US.11 - A Restful Thursday

Day 11 at this Open isn't quite like the middle Sunday at Wimbledon for Backspin. But it's pretty close.

Of course, while today is mostly a day of rest in this spot, it turned out to be a day to pack bags for the men's defending champions in singles (Andy Murray, out in straights to Stan Wawrinka... the best Swiss tennis player in the world?) and doubles (the Bryans, out in the semis to Paes/Stepanek, ending their hopes of pulling off a true Grand Slam in 2013), as well as last year's women's doubles winners (Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, who lost to the, naturally, unseeded Williams Sisters).

Oh, well.



=DAY 11 NOTES=
...elsewhere in doubles, it's now a case of if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And if you don't succeed that time, try once more. In January, Aussies Ashleigh Barty & Casey Dellacqua lost in the Australian Open doubles final. At Wimbledon, the same thing happened. Well, with their win today over Sania Mirza & Zheng Jie, Barty & Dellacqua will get a third chance in a slam final to notch their first slam Women's Doubles crown. Dellacqua won a Mixed slam at Roland Garros with Scott Lipsky in '11.

Of course, Venus & Serena (vs. Hlavackova/Hradecka in the semis) might have something to say about making the Aussies 0-3 in slam finals.

...meanwhile, the junior singles quarterfinals are set and, save for #4-seed Barbora Krejcikova's upset the other day, most of the expected contenders have advanced through to the Final 8. 2013 Roland Garros and Wimbledon champ Belinda Bencic (#1 seed) is there, and so is Australian Open winner Ana Konjuh (#2). So are the AO (#3 Katerina Siniakova) and RG (#7 Antonia Lottner) runners-up, a RG and Wimbledon semifinalist (#10 Louisa Chirico) and the winner (#11 Mayo Hibi) of the latest USTA National Playoff, a prize that came with a wild card into the U.S. Open women's main draw qualifying field.

Two unseeded players are in the final eight: Belarusian Iryna Shymanovich and Bannerette Tornado Alicia Black, the latter the wild card who took out Italian upset-maker Jasmine Paolini today. They'll next face each other for a trip to the semifinals.

The junior doubles semifinals are also set, with the four top-seeded teams still alive, including #1 Czechs Krejcikova/Siniakova (winners in Paris and Wimbledon) and #2-seeded Konjuh/Lottner. In Melbourne in January, Konjuh claimed the doubles with a different partner, defeating Krejcikova (also with a different partner) in the final.

...and, finally, just Djokovic vs. Youzhny tonight, plus the NFL season opener. So, that's it until tomorrow.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES SF*
#1 Serena Williams/USA vs. #5 Li Na/CHN
Flavia Pennetta/ITA vs. #2 Victoria Azarenka/BLR

*MEN'S SINGLES SF*
#1 Novak Djokovic/SRB or #21 Mikhail Youzhny/RUS vs. #9 Stanislas Wawrinka/SUI
#8 Richard Gasquet/FRA vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF*
Williams/Williams (USA/USA) vs. #5 Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE)
#8 Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS) def. #10 Mirza/J.Zheng (IND/CHN)

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#4 Paes/Stepanek (IND/CZE) vs. #2 Peya/Soares (AUT/BRA)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
Spears/S.Gonzalez (USA/MEX) vs. #7 Hlavackova/Mirnyi (CZE/BLR)

*GIRLS SINGLES QF*
#1 Belinda Bencic/SUI vs. #7 Antonia Lottner/GER
(WC) Tornado Alicia Black/USA vs. Iryna Shymanovich/BLR
#11 Mayo Hibi/JPN vs. #3 Katerina Siniakova/CZE
#3 Louisa Chirico/USA vs. #2 Ana Konjuh/CRO

*BOYS SINGLES QF*
#1 Alexander Zverev/GER vs. Collin Attamirano/USA
#4 Borna Coric/CRO vs. Quentin Halys/FRA
#6 Johan Sebastien Tatlot/FRA vs. #3 Christian Garin/CHI
Thanasi Kokkinakis/AUS vs. #2 Gianluigi Quinzi/ITA

