Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer attended the Ashe Stadium night session with his wife and another couple. They sat in section E57 adjacent to the lower press section and from our nearby perspective, thoroughly enjoyed the action, applauding each Novak Djokovic and Philipp Petzschner for the outstanding efforts at different moments of the match. And the Governor’s group of four stayed to see the final point of the match, won by Djokovic in the third set tiebreak. Continue to read full article...

Manolo Santana visited the media center

Yes, my friends, every day when I walk into the Tennis Center from the back entrance, where the practice courts are situated, I pass a few cops/militia standing outside with machine guns in their arms. I’ve never seen this before at the Open. Maybe it is a practice that started a couple of years ago because it’s been that long since I had a press pass and entered from the rear of the center. But it’s a little startling I have to say, passing these armed-and-ready gunslingers each day. Continue to read full article...

Gasquet and Soderling · quietly mowing down the competition.

Two new tennis stars emerged on the world tennis stage Wednesday, with different styles, games and backgrounds…Ryan Harrison and Dustin Brown. Dustin Brown is a 25-year-old Jamaican based in Germany with little financial backing. But he has one of the biggest serves in the sport, not to mention dreadlocks down to almost his belt-line. Brown, who says he doesn’t really mind being free of having to march to the orders of corporate sponsors, plays a different game, one that features massive serves, delicate volleys, and power from the baseline. He’s a fascinatingly uniquely talented player and all of his skills were on display yesterday as Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, the tenacious Spanish veteran, was unable to combat Brown’s mastery. Continue to read full article...

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At 30, this aggressive and aesthetic French serve & volleyer may be entering the prime of his singles career. With two ATP singles titles this year, Llodra is about to surpass his career high ATP singles ranking of #34 which was achieved in 2008 (he’s at 35 right now), following Wednesday’s straight set masterpiece victory against Wimbledon finalist and #7 seed Tomas Berdych. No stranger to grand slam doubles titles, Llodra, who is known to strip off his shirt, shoes and sometimes even shorts after major victories, could be saving the best for last as his singles career continues to flourish. Playing perhaps the best tennis of his life, Llodra is also part of France’s Davis Cup team which will clash with Argentina in the semifinal round in Lyon later this month… Continue to read full article...

"Generous and smile - that's good."

Roddick seemed to think so. In the presser after his four-set loss to Janko Tipsarevic tonight, Roddick said he felt he played well and it was just that Janko was “coming up with the goods.” “At the same time,” Roddick continued, “I was just trying to keep making him come up with it, you know, from all ends of the court just firing, pulling the trigger down the line flat, you know, time after time is not an easy thing to do, and he was able to do it.” Continue to read full article...

Did Roddick play aggressively?

By Amanda H. LeMay Tennis is a different kind of sport. It draws you in not with the usual fanfare of a team sport. It’s more personal. It’s easy to get invested in the players because they are so vulnerable to us. No helmets to hide their emotions, no teammates to commiserate with and no substitutes if one is having a bad day. Just two guys fighting each other on the court with no one to rely on but themselves. It can be a beautiful display of power and finesse or….not. Frustrating and maddening at times, it never fails to deliver some sort of excitement or heartbreak… Continue to read full article...

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The Polish veteran is into the second round of the U.S. Open doubles as the #9 seed with long-time partner Fyrstenberg. Matkowski attended college for two years at UCLA (2001-2003) before turning pro. He has won 11 Tour titles and holds two wins over the Bryan Brothers in 2009. Matkowski and Fyrstenberg have qualified for the year end Masters in three of the last four years. They won their first round match in New York by defeating Garcia-Lopez/Montanes 63 64. Matkowski did this interview at the Polish Consulate U.S. Party at the Le Mar Mansion on Madison Avenue on Saturday night… Continue to read full article...

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I stayed up late for the Federer finish against Brian Dabul the night before, and the press conference didn’t end until after midnight. Fed was in a good mood. The first questioner asked him if he thought his between-the-legs shot where he raced to the baseline after being up at net and knifed the ball on the gallop with his back to the net for a winner, was superior to a similar shot he hit last year against Djokovic, and Fed smiled, and asked back, “What do you think?” Fed thought this year’s version was better, but the shot last year happened in a bigger moment, in the semis. Continue to read full article...

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James Blake was 0-2 vs. Kristof Vliegen with both losses coming in 2006 before today’s important showdown on Armstrong. Both have struggled with injuries this year and suffered severe ranking dips – Vliegen is #321 and Blake is #108. Blake won today in three sets – 63 62 64 – despite some slight trouble closing it out. A late backhand winner evoked a huge Blake/Tiger Woods style super uppercut. Continue to read full article...

Djokovic cracks up the press room again

I chose to watch and report on this match rather than Dent Falla because Dent routined Falla in straight sets and I saw the last two sets of the former match. It felt like a Davis Cup match a bit, fans next to me on Court 11, the show court near the Stadium, where the stands were packed in the bleachers and there was five-deep lines on the other end, were chanting, “USA, USA,” for Kendrick. And there was one foghorn French guy with his two young kids, shouting continuing something in French. Continue to read full article...

but the best match of the tourney might have come on first day on Ct. 11 · Great · see-saw match. Let's see