I'm not sure if this is a permanent shift or just a quirk in the schedule this year but I just realized that the Rogers Cup for men and women take place on the same week this year. I'm sure Tennis Canada is not too thrilled with that as now their two marquee events are taking place at the same time with this year the men in Montreal and the women in Toronto both taking place the week of August 6-14. I'll be curious to see how they split the TV coverage of the two events as well up here in Canada.

And you can tell that the men are the bigger draw these days as almost half the promotion for the women's event here in Toronto include promotion of the Rogers Legends Cup - which features the likes of McEnroe, Agassi, Chang and Courier. http://www.rogerscup.com/women/english/rogersLegendsCup.php

It's the new format: men and women the same week in the two cities. Federer said he prefers the old format. I will see but I prefer the old format too. As a casual fan I can concentrate on one tournament one week and the other the next, see who is going to play on tv and watch if I'm interested.

Now they will arrange schedules, like start the evening play earlier in one city. They will put giant tv on location to make it more one tournament I guess, make people follow what is happening at the other place.

Tennis Canada think it will make the tournament more important or get more tv rights.

Amazing match between Serena and Zheng that was reminiscent of their 2009 encounter in Miami. I have never seen anyone return Serena's serves as quickly as Zheng does. For whatever reason Zheng makes Serena work. I thought Serena was done in that third set but it was great to see her fight through and win that match. It was very entertaining and a standing O should go to both women. Had it been #1 ranked Serena I could honestly see her not giving a crap about these smaller tournaments but she knows she wants her ranking up. So many players have crashed and burned early at this tournament so I'm sure the tournament organizers are glad Serena is still in it.

It's been a wild tournament so far, despite--or maybe because of?--the strength of the field. Wozniacki now seems to be in Safina-like free-fall. Losing matches in big tournaments to Clijsters, Zvonareva and Li is one thing, but losing to Sofia Arvidsson and Roberta Vinci in consecutive tournaments?

Is Stosur getting it back together or is Li still in post-slam bliss mode? Radwanska seems to be playing well, and I think she has a good shot at the final, though Petkovic and Stosur will not make it easy. Would anybody have picked Voskoboeva over Bartoli and Sharapova?

It has been a great season for Vince this year. She should be in the top 20 next week

Not only Wozniacki is losing matches (and one of her previous strenghts was almost never losing to low ranked players) but the way she's doing it: for ex she was 5-1 up in the second set with Vince and then she lost 6 games in a row (with a couple of set points in the first 2 games of the losing series).

Radwanska is on fire. She's playing really well and she's physically fit (running a lot all over the court). She can reach the final if she's not starting to get tired after 2 full weeks.

Galina tried to chocke against Sharapova. Serving for the match, up 40-0, she doubled fault twice, lost her serve. However she fought through and broke again and finally held her serve to win the match.
Azarenka was too solid for her today

Serena wins her second straight tournament after demolishing Stosur.



If she's not THE favorite right now heading into the US Open then I don't know who is.

Now the big question is should she pull out of Cincy or tank an early round match or go for 3 straight in a row. I'm not used to Serena playing so many matches right before a slam. Would one week off be enough for her to recover if she went for the Toronto/Cincinnati double?

Oh believe me...I definitely want her to withdraw citing exhaustion or win a round and then tank.

Well, maybe it's my turn now to be gushy and premature, but I will do a 180 and say that Serena is THE favorite for the US Open. When she won Stanford, I still wasn't a believer because anybody can have a good tournament and it doesn't necessarily mean anything, even when that player is Serena Williams. But TWO wins in big hardcourt tournaments? Oh yeah, I'm in.

Much of the reason that Serena is now the clear favorite is that there really aren't any other favorites. If Kim plays the USO at all, she'll be the rustiest player in the field. I still give Na and Kvitova a decent chance at the Open, although neither nor has done much to impress since winning a Slam. Maria just isn't her old Slam-winning self. Venus seems to be sidelined with one health issue after another. I love Francesca, but clay seems to be her surface. Then there are a whole slew of players who have good games -- Azarenka, Bartoli, Petkovic, Stosur, Zvonareva -- yet can't seem to win the big match. Finally, there is Wozniacki, the most un-dominant Number One since, uh, Safina (and that's setting the bar awfully low). Also, with the Toronto win, Serena's ranking rises to ~30, which means she's seeded. Granted, it's a low seeding, but at least she won't face a top player in the first couple of rounds.

I'm with you, mdterp. As much as it would pain the Cincinnati tournament director, I hope Serena withdraws or even loses early in Cincy. Maybe one of the other WTAers will play an inspired match and defeat Serena at the USO. Tennis, like Joaquin Andujar's vision of baseball, can be summed up in one word: you never know. Despite their previous Slam success, I can't help but feel that Clijsters, Na, and Kvitova would go into a match against Serena with little if any pressure -- not quite "nothing to lose" but not far from it. Right now, however, the most likely cause of a Serena loss at the Open is injury or exhaustion. Winning Cincy wouldn't really boost Serena's confidence further because it's already sky-high. But a deep run might cause the body to break down, and I'll be crushed if Serena goes into Flushing Meadow anything less than fully rested and healthy.

Well, Serena has pulled out of Cincinnati citing an injured toe. She gets to keep her 12-match win streak and she can still make Kim Kardashian's wedding on Saturday. All I ask is that she please not dance barefoot. Better yet, no dancing at all for Serena. Clijsters hasn't been the same after injuring herself dancing at a wedding earlier this year.

Is Wozniacki trying to push Mrs. Stepanek out as the president of Club Vaidisova???!!??!??

Stevie Wonder saw that Serena wasn't playing Cincy to the fullest. She did just what I and many on other tennis forums thought she was going to do which was play one round and then either withdraw or tank the next round. She looked miserable and acted so bratty in her match yesterday. She was so lethargic and seemed to just not care. Whats crazy is that she was almost done up 5-1 in the second ad 0-30 on Hradecka's serve and then all the sudden it was 5-5 and then ended in a tiebreak. I'm actually glad she withdrew. I want her to be fresh for the US Open. You know she wasn't tryin to miss Kim Kardassian's wedding this weekend either.

Call me crazy, but what if Serena's big toe really is sore and swollen? Also, is this in the shredded foot or the other one? If the toe problem is in the shredded foot, that makes me worry. Hopefully it's no big deal, and the toe calms down after a few days of ice and anti-inflammatories. Considering that she was out for ELEVEN MONTHS after cutting her foot on some broken glass, I would take nothing for granted. Then again, if paparazzi pix come out with Serena tottering around in sky-high stilettos this weekend, I guess there's not much cause for concern.

It's the shredded foot. I was a little concerned too. If Serena reinjures her foot the U.S. Open would literally be the first slam where I couldn't actually think of a favorite based on current form. The only woman playing consistently well this summer is Serena.

Matt Cronin appears to have more of the inside scoop based on his tweets. He said that Serena's camp noted before the Hrdecka match that Serena needed to win one match to guarantee a seed for the U.S. Open. Mission accomplished. Then the camp told Matt that the toe injury was not serious and she would be ready for the Open. Presumably this toe injury didn't just come about during the first match in Cincinnati. I suspect had it been really serious she would not have even come to Cincinnati in the first place.

Oh and I hope she is not walking around in stilettos. I want to see her walking around in some durable work boots. Those feet need to have their own military escort. I would be so heart broken if she plays the Open at less than full strength.