Not content to just take out three-time U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, 18-year-old British star Laura Robson upset Cincinnati champion Li Na today in the second round in Flushing Meadows. Robson, showing no sign of nerves at any time, beat Li 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. It was a big victory--in its own way--more significant than Robson's defeat of Clijsters. Li, after her Cincinnati win, appeared poised to make a full run at the U.S. Open, and then--just like that--she was out of the tournament in the second round.
Robson used her big lefty serve to her advantage, and she put a lot of racquet speed on her forehand in order to destabilize the forehand-heavy Li. Robson broke Li six times and played fearlessly throughout the match. Her next opponent will be defending champion Sam Stosur, who defeated Varvara Lepchenko today. To quote Robson: "I have had a fairly tough draw, haven't I?"
Robson was easily the big story of the day, but also of note is Nadia Petrova's defeat of Lucie Safarova. Petrova had first and second serve percentages of 80 and 54, and she hit 10 aces. Her next opponent will be 2006 champion Maria Sharapova, who put an end of Mallory Burdette's U.S. Open run.
Marion Bartoli defeated countrywoman Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets, and the third Frenchwoman left in the draw--Pauline Parmentier--was defeated by Petra Kvitova. Bartoli and Kvitova will play each other in the round of 16. Also winning was Anna Tatishvili, who defeated Mandy Minella 7-5, 6-0.
Top seed Victoria Azarenka had an easy time of it in her night match. She defeated Zheng Jie 6-0, 6- 1 in just under and hour. Azarenka has lost only six games in three rounds.
5th seeds Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova had a real fight on their hands in doubles today, but they finally prevailed 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 against Nina Bratchikova and Alexandra Panova. Serena Williams advanced, as did top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. 2nd seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci also went through to the next round, as did 3rd seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
In mixed doubles, Kim Clijsters and Bob Bryan advanced to the second round, as did top seeds Liezel Huber and Max Mirnyi.
A note to readers: I'm heading back to Louisiana in the morning and won't get to watch the morning matches, but all should be well by the afternoon. There was terrible flooding from Hurricane Isaac in several of the towns near us, especially in a town that got the spill from a levee breach (haven't we heard that before?). Our parish (county, to normal people) has been under a curfew, and people on the east side have had to boil their drinking water. Beaches on the Mississippi Gulf Coast have been closed because of debris and concern about water quality. Overall, it's a mess, but services have already been restored to my neighborhood.
This is just how it is in south Louisiana. As August comes to a close, you check the U.S. Open television schedule, print your draw sheet, and flee to Alabama.
Friday, August 31, 2012
U.S. Open--what they said
It's been an extremely busy summer, and I have still managed to stay injury‑free. That's a big thing.
I think she gave up chasing balls, and now she is chasing balls.
Will you go home at this point? What are you going to add to your arsenal so you can move to the next round?
Of course I have to take free days off. I can't go back to tennis court tomorrow. I mean, this should be killing me....
I still wake up in the morning and feel like I can be better and motivated. I have energy and I'm healthy. What else can you ask for?
I don't see how I can not be relaxed.
So, yes, friends, Maria Sanchez and I got a win at the United States Open on Wednesday. Sounds more epic when you spell it out.
...Is it good to get a lefty before another lefty?
Yeah, I think that's probably a good thing. You never know when you're going to run into them.
You have Wayne Rooney tweeting about you.
He called me Robinson. I saw that when I was stretching.
He blamed it on predictive text.
Can you blame that on predictive text, though? I'm not so sure.
I was watching the junior girl qualifiers and boy qualifiers. I saw a lot more serve and volley players than before. We see Federer coming in more to end points quicker. Is that something we will see in the future?
Not from me.
Laura Robson
I think she gave up chasing balls, and now she is chasing balls.
Virginia Wade, referring to Laura Robson
Will you go home at this point? What are you going to add to your arsenal so you can move to the next round?
Of course I have to take free days off. I can't go back to tennis court tomorrow. I mean, this should be killing me....
Li Na
I still wake up in the morning and feel like I can be better and motivated. I have energy and I'm healthy. What else can you ask for?
Maria Sharapova
I don't see how I can not be relaxed.
Laura Robson
So, yes, friends, Maria Sanchez and I got a win at the United States Open on Wednesday. Sounds more epic when you spell it out.
Irina Falconi
...Is it good to get a lefty before another lefty?
Yeah, I think that's probably a good thing. You never know when you're going to run into them.
Samantha Stosur
You have Wayne Rooney tweeting about you.
He called me Robinson. I saw that when I was stretching.
He blamed it on predictive text.
Can you blame that on predictive text, though? I'm not so sure.
