Martina Hingis: the importance to have a serve

Great tricks, impossible angles, and an unbelievable chipped lob to earn the match point. Anyways, Martina’s serve is becoming more problematic than ever before. The question is: who has the worst/the weakest serve in the top-10 bunch ? Still Dementieva ?
That’s Winning % on 2nd Serve against Peng: 35%. Dementieva’s against Granvillle: 38%. Average 2nd serve speed comparison: 79 MPH Hingis vs 92 MPH Dementieva. It’s clearly not only a matter of speed.
Relating to the winning % in 2nd serve, it’s related to the opponent’s returning skill. And Shuai Peng is a good returner. I know, but these stats make me think!!!

Us Open day3 - Men's Singles: a day without earthquakes

A day without earthquakes in the scores at Flushing Meadows.
Federer cruised through to the 2nd in about 100 minutes. Nothing new under the sun. The interesting aspect is that Federer is happy about the tennis he displayed during this practice session – first round matches. He said: “Yeah, I thought I played pretty well. Not too many mistakes. I played aggressive, and it worked out. So it was a good match all in all, definitely”. And he described how he’s been feelin’: “it's just a feeling you get inside, you know, every time you have a chance to attack, you never lose a point. In defense, you believe in your capabilities of coming up with a great shot at the right time. Big points, you know you're gonna serve well. You have a feeling in the baseline rallies that everything is slowed down for you and for the other guy it's quicker, you know. Feelings like this then make you just play fantastic tennis”. So that explain a 6-4 6-1 6-0 win against an opponent - Taiwan's Wang – not as weak as you suppose from the score.
And now two words about a guy I’m cheering for lately: Fernando González. He allowed his opponent Jiri Vanek only two games more than Federer did. Recently Fernando seems to be transformed in the way of playing: calmer and more patient than before, less punch and more fluency in his strokes. I can’t believe how improved his backhanded backspin is. You ask me if I think he has a chance here? Try to know what Roger’s saying about it: “Yes, absolutely (he has a chance). He's had a great summer so far. I think he's improved over the last few years. He has been much more consistent. He's in the top 10 now and, you know, playing good. Dangerous game with his forehand and everything. I expect a lot of things from him here at the Open especially.”
Just a note on the other players: not a cakewalk for James Blake, who we spoke of earlier; Nadal played solid tennis, very focused to counterpunch Philippoussis bomb’s; Hewitt, whenever he takes the court, he runs so many balls down, even in a not great form, if you don’t play aggressive he always makes you go for an extra shot (incredible stamina); good job for Moya against Calleri, it wasn’t an easy match; Haas, Berdych, Tursunov, Gaudio and Olivier Rochus breezed through their first round match; just a little bit of a distraction for Marat Safin; Naldabandian overcame a sluggish start before rolling to a five set win.

Us Open No day-2: Rain cancelled the show. Who benefits ?

“Hot sticky scenes you know what I mean
Like a desert sun that burns my skin
I've been waiting for her so long
Open the sky (and let her come down)
Here comes the rain I love the rain
Here she comes again
Rain...
Rain...
Rain...”

Those are the lyrics Ian Astbury, founder and singer of a band named “The Cult”, sung in the middle eighties. Did anyone do the same yesterday at Flushing Meadows ? Not the tickets purchasers. Definitely. Now let’s try to look for players who benefit from the yesterday’s rain. The rain cancelled both of the sessions, therefore several players have one more day off, to take a rest. The oldest and/or injured ones like Agassi and Lindsay, really need it. Even the players who are in jam usually bless the rain, like Mauresmo did yesterday. But is rain delay a real advantage for these kinds of players? Not always and not at all.
Making an example: Andre and Lindsay are gonna play their 2nd round on Thursday. That’s good. But then if they win, will have to play 3rd round on Friday? No more advantage if they are gonna play back to back matches from 2nd to 3rd round. And we can stop here, ‘cause the matter is so boring.
The only certain thing is that we have a loaded schedule today, which includes 80 matches, with 73 singles matches.

