Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you.
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

If Christina Rossetti were here to watch the U.S. Open, she might add a verse or two:


Who has seen the wind?
Not you, not I, not any.
But if you hit flat balls on Ashe,
The wind will take out many.

Who has seen the wind?
Not you nor I nor they.
But if you're not careful with your toss,
The wind goes Vera's way.

There were definitely three opponents in today's U.S. Open semifinal match featuring 7th seed Vera Zvonareva and 31st seed Kaia Kanepi. The wind gave both players so much trouble, and tennis balls were flying. Zvonareva was even knocked in the head by a stray toss from a ballboy. The Tall One from Tallin became discouraged now and then, but she fought on. In the end, though, after eleven breaks of serve, it was Zvonareva-- playing very carefully and serving as well as she could in windy conditions--who took the 6-3, 7-5 victory. The 7th seed hit only ten winners, but she made less than half the unforced errors her opponent made.

Advancing to the U.S. Open semifinals is the best day-late birthday gift Zvonareva could ask for. She turned 26 yesterday. Zvonareva reached the final at Wimbledon, and will try to repeat that feat when she plays the winner of tonight's match between Carolina Wozniacki and Dominika Cibulkova.

It's alive, it's moving...it's ALIVE!

Kaia Kanepi has a history of freezing from anxiety, but she outdid herself today when she allowed 15th seed Yanina Wickmayer to roll over her 6-0 in the first set of their U.S. Open round of 16 match. Kanepi looked as though she had glue on the bottom of her shoes, and to make the contrast more dramatic, Wickmayer was jumping up and down between points and looking like she was powered by the Energizer bunny.

I was hoping that Kanepi had overcome the problem with her nerves, but apparently, she hasn't. But, to her credit, as the second set began, the Tall One from Tallinn slowly came to life, though she went down a break in the second set. She had a set point at 5-4, which Wickmayer saved. The set went to a tiebreak, which Kanepi won decisively, at 7-2. After that, the Estonian rolled, as Wickmayer made more and more errors, and Kanepi found her big serve. Kanepi went up 5-0, in fact, then Wickmayer finally won a game. But that was the only game she was to win in that set.

Wickmayer was a semifinalist in last year's Open, and for a while, she looked on track to meet either Andrea Petkovic or Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals. But now it will be the 31st seed who goes for a semifinal slot in Flushing Meadows. The turnaround on both sides in this match was dramatic.

There wasn't a turnaround--not a significant one, anyway, in the final daytime match. Maria Sharapova waited too long to adjust her game against top seed Caroline Wozniacki, and even when she did, the 2006 champion once again could not find her serve.

There were moments of hope for Sharapova fans, however. Down 2-4, 0-40 in the first set, Sharapova held, then broke Wozniacki. But the Russian was unable to hold her serve in the next game. She did save a couple of set points when Wozniacki served for the set at 5-3, but Wozniacki prevailed with a 6-3 first set win.

In the second set--when the 14th seed began to volley and to hit more angled shots--she had a break point when Wozniacki served at 1-2, but that was erased. She would go on to save a match point on her own serve, but the 1st seed had no trouble serving for a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Sharapova hit 32 winners, but she also made 36 unforced errors, and she double-faulted nine times. Wozniacki hit 16 winners and made only 10 unforced errors. She looked as solid as she could be, and I can only imagine what a straight-set win over Sharapova does for her confidence. Wozniacki is about as tough as they come. Sharapova, also known for her toughness, obviously isn't "back" yet.

I enjoyed the Sharapova-Wozniacki match, but it started while the Kanepi-Wickmayer match was still in progress, and I had trouble taking my eyes off of the strange goings-on in Louis Armstrong Stadium. Sometimes--at least for me--the more unusual matches are the compelling ones. So far, my favorite two have been the Stosur-Dementieva match and the Schnyder-Wickmayer match. I also enjoyed watching Venus Williams play Shahar Peer, and all of Francesca Schiavone's matches, just because she played in them.

