Heard Around 9/10/2008

by Savannah

It's Fed Cup weekend and Spain will play Russia, in Spain, for the World Group title. The Spanish team consists of Anabel Medina Garrigues, newcomer to the team
Carla Suarez Navarro, Nuria Llagostera Vives and Virginia Ruano Pascal.
Miguel Margets Lobato will captain the squad.

The Russians will be represented by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Elena Vesnina and surprise first time player Ekaterina Makarova.
Shamil Tarpishev will be the Russian team captain.

The venue, Club de Campo - Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain seats 4,000.

Davis Cup News

The big announcement yesterday was Sam Querrey's replacement of James Blake on the United States Davis Cup team that will face Spain next weekend. This will be the first time team Captain Patrick McEnroe has changed the squad he put together a few years ago, the squad that despite whatever was happening in singles play brought home the bacon last year.

While the change was surprising it wasn't a surprise. There's been talk for at least the last two years about Blake being replaced on the team. There just wasn't a consensus on who should replace Blake who had the strong support of Andy Roddick. The match will be played in Madrid on red clay in a specially formatted bull ring that will hold 21,000 fans. With his good result in Monte Carlo this year Querrey was the logical choice over Blake who had lackluster outings in his Davis Cup play this year.

The Russian men have their own drama going. Against a strong Argentine squad that will feature Juan Martin del Potro, David Nalbandian, Guillermo Canas and Agustin Calleri Shamil Tarpishev has proposed a team of Nikolay Davydenko, Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn . Some Russian fans are questioning Kunitsyn's inclusion and rumors are still floating around that Marat Safin will somehow end up in Buenos Aires. The match will be played on outdoor clay.

It seems to me that all the teams, Fed Cup and Davis Cup, have included a "surprise" player. How this works out remains to be seen.

US Open Finals Television Ratings

It's kind of an urban legend of tennis. When one or both Williams sisters plays a US Open final the ratings go up. Needless to say with Serena Williams playing Jelena Jankovic interest was high. The WTA number one ranking was on the line and Jelena had cut down on her antics and was trying to show that despite what everyone said she could play well enough to reach the final of a Grand Slam.

Because of the rain delays the Men's Final ended up being shown live at 5p Eastern US Time. No matter who played the Final the ratings were going to be low. It was Monday night in Europe and early morning in Asia.

I wondered about the time for a while until I remembered Monday night in the States belongs to the NFL. Virtually no other sporting event is televised against Monday Night Football so there was no way was tennis going to be allowed to be shown in a time slot, say 8p, that could have ensured more people tuning in to see the match.

The International Herald Tribune reports the following:

NEW YORK: Television ratings were down for the U.S. Open men's final after rain forced the match to move from Sunday to Monday.

Roger Federer's straight-set win over Andy Murray, which started at 5 p.m. EDT on CBS, drew a 1.9 national rating and a 4 share, the network said Tuesday.

That's down 49 percent from last year's 3.7/7, when Federer's victory over Novak Djokovic, a more competitive match, was in the customary Sunday time slot.

The women's final saw the opposite effect, with the rain shifting it from Saturday to Sunday, when more people tend to watch TV. Serena Williams' win over Jelena Jankovic earned a 3.3 national rating and 6 share, up 57 percent from the 2.1/4 when Justine Henin beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2007.

The rating is the percentage watching a program among homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned into the broadcast among those households with TVs on at the time.

Meanwhile tennis heads protested loudly as the CBS affiliate in San Diego, California didn't even show the match live choosing to air soap operas, Oprah and Dr Phil.

September 9, 2008

In a move greeted with outrage from local tennis fans, KFMB Channel 8 yesterday opted not to televise the U.S. Open men's tennis final from New York.

CBS Sports televised the match live at 2 p.m. PDT, and more than 90 percent of the network's affiliates carried the broadcast. But KFMB opted to show its regularly scheduled weekday programming – “Guiding Light,” “Dr. Phil” and “Oprah” – while directing potential tennis viewers to its Web site for a live webcast.

The Union-Tribune received hundreds of phone calls protesting the decision. It's not known how many calls KFMB received. Barry Smith, KFMB director of programming, did not respond to a phone message or e-mail seeking comment.

The CBS telecast of Sunday's women's final earned a 7.0 Nielsen rating in San Diego from 6-9 p.m., meaning it was watched in about 73,500 county households.

Keep in mind that one phone call is calculated to represent about 60 who would've called. I could be wrong with the ratio - someone in broadcasting will keep me honest - but "hundreds" of calls is a big deal in television.
Source

Idle Chit Chat
It's fashion week in New York and many of the tennis ladies stayed to catch the shows.
I'm not quite sure what's going on with this skirt but overall Serena looks lovely.

I love love love this dress on Maria Sharapova. It's the best I've seen her look. The full skirt offsets the height and the off the shoulder cap sleeve is very flattering. And yes the woman in salmon is Anna Wintour editor of NY Vogue.

A view of the dress with Maria standing up. Fabulous.

