US Open 2010: Labor Day Weekend

On Saturday, I was on the grounds of the US Open catching a bunch of the matches. I'll post on this later even though it will be anti-climatic. I spent the rest of the weekend recovering from watching several hours of live tennis (and I did sneak out to hit some balls myself).

Swiss precision triumphed in the form of Ewok.

The triumph made a Scotsman surly, and edged him closer to the dreaded category: best player never to have won a slam (yet).

The best WTA player never to have won a slam was in tears, because she couldn't convert 4 match points, on her own serve which is sadly the weakest part of her game.

The shyest player in the WTA showed real heart in fighting off those match points, even though she was a break down in the third to come back and win it in a run away tiebreaker.

In the battle of glamazons from Nike and Adidas, Shrieka couldn't hit the ball hard enough (and into the court).

A shriek did knock down Caro when she couldn't run down a lob in one of her few forays to the net.

The jinx showed up in the player's box of TMF.

Alas, Jurgen, the tennis gods just didn't give you enough.

Methinks, TMF worked super hard after Wimbledon on his defense and speed. It shows.

Cincy and Montreal 2010

The ladies and the men swap locations. The men are in the sauna that's called Cincinnati, and the ladies go north of the border to Montreal.

Cincinnati

Up north in Canada, all of the top 4 made it to the semifinals. Last year the same suspects made it to the semis in humid Cincy instead of Montreal. So look for someone beside the top 4 to upset of them. Rafa is looking to fine tune his form on hard court to complete his coveted career slam. From his match against Muzz, Rafa needs to serve better and cut down on his backhand errors. This year he's been doing an outstanding job of hitting the flatter windshield wiper forehand to supplement his better known reverse forehand. With Rafa's determination, he can never be counted out. Fed's coaching experiment with Annacone is off to a great start as he beat Berdych the type of player who has given him trouble this past year (big tall ballbasher) and the Djoker to reascend to #2. Annacone looks like he is making Federer drive more returns, and risk using his topspin backhand to open up the court (sharp CC or down the line). If Fed can do that consistently, watch out for the return of Darth Federer! Muzz is going without a fulltime coach, and relying upon the advice of his hitting partner (Danny Valerdu) and his mum. It looks like Muzz has figured out what it means for him to be more aggressive: hit a spin forehand to angle his opponents off the court early in the point. Then use his speed & movement off either wing to hit another shot on the rise to put his opponents in an even worse position to set up a flat forehand into the open court. Out of the top 4 guys, the Djoker looks the most vulnerable to an upset, as his opponents know that if you force him to stay out there long enough, his fitness problems will tip him toward mental collapse.


Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Rafa, Djoker, Fed, Muzz, Sod, Playstation, Big Berd, Nando

Montreal

Lady JaJa is officially the #1 seed, but for any WTA pro not surnamed Williams, that's no sure thing. The buzz is around Shrieka and Mum Train who met in the finals in Cincy. One reason for the hard court prowess is that they can hit through the court, preventing counterpunchers like Lady JaJa, Caro, Aggie and Franny from extending points past their shot tolerance. While Bepa does play a counterpuncher's style, her results at Wimbledon show that she can murder the ball when she wants. Nails always tries to murder the ball but can't find the court (a bit too often).

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Lady JaJa, Caro, Lena D, Mum Train, Franny, Aggie, Bepa, Nails

Roland Garros 2010: Women's Semifinals

The finalists are surprising. Stosur was one to watch out for but had to beat Allez Bitch, ReeRee and Lady JaJa. Franny was not really on the radar screen of most.



Kudos to Franny who outplayed (ever so slightly) a gimpy Demy in the 1st and only set (7-6[3] retire). I thin toward the end of the set she made the adjustment to hit heavier topsin shots so that she played excellent defense as Demy kept trying to break down her one-handed backhand. A real bummer for Lena who has been always been the bridesmaid at a Slam, but never the bride. The injury to her left calf that she sustained in her earlier rounds caught up to her and she might miss Wimbledon.

	Schiavone	Dementieva
Unforced Errors	12	24
Winners	12	15
1st Serve %	60%	71%
Aces	1	2
DF	2	4
1st Serve % Pts Won	20/27 (74%)	23/35 (66%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won	7/18 (39%)	5/14 (36%)
Break Points Won	1/4 (25%)	1/1 (100%)
Net Approaches	8/10 (80%)	6/7 (86%)
Total Receiving Points Won	19/45 (42%)	14/43 (33%)
Total Service Points Won	29/43 (67%)	26/45 (58%)
Total Points Won	48/94 (51%)	46/94 (49%)

Noting spectacular from the statistics side, as would be expected from a set that goes to a tiebreaker.



I was not entirely surprised that Sam terminated Lady JaJa (6-1 6-2). Yeah, that kick serve and heavy topspin FH does wonders on clay. WTA, take notice! When your second serve is a weapon, you really have nothing to fear.

