The 2014 US Open

by Savannah

WTA Main Draw

Serena Williams (USA) [1] v Taylor Townsend (USA)

Francesca Schiavone (ITA) v Vania King (USA)

Varvara Lepchenko (USA) v Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL)

Mona Barthel (GER) v Shuai Zhang (CHN) [32]

Samantha Stosur (AUS) [24] v Lauren Davis (USA)

Pauline Parmentier (FRA) v Kaia Kanepi (EST)

Coco Vandeweghe (USA) v Donna Vekic (CRO)

Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) [15]

Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [11] v Julia Goerges (GER)

Shelby Rogers (USA) v Q ZANEVSKA, Maryna UKR

Nicole Gibbs (USA) v Caroline Garcia (FRA)

Teliana Pereira (BRA) v A.Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [23]

Casey Dellacqua (AUS) [29] v P.Mayr-Achleitner (AUT)

Q KANIA, Paula POL v Q WANG, Qiang CHN

Karolina Pliskova (CZE) v Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)

Alison Riske (USA) v Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [8]

Petra Kvitova (CZE) [3] v Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)

Klara Koukalova (CZE) v Petra Cetkovska (CZE)

Q KRUNIC, Aleksandra SRB v Katarzyna Piter (POL)

Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) v Madison Keys (USA) [27]

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [20] v Marina Erakovic (NZL)

Elena Vesnina (RUS) v Q CHAN, Yung-Jan TPE

Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) v Christina McHale (USA)

Misaki Doi (JPN) v Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [16]

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [12] v Catherine Bellis (USA)

Zarina Diyas (KAZ) v Q TSURENKO, Lesia UKR

Elina Svitolina (UKR) v Polona Hercog (SLO)

Grace Min (USA) v Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [17]

B.Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) [30] v Q BARTY, Ashleigh AUS

Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) v Monica Niculescu (ROU)

Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Heather Watson (GBR)

Olga Govortsova (BLR) v Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [7]

Angelique Kerber (GER) [6] v Q PERVAK, Ksenia RUS

Q DUAN, Ying-Ying CHN v Q KUDRYAVTSEVA, Alla RUS

Belinda Bencic (SUI) v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)

Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v Kurumi Nara (JPN) [31]

Sloane Stephens (USA) [21] v Annika Beck (GER)

Virginie Razzano (FRA) v Johanna Larsson (SWE)

Karin Knapp (ITA) v Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) v Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [9]

Lucie Safarova (CZE) [14] v Timea Babos (HUN)

Q ZHENG, Saisai CHN v Stefanie Voegele (SUI)

Romina Oprandi (SUI) v Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)

Amandine Hesse (FRA) v Alize Cornet (FRA) [22]

Roberta Vinci (ITA) [28] v Paula Ormaechea (ARG)

Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) v Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)

Shuai Peng (CHN) v Jie Zheng (CHN)

Sharon Fichman (CAN) v Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4]

Maria Sharapova (RUS) [5] v Maria Kirilenko (RUS)

Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) v Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)

Julia Glushko (ISR) v Madison Brengle (USA)

Q ABANDA, Francoise CAN v Sabine Lisicki (GER) [26]

Andrea Petkovic (GER) [18] v Q JABEUR, Ons TUN

Tereza Smitkova (CZE) v Monica Puig (PUR)

Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) v Q SASNOVICH, Aliaksandra BLR

Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) v Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [10]

Sara Errani (ITA) [13] v Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)

Q RODIONOVA, Anastasia AUS v Camila Giorgi (ITA)

Kiki Bertens (NED) v Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)

Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA) [19]

Garbine Muguruza (ESP) [25] v Q LUCIC-BARONI, Mirjana CRO

Johanna Konta (GBR) v Shahar Peer (ISR)

Jana Cepelova (SVK) v M.Torro-Flor (ESP)

Danielle Rose Collins (USA) v Simona Halep (ROU) [2]