Venus was around the tents as well. That's Carolina Herrera in the first picture.

With Andre Leon Talley of NY Vogue

I'm still not sure about the hair.

Roger on top of the world at the Empire State Building with the US Open trophy.

Serena in New York City's Times Square with the US Open Trophy

End Note
Tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of what is simply called 9/11 here in the United States. It was an event that I witnessed up close and personal since I worked across the street from the World Trade Center. It remains the only hostile attack against the United States mainland. To this day the perpetrators have not been brought to justice.
The picture at the top of this post is of the stairs that remained after One World Trade as we called it collapsed. I used those stairs every day. The powers that be have removed them because it doesnt' fit with the architectural plans for the site. Whatever.
There are people who have suffered more than New York did in many many places around the world. Since 9/11 my sympathies go out to them because despite the rightness or wrongness of governments it is the common people who suffer.

Mission Accomplished US Open 9/7/08 Day 14 Redux

by Savannah


There was only one outcome the powers that be wanted from this tournament. They wanted it to be an "historic" one, a tournament that saw one man "make history" just like the AELTC wanted in 2007 and they were willing to use any means available to them in order to make "history" happen. The weather in both instances gave them the tools to get the outcome they desired.

There's an expression about not crying over spilt milk but I have to ask what purpose was served by one, scheduling the number two and three player ahead of the number one player when the top half of the draw had played first all tournament?

What purpose was served by putting the safety of players, fans and US Open staff at risk to start a match on Saturday when a tropical storm was within striking distance?

What purpose was served in starting Number One's match a full hour and a half after number two's match assuring that the storm would hit in the middle of that match and that both players would have to play on Sunday while the "history maker" cools his heels? It's not five days off but in this situation it was the equivalent of that fiasco.

Unless Andy Murray has amazing recuperative powers "history" should be made. Once again the "history maker" will achieve his glory on the back of a soft draw and fortuitous scheduling. When you've had nothing but practice hits on your way to the semi finals it's easy to bring your "A" game at the end of a tournament. When as Number One you've had to play guys inspired to try and bring you down to reach a semi it's no surprise that mentally and physically you've had it, especially when you won the singles Gold Medal at the Olympics before coming to New York.

I expect JMac and crew to go on and on about Murray's game and how he beat Rafa. They may throw in a few words about Rafa's schedule this year. Not for nothing it should be mentioned that Rafa played every event he was scheduled to and with the exception of Rome he won them. He went out early in Cincy but he won Toronto. I think Rafa himself said he's played 84 matches so far this year. Anyone else come close?

But the talking heads will extol the history maker's game, how he had "tough challenges" along the way too but overcame them all to reach the final against a "hot" player like Murray. It'll all be bullshit but who will be there to contradict them? Certainly not the people who set up the men's semi final schedule the way they did. CBS is seen as the heavy in the whole situation but I can't believe strong resistance from the USTA wouldn't have brought about different results.

Am I going to watch? I'm too much of a tennishead not to. When the festivities start I'll turn the television off and go on about my business. History will be made all right. It's been gift wrapped with a big pretty red bow put on top. Meanwhile Rafa will go home and get the rest he needs. The indoor season is coming and so is the TMC in Shanghai. Just sayin'.

US Open 9/7/08 Day 14

by Savannah


I'm sorry Helen. You asked that I ignore your first comment but I published it anyway because it gets to the heart of why we Rafa fans, indeed anyone who is a fan of tennis, is upset today.

I usually put on an all news station when I wake up so that I can hear all the news, sports and weather. I was about to doze off when the 10:15a sports report led off blasting the USTA for it's "inexplicable", "indefensible" and in the end "unfair" decision to start the second semi - why was it the second semi anyway - a full hour and a half after the start of the Federer/Djokovic match. The sportscaster went on to say that the USTA is not commenting.

Tropical Storm Hanna did not sneak up on anyone. Everyone and his brother knew it was coming. Even moving the starting time up to 11a was a risk since the weather does what it wants when it wants. The sensible thing to do would have been to cancel play for the day and follow the original schedule on Sunday which everyone knew was going to be bright and sunny, which it is. Someone I know who was a fly on the wall at the meeting where the decisions were made said that CBS wanted play on Saturday afternoon. They also wanted the second match to start later since that would allow them to air it after the Federer match. Only tennis heads would know that what was being broadcast was bullshit and apparently the true fans don't count.

Now they're saying that the storm came before they thought it would. Yeah, right. There was no doubt that the storm would hit during Rafa's match. Anyone who could read a weather map could see it. I guess no one at the USTA can read a weather map huh? I heard one of the talking heads - I think it was Enberg - say that Rafa was scheduled second because he is so popular. Have it your way Dickie.

Rafa had not practiced one second on Armstrong and that was clear. His shots were off, his timing was off, and he was frustrated. He has practiced and played on Ashe.

Sports Illustrated reports on the mini riot that took place with the court change. Nice publicity USTA.

