U.S. Open--what they said

It's wrapped because I have to run every time, too much.

Francesca Schiavone, referring to her leg

Good thing there's only four sides to this court.

Martina Navratilova, on the length of Petkovic's post-match dance

She moves her feet, I think, better than anyone on tour, to be honest.

Serena Williams, on Victoria Azarenka

...the problem is I don't have constant pain. I just have a sharp pain every like four or five games. That's even worse, because after that I have like two or three games where I get off my game because I'm not moving well because I'm scared to go into the corners. It's not that bad, actually.  The pain comes, you know, and the time until the pain comes gets wider and wider, which is a good sign. But still when it comes I'm scared and I start not running. You know, I am hesitating to run, and then I lose a few games very fast because I'm not moving well. It's just a mindset, I think.  I'm trying to work on it, but it's not easy because obviously it's the injured knee, and so I'm always more scared than normal.

Andrea Petkovic

What treatment beyond massage? Electric stimulation?
I don't know. That's like the physio stuff to do. Okay, guys, I'm gonna tell you all these things.  Oh, the massage with this they do that, pull my finger. I don't know. That's their job to do....I do my job and the physios do theirs.

Jelena Jankovic

Petko is prime time and there is no city more prime time than New York.

Courtney Nguyen

Do you prefer one (French or U.S.) over the other?
Ay, when I will win, I will tell you the difference and which one I prefer.

Francesca Schiavone

So you were sometimes dismissive of some of the questions when we asked about what the meaning of that really incredible incident here was. I know it was a couple years ago, but can you talk about what you learned from this really incredible incident here?
Actually, I can't. I'm so over it. You should be, too.
Well, it's not about me. 
Well, then you can talk about it maybe with some of the journalists. Gosh, that was like so long ago. I've died basically and come back and nobody's really writing or thinking about that.

Serena Williams

Serena, Christina, Irina!

For some time now, tennis fans have regarded the Williams sisters as the only players on the tour from the United States who can be taken seriously in singles (the USA has some exceptional doubles players). When Melanie Oudin made her remarkable, Russian-crushing run in the 2009 U.S. Open, the home crowd had a lot to cheer about, but that was a one-time phenomenon. Suddenly, though, players from the USA are all over the 2011 draw.

Yesterday, Christina McHale upset 8th seed Marion Bartoli. As if that weren't enough, Irina Falconi upset 14th seed Dominika Cibulkova. Today, Sloane Stephens beat Israeli star Shahar Peer, the 23rd seed, in straight sets, and Vania King--who had already beaten Greta Arn--just about ran over Jarmila Gajdosova, defeating her 6-2, 6-0.

It should also be noted that today, Serena Williams had a 6-0, 6-1 win over Michaella Krajicek. It's probably safe to say that no serious tennis observer predicted that five women from the USA would make it to the third round of the U.S. Open. Here is their third round draw:

Vania King (who, with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, won the 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles championships) will play world number 1 and top seed Caroline Wozniacki. King, like Wozniacki, is a defensive player, and will have her hands full in long rallies against Wozniacki.

Williams plays Victoria Azarenka, who defeated Gisela Dulko tonight. When they played each other in Toronto last month, Williams got the job done in straight sets, but Azarenka is a worthy opponent who could present Williams with her first challenging match.

Stephens plays Ana Ivanovic, who received a walkover in the second round from Petra Cetkovska.  Stephens has a good first serve and a good forehand and can hit the ball really well. She was also a doubles star in juniors, so she knows how to volley. But she has a day to think about what she has done, and one can't help but wonder whether, at some point, the reality of her success will weigh on her. On the other hand, her opponent was once feared but is now somewhat vulnerable.

McHale will play Maria Kirilenko in the evening in Arthur Ashe Stadium. I don't think that the big stage is going to bother her, but she may have other worries. Kirilenko, the "other Russian," is a player with a lot of variety who hits deceptively well, but who has perhaps never met her potential. On a good day, she can be dangerous. This has the possibility of being a very good match.

Finally, Irina Falconi will have to hope that Sabine Lisicki has a bad day when they play their third round match. Lisicki got a walkover from Venus Williams yesterday, so she'll be fresh, and--when she feels confident--she can blow opponents away, not only with her serve and her big hitting, but with her good court instincts.

Carillo 1, Allaster 0

Mary Carillo interviewed WTA chairwoman Stacey Allaster today, and the WTA's leader--despite making a few comments about women's DNA being different from men's (seriously, she said that)--assured all that something was going to be "done" about the "grunting" on the tour. In the past, Allaster has tried to defend players from the barrage of ridiculous criticism leveled at them, while still trying to take the criticism seriously. Today, she was much firmer in insisting that a "solution" is on the way, and that this solution will involve "objective" (as if) measurement. In other words, there will be some type of decibel measuring device available.

Carillo, to my surprise, reflected exactly what I was thinking (at least some of it) when she immediately told Allaster she thought it was good that Allaster had found a way for someone to make money, in addition to solving the "problem." There was then an uncomfortable lull in the conversation.

Throughout history, women and girls have had everything on them and in them measured and examined and tested to assure that they were "pure" or "qualified" or "hot" enough to do everything from marry to serve drinks on a plane. Now the WTA wants to add yet another invasive measuring device that involves women's bodies. To borrow a phrase from Serena Williams--Go WTA women's equality campaign!