Interesting women's draw to say the least. I mean Serena Williams vs Taylor Townsend right off the bat? Serena hasn't been playing all that well of late although she pulled herself together and won Cincinnati. I expect that I'll watch this match on a stream because US commentators are obsessed with the physiques of these women and I suspect that will be all they talk about. If you have no recourse other than ESPN or Tennis Channel you've been warned. Televisions are expensive and throwing objects at them does no good anyway. Does Taylor have a chance? The stars pace themselves to survive the two weeks and she could catch Serena napping. Personally I think Serena will wipe the floor with Taylor just because but anything is possible. I'm guessing the USTA is still a bit pissed off with Taylor for calling them out on their fat shaming bullshit a couple of years ago.

Everyone who reads this space knows I've been waiting to see what kind of draw the new WTA superstah (spelling correct) would get. She's in the bottom half of the top half and I think she has a pretty good chance of making it to week two, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova not withstanding. BZS has been playing well of late but I've never been that impressed with her at majors. She competes well at the tournaments she should and that's about it with her. Is it possible for her to beat the superstah early? Of course it is. Anything is possible. The WTA has a lot riding on her not doing that though.

The other interesting draw position is the Siberian Bansidhe. She is usually well hidden in Slam draws, a tribute to her agent's work behind the scenes. This time she's in the bottom half of the bottom of the draw and there is absolutely no one around her who can stop her from screaming and stomping her way to the second week. She should make the semi's where she could potentially face Simona Halep. As we've seen twice now Halep is totally intimidated when she plays Maria Sharapova and I don't see why this wouldn't happen again. Being the bully that she is Pova will be licking her chops if that semi comes to pass.

A lot of people are talking about Venus Williams vs Kimiko Date Krumm and again there's a lot of snark involved. They're veterans. Date Krumm has had a shit year or two. Venus played very well in the warm up tournaments but this is a Slam. It was obvious that she can no longer play high quality matches back to back although she could do okay in Week 1.

Ana Ivanovic, the male tennis writers fave, has a very nice draw. She's been playing very well lately and I don't see anyone stopping her from making the second week.

I would like to be more positive about Sloane Stephens but I can't. She's still mentally lazy and acts as if exerting herself is just too much for her delicate constitution. She needs to do show that she was worthy of the hype she got after beating an injured Serena in Melbourne. I don't expect her to do much with what she's been given.

In fact the USTA did American women no favors. Then again the US tennis establishment hates women's tennis so it's really no surprise that they'd sacrifice their own.

And can someone please explain to me how Madison Brengle, who has done nothing, gets a WC instead of having to go through Qualies?

ATP Main Draw

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] v Diego Schwartzman (ARG)

Gilles Muller (LUX) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) v Sam Querrey (USA)

Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) [28]

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [22] v Q BAGNIS, Facundo ARG

Michael Llodra (FRA) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) v Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)

Marcos Giron (USA) v John Isner (USA) [13]

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9] v Juan Monaco (ARG)

Q MCGEE, James IRL v Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ)

Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) v Q BECK, Andreas GER

Benoit Paire (FRA) v Julien Benneteau (FRA) [24]

Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [31] v Blaz Rola (SLO)

Bradley Klahn (USA) v Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)

Q BECK, Andreas GER v Radek Stepanek (CZE)

Robin Haase (NED) v Andy Murray (GBR) [8]

Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [3] v Jiri Vesely (CZE)

Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) v Nicolas Mahut (FRA)

Blaz Kavcic (SLO) v Donald Young (USA)

Alejandro Falla (COL) v Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [30]

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [21] v Nick Kyrgios (AUS)

Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) v Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Simone Bolelli (ITA) v Vasek Pospisil (CAN)

Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) v Tommy Robredo (ESP) [16]

Kei Nishikori (JPN) [10] v Wayne Odesnik (USA)

Pablo Andujar (ESP) v Jack Sock (USA)

Matthew Ebden (AUS) v Tobias Kamke (GER)

