U.S. Open--what they said

She could break Steffi's racket--I mean, record.

Chris Evert, caught in a Freudian slip when commenting on whether Serena Williams can win more than 22 majors

Are you concerned about the slow starts, two matches in a row?
If I'm concerned?
Yeah, are you concerned?
No. I'm chill.

Victoria Azarenka

...if you only think about what opponent doing, of course you already lose the match before you come to the court.

Li Na

You talked about when you have fun you play better. How much fun are you having this week?
I'm having a blast this week.

Serena Williams

 ...opponents like Vika, Maria, Serena, they're top of the game. So if you don't put them under pressure, they're going to use that and they're going to kill you out there.

Ana Ivanovic

You became a dropshot maniac.
I always had that. I just didn't feel like I needed it too much; today I did.

Victoria Azarenka

I'd like to thank all my fans who supported me.

Chris Evert, when told that 64% of those voting in a poll said they thought Serena Williams would overtake Evert's record of winning 18 majors

Li Na moves forward

Once there was a young woman who played tennis very well. She had a great gift, but she also had fear, and she tended to choke away big matches. Her coach told her she had to learn to come to the net much more frequently, but she she said she didn't want to because she was uncomfortable doing that. Her coach, however, was as stubborn as she was, and he finally had his way. She learned to come to the net, she overcame her fear, and then went on to win seven majors. She also gained recognition as the greatest clay court player of her generation.

That woman was Justine Henin, and that coach was Carlos Rodriguez. Now Rodriguez has in his charge another somewhat mentally fragile player who has long resisted coming to the net. Li Na, like Henin before her, is listening to her coach, and is showing more strength in her game than she has in a while. Of course, Li is 31 years old and an international celebrity, not an up-and-coming player like Henin was when she teamed up with Rodriguez. But she's very fit, and she undoubtedly knows that her one major title, the 2011 French Open, shouldn't be her only one.

Li, who retired once because she couldn't deal with the unfair treatment she received from her country's tennis federation, returned to the tour and revolutionized Chinese tennis. She went from having constant serious injuries to being extremely fit. It took her a long time to work things out, and then, after her triumph in Paris, she seemed to wilt. But the work she's being doing in the last several months appears to be paying off. Li stunned her U.S. Open opponents--up until today. Today, she had to deal with the tricky Russian, Ekaterina Makarova, who was the first player in New York to take a set off of the Chinese star.

Li's level went down today. So did Makarova's, but even with an opponent who isn't playing her best, Li has been known to make an exit from a big tournament. Today, though, Li used the final set to assert herself, and in doing so, she reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open for the first time. In defeating Makarova 6-4, 6-7, 6-2, Li booked a spot opposite world number 1 Serena Williams, who ran over Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-0. It was windy all day, but the wind really picked up this evening, and made it next to impossible for Suarez Navarro to get her breath and do so much as to win even one game.

Anything can happen, but something is telling me that the Williams-Li semifinal could turn out to be more of a show than the anticipated Williams-Azarenka final.

As for Azarenka, she had to play her round of 16 match today because of yesterday's rain delay. The 2nd seed was outsmarted and outplayed by Ana Ivanovic in the first set, but you know AnaIvo--she couldn't sustain that superior level. Still, watching the first set made me remember why Ivanovic won a major, and also just how dangerous she can be when her service toss is working and she's feeling good. That forehand!

Ivanovic's outstanding first set put Azarenka in a bad mood, and she stumbled and muttered and glared her way through the rest of the match. No matter--she won it, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the next round, she'll get Daniela Hantuchova, and she better hope that Hantuchova doesn't play at the level she did yesterday.

Top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci won their third round match against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Flavia Pennetta, and 2nd seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina beat Cara Blak and Marina Erakovic. In the other doubles match played today, 4th seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai defeated Jelena Jankovic and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

In mixed doubles, Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor advanced to the semifinals.

I'll end the way I began, with a comment about Justine Henin. The Belgian star was so tightly wound that--when she didn't have a tournament to play or a day of training--to relax, she jumped out of planes. It seemed to work for her. I don't foresee Li drifting through the clouds, but just imagine that she might: Wouldn't you love to hear her talk about it?

