...I was so calm and just did what I needed to do.
Ekaterina Makarova
Having been a part of the last two finals, how disappointing is it not to be back there again? Very disappointing. How many times--like how do you feel? How do you
think somebody will answer a question like that? Of course it is
disappointing....
Victoria Azarenka
Will you watch the match tonight between Pennetta and Serena?
Yes, of course, why not?
Ekaterina Makarova
She would give you the shots you didn't want to hit, only you didn't know that you didn't want to hit them--she knew.
Martina Navratilova, referring to Billie Jean King
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Peng and Wozniacki smack down opponents in U.S. Open quarterfinals
She's been broken only three times in the tournament and she has yet to drop a set. Peng Shuai--who had already beaten Zheng Jie, 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 28th seed Roberta Vinci, and 14th seed Lucie Safarova--knocked off teen sensation Belinda Bencic today in straight sets in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. Peng never really gave Bencic a chance to establish any kind of rhythm. She hit 24 winners, while making only seven unforced errors. Her 6-2, 6-1 victory books her a slot in the semifinals.
Peng's opponent will be Caroline Wozniacki, who played in pretty serious wind against Sara Errani in the night match. And if Peng's win over Bencic was brutally efficient, Wozniacki's win over the Italian was a beat-down. Handling the wind expertly, the Dane defeated the Italian 6-0, 6-1. It was an impressive performance, especially at the net, and make no mistake: Woz is back--and smacking 26 winners.
In doubles, the unseeded team of Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta upset 5th seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and 3rd seeds Cara Black and Sania Mirza defeated Zarina Diyas and Xu Yi-Fan when Diyas and Xu retired early in the second set because Diyas was injured.
4th seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina defeated Venus and Serena Williams 7-6, 6-4. The match had an odd ending, with Serena Williams double-faulting twice in a row at 30-all. (Right before the double double-fault, ESPN commentator Pam Shriver remarked that this was exactly when the team needed the best server in women's tennis to be doing the serving. The commentator curse is a powerful one indeed.)
Peng's opponent will be Caroline Wozniacki, who played in pretty serious wind against Sara Errani in the night match. And if Peng's win over Bencic was brutally efficient, Wozniacki's win over the Italian was a beat-down. Handling the wind expertly, the Dane defeated the Italian 6-0, 6-1. It was an impressive performance, especially at the net, and make no mistake: Woz is back--and smacking 26 winners.
In doubles, the unseeded team of Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta upset 5th seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and 3rd seeds Cara Black and Sania Mirza defeated Zarina Diyas and Xu Yi-Fan when Diyas and Xu retired early in the second set because Diyas was injured.
4th seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina defeated Venus and Serena Williams 7-6, 6-4. The match had an odd ending, with Serena Williams double-faulting twice in a row at 30-all. (Right before the double double-fault, ESPN commentator Pam Shriver remarked that this was exactly when the team needed the best server in women's tennis to be doing the serving. The commentator curse is a powerful one indeed.)
U.S. Open--what they said
I tell myself, "Never, ever, ever give up."
Peng Shuai
How much of today was about she played so well and how much was the new experience of being in a Grand Slam quarterfinals?
Yeah, I think it's both. I mean, I wasn't nervous or something going to the court. It was just the little things that didn't work out for me. I had the small outs; I make some unforced errors and stuff. She also didn't let me to come into the game again. So it's both.
Belinda Bencic
When was the lowest moment for you when you thought that you might actually stop playing?
One time was my 12 years old and then one time is in the 2006. Yeah. These two times actually is kind of like I almost stop played. Because my 12 years almost was doesn't have that much choice, because the doctor was telling me maybe I have to stop it. But is really lucky, you know, like I can come back and play. And 2006 was also big another challenger, and then finally I maked it.
Peng Shuai
What do you think next year will bring?
Oh, I have no idea. I don't know what next week will bring.
Belinda Bencic
You said many times that you actually enjoyed being in Li Na's shadow. That the attention was on Li Na and you enjoyed that.
I never said that.
Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai
How much of today was about she played so well and how much was the new experience of being in a Grand Slam quarterfinals?
Yeah, I think it's both. I mean, I wasn't nervous or something going to the court. It was just the little things that didn't work out for me. I had the small outs; I make some unforced errors and stuff. She also didn't let me to come into the game again. So it's both.