Albert Montanes (ESP) v Leonardo Mayer (ARG) [23]

Lukas Rosol (CZE) [29] v Q CORIC, Borna CRO

Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) v Igor Sijsling (NED)

Q GOJOWCZYK, Peter GER v Benjamin Becker (GER)

Q DANIEL, Taro JPN v Milos Raonic (CAN) [5]

Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6] v Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

Q DARCIS, Steve BEL v Martin Klizan (SVK)

Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) v Q KUDRYAVTSEV, Alexander RUS

Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v Santiago Giraldo (COL) [27]

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [19] v Ivan Dodig (CRO)

Steve Johnson (USA) v Q ITO, Tatsuma JPN

Lukas Lacko (SVK) v Dominic Thiem (AUT)

Kenny De Schepper (FRA) v Ernests Gulbis (LAT) [11]

Marin Cilic (CRO) [14] v Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)

Q MARCHENKO, Illya UKR v Q CHIUDINELLI, Marco SUI

Jerzy Janowicz (POL) v Dusan Lajovic (SRB)

Pablo Cuevas (URU) v Kevin Anderson (RSA) [18]

Gilles Simon (FRA) [26] v Q ALBOT, Radu MDA

Noah Rubin (USA) v Federico Delbonis (ARG)

Bernard Tomic (AUS) v Dustin Brown (GER)

Damir Dzumhur (BIH) v David Ferrer (ESP) [4]

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [7] v Ryan Harrison (USA)

Carlos Berlocq (ARG) v Dudi Sela (ISR)

Q DESEIN, Niels BEL v David Goffin (BEL)

Frank Dancevic (CAN) v Joao Sousa (POR) [32]

Gael Monfils (FRA) [20] v Jared Donaldson (USA)

Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) v Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)

Q NISHIOKA, Yoshihito JPN v Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)

Denis Istomin (UZB) v Richard Gasquet (FRA) [12]

Fabio Fognini (ITA) [15] v Andrey Golubev (KAZ)

Pere Riba (ESP) v Adrian Mannarino (FRA)

Q KRAJINOVIC, Filip SRB v Tim Smyczek (USA)

Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [17]

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [25] v Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)

Jurgen Melzer (AUT) v Marcel Granollers (ESP)

Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) v Sam Groth (AUS)

Marinko Matosevic (AUS) v Roger Federer (SUI) [2]

Ryan Harrison is the male counterpart to Madison Brengle. At this point he should be going through Qualifying. Why Brengle and Harrison get WC's into the Main Draw of a Slam boggles the mind. Tennis federations have their favorites but really? These two?

Anyway Harrison starts his campaign versus the man the ATP is trying to make into a stah - Grigor Dimitrov. Like I said there's a lot of snark in the draws this year. I expect Harrison to do his schtick, break a few racquets, curse and carry on without being called out for it, and lose in straight sets. When your own Federation uses you as cannon fodder there isn't much to say about where your career is headed. I'm still not impressed with Dimitrov but if he doesn't romp through this match the hype should definitely not be believed.

Let's just cut to the chase and talk about who this draw is set up for. I thought the draw Roger Federer got in Montréal was a cakewalk. That he could get this kind of draw, in a Slam no less, is nothing short of amusing. I mean his section of the draw reads like a who's who of players who roll over and play dead when forced to face Federer. I expect Patrick McEnroe will be in need of a verbal towel to clean up his usual orgasmic calling of Federer matches. I'm sure his fans will say that it's hard to create a competitive draw for their God since he owns almost everyone in tennis. They can make a competitive draw if they want to. They don't want to. And if the top seed should stumble they'll be more than happy. And don't even say that if he'd played the man who withdrew from this event would have gotten a similar draw. It's never worked that way for him. Yeah, yeah I know the draw is random.