It's no secret that the USTA plays favorites. Many of us still remember the shenanigans they pulled against Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003 when faced with similar weather issues. The USTA did all they could to favor the American Andy Roddick ensuring that a tired Ferrero took the court in the Final. I guess since they got away with it before they figured they could pull the same crap again. One thing they forgot is that tennis is more popular now, something that the USTA says it wants. I guess they forgot that with increased popularity comes increased scrutiny. No one is going for the okey-doke this time and they are rightly being called for favoritism this time around.

I'm heading out there today. I wasn't even going to post until I got back home but I have to admit I'm really ticked off about what happened yesterday. Forcing fans to chose braving 40mph - 50mph winds on their way home - the wind and rain was horrible last night - in order to see tennis shows what the USTA thinks about it's product, the players, and it's fans. The USTA could have told CBS no, we'll do everything on Sunday. All the baseball in the area was canceled yesterday long before the storm hit. They're playing double headers today. Hell, they even cancelled some NASCAR race in the Maryland area. Now tennis will start at 4p instead of 1p to accommodate the NFL 1p game. Football games tend to run long. I'm just sayin'.

I'm posting a machine translation of an article from the Spanish press which details why the decisions were made the way they were and why the USTA has shown itself to be not ready for prime time when it comes to dealing with network issues.

Commentary US Open 9/04/08 Day 11

by Savannah

Once again real life decided to intrude on my tennis. With tomorrow expected to feature rain, rain and more rain I thought it might be prudent to get out and put some vittles in the freezer. I'm not the type of woman who goes out and shoots something to feed my family so I went to Whole Foods and purchased beef, lamb, chicken and seafood. It's now in the freezer. I live in New York. If I was to walk into Central Park, Van Cortlandt Park or the New York Botanical Gardens with a hunting rifle I think you all know where I'd end up. Now that the food situation is pretty much taken care of I can focus on the verbal throw down between Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic that has pretty much been the topic of discussion since Novak decided to get back into Andy's face over the comments Andy made at his presser re Djokovic's penchant for falling ill during matches.

If you want the bare cold facts Craig has posted them including the video from last night. His entry leaves me free to speak my mind about this latest brouhaha involving Novak and/or his family.

Allow me to ramble a bit. The first reason I turned off Novak was his behavior during his match against Gael Monfils where he gave the impression he was drawing his last breath before being miraculously resurrected and going on to win that match. I'm not a Monfils uber fan but poor sportsmanship is poor sportsmanship.

Novak's next appearance on the stage, I mean court, that bothered me was his performance against Richard Gasquet in Estoril. Once again he appeared to be near death, gasping for air and unable to compete. And once again he seemed to be the recipient of a miraculous cure as he ran and leapt like a gazelle in closing out the match against Gasquet.

I guess the family got jealous because they really put on a full scale production at this years Australian Open. Mr. and Mrs. Djokovic created a distraction in the stands because some French tennis fans were being very vocal in their support of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Djokovic's called security and tried to have the miscreants thrown out. They weren't, but security remained nearby just in case the wild eyed French tennis fans took out their frustration on the poor innocent Djokovic family.

After that we didn't see the parents for awhile. They were of course at the Slams. Who can forget Roger Federer having to tell them to shut up? As for their offspring he had become quite selective about his performances. I mean he would pull shit against people he felt were lesser beings but you rarely if ever saw him pull it against the top players or in the top tennis venues.

I say all of this to put Andy Roddick's comments in context. During Djokovic's match against Tommy Robredo many fans were cheering for Tommy and telling him not to fall for the okey doke. I guess Novak considered Tommy worthy of seeing his full repertoire. He had problems with both ankles, breathing and I forget what else but there were at least four medical timeouts for various and sundry problems. Robredo, rightly outraged, called him on it. Naturally in Andy's post match presser the subject of how he planned to handle the Serbian thespian came up.

I've seen the video clip. When he's not behaving like a Neanderthal on the court Roddick can be pretty funny. I thought his comments in the context of the presser, were made in a joking manner. It's a long established American habit to exaggerate the number of things that happened or didn't happen to or around someone. I mean when someone says there were at least fifty million people in the street we know that there weren't literally that many people in the street but that it seemed like it. It's just like saying everyone and their brother attended an event. There were a lot of people there not literally everyone and their brother. This is what Andy was doing when he said Novak had at least sixteen injuries by now. It was a funny.
(I hope I don't offend any Neanderthal's out there. It might be better to say that sometimes on court Andy behaves like a first class jerk.)

I guess the Djokovic clan didn't get Andy's joke. With all the help the McEnroe family gives to Novak you'd think someone would have explained to them that Andy was just kidding about sixteen injuries. That Novak has now been booed in Melbourne and New York, two places where you would think he'd have a large fan base, is serious business. Not like you can plaster his face all over New York now is it? It's often been said that Novak would be ideal as the face of men's tennis especially since he speaks English well.

