Clip of the Week

Monica Seles will forever be my favorite player. Here is a great look at a fit and trim (and possibly returning?) Seles from last week at the US Open.

Enjoy!

Tennis Chatter

Lindsay Davenport is undefeated in her singles career as a mother. She next takes on Julie Ditty, an American journeywoman.

Roger Federer looked pretty good for his US Open trophy photo shoot. Justine Henin, on the other hand, did not.

The TENNIS WEEK Web site still looks like it was designed (and has never been chance since) the late 90s. Aren't they supposed to have a new, cutting-edge image in tennis?

Svetlana Kuznetsova is the number two player in the world?!? Whhhhhhattt? This girl just got a tag on my blog two days ago. Man, the WTA really is struggling...

Blah Blah Blogs

I was telling one of my good friends last night how taxing blogging can be. When I first started to blog in January, I thought that it would be easy to put up content everyday that got reader's attention.

The ideas and execution take a lot of effort, I soon realized, and everyday blogging was as difficult as everyday working out. Over the past two weeks I did my best to keep up with the Open and all its goings on, but sometimes life calls in other ways.

TENNIS Magazine still churns out what I think is the best blog in the biz: Peter Bodo's TENNIS WORLD. Bodo himself posts intriguing and thoughtful entries about every two to three days, while 'TW Tribe Members' help with posting week in and week out.

I also want to give a shout out to Erwin Ong, over at Tennis Served Fresh. Erwin was a blogging maniac when it came to the US Open this year, keeping us all up to date on who looked best on the court and who just shouldn't have shown up (Bethanie Mattek, anyone?). Erwin's efforts earned him some recognition in a recent SacBee article, too.

And while talking about the blog arena, I can't help but mention Jon Wertheim, over at SI. Though Wertheim doesn't have what would be technically be called a blog, he does great tennis coverage, especially during Slam time. His mailbag at the end of each Major is always fun to read - check that out early this week.

King Fed

Roger Federer is the King of Tennis.

Undisputed. King. Of. Tennis.

Can the rest of the court ever match the Mighty Fed?

Sorry Slams

15.

That's how many games the four runners up could muster this year in women Grand Slam finals.

First there was Serena Williams' drubbing of Maria Sharapova. Then Ana Ivanovic's nerve-fest against Justine Henin at the French. Venus followed that up by humbling a bouncy Marion Bartoli on the grass before Henin capped off the year by destroying Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The future of women's tennis can find solice in the fact that it had seven marquee players in four finals, Henin being the only to make two appearances. The lack of quality play late in Slams has to worry insiders and fans alike. In fact, Bartoli's win over Henin at Wimbledon and Kuznetsova's defeat of Chakvetadze just this past week were the only two three-set semifinals out of eight this year. 2 of 8? That's not exciting tennis.

I don't want to take away from the brilliance of Serena's comeback at the Aussie, or the fact that Henin won both the French and the US Open without dropping a set, or the sheer dominance that Venus captured the All England Club with this year, but it's the lack of competitive women's tennis in the late stages of said tournaments that worries me.

Where's the classic Seles-Graf or Navratilova-Evert battles? No two women will stand out of this generation with the distinction that those past champion do; they do, however, have the chance to be known for competitive and inspiring tennis. To watch such white washes is discouraging, especially knowing that the talent in the women's game has only improved over the last decade.

Ten years ago a bright-eyed Martina Hingis defeated a beaded Venus Williams 6-0, 6-4 in the finals of the Open. Though that wasn't a particularly compelling match, Venus had just come out of a nail-biting semifinal win over Irina Spirlea. Including that final, absolutely NONE of the last eleven US Open women's finals have gone three sets. Last year's title bought between Henin and Maria Sharapova was one of the more closely fought matches.

Such Grand Slam finals as Wimbledon 2006 between Henin and Amelie Mauresmo or the '05 Championships featuring Venus and Lindsay Davenport certainly can't happen every time, but it would certainly be nice to watch some competitive tennis, especially when the biggest titles of the tour are on the line.

Perhaps the LOSER at the Australian Open next January could win 15 games in one match? Now I'd love to see that.

Justine, Warrior Princes

Justine Henin proves time and time again that she's the best player in women's tennis. Hands down.

I'm sick of all the TV commentators talking about Venus and Serena and how they'll determine the outcome of each match they play with Henin. I'm pretty sure both Williams sisters played some pretty good tennis in their four matches in majors against Henin this year. And guess what? They didn't win any.

Though I'm not the biggest Henin fan, I'm a huge fan of a competitor - actually, a warrior - who can play with the big guns and use tiny ammunition and be so effective. Justine weathered Venus' brilliant streak late in the first set, then did the same in the second when Williams had broken back and was serving to stay in the match. It was again Justine's time.