I'm looking at a potential Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Andy Murray match with a lot of interest. That outcome will go a long way towards determining who will win this Slam. Tsonga has been playing very well of late. He's finally found a team he enjoys working with while Murray is still adjusting to a new coach. He gets no special seeding here so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Murray couldn't settle on how to play his last match. With his coach here in New York I'm sure he'll be more focused.

I'll be wandering the grounds of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center two days next week. I don't plan on seeing any matches on Ashe this year though. I hope to take lots of pictures and see a lot of players I haven't seen live before especially the Chinese women. I also look forward to enjoying the Armstrong/Grandstand court complex before it's no more. It's the little things that make the US Open.

Past, Present and Future: Venus and Serena Williams

by Savannah


via STREETER LECKA / GETTY IMAGES

Venus Williams has been playing great tennis for the last three weeks. Serena Williams is visually thinner than she was when she played Wimbledon. The sisters faced each other for the 25th time today, the first time in Canada, at the Rogers Cup in Montréal, Québec. Anyone who saw the match will agree that it's the best match the two have played against each other, ever.

It was clear from the beginning that both women came to play. There was no holding back, no pulled shots, nothing to indicate that either one of them had any angst about playing their sibling. Venus was standing inside the base line daring Serena to hit one of her monster serves. Serena, never one to back down from a challenge, did just that. It was by becoming a servebot that she pulled out the first set 7-6(2). But Venus continued to challenge Serena's game not only continuing to challenge her serve but with her movement. Venus covered the baseline like a big cat, getting to balls in two or three strides other women wouldn't have ever reached.

Then there were the spectacular rallies. Lobs. Slices. Monster forehands. Beautiful back hands. Moonballs. They played the match people always knew they were capable of playing against each other. Against a still weak, in my opinion, Serena Venus shut down her sisters game and came away with the three set win.

So why are supposed fans of Venus and Serena arguing about whether Serena should ditch her coach instead of looking at how she's updated and modified her game? Why is no one talking about Serena being too thin right now? Why is no one talking about Venus spectacular play over the last three weeks culminating in her victory today? Why are people instead dragging up the old canard about their father fixing their matches?

Let's be frank. Richard Williams and Oracene Price changed the game of tennis. Not women's tennis but tennis as a whole. The US tennis establishment mocked their beginnings, where they came from, how they looked, how they wore their hair. The said they were "mindless ball bashers" and praised players like Martine Hingis for her "cerebral" approach to the game. Even now, when it is obvious that scouting and mental fortitude are part of both womens repertoire there are those who continue to say that they don't think on court, that they don't adjust, that they haven't changed as they've matured.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that it's the imitators of the Williams who have not changed, who fell into the trap of thinking all they did was hit hard and haven't been able to change their games. By the time the haters catch up to what Venus and Serena are doing now they'll be on to something else.

Remember last year when there were calls for Venus to dump David Witt? Now they're screaming that Serena should dump Patrick Mouratoglou. When you ask why they say he's changed her game. Well, she wouldn't have hired him if she wanted to become a one trick pony. If and when the time comes for Serena to move on to another coach she will. She is the sun and everyone, trainers, coaches, hitting partners, nutritionists, all of them revolve around her. Oh, and David Witt? He's still on the sidelines being the quiet strength behind his boss, Venus.

Serena had a record breaking year last year. She could not physically keep playing like that ad infinitum. She needs to preserve herself. We know Venus has been ill for years and is working her way back into the conversation, the retirement watch over for her. Both will have good days. Both will have bad days. Both will lose to people they shouldn't. Of course fans would like to see Serena play like she did last year and Venus back in the top ten. We can't predict what will be. We know that players some consider scrubs will play the matches of their lives to try and be able to say they beat a Williams.

Venus and Serena will leave the stage when they're ready. Until they decide it's time they will continue to evolve, to tinker with their games and work on their bodies to keep themselves in top shape. There's a long line of people standing to the left who underestimated the intelligence, the athleticism, the will of these two elite athletes. That line will only get longer. They're the biggest draw in tennis and there is no reason to pretend otherwise.

