Archive for: August 2008

Swiss tennis cutie pie, Patty Schnyder, has made it into the 2nd week of the 2008 U.S. Open by sneaking past 89th ranked Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

Patty Schnyder broke her “magic 3” formula (every set in the first two matches had a “3″ in it) and had a close 1st set. Patty won the tie-break, and went on to win in straight sets.

Patty’s 4th round opponent will be 28th ranked Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia. Srebotnik upset 3rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in round 2, so it could be a tough match.

Caroline Wozniacki, tennis cutie pie from Denmark, has won her way convincingly into the 2nd week of the 2008 U.S. Open. The 18-year-old has yet to drop a set through three matches.

Caroline Wozniacki’s latest victim was Victoria Azarenka from Belarus. It was a good win for Caroline against the 14th ranked Azaranka. She won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Caroline’s opponent in round 4 is # 2 ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia. Jankovic has struggled a bit in her last two matches, so it could be an interesting match for Caroline.

Go Caroline. You can do it!

Slovakian tennis cutie pie, Daniela Hantuchova, made a 1st round exit at the 2008 U.S. Open tennis tournament. It was not even a close match, as Daniela went down 4-6, 2-6.

Daniela Hantuchova was seeded 11th in the tournament. She did not play up to her potential, going down in defeat in straight sets to 141st ranked Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany. Daniela is ranked 12th in the world, and never should have lost to the 141st ranked player. But that’s how tennis goes, and that’s what gives us hope. Maybe we can beat a higher ranked opponent. It makes the game worth playing, and worth watching!

Serbian tennis cutie pie, Ana Ivanovic, went down hard yesterday, Aug. 28, in the 2nd round of the 2008 U.S. Open, making a very early exit for the world’s # 1 ranked women’s player. There is not a lot positive to say about it.

Ana Ivanovic became the first # 1 seed to lose in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament since Justine Henin was upset at the French Open four years ago. And no top seeded woman’s player had ever lost this early in the U.S. Open. The earliest prior exit for a # 1 seed was a loss by Billie Jean King in the third round in 1973. That’s not the kind of record a player wants to set.

Patty Schnyder, tennis cutie pie from Switzerland, has won her way with a magic 3 into the 3rd round of the 2008 U.S. Open. By magic 3, I mean every set score through two matches has a three. Patty Schnyder won her first match 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and her second match 6-3, 6-3.

The first magic 3 victim was 18-year old 166th ranked Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia. The 2nd magic 3 casualty was
another Anastasia from Russia, 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

I think Patty has run out of Anastasias to play, but perhaps she can use the magic 3 some more. Go Patty!

Danish tennis cutie pie, Caroline Wozniacki, has cruised through the first two rounds of the 2008 U.S. Open. The 18-year-old has only lost six games total in the entire first two matches.

Caroline Wozniacki’s first victim was 146th ranked Ahsha Rolle of the USA. in a lopsided match, 6-2, 6-1. Caroline’s second victim was 133rd ranked Maria Elena Camerin of Italy, with a similar score, 6-1, 6-2.

Russian tennis cutie pie, Elena Dementieva, celebrates winning against Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan during Day 1 of the 2008 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 25, 2008 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Elena Dementieva is fresh off of winning the Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She had little trouble in her first match, winning 6-4, 7-5. And she looked cute in her short little jeans-looking skirt.

Maria Kirilenko, a Russian tennis cutie pie, will have more time to pose for photographs like this after being bitten by the upset bug during the 1st round of the 2008 U.S. Open.

Maria Kirilenko was seeded 22nd in the tournament. Her opponent, Tamira Paszek of Austria, is just 17 years old and ranked 68th in the world. Paszek has been beaten in the 1st round of every Grand Slam event this year. So it should have been Maria Kirilenko’s match with no questions asked. But the upset bug doesn’t go by previous statistics and bites without warning. So there goes Maria’s hopes for a Grand Slam victory this year.

Russian tennis cutie pie, Anna Chakvetadze, returns a shot here to Ekaterina Makarova, also of Russia, at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. Makarova won the match 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Anna Chakvetadze was seeded 10th in the tournament and seemed to be coasting to victory while winning the opening set 6-1. But then she wilted under the pressure of solid groundstrokes from Makarova and became one of the upset statistics.

What a disappointing finish for Anna after reaching the Semifinals here last year. Her only previous opening round defeat was at Wimbledon in 2005.

Serbian tennis cutie pie, Ana Ivanovic, will be hot in the U.S. Open. Why? Because she’s always hot! See the photo to the left for a good example.

Ana Ivanovic is seeded # 1 in the U.S. Open being played at Flushing Meadows, New York, USA starting this week. That’s only right that she is seeded # 1 in the U.S. Open since she is ranked # 1 in the world WTA rankings. Since she is steamy hot, seeded # 1, and ranked # 1, she’s gotta be hot in this tournament. No doubt about it!