Laura Robson
I was watching the junior girl qualifiers and boy qualifiers. I saw a lot more serve and volley players than before. We see Federer coming in more to end points quicker. Is that something we will see in the future?
Not from me.
Maria Sharapova
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Kerber wins drawn-out battle against Venus Williams at U.S. Open
During the first set of her second round U.S. Open match against Angelique Kerber, Venus Williams simply could not hit two successful overheads in succession. Over and over, she smashed balls into the net. It didn't help that she got in only eight of 22 first serves, and that she double-faulted five times. Making only seven unforced errors to Williams' 15, Kerber won the set 6-2.
The second set was a different story, though it took Williams four games to hold serve for the first time in the match. Williams continued to make a lot of unforced errors, but she served better, and she also enjoyed a huge swell of crowd support. Kerber, in the meantime, started thoughtlessly--and too safely--hitting the ball back to an increasingly dangerous Williams. Striking hard and coming forward aggressively, Williams overcame an obviously rattled Kerber (we've seen that before) and broke the German when she served for the match at 5-4. Williams would go on to win the set 7-5.
Kerber's funk extended to the third set. In fact, when Williams went up 4-2, Kerber looked so disgusted, it was hard to imagine that she could make any kind of comeback. But in the seventh game, the German player hit a winning stretch volley to get to break point. She waved her finger in the air, demanding that the crowd give her at least a little bit of affection, and then she smiled. It was a moment of relief for Kerber, and probably for most viewers. When Kerber gets down on herself, it's painful--but nevertheless interesting--to watch her.
The 6th seed didn't have an easy time holding after she made that stunning volley, but she did hold. That volley would prove to be a turning point. Kerber fought her way to 4-all, and broke Williams at 5-all. She then won the set 7-5, and advanced to the third round. Williams became error-prone toward the end of the match, and that was certainly part of the story, but the other part was that Kerber started returning with more forethought and authority.
That match lasted two hours and 45 minutes, and the good news for Williams fans is that Williams appeared to be physically comfortable through the entire thing.
Kerber hit only 20 winners to Williams' 43, but the German player also made only 25 unforced errors to Williams' 60. Williams double-faulted 16 times, and seven of those double faults occurred in the final set. Her game just wasn't clean enough to overcome the steady Kerber. But the game was there, and the endurance was there, and that's really good news, when we consider all that Williams has been through in the past several years.
Kerber has become dangerously proficient at winning three-set matches (19 of 22). She showed tonight that she can also overcome some really negative emotions. But she can't afford to continue to lose her edge in hitting her groundstrokes, like she did tonight for a number of games.
We've seen only two rounds, and Kerber is the last German standing. Kerber's next opponent is Olga Govortsova. If she gets past her, as expected, she'll probably have to deal with Sara Errani, and that could be interesting. Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska are in Kerber's quarter, too, as are Roberta Vinci and Jelena Jankovic--a good mix of baseline stalwarts and tricky all-court players.
The second set was a different story, though it took Williams four games to hold serve for the first time in the match. Williams continued to make a lot of unforced errors, but she served better, and she also enjoyed a huge swell of crowd support. Kerber, in the meantime, started thoughtlessly--and too safely--hitting the ball back to an increasingly dangerous Williams. Striking hard and coming forward aggressively, Williams overcame an obviously rattled Kerber (we've seen that before) and broke the German when she served for the match at 5-4. Williams would go on to win the set 7-5.
Kerber's funk extended to the third set. In fact, when Williams went up 4-2, Kerber looked so disgusted, it was hard to imagine that she could make any kind of comeback. But in the seventh game, the German player hit a winning stretch volley to get to break point. She waved her finger in the air, demanding that the crowd give her at least a little bit of affection, and then she smiled. It was a moment of relief for Kerber, and probably for most viewers. When Kerber gets down on herself, it's painful--but nevertheless interesting--to watch her.
The 6th seed didn't have an easy time holding after she made that stunning volley, but she did hold. That volley would prove to be a turning point. Kerber fought her way to 4-all, and broke Williams at 5-all. She then won the set 7-5, and advanced to the third round. Williams became error-prone toward the end of the match, and that was certainly part of the story, but the other part was that Kerber started returning with more forethought and authority.
That match lasted two hours and 45 minutes, and the good news for Williams fans is that Williams appeared to be physically comfortable through the entire thing.
Kerber hit only 20 winners to Williams' 43, but the German player also made only 25 unforced errors to Williams' 60. Williams double-faulted 16 times, and seven of those double faults occurred in the final set. Her game just wasn't clean enough to overcome the steady Kerber. But the game was there, and the endurance was there, and that's really good news, when we consider all that Williams has been through in the past several years.
