They didn't really have any biographical information about Mello, so they just started making up facts that rhymed with his name. "I hear he likes jello." "He plays the cello." "Does he have a favorite author?" "He is a fan of Longfellow." They were all so punchy that I think the silliness of it all just gave them the giggles. They were even cracking up through the promo for The Amazing Race. Either Johnny Mac or Enberg choked out, "Just watch it!" and the other was like, "Just watch it? What kind of promo is that?" "It's a tV show; what else are you supposed to do?" Actually, McEnroe and Enberg have seemed overly punchy through all of the coverage. I liked when Enberg commented that Kiefer was a "Wagnerian aria" this afternoon. Those seven hours in that booth must be getting to them.

I thought that was pretty funny too. I also liked early in the broadcast when McEnroe was asked if something or other (probably one of Kiefer's foot faults) was the worst call and McEnroe said "well, noooooo, but we're here another 7 hours." Also, Mary Carillo's references to the Connors-Krikstein match that gets shown all the time were totally deadpan and hilarious. Her comment that Krikstein is "the happiest person here that there have been no rain delays this week" made me laugh out loud.

So Federer is a walkover because Pavel is injured. I wonder what match we'll get tonight after Henin-Hardenne?

Have I mentioned, Love Jim Courier?

Loved it when he was giving Tracy Austin shit over her comment about some Lee someone or another deserving credit for Pete Sampras' success.

Jim: I spent years in locker rooms with Pete Sampras and I've NEVER heard that name before. Who was this guy?

Goodbye CBS (at least for a few days.)

Oh and for the original posters, let me just say, **sigh**Max Mirnyi. Aaaah.

Thank-you and Ditto! Hewitt of 2003-2004 is so clearly a different a guy then he was when he first started out. The "c'mon" cries have been toned down and are few and far between (Plus, it annoys the crap out of me when people ignore the fact that virtually every player out there, including Federrer and Andycakes busts out a big ole C'MON daily). He's articulate, candid and respectfull of his opponents in nearly every interview I've seen over the last year. Now that he's back in form and playing a very entertaining game, my opinion of him (which was high to begin with) keeps rising. Now if only one of his matches would be broadcasted in its entirety, I'd be blissfully happy.

Well Roger isn't exactly known for his emotional displays, let's be fair. His "come on's" are pretty muted. Maybe that's because he tends to win so much easier, I don't know. I hear you and everyone does it to a degree. But few would argue that Hewitt has done it more, and louder in really inappropriate times (bagelling a qualifier comes to mind) than most. I agree though that he has toned it down. Good for him. And he does seem pretty gracious towards his opponents off the court.

Except when he's freaking DRUNK (or drugged)! What the heck was up with him Sunday night? And he appears to be a bit of a belligerent drunk (or druggie) as well--hello. . .things in Russia not so good right now, at least mention that (the other commentators did) when you are blasting a woman (twice!) for crying on court. And this coming from someone who has such a crush on Courier that I ended up taking like 10 pictures of him in the USA booth in Armstrong. (Oh, and for you Roddick fans I have some shirtless shots of him practicing.)


Oh yeah. I was not unpleased to see Max and doubles.

Oh, and part of that Mello and yellow shirt thing was Enberg was about to go into Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" (love that song) and McEnroe told him to quit it before Dick could get started.

Oh (pt. 2), I liked Tracy talking about all the different coaches that influence players. Just because Courier didn't recognize the guy's name does not mean he didn't help Sampras with parts of his game. And she is also completely, absolutely correct that it is time for the Williams sisters to get some additional coaching help. Other women are catching up, it is not only the Williams' injuries holding them back, and their technique needs some help. Writing a letter to the Post bad-mouthing Tracy's upbringing? That is just some defensive, delusional shit right there Mr. Williams.

Oh (pt. 3), Feliciano Lopez! My new Xavier Malisse (since X didn't really turn out to be a good choice--although I still love him). But completely unfair for him to be wearing sleeves on his shirt. Much better without the sleeves. He is in the quarters in doubles with Verdasco--and they wear the sleeveless shirts there.