Henin is on fire – Day 1 (Women’s Report)

Just one upset on a calm day 1. Justine rocked and displayed moments of top-class tennis. Jankovic and Kuznetsova trembled for a while, but in the end ran past their opponents. Good wins for Safarova (vs Stosur) and for Mirza (vs Sprem). Easy Start for Dementieva e Davenport.
Rising Babe Aravane Rezai stunned 15th seeded Ana Lena Groenefeld; I kind of expected it considering Groenefeld's recent results. Rezai is a raw player with deadly groundstrokes, needs to improve her footwork but seems to be ready to fulfill her potential.

Heads rolled at the US Open on Day 1 (Men’s Report)

Rain delayed the start of play on day 1, but not avoided several heads rolled across the court. Actually, 5 seeded players (out of 11 who played yesterday) were ousted from the tournament: Ljubicic, Hrbaty, Nieminen, Acasuso, and Chela. Bad day for the Italian contingent, wiped out easily by all kind of opponents. A Rod keeps to be on top of his game, very focused, he did what he had to do, and the french guy, Florent Serra, crashed down. Andre won by heart and soul and moved on to set a second round clash with raising star Marcos Baghdatis. That’s day 1 report in pills. Amongst the many that deserve a special praise, I have chosen the day heroes: Malisse and Srichapan. The belgian was gorgeous: straight sets win over Jarko Nieminen, fired winners from all side of the court, finished the match with 36 winners and only 24 unforced errors, while the finnish standed at 22 and 36, winning 79% of points on 1st serve and just one bp for Nieminen!!! The Thai shows what kind of athlete he is, survives five-set marathon which lasted about 3 hours and a half against the tough Acasuso’s impressive forehand and serve bombs (fastest serve 137 MPH). What did make the difference in the end? Paradorn remains fresh until the end (he’s a great athlete, not just good), whereas Acasuso’s his footwork appeared leaden in the fifth set.
At last, just to say third seed Ljubicic is leaving from NY with pale face and tired eyes, unusually out of shape.

Us Open – Day 1: Matches to watch (women's singles)

Henin-Hardenne vs. Camerin Even though Justine played only four summer hardcourt matches, she seems to be on, fit and in a great shape. No doubt she is the favourite this year. The only question mark could be Justin will be struggling with her knees this fortnight. So would be better to come to the second week with a streak of straight sets wins. Camerin is not bad on hard-court, but how many games will be played today ?
Dementieva vs. Granville Now’s the time to prove Lena D. can do well in her favourite Slam. This summer was able to deal with Sharapova’s power and won a LA. Once the rallies get going, she is the best mover out there. Runs so many balls down, play aggressive, always make you go for an extra shot. Is it enough to offset her flutterball serve ? Today's opponent, such a sweet girl, seems not to have the skills to take profit from the Russian Achille’s heel. Anyways, a Lena first round can always turn in 3-sets psyco-thriller.
Schnyder vs. Smashnova The funny thing is that could a moon-balls festival, between two players who love to slow the pace of the game down with lots loopy shots. I dunno how irritating could be for people there, but the match will be filled with long baseline rallies, with Patty- I guess – the more willing to finish off the point.
Schiavone vs Oprandi Spaghetti derby in New York City. a tough task for Schiavone to show her bad days are over. Oprandi is not an opponent you can just walk on court and think she’s going to give it to you. Schiavone has to be full on, if she’s not, is gonna lose.
Stosur vs Safarova Sam is one most improved player of the year, Lucie is very talented too with so many injuries this season. The winner of this clash may get 4th round with an unimposing draw.
Sprem vs Mirza. Expected fireworks as these 2 hard hitters clash in Flushing Meadows. Who will win ? I think will be the better to control the shots, with less UE.
Jankovic vs Dulko Can’t wait to see if Jelena can keep her amazing summer season. IMO she’s the big hitter who moves better in Wta tour. She’s serving well and with her footwork now she can reach some balls where maybe she was struggling a little bit before. I put all my eggs in her basket, the cute Gisela cannot be able to face such kind of power.
Chan vs Flipkens I’m a keen junior tennis lover, so this match means the world to me. Can’t wait to see how Yung-Jan can handle the pression to play in a Slam. Kirsten is a good player with high potential of growth for the months to come.

