The draw is out (without qualifiers). Verrrry interesting.

Serena could play Tulyaganova in the second round and then Anna Kournikova in the third. Kournikova would need to contend with Anne Kremer first. Amelie Mauresmo looms as a quarterfinal opponent.

Kim Clijsters and Chanda Rubin could meet in the third round. In their part of the draw, one sees an unfortunate first rounder between Patty Schnyder and Elena Likhovtseva. The winner gets a shot at Daniela Hantuchova, who needs to start asserting herself on hardcourts.

HINGIS! is likely to get Meghan Shaugnessy in the second round. Her part of the draw is stacked with tricky players: the winner of Iva Majoli vs. Natalie Dechy vs. the winner of Clarissa Fernandez and Anastasia Myskina. Bummer that Fernandez and Myskina meet in the first round.

Two Slovaks -- Husarova and Sucha -- meet for the right to face Jelena Dokic, who is likely to combat Smashnova in the third round.

Henin could get Pierce in the second round, then Daniilidou or Bedanova. Capriati might get a chacne to avenge this week's lost to Sugiyama in the third round; Ai must first get past Lisa Raymond, her first round opponent who absolutely thrashed her earlier this summer.

A preview of the Women's Canadian Open:
http://www.wtafans.com/wtastory/story_070.html

Why hasn't anyone mentioned the fact that Navratilova is playing doubles with JCap??? Isn't it odd that she'd pick Jenny, who is by no means a doubles specialist? It will get folks in the stands though.

Navratilova's finally got the Big Babe partner she's been wanting. Capriati's really not a good doubles player, but MN thinks it will give her the power she needs to win.

I read Navratilova's playing the Open with Tulyaganova. So much for my earlier post on the supposed Kournikova partnership.

The dubs draws are often posted at the last minute, so I'm pleasantly surprised to hear the Martina Navratilova and Jenny C. are teaming up to play dubs at this warmer. How much would you love to see Original Martina and JenCap vs. the Sisters of No Mercy at the US Open?

Martina Hingis d. Magui Serna, 6-4, 6-3
Welcome back!

http://www.sportsline.com/tennis/story/5605068

[ August 13, 2002: Message edited by: The B Man ]

This is a promising result for Hingis. Serna is certainly no slouch, even though clay is her more comfortable surface. A nice solid win. Now we will see how well she is really playing within the next couple of rounds.

Serena Williams is out with a swollen knee. Meileen Tu will be taking her place in the draw. Wow. I hate to see Serena injurred, but if Kournikova has another solid week, she could get deep into the draw again. Regardless, it's a great opportunity for her or Mauresmo.

[ August 13, 2002: Message edited by: curtj ]

That sucks for Serena. I'm sure she would have liked to take another tournament title in New York with her...but I guess the French and Wimbledon will have to do...

The way Anna's been playing, she's expected to get to the quarters and play Amelie. I think she can do well against Amelie on the hard courts but that's a hard one to call.

Hingis and others have to be thrilled that there's no Serena in the draw. I don't think Hingis will come back as confidently or as quickly as LD...though it all depends on her hunger to win...

Navratilova and Capriati won this afternoon in three sets. It must have been hot on the court. We use Celsius but I guess it was around 90F. I learned that according to the rules, players can take a 10 minute break before the third set when it's over 90F (or something like that!).

Another hot and humid day tomorrow. Those who will play in the afternoon sun are not lucky.

On the heels of a nice article on ESPNMAG.com (here: http://espn.go.com/magazine/friend_20020807.html) Kournikova went down to Virginia Ruano-Pascal in the second round.

Bummer result, but she's got a few more weeks left before the US Open.

Other very interesting results:
- Chanda Rubin lost to Barbara Schett (well, if Chanda was going to have a let down, better now than in a few weeks)
- Laura Granville d. Silvia Farina Elia
- Daniel Hantuchova d. Patty Schnyder (Hantuchova has been losing matches to this quality of opponent recently, so it's good to see a W)

Hantuchova looked excellent in her match with Barbara Schett; Daniela recorded a solid two set victory 6-3, 6-3

Hantuchova will face Mauresmo, whom she beat recently in Fed Cup.

Up next: Henin vs. Capriati. Martina Hingis squares off against Jelena Dokic later this evening.

