US Open 2009 Day 8 Impressions

by Savannah

Lets get this stuff out of the way. The top half of the men's draw has been an exhibition tournament for the Monogram. Moving on.

I Wonder As I Wander...

I don't know enough about the Russian Federation to comment on what is going on behind closed doors. I do know that they can't be pleased that for the first time in a very long time not only are there no Russian women but with Nikolay Davydenko's retirement during his match yesterday all of the Russian men were out of the tournament.

I do have some inkling of what is going on behind closed doors here in the States though. Andy Roddick has been Old Reliable for American tennis for several years now. What happened? He played a lot of tennis coming into the Open. He supported the US Open series instead of taking a mini break from things. He is as usual expected to play Davis Cup for the United States. Some of his fans think he's burned out from that Wimbledon loss. I don't follow Andy that closely so if his fans say that's the case I have to accept their opinion.

Everyone has been talking about who is coming after Venus Williams and Serena Williams but it looks like the crisis has come for the men sooner than many expected. Roddick has done his job and owes no one anything as far as I'm concerned. He's stayed in the top ten and spent many years in the top five. Does someone like Sam Querrey have the mental toughness to do that? John Isner? I don't know. Isner looked whipped mentally and physically during his match against Fernando Verdasco. Querrey had nothing left after playing the US Open Series.

For that matter neither did Elena Dementieva. She did what the US tennis establishment says it wants more European players to do. She played the US Open series. She too was coming off of a grueling European clay and grass season but she played well here in the States and came into the US Open on a high. Most, including me, figured her to be among the final four. Instead she went out early and rather meekly. All of the other Russian women, Vera Zvonareva, Alisa Kleybanova, Alla Kudryavtseva, Maria Sharapova, Maria Kirilenko, Vera Dushevina, Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Vesnina, and Vesna Manasieva all went out early. Only Svetlana Kuznetsova managed to fight her way deep into the tournament as number one ranked Dinara Safina went out before her.

As for American women once again it's Venus trying to will herself through on one leg, and Serena who has been taking names. It was a little disconcerting to hear John McEnroe say there was only one American left on the women's side last night and that it was left to Cliff Drysdale to remind him of one Miss Serena Williams.

Melanie Oudin

I wish I could say I was surprised that there is so much hoopla over Melanie Oudin but I'm not. As someone on a fan site said she has "that American look". Read into that what you will. The fact that Melanie's coach first interview with mainstream tennis media read like a shot across the bow of the Player Development system in the United States is telling. As long as she stays with him I think she'll be fine. Why?
Tom Perrotta reported the following.

Melanie was overlooked as a junior, but here she is having more success than anyone in her age group. Why is that?

Brian de Villiers: You don't want to go there with me. The problem with American tennis, number one, is they don't dream big enough, they're not sold the dream, and then they don't believe in themselves. You have dream big, and you have to aim to be the best. I think people are afraid to put themselves on the line and say, “Hey, I want to be number one.” Dream big, and then try and make your dreams come true. And that's exactly what this child is doing. She dreams big and she believes. There are a lot of talented girls out there, tons of them. But I'll leave it at that.

What are her parents like?

They're just a normal family. I've been very lucky. From day one when they dropped the kids off [Oudin's sister, Katherine, is a college-bound player], they've left me alone and never fussed with me about results, what we're working on—I've done the schedule, I do all that. Most parents, I have a lot now who still bother me at the club, come sit on the court and tell me what to do. They've never, ever done that. And she's believed in me. I sold her the dream, told her how we were going to do it, and we came up here [to the U.S. Open] when she was 12 years old and got a feel for the place and she said, “Yeah, I'm gonna be here one day. This is what I want to do.

There is already talk about her need to break away from this man who has steered her career all of her tennis playing life. She is just seventeen. She will mature and her game will mature with her. She has the variety that has not been taught in the Academies. Let's see where she is next year this time. Hopefully the hypebeast will not have gotten her in it's clutches.

End Note

Very nice write up on Li Na in today's New York Times

Li Na stepped past the musicians plucking familiar string instruments and people doing tai chi in the pavilion. She stood near tables of men huddled around games of checkers.

“It is exactly like China,” Li said with a broad smile.

