OT: Labor Day US Open thread

[alexrgct]

Worst news of the day: Mardy Fish withdraws from the Open. Mardy suffered from a heart condition late last year, and everyone's hoping that's not the case now. In any event, his opponent for today, Roger Federer, advances automatically to the QF. So Fed makes the quarters for the 34th straight time, or 8.5 years. But no Federer match today.

Amalgro is laying down for Berdych.

In a battle of attractive Eastern European women, Ana Ivanovic easily defeats Tsvetana Pironkova, setting up a likely QF match with Serena.

As for Serena, she's coming up shortly and has a favorable draw to the Finals. Azarenka, Stosur, Sharapova, and Kvitova were all on the top half of the draw (with Petra going down to Bartoli last night). If Serena wins today, she would have Ana in QF, either Radwanska or Kerber in the semis, and then whoever is the last woman standing between Maria, Stosur, Bartoli, and Azarenka.

Lot of tennis to be played, but Serena is due for a fourth US Open. The only person who can stop her is herself.

Again, hope all is well with Mardy. Can't imagine him withdrawing from the US Open unless it was a big problem.

 

[alexrgct]

Serena breaks to start the match. This is not going to be pretty. Hlavackova is ranked #82 and isn't 100% physically.

Then again, I think Serena was ranked #81 when she won the Aussie in 2007.

 

[triaddukefan]

Hate to see that Isner went down to defeat this morning....... I only have 3 players to root for now.... Serena... Roddick... and Del Potro... and of course they play each other tomorrow.

 

[calpedaler]

The Bryan brothers are on CBS SN (613 on DTV) now.

 

[alexrgct]

Hate to see that Isner went down to defeat this morning....... I only have 3 players to root for now.... Serena... Roddick... and Del Potro... and of course they play each other tomorrow.

You can't root for this guy?

 

[VAMike23]

RE: Serena

The only question now is..... will it be a double bagel??

Score is 6-0, 4-0 as I write this.....

 

[alexrgct]

Double bagel completed.

That was pretty much a waste of everyone's time. At least Serena got a little bit of a workout.

 

[VAMike23]

Aaaaaaaaand.....

Serena pulls off the double bagel....in a 4th round match..... Ouch!

 

[alexrgct]

The Bryan brothers are on CBS SN (613 on DTV) now.

Incredible tiebreak in that match!

 

[alexrgct]

Aaaaaaaaand.....

Serena pulls off the double bagel....in a 4th round match..... Ouch!

Yeah, well Steffi did it in FINALS of the 1988 French. Step up your game, Serena.

 

[alexrgct]

Sara Errani upsets Kerber, which to me, means that Serena should kick her own ass if she doesn't make it back to the finals. I dig Radwanska, but there is no one in her half of the draw with the game or the weapons to threaten Serena. And really, Stosur/Sharapova/Azarenka shouldn't either.

 

[wire chief]

Murray & Raonic are on serve early. Sadly Venus & Serena are down 1-6 & 0-2. I can't tell you what's going wrong.

 

[alexrgct]

Sara Errani upsets Kerber, which to me, means that Serena should kick her own ass if she doesn't make it back to the finals. I dig Radwanska, but there is no one in her half of the draw with the game or the weapons to threaten Serena. And really, Stosur/Sharapova/Azarenka shouldn't either.

And after I posted this, Radwanska went down to Vinci. I like Ivanovic's style of play, but she doesn't have the power or consistency to hang with Serena. And Errani-Vinci, though a cute story (two Italians who are doubles partners), is pretty much a pillow fight. Serena is being handed the finals on a silver platter. Right now she's on the precipice of being considered the greatest ever, and every major from here on out is a precious opportunity to push the argument in her favor. This is as golden an opportunity as she is going to get at a tournament that, despite the three championships, has been something of a house of horrors for her.

 

[EricLA]

Great line - pillow fight. That about sums it up. It should be a 3 set match that lasts about 3 hours. Neither of them has much firepower and they are all over the court playing defensive tennis....

 

[wire chief]

Andy Roddick & Juan Martin del Potro in 1st game. For now the rain has stopped.

 

[VAUConnFan]

And after I posted this, Radwanska went down to Vinci. I like Ivanovic's style of play, but she doesn't have the power or consistency to hang with Serena. And Errani-Vinci, though a cute story (two Italians who are doubles partners), is pretty much a pillow fight. Serena is being handed the finals on a silver platter. Right now she's on the precipice of being considered the greatest ever, and every major from here on out is a precious opportunity to push the argument in her favor. This is as golden an opportunity as she is going to get at a tournament that, despite the three championships, has been something of a house of horrors for her.

House of Horrors would be an understatement. The horrendous calls that went gainst her in 2004 against Capriati, especially that overturn on the ball that was not even close to the line and on the chair umpire's side of the court. That particular chair umpire should never work again. On a positive note, we now have the replay challenges;
A direct result of that paricular match.
And the foot fault against Clijsters. Give me a break!

Those two stand out unforgettably. I am sure there were more.

 

[alexrgct]

Sharapova was bailed out today by bad weather. She did NOT come to play. The match with Bartoli resumes tomorrow, with Azarenka awaiting the winner.

Roddick had a chance to serve out the first set but got broken. This is a great match so far. I think Roddick really needs this set though. DelPo is starting to heat up.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Sharapova was bailed out today by bad weather. She did NOT come to play. The match with Bartoli resumes tomorrow, with Azarenka awaiting the winner.

Roddick had a chance to serve out the first set but got broken. This is a great match so far. I think Roddick really needs this set though. DelPo is starting to heat up.

Surely, the personal turmoil in which Ms Sharapova is embroiled is affecting her game and her preparation.

 

[alexrgct]

Surely, the personal turmoil in which Ms Sharapova is embroiled is affecting her game and her preparation.

That could certainly be the case. When Maria isn't totally there mentally, she starts spraying her shots, and Lord knows she was doing a lot of that yesterday. She's been much tougher so far today, however. Not playing perfect tennis by any means, but she's showing how badly she wants to win.

 

[wire chief]

Roger loses under the lights to Tomas Berdych in 4 sets. Too many unforced errors when Tomas was playing well.
That leads to a Berdych-Andy Murray semi.

 

[alexrgct]

Go Murray! If Roger can't win it, I'd love to see Andy get a major title. He's paid his dues, and he plays Novak tough. Novak has been brilliant thus far, though. Looking like a tough out.

Serena is going to obliterate Errani in the semis. Azarenka-Sharapova will be a good match...on mute.