Totally shallow observations:

1. Al Trautwig lying on the blanket next to Maria Sharapova while he was interviewing her? Just.plain.eeeewwwwwww.

2. Venus Williams needs to design some new dresses with thicker and/or stronger shoulder straps. I was getting tired of seeing her re-adjust them after practically every time she served.

Oh word. Even Tracy was commenting on it. It's been that way for a while with venus constantly pulling at the top of her dress. Why does she wear it when it is obviously distracting her?

Shallow observation?? LT....Did you say something about shirtless roddick pics??? ; )

I think that's just a nervous habit. Much the same as the way Henman and Sharapova both bounce the ball a meticulous number of times before their toss. Creatures of habit and all.

During Wimbledon, the BBC shows it on at least two channels, possibly more. That is a good way to go.

I was going to post about the blanket interview & Courier's busting on Trautwig afterwards. Weird stuff.

Venus needs to remember that just because she isn't as well endowed as her sister doesn't mean that she doesn't need any support when she's helping design her dresses. Serena probably uses a team of engineers to design things that keep her (relatively) in place. But Roddick picks at his shirt more than Venus does, and he has no excuse, other than the fact that the shirt is three sizes too large and he has a lot of excess material.

Did they show a lot of the Navratilova/Sharapova mixed doubles last night? I hope so, even though I wasn't able to watch.

Even though they show it too often, I love the Roddick AMEX commercial. Maybe I'm too easy, but I laugh every time that trophy clonks him on the head.

I heard Ted telling Tracy she did a great job at the end of last night's coverage and am I correct in assuming that since Federer had a walkover, Johnnie Mac decided to bail since it was 'only' women's matches?

iMissEthan, the built-in shelf bra is definitely not Venus' friend. (Not to mention that the extreme empire-waistline is downright unflattering, but I digress.)



I guess that makes me equally too easy!

They showed the entire Navratilova/Paes v. Sharapova/Mirnyi match with Courier coming in for guest commentating (I did like him putting Tracy on the spot about not having Seles keep her #1 during the recovering from the stabbing--especially the "don't shake your head at me, answer the question"). I especially loved how incestuous that match was--Martina discovered Maria, used to play with Max, who plays doubles with Bhupathi, who used to play with Paes. What fun when they all met at the net--and then they switched to a crowd reaction and didn't stay on the greeting. Dang. All I really caught was the two-cheek kiss between Max and Martina.

J. McEnroe isn't supposed to be commentating on the women's matches. What Ted was saying was that it was nice having Tracy there at 10:50 when the women's matches are usually the first night matches and over way earlier.

I actually like Venus's dress. And I agree that the tugging is a nervous habit. Maybe I'm comparing hers to Serena's and Venus's is just so much better. Hell (and this goes for Roddick as well), I was a teenager in the early 80s. Nothing "new" or "rebel-like" in what I'm seeing.

Yes, I have Roddick shirtless pictures. And I took them for you guys, 'cause I wouldn't have taken them usually. I've also got a heck of a lot of Haas, Lopez, Max, etc. I haven't had my film developed yet (I'm no fan of digital) but once I do, I'll set up a site to view them.

I was wandering around on Friday and came across Scoville Jenkins practicing with another junior. They were going at it very seriously until their coaches stopped to talk something over and the two of them started chatting. Other junior asked Scoville what it was like to be on the receiving end of Roddick's serve and Scoville got the biggest grin on his face and imitated having the ball whiff by him. It was adorable.

Courier went one further. The day after Roddick's first match, he was commenting on both the courts and the smaller, faster balls being used. He thought the organizers were favoring Roddick.

Was anyone else hoping that Kiefer would open his mouth in the fourth set tiebreak so it would cost him the match to Henman? I don't remember having much of an opinion on the guy back when he was a Top 10 player but he really bugged me yesterday. It seemed fitting that, due to throwing his racket at the end and almost hitting a ball boy, he left to a crowd of boos.

Speaking of playing fast. . . the USTA must have all their fingers crossed that Haas will win (since he is up a set and a break) and quickly so they don't have a repeat of last night--with thousands of people wanting to get into the night match while the day match is still going on.

