The Daywalker

Damn we lost alot of hotties yesterday, some due to hottie on hottie combat, but otherwise upset jobs Masha, Caroline, and Flavia continue to destroy people, that's a good sign.

Hot Rod

Well Flavia and Dani has gotten the day off to a good start at the US Open. First Flavia crushed Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-1 and then a few minutes later, Dani defeated Vania King 6-2, 6-2. Good wins for those ladies. I thought that they would be tested, but instead both of them looked very impressive this afternoon, especially Flavia.

So that`s the story on the early matches at the US Open. Right now Vika is taking on Francesca Schiavone and it`s tied at 3-3 in the first set. Hopefully Vika can turn it up and follow suit with Flavia and Dani.

Anyway here is a pic from Dani`s match.


Good job Dani. It`s great to see that beautiful winner`s smile again.

Hot Rod

Here is an update on the other afternoon matches at the US Open.

First of all in a matchup of two of Team Russia`s finest, Vera Z defeated Elena 6-2, 6-4. Good win for Vera. It was another typical solid performance from her. As for Elena, she had some moments in the match, but unfortunately struggled to hold serve.

Also we lost a couple of more of our favorites in singles as Makiri was defeated by Na Li 4-6, 2-6 and Vika was upset by Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 2-6, 2-6. First of all, Makiri made a nice comeback from down 1-5 in the first set, but unfortunately was broken to end the set. From then onward, it was downhill for Makiri. As for Vika, this is a very disappointing result for her. She played a solid first set, but was a mess in the last two sets with a lot of unforced errors, which the veteran Schiavone made her pay constantly. Plus when the match ended, Vika slammed her racket down on the ground in frustration.

Lastly in doubles, Iveta and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova were defeated by the top seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber 1-6, 4-6.

So that`s the story on the other afternoon matches. Iveta`s mixed doubles match has just started and she and Lukas Dlouhy are down 1-3. Also the all hotties doubles matchups between the V Team and Caroline/Sorana and Sania and Gisela will be coming up shortly.

Anyway here are some pics from Flavia and Vika`s matches.






Good job Flavia.


Nice of her to give us a shout out after the match.


Nothing but frustration for Vika.

Hot Rod

Here`s an update on the late matches at the US Open.

First of all in the latest all hotties doubles matchup, Caroline and Sorana defeated Vera Z and Vika 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. This match was quite a battle between two of our top teams for a while before Caroline and Sorana took control in the third set. So good win for them. As for the V Team, obviously this is a tough loss for them, especially for Vika, whose stay at the US Open comes to an early end.

Gisela and Sania met up in another all hotties matchup where Gisela and Shahar Peer defeated Sania and Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 1-6, 7-5. Glad to see another competitive match between two of our favorites in doubles.

Also Dani and Ai Sugiyama defeated Ipek Senoglu and Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and Iveta and Lukas Dlouhy defeated Janette Husarova and Oliver Marach 7-6(3), 7-5. Good wins for Dani and Iveta.

So in all it was a pretty good day for some of our favorites. Today was a better showing overall for most of our favorites, however Vika`s upset loss to Francesca Schiavone puts a damper on the day.

Here is the schedule for tomorrow`s matches. First of all, Masha will take on Melanie Oudin in the afternoon. Oudin put together a pretty good performance in upsetting Elena Dementieva in her previous match, which i was impressed with. She doesn`t have the power game like Masha, but does play with a lot of spunk. I think that Masha will need to come out strong and use her experience. Also we`ll get another all hotties matchup as good friends Caroline and Sorana will play each other. This will be their third meeting of the year, with Sorana winning both matches at the French Open and L.A. I think that this will likely be another tight match between Caroline and Sorana. I really hope that all of our favorites will do well tomorrow and we`ll get another pretty good match between Caroline and Sorana.

Hot Rod

What a tough blow we`ve just gotten with Masha being upset by Melanie Oudin. This match was a real struggle with her, especially with the serve and Oudin`s spunky play. Masha did a good job of coming back from down a break a couple of times in the third set, but unfortunately her serve just wasn`t there. It was so tough to watch Masha struggling with her serve and playing so sloppy with 63 unforced errors. I don`t know what else is there to say other than this is a very tough blow for us losing Masha in the third round at the US Open for the second time in three years.

