Sampras just did not look at all good today. From what ESPN said it was quite hot and humid out there today and he just totally faded. Though take nothing from Gonzalez, who looked good today. Tonite I guess JMG plays Hewitt whom he beat here at this tournament last year. Lets Go Jan!!!!

Thanks hank and puckman... By the by, Gambill is up on Hewitt; he just won the first set 6-3. It's about damn time Jan-Michael show what he's made of! Is tennis on TV tonight? If so, what match are they screening?

Hewitt is serving for the second set...D'oh! I'll be rooting for J-M on the walk home. Sure do hope tennis is on tonight (I imagine they'll play the Capriati vs. Tulyganova match) and that they show highlights from Hewitt vs. Gambill...

C'mon Jan-Mike, thwack that bastard!!!!

Damn, the bastard won again, 7-5 in the third.

Maybe Safin will knock off Hewitt. Hewitt has to lose a match eventually. When was the last time someone won three tournaments in a row on the ATP tour?

Interesting articles on Sampras on Yahoo! Sports.

This first one talks about his focus and committment AND the focus and committment of Marat Safin:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news/ap/200203...aq-100open.html

This article is pretty much about Sampras (much briefer):
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news/20020325/...5/miamisto.html

Well, obviously Hewitt had to tough it out against Gambill, so he's not as invincible as he looked last week (unless he was toying with JMG for the benefit of ESPN viewers). Blake took him to 5 sets at the US Open last year. Don't count Jamie out of this one. Also, Gonzalez the qualifier DID make it to the fourth round of the Australian ... he should at least make Henman sweat.

Agassi v. Johansson should be almost as much fun to watch. And then there's Serena v. Hingis! Some awesome match-ups today (let's hope they live up to their potential).

Tomorrow - Clijsters v. Seles. You'd think that Seles would have the advantage, given how she's performed all year and Kim's injury. KC's especially been helped by all the seeds in her section getting upset (including the biggie, Cara Black over Hantuchova).

Hopefully Jennifer will have an easier time of it against Panova than she did against both Myskina and Tulyaganova. Mostly because, if someone's going to get the 100 points from beating Jen, I want it to be Seles!

At least JMG took a set from Hewitt. He seems to elevate his game just a bit every time he plays him.

Fun for me yesterday was sitting at my computer watching the back & forth of the Kremer/Dementieva match. Elena won 16-14 in the third set tiebreak ... I have a feeling if it had been a slam, it would have ended sixteen GAMES to fourteen. Too bad for Kremer, who's generally having an excellent year (beating Dokic THREE times!) but hasn't made it over the hump.

As we speak, Federer is up a set on Henman.

And here's a really interesting interview for you JMGambill fans:


\"A shitty way to end the match\"

Well Agassi just beat Johansson in straight sets 7-5, and 6-2, and he looked really sharp in doing so. I think its going to be a replay of San Jose, Agassi Vs. Hewitt. Go Andre!

What a wierd interview with Gambill...I'm sure he was frustrated by losing such a close match with Hewitt. Still, I think he would have collected his thoughts a bit more. On the flipside, it is somewhat refreshing to hear someone speak what's on thier mind.

Dementieva stole the first set off Venus, 7-5. Venus is up in the second set 4-1... Highlights on tonight's telecast?

Yahoo! sports reports that Henman lost the first set to Federer and then retired with a stiff neck; Gaudio had to withdraw from his match with Chela due to extreme cramping.

[quote]Originally posted by puckman1:
Well Agassi just beat Johansson in straight sets 7-5, and 6-2, and he looked really sharp in doing so. I think its going to be a replay of San Jose, Agassi Vs. Hewitt. Go Andre!

---

I hope either James Blake or Marat Safin takes out the bastard. I hate him!!!!!!!!

GO ANDRE!!!!

I'm with Jan-Michael....what a stupid question!!
The media just loves to hype everthing. We all know how horrific 9-11 was...why is it necessary to ask these silly questions...

Q. Off the subject just slightly, do you recall how you heard about the September 11th events? Where were you? How did you find out?

JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL: Why does people want to keep dredging that up? I mean...

Yeah me too agree that someone needs to take Hewitt out. I get sick and tired of his "come on" and all the shouting, it's so annoying, and it disses the opponents.

WOW! Serena bageled Hingis in the second set! Ouch!

Given how poorly Venus played yesterday against Dementieva, I'd have to go with Serena for this one.

[ March 27, 2002: Message edited by: hanknyc ]

[ March 27, 2002: Message edited by: hanknyc ]

well Panova is dust. J-Cap just defeated her in straight sets. Capriati looked extremely sharp today, and as stated reatins her number one world ranking. I really like the fact that her family is so supportive of her. Is there any tournament they miss with her in it? Doubtful.

Hingis falls to 3B again. Why am I not surprised?

