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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

US.9 - Did Venus Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

Has there ever been a younger 37-year old tennis player than Venus Williams, and have there ever been two players more appreciative of being able to compete on a tennis court than Williams and her quarterfinal opponent on Night 9, Petra Kvitova?



Disease, tragedy, peril, career-saving surgery. You name it, and Williams and Kvitova have seen it. Both women know how lucky they are to be playing tennis, whether it be at age 37, or 27. And everyone else knows it, too. So we all entered this match knowing that the result, no matter what it might be, was going to simultaneously be both exhilarating and bittersweet. But one woman had to win, while the other would be going home. As it is, they spent the night firing big shots at one another, both trying to beat the other to the punch.

In the opening set, Williams' bad service in the third game of the match -- three double-faults, the last on break point -- gave Kvitova an early 2-1 lead, and the Czech immediately held for 3-1. But that one game, for a while, hid the fact that it was Kvitova who was a bit slow out of the gate in this match. Her own DF in game #6, though, placed Kvitova in a 15/40 hole. Venus' return up the middle forced a Kvitova forehand error and the break of serve tied the score at 3-3. Two games later, with the Czech's game level having dropped just a little bit more, Kvitova fell behind love/40 on serve. A Williams backhand into the corner got the break for a 5-4 lead, and she held a game later with a body serve on set point that produced another Kvitova forehand error.

But while Williams ended the 1st set on an upswing, and Kvitova seemed to be heading in the opposite direction, the two would change roles to begin the 2nd as Venus, as she often has at this Open, began the match's second stanza with a bit less focus than she'd had earlier. As the set would play out, Williams would have multiple BP opportunities that might have helped her avoid having to play her third three-set match of this slam. But she was never able to convert on any of them, ultimately going 0-for-5 in the set, with the chances spread out over three straight Kvitova service games.

Kvitova got the early break in the set for a 2-0 lead, then held for 3-0 as rain forced the closure of the Ashe Court roof. In that third game, the Czech's forehand down-the-line winner erased Williams' second BP of the game and was followed up by a loud "Pojd!," signaling the growing threat that Kvitova's hard groundstrokes would present Williams for the rest of the match. Petra saved another BP in game #5, but held for 4-1; then she saved two more in game 7. Finally holding serve without having to stave off a Williams BP chance, Kvitova held for 6-3 and prepared for her first three-set match of this U.S. Open.

Again in the 3rd, Kvitova had the early lead, breaking for 2-1 and holding a game later after reeling off five consecutive points after falling behind love/40, ending with an ace that extended Venus' string of squandered BP chances to eight. Finally, after Williams fired a shot up the line that forced a Kvitova crosscourt backhand that went wide, Venus had carved out still another BP chance. The Czech's DF gave Williams the break, knotting the score at 3-3.

Williams raced to a 40/love lead in the next game and held to take the lead, then saw Kvitova hold at love for 4-4. With both players firing haymaker shots at each other from the baseline, neither held anything back as the set edged closer to its hardly-surprising final act. In a four-deuce game in which she reached GP on five occasions, but never faced a BP, Venus held for 5-4. After that last story-changing plot point was avoided, the set proceeded to a deciding tie-break.

Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as exciting as the prelude to it.

On the third point, Kvitova missed a forehand up the line to give Williams a mini-break lead at 2-1. She'd never relinquish it. After butting heads and shifting the momentum back and forth between them all night, Venus alone surged in the closing moments. After holding two serves to go up 4-1, then winning back-to-back points on the Kvitova serve, the second via a DF, Williams reached MP. After a delaying DF of her own, Venus saw a Kvitova return go wide as the match ended with a 6-4/3-6/7-6(2) scoreline, as Williams advanced to her ninth career U.S. Open semifinal, and her first since 2010.



Kvitova's run may have come up short of her completing a Career SF Slam (something only five active women's singles players can claim), but she still managed her best slam result in two years to provide a strong finish to a summer that saw her win a title early in her return to action, but then not win multiple matches in any event until this U.S. Open run.

For Venus, she advances to her third slam semifinal of the season, something she hasn't done in fifteen years. When she reached those three semis in 2002, she also reached the finals at those majors, losing all three to sister Serena in the opening three-quarters of the original Serena Slam. Williams has already reached the finals at two 2017 slams, making her the only player with multiple slam finals this season, though she's yet to win her first major since 2008.

Will the third time be the charm?