On a much better note, Gisela just got through beating Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4 and Makiri and Elena won their doubles match in straight sets. Good wins for those ladies. Unfortunately Iveta`s stay in New York City came to an end as she lost her mixed doubles match in straight sets.

So that`s the story on the early matches at the US Open. Still to come later this evening will be the latest all hotties matchup between Caroline and Sorana. Hopefully we`ll get another pretty good match between them.

Hot Rod

Here`s an update on the late matches at the US Open.

First of all in the latest all hotties matchup, Caroline defeated Sorana 6-3, 6-2. Good win for Caroline. This match was tighter than the score would indicate. Caroline did a good job in the tough situation in the first set and then turning up her play in the second set. As for Sorana, i hate that she couldn`t put together a better performance against her good friend. She missed out on some opportunities in the first set and was outclassed in the second set. It was a nice run for Sorana in New York City, but tonight`s match showed that she has some work to do before she can get up to that elite level that Caroline is at.

Also Kat defeated Anastasia Rodionova 7-6(4), 6-4. Good win for Kat. I had a feeling that this would be a pretty tough match, but Kat did a good job of keeping her poise and stepping up her play in the tough situations.

Lastly in mixed doubles, Flavia and Dusan Vermic were defeated by Cara Black and Leander Paes 4-6, 4-6. Tough loss there for Flavia. She and Dusan Vermic keep the match close, but was unable to get that big break against the tough team of Black and Paes.

So in all it was a good day for some of our favorite in New York City. While it`s nice to see Kat and Gisela having their best runs at the US Open, even those wins can`t erase the dark cloud of Masha`s loss to Melanie Oudin. It`s hard to believe that Masha, Ana and JJ are already out. Now it`s time for our remaining favorites to step up their play in the US Open.

Here is the schedule for tomorrow`s matches. Obviously the headline match of the day will be the all hotties matchup between Flavia and Vera Z in the first evening match tomorrow. This will be their second meeting of the year, with Flavia winning the previous meeting in L.A. recently. Flavia will be the favorite in the match given her excellent play in New York City. However Vera has been playing better lately. I think that this could be a close match tomorrow. Also in the first match of the day, Dani will take on Serena Williams. Saying that Dani has a very tall task is an understatement given her troubles against Serena, who routed Dani in the round of 16 at Wimbledon recently. I hope that Dani can be a lot more competitive in tomorrow`s match. Meanwhile in doubles, Caroline and Sorana will take on the Williams sisters. Obviously this will be a very tough match for Caroline and Sorana. Hopefully they can keep it close. I really hope that all of our favorites will do well tomorrow. Obviously there will be some tough matches for Dani, Caroline, Sorana and Gisela. I hope that they can stay competitive in their matches and we`ll get a pretty good match between Flavia and Vera Z.

Normally this will be where i post some pics, but i really don`t feel like doing that after Masha`s match.

Hot Rod

Here is an update on the afternoon matches at the US Open.

First of all, Dani started out the day by taking on Serena Williams and unfortunately she was crushed 2-6, 0-6. I think that there should be a rule prohibiting Dani from playing Serena Williams in singles at least. She just abused poor Dani today.

However we got much better news in doubles as Makiri and Elena defeated Alexa Glatch and Carly Gullickson 7-6(3), 6-2. Good win for Makiri and Elena. They did a good job of keeping their poise in a tight first set and then dominating the second set.

Unfortunately Gisela couldn`t come through with an upset as she and Shahar Peer were defeated by Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 5-7, 3-6.

Also our hopes in mixed doubles came to an end as Sania and Daniel Nestor were defeated by Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott 1-6, 4-6.

So that`s the story on the afternoon matches at the US Open. Still to come in a few minutes will be the latest all hotties match as Flavia will take on Vera Z. Also Caroline and Sorana will face the Williams sisters. I really hope that we`ll get a pretty good match between Flavia and Vera. Plus it would be nice to see Caroline and Sorana give a good showing against the Williams sisters.

Anyway here are a couple of pics of Makiri and Elena from their match earlier today.


Makiri and Elena both look very lovely in their latest outfits.


Good job Makiri and Elena.

Hot Rod

Here is an update on the late matches at the US Open.

