Chokovic Overwhelmed by Moment, Federer

Novak Chokovic. Novak Chokamatch. Novictory Choke.
Up five set points on his serve in the first set, up two set points in the second set, on serve in the third and then double-faulting on the second to the last point of the match, Novak Djokovic was not looking very much like the future of men's tennis today, despite the outsized talent that presented him with these tremendous opportunities in his first Grand Slam. The future of men's tennis instead was looking very much like its past: Roger Federer.
Likable, witty and nice, even kissing the runner up trophy during the awards presentation and certainly grateful for all he was able to accomplish this fortnight, Djokovic is not likely to be looking back at this match with many warm and fuzzy feelings. Given Federer's incredible talents, there is, of course, no guarantee that Djokovic would have won even had he prevailed in the first and second sets, as he came so close to doing.
But he needs to get out of his own way if he's to take it to the next level and become the dominant player of men's tennis, as the closeness of this match suggests he still might, despite some understandable nerves in his first Grand Slam final.
Djokovic shouldn't just double-fault away golden opportunities. Or hit ball after ball long and stay back at the baseline to try and outhit Roger from there, even though he'd been winning when he was moving forward and into the net.
Did Roger play some phenomenal tennis when he needed to? Did he rise to the occasion and seize his opportunities as soon as they came into view? Did he actually hit that cross-court backhand at such an unbelievable angle toward the end of the match? Yes, yes and yes.
By the third set though, the only suspense left for me was whether Roger would break down and sob when he won, as victory seemed inevitable by that point. Unless there were a few tears of joy when Rog stuck his head in his fluorescent white towel briefly, he did not sob. Alas.
Maybe they should just give Roger a bye into the finals at Grand Slams from this point on. And prohibit him from practicing between events. Then, the rest of the competitors might hone their talents and present the absolute best contendor in the entire field. Who probably then would still lose.
We need new phrases to praise Federer, who now has won a dozen Grand Slams. Four U.S. Opens in a row should have some name for it, shouldn't it? It is in some ways even more impressive than four Grand Slams in one year. What would you call that though, a Grand U.S. Open?
Oh and, by the way, he again won three out of four of the Grand Slams this year, a feat he has achieved for the third time. Here are some of the laggards in men's tennis who have not ever won three of the four Grand Slams in one year: Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Sampras. Other than Mats Wilander in 1988 the last professional men's player to win three out of four Grand Slams in one year was Rod Laver in 1969--12 years before Federer was born and one year before his mother Lynette turned 18 and met his father, Robert.
What impressed me most about Federer throughout was his incredible calm. The composure was evident in his rock-solid footwork--no excessive scampering about it. On some points, I just watched him and he looked unbelievably at ease, like he was out hitting somewhere just working on his strokes, not actually getting pushed to the limit. Other than Nadal on clay and that one Wimbledon this past year against Nadal, I don't get the feeling that anyone is pushing Federer to the limit.
Just how much better might he be if he had a true competitor?

Henin Emerges the Victorious Avenger

The women's single draw turned out to be more predictable then anyone expected, except perhaps for Justine Henin.
Looking every bit like the number one player in the world, Henin trounced Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 in the finals of the U.S. Open Saturday night, exacting revenge for Kutnetsova's surprise victory against Elena Dementieva in the finals three years ago when Henin was last seeded number one at the tournament. (Henin was knocked out of that year's tourney by Nadia Petrova.)
There were no surprises last night, as Henin became the first number one seed to win the U.S. Open singles draw since Serena Williams last won the championship half a decade ago. Looking as out of shape as Williams appeared to be at the Australian Open, Kuznetsova could not get away with not being in top form against the world's top player and was outplayed from the baseline, at the net and between the ears.
Kuznetsova's one chance came near the end when Henin, still a shaky closer, gave her a few double faults and Kuznetsova had two break points. But Henin came up with the goods and by the short night's end was hoisting her seventh Grand Chelem trophy overhead.
Roger Federer will be going for a 12th Grand Slam victory today against Novak Djokovic after both eased into the finals--Roger for a record-setting 10th straight time as Davydenko proved the futility of going toe to toe against Rog from the baseline. Did anyone stay awake during either match? It looked like Federer barely had to.
In the other semi, Djokovic had some moments where he was fighting for air against David Ferrer, even though it was a straight set victory. Djokovic is a tremendous player, but his breathing problems are alarming. I compared Henin to Federer in my last posting, but Djokovic and she have some things in common too--tremendous fight despite some physical vulnerabilities.
As for Federer, he was hardly looking vulnerable. I wonder if he'll ever wake up from the dream of victorious tennis he's been marching through for the past half decade. Could Novak be the one to turn the dream into a nightmare? No one other than the number one seed has won the U.S. Open since 2003.
And that surprise winner just happened to be Roger Federer.