Somehow, until last night, I had missed this spot. My shrieks of laughter woke the dog.

Serena wuz robbed. I noticed that USA kept showing shots of that chair umpire, who seems to really dislike Serena. When Serena watches that match on tape, or sees the coverage highlights, she will be POed, and rightly so.

Nevermind.

Word, blackwing. I can maybe understand one blown call in a match, but FOUR??!! And in the final set at crucial points. That was absolutely ridiculous. I give Serena all the credit for not climbing that chair and throwing the chair umpire to the ground.

Hopefully that woman just called her last match. It would be a shame for her to screw up another one.

Damn. I mean, damn. What else is there to say? Damn!

And the bad thing about it was that none of the balls were even close to being out. If they were close, then I would understand it, but all those balls were clearly in, and with Jenn's second serve, it was clearly out.

On another note, Tommy Robredo is yummy.

The biggest problem I have with the bad calls is that they have justified in Johnny Mac's mind all the screaming, hollering on-court temper tantrums he had over the course of his career. That pisses me off.

You know Serena hasn't always been the most gracious player, but she handled herself so well, even though she was so totally robbed. I understand making bad close calls, but that ball was like two inches inside the line. I hope the chair umpire is suspended for a long time. How can you make a call from the chair when the ball is on the furthest line away from you. I feel horrible for Serena, but I gotta say I loved the way she got all ghetto with the chair umpire. I had almost forgotten that she was from Compton.

I hope so. Not only was she horrible, she brought the fug.

It doesn't piss me off in the slightest. If he ever knew he was wronged in a match as badly as Serena just was, I actually do think it justifies some of his behavior (ever so slightly). Yes, he was a world-class jerk, but, as we keep seeing on TV, he really does see the lines very, very well. It must be extremely frustrating when you know the people keep screwing you.

The last bad call was the worst for me, where the linesman called the ball out even though it was on the line and it happened right in front of the chair umpire!



That? Was awesome. I loved how she was bouncing the ball, heard "advantage Miss Capriati," and responded with "Williams! THAT'S MY POINT!

Edited to add: true, I agree that it's tacky to ask Capriati about the blown call, but Capriati, with this quote: "Believe me, I've had things go against me many times, plenty of times. I deserve to get a call once in a while," (from ESPN.com) doesn't get any sympathy from me.

I thought it was pretty tacky to ask Capriati about the blown call in the post-match interview. That question put her in a really awkward position. I mean, she competed hard, played her best and won. It's not her fault the call was blown, and what is she supposed to do, say "Yeah, I really didn't deserve to win." I guess so, since she got booed when she didn't want to chalk up her victory to bad calls.

I was cheering for Serena, and I was sorry to see such an exciting match cheapened by poor officiating, but I don't think it's fair to put the burden on Capriati to justify her win.

And yes, Robredo is indeed yummy. Pretty green eyes and an accent!

All three of them were awful! If you can't see a ball with heavy topspin hit squarely on the line, you don't need to be a line judge. The fourth, Capriati's long second serve, was the only one that was remotely close.


I guess I'll be the first to say it: Jennifer could've conceded that deuce point in the opening game of the third. She saw that ball and she knew it was inside the line. She wouldn't have been the first to do that in the name of sportsmanship.

Nevermind.

It's important to remember that Jennifer Capriati is not responsible for those who make (or fail to make) line calls. That last shot happened in a split second--should Capriati have conceded that it was "in" when she was only 50% sure? Linesmen exist for that purpose, and neither Serena nor Jennifer is responsible for that mess. Let's remember that, much like we remember that Paul Hamm is not responsible for the judges' scoring errors in the All-Around Olympics competition.

Jennifer absolutely could've conceded the point and it would have been great sportsmanship on her part, however, I don't think it was bad sportsmanship on her part that she said nothing. The chair umpire was completely in the wrong in this situation and should be fully responsible for her fuck up. Unfortunately, Serena is the one who suffers the most. Jennifer is not responsible, unlike a last year at the French when Justine Henin-Hardenne put her hand up and did not own up to it.

