That was one gritty win from Youz today, taking out Stan in five sets. The conditions tossed up a tipsy-turvey match that featured a lot of breaks, errors… and enjoyable points.

The wind was hell out there, but at the end of the day, The Iron Commander’s experience and imagination at the net and with angles helped him win the match. His backhand was on too, considering the conditions.

Big ups to Stan, however. Doing his best Glenn Danzig impression, he’s bulked up considerably, and helped improve the first serve without sacrificing movement. He got burned on the second serve, however, and it’s what did him in during the final two sets.

Youz is a huge long shot for the semi, but if it’s windy again… who knows, right? He played pretty smart tennis today, settled in late, and can cover a lot of ground. The ability at the net sure as hell doesn’t hurt either. See you Saturday, bud.

Last night was one hella intriguing match, specifically the first set. The equivalent of tennis porn, both ladies were smacking the crap out of the ball, Kim with her flat as hell blasts, and Sam utilizing some spin and a bit more angle. I really think it was a battle of the modern ladies’ power game and what could be the future of ladies’ power, using the spin in combination… but more on that later (as in a different post).

It was a shame that the match ended the way it did. The third set was full of breaks, save for a key, simple hold from Kim which allowed her to cruise to the victory. It’s pretty safe to say that Kim figured out Sam’s kick serve and patters and it was all down hill from there.

I have a bit of the same feeling about the ladies’ as I did last year. Kim beat Venus in the quarters fourth round, and took on Serena in the semis. The other half of the draw seemed painfully weak and it was pretty clear that the winner of the tournament was likely coming from the Kim/Serena half. While the other half of the draw (the one that’s playing today) isn’t nearly as weak as it was last year, it’s tough to think that a Caro, Bepa, or Kaia could take out Kim or Venus if the conditions are ok, and they come to play. Still, both can be prone to getting into bad ruts, and Bepa and Caro have been absolutely rock solid for weeks now, really. We should be in for a great finish.

If you’re an Armada fan (which I know many of you reading this are) last night was absolute heaven (well, unless you’re a diehard Ferru fan).

Quite honestly, through the first two sets of Fer/Ferru, I thought Fergasm was the better player. I was hoping he’d take the second to extend it longer… but he dropped it in the tiebreak, and that seemed to be it. A somewhat typical loss for Fer, being the better player but digging himself an insurmountable hole.

But then news came that he won the third set. No surprise. Still, Ferru is used to five setters, he wouldn’t give up so easily. Er… fourth set Fernando? OK? Then Fer harnessed the magic of the fifth set tiebreak to take it in one of the most memorable match points in recent history.

If I asked you at the beginning of the season which player would go four rounds in a slam without being broken, who would you put your money on? Ivo at Wimbledon? Fed at the Australian? Probably not Rafa at the US Open. Granted, Rafa hasn’t had the toughest opponents, 12 sets without being broken is pretty ridiculous.

Feli had his chances last night, even 0-40 where he essentially gifted Rafa the hold, but Rafa continues to show that he’s not interested in messing around on serve. The real beauty of the whole thing is Rafa’s improved serving. Again. He showed it off in AO last year, that he could use his serve as a weapon. In New York, he’s moved from using it as a weapon to showing that he can be in the upper echelon of bomb serving elite. That means cranking the 130+ missiles when he needs them. Nummy. And that’s what’s really going to make the difference down the road against the big boys (I don’t think I need to bring up the Rafa/Delpo semi from last year).

In case you haven’t figured it out, both these matches are from the same quarter, so we have another Fernando/Rafa slam throwdown. The good thing is that Fernando gets a day off (those with a quarterfinal match today won’t) however Rafa has pretty well exerted the minimum amount of energy over the first week and a bit, so he gets the big edge in that category.

Elena lost in yet another dramatic and heart breaking match. Not only it was the best WTA match so far but also a record-setter ending later than any previous women’s match at the US Open.

The Aussie started way better not giving many chances to Elena. Serve and forehand were working really well, she converted two out of three break point opportunities and hit 14 winners to take the 1st set 6-3.
Everything changed in the 2nd set, though. Dementieva decided to show up and picked up her game while Sam kind of disappeared. The oddest thing is that she has one of the most powerful serves on the women’s game but still was unable to hold for the entire set. The Russian eventually took the 2nd set 6-2.