It was Columbus Park, the quiet, beating heart of Manhattan’s bustling Chinatown. One difference from her strolls in China is that no one seemed to recognize her Monday afternoon, seeing only a young woman in jeans and a black cap, not China’s best tennis player and a quarterfinalist at the United States Open.

Li, 27, is not only a long way from home, but she is also as far into a Grand Slam tournament as she has ever been. The day before her match against the resurgent, unretired Kim Clijsters, the 18th-seeded Li took a taxi from her Midtown hotel and spent a couple of hours strolling Chinatown and having lunch.

“I love New York City,” she said. “People in China say: ‘If you love your children, send them to New York. If you hate your children, also send them to New York.’ ”

She laughed at that lesser-known Chinese proverb. In news conferences, when asked to address questions in English, Li seems unsure and introverted. Alone, on the street or at a restaurant table, her English is near perfect and she continually punctuates jokes with a disarming grin.

When she plays at Flushing Meadows, she is about a mile — one stop on the 7 train — from the bustling Chinatown in Flushing, Queens, which some say has overtaken the Manhattan Chinatown in recent years as the largest concentration of Chinese in the Western Hemisphere. Li has stayed at a house in Flushing with other Chinese players and coaches the three previous times she played the Open, but she wanted to get a close-up view of Manhattan this time.

She laughed about how people from outside China get confused about her name. Li is her family name, she said. And Na is her first name, even if the Chinese place it at the end.

She has heard people see her name and call her “Lina.” Or “Nali.”

“If you see the draw,” she said of the tournament bracket, “it’s easy to find my name. It’s so short.”

Tennis Talk US Open Day 8

by Savannah

There were double bagels, fabulous comebacks, pwnage and just plain lessons in how the game is played on display today.

I dare anyone to say that they predicted that at this point in the tournament there would be no Russian women and no American men still competing. This is the first time in history that not one American male made it to the quarter finals.

The demise of all the Russian women needs further thought. I can't get my head around that yet. I'm sure that the Russian Federation and the USTA are not amused.

More later.

Seen and Heard Around - US Open Day 7

by Savannah

Player Talk

Before all the hoopla of the day starts I'd like to post some statements made by players that may have gotten lost in the sauce over the last couple of days.

Let's start with Kim Clijsters interview after defeating Venus Williams. It should be noted that Kim, during her on court interview with Mary Jo Fernandez, when asked how it was juggling a child and a career said flat out that she has help so it's not so bad. Mary Jo didn't follow up on that. Wonder why?

Anywho here's what she said at the end of the interview posted on the official US Open Site

Q. You needed to measure yourself against some of the bigger names in tennis. Today you defeated Venus. How does this affect your confidence?

KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, you know, I know today that Venus wasn't playing her best tennis. In that sense it's hard to kind of compare anything in today's match. But there's a lot of other things personally that I'm taking out of this match. That's just the mental strength that I kept focusing on and just trying to although in that second set I wasn't hitting the ball, I was just trying to regroup.
Those kinds of things. Reading the game a little bit, adjusting my game a little bit to a couple of weaknesses that I had out there. That's a very positive thing for myself, where in the past I maybe could have just let it slip away a little bit.
Now I really felt comfortable at just getting back and just fighting through that match.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Nikolay Davydenko, you remember him don't you, was interviewed by the Russian press and made the following statement. Thanks to "Oddman" and "HelenW" for the quotes that were originally posted on vamosbrigade.com

Kolya Davydenko has just finished his interview to Russian TV. He wasn't exactly complaining, because he smiled nicely all the time, so let's call it "he described some problems". He said that regardless of what organizers stated, all the courts in the US Open played differently. And a player who is placed in one and the same court has an advantage. Kolya played three rounds in 3 courts: Nos.4, 7 and 11. So he played 3 matches on 3 different surfaces, and every match was like the 1st one for him in terms of feeling the surface.

When asked whether he preferred playing against Soderling or Querrey, he said that he'd rather play against Soderling whom he hated, than vs Querrey, because there's a very good chance that Sod's match will be placed in Court 11, while Querrey's match will be definitely placed in one of the bigger courts.

Then his smile broadened to its extremity, and he said: "You want somebody to lose? Relocate him to a different court. From Ashe to Armstrong, for example". The next question was: "Are you speaking about Dinara?". The answer was: "Is that what they did to her? No, I was thinking about last year semifinals".

