova) at least have multiple nominated players that give their contingents a leg up after one round of play.
=============================
15-Love...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's Singles 1st Rd. - Julia Vakulenko/UKR def. #9 Daniela Hantuchova/SVK - 6-4/3-6/6-1.
...finally, the Professional Slam Qualifier (who didn't have to qualify this time around) gets back to her Upsetting the Stars ways. For Wonder Girl, the road after winning title #2 continues to be a disappointment (she even lost her Top 10 ranking to Marion Bartoli earlier this week).

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's Singles 1st Rd. - #13 Nicole Vaidisova/CZE def. Alla Kudryavtseva/RUS - 6-1/6-2.
...mono may have put the Dynamova down for the count for a while, but you'd never know it by this result against the Hordette who nearly took out Venus in the 1st Round at Wimbledon.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Women's Singles 1st Rd. - Casey Dellacqua/AUS def. Yaroslava Shvedova/RUS - 6-3/6-2.
...and as a reward for her accomplishment, the Sheila next gets the Supernova. Hey, maybe she'll get to play under the lights, though.

=============================
30-Love... the race to be last qualifier standing continues, as French Pastry Pauline Parmentier became the fifth women's qualifier (along with one wild card, Ahsha Rolle) to win her 1st Round match when she dispatched Tatjana Malek on Day 2.

So far, eight men's qualifiers/wild cards have advanced, with the rest scheduled to play their 1st Round matches on Day 3.

*MEN'S QUALIFIERS*
Paul Capdeville / CHI
Rik de Voest / RSA
Andrei Pavel / ROU
Philipp Petzschner / GER
Dudi Sela / ISR
*WILD CARDS*
John Isner / USA
Wayne Odesnik / USA
Donald Young / USA

Of note, of course, is that Canada's Frank Dancevic faces #25-seed Marat Safin on Day 3. Dancevic, despite a great US Open Series that saw him reach the final in Indianapolis and the QF in Montreal, had to win his way into the draw in qualifying. He did it, and has the chance to make the biggest splash of any of the qualifiers in either the men's OR women's draw.
=============================
Love-40... while the likes of Venus, Maria and Serena went the stylish route for their US Open outfits, leave it to Bethanie Mattek to try to score points with the garish. The "Amazon" look?



Apparently the outfit worked well enough to distract Madison Brengle, as Mattek won the all-American 1st Round match.
=============================
MATCH, "Gimelstob is always fun, but he's gone now so there shouldn't be any more excuses for not seeing some compelling tennis under the lights, too"...



...stars are nice, but the US Open schedule-makers really need to find a way to field some more competitive matches on the game's biggest stage of the season -- nighttime tennis at Flushing Meadows.

Now, Night 2's Roddick-Gimelstob match gets something of a pass in this situation, for the soon-to-be-retired American "Clown Prince of Tennis" Gimelstob has always been a hoot to watch. Even in tonight's match, he put up a good fight in the opening set and made for fun viewing in the final two. I mean, does it get any better than Gimelstob playfully arguing with the chair umpire to be given a first serve after he'd paused and waited to serve while a group of military personel left their seats in the upper deck of Arthur Ashe Stadium to the applause of the crowd? And what a perfectly Gimelstobian way for him to exit the Open stage -- by managing to find a way to interview his conquering opponent on the court after the match? Seriously, American tennis coverage will be far more fun next year with him around (on whatever network or networks on which he appears).

But, still, he went down in straight sets to Roddick, just as Vinci did to Sharapova earlier. Last night, both Venus and Serena won in straights, as well. On Night 3, Serena will face Maria Elena Camerin and Roger Federer gets Paul Capdeville. Can you say, "six consecutive straights sets matches?"

Of course, the nightly schedule is partially at the mercy of the draw and that highly-seeded stars are usually going to overmatch early round opponents, and you can't expect an Agassi/Baghdatis classic every night. But, really... is there anyone that doesn't think that Night 3's matches won't be blink-and-you'll-miss-them affairs? The focus on stars in the night sessions on Ashe is both expected as well as necessary... but slightly better judgment could be used in order to not waste the great spotlight the Open provides.

Thankfully, there's great potential for some intriguing match-ups in the next two rounds. Blake/Santoro, Nadal/Tipsarevic, Djokovic/Stepanek, Hingis/Azarenka, Federer/Isner and Nadal/Tursunov would be fine additions to the nightttime schedule. Later on in the tournament, we could even see Sharapova/Vaidisova, Ivanovic/V.Williams, Djokovic/Hewitt, Henin/S.Williams and even Federer/Roddick.

Cross your fingers.




TOP QUALIFIER: Alina Jidkova / RUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): (vacant)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: (vacant)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: (vacant)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: (vacant)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 2.

Read more...

Day 1: Respecting Althea... and Venus & Serena

New York City and the US Open provide the perfect stage for tennis storytelling. Night 1 was but another fine example.

The 2007 Open began its first night session on Monday with a tribute to the late tennis great Althea Gibson on the 50th anniversary of the first African-American grand slam champ's maiden US Championship in 1957. Gibson was inducted into the US Open's Court of Champions as a string of successful African-American women (including Aretha Franklin, who gave a rousing rendition of "Respect" to conclude the ceremony) gathered together to celebrate on, quite fittingly, the court named for the first male African-American grand slam champ, fellow trail blazer Arthur Ashe.



