US OPEN 2011: Women's Final Preview

Serena Williams USA (28) v. Samantha Stosur AUS (9). 

by Mad Professah, contributing writer

The 2011 US Open finalists are the two women in the draw with the two best serves in women's tennis. Serena demonstrated the importance of having an effective serve in her 6-2 6-4 drubbing of the now and future World #1 Caroline Wozniacki in a routine semifinal whose result was never in doubt. Serena served 11 aces and hit another 23 winners from all over the court--and she was probably playing at about 80% of her ability. Her "B" game. Wozniacki simply had (and has) no weapons with which to bother Serena and almost no offensive intent or capacity so Serena simply bided her time, broke the 21-year-old Dane at will and was content to serve out the match. When suddenly she played a loose match game at 6-2, 5-3 she calmly broke back easily to reach the final.

Stosur's route to the final was more complicated. She played the unheralded (some would say unknown) Angelique Kerber from Germany, at 6pm on the Grandstand court (capacity 6,000) when the second men's semifinal was still going on on the main stage at Ashe which holds 23,000+. Instead of winning easily, Stosur won a relatively tight 6-3 2-6 6-2 victory. Stosur has had a pretty dramatic tournament overall, playing the longest tiebreak in Grand Slam history in the 4th round (losing it 17-15) against Maria Kirilenko and playing the longest U.S. Open women's match (in terms of games played) against Nadia Petrova in the 2nd round, eventually winning7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-5 in 3 hours, 16 minutes.

Stosur is the probably the only other player in the draw who is not overwhelmed by Serena's physicality. The Australian 27-year-old has very broad shoulders herself and probably an even better kick-serve than Serena's. However, Stosur has one distinct weakness: her backhand. She can either slice it (not very effectively) or she can hit it with two hands, often not very cleanly or powerfully. Sitting in the stands, literally 15 feet from her in the now-famous tiebreak with Kirilenko I was very surprised how softly the ball came off her racquet on the backhand side. Serena can just pin her into the backhand corner with forehands down the line and it will be a very short day. However, Stosur does possess an excellent topspin inside-out forehand so if her footwork is good she may be able to run around her backhand and hit her powerful forehand but unless she hits a winner against a very fit and fast Serena, Stosur will be off the court and unable to reach the reply. Mentally, since Stosur has been in a major final before (losing badly to Francesa Schiavone in the 2010 French Open final) she should not be overwhelmed today, but she simply does not play finals well, having won only twice in 11 attempts. Serena is playing in her 5th U.S. Open final in 12 appearances, with wins in 1999, 2002 and 2008. We all know what Serena's mental toughness is like.

In the 2011 U.S. Open I have correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 2 women's semifinals. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals. This year I have also correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, and 1 of 2 men's semifinals. My prediction for the women's final is that Serena Williams will win her 14th major title, putting her a scan 4 titles away from the all-time greats: Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert (but still behind Steffi Graf's 22).

MadProfessah's pick: Serena Williams.

US OPEN 2011: Women's Semifinals Preview

by Mad Professah, contributing writer

After a rain delay cancelled the scheduled women's quarterfinals matches last night, all four matches were able to be completed today, the women's semifinals are now set.

This year, I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

These are my predictions for the 2011 women's semifinals, which for the first time will be played Saturday night in prime time, with the women's final on Sunday, and the men's final moved to Monday's day session.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) v. Serena Williams USA (28). This is the match on the women's side everyone has been waiting for. Can the putative #1 player in the world prove her dominance against the fan's #1? As the #28 seed Serena has munched through "higher seeded players" Victoria Azarenka (#4), Ana Ivanovic (#16), and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (#17) in the last three rounds. As the #1 seed Wozniacki has dispatched Andrea Petkovic (#10), Svetlana Kuznesova (#15) and unseeded Vania King in the same rounds. Serena and Caroline have met on court twice in their careers (both in 2009), with Serena winning both times.
Wozniacki has only been to one major final, while Serena has won 13 finals and appeared in 3 others, losing to her sister Venus Williams twice (2001 US Open and 2008 Wimbledon) and Maria Sharapova once (2004 Wimbledon). The problem that Wozniacki has is that many people feel that she can be hit off the court. Her game is built around counter-punching, and she (often) plays her best tennis when she is behind in the score. But getting behind on the score against someone as mentally tough as Serena Williams is not the same thing as getting behind the score against 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. It does show that Wozniacki likes pace and can feed off her opponent's power and use it against them. There is no more powerful a female player than Serena, and she will demonstrate the danger of Wozniacki's strategy to blast past her and reach her fifth US Open final. PREDICTION: Serena.