As the 3rd set started, Sam got broken once again and Elena found herself with a 3-0 lead. As naive as this might sound, I started to think she had an actual shot in this match and could win it. As expected, I couldn’t be more wrong. Stosur finally held serve and immediately after broke Elena (oh WTA, never change!) to get back on serve. On 4-3, Sam netted a forehand giving the Russian two break points. She managed to save the first one, but after a long rally Elena was finally able to break and got the chance to serve for the match. She had a match point but props to Sam that kept her cool and remained completely focused. The Australian showed some nerve never giving up and eventually broke back to even things up. Btw, I gotta say that their display of athleticism was unbelievable. Some of those rallies were pretty amazing.

When I thought nothing else could happen (Duh, wrong again), Sam broke Elena and this time she was the one serving for the match. Guess what happen? In perfect WTA style she got broken again but not before Dementieva had to save a match point. As it should be this match had to end with a tie break. Sam totally controlled it and after 2h38′ booked her place in the QF for the first time ever.

Just a random fact, but between them, Sam and Elena had 37 break-point chances.

Finally, I am happy for Sam, but at the same time I can’t help but feel awful for Elena. Well, especially for her mom. It was so heart breaking to see her looking helpless and sad while her daughter was struggling on court. The truth is, Elena is still the best player to never have won a Slam, but the saddest thing is that I honestly don’t think that will ever happen. And it sucks.

Next stop for Sam? Kimmy. I can’t wait for that match.

It’s good to be back.

If Caro was going to beat Masha, she was going to need some heart, consistency, and a little bit of luck, and boy did she get all of those.

Caro got balls back, made few errors, showed her underrated ability to rally with big hitters, and even hit some winners and took some chances. It all equalled a frustrated and confused Masha and a crusing Caro.

To be honest, I was a bit confused by Masha’s game plan, specifrically in the second set. She wasn’t interested in getting into rallies with Caro, specifically when returning, which meant going for psycho winners off the return and making a lot of errors. When she did get into rallies, she seemed passive and didn’t attempt to open up holes, or expose the holes in Caro’s game (specifically the movement). Sure, there were some sweet drop shots and good shots, but on the whole it wasn’t going to be enough.

One key to take out of this match is Caro’s improved strength, and if you want to call it that, power. I’m not talking big serves, or flat, huge winners. I’m talking about the ability to stay with big hitters and not get flattened or blown off the court by the player on the other side of the net. A year ago, it was clear that Caro could not play her game against the monster shots of Kim. Today she showed that she could keep up and play her game against Masha. Worth noting.

All in all, a disappointing result for Masha who made a lot of goofy errors and had once again, a few too many double faults (nine total) one of which gave the key break in the second. I really thought she was going to win this match and go deep.

Anyway, I’m back guys, and I’m giving Caro the bump, obviously. Caro/Domi and Bepa/Kaia are the four players left in this half… in other words, one of them is making the final. Wut.

The two nicest players on tour will face each other in hours. This is definitely going to be one of the toughest matches for me. I can’t deliberately root against one of them so, I’m just going to sit, enjoy and be happy for whoever wins it.

They were great for each other on their pressers. Kim was asked about Ana and here’s what she said: “She and I are good friends, and I’m happy to see her doing well again. I followed her very closely obviously when I wasn’t playing, and saw her win the French Open and kind of from there just lost it a little bit. You know, had some injuries as well when I played her in Cincinnati in the semifinals. I mean, the first three games we played I think were pretty good tennis so far, so, you know, I hope she wins and that we can kind of have a rematch there.”

Ana played after, so on her presser the journos told her what Kim had said about her, Ana smiled and answered: “That’s really nice to hear, because she is such a nice person. I do, ever since I started on tour, I thought highly of her and really admired her for everything she achieved. I still do. I have great respect for her. It’s true also when I was struggling, she was messaging me. She was very supportive. That’s really rare and really nice to see. In those times, you know who your friends are. She’s definitely a nice girl. We always have a nice time catching up. So it’s going to be fun.”

How can you not love them? So, can they both win, please?

I know I haven’t given exactly too much love to WTA these days. We’re heading into the 2nd week and it will get more interesting. So, basically I’m just going to comment a little bit on each side of the draw.

On the top half of the draw, Caro is cruising, as expected. What a complete joke of a draw until the 4th round. It’s not her fault, but she really hasn’t been tested yet. Girl lost three games so far. Next stop? Masha. That should be a really interesting match. It will be tough for both but I think the Russian will prevail in the end. She double bageled Capra today and, in my opinion, still remains the main contender to win the tournament.

Bepa is also being weirdly consistent, winning all of her matches in straights. She’ll now face Petkovic who got a walkover to the 4th round. Her opponent got injured while playing doubles yesterday. I’m curious about this match because Vera is known for her meltdowns and Andrea for not being able to close matches. It will come down to who stays focused and calm.