Belinda Bencic
When was the lowest moment for you when you thought that you might actually stop playing?
One time was my 12 years old and then one time is in the 2006. Yeah. These two times actually is kind of like I almost stop played. Because my 12 years almost was doesn't have that much choice, because the doctor was telling me maybe I have to stop it. But is really lucky, you know, like I can come back and play. And 2006 was also big another challenger, and then finally I maked it.
Peng Shuai
What do you think next year will bring?
Oh, I have no idea. I don't know what next week will bring.
Belinda Bencic
You said many times that you actually enjoyed being in Li Na's shadow. That the attention was on Li Na and you enjoyed that.
I never said that.
Peng Shuai
Monday, September 1, 2014
Put on your red dress baby
...'cause we're going out tonight
Put on your red dress baby 'cause we're going out tonight
Well now wear some boxing gloves in case some fool might start a fight
Aleksandra Krunic, known on WTA Backspin as the Serbian Good Luck Charm because of her stunning Fed Cup doubles performances, put on her red dress tonight and somehow managed not to get punch-drunk, though it was her seventh consecutive match at the U.S. Open. Her opponent, Victoria Azarenka, did look punch-drunk, but it is now programmed into the 16th seed's brain to fight, and when it seems that everyone and everything is against her--to fight harder.
Azarenka defeated Krunic 4-6 6-4, 6-4 in a two-hour and 19-minute thriller that literally had me on the edge of my seat much of the time. If you look at the stats for this match, you can't even begin to get an idea of what the match was really like; it just doesn't translate.
Krunic had to go through qualifying, and during her first week in Flushing Meadows, she managed to knock off both 27th seed Madison Keys and 3rd seed Petra Kvitova. Krunic is a small woman by professional tennis standards: She stands only 5 feet and four inches tall. She isn't bulky or stocky. What she is is incredibly fast, and she can hit the ball way harder than one might expect. She also has a great deal of composure, and a great deal of fight in her.
Azarenka, a two-time finalist at the Open, was out for much of the year with an injury, yet she has been showing flashes of her old self since she arrived in New York. She needed that self--and then some--to ward off the assaults she had to undergo from Krunic. In the end, experience, as it so often does, determined who won the match. Krunic would go off a bit and then use the pressure to play herself back into a winning (or at least neutral) position, but--and here I'm dragging out a well-worn phrase--she really needed to win it in straight sets. Toward the end, the young Serbian player lost her mental edge, and Azarenka imposed herself successfully.
No matter what happens from here on out, Krunic has secured a spot in my U.S. Open top 10. Her performance at this event was stunning, and her combination of athleticism (really, she looks "French" to me, moving like Lenglen, Mauresmo and Cornet), creative shot-making and composure is scary. And did I say she hits the ball really hard? (Krunic cites Jelena Jankovic as her mentor, and it would have been a good idea, several times tonight, if she had used the signature Jankovic backhand down the line to finish points. Maybe next time.)
As for Vika Azarenka--she made a "great escape" tonight, and that can be a very good thing for a top player at a big event. She faces Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals, and--if Makarova stays "on"--Azarenka will have that big, tricky lefty serve to solve.
Here is the quarterfinal draw:
Serena Williams (1) vs. Flavia Pennetta (11)
Victoria Azarenka (16) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (17)
Belinda Bencic vs. Peng Shuai
Caroline Wozniacki (10) vs. Sara Errani (13)
Put on your red dress baby 'cause we're going out tonight
Well now wear some boxing gloves in case some fool might start a fight
Aleksandra Krunic, known on WTA Backspin as the Serbian Good Luck Charm because of her stunning Fed Cup doubles performances, put on her red dress tonight and somehow managed not to get punch-drunk, though it was her seventh consecutive match at the U.S. Open. Her opponent, Victoria Azarenka, did look punch-drunk, but it is now programmed into the 16th seed's brain to fight, and when it seems that everyone and everything is against her--to fight harder.
Azarenka defeated Krunic 4-6 6-4, 6-4 in a two-hour and 19-minute thriller that literally had me on the edge of my seat much of the time. If you look at the stats for this match, you can't even begin to get an idea of what the match was really like; it just doesn't translate.
