THE OLYMPICS
The 2012 Olympic Games are underway, and as I write…China leads the medal count with 6-gold, 4-silver and 2-bronze. The U.S. is right behind with 3-gold, 5-silver and 3-bronze.
In tennis, Round-1 action will have to continue Monday after being suspended by rain (shades of Wimbledon). On the men’s side, Wimbledon Champ Roger Federer (3-sets, lost second-set), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (3-sets, lost first set in tie-break), Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic (3-sets, lost first set in tie-break), David Ferrer, Kei Nishikori (two tie-break sets over Bernard Tomic of Australia), Juan Martin del Potro, Gilles Muller, Alex Bogomolov, Jr. (playing for Russia), John Isner, and Janko Tipsarevic are some of the big names that advanced.
Surprise losses came from Tomas Berdych (losing to Steve Darcis from Belgium) and Fernando Verdasco losing to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in a second set tie-break (11-9).
While John Isner advanced, both Donald Young and Ryan Harrison lost their first-round matches…Donald to Italy’s Andreas Seppi and Ryan to Columbia’s Santiago Giraldo. There was a huge dust-up over Ryan’s loss, when he smashed his racquet after double-faulting on match point. Andy Roddick’s match was suspended until Monday, where he’ll play Slovakia’s Martin Klizan.
The ladies will have to continue Round-1 action on Monday, as well…including Venus Williams’ singles match vs. Italy’s Sara Errani. Those who’ve advanced include Wimbledon Champ Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva, Francesca Schiavone, Ana Ivanovic, Petra Kvitova, and Springfield Laser Timea Babos over Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva!
Upsets included Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain over Australia’s Sam Stosur (10-8 in the 3rd set), Germany’s Julia Goerges over Agnieszka Radwanzska (6-4 in the 3rd), Daniela Hantuchova over Na Li (6-3 in the 3rd), and Tsvetana Pironkova over Dominka Cibulkova (just won Stanford) in straight sets.
Christina McHale is out after her first round loss to Ana Ivanovic, while Varvara Lepchenko will have to continue her first round match Monday, tied at a set apiece versus Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay.
On a personal note, after seeing them play back in December at the Arab Games in Doha, Qatar…it’s nice to see both Malek Jaziri and Ons Janeur playing well for Tunisia: Jaziri won his first round match, Jabeur leads Sabine Lisicki 4-3 in the first-set, in her suspended first round match.
In doubles, Andy Roddick and John Isner are out, but the Bryans won their first round match. Venus and Serena will play a pair of Romanians tomorrow, while top-seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond had a bye in the first round of Olympic competition. I was sorry to hear the comeback for Argentina’s Paola Suarez was a short one, and she and Gisela Dulko lost in the first round to China’s Na Li and Shuai Zhang.
THE U.S. OPEN SERIES
With the Olympics underway, the U.S. Open Series continued in Los Angeles with the Farmer’s Classic. Sam Querrey easily took the title over Richard Berankis (6-0, 6-2). Now the guys head to Washington D.C. for the Citi Open. Sam Querrey and Andy Roddick are now tied at 70-points each atop the U.S. Open Series Bonus Challenge Standings, while Dominika Cibulkova continues to lead for the ladies. Even though there is a WTA event at the Citi Open, it is not considered part of the U.S. Open Series. The ladies’ series won’t continue until after the Olympics when the Rogers Cup gets underway in Canada.
In Austria over the weekend, Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Robin Haase in the final, while Bojana Jovanovski took-down Julia Cohen in the Baku Cup Final in Azerbaijan.
WORLD TEAM TENNIS
And in World Team Tennis, the Washington Kastles are STILL undefeated…beating the Lasers in Springfield (25-13) on Saturday night. The Kastles went undefeated last season, as well, and have run the winning-streak to 30-matches. The Western Conference finals will feature Sacramento and Orange County on Septembber 14th at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, SC. The Eastern Conference Finals will feature the New York Sportimes and the Washington Kastles on September 15th, and the Final will take place that Sunday…the weekend following the conclusion of the U.S. Open.
It’s been a busy Summer for the tennis fan…hope you’re enjoying it as much as the rest of us!