	Stosur	Jankovic
Unforced Errors	16	22
Winners	18	9
1st Serve %	61%	74%
Aces	7	2
DF	4	1
1st Serve % Pts Won	25/31 (81%)	13/24 (38%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won	8/16 (50%)	7/11 (60%)
Break Points Won	5/10 (50%)	1/5 (20%)
Net Approaches	4/6 (80%)	4/6 (67%)
Total Receiving Points Won	26/46 (57%)	18/51 (35%)
Total Service Points Won	33/51 (65%)	20/46 (43%)
Total Points Won	59/97 (60%)	38/97 (40%)

From the stats it is pretty obvious that Sam was all over JaJa's first serve. It's a pretty good bet that in most of the points, Sam took immediate control.

Sam has been playing very consistent and steady clay-court tennis, and plays better offense than Franny. Tactically, Sam should adjust to attack Franny's FH with an inside-in FH or BH DTL. Franny will need to hope that her high bouncing topspin shots or BH slices can frustrate Sam. But none of that from Henin really frustrated her. From the way Sam has been playing, I think the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen is on her racquet.

Roland Garros 2010: Surprise Semifinalists

The biggest surprise, by far, is the end of TMF's record of 23 consecutive appearances in Grand Slam finals courtesy of General Sod the Evil One (3-6, 6-3, 7-5 6-4).




Many (like Bozo, FYB and Killer) think that Sod's ability to hit big was the sufficient condition for his win and keep Fed on his heels. As Killer put it, Sod played Red Line tennis for three sets and shot the moon.

I'm in the minority (with Fed incidentally). While I think Sod had to play his game (hit big), I don't think that was enough to bet Fed. From the match statistics, everything was even except for breaks of serve. I think that the net gain of winners to UFE favored Fed (+13 to +7). Perhaps the forced error advantage to Soderling (+9) washes out those Fed's UFE/winner advantage for a measly +3 point advantage. In conclusion, it's not hard to guess that the difference in the match got down to break points.

	Federer	Soderling
Unforced Errors	27	42
Forced Errors	48	39
Winners	40	49
1st Serve %	64%	64%
Aces	12	14
DF	2	5
1st Serve % Pts Won	56/76 (74%)	59/81 (73%)
2nd Serve % Pts Won	23/41 (56%)	25/39 (64%)
Break Points Won	2/7 (29%)	4/9 (44%)
Net Approaches	13/17 (76%)	18/30 (60%)
Total Receiving Points Won	42/126 (33%)	40/119 (34%)
Total Service Points Won	79/119 (66%)	84/126 (67%)
Total Points Won	121/245 (49%)	124/245 (51%)

A key point was set point on Sod's serve in the 3rd at 4-5 where Fed replied to a Sod overhead in the deuce corner (by the fence) with an overhead. Then Soderling hit a backhand overhead reply crosscourt to save set point. After a rain delay in which the umpires waited a point to suspend the match while it was pouring, Fed double faulted on his serve to hand Sod a break point which he converted with a FH approach shot.

Afterwards Fed had this to say:

Q. In any case, before the stop you had a set point, so it could have been another story, or he started playing flat?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, best of five set matches you always get chances, and I definitely had those at, what was it, 5 4, Love 30? I mean, he missed a forehand that was close to go up at Love 30, and then he had a forehand that just touches the line a little bit to go maybe Love 40 instead of, you know, 15 30. So that's obviously a big change.
The backhand smash he hit he catches with the frame a little bit, you know. I mean, that was kind of a hard shot to hit, I thought. That kind of shot from my side with the smash and stuff is very unusual.
So hit it well, you know. But he played aggressive and kept on coming. When the conditions got more heavy when we came back from the rain delay, he played well, you know.
That was a tough set for me to lose after having those chances and being up 40 15 on my serve when I came back.

One other consequence of Fed losing in the quarters is that he will loses the chance to break Sampras' record at the number of weeks holding the #1 ranking this summer if Rafa wins the French. Rafa will displace Fed as #1.

Q. As you look inside yourself, what is worse for you: having been beaten in quarterfinals and have no chance to win another Grand Slam title, or let the chance open to lose the No. 1?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, you just take the defeat as it is. You don't think of the consequences. I guess most disappointed I am that I can't defend my title here. I really felt like my tennis was good enough to come here and do it again, but that was not the case today.
So it's more the disappointment in having maybe not delivered my very best performance today, conditions and opponents didn't allow me to.
And, yeah, then you move on. You know, you move on to the grass and forget a little bit.

Big Berd continued to show good form by triumphing over Head Banger (6-3 6-1 6-2).





Kudos to Franny who triumphed over Caro (6-2, 6-3) to earn her first semifinal appearance in a Grand Slam.

Caro gave all credit to Franny:

She played well. She played with a lot of spin. She didn't make a lot of mistakes. She played aggressive. She was playing better than me today. I was always one step behind.

By using a lot of spin, Franny actually beat Caro at her normal retriever-style tennis.

Franny will face LenaD who triumphed over a gimpy Nads (2-6, 6-2, 6-0). This is tough to believe after the clay-court season LenaD had been having.

