No Longer Understated

Mark Lyons Federer awaits his roll. FROM THE US OPEN –Neither Roger Federer nor Jelena Jankovic are substantial favorites to win the US Open, but after mostly sterling performances on Sunday, they kick-served notice that cannot be ignored.
It is no foregone conclusion than defending champion Federer will lose his title this year and that he's incapable of driving for five straight. It is also not scratched in stone that Jankovic cannot overcome her own mental warts and counterpunch her way to the title, given how fast and smooth she is form the baseline. There are a number of obstacles ahead for both players, but even a B-plus level Federer will reach the semifinals, and a B-level Jankovic should be able to also.

Federer threw a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 masterpiece on the error-filled Radek Stepanek, while Jankovic found her form in the last two sets of a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round with a victory.
Federer committed only a handful of unforced errors, as his kept his forehand under control until he felt comfortable giving it a full swing, switched the pace and spin on his backhand, served terrific and pushed Stepanek at the net.

"At the end of the day, what counts is winning the tournament. You forget all the unforced errors you made," said Federer. “If I were to win a big tournament again, one of those slams right away, I have the invincibility factor again, which is great for me. I don't try to impress anybody in the early rounds I was that close in Wimbledon, you know, so I hope to go a step further and win it this time. That would definitely help for momentum for the rest of the year.”

Federer has a terrific draw and will face Igor Andreev in the next round, who has suddenly found a hard court game and upset Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Fed hasn’t convinced that many folks that he has the goods this season to best a Novak Djokovic in the semis, or Rafael Nadal in the finals, but he has also hasn’t played up to his level yet, which is extremely high Should he catch fire again, and match the wizardry he displayed in New York last year, then he still has just as many weapons – if not more – than anyone else on hardcourts. The key for Federer is to truly believe in himself and as well as he played on Sunday, there’s still some lingering doubt in his voice. But he does a fine job of talking himself up.

“ I always bounced back right away when things were not looking that good, and same thing after Wimbledon,” he said. “Maybe I was a little bit disappointed but the buzz was bigger about the great match we just played, so I couldn't really look at this match and be completely disappointed. And then went through maybe the summer didn't win a whole lot of matches, but I won the Olympic gold in doubles. So I guess I always had sort of a good spirit. I was working out hard. I was in practice and never really down, because this is, I think, when you feel it most, when you go out on the practice court and you wonder what you want to do or change, and I never really felt I had that. That's a good thing, and I think that's why I'm always very, very positive, still, right now.”

Afinogenov is on site with
Elena Dementieva.Jelena, Elena Set to Clash
For the first time since Paris, Jankovic really looked like she belonged as a Slam contender. She ran circles around Wozniacki in the last two sets, and was leaping into her shots without hesitating on her bad knee. She was leaning forward with snarl. Her mediocre serve continues to plague her, but she reacts quickly to strong service returns and can turn around points on a dime. Her depth off both wings as well as her sharp angles are more than troublesome, they are the stuff that champions are made of. It’s all about whether she’ll give herself a real chance to win. On Sunday, she didn’t complain about being hurt or out of shape, but spoke to her rising form. She had to be forced into it, but like Federer, applauded her chances.

“It's little by little every day I feel that I'm getting better and better,” she said. “Physically wise, I feel that I'm moving much better. My condition is getting better and better. I'm feeling the shots a lot better than I did, especially in the beginning of the tournament in the first few rounds. So that is my goal, to keep improving day by day and try to get my game together again. I think I'm on the right track. I look forward to my next match.”

That will be against Sybille Bammer, who won (according to new edition of Bud Collins Tennis Encyclopedia) the longest match in US Open women’s history, besting the 2003 Henin-Capriati Classic. The lefty Bammer survived Marion Bartoli 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 in three hours and five minutes, becoming the first mother to reach a Slam quarter since Laura Arraya Gildemeister at 1991 Wimbledon. Tina’s mom will attempt to become the first Austrian woman to ever reach a Slam semi, but she’ll be hard pressed after that exhausting win. Jankovic has a good record against her and claims she knows her game inside and out. Plus, she knows it’s time to shine a major.“I want to win a Grand Slam," said Jankovic, who has yet to reach a major final. Of course, by winning a grand slam I will regain the number one ranking again, and that is something I want really bad. I will try my best to achieve that…. I'm trying to do my best to bring my game to the next level. I go one step at a time, and the most important thing is that, I believe in myself, and I really want to do it.”

It’s more than probable that Jankovic will face Elena Dementieva in the semis, who played a near perfect match in battering Na Li 6-4, 6-1. She might not have missed three forehands and was daring Li to stay in crosscourt rallies with her and Li could never answer the call. Other than her curious decision to only try and hit kick serves into the ad court (her flat serve down the T into the deuce court hit 110 mph), there was little to quibble about.

“ I feel pretty comfortable playing against her, and, well, maybe because she give me a good, chance to attack her, be always ahead of her. So I just feel like the whole game was pretty solid, maybe not my service. I struggled just a little bit, especially in my first set, but it feels much better in the second.”
Dementieva wasn’t as thrilled with her level as one observer was, asking with a laugh if he “wanted to feel her [post Beijing physical ] pain.” She’ll face Patty Schnyder, who has had a nice run too and beat Katarina Srebotnik 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. It’s hard to see the Swiss being consistent enough to scare the red hot Elena, who is here with her longtime boyfriend, hockey player Max Afinogenov.

Back to the bottom of the men’s draw, where Andy Roddick was super-solid in beating Italian Andreas Seppi 6-2, 7-5, 7-6. Roddick will face the winner of the Fernando Gonzalez-Jarkko Nieminen contest.
Qualifier Gilles Muller became the first player from Luxembourg to reach the fourth round of Slam when he survived Nicolas Almagro 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5. He’ll play the quiet fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko who beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 7-6, 6-3…BTW on Bartoli: she said she caught a stomach virus yesterday ad couldn’t keep anything down and was advised not to continue by the trainer because she had a very weak pulse…. Tommy Robredo played a fine match in besting the still rusty Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-3.

Quote of the Day Goes to Roddick on Federer’s year: “The guy has only made two Grand Slam finals this year. I would love his bad year. I would love it. It would be great. I'd be really happy with right now. I guess at a certain point, the guy has the best four year run ever, and we're all sitting here in shock that it's not the best five year run ever. We have to use a little bit of perspective here as far as how good he's been. I've said it before, and I think he's said it, he's created a little bit of a monster for himself, and I remember reading a lot of stuff after, you know, Tsonga beats Nadal in Australia, and everyone's like, okay. It was Djokovic for two months and you guys were like, going off, and then Nadal now and you guys are all jacked up. You got to give it some time. One big result and he's just clicked in. I think if you have to hear about anything every day you start thinking about it a little bit, and maybe that's where he's at.”

A Brief Response Goes to Me: How does one not get “jacked up” about Nadal’s summer.

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