US.10- Middle-Round Marinade

The Search for the Perfect Blonde. A Williams Moment. The Big Apple Blonde Bang. A Falling Belarusan. Serena's Red Dress. A Capraesque Victory. The Legend of Slingin' Sam, Pt. II. A Mighty Wind.

And the best might still be yet to come, as this tournament's first ten days seem to have managed to marinate this slam in preparation for a truly memorable ending.. I'd say this U.S. Open has turned out to be all it could be, rather than all it could not be. And that is not even in question,.


=MIDDLE-ROUND AWARDS - 3rd-QF Rounds=
TOP PLAYER: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...the stage is set. But nothing is a given. (RU: Vera Zvonareva/RUS)
RISER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
...from slam qualifier to back-to-back slam QF in one summer. (RU: Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ)
SURPRISE: Robin Anderson/USA
...the junior qualifier is still alive in the singles 3rd Round and doubles QF. (RU: Ons Jabeur/TUN)
VETERANS: Venus Williams/USA & Kim Clijsters/BEL
...it's the 2003 Wimbledon SF all over again. (RU: Liezel Huber/USA)
FRESH FACE: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
...can she make a semi-Wozniackian leap over the next twelve months? (RU: Daria Gavrilova/RUS, Yulia Putintseva/RUS & Sloane Stephens/USA... there's still a shot that one of my pre-season '10 junior slam champion picks pays off)
COMEBACK: Cara Black/ZIM
...who needs Liezel? Maybe Cara. But not so far. (RU: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK)
DOWN: Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta/ARG-ITA
...no Sisters, but still no slam title for 2010's winningest duo. (RU: Jelena Jankovic/SRB, Maria Sharapova/RUS & Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS)
UNDERRATED: Chan Yung-Jan/TPE
...that singles loss to C-Woz is nearly forgotten now. (RU: Anastasia Rodionova/AUS)

"For sure on the clay I have more time, so I can take you and go ten shots, twenty shots, thirty shots. Here is not like this. But in the same way, I can do serve and volley, I can play faster, I can play slow and back. Is a mix. It's like Capricciosa pizza. I don't give you margherita, I give you Capricciosa, different kind of ingredient." - Francesca Schiavone, spinning a bit of brilliance without really even trying

*STILL ELENA*
4th Rd. - Stosur d. Dementieva 6-3/2-6/7-6
...held four match points. Served at 5-3. No matter the situation, the Russian can still lose a close one with the best of them. Even at 1:37 a.m.
*STILL JJ*
3rd Rd. - Kanepi d. Jankovic 6-2/7-6
...thankfully, she didn't need to hop a helicopter to get back to the lockerroom after this loss. The wind would have just made that trip a miserable experience. You know, sort of like this match was for QC.
*STILL NOT SUPERNOVIC*
4th Rd. - Wozniacki d. Sharapova 6-3/6-4
...the Big Apple Blonde Bang was less than it could have been, largely because we'll still waiting for the old Sharapova to show up. Will the story still be the same one year from now? If so, what then for Maria's future? Can she stomach living with a glass ceiling about her head?
*STILL WICK-MAYER, BUT NOT FOR AS LONG AS LAST YEAR*
3rd Rd. - Wickmayer d. Schnyder 7-6/3-6/7-6
...the Belgian saved a MP against Sneaky Patty, only to lose a set and a break lead to Cagey Kaia in the next round.
*STILL NOT GIVEN ENOUGH CREDIT*
Doubles 3rd Rd. - King/Shvedova d. Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova 7-6(9)/3-6/7-6(9)
...if this one, where match points were traded and double-faults ill-timed, had taken place in the singles draw, ESPN2 would be running replays of it during its coverage "dead zones" over the next few days.
*STILL A BLATANT DOUBLE STANDARD*
Andy Roddick's Rant on Ashe After Being Called for a Foot-Fault
...insert Serena Williams into his shoes, and everyone would still be talking about it why she should be banned from the next slam.