As someone who can speak another language I can tell you that idioms are the hardest thing to translate from one language to another. The cultural references that go into an idiom are often not learned by the non native speaker for a number of years. I think this is what happened here. At least I hope it is since I can't believe Novak seriously wants tennis fans to think that he is really all that fragile at times. I mean he did admit to the Monfils chicanery didn't he? Or does he really think his "people" will get his ass out of this current sling?

Some fans have said his parents could counsel him on how to work and play better with others. Really? The two people who were leading chants of "Nole" from their box as the crowd rightly booed their child? The ones who called security on fans in Melbourne? I don't think so. I think "Nole" has learned his behavior patterns from them and that it's too late to change them. As we say here, fruit don't fall far from the tree. I mean when Srjdan Djokovic physically challenged Serbian broadcasters for not being supportive enough of his son what do you expect his son to do? And just think, there are two more Djokovic sons coming up.

US Open Champions
On to more pleasant news. Trophies have been handed out.

Congratulations to Leander Paes of India and Cara Black of Zimbabwe Mixed Doubles Champions 2008 Us Open

In what has become a rare sight this year Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan hoist the trophy as 2008 US Open Men's Doubles Champions. Congratulations to the Bryan twins.

Junior Report

The boys semi finals will feature top seed Yang Tsung-Hua against number three seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and two unseeded players. Devin Britton of the United States will face Filip Krajinovic of Serbia.

For the girls the number twelve seed Kristina Mladenovic of France will face unseeded Coco Vandeweghe of the United States. You will remember Coco is the girl who got a WC into the main draw and faced Jelena Jankovic under the lights for her first match. Another United States prospect, Melanie Oudin, seeded number two, will play Gabriela Paz Franco of Venezuela.

End Notes

There was a match played between Novak and Andy last night. I wouldn't utter the words "drop shot" anywhere near Andy for the foreseeable future. The match should've gone five and Andy would've won. Just sayin'.

I'm not quite sure who this pretty young woman is but according to Yahoo she's Novak Djokovic.
Yahoo Link. I wonder if they mess up all their sports galleries the way they do the tennis gallery?

The ATP and WTA have finally agreed on a live streaming platform that will begin in 2009.

The events that will be incorporated into the streaming platform include: the Medibank International in Sydney; the Open Gaz de France in Paris; the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship, Dubai; Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells; Sony Ericsson Open, Miami; the Family Circle Cup, Charleston; Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart; Internazioinali BNL d’Italia, Rome; Madrid Open, Madrid; Qatar Telecom German Open, Berlin; International Women’s Open, Eastbourne; Bank of the West Classic, Stanford; East West Bank Classic, Los Angeles; Western & Southern Financial Group, Women’s Open, Cincinnati; Rogers Cup, Toronto/Montreal; Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Schick, New Haven; Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo; China Open, Beijing; Kremlin Cup, Moscow; Sony Ericsson Championships, Doha; Rolex Masters Monte Carlo, Western and Southern Financial Group Masters Cincinnati, Shanghai Masters, BNP Paribas Masters, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Rotterdam – ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament , Hamburg - Hamburg Open, Memphis – Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, Acapulco – Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Dubai – The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Barcelona – Open Sabadell Atlantico Barcelona, Washington – Legg Mason Classic, Toyko – AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, Basel – Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel, Valencia – Open De Tenis Comunidad Valenciana.

The full announcement is HERE
Now if only the suits could do what Wimbledon does for the US Open so that fans who do not have access to or have only limited access to the US Open experience can, for a fee, see matches they want to see.

Goodbye USA Network
I was surprised to hear them say they'd been doing the US Open for twenty five years. During that time tennis fans who have access to the network get to see complete day coverage from day one up to the quarterfinals. CBS comes in on that first weekend but after that it's back to the pros at USA. I've had my problems with the talking heads but when they got particularly fan-girlish or boy-ish there was the option of turning the sound down. The best thing was knowing that if it happened at the Open USA was there. I wonder if ESPN would have cut away to a fishing program instead of following USA's example and staying with Michael Barkan's on court interview of Novak? Going by past actions of that network vis a vis tennis I'd say yes. It would have been left to fans to find out that the sparks did fly and then waiting for someone, probably overseas, to posting video on YouTube.

You guys will be missed. I'm sure all of you have been picked up for duty next year and we'll see you again. ESPN has very large shoes to fill.

Thank you.

Commentary US Open Day 10 9/3/2008

by Savannah

I was out most of the afternoon so couldn't make any comment on Day 9. I will later on. Meanwhile lets talk about the Women's Championship Match that was played last night. My bad. It was the women's quarterfinal between Venus Williams and Serena Williams that was played last night on Ashe. You know it was a big deal because the A-list was in the stands last night. No guys from USA or HBO shows that are beginning their new seasons. Local station NY1 said the atmosphere was that of a final not a quarter final. Not much I can add to that.

Tennisheads often complain about the matches played between the sisters saying they are lackluster, lacking in drama and, some say, prearranged. I often thought Venus deferred to Serena in their match up due to family dynamics. I don't think that anymore since Venus seems to have adopted her younger sisters attitude and plays Serena like she would any other WTA player and that, for tennis fans, is a good thing.