Federer's Female Doppelganger Advances

Pale as a ghost and sometimes seeming almost too frail for this world, Justine Henin is an unlikely champion, however used to it tennis fans now are. Her winning is becoming almost as predictable as Federer's. Is she emerging as Federer's female doppelganger?
Before you scoff at the notion, consider that while Federer has advanced to the past nine Grand Slam singles finals, Henin was in all four finals last year and now will have appeared in two of the four this year. Sure, nine out of nine is better than six out of eight, but six out of eight isn't bad. In fact, it's awfully good. If Roger Federer's record wasn't so gaudy, there might be a lot more talk about how dominant Henin has been on the tour in recent years. And a lot more talk with Henin. In my local coverage of Henin's win today over Venus, the coverage immediately ended after Henin had won--not one second was spent on any reaction from Henin.
Both Henin and Federer won their first Grand Slams in 2003, winning their Grand Slam of choice, the French Open in Henin's case and Wimbledon in Rog's. She looked even slighter at the time than she does now and was still battling her nerves at the end of matches in that era to a ridiculous degree. Even today, closing matches quickly can be one of her few weaknesses, as her broken service game in the penultimate game of today's semi-final win over Venus showed.
Few would have predicted that Henin's emergence would begin the decline of the Williams sisters' dominance of women's tennis. But consider this--before Henin won the French in 2003, Serena had won the previous four Grand Slams, the much-heralded Serena slam. And before Serena's run, Venus had won half of the previous women's Grand Slam events.
After Henin won the French in 2003, it soon was a very different story. Over the next four years, Serena has been able to win just three more Grand Slams, less than she'd bagged within the previous 12 months before Henin's first Grand Slam. And Venus has fared worse--only two, though unforgettably spectacular Wimbledon victories. Meanwhile, Henin has collected five more Grand Slams, as much as the Williams combined after her first Grand Slam win.
Has she dominated as much as Federer? Of course not. But she has dominated more than is commonly acknowledged. Justine is more Federerlike than most realize with her brilliant shot-making and ability to make adjustments in matches in order to win.
I was sorry to see Venus miss what very well may be her last good shot at winning the U.S. Open. She is 27, after all. But who else would have become become only the second player to beat both Williams sisters consecutively in a Grand Slam but Henin?
Hingis was the last to accomplish the feat and was so exhausted by it she lost to Capriati in the finals of the 2001 Australian. Everyone assumed Hingis would have another shot at a Grand Slam. Hingis loomed in people's minds large. She just seemed so dominant when she was at the top of her game.
Yet Hingis won a total of only five Grand Slams, just two more than Capriati, who people now barely mention, and an accomplishment Henin already has topped. Yes, of course, Hingis' five victories are impressive. But Henin now has eclipsed her.
It's time for Henin to impress us more, not because she's lacked the achievements to impress. But because most have failed to see how great a champion, she's become.
She's emerged as a real Federer.

Beautiful Win for the Beast

Max Mirnyi's tennis career is taking on as gigantic proportions as the 6'5" Beast himself.
Back when he was 21, he won his first U.S. Open mixed doubles title with a new player on the scene (you might have heard of her, Serena Williams), then repeated that feat again today with Victoria Azarenka, a surprise quarterfinalist in the women's singles draw and fellow countrywoman from Belarus, today.
One of the few players on the tour to have earned six digits in doubles and singles so far this year, and more in doubles than singles to boot, Mirnyi has more than a few doubles Grand Slam titles under his belt, including the 2000 and 2002 U.S. Opens. And 2005 and 2006 Roland Garros doubles titles. Plus, the 1998 Wimbledon mixed doubles title (with a little help from his friend Serena). Yes, he's just one Grand Slam title away from a career Grand Slam. He just needs one Down Under to complete his set of silver. (What do you say, Serena? Are you willing to pitch in and help Max out one more time?!)
Not a bad tourney for Azarenka either, collecting her first Grand Slam win ever.
And what do the Belarussians think of their win? Who can say since not even the U.S. Open web site includes an interview with the victors. You have to simply guess from the single photo of the mixed doubles champ. Unless, I suppose, one goes a blogging and perhaps becomes fluent in Belarussian along the way.
But, then again, their smiles in the photo are pretty easy to translate. Even Max's smile is giant.