Tennis-wise, Night 1 was all about gauging just where the Williams sisters fit into this year's Open. If healthy and determined, as we saw in Melbourne and London, they still have the ability of rip apart even the most stacked of draws. Judging from Venus and Serena's performances on this night, it's hard to tell if either could claim the family's third slam title of '07 in two weeks, but... so far, so good.

Venus, wearing one of her own tennis wear designs, pretty well blew through her overwhelmed opponent, qualifier Kira Nagy. She tossed in a 129 mph serve and, while she won't win this event because of this match, it's surely a better start than the one she had at Wimbledon when she very nearly lost in the 1st Round to Alla Kudryavtseva.



Serena, somewhat indifferent early in the match in her first action since Wimbledon, eventually put away a game Angelique Kerber. In the end, she probably had more trouble with the annoying bow (on her version of the little black dress) that didn't want to stay in place. Serena being Serena, she took care of the problem -- she simply ripped the bow off the dress during a changeover.

What happens from here on out with the sisters is anyone's guess. But they're here, and they'll likely get better as the tournament moves along. That might be the worst news the rest of the draw could ever hope to hear... well, at least the top half of the draw, where both sisters find themselves along with just about every other top contender not named Maria S, that is.

So, on a night honoring the first African-American tennis heroine, the two current ones head into the 2nd Round. In the end, though, one of them might just be writing the postscript to this tournament yet.


Love-Love... it didn't take too long for the first women's seed to fall at this year's US Open. Poor Slingin' Sammy. 17-year old qualifier Alize Cornet handled the Aussie, 6-3/6-2.

*FIRST SEEDS OUT - 2007*
AO: #25 Anabel Medina-Garrigues (1r- E.Vesnina)
RG: #31 Severine Bremond (1r-M.Krajicek)
W: #30 Olga Poutchkova (1r- E.Vesnina)
US: #29 Samantha Stosur (1r- A.Cornet)

=============================
Love-15...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's Singles 1st Rd. - (Q) Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL def. Olga Poutchkova/RUS - 6-3/6-4.
...make that ten straight losses for the Hordette.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Men's Singles 1st Rd. - Max Mirnyi/BLR def. #18 Marcos Baghdatis/CYP - 6-3/7-5/3-6/7-6.
...in this had gone five sets, it could have been a 1st Rounder to remember. But the Ghost of Andre Agassi prevailed, as AA's final victim went down, failing to push the match to a deciding set despite holding a 5-1 lead in the 4th set tie-break.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Men's 1st Rd. - (Q) Philipp Petzschner/GER def. Benjamin Becker/GER 2-6/3-6/6-4/6-4/6-1.
...did someone mention's Andre's ghost? Becker was the final player to defeat Agassi in his career farewell at the Open last year.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #4: Women's Singles 1st Rd. - #27 Vera Zvonareva/RUS def. (Q) Alina Jidkova/RUS - 6-0/6-7/6-0.
...and having a great qualifying run gets you an extra payday and maybe some free towels. Jidkova did overcome being match point down in the 2nd set, not that it mattered as Zvonareva returned to the court from a long injury layoff with a pretty impressive outing.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #5: Women's Singles 1st Rd. - (WC) Ahsha Rolle/USA def. #17 Tatiana Golovin/FRA - 6-4/1-6/6-2.
...that Other Tatiana showed up again here. But take nothing away from Rolle who, on a night that honored African-American females who excelled in their chosen fields, carved out a nice little accomplishment of her own.

=============================
Love-30... the race to be last qualifier standing is on. Winners amongst the Q-Ladies (and wild cards) on Day 1:

*QUALIFIERS*
Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL def. Olga Poutchkova/RUS
Ekaterina Makarova/RUS def. Julia Schruff/GER
Alize Cornet/FRA def. #29 Samantha Stosur/AUS
Petra Cetkovska/CZE def. Jill Craybas/USA
*WILD CARDS*
Ahsha Rolle/USA def. #17 Tatiana Golovin/FRA

=============================
Love-40... for once this season, Jelena Jankovic might not have peaked the week BEFORE a slam... but that means she might have more tricky moments like the ones she had trying to put away Jarmila Gajdosova in their 1st Round match today. Oh, JJ won, but it took her seven match points to finally close out the 6-2/7-6 match. For the player who has a shot at 80 wins this season, timing has not exactly been her strong suit. Maybe that's about to change?
=============================
MATCH, "the reports of the death of American men's tennis may have been greatly exaggerated"... Back in the late 1980's, there was similar talk about the lack of young US men in the tennis pipeline. Then Michael Chang won Roland Garros, and suddenly he was joined by the likes of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier on the grand slam champion's stage. Not that the new American stars will come anywhere close to the career success of that generation, but at least now there appears to be a group of men beginning to emerge from the shadows behind Andy Roddick and James Blake.

