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U.S. Open Qualifying: Rain Rain Go Away
by Rick Limpert on Aug 25, 2010 2:39 PM EDT
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Rain making life miserable for those trying to play their way into the main draw at next week's U.S. Open via qualifying this week.
Many matches were postponed on Tuesday, but some Americans who have a good chance to play their way into the main draw did advance between the rain drops. Robert Kendrick, Bobby Reynolds, and Ryan Harrison were all first-round winners on Tuesday. Nicolas Mahut, who had the marathon match with John Isner at Wimbledon is in the qualifying as is American junior player Jordan Cox who was a Wimbledon juniors finalist last year.
Marsel Ilhan of Turkey is the top seed in qualifying but he faces a tough opponent in Bernard Tomic of Australia. Other Americans to watch this week on the men's side include Jesse Witten, Rajeev Ram and Steve Johnson. A couple other Americans to root for include former top-100 player Amer Delic who is coming back from missing more than a year of action with a knee injury and former college standout at Arkansas Blake Strode who won the open to anyone USTA National Playoffs to get a wildcard into the qualifying fray.
In women's play there are plenty of names you would be familiar with. Sania Mirza, Jelena Dokic, Laura Robson and Shenay Perry are all in the qualifying draw. Other Americans to keep an eye on are Madison Keys, Irina Falconi, and Sloane Stephens.
Action in qualifying is always fast and furious as these players are hungry to advance. Admission is free and you will also see many of the main draw players practicing on the grounds.
The best bargain in tennis is U.S. Open qualifying.
They Are Almost Done in Montreal
by Rick Limpert on Aug 23, 2010 1:48 PM EDT
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Numerous weather delays have played havoc with the Women's Rogers Cup in Montreal. But after completing the semifinal matches on simultaneous courts this morning Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva will play in the finals early this afternoon.
Top-seeded Wozniacki defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3 on Monday, and Zvonareva won her semi when Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, retired with a blister on her left foot. Zvonareva was leading 7-6, 1-0. The semis took three days to complete and tournament organizers had to hope and pray they would be able to get the remaining matches in on Monday with players anxious to get to the next event in New Haven, or New York to start U.S. Open preparations.
Wozniacki, runner-up at last year's U.S. Open, once again appears to be hitting her hardcourt stride at the right time, and Zvonareva has shaken off any after-effects from her Wimbledon finals loss to make it to the Montreal hardcourt finals.
Wozniacki is the defending champion and top-seed in New Haven. Hope this rainy weather isn't a trend in the Northeast for the next three weeks. If it is, must we see the Krickstein/Connors match in its entirety again?
Nadal and Federer are "The Pink Panthers"
by Rick Limpert on Aug 12, 2010 7:50 PM EDT
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What is it with both Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer wearing pink this week in Toronto? Nike is mum on the topic, but Federer says he will wear the pink shirt this week in Toronto and next week in Cincinnati before switching to something different for The U.S. Open.
In Nadal's first match he wore a fluorescent pink shirt and a headband that glowed under the lights. Both actually wore the pink well, in their own ways.
I'm sure the players are always looking to break out of the "all-whites" once Wimbledon is over. Should the two meet in the tournament we'll have to see who blinks first and discards the pink, or will our eyes get a pink overload for a couple hours.
They Bring The U.S. Open Series into our Homes
by Rick Limpert on Jul 30, 2010 11:24 AM EDT
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Right up there with professional football, professional men's and women's tennis has some of the best television coverage on the air today. Now with The Olympus U.S. Open Series in full swing the coverage is even taken to another level. ESPN2 and Tennis Channel are the players here and since they can share broadcast studios and crews they can and will provide quarterfinals on coverage of the smaller events and week-long coverage of the larger events leading up to The U.S. Open. The best part of the U.S. Open Series to me is the broadcast center that they use before and after the matches for interviews. Seconds after the match, the winning player is whisked to the broadcast tent and is interviewed by the broadcasters. The players are still dripping with sweat and fans gather around the open air studio to get a glimpse of the proceedings. This is great television for tennis fans. With the Atlanta event already in the books, we not only were treated to some great tennis action, but also the expert commentary of all the names and faces we love. Listening to a favorite sports announcer is like listening to an old friend. For the most part, the analysts ESPN and Tennis Channel put in-front of the cameras are easy to listen to, know their sport, and have the respect of today's players. That recipe makes for excellent tennis coverage. ESPN - Veterans Cliff Drysdale, Darren Cahill, and Brad Gilbert were on hand in Atlanta. Expect to see Chris Fowler, Mary Carillo, Mary Joe Fernandez, Pat McEnroe and Pam Shriver among others during ESPN2's coverage. Drysdale, Cahill, and Carillo are the stars here. Drysdale's silky smooth delivery combined with Cahill's analysis and ability to predict what might happen next make this pairing special. Carillo is fun to watch because you never know what she might say next. Tennis Channel - Tennis Channel's team covering The U.S. Open Series is just as strong. In Atlanta we had Ted Robinson running point, Jimmy Arias doing color, and Ashley Fisher doing on-court reporting. Tennis Channel bills itself as "Home of the Slams", but they are also the "Home leading up to the Slams." Ted Robinson has covered just about every sport as a broadcaster, and he's a real pro. Speaking to him in Atlanta, he said he loves covering tennis and since he isn't doing baseball he can do more tennis events in the Summer. Jimmy Arias, Leif Shiras, Justin Gimelstob and Lindsay Davenport also serve as talent for Tennis Channel. With this lineup, they have all the bases covered. Coverage of the tournaments in California starts today. Should be fun!
