US.13 - Inevitable Eve

Rather than some sort of open letter to Miss Azarenka, I thought I'd appeal to her musical side instead.

Since she's recently added some Motown to her pre-match ritual, I thought I might suggest a special addition to her iPod for Sunday afternoon. Maybe it'll help her get her New York groove back:



"New York Groove"
Hello (1975) cover done by Ace Frehley (1978)
LYRICS:
Many years since I was here
On the street I was passin' my time away
To the left and to the right, buildings towering to the sky
It's outta sight in the dead of night
Here I am, and in this city, with a fistful of dollars
And baby, you'd better believe

I'm back, back in the New York groove
I'm back, back in the New York groove
I'm back, back in the New York groove
Back in the New York groove, in the New York groove

In the back of my Cadillac
A wicked lady sittin' by my side sayin' where are we
Stop at third and forty-three, exit to the night
It's gonna be exstacy, this place was meant for me
I feel so good tonight, who cares about tomorrow
So baby, you'd better believe

I'm back, back in the New York groove
I'm back, back in the New York groove
I'm back, back in the New York groove

Back in the New York groove, in the New York groove

I'm back, back in the New York groove (Repeats Out...)

I hope it works.



=DAY 13 NOTES=
...the Girls Singles semifinals are over, and the final will include a battle between the expected and the unexpected.

The "expected," #2-seed Ana Konjuh, the Croat who won the other junior hard court major of 2013 in Melbourne, defeated #11 seed Mayo Hibi today. She'll next meet the "unexpected" in the final, in the form of American wild card Tornado Alicia Black. Black, who earlier upset #4-seed Barbora Krejcikova in the 2nd Round, knocked off #7 Antonia Lottner today. Lottner had defeated #1 seed Belinda Bencic in the QF.

The Boys final will feature #3-seeded Borna Coric (another Croat) against unseeded Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis, the runner-up at this year's Australian Open.

In junior doubles, top-seeded Czechs Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova won their third straight Girls slam crown, defeating #3 Bencic & Sara Sorribes Tormo in the final to add the Open to their wins in Paris and SW19. Kamil Majchrzak & Martin Redlicki, a Polish-American combo, picked up the Boys Doubles title.

...the Women's Doubles is about to be contested as I post this, with #5-seeded Czechs Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka, who upset the Williams Sisters yesterday, will take on Aussies Ashleigh Barty & Casey Dellacqua, the runners-up at both this year's Australian Open and Wimbledon. Hlavackova & Hradecka won the Roland Garros crown in 2011, and both have picked up Mixed titles this season, as well: Hradecka in Paris with Frantisek Cermak, and Hlavackova just the other day with Max Mirnyi.

If Hlavackova can sweep the doubles and mixed at this Open she'll be the first woman to do it at a slam since Cara Black in 2008 at Flushing Meadows. If Dellacqua can pick up her first slam doubles crown, to go along with her mixed win at Roland Garros in 2011, she'll join Hlavackova on the list of what will be twelve active women with both versions of a slam crown on their resume. This current list:

Cara Black
Andrea Hlavackova
Lucie Hradecka
Liezel Huber
Ekaterina Makarova
Lisa Raymond
Katarina Srebotnik
Samantha Stosur
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Vera Zvonareva



*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Serena Williams/USA vs. #2 Victoria Azarenka/BLR

*MEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Novak Djokovic/SRB vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#5 Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) vs. #8 Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS)

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

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#7 Hlavackova/Mirnyi (CZE/BLR) def. Spears/S.Gonzalez (USA/MEX) 7-6/6-3

*GIRLS SINGLES FINAL*
(WC) Tornado Alicia Black/USA vs. #2 Ana Konjuh/CRO

*BOYS SINGLES FINAL*
#4 Borna Coric/CRO vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis/AUS

*GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) def. #3 Bencic/Sorribes Tormo (SUI/ESP) 6-3/6-4

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
Majchrzak/Redlicki (POR/USA) def. Halys/Silva (FRA/POR) 6-3/6-4

*WOMEN'S WC SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Sabine Ellerbrock/GER vs. #2 Aniek Van Koot/NED

*MEN'S WC SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Shingo Kunieda/JPN vs. #2 Stephane Houdet/FRA

*WOMEN'S WC DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Griffioen/Van Koot (NED/NED) def. #2 Ellerbrock/Kamiji (GER/JPN) 6-3/6-4

*MEN'S WC DOUBLES FINAL*
Jeremiasz/Scheffers (FRA/NED) def. Fernandez/Gerard (ARG/BEL) 6-0/4-6/6-3



**US OPEN "JUNIOR BREAKOUT" WINNERS**
2007 Kristina Kucova, SVK
2008 Gabriela Paz, VEN
2009 Heather Watson, GBR
2010 Yulia Putintseva, RUS & Sloane Stephens, USA
2011 Grace Min, USA
2012 Vicky Duval, USA
2013 Tornado Alicia Black, USA
[2013]
AO: Ana Konjuh, CRO
RG: Belinda Bencic, SUI
WI: Louisa Chirico, USA
US: Tornado Alicia Black, USA

*2013 ATP FINALS*
12...RAFAEL NADAL (9-2)
6...David Ferrer (2-4)
5...Andy Murray (4-1)
5...NOVAK DJOKOVIC (3-1)
4...John Isner (2-2)
4...Stanislas Wawrinka (1-3)
3...Juan Martin del Potro (2-1)
3...Fabio Fognini (2-1)
3...Philipp Kohlschreiber (1-2)
3...Kevin Anderson (0-3)