BTW, has there been more bad calls at this year's Open than in the past, or is it because we now have Hawkeye aka ShotSpot. I don't think there were as many bad calls at the other Slams. Did anyone read this
article. Kinda interesting after tonight's events.

I'm not saying Jennifer should be making calls, nor am I saying that she should share blame with the chair umpire. What I am saying is that she clearly saw the deuce point was in -- just like the linesman and Serena. When Serena disputed the score with the umpire, Jennifer (and the linesman) had a golden opportunity to step up and admit that Serena was correct. I don't think she should've conceded the other bad calls (her missed double fault, the ball on the baseline, and the one next to the chair), but she was looking right at that first call and she knew it was good. Jennifer wasn't responsible for the situation, but she had an opportunity to set it straight and didn't take it. As a veteran and a player who claims to be concerned with fairness, she dropped the ball.

I don't know if anyone except Capriati can legitimately tell us what she saw or didn't see. Capriati isn't responsible for line calls. Bad calls happen all the time, and rarely do players interfere. Why don't they? Because when things happen that fast, there is plenty of second-guessing and, besides that, it's the linesmen's job to call a ball in or out. That's why they are there. The question shouldn't be, "why didn't Capriati say something?," the question should be, "why did the linesman drop the ball?"

No one can state what Capriati saw. Maybe she saw it clearly land inside the line, or maybe in that split second, she blinked and had to take the others' word for what happened. In fact, the latter is what she expressed when she was questioned after the match, so really--if she says she didn't see it, or couldn't tell, or had to rely on the linesman, why do you still think she should've conceded?

Edited for poor spelling and insensitivity.

I watched it over and over on TiVo. It was deuce. She was on the run and looking directly at the ball. Futhermore, there was no fist pump, squeal, or any other indication that she thought she won the point. She also didn't react to the lack of an out call, which likely indicates she didn't think it was out. You're right that no one can say definitively that she saw it, but I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say she almost surely did. After all, you could see on her face that she realized she couldn't get there in time, so what else would she have been doing? Blinking? I guess. That's a huge point and I don't think Capriati would take her eye off the ball, but anything can happen. As far as what she said afterwards, she also said (incorrectly) that Serena won that game. If anything, some of her comments about the situation seem to imply she knew it was a bad call, but I can chalk that up to reaction to the hoopla.

Players do concede calls when a dispute arises or an obvious bad call is made. It doesn't happen often, but it happens. It's not a player's job to correct bad calls, but some players don't feel comfortable taking points they didn't earn. Maybe I'm holding them to a higher standard. I'd be content if they could agree to replay the point. Anything's better than letting it go.


That's where we disagree. I think they're both legitimate questions. AFAIK, there's more precedent for a player to speak up than a linesman. FWIW, the umpire deserves all of the blame for what happened. She made a horrendous overrule, didn't announce it as such, and was adamant about defending her bad call. I don't think any less of Capriati (not that she's ever been high on my list) for remaining quiet, but she would've gained a lot of respect from me if she hadn't.

Okay, so when was the last time that happened? It's not that I don't believe that it happens, it's just that I've been watching tennis tournaments (and playing in them) for over a decade and cannot recollect when that's ever happened on the professional circuit, or more accurately matches that I've caught. So it would be very helpful if you could provide a little information.

ETA: Thanks for some of the examples (even though McEnroe and Connors are before my time, it's interesting nonetheless).

I thought this was what we were debating. At least we agree.

I played on tennis teams throughout high school and college and I can tell you from experience, things happen so fast that sometimes one isn't certain what is seen. The ball comes towards the line, you run towards it, you blink, and then you have to rely on linesmen to make the assessment of "in" or "out." Or, in the event that you glimpse the ball, as the seconds pass since the shot was placed, you start to wonder about what you really saw. Capriati is the only one who knows what she saw, and since she said in the post-match interview that she hadn't gotten a good look at it, I'm going to believe her. What choice do we have? Would you rather believe that she's a malicious opportunist who stood by and watched as her opponent was stripped of a legitimate (and uber important) point?

