US Open 2009 Men’s Qualifying

IMG_1239m
Creative Commons License photo credit: matteo_dudek

The US Open Men’s Singles qualifying tournament is played at the same venue as the main event, unlike Wimbledon. This knock-out tournament is contested by the 128 players who did not have a high enough ranking to gain a Direct Acceptance into the main draw.

The other way of being able to contest in the qualifying event is if the United States Tennis Association (USTA) awards you a wild card into the qualifying event. 

16 spots in the main draw of the US Open are allocated to qualifiers. The qualifiers then have the opportunity to really improve their ranking as the Grand Slam events offer the most ranking points in comparison to all of the other tournaments each year. The same is true in terms of the prize money that can be earned. Qualifiers are guaranteed 19,000 US dollars in prize money even if they lose their 1st round match.

Last year in the US Open Men’s Singles event the best performed qualifier was Gilles Muller of Luxembourg who had the tournament of his life including defeating No.5 seed Nikolay Davydenko to reach the quarters finals. Muller played close to Roger Federer before losing to the eventual champion 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

This year only 7 of the 32 seeded players in the qualies won through to the main draw, whilst 9 unseeded men qualified. The country that the player represents is in brackets next to his name.

The winners of “The Qualifying Round” were;

The Seeds: No.1 seed i.e. (1) Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil), (2) Horacio Zeballos (Argentina), (5) Josselin Ouanna (France), (10) Michael Berrer (Germany), (27) Carsten Ball (Australia), (31) Alejandro Falla (Columbia) and (32) Marco Chiudinelli (Switzerland).

Unseeded players: Michael Yani (USA), Marsel Ilhan (Turkey), Jesse Witten (USA), Dieter Kindlmann (Germany), Peter Polansky (Canada), Giovanni Lapentti (Ecuador), Donald Young (USA), Somdev Devvarman (India) and Juan Pablo Brzezicki (Argentina).

Pictured above is Nikolay Davydenko showing a fantastically long extension of his racquet through his forehand drive. The No.8 seed in this years US Open receives very little fanfare or media attention despite having one of the best forehands in men’s tennis. 

Davydenko has twice won through to the semi-finals at the US Open (2006 & 2007) and this year is seeded to meet Federer in the quarter finals.

Which Qualifier will win the most singles matches at the 2009 US Open? Can a qualifier make it to the quarter finals or beyond this year?

See more of OnCourt Advantage’s US Open coverage by clicking this link -> US Open 2009.

 

Today’s POST is dedicated to Andy Roddick. Roddick was born on this day in 1982. The American has won 1 Grand Slam singles title thus far: the US Open in 2003. He first achieved his highest career ranking of No.1 on 3 November 2003.

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009

US Open 2009 Women’s Qualifying

Venus Warming Up
Creative Commons License photo credit: TGIGreeny

Women’s Singles Qualifying: The US Open qualifying tournament is a knock-out tournament just like the main draw of the Grand Slams, that also has 32 seeds and 128 players in it’s draw.

16 spots in the main draw of the US Open are allocated to qualifiers. The qualifiers were those players who won 3 matches in a row in the qualifying tournament. Even if the qualifier then loses the 1st round match they win 19,000 US dollars in prize money.

The qualifying tournament which is often called “qualies” was scheduled to be played from Tuesday August 25 to Friday August 28. However, rain delayed the events. On Friday only  five players had qualified from both the men’s and women’s draws. 

On the following and 5th day, the remaining 27 players sealed their spots in the main draw. The 3rd round of qualifying is known as “The Qualifying Round” as the winners of this round qualify for the main event.

Last year in the US Open women’s singles event the best performed qualifier was German Anna-Lena Groenefeld who made it all the way through to the last 16 before going down to current world No.1  Dinara Safina. 

This year 11 of the 32 seeded players in the qualies won through, whilst only 5 unseeded women qualified. The country that the player represents is in brackets next to her name.

The winners of “The Qualifying Round” were;

The Seeds: (5) Angelique Kerber (Germany), (12) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Czech Republic), (16) Yvonne Meusburger (Austria), (18) Vesna Manasieva (Russia), (20) Mariya Koryttseva (Ukraine), (23) Camille Pin (France), (24) Shenay Perry (USA), (25) Carly Gullickson (USA), (29) Petra Martic (Croatia), (30) Anastasia Rodionova (Australia) and (32) Marta Domachowska (Poland).