Krunic had to go through qualifying, and during her first week in Flushing Meadows, she managed to knock off both 27th seed Madison Keys and 3rd seed Petra Kvitova. Krunic is a small woman by professional tennis standards: She stands only 5 feet and four inches tall. She isn't bulky or stocky. What she is is incredibly fast, and she can hit the ball way harder than one might expect. She also has a great deal of composure, and a great deal of fight in her.
Azarenka, a two-time finalist at the Open, was out for much of the year with an injury, yet she has been showing flashes of her old self since she arrived in New York. She needed that self--and then some--to ward off the assaults she had to undergo from Krunic. In the end, experience, as it so often does, determined who won the match. Krunic would go off a bit and then use the pressure to play herself back into a winning (or at least neutral) position, but--and here I'm dragging out a well-worn phrase--she really needed to win it in straight sets. Toward the end, the young Serbian player lost her mental edge, and Azarenka imposed herself successfully.
No matter what happens from here on out, Krunic has secured a spot in my U.S. Open top 10. Her performance at this event was stunning, and her combination of athleticism (really, she looks "French" to me, moving like Lenglen, Mauresmo and Cornet), creative shot-making and composure is scary. And did I say she hits the ball really hard? (Krunic cites Jelena Jankovic as her mentor, and it would have been a good idea, several times tonight, if she had used the signature Jankovic backhand down the line to finish points. Maybe next time.)
As for Vika Azarenka--she made a "great escape" tonight, and that can be a very good thing for a top player at a big event. She faces Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals, and--if Makarova stays "on"--Azarenka will have that big, tricky lefty serve to solve.
Here is the quarterfinal draw:
Serena Williams (1) vs. Flavia Pennetta (11)
Victoria Azarenka (16) vs. Ekaterina Makarova (17)
Belinda Bencic vs. Peng Shuai
Caroline Wozniacki (10) vs. Sara Errani (13)
Hot weather and hotter opponent bring end to Bouchard's U.S. Open run
No one ever says that the old school white-wearing, understated Ekaterina Makarova "likes the big stage," but obviously, she does. The "other" blonde Russian has so much hitting talent that for years, I've asked "Why isn't she ranked higher?" and "Why isn't she winning tournaments?" And then Makarova will play wildly inconsistently, and I'll be reminded, yet again, of the answer to those questions.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the majors, Makarova brings her best tennis. She's reached the quarterfinals of a major five times; today marked the second consecutive year that she has reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. In doing so, Madarova upset 7th seed Genie Bouchard today, and what will the commentators/sponsors/WTA executives//marketing specialists do now?
The Canadian star has had a remarkable season at the majors, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. Today, however, she was done in by the heat in the stadium, and by the fierce serving and hitting of Makarova. It seemed to me to be Makarova's match to lose, even before it started. Bouchard hasn't had much of a summer hard court experience, and also, it seems to me that the Russian stores up her mental energy for these huge occasions, and then just lets loose.
Today, Makarova looked like she was going to take the first set 6-3, but her serve went to pieces (this is Makarova we're talking about) and she was easily broken when she served at 5-3. The set went to a tiebreak, with Makarova playing a few stunning points to get the score even. She won the first point of the tiebreak on Bouchard's serve, and then all but cruised through the rest of it, taking it 7-2.
Makarova led 3-2 in the second set when Bouchard took a medical timeout and was treated for heat illness. By this time, both players were sweating like crazy, and Makarova's face was bright red. Perspiration dripped from the edge of Bouchard's dress onto the court as she took a seat to be given an ice rubdown and a blood pressure check (it could have been worse--she could have been playing that other Russian). Usually, during this type of break, an experienced opponent would be on the court practicing her serve, or at least moving around, but it was too hot and humid for that; Makarova sat in her chair, wrapped an ice towel around her neck, and drank liquids.
When Bouchard returned to the court, she was broken right away, but then she broke her opponent right back. Neither of them looked as though they could endure much more of the weather. But it was the Russian who stayed steady. Serving at 4-5, Bouchard went down 0-40, and Makarova won on her first match point.
Earlier in the day, Flavia Pennetta reached her second straight U.S. Open quarterfinal, defeating Casey Dellacqua 7-5, 6-2, and top seed Serena Williams defeated Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-4, thereby reaching her first major quarterfinal of 2014.