No wonder the American press avoids him like the plague. By the way he'll be playing on Armstrong today.

The last statement is from Dinara Safina. I have to say that watching Dinara take the court the other night the look I saw on her face was one of sheer terror. At least I thought it was. Maybe she was just past pissed.

At any rate this is a verbatim report by Diane Pucin that was posted to the LA Times.

Safina said she wasn't asked. She was told by tournament officials. "They came to us at 9:10 p.m. and just told us to switch to Armstrong," she said. "Basically, that's it. It was very unfair. The best player in the world to put on Armstrong. Their answer was that they prefer a five-set match to a three-set woman match."

Turned out the men's match was three sets too, Blake went out without much fight and the men's match ended up 10 minutes after Safina's upset.

"That's it, they don't want to listen, just move to Armstrong," Safina said. "I keep asking why we're playing on Armstrong at 10. They tell us just play, go on, go on 10 on Armstrong."

After speaking about the match and about how she had a game plan to go on the court and make Kvitova move all around, she instead came on the court, stood still and let Kvitova dictate play. "It's my brain," she said.

But then she went back to the other subject.

"I'm No. 1 player in the world," she said. "Why move me? American Blake because they want five sets instead of three. I always look forward to play night session on Arthur Ashe, it's best thing in the U.S. Open."

Kvitova didn't complain at all. "Yeah, doesn't matter to me," the 20-year-old from the Czech Republic said. "I'm not a star."

The problem was that thousands of night session ticket holders had to stand outside until the Roddick match ended after nine.

Tournament officials said they didn't want to delay the Robredo-Blake match because the winner was slated to meet Roger Federer next. Federer had finished his match about 2 on Saturday.

U.S. Open spokesman Chris Widmaier said, "You've got to balance safety issues, a big crowd, but the No. 1 factor is competitive integrity," he said. "If we had not split matches, the women's match would have been started at about 10:30 and who knows what time Blake and Robredo would have finished?"

European players have had beef with the US Open since about 2003 when an exhausted Juan Carlos Ferrero played the final after playing several days straight while his opponent got favorable treatment. Look it up folks.

Bizzaro Tennis World


This is a shot of Vera Zvonareva's knees at some point during her match against Flavia Pennetta last night. I have to say at some point because the wrapping ended up in quite a different state later in the match as can be seen below.

There are good matches tennisheads talk about for years where the players play sublimely, the on court intensity is fierce, and the eventual winner looks like he or she has been through a war.
Then there are the matches that go into the "What the fuck was that" category. Unfortunately for Vera her match last evening will forever be in that category.

Vera was once known only for her emotional outbursts on court not her tennis. She had turned that image around recently playing very well and containing her emotion. Last night she played great for a set and a half. Then Flavia woke up and began to play tennis the way she had been coming into the Open. Forcing and then winning a second set tiebreak despite Vera having had multiple match points Flavia stood by watching as her opponent literally came apart at the seams.

It was not a pretty sight folks but like the proverbial train wreck you're horrified but can't look away. All Flavia did in the third set was keep the ball between the lines while Vera flailed around unable to let go of that second set melt down. Flavia served her a bagel.

My main criticism goes to the commentators though. Cathy Rinaldi had impressed me a couple of days ago with her work but last night I think she let her partner, not sure who he was, have run of things. I'm not a broadcast journalist let alone a commentator so I don't know the etiquette involved in who does what in the booth. I do know that Cathy was the professional last night and that at some point she should've done a Virginia Wade and just cut the idiot off. Most fans know about Vera and her towel. If you've never seen it before it's striking and a little off putting but you're being paid to commentate. Move on. It's not a running gag, especially when the player is in the middle of a complete meltdown. Is it too much to ask that the people commentating on tennis have some familiarity with the sport and its players? Like him or not Chris Fowler has come a long way from when he first started and he did it by asking questions. Mike Tirico came to work prepared and can talk with the egomaniacs of the ESPN booth as an equal. It seems that the people who are working the live streams aren't held to such a high standard. Shame since for those of us without Tennis Channel the online streams were all that was available.