Unseeded players: Kai-Chen Chang (Chinese Taipei), Yurika Sema (Japan), Monique Adamczak (Australia), Eva Hrdinova (Czech Republic) and Valerie Tetreault (Canada).

Pictured above is Venus Williams who is one of the most skilled players at the net in women’s tennis. The 29 year old demonstrates very good positioning and racquet preparation as she watches the incoming ball for this forehand volley.

The winner of 7 Grand Slam singles titles will need to move forward and close out her younger opponents at the net if she wants to improve her odds of success and reduce the stress on her 1.85 metre and aging frame.

How far will Venus go at the 2009 US Open? Which Qualifier or Wild Card will win the most singles match this year?

See OnCourt Advantage’s US Open coverage by clicking this link -> US Open 2009.

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009

US Open 2009 Men’s Seeding

Rafael Nadal : Journée Benny Berthet à Roland Garros 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Creative Commons License photo credit: nicogenin 

Since Wimbledon 2001 the Grand Slam tournaments have seeded the top 32 ranked players in the singles events to meet in the 3rd round. Prior to that there were only 16 seeds in the Grand Slams, which used to ensure that the seeded players did not player each other until the 4th round.

A Grand Slam tournament main draw of the singles event consists of 128 players. After the 1st two rounds are played only 32 players remain. This is when all of the seeded players begin to play off against each other, IF and that’s a big “IF” they all win their 1st two matches against the lower ranked men who are unseeded.

The number of seeded players in the men’s draw from each of the following countries is in brackets and are as follows:

Spain (6), France (4), USA (4), Russia (2), Switzerland (2), Czech Republic (2), Croatia (2), Serbia (2), Germany (2), Great Britain (1), Argentina (1), Romania (1), Sweden (1), Chile (1) and Australia (1).

Top half of the draw:

 Bottom half of the draw:

Pictured above is Spaniard Rafael Nadal a split second after impact with the ball. Nadal’s tremendous ground stroking consistencyhas a lot to do with how he repeatedly strikes the ball in the same position relative to his body.

The 4 time French Open champion has his racquet perfectly positioned for his double handed backhand drive. The No.3 seed will be hoping his knee tendinitis does not prevent him from executing his excellent footwork skills that allow him to get himself in to position to play his ground strokes with superior consistency.

See OnCourt Advantage’s US Open previews and related posts in the US Open 2009 category and stay tuned for more coverage of the US Open.  

©OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009

US Open 2009 Women’s Seeding

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Creative Commons License photo credit: Vedia

In a Grand Slam event like the US Open the top 32 ranked players are seeded. This ensures that the seeded players cannot player each other until the 3rd round.

A Grand Slam tournament main draw for the singles event consists of 128 players. After the 1st two rounds are played only 32 players remain. This is when all of the seeded players begin to play off against each other, IF and that’s a big “IF” they all win their 1st two matches against the lower ranked women who are unseeded.

The number of seeded players in the women’s singles draw from each of the following countries is in brackets and are as follows:

Russia has the most seeded players with 8, which means 1 in very 4 seeds are Russian women. Russia (8), Switzerland (2), France (2), Serbia (2), China (2), Italy (2), USA (2), Ukraine (1), Germany (1), Denmark (1), Romania (1), Hungary (1), Belarus (1), Poland (1), Spain (1), Estonia (1), Slovakia (1), Austria (1) and Australia (1).

Top half of the draw:

 Bottom half of the draw:

Pictured above is the 26 year old Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova whilst executing her serve. The No.22 seed is demonstrating good form just after the impact point and whilst her racquet is decelerating. The former world No.5 is seeded to meet the big serving Aussie Sam Stosur in the 3rd round.

See OnCourt Advantage’s US Open previews and related posts in the US Open 2009 category. Stay tuned for more coverage of the US Open.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Carlos Moya. Moya was born on this day in 1976. The Spaniard has won 1 Grand Slam singles title thus far: the French Open in 1998. He first achieved his highest career ranking of No.1 on 15 March 1999.

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009 

Women’s Results in Toronto, Canada

Elena Dementieva
Creative Commons License photo credit: thoughtquotient.com

The Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada is one of the most prestigious tournaments on the WTA Tour  (a Premier Five event). The 2 million US dollar event is the last major tournament before the US Open.  