=DAY 9 NOTES=
...earlier in the day on Tuesday, in the first of two quarterfinal matches in which players were set to attempt to become the first non-Williams Bannerettes to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since 2004, Sloane Stephens, with a tennis lifetime's worth of experience on both ends of the spectrum of success since her only other slam semifinal in Melbourne in 2013, took another step toward making the star-lit career prospects that used to be known around here as "Future Sloane" an eventual reality. Maybe even by the end of this weekend.

"Only you can control your future."

Going up against Anastasija Sevastova in the Latvian's second straight appearance in the QF at Flushing Meadows, Stephens engaged in a back-and-forth affair in which she, much like Madison Keys on Night 8, was faced with the notion of staring down and conquering not just the opponent on the other side of the net, but also the opponent within that has at times in the past tripped her up, allowing her own nerves and occasionally a sense of panic to assume control of the situation and guide her to an undesirable finish.

Sevastova opened the match with a break of serve, but it was Stephens who quickly took command of the 1st set, winning four straight games and going on to serve out the set at 6-3. In the 2nd, Stephens' game was overpopulated by errors just as Sevastova, much like she did in her defeat of Maria Sharapova in the Round of 16, slid into the groove of her own game of defense and variety. She took the set by the same 6-3 score as she'd lost the 1st, setting up a battle of wills -- and nerves -- in the deciding 3rd.

In the early going, Stephens' low first serve percentage and continued adding to her error total put her in an immediate hole in the set. Sevastova broke her with a forehand winner, then held for a 3-1 lead. In game #5, the Latvian had a double-break lead within her sights. The game was level at 30/30, and it was apparent that Stephens was barely holding on. A break of serve at that moment and she might have been done for.

But she held for 3-2, averting disaster for the time being and giving herself more chances to get her footing in the moment and push herself forward toward a result no one -- least of all her -- could have foreseen a few months ago when she was struggling to notch her first win of the season after missing a year of action with a foot injury that led to her ranking being in the #900's earlier this summer.



Stephens broke Sevastova at 15 to knot the set at 3-3. A game later, after Sevastova's defense had kept a rally alive, Sloane saw an opening, but her angled backhand crosscourt shot wasn't quite wide *enough*. Sevastova directed the ball down the line with a backhand, leading to Stephens netting a crosscout forehand to give the Latvian a BP. Stephens' forehand error on her first groundstroke of the next point put Sevastova back on top with a break for 4-3.

But it was at this point that Stephens found her moment, and was up for the occasion. Much like Keys might have succumbed in seasons past in a similar predicament before overcoming a 4-2 3rd set deficit vs. Elina Svitolina, Stephens also showed why the new generation of Bannerette tennis (with big wins from the likes of Sloane, Keys, Vandeweghe, Bellis, Rogers, Brady, the Fed Cup squad and others headlining the Serena-less spring and summer schedule) is finally showing the strength necessary to survive and thrive in the final seasons of the Williams era and beyond.

With the crowd making their collective voice known, Stephens got to 15/40 on Sevastova's serve. On BP #2, Sevastova scrambled to reach a short-bouncing net cord shot, but Stephens raced forward to retrieve the Latvian's sliced backhand drop shot and push it onto a corner line to take the break lead back. Urging herself between points to fight, Stephens survived a game in which the score went back and forth, holding for 5-4 to take the lead in the 3rd set for the first time. But Sevastova didn't blink, holding at love for 5-5.

As the match went to a deciding tie-break, the first in a U.S. Open QF since 2012, the two women would again trade momentum in the early stage. Stephens led 3-1, but Sevastova got the mini-break back at 3-3. When Sevastova pulled a forehand wide, Stephens re-claimed the mini-break advantage as her own, but when a net cord shot failed to make it over the net it put things right back on serve at 5-4.

But it would be the last time fate stuck out it's tongue at Sloane.

A Sevastova forehand error gave Stephens a MP at 6-4, then on her first chance to close out the match she fired a backhand winner up the line to win the TB 7-4 and advance to her second career slam semifinal, and first in New York. She's 7-0 in three-set matches this summer.

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The 6-3/3-6/7-6(4) match once again leaves Sevastova a round short (though a lot closer than a year ago) of becoming true tennis royalty in her home nation (Ostapenko and Gulbis have both advanced deeper in a major since 2014), but she's now become a player to keep a close eye on, especially in NYC, where she thrived in consecutive summer runs in the buzzy atmosphere, playing her best tennis on the biggest stage in the tennis world. Even as she exits the stage again, she does so after having out-pointed Stephens in this match by two points (105-103).