The 5th and 6th seeds, both major champions, played poorly and lost in the first round of the U.S. Open. Women still make less money playing tennis than men do, and they are expected to play fewer sets than men at the majors. The tour's injury list is long and impressive. Commentators and writers refer to 28-year-old women as children. On-court coaching, which fosters dependence and makes women look ridiculous, continues. The tour has problems, many of which are caused by sexism. One of those problems is the perception that it is somehow "wrong" for women to grunt or yell.

Maybe a really strong campaign against sexism and a closer look at the tour's expectations would be in order? Of course it would be, but it won't happen because the WTA is busy tending to important things like catering to a culture that doesn't want women to be real people and doesn't want female athletes to be real athletes.

Measure that.

U.S. Open--what they said

She just came out and, I think, played a perfect match. She was just moving so well.

Marion Bartoli, on her defeat by Christina McHale

Where in a Grand Slam fortnight do you generally find that you really hit your stride?
Hard to say, but usually I'm there by the fourth round.  That's where I really pick it up.  In any tournament, like starting the quarterfinals, that's where I feel like I'm really picking up the level of my game.

Vera Zvonareva

I was really looking forward to the match.  I love those big matches and playing against Venus.  We had two amazing matches the last two meetings.  I was really looking forward to it....

Sabine Lisicki

Wouldn't it be nice to see 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova show up at a big tournament this year and show off her former slam-winning stuff?

Matt Cronin

...I just knew how to always be on my toes and ready to react to her shots because she takes the ball really early....I started anticipating better as the match went on....

Christina McHale

She played a very solid match, and she has some big weapons. She started getting on top there in the second set, but in that one long game, I think as a returner, there was less pressure on me, so I just tried not to make too many silly mistakes.

Samantha Stosur

In kindergarten I sang “Peanut Butter Jelly” in a talent show and I was amazing.

Sloane Stephens

Bartoli, Radwanska and Cibulkova upset in U.S. Open 2nd round

Just when we were (well, sort of) getting used to the first-round upsets of Petra Kivotva and Li Na, along came today's big second round upsets. 8th seed Marion Bartoli went out to Christina McHale in straight sets (7-6, 6-2). Carlsbad champion Agnieszka Radwanska, the 12th seed, lost to Angelique Kerber, and 14th seed Dominika Cibulkova was upset by Irina Falconi. On top of that, Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament, and 20th seedYanina Wickmayer retired because of a back injury.

This is a lot to process. It is for me, anyway, because I'm still stuck at trying to figure out what happened to Kvitova and Li. Daniela Hantuchova is out, too, of course, and I didn't expect such an early exit from her, either. Radwanska has had her shoulder taped for several weeks because of a nerve problem in her shoulder, so her loss isn't a complete surprise.

2nd seed Vera Zvonareva is still around, but she had to work to get her second round win against Kateryna Bondarenko. She also had to tend to a lot of broken racquet strings.16-year-old Madison Keys took a set off of 27th seed Lucie Safarova, but in the third set, she looked tired, and she was rushing her play. All the same, it was nice to see her win a round and a set.

Alexandra Dulgheru, the woman who upset Petra Kvitova, was defeated in straight sets today by Monica Niculescu. Flavia Pennetta beat countrywoman Romina Oprandi, Peng Shuai defeated Tsvetana Pironkova (because someone had to), and 24th seed Nadia Petrova defeated Polona Hercog.

On Thursday, Victoria Azarenka will play Gisela Dulko, who falls into the "dangerous floater" category. Dulko played Azarenka in the second round of the U.S. Open last year, too, but that match didn't last too long. Behind 1-5 in the first set, Azarenka collapsed into a heap on the court, and had to be carried off in a wheelchair because of a concussion she sustained during a training session prior to the match. Dulko has a 3-2 record against the 4th seed.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki will also be in action on Thursday; Wozniacki plays Arantxa Rus. 10th seed Andrea Petkovic, who's dealing with a small meniscus tear, faces an always-tough opponent in Zheng Jie, and Petra Cetkovska plays 16th seed Ana Ivanovic.

There were a couple of upsets in doubles today. 10th seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Anastasia Rodionova were defeated by Andreja Klepac and Anna Tatishvili, and 13th seeds Chuang Chia-Jung and Olga Govortsova were defeated by Liga Dekmeijere and Jelena Jankovic.

Venus Williams withdraws from U.S. Open

Venus Williams has not been feeling well lately, and she now has a diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that can cause everything from dry eye and dry mouth to joint pain and significant fatigue. Like other autoimmune disorders, Sjogren's syndrome occurs much more often in women than in men.

Williams, who won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001, withdrew from the 2011 Open today, giving her second round opponent, Sabine Lisicki, a walkover.

"I enjoyed playing my first match here and wish I could continue," Williams said, "but right now I am unable to. I am thankful I finally have a diagnosis and am now focused on getting better and returning to the court soon."

Williams hasn't played much this season because of injuries. She was unseeded at the U.S. Open, and defeated Vesna Dolonts in the first round.

U.S. Open--what they said

Now I even lose all the confidence on the court. I was feeling, "Oh, tennis just too tough for me."

Li Na

I don't know if it's meant to be, or whatever.

Jelena Jankovic, on the return of Ricardo Sanchez

I tried to stop a couple of times, but I started losing.

Andrea Petkovic, on her dance celebrations

When I was serving for the match, I kept thinking, "I’m doing it for him."

Ana Ivanovic, whose grandfather died over the weekend

French Open is like three months already. I mean, is enough time to forget.

Li Na

I know that I'm back on track. I know that everyone has to write their stories, but I think we should move on. Ask me about something else, something more interesting.

Caroline Wozniacki