As we consistently mention here on this tennis website that chances of all of the top seeds winning through to the round of 16 are quite slim. 

Only 4 of the top ranked players won through to the quarter finals in Toronto, with Alisa Kleybanova against No.5 seed (5) Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova against (14) Agnieszka Radwanksa, Sam Stosur up against (4) Elena Dementieva and Lucie Safarova meeting (2) Serena Williams.

In the biggest tug of war of the tournament, Kleybanova d. Jankovic 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in a 3 hour and 16 minute match. The result could have gone either way in the 1st two sets. The 20 year-old Russian had 5 set points to win the 1st set but the 24 year-old Serbian prevailed 8 points to 6 in the tie-break. 

In the 2nd set Kleybanova had another 5 set points but Jankovic fought back to earn a match point of her own. Kleybanova then went on the attack with her favourite backhand and took the tie break 9-7. In the final set, Alisa strung 4 games in a row from 2 games all to upset last year’s US Open finalist. 

In another quarter final, Dementieva fought past Sam Stosur after losing the 1st set tie-break 3-7 to take the next 2 sets 6-1 6-3. Stosur’s impressive results, beginning with her semi-final appearance at the French Open, see her with a career best ranking (No.15). Stosur is the 1st Australian woman to achieve a top 15 ranking since Alicia Molik.

Serena beat the unseeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-2 to press through to the semi-finals. Former World No.1 Sharapova defeated A. Radwanska 6-2 7-6 (7-5).

Pictured above is Dementieva in the forward swing phase of her forehand ground stroke just prior to impact with the ball. One of the best movers in the game is beautifully positioned to strike.

Dementieva reversed the result of “the match of the year” at Wimbledon by handing out a 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 defeat to Serena Williams to book her spot in another WTA Tour final.

In the Wimbledon semi-finals, Elena had a match point at 5-4 in the final set only to see the American prevail 8 games to 6. Dementieva has now beaten Serena in 5 of their past 7 matches.

In the semi-finals Sharapova defeated fellow Russian Kleybanova 6-2 4-6 6-4 to earn herself a spot in her 1st final since coming back from a 9 month break due to injury.

Dementieva has built a strong platform from which to make a run for her 1st Grand Slam singles title at the US Open after defeating Sharapova 6-4 6-3 in the final. The 27 year old collected $350,000 US dollars and 800 ranking points in Toronto.

Sharapova timed her return to form well as this result sees her climb from No.49 to No.30, which allows her to sneak in as a seed at the US Open. The 22 year old won $175,000 US dollars and 550 ranking points.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Nancy Richey. Richey was born on 23 August in 1942. The American won 2 Grand Slam singles titles; the Australian Open in 1967 and the French Open in 1968. She achieved her highest career ranking of No.2 in 1969.

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009

Kim Clijsters: Comeback Update

Safina and Clijsters
Creative Commons License photo credit: thoughtquotient.com

How far do you think Kim Clijsters will progress through the singles draw at the US Open? What do you think her ranking will be once she adds her US Open points to her total thus far?

At the Rogers Cup in Toronto last week Clijsters won her 1st round match in straight sets. In her 2nd round match, the 26 year-old mum then defeated No.9 seed Victoria Azarenka from Belarus 6-1 in the 3rd and final set.

In the round of 16 match the Belgian showed how close her form is to the Top 5 players in the world by nearly upsetting last weeks Cincinnati singles champion Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic was the 5th seed and narrowly edged out Clijsters 7-5 in the final set.

Pictured above are World No.1 Dinara Safina and Kim Clijsters. Clijsters lost to Safina in the quarter finals in Cincinnati in her 1st tournament back on tour. Afterwards Kim gave the following great insight into her comeback mind set.

The former World No.1 revealed, “I’m gonna just try to keep working on everything that I have to do out there on the court to keep improving and to still work on a few things that I want to see differently, or things that I felt bothered me  throughout these last few matches. I’m not really setting my mind on, in two months I want to be there or there. I’ll just take each day at a time and try to be as professional as possible whenever I’m playing and whenever I’m at a tournament, and then we’ll see what happens.”

Everybody who plays tennis can learn a great deal from Clijster’s message:

 ONLY pay attention and work on what YOU have to do on court to improve. By doing this, you will be focusing on the process of raising your level of play. DO NOT fall for the trap of focusing on possible match results, possible rankings points, the opportunities or repercussions of your match.

