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Saturday, September 1, 2018

US.6 - Summer Stars Don't Always Shine in the Big City

If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. But the act of making it there is no given, even if you arrived as a summer star.

In New York on Day 6, what you did before this U.S. Open was proven to mean absolutely nothing, as players who made it to the first weekend of the season's final slam with something resembling wind at their back were shown the exit door before the sun was replaced in the sky by the moon.



#13 Kiki Bertens was a developing revelation in recent months as she showed herself to be something other than a "clay court specialist" while reaching the Wimbledon QF on grass and taking the Cincinnati crown on hard court, knocking off eight Top 10 players since the start of play at SW19 (she'd had five such wins -- all on clay -- in her CAREER a few months ago, and two of THOSE came earlier this season, as well).

But today the Dutch woman was bested by the world #103, 19-year old Czech lefty Marketa Vondrousova, who has had a difficult time following up her initial tour-level success early last season in just her second career tour MD appearance, a title run in Biel at age 17.

Vondrousova had reached her first slam 3rd Round with wins over a lucky loser (Mona Barthel) and a qualifier (Genie Bouchard), but she was the hunter against far bigger prey on this day as she wielded her forehand as a weapon against Bertens, who couldn't avoid continually falling victim to the Czech's forehand winners down the line, nor lift her game late in a pair of tight sets which were ultimately decided by tie-breaks.

Bertens had seemed in control in the 1st, breaking for a 3-2 lead and serving for the set at 5-4. But she fell behind love/40 and was broken, then saw Vondrousova save BP a game later and hold for 6-5. Things went to a TB, where the Czech led 5-0 before holding on for a 7-4 win. Bertens rallied from an early break deficit in the 2nd to knot the match by taking a 6-2 set, but again saw her younger opponent stage a comeback to grab the 3rd. Bertens led 4-2, but soon found herself down 6-5 with Vondrousova serving for the match. From 30/30, Bertens' groundstroke and volley winners on back-to-back points got the break to force another TB. But again Vondrousova was the better player in the race to seven points. A drop shot and pass combo gave the Maiden a 3-1 lead. Two points later, Bertens got back an awkward short-bouncing ball in the middle of the court, then saw Vondrousova race from the backcourt to chase it down and fire a forehand down the line that went off the racket of the Dutch woman, unfortunately trapped between the front and back court and giving her opponent any number of targets at which to aim to claim the point. Vondrousova led 5-1. Bertens' error ended things two points later, with the Czech winning 7-6(4)/2-6/7-6(1) to reach her first slam Round of 16.



But Bertens wasn't the summer's biggest star to fall on Day 6. The #4-seeded Wimbledon champ, and the winner of this very tournament two years ago, was the next to go.

Angelique Kerber had managed to arrive in the city without a lot of fanfare, only making a few cameo appearances in North American tune-ups in the aftermath of her title run at the AELTC. It seemed a good scenario for success. She won in straight sets against a game Margarita Gasparyan in the 1st Round, and avoided a disaster in the 2nd after Johanna Larsson had forced a 3rd set after the German led 6-2/5-2 and held 2 MP.

Against #30 Dominika Cibulkova, Kerber faced off with a player against whom she'd gone 7-5 over the last decade, and 7-1 since 2014. The Slovak won just 4 and 6 total games against her in their two previous '18 meetings in Sydney and Eastbourne. Only one of Kerber's seven wins in their last eight meetings had gone three sets, though that one came in the '16 WTA Finals that ultimately ended with Cibulkova as the Cinderella champion. So that she's capable of *anything* -- and never stops fighting -- was never in doubt.

So when Kerber passed Cibulkova to break for a 4-3 lead in the 1st, then broke again to win it 6-3, no one expected a cakewalk. Right on cue. the veteran Slovak went up 3-0 in the 2nd, and won it 6-3 to knot the match. She took a 3-1 lead in the 3rd, as well. But when a fist-pumping Kerber broke -- on her fifth BP -- Cibulkova to get back on serve at 3-2 it appeared as if the three-time slam champ had found her path to victory.

But then Cibulkova went up 15/40 a game later, and Kerber's game-ending forehand error gave her back the break advantage she'd just lost. Before you knew it, Kerber's comeback chances were dwindling to nothing, then disappeared entirely. Cibulkova won the set 6-3 to advance to her first Round of 16 at Flushing Meadows since 2010, making Kerber the THIRD (after #1 Halep and #2 Wozniacki) Top 4 women's seed to lose on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium's "Upset Court" in the first three rounds of the structure's debut U.S. Open.