Angelique Kerber GER v. Samantha Stosur AUS (9). Although I didn't pick either one of these players to reach this point in the tournament, I am delighted to see that Samantha Stosur is in her second major semifinal, with an excellent opportunity to reach her second major final, where hopefully she can acquit herself better than she did in the 2010 Roland Garros final. 

Kerber is the only unseeded player among the semifinalists and since she's ranked around 92 in the world will make more money from this tournament than she made in the last year (or two) on the tour. In other words, Kerber is just happy to be here and will not put up much resistance if the match gets tough. The rap against Stosur is that she's mentally fragile, and the fact that she has played 11 tournament finals and only won 2 of them is evidence of that. However, she impressed a lot of people with her mental fortitude in her match against Maria Kirilenko when she lost the second set 15-17 in the longest women's tiebreaker in grand slam history (blowing 5 match points in the process). Stosur was able to survive the emotional rollercoaster of playing such an intense tiebreaker (where twice she was denied match point wins due to Kirilenko's successful electronic line challenges) to win the deciding set relatively easily 6-3. This new toughness should serve the hard-hitting Australian well in the final on Sunday night. PREDICTION: Stosur.

Day 9: Wounded

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Rafael Nadal of Spain receives medical treatment as he plays Andy Murray of Britain during their quarter-final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 26, 2010.


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Russia's Maria Kirilenko is tended to by a trainer during her quarterfinal match against Zheng Jie of China at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 26, 2010.


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Andy Roddick of the United States of America recieves medical attention between games in his quarterfinal match against Marin Cilic of Croatia during day nine of the 2010 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 26, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

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Singles - Quarterfinals
[5] A Murray (GBR) d [2] R Nadal (ESP) 63 76(2) 30 ret. (right knee)
[14] M Cilic (CRO) d [7] A Roddick (USA) 76(4) 63 36 26 63

Doubles - Quarter-finals
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) 75 46 76(2)
M Kohlmann (GER) / J Nieminen (FIN) d F Gonzalez (CHI) / I Ljubicic (CRO) 46 61 20 ret. (Ljubicic - right thigh)

Doubles - Third Round
I Karlovic (CRO) / D Vemic (SRB) d [5] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) 26 76(11) 76(4)

Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
(WC) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (19) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 76(3) 75
Zheng Jie (CHN) d. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 61 63

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(2) Williams/Williams (USA/USA) d. (8) Mattek-Sands/Yan (USA/CHN) 64 46 64
(6) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) d. (13) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) 46 62 62

Doubles - Third Round
(1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) d. Azarenka/Kuznetsova (BLR/RUS) 63 63

Australian Open 2010 Day 9 Open Thread

Source

It's Australia Day, the day Aussies celebrate the landing of the First Fleet with Captain Phillip and the convicts.

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We have arrived at the quarterfinals. MadProfessah's picks are here and here.

For today's bottom half matchups, I'm going with Rafael Nadal in four, Marin Cilic in four, Justine Henin in three, and Zheng Jie in three.

For Roddick to avoid the upset, he's going to have to block out his knee pain and hope that his experience can carry him through if Cilic tightens up at the end of sets as he did against Juan Martin del Potro.

If Murray is to have a chance of dismissing a man determined to defend his title.... Scratch that. He has no chance. Oh, he'll make it interesting and give Rafa's fans a few strokes, but he has no chance.

Miss Nadia will have to win in straights -- which I believe she can, here's hoping she does, too -- and MariaK's going to have to believe she belongs in the final four of a Slam.

Who you got?

Order Of Play For Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Rod Laver Arena 11:00 Start Time

1. Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Justine Henin (BEL) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19]
2. Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Jie Zheng (CHN) v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)
3. Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
Andy Roddick (USA)[7] v. Marin Cilic (CRO)[14]

Rod Laver Arena 19:30 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
Andy Murray (GBR)[5] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]

Australian Open 2010: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

by Mad Professah

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Australian Open this year.