U.S. Open--what they said

You are 30. Do you have the same motivation on the tour right now?
Yes, I do. Even more. Like I said, I just enjoy every single moment being able to be out there and compete. Doesn't really matter which way it goes.

Daniela Hantuchova

What would you say has been the key to your rivalry with Errani? 
Well, I know Sara of course a lot. I played aggressive, aggressive, aggressive. I know that she doesn't like when someone plays aggressive. She likes to play a lot of ball on the court. Yeah, I won the last two times, but I play really, really good.

Roberta Vinci

I'm sure you've been talking about this a lot the last couple weeks, but discuss how difficult it was to come back from wrist surgery.
It was and still is really tough. Since one year already. A lot of thing change when I come back in March. Was really tough. Everything was really different, from my coach, from my doubles partner, from the feeling I had in the court, everything. I try to just come back and play the most I can, single, doubles, mixed, everything. You know, when you stop for so many time, so long part, like seven months, something like that, when you come back, you feel different, and all your body have problem. You don't have problem in your hand, but you start having problem in the leg or the abdominal because you are not used to play for such a long time. Your body just need time to recover.

Flavia Pennetta

When was the last time you served so well?
Couldn't really remember. I guess eleven years ago.

Daniela Hantuchova

Veterans--3, Upstarts--0

I went to work today. I know, in the U.S., it's Labor Day, but I went to work. And just when I thought I would miss watching matches, the rain came. Unfortunately, it kept coming--hard--during my long break. In the end, I didn't get to see that much. The match I saw the most of, however, was the one I most wanted to see--Simona Halep vs. Flavia Pennetta. What I saw was Halep minus the confidence, rushing through points and making errors. It didn't help that the rain delay began right when Halep was at set point in the second set.

As for Pennetta, well--seems like old times. The Italian veteran likes the U.S. Open and has a good U.S. Open history. Now she's again into the quarterfinals, and will play countrywoman (but of course) Roberta Vinci.

Pennetta beat Halep 6-2, 7-6. Vinci beat (countrywoman) Camila Giorgi 6-4, 6-2. The match between Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic, scheduled for tonight, has been postponed until tomorrow. In the meantime, Alison Riske took Daniela Hantuchova to three sets, but Hantuchova prevailed, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. She also hit 15 aces.

Here is the quarterfinal draw:

Serena Williams (1) vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (18)
Ekaterina Makarova (24) vs. Li Na (5)
Roberta Vinci (10) vs. Flavia Pennetta
Daniela Hantuchova vs. either Ana Ivanovic (13) or Victoria Azarenka (2)

I'll watch them all, but I'm looking especially forward to the Makarova-Li match and the all-Italian match. So many Italians, so few rounds left!

For several weeks now, the commentators on ESPN have been irritating me beyond tolerance with their re-invention of tennis's markers of highest achievement, in their attempt to give the Bryan Brothers glory. They are now referring to the Grand Slam as the "Calendar Slam," implying that there's more than one way to win really big. And while I'm glad to recognize what we call a Career Slam (winning all four majors at some point in one's career), a Grand Slam is a Grand Slam, and that's it. You have to win all four majors in the same year.

This nonsense started when Serena Williams dubbed her four-in-a-row the Serena Slam. It had a nice ring to it, yes, but it was the beginning of the chiseling away at what is a truly outstanding accomplishment--winning the Grand Slam. If the Bryan brothers do win the Grand Slam, that would be very big indeed, but anything else is just number of majors-in-a-row. A very great accomplishment, but not a Grand Slam.

Over at the LPGA, they have an interesting problem because a fifth major has been added to the calendar. So there is discussion about whether the Grand Slam should remain the way it is--winning four majors in a calendar year (with winning all five to be called the Super Slam), or whether it should be winning all five.

That's a legitimate argument, and a tricky one. But calling a Grand Slam a Calendar Slam to make winning consecutive majors in different years "Another Slam" is an insult to those few players who did win the Grand Slam. ESPN has even gone so far as to say that the Bryans have won the Golden Slam, which they have not. They have won a Career Slam, plus an Olympic gold medal, and they even held all four major titles at once. That is a really big accomplishment. However, the only tennis entity to ever actually win the Golden Slam was Steffi Graf.