They call the wind Maria

Conditions were so windy at the U.S. Open today that players had to tone down their best shots, stay away from the lines, and deal with both with-the-wind and against-the-wind pressure. This seemed to do Jelena Jankovic in; however, I once saw Jankovic play expertly in post-tornado winds that were worse than what we saw in Flushing Meadows today. Granted, that court was slower, but that was also another Jankovic.

Today, Jankovic had to handle not only the wind, but also her opponent, Kaia Kanepi. The Tall One from Tallinn manged the wind, if not expertly, with considerably more control than Jankovic, and ran over her in a second set tiebreak. Kanepi, who was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, defeated the 4th seed 6-2, 7-6. To say that Jankovic has been "out of sorts" in this tournament would be to teeter on the brink of understatement. She's been rolling her eyes, yelling at the people in her box, and--more unusual (we are talking about JJ)--missing shots, even in good weather conditions, that are usually her keys to victory.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki had an easy time of it--again--today, defeating Chan Yung-Jan 6-1, 6-0. Dominika Cibulkova  also had an easy match, defeating Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-1.

And then there was Maria Sharapova, who blew Beatrice Capra over, 6-0, 6-0. The wind was really strong, of course, making the occasion especially difficult for Capra. Sharapova's next task is to play Wozniacki. Neither player has had any real difficulty so far; Sharapova's first match became easy when Jarmila Groth self-destructed.

Sharapova is seeded 16th, but the number--in this case--is not relevant. The 2006 champion appears to have overcome both her shoulder injury and her consequent service issues. Of course, under pressure, she could have problems again, and we won't know about that until she is standing across the net from Wozniacki. The two have played each other twice, and Sharapova won both matches in straight sets. However, these matches were played in 2008, and in tennis time, that's very old news. One thing is practically certain--the Sharapova-Wozniacki clash is going to be an exciting one.

U.S. Open miscellany

As Cole Porter said, brush up your Shakespeare! You've never before experienced this deconstruction of Hamlet.

During Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, both Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters were interviewed. Federer, the father of one-year-old twins, was asked about this year's Open compared with last year's; Clijsters was asked how she "balances" playing tennis and being a mother.

The U.S. Open promotional spot with the players on famous leaning New York skyscrapers is wonderful.

Geoff MacDonald suggests we watch Victoria Azarenka, Kaia Kanepi and Coco Vandeweghe.

There are great practice and training photos all over Forty Deuce.

Cibulkova--good for her--was the lone player to attend the Dunlop party, where she tended bar.

Kanepi out of Cincinnati qualifying

Top qualifying seed Kaia Kanepi was eliminated from Cincinnati qualifying in the first round today. Kanepi was defeated 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 by qualifying wild card Hsieh Su-Wei.

Also going out in the first round of qualifying were 3rd seed Elena Baltacha (def. by Julie Ditty), Sania Mirza (def. by Bojana Jovanovski) and Alison Riske (def. by Vania King).

Kanepi wins Palermo, Szavay wins Prague

Kaia Kanepi, seeded 5th at the Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo, won the championship today. Kanepi defeated top seed and defending champion (and wild card) Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-3. Kanepi is now 3-3 against Pennetta. This is Kanepi's first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title.

Agnes Szavay, who won the Budapest title last week, won the Prague title today, defeating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. Szavay and Zahlavova Strycova were seeded 7th and 8th, respectively. This was Zahlavova Strycova's first tour final.

Also repeating were the unseeded Timea Bacsinszy and Tathiana Garbin. They won the Budapest doubles title last week, and today, they won the Prague title, defeating Monica Niculescu and Szavay 7-5, 7-6.

Pennetta & Kanepi to meet in Palermo final

Palermo top seed and defending champion Flavia Pennetta defeated 8th seed Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-4 in the semifinals today, and will play 5th seed Kaia Kanepi in the final. Kanepi defeated wild card Romina Oprandi 6-3, 6-2.

Alberta Brianti and Sara Errani won the doubles title today, defeating Jill Craybas and Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-1. Both teams were unseeded, as were all of the semifinalists.

