McIntyre Tennis

US Open Day 1: Ljubicic Loses; Agassi Wins

Match of the day? Agassi, Agassi, Agassi. From what I saw of it, Andrei Pavel was playing some great tennis; and Andre Agassi did well to dig out of  0-4 in the 3rd set. "You want to to be everything you hope it is," said Agassi. "It was perfect." Indeed it was. But can he take out Baghdatis, too? Here's a match review and Agassi's press conference.

Feliciano Lopez finally got his own back against Ivan Ljubicic and logged the upset of the day 6-3 6-3 6-3. LaLo had lost to Ljubicic at the Australian Open, and then again in a brutal 5 set match at Wimbledon. This win takes Lopez to 3-2 over Ivan lifetime. Poor Ivan is still getting no love from...well, anyone. This first round loss won't help.

Interesting factoid: Lopez never faced a breakpoint all match and didn't lose a single point (!) on serve in the 2nd set. Here's a match review.

In other news, 2004 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova escaped an upset in her three set win against a German qualifier; Lindsay Davenport's shoulder is feeling ok; Elena Dementieva got through despite 30+ errors; and Andy Roddick radiated confidence all over the court in his win over Florent Serra. Serra's no pushover, but I'm very eager to see what happens when Roddick comes up against a tougher challenge.

Be sure to check out press conference video and transcripts as well as the daily highlights video at the US Open site. Shame on the US Open for not even including tWorld Number 3 Ivan Ljubicic's interview transcript.

Players' Thoughts on On-Court Coaching

The reactions to on-court coaching in this article sort of sum up the going books on these stars' personalities:

Maria Sharapova: "It will be funny when you see an opponent calling for a coach because you’ll just want to laugh, they’ll be in trouble. ... I usually play on instinct and don’t like to be told what to do, so calling for someone will be very rare.”

Elena Dementieva: “I think it will be interesting to see the coaches come down and see what they say, but I don’t think I will have my mother come. I’m already with her 24/7 and it’s the only time I get a break from her.” That's my girl, Lena!

Serena Williams: “I don’t like it. I think it takes away from tennis. When I’m out there, I’ve done all the hard work. It takes away from the integrity of the sport."

Kim Clijsters: “I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this but it’s a rule I’m absolutely against. Part of being a tennis player is being able to solve things yourself.” Of course you can say it, Kim!

Read 'WTA experiment stirs controversy'

A Note about Jelena and Lena

I tuned into this match at 5-0 in the third and thought; great, I'll see the last game and then make some dinner. Boy was I wrong. Jankovic battled back magnificently to 5-4 before finally gifting Dementieva the match with a loose service game. Here's a match summary and here are post-final video interviews.

Jelena Jankovic is destined to be a star. The girl's got game to spare--and her sheer gutsiness out there was impossible to ignore--as was the raucous support of her small band of very loud Serbian (or Montenegran?) supporters. Jankovic's also very entertaining to watch--she plays to the crowd and is extremely demonstrative out there.

I think she's got it in her to be a superdiva. She's already rubbed Serena and Myskina the wrong way. Make some room at the top, ladies.

Kudos to Dodgy Dementieva, one of my favorite WTA players, for hanging in there and squealing with Venus-at-Wimbledon '05-like delight at her win. (And you go, girl! re: her big handsome lug of a hockey player boyfriend, who busted out in a crappy old sleeveless T and shorts to watch the match. I wonder if they had some gay or female cameramen out there--the "audience work" always feels decidedly heteromasculine at televised tennis matches--; Lena's man got a lot of screentime. Or maybe the camera crew were just hockey fans.)

No Battle of the Divas in LA

It's sort of a shame, but not terribly surprising. Sharapova's had 2 weeks straight of tennis and it was bound to catch up with her body eventually; and Serena's still rusty. Sharapova looked really all over the place out there, with 40+ unforced errors in the end; and Serena overhit too much.

Well, Jankovic v. Dementieva. I'm going with Lena, but Jankovic has looked sharp out there.

Read 'Unlikely matchup in final'  for match reviews and a description of the possible gamesmanship re: Jankovic-Williams. Here are post-match video interviews with Dementieva and Sharapova.

