US Open: Day 1

So, this is going to be a bit tricky, because I can't stay up and watch the later matches. I'm not ignoring them, but if something big goes down while I'm sleeping, I won't know until the morning. Hey, what can I say? It is a school night!

But there is plenty to talk about so far today. As I type this, Serena is dusting off her game and polishing off the first set against Angelique Kerber. The match followed a pretty routine win by Venus.

I'll stick with the women first, because there isn't as much to talk about right now. The opening rounds tend to be...uh...boring? Lots of roadkill, with the occasional good match.

One score that did surprise me was Marion Bartoli's easy victory over young American Alexa Glatch...6-1, 6-1. I thought Alexa would be more of a battle, but it wasn't to be. The Most Insane Score award goes to moody Russian Vera Zvonareva. She beat Jidkova 6-0, 6-7, 6-0. Uh, what happened in the second set Vera? I hope there weren't tears involved!

There was one big upset on the women's side. Asha Rolle, a 22 year old American, defeated #17 seed Tatiana Golovin in three sets. Good for American tennis? Yes. Good for women's tennis? No. Rolle's visibly not in shape, and almost makes Bartoli look svelte. What does this say about the WTA tour? How can these women, who are obviously not in athlete's shape, get so far? Is it just that they are in shape, and just not blessed with the right type of body? Is it luck? Who knows...but I don't see Rolle getting too much further in the draw, especially since she is in the loaded up half of the draw. Golovin is prone to mental lapses...maybe this match was one of them.

Now for the men. Andy Murray came out strong today, winning his first match in three routine sets. I correctly predicted a good match between Lee and Hrbaty, and they battled it out for five sets before Lee prevailed (yay!). Benjamin Becker was dismissed from the tournament in five sets as well.

The battle of the sneaky Spaniards did not go how I expected. JCFerrero, the #21 seed, was taken out by Lopez. Another Spaniard, Verdasco, dismissed the #22 seed, Mathieu. Maybe Mathieu was still 'hung over' from New Haven and his tough loss to Blake? The young Belgian, Steve Darcis, did manage a set over my boy Tommy, but was sent off in four sets by the veteran. Rapping Vince Spadea will have more time to work on his rhyming since he is out as well.

Three really big things on the men's side. First, John Isner, after dropping the first to #26 seed Jarkko Nieminen, came back to win in four sets. His first grand slam match, and he pulls through. Gotta love the mental game of this guy. Next up for his is qualifier Rik deVoest of South Africa. I like Izzy's chances, and if he gets through that one, he will more than likely meet the man, Roger himself, in the third round. Second big thing...Donald Young got another ATP tour win, and his first grand slam win in four sets. He will meet Richard Gasquet next. Logic would say to go with Gasquet, but Gasquet rarely follows logic. That will be interesting to see. And finally, a big upset occured when The Beast, Max Mirnyi, serve-and-volleyed his way past #18 Marcos Baghdatis. Oh Marcos! He's got way too good of a game to let this happen, but if he's isn't going to put in the work, then he better get used to going home while the party is just getting started.

Serena up a break in the second...I think I can go to bed and not worry about missing anything groundbreaking. But seriously, Serena, for the love of all that is good and holy...TAKE THE DAMN BOW OFF OF YOUR DRESS!!! Great dress...stupid, dippy bow. We know you have thunder thighs, we love you anyway.