US.11- A Day of Rest... and more Shriver nonsense

What's this? A "quiet" day on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center? Amazingly, yes. Well, as quiet as any tournament can be when Pam Shriver is armed with a microphone, at least.

With no women's singles matches today, I'm taking a break from any opening comments about any lead story for this Daily Backspin. The next few days will be a flurry of activity, with the editions detailing the semifinals and finals that will revolve around either Serena Williams' continued slam dominance, the second coming of Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki becoming a star or Yanina Wickmayer truly shocking the tennis world (plus the "Decade's Best" special that gets posted this weekend), there's going to be quite a bit to say. So, needless to say, I'm going to enjoy this brief lull during which I can catch my breath.

Of course, there were SOME things that took place today that are worth mentioning:



=DAY 11 NOTES=
...SHRIVER UPDATE: well, I didn't hear any note of contrition from Pam Shriver today concerning her disrespectful mention of Yanina Wickmayer last night. Still, though, she was spinning more eyebrow-raising tales today during ESPN2's coverage of the Williams/Williams vs. Kleybanova/Makaraova Doubles SF match.

The topic of discussion was the wind, which apparently has been swirling inside Ashe Stadium since last night and might foreshadow some coming summer storms. Cliff Drysdale noted how it's very easy for players to use windy conditions as an excuse for losing a match. Then Shriver actually said that the Williams sisters are "really good about not making excuses" when they lose. Ummm, are we talking about Venus and Serena, or some other tennis player siblings with Williams as their surname?

I mean, while I'm not being anti-Williams here (it's simply part of their personalities to be averse to admitting defeat and/or being bested by an opponent), it seems to me that nearly every time one of the sisters lose, especially Serena, they make note of a reason why the loss occurred that has absolutely nothing to do with the good play of their opponent. With Serena, every loss seems to come on a day she "played worse than she ever has in her life." And just this week, after Venus was loathe to even admit she was injured at all during the first week, once she lost, she made multiple mentions about "not being 100%" and hoping that next time out she hopes she'll be able to play at her best.

Truthfully, this "disregard" for the players that defeat them actually plays into the Sisters' collective aura. But, really, any fair-minded assessment of the pair, even by their fans, HAS to involve some measure of admitting that they're not the greatest losers in the world. They don't HAVE to be, and that's fine. But to overlook the reality is downright wrongheaded and/or misinformed commentary.

Which compels me to note this one fact. In the WTA's mentoring program in which current players choose former ones to serve as givers of advice, Shriver has officially served time in the role for Venus (and likely Serena, too, on some level, just because of the closeness of the sisters). I'm just sayin'. It explains the ridiculousness of her comments today, at least. But not last night's, of course.

...meanwhile, the first champions of this U.S. Open were crowned in the Mixed Doubles competition.

Americans Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott, wild cards who'd never teamed up before (except for one WTT set) and only did so at the Open after Abigail Spears pulled out and Parrott sent a text to Gullickson two days before the tournament to see if she wanted to team up, completed their dream run to the Mixed Doubles title today by defeating #2-seeded Black/Paes 6-2/6-4.

In this tournament, Gullickson/Parrott's victims included players who've won or shared four of the last six U.S. Open Mixed titles. The duo defeated four seeds in all, including the #1 (Huber/Bhupathi), #2 (Black/Paes) and #3 (Raymond/Matkowski) seeds... after having to survive two match points in the 1st Round against #6 Petrova/Mirnyi. The one unseeded team they beat included Daniel Nestor, a multiple Doubles/Mixed slam champ, and Sania Mirza, who won the Australian Open Mixed crown with Bhupathi at the start of this season.

Gullickson was the star of the final and the Mixed tournament. Parrott called her the "MVP," and the ESPN2 commentary team raved over her volleys and lack of nerves on such an occasion, as she handled the veteran Paes' shots as well, and sometimes better, than Parrott. Fittingly, Gullickson put away a volley on match point to claim the first grand slam title for either player.

Maybe sometime next year (or soon afterward), Gullickson and her NCAA star sister Chelsey will be teaming up to give the tour another all-sibling doubles team of note. While Carly has had some ITF singles (two titles to go with her sixteen ITF & two WTA doubles crowns) success over the years, her lacking court movement (she needs to improve her fitness to truly get to a level that her nice combo of power and volleying ability hint that she should be able to) has always held her back a bit. No matter what, though, her doubles career should keep her around for quite a while.

...in junior action today, #4-seeded Sloane Stephens lost her 3rd Round match to #14 Jana Cepelova 4-6/6-1/6-0. Truthfully, the result isn't all that surprising considering Stephens has been playing this event immediately after the death of her father (former NFL Rookie-of-the-Year running back John Stephens) on September 1. Meanwhile, #16 Beatrice Capra defeated Asia Muhammad, #9 Daria Gavrilova knocked off #6 Silvia Njiric, Yana Buchina triumphed over #10 Richel Hogenkamp, unseeded Lauren Davis took out Elena Bogdan and Laura Robson defeated #12 Tamaryn Hendler. #2 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and #11 Heather Watson also won. All advanced to the quarterfinals.

...ESPN2 actually showed a little of the women's wheelchair singles today, featuring the Netherlands' Esther Vergeer, who won her 369th consecutive match. Wow.

...and, finally, while I do want Caroline Wozniacki to win her SF match with Yanina Wickmayer, I admit to there being some perverse part of me that wants to Belgian to escape with a victory, just so that she can take the on-court microphone and say, "Ms. Shriver...my name is Wickmayer. Yanina Wickmayer." @

@- get it, get it? Shriver used to be married to ex-"James Bond" George Lazenby. Yeah, I know, the joke sort of loses a bit of punch when you have to explain it.



*WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS*
Yanina Wickmayer/BEL vs. #9 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
(WC) Kim Clijsters/BEL vs. #2 Serena Williams/USA

*MEN'S SEMIFINALS*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #4 Novak Djokovic/SRB
#11 Fernando Gonzalez/CHI or #3 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #6 Juan Martin Del Potro/ARG or #16 Marin Cilic/CRO

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF*
#1 Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) vs. #3 Stosur/Stubbs (AUS/AUS)
#4 Williams/Williams (USA/USA) def. #13 Kleybanova/Makarova (RUS/RUS)

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#4 Dlouhy/Paes (CZE/IND) vs. #3 Bhupathi/Knowles (IND/BAH)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
Gullickson/Parrott (USA/USA) def. #2 Black/Paes (ZIM/IND) 6-2/6-4

*GIRLS SINGLES QF*
#16 Beatrice Capra/USA vs. Yana Buchina/RUS
Lauren Davis/USA vs. Laura Robson/GBR
#9 Daria Gavrilova/RUS vs. #14 Jana Cepelova/SVK
#11 Heather Watson/GBR vs. #2 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/THA

*BOYS SINGLES QF*
#1 Yuki Bhambri/IND vs. Chase Buchanan/USA
#16 Denis Kudla/USA vs. #8 Gianni Mina/FRA
Tiago Fernandes/BRA vs. TBD
Pierre-Hugues Herbert/FRA vs. Raymond Sarmiento/USA

*GIRLS DOUBLES SF*
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD

*BOYS DOUBLES SF*
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD





*"DOUBLES STAR" WINNERS*
=US Open=
2006 Martina Navratilova, USA
2007 Nathalie Dechy, FRA
2008 Cara Black, ZIM
2009 Carly Gullickson, USA
=2009=
AO: Sania Mirza, IND
RG: Virginia Ruano-Pascual, ESP
WI: Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA
US: Carly Gullickson, USA

*US OPEN MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - 2000's*
2000 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario & Jared Palmer
2001 Rennae Stubbs & Todd Woodbridge
2002 Lisa Raymond & Mahesh Bhupathi
2003 Katarina Srebotnik & Bob Bryan
2004 Vera Zvonareva & Bob Bryan
2005 Daniela Hantuchova & Mahesh Bhupathi
2006 Martina Navratilova & Bob Bryan
2007 Victoria Azarenka & Max Mirnyi
2008 Cara Black & Leander Paes
2009 Carly Gullickson & Travis Parrott

*2009 SLAM SF - BY NATION*
7...RUS (Safina-3,Dementieva-2,Kuznetsova-1,Zvonareva-1)
4...USA (S.Williams-3/V.Williams-1)
2...BEL (Clijsters/Wickmayer)
1...AUS (Stosur)
1...DEN (Wozniacki)
1...SVK (Cibulkova)

*MOST CAREER SLAM SF - ACTIVE*
18...Venus Williams (14-4)
17...SERENA WILLIAMS (14-2)
13...KIM CLIJSTERS (5-7)
10...Maria Sharapova (4-6)
8...Amelie Mauresmo (3-5)
8...Elena Dementieva (2-6)
--
OF NOTE: 18-Davenport (7-11), 16-Henin (11-5)

*US OPEN SF - 2000's*
4...SERENA WILLIAMS (3-0)
4...Venus Williams (3-1)
4...Lindsay Davenport (1-3)
4...Elena Dementieva (1-3)
3...Justine Henin (3-0)
3...KIM CLIJSTERS (2-0)
3...Jennifer Capriati (0-3)
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova (2-0)
2...Jennifer Capriati (1-1)
2...Maria Sharapova (1-1)
2...Martina Hingis (0-2)
2...Amelie Mauresmo (0-2)
1...Mary Pierce (1-0)
1...YANINA WICKMAYER (0-0)
1...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (0-0)
1...Anna Chakvetadze (0-1)
1...Dinara Safina (0-1)

*MOST SLAM SF - LAST 5 YEARS (2005-09)*
9...Maria Sharapova (3-6)
8...Justine Henin (7-1)
7...SERENA WILLIAMS (6-0)
6...KIM CLIJSTERS (1-4)
5...Venus Williams (4-1)
5...Dinara Safia (3-2)
5...Jelena Jankovic (1-4)
5...Elena Dementieva (0-5)
4...Ana Ivanovic (3-1)
4...Svetlana Kuznetsova (3-1)
4...Amelie Mauresmo (2-2)




TOP QUALIFIER: Eva Hrdinova/CZE
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Serena Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Serena Williams/USA
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Eva Hrdinova/CZE def. Laura Robson/GBR 7-6/4-6/7-6
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd.- Melanie Oudin/USA d. #4 Elena Dementieva/RUS 5-7/6-4/6-3
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd.- Melanie Oudin/USA d. #29 Maria Sharapova 3-6/6-4/7-5
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #25 Kaia Kanepi/EST (1st Rd.-Chang/TPE)
FIRST WIN: (WC) Vania King/USA (def. Anastasiya Yakimova/BLR)
UPSET QUEENS: The Americans
REVELATION LADIES: The Belgians
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Anastasia Rodionova/AUS (3rd Rd.)
IT GIRL: Melanie Oudin/USA
MS. OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: Kim Clijsters/BEL
CRASH & BURN: #4 Elena Dementieva/RUS (2nd Rd.-Oudin/USA
ZOMBIE QUEEN: #10 Flavia Pennetta/ITA (saved 6 MP in 4th Rd. vs. Zvonareva/RUS)
LAST AMERICAN STANDING: xxx
LAST non-WILLIAMS AMERICAN STANDING: Melanie Oudin/USA (to QF)
DOUBLES STAR Carly Gullickson/USA
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx



All for Day 11. More tonight.