Oh my lord- one of the radio guys just yammering on and raving about Sharapova. ( think it's Matthew Cronin) When he does mention Kim, it is just to describe her musculature- which he made sound like it was akin to a linebackers. I hope that the tv commentators are more even in their comments.

I've gone back to US Open Radio (I know, I'm fickle) but they will not stop with their love for Maria. Ewwww. Go Kim, go Kim, go go, go Kim.

HEH! Chesty! You noticed (at the exact same time as me!)

Just saw the transcript for Elena's Press conference on the us open website and I have to say she did great. The journalists basically tried to push her into saying Marys gamesmanship cost her the match and she didnt. Good for her showing some real class.



I completely agree with this, and the great looks (& legs) are matched with a pretty cute personality too.

If Maria beats Kim and I am actually forced to root for in the final I will not be happy at all.

It’s driving me nutty! And Cronin says Sharapova really slowly like his is stoned. Kind of creepy. My lord- even if he is commenting about Kim he begins his comment with the word Maria. Like “Maria did this….and so Kim did this”

I think Maria and Elena are both very attractive, just it does seem that Elena does not really get attention for her looks.

After that little debacle, I just want Kim or Maria to take Mary out. And I think they will.

It was interesting, on CBS JMac is saying that one reason Maria might be playing so tentatively is because she had a growth spurt and shot up to 6'2" over the summer and it's throwing her off. Apparently Monica Seles had the same thing happen to her and it messed up her game for a long time. I also think if Maria doesn't win a GS this year, she'll win one next year-she has to to justify all the attention. I don't feel so bad for her, I think she's having a hard time dealing with the pressure and attention since no one expected her to win Wimbledon last year. I actually really like her-she's tough and she goes for broke.

Whoever beats Sharapova this year seems to go on to win the title.

The US Open has been extra dramatic this year.

I like this about her, too. I haven't seen enough of her to know if she acts poorly on court. When I have seen her, though, she has seemed to be tough as nails. I like the intensity in her eyes when she's getting ready to serve. I think she's over-exposed on the beauty issue, but that seems to be the only way a female tennis player gets any attention from the general sports press.

This is the best answer in that Dementieva transcript. The reporters keep harping on one point and she answers:




If I wasn't at work. . . I'd be screaming. If Maria misses a point, it's "so close" and if Kim (I'm sorry, "Kimmy" as they keep calling her) makes a great shot "Maria fell apart on that point." Sickening.

This question seems a little bitchy to ask, Im not sure what they were hoping Elena would say.





That just craked me up.

I can not stand it anymore. Have to turn the radio off. I actually like Maria well enough, she is tough and determined on court- and I tend to really like that intensity in both the men's and women's players. She is getting a lot of attention for her looks, but I can't blame her for that.

But the radio fellows are sooooo biased that I can't take it. It's like "Kimmy" is just out there as a hitting partner to showcase Maria's talent.

Yeah, the WTA rules are totally in the wrong with respect to injury time-outs, but at least Elena knows that the extended time-out can't be the only reason she was blitzed 2 and 2 in the second and third sets.

Maria is just fearless - I can't believe how she came back from 0-40, especially at 5-6.

I don't know about that. They're right that her lack of movement is a liability. She's a fighter, but you can beat her by getting her on the run.

If Kim loses this match, she is dead to me. I'm sick of her letting people I loathe like JHH and J-Cap win slams. Dammit! Win, Kim! This is your last chance.

Sharapova's normal grunting is bad, but now there's a maddening 2-second delay!

Phew. I was going to have to join you. Glad I don't.

Omigosh: the radio guys are STILL going on about how good Sharapova is ("she was so close to breaking this open"). Hey guys. . . she LOST--talk about Kim.

I know- I ended up still listening even when I said I wouldn't. And Andrew and Matthew just blabbed about Sharapova after and said that Maria gained new fans. Talk about the winner. Aaargh!

Go Kim tommorrow!

Now- time to leave work and start my Friday night. Woot!

