US 8.0 - Highs, Lows & oh... also Nadia

On Day 8 at Flushing Meadows, there were highs and lows... and no awful in-betweens. Oh, but there WAS some more Nadia.

=ON THE HIGH END=

-- Serena Williams simply destroyed Andrea Hlavackova in the Round of 16, dropping a double-bagel scoreline on her. She's now put together three straight love sets, and won twenty consecutive games heading into the quarterfinals. And with the other upsets that occurred in the bottom half of the draw today, it seems almost inconceivable that Williams won't be advancing to her second straight -- and sixth career -- U.S. Open singles final. She'll next face Ana Ivanovic.

-- AnaIvo, who picked up where she took off when she ended Sloane Stephens' Open in the 3rd Round, took out Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-0/6-4. Not only has Ivanovic advanced to her first U.S. Open quarterfinal, but this is her best result at ANY slam since she won the Roland Garros title back in 2008. Geez, that was two Belgian comebacks AND two Belgian second retirements ago.

-- Viva Italia! For the first time ever outside of Paris, there will be an Italian woman in a slam singles semifinal, as doubles partners Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci both pulled off upsets in singles today to advance to a quarterfinal match-up between the two best friends. Errani, the RG runner-up, took out '11 U.S. Open semifinalist Angelique Kerber, 7-6/6-3. Kerber never seemed quite right today, except for a brief period in which she battled back from a break down to knot the 2nd set at 3-3. With three QF-or-better slam results in '12, two of them on hard courts, maybe Errani will now be able to avoid those "doubles specialist" and "clay court specialist" back-handed compliments that have been thrown her way so often this season. Meanwhile, Vinci ended #2-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska's latest Open run (she's never reached a QF in NYC), winning 6-1/6-4. So, two months after the 29-year old Vinci had a career-best slam Round of 16 result at Wimbledon, she's now topped it with her first slam QF. Not only that, now she won't have to be included as a "possible future club member" at every slam when I start talking about Anna Smashnova and Anabel Medina-Garrigues being the only women in WTA history with ten or more tour singles crowns but no slam quarterfinal results.

=ON THE LOW END=

-- Hlavackova, who must be seeing Serena in her nightmares. Twice this summer, at Wimbledon and the Olympics, she and Lucie Hradecka lost to the Williams Sisters in major finals. Today, Hlavackova, played against Serena -- which it tough enough on its own -- while nursing injuries to BOTH legs. It wasn't pretty. Thankfully, she and Hradecka are still alive in the doubles QF.

-- Radwanska, quite possibly now belatedly paying the price for playing so many matches earlier this season.

-- Kerber, showing she can be "got" and not always battle her way out of a bad day. And it didn't even happen against a big, heavy-hitting player, either. Instead, it was the diminutive Errani who took her out.

-- Pironkova, finally realizing she was in New York, not London. See, I told her... she needed to watch more BBC America!

-- and, surprisingly, Venus and Serena. The Sisters were eliminated in the doubles 3rd Round, dropping their first match as a duo since losing in the QF at Wimbledon in 2010. They had been undefeated (13-0) in 2012, after not playing any doubles in '11. Of course, they've still won 31 of their last 33 matches. Speaking of that match...

=AND ON THE NADIA END=

-- while the rain haunted Nadia Petrova last night, just the threat of it maybe did her a favor tonight. After originally being scheduled on Ashe, Petrova & Maria Kirilenko's 3rd Round Doubles match with Venus & Serena was shifted over to Louis Armstrong Stadium in order ensure the Andy Murray/Milos Raonic match got finished on a night when poor weather was being forecast. Maybe that made all the difference, as the big stadium atmosphere may have heavily favored the Americans. After losing to the Sisters at both Wimbledon (a 9-7 3rd set in the 2nd Round) and the Olympics (SF) this summer, the Russians beat them tonight, winning by a surprisingly routine 6-1/6-4 scoreline.

