US Open

Well it's all kicking off, or hitting off more accurately but that sounds rather violent, and we're through day two of the US Open.  Good news/ad news from a British perspective Laura Robson (opponent Morita retired injured) and Elena Baltacha (Opponent Hampton retired injured- what's going on?) are through to the next round, Anne Keothothong and Heather Watson are out (Heather won the first set against Maria Sharapova before losing in three sets).  Andy Murray plays someone unrememberable today.   And an Irish guy got food poisoning.

All the big names are through apart from Wimbledon champ Kvitova who lost in the first match.  But Fed, Djok, Nadal, Wozniaki, Zvonerava, Williams(es) et al are all through to the second round.  And Hurrican Irene hasn't affected play one bit. 

Well Djokovic lost his second match of the year when he pulled out half way through the Cincinnatti final against Murray (and Murray won his second title of the year).  Djokovic had a sore shoulder after a long year, so questions have been raised whether he will be fit enough for the upcoming US Open. 

And Maria Sharapova came from a set down to beat Jelena Jankovic in the women's final.  Jelena had come from 1-4 down in the first set to win it, and looked good at the beginning of the second but Sharapova came back and won the second on a tie-break.  Then I went to sleep because my eyes were all sleepy.  But Sharapova won the third 6-3.  

Cinci

After losing in the first round last week, Andy Murray has done better in his current tournament beating Giles Simon today to reach the semi-finals in the Cincinnati Masters, the tournament preceding the US Open.  The British women; Heather Watson, Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothothong all lost their matches, but have places in the main draw of the US Open. 



Serena Williams won a tournament last week but pulled out of Cincinnati with an injury.  And Kim Clijsters has pulled out of the US Open with an injury.  Andy Roddick lost his first match, and was somewhat perturbed by the point penalty he received after two angry outbursts on set point in the second set.  You know I'm trying to like Andy Roddick cos he should have won a Wimbledon and that mean Federer keeps stopping him but dash it he does make it hard.

US Open soon ducks!!!

Road to the US Open

I'm sorry, it's been ages- but I've lacked a TV or reliable internet access, and anyway the top players take a month off after Wimbledon and the BBC tennis news has been largely revolving around Elena Baltacha losing or Andy Murray sneezing. 

But now there is some more interesting activity afoot as Andy Murray played Kevin Anderson (tall South African) in the second round of the Montreal Masters (Murray had a bye through the first round, and is the defending champion).  Murray moved slowly and was comprehensively beaten by Anderson.  And the US Open is only two weeks away...
That's not all, Nadal is also out beaten by Ivan Dodig, at least he lasted three sets Andy.  But Djokovic and Federer have won their matches. 

In Toronto number one Wozniaki also lost her second round match, but Wimbledon winner Kvitova, and French Open champ Li got through matches.  Clijsters pulled out with a stomach injury.  And poor Dinara Safina will miss the rest of the year with her back injury, again.

In other British news Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothothong, and Heather Watson (jeeps what happened to Laura Robson eh?) all have places at the US Open in a few weeks.  And James Ward who reached the Queens Club semis this year has reached a new highest ranking, into the top 150 for the first time, at 144.  But he'll still have to qualify to play at the US Open. 

Finals

Unless you've been hiding in a cave waiting for my blog you'll know who won Wimbledon- Petra Kvitova beat Maria Sharapova in the women's and Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in the men's.

Apologies for not blogging until now but I didn't see any of the semi-finals or finals and have been having major internet issues recently- grrr.

Time will tell if Kvitova is able to win more majors or even maintain a position in the top ten- this year's French Open champ Li Na went out in the second round (to semi-finalist Lisicki), and the French Open finalist and last year's winner went out in the third.  As did World Number three Vera Zvonarava.  World Number One last until the fourth round, which is when Venus and Serena went out too.  Serena has dropped to 175 in the rankings after failing to defend her points form last years Wimbledon.  Me thinks she will get a few wildcards though... Anyway, I'd say it was a poor Wimbledon for the favourites but a good two weeks for the interesting players just below them- Kvitova, Lisicki, Azarenka, and obviously Sharapova who made the final finally back to her best after a long time recovering from injury.

And Djokovic has proved he can maintain the form- he has only lost one match this year, to Federer in the French Open Semis, and became the new number one before the final.  Winning the title was a nice way to consolidate his new ranking position, but everyone new he was the best player this year.  Just think back to 2008 when Nadal was winning everything (including the Olympics) and no one had a clue how to beat him, and now Djokovic has beaten him 5 times this year, all of those matches in finals...Although he still has a way to go to win the career head-to-head, Nadal's title haul, and prize money...