Thoroughly Modern Tennis

I get it. I really do. Serve and volley tennis is the preferred style of play for Australians and Americans. Maybe the Brits get thrown in there too. Nothing makes me roll my eyes more than when a commentator, seeing the style used as a tactic by modern era players goes on for twenty minutes about how wonderful it is to see it and if only more players would use it the game could be what it was in their youth.
Newsflash folks. It ain't coming back as the only way to play. It can be part of a players arsenal and should be, but no one is going to take the court and only play serve and volley. That's why it was painful to watch Taylor Dent last night. His story is compelling and you can't help but pull for him knowing that he didn't have a snowballs chance in hell with his anachronistic playing style.
Whichever Jensen that was doing commentary last night was flogging that dead horse to no end however and in the end I turned the sound off because of his cheerleading. Once again his partner let him run with it. The commentary was less about the match and all about Taylor, his parents, who he came on the scene with and serve and volley.
If Dent is going to try and make a go of it in the modern world of tennis he's going to have to learn to use serve and volley as a tactic. This is what some of the old warhorses don't want to discuss. They want to ignore the technology that has changed the game, some even started a push to go back to wooden racquets awhile back, but time waits for no one. Taylor has talent. He's going to have to do what Andy Roddick has done and embrace the modern.

Order of Play Day 8 (Singles Only)

Arthur Ashe Stadium 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)
2. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Melanie Oudin (USA) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[13]
Not Before:14:30
3. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Tommy Robredo (ESP)[14]
Arthur Ashe Stadium 19:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[9] v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[6]
2. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[4] v. Radek Stepanek (CZE)[15]

Louis Armstrong Stadium 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Robin Soderling (SWE)[12] v. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[8]
2. Women's Singles - 4th Round
Petra Kvitova (CZE) v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)
Not Before:15:00
3. Men's Singles - 4th Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[10] v. John Isner (USA)

End Notes

American juniorAsia Muhammad wiped up the court with French number one Kristina Mladenovic yesterday. Major surprise.

Sloane Stephens also won her opening round match. Heather Watson of Great Britain and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn also won on the girls side.

As for the boys number one Yuki Bhambri won easily while Chase Buchanan needed three sets to move to the next round. Bernard Tomic won in straight sets.

Tennis Talk - US Open Part 1

by Savannah

Ana Ivanovic - out.
Elena Dementieva- out
Maria Sharapova - out
Dinara Safina - out

One of the semifinalists from the top half of the Women's Tournament will be from among the following:

Gisela Dulko ranked # 40
Kateryna Bondenko ranked #51
Yanina Wickmayer ranked #50
Petra Kvitova ranked #72

Nadia Petrova Ranked #13, Caroline Wozniacki ranked #9, and Svetlana Kuzetsova ranked #6 along with Melanie Oudin ranked #70 round out the field competing for a finalist position from the top half of the draw.

The bottom half of the draw will features the following women:

Francesca Schiavone ranked #26,
Li Na ranked # 18,
Kim Clijsters who came in unranked,
Venus Williams ranked #3,
Vera Zvonareva ranked #7,
Flavia Pennetta ranked #10
Daniela Hantuchova ranked #22
Serena Williams ranked #2

Have no fear though dear tennis fan. The WTA's most consistent player will remain number one. All is right with the world.

Seriously though is it time to start having that conversation about the, let's call it softness, in the WTA? Oh I know people are talking about the "depth" of the WTA tour and how what is going on with the rankings simply represents the high quality of the players. I'm sorry but I call bullshit. There are six women remaining in the draw who are ranked in the top ten. Ironic isn't it that four of them are on one side of the draw. I know, the draw is random and what we're seeing is simply one of the possible scenarios as a result of that random draw. I don't think the powers that be wanted any scenario coming out of the top half of the draw that didn't involve Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina. With both of them out now the hype and the bull will have to shift. I wonder if the WTA honcho's have been put under observation? This is not what they wanted by any stretch of the imagination.

John Isner scored the biggest upset on the men's side by ousting #5 seed Andy Roddick in a five set thriller. He will play Fernando Verdasco in the next round.

Out and About Part Two

by Savannah

Some news before the write up about last night.

Spare a thought for up and coming American junior Sloane Stephens. Her father, former NFL player John Stephens, died in an automobile accident this week. The story is tragic, with a twist that makes it even more so for the young woman. See Karen Crouse' story for the details.

