Defense Wins Cincy and Toronto

This happened in Toronto as Muzz surprised Fed with a more aggressive game that he needs to play in order to win a slam. Specifically Muzz showed a forehand that was either a putaway for short balls or a forcing shot (e.g. the angled inside out shot). The score was closer than it should have been (75 75) as Fed recovered in both sets from being a break down only to give the service break back to Muzz. If anything would prevent him from winning the USO, his second serve is still too easy to attack.

Mum Train recovered from a poor start and saved 3 championship points to prevail over Shrieka [2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2]. Shrieka started to feel pain in her left heel toward the end of the second set, and it clearly hampered her ability to push off as it worsened in the 3rd set.

Oz Redux in Canada

In a replay of their AO semifinal, Muzz succeeded in hitting through Rafa (6-3 6-4). A typical point was that Rafa would hit to Muzz's forehand. Muzz would hit a reverse FH that angled Rafa off the court to his backhand. Rafa would try to hit a sharper angle back with topspin back, but Muzz is so fast he'd run it down and take the control of the point with a flatter forehand. Muzz presents a different problem to Rafa than, say, Fed, because when Muzz takes control of a point he's such a great retriever and such a great defensive player he's not likely to miss. Plus Rafa's heavy topspin FH to Muzz's backhand doesn't bother Muzz.

The Greatest Shanker of All Time eked out a victory to set up a redux of his Oz Open Final. He admitted that he got ahead a bit too quickly against the Djoker (6-1, 3-6, 7-5). The Djoker settled down from trying to outbash Rafa, cleaned up his game and almost used his forehand to angle Fed out of the tournament. Kudos to Fed for clutch play in the 3rd set.

Toronto and Cincy 2010: Let the Games Begin

Even though the US Open series has already started (Washington DC, San Diego, Atlanta, Stanford, LA), most of the top 10 don't start to play until the more important Masters/Premier tourneys begin (and extend their summer vacations). Now shit gets real. The men have a Masters 1000 in Canada; the ladies play in Cincy. Looking back a year, what a difference a year makes?

Toronto

Delpo won't be around to defend his points from making the finals last year due to a wrist injury. Muzz hasn't won a tournament this year (after winning 6 last year), and failed to convert championship points against Samurai in LA. While Muzz has parted ways with his coach in hopes of improving so that he can start winning slams, it's not exactly clear what he wants to change. Does he want to improve at chasing balls? What about a forehand with more punch? It's not exactly clear whether he can defend his title here?

Recall that Fed had Tsonga on the ropes last year but failed to close it out in an epic collapse. While Anacone will be in Fed's coach box this week, it remains to be seen whether Fed can pull out of his slump. If pattern holds, Fed won't be in match shape until next week in Cinncinati. Or we might be surprised to see Anacone make Fed try different patterns to take control of points.

Rafa has had a stellar clay/grass season, and is hungry to win the US Open to complete a career slam. And this year he's managing his schedule to rest his knees to peak at the US Open. If I recall correctly, he's planning to skip one of the Master's 1000s (i.e. Cincinnati) to give himself more rest for his knees. Even with a less strenuous schedule, Rafa's heavy topspin strokes and preference for sliding won't be quite the advantage he's accustomed to on fast hard courts like Deco Turf (see here for the difference a hard court can make). Then again, he did make the semis of Indian Wells and Miami. So it would be no surprise of Rafa continued his domination of the tour.

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Rafa, Fed, Nole, Muzz, Playstation, Sod, ARod, Nando

Injuries: Delpo (wrist), Ali (knee), Dr. Ivo (ankle), Gonzo (calf), Rusty (calf)

Oh, by the way, this odd couple is playing doubles.

Cincinnati

With the WTA, you never know who will come out on top on a given week. Dinara is coming back from back injury and is lucky to win consecutive matches these days. I'll go out on a limb and bet that she won't be in the final. Lady JaJa rolled her ankle back in Portoroz, Slovenia and claimed (again) that it hobbled her last week against Kleybs. Caro was at one point in the year the world #2 but frankly hasn't shown that she can be a consistent Slam contender because of her weaker forehand (and yes I count her movement as a weapon). While Sam has a heavy serve and forehand, her movement is bit suspect on faster hard courts where she can't hit a lot of runaround forehands. Franny has a high seed due to her magical (and career-climaxing) win at Roland Garros, but this may not be relevant to predicting her playing well this week in Cincy. Finally, Bepa is coming off an excellent run to the finals in SW19, where she had the misfortune of playing Serena en fuego. It will be fun to see which Bepa will show up: the racket smasher or the steady smart counterpuncher. Likewise with Nails we get a Heckyll-Jyde schtick. She can either be the cleanest ball striker you've ever see, painting the lines, or nail the ball into the alleys.

Tourney Site: here

Draw: here

Seeds: Lady JaJa, Caro, LenaD, Mum Train, Franny, Bepa, Nails

Injuries: Vee (knee), ReeRee (foot), Allez Bitch (elbow), Sam (arm)