Cibulkova always seems to find herself performing in the role of "spoiler," snuffing out fan favorites in big events, but then never managing to win the *truly* big one (i.e. a major, not the WTAF) herself. She'll get the chance again in the next round, as well, as she'll see a Bannerette on the other side of the net.

She made it *here*, but can she make it *there*?



=DAY 6 NOTES=
...the winner of the Kerber/Cibulkova match was always expected to next face '17 Open finalist Madison Keys, the #14 seed. But after her opponent, Aleksandra Krunic, had managed to overcome her post-maiden tour title slump and make her way into the 3rd Round in New York for the third time since 2014, it wasn't a given that the Serb's game of tricky variety and gutsy guile wouldn't be effective against a big-hitting player who *sometimes* can be made to beat herself in the sort of hail of errors that Krunic's game style is capable of producing.

Krunic was feeling good coming into the match, as wielding "firing power" is apparently also mood-enhancing.




Backpin's favorite Bracelet played like it, too, using drop shots, lobs, big returns, etc. to keep Keys off balance. Wearing shoes that had "Komarac" -- Serbian for "gnat," or "bug" -- emblazoned on their sides, she played the role of pesky/pesty protagonist against the home player. She broke Keys to lead 3-1 in the 1st and held onto her advantage. An ace gave her a 40/love lead at 5-4, and she secured the set on her third set point with a Keys return error. Keys whiffed on an overhead in the opening game of the 2nd, and had to save a BP before getting the hold. She then broke Krunic for a 2-0 lead, wrong-footing the Serb with a shot behind her. Krunic fell on the baseline, scraping her left knee and leaving it dripping a trail of blood down her leg through the next game, also won by Keys. She took the set 6-1.

The 3rd set opened with five straight breaks of serve. Keys took a 1-0 lead, only to see Krunic reach triple BP and level the score in the next game. In game #5, Krunic held two GP at 40/15, only to drop serve again. Keys then *saved* two BP in game #6 and held for 4-2. One might have expected the trend to continue and for Fed Cup Warrior Krunic to treat the final games as if she was playing for the honor of Serbia or something. But it just didn't happen. Rather than engage in a tooth-and-nail battle to the finish, Krunic seemed to take a half-step back as Keys stepped up to take control. She broke Krunic to lead 5-2 and then directed the final point of the day to her liking as she served for the match, dragging the Serb from corner to corner on MP and then ending the 4-6/6-1/6-2 victory with a outright winner.



She'll next see Cibulkova, who'll again try to crash yet another party, eat all the snacks, and then (probably) slip out the back door when nobody's looking.

...#30 Carla Suarez-Navarro finished off the second half of the former Pastry doubles combo of Garcia & Mladenovic. After coming back from 3-1 down in the 3rd two day ago against Kristina Mladenovic, the Spaniard dropped the opening set to #6 Caroline Garcia, but took things deep into the 3rd with the set knotted at 5-5. Garcia DF'd to fall behind 15/40, but handled the pressure well and held serve, sealing it with back-to-back winners to lead 6-5. But CSN rallied from a 15/30 deficit a game later to force a deciding TB, where she jumped ahead at 4-2 and never allowed Garcia to turn back the momentum. Suarez-Navarro won the breaker 7-4 to reach her third straight U.S. Open Round of 16, and eighth in the last twelve majors.



Meanwhile, after staging comebacks in both of her first two matches at Flushing Meadows (when back-to-back opponents served for the match, but she won anyway), Katerina Siniakova did today what she tends to do at this stage of her career. Namely, not really follow up on her potential (in singles), falling 6-4/6-0 on Saturday to Lesia Tsurenko.

It's sort of par for the course for the Czech, who won her first two tour titles last year yet still managed to finish 2017 with the same ranking she'd ended with in '16 (#49). For all she's done of late in doubles (RG/WI titles), she's never ranked higher than #36 in singles (she came into this Open at #54) despite reaching five tour-level finals in a time span of a little more than two years.

