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Teenager Ryan Harrison Comes Alive, Lashes Luby MORE


CRoNIN's DAY 4 us open picks MORE

Nadal Takes Baby Steps MORE


CRoNIN's DAY 3 us open picks MORE

Federer & Venus' Magic, Mirza Still Believes MORE

Is Mardy Fish a Real Contender? MORE


US OPEN PREVIEW

Measuring Melanie: Oudin Struggling to Cope With Self-Created Pressure MORE

US OPEN MEN'S PREVIEW

5 BIG QUESTIONS: Federer, Nadal, Murray, US Men, Breakout Players MORE

Wozniacki Downs Russians Back to Back to Win Title
MONDAY, AUG. 23 - Caroline Wozniacki showed off her strong legs and improved competitiveness by winning to matches on Monday to win her first WTA Super Premier title at Montreal. Wozniacki smoked Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3 in their rain delayed semifinal and the blitzed Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-2 to win the crown. Zvonareva advanced when Victoria Azarenka retired with blisters while trailing 7-6 1-0.
Wozniacki, who fell to Kim Clijsters in last year's U.S. Open final, will be the top seed in New York and looks like she has finally recovered from the ankle injury that plagued her in the spring.
"After waiting around two days and unable to play I actually felt a little bit tired going out for my first match because mentally you have to be prepared all the time," Wozniacki said. “Of course I would like to be No. 1 in the world but Serena is a great champion, she's won so many grand slams," said Wozniacki. "My goal for now is just to try to win a grand slam and the number one spot is secondary to that."


CINCY & MONTREAL
Fish Upsets Roddick; to Meet Federer in Final; Del Potro Out of US Open
SAT. AUG 21 - Mardy Fish has been involved in a number of tough losses to his good friend Andy Roddick, but on Saturday at the Cincinnati Masters, he finally turned the table over on his fellow American.
Fish came from a set and 5-3 down to take down the same man who has embarrassed him on court at times 4-6 7-6 6-1 to advance to his third Masters series final.
He’ll meet a resurgent Roger Federer, who took care of his second excellent foe in a row by dispatching Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-3, which came on the heels of his straight set win over Nikolay Davydenko.
Rain interrupted the Fish-Roddick match twice, with Roddick breaking to Fish to win the first set after a 40 minute rain delay and then with Roddick up 5-2, play stopped for another 10 minutes. That’s when Fish caught fire, breaking Roddick back then cleaning up in the tiebreak. He then went for broke in the third set and Roddick was unable to reestablish a foothold in the match.
“I've never felt better on the court and I've never been more confident and I've never played better… I've won a lot of matches this summer,” Fish said. “[The weight loss] has a ton to do with it. And being able to put in the hours, put in the work that I can on my forehand and improve some of the things I need to improve. I've done some things that I have never done in my career and won more matches this year up to this point than I ever have. I have a great opportunity to improve my ranking to where I've never been before.”
Roddick, who returned in Cincy after discovering that he had a bout of mono, was generally pleased with his week. He’ll re-enter the top 10 on Monday and at least has some measure of confidence going into the US Open.
“I came here and I had no expectations,” he said. “For me to get in five really tough matches is more than I could've asked for going into the Open. Honestly, when I came here I was thinking maybe two matches we'll see. I hadn't really put too much time in. So beyond the disappointment that's gonna linger for the next couple of hours, I think this week has been a complete positive considering how I felt and kind of where I was at 11 or 12 days ago.”
Juan Martin Del Porto’s surgically repaired wrist hasn’t healed quickly enough and he’ll be forced to skip the USO, where he came to fame last year when he upset Roger Federer for the title…Montreal was deluged with rain and both semis and the final will be contested on Sunday.