The match? Serena took it from her sister but not without a fight. Both sets went to tiebreaks and in both tiebreaks Serena had to fight her way to the win. Venus was outplayed when it mattered and it is Serena who will move on to play Dinara Safina who many are predicting to make the on court final against Elena Dementieva. Just remember that matches are played on court and not in print. Jelena is just as hungry as Serena is right now. Just sayin'.

The other match last night just happened to involve the world number one against American Mardy Fish. All things being equal the men's match could've been played on Armstrong once it became clear that the last match of the day session between Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro would run into the evening. That match ended just before eight in the evening. Serena and Venus took the court close to 8:30p to warm up. The talking heads thought that Serena and Venus match would be moved to Armstrong the way Jelena Jankovic's match against Sybille Bammer was moved the previous night. Only when it looked like Venus might pull out the second set did the commentators say that maybe it would've been better to put the men's match on Armstrong. No kidding!? The USTA, determined to showcase what they thought would be a great showing by Mardy wanted that match on center court no matter what. Who cared that the next day was a work day and that most of the fans would leave after the sisters match? There was a chance that Mardy would beat Rafael Nadal who had gone to Beijing unlike Andy Roddick or Mardy and had to be tired no?

No matter how much help Mardy got off court it was not going to be enough and it wasn't. Now that that particular pipe dream is over the men's semi's are almost set. Roger Federer plays Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and Andy Roddick plays that other media darling Novak Djokovic. Novak complained that the crowd was behind Tommy Robredo in his on court interview the other day despite all his on court acting, something Tommy rightly called him on in his post match presser. Tommy said he had pain too but that it was part and parcel of the game and nothing to whine about. Good for you Tommy. Too bad Djokovic's on court antics are treated as part of his appeal and not the bull they really are.

I already touched on the Murray vs Del Potro match. All the tennis young Juan Martin has played this year finally caught up with him. Many expected this to be some sort of grudge match since there had been an on court spat between the two men earlier this year. Both men showed their respect for their sport by not taking the red meat that the press was throwing at them and played a good match. The four setter that Murray won 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 could easily have gone five. Juan Martin looked done in the fourth set although he fought valiantly. I believe Murray will come out of the Open ranked #4, something no one could've predicted at the beginning of the year.
Oh, and all that animosity?


The Rear View Mirror - Day 9

In the States baseball is called the timeless game. Since tennis ranks low on the radar screen here no one says the same thing about tennis but the analogy is valid. Novak Djokovic vs Tommy Robredo on paper should've been a three setter. Tommy is a pretty good player. His style may not set the world on fire but he's in the top 10 over the last few years. He's fallen to number 15 as the competition at the top gets more cut throat and looked to be cannon fodder for the publicity machine that is Djokovic.

Proponents of the WTA keep saying all the flux is evidence of the depth of that product. No people, the fact that number 15 in the rankings played number 3 in the rankings to within a few points of victory shows the depth of the ATP product. The final scores were 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 and the match was exciting up until the end. I've learned to ignore Djokovic's nonsense and laugh when the commentators attempt to make tennis fans think all that panting and leg gripping is for real when anyone who has watched tennis for a few years knows it's not.

The next match up was more of the same. On paper Roger Federer, world number two, should have had a cake walk over Russian opponent Igor Andreev, ranked number 23 in the world. I guess no one told Igor he was supposed to be beaten before he took the court. The second set was the crucial set in this match. Andreev should've won it but didn't and while he fought valiantly losing that set got Roger back into the match. Not that Igor played dead, he knew he'd lost the edge he would've had if he'd won the second set. Instead, in a marathon match Roger won 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-3 3-6 6-3.

As if these two matches weren't enough what can be called an upset did take place on Armstrong where Gilles Muller of Luxembourg took out Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 4-6 6-3 7-6(10). Nikolay, who has admitted to being distracted this year usually guts out this type of match. Instead he lost in a thrilling fourth set tiebreaker. Reports are that his name will be cleared regarding the match fixing allegations which have swirled about him. Davy is another guy whose on court presence underwhelms but who has a solid game. He did have some good wins early in the year. I'm sure he's looking to rebound.

Junior News
Asia Muhammad takes on fellow American Melanie Oudin in today's play. In another all American match up Ryan Harrison will play Rhyne Williams. Coco Vandeweghe, who took out Kristie Ahn, will play Katarzyna Piter of Poland.

For the boys top seed Yang Tsung-Hua from Taipei will play Peerakit Siributwong of Thailand. Devin Britton of the US is playing Bradley Klahn also of the United States.

Many of the juniors are also playing doubles today as well.

End Notes
The NY Times reported in yesterday's editions that the WTA head, Larry Scott, is in the running for Etienne de Villiers old job. That this would be a disaster for the men's game is putting it mildly. I don't think one person should be in charge of both tours. I don't think the European men will sit still for it. I do think the American's on the ATP board would welcome him more than JMac Sr who has been a player advocate. I wonder who Scott would pick as his Golden Child in the ATP?

