Serena, Jelena, Ana, and Maria. That sounds like a semifinal draw from a couple of years ago. It isn't quite the same though. The "Ana" part is a surprise, and the last name on that list refers to clay court artist Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, not the other Maria, who probably wouldn't be on the list even if she were healthy.
Ivanovic has made a resurgence in Rome, and has advanced to the semifinals via her defeat today of 14th seed Nadia Petrova, who just can't seem to put it together anymore, not even on clay, at the deep end of a tournament. Ivanovic served her way to a 6-2, 7-5 victory, and will play Martinez Sanchez in the semifinals. Martinez Sanchez defeated Lucie Safarova 7-6, 6-4. Expect some big serving from both players in their match tomorrow.
Top seed Serena Williams defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Kirilenko was down 0-4 in the second set, but fought back to create a contest.
And then there was Venus Williams, whose serve was terribly off today, and--to make it worse--she faced a completely in-form Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic loves Rome. She has won the tournament twice, and her first big career turn-around took place there. Jankovic won 6-0, 6-1 in just under an hour. She will play Serena Williams in the semifinal. Jankovic is 3-4 against Williams in tour matches, and they have never before faced each other on clay.
Yes, JJ won. She's playing on her favorite surface! let's see what happens when she comes across an "in-formed" Venus at Wimbledon. Nice win for both JJ and Ana, espically Ana,since she hasn't won a title in over a year, maybe she'll take this one. As for me, don't like the clay season, the surface is so messy, give me the grass and the hardcourts anyday. Clay, it's like one big sandbox without the buckets and shovels!
ReplyDeleteClay is my favorite surface, but I know a lot of people prefer hard or grass.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Jelena-- light up the court with your game and your smile! And while Jankovic may be 0-10 vs Henin, in a truly odd twist she is 10-10 vs the Williams sisters. Really quite interesting!
ReplyDeleteTo say that I am depressed over the result yesterday would be putting it mildly. Anyway ... so I have now adopted another kitten, however, the first one that I rescued (rather than adopted) we have named her Patches. The other one is still without a name. I am thinking Runt as she is so small and Patches is beating the living daylights out of her. She refuses to make her eat from the same bowl, does not wish to play with her and I have to keep punishing Patches all the time. Poor Runt is so small that she keeps falling over when Patches jumps on her. Anyone have a solution as to how to stop Patches from beating Runt, if not, I can see myself giving Patches away as Runt is too small to live on her own with another family.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you mean by "punishing," but whatever you are doing, it is useless, I assure you. In fact, it is probably interfering with what the two kittens need to do in order to live together. Patches is simply trying to establish dominance over the other kitten. When they are not from the same litter, one will often go out of her way to establish dominance.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what looks like "beating" to you may just be normative cat dominating behavior. Not wanting to play with another cat and not wanting to eat out of the same bowl is a dominance tactic.
Unless the other kitten is getting hurt, I doubt that you have a problem on your hands because the smaller one will get bigger and the other one won't be able to pick on her like that anymore.
When introducing kittens to cats, one does it slowly over a long period; usually, though, it isn't that hard to introduce kittens to each other. However, if there are no injuries and there is no blood, chances are Patches is just one dominant kitten, and the two will work it out.
Diane, one of the reasons why I am concerned is because Runty now has teeth and scratch marks on the top of her head from where Patches holds her down and scratches her. She is also trying to go for Runty's under belly. I punish by spraying water on her from a spray bottle but that does not seem to be working. They are both from the same litter.
ReplyDeleteNo, the water won't work. In fact, interference from humas could cause more problems (I have been through this sort of thing before).
ReplyDeleteIf you're worried about the little one getting hurt, keep them apart when you're not at home. When the little one gets bigger, she won't be such a target anymore.
Of course, if Patches really hurts her, they will not be able to live together. But usually, they work it out.
Diane I actually had to take Runty to the vet today (took both of them actually) for shots and shampoo and I now have them in cages. I am at home all the time as I work from home but Runty's head was really looking bad and I was a bit concerned that it may have gotten infected but the vet says the scratches are not that deep but if Patches continues to scratch her it could eventually get infected and she may die. I now have 2 caged cats (first time ever) and boy they are both mewing down the place which is quite annoying. Oy vey
ReplyDeleteThat's unfortunate. Litter-mates don't usually get into it like that. The little one is just too little, it sounds like, and needs to be protected for a while. Runts of litters do tend to get picked on.
ReplyDeleteWe had an issue when we introduced the two boys (they were kittens) to the two girls. One of the sisters was perfectly fine with everything, but the other one--the undisputed queen of everything--tolerated one, but really went after the other one. We did a very gradual introduction via our vet's advice, and it eventually worked. I think, because the one male grew to be so big, Roxie was frightened of him.
LOL - hilarious - hopefully things will change as Runty gets bigger
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