Us Open – Day 1: Matches to watch (men's singles)

Roddick vs Serra First test for A Rod, very important to check if Andy is keeping his momentum after Cincinnati. Out there served well, hit the ball very well on both sides, moved very well, was a little patient building the points. There are some things he can bring on court to do well at Flushing Meadows. If his game will be there, Florent Serra will be an underdog.
Simon vs Bracciali One of the closest matches of day 1 between two good players, with different games: the former is based on wile and consistency; the latter is big boom serve and power oriented.
Wawrinka vs Chela I guess Wawrinka belongs to the darkhorse nation. Put an eye on him. Aggressive, good serve, great BH, not only a clay court player. Can’t wait to watch him battling against Chela, “the dirt rat of dirt rats”.
Hrbaty vs Youzhny possible upset, Youzhny is a tough opponent for Dominik (leading the H-to-H 4-1), the Slovakian has got a pretty bad momentum heading into USO, with so many short and not so fast balls.
Pavel vs Agassi. Andre’s last pro tournament of any sort starts off under the Arthur Ashe spotlight, against Andrei Pavel of Romania, a former top-15 player currently slumping with no match played in summer hard court season. Not a very tough match for Andre, but some of it depends on what physical condition of Andre is.
Young vs Djokovic future of tennis at work ? I think Novak is the present. very talented, even if only a win under this belt during summer season. Young could be the future, but nowadays is a little green for that kind of competition.
Nieminen vs Malisse That’s my fav 1st round match, between two different players who have in common a huge talent. The former plays solid, the latter is lazy and reckless but we know Xavier can turn it on at any given time.
Becker vs Volandri A new B. Becker ? No relation with his famous namesake Boris Becker, but the German is an interesting player with a good serve. It’s could be enough to oust the “poor” Volandri.

Us Open: look at the draws let your thoughts flow.

No tennis yesterday, I had a relaxed evening watching an amazing movie, “Lords of Dogtown”. And today morning, completely fresh and awake, took a first look at the US Open main draws, pretty complex stuff as usual. The rule in all my “looking into the draws” is that there are NO rules. Just think as fast as I can without interruption, and let my thoughts flow. That’s about it.
Now I’m trying to report the thoughts that bubbled up from the inside out:
Women’s draw: highways for Justine Henin; when it’s “slam time”don’t be too concerned with her shape, her knees and other physical matters: she is OK. Her quarter is a warm-up en route to SF, where is possible a clash with an outsider: IMO, the winner of Vaidisova vs Jankovic (3rd round) have some chances with Sveta and Lena D. Consider the latter quarter (Vaidisova, Jankovic, Sveta, Lena D, and if you wanna...Venus and Groenefeld) the closest one. Top half: some traps (Santangelo? fellow Dechy?) for Mauresmo on the way to a terrible 4th round against the bullets of the Serbian army named I V A N O V I C. So scaring name (ask to Martina Hingis, please)! And what about Martina? She won’t go beyond the QF, as usual in a Slam. In this quarter we should have a thrilling 2nd round clash: the thin and lanky Hantuchova versus the big hamburger Serena (the revenge of the last Aussie Open 3rd round). And, finally, the bottom part of the top half should be under the rule of queen Masha. Very easy way to the QF, where the beutiful grunter might match a darkhorse: neither Petrova nor Myskina, Tati should be perfect for a revenge of Miami, but Tati is not in a good shape (I have to check it).
Men’s draw: Crazy thought of the day – I wish It was the turn of Malisse to rock the house (can’t wait for it), but the guy is getting her butt kicked by Nieminem (1st round). In the bottom half is a battle to oust Nadal: from Philippousis to Roddick or Gasquet, everyone is in a hurry to defeat Nadal, ‘cause people are thinking Rafa is out of shape, and his summer American hard court sucked! Robredo and Nieminen are my favourite on the bottom, Roddick and Gasquet my picks on the top. Relating to the top half, is Federer still the king? I thinkYes, some traps but not real insidious danger. Would appreciate a SF match up against Andy “The Kid” Murray, but not a cakewalk for the kid: Fernando “Mano de Piedra” Gonzalez is the worst opponent he could have had for a 3rd round clash. IMO the winner of this match will have no problem to clich a spot in the semi-final. Interesting match between two slumping players: Nalbandian vs Safin (2nd round). The re-birth of Juan Carlos Ferrero? Check it out in possible 4th round clash with Roger.

