Yeah. This is a battle between the best second serve and the worst.

I thought it was hilarious how de la Renta was all stone-faced until they acknowledged his presence.

Michael. Regis. There's a tennis match going on. We don't care about Charlie Weis, Notre Dame football, or Donald Trump. Shut the F up!

Dementieva's serve is pathetic. I mentioned her erratic ball toss, and then Tracy said something similar only ten minutes later. Hee! Now I feel like I can be a tennis coach.

I'm afraid it happens all the time.

I thought I was going to have a normal second week day at the Open. . . watch some doubles (damn you Bryan Brothers!), watch some youngsters (go Donald Young--you are shorter than I thought and I think your opponent [David Navarrete] could become something onces he gets his head on straight), wander around and get sad that it is almost over. Well, I trooped up the million stairs to Arthur Ashe during the third set of Coria/Ginepri. Oh, my. That was some serious nerve-wracking business right there. When Coria and Ginepri high-fived after that brilliant point? Remarkable. Between that and clapping for a great Ginepri shot, it was almost as if Coria could hear all the crap that Jim and John were saying about him and his unsportsman-like behavior. I really wanted Coria to win but oh well. Good for Ginepri--I hope you lose in the semis.

btw: I'm not saying Coria is a good sportsman or not (I really don't know) but Jim and John were really coming down hard on him. What was especially funny was the comment from Jim to John, of all people, that fans need a jerk to root against as much as they need someone for whom to root.

Gah Lindsey! You stupid mopey bitch! What a choke! Go Elena! That shit serve works for her.

That was the moment of the tournament right there. Gotta love that.

That was another great match. Wow. Why in the world did Lindsay keep going to her backhand on match point? Elena came up with the goods when she needed.

Ted, the expression is "tough as nails."

Lindsay is 91-17 in tiebreaks over her career?! OMG! That might be the most impressive stat ever.

So the upsets came tonight. If we get Clijsters/Dementieva, one of the nice girls will get her first.

I loved Elena's interview. She seems very sweet.

Pierce/Dementieva? Wow, who knew?

I think Pierce has a shot at the final.

Is it any surprise that Lindsey fails once again? Her groundstrokes really let her down in the deciding set. So many balls hit into the net. And some off of that wussy second serve. Simply pathetic.

I think Elena needs to get a real coach, not her mom. Somebody that can show her how to toss the ball and hit a serve.

So it looks like probably a 10:30 EST start time for Agassi-Blake. That's just ridiculous. Now's one time when I don't mind living on the often-tape-delayed West coast. Maybe there will be a lot of New Yorkers calling in sick tomorrow morning.

She has Richard Krajicek helping her. He definitely knows how to serve. You know, I'm mad at the person who let her serve like that when she was younger. If I were her coach, I'd have fixed that serve or died trying. It's so much harder to fix something you've been doing wrong for over a decade. One of the first things you're supposed to learn is that you have to catch a bad toss.

Oh, Lindsay. Had she made it to semis I'd have been happy with anyone winning. Dementieva I'm lukewarm about but I really can't get behind a player with that kind of serve. OTOH, I might have had to root against Lindsay had she pulled a win out of that performance anyway. Still, the on-air chatter about her posture and "down-on-herself"-ness is annoying. Not every player has to fistpump to mentally recharge so I wish they'd all stop thinking they're in her mind when she's down. I've seen Lindsay both win and lose with the same demeanor.

Dementieva's stance on the follow through of her strokes is rather ugly as well. Myskina's serve isn't particularly appealing to the eye. Kuznetsova has a great serve and powerful groundies, but even those look a little wonky on the follow through, IMO.

Of the Russian crop, I'd say Petrova has the prettiest technique on her strokes. So smooth and fluid.

And I rather liked Kirilenko.

I remember during the French Open finals she threw her racquet down midmatch, and screamed "I hate my serve!" It's a shame because, overall, her game is beautiful.

Lol, I thought she looked really good tonight. Very natural, and not shiny and botoxed, but I digress...

I have to say I loved Nicole Kidman's death glare when Regis was shmoozing. It was like "Talk to me, and I will beat you". She actually seemed like a tennis fan.

She looked like death though.

Actually Dementieva's serve (the first one anyway) has improved a lot over the past year. The other players actually have a hard time with her serve because while it isn't powerful, she puts a ton of spin on it.

I bet she would have a couple of Grand slams by now if not for that wonky serve. She still has great legs, and she sounds eerily like Martina Hingis (sigh).