*GIRLS DOUBLES SF*
#1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. #4 Mertens/Soylu (BEL/TUR)
#3 Bencic/Sorribes Tormo (SUI/ESP) vs. #2 Konjuh/Lottner (CRO/GER)

*BOYS DOUBLES SF*
Majchrzak/Redlicki (POR/USA) vs. Haerteis/Wagner (GER/GER)
Halys/Silva (FRA/POR) vs. Marterer/Miedler (GER/AUT)

*WOMEN'S WC SINGLES SF*
#1 Sabine Ellerbrock/GER or Jordanne Whiley/GBR vs. Marjoelin Buis/NED
Yui Kamiji/JPN vs. #2 Aniek Van Koot/NED

*MEN'S WC SINGLES SF*
#1 Shingo Kunieda/JPN or Gustavo Fernandez/ARG vs. Michael Jeremiasz/FRA
Gordon Reid/GBR vs. #2 Stephane Houdet/FRA




*2013 GIRLS SLAM SINGLES QF*
4...ANA KONJUH, CRO (3-0)
3...BELINDA BENCIC, SUI (2-0)
3...LOUISA CHIRICO, USA (2-0)
3...ANTONIA LOTTNER, GER (1-1)
2...KATERINA SINIAKOVA, CZE (1-0)
2...Elizaveta Kulichkova, RUS (1-1)
2...Taylor Townsend, USA (1-1)
2...Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (0-2)
2...Elise Mertens, BEL (0-2)
1...Anett Kontaveit, EST (1-0)
1...MAYO HIBI, JPN (0-0)
1...ALICIA TORNADO BLACK, USA (0-0)
1...IRYNA SHYMANOVICH, BLR (0-0)
1...Anhelina Kalinina, UKR (0-1)
1...Darya Kasatkina, RUS (0-1)
1...Jamie Loeb, USA (0-1)
1...Jelena Ostapenko, LAT (0-1)
1...Kristina Schmiedlova, SVK (0-1)




TOP QUALIFIER: Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR
Co-TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #1 Serena Williams/USA & #2 Victoria Azarenka/BLR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #1 Serena Williams/USA
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Chanel Simmonds/RSA d. (WC) Taylor Townsend/USA 2-6/6-2/7-5
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - (Q) Vicky Duval/USA d. #11 Samantha Stosur/AUS 5-7/6-4/6-4
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF/Doub.): 4th Rd. - #18 Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP d. #8 Angelique Kerber/GER 4-6/6-4/7-6(3)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP ASHE NIGHT SESSION MATCH: 3rd Rd. - (Q) Camila Giorgi/ITA d. #6 Caroline Wozniacki 4-6/6-4/6-2
=============================
FIRST WINNER: Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP (def. Davis/USA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #29 Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK (lost to LL Mayr-Achleitner/AUT)
UPSET QUEENS: United States
REVELATION LADIES: Italy
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia [1-4 overall, Stosur out 1st Rd, Rogowska double-bageled, only WC Barty advanced to 2nd Rd.]
CRASH & BURN: #11 Sam Stosur/AUS - '11 champ, lost 1st Rd. to Duval/USA, 17-yr. old qualifier in second career slam match, ranked #296
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Daniela Hantuchova/SVK - 0-5 in last five slams, 3rd Rd. def. (Q) Glushko/ISR, down set and 5-2 and saved four match points
AMG SLAM FUTILITY UPDATE: lost 1st Rd. to Mladenovic/FRA, once again failing to reach a slam QF in her career (so Anna Smashnova still has a buddy)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Camila Giorgi/ITA (4th Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Alison Riske/USA (4th Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: Serena Williams/USA (in SF)
IT GIRL: Vicky Duval/USA
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Li Na/CHN
COMEBACK PLAYER: Flavia Pennetta/ITA
BROADWAY-BOUND: Camila Giorgi/ITA
LADY OF THE EVENING: Serena Williams/USA
DOUBLES STAR: Nominees: A.Spears/USA, A.Hlavackova/CZE, Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS), Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Nominees: Black/USA, Shymanovich/BLR, Hibi/JPN, Lottner/GER, Siniakova/CZE, Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE)




All for now. More tomorrow.