...the final women's 3rd Round match of the day session was the most brutal, with Aliaksandra Sasnovich failing to record even a single game against the Great Wave of Osaka, the #20-seeded Naomi. Already in her sixth straight slam 3rd Round, she now reaches her second Round of 16 (w/ AO) of the year with a 6-0/6-0 win over the Belarusian. Sasnovich's day ended with her seventh DF. Meanwhile, Osaka won 78% of her first serves, and 71% of her seconds, converted 6 of 8 BP chances, committed just three UE and won 51 of the match's 68 points.



...in doubles, #14 Atawo/Groenefeld advanced past Vika Azarenka & Latisha Chan after the latter duo retired after five games. Don't worry, it wasn't Vika. Whew! The pair was down 4-0, broke for 4-1, then a few minutes later Chan was shaking her surprised opponents' hands and hugging Azarenka before walking off the court, alone and into the ether. The whole thing lasted just nineteen minutes.

Sam Stosur & Zhang Shuai knocked off #4 Dabrowski/Xu Yifan 6-2/7-6(2), providing further evidence for my notion that the Aussie, currently sinking in the singles rankings, should think about going back to her doubles roots for the final chapter of her career. She was on a potential Hall of Fame doubles player tract early on, then became a slam-winning singles star. Three years of great doubles results, and a couple more slams (she's already one of the few players of her generation to have won WS/WD/MX major titles) might pave a legitimate path to Newport, if she's interested in such a thing.

Elsewhere, Elise Mertens played ANOTHER match (#103), joining with Demi Schuurs to defeat Diatchenko/Gasparyan 6-4/6-0. Also winning: Barty/Vandeweghe and Hradecka/Makarova.

...the USTA schedulers, in their infinite wisdom (or not), have scheduled BOTH of (quite possibly) the most anticipated Day 6 matches for the night schedule AT THE SAME TIME. Of course, due to match overruns on Armstrong, Sharapova/Ostapenko (w/ the Russian sporting a 21-0 mark under the lights on Ashe) and Kvitova/Sabalenka (on Armstrong) might *not* fully take place simultaneously. But, still, why shut out the daytime hours so neither of these take place under the sun, or have both take played at a time when neither can be fully focused on?

At any rate, it means this is another "U.S. Open at Night" posting day. Grrrr.

With the 3rd Round over (later on), I'll also have the usual "Lists-a-Palooza" for the Final 16.



LIKE ON DAY 6: One of the people watching in the stands? Kathy Rinaldi. Hmmm.



LIKE ON DAY 6: The Conchita-Karolina Amalgamation



LIKE ON DAY 6: I hear that Federling guy is pretty good.



IN SLOVENIAN TENNIS NEWS ON DAY 6:




...and, finally...

I always viewed Lyle Lovett as part of a two-headed country music chaos machine along with k.d. lang. Both of their careers hit their stride at the same time, and they maintained an iconoclastic presence in a genre that had held firmly to tradition for far too long.

Perhaps no artist fused traditional country music with jazz, blues and all sorts of other styles better than Lovett, a self-deprecating Texas singer/songwriter who often performed with an understated air while daring his audience to wait for his smirk-inducing lyrics to hit them right in the face. It was something of a game when hearing one of his songs -- and even better when *watching* him perform it -- for the first time, wondering when the "punch line" was going to come. It often did, allowing him to flash his crooked smile while his band members shook their heads behind him. Sometimes, though, he played it straight, revealing himself to be able to be as "traditional" as the next singer. When he wanted to be.

Known for the unruly "mess" atop his head between close-cropped hair on the sides, a wry sense of humor and, yes, even his (brief) shocking marriage to superstar Julia Roberts (1993-95), it's safe to say that Lovett was and still is an original.

A few of his songs, as well as a some wait-for-it lyrics...

["Here I Am" and "She's Hot to Go" - w/ Francine Reed;
on "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson"]

["Creeps Like Me"]
And I keep my uncle Leon
In my closet
In my closet
There don't nobody know
Just me and uncle Leon
And my closet
And they wonder
Where'd that old man go

Look around and you will see
This world is full of creeps like me
You look surprised
You shouldn't be
This world is full of creeps like me

["If I Had a Boat"]
If I were Roy Rogers
I'd sure enough be single
I couldn't bring myself to marrying old Dale
It'd just be me and Trigger
We'd go ridin' through them movies
Then we'd buy a boat and on the sea we'd sail

And if I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
I said me upon my pony on my boat