Didn't get to see the match, but oh wow. I didn't expect Hingis to be throttled like that. Serena's won the last three meetings and only one of them has gone to 3 sets. She now holds a 7-6 edge. Well, looks like it's back to the gym for Martina. I didn't see the match, but she really didn't look happy in the pictures. Serena really can win this if she gets by Big Sis.

Serena is going to gain points, Hingis is going to lose points.

I know this is not a wide-spread sentiment, but I'm looking forward to the Venus/Serena match. I want to see them play well against each other. No other players have their speed, power, serve, and court coverage. If they can both be on, what a match.

10 am tomorrow, Pacific time...Venus and Serena square off for the first time since the U.S. Open prime time final...hopefully this will be a slugfest...Serena looked very strong against Hingis though Martina looked a bit out of sorts...

JenCap looked very strong...Cljisters and Seles is a tossup, just depends on who guts it out...would love to see a JenCap/Seles semifinal...

Seles beats Cljisters 4-6, 6-3, 6-3...

Seles, JenCap, Venus and Serena are all that's left

Anything can happen now....

Monica played really high level tennis the last two sets tonight. It really looked like she was clicking along. I am not sure she will recover quickly enough for Jen tomorrow, but maybe.

I just hope Serena/Venus has some decent tennis. I always have high hopes for their matchups, only to be disappointed at the difficulty they both have.

Venus, Serena, Monica, Jennifer - I think I can say with certainty that right there you have 4 of the 5 best players in tennis.

And if Monica didn't have that mental block against Hingis (and it is a mental block, she's a completely different player in their matches) I'd have no problems saying that they are the 4 best.

Uh...I'd have to say four of six. I'd rank both Davenport & Hingis ahead of Seles.

I don't count Davenport because she's not playing at the moment.

Serena really ought to win, the way she's playing. I actually think that, aside from the U.S. open final, she's really played better than Venus since last summer. But whether she is psychologically ready to beat Venus, I don't know.

It seems like there'll be no coverage of the Monica - Jennifer match tomorrow. That totally stinks; I'd love to see that match. Based on Monica's play today, her consistency all season, and her high level of play against everyone but Hingis, I think she has a good chance. She looked good tonight, especially in the third set, but it looks like we won't be seeing her tomorrow.

That truly sucks, Munson Man.

JC, Serena usually plays more consistantly than Venus. Venus is the best player in the game, but unlike Graf (or Serena), she just doesn't throttle lesser players. She never has. Wimbledon 2000 was the perfect example. Serena was playing near perfectly until she met Venus.

In the 2001 US Open Venus was playing far more dominantly though. Serena was taken to 3 sets twice - during her opening match and then again against Davenport (best match of the tournament, btw). No player won more than 4 games in any set against Venus throughout the entire tournament.

Since that time it's been hard to compare since between the two of them they played 1 tournament post US Open last year and then this year Serena was out for so long. What she's done since returning is incredible, but I'm not sure I'm ready to say she's paying better than Venus. Venus just has this extra something (Jon Wertheim calls it an x-factor that lets the best players gut out tough wins.) Serena, I think, has been developing it, but I'm not sure she's totally there yet.

Call me a masochist, but I love seeing them play. The few points that are good are so incredible. Most men can't even do that. I'm hoping that this year is Serena's breakthrough. I do think that she and Venus are the top 2 players in the world.

That sucks, huge! Bummer! The Williams semi doesn't interest me a bit. Obviously, they don't play their best when they have to face each other...

[ March 27, 2002: Message edited by: tzeile29 ]

Wow, Serena played total lights-out, in-the-zone tennis against Hingis. For about the zillionth time in the last 3-4 years, Martina Hingis got overpowered (same song, different verse). You'd think from watching that match that Serena would be favored over Venus, but her mental game is iffy at best when playing her sister, whereas Venus's confidence is probably second only to Lleyton Hewitt's right now.

CRAP!!! I can't believe they're not showing the Seles-Capriati semi!!! Monica showed some great stuff in that dogfight against Clijsters. I don't know how much of a chance Monica has against Jennifer, though, since Jennifer is playing so well. It was nice to see Jennifer crack a bunch of big serves and get some cheap points. It seems like she's just been pushing the serve in a lot lately. By the way, did anybody notice that little (5'0") Panova was getting more pop on her serves than Hingis usually does? Anyway, I'm predicting a Jennifer-Venus final, with Venus as the tournament champ. And to really go out on a limb, I'm betting that Venus won't have to overcome 8 match points this time around.

On the CNN site Jon Wertheim posted an article about the size difference in women's tennis and how the BBB is muscling everyone else off the court.

I'm not sure I completely agree with him, but he does make some interesting points.

1) Seles & Capriati don't play til the night session, and they don't hit the courts til AFTER Hewitt and Safin.