Video: Sharapova and Dementieva on Grunting

Elena Dementieva thinks Maria Sharapova's grunting is "too much," and Sharapova's not fazed. Lol, she was pretty impassive with her response: "I wouldn't change a thing." Watch the video.

Wimbledon Quarterfinals: The Women

Well, I just got up and here we are, already almost an hour into the ladies' quarters. And already, Sharapova's wiping the floor with Dementieva 6-1 4-0 (yesterday one of the Wimbledon Live commentators said she was "very strong from the back of the court, but slightly dodgy," which is too true, sadly) and Justine took the first set over Severine 6-4 (a real match!).

The top four seeds look likely to make it a by-the-book series of semis. In which case, Justine will hand Kim another beatdown and Mauresmo-Sharapova will be mouthwatering.

BUT, we're not there yet, and I must say I'm hoping Li Na makes an even bigger breakthrough. Who are your picks to win today?

(Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans out there! I hope yours is less soggy than mine is gonna be.)

Nadal's Girlfriend, Dementieva's Boyfriend

Here is a scan of an article from Spanish tabloid Semana with a few pictures of Rafael Nadal with his girlfriend Francesca "Xisca" Perello: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4.

ETA: More pictures of Rafa's lady.

Also, nice picture of  Perello with Uncle Tony and tidbits about Dementieva's hockey-player boyfriend, Hantuchova, Shuai Peng and more in TennisReports.net's Off Court Chatter column.

On Nadal's girlfriend:

For the first time, Rafael Nadal is being accompanied to a tournament with a girlfriend, Francesca "Xisca" Perello. The 18-year-old from Manacor and is a friend of one his sisters.  Read the column

Here's a recent article about Dementieva and her boyfriend, hockey star Maxim Afinogenov.

Wimbledon, Day 3

Well today we've got some really interesting match-ups. Mirza v. Dementieva in round one? Ouch. Mirza's power game is suited to grass...and Dementieva...well, I love her, but this could be the upset of the day.

Also, Nalbandian v. Clement, Djokovic v. Robredo, Santoro vs. Berdych, Malisse-Stepanek. What match ups are you looking forward to?

Looks like Ljubicic is about to take out Feli Lopez; he's already up 2 sets on court 13...I'm about to watch the rest of that one. ETA: Wow, Lopez took the 3rd set; he broke Ljubicic to love in the last game of the 3rd set (7-5). Ljubicic seemed to fade after Lopez saved break points in his last 2 games...Lopez is really battling. Let's see if he keeps it up. ETA: Brave effort from Lopez, but not enough.

ETA: Ginepri's crap year continues with his first ever loss to Mardy Fish (in straights sets! Fish had never even won a set off Robby). Davydenko was also dismissed by some Colombian named Falla.

Tournament Update

Henin-Hardenne wins Eastbourne in a 3rd set tiebreak over Myskina; Gasquet becomes the first man ever to defend Nottingham with a 6-4 6-3 win over Bjorkman, Michaela Krajicek straight-setted Dinara Safina at Ordina (a day after beating Dementieva! What a week.), and Ancic defended Ordina in 3 sets against Jan Hernych.

Wimbledon Draws are Out!: The Women

Here's the women's draw. Venus landed at the bottom of Mauresmo's quarter of the draw and so did 14th seed Dinara Safina. Other trouble spots: a newly brunette Tatiana Golovin and Ana Ivanovic who's already beaten Amelie this year. Michaela Krajicek, who's still having a great week in Nottingham, is a potential 2nd round match up for Mauresmo.

Sharapova's section looks pretty straightforward until Dementieva in the quarters, though Schiavone, Sania Mirza, and Danilidou, who made the semis at the Ordina Open, could add some spice.

Hingis, Hantuchova, Jamea Jackson and Patty Schnyder are in Justine Henin-Hardenne's section of the draw. Will be interesting to see if Hingis can reach the massive roadblock that is Justine.

At the bottom of the draw, there are a few threats between #5 seed Kuznetsova and #2 seed Kim Clijsters: Vaidisova, Na Li and Kirilenko.

News: Petrova's pulled out with her lingering groin injury from the French.