So the Eye network has made sure that the only coverage available other than what it wants to show us is a grainy feed from overseas. No online coverage, not even via USOpen.Org's live stream, is available until tonight. Not only that but Dick Enberg is commentating. I guess it could be worse and Al Trautwig could be in the chair. Or Ted "Mr America" Robinson.

Sabine Lisicki is said to have suffered a bad sprain. I've heard it said a sprain can sometimes be a very bad thing.

I wonder what the US tennis scene would look like if guys like Jesse Witten got the support others seem to think so little of.

A Night At The Open

I treat the US Open like my vacation. It is expensive, and I try to make sure I have the money available to see it the way I want to. Sometimes it's good. As I said in my other post the day session crowd tends to be a more knowledgeable group regardless of where one sits. At night the equation changes. All the suits who are there on their companies dime proceed to drink themselves into drunken stupors and feeling no pain don't hesitate to loudly vocalize their ignorance of the game by cheering hard hit balls that go out, and starting fan cheers for players they never heard of before.

Needless to say I was at the night session last night. The night started out well since I got a chance to meet briefly with some tennis friends I originally met online. I have to say upfront that I dressed wrong. During the day match when the sun pattern changed so that I was in shade it was downright cool. I figured it's night, in a large stadium, I would dress warmly. Bad move on my part. I had to stand up on the way in - fortunately I got an express - and by the time I reached Ashe I was totally soaked. Humidity and me do not get along. I still enjoyed my brief meeting with my friends. They're out there today and I know they're having a good time.

Anyway once I got inside -Venus match had already started - I stood with the small group waiting to get in on the next changeover. That was when I met my first douche of the evening. Everyone in the group has tickets. An assigned seat. It makes no difference what the order of entry is, your seat will be there. If someone is in it they have to move. Typical tennis etiquette. Mr. Douche yelled at his wife/girlfriend "you made us lose our spot" so everyone could hear as he made his way towards the front of the group. He rushed ahead when we could finally enter and I was amused to see him just being seated as I took my seat.

I should mention that as I came in Richard Williams passed by on his way out of the stadium. I said hello to him and he spoke back. As it turned out we were six rows behind him and his wife. The rest of Venus Williams entourage was on the other side of the court.

Meanwhile I think my daughter and I were the only ones not drinking to get drunk. She had fish and chips and a beer. Everyone else was drinking with not much food involved. I had brought my own food again so I was good.

Venus fans are well aware of her second set walkabout's. Let me tell you that it's worse seeing one in person. You live and die with each shot. I should also say that Venus knee is still not good. She and her sister are still scheduled to play doubles. We'll see.

I have to say it was great to see the crowd pull behind Venus. New York has not been a Williams friendly place to say the least and at the end Richard was up cheering with the rest of us. As he and his wife left I told him "Congratulatons" and he said "Thank You".

By the time the men's match started the crowd was well lubricated and the crazy stuff started. Many thought it would be an early night after the first set. That was when "Kiefermania" started. Kiefer rode the wave and thanks to some WTF play from his opponent took the second set. I'm not sure how it appeared on television but I can tell you that after the "Kiefermaniacs" left, hopefully for the LIRR or one of the jitneys, or passed out the way one gentleman did near where I was sitting (I have no idea how his girlfriend was going to get him home since he was passed out cold and she wasn't feeling any pain either) things got a little calmer. The people from the nosebleed seats came down and the match ended peacefully. I doubt if any of the Kiefermaniacs knew who he was.

We got to see Pam Shriver up close when she came to interview someone I'm guessing was Kiefer's coach. There was a cameraman in the way so we couldn't see clearly.

I have to say that it was amazing how many people were on the grounds last night. It's beautiful to see so many tennis fans from all over the United States and Canada come together to celebrate the best in the business.

I don't think I'll be out there again this year though.

End Notes

Venus Williams faces Kim Clijsters next.

The Monogram will play the winner of James Blake vs Tommy Robredo the featured men's match tonight.

Melanie Oudin (that's ooo-dan Dick Enberg) is facing Maria Sharapova today. Big match for both women for different reasons. Oudin is not expected to win. Nice to see the #29 seed on Ashe during the day while the #1 is playing tonight during what some fans are calling the worst night session ever.