She Said What She Meant & She Meant What She Said

by Savannah

I apologize to the late Dr. Seuss for paraphrasing one of the most famous lines he ever wrote but unlike Horton the Elephant who kept his promise the CEO of the WTA got caught out by fans of women's tennis and anyone who has a passing knowledge of the English language, written and spoken.

Ms Allaster gave an interview in Montréal about women's tennis. Well it was allegedly about women's tennis. It was mostly about her latest obsession but that's not where the controversy comes in.


photo via Amanda Rykoff espnW

It had already been widely reported that the PR stunt known as "Genie's Army" was flying from Australia to Montréal to cheer on their favorite. I'm not breaking any news here about them being a PR stunt. That's been widely reported too. So what was the controversy? In case you've been on vacation or only pay attention to what's going on when the US Open comes around here is the transcript provided by ASAPsports , an organization that makes its living providing accurate transcripts of press conferences.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC

STACEY ALLASTER: Bienvenue. It's always incredibly special for me to return home to the Coupe Rogers, to Tennis Canada. I must say as a Canadian, this is a dream come true, to have Canadian tennis and to have such ambassadors like Milos, Vasek, and Eugenie Bouchard at the top of the game.
To see the passion and the energy, this event is going to break a record. It's the largest single week women's event on the WTA Tour. It's phenomenal what they've accomplished here. It really is special for me to be home.

Q. You're already aware it's going to be a record broken?
STACEY ALLASTER: Yeah. Eugene and the entire Tennis Canada team do a fantastic job at presale. The tickets for 2005 Coupe Rogers are on sale.
When I was at Tennis Canada, we were doing about 25% to 30% of next year's sales during the event. Hopefully with the success of this year's Coupe Rogers, both in Toronto and Montréal, it will even go even further.

Q. How much do you think Eugenie has made a difference in tennis in Canada?
STACEY ALLASTER: Massive. You have to look at the TV ratings. Three Grand Slam semifinals. I'm inundated during the French, Wimbledon. I could feel the buzz from afar. Then I had all my family members saying, How cool is it having Eugenie Bouchard on the WTA?

Q. She's mature for her age, a great ambassador.
STACEY ALLASTER: She's a very mature, very confident, smart young woman. When we think of the world that we live in ‑ the sports/entertainment world ‑ there's a lot of pressure, a lot of media attention. To be a star, it's not just about her on‑court performance, it's how she's handling herself off‑court.
What I love the most about Genie is she understands at the end of the day is that we're here for the fans. She really engages with the fans. We just have to look that the Genie's Army has flown here from Australia to support her here at home in Montréal. They'll do the same if she makes it to the WTA Finals in Singapore.

(...)

Q. There have been some players who have been popular. But this is a bit of a phenomenon.
STACEY ALLASTER: I think the Australian Open is one of the funnest slams. We can see that with the Genie's Army here. But they're here. If Genie makes it to Singapore, we want to bring the Genie's Army there.
This notion of fan clubs I think is really a good dimension to add to our sport. It's an individual sport. We don't have teams. But you can almost create your teams within it.
As for Singapore, we're going to go to eight different schools or clubs and we're going to have a fan team associated with each of the eight athletes who qualify. That makes for great engagement in the stands, good ambience, and us making that close connection with the local community and the local fans.

If you want to read the newspaper report please Click Here

There was no need for a follow up question for clarification. Allaster said not once, but twice, that "Genie's Army" will be in Singapore and that the WTA would be involved in bringing them there. What else does "...we want to bring the Genie's Army there" mean?

This story was half way around the world with fan anger running along with it before the WTA got itself together to make a response.

WTA @WTA · Aug 6
On flying Genie's Army - it's nonsense & not what was said. Stacey said WTA wants fans to travel. She never said we're paying/sending them.