I feel sorry for both Serena and Jennifer. Serena for obvious reasons, and Jennifer because some people would like to make her the villian in all of this. I worry that the media will try to turn this around and blame her (like they did with Paul Hamm), when in actuality, the athlete should never be blamed for the mistakes made by the officials. It's an imperfect system, but maybe things will change after this. Perhaps they'll institute instant replay as a result, who knows?

Got these off of a WTA tennis messageboard that I post at, not sure if they are true.

When Venus hit an ace against Amy Frazier that was called out, she corrected it and lost the game

When Dementieva hit a forehand winner against Davenport that was called out, Davenport corrected it to go down game point

IIRC, it just happened in the O. Rochus/Moya match. I also vaguely remember it happening in an El Aynaoui match, but don't quote me on that. I think Roddick recently gave someone two serves when a first serve was incorrectly called out.

ETA I saw that in the Venus/Frazier match. Thanks, Jeannie.


No. Like I said before, it's not her job to correct bad calls. Three of the four were simply bad calls. IMO, the first one became a controversy that I personally would expect her to diffuse since I believe she knew what really happened. If I were across the net from someone who responded like Serena did and I knew what happened, I would've gone to the chair and explained it to the umpire. Serena wasn't just complaining about a bad call -- she was totally blind-sighted and clearly frustrated by what happened. People were saying there was nothing Capriati could do, so I responded by saying she could've conceded the point. I'm not "on Capriati's case" so much as I'm saying she passed on a chance to be Sportsman of the Year (provided she saw what happened, which is debatable). Anyway, that's all I have to say about it. I would hope something like instant replay will come from this, because it was an atrocity I'm a little embarrassed to have witnessed.

I recall Navratolova admitting her opponent's ball was in on at least two occasions in my years of tennis event watching. And no I don't have dates. (Honestly, who would? This isn't really in the stats).

That chair umpire should be banned forever from major tournaments. Disgraceful. I don't think Jenny Cap is being made to be the villain, but I do think that after several questionable calls, all but one of which went against Serena, she could have owned up to the bad calls.

Serena had a great chance to win this tournament, and now that chance has been taken away by piss poor line judgments. The one where the ball was called in on the sideline and overruled by the chair umpire was particularly appalling. If Jenny Cap wins the tournament, her win will be tainted. I am pulling for Lindsay Davenport. She's always been classy.

Psst, there's no such phrase as "for all intensive purposes". The correct phrase is "for all intents and purposes".

Boy, ain't that the truth. He is right so often even way up there in the booth.

One of the really sad outcomes of this awful thing is what is happening here on the past two pages. Jennifer played really, really well the last two sets. There were points where she was run completely off the court and managed to get back to hit the next point from the other side. The match was going so brilliantly. Both players were giving it everything they got--the only reason there were so many unforced errors was because of long, exciting points--and I really did think Jennifer was going to get the win but now we'll never know. Every time someone talks about this match it will be that Jennifer stole it, not that she won it. And then the conspiracy theorists are going to claim that people are against the Williams' sisters. That is not true. Luckily for Jennifer, all the bad calls that went against her (and I caught three in one game) were in games she still won. But bad calls are one thing--the chair umpire not being aware of the score is another. And, since the referee was not called for (and there is no way Serena should be responsible for calling for the ref--that is a rule that needs to be changed--at that moment she, and anyone else in her position, is completely overwhelmed with what is happening) the linesperson cannot stop the match to say "hey, I called that one in."

As for the question about bad line calling. I've noticed it (and mentioned it quite a few pages back) all summer long. I wonder if the sheer speed and power that everyone is hitting with has affected the ability to see the lines. I know when I sit right at the line in the first row of the stands that ball is coming so fast I have no clue whether it is in or out if it is close. Power is not going to leave tennis anytime soon (unless we go back to wood racquets) so the ITF, ATP and WTA are going to need to start looking at complements to human beings. I was at matches when Cyclops was introduced and everyone hated it. Now, it is accepted (even though it is wrong quite often as well).