ESPN airs the Daniella match and not Capriati/Henin! What a drag. Would love to see the Hingis match as well. A Hingis/Capriati semi would an excellent chance to see if they're ready for the US Open...Daniella has an excellent chance of getting to her first final since Indian Wells (i think?)...though Amelie is always unpredicatable.

No Seles in the draw at the Pilot Pen next week. Doesn't look good for her chances at the U.S. Open..that's a bummer...

You can follow Henin vs. Capriati live; the link to the live scoreboard for the match is here:
http://www.tenniscanada.com/2002cup/englis...ish/scoreboard/

Henin just won the first set, 6-4
Go Justine!

Did anyone see what is happening in doubles? The potentially formidable team of Clijsters and Dokic took out perrenial #1 seeds Raymond/Stubbs in the second round only to lose a three set squeaker to Dementieva and Husurova! Meanwhile, Rubin and Zvereva took out the #3 team in the world, Black/Likhovtseva in straight sets. They should beat Arendt/Huber and make the semis where they will hopefully meet Morariu (welcome back!) and Po-Messerli, if they can get past the #2 seeds. Henin and Pierce looked like a team to watch but they got beat by the scrappy Dechy and Tu! Who in turn got beat by another team having a great tourney, tour sweetie Sugiyama and Fjuwara. Are these two playing great or are their opponents caving? They play ASV and Hantuchova next so we'll find out. Since we all know Kournikova is a flawless doubles player, I either have to fault Schett for their early exit or credit the japanese duo. Yah, I blame Schett.

The top 3 teams in the world are at this tourney, two of them got knocked out in their first match, and I'm betting that the other will not be in the final.

Much to my chagrin, Rubin and Zvereva dropped their match against Arendt and Huber 3.6 seconds after my previous post. Doh.

Jenny finished strong and beat Henin 4-6, 6-0, 6-2

Jelena and Martina are playing now. Jelena just took the first set 6-4.

Dokic took out Hingis 6-4, 6-3 - Apparently the winds are pretty bad there...Martina needs a few more matches to get ready for NYC though Dokic has been playing her best career tennis as of late...

Capriati/Dokic should be a slugfest - I'll give JenCap the edge and I think Daniella wants it a bit more than Amelie does so I'll go with the nineteen year old....JenCap vs. Daniella in the final...but hey, the way women's tennis has been going, who knows?

Daniela and Amelie have played twice before, and both matches went three sets.

Amelie won their first match, which was on clay in Rome. The score: 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to Mauresmo.

Daniela won their second match during the Slovak Rep. vs. France Fed Cup tie, which was played this year on indoor carpet. The score: 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Hantuchova.

As good as Daniela looked against Babsy Schett today, I'm not sure about her ability to take out JennyC in the final. Of course, if Capriati has a cranky practice or is in a sour mood, Hantuchova might take the title. (According to Wertheim, those who watched Capriati practice before last week's Sugiyama match could just tell an upset was brewing. She was apparently distracted, displeased and just plain ol' foul.)

This is as clear a field as Jennifer Capriati has had all year -- this is a huge, no, a HUGE and open opportunity for her to win just her second title of 2002. Dokic, Mauresmo, and Hantuchova are all beatable, and I'm sure Jenny would like to avenge her recent losses to Jelena and Amelie.

The final is set:
Capriati vs. Mauresmo

Jennifer won when Jelena Dokic retired with an knee injury (a trainer was called to the court); Amelie beat Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2, 7-6.

Jennifer has won both of her hardcourt matches with Mauresmo, which were played at the 2001 US Open and the 2002 Australian Open.

Amelie won their last match, which was in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. This should make for some very GOOD tennis for TV.

WOW - I'm thrilled with the results on the final. I won't spoil it and tell who won. But given my past tennis posts - you can probably surmise the winner.

What an impressive win for Amelie. She did everything well and really mentally stayed with it. JenCap had problems again with all that topspin from Amelie. As we've all gotten used to seeing, Jen had big problems with her attitude: freaking over line calls and not letting it go. Great confidence building win for Amelie on the hard courts.

At the beginning of the week I would never have predicted Mauresmo was going to walk away with the title, but I couldn't be happier with the result. That's a great win for Amelie and I hope it is a huge confidence boost for her.

Seems like Amelie does this pretty regularly-win a Grand Slam tune up only to bomb out early in the actual Slam. A nice win for sure, but far from an Open omen.