Where the Road Stops.

Singapore Theme song

• Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova are the only former singles champions.
• Flavia won the doubles with Dulko in 2010. 
• Garbine and Lucie are in both singles and doubles the last person to win both was Hingis in 2000.
• Garbine has been placed with all three lefties that are at the Championships. 

Muguruza vs Kerber. 

The tiebreaker to decide of the match they played at Wimbledon is one of the best sets of tennis played this entire season. 

Garbine has won three of their four meetings this year. 

Halep vs Sharapova

They have not met this year and both have had injury layoffs late this season. Maria has won all five of the previous meetings but has not played a completed match since the Wimbledon Semifinals. Could the Romania vs Russia show down that we are denied with in Glasgow deliver in Singapore? 

Kivtova vs Muguruza 

WE ARE ENTERING NEW AND UNEXPLORED TERRITORY THAT CAN BE VERY AMAZING.  

Safarova vs Muguruza 

They had a first meeting in the Roland Garros Quarters.  An indoor court could suit this match up nicely. 

Semi Finalists

Pannetta, Kerber, Muguruza, Halep 

The Greatest Commercials In Tennis

The US Open Series is upon us and it made me think of those awesome commercials with the players that stopped in 2010. Here are some of my favorites.

2008 Bus commercials everybodyguys taking a ROADTRIP!!!!

It Must Be Love... 

Rafa works at his hobby and then gives us a recipe.... 

Maria really could have done better. She apparently takes her nap time very seriously. 

Serena and Roddick talk twitter 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBZdr4rVHPA

The Real US Open Series

Half of these players are retired

Paris Pondering

Loving the outfit Rafa is rocking this year!!! #leftiesalwaysgetme
— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) June 1, 2013

Wonder if she knows about Rafa's football connections and that he is really just a tennis leftie.

I think I need to watch more #rolandgarros tennis. Yesterday, had no clue who Paire was, today Chardy?I need to step up my tennis knowledge!
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) May 31, 2013

They just happen to be ranked in the two spots ahead of her boyfriend. Also this happened.... yes that would be Benoit Paire himself retweeting it.

RT @alvianojs @andyroddickwho'll be this RG champion? .......... I'm gonna go out on a limb and say rafa
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) May 27, 2013

Bold choice Andy. 

While he has been away from Paris Andy Murray won the first week with his tweets. He is a Aga fan, possibly invented the hashtag of the year, complained about commentators . Which lead me to the conclusion is really bored sitting in home or he is just letting his inner tennis dork free while he can. 

Not a large crowd on lenglen for ivanovic radwanska.. Where is everyone?
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) June 2, 2013

Radwanska has the best lob in tennis! An inch from the line everytime and venus isn't small, so accurate
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) May 26, 2013

I am still not sure if he confused Ula with Aga here but maybe the ninja skills are genetic. Also blonde Aga confuses things. 

He really goes wild on Saturday night

Got the house to myself tonight which on the plus side means no reality tv but downside i have to settle for a diabolical tasting dinner..
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) June 1, 2013

• Extended fifth sets are not a Grand Slam problem. It is a John Isner playing Grand Slam tennis problem. That is two years in a row that he has lost in an extended fifth set at Roland Garros alone. 
• Tennis coverage on weekends & holidays (Memorial & Labor Day) is rough. They show what they think will catch the casual viewers eye. It is unfortunate for the hardcores but they do what they think will make them the most money. If you pay for tennis tv, tennis channel or possibly both and for those few hours that the Slam is getting national network tv exposure then I really don't think the tennis gods will smite you if you pop open a stream to watch a match or two. Yes it is not ideal but it is a better use of the time the match is on to be using a yes somewhat shady resource to get to watch what you want. 
• Serena is looking amazing so far but the quarterfinals are the obstacle that has stopped her from adding to the only single trophy in her Grand Slam collection. She faces Sveta next who beat her in this very round on the way to winning in 2009. Will there be a different outcome Tuesday? 
• In Rafa's first two matches especially he has not had the edge that he usually does and there have been some unexpected happening for someone who has won an event seven times but of one who is coming back from a extended break from the game. When he stepped on the court Monday he had not been on the grand slam stage in eleven months. Do the reaction to the results have more to do with where they are happening rather than what actually happened? Say that this was the US Open, would you look at Rafa dropping a set to Brands and in real threat of going down two sets to love in the first round with the same shock. Then in the second round again losing the first set to Klizan another hard hitter who he had never faced. In a way it takes me back to Wimbledon 2011 Serena in her first Slam back from her long heath battle and to my memory the talk was that she was going to come back and win "because she is Serena", "because its Wimbledon". Which while I think it was a good for them to time their come backs before their most successful Slams. It makes the expectations seem even greater because of the history they have at these events. There were improvements in the Fognini match and he can only improve and gain rhythm going into the second week. The sun is all expected to be shining on Monday at least. 
• This is shaping up to be the year of the 30- something Tommy. Both Haas & Robredo are through to the quarterfinals. 