Well, I'm glad it will be Kim facing faux-French Mary, who only became "French" after she didn't get on the US Olympic team. She's been a faker her whole career, why would we expect anything different now?

Now Kim: please don't go Jana Novatna/Hana Mandlikova again. I. Will. Hunt. You. Down this time.

I really think she will. She came close this year-three semis, she nearly aced Serena on match point at the Australian. It was within a fraction of an inch. And she will have grown into her body more and gotten used to her new size and she will be removed from being the defending Wimby champ and she wont have that hanging over her-so there will be a bit less pressure. I think she will be more dangerous next year. On hardcourt and grass only of course.

I think CBS execs must be crying right now. They are praying for a Federer-Agassi final now.

Come on now: she might be a faker, but her French side comes honestly and from her mother. The citizenship issues were tied to her abusive father as much as to everything else.

Speaking of faking, both Mary [Carillo] and J-Mac asked about the 12-minute delay. J-Mac wondered whether she thought the rules ought to be changed, to which Mary [Pierce] replied that it was a good question, but it was the trainer who suggested she treat both of her injuries at once.

Carillo went the snarkier route, asking whether Mary was worried about her final match, what with the gargantuan injuries and all...Pierce just SnickeredGiggled and said she wasn't. Worried, I mean.

Good game...

Sharapova found her stroke a little late in the last set, and by then she was noticible tired. When at full force, swinging like a crazy person, she's the most impressive female player out there. She gave us two games like that in the last set at least. I she only had played like that all.... oh well.

Deserving win for Kim, but it will all be for nothing if she doesn't follow up tomorrow.

THE CHEATING FROG MUST BE CRUSHED!

Way to pull it out, Kim. One more match and she can shed your title as the biggest choker. Or is she setting us up for the biggest choke of all? Should be interesting...

Mary is really trying to pull some kind of Agassi-like second wind, isn't she? A win tomorrow would tie her with J-Cap for 4th-most slam titles among active players. Her behavior today aside, she has had a remarkable year.

No slams for you, Miss #1 on Paper. And good riddance to your psycho dad.

Is that the problem people have with her citizenship? I can see that, even if I don't entirely agree with it. Athletes do it a lot. We have several "American" figure skaters, especially ice dancers, who are either Russian or Canadian. There are several Kenyan middle distance runners who are now citizens of other countries, including the U.S., because the talent is too deep in their own country to crack the Olympic ranks. At least she does have a French mom, as noted, and the abusive father situation is a factor, too. I'm not going to bash her on this point, even if I totally get what people have against her.

As much as I hate what she did, she's not a cheater. She's an opportunist, yes, but not a cheater. The French-bashing is something I can't stomach, so I'm not going to get involved in that. She was a jerk today, but that's as far as I'm going to go.

Given Pierce's cutesy little giggling answer to questions about how she would be tomorrow, I think it was fake & it will be a tough match because she's just fine. She didn't help herself in the interview with Carillo & J-Mac, but Carillo let her disgust flag fly, so I'm sure there was little that could have been said that would have impressed.

Whew! A lotta Pierce hate on the board today. I just gotta say we got two good matches today and I'm pleased as punch at both results. You have to give mmmMaria her props for hanging so tough and making Clijsters win it. Wonderful match.
(Having a bad back that forced me out of regular tennis) I'm inclined to believe Pierce's explanation of the physiotherapy helping inmensely to unhinge it and get it out of spasm. She was within the rules of the game as they exist, so deal with it. Is it fair? No, but them's the rules and pros should know the rules and be able to deal with them. This is why they get paid an inordinate amount of money to smack a ball around a court. Dementieva did not take advantage at all. Her own fault. Yes, she is a cutie and I agree prettier than Sharapova. But you know mmmmMaria would have been running Pierce from side to side and up and back until she won the match.
Tomorrow? If Pierce wasn't faking the back injury...put all your money on Clijsters because Pierce's back will get worse overnight. Prediction? Kim in straight sets.