"It seems like everybody is hitting their stride at thirty. It's the new twenty." - Venus Williams

Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Kaia Kanepi/EST (a QF might not be good enough for her in '11)
IT GIRL: Beatrice Capra/USA
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Samantha Stosur/AUS (down a set and a break in the 1st Round, and 5-3 in the 3rd set & 4 MP in the Round of 16, she put together her best Open run ever to the QF)
CRASH & BURNERS (3r-QF): Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta/ARG-ITA (the #1 seeds nose-dived out of the draw in the QF)
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Mandy Minella/LUX & Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP reached the 3rd Rd.
LAST AMERICAN STANDING: Venus Williams/USA
LADY OF THE EVENING: Venus Williams/USA (the all-time winningest women's player under the U.S. Open lights)

=I'M JUST SAYIN'...=
The next time someone reminds Zvonareva of that Pennetta match, let's say we cover our eyes with a towel and let her take a whack at that person with a racket, okay?
=============================
The reports of Francesca Schiavone's grand slam demise was greatly exaggerated, wasn't it?
=============================
Oddly enough, I haven't really missed Justine.
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Venus' form was a mystery to everyone else coming into this Open, but she brought seven different on-court outfits just in case.
=============================
Meanwhile, Caroline apparently brought just one. It's probably earned her a few additional, channel-surfing fans this past week, though.
=============================

"I can't do ANYTHING!!!!!" - Jelena Jankovic

...except entertain us, even in inglorious defeat. Luckily, she hasn't been alone when it comes to that this late summer in New York City.



=DAY 10 NOTES=
...in today's match-ups, the wind that has dogged this event for days continued to play a role in the results. Although, if you're to take Roger Federer's comment after his win over Robin Soderling tonight as gospel, it probably shouldn't be so big a deal as it's made out to be. When asked by Pam Shriver about the wind effecting his serve (or, more accurately, how little it actually did), Federer remarked off-handedly that, essentially, it's his job to hit serves and you could wake him up at four in the morning and he could still hit serves in the wind. "What's the big deal?" was written all over his face and in his tone. If he couldn't serve in the wind, he said, than he'd be in pretty bad shape.

Ouch! Take that all you complainers. (Well, except for Jelena... you're actually entertaining when you complain, even when you do it ALL the time.)

After so many service-in-the-wind difficulties for players the last few days, Federer's remark was Classic Roger, circa a few years ago when he could gently poke others and get away with it without anyone raising an eyebrow just because he was Roger Federer and, when everyone thought about it for a second, they realized he was probably 100% right and simply the only person with the guts and standing to say it.

Hmmm, he's looking to be in top form in more ways than one, huh?

Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal hasn't lost a set at this Open. Brad Gilbert has already made the declaration that a Federer/Nadal final on Sunday would be the most important match in the history of their rivalry/legacy. For once, he may actually be right.

...in the final two women's quarterfinals to be played, Kaia Kanepi learned that Vera Zvonareva wasn't Queen Chaos. After advancing past Jelena Jankovic in the 3rd Round when the Serb couldn't find a way to adapt her game to the wind, the Estonian found no such opponent in the Russian. After the first two games of the match consistened of twenty-three total points, Zvonareva proved to be the steadier and less error-prown player. She's currently on her best behavior at this Open one year after her meltdown on Ashe, too. Maybe after fielding so many questions about it for twelve months, she's dedicated herself to erasing that night from her and our collective memory. She's well on her way. She won 6-3/7-5 to reach the SF at her second straight slam.

She'll face Caroline Wozniacki, who faced some hellacious winds in her nighttime match with Dominika Cibulkova. Sorry, Roger... persistent 20-25 mph winds, with gusts up to 33, is just not viable conditions in which to play tennis. Thankfully, C-Woz won this match (6-2/7-5), because it would have been a shame if her sterling summer hard court run had been done in by the almost humorous wind conditions in tonight's match.

