"That we had issues with knees."
Venus Williams
"If I hadn't been playing doubles, it might have been an even tougher match than it was."
Serena Williams, on competing against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
"A match takes long. It takes long before it's won or lost. You just have to keep fighting."
Kim Clijsters
"I'm still concentrating on my footwork too much instead of playing my game...."
Vera Zvonareva, talking about her lingering ankle problem
"Can't spell dynasty without nasty!"
on Serena Williams' Nike T-shirt
"This is the Nike 'Delicious' campaign that I'm a part of...'cause I'm delicious."
Serena Williams, referring to that shirt
"I tried to move her around, stay aggressive all the time. You know, not to go for crazy shots, which I'm very proud of."
Daniela Hantuchova
"Tennis, it's very strange sport, because for one point everything can change. You have to be very mentally very focused in all the moments."
Flavia Pennetta
"They're not intimidated by a lot of the top players anymore. I think that's a big thing"
Kim Clijsters, referring some of the younger players on the tour
"I heard a guy in the crowd yell 'Don't hit any more lobs!' so I didn't hit any more lobs after that."
Serena Williams
"My tactic was to push and to push her far away, because when she put the foot inside, is not easy to play against."
Francesca Schiavone
Can you imagine what the little girl Venus just starting out would think of Venus Williams today?
"That girl would think, 'Oh, yeah, I can beat her.'"
Venus Williams
7 comments:
Two notes:
1) did you realize that ESPN2 isn't carrying the night matches this weekend, because of NASCAR and MLB coverage? I guess Tennis Channel gets the chance.
2) can you believe that the Sharapova/Oudin match isn't scheduled for the night session? Seriously, the most exciting young American player in a decade arrives and plays Dementieva and Sharapova in the first three rounds, yet she doesn't merit a place in the nighttime spotlight? Who's scheduling this Open's night sessions? I think the first week has been the worst lineup I've ever seen. And it's not a case of thought-good matches ending up being blowouts, either. The matches that are exciting and possibly competitive aren't even being put on the schedule.
I thought Sharapova/Oudin was a no-brainer night match. Now I wonder if Venus/Clijsters will somehow avoid being put under-the-lights, too.
Australia put Dokic under the lights every single round because they knew that was the crowd-pleasing, story-of-the-tournament way to go.
Hard to believe that that notion escapes the Open schedulers. It's almost as if they've fallen for the Carillo line of thinking that everything needs to be wrapped up by 11pm so everyone gets home at a decent hour.
Tennis Channel is indeed showing the night matches. And the Tennis Channel live stream and almost all of the U.S. Open website live streams have disappeared for the weekend. We are stuck with CBS, just as we were stuck with NBC. This was my worst fear, and it has come to pass. So far, other live streams I've found are showing the same main match as CBS.
Of course Dementieva and Oudin should have been the night match, just as Oudin and Sharapova should be the night match. Perhaps those in charge think they've already used up their prime Maria exposure--but really, I have no idea what is going on.
Re: Oudin/Sharapova and night vs. day session--for the US Open, it's all about who is carrying the matches.
Federer, Roddick and Sharapova all have day matches today because that's when CBS owns the rights to air the Open, and those are the matches that will pull in the biggest ratings for them.
Yes, and obviously, night matches aren't considered too important on the weekend, or CBS would be showing them.
Don't be fooled. Maria and Melanie are not playing at night becuz they want to take the pressure off of Melanie as much as they can. Waiting all day and then playing Maria at night can be daunting so why do it.
You have a very credible point, Nicole. So far, though, the pressure doesn't seem to be getting to her too much.
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