Watch Out for Melanie Oudin
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Serena Williams may have fired some ill-comments towards umpires but that’s not the story as far as women tennis in the U.S. is concerned.
The story in the 2009 U.S. Open has shifted from the Williams sisters to a virtual unknown named Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Georgia. The 70th-ranked Oudin has been handing out upsets to some of the sport’s biggest female stars, including Russian aces Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova. She also defeated 13th seed Nadia Petrova in three sets, making it crystal clear that this 17-year-old ain’t no pushover.
Sure, the magical ride for the young Melanie Oudin went to a crushing halt when she went up against no.9 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, losing 6-2, 6-2. But the fact of the matter is, Oudin has arrived into the scene of women’s tennis in style and everybody will recognize this young talent the next time she sets foot on a tennis court.
”This has been a great experience for me. I had a great run here,” Oudin told the crowd of 23,881 during an on-court interview right after losing the match to Wozniacki, an honor usually reserved for the winner. ”I hope to come back next year and do even better.”
Doing better might just be a little harder for her though.
She upset four more established players, including the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova and Beijing Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, to become the youngest quarter finalist at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
Making the story even better is the fact that Oudin’s last three victories each came after dropping the first set. But her start against Wozniacki was quite inauspicious, she lost 14 of the first 18 points under the bright lights in the big city.
With ”BELIEVE” stamped in all capital letters on the heels of her pink and yellow sneakers, Oudin certainly never gave up, her ground strokes did.
It should be interesting how she does next season…
Can Serena Williams win the US Open?
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
The last Grand Slam of the tennis calendar is on.
The 2009 U.S. Open is here and we’ll probably see some poor sap get beaten down by Serena Williams again.
And since Serena Williams is the defending champion of the U.S. Open, not to mention the fact that she’s still fresh from her huge win at Wimbledon, the younger Williams sister will definitely be the woman to beat.
Serena has this tendency to make her opponents look decidedly ordinary with her speed and strength, unless of course she’s playing against the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova who’ll probably make Serena look like a freaking gorilla compared to Sharapova’s long legs, smooth skin and…
ANYWAY, Serena is the current holder of the U.S. Open singles title and her odds should shorten as summer tournaments heat up. She’s the best athlete on the women’s tour and she has a slight, but significant, age advantage on her older sister Venus Williams. It’s hard to imagine Serena not at least making the semis of the U.S. Open and despite being ranked no.2 in the world, she should be the odds-on favorite.
Then we have Dinara Safina. It is hard to find a serious tennis analyst who doesn’t think she is one of the best players in the sport right now. Without a shadow of a doubt, she is one of the best in the world at the moment with all of her success in the past year, but the general consensus is that Serena is still the world’s best player due to her multiple Grand Slam titles in the last year. A win over Serena at Flushing Meadows could sure fix that.
Elena Dementieva has never won a Grand Slam singles title but she did make the finals of the 2004 U.S. Open. With her odds set at +1000 (10/1) she is underrated and is more of a threat to win the 2009 U.S. Open than Sharapova, Ivanovic, Safina, and Azarenka.
Players that should almost certainly be…
Rafael Nadal to miss the US Open?
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
After being out of tennis competition for two months, looks like Nadal could be out for more.
Yes, arguably the best tennis player to come out of Spain could be out longer, forcing him to miss the last Grand Slam tennis tournament of the season which would be the 2009 U.S. Open.
Too bad considering that Rafael Nadal was the no.1 tennis player in the world coming in 2009. When he lost in the French Open at Roland Garros for the first time ever, it was so monumental that everything started crumbling down with it.
You see, Nadal has been out of action for two months with knee problems during which time he lost both the French Open and Wimbledon titles to his rival Roger Federer. Since then, Federer has reclaimed his spot on top of the mountain, thanks primarily to Nadal’s troubles on and off the court.
As of this writing, Nadal has no idea if he’d be able to play in the U.S. Open and give him a chance to redeem himself.
‘’I can’t tell you if I’ll be 100 percent for the U.S. Open,’’ Nadal said. ‘’It depends on many factors but clearly, I’ll work as hard as I can try to be in condition there. But most of all, I want to make sure my knees respond well.’’
‘’Once I know my knees will respond well, I can train well, I can compete with greater calm and that’s what will give me, little by little, the confidence to train at the maximum level.’’
‘’I arrived at two very important tournaments…”
Nadal looks to win the U.S. Open
Monday, September 1st, 2008
Right now, the clay court king is THE king in all of tennis.
Rafael Nadal, after beating Roger Federer TWICE in a Grand Slam tournament this year, has become the new world No.1, taking along with him the no.1 seed in the last Grand Slam of the tennis calendar, the 2008 United States Open Tennis Championships.
Also an Olympic gold medalist in the men’s singles in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rafael Nadal will now deal with the pressure of having one huge target on his head.
After all, that’s what being on top of the food chain is all about in sports.
For some reason, Rafael Nadal has never gone pass the quarterfinals in the U.S. Open. Must have something to do with the way he struggles on tournaments not played on clay surfaces.
Now that he has been able to overcome that after beating Roger Federer on grass, that being this year’s Wimbledon, Rafa is on the verge of proving to everybody that he’s no longer just the master of clay.
He likes his chances of winning another Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open and I don’t blame him.
‘’When you are playing well you feel comfortable on all courts. In the past when I was playing well, I did well on hard courts, too. I feel good for sure. I won two tournaments in Toronto and the Olympics, and I played semifinals in Cincinnati,’’ Rafael Nadal said.
Nadal, 22, has won eight titles this year including…
Maria Sharapova pulls out of 2008 Beijing Olympics
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Sharapova fans, mourn.
As we count the remaining days heading to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, news broke out that we won’t have the privilege of watching Sharapova run around the tennis court when the biggest sporting event of the year starts on August 8.
You read it, the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova won’t be playing for her mother country Russia, pulling out of the tournament because of a right shoulder injury. Sharapova, winner of three Grand Slam singles titles, said that an MRI exam and other medical tests showed she has two small tears in tendons in her shoulder.
Sharapova, before opting out of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, already pulled out of the WTA tournament in Montreal because of the said injury.
‘’After yesterday’s match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder,’’ Maria Sharapova said in a posting on her web site under the headline that reads, ‘’No chance of me competing in Beijing.’’
‘’This is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics.’’
‘’I’m currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to [New York] for a second opinion, but I wanted to let all of you know first that there’s no chance of me competing in Beijing. The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything.’’
Sharapova opting out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics means she’ll have more time to prepare for the last Grand Slam of the…
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