On Day 1, 18-year old Donald Young followed up his much-improved results of this summer by notching his first US Open MD win with a fine performance against Chris Guccione. Meanwhile, 6-foot-9 serve machine John Isner took out the #26-seeded Jarkko Nieminen (in a contest that was completed AFTER USA Network signed off its coverage mid-match in order to show "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"... yeah, "criminal" sounds about right. So THAT'S where the ESPN tennis producers who didn't agree with the hiring Bud Collins are moonlighting.)

At least now, when ESPN picks up coverage of some of the slams again in 2008, there'll be some new Americans to focus on (and Sam Querrey, who defeated Blake earlier this summer, gets his shot to be added to the list on Day 2) rather than simply starting up another round table discussion while actual live tennis is being played through the window behind Chris Fowler & Co. And for that we can all be thankful.



More tomorrow... when the Supernova emerges on Night 2, and Justin "The Clown Prince of Tennis" Gimelstob likely will end his grand slam career (he plays Andy Roddick) in a fury of flop sweat and diving flops. Don't worry, though. Gimelstob will be behind more television microphones in the years to come than could fill all of Arthur Ashe Stadium.


TOP QUALIFIER: Alina Jidkova / RUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): (vacant)
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: (vacant)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: (vacant)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: (vacant)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 1.

Read more...

US Preview: The Bizarro Open?

What if they played a US Open with no surprises?

I know, I know. That's about as likely as George W. Bush actually managing to string together four consecutive sentences that don't embarrass any right-thinking American when they realize that THIS simpleton is our "official" representative to the rest of the world. But, just for a moment, imagine if it were so (the Open thing, not Bush... we all know THAT ONE is a hopeless fantasy).

I mean, what if it DID happen?

Unsurprising "chalk" results aren't exactly the norm in Flushing Meadows. After all, we've seen six different women's champions the last six years.

*US OPEN WOMEN'S CHAMPS - 2001-06*
2001 Venus Williams
2002 Serena Williams
2003 Justine Henin-Hardenne
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova
2005 Kim Clijsters
2006 Maria Sharapova

In fact, the last three years have seen six different women reach the final. But, maybe, just maybe, it WILL happen in 2007. I mean, there HAS been some SMIDGEN of form in the WTA's 3Q results, even while the absences and injuries mounted. Six of the ten tournaments were won by the top seeds, as opposed to only eight #1-seeds winning in the previous thirty-four events this season.

Hey, you look for evidence wherever you can find it when you have to do a US Open preview with some sort of historical slant. Go with me here... a very "chalky" Open could be fun, if only for the rarity of it all.

(Plus, after being roundly thumped by a certain Quebec native in our predictions this quarter, I'm effectively throwing up my hands in exasperation and not looking to color "outside the lines" at 2007's final slam... well, at least not TOO much.)

=ROUND OF 16 PREDICTIONS=
#1 Henin d. #17 Golovin
#8 S.Williams d. #20 Safarova
#3 Jankovic d. #14 Dementieva
#12 V.Williams d. #5 Ivanovic (ooh, sorry Ana)
#7 Petrova d. #9 Hantuchova
#4 Kuznetsova d. Azarenka
#6 Chakvetadze d. #24 Schiavone
#2 Sharapova d. #13 Vaidisova (Maria vs. Nicole?! Really?!)

Now, it should be noted that since the Open Era began in 1968, only once have the top four women's seeds all advanced to the semifinals. It happened in 1975, when #1 Chris Evert, #2 Virginia Wade, #3 Martina Navratilova and #4 Evonne Goolagong all made it through (for the record, Wade defeated Goolagong in the final). So...

=QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS=
#1 Henin d. #8 S.Williams
#3 Jankovic d. #12 V.Williams
#4 Kuznetsova d. #7 Petrova
#2 Sharapova d. #6 Chakvetadze

There you go. Chalk, baby! When all else fails, bow down to the WTA computer.

=SEMIFINAL PREDICTIONS=
#1 Henin d. #3 Jankovic
#2 Sharapova d. #4 Kuznetsova

So, if I were to be TRULY straight-laced about all this, I'd surely pick Henin to win it all, right? But I've already picked La Petit Taureau to win at the previous two slams this year, so I'm worried about going that direction again. Even though picking against Justine is usually Backspin Kryponite, I'm figuring what could be a more "bizarro" result than to have the defending US Open champion ACTUALLY DEFEND HER TITLE? After all, there have only been five successful title defenses at the Open in the last twenty years. So...

=FINAL PREDICTION=
#2 Sharapova def. #1 Henin

Of course, after going a "sterling" & "stupendous," 1-of-10 this quarter, I'm not really an authority at the moment (thanks for losing this weekend, Virginie, by the way, just in case I forget to bang you over the head with it later... darn Pastry). So, don't be surprised if this turns out to be the wildest US Open ever recorded and two weeks from the now, when the dust settles, we'll be hailing the new US Open champion... Miss Nadia Petrova.

Why the hell not? Hey, at least it's more likely than the Bush thing.