Now the mystery masked man was smart
He got himself a Tonto
'Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free
But Tonto he was smarter
And one day said kemo sabe
Kiss my ass I bought a boat
I'm going out to sea

["I've Been to Memphis"]

["Once is Enough"]
I used to be so much more open minded
And I used to like to fall in love
And they tell me I was so much sweeter and kinder
But once is enough

Yeah I used to be Mr. Understanding
I used to could listen and not interrupt
But now I'm a different man than that man then
'Cause once is enough

["Nobody Knows Me" - showing he can be a touhching and delicate singer, too]

It was always something of a dream of mine for Lovett and lang to record together, as the combination begged for a one-of-a-kind song filled with soaring vocals *and* sly humor coming together to produce something, well, odd. As it should be. They *did* record a song together, a version of "Release Me" in 2012, but it was *such* a traditional-sounding effort that it's almost disappointing. Oh, well. Maybe some day.

["Release Me" - w/ k.d. lang]




=WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16=
Kaia Kanepi/ESP vs. #17 Serena Williams/USA
#18 Ash Barty/AUS vs. #8 Karolina Pliskova/CZE
#3 Sloane Stephens/USA vs. #15 Elise Mertens/BEL
#19 Anastasija Sevastova/LAT vs. #7 Elina Svitolina/UKR
#30 Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP vs. x
#14 Madison Keys/USA vs. #29 Dominika Cibulkova/SVK
x vs. #20 Naomi Osaka/JPN
Marketa Vondrousova/JPN vs. Lesia Tsurenko/UKR

=WOMEN'S DOUBLES ROUND OF 16=
#1 Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE/CZE) vs. (PR) L.Kichenok/Siegemund (UKR/GER)
S.Hsieh/Sabalenka (TPE/BLR) vs. #7 Mertens/Schuurs (BEL/NED)
#3 S.-Hlavackova/Strycova (CZE/CZE) vs. #13 Barty/Vandeweghe (AUS/USA)
Hibino/Kalashnikova (JPN/GEO) vs. Jakupovic/Khromacheva (SLO/RUS)
Pavlyuchenkova/Sevastova (RUS/LAT) vs. (WC) Dolehide/McHale (USA/USA)
(PR) Bacsinszky/Zvonareva (SUI/RUS) vs. Stosur/Sh.Zhang (AUS/CHN)
#6 Hradecka/Makarova vs. Linette/Tomljanovic (POL/AUS)
#14 Atawo/Groenefeld (USA/GER) vs. #2 Babos/Mladenovic (HUN/FRA)









NYC

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Beast mode 🔛 ! Last16 @usopen ⚡️

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**U.S. OPEN "BROADWAY-BOUND" WINNERS**
2010 Vania King, USA
2011 Francesca Schiavone, ITA
2012 "Future Sloane" (Stephens), USA
2013 Camila Giorgi, ITA
2014 Belinda Bencic, SUI
2015 Lisa Raymond, USA
2016 Kayla Day, USA
2017 Sharapova vs. Halep ("Opening Night")
2018 Kaia Kanepi, ESP

**50 YEARS OF OPEN ERA TENNIS AT THE U.S. OPEN**
[GER Champions]
1988 Steffi Graf
1989 Steffi Graf
1993 Steffi Graf
1995 Steffi Graf
1996 Steffi Graf
2016 Angelique Kerber
[GER Finalists]
1987 Steffi Graf
1990 Steffi Graf
1994 steffi Graf
[GER Semifinalists]
1973 Helga Masthoff
1985 Steffi Graf
1986 Steffi Graf
1991 Steffi Graf
2011 Angelique Kerber
[GER Quarterfinalists]
1975 Katja Ebbinghaus
1979 Sylvia Hanika
1981 Sylvia Hanika
1983 Sylvia Hanika
1984 Sylvia Hanika
1985 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
1987 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
1992 Steffi Graf
1999 Anke Huber
2000 Anke Huber
2011 Andrea Petkovic