Forest Hills Report – First Round

MightyMirza, an Asian tennis junkie, yesterday had his first day in Forest Hills. Here’s his report:

Well this was my first day of oncourt tennis for any tournament!! And it was amazzinngggg..

Well when I reached the court, Domachowska was up 40 0 I think..It was 3 MPs apparently(I figured it out later) But Shaughnessy played out of her mind and I think also help by Dfs by Marta..I was amazed how hard and flat both ladies were hitting the ball. Shaughnessy serve motion is one of the wierdest I have seen. She doesnt have enough shoulder rotation and all but it somehow magically works!! Meanwhile I figured out I was sitting next to Benesova and for some reason she was watching this match while listening to her I pod. I got her pics too..Then Sania passed by the court accompanied by Lena Vesnina..They two were gonna practice together ..Sania looks soo much better and cuter in person..

Anyways when it was medical timeout for Domachowska, I left the court to take some pics of Sania and Elena..And took plenty of them. On a nearby court, Safarova and Benesova started practicing!! Safarova is soo beautiful.. With amazing eyes and was looking real nice in a red dress.. Anyways Sania and Vesnina were having a lot of fun while practicing.. Always talking and joking.. But Sania was catching tape of net a lot of times and was very frustrated at times..Man..She's got a temper!! She handles it well though..Anyways I am sure she used the F word a few times.. Her forehand was FLATTT and the FH drives were so hard at times . Plus that wrist action on her BH is just simply amazing too..Vesnina has got a good serve and really nice movement and she looks amazing..Anyways at the end everyone left and I managed to get a Pic with Sania and her sign as well..And I said "I hope you win this tourni" and she said"well, let me win a match first " She was visibly irritated by her performance in Montreal I think..She just caught tape of net all the time in that match I think..Anyways I wished her luck for the open and she said thanks and we left..

Also on my way back to stadium, saw Lucie and Benesova packing up..And I said Hey lucie can I have your picture and she was soo sweet and was happy and said sure..So I had pic of both her and Iveta..Meanwhile Camerin was kicking ass of Loit..Loit was all with slice and no pace shots and Camerin was just pounding the ball..I dunno if Loit ever held in that match but she broke 3 times I think in 2nd set..But the match finished quickly..

Then yeah, there was someone beautiful outside warming up I dint know who and then someone told me it was Bremond and I went and had a pic with her.. She's so lovely..Her match with Arvidsson was awesome..Bremond has a hell of a serve..And has a very good kick on that 2nd..She was really into the match and was Allezing quite often and screamed soo hard when she lost her serve at 3 3 or 4 4 or something like that and broke right back..It was a good match with good defense and offense from both players and Bremond mixing it up on her BH and pounding that forehand!!

Anyways gosh!! I wrote soo much just now can't believe!! Hope you guys enjoy it..Will post some pics and some vids later..

Very proud to present Alisa Kleybanova

Birthdate: July, 15 – 1989.
Birthplace: Moscow.
Current Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings (As of 8/21/2006): 199.
Career-High Singles No. 189 (June 12, 2006).
From March 2006, takes coaching from Julian Vespan, in Perugia (Italy), at “The art of Tennis” (Alberto Castellani’s tennis academy).
Immensely talented youngster who had had a great junior career, by winning the first Grade A (Banana Bowl, in Brazil) tournament at the age of 13. In those days the like of Sanja Ancic, Stephanie Dubois, Viki Azarenka, Tatiana Golovin, Shahar Peer, they all were stunned by Alisa. Her first Wta tour match was also unforgettable: at the 2004 Pacific Life Open (Indian Wells, Calif.), as 14-year-old wild card Alisa defeated Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic (WTA ranked n.58) in first round match. From there, more than three years passed, and Alisa didn’t completely turn professional. It’s weird. A lot of phaenomenons that age are thinking about going pro, but she didn’t. Preferred to take it easy, enjoy the junior years and get ready for pro career. Anxious parents often push to have their children introduced into professionals, but It’s not always a good move. Kids often have got some learning to do. Most 16-year-olds aren’t ready for pro circuit. I mean, it's very, very rare that a kid of that age is ready to compete at this level. Nadal was; Hewitt was; Sharapova was; Vaidisova was. But it's pretty rare. Relating to Alisa, she got some learning to do at the futures and challengers level first, by winning five ITF Circuit singles titles between 2004 and 2006. And now she’s ready to have some success in WTA tour.
Technical profile: baseline attacker (as almost every russian), very aggressive, her best shot is the two-handed “surgical” backhand, needs more confidence in the second serve.
NBTA Vice President Jaramillo said: "She hits the ball earlier than any of our kids, a lot like Andre (Agassi) and Monica (Seles). She plays on top of the line and the other girls have less time to react.”
Good luck, Alisa. Hopefully soon we'll hear of you making progress in WTA-ranking.