As for Jennifer correcting the call: yes, doing so would have been beautiful but it is not her responsibility to do so. And honestly, the only (and very few) times any player corrects a call is when they are very confident that they will win the match (not the game, the match). Too bad, that.

I don't post here too often but I thought I would add my 2 cents. (FWIW)
I also think that Jennifer should not have been put on the spot when she was interviewed and after the Olympics I am sick to death of seeing athletes have microphones shoved in their face 30 seconds after they win or lose, and then be pinned to the wall with a damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of question.
That being said I do think Jennifer did see that the ball was fair, just the look on her face when she was asked the question seemed to say "Well yes I saw it but do you really expect me to own up to it now?" JMHO
I also agree that she should have said something while Serena was disputing the call. I think it's different than Paul Hamm. The call probably will not decide who wins this tournament since there are still a few more matches to come. YMMV

This is kind of OT, but what exactly did Richard Williams say in The New York Post that blasted Tracy Austin's family values? From what was alluded to in the broadcasts I've seen, it was in response to a comment Tracy made about bringing in additional coaching specialists to strengthen some weaknesses in Venus' game.

Does anyone recall or, better yet, can someone provide a link?

I recall back in '84, Johnny Mac played in a hard court US Open warm-up tournament (in Cincy) against someone named Chris (totally drawing a blank on the last name). McEnroe hit a serve which was a fault, but for some reason, a linesman gave him an ace. McEnroe disagreed with the call -- which was in his favor! -- and Mac purposely double faulted the next point. (The first serve featured him doing it underhanded while saying "There, that's my first serve.") Funny stuff.

However...having said that...I don't expect players to overrule linesmen or umpires. You have to play the lines, not play the officials. After all, you don't see football players saying to the ref, "Excuse me, I really dropped the ball, so that catch you gave me? Doesn't count."

While last night's match was spoiled by horrible line calls (against both players), I refuse to accept they cost Serena (who I adore) the match. What cost her the match was the 50 + unforced errors and Jennifer's game of attack in the second set.

And speaking of line calls...can someone please explain how Hawkeye works? Does the program "project" where the ball landed? For some reason, I don't quite trust it; give me MacCam any day!

RE: Williams' letter to the Post: Tracy made mention that Venus has reached a point where she could use a specialist for parts of her game, Williams replied:



Ass.


I think. . . there are multiple cameras on the court (not the broadcast ones) that shoot the ball and then compile the data from all the angles to create exactly where the ball landed. And you are probably right not to trust it, after its initial push a few years ago no one is talking about using it for anything more than broadcasting anymore.

I watched my tape of the Jennifer/Serena match late last nite and went to bed immediately afterward, and finally read "the whole story" in the papers this morning.

The umpire committed two incredibly horrible errors and should never be allowed to officiate a tennis match again. First off, she did overrule the linesperson, it was not a scoring error. But she didn't announce it. Remember the annoucers all said they heard no "correction" call from her, and Serena didn't realize it until the score was announced just as she was about to serve. That in and of itself is inexcusable on the umpire's part, she has to make an overrule clear immedately.

But worse, the standard is that an umpire only overrule an "obvious" error. Well, by definition, if the linesman got it right, as happened here, it couldn't have been an obvious error. The umpire shouldn't overrule if she just thinks the linesman got it wrong, she must absolutely certain. Obviously linesmen will make errors, they are only human, but there's no excuse for any umpire ever correcting a correct call because that means it could not have been obvious. And remember, the line was the far sideline away from where the umpire was. It's almost impossible to conceive of a call that she could overall from there. In order to be obvious to her from that distance, the ball would have had to have been closer to the doubles line than the singles line, and no linesman could make that bad a call. So you should pretty much never see an overrule from that distance.

Coupled with the bad calls in the final game, I feel bad for Serena, but also for Jennifer because a great win was tainted.

But please don't let that umpire ever near a tennis match again!

Wow. The fact that the call was an overrule is, to quote McEnroe, "disgusting." Are chair umps required later to watch the matches they officiate? They should. They could pick up what their own shortcomings are that way. And just like players who drop down in rankings, chair umpires should be sent back to the challengers after really bad (officiating) matches. (Actually, I think they do that.)