2) The afternoon sessions feature Venus and Serena and Pavel and Federer. I would be absolutely SHOCKED if they don't flip back and forth between the matches. Women's tennis draws higher ratings!

3) I do think Seles has a very good shot against Capriati. After losing to Jennifer at the 2001 Australian Open, Monica beat JenCap in Oklahoma City and in San Diego.

4) I'd go one step further and say that Monica has a solid chance to win this event if she plays Serena (not Venus) in the final. She can hurt Serena, as evidenced by her three-set win over Serena in LA last summer. True, she trails their head-to-head 1-4, but if coach Mike Sell warms Monica up just right, she can pull out the upset.

Hey B Man....using "Mike Sell" and "warm-up" in the same sentence is just WRONG!

GO MONICA!!

I am hoping for a great match between the Sisters Williams. They both want it. Serena needs the points as you know she hates being ranked behind lesser players such as Henin, Dokic and Clijsters. (yes - Clijsters is a lesser player)

Venus needs to win to keep from losing points - even though thanks to Lis Sis she has no chance of re-claiming the #1 spot with this tourney.

According to Espn.com, they ARE televising the Serena vs. Venus match. Serena is serving for the first set as I write (according to the live stats on Nasdaq's site). I'm going to go home to catch the rest of the match!

Serena looks like a woman on a mission and has taken the first set 6-2 against Venus. Go Serena. I think I want her to win today, for a change!

Serena is beating Venus down like she stole something. Or at the very least, beating her like her last name is Hingis.

wow. Straight set victory over Venus. Serena is on a mission. Job well done!!

Yeh, that was an amazing performance from Serena. Did you notice Serena trying to pysche herself up on the sly, with the mini- fist-pumps and thigh slaps? She was definitely on a mission, as others here have noted, and she was also trying not to be in Venus's face with it, too...

I was pissed, though, at the crowd and at Pam Shriver. I don't know what they saw, but what I saw was Serena totally demolishing her opponent. So why the f@*! were they booing Venus?! Don't these folks know that Venus danced three sets with Dementieva but Serena pummelled Hingis 2 and 0?!?!?!?!

I felt Shriver was trying to fan the flames of controversy, too. Thankfully, Mary Jo Fernandez spoke up several times, saying that Serena was really taking it to Venus. Mary Jo also said that no one would have wanted to play Serena today, and having seen the match, I'd definitely agree.

Serena was crushing the ball. She was pitching some amazingly hard serves (one for 117 mph) and threw in some brilliantly placed serves, as well. I take back what I said about Monica's chances this a.m.--I can't imagine Serena Williams NOT winning this event.

In other news, the little sportsticker at teh bottom of the screen said that Capriati vs. Seles semi WILL be televised tonight at 11 pm.

[ March 28, 2002: Message edited by: The B Man ]

Serena played like never before against her sister. She was really on her game, and just way overpowering through most of the match. I felt bad when the crowd started booing, because the level of play was not nearly as bad as in the past. This was a day where Serena was just way too good.

BTW -- the Capriati and Seles match is being televised, but at 2am EST on ESPN2. Kind of sucks, but everyone can set their recorders. Hope it is an entertaining match.

I have to say that I would love to have dinner with Mike Sell. I love watching Monica play just to get shots of that hunky coach in the stands. He really is very nice to spot in the crowd.

Where did the heck did this "Serena" player come from? And why isn't she #1.

<he says somewhat facestiously>

Seriously, if Serena can keep playing like this, she's very well the best player in tennis, even better than Venus.

Suddenly the French Open has gotten very interesting.

How disappointing. It's easy to see why people are skeptical about these two when they play. That's the worst play I've seen from Venus in a very long time. Whether she was tired from last night or nursing another injury, her play was a big factor in this match. Serena is certainly grooving in her "go for everything" style, but Venus didn't really show up today. She gave in pretty easily...Venus is still the top player in the world when she's on..

Great to see the last two sets of the Cljisters/Seles quarter from last night. I love that Monica beat a higher seed and a top player ten years younger than her. And that this is seven semifinals in a row for Seles....Monica and JenCap should have a great match though it's unfortunate that it's on ESPN 2 - perhaps tomorrow we'll get to see some coverage during the morning TV session....

Serena does look unbeatable but ya never know....

I agree that Serena was playing well, at times. But Venus was clearly playing well below her level. She has looked rusty and off her game the whole tournament, but when was the last time you saw Venus not even run for the ball? Several times she made no attempt to even move towards a ball that was no more than ten feet away. She also didn't appear to make any great effort to raise her game. I know they are sisters, but on the court they should be professionals first. Is their relationship so unstable it can't survive some healthy competition? I'm unimpressed by the their mindset when facing each other.