Another Heartening Victory for Federer

Remember when Guga Kuerten won the French Open and drew a heart in the clay? Sometimes it really is all about heart, particularly when it comes to tiebreaks.
The score in last night's quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick suggested that not much separates the two: 7-6, 7-6, 6-2. Not much except the great heart and love for tennis reflected in Federer's 14-1 lifetime record against Roddick and 11 Grand Slam titles (possibly soon 12) versus Roddick's one. If their head-to-head record were flipped, so too might the number of Grand Slam trophies in their trophy cases.
It shouldn't be surprising that Roddick gets to a tiebreaker against Federer, given Roddick's serve. What is surprising, despite Federer's brilliance, is that Roddick didn't win either tiebreak, given his serve.
Which must have abandoned Roddick to a certain extent. Tiebreaks are all about heart, nerve and cool, and Federer showed once again that he has those in spades.
As for Roddick--6-2 in the third? That score is the very embodiment of someone who is disheartened.

Whew!

Few would have predicted before Venus played Jelena Jankovic that Jankovic would be the player who seemed to have the much greater wingspan.
But time and time again tonight, Jankovic was getting ball after ball back. It seemed like she almost had magic extendo hands on some shots and those splits were straight out of the circus.
Jerry Seinfeld was in the crowd and Jankovic had more smiles on the court than a stand-up comic. It is hard to pull against Jankovic. She's likeable and has good instincts, telling the obnoxiously partisan fans from her country to stop heckling Venus during Venus' serve. Jankovic at one moment actually was holding up a hand to keep them quiet. And keeping loose and jovial surprisingly didn't seem to be Jankovic's undoing just before she held serve leading up to the tiebreak. Part of me was thinking, shoulldn't she be taking this more seriously?
On the other side of the net, professional and gracious as ever, Venus was hardly cracking a smile. Her game face was on and that look said it all--there wasn't anything funny about being down much of the third set.
Despite how likeable Jankovic is and her easy breezy manner reminiscent of Guga Kuerten and Natasha Zvereva, I couldn't help cheering every point Venus won. It was her second win in a third-set tiebreaker, the first coming near the start of her career against Irina Spirlea 10 years ago. It's tough to think about Venus having a limited window of time left to win more U.S. Opens, but it's a shorter window of time than a surface that fits her game as perfectly as Wimbledon's grass does.
Venus seemed to lose her footing periodically. And Venus was fiddling with her shorts more than Nadal typically does. As for her game, Venus looked uncertain from time to time, but then suddenly toward the end of the third set seemed to have this look of OK, I know what to do and I'm going to do it. And then she did.
Venus finally, finally stopped hitting balls long and in the net or wide and brought the A game that she displayed in the second set to the third set tiebreaker, apart from a few loose shots here and there. Her inside out forehand and cross-court forehand started paying dividends.
There will be more chips on the table for Venus very soon. It has been four years since Venus has played Justine Henin. Venus' record is dominant: 7-1. But she will need her A game from start to finish in that match if she wants to seize the opportunity before her and be holding the championship trophy high three nights from now.

All-Russian Semi on Tap

Anna Chakvetadze and Svetlana Kuznetsova ran there way through Shahar Peer and Agnes Svazay today to set up an all-Russian semi-final between two Muscovites overshadowed for years by Maria Sharapova, despite their rise to the top 10. After this tournament, both should be ensconsced in the top five.
This was supposed to be Maria's section of the draw, her catwalk to the finals.
Instead, it may be Chakvetadze's opportunity to announce her entry in earnest to the elite among women's tennis. She's just 20 years old, which may have felt old when she played 16-year-old Tamira Paszek in the round of 16.
But Chakvetadze's peak years may lie before her. Working some now with Robert Lansdorf, who coached such former U.S. Open champs as Tracy Austin, Lindsay Davenport and Pete Sampras, Chakvetadze seems to be well-grounded like those players too and have solid groundies to boot.
And she's having a breakthrough year, having reached at least the third round in all of the Grand Slams. She's also made it to the quarters of the Australian and French, and now at least the semis of the U.S. Open. This should be a nice time in her career when expectations aren't yet sky high and she's quietly making her way through the draw as past champions like Hingis and Sharapova fall by the wayside.
Compare Chakvetadze's year with Henins' breakthrough year, just six years ago when Henin suddenly was into the 4th round of the Australian, semis of the French Open, a runner-up at Wimbledon and the 4th round of the U.S. Open. Chakvetadze's breakthrough year compares very favorably and bodes well for the up-and-coming Russian.
And did I mention she seems nice? What's becoming of women's tennis?