CINCY & MONTREAL
Clijsters and Vika's Tears Continue, Nadal, Murray Survive; Isner Questionable for USO?
THURSDAY, AUG. 19 - It’s appropriate that Kim Clijsters married an American, as throughout her career she’s been absolutely ruthless on North American hardcourts. MORE

CINCY & MONTREAL
Rafa Complains About Court Speed, Isner Injured, Querrey Falls, Safina Wins MORE

CINCY & MONTREAL
Blake and Oudin's Struggles Continue MORE

Sharapova a USO Contender, But Lets Go of 3 MPS vs. Inspired Clijsters, Who Wins Cincy MORE

CINCY & TORONTO
Murray Upsets Nadal, Ivanovic
Injures Foot & Retires vs Clijsters
According to Rafa Nadal, Cincinnati is playing too fast, or too much faster than Toronto was and when the Spaniard speak, people tend to listen. After taking a 6-2 7-5 win over Taylor Dent, Nadal asked organizers to make the courts at the two North American Masters Series events at similar speeds, but Cincy has always played at a velocity closer to the US Open’s Ashe Stadium, so perhaps Nadal will be more pleased when he steps on court at the US Open in less than two weeks time. Or not.
"It is something (that) in the future the tournaments can work to make the courts more similar," Nadal said. "For us it's difficult to adapt, especially if you only have one or two days. When you get to semifinals or final it's not easy to adapt, especially in the beginning of the tournament. So it's big change. This first match always is very dangerous,"
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray joined Nadal in third round. Federer got through when Denis Istomin had to retire with an ankle injury when 5-2 down, Djokovic bested Viktor Troicki 6-3 7-5, and Murray overcame the streaky Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2. Toronto champ Murray then agreed with Nadal on the court speed.
"It can be difficult. You don't have a whole lot of time to get used to the conditions here. They're very different. The court's much faster than Toronto and the balls are moving a lot quicker. When you are feeling like that, it's kind of difficult to really go for your shots a lot. But I knew I had to in the third set, and played a lot better." Murray will have a tough test when he faces Ernests Gulbis.
The US had an up and down day, John Isner sprained his ankle and was forced to retire against David Nalbandian and the Sam Querrey’s bad run at the Masters Series continued when he lost to David Ferrer. Nalbandian has to go up against Djokovic. But Andy Roddick bested Thiemo De Bakker and Mardy Fish took down Fernando Verdasco 7-6 7-6. Robin Soderling overcame Lleyton Hewitt in a hard fought 4-6 6-3 7-5 victory
In Montreal, two women who badly needed wins, Dinara Safin and Francesca Schiavone came through. Safina registered her most impressive win of the summer by besting Nadia Petrova 7-5 4-6 6-4, while Schiavone beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2. The two will clash in the third round. "It's the first time in a long time for me to win a three set match,” said Safina. “Before, I could play a three set match against a top player and physically be fine. This was a nice test for me. I played two hours and 14 minutes in a high intensity match."
The Russian veterans had a fine day with wins forom Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva. So did Belarussian Victoria Azarenka, who thrashed Maria Kirilenko 6-4 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki scored an important 7-5, 7-5 win over Patty Schnyder, while Flavia Pennetta took down the slumping Alisa Kleybanova 6-3, 6-3 and Agnes Szavay overcame the equally slumping Yanina Wickmayer 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4, Aga Radwanska tore into Vania King 6-0 6-3, while Kim Clijsters edged Bethanie Mattek Sands 6-3 in the third

SATURDAY, AUG 14 - Andy Murray showed back up in a big way in Toronto while a tearful Ana Ivanovic’s career took a turn for the worse when the in form Serbian suffered a foot injury and was forced to retire against Kim Clijsters in the semis.
Murray played his best match in a long stretch in upsetting Rafa Nadal 6-3, 6-4, brilliantly mix up angles and pace against the wolrd No. 1 and slightly avenging his defeat to him at Wimbledon. While Nadal won’t be too upset by the defeat to a quality opponent in his first hard court tournament of the summer, he won’t be pleased at his overall errors as the Scot nailed 12 more than he did. With the victory, holder Murray will retain the No. 4 ranking. He'll meet Roger Federer in the final, who took a stirring three set win over Novak Djokovic in the semis.
But Nadal won’t be close to upset as Ivanovic is, as she finally rediscovered her winning ways this week and then was forced to retire down 2-1 when she landed wrong on her left foot.
"I'm obviously disappointed the way it finished because I felt like I had really good run," said Ivanovic And just on that one forehand when I went to step around it, I just felt like pain all of a sudden, so much pain in my foot and I couldn't step on it anymore. Just all of a sudden on that one shot I felt like something, you know, crack a little bit. I was very, yeah, scared and painful."
Ivanovic then headed to the doctor and said that she has strained ligaments, rather than bone damage.

