WIMBLEDON 2008: Women's Quarterfinals PREVIEW

by Mad Professah

The 2008 Wimbledon Women's Quarterfinals are now set. After correctly predicting all four of the 2008 French Open Women's quarterfinals here are my predictions for the second summer slam's women's quarterfinals. Note, that this post was begun before the 4th Round of play was completed on Monday.

Ana Ivanovic SRB (1) Agnes Szavay HUN (15) Jie Zheng CHN vs. Nicole Vaidisova CZE (18). This was supposed to be the new World No. 1's easy road to her second consecutive Wimbledon semifinal. Unfortunately for her, after barely surviving a second round clash against determined Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-7, 7-6, 10-8, Ivanovic easily lost to doubles specialist Jie Zheng in the next round. Nicole Vaidisova has had a horrible year but getting through to the Wimbledon quarterfinals (and possibly the semifinals) should resurrect her year, and career. However, the achievement of Zheng to make her first quarterfinal (and possibly semifinal) is a bigger story. This is a player ranked No. 133 in the World in singles (No. 22 in doubles, but been as high as No. 3) who could possibly make her country's first major semifinal! She is very consistent, plays low to the ground and is comfortable on grass. But Vaidisova is more powerful and has the bigger game. PREDICTION: Vaidisova in 2 sets.

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (4) Agnieszka Radwanska POL (14) vs. Serena Williams USA (6). This should be the best quarterfinal of the four. As you can see, I had expected Kuznetsova to get through to be Serena's opponent here. Kuznetsova was up 4-2 in the third set but somehow managed to lose that match. Surprisingly Aggie won the grass court warm up in Eastbourne, beating last year's Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli and Nadia Petrova. Serena has been playing well and has actually been coming to the net more than Venus. She faced down a spirited challenge from fellow American Bethanie Mattek who impressed many with her serve-and-volley game. Radwanska plays similarly to the recently departed but rarely lamented Martina Hingis, absorbing power and redirecting it with ease and possesses an uncanny ability to anticipate where her opponent is going to hit the ball. However, she really has no single dangerous weapon except her mind. However, both Aggie and her sister Ursula Radwanska (who Serena beat 6-4 6-4 in the 2nd round) have won Junior Wimbledon titles (2005 and 2007). Agnieska can get overpowered, and Serena Williams is used to out-hitting her opponents. If you see Serena starting to play slice and dice cat-and-mouse points it will be a long afternoon. PREDICTION: Serena Williams in 2 sets.

Elena Dementieva RUS (5) vs. Maria Sharapova RUS (3) Nadia Petrova RUS (21). This will probably be the ugliest quarterfinal of the four. Remember that horrendous 2007 Kuznetsova vs Chakvetadze semifinal? I think that this could rival that in nervous tennis. Matches between fellow Russians are often not very pretty affairs and when the stakes (and prizemoney) gets bigger the quality of the tennis gets worse. That being said, Dementieva has been playing reasonably well. She still has some of the best groundstrokes of anyone on tour and her serve has significantly improved from the one-time laughingstock it was. Petrova leads their head-to-head rivalry 7-4 and has never lost to Dementieva on grass. In fact, Petrova got to the Eastbourne final, losing to Radwanska in a tough 3-setter. But Petrova is widely known as the least mentally strong of the top Russian players, so if anyone can find a way to lose a match she should win, it's Nadia. PREDICTION: Petrova in 3 sets.

Jelena Jankovic SRB (2) Tamarine Tanasugarn THA vs. Venus Williams USA (7). Why was 4-time (and defending) champion seeded No. 7 this year? When getting this far in the tournament Venus has never lost before the final, and she has been in 6 out of the 8 played this decade. Tamarine Tanasugarn is a good grass court player and won a grass court warm up last week. Six times the unseeded Tanasugarn has played well above her seeding to play in the round of 16 and 6 times she has lost. In the seventh attempt she played the highest remaining seed in Jankovic and took her out easily 6-2 6-3. Jankovic was injured and facing the mental pressure of becoming No. 1 if she outperformed Kuznetsova in this tournament. Now she won't have to worry about that and will have to listen to the whispers of why she is the top Serbian player who hasn't one a major yet. In fact, Jankovic is the most current occupant of the "Best Player Not To Have Won A Major." Venus has played Tanasugarn 6 times and never lost. Will the seventh time be a charm for the Thai player? Doubftul. But I hope they don't schedule the match on Court No. 2. PREDICTION: Venus Williams in 2 sets.