Meghann Still Shines

About that mixed doubles match I wasn't supposed to care about, Meghann Shaughnessy and Leander Paes reached the finals. They won 7-6, 6-7 and then in the ridiculous excuse for a third set in mixed doubles known as the third set tiebreak, 10-5 in the third against grumbly bear Jamie Murray and South African turned American Liezel Huber. But you know, it just wasn't close enough to pay attention to.
Still, if you want to be an outlaw and give a hoot about doubles (remember that Canon Rebel, Rebel commercial with Agassi? If not, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMHH_AGCv-4, and you too can be a rebel, mmK?), her women's quarterfinals doubles match is today.
Great tourney, Meghann!

Bottom Half of Men's Draw Opens Up

Everyone has been talking about how weak the bottom half of the women's draw is at this year's U.S. Open, but after Nadal's loss to David Ferrer in last night's quarterfinals, the men's draw opened up significantly. In fact, the bottom half of the women's draw is now looking relatively strong compared to the bottom half of the men's draw.
The bottom fell off the men's draw last night (sounds kind of vulgar, doesn't it?) when David Ferrer had the match of his career, beating a Rafa Nadal who has been struggling with a knee injury all tournament. (I'm still trading in my crystal ball though, as my forecasted men's winner lost as soon as Ferrer raised his hands in victory, if he did. I don't stay up that late folks.) Will Nadal ever win a Grand Slam other than the French? Or will he be a one-Grand Slam wonder?
So, back to that comparison between the weak bottom half of the women's draw versus the weak bottom half of the men's draw. At the bottom of the women's draw, there remain the number 4, 6 and 18 seeds. And Agnes Szavay. Who? Well, unseeded Mats Wilander had a run far into the French his first showing in 1982. In fact, he won the dang thing. So, stranger things have happened.
And on the men's side? The 3, 15, 17 and 20 seeds remain. Not exactly a blockbuster line-up is it? Except there Djokovic is. Maybe I should have stuck with my crystal ball forecast earlier this summer and picked him to win the tourney.
One crystal ball forecast remains: Roddick beating Federer. Oh yeah. I'm feeling real good about that one.

Serena Really Did Play Horribly

Serena Williams often is criticized for not being gracious enough when she loses. She rarely gives credit to her opponent. She usually talks instead about how horribly she played.
But the simple fact of the matter is that, for someone of her ability, she did play horribly against Justine Henin in her 7-6, 6-1 tonight.
A forehand in the net. That is how Serena ended the match. And though Henin served well, Henin wasn't without some characteristically shaky play at different critical junctures in the match. Up in the first set, Henin started double-faulting and Serena was able to break and even had a set point at 6-5.
Serena had her chances. And she had at least one spectacular point--the first point of the tiebreak. Sometimes tennis seems unfair. That point was so incredible it should have been worth a lot more than just one point.
Usually Serena's the one you can count on when it comes to the really big points. But tonight Henin was the steady one in the tiebreak. Serena was the one making odd decisions, like a half-baked drop shot attempt at a critical moment in the tiebreak.
And then where did Serena go in the second set? She stopped coming to the net. She stopped moving forward. She let Justine take control of the points. Maybe Serena was disheartened by the missed chances in the first set. Maybe she couldn't get some horrendous errors that should have been putaways out of her head. But she was simply not in the match in the second set.
Justine had some unbelievable shot-making and beautiful cross-court play. Still, there's little question in my mind that Serena has more talent than any other player on the women's tour.
But grit, determination and, perhaps Henin's least recognized skill, an uncanny sense of anticipation that more than makes up for her much smaller reach, all led Justine into the next round.
Should Venus meet her there, I'd favor Venus. She doesn't usually like it when someone beats her little sister. And, unlike Serena, Venus has seemed very focussed so far this tournament. Should Venus get through tomorrow night, there will be another exciting match-up between Justine and one of the Williams sisters! Will Justine become the first to beat Serena and Venus in a Grand Slam one right after the next? Would she have anything left for the final if she did? Martina Hingis didn't the last time that feat was accomplished, losing in the Australian Open final to Capriati, if memory serves me correctly. Everyone keeps talking about how weak the bottom part of the draw is, but Kuznetsova won this very tournament just three years ago. Things might be falling into place very nicely for her.
As for Venus, well, it won't be long until big sister steps back up to the service line. Can Venus come a step closer to moving her six Grand Slam titles closer to little sister's eight? I may have both of my finalists out of the draw now, but there may still be a shot at a Williams there. I know who I'm rooting for.
Allez Venus!