Speaking of the McEnroe's John Jr's ignorance was on display last night. Teddy noted that Antoni Nadal has to be considered among the coaching greats of the sport and JMac Jr agreed. He then asked what Toni's tennis background was wondering if Toni, like Richard Williams, was self taught. I don't say that JMac should be on fan boards but that history is easy to find out for any researcher tasked with keeping the on air talent abreast of everything regarding a player. JMac Jr didn't stop there. He then asked if Mallorca is the type of island you can drive around in an hour. Again, a researcher should have been able to go on Wiki and get the basic information on that island so that JMac could state facts on the air. We did get to see Mrs JMac Jr on air in the broadcast booth. I was thrilled.(Sarcasm alert)

Isn't it ironic that two of the greatest tennis minds of the current era didn't come from the US, Britain or Australia? I'm talking about Antoni Nadal and Richard Williams. Just sayin'.

They're replaying last nights Nadal vs Fish match instead of showing the womens doubles semi final match currently being played on Ashe. They showed the entire first set and are now showing the fourth set. There were a lot of complaints about putting the doubles on first yesterday. That match ran long and pushed the entire schedule back. They do plan to show the mixed doubles final though. I could be cynical and say that they're showing the mixed doubles final because
Liezel Huber of the United States is partnered with
Jamie Murray of Great Britain but they wouldn't dis womens doubles just to show an American and a Brit playing would they? Nah.

Just thought I'd mention that USA has gotten interviews with every B lister who graced Ashe with their presence but didn't go near Anna Wintour, Denzel Washington, Kim Cattrall, Candace Bergen or Star Jones. The Donald did manage to make it onto the small screen.

I liked how Fish, when a drunken fan, shouted out his name while Rafa was getting ready to serve, stopped playing until the idiot, who was ratted out by the tennisheads still present, was escorted from the premises. Class move Mardy.

Commentary US Open 9/1/08 Day 8

by Savannah

The women's quarter finals are set. The match everyone predicted when the draw was released will come to pass. Venus Williams will play her sister Serena Williams Wednesday evening. Thinking about going? A decent seat will cost you a mortgage payment online. You could try to see what tickets are available at BJK that night. I'd get there early if I were you. Everybody else will have the same idea. It's odd that the women's tournament will peak at the quarter finals isn't it?

There are other women playing, don't get me wrong. Some of the match ups are quite intriguing.
Flavia Pennetta did indeed make Amelie Mauresmo's life miserable yesterday forcing 40 unforced errors from the Frenchwoman on her way to a 6-3, 6-0 win. Will she be able to do the same thing to Dinara Safina? Depends. Dinara is playing with a lot of confidence right now and looks for a way to win instead of imploding as she used to do. It will take an extraordinary effort from Flavia to win.

Today's matches feature Elena Dementieva against
Patty Schnyder and Sybille Bammer against Jelena Jankovic.. Elena should be facing Jelena in the semi's, emphasis on should. I have to think that Jelena was stung by the almost universal criticism of her reaching number one without having ever made even the final of a major and that she's out to prove that she is worthy of that ranking. We'll see.

Tennis fans are used to seeing the best matches at night. Last night saw Severine Bremond go against Serena Williams. The final score was 2 and 2. I don't need to tell you in whose favor do I?
The men's match was a curious affair to say the least. On paper Andy Murray playing Stan Wawrinka should have been a competitive match. Both had been playing well coming into the match. Too bad only AndyM showed up. The final score was 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 Murray and it wasn't that close. You knew the match wasn't cutting it when Michael Barkan spent a hell of a lot of time with the men from the HBO series "Entourage". Murray's next opponent is Juan Martin del Potro. For some reason Teddy Robinson has renamed Juan Martin "Jim". I guess it would be too much for him to find out that "Juan" in English is "John". He called Juan Martin "Jim" twice last night. That LPGA mind set seems to be spreading.

Mardy Fish, who would be amused to know his first name is pronounced "Mare-dy in Russian, will be facing Rafael Nadal tomorrow night on Ashe. I'm sure the US tennis powers that be are giving him a cram course on Rafa who survived a tough challenge from Sam Querrey. Let's see if Querrey continues the level of play he showed against Rafa going forward or if he'll do like a lot of the people who play against Serena or Venus who bring their best tennis against them and after wards don't seem to know how to get the ball over the net.

US Open Junior Tennis

Girls number one seed Arantxa Rus lost in the first round to Viktoria Kamenskaya of Russia.

Boys qualifier Devin Britton from Mississippi took out the Australian Junior Tennis Champion Bernard Tomic 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
As usual for all junior tennis news visit Colette Lewis blog.

End Notes

Rafael Nadal presented Bud Collins the Ron Bookman Media Excellence award for his long-standing contribution to the game of tennis 9/1/08.

Nishikori Kei gets welcomed to the big time as he takes the court for his match against Juan Martin del Potro who won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Bob Bryan, on the left, and his brother Mike Bryan in action on Day 8.