Thankfully this umpire has been removed from the rest of the U.S. Open schedule and I doubt Ms. Alves (from Portugal) will be umpiring again at the Open.

As for how Hawkeye works, U.S.A. and CBS have said (rarely) that the camera is NOT foolproof. It is a calculated guess from the angle of the ball, force of hit, trajectory....essentially a physics problem. That said, the ball Serena hit was a good shot and the umpire goofed royally by over-ruling the call.
I agree that's not why Serena lost. She said herself, she dug her own grave and 57 unforced errors provided the dirt to bury her. It was a great match to watch despite the bad calls on BOTH sides. Too bad the controversy will taint the match but hey, that's what TV lives for: controversy. So they will flog it mercilessly.

Back in the old days, I can recall Edberg, Evert, and Navratilova giving back bad calls in several matches. Can't say I've seen that in more than 10 years though. It's an entirely different game now.

I would love to see a Davenport-Capriati final. I'm looking forward to Andre and Roger Federer too, though I think Federer has too much firepower for Andre.

Wow, I picked a great night to go out and miss the matches. <sigh> I guess the one good thing for me with the rain today is that I might have a shot of seeing a re-showing. I did see a snatch of Serena's press conference where she called it a conspiracy between this and Venus' Wimbledon point fiasco. I think that's probably going a little too far but from what I saw of the highlights, wow, Serena got shafted. Can I assume that Johnny Mac went insane?

Speaking of conspiracy, I noticed that the Davenport match is first today. Since the "best" match of the day session (i.e. the one involving the American star) is never scheduled first because people aren't usually in their seats at 11am, I can only assume that the USTA wants to make sure Davenport gets her match in despite all the expected rain delays.

ITA with you, CaptSpaulding.


True, but that's one of the things I really like about tennis. Because it's such an individual, one-on-one sport, you do get things like that. Theoretically, it's above some of the things that happen in other sports (another example being silence during points).

It's hard to say who would've won the match, but it definitely put Serena in a bad position. She hadn't broken Jennifer at all in the second set, so going down a break early in the third is a little discouraging (particularly when you know it was due to a mistake). After all, Capriati has a recent history of crumbling in matches like this, so getting a break immediately took a lot of the pressure off of her. It's pure speculation on my part, but I don't see Jennifer coming back from a break down in the third.

On another note, haven't the announcers learned not to automatically advance people? Honestly, I'm not sure Capriati can beat Dementieva (despite being undefeated against her). Elena has what may be the worst serve in history, but she's all heart. I'm forced to root for Lindsay now, but I have a hunch Elena might make it three straight for Mother Russia. Speaking of which, is Yvegeny Kafelnikov ever going to officially retire? Love that guy!

I tend to disagree, because I think the three toughest players left in the tournament were Davenport, Serena and Capriati. CNN acknowledged that this match may have decided the winner of the tournament. And Serena does acknowledge that she should have ended the match in the second set, but still... what happened to her was just really poor.

I just hate the way that judge didn't even say anything, except "advantage Capriati". And then to be all "I'm above you" and simply state "please calm down"? I hated that icy stare and that haughty demeanor. I hope this woman is banned from all major tournaments forever.

What exactly qualifies one to be a chair umpire? Are they former players themselves? Former line judges? Have they gone through training? Why do they get all the power? Demote this woman, amke her a line judge, and place her on the receiving end of a 117 mph Serena ace.

Word. I couldn't believe it when one of them asked Hewitt after he beat Lopez in the 3rd round how he felt about a match-up with Roddick in the Semis. Unbelievable.

Re: Richard Williams. He also played the race card, saying:
"I couldn't care what Tracy or anyone says," Papa Williams said. "When Venus and Serena were winning, there was something wrong. When they're losing, there's something wrong. Very honestly, it's a disgrace. I think it's a disgrace at how the system is against those two black girls. If they win, everything is wrong; if they lose, it's get rid of the parents. I just work for them. They've always wanted me around."

You can find the article here.