Roland Garros 2010: Middle Sunday

Caro wore down Flavs with her usual brand of Golden Retriever tennis (7-6 [4] 6-7 [5] 6-2)

She'll face another Italian: Franny, who frustrated MaKiri by keeping a billion balls in play (6-4 6-4)

JuJu survived Shrieka's ice stare and fireballs to play Sam for a place in the quarters to take the 3rd set after play was suspended last night (6-2 3-6 6-3).

BTW, Tigs noticed Masha's new tic. Instead of combing her hair before she serves, she clenches her fist before she receives serve.


Demy had a relatively easy match over Scheepers (6-1 6-3).

She'll face Nads who demonstrated improved defence to "upset" Vee (6-4 6-3).

In the battle of big fast guys who are supposed to be the future, Sod handed a beatdown to Cilic (6-4 6-4 6-2).

Sod will try to get his first official career win over the Greatest Shanker of All Time, who beat his friend and compatriot Wawa (6-3 7-6 [5] 6-2)

Big Berd feasted on Muzzard who has not had a great clay court season.

He'll face Head Banger who advanced due to the retirement of Jo Willy because of a hip injury.

Roland Garros 2010: Mr. Clean Dances

Mr. Clean hit the shot of the day to bring up match point, in response to an approach shot that Fish just murdered. I wish I could show a video but you know how it is during Slams. Here's what Tigs had to say:

Ljubicic hits his backhand with such a closed face and a flat swing path that you can’t believe the ball can get over the net and down into the court consistently. It does. Ljubicic walks with deliberation between points. He looks a little stiff. But he’s flexible enough to hit a deft backhand crosscourt pass [block] to set up match point. Fish is crushed. Ljubicic breaks into a swivel-hip dance. He looks like he’s rolling an invisible hula-hoop around his waist. He walks to the baseline and ends this two-day epic with an ace. It’s the highlight of the first week so far.

Kudos to Mr. Clean to win 6-2 6-7 (8) 4-6 6-2 10-8.

In other news, Nails capitulated to Franny 4 and 2. Le Sad.



Demmy clawed her way to victory over CanWoz after taking the path of most resistance (6-7 [2] 6-3 6-4).



Unsurprisingly, MaKiri took out Sveta (6-3 2-6 6-4) for the second time in a month (she beat Sveta in Madrid). Sveta will sink to a #18 in the rankings after Roland Garros. The Roland Garros curse is official.

OMG! They Won A Match!

Miss Ajde Fistpump won her 3rd match in a row, beating my pick for Rome, LenaD.



Best comment was by Matt Cronin:

"Hi Jelena. Oh, it's you Ana, I really thought Demenetieva played badly today. Good u don't have to play Venus like I do'

I didn't catch the match but according to some who did, she's playing a higher percentage tennis with more net clearance and spin. This could be taken as anything from boring grinding to pushing. Still given her inconsistency over the last two years, this is probably what the doctor ordered. For exhibits on how far being "regular" can take you, see Rafa, Caro, ARod and Muzz. If you want to go back in history, see Rosewall, Borg, Vilas, Lendl and Wilander. At some point, she'll probably have to relearn when to go for the kill. But if I were Herr Gunhardt, let's just wait til she gets back in the top 20. She needs some Ws to climb the rankings ladder.

NaturAna faces Nads next. She has nothing to lose as she has already had a great tournament. Ana, whether or not you win or lose tomorrow, just repeat and rinse consistency next week and you'll keep your fans happy. Update: now her fans are going apeshit as she beat Nads 2 and 5 to advance to the semis to face the cunning Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. She actually has a chance to get to the finals!

This douchbag is a lot further up the rankings ladder.



He comfortably beat the fastest man that Agassi has ever played, three and four. Phau's best chance was when he had triple break point in the 1st set when Fed was defending his service break. But as we've come to expect from Fed, he stepped up and saved all the break points to hold serve.

It isn't supposed to be a shock for him to win a match but looking at his recent losses, it is. After winning a certain hard court tourney in Oz and then getting a lung infection, he has had an uncharacteristic W-L record of 1-3. In two of those losses he failed to convert match points. In the last of those, Gulbis Inc. and the RF Charity traded service breaks at the end of the 3rd set. Perhaps he got enough of the evil eye from Mirka, a certain portion of his fans or even Bozo. Whatever. The Greatest Shanker of All Time ought to remember: "Hey, I'm Darth Federer. Winning tennis matches is just another day at the office for me." Keep it up Fed, and you won't have to mail Le Coupe des Mousquetaires to Mallorca.

Rome: AnaKADs Rejoice!

It's been awhile when we've seen a celebratory fist pump



Whatever Herr Heinz Gunthardt is doing must be working.




Happily for her, she ain't sitting on her bench like this after match.



Indeed, she served up a breadstick and then gave up three games.

Then she proceeded to win a tight one (4 and 4) over a Vika struggling with a leg injury. Perhaps hitting together last week helped her a bit.



But, wouldn't you think that if you were a pro, you wouldn't be surprised too much by anyone else's game by now?


We'll see if she's ready to turn into a WTA superhero.



After she plays this chick who I think might win the whole thing.




Props to Ana for winning two matches in a WTA Premier event! Just keep winning the next one, take a deep breath, don't think too hard about the occasion and you can start climbing back up the rankings ladder.