=QUALIFYING ROUNDS=
TOP PLAYER: Alina Jidkova

...the 30-year old knocked off Nika Ozegovic, Marta Domachowska and Su-Wei Hsieh.
RISERS: Zi Yan & Olivia Sanchez
...Yan's Toronto momentum and Sanchez's recent ITF title runs propelled them into main draw.
SURPRISES: Pauline Parmentier & Ekaterina Makarova
...Parmentier's big win came against Kutuzova, while Makarova adds her name to the Hordette list.
VETERANS: Emmanuelle Gagliardi & Kira Nagy
...31-year old Gags is the oldest qualifier. Nagy knocked off junior star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
FRESH FACES Tsvetana Pironkova & Alize Cornet
...Pironkova, who's had some big MD wins at slams, ended Dubois' dreams. Cornet, 17, is the youngest qualifier.
DOWN: Lilia Osterloh
...the #1 Q-seed lost in the opening round of play.

=MATCHES=
Q1: Tatiana Perebiynis d. Lilia Osterloh 0-6/7-5/6-2
Q2: Tsvetana Pironkova d. Marta Domachowska 6-0/4-6/6-4
Q3: Alina Jidkova d. Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2/5-7/7-6


=THE QUALIFIERS=
*BY AGE*
17...Alize Cornet / FRA
18...Julia Goerges / GER
19...Tsvetana Pironkova / BUL
19...Ekaterina Makarova / RUS
21...Pauline Parmentier / FRA
21...Andreja Klepac / SLO
22...Petra Cetkovska / CZE
23...Zi Yan / CHN
23...Renata Voracova / CZE
24...Tatiana Perebiynis / UKR
24...Olivia Sanchez / FRA
25...Jorgelina Cravero / ARG
28...Sandra Kloesel / GER
29...Kira Nagy / HUN
30...Alina Jidkova / RUS
31...Emmanuelle Gagliardi / SUI
*BY RANKING*
#78....Zi Yan
#97....Alize Cornet
#107...Pauline Parmentier
#111...Emmanuelle Gagliardi
#115...Sandra Kloesel
#116...Jorgelina Cravero
#119...Renata Voracova
#124...Andreja Klepac
#129...Petra Cetkovska
#132...Tsvetana Pironkova
#137...Ekaterina Makarova
#139...Kira Nagy
#142...Julia Goerges
#160...Alina Jidkova
#161...Tatiana Perebiynis
#168...Olivia Sanchez

*MOST 2007 SLAM QUALIFIERS*
[players]
3...Jorgelina Cravero
2...Alize Cornet (+1 LL)
2...Su-Wei Hsieh
2...Andreja Klepac
2...Alla Kudryavtseva
2...Tatiana Perebiynis
2...Agnes Szavay
2...Renata Voracova
2...Zi Yan
[nations...for 52 Q slots]
8...Czech Republic
5...France
5...Ukraine
4...Russia
3...Argentina
3...Germany
3...Hungary
2...China
2...Slovenia
2...Switzerland
2...Taiwan
1...13 nations tied


Love-Love... hmmm, there was slightly less stretching for a preview topic required in the ATP Backspin Men's prediction column.
=============================
Love-15... potential first seeds out? How about:

#27 Vera Zvonareva (vs. Jidkova)
...still nice to have her back
#29 Samantha Stosur (vs. Cornet)
#23 Tathiana Garbin (vs. Cibulkova)
#13 Nicole Vaidisova (vs. Kudryavtseva)
...and no Maria vs. Nicole?

=============================
Love-30... potential last qualifer standing? In order...

Alina Jidkova / RUS
Zi Yan / CHN
Andreja Klepac / SLO
Renata Voracova / CZE
Sandra Kloesel / GER

As for the wild cards:

Madison Brengle / USA
Lauren Albanese / USA

=============================
Love-40... pre-QF highlights?

Well, the long-awaited Sharapova vs. Vaidisova match would be fun, wouldn't it? We finally might have a great chance for it to happen, but the Dynamova would have to win three matches to get there in her first action since Wimbledon.

Night 1 is scheduled to feature both Serena AND Venus playing singles matches after the ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of Althea Gibson's US Open championship.

As for fashion, Venus is going to be wearing outfits and shoes by her own eleVen design company. Meanwhile, Sharapova, one year after "Exquisite in the City," will be wearing a collection of dresses offering graphic interpretations of the city.



Bethanie Mattek, as far as we know, will NOT show up wearing a lamp shade fashioned into a hoop skirt.
=============================
MATCH, "you want bizarro, you look for bizarro possibilities"...if two players other than Serena, Venus, Sharapova, Henin, Ivanovic or Bartoli reach the final, it'll be the first time since 1977 that all the season's slam finals will have included different players. I know, I know. I'm stretching again.
=============================




All for now. Day 1 awaits.

Read more...

Wk.34- Slouching Toward NYC

So, in the dwindling hours that remain before the start of the final grand slam event of 2007, one is left to wonder... "so, who were the best players the month BEFORE the U.S. Open?" Fear not. The answer will soon be within your field of vision.