Birthday Week

Maria Sharapova has been tweeting about her pre birthday celebrations all week and with her birthday tomorrow now is a good time to recap the festivities.

My birthday celebrations have officially started. Not by choice though! Thanks Soph! @susiecakes #cupcakes twitter.com/MariaSharapova…
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) April 13, 2013

First who doesn't love cupcakes?

This day has been full of the best early birthday surprises! #lucky #spoiled #sohappy
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) April 15, 2013

@mariasharapova: Birthday dinner with @tommyhaas13 and @saramfoster... twitter.com/MariaSharapova…
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) April 15, 2013

Birthday Dinner. Hi Tommy! Also you are so adorable tweeting your'e self Maria. #drunk?

@chelseahandler Did this really happen the other night?! #birthday twitter.com/MariaSharapova…
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) April 17, 2013

More Birthday dinner frivolity


Also since Pova's birthday is such a big deal the tennis gods gifted us all with a glorious match up on the eyes.

Rafa vs Grigor in Monte Carlo seems like the perfect way to celebrate. No?

Reign Change?

Tomorrow Serena Willams will stand one match away from reaching the number one ranking for the first time since she surendered it on October 11th, 2010 to Caroline Wozniacki. It would be her 124 week at number one which is sixth all time weeks in the top spot. After all she has been through since she last held the ranking it will be a nice achievement to become the oldest WTA number 1 at 31 years and 4 months old. If Petra were to defeat Serena tomorrow then Maria Sharapova could take over number one for the 22nd week if she wins the title. Victoria Azerenka would retain the ranking otherwise. 

Complete Order of Play for Doha Quarterfinals:

Starting 3:30 pm Local (7:30 am est)
Sharapova (3) v. Stosur (8)
followed by: Azerenka (1) v. Errani  (6)
followed by: Kvitova (9) v. S. Willams (2)
Not Before 8:30 pm Local
Radwanska (4) vs Wozniacki (10)

Fashion Athletes

It is fashion week in New York City and Nastia Liukin is on the case in between NYU classes of course. Maria Sharapova also seems to be keeping up with the shows from Doha.

The Oscar de la Renta finale reminded me of the dresses I saw at the Kremlin many years ago, except in bright hues. twitter.com/MariaSharapova…
— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) February 13, 2013

@mariasharapova NY fashion week is not the same without you!! Hope all is wonderful. Xoxo NL
— Nastia Liukin (@NastiaLiukin) February 13, 2013

Aly Raisman has also been taking in the new fall fashions.

Photo: Getty

USO 12: Practice Videos

I was on the US Open grounds on Wednesday and Thursday checking out some practices here are the short little videos. Sorry for the quality but this is the best my camera can do. 

Serena practicing on Wednesday. 

Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka practicing on Grandstand Wednesday. 

Laura Robson practicing on Thursday. 

Kim Clijsters practicing on Grandstand Thursday.

Vika Azerenka on Armstrong Thursday.

Maria Sharapova does overheads on Armstrong Thursday. She was practicing with Dani Hantuchova

Sugarpova High

My US Open festivities began Monday with a trip to Henri Bendel's for some Sugarpova. The store was packed and the entire front of the store was all the different types of candies.