Here is what Dementieva had to say

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=reu-...uters&type=lgns

I just gained a lot more respect for Elena (whom I already liked). At least someone has some sense of honor. Just because you can do something like that doesn't mean you should. After all, this is the sport that's supposed to value sportsmanship more than all others.

Fair point, but...you lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Mary's 12-minute therapy session might have distracted you and disrupted your game, but you should pull yourself together far better than that.

It's good that Dementieva hasn't whined about the time out, because she wouldn't have leg to stand on. More than once when she's lost a set, she's disappeared to the bathroom for a toilet break. Taking way longer than is usual. One match, i forget against who (although Capriati rings a bell), she was gone for almost 10 minutes. A lot of players take any advantage they can, and she's no different.

I'm meh on both players, so it didn't really bother me. Although i'd be all for changing the rules, as bathroom breaks and injury timeouts are way overused.

I'm just glad Kim is in the final. I'd rather see her win, but if Pierce wins, that's all good too. As long as it wasn't Sharapova. I had to turn off the sound half way through the match, as the cloying Mark Petchey launched into his 200th comment about Sharapova being under prepared and being brave and being fierc...zzzzzzzzzz. It's not her fault, but the endless lovefest grates after an hour or so.

Mightily disappointed about the Mens Doubles, but the score seems to suggest that the Bryans were just too good.

She was timed at the French against Lihovtseva (sp?) in a match that she was totally dominating and she took 45 seconds to serve. Ridiculous.

I'm with OopsSorry. Mary Pierce is all about having an audience. And that need for attention? Bugs me.

So, so glad Kim beat Sharapova. Now she needs to take out Pierce. Go Kim!

I'm with Flying Peanuts and Dorkgirl. Dementieva (at the urging of the usual idiot press corps in search of "controversy") came up with a rather lame excuse. She does not have spotless record when it comes to disappearing into the "bathroom" or "training room" after losing a set and initially said it was no big deal.
Now that she's had time to think and the reporters are waiting for a story, well yeah, it wasn't fair and yeah, that's one reason I lost. I just lost some respect for her though rationalizations are the best way to make it through a loss.
As for Pierce's non-sense of time? She usually gets her serve off right around the 20-second mark. The 45-second French timing was an aberration and she didn't use 45-seconds between every point.

We can poke at the post-mortem all we want, but I'm still happy that Clijsters and Pierce made it to the final. They both played the best, most consistent tennis of the past two weeks.

Fuck you Kim! I hope Mary beats the pants off of you or that you most likely, choke. And I hope Mary gives herself a perm between points just to rattle you. Go Mary!

Regardless, she should've received a warning the first time it happened. AFAIK, that's the rule.

The Russians are finding Slam success a lot more elusive than last year. After taking 5 of the 8 spot in finals, they didn't make any this year.

2004: Russia 5, Belgium 2, USA 1
2005: USA 4, Belgium 2, France 2

According to most of this year's trends (American/Belgian/American/Belgian, the winner being a former #1 who was down match point and beat Sharapova), we should expect Clijsters to rally for the win in three sets. The only trend that favors Pierce is the fact that the other 3 winners were already multiple winners. Regardless, this will be the 7th different winner in the past 7 Slams.

Yay! Something we agree on Distant Sun!

Also, I think we can agree on a winner -- GO KIM!!!

Yes, that is completely uncalled for.


I watched the match when I got home (sucker for punishment, that's me) and they really were. They served well, poached well and took advantage of their opportunities. I'm sorry that Max and Jonas did not play better but the brothers certainly deserved their win (and I'm guessing the #! spot?). Loved all of the player's speeches afterwards. Very convivial. But the biggest surprise of the match? How good PMac was as the commentator. He and Bill were really enjoying the match, and PMac made some very good observations about the dynamics of doubles playing and what all the players were doing. He, obviously, is vested in the brothers (they play doubles for him in Davis Cup and they all went to Stanford) but he didn't let it color his commentary. I've never seen him do that before. He has great respect for Jonas and Max and said so. I don't know how he would have been if the brothers were losing (it is easy to be gracious when winning) but that is neither here nor there. He actually made it easy for me to watch a match I knew, and didn't like, the outcome of.