Sharapova vs. Teen A-Pavs,
Ivanovic vs. Clijsters in Step Up Match
FRIDAY, AUG 13 - Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has struggled with her consistency and conditioning for much of the season, but it appears as if the youngest player in the top 25 is hitting her stride in CIncy. On Friday, the 19 year old knocked out the struggling Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 7-5 3-6 6-1 to move into the semis of Cincinnati. Pavlyuchenkova, who just won Istanbul after a lousy April/May/June stretch, will play Maria Sharapova, who despite late serving porblems blew past Marion Bartoli 6-1 6-4.

Ana Ivanovic’s surge continued when she crushed Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-1 6-3. The Serbian now has a chance to enter the US Open seeded and will face Kim Clijsters, who tooka tight 7-6 6-4 over Flavia Pennetta.
Amanmuradova had taken out Jelena Jankovic, who really should take a two week rest prior to the USO but she won’t as she says that her sore ankle has healed. Caroline Wozniacki fell 6-4 6-1 to Marion Bartoli, while Pennetta beat Vera Zvonareva 6-4 6-3. Wozniacki has to be given a free pass because she won Copenhagen on Sunday, but she’ll need an excellent Montreal if she’s to come into NY with the look of a real contender. Sharapova battered a tired Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-3.
The USTA announced that Serena Williams and Venus Williams have committed to play the Fed Cup final against Italy at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, November 6-7. They may be saying yes now, but what happens if they get nicked up at the WTA Championships? I’m taking a wait and see approach.

Querrey Falls, US Men Out
THURSDAY, AUG 12 - Once again, Sam Querrey has failed to step up at a Masters Series and now the Southern Californian will need a super positive run in Cincy in order to give him substantial confidence going into the US Open.
Regardless of what Querrey said after his loss to Kevin Anderson in Toronto, there is a bit of reason for concern about how the US men will perform at the US Open. As I wrote last week, having Andy Roddick drop out of the top 10 isn’t that big of deal for US tennis when overall, the men are showing greater depth with the rise of Querrey and John Isner into the top 20, and Mardy Fish playing substantially better since he lost weight. But what is particularly concerning is how the group will perform at the US Open given that none of them have played consistently outstanding ball since the grass court season began, and the fact that both Roddick and Isner – the nation’s two biggest threats – are hurt or sick. The results of all the US men next week in Cincy will be huge. BTW: given that No. 8 Juan martin Del Potro and No. 10 Jo Tsonga are going to free fall down the rankings as they are injured, Roddick still has a decent chance at top 8 seed at the USO if he manages to come back and play well in Cincy.
As expected, Rafa Nadal put down Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (12) 6-3 in his opener, but it was a long grueling match and the Spaniard clearly needs to hit a few thousand more balls prior to the USO. Novak Djokovic was nearly undone by the heat and took a 7-5 7-5 win over Julien Benneteau. "If your body gives you signs that something bad is going on you have to do something ... no one can turn off the sun and do me a favor even though I would like it,” said Djokovic, who will have a heel l of a time defeating Victor Hanescu in a 5 PM match on Thursday.
Andy Murray overcame Xavier Malisse 7-5 6-2 and is in danger of losing his No. 4 ranking to Robin Soderling if he doesn’t go deep. Murray faces Gael Monfils, a more than winnable match on hard courts. Soderling fell to the red hot David Nalbandian early on Thursday. Michael Llodra will try and serve and volley his way past Roger Federer and will have to placing his first volleys very deep in order to have a real shot at an upset.
In Cincy, Elena Dementieva also became overcooked by the heat and went down 6-1 6-3 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a huge win for the teen and a difficult defeat for Dementieva, who should have played San Diego and now faces an uphill battle to USO success. Kim Clijsters showed Dinara Safina that she knows better than perhaps anyone how to come back after a long layoff in a 7-5 6-2 win.
Maria Sharapova crushed super tweeter Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-1, but now must face the zoning Aga Radwanska in a contest she is going to have to serve very well in to win. Vera Zvonareva, who lashed herself after falling CoCo Vandeweghe in SD, scored a critical mental win over Maria Kirilenko 7-5 2-6 7-6(2).