Best American Doubles Performer at the U.S. Open Untelevised

She's 28, hasn't been past the second round of the singles of a major since 2004 and lost in the second round of the main draw at this year's U.S. Open. And she's having a great tournament.
Having already reached the semifinals of the mixed doubles and quarters of the women's doubles, Meghann Shaughnessy is having the best doubles performance at this year's U.S. Open of any American. The Bryan brothers are out. The Williams sisters aren't playing doubles.
And there Shaughnessy is, apparently fighting on the court right now to stay in the mixed doubles draw, after losing a close first set.
There's not much glory or coverage of successful doubles players. Why the professional tour is seeking to find ways to shorten the doubles matches and allowing men's matches to sprawl across five sets the entire tournament, as apparently they did not do in early rounds before the late 1970s, is completely beyond me. Right now there apparently is a highly competitive mixed doubles semifinals match with two Americans in it--31-year-old Liezel Huber is on the other side of the net. And how am I able to track it without tickets? By the web's periodic updates of the score.
It's 4-4. Dead even in the second set. Oh, but I forgot. I'm not supposed to care about doubles. Never mind.

He Wants Much Moya

Jimmy Connors may be looking to Andy Roddick to fill his shoes, but Carlos Moya was calling to mind Connors' great runs as his career was coming to a close, moving into the quarters of the U.S. Open for the first time since 1998, the year when Moya briefly won the French and reached number one in the world.
The oldest man in the draw at 29, which is practically senile in tennis years, and the lowest seed left should Djokovic dispatch with Monaco as he seems well on his way to doing, Moya got both feet way out of the grave after this match, snapping whippernapper Ernests Gulbis even after Moya's usual bout with nerves in the tiebreaker, which he lost--not a huge surprise given how iffy Moya's serve can be.
Moya plays a gutsy brand of tennis that you would think would have been a formula for early burnout. And yet those far younger than him and with games you would think would have built for the power game, like Taylor Dent, are doing color commentary on the US Open web site.
But then Moya is one of the great architects of the sport. After all, look at who he helped put together on that sunny remote isle of Mallorca. A great champion by the name of Rafa Nadal.
Should Rafa win his quarterfinal match, they'll be just one match away from meeting in the semifinals of a Grand Slam instead of the quarters as in the French.
I was wrong about this being the Argentina/Spanish Open. It's the Mallorca Open now.