==AUGUST AWARD WINNERS - WEEK 31-34==

*PLAYERS OF THE MONTH*
1. Maria Sharapova, RUS - it's been asked before, so here it goes again. Is the Scenario upon us?
=============================
2. Justine Henin, BEL - as usual, La Petit Taureau took full advantage of her few opportunities (well, her ONE opportunity) to shine before the Open.
=============================
3. Ana Ivanovic, SRB - she looks like a star. She acts like a star. But is she THAT kind of star? Not yet, but might she be two weeks from now?
=============================
HM- Cara Black & Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA - a Tier I title, a Tier I RU and another Tier II RU made for a busy month for Cara and her newly-minted naturalized American partner.
=============================

*RISERS*
1. Ana Ivanovic / SRB
2. Anna Chakvetadze / RUS
3. Maria Kirilenko / RUS
4. Tatiana Golovin / FRA
5. Nadia Petrova / RUS
HM- Gisela Dulko / ARG

*FRESH FACES*
1. Agnieszka Radwanska / POL
2. Agnes Szavay / HUN
3. Victoria Azarenka / BLR
4. Vera Dushevina / RUS
5. Polona Hercog / SLO
HM- Anna Lapushchenkova / RUS

*SURPRISES*
1. Virginie Razzano / FRA
2. Zi Yan / CHN
3. Julia Goerges / GER
4. Olivia Sanchez / FRA
5. Katarzyna Piter / POL

*VETERANS*
1. Cara Black & Liezel Huber / ZIM-USA
2. Francesca Schiavone / ITA
3. Elena Dementieva / RUS
4. Patty Schnyder / SUI
5. Katarina Srebotnik & Ai Sugiyama / SLO-JPN

*DOWN*
1. Martina Hingis / SUI
2t. Amelie Mauresmo / FRA
2t. Serena Williams / USA
2t. Nicole Vaidisova / CZE
3. Venus Williams / USA

*COMEBACK*
1. Maria Kirilenko / RUS
2. Sania Mirza / IND
3. Eleni Daniilidou / GRE

*ITF PLAYERS*
1. Anna Lapushchenkova / RUS
2. Polona Hercog / SLO
3. Casey Dellacqua / AUS
HM- Olivia Sanchez / FRA

TOP PERFORMANCE: Maria Sharapova defends her San Diego crown, winning her first title of the season

*MATCH OF THE MONTH*
L.A. SF - Ivanovic d. Jankovic
...4-6/6-3/7-5. AnaIvo overcomes two match points, puts away fellow Fantastovic with lethal display of forehands.

*CHOKING MOMENT OF THE MONTH*
San Diego QF - Chakvetadze d. V.Williams
...6-7/7-6/6-2. Just after destroying the Russian Doll in Fed Cup play, Venus has a match point against her in San Diego. She double-faults and goes on to lose the match. She hasn't played since.

*COMEBACKS OF THE MONTH*
Lindsay Davenport returns to the court in doubles in New Haven, and ESPN hires Bud Collins for grand slam tennis coverage.

*BREAKOUT OF THE MONTH*
Agnieszka Radwanska becomes the first Polish singles champion in tour history, winning her maiden crown in Stockholm.



*WEEK 34 CHAMPIONS*

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT USA (II-Hard)
S: Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Agnes Szavay 4-6/3-0 ret.
D: Mirza/Santangelo d. Black/Huber

FOREST HILLS, NEW YORK USA (IV-Hard)
S: Gisela Dulko d. Virginie Razzano 6-2/6-2


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Gisela Dulko

...wins over Yung-Jan Chan, Nathalie Dechy and Virginie Razzano in Forest Hills gave the Argentine her second career singles title, as well as her second this season alone.
=============================
RISER: Virginie Razzano
...after rolling through Top 20 competition in the weeks leading up to Forest Hills, Razzano ended up losing the final in straight sets to the world #51. Still, her momentum is good heading into the Open after wins over Jill Craybas, Akiko Morigami and Elena Vesnina... now that that'll mean much in Flushing Meadows.
=============================
SURPRISE: Sania Mirza
...while Sania's singles exploits have cooled in recent weeks, she did win her fourth doubles title of the season in New Haven. She claimed the crown with Mara Santangelo, the fourth different woman she's won a title with this season, joining Vania King, Bethanie Mattek and Shahar Peer. Mirza's previous three doubles titles coming into '07 were won with Liezel Huber.
=============================
VETERAN: Eleni Daniilidou

...Eleni the Greek took out the likes of Top 20 players Sybille Bammer and Dinara Safina in New Haven, then took Agnes Szavay to three sets (winning the only set the Hungarian qualifier lost all week) in the SF.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Agnes Szavay & Polona Hercog

...Hungary's Szavay, 18, narrowing missed becoming the first ever qualifier to win a Tier I/II level event, reaching the New Haven final with wins over Sam Stosur, Daniela Hantuchova, Alona Bondarenko and Eleni Daniilidou. She took the opening set off Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, too, running her tournament sets won/lost mark to 15-1. But her eighth match in nine days finally played enough havoc with her back to force her retirement at 0-3 in the 2nd set. Meanwhile, 16-year old Slovenian Hercog won her second of back-to-back ITF events with a victory at a $25K in Maribor.
=============================
DOWN: Olga Poutchkova
...a year ago, Poutchkova reached two 4th Quarter singles finals, but she hasn't been able to extend her success into 2007. She's 8-19 on the season, hasn't reached a QF all year and is riding a nine-match losing streak. In New Haven, she lost in the 1st Round to Virginia Ruano-Pascual and posted 21 double-faults for her troubles.
=============================


