US Open: Day 4 - Wonder Woman?

Is it better to be known for your bizarre fashion sense on the court rather than your game? I wonder if she puts as much effort into her game that she does her...outfits. One on hand, I'm all for it, it is a free country and you can wear what you want. On the other hand, it makes me cringe, mostly because it draws the wrong type of attention to the women's side of the sport. How can women players be taken seriously when they look like this? And, still, on one more hand, I cringe because IT LOOKS BAD!!! Most women try to draw attention away from that chub on the hip...but many tennis players (not just Mattek) sit their skirts just below that bit of chub, making it look so much worse than it actually is.

Another busy day at the Open! Mattek lost, by the way, and the only reason it is of any notice is because we won't get to see what other horrendous outfit she'll pull on next. (Oh, and if you are going to say it is 'Wonder Woman' inspired, then it better have a gold bustier and a blue skirt with stars on it. Don't insult us Wonder Woman fans!)

Donald Young's good play got a bit of luck today as well, when his second round opponent, Richard Gasquet, withdrew and handed Donald a free pass to the third round. Gasquet, yet another French headcase (and I love them all, by the way), evidently had a fever and was ill. Along the same lines, Andy Roddick got a 'get out of jail free' card when his opponent, Jose Acasuso, retired after snatching the first set from Roddick. To be fair, Roddick won the next two sets handily, and was more than in control of the match.

One of the hardest working guys on the court, Korean Hyung-Taik Lee, took out #14 seed Guillermo Canas (guess he won't be facing down Federer again anytime soon). A great win for Lee! Feliciano Lopez, always dangerous on hard courts, battled Igor Andreev for five sets before prevailing. Winning in four sets, and today's winner of the Insane Score Award, was former Grand Slam champ Thomas Johanssen over Arnaud Clement, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6.

Andrew Murray answered a few more questions today by outlasting Jonas Bjorkman (Jonas!!! I love Jonas!) in five sets. Murray's fitness has always been in doubt, along with his ability to win a tough five set match. Well, it may not have been that tough...it was five sets, but the fifth was 6-1. Maybe a better indicator will be how he plays his next match.

As for the Germans, Tommy Haas has been quietly making his way through the draw, like he normally does, while Nicholas Kiefer's comeback was brought to a halt today.

There's some big news on the doubles side. Damm/Paes are OUT!!! Oh, Leander...NOOOOO! They lost in three sets (guess the US Open decided best in five in doubles was stupid...good call) to Benneteau/Mahut! WHAT?!? BAD LOSS!!!

John Isner played dubs with Scott Oudsema, but they were taken out by another all American team...some guys by the name of Bryan brothers? Maybe you've heard of them?

And Justine Gimelstob's US Open isn't quite done yet...he is playing mixed with Ashley Harkelroad, and they won their first match. I imagine he is probably playing men's dubs, too, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now. ----> Yes, he is...playing with Amer Delic.

Jelena Jankovic turned down Jamie Murray's request to play mixed because she said she wanted to conentrate on singles. Which is fine. But she had time to team up with Severine Bremond to play women's dubs. Interesting. They got killed on the court though, so Jelena will have plenty more time for singles.

Lots of youngsters made their way through the women's draw today...Radwanska ended Razzano's strong playing streak, Azarenka advanced, as did Szavay and Vakulenko. Remember these names...they are, IMO, the future of women's tennis.

The women did lose two seeds today when #22 Schiavone lost to Tamira Paszek (another youngster with solid results) and #22 Srebotnik lost to none other than Maria Kirilenko, who is finally proving that she does more than look pretty on court.

Right now, the 'Magician' Fabrice Santoro is taking on the J-Block. Oh, and he's playing against James Blake. Blake won the first set, but Santoro is up 5-2 in the second. Santoro is just the kind of player that can give Blake lots and lots of problems. Blake's 'A' game will more than likely not be too effective against the crafty Frenchman. The problem is that Blake has no 'B' game. Santoro has enough game to run through the whole alphabet! I'm recording this one, because we may not see Santoro again at the Open, and he is just too much fun to watch. Honestly, I believe that Blake will pull this out, but he is going to have to work really hard for it. I do think there is a chance that Blake will fall apart though, giving Santoro the huge upset. A big question mark surrounding this match is fitness...mental and physical. Santoro can last five sets mentally, but can he physically? Blake can last physically, but he has NEVER won a five setter...so it is in his best interests not to let it go that far. Oh, JMac just got done saying...Blake is 0-9 in five setters. It will be fun to see how this pans out!

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Just a bit about me...I played GREAT in clinic tonight!!! What must I do to play that way in a match? Looks like the Frenchies aren't the only mental cases on the block, hunh?