FROM THE US OPEN, AUG. 30 - In was the worst set and three quarters she
has played this summer, but somehow, with a large dose of deep-throated
Cmon’s!, a devastating backhand and improved serve, Dinara
Safina survived Swiss teenager Timea Bacsinszky 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
in the third round.
It was never pretty, at least from her side, as Safina came into the warm-up
feeling like her legs weighed 200 pounds and the 19-year-old zoned for
the first set, cracking wickedly angled crosscourt backhands and pushing
the slow Russian all over the court. But the kid got nervous trying to
close out the match deep in the second set and just two points form the
match at 5-4, faltered, and Safina snuck through the door. Eventually,
she regained control of her forehand, which she had consistently flown
long for two sets. She cursed herself under her breath, but never got
overly emotional and as a result, remains the favorite in her quarter.
"It was a wake up call," said Safina, who will meet Anna-Lena
Groenefeld, whose incredible form continued as she rolled past
Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-5. "It's good that I pulled it out. I was physically
down and felt so heavy. She was playing good but I gave her all the chances
to play good. But these are the kind of matches you sometimes need to
get through. My coach said 'Go out there and don't say a word because
if you start talking to yourself, you will lose hope. I was going crazy,
but I was trying not to speak at least, because this would kill me." Flavia Pennetta won a terrific clash between veteran
when she fought past Nadia Petrova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The Italian, who is
having the best summer of her life, said that she decided in the second
set to merely withstand Petrova’s flurries, convinced the Russian
would come down to earth and only launch balls when she really had to.
She’ll face a revived Amelie Mauresmo , who beat countrywoman Julie
Coin 6-4, 6-4. In other women’s action, Serena Williams
crushed Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 6-1 and will play France’s Severine
Bremond, who beat Tathiana Garbin 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Venus
Williams destroyed Alona Bondarenko by the same score and will
play Agnieszka Radwanska, the composed Polish teen who
thumped Dominika Cibulkova 6-0, 6-3. For more on these match-ups, go here.
In a bit of shocker in the late night men’s match, Mardy
Fish upset James Blake 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4), perhaps ending the 28-yearold’s
dream of ever winning the US Open. It was certainly Fish’s most
notable US Open victory ever, as he served huge, volleyed well, returned
aggressively and dominated of his backhand side. But for Blake, it was
major disappointment, as his friends in the J-Block apparently got out
of control at the end of the match and were warned.
"T he umpire warned them one time, and to be honest, I don't really
feel that was appropriate,” Blake said. “If they made one
inappropriate comment, I know there were other a lot of other people in
the stadium that made comments or spoke at the wrong time and they were
singled out to be warned, when I think most times they behaved very fairly.
I was more uncomfortable the way I was playing. It's a tough feeling out
there when you're the favorite, and you're expected, and you're not playing
your best tennis, and can't summon your best tennis. There are some days
you go out there and you feel like you can't quite string the points together
that you need to, and can't make enough first serves and things don't
seem to be going your way. That was why I was uncomfortable out there….
Mardy served great and returned great. Those are his two biggest weapons.
He was doing them both well today. When he's doing that, he's taking me
out of my rhythm, and playing the kind of tennis that got him to the finals
of Indian Wells and beating a lot of top players."
Ashley Harkleroad Pregnant
FRIDAY, AUG 29. - American player and playmate Ashley Harkleroad didn’t
pull out of the US Open with a back injury, but because she is pregnant,
the Fed Cup heroine confirmed to the WTA on Friday.
Harkleroad, who lives with her boyfriend and coach former ATP pro Chuck
Adams in L.A., is believed to be at least six weeks pregnant. Her last
event was Los Angeles at the end of the July, around the same time that
she became the first tennis player to appear on the cover of Playboy,
for which she was paid an estimated $250,000. The 23-year-old, who had
to undergo emergency surgery to remove one of her ovaries back in April,
is said to be thrilled.
Davenport’s Big Opportunity
FROM THE US OPEN -Lindsay Davenport has an opening and it’s a pretty
big one. If her bad knee holds up and she can serve, crack forehands and
flame deep returns like she did against Russian Alisa Kleybanova in her
7-5, 6-3 second round victory, then the quarterfinals could be hers. And
given that the chronically stressed and ever-complaining Jelena
Jankovic might be her foe there, she has a decent shot at the
semifinals.