Serve and volley isn't dead. Taylor Dent and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez used the tactic with disparate results yesterday. Dent will play Andy Murray next.

There will be an on court tribute to Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González this evening at 7p. Self taught, he revolutionized tennis.

In 1969, however, it was Gonzales's turn to prevail in the longest match ever played till that time, one so long and arduous that it resulted in the advent of tie break scoring. As a 41-year-old at Wimbledon, Gonzales met the fine young amateur Charlie Pasarell, a Puerto Rican younger than Gonzales by 16 years who revered his opponent.

Pasarell won a titanic first set, 24-22, then with daylight fading, the 41-year-old Gonzalez argued that the match should be suspended. The referee didn't relent and thus the petulant Gonzalez virtually threw the second set, losing it 6-1. At the break, the referee agreed the players should stop. Gonzalez was booed as he walked off Centre Court.

The next day, the serves, the volleys and all the prowess that made Gonzales a fiery competitor surfaced with trademark vengeance. Pasarell, seeking to exploit Gonzalez's advanced years, tried to aim soft service returns at Gonzalez's feet and tire him with frequent lobs. Barked Gonzalez on a changeover, "Charlie, I know what you're doing -- and it's not working!" Gonzalez rebounded to win three straight sets, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9. In the fifth set, Gonzales won all seven match points that Pasarell had against him, twice coming back from 0-40 deficits, to walk off the court from the 5-hour, 12-minute epic.

The final score was an improbable 22-24, 1–6, 16-14, 6–3, 11-9. Gonzales went on to the fourth round of the championship, where he was beaten in four sets by Arthur Ashe. The match with Pasarell, however, is still remembered as one of the highlights in the history of tennis and has been called one of "The Ten Greatest Matches of the Open Era" in the November/December 2003 issue of TENNIS magazine. But it was not this match alone which gave Gonzales the reputation, among the top players, of being the greatest long-match player in the history of the game.

Take the time to read his biography

The Alchemists

by Savannah

Great behind the scenes look at just how the daily Order of Play is put together in the New York Times

The biggest tennis matches at the United States Open happen on the blue hard court of Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the true epicenter of the tournament is an obscure, windowless room in the stadium’s bowels, behind a door marked “private.”

That is where the plot-twisting logistical calisthenics of producing the daily “Official Order of Play” — the schedule for all matches — takes place.

The walls are filled with 16 large flat-screen televisions lit to display everything from up-to-the-minute brackets, live tennis matches, and, mostly important, a working spreadsheet of the next day’s schedule. In the center of the room is a raised drafting table with a keyboard and a mouse, off-limits to all but a few high-ranking tournament officials

Through the door come and go television and tennis tour executives. They march in to request that certain matches be played at certain times on certain courts. They walk out knowing that the ultimate decision rests with the tournament director, Jim Curley.

“It’s the biggest issue I deal with over the two weeks,” Curley said. And it occurs every day, almost all day.

The task is to balance the often conflicting desires of players (who submit match-time preferences before the tournament), coaches (who often have more than one pupil and prefer they play at different times), broadcasters (including three in the United States and a litany of others around the world, each hoping to boost ratings with well-timed slots for particular players) and ticket holders (some holding passes for daytime matches, others with tickets to the prime-time show, all wanting compelling tennis spread evenly throughout their stay).

While matchups are cemented according to the bracket, Curley is the ultimate arbiter of where the tournament’s nearly 1,000 matches are played (there are 18 courts), what time they begin (as early as 11 a.m. or long after dark), and which stars to pit under the lights at Ashe Stadium, a slot that the United States Tennis Association touts as the biggest stage in the sport.

By 4 p.m., if all goes well, Curley and his schedule-making crew, including the referee Brian Earley and the assistant referee Keith Crossland, release the order of play for the next day. It arrives rather silently with great expectations.
(...)
Curley can handle second-guessing — he acknowledged that the Williams sisters should have played their doubles match on Thursday at one of the two big stadiums, not the overflowing Grandstand — but desperately wants to avoid complaints about fairness.

The process is usually simpler when the brackets hold to form and as the field pares to a more manageable size. Put the top players — Roger Federer, Nadal, the Williams sisters — into the prime spots and fill in the gaps between. Follow the rules. Ponder the pleas. Print the schedule. Repeat the next day.