Oh, and is Max's wife pregnant again? She looks wonderful (as always) but she has always been such a teeny tiny thing and is not anymore.

I will be counting Robby's aces tomorrow. With Max finished for the tournament, Robby only needs 5 to be the ace leader for the entire tournament. I hope he loses the match, but gets those aces.

Oops: my photo link for the Open pictures wasn't correct (thanks zookeeper). I hope this works.

I really didn't watch women's tennis until five years ago (and even then it was just an occasional Williams match), so Mary Pierce isn't familiar to me. What's the back story on her citizenship?

Edited to clarify.

Her father is American and her mother is French and Mary was born in Canada. Now the story I heard was that at some point when Mary was competing as a Junior player, her overbearing father thought the USTA was giving Mary the shaft. So he decided to approach the French Tennis Federation to see if they would work with Mary and the federation agreed. I believe she even lived in Paris at some French Federation training school at some point.

After that short interview was over I heard Carillo talk about how brave it was for Mary to go on TV and address the issue directly given all the flak. JMac was mmm-hmmm agreeing in the background, but Carillo kept talking about Pierce always being very classy and always poised and several other things that were, without sarcasm, very complimentary. So I don't know what to think about Carillo re: Pierce.

So why is the Agassi/Ginepri match the first one tomorrow? If everything, as always, is done according to what the TV Gods want, it seems they're barganing for less of an audience on Saturday, while more of an audience on Sunday (due to Agassi's status as the favorite tomorrow) while giving the Federer/Hewitt winner less time to recoup.

I'm a sucker for conspiracies. Specially after US Open 2003.

Did anybody see James Blake on Letterman tonight? He was very classy and totally wonderful looking clean shaven!!

Bungalow Joy- That's precisely why I've never quite understood the critics of Carillo. She's generally pretty good about giving credit when due, but conversely, of being critical when necessary.

My advice to Pierce? If you run into P-Mac in a dark alley, come armed with Yuri Sharipov. P-Mac was pissed during the CBS recap.

Personally, I don't think it was quite as big a deal as some made it out to be. Was it tacky and poor sportsmanship? Oh, hell yes. But unless Pierce took her racquet bag and started clubbing Dementieva on the knee with it, I think any implication that ED was somehow robbed of the match just doesn't wash with me.

A while back I saw someone rip Pierce for playing for France. Come again? I've never heard anything about it having to do with the Olympics. Please, tennis at the Olympics?? I always heard it had more to do with, like a previous poster said, Crazy Jim Pierce thinking USTA had it in for Mary. Besides, her mom is 100% French and doesn't MP spend quite a bit of time there anyway? I keep hearing how she's now really good friends with the other French players (hence her more subdued reaction after beating Mauresmo) and she speaks the language quite competently.

Anyway, at this point I don't really see Clijsters losing to Pierce.

Hit corner to corner, and run Pierce into the ground. It's pretty simple.

It was brave, and I've always liked Pierce. I was thoroughly disgusted with her today, but I'm not going to hate her forever. I don't want to see her win tomorrow because I don't like the way she got there (and I love Kim), but she's a player who has worked her ass off to get in a position to do this at the ancient age of 30. I can respect that. I don't like the way she takes so much time between points, but I don't usually think she's trying to throw her opponent off; in most cases, I think she's just nervous. Today, I had my doubts, though--and I think she needs to be warned regardless of the reason for doing it.

As for not liking Carillo, my problems with her came years ago when she was the first one to jump in & make the Irina Spirlea-Venus Williams "bump" at center court into a racial issue. Spirlea & a lot of players disliked the Williamses, but I think it had more to do with the way they came out & started talking so much before they ever proved anything on the court. Were there racist attitudes & behavior towards them by some? While I have no evidence, I'm positive that there was simply because racism has a long history in tennis. However, was there proof that the incident between Spirlea & Venus was racially motivated? Not one shred. Not only that, but by the next day, she acted like she didn't know where the racial accusations had started. After Richard called Spirlea "a big white turkey", Carillo said that was just due to his background. Not only did she not condemn his racially-based remarks, but worse, she acted like it was the first time race had been brought into the discussion. I didn't like the fact that she conveniently forgot that she was the one to turn the issue into one of race to begin with. When it comes to criticizing the play of various players, I have no problem with her. If she hadn't left such a bad taste in my mouth, I might even like her.