1. NH Doubles 1st - Black/Huber d. Davenport/Raymond
...6-7/6-3/10-4. Welcome back, Lindsay. Better luck next time.
=============================
2. FH Final - Dulko d. Razzano
...6-2/6-2. We'll see if Razzano can win even her 1st Round match this week against Emilie Loit. A year ago, Razzano reached the US Open Round of 16. One gets the feeling her surprising North American summer might be unofficially "over" now, though.
=============================
3. US Open Q1 - Tatiana Perebiynis d. Lilia Osterloh
...0-6/7-5/6-2. Osterloh, the #1 Qualifying seed, didn't get a Wild Card into the Main Draw. And even though she won the opening set at love here, she didn't win her way into it, either.
=============================
4. US Open Q3 - Alina Jidkova d. Su-Wei Hsieh
...6-2/5-7/7-6. The Russian wins a deciding tie-break to reach the Main Draw, and prevented Hsieh from qualifying for her third slam event this season.
=============================
5. Moscow $25K F - Pivovarova d. Lapushchenkova
...6-3/6-4. One new Hordette prevents another from winning a third straight ITF title. It's the New Anastasia's third circuit crown in 2007.
=============================
HM- NH Final - Kuznetsova d. Szavay
...4-6/3-0 ret. All right, in case anyone was wondering why the Contessova was mysteriously absent from this week's honors despite winning the Tier II event in New Haven, the explanation is as follows: Kuznetsova won the title while winning just four sets in four matches, only two of them in her final three matches as Francesca Schiavone (QF), Elena Dementieva (SF) and Szavay all retired with injuries. Szavay, especially, hurts the Russian's cause, as the Hungarian teenager, bad back and all, still managed to win the 1st set against the former US Open champion even AFTER receiving on-court attention for her injury. I guess that's one way for Kuznetsova to erase what had been a 0-4 record in finals this season.
=============================


**MOST 2007 SINGLES TITLES**
[surfaces]
6...Justine Henin (hard/red clay/grass)
4...Jelena Jankovic (hard/green & red clay/grass)
4...Anna Chakvetadze (hard/grass)
2...Ana Ivanovic (red clay/hard)
2...Serena Williams (hard)
2...Venus Williams (hard/grass)
2...GISELA DULKO (red clay/hard)

**2007 SINGLES TITLES - RUSSIANS**
4...Anna Chakvetadze
1...Elena Dementieva
1...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
1...Nadia Petrova
1...Dinara Safina
1...Maria Sharapova
1...Yaroslava Shvedova

**QUALIFIERS TO 2007 FINALS**
JAN- Vasilisa Bardina/RUS (Hobart/L)
APR- Sorana Cirstea/ROU (Budapest/L)
MAY- Greta Arn/GER (Estoril/W)
AUG- AGNES SZAVAY/HUN (NEW HAVEN/L)

**MOST 2007 DOUBLES TITLES**
6...Cara Black
6...Liezel Huber
5...Lisa Raymond
5...Samantha Stosur
5...MARA SANTANGELO
4...SANIA MIRZA


All for now.

Read more...

Wk.33- The Power of Incumbency

Yep, Justine Henin's hold on the women's game is still mighty secure... even if her shoulder's a bit sore after proving it again this weekend.



In her first action since her shocking Wimbledon SF loss to Marion Bartoli, the Belgian world #1 wasn't exactly in fine Parisian form in Toronto, but she was still La Petit Taureau, erasing early deficits against Nadia Petrova (QF) and Jelena Jankovic (F) to grab her sixth title of the season and come within an eyelash or salting away 2007 Ms. Backspin honors before the season is even officially three-quarters old.

Of course, at various times this quarter, it's been easy to extol the virtues of a string of players after triumphant Sundays. Anna Chakvetadze. Maria Sharapova. Ana Ivanovic. At the time, they all seemed on the path to great things in New York, at least according to the temperature of their play at that precise moment. But here we are a week away from the start of the U.S. Open, and it's largely a case of grasping at straws when it comes to trying to determine who's the favorite to win the year's final grand slam.

Amelie Mauresmo won't win it. We know that. She withdrew from the Open with a groin injury and for further recovery from her early-season appendectomy, meaning her "year after" season will produce no third career slam crown. Serena Williams? Well, she's still nursing that thumb/wrist injury that hindered her at Wimbledon, and won't be in New Haven this week as previously scheduled. Venus hasn't been around much this quarter, either. Nicole Vaidisova? Nope. Meanwhile, Jankovic is still shaking her first at the sky, wondering if she'll EVER be able to beat Henin.

(Oh... I wonder if Lindsay Davenport is wondering if her baby comeback timing was just a tad off? She's in New Haven playing doubles with Lisa Raymond this week, but won't likely try to return to singles until the 4th Quarter. For once, she'd be one of the healthiest players in the draw.)