Rabble Fails To Defeat Haas

In the worst display of unsportsmanlike conduct since the French Open crowd booed Martina Hingis off the court in her final loss to Steffi Graf in 1999, the U.S. Open crowd failed to defeat Tommy Haas as he played against the original class act, James Blake.
Making catcalls as Haas served, applauding wildly when Haas faulted or made errors, chanting Blake's name as though at some team sport like soccer instead of an individual sport with just two people on either side of the net before a screaming, out-of-control mob of thousands, the New York crowd set a new low for unsportansmalike spectator conduct. How few of them realized the amazing comeback story of Tommy Haas, riddled by injuries and whose parents nearly died a few years back in a motorcycle accident?
Should Haas have won a Grand Slam by now given his amazing shot-making ability and talent? And has he been something of a disappointment as a result despite a career that most could only hope for in their wildest dreams? Yes and yes. Is he usually the one who's so often called unsportsmanlike rather than the crowd? That would also be yes.
The play in the best match thus far on the men's side periodically was at a high level. And sometimes both players seemed to be choking. Their were more momentum swings than screams on a roller coaster ride.
But the crowd showed no appreciation for Haas. Fighting his way back from match points to even the final fifth set at 6-6, the crowd was so biased for Blake that it barely applauded both players for having reached that stage of the match.
How is anyone able to ignore thousands of people pulling against you in such a hostile way? Maybe as a pro, you're able to tune it out. But Haas clearly looked rattled serving to try and even the match down 4-5 in the fifth. It was as though the crowd wasn't content to leave the outcome to tennis strokes, but wanted to transform the match into two against one--the crowd and Blake versus Haas.
James Blake, known for his sportsmanlike conduct on and off the court, congratulated Haas after the match. Blake's a likable guy. You can see why the crowd was rooting for him.
But the crowd's rooting for him may actually have been his undoing. It's widespread knowledge that Amelie Mauresmo has difficulty doing well in the French Open because the crowd is pulling for her too much and putting too much pressure on her. I wonder if Blake felt too much pressure too. The second and third to last points of the match certainly looked like he was succumbing to the pressure.
The U.S. Open is anything but quiet. With music blaring on courts while players change sides and onto surrounding courts, and people getting up in the middle of points and walking who knows where rather than waiting until between matches to change their seat, it's hardly Wimbledon.
Perhaps Blake's personality, calmer and classier, is suited more to Wimbledon than the U.S. Open. The crowd's performance today made this spectator wonder whether Ashe Stadium is just too big or the spectators' manners too infinitesimally little.

He Wants Moya

Remember when Carlos Moya was the new kid on the block?
Back then he seemed liked the giant. Suave, glam, and number one in the world.
A decade is about as long a stretch as anyone manages in the professional ranks these days. Carlos Moya is entering his second decade of tennis still within sight of the top, if not dominating the game.
Last night he showed why he's still in the mix--for the sheer love of the game in a gutsy five-set win against Kohlschreiber. Moya may not end up in the winner's circle by tourney's end. But there should be little doubt that regardless of when or how he exits this year's tournament, he'll know he was at least a three-time winner.
Onto the 4th round again!

Rodney Dangerfield of Women's Tennis Advances

She rarely gets assigned a night match, and if she does, the networks usually broadcast only the last snippets of it. After she wins, the networks don't hang around to catch her interviews. She barely gets mentioned as a favorite during the tournament, even though she's the number one seed and number one player in the world and has marched through the tournament with ease. She is in none of the ads for the televised coverage, though she has won six Grand Slams, one in each of the last five years.
Maybe you don't even realize who the heck I'm talking about yet. It's Justine Henin--the Rodney Dangerfield of women's tennis.
Sure, the other players respect her, even after outlandish shenanigans like her pulling out of the Australian final a handful of games from defeat in 2006 because, even though she stepped out on the court, ooh, er, eh, suddenly losing to Amelie Mauresmo just made her too ill to carry on.
She may not ever be anyone's favorite player, yelling out "Allez" constantly and glaring like some kind of crazy despot.
But her groundstrokes and footspeed are wonders to behold, not to mention her fight. There she stood, looking all the world like David playing 9 foot 11 inches (right?) Dinara Safina last night. It looked like a pro giving some amateur a tough workout--6-0, 6-2.
She may not have the hoppin, boppin commercial with HP or her own clothing line like her opponent in the next round. And few may remember she knocked Serena out of the last two Grand Slams.
I'm guessing Serena hasn't forgotten though. It will be intesting to see if Justine yet again wins, but fails to win much R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I wonder what any of this means to her.

Up and Comers, Down and Outers

Occasionally there will be a Grand Slam where it seems like the entire draw has been turned upside down and you've never heard of half the players. That's the way the bottom half of the women's singles draw looks these days. Sometimes it just means the stars are out of alignment and it's a really freaky year. But other times, it means a bona fide changing of the guard.
Of course, players rankings are constantly rising and falling. But some seem to be heading down faster than others, even as others suddenly seem to be tomorrow's rising stars.
This years faders? Well, Dementieva, Petrova, Hantuchova and Hingis for sure. And possibly Sharapova and Schnyder.
The up and comers? Time to memorize some new names that initially sound difficult to pronounce: Agnes Svazay of Hungary, a 19-year-old who came into the tournament ranked an all-time high of 31 in the world; Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine, a 24-year-old late bloomer who came into the tournament ranked 50 and who had never risen above 33 in the world prior to the tourney; Victoria Azarenka, an 18-year-old from Belarus; Tamara Pazcek, a 16-year-old (she doesn't turn 17 until December) from Austria, who was ranked 43 before the tournament; and giant-slayer Agnieszka Radwanska, an 18-year-old from Poland.
Flashes in the pan or tomorrow's stars? Time, and www.tenniscritic/blogspot.com, will tell.