A Tennis Match That Ended At Love
by Ben Rothenberg on Jul 19, 2010 7:55 PM EDT
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With small clay court tournaments in Bastad, Stuttgart, Prague, and Palermo failing to capture much interest in tennis circles last week, the sport's focus turned to the steps of a church in the Czech Republic.
And on those steps of St. Vitus Cathedral, Nicole Vaidisova and Radek Stepanek posed for an endless number of photographs, having just been wed in their county's largest cathedral.
The two had actually previous obtained a marriage license several years ago in Florida, but when asked insisted it was a joke. You know, one of those joke marriage licenses.
The two dated at very different times in their careers. During their courtship, Stepanek led the Czech Republic to the Davis Cup final, and made the second week of grand slams several times. Stepanek had had similar success while dating his previous fiancee, Czechoslovak-born Martina Hingis. The two broke up shortly before Hingis' positive test results at Wimbledon were revealed.
Vaidisova, however, seemed to enter a complete tailspin at roughly the same time she and Stepanek got together.
Vaidisova was a prodigy, and won two WTA titles in 2004 when she was only fifteen. Though she was two-time grand slam semifinalist who reached #7 in the WTA rankings in 2007, Vaidisova's career fell apart spectacularly in 2009. That year, her ranking fell over 150 spots during the year, lowlighted by a loss in the first round of qualifying at Stanford to #576 Stacey Tan by the score of 6-2, 6-1.
The slump was also attributed to the fact that Vaidisova stopped being coached by her stepfather, but it can still be fairly said that dating Stepanek did nothing to improve her game.
After losing in qualifying at the 2009 US Open, Vaidisova stayed and cheered her fiancee from his box, appearing visibly angered any time that television cameras showed her. She seemed to want to be known as nothing more than Stepanek's girlfriend, perhaps embarrassed by the enormous tumble her career had taken.
Though still only 21, Vaidisova announced her retirement from the sport in May, after her streaks of horrendous play saw her ranking fall outside the top 400.
It hasn't been confirmed yet if Nicole will change her last name to Stepankova, or if she will keep her maiden name. Though seeing how few ventures she has going on right now independantly and how much she seems to enjoy simply being a part of Radek's life, I'm guessing Nikki V is now telling her friends to call her Nikki S.
Dinara Safina Pulls Out of Wimbledon With Lower Back Injury
by Ben Rothenberg on Jun 19, 2010 2:09 PM EDT
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#20 seed Dinara Safina has withdrawn from Wimbledon with a lower back injury, the same ailment that cut short her Australian Open and that kept her out of action in February, March, and most of April.
Safina has been playing incredibly poorly for almost a year now, compiling a 5-6 record including a first round loss at the French Open to thirty-nine year-old Kimiko Date Krumm that included 17 double faults off the Safina racquet.
Safina parted with her coach, Zeljko Krajan, just before the French Open. The two shared a bizarre relationship that often included the Russian Safina shouting at him in an angry mix of English and Croatian.
Safina's ranking has already fallen from #2 to #21 this year, and it will continue to drop because of this withdrawal. Safina rather flukily made the semifinals last year, eventually being crushed 6-1, 6-0 in that round by Venus Williams. The loss of those 900 semifinalist points she will not defend will likely drop her ranking to somewhere in the #28-32 range. If she is unable to defend her title from last July in Portoroz as well, her ranking will drop even further
Safina's position in the draw will now be occupied by Melanie Oudin, who becomes seeded for the first time at a grand slam as the new #33 seed. She'll face Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the first round. Definitely an easier match than her previously slated duel against Kirsten Flipkens. Canadian Stephanie Dubois is the lucky loser who will take Oudin's slot.
Wimbledon Fashion Preview From Nike: Serena, Sharapova, Federer, and Nadal
by Ben Rothenberg on Jun 18, 2010 1:26 AM EDT
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With the magic of photoshop, Nike has released composite images of what their four biggest stars (Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal) will look wearing their Wimbledon 2010 outfits.
Maria Sharapova:
See Serena's, Roger's, and Rafa's after the jump.
Five Past Wimbledon Quarterfinalists (or Better) Withdraw
by Ben Rothenberg on Jun 17, 2010 3:41 PM EDT
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Five players withdrew from the Gentlemen's Singles field of Wimbledon 2010 Thursday, the day before the draws were made.
Even though none of the five were considered serious contenders for the title, each of them takes with them a serious grass court pedigree and at least one previous foray deep into the second week of the fortnight.
(From left to right in the above picture)
David Nalbandian (2002 Wimbledon Finalist) -- Leg
Ivo Karlovic (2009 Wimbledon Quarterfinalist) -- Foot
Mario Ancic (2004 Wimbledon Semifinalist) -- Back
Radek Stepanek (2006 Wimbledon Quarterfinalist) -- Knee
Richard Gasquet (2007 Wimbledon Semifinalist) -- Rib
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