...STAT ALERT:

* The #1, #2 and #3 seeds all reached the women's singles semifinals. It's the twelfth time that's happened at the U.S. Open in the Open Era -- joining 1970, '75, '79, '85, '86, '89, '98, '99, '00, '03 and '06.

* With Hordette Zvonareva in the final four, that makes it 24-of-27 slams with a Russian in the semifinals.

* The Triumverate strikes again! A Russian, a Belgian and a Williams are in the semis of a slam. It's the fourth time that all appendages of the sport's three-headed monster of the past decade were represented in a single slam's final four. (See list below.)

* If Wozniacki defeats Zvonareva in their SF meeting, it'll mean that seven different women filled the season's eight berths in slam singles finals (Clijsters or Venus will be '10 first-timers, as well). The last time the eight slots were filled by eight different women was 1977 (actually it was ten different women that year, as Australian Open tournaments were held in both January and December '77). The last time seven women reached slam finals in a single season was 2007.

...in 2nd Round junior action, Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg upset #10-seed Jana Cepelova (SVK) and will next face #6-seed Karolina Pliskova, the last hope of the Czech sisters to claim a third junior slam crown in 2010 (Karolina won in Melbourne, while Kristyna claimed Wimbledon). Oh, and I neglected to mention the other day that the Pliskovas, seeded #2 in doubles, went down in their very first match of the tournament... the very definition of "pulling a Pliskova," I'd say. Well, unless you count actually winning the tournament as an alternate definition, I suppose.

Meanwhile, #9 Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) defeated American Krista Hardebeck 7-5/2-6/7-5, and Yulia Putintseva (RUS) took down #2-seed Timea Babos (HUN). The Hordette will face Romania's Cristina Dinu next. Another big 3rd Round match: Roland Garros Girls champ Elina Svitolina (UKR), the #4 seed, will face #15-seeded American Sloane Stephens.

...in Doubles, Liezel Huber remained alive in both the Doubles and Mixed. She and Bob Bryan are in the Mixed final, while Nadia Petrova joins her in the Women's Doubles semis.

Huber's not the only player with a chance at two titles at this U.S. Open, though. Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi is in the finals of both the Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles (with Kveta Peschke), as is Huber's partner Bryan.

...hmmm, Donald Trump in C-Woz's friends box. Methinks that the proverbial torch has been passed. Wither, Maria. Now, if Barbra Streisand shows up and calls the Dane a "zen master/mistress," then something very odd is going on.

...and, finally, it was nice to see Chris McKendry in ESPN2's lead spot on the set a bit today and tonight. She's not perfect (she's getting better every time out), but unlike a certain anchor with a name for meteorology, her enthusiasm feels genuine. As I've said before, I was a fan of her when she came up through the Washington D.C. sports television ranks a few years ago, and it's nice to see her climbing the ESPN ladder now. Hopefully, she'll grow enough in the role that she won't be considered a "second-stringer" in the near future.

(Still, I guess I'll have to grin and bear it when Hannah Thunderstorm has her apparently prominant role in next week's ESPN "30 for 30" documentary about Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, in which Ms. Cloudy Weather conducts a joint interview. Thankfully, their sincerity will cancel her out. I didn't realize until today that she was one of the executive producers of the documentary. But now that I do, it does sort of explain why she SUDDENLY became a tennis broadcaster in 2010 after having decided a few years ago that ANY sports television role wasn't good enough for her and she left to -- unsuccessfully, as it turned out -- become a "real" broadcaster at CBS News.)

McKendry's teaming with Brad Gilbert, too, is something of a fun sideshow on a telecast that tends to become a snore-inducing trial when Mary Carillo and Pam Shriver aren't around to crack a few (sometimes groan-worthy, but still appreciated) jokes every once in a while (though, I admit that I've come to enjoy MJF's no-nonsense approach). Of course, Gilbert is an acquired taste... but, together, he and McKendry perform like an unrehearsed-but-finely-tuned "husband-and-wife" comic team. When he just had to stand up to make his point today, it was hilarious watching McKendry gently try to get him to sit his butt down after he seemed to want to stand for the ENTIRE segment. "Sit down, you're embarrassing both of us." Of course, she didn't say that... but you just know that the sentiment was bouncing around in her subconscious.

