Sexy Sveta falls in NY

Svetlana Kuznetsova followed top seed, Ana Ivanovic, home after being defeated by Katarina Srebotnik in their 3rd round match. Another slam, another early round exit by a top seed.

The women’s field has been ridiculously crazy since the departure of Henin from professional tennis. It’s not very fun to watch. I don’t mind seeing up and comers play the match of their lives and take out, say, a Williams- now, that’s fun to watch but to see these top ballers play aweful games in Grand Slams is just sad.

Ana falls early again

Following her early round exit at Wimbledon, Ana Ivanovic, once again falls early in NYC. She was stunned by qualifier and World Number 188, Julie Coin 6-3 4-6 6-3. Ana looked all sorts of puzzled out there today hitting too many unforced errors from her usually strong forehand side.

As far as the top women ballers are concerned, being World Number 1 means you will lose early in Grand Slams. Unless ofcourse Henin is your last name but she’s so over tennis.

Roddick’s got that “look”

Andy Roddick’s debut match after announcing that Patrick McEnroe will be coaching him at the US Open was a success. Andy dismantled Fabrice Santoro 6-2 6-2 6-2 and was rocking the intense winner look all throughout the match. Whatever the Davis Cup coach has taught him in the past few days is definitely working. Any Andy Roddick fan should know that the Davis Cup brings out the best in him and if that means having P. Mac on board during the tour so he can somehow feel his best then please have him.

Image via Getty.

The girls in New York

QF #1: Ana Ivanovic VS Dinara Safina
It’s the French Open final! When I looked at the draw this match-up was almost automatic and permanent marker-ed it in. Ana should now be fully recovered from being emotionally overwhelmed with the French Open win- we all know she has been recovered from that thumb injury way before Beijing so that’s out of the question. Dinara might be a little tired coming in, winning the US Open series and getting silver in Beijing and all, but she’s been in great form throughout the year and is definitely boasting with confidence. Ana leads their head-to-head 3-1 and winning their last 3 meetings.
TDB pick: Dinara in 3 sets.

Movers & Shakers
Nadia Petrova - My comeback kid from Wimbledon is still looking good and I expect her to give Ana Ivanovic a run for her money should they meet in the R16.
Alla Kudryavtseva - I saw her play here in LA (as much as my body resisted to stay) and her groundstrokes are very very strong. I hate her but yea she could worry Dinara a bit.

QF #2: Serena Williams VS Venus Williams
It’s the Wimbledon final! Coming off their doubles gold in Beijing, the Williams sisters look to dominate their respective quarters of the draw. It’s always a good match when they play against each other so don’t count on this to disappoint. Although I’m not their biggest fan, I don’t appreciate their fluctuating dedication to the game, but it’s no question that they are great champions and when they’re out there- they’re really in it to win. Their head-to-head is tied at 8 with Venus winning their last 2 grand slam meetings.
TDB pick: Serena in 3 sets.

Movers & Shakers
Dominika Cibulkova - Another heavy hitter, she could give Venus some trouble in their possible R16 match-up.

QF #3: Svetlana Kuznetsova VS Elena Dementieva
An all-Russian affair is almost necessary at deep rounds in tournaments these days. Svetlana Kuznetsova is not having her best year. With a semifinal showing at the French Open as her only deep run in grand slams this year and not a title to her name, she’s definitely seen better years and would like to revive this one right here. Elena Dementieva, on the other hand, has revived her year with an Olympic gold last week so she’s riding on some confidence and should make a deep run here. Sveta leads their head-to-head 5-4 but Elena won their last meeting at Dubai this year.
TDB pick: Sveta in 2 sets.

Movers & Shakers
Na Li - This Asian sensation has caused massive upsets this year and Elena Dementieva could be her next victim.

QF #4: Vera Zvonareva VS Victoria Azarenka
Well, that was my original QF #4 prediction but we all know that’s down the drain now. I really don’t know who’s going to pull through from Vera’s quarter, possibly Marion Bartoli or Sybille Bammer. Although, I really would like to see Lindsay Davenport push it one last time but that’s all going to depend on her health. Victoria Azarenka over Jelena Jankovic on the last quarter of the draw. Call me delusional but this girl has shown her strengths over the course of the US Open Series while JJ could not close on anything during the same time, be it the Number 1 ranking or a title win and she is still injured from everywhere.

Movers & Shakers
Jelena Jankovic - I could really just be out of my mind.

Danka continues to struggle

Daniela Hantuchova, Number 12 in the world, is struggling to find her form since suffering from a foot injury earlier this year. She lost in the first round of the US Open 4-6 2-6 to Anna-Lena Groenefeld. After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open to kick off the year, her results have gone into a downward spiral losing early in most of the tournaments she’s entered. She best sort out whatever is bothering her offcourt before coming back on because we all know what she’s capable of achieving (Indian Wells and Linz last year!) and it does not include first round losses week after week.