Serena Williams USA (1) vs. Victoria Azarenka BLR (7). Serena is playing like a woman on a mission. Her performance against 13 seed Samantha Stosur in the round before was, in a word, scary. Pam Shriver called it the best serving she had seen by a female player, ever. Although at the start of the tournament I did not predict Serena to win this title, mostly because she has only defended a title once in ten attempts and I was also entranced by the odd-year symmetry of her wins down under, after seeing what she did to the Aussie's No. 1 player, I think the rest of the field should be afraid, very afraid. Interestingly, one of the few players who is not afraid of playing Serena is the feisty No. 7 seed from Belarus, who almost derailed Serena here last year, leading by a set and a break before she was overwhelmed by the heat and retired ignominiously. Azarenka did get her revenge by dispatching a clearly injured Serena in straight sets to win the "fifth major" in Miami later that year so I am confident that Serena will take this match very seriously. Azarenka finished off her last match by inflicting a bagel on Vera Zvonareva in the third set, a not uncommon occurrence. What is an uncommon occurrence in this tournament is Serena in trouble on her serve. She is the only player, male or female, who has not had her service broken, and eliminated the three breakpoints she faced yesterday with three aces. An incredible performance indeed. The only question for Serena is whether she is peaking too early, or whether she is going to continue to play at this high-level for the rest of the tournament. If the latter is indeed, true, then Serena Williams be the 2010 Australian Open women singles champion, regardless of what happens in the rest of the draw. PREDICTION: Serena in 3 sets.

Na Li CHN (16) vs Venus Williams USA (6). I really like the play of the veteran Chinese player (so much so I named my dog after her!) and except for the hiccup against Francesca Schiavone in the previous round, Venus has been playing pretty good, if not overwhelmingly aggressive, tennis. With her natural power and athletic ability that is enough to get the older Williams sister through most matches by simply overwhelming most opponents and the relatively diminutive Li Na will most likely be no exception. PREDICTION: Venus in 2 sets.

Elena Dementieva RUS (5) Justine Henin BEL vs. Kim Clijsters BEL (15). Nadia Petrova RUS (19). I really expected to see Elena Dementieva and/or Kim Clijsters in this quarter of the draw, but it looks like the hard-hitting and extremely talented Petrova may have finally quieted the doubting voices in her head and is simply letting her tennis do the speaking for her. She has the game to beat just about anyone when she is playing her best and is one of the prototypical "big babes." Henin is playing in her first major tournament in two years, and is trying to repeat (or overshadow) her Belgian compatriot Clijsters who was able to win a grand slam within a few weeks of her return to the tour from retirement. Henin has looked to be about 80-90% as effective as she was before she left, and I have no doubt that she will be a threat to win any major she enters this year, and a lock in Paris. However, her wins have become increasingly labored with every successive round. This match is the hardest of the four to predict the result (and most likely will be the hardest to watch, as well). PREDICTION: Petrova in 2 sets or Henin in 3.

Jelena Jankovic SRB (8) Jie Zheng CHN vs. Maria Sharapova RUS (14) Maria Kirilenko RUS. The surprise quarterfinalists! I definitely expected a different Maria from Russia to be occupying this quarterfinal berth, but good job for "the Other Maria" to finally break out of the shadow of her best friend on the tour and not only eliminate Sharapova in the first round but continue all the way to the final eight. The second Chinese player in the quarterfinal represents the first time two Chinese players have made it this far simultaneously in a major tournament, with Zheng also having played in the 2008 Wimbledon ladies semifinal. I believe this match will be determined by who wants it more, not by the tennis of the two players. In that case, I prefer to go with the person who has not been here before. Either way, I have serious doubts the person from this quarter will be making it to the final. PREDICTION: Kirilenko in 3 sets.

Day 1: Mariathon

Reuters

They called her Semipova.

From the time she won her first Slam till her second, she was blessed with cupcake draws at most of the majors and bashed her way to the semifinals before succumbing to someone better.

Now, after a career littered with distractions, injuries and disinterest, Maria Sharapova would probably give back $10M of her $70M Nike contract to advance to another one for the first time since she won here two years ago in one of the greatest Slam performances of the decade.

The 3-time Slam champion, highest-paid female athlete in history, and former Melbourne champion was sent packing by her good friend, the more beautiful, if less glamorous, Maria Kirilenko, in the first round.

I thought she'd find a way to win the match and get out of this soft quarter, but it wasn't to be. As someone wrote elsewhere, perhaps if she spent as much time on her serve as she has her fashion design....

Decked out a blueish green thing that looked more like a draped undergarment of seaweed and tinsels -- with a belt -- than a tennis dress, she struck more than 70 unforced errors to lose the match.

The other Maria, dressed in normal attire since Stella McCartney kicked her to the curb for a younger model, fought and choked and recovered and fought to earn one of the biggest upsets of her career. With a simple index finger pressed to her closed lips, she urged her camp to celebrate quietly. She did just beat her very good friend, after all.

Getty

Other than all the errors from both Marias, the marathon was marred by such a lugubrious pace, it was difficult to follow. I was expecting the chair umpire to deliver a eulogy at some point. The first two games of the second set took 27 minutes to complete.

Now matter how beautiful the contestants, channels flipped all over the globe.