James Blake: the curse to be an American hero.

Cruel destiny: lately, if you’re the american best ranked, the crowd favourite, you’ll start to have pressure, ‘cause people probably will expect you to win, and on and on. The same story. The last victim of the inexorable fate is James Blake, a good guy with a tragic back-story about his injuries and the loss of his father, from which he took the strength and determination to get the top 10.
What’s happened? Blake was upset by Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, a Spaniard red clay specialist who had never won a match on hard court before this week. Blake became summer hard court season by winning Indianapolis in an all American final against A Rod, but from there on it was almost a disaster. And yesterday he went to the bottom.
What’s wrong? I don’t wanna say James is a one-dimensional player, he is talented and recently he developed every aspect of the game. But he is a little unbalanced: his game relies too much on cracking forehand, and over all, on his speed of the ball. He has little patience in long rallies. That’s why when JB has a bad momentum he can lose seemingly easy matches. That’s about all of this.

Players said: Martina Hingis afterwards Rogers Cup Final

MH: " I don't want to see [Ivanovic] too close in my draw when I play the US Open." In God we trust, Martina. Keep doing it.

Generation Y wants it all quickly

Up-and-coming serbian sensation Ana Ivanovic steamrolled Martina Hingis to earn the Rogers Cup, her first Tier I title in career. Actually a disappointing loss for the swiss Miss: 6-2 6-3 with no break pts the whole match. That’s an amazing score. Many of us thought Martina would have been a tougher opponent, but there was no match. Definitely. Congrats to Ana who played a perfect match, outpowering her opponent, with a bullet-serve to make easier her work. A new Lindsay or a new Stefy on the scene ? Early to say that, specially soon afterwards a match Martina couldn’t have played more awfully. But a loss is a loss, and doesn’t mean Hingis is a crap or Ivanovic an unbeatable player.
No doubt Martina is a smart player with great tactical choices that allow to move opponents all around the court until she forces them to have a bad court position from the groundstrokes and make errors. The same time Martina’s weakness is that whenever she doesn’t be able to get the rhythm in the rallies she goes out of order and stops making sense. Otherwise you cannot esplain why insisted on Ana’s killer forehand throughout the match, instead of playing backhand to backhand. Anyways, a fast pace ball is what really missed yesterday, with so short and slow balls for Ana is a joke to find the position on the court and pull tre trigger.
Relating to Ana, I’m not surpriced she played awesomely. The Aussie team composed by David Taylor and Scott Byrnes have done some weeks of work and here’s the first pretty good results.
Although no words can really help to ease the loss, I would say to Martina just to take a look to the ranking this week: back the top 10 is an extraordinary achievement given the nowhere place in January 2006. Isn’t it ?

Guest who’s back, back again

Andy Roddick won his first title of the year at Cincinnati Championship - his first ATP title since Lyon in October 2005 – and got back to n.10 in the rankings. Great tournament for Andy: good serve (fired 17 aces in the final), good baseline game (impressive backhand at times) , pretty improved return of serve (breaking serve a lot this week), perfect timing on the ball, good attitude when he was playing the points (not only the big points). It’s something strange watching Andy not to try to hit a winner as soon as he can. This week he liked rallying, building the point, moving around the opponent and things like those. It seems Jimmy Connors contributed to improve A Rod’s game.
Now the issue is giving continuity, this way of playing has to become the standard. We’re at a typical crucial moment: Cincinnati can represent a real season turn around or a breath of oxygen for a slumping player. Andy is a strange guy, hot-tempered kid with genius but less than great self awareness of his talent: he needs to pumped up in order to play the way he should, he needs to find trust and enthusiasm around him. Hopefully people in Cincinnati gave all he needs to face the last part of the season.
At last, a strange thing: some people considered this win a sort of “comeback”, at not quite 24 years old, whereas other players, when the’re 22-23 years old, they’re considered an up-and-comer.