I think it's time for Lindsay to retire, she just can't win the big matches anymore. And Mauresmo is just a basket case.

I hope James and Roger win out, I would love to see those two in the final.

I have feeling that the women's final will be Clijsters v. Dementieva, which sucks for me because I like them both and wouldn't know who to root for.

Oh, Lindsay. Why must you make me root for you? Why? I always feel so dirty after you choke. Damn you!

Gah, that second serve is the ugliest thing, uglier than the crap Natalia Zvereva used to drip: I think (hope?) Pierce will stomp all over it.

I hadn't thought of that, very true.


Absolutely. Imagine Sampras if he hadn't been forced to switch to that one-handed backhand. History would be different. It is really interesting to look at players's shortcomings and imagine what would have happened if whatever that "thing" had been coached out of them when they were younger.

Okay, I am now turning off this computer and watching the match because I am a New Yorker who has to work tomorrow (oy, I'm going to be useless).

The high five was awesome. (And I wanted Coria to win as well) I have seen Coria be sporting in other matches or two believe it or not. And McEnroe is one to talk about unsporting behavior.

Coria's post match interview showed good sportsmanship as well. As translated-



I have to say- Agassi's penguin walk- it bugs.

My brother just commented that Blake's girlfriend always looks either bored or vapid when they show her. Have to say I agree.

Can one of you very knowledgable and insightful people fill me in on the validity of the point tracker? On one of the point tracker shots, it depicted one of Lindsay's shots as just grazing the line. Does the tracker really "know" where the ball landed or is it just simulating the landing based on the call? The computer graphic replay makes me suspicious of its reliability since it's not the actual footage.

Oh my God, you guys: I'm rooting for James. I had no idea it was possible in this scenario. What do I do?

It is entirely possible that James can basically out-hit Andre off the court - James is a much better offensive player in that regard. Can he keep it up to win in best of 5 vs. Andre? We'll have to see.

Even with the objectionable line call on match point, Lindsay seems to just not know how to win the tight matches, unless she's playing someone who an even more tighter player than her in pressure situations. She already showed in her match vs. Chevadatze that Elena Dementieva just will not roll over anybody - so she deserves credit in that regard. The actual quality of the match, though.... blech.

I'm guessing the winner of Sharapova-Clijsters will take the title.

I disagree. I think she looks both bored and vapid.

I just had a frappucino. Hopefully the sugar and caffeine will help me stay awake because I think this must be deuce #81.

ETA: Oh no! Blake broke. Wake up, Andre!

I would rather see her disengaged than to pull a Brooke Shields.

Or a Barbra Streisand.

Oh God! Don't remind me, KFC and seneca724 you are making it hard for me to root for Andre, when you bring up his past girlfriend/wife.

But I agree, that the girlfriend of James Blake looks both bored and vapid; and not too cute either. She's up there with Bec Hewitt, when it comes to crazy looking significant others.

But Agassi does have his "zen master" around in honor of Babs. His spiritual advisor reminds me of Tony Orlando.

I was torn going into this match because I love both of them (and have a crush on James Blake) but....go Andre!! It pains me to see him struggle in a match. Go Andre, go!!

Also: Ginepri really does have zero charisma. I was rooting for Coria and now will seemingly root for Blake over Ginepri in the semifinal.

I finally checked out Gimelstob's blog from a few pages back, and I agree that Mark Philippoussis has one fugly girlfriend. Big fat word to the person that called the Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen likeness, girl looks like an ugly hobbit with cousin it hair. Ferrero on the other hand has a beautiful wife. And Andre really is getting stomped right now.

I can only hope that this evening's upsets will spark a trend and Nalbandian will win tomorrow night in straight sets.

A girl can dream.

I like both Federer and Nalbandian but I would love for David to make it to the final.

I have to say that I actually don't consider Robby's win an upset or Blake if he wins. Both have had such good form the past couple of weeks.

JulesP: Despite the computer generated graphic, PointTracker (or whatever it is called ShotSpot, MacCam, etc.) uses cameras at, I think, 8 different angles to pinpoint shot locations. So the trajectory is pretty believable.

The technology is so good that it was going to be employed for instant replay challenges at this year's Open. The hold-up has been how to incorporate the challenges (how many per player, how to penalize for a challenge on a clean call) not a concern over the technology.

At least from what I've read.

Another reason why I like Federer is because when was asked who he'd like to play in a quarter, he chose Nalbandian. Why? Because he has a losing record against Nalbandian. Most players would pick the player they have a winning record against, but not Fed. I guess we'll see how it plays out tomorrow.