Good night, Gracie.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES SF*
#1 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN vs. #7 Vera Zvonareva/RUS
#3 Venus Williams/USA vs. #2 Kim Clijsters/BEL

*MEN'S SINGLES QF*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #8 Fernando Verdasco/ESP
#25 Stanislas Wawrinka/SUI vs. #12 Mikhail Youzhny/RUS
#3 Novak Djokovic/SRB def. #17 Gael Monfils/FRA
#2 Roger Federer/SUI def. #5 Robin Soderling/SWE

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF*
#6 King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) vs. #9 Black/An.Rodionova (ZIM/AUS)
#7 Chan/Zheng (TPE/CHN) vs. #2 Huber/Petrova (USA/RUS)

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) vs. #16 Bopanna/Qureshi (IND/PAK)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Huber/B.Bryan (USA/USA) vs. Peschke/Qureshi (CZE/PAK)

*GIRLS DOUBLES QF*
#1 Gavrilova/Khromacheva (RUS/RUS) vs. #7 Jabeur/Putintseva (TUN/RUS)
#3 Babos/Stephens (HUN/USA) vs. (WC) Gibbs/McPhillips (USA/USA)
#5 Cepelova/Skamlova (SVK/SVK) vs. Mestach/Njiric (BEL/CRO)
Anderson/Turewicz (USA/USA) vs. Tang/Tian (CHN/CHN)

*BOYS DOUBLES QF*
Clezar/Fernandes (BRA/BRA) vs. #6 Dzumhur/Pavic (BIH/CRO)
#3 Beretta/Quiroz (PER/ECU) vs. Heller/Krawietz (GER/GER)
Sell/Semenzato (BRA/BRA) vs. #4 Golding/Vesely (GBR/CZE)
Baluda/Rumyantsev (RUS/RUS) vs. (WC) Collarini/Sock (USA/USA)



=AWARD NOMINEES (as of Day 10)=
*COMEBACK PLAYER*
Cara Black, ZIM (doing it without Huber?)
Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
Francesca Schiavone, ITA (there is a slam life after celebrating Paris, after all)

...I had to add Schiavone, since I'm running out of viable options on this one.

*DOUBLES STAR*
Cara Black/Anastasia Rodionova, ZIM/AUS
Liezel Huber, USA (alive in Mixed Final and Doubles SF)
Kveta Peschke, CZE (seeking first career slam title in Mixed Final)

*BROADWAY-BOUND*
Vania King, USA (the best singing voice in tennis is seeking back-to-back Doubles slam titles)
Andrea Petkovic, GER ("show" was closed after just one night; dance moves; writing skill)
Francesca Schiavone, ITA (for her show-stopping through-the-legs shot & brilliantly off-the-cuff comments)

...I'm feeling the Andrea Itch here.

*JUNIOR BREAKOUT*
Robin Anderson, USA
Veronica Cepede Royg, PAR
Sloane Stephens, USA

...VERY preliminary nominees, I might add.




*RUSSIANS, BELGIANS & A WILLIAMS IN A SLAM SF*
[all four slots]
2003 Roland Garros - Henin-Hardenne, Clijsters, S.Williams, Petrova
2007 US Open - Henin, Kuznetsova, V.Williams, Chakvetadze
[three slots]
2007 Australian Open - S.Williams, Sharapova, Clijsters (+Vaidisova)
2010 US OPEN - CLIJSTERS, V.WILLIAMS, ZVONAREVA (+Wozniacki)