The Brad Gilbert’s impact: perfect work of a staggering genius ?

We can surely say Brad Gilbert is a tennis King Midas for his ability to turn anyone he coaches into success. It all began with Andre Agassi, who recovers from the brink to win Grand Slam titles. Then It came time to bring Andy Roddick to succes: we will never forget the amazing 2003, culminated with his first (an the only) Grand Slam win and his year-ending n.1 ranking. It broke down like this: in 2003 season, before A Rod and Brad started working together, the Kid from Nebraska had a 25-11 record (69%); from there on, he was 47-8 (85%), with five titles under the belt; during the american hard-court schedule he won 27 matches, with just one loss by Tin Henman in Washington. C’mon Brad, tell us what is your secret, Talk about your magic wand.
Nowadays the history’s repeating: Lawn Tennis Federation hired Brad Gilbert in order to tranform Andy Murray, the british best hope, in a consecrated champion (Wimbledon champ ?). Will brad succeed in this hard task ? Let’s see, but you can see the good day in the morning, the beginning wasn’t so bad: 11-2 (85%) record for Murray, after he starded working with Brad, alias King Midas; versus a 21-17 (55%) track record in firt part of the season.
What to say about Brad ? Does he really have a magic wand ? Just lucky or a real great coach ? We’ve got an opinion about it, but will tell you later. :-)

Players Said: Hantuchova after shocking loss against Hingis

Another frustrating loss for Danka in the round of 16 of Rogers Cup. The Slovakian was leading 5-4 40-0 in the first set, but she squandered four straight set points with forehand errors and then lost the match. That's what she said about the match and the set pts she gave away:

"I think it only took me like seven days to get over it...Basically after that I just stopped playing. It was not only that game but the next game, I again had two game points. So instead of being up 6-4, 1-0, I was down 5-6. So, it was pretty frustrating. And it just took me way too long to be able to forget it and move on. And in the second set it was too late when I started to come back again."

Poor Danka!!!

Montreal Report - Round of 16

Gogo123, a smart guy, yesterday went to the Rogers Cup, a little disappointed by the withdrawals during the day. Bu now, Let's read his report:

"I finally decided to go today to the Montreal tournament. After all the withdrawals before the tournament, I wasn't as excited as I was a couple of months ago. I chose the round of 16 as the top players will (what I thought) start playing against each other. I bought my tickets yesterday before the night session thinking that Clijsters has a 99% chance of getting to the next round. Too bad for her and me (and all the people that wanted to see her) that she got injured. Hope she gets well soon.

Anyways, I woke up today and pulled myself from bed to get to the tournament site. Dinara Safina and Shenay Perry's match was already underway. I decided to go to watch it during the second set as I went looking for players on the training courts. I saw Ivanovic and I think that made my whole day at the tournament worthwhile. I dont know what is it about her but she has a special charm that just makes you like her instantly. And she is just . I also saw Mirza, Dulko and a couple of other players that I dont really remember now .

Next I went back to the Safina-Perry match at 5-5 first set. Not really an interesting match but I sat through it waiting for Kuznetsova to come on. Soon enough the match was over and Safina won.

I took another tour on the training courts where I saw Myskina hitting with Kirilenko, and Vadisova hitting some serves (she looked huge even from a distance...this surprised me as all the other players I have seen so far were of medium height; Ana didnt look that big even as she walked just by me).
The Kuznetsova-Sugiyama was about to start so I went back to the court to take my seat. Kuznetsova was playing very well in the first set. Hitting some very good forehands and just had complete control of the match. At 5-2 Sugiyama called for her coach and from what I saw after that, her coach probably told her to hit everything to Sveta's backhand. Sveta was inconsistent in the second set having a couple of good games but doing enough not to get broken. There were some good points played by both players and Sugiyama was c