Oh, Nadia! Finally, destiny smiles upon YOU!

Well, for tonight, at least.



=DAY 8 NOTES=
...Roger Federer advanced past Mardy Fish via a walkover, advancing to his tour-record 34th straight slam QF. Fish, who had heart issues earlier this year, is said to have pulled out for strictly precautionary purposes. But, surely, it's never a good thing when something like this comes up so soon after going through serious health issues in the past. Hopefully, it WAS only precautionary, and he'll be all right. Tennis or no tennis.

...in the only real junior result of note on Day 8, #15-seeded Krista Hardebeck (USA) lost to Liechtenstein's Kathinka Von Deichmann (LIE), 6-1/6-2.

...as of now, the only women still alive in both the Doubles and Mixed Doubles draws are Kveta Peschke (w/ Julia Goerges & Marcin Matkowski) and Lucie Hradecka (w/ Hlavackova & Frantisek Cermak).

...at the Paralympics in London, Esther Vergeer advanced to the singles QF, double-bageling her Round of 16 opponent (she's lost one game in two matches). After receiving a 1st Round bye, she's also set to go in the doubles, where she's won two Golds (2000 & '04) and a Silver ('08).

...and, finally, in an attempt to try to keep the long-neglected ATP Backspin a bit more current, Galileo West is going to be helping me provide some new content over there, starting with some rundowns of the men's quarterfinal match-ups. You can see his first contribution there now.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES QF*
#1 Victoria Azarenka/BLR vs. #7 Samantha Stosur/AUS
#3 Maria Sharapova/RUS vs. #11 Marion Bartoli/FRA
#12 Ana Ivanovic/SRB vs. #4 Serena Williams/USA
#10 Sara Errani/ITA vs. #20 Roberta Vinci/ITA

*MEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI walkover #23 Mardy Fish/USA
#6 Tomas Berdych/CZE def. #11 Nicolas Almagro/ESP
#3 Andy Murray/GBR def. #15 Milos Raonic/CAN
#12 Marin Cilic/CRO def. Martin Klizan/SVK
#8 Janko Tipsarevic/SRB vs. #19 Philipp Kohlschreiber/GER
#13 Richard Gasquet/FRA vs. #4 David Ferrer/ESP
#7 Juan Martin del Potro/ARG vs. #20 Andy Roddick/USA
#18 Stanislas Wawrinka/SUI vs. #2 Novak Djokovic/SRB

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#16 Hsieh/Medina-Garrigues (TPE/ESP) vs. Chuang/Zhang (TPE/CHN)
#3 Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) vs. Lisicki/Peng (GER/CHN)
#8 Llagostera-Vives/Martinez-Sanchez (ESP/ESP) vs. #4 Kirilenko/Petrova (RUS/RUS)
#11 Goerges/Peschke (GER/CZE) vs. #2 Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA)

*MEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#15 Peya/Soares (AUT/BRA) vs. #6 Granollers/M.Lopez (ESP/ESP)
Knowle/Polasek (AUT/SVK) vs. #5 Paes/Stepanek (IND/CZE)
#9 Qureshi/Rojer (PAK/NED) vs. C.Harrison/R.Harrison (USA/USA)
Benneteau/Mahut (FRA/FRA) vs. #2 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA)

*MIXED DOUBLES SF*
#1 Huber/Mirnyi (USA/BLR) vs. #4 Peschke/Matkowski (CZE/POL)
#7 Hradecka/Cermak (CZE/CZE) vs. Makarova/Soares (RUS/BRA)