In a 3rd Quarter where few trends had been able to maintain their footing for long, variety has been the spice of WTA life. With the top players not around very much, seven different women have won the eight tournaments, with fifteen different players filling the sixteen berths in finals. Only Chakvetadze, 2-0 in championship matches, has been a repeat achiever. But, as usual, her lack of luck carried over as her Cincinnati title came at an event that's NOT a part of the U.S. Open Series. As a result, The Doll is trumped by the Supernova once again, this time in the Series standings with Sharapova making like an acrobatic hawk swooping down and scooping up some defenseless prey with nary a hint of exertion on her face. Just another example of what a strange "road trip" the 2007 USOS turned out to be.

But maybe the U.S. Open end result won't be so strange. Henin will be the top seed in a slam for the sixth time in her career next week, having won the title two of the previous five times. Of course, winning a second Open title would not be an easy task for the Waffle (ahh, an oldie but still a goodie welcomed back into the Backspin lexicon), considering the only time she's managed to win the tournament (2003) it took possibly the greatest match of her career (the SF vs. Jennifer Capriati) to do it, and even then she still needed to defeat Kim Clijsters in the final twenty-four hours later to make it official.

With the women's tour beaten down by attrition with still three months to play this season, the world #1 might be sitting in the cat bird's seat in New York. It's not as if she's been bothered by inconsistency in '07, having won six of the ten events she's played, reaching the finals in seven and the semis in the other three. Oh, and then there's that little statistic about playing in the final of five of the last six slams she's contested (with "La Trufflette" the only thing that prevented it from being six-of-six).

In the end, with so much in flux on the WTA tour at the moment, Henin just might be the best bet to emerge from the pack in New York. But, then again, with her sore shoulder sure to be a round-by-round concern (she told the Toronto organizers she was 50-50 to play the final the night before the match), maybe Henin isn't such a sure thing, either, huh?

Oh, boy. This could be a very interesting slam.

*WEEK 33 CHAMPIONS*

TORONTO, ONTARIO CAN (I-Hard)
S: Justine Henin d. Jelena Jankovic 7-6/7-5
D: Srebotnik/Sugiyama d. Black/Huber


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Justine Henin
...Henin's win in Toronto means five of the eight tournaments this quarter have been won the #1 seeded player.
=============================
RISERS: Tatiana Golovin & Marion Bartoli
...The Good Tatiana showed up in Toronto, rebounding with wins over Vakulenko, Cibulkova, Schiavone and Kuznetsova en route to an encouraging SF in her final outing before the Open. Meanwhile, Bartoli is finally righting the ship as the fanfare of her Wimbledon final run has died down a bit. She outlasted a retiring Kirilenko and defeated Safina in Toronto, then went out to Zi Yan in the QF with a viral illness.
=============================
SURPRISES: Zi Yan & Katarzyna Piter

...Yan pulled the upset of the tournament in Toronto, taking out Ivanovic in the 2nd Round in the Serb's first match after winning in Carson. Additional wins over Daniilidou and Bartoli gave the Cookie a Tier I SF, the best big event singles result of her career. 16-year old Pole Piter, a surprise unseeded semifinalist in the Wimbledon Girls last month, won her first career ITF title in a $10K in Bielefeld. And thus begins the ranking climb of the current world #822.
=============================
VETERANS: Francesca Schiavone & Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama

...the veteran Noodle's late-season charge continued in Toronto with wins over Paszek and Dementieva, then Schiavone took out Schnyder in 1st Round New Haven action on Sunday. In Toronto, Srebotnik & Sugiyama, who'd been RU at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year but hadn't won a doubles title together this season, finally took care of business after claiming a 10-5 super tie-break win in the final against the world's #1 team of Black/Huber.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Polona Hercog & Anna Lapushchenkova
...Slovenia's Hercog, 16, won the first junior level event she entered earlier this year, and now she's got her first ITF title. She won the $10K Pesaco event with a win in the final over Liechtenstein's Stephanie Vogt. Hercog is currently #645. Meanwhile, another 20-year old Russian Anna -- this time it's #206 Lapushchenkova -- won her second of back-to-back ITF events when she defeated Kristina Antonyichuk in the $50K Penza final.
=============================
DOWN: Amelie Mauresmo & Serena Williams
...the U.S. Open contenders keep falling by the wayside and the tournament hasn't even started yet. Mauresmo is officially out, and with Serena still having not played since Wimbledon one has to wonder if she'll be the next to go (or, if she shows up, whether she'll be physically able to last two weeks).
=============================