Kanepi out in 1st round of Swedish Open

Wimbledon quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi was defeated 7-5, 6-4 today by 5th seed Arantxa Parra Santonja in Bastad, Sweden. The tournament is played on red clay. Also losing was Anastasia Rodionova, who was defeated by Tatjana Malek.

Meanwhile, in Budapest, 5th seed Peng Shuai--who has been out a lot with illness lately--won her first round. The GDF Suez Grand Prix is also played on red clay.

Petra Kvitova--always down but never out--fights her way to Wimbledon semifinals

Generally speaking, when a person is under stress, she regresses to former, undesirable behaviors. Petra Kvitova, in her semifinal match against Kaia Kanepi, was under a great deal of stress, running a step--or many steps--behind her opponent throughout the match. To make things worse, Kvitova's prior behaviors included a lot of wild hitting, executed by a player who was not willing to slow down, be more precise, and ultimately turn less into more.

But that regression never occurred. Oh, perhaps on a point here and there, and there was an almost chronic serving problem--but, in general, Kvitova did not go to pieces and revert to her hit-or-miss style of play. Instead, she fought. She fought ad points, she fought match points--five of them--and she fought most fiercely when she was down 0-4 in the third set.

There was a lot of big news at Wimbledon today. Five-time champion Venus Williams went out in straight sets. Vera Zvonareva finally beat Kim Clijsters. That was the news. But the story of the day, at least for me, was that Petra Kivitova had nerves of steel almost every moment, even though, over and over, she appeared to be losing the match.

Kanepi got one break in the first set, and won it 6-4. The second set became even more competitive, with Kanepi serving well consistently and both women hitting well. There were no opportunities to break, so the set went to a tiebreak. At 6-5, Kanepi had a match point, but Kvitova saved it. Kanepi had another match point at 7-6, and a third one at 8-7, and those disappeared, too. At this point, given Kanepi's frustration, it wasn't much of a stretch to believe that Kvitova would take the set--and she did just that, winning the tiebreak 10-8.

Whatever negativity Kanepi experienced during the tiebreak, she shook it off, and immediately went up 2-0 in the third set. Then she went up 3-0, and then 4-0. The end seemed quite near, but if you looked at Kvitova's face and body language, you sensed that--for her--the end might not be so near, after all. Maybe she was thinking about the fact that qualifier Kanepi was playing the third set of her eighth match. Or maybe--after taking out Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki--Kvitova just wasn't ready to go home.

Kanepi went up 5-2, served for the match at 5-3, and faced a break point. Technically, Kvitova broke her, but the point had to be replayed. Kvitova was happy to break her again for the sake of the electronic system, and she then held at love. They kept playing, and by this time, Kanepi was making more errors and not serving really big like she had been. Nevertheless, at 5-6, Kvitova double-faulted, giving Kanepi her fourth match point. Kvitova saved that match point with a stunning second serve, but then double-faulted again, setting up Kanepi's fifth match point.

Kvitova served out wide to the ad court, saving yet another match point, then hit another really good serve to get to game point. She held, then broke Kanepi at 6-all. At this point, after almost three hours, the end really was near: Kvitova won the third set 8-6.

Kanepi's meltdown was probably more mental than it was physical; she had played a lot of tennis in a short period of time. It was also the end of a great story: A qualifier--seeking to get back to her rightful place in the rankings after suffering injuries and a loss of confidence--almost made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon. But there was more to the story than that meltdown: Kvitova put up the kind of fight that can make tennis almost indescribably exciting. There was hardly a moment when she wasn't fighting to keep up, or fighting to stay in the match. It was a really gutsy performance.

As for Kanepi, getting to the quarterfinals was quite an accomplishment, and it's nice to have her back.

Miscellany

Serena Williams is the winner of the BET Sportswoman of the Year award.

Note to some members of the Wimbledon crowd at Court 2: Imitating the crowd at the French Open is not a positive step. If five-time champion Venus Williams is late for her arrival on court, there's a good reason for it--and you know it.