ALWAYS remember that you want to invest your energy into improving your level of play by focusing on specific tasks that need to be executed. Once your performance level raises, less people will be able to reach your standard. Therefore, you will win more often.

Comeback Kim earned a further 110 WTA ranking points to bring her total to 310. As of 24 August 2009, 184 women have more than 310 WTA points, therefore, the Belgian would be No.185. 

Once the rankings are released after the US Open is completed (Monday September 14), Clijsters will have an official WTA ranking once again.

The 2005 US Open singles champion is playing this tournament for the 1st time since she won, after withdrawing in 2006 due to injury. Therefore, she never had the chance to defend her title.

The most successful active player from Belgium will  use her memories of the last time she played in New York at the US Open to give herself a huge boost on court. Clijsters: a player to watch.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Nancy Richey. Richey was born on 23 August in 1942. The American won 2 Grand Slam singles titles; the Australian Open in 1967 and the French Open in 1968. She achieved her highest career ranking of No.2 in 1969.

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009 

US Open 2009 Women’s Singles

Serena on the Serve!

Creative Commons License photo credit: Lord TriLink

The US Open is held at the United States National Tennis Center in New York. The United States Tennis Association (USTA), named this center in honour of the famous American woman, Billie Jean King. King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles.

Pictured above is Serena Williams focusing on the ball toss as she prepares to launch into her sensational power serve. At the 2009 US Open Serena will be serving it up to the other players as she guns for her 12th Grand Slam singles title to match Billie Jean.

The US Open main draw begins on Monday 31 August and runs for 2 weeks. The women’s final is held on Saturday September 12.

Last year Serena Williams won the US Open Women’s Singles Championship by defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final 6-4 7-5. It was the 1st time Jankovic won through to a Grand Slam singles final. Serena earned 2000 WTA ranking points whilst Jankovic scored 1400.

The 2008 US Open semi finalists were Elena Dementieva who lost to Jankovic and Dinara Safina who was beaten by Serena. The quarter finalists were Flavia Pennetta, Venus Williams, Patty Schnyder and Sybille Bammer.

In a Grand Slam tournament there are 128 players in the main draw of which 32 players are seeded. This year the seeding will be based on the WTA Tour rankings as of 24 August 2009.

The drawing of the 128 spots will be conducted on Thursday 27 August at 12pm Eastern time. ESPN News will broadcast a live show as the reveal all of the US Open draws for the tournament.

104 of the 128 main draw spots are allocated to direct acceptances. The rankings as of 20 July 2009 were used to determine who the 104 highest ranked players where. Those players then gain direct entry into the main draw.

This year all of the active players in the top 100 active players will be on show as 99 of the top 100 women were accepted directly into the main draw of the singles event. Only Natalie Dechy of France is missing after recently retiring form the tour to start a family.

The remaining 24 spots go to Wild Cards and Qualifiers. There are 8 USTA Wild Cards and 16 spots for qualifiers. The “Qualifiers” were covered at OnCourt Advantage on 20 August 2009 in ”US Open 2009 Men’s Singles”.

The USTA awarded Wild Cards to 5 Americans; Gail Brodsky, Mallory Cecil, Alexa Glatch, Vania King and Christina McHale, plus 3 others; former US Open champion Kim Clijsters, 16 year old Kristina Mladenovic of France (current world No.1 ITF junior & junior French Open singles champion), and WTA world no.167 Olivia Rogowska of Australia.

As discussed in the post on 20 August 2009, the French Tennis Federation and Tennis Australia got to chose who received a Wild Card from their respective countries.

See OnCourt Advantage’s US Open previews in the US Open 2009 category and stay tuned for US Open coverage.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Mats Wilander. Wilander was born on this day in 1964. The Swede won 7 Grand Slam singles titles: 3 Australian Open crowns (1983,1984 & 1988), 3 French Open titles (1982, 1985 & 1988) and the US Open in 1988. He achieved his highest career ranking of No.1 on 12 September in 1988.

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009 

US Open 2009 Men’s Singles

roger-beni

Creative Commons License photont credit: Lucky B

The US Open is held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York. This year Roger Federer will be trying to equal Bill Tilden’s record of 6 straight US Open singles championships titles, which he won from 1920 to 1925.