1. Tor F - Henin d. Jankovic
...7-6/7-5. One of the more exciting two-set finals we're likely to see this season, but when Henin finally converted on her sixth match point the end result was the same as it has always been when these two have met. Henin won. Jankovic lost. The White Whale lives.
=============================
2. New Haven 1st - Schiavone d. Schnyder
...7-6/2-6/6-4. Since Schnyder can now no longer win the Pilot Pen after this early loss on Sunday, Sharapova wrapped up the U.S. Open Series crown with essentially a cameo appearance in the Series.
=============================
3. Tor 2nd - Yan d. Ivanovic
...6-3/6-1. And with this loss, AnaIvo lost her Top 4 U.S. Open seed and now will be seeded to possibly face either Henin or Sharapova in a potential SF. On another note, "interesting" how two weeks before the Open, Ivanovic loses her first match and Chakvetadze retires in her's. In Cincinnati, Djokovic, Nadal and Roddick all bowed out early, as well. Lucky them, huh? How "coincidental" that they didn't have to expend all that additional energy so close to the Open. I'm just saying... last week was just further proof that you can lead players to water with rules that force them to commit to a certain number of top level events but you can't make them drink, or actually play the event to win it.
=============================
4. Tor 1st - Dubois d. Sugiyama
...6-7/6-4/7-5. Last year in Montreal, Quebec native Dubois got a retirement win over Kim Clijsters and reached the 3rd Round. With the Rogers Cup in Toronto this year, she received a wild card into the main draw and pulled off another upset. In the 2nd Round, she lost a three-setter to Petrova.
=============================
5. Tor 3rd - Razzano d. Peer
...6-4/6-3. Razzano got her second win in two weeks over Peer, along with a retirement victory over Chakvetadze a round earlier. The Pastry has been playing well on the bigger stages against Top 20 players of late, but what will she do against "the rest" in Forest Hills this week?
=============================
HM- Bronx $50K F - Dellacqua d. Rolle
...7-5/2-0 ret. This is the Sheila's fourth ITF title this season, and she didn't even win this one back home in Oz, either.
=============================


**U.S. OPEN SERIES CHAMPIONS**
[US Open result]
2004 Lindsay Davenport [SF]
2005 Kim Clijsters [W]
2006 Ana Ivanovic [3rd]
2007 Maria Sharapova

**CAREER WTA SINGLES TITLES - ACTIVE**
[2007 titles]
51...Lindsay Davenport [0]
43...Martina Hingis [1]
35...JUSTINE HENIN [6]
35...Venus Williams [2]
28...Serena Williams [2]
24...Amelie Mauresmo [1]

**MOST TITLES - last 2 seasons**
[2006/07]
12...JUSTINE HENIN [6/6]
6....Anna Chakvetadze [2/4]
6....Maria Sharapova [5/1]
6....Nadia Petrova [5/1]

**MOST 2007 FINALS**
7...JUSTINE HENIN (6-1)
7...JELENA JANKOVIC (4-3)
4...Anna Chakvetadze (4-0)
4...Ana Ivanovic (2-2)
4...Amelie Mauresmo (1-3)
4...Svetlana Kuznetsova (0-4)
3...Maria Sharapova (1-2)
3...Nadia Petrova (1-2)

**MOST 2007 SEMIFINALS**
13...JELENA JANKOVIC (7-5 + L)
9....JUSTINE HENIN (7-2)
7....Maria Sharapova (3-3 +L)
7....Anna Chakvetadze (4-3)
6....Ana Ivanovic (4-2)
6....Svetlana Kuznetsova (4-2)

**HENIN vs. JANKOVIC**
05 Charleston 1st - JHH 5-7/6-4/6-3
06 US Open SF - JHH 4-6/6-4/6-0
07 Doha SF - Henin 6-7/6-2/6-4
07 Warsaw SF - Henin 7-5/2-6/6-4
07 Berlin QF - Henin 3-6/6-4/6-4
07 Roland Garros SF - Henin 6-2/6-2
07 Toronto F - Henin 7-6/7-5

**TIMES TOP SEEDED AT SLAM - ACTIVE**
18..Martina Hingis
5...Justine Henin (pre-US Open)
5...Serena Williams
5...Lindsay Davenport
3...Amelie Mauresmo
2...Maria Sharapova
1...Venus Williams




NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT USA (II-HCO)
2006 FINAL: Henin-H. d. Davenport
2007 TOP: Kuznetsova/Hantuchova
=============================
=QF=
Schiavone d. Kuznetsova
Bartoli d. Dementieva
Safina d. Bammer
Mirza d. Hantuchova
=SF=
Bartoli d. Schiavone
Mirza d. Safina
=FINAL=
Mirza d. Bartoli

...I figured I'd go with an unconventional set of predictions since my luck hasn't been very good of late trying to apply a smidgen of "logic" in this section. Of course, this means the champion will be Kuznetsova, or Hantuchova, or Dementieva, or Safina, or...


QF:
Kuznetsova def. Schiavone
Dementieva def. Bartoli
Safina def. Bammer
Hantuchova def. A.Bondarenko
SF:
Kuznetsova def. Dementieva
Hantuchova def. Safina
F:
Kuznetsova def. Hantuchova




FOREST HILLS, NY USA (IV-HCO)
2006 FINAL: Shaughnessy d. Smashnova
2007 TOP: Razzano/Tu
=============================
=SF=
Razzano d. Kudryavtseva
Likhovtseva d. Tu
=FINAL=
Razzano d. Likhovtseva

...of course, NOW Razzano will take a nose dive against lesser-ranked competition.


SF:
Razzano def. Vesnina
Dushevina def. Dulko
F:
Dushevina def. Razzano


ALSO THIS WEEK:
U.S. OPEN QUALIFYING



All for now.

Read more...