But what to do with bracket busters, someone likethe unseeded 17-year-old American Melanie Oudin, who upset No. 4 Elena Dementieva on Thursday (at Ashe Stadium) and is fast becoming a crowd favorite?

Oudin elicited a spirited conversation in the room on Thursday afternoon. There was concern raised about the possibility of her playing three doubles matches (one mixed) before her next singles match on Saturday. Could one match move from Friday to Saturday, after her singles match, an official asked? It became moot when Oudin and her partner lost in doubles early on Thursday evening.

Out and About

by Savannah

The American tennis establishment has caught Oudin fever. Melanie Oudin, the seventeen year old from Marietta, Georgia has shown potential for awhile now but whenever you talked juniors you heard other names that didn't begin with the letter "O". No more. Sure she beat Jelena Jankovic a few short weeks ago but until recently Jelena was looking as if she were headed in the wrong ranking direction.

Elena Dementieva is a different story.

Elena came into the US Open as the hottest woman on the summer hard court swing. She had played one of if not the best Women's match of the year against Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final. There was no reason anyone would suspect her momentum would come to a screeching halt when she took the court today.

I know Elena is a loose cannon, that when she opens her mouth there is absolutely no telling what will come out, but with all of her crazy statements she is one of the old guard. Along with Venus Williams and Serena Williams she is in her late twenties now and is arguably playing her best tennis after having worked hard to fix her serve which was her major liability. In my opinion she is the best player never to have won a major.

I thought that Oudin would take a set but that in the end Elena would win going away. Instead Elena, like many of us, looked befuddled as she contemplated the young woman across the net from her. Elena was never allowed to establish her presence, was not allowed to settle into her preferred style of play. Not that she didn't try. It was just that Oudin had the answer for every thing she tried.

Up next for young Melanie is Maria Sharapova who all of a sudden looks as if she's got a cakewalk to at least the semi's if not the Final.
It's going to be interesting to see who makes the final from the top half of the draw since her country woman, top ranked Dinara Safina has struggled mightily with herself and her game during her first two matches.

While on the subject of Safina what is it with the hate directed towards Dinara's coach? He wouldn't be my coaching choice but I remember Dinara saying when they first started working together that he is an emotional person like she is and that she needs to have someone in her corner who understands what she needs. You know that couple down the block that fight like cats and dogs day in and day out and yet are still together after all the divorces and separations of their neighbors? Different strokes for different folks. Yes it makes us all uncomfortable to watch their interaction on court but that is their business. Some are talking about Marat maybe taking over coaching his sister. Yeah. I'll bring the popcorn.

With all the excitement over Melanie not much was said today about the woman who really scored the first big upset. Vania King was not considered a major obstacle for Samantha Stosur and so it was with surprise that I saw Vania won the first set before I left BJK. To find out that she won once I got home was an even bigger surprise. Congratulations to Vania. Trust me that was a big upset.

James Blake rode the emotional wave handed him by the fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium to a victory over Olivier Rochus.

Anastasia Rodionova got a surprise victory over Sabine Lisicki who injured herself on the last point of the match and had to be wheeled off the court. Wishing Sabine the best.

My sympathy to Jelena Jankovic and her family. Jelena's grandmother passed away yesterday in Serbia.

Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan advanced to the next round. By the way her name is not that hard to pronounce. It really isn't.



Savannah's Big Adventure

It's hard to put into words the emotion I feel when I step off the #7 subway train at Willet's Point during the US Open. So many people from so many places all come for one reason - to watch tennis. Whether you came with a grounds pass or had court side seats at Ashe everyone was talking tennis and it's exhilarating.

Unfortunately I couldn't wander arund the way I wanted to so I can only report on what I saw and heard in Ashe.

It is impossible to describe how horrible Ashe is for watching tennis. It is simply too big. By comparison the old center court, Louis Armstrong Stadium, is intimate and the Grandstand makes you want to kick off your shoes and stretch out as you would at home. When I got there the lines for the Grandstand and Armstrong were very very long so even if I had wanted to stop and take a peek It would've meant a very long wait in the sun.

I walked on stopping to grab a fan and to browse the US Open store. I wasn't going to buy until I was on my way home. I liked both the Jay-Z shirt as everyone was calling it and Venus shirt. I don't know who manufactured Venus shirts though. I picked up what I thought was a small or petite and it was labeled "XL". Not sure on what planet that shirt was XL.