Just my humble opinion but the denial, to be real, should've been longer. It should've gone on to say that the WTA doesn't favor one player over all the others, that it represents all women who play the sport of tennis in singles and doubles, regardless of land of origin. It should've gone on to reaffirm the principles of the WTA, the one Billie Jean King helped to form. Instead we get this half assed sentence. It's hard not to believe that the WTA had every intention of flying these kids, sports marketing majors in Australia as I understand it, to Singapore. Once the cat was out of the bag they had to deny it no matter how weakly.

I think that the heads of the WTA and ATP have become so used to weak press coverage that repeats whatever meme it wants to put out there that they've forgotten how to do a real interview where they have to parse their words so that fans, and players, don't get the wrong idea. Apologists have continued to say that Allaster didn't mean what she said but if she didn't mean it why did she say it? Why does the CEO of the WTA come across as a besotted fangirl over this one player? This is what you get when you're not used to real reporting.

If you haven't done it yet please read the entire transcript. It will help you understand why there are calls for Allaster's resignation despite the fact that her contract has been extended to 2017. We all have our favorites, that can't be helped but it's unseemly for the person representing a sport to publicly lose all sense of perspective and gear the entire sport towards one player.

Shenanigans Tennis Style

by Savannah

All eyes are on that huge country that spans the northern border of the United States. Canada, home of Stacey Allaster, CEO of the WTA, hosts the Rogers Cup every August. It marks the real beginning of the run up to the US Open because the European players come across the pond to begin their preparations for the final Slam of the year. It's still bizarre to me that the tournament is split between Toronto and Montréal and that the WTA and ATP switch cities every year but somehow it works. If you're a tennis fan you have to get used to weird things otherwise you'll end up confused and maybe lose interest in the sport.

When it comes to tennis many fans turn to the rulebooks for guidance. That doesn't always work though because in tennis some tournaments are more important than others. Look at what happened in Nan Chang, one of the $125k tournaments the WTA invented that take place mostly but not always in Asia. Player's like Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie are supposedly ineligible for this kind of event but the rule was waved to allow their participation in this specific tournament. And don't forget how Angelique Kerber was allowed to play an event she technically shouldn't have to make sure she had enough points to make the YEC last year. Apparently when it comes to desired results the rules don't apply.

But back to the Rogers Cup. I usually only post the draws for the Slams but I was struck by the type of comments surrounding both draws.

Let's start with the ATP Draw.

[1] SRB Djokovic, Novak/BYE
CZE Stepanek, Radek vs FRA Monfils, Gael
FRA Chardy, Jeremy vs ARG Delbonis, Federico
[13] FRA Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried vs FRA Roger-Vasselin, Edouard

[12] FRA Gasquet, Richard vs CAN Pospisil, Vasek
CRO Karlovic, IVO vs QUALIFIER
COL Giraldo, Santiago vs. WC AUS Kyrgios, Nick
[8] GBR Murray, Andy/BYE

[3] SUI Wawrinka, Stan/BYE
COL Falla, Alejandro vs QUALIFIER
RSA Anderson, Kevin vs QUALIFIER
[16] ITA Fognini, Fabio vs RUS Youzhny, Mikhail

Robredo, Tommy vs GER Kohlschreiber, Philipp
FRA Simon, Gilles vs AUT Thiem, Dominic
WC CAN Dancevic, Frank vs QUALIFIER
[7] BUL Dimitrov, Grigor/BYE


[6] CAN Raonic, Milos/BYE
WC USA Sock, Jack vs AUT Melzer, Jurgen
AUS Hewitt, Lleyton vs FRA Benneteau, Julien
[11] LAT Gulbis, Ernests vs POR Sousa, Joao

[14] ESP Bautista Agut, Roberto vs. ESP Lopez, Feliciano
ESP Robredo, Tommy vs QUALIFIER
TPE Lu, Yen-Hsun vs ESP Granollers, Marcel
[4] Berdych, Tomas/BYE