What's Up With Vaidisova?

In the last two events, the future champion, as Nicole Vaidisova's been called, as lost in her first two matches, including eating a second-set bagel at the Sony Ericsson Open yesterday.

NikkiV has yet to make a final this year. In fact, she has yet to make a final in a Tier II event or above in her entire career. Does that sound like a future champion to you?

What do her fans think?

Attitude Czech

Unseeded Nicole Vaidisova kept the world's Top 4 players from advancing to the semifinals of the Medibank International in Sydney yesterday with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 upset of No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic.

NikkiV has yet to advance to a final of a Tier II event or higher, and she'll get another to break that streak when she takes on world No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova later today.

The Czech was en route to a straight set victory over Jelena when she broke for a 4-3 lead in the second set. But it seemed she would fold once more under the pressure of defeating an elite player. She tossed her racquet and huffed and puffed on her way to her chair after dropping the last three games and the set.

But she gathered herself, adjusted her attitude, and played a solid third set, breaking Jankovic's serve in the ninth game and rallying from a 0-30 deficit in match game to secure her place in the semis.

In the other semifinal, No. 1 seed Justine Henin will play No. 3 seed Ana Ivanovic who overcame yet another second set lapse to dismiss Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

The men's seeds didn't have a great day. Top seed Richard Gasquet fell to Dmitry Tursunov and four-time champion and No. 6 seed Lleyton Hewitt lost two tiebreaks to Aussie wildcard Chris Guccione. No. 5 seed Carlos Moya lost to Agustin Calleri for only the second time in 7 meetings and No. 8 seed Fernando Verdasco had no chance against Sebastien Grosjean. No. 4 seed Tomas Berdych is the only seed remaining at the quarterinal stage of the men's draw.

Idle Chit-Chat

by Savannah

Soooo I was going to lead with the Oz Open story and the seemingly increasing possibility of more "Grand Slams" and turn this into a "Heard Around" post but for total shock value you can't top this.

Words fail me. Well no they don't. It's not about Radek Stepanek being hotness challenged either. What would a 29-year-old man want with an 18-year-old girl? Oh I know but as my mother used to always say you've got to get out of the bed sometime. I used to dismiss it as one of her many quirky statements during my teen aged years (and yes the wheel had been invented back then) but now I understand what she meant.

Her parents and the tennis establishments in both Czechoslovakia and the United States invested a lot of time and money in Nicole Vaidisova's tennis career. For her to now decide her be all and end all is Radek must be throwing them for a loop. My other question is why the rush? I don't know how long they've been seeing each other - a tab in Czechoslovakia reported they were a couple but it was a tab so no one took it seriously I suppose.

At age 29, Radek's career is on the downside. Maybe he'll become his wife's coach a la Rainer Hoffman. At least Radek does know something about playing tennis which is more than can be said for Rainer, but I digress. Let's hope an angry father holding a double barreled shot gun (I guess today it would be a Glock semi automatic) isn't part of the wedding party and that Nicole will continue her tennis career sans wailing babe.

Oh, and Nicole, here's a word to add to your vocabulary - "PRENUP!"

In other couples news Chris Evert and Greg Norman confirmed their engagement. No date has been set for the nuptials. Chris also announced she's building a tennis facility in South Africa. Evert Norman Engagement


Roger

Grand Slam Tennis Update
This paragraph appears in an online article by Leo Schlink on the state of the Australian Open. "Bimes" is Christian Bimes head of the French Tennis Federation.