*WOMEN'S SLAM SF*
[2010 U.S. Open semifinalists, career]
19...Venus Williams (14-4)
14...Kim Clijsters (6-7)
3...Vera Zvonareva (1-1)
2...Caroline Wozniacki (1-0)
[2010, by nation]
3...RUSSIA
3...UNITED STATES
2...BELGIUM
2...China
1...Australia
1...Bulgaria
1...Czech Republic
1...DENMARK
1...Italy
1...Serbia
[career total, active players]
19...Serena Williams (16-3)
19...VENUS WILLIAMS (14-4)
17...Justine Henin (12-5)
14...KIM CLIJSTERS (6-7)
10...Maria Sharapova (4-6)
9...Elena Dementieva (2-7)
6...Jelena Jankovic (1-5)
[last 5 years, active players]
8...Serena Williams (7-1)
8...Justine Henin (7-1)
6...Maria Sharapova (3-3)
6...KIM CLIJSTERS (1-4)
5...VENUS WILLIAMS (3-1)
5...Dinara Safina (3-2)
5...Elena Dementieva (0-5)

*2010 WTA SF*
[player]
7...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (5-1)
6...Flavia Pennetta (3-3)
6...Samantha Stosur (3-3)
5...Maria Sharapova (5-0)
5...VENUS WILLIAMS (4-0)
5...VERA ZVONAREVA (4-0)
5...Justine Henin (4-1)
5...Victoria Azarenka (3-2)
5...Elena Dementieva (2-3)
5...Shahar Peer (1-4)
[nation]
30...RUSSIA
14...Italy
12...UNITED STATES
11...BELGIUM
11...Czech Republic
[Americans]
5...VENUS WILLIAMS (4-0)
4...Serena Williams (3-1)
1...Vania King (0-1)
1...Melanie Oudin (0-1)
1...Alison Riske (0-1)
[Russians]
5...Maria Sharapova (5-0)
5...VERA ZVONAREVA (4-0)
5...Elena Dementieva (3-2)
3...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (2-1)
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova (1-1)
2...Anna Chakvetadze (1-1)
2...Elena Vesnina (1-1)
1...Alisa Kleybanova (1-0)
1...Ekaterina Makarova (1-0)
1...Maria Kirilenko (0-1)
1...Anna Lapushchenkova (0-1)
1...Ksenia Pervak (0-1)
1...Nadia Petrova (0-1)

*2010 U.S. OPEN NIGHT RECORDS - MULTIPLE MATcHES*
3-0...Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal
2-0...Kim Clijsters, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki
1-1...Samantha Stosur




TOP QUALIFIER: Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #1 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #1 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: Laura Robson/GBR d. #2q Jelena Dokic/AUS 6-1/6-4
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #4 Jelena Jankovic/SRB def. Simona Halep/ROU 6-4/4-6/7-5
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #5 Stosur/AUS def. #12 Dementieva/RUS 6-3/2-6/7-6
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xxx
TOP NIGHT MATCH: 4th Rd. - #5 Stosur/AUS def. #12 Dementieva/RUS 6-3/2-6/7-6 (saved 4 MP, ended at 1:37 a.m.)
=============================
FIRST WINNER: #6 Francesca Schiavone/ITA (def. Ayumi Morita/JPN)
FIRST SEED OUT: #8 Li Na/CHN (lost to Kateryna Bondarenko/UKR)
UPSET QUEENS: The Taiwanese
REVELATION LADIES: The North Americans
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Mandy Minella/LUX & Lourdes Dominguez-Lino/ESP (3rd Rd.)
IT GIRL: Beatrice Capra/USA
MS. OPPORTUNITY: Kaia Kanepi/EST
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (retired after collapsing in 2nd Rd. vs. Gisela Dulko/ARG)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Samantha Stosur/AUS (down set and a break vs. Elena Vesnina/RUS in 1st Rd.; down 4 MP vs. Elena Dementieva/RUS in 4th Rd)
LAST AMERICAN STANDING: Venus Williams/USA (in SF)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Venus Williams/USA
BROADWAY-BOUND: xxx
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx




All for Day & Night 10. More tomorrow.