Meanwhile, Stephens extends her remarkable summer hard court run. The momentum she attained with her semifinal results in Toronto and Cincinnati made this possible, but this win could very well be the biggest of her entire career. Bigger than her four career singles titles in 2015-16, which were necessary doors to knock down, but also more important than her win over Serena Williams to reach the AO semis four years ago. That 2013 moment served to highlight her potential, but not her ability to learn, react, mature and legitimately build up the confidence that she so effortlessly displayed (or feigned) when she first burst onto the scene, when it often felt like she was consciously choosing to play "a role" when she stepped in front of a microphone.

"Future Sloane" was a notion of a possible reality in which something great was not only expected but attained, while "Current Sloane" was something different -- and usually "less" -- in the immediate afterglow of Stephens' first dose of success. It's taken a period of time filled with trials, losses, foundation-building wins, injury, surgery and a healthier appreciation of it all that has allowed Stephens to better settle into her new, though reclaimed, position on the scene. She's back in the spotlight, and better than she was before. Hopefully, she now understands how to go about staying in it, too.

"Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how."
"Dr. Seuss"

Of course, as always...

"Teeth are always in style."
"Seuss"


But Sloane has never had a problem on the mega-watt smile front.

...Williams and Stephens' semifinal runs mean there are multiple U.S. women in the Open final four for the first time since 2004 (Davenport/Capriati), with Keys and CoCo Vandeweghe with the opportunity to make it three -- or even four -- on Wednesday. The last time three made it that far was 2002 (Serena-Venus-Davenport), and it was 1981 (Austin-Navratilova-Evert-Potter) when we last saw four.

The schedule for Day 10 is set, and it's tad eyebrow-raising. Karolina Pliskova vs. Vandeweghe will fill the daytime slot on Ashe, while Keys vs. Kaia Kanepi will be in the night session. So a match-up of the world #1 and '16 finalist, who has yet to play under the lights at this tournament, vs. a native New Yorker (who has played at night just once) *doesn't* get the primetime nod over Kanepi vs. Keys in what will be Madison's FOURTH night match in five rounds of play?

Hmmm.

...the mixed doubles semifinals are set, and it'll be two unseeded duos vs. two Top 3 seeds. #1-seeded Martina Hingis & Jamie Murray can become the only two-time '17 MX champs if they can get past Vandeweghe/Horia Tecau in the semis, then the winner of #3 Chan Hao-Ching/Michael Venus vs. Anastasia Rodionova/Oliver Marach in the final. Hingis is the only remaining woman in the draw who owns a Mixed slam title.

She's also one of two women -- with her WD partner's sister, Chan Hao-Ching -- still alive in both MX and WD.

...in the girls singles, we had something of a U.S. Open version of a "Junior Radwanskian Massacre" on Day 9, as three of the Top 5 seeds lost, including the Top 2, both previous slam winners in 2017.




#5 Carson Branstine fell to 13-year old wild card Bannerette CoCo Gauff (my pre-tournament pick for the title based on her recent results... he said, thereby jinxing her), while #2 Marta Kostyuk (AO girls champ) of Ukraine fell to Elysia Bolton of the U.S., and #1 Whitney Osuigwe (the first of two U.S. girls slam winners this year, winning in Paris) was upset by Russia's Anastasia Kharitonova in three sets. The highest remaining seeds are #3 Elena Rybakina (RUS) and #4 Amanda Anisimova (USA).


FORMER PHENOM UPDATE ON DAY 9:



LIKE ON DAY 9: Heather's mama...



LIKE ON DAY 9: Seems about right...



MOST ASININE HEADLINE OF THE WEEK (non-White House related):



I'm not sure what's worse, that the headline writer thinks Stephens needs to be identified by who her boyfriend is, or that the headline writer thinks the majority of the readers know who Jozy Altidore is in the first place.

LIKE ON DAY 9: That Bethanie Mattek-Sands is as dangerous when she can't play due to injury as she is when she can.



LIKE ON DAY 9: Time for fries...




...and, finally... the Colt This-Has-To-Work-Eventually Open Challenge is coming down to the wire. As in, after one more match only one contender will be left out on the wire...