"Roland Garros will not lose its grand slam status, but I'm convinced that if we don't make progress, there will one day be a fifth grand slam event in Asia and possibly a sixth in Europe," Bimes said.

"The losers would be the French Open and Wimbledon. We want to avoid that at any cost."

Well here's a thought. How about rescheduling the French Open and Wimbledon so that their positioning makes sense? Ion Tiriac is putting his money where his mouth is and lobbying big time for Madrid to be upgraded. I doubt the Chinese built their wonderful facitility just for the Olympics. And Middle Eastern money is already a major influence in tennis. Moving Wimbledon and creating a "Road to Wimbledon" or whatever would satisfy those who love grass court tennis by creating an actual grass court season. The clay court season, already established, could remain as it is. Just my very humble opinion.

The article is focused on the Australian Open and Tennis Australia's fears regarding it's status. Interesting read for tennisheads. More Slams?


Serena YEC Madrid 2007

BJK Opens Up
Tennis legend Billie Jean King sat down for an interview with the Sunday Times of London. David Walsh's article reviews Ms King's professional and personal life and includes information about the how and why of her coming out. Ms King also took time to talk about today's WTA and makes the following statement:

We now have the best players we’ve ever had,” says King. “I don’t know why we’re not talking about Justine Henin all the time because, for her size, she’s the greatest athlete we’ve ever seen. I don’t know why she’s not more appreciated – she’s not blonde, she’s not cutesie-wootsie but the way she has evolved as a tennis player is unbelievable. She’s improved so much at the net, she’s much stronger off her forehand, she has turned a terrible serve into something better than adequate and she’s learnt to recover during a match. People need to understand what they are seeing here.

For the full article please read BJK Interview

Wimbledon July 3 2007

Venus Williams Graduates
Since it's well known that most American tennis players don't even have high school diplomas it's nice to see that Venus stuck to it and graduated from fashion school this week. Big ups to Ms Williams.


Venus December 2007 Miami

Miscellaneous Tennis News

From the exhibition season:
Dudi Sela of Israel beat Marat Safin in straight sets at Sankt Polten The match lasted 56 minutes.


The semi's in Argentina look like this:

Nalbandian vs Chela
Monaco vs Moya

More from the shallow end of the pool...
Andy Roddick photographed in the Union Square area of NYC with his girl friend Brooklyn Decker who is still a teenager. Guess his hipster girlfriend didn't tell him that those jeans went out a couple of years ago...


Serena's "A-Ha" Moment
This is a regular feature in "Oprah" magazine.

And then, like proof of being an adult, my first electric bill arrived—$1,500! I couldn't believe it. Suddenly I understood why Daddy was always telling me to turn out the lights. Another time I came home from a tournament and—click! No lights. Our power had been turned off because I hadn't paid the bill on time. There I was, the 1999 U.S. Open champ, sitting alone in my big house in the dark. I was constantly running out of groceries, toiletries, and little things I needed. That's when you realize what it means to be an adult: when you're on your own and you run out of toilet paper.

It took about a year, but eventually my new house started to feel like home. Venus and I did all the decorating, and seven years later, I still love the choices we made, like our window treatments and my classic bedroom furniture. We may have been giddy kids, but it turns out we didn't do anything too crazy. The first night I spent there by myself I was miserable—nothing in the house really seemed like it was mine. Now I don't relax until I put my key in the lock, swing open the front door, and my dogs rush to greet me.

A Ha!