Go Kim!! I really hope she doesn't choke. After beating Venus and Maria, I don't see how she could possibly lose to Mary Pierce.

As far Maria, the hype is outta control, and she really needs a haircut, that long limp hair just isn't working. Another reason I prefer Elena Dementieva over Sharapova, she has got way better hair--it's so thick and healthy looking.

As for tomorrow, I am predicting that Kim will spank Mary in straight sets, 2 and 3. Roger Federer will win in 3 (maybe 4), and Andre will win in 5.

ETA: I love the fact that I heard just heard the anchor on Sportscenter report that Andre Agassi was closing in on his third US OPEN title, I could only shrug my shoulders and say whatever. Assuming he makes it to the final, I find it highly unlikely that he would beat Hewitt or Federer. He hasn't even beaten Ginepri yet!

I'm hardly a French basher; in fact, I'm a real Frencophile. That's why I dislike Pierce so much...hell, the French fans mock her for her French because it's so Americanized. When I lived in France, people used to just roll their eyes about her. They know she's a phoney.

I recently came home after a night out and darn....if Tivo didn't mess up and not get the Mary/Elena match. My husband then rectified the Tivo situation when he came home to walk the dog and got most of the Kim/Maria match. My thoughts after watching this and the late night show on Tivo-

* Don't know enough about the Mary situation...but sounds like she was in the rules but more and more sounds like a Djokovic situation. Was in the rules but the rules need to be changed. Elena is adorable.

* I do love Kim but am getting more and more respect for Maria- she is a champ and do think that she will get more GS titles. What a fighter. But yea Kim- I think this will be her year.

* They showed little snippets of players throughout the tournie and showe one of Nadal. Gosh darn- I love this kid to pieces. Yes he gets excited- but I think that is from the joy of the game. I just hope he gets more fluent in English so people here can get the great mature, respectful nature of the interviews he gives in Spanish. Next year he is focusing his tournies on the fast court so he will improve on fast surfaces. He will likely lose points but wants to improve his game on different surfaces. I hope he does so because even with his "vamos" and fist pumps he is very respectful of the sport and loves it so I just wish the best for him. He has such a passion for the game that I think is great.

* Yea Bryan brothers. Love Max and Jonas but you guys were due and deserved it after going 0/3 in the previous grand slams.

I gotta say I was really impressed with both Kim and Maria today. Kim had every reason to choke after losing 5 match points in the second. Maria played great when she was down all of those match points and she had no right to win that second set and just guts her way through it. I hope that Kim's last two wins will finally break the choke tag she has and she can go all out and win tomorrow.



ITA, the top players have played so many head games with each other that I can't pile on Mary because she does it in a high profile match. It's such a joke at this point, you know if someone is behind in a match that a injury timeout or bathroom break is sure to follow. I've seen Hingis, Capriati, Henin, Williams, and others take advantage of bathroom or injury breaks. I remember in the 2001 Wimbledon quarters Serena taking a break down 4-love in the third against Capriati, not even waiting for the changeover. The rule clearly needs to change. I agree with PMac when he says that the player should only be allowed 3 minutes and additional treatments for only the 90 seconds during the changeovers. Maybe bathroom breaks should only be allowed between sets and not during.



Heh! Wouldn't be surprised.

Hee! I'm rooting for Kim tomorrow night, but this just absolutely cracked my shit up.

Add me to those who were thinking about how much prettier Dementieva's hair is than Sharapova's. I covet Elena's long, thick blonde hair.