Mean time and later, rain soaked the schedule; the Belgian contenders cruised; the suspended/unsuspended/suspended/unsuspended one barely survived; the Scotsman crushed; the top American male prevailed; Oz's favorite tortured female underdog looked as though she'd rather be anywhere else but in front of the fans who made her comeback last year so electrifying; Darren "Killer" Cahill admitted on a live microphone that NFL star Terrell Owens looked a lot like his last boyfriend, "to be honest"; and the top Spaniard debuted his pajama bottoms at the inaugural night Slam match of the new decade.

Ah. Yes.

Tennis.

What's not to love?

Five

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Many of you know the power of the number 5 even if you aren't aware of it. Rafael Nadal has achieved a powerful feat by winning the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters five consecutive times. It wasn't easy. And he was in a decidedly pissy mood throughout the tournament. His passive twin made several appearances. But he prevailed in the end 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 over a re-energized Novak Djokovic to secure his place in history.



Sabine Lisicki has won her first WTA final on her first attempt at the Family Circle Cup. With bullet serves, forehands and backhands; a much-improved second serve; deft dropshots; and a singular focus on victory -- at times it appeared as though she was in a hurry to get somewhere--she hit Caroline Wozniacki off the green clay 6-2, 6-4. The German teen is kind of fierce.



Didn't see the match, but Roberta Vinci, no relation to Leonardo, blitzed Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 6-4 to take the Barcelona Ladies Open title.

Face Of The Day

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Edina Gallovits of Romania celebrates a point aganst Maria Kirilenko of Russia during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden March 12, 2009 in Indian Wells, California.

Day 6: Dog Fight

ESPN's Darren Cahill calls him a bull terrier. He'll grab hold of your leg and never let it go. Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic took hold of two-time defending champion Roger Federer in a third-round match and didn't let go till Federer prevailed 10-8 in the final set. The drama equalled that in the Andy Roddick - Philipp Kohlschreiber epic that finished earlier in the morning.

The Australian Open is officially awake.

I don't know how anyone really thought Janko was going to win the match. But he didn't let Raja go till 10-8 in the fifth set by playing exquisite, courageous tennis.

And he didn't choke.

Roger showed why he's a 12-time Slam champion. The way he played his returns at 8-8 was nothing short of brilliant. The way he served it out was worthy (almost) of all the praise he gets. I wish I could be a fan.

But I got what I wanted. Finally. A player not named Rafael Nadal played Raja on a big stage, latched onto his leg and bullied him all the way to the wall.

And he didn't choke.

Tipsy, baby, you the man.



No Country For Old Men



Who's that bald guy running around like he was born to win five-set matches? James Blake made his own personal history today. He beat Sebastien Grosjean for the first time in four tries, and he rallied from a two-set deficit for the first time in his career to bring his five-set record to 2-10. But wait, there's more. He was also down a double break in the fourth set and 1-4 in the tiebreak. Clutch.

Grosjean, a 29-year-old tour veteran and father, was worn out from his five-set win over qualifier Robin Haase in the previous round. But he had such a huge lead in the fourth set, physical exhaustion isn't the main reason he wasn't able to hold on.

Blake simply refused to lose. A controlled, composed performance was just what the situation required and that's exactly what James gave. With Sam Querrey's loss to Novak Djokovic, if Vince Spadea loses his rain-delayed third-round match against David Ferrer tomorrow, James will be the last American man standing at a Slam for the first time in his entire career. His own personal history.

Upset Specials



Maria Kirilenko and Anna Chakvetadze can both be described as Martina Hingis with a serve. Both take the ball early to make up for the lack of pace on their groundies, both change direction of the ball with ease, both play tennis like chess. But on this day, MariaK was too tough to take, even after dropping the first set in a tiebreak. Tough to be the No. 6 seed in the third round. Just ask Roddick. MariaK advances to the first round of 16 at a Slam in her career.



Agnieszka Radwanska knocked off the No. 2 seed at the US Open. She did the same at the Australian Open today, this time in the form of one Svetlana Kuznetsova. I guess the Polish girl has become the bane of Russians in the early rounds of Slams. For Sveta's part, she was simply terrible. Aggie will play yet another Russian in the next round after Nadia Petrova and Ekaterina Makarova's rain-delayed match is completed tomorrow.



Marin Cilic had his knee tightly wrapped, but his game flowed freely. Discovered by Goran Ivanisevic, the Bosnian-born giant has officially announced his arrival. No. 7 seed Fernando Gonzalez, last year's runner-up, had few replies to the questions the Croat asked. Late in the match, Gonzo's shoulder gave out and Marin munched on serves slow as molasses in January. With this upset, the Chilean's ranking will fall out of the Top 10 into the mid-20s.