Serena in Moscow 2007


Marat in Moscow 2007

End Notes

David Nalbandian and the Ladies Paris Bercy 2007

What to say about Sania Mirza? This young woman, already under the religious microscope was involved in filming an ad, in a mosque in Hyderabad India. It's reported that some of the film crew, ignoring Muslim sensibilities, entered the building wearing shoes. On top of that no filming, especially of a commercial, was to take place inside the house of worship. Sania, sweetie, is ya stoopid? An apology was hastily released but the damage was done. It was pointed out that her closest advisors are Hindu but she was born and raised a Muslim and should have made sure everything was properly arranged. Sania, handle your business. Sania Sparks Relgious Row

There's a thread on TAT where tennisheads discussed the top five WTA tennis stories of 2007. Ask two tennisheads opinions on things tennis and you'll get three different points of view.
The original list, posted by Peter Bodo in his blog looked like this:

1. Serena Williams' first quarter.

2. Justine Henin's final three quarters.

3. The Serbian Vitches

4. Williams sisters tag-team move.

5. Introducing Marion Bartoli.

My immediate reaction was "huh?" I thought about if for a while and then came up with my own list.

1. Serena's first quarter

2. Henin's three quarters

3. Sharapova's winning one event in 2007

4. Hingis retirement

5. What Lindsay's triumphant return shows about the (lack of) depth of women's tennis.

Special Mention: Venus Wimbledon win

I don't see how the Maria Sharapova story and the events surrounding Hingis retirement could not make a top five list of stories for the WTA. I know people think I hate Sharapova but I don't really. I don't know her. But I do know what is done for her by the tennis establishment - say what you will but that 2007 US Open draw has to go down in infamy - and that is what I don't like. People are quick to point out that she played the YEC very well but again she had the softer of the draws. I don't think Justine Henin has had as soft draw all year by the way but again I digress. At the end of the year she won exactly one event during the US Open series against a tired opponent. And if Venus hadn't fallen on her sword and bowed out of the YEC Sharapova wouldn't have been there at all.

As for Martina Hingis retiring again under circumstances that make it impossible for the truth to ever come out just imagine if Venus Williams or Serena Williams had tested postitive for cocaine. It would be the top story of the year not only in tennis but in sports. Marion Jones fall would have nothing on a Venus/Serena drug story. And that is why it's a big deal. It seems everyone, the WTA and Ms Hingis, got what they wanted from how things worked out. Martina's fans will be able to say it was never proved and hope to see her make the Hall of Fame. The ITF and the WTA will also be able to say they enforced their rules and got a druggie out of the game. And whether you like her or not Martina was the last of the pre Big Babe tennis players and deserved the induction ceremony that was in her future.

Some now want to add the Nicole Vaidisova situation to the top WTA stories of 2007. It deserves mention only because she was set to be a golden girl. I respect Nicole a lot, especially after she lost to Serena in Melbourne at the beginning of the year and refused to get caught up in a media created frenzy about lights shining in her eyes. She also has game. We have a lot of stories of teen tennis players cracking under the pressure to do well and I wonder if this is her way of dealing with it? Bernard Tomic, all of fifteen, is being hyped by Tennis Australia as the next big thing on the ATP circuit. His father/coach is already comparing him to Roger Federer in precociousness and making his training regime sound like Rafa's. The kid has been quoted as saying he doesn't mind not having a life he loves tennis so much. I know some think tennis players reading is an oxymoron but young Tomic's camp should read that New York Times piece on Donald Young from this past summer and look at Bjorn Borg's life long and hard. You have to be a kid sometime. It's better to do it while age wise you're still a kid and not wait until your late twenties to get angry about not having had a life and proceed to have one.

As for Lindsay's triumphant return to the tour I'm sure the WTA just wishes she would go away. She's playing more in 2008. Let's see how she does before hauling her up on a pedestal folks. She's already caused Jelena Jankovic to have a meltdown so 2008 should be fun.

I've put more best of 2007 pics in this post. I'll end with a fave of those who are into tennis slash from Wimbledon 2007.

Vaidisova and Stepanek to Wed?

Lots of meaning in this Reebok ad, no?

I get busy with my B&B for a week and return to tennis to find out that Czechs Nicole Vaidisova and Radek Stepanek have applied for a marriage license in Florida?