Kerber has become dangerously proficient at winning three-set matches (19 of 22). She showed tonight that she can also overcome some really negative emotions. But she can't afford to continue to lose her edge in hitting her groundstrokes, like she did tonight for a number of games.
We've seen only two rounds, and Kerber is the last German standing. Kerber's next opponent is Olga Govortsova. If she gets past her, as expected, she'll probably have to deal with Sara Errani, and that could be interesting. Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska are in Kerber's quarter, too, as are Roberta Vinci and Jelena Jankovic--a good mix of baseline stalwarts and tricky all-court players.
U.S. Open--what they said
You haven't seen the last of me yet.
Anyone out there who's ever choked to death at a match at the club, you know how Sloane Stephens is feeling right now.
She's very bubbly, that's for sure. She's very happy and upbeat. I do see myself a little bit. But I think over the years I calmed a little bit.
What did you like about your game today?
Nothing.
Really?
Did you see it?
This is tennis, so anything can change very quickly.
Pironkova's posed there, hand on her hip--the international sign for "I'm extremely disgusted."
Serena Williams
Anyone out there who's ever choked to death at a match at the club, you know how Sloane Stephens is feeling right now.
Pam Shriver
She's very bubbly, that's for sure. She's very happy and upbeat. I do see myself a little bit. But I think over the years I calmed a little bit.
Ana Ivanovic, answering a question about Sloane Stephens
What did you like about your game today?
Nothing.
Really?
Did you see it?
Serena Williams
This is tennis, so anything can change very quickly.
Agnieszka Radwanska
Pironkova's posed there, hand on her hip--the international sign for "I'm extremely disgusted."
Kristen Bartel
Cibulkova and Vinci among 4th day winners at U.S. Open
I was disappointed to see Johanna Konta go out today, especially since she served for the match. But Olga Govortsova (glad to see her do well, too) prevailed, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Bojana Jovanovski showed off some of her best tennis against 13th seed Dominika Cibulkova, but Cibulkova won in two tiebreak sets. That was a really good match. I also really enjoyed watching Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, who lost to Jelena Jankovic.
Not all of the matches were available for me to watch, but most of them were, and the one I enjoyed most was the match played between Yaroslava Shvedova and Roberta Vinci. On paper, it was a battle of two contrasting styles--only Shvedova has more touch than one might think, and Vinci can hang in during a baseline rally when she has to.
Shvedova dominated the first set, and won it 6-3. Vinci took over in the second, and won it 7-5. The final set was up for grabs, and was exciting to watch. There were five breaks of serve in that set alone (12 in all), and--in the end--it was Vinci who held it together mentally, and won 7-5.
The match had everything, including power, spin, trickery, and ongoing forays to the net by both opponents. It was a pleasure to watch.
Other matches weren't such a pleasure to watch. Agnieszka Radwanska looked lost in her first set against Carla Suarez Navarro. Down a set and a break, Radwanska suddenly cracked a forehand that seemed to turn on a switch in her head. From then on, it was all about Radwanska, who won eleven straight games. She defeated Suarez Navarro 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Sloane Stephens had a time of it, trying to close out Tatjana Malek, who didn't give Stephens the kind of baseline pace she likes. It took Stephens three sets to win, and there were many wobbles along the way. Serena Williams beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, but the Spaniard's trickery did wear Williams' patience a bit. Sara Errani ran over Vera Dushevina, who won only one game.
And--look who's in the third round of the U.S. Open: Tsvetana Pironkova! Pironkova, as always, went from brilliant to baffled and back again throughout her match against Ayumi Morita. When her serve was working, Pironkova was very dominant, but then it would stop working, and she would get into trouble. She had some help today from Morita, however, who wound up double-faulting the match away. Pironkova defeated Morita 7-5, 6-2.
I really like the U.S. Open Lacoste dress; my favorite is the gray, but I like them all. And I like Venus's dress (the design looks like roses on a trellis) a lot, though I can't imagine anyone but Venus wearing it with such panache. (There's a bit of Ted Tinling in that dress; I think he would have really liked it.)
There are three Frenchwomen who have made it to the third round--Marion Bartoli, Pauline Parmentier and Kristina Mladenovic. I doubt if anyone saw that coming.
In her press conference today, Ana Ivanovic (not surprisingly) explained that women's tennis is so popular because the players demonstrate that "girls can still be girls and yet do sports and be very athletic."
Defending champion Sam Stosur plays Varvara Lepchenko tomorrow. Lepchenko could give Stosur a bit of trouble. If the defending champ wins, will we see the Stosur Shuffle again? I kind of hope not. I would rather leave that kind of thing to Petko (or Radwanska with Petko). After you've seen the Petko Dance, do you really want to see anything else? I don't.
