Tales from Na Na Land

Not long ago, some of us were hanging out in the Backspin Lounge, and someone wondered: Where does Li Na go when she "goes off"? The answer? Na Na Land, of course.

Unfortunately, the Chinese star chose the U.S. Open semifinals as the time for her latest trip to Na Na Land. Just half an hour after the television commentators said that the second semifinal had to be better than the first one, Li found herself not just down a set, but down a set 0-6. It wasn't just that Serena Williams was serving up a storm and returning just as well; it was that Li was flat, hesitant and out of rhythm.

The second set didn't look like it was going to be any better for Li, but then, suddenly, she was plucked out of Na Na Land and deposited back into Reality, which wasn't pretty. Li then went about picking up her serve, hitting the lines right at Williams' feet, and rushing the net. But the clock was ticking, and the 5th seed soon found herself serving at 2-5. And it was then that she had a true "Li Na moment." She saved six match points in a game that went on for almost 14 minutes. That one game was what the entire match should have been.

Li held for 3-5, and for a moment, it looked like she might break Williams when she served for the match. That wasn't to be, however, and Williams advanced to the final, and a chance to win her 17th major.

Williams' opponent, once again, will be Victoria Azarenka, and the 2nd seed will definitely have to raise her level if she intends to get the title. She looked awkward playing her semifinal against Flavia Pennetta, and Pennetta let go of so many chances to make the match more competitive--or to win it. Neil Schlect, writing for the U.S. Open website, sums it up perfectly:

Flavia Pennetta, who had come back from injury and unexpectedly streaked through the draw without losing a set, arrived at her first U.S. Open (and Grand Slam) semifinal. She had upset high seeds and slammed the door on one of the summer’s hottest players, Simona Halep.

On a perfect 70-degree and cloudless early autumn afternoon, Pennetta met No. 2 Victoria Azarenka and impressively broke serve five of six times in the match.

Pennetta lost, 6-4, 6-2.

That’s not a misprint. 

And so it went. Azarenka "found a way," as they say, to not only win, but to win in straight sets. Pennetta, playing in her first major semifinal, could probably kick herself for ultimately not taking advantage of Azarenka's service weaknesses. The 2nd seed knows how to win the big points, and she emphatically did that today. But her opponent in the final isn't likely to give her the luxury of "finding a way"-- Azarenka has to serve better if she is to have a chance against Williams.

Last year, Williams and Azarenka played in a highly competitive and thrilling U.S. Open final. Perhaps memories of that final--and memories of losing it--will give Azarenka the motivation she needs to clean up her act.

40 LOVE Story, Episode 2

Sweeping the Court

Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce and Conchita Martinez have been nominated for 2014 induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Li Na has been awarded the 2014 U.S. Open Sportsmanship Award. David Ferrer won the award for the men.

Vicky Duval appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Wednesday night. She apparently survived.

Monica Seles will be inducted into the U.S. Open Court of Champions on Sunday. Seles won the Open twice.

Sara Errani does CNN Open Court.

And here's a new interview with Sania Mirza.

U.S. Open--what they said

It's going to be epic.

Brett Haber, on the upcoming Legends match

Rennae Stubbs: I want to know how you got stuck with me.

Martina Navratilova: I don't know...

"racket as mic" "interview" before Legends match

It was a black day.

Esther Vergeer, on winning silver in Beijing in 2008

Defending champions out of U.S. Open

Defending champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci made their exit from the U.S. Open today when they lost their quarterfinal match to Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters--who won 6-3, 6-1--were truly on their game. Venus was especially impressive, between her serving and her volleying. They never let the Italians in at all.

Next up for the Williams sisters are Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Whoever wins will face Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in the final. This is the third major final the Australian team has reached this year, and they'll be looking for their first major victory.

Tomorrow, Serena plays Li Na in the semifinals, and Flavia Pennetta plays Victoria Azarenka. I'm really pleased with the final four, and especially pleased to see Pennetta reach the semifinals (and at a time when observers probably thought that she couldn't). And while a Williams-Azarenka final is predicted, anything could happen. All four women have very impressive hard court skills.

Women's wheelchair top seed Sabine Ellerbrock will play her first match tomorrow.

One final note on today's action: Monica Seles is officially a skeleton. Scary.

U.S. Open--what they said

My coach said "There's hope for you."

Victoria Azarenka, who is now listening to Motown

Many people see your game and say that it's a game from a different period maybe, that it's very different from the way most women play today with your use of slice and coming to the net so much.  Do you feel this yourself, that you're a little bit different from these other women?
Yes, of course I have a different kind of tennis. I know, but I think this is my key. Sometimes help me; sometimes not, you know. Depends of course the opponent. But, yeah, this is my kind of tennis. I cannot play in different style. I'm happy that I'm different.

  Roberta Vinci

If you win too easily and you're not tested, you don't know how good you can be.

Chris Evert

Personally I think she's really positive girl.  She always try to find the light, no? When you see everything really dark. So she always really a good person.

Flavia Pennetta, commenting on Roberta Vinci

 

Pennetta’s winning strategy was ruthlessly uncomplicated. She made the match about her opponent’s weakness, and she refused to allow Vinci to coax her into playing points that would take Pennetta away from her game plan.

Geoff MacDonald

Good luck against all the old ladies.

Pam Shriver, to Vika Azarenka

There's no Fighting Italian like an old Fighting Italian

If you thought Flavia Pennetta was done, think again. The 31-year-old Queen of Fed Cup has had a rough year, yes, but today, she did something she's never done before: She reached the semifinal of a major. Just over a year ago, Pennetta had surgery on her right wrist, and her comeback has been long and difficult.

It's not the first time Pennetta has been through something like this. Several years ago, the Italian star had to leave the tour for several months because of injury, and when she returned, she had little confidence, so she played in small tournaments until she felt like herself again. Pennetta then returned to "regular" tournament play and did well.

Today, she beat countrywoman Roberta Vinci, whose performance against Pennetta was not unlike Vinci's performance against doubles partner Sara Errani at last year's U.S. Open. Put another waya--Vinci didn't really put up much of a fight. Apparently, playing her Fed Cup teammates at a big event just doesn't agree with her.

After defeating 10th seed Vinci 6-4, 6-1, Pennetta thanked--among others--her former coach, which I thought was a nice touch.

Pennetta has a history of doing well at the U.S. Open, where she has reached the quarterfinals four times. In 2009, the Italian star reached the Open quarterfinals by defeating Vera Zvonareva in the round of 16. Pennetta saved six match points--five of them with winners.

In the semifinals, Pennetta will have her work cut out for her. She'll play 2nd seed Victoria Azarenka, who defeated Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets tonight. Hantuchova had multiple opportunities to stretch this to a three-setter, but the ball coming off of her racket just couldn't find the lines. Following Hantuchova's stunning performance in the round of 16, this was--sadly--kind of what you would expect to happen.

The doubles quarterfinals were somewhat of a massacre. 2nd seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina were taken out in straight sets by 8th seeds Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, and 3rd seeds Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik lost to 5th seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Serena and Venus Williams defeated 11th seeds Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova, and 10th seeds Sania Mirza and Zheng Jie beat 4th seeds (and Wimbledon champions) Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai.

The Mladenovic watch is over. She and partner Daniel Nestor lost in the mixed doubles semifinals to Andrea Hlavackova and Max Mirnyi. In the other semifinal, Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues and Bruno Soares.