Ana Ivanovic scored her second significant win of the week when she swarmed Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1 7-5. She’ll then scorched Elena Vesnina 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the quarters. Vesnina had upended Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-4. It’s hard to see the RG champ doing much the rest of the year.The Ivanovic Montreal wild card saga continues, as the former No. 1 declined a spot in the Canadian Open on Wednesday after a couple weeks of back and forth. Clearly, tournament director Eugene Lapierre made a huge mistake in not offering her a WC, even if he felt loyal to a so-so group of Canadian players, as Ivanovic is a huge draw and a committed player who despite her slump, has been showing flashes of excellent play since Rome. It would have been one thing for Lapierre to tell her that he would keep an open mind about the WC and possibly offer it to her later depending on withdrawals (which he did on Tuesday), but to tell the Montreal Gazette’s Stephanie Myles that if he was her coach he’d make her play qualies and then say that she had the audacity (my word) to book five hotel rooms (which is disputed) is going over the line. She took his statement as personal attack and then when she was offered a WC, she definitively said no, but the writing was on the wall when she took a WC into New haven last week anyway.
“It's very tough,” she said. “When you're not playing well and when you're low, you need friends who can help you, not remind you of your poor form in the press. It's been a little bit disappointing the way it's been. I understand they declined it at first, and I made a different schedule and I entered New Haven. They were really kind to give me wildcard there, so obviously my schedule has changed a little bit.
But it is a little bit disappointing. It's pity, because it was my first big win and I love and fans are great there. I'm gonna miss them this year. Some people made me feel a little bit unwelcomed. And especially with what happened in 2008, because it was year of Olympics. Tournament director approached me and asked me if I could come and play because they are struggling to get players.
I was little bit injured, and I flew from Europe to play the event, because I felt as defending champion in Montreal. I flew back to Europe and then flew to China. And after all that and winning there it's been a little bit hurtful.
But then again, it's a decision, and I have to take it.:
Now the question is, will she ever play there again?...Samantha Stosur has been granted a wildcard into Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven.



TORONTO & CINCY
US Open Favorities Begin to Firm Up
WEDNESDAY, AUG 11 - We have now entered that part of the Olympus US Open Series where it’s easier to pick out player trends heading into New York and by the time that play is concluded in Toronto and Cincinnati, we should have a decent idea of who is capable of doing what come game time in New York. MORE

Nadal Returns to North America in Search of Dominant Hard Court Form MORE

CoCo Arrives: Teenager Vandeweghe Stuns Tearful Zvonareva; Roddick falls,
No US Men in Top 10 MORE

Kleybanova Jolts 'Hobbled Jankovic; Stosur Stops Oudin MORE

Zvonareva, Kuznetsova Win, Peer Downs Ivanovic MORE

Re-Set: San Diego Looks to Hardcore Fans for Support MORE

Safina Ends Slump in San Diego MORE

Zvonareva in Search of Perfection MORE

VIDEO: CROSSCOURT WITH MATT CRONIN ON TENNIS ONE
GUEST YANINA WICKMAYER
GUEST SAM STOSUR
GUEST ALISA KLEYBANOVA


BOW Quarters: Sharapova vs. Dementieva, Bartoli vs. Azarenka MORE

Directed Sharapova Looks to Take Next Big Step ; Azarenka On Rebound,
Cibulkova Tries Out Krajan MORE

With Serena Out, Can the Real Contenders Please Stand Up? MORE

Sharapova Zaps Zheng, Wickmayer, Azarenka Also Through MORE

Fish Takes Two in a Row by Downing Isner; Chakvetadze's First Win in 2 1/2 Years MORE

Lacko Bests Error-Prone Hewitt to Advance In Atlanta; Johnny Mac: Roddick Needs to be "Lucky" MORE

Long Match For Isner ... But Not That Long MORE

Atlanta Draws Decidedly American
Field; Serena Out for Long Stretch MORE