Justin Gimblestob was there as the host. 

I love the window and her dress was lovely.

More pictures under the cut. 

New Surface. New Dos

A top 5 player on each tour has debuted a new hair do just before their 25 birthdays which some could say might be a sort of quarter life crisis. Maria Sharapova has gone short with her blonde locks. While Andy Murray has buzzed his hair down almost to the skull. Which do you think is more extreme change?

Wondering if she will stick with her trusty visor or switch to a headband? We should find out next week since she is scheduled to play in Stuttgart. 

UPDATE: Thanks to @theslicetweets who found this that WE HAVE ALL BEEN PUNKED BY POVA! I feel played. 

The by Muzz Buzz will debut 2nd after 10:30 am Tuesday on Court Central in Monte Carlo. 

Do you think the new do's will make for more aero dynamic sliding? 

(Pics from Maria's facebook and Yahoo)

Clay Time!

I love clay season it means spring time after watching hardcourts since forever and the tease of summer for us Northern hemisphere folks during the Australian swing the clay seems like a shock to the senses. The colors are deeper with the contrast of the red clay and white lines, the destination locations of Monte Carlo, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, the ball bounces higher, the shots are more creative, the sliding.

This week the ladies are on the clay of Barcelona 2010 Roland Garros Champion Schiavone and 2011 Stuttgart Champion Goerges as the top seeds. While the men are in Casablanca Top Seed is Mayer and 2 seed is Dolgopolov and Houston Fish and Isner are the top seeds and their results this week could see them swapping spots as the top American.

(There is also the E-Books [Caro Open] that is on indoor hard courts this week with Woz, JJ, Robson, Kerber and Barthel in the field. )
It's the little things that make it more fun....
The views...

Clay being tossed around.

Sliding

Although I am not looking forward to this fiasco. 

The first winner of the clay season was Serena Williams won on the green clay of Charleston last weekend. 

Oh Wells

The final weekend of Indian Wells had surprises, weather,  drama along the way. Let us start with the ladies in the semifinals Vika went through to the final relaitivly comfortably. The match for the other spot in the final was not without drama as one Australian Open final rematch that of the 2008 final gave way to another Aussie Open rematch. When Ana Ivanovic had to retire within the first two games of the second set against Maria Sharapova with a hip injury. The final was the top two seeds which had not happened on the WTA in over four years. Maria had few answers to Vika's game as the number one went to 23-0 winning her first Indian Wells singles title.


While the ladies final lived up to its seeding, one of the more unexpected twists of the weekend was that the men did not, as the third seeded Federer faced the eleventh seeded Isner. Isner defeated the number one seed in three sets closing it out in a third set tiebreaker. Then after an almost four hour rain delay, the second semi final got under way between Federer and Nadal. This match was frankly a mess of conditons in that Roger dealt with way more than Rafa. Actually, at times it seemed like Rafa wasn't even dealing with the conditions. He was just trying to play his normal patterns against Roger in which, like their matched on the indoor low bouncing courts, he left the ball in Roger's strike zone where Roger barely missed. By the time Rafa realized that he needed to hit through the court, he was already down a double break with Roger serving for the match. In that game, down 5-2, Rafa hit through the court to break then hold for 5-4.  The game in which Roger closed out the match had to be one of the more bizarre service games I had ever seen after getting the score to 30-All. Rafa nets a forehand into the middle of the net to give Roger match point. Then the sky opens up for which causes about a five minute delay after the delay Roger hit an ace and it was over. In the final the first set was decided in a tight tiebreaker which Roger won he them broke John's serve early in the second set to win in straights. So what do I think we learned from here Roger has not gone any where having only lost two matches since the US Open to Rafa and John who he beat this weekend. Welcome to the top ten John hope you can stay a while and that even after a month and a half off Rafa was really not as rusty as I thought he would be except for his tactical errors in the semifinals where he just did not adjust his game to the conditions before it was too late and Roger took advantage.

It was that kind of day for Big John. 