Monaco, Chela Advance at Argentina/Spanish Open

Play continued at the Argentina /Spanish Open, formerly known as the U.S. Open, on Sunday, as five of the 16 men playing today hailed from Argentina and four of the others from Spain.
Agustin Calleri of Argentina, who defeated the most obnoxious player on the tour the previous round (Come on, who else could we be talking about but Lleyton Hewitt?), fell to dreamboat Juan Monaco, also of Argentina. Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina defeated the all-time Grand Slam underachiever other than Tommy Haas, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, while an Argentine actually lost. David Nalbandian was upset by David Ferrer of Spain. Juan Martin Del Potro, also of Argentina
will be losing to Novak Djokovic of Serbia later today.
Other Spaniards advancing included Rafa, Rafa, Rafa Nadal in a cakewalk. He's not looking quite so gimpy now. Tommy Robredo and Carlos Moya play later today. And where do the remaining five come from?
Well, there's one from Switzerland (Wawrinka in the bottom half of the draw rather than you know who), one from Latvia (Ernests Gulbis), a German (Philipp Kohlschreiber), one from France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and one from, now where's the place?--oh, the USA, Robby Ginepri. So, I suppose maybe we can still call it the U.S. Open.
Plus, Serena's making sure the American flag can wave proudly today, cruising into the quarters in style. Yes, the really big news today was that her pink hat didn't clash with her dress. At least it didn't seem to on my crappy TV. Rolle and Young did well to get to the third round before bowing out. And Venus is holding her own so far against Ana Ivanovic.
And James Blake and A-Rod (who started that anyway? Is it really legal to call anyone by such an idiotic nickname?) are doing the Stars and Stripes proud in the top half of the draw.

Patience Beats Pace

It felt like the match should end in a tie. And throughout much of the third set, Shahar Peer and Nicole Vaidisova were dead even.
Looking up to her box of family constantly for support, Vaidisova played some brilliant offense, hitting a flat ball very reminiscent of Linsday Davenport. Except Vaidsova has wheels too.
Her Achilles' heel? She either cannot play at the net or was having a horrendous night up there. Whether ditching volleys in the net or letting balls go that she could have and should have played, Vaidisova had her chances.
Peer wasn't pushing the ball, except for her serve. The winning serve was, as Peer noted afterwards, a pitiful 68 miles per hour. But she played tremendous defense, getting balls back that Vaidisova probably thought would be winners.
I often thought when Lindsay Davenport was playing at the top of her form that the longer the point went, the likelier it was that Davenport would lose it. I think the same can be said of Vaidisova. She needs to win a point within the first two or three times the ball comes back to her or her opponent is likely to tough it out. It's a tough way to win, but if you have almost no touch, or no patience to mix some touch shots in with the blasts, that's the way it goes.
Another model for Vaidisova though might be Mary Pierce, who came out on the tour blasting away. But she gradually learned to become a wilier player.
Peer was mixing things up nicely, even if she did more than once go for a ridiculous shot that wasn't there, and had, without question, the stupidest challenge thus far in the tournament, a Vaidisova serve that was well within the service line.
Peer came to win though. Peer would close her eyes and visualize it. She'd slow the pace of the match down between points that way.
And now she's sped her way into the round of 16 in a very open bottom half of the draw.

Radwanska Trounces Sharapova

You heard it here first. Maria Sharapova is not the 2007 U.S. Open champ. My bad.
And Sharapova''s, who would have settled for Elena Dementieva's serve after today's performance. The victor, Agnieszka Radwanska, was practically standing before the service line for Sharapova's serves, once the superstar's greatest asset and now perhaps her toughest opponent.
Yes sirree, we called this one like we saw it. And now we're illin', even if it's a pretty sight to see someone who seems as down to Earth as Radwanska defeat the prima donna that Madison Avenue has turned Sharapova into.
Maybe this loss will end up being one of the best things that ever happened to her.
Yeah, right.