Wickmayer is also through to the 4th round after struggling to beat Crazy Patty. The third set was great and I really couldn’t tell who would win. What a shame the match ended with a DF. She’ll now face Kanepi who ousted JJ in straights. It is a good win to Kaia, who played some solid tennis today. The wind has been brutal and it really affected JJ’s game. She was asked a lot about it (as you might imagine) but also credited Kanepi for her win.

I guess the biggest surprise was Nails’ and Aga’s loss to K-Bond and Peng, respectively. It opened up the draw to Domi who reached 4th round for the first time. I wasn’t expecting this run from her. She’ll play Sveta next. The Russian should win but who knows what will happen there.

On the bottom half of the draw, Kim is also doing well, as expected. She’ll play Ana (I know, right?) for a spot in the QF and I expect a very good match. I’m so excited. Two of the nicest players on tour and it really makes sense after Ana had to retire in their semifinal in Cincinnati.

Shahar has really impressed me. She beat Flavs to reach the 4th round, which I wasn’t expecting at all. Venus will be her next opponent and I believe Peer has a huge shot of causing an upset. Btw, I have no words to describe Venus night dress. It’s just bad and the worst thing is that people (I’m looking at you, Caro) actually like it.

Elena scored a nice win over Dani after being 5-2 down in the first set. WTA never fails to amaze me. These girls blow incredible leads and end up losing matches that were totally over control. I feel awful for Elena because she really is the best player not to have won a Slam, so I always find myself rooting for her to do well. She’ll face Sam next. I’m betting on the Aussie to win this one. She’s playing well and got a career best result at Flushing Meadows by reaching the 4th round.

And last but not least Franny vs Pavs. The RG champion seems to be finding her form again and will face the youngest girl on the Top 25. I have no idea who’s going to win this. It will depend on which girl shows up on both sides.

I found myself rooting really hard for Petko yesterday.

Andrea has lost so many tight matches lately (seriously, it’s heart breaking to see her cry) that it’s nice to see her winning two of these in a row. She had a very solid win over Nads in the 1st round and this one was pretty dramatic too. Petko lost the 1st set, evened things in the 2nd and had to save 3 match points to eventually win the match.

Her reaction was amazing. Have you guys seen her dance? I wish there were pics of that. It was hilariously awesome. I really can’t find more adjectives to describe Andrea. You have to follow her closely to understand. Man, I hope she can keep up with these results.

Another seed down. Kolya is out of the US Open. He lost 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to Gasquet. It’s his quickest US Open exit since 2005.

This is awesome for Richie considering his latest results at Slams. It’s the first time since 2006 that he has reached the 3rd round at Flushing Meadows and the first time since the AO 2009 that he has advanced past the second round at a major. Let me just say he came to US Open with only 2 wins on the North American hard courts. He’ll face Kevin Anderson, who played 5 sets to beat Bellucci. I honestly think Richie has a solid shot of reaching the 4rd round.

Back to the match. Richie broke Kolya in the 6th game of the first set with a deep crosscourt backhand after the Russian had a 40-15 lead. He faced a break point in the following game but managed to consolidate the lead with a crosscourt backhand winner and closed out the set with a 127 MPH serve.
In the 2nd set, Kolya couldn’t convert a single break point and got broken after netting a backhand. The Frenchie didn’t miss the opportunity and served it out again with another ace. Things only got worse in the third set with him breaking twice to win the match.

As expected Richie’s backhand played a huge role in this match. There’s not much Kolya could do about it. His return let him down and he got really frustrated over failing to convert the break points he had. The Russian’s still struggling after being out for so long due to a broken left wrist and Richie seems to have found his old form. He lost only seven of 52 points on his first serve (87%). Allez to that.

The first big upset of the US Open. Tomas lost in straights to Llodra.

I still cannot believe Berdych is out of the USO. He had such amazing runs at RG and Wimbledon that I guess
I was expecting the same to happen now. I don’t know what happened there, if it were the high expectations,
an injury or Llodra’s serve. Maybe a combination of everything.

Honestly, there’s not much to say. It was only the second time this season that Tomas has lost in the opening round at a tour-level event. Llodra saved all three break points he faced and was able to convert two of the eight chances created. He served and volleyed like a mad man. Insane stuff. Berdych really didn’t get the chance to play his game.

Also, let me just say Michael Llodra is an idiot. I’ll explain. Apparently he got really pissed that Isner didn’t withdraw from USO because that would have given him a seeded place in the draw. Seriously. What a nice opportunity he lost to keep his mouth shut.

And in other news, this totally opens the draw for Muzz. Seriously, if he doesn’t reach SF now, there’s no hope for him (No pressure!). So, get yourself together, dude. Just do your thing.