First of all in the latest all hotties matchup, Flavia defeated Vera Z 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-0. This match turned into a quite a battle late in the second set where Flavia and Vera played some excellent long rallies. Plus Flavia fought off six match points and turned up her play late in the tiebreaker to win the second set. The third set was a whole different story as Flavia completely dominated it, while Vera fell apart mentally. So good win for Flavia. She really showed a lot of toughness saving those match points. I loved how feisty Flavia was late in the second set. As for Vera, this is such a tough loss for her. Vera played well in the first set, but couldn`t close out the match late in the second set. After she lost the second set, Vera completed imploded mentally. When i saw Vera crying after she lost the second set, i knew that the match was pretty much over with. I really hope that Vera won`t let this lost stick with her. She has done such a great job of keeping it together mentally and to see her falling apart was sad to watch.

Meanwhile in doubles, Caroline and Sorana`s run came to an end as they were defeated by the Williams sisters 4-6, 2-6. Not much of a surprise there. I`m glad that Caroline and Sorana were able to stay competitive for a set. Hopefully they can build on their nice run at the US Open and maybe even get themselves a title soon.

So that`s the story on today`s matches at the US Open. Here is the schedule for tomorrow`s matches. Obviously a pretty light day of action for some of our remaining favorites in New York City. The day will get started with another all hotties matchup as Kat will take on Gisela. This is an intriguing matchup between two of the big surprises of the US Open, especially with this being Kat and Gisela`s first ever meeting. I think that this could be a tight match. Also later in the evening, Caroline will face Svetlana Kuznetsova. Obviously this will be a very tough match for Caroline, but at the same time, this is a great opportunity for her. I really hope that all of our favorites will do well tomorrow and we`ll get a pretty good match between Kat and Gisela.

Anyway here are some pics from the Flavia-Vera match.














Flavia was all fired up after coming back to win the second set,


while Vera came apart in the third set.


There`s that beautiful winner`s smile from Flavia.


Good job Flavia.

Hot Rod

Here is an update on the afternoon matches at the US Open.

First of all in the latest all hotties matchup to start the day, this match was no contest at all as Kat destroyed Gisela 6-0, 6-0. What a shocking rout this was. Good win for Kat. Obviously that she delivered an impressive performance, which was some nice payback for Alona, who lost to Gisela a few days ago. As for Gisela, i`m really disappointed that she got crushed so badly. I know that it wasn`t a good day for her, but it`s not too much to ask of her to win at least a couple of games.

Also in doubles, our hopes there took a big blow as Dani and Ai Sugiyama were defeated by Jie Zheng and Zi Yan 6-4, 4-6, 4-6. What a tough loss for Hantuyama. I knew that this would be a very tough match for them against Team China`s top team, but it sucks that they were unable to pull out the win.

So that`s the story on the afternoon matches at the US Open. Caroline will take on Svetlana Kuznetsova later on this evening. I really hope that Caroline can come through and end the day on a good note.

Anyway here are some pics from the Kat-Gisela match.










Kat was feeling good in getting the win,


while Gisela was feeling the full agony of getting double bageled.


Good job Kat.

Hot Rod

Earlier this evening, Caroline took on Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first evening match at Arthur Ashe Stadium and came out with a 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) win. Good win for Caroline. She played very timidly in the first set, but really stepped up her game in the last two sets by playing good solid tennis. Caroline had an opportunity to serve for the match up 5-4, but was unable to close out the match. However she didn`t let that opportunity affect her and stepped her game up in the third set tiebreaker to finally close out the match. This was a great win for Caroline tonight. I`m really proud of her for showing a lot of poise and toughness against one of the toughest players in the world to make it to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Caroline`s win was a great way to end a good day at the US Open. Tomorrow will be the start of the quarterfinals. First of all in one of the marquee matches, Flavia will take on Serena Williams in the first primetime match. Flavia has really played well in New York City in the last week, but she`ll be facing her biggest test against the very dangerous Serena, who destroyed Dani in her last match. Flavia has the game that could give Serena trouble and is coming in with a lot of confidence. However i don`t like her chances with Serena in Seek and Destroy mode as evident in her demolition of Dani. I hope that Flavia can keep it close. Also in the afternoon, Makiri and Elena will face Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova. This looks like a tough match for Makiri and Elena going up against their less heralded teammates from Team Russia, however they`ve done a good job whenever they`ve been tested in their previous matches in New York City. I really hope that Flavia, Makiri and Elena will do well tomorrow.