Gael Monfils vents his frustration during his match against Mardy Fish 9/1/08.

Commentary US Open 8/31/08 Day 7

by Savannah

Caroline Wozniacki
They are the stars of the future. Caroline Wozniacki. Marin Cilic. Others are trying not to have the epithet "journeyman" added to their names when commentators, especially in the United States, speak of them. Andreas Seppi. Dmitri Tursunov. Radek Stepanek. Still others are hoping time stands still for just a little while longer so they can continue to play the main tour of the game they love. And still others are hoping they can hold already chronic injuries at bay so that they can live up to their potential.

The USTA put it's juniors in the spotlight this year. Almost every young American who could swing a racquet was given a WC or entered the qualies whether they were ready to compete on the main tour our not. Some, like Kristie Ahn, showed potential despite size limitations. Others, like Christian Harrison are being declared the next best thing for America by the John McEnroe's of the world despite having not even gone through puberty yet. I cringed when I heard JMac say that Chris Harrison is going to grow into his American style hit hard and harder game. A few years ago those in the know said the same thing about one Donald Young. You remember him right? The young man who at nineteen is already being considered a disappointment by some because he has not lived up to the hype. I hope that Harrison's parents do not follow the path of the Young's. Meanwhile youngsters like Sam Querrey are carrying US hopes into the second week.

The Europeans and Asians are not standing still though. The various countries all had youth on display during the first week. France has Alize Cornet. Denmark has the fierce Caroline Wozniacki. Japan has Nishikori Kei. Croatia Marin Cilic. Argentina Juan Martin del Potro.

But when you look at the completed matches on both the men's and women's side for the most part it's the tour veterans, the familiar names that are moving into crunch time. Watching yesterday was frustrating for me because talented young people turned into young people under the heat and pressure of the three show courts. Instead of balls to wall no holds barred tennis I saw youngsters coming unglued. I mean who remembers the last time Jelena Jankovic didn't take at least one injury time out during a match? I guess Jelena figured she'd save the histrionics for when they're really needed since Caroline, after playing a dominant first set and provoking Jelena to argue with the chair fell apart and committed enough unforced errors to hand Jelena the match. All Jelena had to do was keep the ball in play and wait for the errors.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Tommy Robredo did the same thing in his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I wonder how wise it was to have Tsonga's first play after knee surgery be the US Open. Tsonga started shaking out his knee in his previous match managing to pull out the win but as one of the talking heads said it's one thing to do all the rehab exercises and practices and a totally other thing to be on court in match conditions. I understand Tsonga's back issues and the why behind what was done but perhaps his team needs to look at him playing at least one warm up before a major. Tsonga is not a "young gun" anymore. Neither is Gael Monfils. If Monfils keeps his head together France may have another threat at the top levels of the game. Tsonga is probably the more gifted player but his injuries keep him from making inroads into the upper echelons of the sport.

Marin Cilic
Novak Djokovic had a bit of a hard time against Marin Cilic dropping a set to him but in the end Cilic, who pushed Djokovic to a tie break in the fourth set, lost to the more experienced player going down 7-0 in the tiebreak. I need to sit down and watch Cilic play. I couldn't last night but hope to soon.

Tonight's center court matches feature Stan Wawrinka against Andy Murray and Serena Williams against Frenchwoman Severine Bremond. Just sayin'.

As for the match ups on the women's side there are two surprises. Anna-Lena Groenefeld has come back from what can only be described as misery to face Dinara Safina. I hope Dinara does not think she's going to roll over Groenefeld. Sure Anna-Lena is not in shape but she's gotten past players no one thought she would including the highly touted Alize Cornet of France.

Amelie Mauresmo will face Flavia Pennetta. Playing Flavia is never easy and if she decides she wants this Amelie will not have an easy time of it.

Li Na
Elena Dementieva had an easier than expected time against a strangely absent Li Na and will now face Patty Schnyder.
Patty is derided by many fans but I remember how she played before she got caught up in the bullshit. What a player she could have been. Otherwise the outcome of this match wouldn't be such a foregone conclusion.

Sybille Bammer surprised me by getting past Marion Bartoli who put up a fight taking the second set at love. From what I saw of the final set Bammer played the steadier game and routined Marion 6-4. She will next face Jelena Jankovic.

Venus Williams will next play Aggie Radwanska who is looking to be the only teen to make it to the quarters. Lots of people don't like her game. I say it's hers and more power to her. She hasn't been forced into a mold like the American players and can think and construct a point.
I'm not saying she's going to win. I'm saying she'll be an interesting opponent for Venus.

End Notes

Gilles Muller celebrates after defeating Nicolas Almagro.

Asia Muhammad, talented US Junior who tried her hand in the main draw and is now playing the Junior US Open.

Fernando Gonzalez celebrates during his match against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. Fena won 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1.

Jarkko Nieminen grimaces in pain after taking a bad fall during his match against Fernando Gonzalez.

