WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26 – Many of you caught my major boo-boo yesterday
when I posted the TennisReporters.net top 10 USO
seedings. Somehow, when I was switching folks around, I forgot to add Dinara
Safina and Kim Clijsters into the mix. I looked pretty ridiculous
there for about a 12-hour period. As you can see below, they are back
in now.
I realize that many of you think that Clijsters
has a much better shot than I’m giving her, but even though I think
that on a great day that she can take out all but a couple of the other
elite players, I’m just not sure that mentally she prepared to take
the next big step yet, which means being single-minded in pursuit of her
second Slam title.
However, I haven’t spoken to the new mom in person yet and may change
my mind once I do in New York. She can be pretty convincing once she sets
her mind to something, but I’m a little unsure of where her head
is.
Speaking of Belgians, there’s a report today that Justine
Henin may be considering a comeback. Of course she is. In fact,
I would be totally shocked if never returned again. Like Clijsters, she
lived for her sport and while it’s not difficult to convince your
heart to take hiatus from something you love, it’s very hard when
you tell it that the decision is forever.
Mardy Fish lost in New Haven and admitted that his busted
rib isn’t feeling well enough to give him a real chance at reaching
the second week of the USO. It looks like Sam Querrey
will end up being the guy backing up Andy Roddick, with James Blake having
little to show for his summer.
Three men who could have an impact at the USO posted New Haven wins including
Nikolay Davydenko, Jose Acasuso and Igor Andreev. On
the women’s side, Elena Vesnina upset Samantha
Stosur 3-6, 6-3 6-4, Agnieszka Radwanska retired against
Virginie Razzano and Svetlana Kuznetsova overcame another Belgian Yanina
Wickmayer 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(2).
Some USO men's qualies winners were Donald Young, Jesse Witten,
Tim Smyczek (over Arnuad Clement). Men who fell were
Jordan Cox, Lester Cook, Vince Spadea and Gaston Gaudio. Oh my.
Women’s winners were Asia Muhammed, Angela Haynes, Sesil
Karatantcheva (over Abigail Spears), Laura Robson, Kristie Ahn, Elena
Baltacha, Aniko Kapros and Karolina Sprem. Losers were Jessica
Moore, Lauren Albanese, Julie Ditty and yesterday, Coco
Vandeweghe.
A quick USO update:
Once again, I'll be making picks for USOpen.org,
as well as writing a daily column for them, writing for Fox and, of
course, Tennisreporters.net. I'll be on Usopen.org radio
every night during the first week, and then move into the feature matches
during the second week. I'll try to link everything.
USO Seeding and Our Seedings,Too
TUESDAY, Aug. 25 – According to the WTA, Serena Williams
cannot overtake Dinara Safina for the No. 1 spot at the USO,
even if Serena repeats as the champ and Safina flames in the first round.
The USTA announced the seeding today, following the ATP World Tour and
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings. Dominika Cibulkova pulled out with a
rib injury, so Maria Sharapova is now seeded 29th.
The singles draws will be announced live on the US Open Draw Show on
ESPNews, on Thursday, August 27 at 12 p.m. ET.
Here’s the top 10 women’s seeds, followed by the TennisReporters.net list, which is based on more recent results and current form.
Women – USO official list
1. Dinara Safina
2. Serena Williams
3. Venus Williams
4. Elena Dementieva
5. Jelena Jankovic
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova
7. Vera Zvonareva
8. Victoria Azarenka
9. Caroline Wozniacki
10. Flavia Pennetta
TR list
1. Serena
2. Dementieva
3. Jankovic
4. Maria Sharapova
5. Venus
6. Azarenka
7. Kuznetsova
8. Pennetta
9. Safina
10. Kim Clijsters
Men – Official list
1. Roger Federer
2. Andy Murray
3. Rafael Nadal
4. Novak Djokovic
5. Andy Roddick
6. Juan Martin Del Potro
7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
8. Nikolay Davydenko
9. Gilles Simon
10. Fernando Verdasco
TR list
1. Federer
2. Murray
3. Nadal
4. Roddick
5. Del Potro
6. Djokovic
7. Tsonga
8. Verdasco,
9. Davydenko
10. Robin Soderling
Early winners in New Haven were Davydenko, Verdasco, Andreev, Melzer and
Igor Kunitsyn over Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-4. Women’s
winners were Pennetta, Bartoli and Stosur over Alize Cornet
6-7(8), 6-2, 6-4.
Mal Taam/MALTphoto
Safina barely made our list.