Manatee County Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court
Court House Information Processing System
CASE

Case Number 41 2007 ML 001967

Case Type Marriage License File Date 12/10/2007

Case Action Code MARRIAGE LICENSE WITHOUT COURSE Case Status Open

PARTIES
Rcd Party Type Name D.O.B. Gender Race
1 Groom STEPANEK , RADEK 1978 CAUC
2 Bride VAIDISOVA , NICOLE 1989 CAUC

Source

The Bradenton Herald ran this yesterday:

Vaidisova, Stepanek apply for marriage license

HERALD STAFF
Bradenton resident Nicole Vaidisova, the 12th-ranked women's tennis player in the world, has filed papers for a marriage license with men's professional tennis player Radek Stepanek, according to information received from the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court.

Vaidisova and Stepanek applied for the marriage license Dec. 10, and their names are on a public records list that will appear in Sunday's Herald.

Vaidisova's agent at IMG Academies, Olivier Van Lindonk, could not be reached for comment.

The 18-year-old Vaidisova turned pro in 2003 and is coming off her best year on the WTA Tour. She reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon.

Stepanek, 29, has two career titles on the ATP Tour, including one earlier this year in Los Angeles. His best Grand Slam showing was a quarterfinal berth at Wimbledon in 2006.

Stepanek was previously engaged to another tennis player, Martina Hingis, but the two broke off their engagement in August.

But what. There's more.

Apparently NikkiV is pregnant. When I saw her comeback at the US Open, she was a lot more robust than she was before her illness absence. Not that she was pregnant back then (or even now as this hasn't been confirmed), but she went from teenager to full-grown woman overnight. Sex will do that do you. Or birth control pills.

Maybe this is why Martina was snorting the baseline?

Karen, oh, Karen, where are you? Just when you thought tennis players were boring and nothing happens in the off-season...

Best Women's Tennis Matches of 2007

by Mad Professah



1. S. Williams USA d. M. Sharapova RUS, 6-1 6-2, Australian Open final, Melbourne.

After a horrible 2006 where her ranking had fallen out of the Top 100, Serena Williams was completely disregarded as a possible factor in the 2007 Australian Open, even moreso after she lost in the quarterfinals of a Tier III tournament in Hobart, Australia, to little-known Sybille Bammer less than 2 weeks before the start of the year's first Grand Slam in Melbourne. In the early rounds, she looked scrappy and won easily before running into the No. 5 seed Nadia Petrova. She was down a 6-1 set and a break before she came back to win the middle set and cruise through the deciding set to win that match. She easily dispatched hard-hitting Jelena Jankovic in the next round and few people were expecting the fierce battle that occurred in the quarterfinal between Serena and Shahar Pe'er, who served for the match twice before succumbing 8-6 in the 3rd set. After every hard-fought match Serena's game looked stronger and stronger and her powerfully effective serve never abandoned her. However, the final against Maria Sharapova, the No. 1 player in the world and winner of the previous Grand Slam was one of the most powerful displays of tennis by Serena Williams ever--and this from a woman who 4 years before had won 4 consecutive Grand Slams! The performance completely stunned the tennis establishment and sent a devastating signal to the woman who had replaced her as the most highly paid female athlete in the world. There was never any doubt who would win the title from the end of the first two games of the match: Serena was hitting winners from every part of the court and serving aces at will. It immediately set the bar for the best match of the year, which was never surpassed.



2. J. Henin BEL d. M. Sharapova RUS, 5-7 7-5 6-3, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships final, Madrid.

The last match of the year often ends up on Best Matches of the Year lists because it is still fresh in the memory when the entire year's matches are being re-evaluated and compared. In addition, the final of the year-end championships also provide a $1 million prize to the victor. However, this year, like last year (and the year before that) a match from the tour championships has landed in the Top 5 Matches of the Year. This time it was the 3 hour, 24 minute slugfest between the new No. 1 Player in the World and reigning 2007 U.S. Open champ, Justine Henin, and last year's U.S. Open champ, Maria Sharapova. Both players wanted desperately to defeat the other and played some of their best tennis of the year in an attempt to blast their opponent off the court. There were incredible rallies and unbelievable shotmaking from both sides of the net. Sharapova was attempting to salvage a horrible 2007 where she had won only one title during the entire year. Henin was trying to put an exclamation point on a year in which she had won two Grand Slam titles and maintained her #1 ranking for the entire year, winning 10 titles in the process. In the end, Henin won the battle, but Sharapova made the statement that the 5-years younger player would be a factor to be dealt with in 2008 and beyond.