Who would have thought that when the tournament opened, given that the
new mom had won one singles match since April and seemed to pushing the
fast stroller back toward retirement? Not many, but her draw is more decent,
it’s very attractive. She’ll face Marion Bartoli in
the next round, who bested Virginia Ruano-Pascual 6-4, 6-2, and even though
Bartoli could hurt her if Davenport doesn’t serve well, that shot
hasn’t left the Southern Californian yet. It’s the fast women
with substantial power who trouble her, not the middle distance runners
like Bartoli, who have obvious holes. It’s not the 19-year-old Kleybanova
yet, who has a tremendous crosscourt backhand, but a very shaky forehand
and who is way too slow for her age and needs to get in better shape.
It would be a Jankovic is great form, but the Serbian barely survived
Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5 and is essentially talking down her chances.
The winner of the Victoria Azarenka- Caroline
Wozniacki match might end up her quarterfinal opponent, as either
would have a great shot at JJ, who by the way, could very easily lose
to Zheng Jie. The bottom quarter of the draw is in slight
chaos, and former No. 1 Davenport might have fallen into the section of
the draw so she could restore order to the tennis universe.
Of course, even if Davenport gets past Bartoli, one of the terrific teens
or JJ, she might have to face Elena Dementieva in the
semis, and many US Open fans remember how she gave Davenport hell here
two years ago. She’ll feel her bones aches off the ground in that
one. But as Anastasia Myskina said of her childhood friend the other day,
you just never know which Dementieva is going to show up at a tournament,
the one with super strong groundstrokes, or the one who can have serious
doubts about herself. Dementieva will face the rising Anne Keothavong
who beat Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Keothavong is what, the first
woman since Jo Durie sometime in the last century to make it the third
round of the USO? There were two other wins that must be noted on the
women’s side with Tatiana Perebiynis upsetting
No. 8 Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3, and Magdalena Rybarikova of
Slovakia pounding Tamira Paszek 6-1, 6-2.
MONDAY, AUG. 25. - The other three Grand Slams
all have their positives, but no major throws Opening Night celebrations
like the US Open, which on Monday, welcomed back a slew of former champions
to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of tennis' Open Era.
Among those in attendance were Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Chris Evert,
Rod Laver, Ivan Lendl, Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Stan Smith,
Boris Becker, Gabriela Sabatini, John Newcombe, Ilie Nastase, Guillermo
Vilas, Mats Wilander, Monica Seles, Virginia Wade, Roger Federer, Lindsay
Davenport, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Marat Safin,
Andy Roddick and Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and her daughter Camera, who
represented their late husband and father Arthur Ashe, who won the 1968
men's title.
Most the ex-champs strode
down a red carpet prior to event and did interviews. Sharapova is so frustrated
with her right rotator cuff tear that she said she'd begin playing in
a few days left-handed. She's still in daily pain, which forces her to
sleep on her back nightly. She undergoing three hours a day of therapy
but still made the trip to the site. Virginia Wade spoke of how special
it was to win the US Open in '68, the year the world went wild, and said
she really did feel part of social history. Evert remembered the her last
match at the Open, her loss to Zina Garrison, and said that leaving the
beloved site actually didn't hit her until months later, but then it smacked
her like a led balloon. Laver couldn't remember a bad match he played,
but still fondly recalls winning the Sam in 1969 with a victory over Tony
Roche. Nastase said his extremely contreversial loss to McEnroe in '79
felt more like a riot than a match. Vilas fondly recalled being lifted
by the crowd after his title run over Connors, and also recalled a stomping
at Jimbo's hands. Navratilova said that the Laver is still her living
hero and went to have him autograph her hat. Federer revived the loudest
applause on the male side, while about as many fans cheered for Evert
as they did King, whom the grounds is named after. The ceremonies were
watched by a ton of industry folks, including 2004 French Open champion
Anastasia Myskina, who is here doing Russian TV. Myskina is just four
months removed from giving birth to her son, Yevgeny, who luckily, sleeps
through the night. She says that she has no plans to make a comeback in
singles, but laughed when saying that she might make a comeback in doubles
with another new mom, her friend Kim Clijsters.
