Writing off Pilot Pen...

Let's just get this out of the way first, shall we?

Everything went almost as expected. Blake over Fish. Bhupathi/Zimonjic over those other guys. Kuznetsova over Szavay...but with an asterisk! Szavay WON the first set, and retired in the second set trailing 0-3. She had been saying for the last few matches that she was exhausted having come through qualifying all the way to the final. Let's hope she has something left for NY. Kuznetsova finally wins a final that she makes an appearance in, but it came with the retirements of her quarter, semi and final round opponents. It says that she is fit, yes, but that was never in doubt. It is her mental fitness that was the question, and I don't think she has been tested or proven anything in this tournament, regardless of 'winning' it.

The big upset came in women's doubles...#1 seeds Black/Huber were defeated by Mirza/Santangelo. Very surprising!

Pilot Pen...a cute little tourny placed in the worst possible place EVER in the schedule.

Now, on to bigger and better things!

New Haven Update

Most of the finals are set, with Blake and Mathieu battling it out right now for a place in the men's final.

EDIT: Blake just prevailed over Mathieu in a third set tie-break, setting up an All-American men's final. US Open series organizers are probably drooling over this, but the timing, and maybe legitimacy, is still in question.

The women's final will feature Kuznetsova, who won after Dementieva retired in the third set after a grueling first two sets. She will play a new face...qualifier Agnes Szavay. I don't know much about her, so I looked up a bit of info: She is Hungarian, currently ranked #41 in the world, owns WTA and ITF singles and doubles titles, but has never been past the second round of a grand slam. As I mentioned in a previous post, Jon Wertheim picked her to come out of the bottom half of the US Open draw, so evidently people are liking what they see in her play. I won't be able to watch the match tomorrow, but will be recording it for later.

The men's doubles pits one of my favorites, Bhupathi, who is partnering Zimonjic for this tournament (hmmm, that could be a strong team!) against Fyrstenberg/Matkowski. Women's doubles is Black/Huber vs. Mirza/Santangelo.

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My personal losing streak continued tonight, with a 6-1, 6-3 loss in 6.5 combo play. I just don't know what is going on...my forehand has completely left me, and while I'm playing strong at the net, I'm not putting the volleys away, which is just giving my opponents another chance. All topspin on my forehand side was non-existent tonight...things were sailing waaaay long. *sigh* Maybe all the lessons aren't worth it...everyone has their own way of teaching, and now I'm just all mixed up and confused because I've taken from so many different pros. Not by choice, by the way...they all have a nasty habit of getting fired.

*sigh*

Double duty in New Haven.

Because of the backlog of matches caused by rain, the men of the Pilot Pen had to pull double duty today.

James Blake started off his day with Calleri, and was triple match point down when he seemed to wake up and think "Hey, that's right, I'm playing tennis!" He came back and won the match 6-1 in the third set! Unbelievable come-back, but if he starts off his matches that flat, he will run into an opponent that won't melt like Calleri did under the pressure of the J-Block.

At one point of the match, Blake seemed to believe that Calleri's coaching camp was doing more than the usual amount of coaching from the stands. He mentioned something to the chair ump (Fergus Murphy, I believe), at which point Calleri took offense, and for the rest of the match there were barbs going back and forth between Blake and Calleri. Blake's habit of calling out 'Too good' at some of Calleri's winners only seemed to infuriate the Argentine even more. After the match, Calleri walked off to boos while Blake was still trying to talk to him. Made for an unusual match, especially since it was involving Blake, who is widely considered one of the nicest guys on tour.

Blake then set up an evening match with Verdasco, and I had thought this might be a tough test, but he was through in two easy straight sets.

One has to wonder, though, if he is going to be able to keep up this play through the Open. Is it better to play a tournament the week before, or to be in NY adjusting to the courts and preparing for the big one? Time will tell.

Stan the Man continued his solid play by dispatching #2 seed Disco Tommy Robredo. This may not seem as great of a result as it does on paper...Disco Tommy has been slumping pretty hard lately. I bet if he cut his hair...

Anyway, Stan then later went down to none other than Mardy Fish! Fish joins Blake and Dr. Ivo in the semis. The last semi berth is being decided as I write this.

Today also saw #1 Davydenko go out to Gilles Simon. He confessed to feeling tired. Tired? Did Donald Young actually wear him out? This is another player that I believe would have been better served to skip this week before the Open. But Davydenko is the Jankovic of the men's tour...playing tourny after tourny after tourny. He could use a bit of her personality, though.

The insane score of the day today goes to Mardy Fish's defeat of Jose Acasuso - 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. He went from losing the first set, to delivering a bagel. I didn't see it though, so I don't know if it was result of Fish's great play, or Acasuso melting down. Or both.

I did get to watch Bartoli vs. Dementieva today, and wow. What a bizarre match. Maid Marion came storming out 4-0. But Elena often plays her best tennis when she is behind, and slowly but surely she worked her way back, winning the next 6 games and the first set. The score was much closer than it should have been. Bartoli was visibly winded and taking very long breaks between every single point. I have two big problems with this...#1 - Um, hello chair ump? Time violations happening all over the place...how about enforcing a rule here or there? That is, presumably, what they are paid to do, right? #2 - Dementieva very graciously allowed her the time, instead of stepping up on her service games and making her play. Too nice to win the big ones, Elena!!!