[5] Ferrer, David/BYE
FRA Mahut, Nicolas vs QUALIFIER
ITA Seppi, Andreas vs QUALIFIER
[10] USA Isner, John vs. CRO Dodig, Ivan

[15] CRO Cilic, Marin vs. UZB Istomin, Denis
ESP Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo vs QUALIFIER
WC CAN Polansky, Peter vs POL Janowicz, Jerzy
[2] SUI Federer, Roger/BYE

I took a second look when I started reading comments on Twitter by his fans that Roger Federer should be very happy with his draw. So I took a second look at the H2H between Federer and Marin Cilic. What do you think I found? Right. Cilic is 0 and 4 against Federer. Tomas Berdych? Federer dominates the H2H 12 to 6. At least there is the potential for Berdych to win right? David Ferrer? HA! Federer is 14 and 0 vs David. John Isner has won once. Forget Milos Raonic. He's 0 and 5. The only one with an even head to head is Ernests Gulbis at 2 all and we know Ernests can be very very good or simply awful in a match depending on what alternate universe he's in when the match starts. So unless something drastic happens Federer has a clear route to the Final. Of course it's just the randomness of the draw right? Rafael Nadal would've been the second seed. I wonder if he'd have been given such a cakewalk? That never happens to him though.

Then there is the WTA Draw. Li Na withdrew from everything and won't play until Wuhan. As a side note if you think I'm avoiding the whole discussion about the WTA in China specifically and Asia in general I am. No matter what you say the word "racism" becomes a valid part of the discussion. I've done several drafts and ended up not posting them because I sounded like a tea bagger and that's pretty hard for me to do.

So back to the WTA draw.

[1] WILLIAMS, Serena USA/BYE
QUALIFIER vs STOSUR, Samantha AUS
RISKE, Alison USA vs RYBARIKOVA, Magdalena SVK
CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU vs [15] SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE

[11] WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN vs HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK
QUALIFIER vs KOUKALOVA, Klara
WC TOMLJANOVIC, Ajla CRO vs QUALIFIER
BYE/[5] BOUCHARD, Eugenie CAN

[4] SHARAPOVA, Maria RUS/BYE
MUGURUZA, Garbiñe ESP vs Qualifier
Qualifier vs NARA, Kurumi JPN
JOVANOVSKI, Bojana SRB vs [14] SUAREZ-NAVARRO, Carla

[12] PENNETTA, Flavia ITA vs Qualifier
PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia RUS vs WILLIAMS, Venus USA
GARCIA, Caroline FRA vs Qualifier
BYE/[6] KERBER, Angelique GER

[8] AZARENKA, Victoria BLR/BYE
QUALIFIER vs CORNET, Alizé FRA
QUALIFIER vs QUALIFIER
WC ABANDA, Francoise CAN vs [10] CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK

[13] ERRANI, Sara ITA vs LISICKI, Sabine GER
KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana RUS vs KEYS, Madison USA
VINCI, Roberta ITA vs ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA, Barbora CZE
BYE/[3] RADWANSKA, Agnieszka POL

[7] JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB/BYE
WC WOZNIAK, Aleksandra CAN vs STEPHENS, Sloane USA
ZHANG, Shuai CHN vs QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER vs [9] IVANOVIC, Ana SRB

[16] PETKOVIC, Andrea GER vs GIORGI, Camila ITA
MAKAROVA, Ekaterina RUS vs OPRANDI, Romina SUI
DELLACQUA, Casey AUS vs FLIPKENS, Kirsten BEL
BYE/[2] KVITOVA, Petra CZE

WTA darling Eugenie Bouchard has Caroline Wozniacki in her section. The two have never faced each other so if they face each other they both have something to fight for. Meanwhile Maria Sharapova will potentially face Carla Suárez Navarro.
Victoria Azarenka is safely in the bottom half of the draw and should face Dominika Cibulkova to get out of her section. The potential of the two Serbian women facing each other will probably excite some fans. That's all I got re the ladies. The top half is a bit more competitive and some have said either Sharapova or Bouchard will make the semi final from that half. I'm just reporting what I read folks. I don't do predictions.