I'm guessing tomorrow night (Sat.) that Justine will do much the same against Svetlana Kuznetsova. In all honesty, she deserves it.

Clip of the Week

Though Roger Federer and Andy Roddick put on an incredible show at the US Open last night, I can't help but still feel the sting of James Blake's 4th round loss to Tommy Haas a little. Poor Blake, always the fifth set, always oh-so close.

This clip features the best point of the break, and no doubt gives an idea of what New York tennis at the US Open can be when it's at its best. James Blake certainly gave his all, and so did the crowd.

On Tonight's Menu: Cooked Roddick

Andy Roddick just had his butt handed to him on a platter by Roger Federer. Cooked medium, served with a side of you-played-good-but-not-good-enough.

Good try, Andy. Does that come with fries?

Ferrer Stuns Nadal

Just call David Ferrer Mikhail Youzhny.

The Spaniard pulled a Youzhny-like upset Wednesday morning at the US Open, saluting the second-seeded Nadal out of the tournament in four sets.

It was a disappointing loss for Nadal, who had advance to the finals of both the French and Wimbledon and had hopes of making a run to his first-ever Open title. His countryman Ferrer had a different idea, however, running down every ball Nadal sent to him and taking the match 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Last year, it was Youzhny who pulled a similar upset over Nadal, beating the French champ in the fourth round and making his way to the semifinals before losing to Andy Roddick. While Youzhny crashed out in the 2nd round this year, Ferrer has built on a strong summer in which he's had wins over Roddick, Almagro, Isner (twice) and Stepanek. But none of those wins could compare to the 15th-seed's win over Nadal in the night session Tuesday.

(Ferrer's fitness gave him an upper hand in his win over Nadal at the USO. Photo by clareperretta via flickr.)

The draw now opens up a bit for Novak Djokovic, who faces another Spaniard - Carlos Moya - in the quarterfinals. It was Ferrer's persistent speed, consistency and determination that was the downfall of Nadal, who has been battling tendinitis in his knees throughout the summer. Ferrer finished the match with 48 winners and 38 unforced errors.

Ferrer has now won as many matches this year - four - as he ever has at the US Open, advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time. His match-up with fellow clay-courter Juan Ignacio Chela would be more suiting for the courts of Roland Garros, but they play for the right in the US Open semifinals, and a shot for their first Grand Slam title each.

LIVE Blog: US Open Night Session

Welcome to the live blog of the US Open. It's week two of the year's last Major and not only has the day session extended itself into the night, but dreamy Novak Djokovic is on Arthur Ashe for our viewing pleasure.

7:00 -- I turn on the TV to watch Juan Monaco force Djokovic into a third-set tie breaker. Monaco goes up 5-3 before a ball falls out of his pocket, forcing him to lose the point due to the fact he was warned for the same infraction earlier. Monaco still fights off a match point to force a fourth set.

7:05 -- I run upstairs to shower following an afternoon of tennis and working out.

7:15 -- Djokovic is up 3-1 in the fourth. He's just got to hold out from here and he's in the quarters.

7:18 -- The ING monster commercial comes on. That's number one. (My guess is at least 19 times tonight; plus the McEnroe AmEx commercial I'm sure I'll be seeing at least a dozen times. Though this is fun from the AmEx Website.)

7:34 -- Djokovic closes out Monaco 6-1 in the fourth and gives an angry "I'm so frustrated with how I played but so relieved that I won" look to his box. He's into the quarters. I was hoping for a celebratory shirt removal, but no luck.

7:49 -- USA runs a Serena-Justine preview sequence with only Justine voiceovers. No Serena? Maybe she was busy making her PC commercial. Lackluster preview to say the least.

7:51 -- The McEnroe AmEx commercial runs for a second time this hour (or maybe I missed a couple). I think they had a great idea in the Dispute Resolution ads, I just wish they would've done three or four different takes with McEnroe, so it doesn't have the Genworth Financial effect.

8:00 -- Federer is interviewed in the USA studios. Roger is boring/candid as usual. His answers are always just so predictable. He did say maybe stake or Italian for dinner...I'm sure Mirka will make that decision, though.

8:09 -- Serena is interviewed in the tunnel and looks cool, calm and collected. Justine comes around the corner and is surprisingly talkative. Plus, she smiles - TWICE!

8:23 -- Serena is down a break early, 2-0.

8:30 -- The camera pans the stars in the crowd: Tony Bennett, Monica Seles, Martina Navratilova and Mayor Dinkins.