Anyway here are some pics from Caroline`s match.










Caroline showed some frustration at times in tonight`s match,


but her confidence never wavered.


It was nice to see Caroline show her more feistier side.




Good job Caroline.

The Daywalker

I finally got to see Caroline in action, I hadn't been able to see alot of tennis the past couple of years, at least not as much as I would have liked. This year I've gotten to see many more matches, so during breaks of play in the Miami/FSU game, I got to see Caroline. I was quite pleased with her performance, she says really consistant, she won't beat you, you will beat yourself. I think this will help her vs Oudin next round. Where Elena D, Masha, and Petrova will dictate play, Melanie only reacted and let her opponents fail, I don't think that will happen with Caroline.

I hated seeing that outfit, but she does have pretty nice legs

I got to see some highlights of the Vera/Flavia match, it was hard to see as Vera was really struggling and breaking down on the court. I always saw her as one to be most composed but aggressive but she was really losing it out there

I also love Makiri's outfit. A major step up from some of the outfits of the past.

Hot Rod

I also hate Caroline`s new outfit, but i do agree with you about her nice legs. Hopefully she`ll get a better outfit that will showcase them a little more. BTW i hope that Caroline`s big win tonight will finally get her a lot more fans here in the US. She is so lovable and spunky.

The sad part about Vera`s meltdown in last night`s match against Flavia was that she had done such a great job of keeping her composure for so long. I wanted to give her a seeing her falling apart like that last night.

BTW congrats on the Canes` big win tonight.

Hot Rod

Here is the latest update from the US Open.

First of all, Flavia`s run came to an end a few minutes ago as she was defeated by Serena Williams 4-6, 3-6. Flavia did a good job of keeping the match competitive for a while, but she didn`t have enough for Serena tonight. Still it was a pretty good run for her that will get her in better position to go for one of the last spots in the WTA Championship at the end of the season.

Meanwhile in doubles, our final hopes came to an end as Makiri and Elena were defeated by Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova 3-6, 6-2, 4-6. What a tough loss for Makiri and Elena. I was really hoping that they could pull out the win after they won the second set, but unfortunately they came up short. Still it was a very good run for Makiri and Elena, which i`m very proud of. Hopefully they`ll team up again soon, especially in Moscow.

So in all it was very tough day for some of our remaining favorites. Now Caroline and Kat are our last hopes in New York City. They`ll be back in action tomorrow for their quarterfinal matches. First Kat will take on Yanina Wickmayer and later on in the evening, Caroline will face Melanie Oudin. Kat`s match is a tossup, although she did beat Yanina Wickmayer in their last meeting in Toronto recently. Also Caroline`s match against Melanie Oudin will obviously be one of the marquee matches of the day. Obviously this will be a very tough match for Caroline going up against the scrappy Oudin. So she`ll really need to show a lot of composure and come out strong right away. I really hope that Caroline and Kat will do well tomorrow.

Anyway here are some pics from Flavia`s match.








This pic sums up how tonight`s match went for Flavia.

Hot Rod

Well our hopes has just taken another hit as Kat was defeated by Yanina Wickmayer 5-7, 4-6. What a disappointing performance from Kat. She missed out on plenty of good opportunities in the match, especially when she was up 4-1 in the second set. While i`m very proud of Kat for making it to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in singles, this is a big missed opportunity for her.

Now Caroline is our final hope at the US Open. She will take on Melanie Oudin later this evening. I really hope that Caroline will do well and keep hope alive for us.

BTW Alona was looking very good at Kat`s match. Nice of ESPN 2 to give us plenty of shots of her.

Hot Rod

Our hopes are still alive at the US Open as Caroline defeated Melanie Oudin 6-2, 6-2. Good win for Caroline. She played some good solid tennis and showed a lot of poise throughout the match, especially when she saved some break points. Overall i was pleased with what i saw from Caroline in tonight`s match.

So in all it was a mixed bag today with Caroline coming out with a win tonight, but Kat`s run unfortunately coming to an end earlier this afternoon.

Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches.














Caroline was feisty and full of confidence tonight.




Good job Caroline.




Kat showed her tenacity at times,


but sadly it was not to be in the end.


Still i`m very proud of Kat for making such a great run. Hopefully she can build on this both in singles and doubles.