The US Open main draw begins on Monday 31 August and runs for 2 weeks. The men’s final is held on Sunday 13 September. 

Since 1987 the US Open has been the 4th and final Grand Slam tournament played each year. The US Open is unique amongst the 4 Grand Slam events because it is the only Grand Slam that plays a tie-break to decide the 5th and final set. 

Last year Roger Federer won the US Open Men’s Singles Championship by defeating Andy Murray in the final 6-2 7-5 6-2. For Murray it was his first time he won through to the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament. Federer earned 2000 ranking points whilst Murray scored 1400 points.

The 2008 US Open semi finalists were Rafael Nadal who lost to Murray and Novak Djokovic who was beaten by Federer. The quarter finalists were Mardy Fish, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick and Gilles Muller.

In a Grand Slam tournament there are 128 players in the main draw. There are 32 seeded players in a Grand Slam event. This year the seeding will be based on the ATP World Tour rankings once they are updated on 24 August 2009.

104 of the 128 main draw spots are allocated to direct acceptances. The rankings as of 20 July 2009 were used to determine who the 104 highest ranked players where. Those players then gain direct entry into the main draw.

It must be noted that although the US Open starts on 31 August 2009, the top 104 players are determined more than a month prior.

This year 102 players were accepted directly and 2 players used a special condition to enter with their “protected rankings”. These 2 players are Juan Ignacio Chela and Andrei Pavel.

The remaining 24 spots are broken into 2 categories: Wild Card entrants and Qualifiers. There are 8 USTA Wild Cards and 16 spots for qualifiers. The men’s qualifying event is a mini knock out tournament consisting of 128 players. Only 16 players who each win 3 matches in a row will “qualify” for the main draw. Qualifying is held from Tuesday August 25 through to Friday August 28 and is free to attend. 

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has just announced who they chose to give the Wild Cards to for this year: 6 Americans; Devin Britton, Chase Buchanan, Taylor Dent, Brendan Evans, Jesse Levine and Rajeev Ram.

The final 2 Wild Cards are used in a reciprocal arrangement with 2 other Grand Slam tournaments; the French Open and the Australian Open. Therefore, Tennis Australia and the French Tennis Federation are able to chose 1 Wild Card entrant each.

The French chose native Michael Llodra and the Australians chose Aussie Chris Guccione. This arrangement gives the USTA a Main Draw Wild Card at these 2 events in return.

See OnCourt Advantage’s US Open previews and further coverage of the US Open in the US Open 2009 category.  

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009 

Women Battle for Rogers Cup in Toronto

Ana Ivanovic
Creative Commons License photo credit: bourgol

The 7th Major Tournament on the WTA Tour this year is the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments on the WTA Tour  because it is a Premier Five event.

The Rogers Cup is the 4th of only 5 Premier Five events to be held in 2009. This event has 2 million US dollars up for grabs and will be held from Monday August 17 through to the final on Sunday August 23. 

Pictured above is Ana Ivanovic who won the Rogers Cup in 2006. Ivanovic is demonstrating fantastic preparation for her backhand ground stroke. The 2008 French Open singles champion has a great opportunity to make a big move up the rankings over the next 2 months.

Ivanovic won just 3 matches and lost 5 over this same period last year. The 21 year old really needs to build the number of matches she plays and her confidence in Toronto before she can be a realistic chance at the US Open. 

Ivanovic will have the added motivation to perform well now that her rival and fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic is doing so well of late. Ana winning has a very positive impact on women’s tennis, so let’s hope she gets on a roll. 

Last year Dinara Safina won the Rogers Cup by defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the final 6-2 6-1. The Russian won 860 WTA ranking points for that victory whilst Cibulkova from Slovakia won 600 WTA ranking points as the runner-up.

Safina beat Victoria Azarenka whilst Cibulkova defeated Marion Bartoli in the 2008 semi-finals. The quarter finalists were Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic, Tamira Paszek and Ai Sugiyama.

The Rogers Cup in Toronto also has a 56 player draw. Once again, the top 8 seeds have a BYE in the 1st round, with ONLY the top 16 ranked players being seeded. There were 41 direct acceptances, 3 Wild Cards awarded and 12 spots in the draw allocated to Qualifiers.

The wild cards were awarded to former US Open singles champion, Kim Clijsters and Canadians Valerie Tetreault, world No.161 and Stephanie Dubois, world No.112.