Jamie Hampton of the USA won the $50k ITF tournament in Boston last week.

Kaia Kanepi is probably the only tour player whose website main page features an illustration of her rather than a photo.

ESPN's "Homecoming with Rick Reilly" will feature Billie Jean King on the July 3 show at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The show will air again on July 9 at 7:30 p.m. The program tells the life stories of famous athletes in front of family members and friends they have known throughout their lives. Tracy Austin and Maria Sharapova will be featured, with Chris Evert making an appearance via satellite.

Stosur out of Wimbledon in straight sets

Big-hitting Kaia Kanepi--who has yet to regain her pre-injury top 20 ranking, and who has had trouble closing big matches on her best days--held her nerve easily today in the first round of Wimbledon. Kanepi, who had to qualify to get into the main draw, upset 6th seed Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-4 with very little fuss. Kanepi maintained an 87 first serve win percentage, and competently went about breaking Stosur's serve three of the nine times she saw a break point.

Stosur saved three match points on her own serve and held for 5-3 in the second set, but the thrill was momentary; Kanepi held serve and--after an hour and 22 minutes--pulled off a considerable upset. Stosur has said all along that grass is a difficult surface for her, yet there were many who thought she would make a deep run at Wimbledon. Stosur's game sometimes lacks aggression when it is needed, and it is especially needed on grass.

Errani and Zheng win tough matches in Hobart

Two matches stood out today in Moorilla Hobart International competition. Melanie Oudin and Sara Errani were on the court for close to three hours, breaking each other 9 times, until Errani emerged the winner, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Going for 2 1/2 hours were Zheng Jie and Kaia Kanepi, who appears to be returning to her 2008 form. Zheng defeated Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, after 12 breaks of serve. Kanepi hit 7 aces and committed 9 double faults.

The often-injured and unpredictable Tamira Paszek defeated Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-3, and Alla Kudryavtseva defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-0.

Kanepi injured in Birmingham

Kaia Kanepi has withdrawn from the AEGON Classic because of a knee injury she sustained earlier in the week. Her spot in the draw has been taken by lucky loser Michaella Krajicek.

Doctors are looking at Kanepi's knee to determine whether she will be healthy for Wimbledon.

Kaia and Vika

I really enjoy Kaia Kanepi. Here is a nice video feature on her.

And here is a feature on Victoria Azarenka.

Craybas goes to 4th round of BNP Paribas Open

Jill Craybas, the American veteran who is ranked number 102 in the world, defeated Nicole Vaidisova today in Indian Wells. Granted, Vaidisova is ranked number 79, but there is more to her story than her current ranking. But even that wouldn't be such a big deal in itself; it is the bigger picture that is impressive. Before taking out Vaidisova, Craybas dismissed both Jelena Dokic and 16th seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues. Craybas gets top seed Dinara Safina next, and it is likely that her most impressive run will end, but it even if it does, it will be a memorable story from this year's BNP Paribas Open.

Craybas's victory was n0t the only upset. Shahar Peer upset number 19 seed (how crazy is that?) Anna Chakvetadze, and Li Na upset number 17 seed Amelie Mauresmo.

I was quite interested in the match between Caroline Wozniacki and Kaia Kanepi; it appears that Kanepi couldn't handle the pressure, and we can only hope that she does something about this problem soon, or she is going to lose a lot of matches she shouldn't lose. The other match of interest to me was the one between wild cards Alexa Glatch and Urszula Radwanska. It appeared that Glatch put up quite a fight, but the match went to her opponent.

Williams to meet Williams again

Venus Williams defeated Elena Dementieva today in Dubai in straight sets, and her sister defeated Ana Ivanovic, also in straight sets. The sisters will now meet in the semifinals.

Joining them will be 16th seed Kaia Kanepi, who defeated qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-3, 7-5. Kanepi's opponent will be Virginie Razzano, who played a stunning 7-6, 7-5 match to defeat Vera Zvonareva. The match was dramatic and tense--so much so that Razzano wept when it was over. It took Razzano too long to close the match, but close it she finally did, after hitting a stupendous fifty winners.