3. S. Williams USA d. J. Henin BEL, 0-6 7-5 6-3, Sony Ericsson Open final, Key Biscayne.

After skipping the Australian Open to "recover from her collapsed marriage," this was the first opportunity the current No. 1 player in the world had to play against the resurgent Serena who had early in the tournament again dismantled Maria Sharapova in straight sets to prove her Australian Open beatdown was no fluke. The entire tennis world was curious to see how the two fierce competitors would match up, especially since it had been nearly 4 years since they had played a WTA tour match against each other. Serena started the match atrociously and before long she was not only bageled (0-6) but was fast approaching elimination as Henin earned two match points in the second set on Serena's serve (3-5). After saving those match points (one with a service winner and the other with a forced error) Serena went on to win a string of 6 consecutive games and easily won the match. However, although Serena was victorious in the first meeting of many these two combatants had in 2007, the 3 others occurred in the quarterfinals of the three remaining Grand Slam tournaments of the year and all went Henin's way, with only the Wimbledon quarterfinal providing a fraction of the drama on display in this Miami final. It will be interesting to see if the two players meet in 2008 and now that Serena's ranking is back in the Top 10, it should occur a bit deeper in the tournament, possibly even on the final Sunday of a Slam.



4. M. Bartoli FRA d. J. Henin BEL, 1-6 7-5 6-1, Wimbledon Championships semifinal, London.

Of course tennis fans were unsurprised to see Henin losing to a French player at Wimbledon, since the defending champion Amelie Mauresmo had beaten the Belgian in the 2006 final. However, the Frecnchwoman the No. 1 player in the world lost to at Wimbledon in 2007 was Marion Bartoli, a relative unknown more widely recognized for her coach/father's unorthodox training regimens. Mauresmo underwent an appendectomy in early Spring and was never much of a factor on tour for the rest of the year. In this match, Bartoli was down a set and 5-3 against the fearsome Belgian when she stormed back to claim the 2nd set and continued her momentum to take the deciding set easily. The result was easily the most astonishing upset of 2007 and I would argue was the biggest upset of the current decade. Bartoli went on to become firmly ensconced in the Top 10 for the rest of the year to confirm that this result was no fluke. However, Henin got her revenge at the year-end championships in Madrid, refusing to let the Frenchwoman win a single game (double bagel).