I'm happy for Mary, though I was rooting for Elena (I began last year's US Open loathing her and her powderpuff serve, but she won me over by her awesome match with Mauresmo). Yes, Mary preens and uses little mental things, but I can't hate her for that. A lot of the players do it -- and even in the Monfils/Djokovic match? Gael Monfils is pretty known for taking injury timeouts (at least, that's what someone told me when I was watching the end of one of his Singles matches in Miami).

I'm excited about tomorrow, but it's a killer sports day. Between the US Open, NCAA football and Yanks/Sox (go Yanks!), I'm gonna die... and then Sunday there's the Men's Final AND NFL Opening Day. Thank goodness I'm not working this weekend.

Oh no kidding. Me too. On the Rafa fan site this girl posted story and picture where she went by his grandma's while she was visiting that area during vacation this past week. His grandmother invited her over, she met Rafa, they shared a Coke and talked. He said that he was not happy with his play at the USO, they talked about her future profession, he asked about her vacation plans, and he gave her a kiss on both cheeks upon her departure. What a doll!

I have to think tomorrow during the women's final that the commentators are going to be rooting for Kim. They often have a fave, and I think she will be it for them.

Kimmy has clearly been JMac's fav since at least the quarterfinals. He outright said during the semis "wouldn't it be great if a nice girl like Kim were to win". I think that since Kim is so well liked that it's hard not to root for her even if it's not exactly professional to do so.

Yay Kim! Im so happy she won, she was really pushing it close though. Hope she beats Mary bad.

I really don't like Sharapova at all but she played so well in parts of the match, if she plays like that she'll definitely win more grand slams.

I think you're quite right about that. Granted, I might not be objective because I really, really like her. I never laughed as hard as when she, Navratilova and Billy Jean were in the booth at Wimbledon (back when HBO had the gig) and thought she was fantastic during the last Olympics.

chomskyite, I remember the Spirlea/Williams affair (yeah, let's bring the HoYay!), but it also came at a time when quite a few players didn't even bother to check their racism. At the time, it seemd to me that Carillo was just fed up with the whole thing and, frankly, quite cranky with the media in general who chose to focus on the fact that the Williams sisters weren't "friendly." Yeah, because that justifies racism (as if anything every could).

I'm shocked for the exact opposite reason. The bottom half of the draw is supposed to be first today since they started first. I thought Agassi/Ginepri was going to be second because CBS would want it that way. Whether CBS didn't question the scheduling or Agassi said no way, I do not know. I just know that I'm happy that it is going in the correct order.

chomskyitep- Ahhh, okay. I hadn't seen the Williams/Spirlea match with Carillo's commentary, but if that's the case, then I definitely agree with you. It irritated me to no end how race was brought into that particular incident. Especially when it was pretty clear that Irina Spirlea was a cranky individual who had already been pretty outspoken about her dislike of Kournikova, among others. I think she just felt intimidated/jealous/etc. of the hot young thangs more than anything else. So I definitely I agree with you.

Funny thing is, I remember after the racism charges blew over, there being reports of Richard Williams and Spirlea talking, and him saying how great they got along.



That quote doesn't really show her phoniness, IMO. I remember when that happened (there was that big to-do about Pierce's black Nike dress), and her comment seemed valid at the time--that the crowd would only support her and consider her "one of them" if she was doing well.

At any rate though, that doesn't seem to be the case with Pierce and the French fans anymore. And I think several of the commentators have said as much. But YMMV.

Count me in as one of those who'll be satisified with either player winning today. I prefer Kim, but I'd rather see a great match than either one dominating.

I'm really rooting for Ginepri and Federer. Amazingly, Robby will be in the top 15 if he wins. Even if he doesn't, he'll supplant Dent as the #3 American.

Unless Hewitt pulls off a miracle win (yeah, right), he's going to drop to #5 behind Safin and Roddick.

Wasn't that the time when, for lack of better words, Serena had a case of the runs cause of food poisoning or some such? Even though I don't really like her or her sister that much I felt kind of bad for her. The chair umpire told her she couldn't go cause it wasn't a changeover and Serena was all, "But I can't hold this!"