**BACKSPIN 2018 FRESH FACE AWARD WINNERS**
JAN: Elise Mertens, BEL
AO: Elise Mertens, BEL
FEB/MAR: Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
I.W./MIAMI: Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
1Q: DASHA KASATKINA, RUS
APR: Elise Mertens, BEL
MAY: Elise Mertens, BEL
RG: Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
2Q Clay Court: ELISE MERTENS, BEL
JUN: Ash Barty, AUS
WI: Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
2Q Grass Court: DIEDE DE GROOT, NED (WC)
JUL/AUG: Anastasia Potapova, RUS
AUG: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
[2018 Weekly FRESH FACE Award Wins]
5 - Maria Sakkari, GRE
4 - Amanda Anisimova, USA
4 - Viktoria Kuzmova, SVK
3 - Ash Barty, AUS
3 - Dasha Kasatkina, RUS
3 - Sonya Kenin, USA
3 - Anett Kontaveit, EST
3 - Elise Mertens, BEL
3 - Katerina Siniakova, CZE
2 - Diede de Groot, NED (WC)
2 - Veronika Kudermetova, RUS
2 - Claire Liu, USA
2 - Naomi Osaka, JPN
2 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2 - Fanny Stollar, HUN
2 - Katie Swan, GBR
2 - Tamara Zidansek, SLO

**BEST 2018 SLAM RESULTS**
[qualifiers]
4th Rd. - Denisa Allertova, CZE (AO)
4th Rd. - Evgeniya Rodina, RUS (WI)
3rd Rd. - Marta Kostyuk, UKR (AO)
3rd Rd. - Luksika Kumkhum, THA (AO)
3rd Rd. - Vitalia Diatchenko, RUS (WI)
3rd Rd. - Karolina Muchova, CZE (US)
2nd Rd. - Caroline Dolehide, USA (RG)
2nd Rd. - Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU (RG)
2nd Rd. - Mariana Duque-Marino, COL (RG)
2nd Rd. - Georgina Garcia Perez, ESP (RG)
2nd Rd. - Magdalena Frech, POL (RG)
2nd Rd. - Rebecca Peterson, SWE (RG)
2nd Rd. - Genie Bouchard, CAN (WI)
2nd Rd. - Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU (WI)
2nd Rd. - Claire Liu, USA (WI)
2nd Rd. - Sara Sorribes-Tormo, ESP (WI)
2nd Rd. - Viktoriya Tomova, BUL (WI)
2nd Rd. - Genie Bouchard, CAN (US)
2nd Rd. - Francesca Di Lorenzo, USA (US)
2nd Rd. - Julia Glushko, ISR (US)
2nd Rd. - Anhelina Kalinina, UKR (US)
2nd Rd. - Jil Teichmann, SUI (US)
2nd Rd. - Vera Zvonareva, RUS (US)



TOP QUALIFIER: Genie Bouchard/CAN
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #13 Kiki Bertens/ NED
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: #23 Marta Kostyuk/RUS def. Valentyna Ivakhnenko/RUS 4-6/7-6(6)/7-6(4) (saved 6 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #10 Alona Ostapenko/LAT def. Andrea Petkovic/GER 6-4/4-6/6-4
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
TOP NIGHT SESSION WOMEN'S MATCH: Nominee: 2nd - (Q) Muchova d. #12 Muguruza
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: (Q) Jil Teichmann/SUI (def. Jakupovic/SRB)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Magdalena Rybarikova/SVK (1st Rd. - Q.Wang/CHN; second con. FSO at major for Rybarikova)
UPSET QUEENS: Sweden
REVELATION LADIES: Belarus (four -- Azarenka, Lapko, Sabalenka, Sasnovich -- into 2nd Round of a slam for the first time ever)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Switzerland (1-4 1st Rd.; Golubic double-bageled, Bacsinszky love 3rd set)
CRASH & BURN: #1 Simona Halep/ROU (lost 1st Rd. to Kanepi/EST; first #1 to lost 1st Rd. at U.S. Open in Open era)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Katerina Siniakova/CZE (1r: Kontaveit served for match at 5-4, 30/love in 3rd, Siniakova wins set 7-5, taking 12/14 points; 2r: Tomljanovic served for match at 6-5 in 3rd; opponent served for match in 1st and 2nd Rounds and saved MP)
IT ("??"): Nominee: Louis Armstrong Stadium ("Upset Court" - three of top 4 women's seeds fall in first three rounds on the newly rebuilt #2 show court)
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: xx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Karolina Muchova/CZE (in 3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Victoria Azarenka/BLR (in 3rd Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: In 4th Rd.: Keys, Stephens, S.Williams
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): xx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
BROADWAY-BOUND: Kaia Kanepi/EST (new Armstrong Stadium premieres w/ Day 1 def. of #1 Halep)
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: S.Williams
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 6. More tonight.
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