The 12 players who won through the qualifying rounds were; Elena Baltacha, Yanina Wickmayer, Kateryna Bondarenko, Roberta Vinci, Heidi El Tabakh, Maria Kirilenko, Monica Niculescu, Lucie Safarova, Magdalena Rybarikova, Alla Kudryavtseva, Julie Coin and Yaroslava Shvedova.

The seeding and draw for the top 16 players, if they all win through to the round of 16 are:

..which completes the head-to-head play-offs in the top half of the draw. In the bottom half of the draw, the players seeded to meet are:

As we have seen in previous tournaments covered on OnCourt Advantage, the chances of the top 16 seeds all making it to the round of 16 are slim. Follow the matches as a number of top seeds will be knocked out!

Today’s POST is dedicated to Guillermo Vilas. Vilas was born on 17 August in 1952. The Argentinian won 4 Grand Slam singles titles: 2 Australian Open crowns in 1978 & 1979, the French Open in 1977 and the US Open in 1977. He achieved his highest career ranking of No.2 on 30 April in 1975.

© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009

Women’s Results at Cincinnati, USA

Jelena Jankovic
Creative Commons License photo credit: thoughtquotient.com

As predicted here at OnCourt Advantage the Belgian is a player to watch as she cuts her way up the rankings.  

Clijsters defeated the 12th seed – Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-3 in the 1st round and beat Patty Schnyder 6-2 7-5 in the 2nd round. Clijsters then upset 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Next up in the quarter finals, Safina ended Clijsters run 6-2 7-5. 

Comeback Kim earned 200 WTA ranking points. As of 17 August 2009, 250 women have more than 200 WTA points, therefore, Clijsters be No.251. However, Kim needs to earn WTA ranking points in 2 more tournaments before she can be added to the WTA Tour ranking list.

In another quarter final, 14th seed Flavia Pennetta built on her victory over no.3 Venus Williams in the previous round by defeating unseeded Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-3.

The No.8 seed from Denmark – Caroline Wozniacki was beaten in the 3rd quarter final by Elena Dementieva, 6-2 6-1. Dementieva showed her strong form in defeating a young player with a bright future -Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

No.5 seed Jelena Jankovic beat the unseeded Sybille Bammer 6-0 6-3 to press through to the semi-finals. Bammer recorded a great victory over No.2 Serena Williams 7-5 6-4 in the previous round to earn her place in the quarter finals.

At Cincinnati Jankovic revealed a strong message she lived by and one that everyone can learn from: ”You got to keep feeding your mind with positive things and words and just keep pushing yourself to the limits.”

In the semi-finals Safina handed out a 6-2 6-0 defeat to late bloomer, 27 year old Italian Flavia Pennetta to book her spot in a WTA Tour final for the 8th time this year.

Pennetta is the 1st Italian woman in WTA rankings history to earn a ranking in the world’s top 10. Pennetta has won 2 titles in a row prior to this semi-final result to boast a 15 wins to 1 loss record in her past 3 events. 

The match of the tournament was the semi-final between Dementieva and Jankovic. Jankovic had 3 match points at 40-0 whilst serving at 5-4 in the final set. Dementieva played aggressively to win the next 5 points in a row.

Dementieva took a 6-2 lead in the final set tie-break to hold 4 consecutive match points. Jankovic eventually won 7-6 (7-2), 0-6, 7-6 (8-6) in 2 hours and 46 minutes. This win, self talk and positivity propelled Jelena on to post a 6-4 6-2 victory over Safina in the final.

Safina now has 3 wins to 5 losses this year in WTA Tour finals. The Russian collected $175,000 US dollars and 550 ranking points. Meanwhile Jankovic won $350,000 US dollars and 800 ranking points.

Pictured above is Jankovic in Cincinnati really driving straight out through a backhand ground stroke just as she is driving her mind into career best form.

The US Open main draw starts on August 31. Follow last year’s US Open finalist, Jankovic, together with Dementieva and Safina as they race to be a 1st time Grand Slam singles champion.

Today’s POST is dedicated to Jim Courier. Courier was born on 17 August in 1970. The American won 4 Grand Slam singles titles: 2 French Open titles in 1991 & 1992 and 2 Australian Open crowns in 1992 & 1993. He achieved his highest career ranking of No.1 on 20 February, 1992.

©OnCourtAdvantage.com 2009

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