Between sets Elena left the court to change clothes (as she very often does, this is not a new habit), so Dr. Bartoli, Marion's dad and coach, came down and talked to her. Or, at her, I should say. We heard it all on TV, and while it was all in French, I now know how to say backhand in French. He talked, and talked, and talked...Marion sat there with her face in her towel not even looking at her dady/coach. She didn't say a word, but I'm not sure she would have been able to get a word in if she tried! When Dr. Dad/Coach was done, he left...still without her saying a word. Fearless Pam Shriver (I love this woman, by the way) later caught him in the stands and Dr. Dad did say that Marion was very tired and still feeling the effects of the bug that caused her to retire in Toronto last week (she caught the bug that was going around the WTA tour).

As all this was happnening, and they kept showing Marion with her face half covered in her towel...I felt really sorry for her. She is the butt of so many jokes because of her weight, but is obviously so talented. I don't know...she just seemed really young there for a moment, and so, so tired.

Dementieva did go on to win the match, but I don't remember the score of the second set. Here's to hoping that Bartoli gets some much needed rest in the next few days.

Now, the only serve that drives me more crazy thatn Elena's is...Marion's!!! Oh. My. God. Would someone PLEASE give her a service motion??? I couldn't watch it after the first set, it was giving me fits!

Elena's win sets up a Russian semi between her and Sveta, while the other semi will feature young upstart Agnes Szavay against tour veteran and tricky Greek Eleni Daniilidou. Szavay has been turning heads, and Jon Wertheim picked her as an Open semi-finalist based on the draw in his women's seed report!!! Now, that is going out on a limb!!!

Other big news on the tennis scenes today included the not too surprising news that, after the upcoming Davis Cup tie, Brit Tim Henman will be hanging up the racquet. Awww Tim...even knowing it was coming doesn't mean it still isn't sad news. I'm glad that I've been able to see him play three different times at Legg Mason.

Oh, and Shriekapova unveiled her US Open dress today. *yawn* No wonder so many people don't take the women's games seriously...they are playing in rinestones! With huge earrings! What. Ever. I like the dress, but I wouldn't play tennis in it!

Rain, rain....it went away.

And behold...tennis was played.

Winner of the Insane Score award today goes to the men's singles match of Juan Martin del Potro (jeez, he needs a shorter name if I'm going to talk about him so much) and Gilles Simon. Simon won the match 7-6, 6-7, 7-5! Now, that was either a really boring or really great match to watch.

Men's singles action also saw the exit of our favorite rapper, Vince Spadea, in three sets, and Gael Monfils continued to be consistently inconsistent...losing to Fed's buddy Stan Wawrinka.

Women's singles saw some upsets, though, because of the waterdowned draw, is anything really going to be shocking? Losers today included #2 seed Hantuchova, #7 Bammer, and Mirza.

Lindsay and Lisa gave it a good effort, but ultimately lost in their first round doubles match to #1 seeds Black/Huber. They did take them to a third set tiebreak, so it wasn't a blow out, but it is a shame that Lindsay only gets one match in her comeback tourny.

There was an odd result on the men's doubles today. #2 seeds and Cincy winners Erlich and Ramm lost....to WC Alex Kuznetsov and Ryan Sweeting? What? Think they decided they wanted a break? It really looks like that...because that is a team that Erlich/Ramm should have beaten asleep with one hand tied behind their backs.

The USOpen singles draws came out today. The biggest news? Well, the top draw of the women's singles features Henin, both Williams, Jankovic, and Ivanovic. Sharapova pretty much has the entire bottom half of the draw to herself. I was going to have a Super-Saturday party, but now I'm thinking I won't bother, as the women's final has a good chance of being a snoozer (unless, of course, Shriekapova is in it, which is not a given considering her continuing shoulder problems). If Serena Williams and Henin meet in the quarters (and they might), then that may be a de-facto final right there, depending on what the Serbs are up to. Very disappointing!!!

The men's makes more sense, and there is a chance that Fed and John Isner may meet up in the third round. Wayne Odesnik has Thai player Danai Udomchoke...I think he's got a chance to get to the second round!!!

New Haven, we have a problem.

That problem would be one that not much can be done about...that of Mother Nature. Rain washed out play today at New Haven, possibly causing a pickle for organizers since Pilot Pen backs right up against the US Open. Players are NOT going to want to play more than one match in a day, and if that happens (and I think it will have to, but I'm not sure) it will be interesting to track the pattern of withdrawals. No offense against New Haven, but the big party is in New York. Some matches are finally getting played as I type this, but still, not a good day.

The one match that is finished is the rematch of America's answer to Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, against German Benjamin Becker. Isner took out Becker in a third set tiebreak (what else) in Legg Mason this summer, but figured him out much easier this time around, wrapping up a 6-3, 6-4 win. James Black is up a set and a break against Arnaud Clement as I type this.

Today was also supposed to be the first day of men's and women's qualifying play, but it appears that was rained out as well. Some interesting (at least to me) names in the men's draw include #1 seed Frank Dancevic (who was one of the many youngsters making a name for himself on the hardcourts this summer), #2 seed Robin Haase (he's gotten some quality wins this summer as well), Scoville Jenkins, Kevin Kim, Paul Capdeville, and Wesley Moodie among many, many others. The women's side includes the Chinese player Zi Yan (who made a nice singles breakthrough last week in Toronto), and Kristina Brandi (whose play I really enjoyed watching in DC). Let's hope at least a few, if not all, of those names make it through to the main draw. For these players, the tournament is the week before the tournament, and to make it to the big party is success in and of itself. Thinking of that helps to keep the whole show in perspective.

Notice how I keep referring to the US Open as the party or the show? I didn't plan it that way, just came out that way. I think it is appropriate. Each of the grand slams has its own personality, and if any of them are 'the big show' or 'the big party' it is definitely New York.

Someday, I will go. Someday, I want to go to all of them, but I will start with NY, as it is closest. This year, unfortunately, is not that year.

Swelling is almost completely gone...yay!