5. V. Williams USA d. J. Jankovic SRB, 4-6 6-1 7-6(4), U.S. Open Quarterfinal, Flushing Meadows.

It's not often the Wimbledon final doesn't make into the Top 5 Best Matches of the Year but 2007 was that kinda year. Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams both played several excellent matches during the year but this showdown at the final Slam was I think the best of their meetings in 2007. Unfortunately for Venus, I think she peaked in this quarterfinal match and thus was not at 100% against Henin in the semifinals. Jankovic also was simply outlasted here but this match could have gone either way, and was Venus' revenge for losing another incredibly tight match to Jankovic earlier in the year at the Charleston semifinals in a 3rd set tiebreak. Venus had demolished the other "Serbian sister" Ana Ivanovic in straight sets the previous round and thus earned the rare distinction of beating both Serbians in the same Grand Slam. However, Henin earned the even rarer distinction of beating both Williams sisters in a tournament and winning it. After this match it was revealed by her mother and coach Oracene Price that Venus had been complaining of tiredness and anemia was suspected. Hopefully the condition will be treated and Venus will be 100% and fully committed to the tour in 2008.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
V. Williams d. M. Bartoli, 6-4 6-1, Wimbledon Championships final.
J. Henin d. A. Mauresmo, 7-5 6-7(4) 7-6(2), Eastbourne Open final.
A. Ivanovic d. N. Vaidisova CZE, 4-6 6-2 7-5, Wimbledon Championships quarterfinal.
M. Sharapova d. V. Williams USA, 2-6 6-2 7-5, Sony Ericsson Open 3rd Round.
V. Williams d. M. Sharapova RUS, 6-1 6-3, Wimbledon Championships 4th Round.
S. Kuznetsova d. J. Henin BEL, 6-4 5-7 6-4, Qatar Telecom German Open semifinal
A. Chakvetadze d. V. Williams USA, 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 6-2, Acura Classic quarterfinal.
A. Ivanovic d. S. Kuznetsova RUS, 3-6 6-4 7-6(4) , Qatar Telecom German Open final.
J. Jankovic d. M. Sharapova RUS, 4-6 6-3 7-5, Birmingham DFS Classic final.
E. Dementieva d. S. Williams USA 5-7 6-1 6-1, Kremlin Cup final.
A. Mauresmo d. K. Clijsters BEL, 6-4 7-6(4), Diamond Proximus Games final.
K. Clijsters d. J. Jankovic SRB, 4-6 7-6(1) 6-4, Medibank Sydney International final.

Madrid Day 3: Eight Seeds A Falling

After a long day of tennis, thanks in large part to the Novak Djokovic - Fernando Verdasco match, which didn't seem like it would ever end, no less than eight seeds were upset in Madrid today. James Blake, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet, Ivan Ljubicic, Carlos Moya, and Mikhail Youzhny were all unceremoniously dumped by lower ranked opponents in today's action.

All the losers are chasing Shanghai and their hopes took a big hit. No. 5 seed Fernando González, currently No. 7 in the race, fought off an inspired Nicolás Almagro 7-6(11), 6-4 to advance to the third round and bolster his chances of makiing the Masters Cup.

The energy at this event is about as lugubrious as a funeral dirge. Call it late-season fatigue, but most of the matches featured disinterested, lethargic and listless play from both sides of the net. This is the price the players and the fans pay for such a long season.



No. 13 seed Guillermo Cañas also survived the day of upsets. The Argentine overcame compatriot and qualifier Agustin Calleri 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to book a date with Roger Federer in the next round. Something tells me Raja gets revenge for one of the two losses he took at Willy's hands earlier this spring. No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal and No. 3 seed Djokovic also advanced.

Performance of the day goes to wildcard Juan Martin del Potro who took out homeboy Robredo in three sets. I'm not a big fan of all del Potro's retirements when losing, but today he gutted out a great win with attacking play, soft hands, and a great midcourt between-the-legs lob winner on the deadrun that stunned the crowd. One of the commentators called it the shot of the year.

In Zürich, the upset theme continued. Nicole Vaidisova ousted No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-3; No. 8 seed Amélie Mauresmo fell to Alona Bondarenko 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; and Tatiana Golovin continued her great indoor play, seeing of No. 4 seed Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-1.

I definitely considered myself a favorite to reach the semifinals, the final and even to win," Ivanovic said after the match. "I was looking ahead instead of focusing on each game, each point. It was a tough lesson for me today."



You'd think by now Ana would've learned that lesson. Having already won a couple of Tier 1 titles, she's not exactly a tour ingenue. Had another player said such things, I've little doubt cries of ungracious and classless would reverberate across the globe. One of my Internet buddies actually thought Ana's statement signified future greatness. I find her remarks neither ungracious (though, surely Tati's play had something to do with the result, no?) nor prophetic. I find them insipid. But I digress.

No. 9 seed Marion Bartoli survived the upsets with a 6-4, 6-1 win over wildcard Michaella Krajicek and will face Golovin in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, TTC won't air the Zurich Open till the semifinals. I'd pay to seed Maid Marion and Tati go at it, especially after their catty remarks about each other regarding Fed Cup participation post-Wimbledon. For those of you who can watch, pop the popcorn and publish the tell-all.