Thursday, August 28, 2014

Stosur and Ivanovic say goodbye to Flushing Meadows

Well, that didn't last long. The "revived" Ana Ivanovic and the slightly less "revived" Samantha Stosur were both upset in the second round of the U.S. Open today. AnaIvo fell to Karolina Pliskova, who is very quietly making her (big-serving) way through the twists and turns of WTA competition. Pliskova hit only seven aces today, though she generally goes into double digits, and beat 8th-seeded Ivanovic 7-5, 6-4.

2011 champion Stosur went out in a thriller against the mercurial Kaia Kanepi. Each held two match points in a very tense third set tiebreak, and Kanepi saw it through with a 10-8 win. Also making an exit was Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who lost to Nicole Gibbs. Genie Bouchard needed three sets to defeat Sorana Cirstea in what was a most entertaining night match. Serena Williams beat Vania King in under and hour, and Petra Kvitova beat countrywoman Petra Cetkovska in straight sets.

Qualifier Aleksandra Krunic defeated Madison Keys, and CiCi Bellis, the new "big thing," lost in three sets to Zarina Diyas (and gave Diyas a bagel in the second set). U.S. Open-loving Flavia Pennetta advanced, as did Vika Azarenka. Two Russians, Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova, also moved on to the third round.

In doubles, Venus and Serena Williams beat 7th seeds Timea Babos and Kiki Mladenovic 7-6, 6-7, 6-1. That was quite a match to have in the first round. Top seeds Errani and Vinci and 2nd seeds Hsieh and Peng advanced to the second round.

6 comments:

Eric said...

what is with Adidas and all the extra ruffles?!?!?!??!

It's like they're thinking, "oh, the waist ruffle didn't go over well, so now I'll put it by their neckline, since clearly, extra fabric is needed to make the outfit pop."

the ruffle needs to die!

Eric said...

at least I didn't see any cowls (or whatever you called the chest poofs). It's like the extra fabric they used for the chest poof went to the ruffle.

why do they still retain stella mccartney? i don't think there's been *a single* design that I've liked from her. that partnership has at least been going on since 2010 since I remember not liking what she did for Caroline Wozniacki then.

not that nike's doing better...vekic and azarenka looked good but once they started moving and sweating, it wasn't flattering...but adidas outfits evoke a strong reaction from me.

haven't seen sharapova's outfit yet...or genie's.

Eric said...

pavlyuchenkova's lack of ability to control a point against players is the most baffling thing to me. she has all the skills and if she made better shots, she would never not be in the top 15.

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i think adidas should buy eleven or hire venus to design dresses. i think all the girls in their stable (kirilenko, petkovic, anaivo, robson) would look good in venus's designs.

Eric said...

how did i not know that APavs is the same age as Halep?!? There's hope yet!

She really needs to learn to control the point better...she has the shot making to do it...but not the focus...and maybe she could improve fitness.

Diane said...

Well, I'm with you, Eric. The ruffles need to go. They look ridiculous.

'Pova and Genie both look good. Genie's look is kind of "sporty," with a good cut, which suits her.

Pavlyuchenkova is a mystery. A great shot-maker with keen anticipation, she should be doing so much better.

Anonymous said...

Oh Diane, I have to share this jems with you (I'm your long time reader Roi, but forgot my blogger account):

So the Williams-King match was about to start on ESPN Latinamerica, they were talking about how Serena might take over her closest rival's record for weeks at number one. One of the commentators -probably Luis Alfredo Álvarez- then took a moment to say "that record is Steffi Graf's, current wife of Andre Agassi". And that was it for them, Steffi is just Andre's wife.

Then the small talk seemed to be over and Serena came to the court with her headphones and a guy -Im sure it was the same one- was absolutely sure she was listening either soul, hip hop or rap.

Oh boy, that made me giggle with shame! :'D