Cibulkova
Gavrilova
Goerges
Halep
Konta
Kuznetsova
Muguruza
Ka.Pliskova
Radwanska
Svitolina
Vandeweghe
Wozniacki



*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF QF*
#1 Karolina Pliskova/CZE vs. #20 CoCo Vandeweghe/USA
#15 Madison Keys/USA vs. (Q) Kaia Kanepi/EST
#9 Venus Williams/USA def. #13 Petra Kvitova/CZE
Sloane Stephens/USA def. #16 Anastasija Sevastova/LAT

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#7 Hradecka/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) def. Klepac/Martinez-Sanchez (SLO/ESP)
#3 Safarova/Strycova (CZE/CZE) vs. #9 Dabrowski/Xu Yifan (CAN/CHN)
#5 Babos/Hlavackova (HUN/CZE) vs. #4 Mirza/Peng (IND/CHN)
H.Chan/Sh.Zhang (TPE/CHN) vs. #2 Y.Chan/Hingis (TPE/SUI)

*MIXED DOUBLES QF*
#1 Hingis/J.Murray (SUI/GBR) def. Spears/Cabal (USA/COL)
Vandeweghe/Tecau (USA/ROU) def. #4 Babos/Soares (HUN/BRA)
#3 H.Chan/Venus (TPE/NZL) def. #7 Dabrowski/Bopanna (CAN/IND)
An.Rodionova/Marach (AUS/AUT) def. #8 Hradecka/Matkowski (CZE/POL)

*GIRLS SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
Anastasia Kharitonova/RUS vs. (WC) Katie Volynets/USA
(WC) Dalayna Hewitt/USA vs. (WC) CoCo Gauff/USA
#3 Elena Rybakina/RUS vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto/ITA
#10 Simona Waltert/SUI vs. Maria Lourdes Carle/ARG
#8 Olga Danilovic/SRB vs. Naho Sato/JPN
(Q) Paula Arias Manjon/ESP vs. #4 Amanda Anisimova/USA
(WC) Kelly Chen/USA vs. Emiliana Arango/COL
#15 Sofya Lansere/RUS vs. Elysia Bolton/USA



I only eat burgers when I wear my burger shirt ?? my @eatlikeanathlete page is temporary unavailable

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New week, new grind ????

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*LOWEST-SEEDED WOMEN IN US OPEN SF, since 2000*
Unseeded - 2000 Elena Dementieva, RUS
Unseeded - 2009 Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
Unseeded - 2011 Angelique Kerber, GER
Unseeded - 2013 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
Unseeded - 2014 Peng Shuai, CHN
Unseeded - 2015 Roberta Vinci, ITA (RU)
Unseeded - 2016 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
Unseeded - 2017 Sloane Stephens, USA
Wild Card - 2009 Kim Clijsters, BEL (W)
#28 - 2011 Serena Williams, USA (RU)
#26 - 2015 Flavia Pennetta, ITA (W)
#19 - 2006 Jelena Jankovic,SRB
#17 - 2014 Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
#12 - 2005 Mary Pierce, FRA (RU)
#12 - 2007 Venus Williams, USA
#10 - 2001 Serena Williams, USA (RU)
#10 - 2002 Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
#10 - 2012 Sara Errani, ITA
#10 - 2014 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (RU)
#10 - 2016 Karolina Pliskova, CZE (RU)
--
TO PLAY: #20 Vandeweghe, Kanepi (Q)

*LOWEST-SEEDED WOMAN IN SLAM SF, since 2015*
un Keys - 2015 Australian
un Vinci - 2015 U.S. Open (RU)
un Konta - 2016 Australian
un Bertens - 2016 Roland Garros
un Vesnina - 2016 Wimbledon
un Wozniacki - 2016 U.S. Open
un Lucic-Baroni - 2017 Australian
un Vandeweghe - 2017 Australian
un Ostapenko - 2017 Roland Garros (W)
un Rybarikova - 2017 Wimbledon
un Stephens - 2017 U.S. Open
#30 Bacsinszky - 2017 Roland Garros
#26 Pennetta - 2015 U.S. Open (W)
#23 Bacsinszky - 2015 Roland Garros
#21 Stosur - 2016 Roland Garros
#20 Muguruza - 2015 Wimbledon (RU)
--
TO PLAY: #20 Vandeweghe, Kanepi (Q)

**WTA "CAREER SF SLAM" - active**
[with slam at which completed]
Victoria Azarenka - 2013 RG (30th)
Maria Sharapova - 2007 RG (18th)
Serena Williams - 2003 AO (18th)
Venus Williams - 2001 AO (15th)
Vera Zvonareva - 2010 US (31st)
--
ALSO: Hingis - 1997 WI (11th)