Jankovic vs Ivanovic: no battle no party! Rogers Cup = Injured Cup

As you know, Yesterday we had no match, 'cause Jelena was forced to withdraw due to shoulder injury. So Ivanovic advanced due to walkover and will face Katarina Srebotnik in Rogers Cup Quarterfinals. I'm so sorry, wish I could have watched the match. So many withdrawals and injured players in Montreal: the highest ranked (and seeded) player 'survived' in the last eight is Svetlana Kuznetsova. Hopefully a bunch of players will recovery for the US Open: Mauresmo, Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne, Sharapova, Petrova, Vaidisova, Jankovic, they all need to get over and fit to be ready for USO.
Just a question, guys: it is only a case or anything didn't work in the training program ? Anyways the tennis pro schedule is becoming too hard to manage: so many tournaments, so many trips 'around the worlds, no rest to recover, and physical training not completely done. The same story: business rules, and everybody is forced to follow not properly human rules in order to make money.

Jankovic or Ivanovic ?

At the Rogers Cup today is scheduled the all serbian clash between Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic. Who will win ? It's hard to forecast, if you take a look to head-head it's tied 1-1 (Ana won last year in Zurich, Jelena won last week in LA). It will be also an hard-hitting clash, so the winner will be the one with the better timing on the ball, with the better acceleration. Lately Jelena is moving fast on the court, and she seems in a better shape. But Ana want to get a revenge from LA, and surely will give all her best on the court. My forecast: short-rallies = Ivanovic advantage; long-rallies = Jankovic advantage. But It's only on the papers, so let's watch the match...

Brad Gilbert's comment on historical Murray's win

That's the comment taken by Brad Gilbert's website

"Every day the kid surprises me and today was no exception. I can’t remember the last time I saw a hardcourt match with 12 service breaks, and it’s not very often that you can win a match getting broken five times. The first thing I told Andy when he got off the court was that it was a nice win, but that lets take care of business, he’s got Ginepri in the next round. Andy is incredibly resilient; he’s like a boxer who keeps taking punches but is still standing the 15th round. It’s getting late so we’re heading over to the Waffle House for some late night vittles."

The Fall of the Gods

Hey, man: "Roger Federer lost". The man on the corner of the street: "bullshit". Once again: "C'mon man, that's true, the lord of tennis lost a match, yesterday in Cincinnati". The old man on the corner..."You cannot be serious man, the lord cannot lose...he got a 55-match winning streak in North America, how may I think that came to an end. Impossible. No way". The first man: "I will tell you again: THE LORD was upset by the scottish brat boy in the second round of Cincinnati. So, the streak is over, man". The man on the corner..."Really? The king of tennis lost to Andy Murray ? The youngster advised by Brad Gilbert ? Unbelievable, I thought just only Nadal could have beaten Rogi". The first man, Pemulis: "Exactly, Andy Murray ousted the king in straight set 7-5 6-4, with 7 breaks. Cincinnati is a damned place, Federer's last loss on the american continent also came out there, when Dominik Hrbaty beat him on August 3, 2004. And Murray became the second player to beat Federer this year, joining Rafa Nadal". The man on the corner: "Gosh, the fall of God is real, I'm so sorry. Maybe I ought to get going. Thanks for the update, man".
That's a surreal dialog over Federer's lost. The tennis pro circuit seems to get shocked, everyone but the loser. Infact, Rogi said: "I'm not disappointed. There's no reason to be. It was an incredible run. You always expect a loss once in a while, so when it happens, why be disappointed?". And then: "I knew that my expectations were not to win the tournament here; they were to survive a few rounds...so that's why I'm not disappointed after this loss. I'm actually pretty happy I won a match here".
If I were John McEnroe I would say: "You cannot be serious, Rogi. Last year you played Master Cup with a sprained ankle and you almost won the championships".
I have a question: Is the tennis perfect machine becoming more human?"

Awesome Jankovic

No doubt Jelena Jankovic has been the hottest player of the past week. Might she be able to oust Kimmie in a possible Montreal-QF ? I think she's got the game, awesome groundstrokes, very deep, with high percentage! Her serve is quite good, and, recently, her net play improved so much. The only negative factor is that Jelena might be too tired and be in trouble with a fighter like Kimmie. Specially if you consider that,before Kimmie, Jelena has to beat Schiavone and Ivanovic, not an easy cakewalk!!! Have you noticed during the last points of LA final she seemed exhausted ??? Only cramps ???