Dubai is getting interesting

First we lost number 2 seed Dinara Safina, and now we have lost number 3 seed Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic lost her third round Dubai match to Kaia Kanepi, a player I've been watching for a long time. Kanepi beat Jankovic in straight sets (6-2, 7-5), even going to a 4-0 lead in the second set. JJ hasn't look like herself at all this season, which is a disappointment to her fans, and unfortunate for women's tennis.

Other seeds gone today are Alize Cornet, who lost to Venus Williams, Marion Bartoli and Dominika Cibulkova--both of whom retired--and Anabel Medina Garrigues, who lost to Elena Dementieva. The Jankovic loss was the only upset, however. Virginie Razzano, not content to just take out Safina, also defeated Daniela Hantuchova today.

Zheng Jie fought hard against Serena Williams, but Williams pushed her into taking a lot of risks that resulted in errors. Williams was finding angles that probably made Zheng's head spin. It was a good match, with Williams winning 6-4, 6-2.

Kanepi labors to take out Medina Garrigues

I predicted that the Kaia Kanepi-Anabel Medina Garrigues match would be a good, long match--and it was. Medina Garrigues won the first set, 6-3, and Kanepi won the second, 6-2. Kanepi served for the match at 5-4 in the third, at which time Medina Garrigues saved three match points, and had a break point. Kanepi saved that break point, then Medina Garrigues had a second break point, and Kanepi saved that one, too. But then Kanepi double-faulted, giving Medina Garrigues a third break point, which she converted. Any hope the Spaniard had was short-lived, however. Kanepi broke her at love, and won the match on her next match point.

Goings-on at the Australian Open

I didn't see but a bit of the match, but during the doubles competition between the Williams sisters and Ayumi Morita/Martina Muller, yet another streaker appeared on the court. Apparently, several people--but probably not Monica Seles--thought it was pretty funny.

Ai Sugiyama appeared to be cramping in the second set of her match against Jelena Jankovic, though--after treatment--she looked fine. Galina Voskoboeva wasn't as lucky; she retired at the end of her first third round set from either a shoulder injury or a back strain--I've heard both.

Kaia Kanepi must have folded under the pressure of playing on a big court in a major. The usually feisty performer gave Dinara Safina almost no resistance.

The ITF has fined Nicole Vaidisova $2,000 for failing to appear at her Australian Open press conference.

The only big match I've watched is the Serena Williams-Gisela Dulko thriller. The others--Venus Williams vs. Carla Suarez Navarro, Ana Ivanovic vs. Alisa Kleybanova, Daniela Hantuchova vs. Alize Cornet, Jelena Dokic vs. Paszek, Chakvetadze and Wozniacki--either Tennis Channel and ESPN didn't show them, or the matches were at 4 a.m. my time, which made them unwatchable. I haven't even been able to see repeats. The Williams-Dulko match was shown over and over, but it was one I saw live. This is frustrating because the Australian Open is the only major which I really can watch, except for the night matches. Work, alas, interferes with the other three majors. I'm hoping for a little rain, so Tennis Channel and ESPN will show some repeats, even though it isn't really that much fun to watch a match when you know its outcome. To make matters worse, I think that Wimbledon Live is no more, so my ability to view that major will also be limited. I always like to have one match going on TV, and another one on the computer.

So, even though I am watching a lot of tennis, I don't feel like I'm really seeing a lot of tennis. I enjoy watching ATP matches, and I have had a bit of luck seeing a couple of the good ones. But I feel cheated out of seeing most of the good women's matches.

Kanepi is first seed to go in Brisbane

Number 6 seed Kaia Kanepi lost her first Brisbane International round to Alisa Kleybanova. Kleybanova defeated Kanepi, 6-1, 6-4,to advance to the second round.

Qualifiers for Brisbane are now in place: Top qualifying seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld (who had to go three sets against Julie Coin), Sesil Karatantcheva, Melinda Czink, and Roberta Vinci.