*ALL-TIME ATP FINAL MATCH-UPS*
[overall]*
20...Federer vs. Nadal
20...Lendl vs. McEnroe
17...DJOKOVIC vs. NADAL
16...Agassi vs. Sampras
16...Becker vs. Edberg
15...Connors vs. McEnroe
15...Lendl vs. McEnroe
[grand slams]
8...Federer vs. Nadal
6...DJOKOVIC vs. NADAL
5...Agassi vs. Sampras
5...Lendl vs. Wilander
4...Borg vs. Connors
4...Borg vs. McEnroe
4...Djokovic vs. Murray
4...Federer vs. Roddick

*CAREER US OPEN MATCH WINS - WOMEN*
101...Chris Evert
89...Martina Navratilova
73...Steffi Graf
71...SERENA WILLIAMS
63...Venus Williams
62...Lindsay Davenport

*2013 SLAM MEETINGS OF CURRENT/FORMER #1's*
=AO=
3r - Ivanovic d. Jankovic
3r - Sharapova d. V.Williams
=RG=
QF - Sharapova d. Jankovic
SF - Sharapova d. Azarenka
F - S.Williams d. Sharapova
=WI=
-
=US=
4r - Azarenka d. Ivanovic
F - S.Williams vs. Azarenka

*2013 WTA #1 vs. #2 MATCH-UPS*
Doha Final - #1 Azarenka d. #2 S.Williams
Miami Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Sharapova
Madrid Final - #1 S.Williams d. #2 Sharapova
Roland Garros Final - #1 S.Williams vs. #2 Sharapova
Cincinnati Final - #2 Azarenka d. #1 S.Williams
US Open Final - ???

**RECENT US OPEN GIRLS FINALS**
2005 Victoria Azarenka/BLR def. Alexa Glatch/USA
2006 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS def. Tamira Paszek/AUT
2007 Kristina Kucova/SVK def. Urszula Radwanska/POL
2008 Coco Vandeweghe/USA def. Gabriela Paz/VEN
2009 Heather Watson/GBR def. Yana Buchina/RUS
2010 Daria Gavrilova/RUS def. Yulia Putintseva/RUS
2011 Grace Min/USA def. Caroline Garcia/FRA
2012 Samantha Crawford/USA def. Anett Kontaveit/EST
2013 Ana Konjuh/CRO vs. Tornado Alicia Black/USA

**2013 GIRLS DOUBLES SLAM WINNERS**
AO: Ana Konjuh & Carol Zhao, CRO/CAN
RG: Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
WI: Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE
US: Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, CZE/CZE

**SLAM FINALS - ACTIVE MEN**
24...Roger Federer, SUI (17-7)
18...RAFAEL NADAL, ESP (12-5)
12...NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB (6-5)
7...Andy Murray, GBR (2-5)
4...Lleyton Hewitt, AUS (2-2)
[all-time]
24...Roger Federer
19...Ivan Lendl
18...RAFAEL NADAL
18...Pete Sampras
17...Rod Laver
16...Bjorn Borg
16...Ken Rosewall

*U.S. OPEN FINALS - ACTIVE MEN*
6...Roger Federer (5-1)
5...NOVAK DJOKOVIC (1-3)
3...RAFAEL NADAL (1-1)
2...Lleyton Hewitt (1-1)
2...Andy Murray (1-1)
1...Juan Martin del Potro (1-0)

*ACTIVE SINGLES PLAYERS - FIRST SLAM FINAL - MEN*
2001 U.S. Open - Lleyton Hewitt (W)
2002 Wimbledon - David Nalbandian
2003 Wimbledon - Roger Federer (W)
2005 Roland Garros - Rafael Nadal (W)
2006 Australian Open - Marcos Baghdatis
2007 U.S. Open - Novak Djokovic
2008 Australian Open - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
2008 U.S. Open - Andy Murray
2009 Roland Garros - Robin Soderling
2009 U.S. Open - Juan Martin del Potro (W)
2010 Wimbledon - Tomas Berdych
2013 Roland Garros - David Ferrer

**RECENT US OPEN WOMEN'S DOUBLES CHAMPIONS**
2005 Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
2006 Nathalie Dechy & Vera Zvonareva, FRA/RUS
2007 Nathalie Dechy & Dinara Safina, FRA/RUS
2008 Cara Black & Liezel Huber, RSA/USA
2009 Serena & Venus Williams, USA/USA
2010 Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova, USA/KAZ
2011 Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
2012 Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
2013 ?
[2013]
AO: Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
RG: Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
WI: Hsieh Su-Wei & Peng Shuai, TPE/CHN
US: ?

**US OPEN "DOUBLES STAR" WINNERS**
2006 Martina Navratilova, USA
2007 Nathalie Dechy, FRA
2008 Cara Black, ZIM
2009 Carly Gullickson, USA
2010 Liezel Huber, USA
2011 Melanie Oudin, USA
2012 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
2013 ?
[2013]
AO: Jarmila Gajdosova, AUS
RG: Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
WI: Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
US: ?




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.Hlavackova/CZE, Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS), Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Tornado Alicia Black/USA




All for now. More tomorrow.