Then came the men's doubles final was something I really looked forward too. After not being able to see the doubles at all I was very excited that Rafa and Marc Lopez had advanced to the finally supposed to be televised but eventually shown on espn3 doubles final against John and Sam Querrey. Marc was the star of this show with his awesome doubles skills. Rafa and Marc won the first set breaking Sam's serve a few times. It was a fun match with lots of great rallies that saw Rafa and Marc win in straight sets closing it out in a second set tiebreaker. It was a bummer to see John lose in two finals on the same day but he put in three great performances against the top three players over two days and came out of it with one win and a spot in the top ten. As for Rafa it was the first final he had won since Roland Garros last year and the first title he had one on a hard court since Tokyo 2010. It might just be doubles but I think it matters and when you see the look on his face and how he was holding on to that trophy it looked like it mattered a whole lot to me. 

Pop Tennis

Maria Sharapova was on Chelsea Lately Monday night. She looked stunning and was giggly.

Serena & Venus walked the Vanity Fair Party Red Carpet after the Oscars Sunday Night. 

Maria also was at the Vanity Fair Red Carpet. 

Martina Navratilova is going to be on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. She is also now on twitter @martina. 

At the Elton John Oscars viewing party and live action. A tennis lesson with Rafa Nadal went for 200,000 dollars. Really curious who the winner was and when it will take place. 

Fed Cup Fun!

It's time for the first Fed Cup action of the year and the ladies look to be enjoying it. While the bulk of the action takes place this weekend but Great Britain is already off to a winning start in Europe/Africa Group 1. 

Laura Robson, Heather Watson & Judy Murray during doubles against Portugal.

Team GB answer twitter questions. 

Venus is part of the team that will take on Belarus in World Group II action.

Sam Stosur is all smiles in Switzerland for Australia's World Group II tie. 

Germany take on the defending champion Czech Republic in Stuttgart. (On Indoor hard, why did you pick this surface. To crush my dreams.)

Petra is also really good at footie tennis indoors. 

Of course you would Liezel. Serena on the other hand looks disappointed she doesn't have an Eli jersey.  

Maria Sharapova is in Russia to play the World Group tie against Spain in Moscow.  

Fight On!

To the runners up of the just concluded Australian Open. I want to thank you for your fight and your grace and class in defeat. Even though their matches were drastically different they showed why they are champions and will be back as winners soon. I am very proud of them both because they both play themselves into form over the course of the fortnight. Maria is headed to Moscow for Fed Cup this week while Rafa's next event will not be until Indian Wells.

“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.”  

-Vince Lombardi 

Who gets to determine when the old ends and the new begins? It’s not on the calendar, it’s not a birthday, it’s not a new year, it’s an event —big or small, something that changes us, ideally it gives us hope, a new way of living and looking at the world, letting go of old habits, old memories. What's important is that we never stop believing we can have a new beginning, but it's also important to remember amid all the crap are a few things really worth holding on to.

-Grey's Anatomy

I am very hopeful that they will both be hoisting trophies this season this is just the begining.

Vikatorious

Victoria Azerenka. Australian Open Champion. World Number One. Take a bow. 

I'm still in shock too Vika. 

I love the shorts. 

Amazing speech from Maria and an amazing event. She will be back for more soon. 

More thoughts to come later. 

And then there were four.

vs.

Vika Azerenka will take on Kim Clijsters. Vika is in her second Slam semi and Kim is in her first Slam semifinal since she won this title a year ago.  They play not before 1:30 PM (9:30 PM est) on Rod Laver Arena. 

vs.

Petra Kvitova will face Maria Sharapova in the semifinal following Azerenka & Clijsters in a rematch of last years Wimbledon final. 

Bring it Ladies! 

3 for 1

With Caroline Wozniacki's lost to Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals she will now drop from the number one ranking and can fall as low as 4 if Sharapova were to make the final. How I understand it will work out is that who ever gets the farthest will become number one. So if two of the three make it to the final the winner would become number 1. 

Maria Sharapova can regain the number one ranking which she last held on June 8. 2008

Petra Kvitova could take the top ranking for the first time. 

Vika Azerenka can take the ranking for the first time as well.