8:38 -- Marie Callendar puts together the most frightening commercial EVER featuring chicken pot pies.

8:43 -- Serena misses another swinging volley to go down 2-4.

8:53 -- Serena holds for 4-5.

9:00 -- Serena breaks for 5-all.

9:14 -- Justine plays a superior tiebreak after saving a set point at 5-6 to win the first set, 7-6.

9:23 -- Michael Barkamp interviews Monica Seles, who hints she might be back on the pro tour in the near future.

9:24 to 9:50 -- Justine Henin kicks Serena's butt. Over and over again.

9:53 -- USA shows clip after clip of Carlos Rodriguez coaching Justine from throughout the match. Bananagate anyone?

9:58 -- Justine is your victor, 7-6, 6-1.

And while I want to stick around for Michael Barkamp's always-compelling interviews, I have clicked the TV off and am ready for a Tuesday night milkshake. Venus or Janky everyone? I'm hoping for the V-factor.

Tonight: LIVE Blogging from the USO

No, I'm not in New York anymore, but I still can be a part of the US Open.

Thanks to the inspiration and creativity of Matt at Ranting Details (check out Matt's Live Blog on the "So You Think You Can Dance" season finale), I'll be watching USA's coverage of tonight's matches featuring Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal and blogging it all minute by minute from the tube.

Tune in and enjoy!

The Bump, Revisited

Perhaps Irina Spirlea would like to re-think her changeover tactics from her famous 1997 US Open semifinal with Venus Williams. The Romanian was the higher-ranked player with a more consistent game and the experience to boot. So why did she feel the need to physically run into Williams just to get noticed?



It was a bizarre move in a bizarre match, which went 7-6 in the third set to Miss Williams, giving the 66th-ranked American her first shot at a Major title. Back in '97 Venus Williams wasn't Venus Williams yet. She, instead, was a gangly teenager with beaded hair attempting to live up to the hype that her father had been brewing for years.

So when The Bump occurred, it was Spirlea's desperate attempt to get noticed, as she would say later. Spirlea's act of desperation would only buy her the second set before she fell in the third-set breaker to Williams. And, of course, controversy followed in the form of a war of words between Spirlea and Richard Williams. She called Venus "the fucking Venus Williams" and Williams retorted by calling Spirlea a "big white turkey."

Racism aside, it was an ugly moment for women's tennis, but one that few can forget. It would be our first glimpse at America's new tennis family and, in a lot of ways, our last look at Irina Spirlea, a player with plenty of capability but - as she proved on Ashe that day - little maturity and resolve. Her career fizzled over the next three years, and at the tender age of 26 in 2000, she retired.

First The Bump, then The Hand. I wonder what the Williams sisters can involve themselves in during this Grand Slam...?

In case you're interested, here's the third-set breaker:

Tennis Chatter: Week Two Begins

After having a successful 2007, the Bryan Brothers couldn't keep their momentum going, falling in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the doubles draw.

Kudos to Americans John Isner and Donald Young. Isner won two well-played matches before giving Roger Federer a run for his money in the third round. Young posted his first-ever slam win before benefiting from a walkover against Richard Gasquet in the second round.

Anna Chakvetadze advanced to the quarterfinals at the Open for her first time, beating Monica Seles look-alike Tamira Paszek. Gustavo Kuerten was in Paszek's box, as Larry Passos, Kuerten former coach is now working with Paszek. Pasos couldn't make the trip to NYC, so Kuerten sat in for support of the Austrian who went 7-2 in the second two Majors of the year.

WOB: Wide-Open Bottom (Half of the Draw)

When the draw came out for this year's US Open, the powerhouses of women's tennis were stacked were stacked on the top half of the draw: both the Williams sisters, Justine Henin, Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic. It seemed as though the champion of the year's final Slam would come from said half of the draw, and few could have any say about it.

Yet looming at the bottom were a few familiar ladies. Maria Sharapova for one, the defending champion and one of the tour's biggest hitters. Sharapova had just played one event all summer, but she had come away from it victorious and had every right to believe the strokes that garnered her a title here in '06 would do the same trick this year as well.

Martina Hingis resided on the bottom side too. Though her comeback has been less than she had hoped it would be, the five-time Major winner is always a threat, no matter what her recent track record shows.

But as this year's Open has progressed, Hingis and Sharapova have fallen, as has Nicole Vaidisova (a two-time Slam semifinalist). So leaves first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Agnes Svazay along with Svetlana Kuznetsova (the '04 Open champ) and Shahar Peer - Vaidisova's victor.