The Viktor Troicki Mess

After being shoe horned into Gstaad last week Troicki was back where he should have started, playing a Challenger event. Troicki himself was talking about how the ITF tried to destroy his career with the ban. Many of his fans feel the same way and one of them penned a blog post laying out what she feels is the most pertinent part of the case - Troicki's alleged needle phobia. You can read the entire post HERE . The only question I have is if he is phobic - I have my own so I get it - why was he not going to be afraid the next day? How would he know he was not going to pass out the next day when he did take the test? I get it, his fans feel strongly about what happened, but in the end he was responsible for what happened to him and blaming the person who was trying to do her job is disingenuous at best.

Plagiarism by Any Other Name is Plagiarism

Maybe it's the pompous accents. Maybe it the pompous ego's that go with the accents. Whatever it is the British always act "shocked and appalled" when one of their own is caught red handed doing something he or she shouldn't have been doing. That was the general reaction from British "journalists" to the news that Neil Harman, President of the International Tennis Writers Association or ITWA, was exposed as being a man who it seems had never read a fellow journalists work he didn't want to copy. Mind you the good men and women of the AELTC knew about the charges in January. Not June, January, and did nothing. He remained the lead tennis writer for the Times of London, and his books on Wimbledon were still being sold. I don't know what happened but I'm guessing one of the plagiarised writers had had enough and threw a shit fit. Harman resigned from the ITWA but posted supporting Tweets until someone must have said resigning and still defending himself was a bit unseemly and he closed his Twitter account. Will those plagiarised sue for royalties? What will happen to the books themselves? Will someone else be hired to write the books who didn't steal other people's work? Who knows? Wimbledon itself has been busy posting about resodding the courts and things like that. To my knowledge they haven't said a thing.

This however was posted today by a man named Norman Gillers in defense of Neil Harman. He's writing as a member of the Sports Journalist Association in Great Britain.

AS THE TIMES continues to consider the future of suspended tennis correspondent Neil Harman, my thoughts and sympathies are with a sportswriter I’ve always admired and respected in the 30-plus years I’ve followed his career.

Neil agrees he was guilty of extreme stupidity in lifting great lumps of tennis match reports from the works of other writers to pad out his Wimbledon annuals. It was at best lazy and, at worst, a theft of sorts.
But those of us who know Neil well will confirm that it’s completely out of character for him to sink to such depths. He clearly lost judgement when chasing tight deadlines. I cannot believe that anybody who has worked with Neil wants him kicked off the tennis circuit for his moments of madness. Let he who is without sin serve the first ball.
The young American journalist who has gone into depth with his research revealing the unpardonable plagiarism seems to think he is in the Woodward and Bernstein class as an investigative reporter.

He has made his point and should now get on with trying to build a career half as successful as that enjoyed by Neil Harman.

It’s been a hard day’s night. New balls please.

Poor Neil. He was just pressed and did what anyone would do, copy from others without attribution. If I can take the time to source quotes and sources of pictures I'd think a professional would do the same. He was getting paid.

The Best WTA Matches of 2014


via BBC.CO.UK

So Venus Williams played Victoria Azarenka the other night. It was always going to be a tight match since both women had a lot to prove. What I didn't expect was a match featuring strategy, out of this world shot making, and all court play, things you usually don't talk about when it comes to the WTA. Those in attendance were on the edge of their seats. Those of us at home were on the edge of our seats. I've been a bit rough on Victoria Azarenka in this space but it was a joy to watch her play against Venus who was channeling her self from years past.
If you get a chance to watch it do so. You will love it.