U.S. Open--what they said

I think this year has been a pretty good year for me. I'm going to try to end it with a bang.

Sloane Stephens

I just pumped my fist, I was down, and then I walked to the net.
To the box, when you pirouetted.
Well because I kept kind of falling over my pirouette, so I was trying to get the right semi half circle. I couldn't quite get it right. I think I was just off balance on that one.

Serena Williams

People seem to want Serena to mentor Sloane Stephens. She's spent her whole life trying to beat her sister--do you think she's going to mentor someone outside the family?

Mary Carillo

What did you have for breakfast?--because that's the most amazing match I've seen you play in a while.
You really want to know?
Yes.
I'm not going to tell you.

Li Na

Are you interested in watching this match again? Would you watch a replay of this match to pick up something? Once the match is over, do you move on?
I definitely will watch it again. When I'm sitting at home in the off season and I don't have anything to do I watch tennis on my computer. It's kind of boring. It's something to do. You learn the most from your losses, so I'll definitely watch it again.

Sloane Stephens

 
I didn't listen to my husband at all, no mater what he say.

Li Na

Here comes Li Na!

Tonight at the U.S. Open, Li Na dismissed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-0 in under an hour. Considering how well JJ has been playing lately, this was an unexpected dismissal. But there was nothing Jankovic could do to stop Li, who put on a display of serving, returning and volleying that was a joy to watch. She had seven break opportunities and converted all of them. Hitting 20 winners and making 12 unforced errors, Li made it look so easy, just as she did in the previous round, when she beat Laura Robson. Tonight, though, the Chinese star played a much cleaner match.

In tonight's other round of 16 match, Ekaterina Makarova defeated 3rd seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-4. Radwanska has been making a lot more unforced errors lately (meaning, more like a normal number; her unforced error count is generally kind of amazing). Tonight, she made 27, but she also hit 18 winners, which is uncharacteristic, too. Makarova's second serve stats tend to be high, and today was no exception--she had a 72 second serve win percentage.

The television commentators were kind of in shock, but I'm not sure why. Radwanska has always made an early (considering her ranking and her usual level) exit from the U.S. Open, and Makarova just keeps getting better, though it's always a "surprise" to the commentators when she wins a big match. Go figure.

In doubles, top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci had a comfortable win, but Kristina Mladenovic and partner Galina Voskoboeva are out, defeated by 3rd seeds Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik.

Crazy from the heat

Detail of building near Morningside Heights, New York City

Sloane Stephens predicted that her U.S. Open round of 16 match against Serena Williams would be "epic." It wasn't, but the one between Angelique Kerber and Carla Suarez Navarro was. In fact, I had trouble taking my eyes off of it. Talk about a match having everything! The first two sets were so seesaw in nature, it was hard to believe. Rise, slump, rise, slump. The opponents each won clusters of games, then lost clusters of games. Kerber took the first set 6-4 and Suarez Navarro took the second set 6-3.

Consider the personalities involved. No one gets down on herself quite like Kerber, and few can choke big matches away quite like the Spaniard. The final set, postponed after a break--the extreme heat permitted the players to take a ten-minute rest--was so physical in nature that I think I burned a few hundred calories just watching it. Kerber looked like she was going to drop. Yet still, I thought she would win because I didn't think Suarez Navarro had the mental toughness to close.

But she did. She also did some fine, and very tricky, serving. Kerber, gathering all the strength she could, broke Suarez Navarro at love when the Spanish player served for the match at 5-4. "There it is," I thought. "The end has come for Carla." But the next thing I knew, the players were in a tiebreak, and--after working so hard to keep things even--Kerber blinked. Repeatedly. The final insult came when the German's superior forehand up the line fired past the baseline on match point.

They played for 2 hours and 41 minutes and, between them, they made 97 unforced errors. They also hit 75 winners, with 45 of those coming off of Suarez Navarro's racket. Suarez Navarro's celebration was kind of intense. However, this was her first time to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, and her next opponent will be Serena Williams, so why not?

Williams had a fight on her hands in her first set against Stephens. She won that fight 6-4, then won the second set 6-1. In the end, it was a routine win for Williams, though if Stephens had kept up her first set mode of play, it would certainly have been more interesting. More interesting, yes--but I don't think the result would have been different.