But that was on my way home. I sat down in front of Ashe watching Gael Monfils play Jeremy Chardy.
"Looks like he's having an easy time," a man sitting next to me said to me. On the other side a man was telling his wife that "...the screamer is on Court 13 but it looks like she's a goner." I was scoreboard watching - yes I did that at the US Open - and was surprised to see that Aleksandra Wozniak sent Amelie Mauresmo home with a bagel. Not one person commented on it.
Once that match was over I made my way inside past all the bright young things who smile and wish you well. I refused to go into the Ralph Lauren shop having decided that $250.00 tennis sweaters were not part of my budget. They did have cute bags but I resisted.

Once at my seat I prepared to be baked by the sun. I had on my straw hat so I rolled up my cargo pants and lathered on sun screen waiting for Venus Williams and Bethanie Mattek-Sands to take the court. Venus dress makes much better aerodynamic sense in person. The skirt manages to catch any and every passing breeze which must be a relief to her playing on that concrete. In person you can't really see all the details. That was a good thing. Unfortunately that doodle on the back kept everyone guessing.

This is not the first time I've seen Venus play singles live and I'm always struck by her deliberate style. Maybe because it was so hot in the sun it was more obvious but in the end she is my favorite Williams sister. I like her style and how she saves up her speed for when her opponent starts to think that just maybe she has a chance. I can also see how that approach gets her in trouble. The best line of the day came during this match. Mattek-Sands hit the tennis equivalent of a pitcher hanging a high fast one over the plate. "Merry Christmas" said one wag behind me as Venus sent that one right back across the net.

I also realized what drives me nuts about the women's game. It's the pace. Sure they're hitting the ball hard and there is court coverage and strategy (well sometimes) but every time I watch a woman's match I doze off. Both Novak Djokovic and Lleyton Hewitt have the same affect on me, sun or no sun.

At any rate the next match was Rafael Nadal against a returning Richard Gasquet.. I had never seen Gasquet play live before so I was really interested in how the match would go. Gasquet has a beautiful game and plays absolutely sublime points and makes beautiful shots. But like one man who was sitting behind me said "All that and he still finds a way to lose the point."

I also don't understand why you would pay an inordinate amount of money for a cocktail and sit it on the stairs for someone to kick over. I mean there are cup holders in front of most seats and common sense would dictate that is where you put your drink with three melon balls on a skewer. When that particular idiot tried to get huffy with the guy who kicked over her drink the guy, who did apologize, gave her a look, looked down at where she'd placed her drink, gave her another look that said "Really?" and then smiled before walking away.

There were also the women who showed up in those cute little print dresses they're trying to force down women's throats for fall. There is a breed of person ( I would say woman but I'm guessing there are men out there who do the same thing) who change into their fall attire as soon as August rolls around. I had a friend like that. Never understood it. Some had on long dresses too. Amazing.

There is always interesting conversation about tennis to be overheard during the day. You just have to be willing to put up with the sun. At night you have to be willing to put up with the drunks and know nothings. I'm going again tomorrow night. That should be it for me out at BJK this year.

End Notes

The US Open live stream is really really nice. Now that it's working that is. I love the PIP feature and instead of showing you random yellow dots signifying shot distribution they show "balls" with the percent of shots that were directed to that location.

My only problem is the commentators. Virginia Wade, normally a favorite, weighed in on the ranking situation in the WTA and ended all conversation temporarily by reviewing matches played and saying that a player "has to support the tour". It was a little harder for that line of thought to hold by the end of Dinara's match but I still find it odd that when Pete Sampras did the exact same thing at about the same age as Venus and Serena there was no criticism to be heard.

Then there are the announcers who don't seem to have a clue about any player from Europe. Kind of odd isn't it? I also failed to get the humor in one team's inability and/or unwillingness to pronounce Ms Shvedova's last name. They thought it was the funniest thing. I didn't.

The Fashion Disaster

Citing Bethanie as a disaster area when it comes to clothing is redundant so I'll just leave her alone.

Stella McCartney dressing Caroline Wozniacki in some kind of pouf is unforgivable. Stella needs to make up her mind if she's designing clothes for women to play tennis in or to hang out at the club in.