And while the Williams sisters will battle time-tested foes in Henin and Jankovic, Kuznetsova will deal with lower-ranked opponents. It's always the case at the slams, that anything can happen. With the surprising draw and the stunning upsets that have followed it, what can we expect in the second week of the open? If anything, hopefully some good tennis to round it out.

Time? There's Never Any Time!

These last few days have been absolutely hectic. Since being back in Montana, I've taken to working as much as possible (seeing that New York had stripped me of all financial dignity) and have been putting in 10-plus hour days.

It's 5:30-11 at the coffee house, and then 11:15-4 at the taco shop. My favorite is when people come in for coffee in the morning, and then happen to stumble into my second job location for lunch. They get this look on their face like, "Haven't we done this before?" Hey, it's Helena...and this happens a lot.

The US Open has continued and as much as I would've liked to have two weeks to beach myself on the couch and watch countless hours of tennis it just can't happen. This weekend I'm in Missoula with my good friend Matt and his family, attending a wedding and soaking up the last bits of Montana summer.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and if you don't recognize that quote in my title, here's a little video to jog your memory.

Tenth Time's the Charm

James Blake finally did it.

After deeming Wimbledon the place to shake off his demons, Blake came up too short at the All England Club in late June, having to save his magic for the Magician himself - Fabrice Santoro - in a thrilling night match at Arthur Ashe.

And though Blake's road only gets tougher with Stefan Koubek in the third round and potential match-ups with Tommy Haas, Nicolay Davydenko and Roger Federer looming, he'll take comfort in his victory over the Frenchman. But for Blake to win his first Grand Slam, he'll have to pull out some of the tricks he did Thursday night against Santoro.

Not only does the five-set win give Blake a new confidence (he's now 1-9 in such matches), but it also sends a message to the rest of the men's draw: James is ready for anyone.

Though Santoro, mostly a journeyman who's made his living by playing crafty (and oftentimes ugly tennis), is far from the league of Federer, Blake has to know now that he can (and probably will) be stretched to five sets again during this tournament.

2-9 anyone? James'll take it.

On Goes the Open

Last night I got to catch a rare glimpse of tennis on the tube, watching John Isner boom his way into a third-round match-up with Roger Federer. It was also the first time I've watched Fed play since Wimbledon, and I forgot how easy and fluid he makes everything look.

The game of tennis seems to be blooming at the US Open this year, at least on the men's side. You've got rising American stars, top players holding on to their precious status, champions struggling to stay on their game and veterans making one last stand. The story lines are aplenty, hopefully the good tennis will be, too.

It was great to see Tim Henman post a victory in a Slam other than Wimbledon yesterday, and against a seed no less. A week-two run for the Brit? Maybe.

And while my boy Frank Dancevic couldn't quite hold on against Safin, I think it's safe to say he's on his way up. I predict at least a third round appearance at the Aussie...and that he finishes this year in the top 50(!).

But if Isner wants to crack the cream of the crop, he can't miss shots like this one in DC:

Justin's Curtain Call

Andy Roddick made pretty easy work of Justin Gimbelstob in the elder American's last appearance at the US Open.

It was mostly fun tennis to watch, but the best part came after the match.

USA Network stayed on court for an interview with Gimbelstob, giving the veteran his due air time. It's hard to watch a guy as respectable and good-hearted as Gimbelstob step away from the game, but everyone has their time.

And lucky for us, he isn't going too far: he's got his eye on sports broadcasting.

Tennis Chatter: The Open Begins

John Isner served an impressive 34 aces in his upset win in the first round of the US Open.

2007 Roland Garros junior champ Alize Cornet snacked on 29th seed Samantha Stosur in just 68 minutes.

Andy Murray hushes critics and shrugs off injury to lose just five games while advancing to the second round.

Other than Venus and Serena, American women went just 2-6 on the day. The other two winners? Meghann Shaughnessy (who beat American Vania King) and Asha Rolle, who upset 17th seed Tatiana Golovin.

Rolle's win put an exclamation point on African American tennis for the night following the wins of the Williams sisters and the honoring of Althea Gibson for her tennis legacy.

Night at the Open

In tonight's US Open coverage on USA, Serena Williams wasn't the only one making a fashion statement. Now I by no means am a fashion expert - I'm actually far from it. I do, however, have a sense of what is okay and what is not. And Tracy Austin's outfit was just not okay.

(Austin's outfit was designed by Papa Smurf. AIPT photo.)

While Tracy was struggling with her fashion off the court, Tatiana Golovin was struggling with her game on the court. This French girl really baffles me. After finishing the summer with a solid performance in Canada and teaming up with Mats Wilander in what seemed to be a great partnership, she's goes out in the first round to a wild card?

Sounds like confidence issues if you ask me.