There was a big upset in doubles. Kimiko Date-Krumm and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova beat 2nd seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai 7-6, 6-4. In mixed doubles, life-long friends Taylor Townsend and Donald Young reached the semifinals when they defeated Ashleigh Barty and John Peers.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the majors, Makarova brings her best tennis. She's reached the quarterfinals of a major five times; today marked the second consecutive year that she has reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. In doing so, Madarova upset 7th seed Genie Bouchard today, and what will the commentators/sponsors/WTA executives//marketing specialists do now?
The Canadian star has had a remarkable season at the majors, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. Today, however, she was done in by the heat in the stadium, and by the fierce serving and hitting of Makarova. It seemed to me to be Makarova's match to lose, even before it started. Bouchard hasn't had much of a summer hard court experience, and also, it seems to me that the Russian stores up her mental energy for these huge occasions, and then just lets loose.
Today, Makarova looked like she was going to take the first set 6-3, but her serve went to pieces (this is Makarova we're talking about) and she was easily broken when she served at 5-3. The set went to a tiebreak, with Makarova playing a few stunning points to get the score even. She won the first point of the tiebreak on Bouchard's serve, and then all but cruised through the rest of it, taking it 7-2.
Makarova led 3-2 in the second set when Bouchard took a medical timeout and was treated for heat illness. By this time, both players were sweating like crazy, and Makarova's face was bright red. Perspiration dripped from the edge of Bouchard's dress onto the court as she took a seat to be given an ice rubdown and a blood pressure check (it could have been worse--she could have been playing that other Russian). Usually, during this type of break, an experienced opponent would be on the court practicing her serve, or at least moving around, but it was too hot and humid for that; Makarova sat in her chair, wrapped an ice towel around her neck, and drank liquids.
When Bouchard returned to the court, she was broken right away, but then she broke her opponent right back. Neither of them looked as though they could endure much more of the weather. But it was the Russian who stayed steady. Serving at 4-5, Bouchard went down 0-40, and Makarova won on her first match point.
Earlier in the day, Flavia Pennetta reached her second straight U.S. Open quarterfinal, defeating Casey Dellacqua 7-5, 6-2, and top seed Serena Williams defeated Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-4, thereby reaching her first major quarterfinal of 2014.
There was a big upset in doubles. Kimiko Date-Krumm and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova beat 2nd seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai 7-6, 6-4. In mixed doubles, life-long friends Taylor Townsend and Donald Young reached the semifinals when they defeated Ashleigh Barty and John Peers.
U.S. Open--what they said
I finally made a quarterfinal this year!
Serena Williams
Do you like the way you're treated by the media? Would you like to be more sort of in the spotlight like certain stars, or you like to be in the shadow? What is your attitude? Do you think that someone is not considering you enough or not?
I think I prefer to stay in the shade.
Ekaterina Makarova
Is it different? Do you have to do something different to play against her (Serena) than you would...
Something different. You cannot invent something. I mean, you just have to play your tennis and do your best. Of course, she's better than me, but if I still believe I can beat her, maybe if she doesn't have a good day I can do that....
But you still believe?
Of course. Why not?
Flavia Pennetta
What are the positives you take out of this? You made the fourth round of the US Open, lost to the number 1 seed.
Yeah, I had really good matches. I think I gained confidence for next tournaments. I played aggressive. I didn't get like pissed on the court. I was very calm all matches. I like that way to be on the court.
Kaia Kanepi
...her backhand is world class. One of the best backhands in the world. I think her forehand, it's tricky. I don't think she hit it poorly. She varies it up on the forehand side. You get different looks. You get a hard, flat ball. You get the slow, loopy ball. That's why she's tricky to play.
Casey Dellacqua, referring to Flavia Pennetta
...of course I'm nervous a little bit. Sometimes more; sometimes less. But all the time when I'm nervous, maybe more than normal, I'm all the time try to speak with my coach about this. Like just to talk, you know. And then this situation she told me some things and this situation just let it go, you know.
Ekaterina Makarova
I played Jennifer Capriati. At that time, we were the same age.
Chanda Rubin
Serena Williams
Do you like the way you're treated by the media? Would you like to be more sort of in the spotlight like certain stars, or you like to be in the shadow? What is your attitude? Do you think that someone is not considering you enough or not?
I think I prefer to stay in the shade.