Commentary USO 8/30/08 Day 6

by Savannah

I'll start by saying I didn't see any of the day matches that completed during the day. I was out until about 6:30p so I missed seeing the television matches featuring Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. They're on my DVR and I had hoped to get up early enough to see them before making this post but didn't. I did hear the talking heads falling over themselves to explain why Venus and Serena landed on the same side of the draw - again. If you have to keep explaining it's like the straying spouse denying having intercourse with whomever ad nauseaum. You did it. Now it's time for you to deal with the consequences.

All of the featured matches today are intriguing but I am especially looking forward to seeing Caroline Wozniacki against Jelena Jankovic. The match I'm looking forward to on Monday is the Anna-Lena Gronefeld vs Dinara Safina. Dinara had quite a scare last night from Timea Bachinszky of Switzerland put pulled herself together and won in three sets.

Nishikori Kei of Japan pulled the biggest upset on the men's side so far taking out David Ferrer, the number four seed, in five sets. Kei, all of eighteen, would be the one you'd expect to fold under the pressure especially after losing the next to sets after winning the first two 4 and 4. Ferrer won the next two sets 3 and 2 and looked to be on cruise control coming into the fifth set.Instead it was Ferrer who was cursing up a storm and mumbling to himself in that fifth set while Kei remained centered and focused taking the fifth set 7-5. I'm not a fan of Ferrer but I expected him to win this match in four. Instead of Ferrer it will be Nishikori facing that other teen sensation Juan Martin del Potro in the round of sixteen.
Del Potro has been the hottest man of the US hardcourt season, something I'm sure that hasn't gone unnoticed by the USTA or the Argentine tennis federation. Del Potro also took five sets to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
With neither player coming in with an advantage in terms of how long they played this should be a really good match. Both have something to prove. Both have the weight of expectations weighing heavily on their shoulders and both have good solid games.

Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray both played five setters yesterday as well. They'll face off in the next round. This should also be a good match. I just hope the talking heads don't ruin it with their inane chatter. I can't listen with the sound off because I like to hear the sound of the ball coming off the players racquet and hitting the court. It's caused me a lot of grief but that is part of tennis. I'm also one of those people who won't use one of the free radios provided by American Express at the US Open to it's card members. If I wanted to hear them I could stay home. I like to see the match being played not hear about so and so's fiancee thank you very much.

Sorry about that. Back to the tennis.

There were some straight set victories yesterday. Some were even by the men you would expect to move through in that fashion. There are two matches that were straight set victories that bear some scrutiny though.

The first one was Gael Monfils straight set win over
David Nalbandian. Dare I say it was easy? What do you think? Gael won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. And he did a little dance to please the fans at the end. David has not played much or well so far this year. Tennisheads know he loves the European indoor season but this loss yesterday is remarkable for the quality of tennis Gael played, and the lackluster tennis David played. It was almost as if he didn't care whether he won or lost. As for Gael, we're all happy that you finally seem focused on tennis and not trying to be the "Atomic Dog" of men's tennis (you P-Funk fans know what I'm talking about) but it does behoove you to be a little more sedate after a victory. Just sayin'. If you want to be The Man of French tennis and steal some of the thunder of Jo-Wilfried so be it. I think the French can tolerate two big personalities don't you? I think the US wishes they had that problem.

Speaking of the United States keeping with their policy of featuring American's at night tennis fans were treated to a match between James Blake and
Mardy Fish. As was repeated over and over and over the two men are best friends. James is going to be in Mardy's wedding next week, yada, yada, yada. Maybe James wanted to give Mardy an early wedding present since he never really showed up for this match. James played unfocused, uninspired, brain dead tennis and to this viewer there was no reason for him to do so. Best friends have played before and we've had good play. It's not as if they're related after all. James played inspired tennis against Donald Young and had split the first two sets with Steve Darcis of Belgium before Darcis back forced him to retire. Why so blase in this one?

As for Fish he came to play. He was so focused that he asked the chair to stop the J-Block from taunting him when he was about to serve. The commentators said later that tennis fans have probably seen the last of the J-Block. Thank you Mardy. It was a lousy marketing idea to begin with and it should have died a natural death a long time ago. Fish will play Gael in the next round. He's already defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu who is a tricky customer. Will he have to watch Gael do his little dance at the end of their match? Both men have a lot riding on winning this one. Let's hope they both show up.


End Notes

Amelie Mauresmo defeated Julie Coin 4&4. I expected Amelie would win, not wanting to give up her crown as top French woman just yet. She will face Flavia Pennetta next.

I'm sure someone somewhere gets palpitations seeing Andy Murray do this otherwise he'd stop it.

Tommy has the same look on his face I had when I first saw this pic. Sergio Roitman of Argentina is obviously channeling his inner biker.

Lucky Loser Flavio Cipolla of Italy had a nice run in New York.

Agnieszka Radwanska eased Dominika Cibulkova to the exit.

Li Na strikes a touristy pose in front of the Unisphere.