Laura Robson, who took Kim Clijsters out of the tournament, will play Li Na in the third round. Li is favored to win, of course, but the one thing we can be sure--one way or the other--is a press conference that will make us laugh. I think Li is the funniest woman to ever play on the tour, but for humor, Robson is no slouch, either.
Not all of the matches were available for me to watch, but most of them were, and the one I enjoyed most was the match played between Yaroslava Shvedova and Roberta Vinci. On paper, it was a battle of two contrasting styles--only Shvedova has more touch than one might think, and Vinci can hang in during a baseline rally when she has to.
Shvedova dominated the first set, and won it 6-3. Vinci took over in the second, and won it 7-5. The final set was up for grabs, and was exciting to watch. There were five breaks of serve in that set alone (12 in all), and--in the end--it was Vinci who held it together mentally, and won 7-5.
The match had everything, including power, spin, trickery, and ongoing forays to the net by both opponents. It was a pleasure to watch.
Other matches weren't such a pleasure to watch. Agnieszka Radwanska looked lost in her first set against Carla Suarez Navarro. Down a set and a break, Radwanska suddenly cracked a forehand that seemed to turn on a switch in her head. From then on, it was all about Radwanska, who won eleven straight games. She defeated Suarez Navarro 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Sloane Stephens had a time of it, trying to close out Tatjana Malek, who didn't give Stephens the kind of baseline pace she likes. It took Stephens three sets to win, and there were many wobbles along the way. Serena Williams beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, but the Spaniard's trickery did wear Williams' patience a bit. Sara Errani ran over Vera Dushevina, who won only one game.
And--look who's in the third round of the U.S. Open: Tsvetana Pironkova! Pironkova, as always, went from brilliant to baffled and back again throughout her match against Ayumi Morita. When her serve was working, Pironkova was very dominant, but then it would stop working, and she would get into trouble. She had some help today from Morita, however, who wound up double-faulting the match away. Pironkova defeated Morita 7-5, 6-2.
I really like the U.S. Open Lacoste dress; my favorite is the gray, but I like them all. And I like Venus's dress (the design looks like roses on a trellis) a lot, though I can't imagine anyone but Venus wearing it with such panache. (There's a bit of Ted Tinling in that dress; I think he would have really liked it.)
There are three Frenchwomen who have made it to the third round--Marion Bartoli, Pauline Parmentier and Kristina Mladenovic. I doubt if anyone saw that coming.
In her press conference today, Ana Ivanovic (not surprisingly) explained that women's tennis is so popular because the players demonstrate that "girls can still be girls and yet do sports and be very athletic."
Defending champion Sam Stosur plays Varvara Lepchenko tomorrow. Lepchenko could give Stosur a bit of trouble. If the defending champ wins, will we see the Stosur Shuffle again? I kind of hope not. I would rather leave that kind of thing to Petko (or Radwanska with Petko). After you've seen the Petko Dance, do you really want to see anything else? I don't.
Laura Robson, who took Kim Clijsters out of the tournament, will play Li Na in the third round. Li is favored to win, of course, but the one thing we can be sure--one way or the other--is a press conference that will make us laugh. I think Li is the funniest woman to ever play on the tour, but for humor, Robson is no slouch, either.
Defending champions win mixed doubles thriller at U.S. Open
Defending champions Melanie Oudin and Jack Sock won their first round match at the U.S. Open tonight, and it was a real thriller. Oudin and Sock played 5th seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic. Srebotnik and Zimonjic won the first set 6-4, and Oudin and Sock won the second, 6-3. The super-tiebreak was--well, a super tiebreak. Oudin and Sock saved four match points, and won 15-13 on their second match point.
Melanie Oudin was such a standout in this match. She was simply fearless, attacking the net, trading face-to-face volleys with Zimonjic, and coming up with some really impressive passing shots.
In women's doubles, top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond advanced. Kim Clijsters and Kirsten Flipkens did not; they were defeated by Chuang Chia-Jung and Zhang Shuai. Kim Clijsters has one more event at this tournament; she and Bob Bryan are partners in mixed doubles.
Melanie Oudin was such a standout in this match. She was simply fearless, attacking the net, trading face-to-face volleys with Zimonjic, and coming up with some really impressive passing shots.
In women's doubles, top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond advanced. Kim Clijsters and Kirsten Flipkens did not; they were defeated by Chuang Chia-Jung and Zhang Shuai. Kim Clijsters has one more event at this tournament; she and Bob Bryan are partners in mixed doubles.
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