Ekaterina Makarova
Is it different? Do you have to do something different to play against her (Serena) than you would...
Something different. You cannot invent something. I mean, you just have to play your tennis and do your best. Of course, she's better than me, but if I still believe I can beat her, maybe if she doesn't have a good day I can do that....
But you still believe?
Of course. Why not?
Flavia Pennetta
What are the positives you take out of this? You made the fourth round of the US Open, lost to the number 1 seed.
Yeah, I had really good matches. I think I gained confidence for next tournaments. I played aggressive. I didn't get like pissed on the court. I was very calm all matches. I like that way to be on the court.
Kaia Kanepi
...her backhand is world class. One of the best backhands in the world. I think her forehand, it's tricky. I don't think she hit it poorly. She varies it up on the forehand side. You get different looks. You get a hard, flat ball. You get the slow, loopy ball. That's why she's tricky to play.
Casey Dellacqua, referring to Flavia Pennetta
...of course I'm nervous a little bit. Sometimes more; sometimes less. But all the time when I'm nervous, maybe more than normal, I'm all the time try to speak with my coach about this. Like just to talk, you know. And then this situation she told me some things and this situation just let it go, you know.
Ekaterina Makarova
I played Jennifer Capriati. At that time, we were the same age.
Chanda Rubin
2009--the year of Little Miss Upset
In the second round, everyone made a mental note, as Oudin upset 4th seed and 2004 finalist Elena Dementieva. That caused quite a stir, but it was nothing compared with round 3, when the teenager brought down 2006 champion and international celebrity Maria Sharapova. Oudin earned the nickname "Little Miss Upset" and became the talk of the tennis world and the U.S. news media. Everyone wanted to know about her shoes, her training, her family, her boyfriend, and what on Earth possessed her to become an army of one against the serious tennis force that was Russia.
Wearing her pink and yellow Nike shoes with the word Believe printed on them, Oudin walked flat-footed around the court like a baby duck on a mission. She was all business, and like almost-famous Tsvetana Pironkova, didn't give a damn what anyone thought about her consistent use of the forehand slice. She yelled "Come on!" she fist-pumped, she yelled some more, and all five feet and six inches of her appeared electrified as she wiped out one tall Russian after another.
Nadia Petrova was Oudin's next victim. The 13th seed became the fourth Russian giant to get run over by those pink and yellow shoes. It was as if Oudin were opening a set of matryoshkas and stomping on them, one by one. "Well, she was just seventeen..." the Beatles tune blasted through the tournament loudspeaker as Oudin stepped off of the court for yet another interview.
Melaniemania was at a peak, and why not? A teenager from the USA, barely out of juniors, was not only upsetting very high seeds, she was knocking off consecutive Russians. To compete consecutively against four players from the same country was a novelty in itself. The fact that that country happened to be women's tennis giant Russia made the entire affair something beyond tantalizing.
There was a down side, though. Against Dementieva, Sharapova and Petrova, Oudin had lost the first set. She was tired. She got eventual finalist Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals, and that was the end of her run. Wozniacki beat her in straight sets.
And this is where--at least for me--it gets fascinating in a fantasy sense: If Wozniacki had lost her round of 16 match, Oudin's quarterfinal opponent would have been 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, another Russian. And to this day, I believe Oudin would have beaten her and gone to the semifinals. But it wasn't to be, and it still seems somehow "wrong" to me that the upstart teenager didn't get to play five Russians in a row.
Oudin appeared on "The Tonight Show" and on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." She was personable and candid and made a good showing. Shortly after the conclusion of the U.S. Open, a member of the tennis press revealed that Oudin was under a considerable amount of especially nasty family-related stress, which made the 17-year-old's run even more remarkable.
Unfortunately, Oudin was not able to break through in a big way on the tour, despite her 2009 U.S. Open success. She had a couple of good runs in Charleston, she and Jack Sock won the U.S. Open mixed doubles championship in 2011, and she surprised everyone by winning Birmingham in 2012. She has not gotten past the second round of the U.S. Open since 2009 (this year, she didn't make it out of qualifying), and she is currently ranked number 135 in the world.
Oudin is not quite 23 years old, and no one can know what lies in her tennis future. But whatever does or doesn't happen, nothing can take away the thrills that she created in 2009 when she mowed down Russia's finest in one glorious rump through the U.S. Open.
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