*BACKSPIN 2017 "DOUBLES" WINNERS*
JAN: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
AO: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE
FEB/MAR: Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
I.W./MIAMI: Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis, TPE/SUI
1Q: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
APR/MAY: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
MAY: Chan Yung-Jan, TPE
RG: Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE
2Q Clay Court: Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis, TPE/SUI
JUN: Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis, TPE/SUI
WI: Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
2Q Grass Court: Martina Hingis, SUI
JUL/AUG: Abigail Spears, USA
AUG: Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
[2017 Weekly DOUBLES Award Wins]
6...Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis, TPE/SUI
3...Ash Barty/Casey Dellacqua, AUS/AUS
3...Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina, RUS/RUS
3...Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE
2...Kiki Bertens/Johanna Larsson, NED/SWE
2...Gaby Dabrowski/Xu Yifan, CAN/CHN
2...Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Kveta Peschke, GER/CZE
2...Andrea Hlavackova/Peng Shuai, CZE/CHN
2...Abigail Spears, USA



TOP QUALIFIER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #3 Garbine Muguruza/ESP
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: Jamie Loeb/USA def. (PR) Vera Zvonareva/RUS 7-6(4)/5-7/6-4 (3:16; delay after fan faints as Loeb to serve out at 5-4 in 3rd)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - (WC) Maria Sharapova/RUS def. #2 Simona Halep/ROU 6-4/4-6/6-3 (Night 1)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): Nominee: QF - #9 V.Williams def. #13 Kvitova 6-4/3-6/7-6(2)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP ASHE NIGHT SESSION MATCH: Nominee: 1st Rd. - (WC) Sharapova def. #2 Halep (Night 1)
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Kristyna Pliskova/CZE (1st Rd. - def. Eguchi/JPN)
FIRST SEED OUT: #32 Lauren Davis/USA (1st Rd. - lost to Kenin/USA
UPSET QUEENS: Japan
REVELATION LADIES: Australia
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Germany (2-7 1st Rd.; DC Kerber out; one of two w/ a win defeated another German)
CRASH & BURN: #6 Angelique Kerber/GER (lost to Osaka/JPN; second U.S. DC to lose 1st Rd.loss, w/ '05 Kuznetsova; out of Top 10)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Nominee: Ka.Pliskova (down MP vs. Sh.Zhang in 3rd Rd.; saved #1 ranking); Kuznetsova (down 3 MP vs. Vondrousova in 1st Rd.)
IT ("?"): xx
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Nominees: Vandeweghe/USA, Kanepi/EST, Stephens/USA
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Kaia Kanepi/EST (in QF)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Maria Sharapova/RUS (4th Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: In QF.: Keys, Stephens(W), Vandeweghe, V.Williams(W)
COMEBACK PLAYER: Nominees: Stephens/USA, Kanepi/EST, Kvitova/CZE
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Nominees: V.Williams/USA, Kanepi/EST, Sevastova/LAT
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BROADWAY-BOUND: Maria Sharapova/RUS & Simona Halep/ROU (Opening Night)
LADY OF THE EVENING: "The Late Show starring Madison Keys" (3rd Rd. - 1:45am finish, second-latest women's finish to own 1:48 finish last year)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx


*SEUSS-THEMED TITLES*
Preview: "Halep Hears a Who" (Horton Hears a Who!, 1954)
1: "Mugu on the Loose" (Dr.Seuss on the Loose, 1973 [CBS TV])
1.5: "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" (The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, 1958)
2: "Thing One and Thing Two" (The Cat in the Hat, 1957)
3: "The 500 Hats of Svetlana Kuznetsova" (The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, 1938)
4: "Hop on Pop" (Hop on Pop, 1963)
5: "You'll Miss the Best Things If You Keep Your Eyes Shut" (I Can Read with My Eyes Shut, 1978)
6: "A Czech Maiden is Faithful One-Hundred Percent" (Horton Hatches the Egg, 1940)
6.5: "Lists-a-Paleussical" (Seussical, 2000 [Broadway])
7: "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish!" (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, 1960)
8: "Daisy-Head Maiden" (Daisy-Head Mayzie, 1995/2016)
8.5: "The Waiting Place" (Oh, the Place You'll Go!, 1990)
9: "Did Venus Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" (Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? , 1956)




All for Day 9. More tomorrow.
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