Oh, I meant Davenport. In terms of seedings and expectations, they both really were.

Agreed. Rankings aside, they were probably the favorites.

James is playing phenomenally well. He is hitting his forehand so beautifully. It's flat enough that it really moves through the court, but it has just enough topspin to be safe. At this point in time, he can honestly make a case for having as good a forehand as anyone.

Nalbandian winning would be horrendous. Despite that Davis Cup win this year, Federer getting through is the only way we can guarantee Hewitt won't win.

We'll have to disagree on that one then. By seedings for sure, they were (are) upsets, though.

<Sound of woman shrieking at Sharapova pitch>

Whoops sorry- since you were talking about David I thought you meant upsets in terms of ATP upsets. And I didn't really consider Robby an upset so much since Coira is often referred to as a clay court-specialist. (Which is a little unfair to me cause he can play on fast surfaces.) Fun fact- outside of Federer the only two players to have reached at least the Round of 16 of all four slams this year- Coria and Nalbandian.

I have thought these past two weeks if Blake had only played with this level of consistency and non-choking his career he would have a lot more titles.

Agassi really does tend to speed up to much in between points when in trouble.

Thanks Juanita; I appreciate the information. I came in late to the Open this year so I'm trying to catch up on stuff. You guys really know your stats in here, which helps a lot.

I still can't get used to Tracy's voice.

I hadn't thought of that. As excited as I'd be to have someone other than Federer win (I like him but you know what they say about variety), I'd rather Roger win everything rather than Hewitt win another title ever. Hate him and his fugly face.

You know what would be freaking awesome- Blake beating Hewitt in the final.

I don't think Nalbandian will win, all of his wins over Federer came before Federer became Federer,although there is a possibility that he might. I must say that Federer hasn't been playing like his usual brilliant, Federer self this tournament. I totally expect him to raise his level of play when the need arises but you never know.

If Federer does make it to the final, I don't think Blake or Ginepri would stand much of a chance against him.

ETA: I'm not sure about their chances against Hewitt either. I am just being realistic.

Really? I hadn't realized - that is pretty interesting.

Kiss My Grits said:It would be the best day of my life! I am not kidding. I might call in sick for that match-up.

Crap!

James is tightening up....and that has been something that has killed him in matches he should have won throughout most of his career. Aaaargh!

And will I be thrown off this board if I say that I don't like Andre? I love that he does great stuff for charity and I think it's great he's married to Graf- who I love.

But I don't think he is that nice of a guy on the tour. I've heard that he's not that nice to those players who are not in his echelon so to say. I don't think he is really warm at all, unlike say, a Federer. I apprecaite his achievements, but I don't think he is the Saint Andre as he is sometimes painted out to be. And I hate how he whines that players are taking too long when they are allowed 20 seconds between points. I have seen him do that so many times- and they don't have to be bullied by him into rushing- no matter how much he wants it.

Hurrah! I guess there'll be no Law & Order tonight, eh USA?

Damn it James! I gotta go to bed! At this rate, I'm going to be dead at work tomorrow.

I will be so angry if Blake uses this-he has this old man on the ropes. Don't take your foot off the gas!

I didn't follow my rule-I said I wouldn't watch. I didn't-until I tuned in at the end of that third set to see him lose the set. So I am jinxing him and I need to turn the set off!

While that would indeed be awesome, I'm not willing to take the risk that he loses. I can't have Hewitt winning another slam. Besides, after Roger's loss to Safin in January and Andy's surprise win in Cincy, I've been deprived of two Federer/Hewitt beatdowns this year! Mmm, bagels...


You're right, of course. I'm just saying that, like Mary Pierce, Ginepri and Blake seemed to come into the match playing better than their higher-ranked opponents. They're technically upsets, but not Muller-over-Roddick upsets.


I know. He and Capriati are the anti-Pierces.

So you're saying they all had their mojo? ;)

Damn!

And now almost the whole crowd is for Agassi. I wonder if it goes to 5 sets if some will start to root for James again.


Quit doing your old choking crap James- get back on that horse!!!!

The chair keeps saying "please," but you know he wants to say "STFU." I have never heard so much noise at the beginning of each point.

Am I evil for thinking Agassi hit that drop shot trying to recreate James's accident? I am? OK, just checking.

This is the second night I've been yelling "get a first serve in" to the television.

All signs point to Agassi, but I still think James can do it. This would make his story even more amazing.