Midnight Madness

Hometown hopeful Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis coudn't start their match till just before midnight. The dog fight extended the day session into night and with Venus Williams' quick dismissal of Sania Mirza, Tennis Australia broke its own rule of not beginning a match after 11:00PM.

So despite dozing in and out for most of the middle of the night here in the States, the morning sun is shining brightly on the snow and ice outside, and I'm watching extended live coverage of tennis on cable television. Going on eleven straight hours. Freshly brewed, strong coffee in hand. Credit where credit is due: ESPN has finally put the tennis fan first.

I'll drink to that. Let's all drink to that.

Photo of the Day


Click to enlarge. (AFP/Getty Images)

Day 3: Don't Believe The Hype

Why do the marquee matches rarely live up to the hype? I just have one thing to say about last night's showdown: Maria was ready; Lindsay was not. Next.

Red White and Blue



Serena Williams stepped it up to fend off a fierce attack from Meng Yuan. Mardy Fish exacted revenge on Tommy Robredo with a composed beatdown in the sun. Andy Roddick hardly lit up the night with a rinky dink moonball special which turned Michael Berrer into a club player and made Jimmy Connors red with laughter. Jesse Levine got cheated by officials left and right and, despite serving for two sets but winning none against Jarkko Nieminen, lost his way into the third round. Sam Warburg had few answers for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, even though he made the Frenchman sing for his supper.

Blue White and Red



Speaking of the Frenchies. A nervous Amélie Mauresmo needed 10 matchpoints to book her spot on Day 5. She'll be joined by Richard Gasquet, Aravane Rezai, who upset compatriot and No. 13 seed Tatiana Golovin in three sets, Virginnie Razzano, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Marc Gicquel, and Tsonga. Not a bad showing for a half of each draw.

Daily Discovery



Serena sure knows how to find them. This is the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific and Yuan who hails from China had loud supporters. She played Serena like she knew she could beat her. She stared her down, pumped her fist, and rifled winner after winner off both wings. I don't believe I've ever seen a player from Asia hit a forehand with so much topspin. If only other players who are supposed to lose to the game's elite would show half the fight she did, the sport would be much better.

Upset Specials



Not a big surprise, really, but the Aussies certainly had something to celebrate with lefy Casey Dellacqua took out lefty Patty Schnyder, the No. 15 seed, with a confident display of power and finesse. If Mauresmo remains frightened of winning, she'll get another scalp on Day 5.



And Yuan wasn't the only Asian woman who put on a show. Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei must've put on quite the show to take out No. 19 seed Sybille Bammer in straight sets with a loss of a mere two games. Wish I could've seen that one.

Hope For Day 4

Here's hoping Fabrice Santoro vs. Roger Federer and Marat Safin vs. Marcos Baghdatis live up to expectations, that any women's match becomes a surprise classic, and that there are less bagels in the bolier, less breadsticks in the oven.

Venus Victorious at Korea Open

Venus Williams beat Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to win the Hansol Korea Open in Seoul today.

When I called them fashionistas, I had no idea we'd see them in traditional South Korean garb for the trophy ceremony. How beautiful. All this pomp and circumstance for a Tier IV event? Perhaps they need an upgrade.

Now if only we could see some of these matches on the Asian swing in the United States. But that's a whole other story and we're not going there right now.

Fashionistas Into Seoul Final

Venus Williams and Maria Kirilenko will bring their fashion flair to the court along with their tennis for the Hansol Korea Open final tomorrow.

Williams, who unveiled EleVen, her new line of sportswear at the US Open, made quick work of Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2. Kirilenko, who sports Stella McCartney originals, sent Eleni Daniilidou packing 7-5, 6-0.

Not bad for a Tier IV final.

Venus has beaten MariaK in their prior two meetings without dropping a set. I'd expect a similar result this time around.

Venus Reaches for the Stars

Venus Williams advanced to the semifinals of the Hansel Korea Open with another straight-set drubbing, this one over Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-2, 6-3. She'll play Italy's Flavia Pennetta who tossed aside Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-2.

In the bottom half of the draw, Eleni Daniilidou advanced when red-hot Agnes Szavay retired with a right thigh injury after leveling the match at a set all. Eleni will play Maria Kirilenko who crushed Catalina Castano 6-0, 6-3.

What's with all these non-competitive women's matches?

Even with her right calf heavily taped apparently for precautionary reasons, Venus, in her bid to qualify for the Season Ending Championships, has entered next week's Japan Open. Roger Federer has withdrawn from the men's event in Toykyo citing fatigue.