*WOMEN'S FINAL 8*
[by career slam QF; w/ number at US]
34...Serena Williams (10) - WI
18...Maria Sharapova (3) - AO,RG
8...Victoria Azarenka (1) - AO,WI
6...Samantha Stosur (3)
6...Ana Ivanovic (1)
5...Marion Bartoli (1)
3...Sara Errani (1) - AO,RG
1...Roberta Vinci (1)
==
AO - also 2012 AO QF
RG - also 2012 RG QF
WI - also 2012 WI QF
[repeats from 2011 U.S. Open QF]
Samantha Stosur
Serena Williams
[by preseason "Grand Slam Master List" rankings]
1 - S.Williams
4 - Stosur
5 - Azarenka
6 - Sharapova
8 - Bartoli
19 - Ivanovic
42 - Vinci
Unlisted: Errani

*2012 WOMEN'S SLAM QF - BY NATION*
5...Russia (Sharapova)
4...Italy (Errani,Vinci)
3...Belarus (Azarenka)
3...Czech Republic
3...Germany
2...Australia (Stosur)
2...Poland, United States (S.Williams)
1...AUT, BEL, DEN, EST, FRA (Bartoli), KAZ, SRB (Ivanovic), SVK

*WOMEN'S CAREER SLAM QF - ACTIVE LEADERS*
34...SERENA WILLIAMS
33...Venus Williams
18...MARIA SHARAPOVA
12...Svetlana Kuznetsova
9...Nadia Petrova
8...VICTORIA AZARENKA

*BACKSPIN 2012 "DOWN" WINNERS*
[Monthly/Quarterly winners]
JAN: Samantha Stosur, AUS
FEB: Vera Zvonareva, RUS
MAR: Petra Kvitova, CZE
1Q=CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN
APR: Andrea Petkovic, GER
MAY: Marion Bartoli, FRA
2Q/CC=MARION BARTOLI, FRA
JUN: Petra Kvitova, CZE
2Q/GC=CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN
JUL: Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
AUG: Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
[2012 Weekly "DOWN" Wins]
7...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
5...Sabine Lisicki, GER
5...Petra Kvitova, CZE
5...Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
4...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
3...Marion Bartoli, FRA
3...Kim Clijsters, BEL
3...Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
3...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
3...Francescca Schiavone, ITA




TOP QUALIFIER: #1q Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #7 Samantha Stosur/AUS
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: (WC) Krista Hardebeck/USA def. Tamaryn Hendler/BEL 7-6(9)/5-7/7-6(3)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #6 Angelique Kerber/GER def. Venus Williams/USA 6-2/5-7/7-5
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP ASHE NIGHT SESSION MATCH: Nominee: 2nd Rd. - #6 A.Kerber/GER d. V.Williams/USA 6-2/5-7/7-5 (2:45, ends at 12:20 am)
=============================
FIRST WINNER: Anna Tatishvili/GEO (def. Foretz-Gacon/FRA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Anabel Medina-Garrigues/ESP (lost to Hradecka/CZE)
UPSET QUEENS: Romanians
REVELATION LADIES: French
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Germany (four of five highest-ranked Germans fell in 1st Round)
CRASH & BURN: #8 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN (lost 1st Rd. to I.Begu/ROU -- was Open #1 seed in 2010-11; second straight 1st Rd. slam loss)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominee: #3 Sharapova/RUS (down 2-0 in 3rd set vs. Petrova in 4th, before rain delay)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Olga Puchkova/RUS (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Mallory Burdette/USA & Kristina Mladenovic/FRA (3rd Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: Serena Williams/USA (in 4th Rd.)
IT: Laura Robson/GBR
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: S.Errani/ITA, R.Vinci/ITA
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: M.Bartoli/FRA, A.Ivanovic/SRB, N.Petrova/RUS
BROADWAY-BOUND: Nominees: S.Stephens/USA, K.Clijsters/BEL, M.Bartoli/FRA
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: A.Ivanovic/SRB, M.Sharapova/RUS
DOUBLES STAR Nominees: K.Peschke/CZE, L.Hradecka/CZE, E.Makarova/RUS, Petrova/Kirilenko (RUS/RUS)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominee: V.Duval/USA




All for Day 8. More tomorrow.