I personally don't believe their matches are "fixed" (at least for the last year or so), but Venus' low level of effort today isn't going to convert any in the "fixed" camp. I also thought Shriver was quite justified in mentioning "It'll be interesting to see how the newspapers tomorrow treat this match." How is that fanning the flames? The flames exist, she's a reporter, she mentioned them--that's her job.

Venus was clearly frustrated with how she was playing, and part of her frustration had to do with the fact that Serena was pushing the ball reall, REALLY hard...

Venus DID run for balls, but Serena was doing a fantastic job of putting them out of her reach. I agree, Venus has looked "off" in previous matches, and she certainly wasn't able to pull her shit together and make it a more competitive match.

What I take issue with, though, is the fact that Pam Shriver suggested several times that the fix was in. I think that's a bullshit thing to do, and I suspect Mary Jo Fernandez agrees, b/c most times Pam said "I wonder what people will say" Mary Jo said, "Serena's playing really well...".

The post match interviews...

Serena's interview:
http://www.nasdaq-100open.com/news/intrvws...2002/0328a.html

Venus's interview:
http://www.nasdaq-100open.com/news/intrvws...2002/0328b.html

Yes the match was somewhat disappointing but you guys are right on! Venus played at the same level she played during her QF match with Dementieva - poorly! Fortunately for Venus, Dementieva was nowhere near the caliber of Serena. (Did Hingis tank her game yesterday? Hingis only won six points in the second set. Venus managed to win a few games)

Serena looked amazing from the first point. I, too, am tired of "the fix" talk. If anything, Serena should have tanked so that Venus would close in on the Number #1 ranking again.

The one thing Venus should take away from this match is that while she is arguably the best player in women's tennis - she can improve on her game. Serena totally punished all of Venus' second serves.

I didn't watch the match, so I'm not in much of a position to talk. Please take all of this with a grain of salt. And while I was surprised that Venus had only SIX! winners all match, including an ace, the fact is that when one Williams sister is on, her opponent rarely gets double-digit winners, no matter who it is.

However, I'm a natural cynic.

I felt it was Serena's turn to win.

First, Venus had a 5-1 advantage over Serena. It was getting out of hand. Serena needs the points a lot more than Venus (she's now beat the #3 and #2 players - and if Capriati beats Seles will be in a position to beat #1 as well). The only way they'll reach their goal of #1 and #2 in the world at the same time (which will happen, and will be remarkable) is for Serena to start doing damage now. I felt this when the draw was announced, and lo & behold it came true. It makes me suspect even that Venus's earlier subpar performances against Dyrberg and Dementieva existed to set up this semi.

They are capable of breathtaking points and games against each other. I would have to guess that their practices against each other are among the best tennis that's ever been played by people with ovaries. They are wonderful players and getting better. They are probably close to the point at which they could start their own tour to challenge the WTA (I don't believe it would work, but it would be interesting).

And honestly, it doesn't matter to me all that much whether they decide their matches in advance or not. It won't stop me from watching the one or two per year that they put on (as long as I'm not at work). We'll never know for sure, so the point is moot. If I'm wrong I truly apologize to them. I just don't think I'm wrong.

Preface: I haven't watched my tape of the match yet either - so another grain of salt here.

regarding the "fix" issue: Venus and Serena have played each other a few times now, certainly enough for the initial sibling/opponent shock to have worn off by now. If anyone remembers the match between John and Patrick McEnroe in the one final (Chicago?) they played, it was a bit lackluster too. In the end, even if tennis is the Williams' chosen profession, and megabucks prize money is at stake (mind you, both sisters could retire now and live very comfortably), I imagine they've come to terms with their unique situation the way most of us would deal with it: that tennis is just a game, and they'll always be sisters, no matter what. A victory in which any kind of fix were involved would be quite hollow. I don't think any true champion, as both sisters have proven themselves to be, would feel right about it. Perhaps the Williams sisters' matches have yet to live up to expectations (although those expectations are set awfully high), but I just cannot imagine they huddle together and scheme about who should win what match.

After reading that last paragraph over, I'm reminded of a saying I learned in Spain: "What is a cynic? A cynic is an optimist who has seen the truth." OK, I'm officially changing my screen name to "Pollyanna Rudy"

Seriously now, don't you think that if the fix were in, the Williams would at least make the score closer and Serena would have allowed Venus a few more winners to give the outcome more credibility? Does anybody remember Borg's post-retirement exo tour against Johnny Mac? There was a blip in the local paper that the score at their previous tour stop was a very "close" 7-6, 7-5 -- with Borg racing to make a few near-impossible passing shots and McEnroe defying the laws of physics with his touch volleys. And whaddya know, co-ink-a-dink, the night I saw them the score turned out to be another 7-6, 7-5 -- with Borg racing to make a few near-impossible passing shots and McEnroe defying the laws of physics with his touch volleys. That, folks, is what a fixed match looks like. While I haven't watched my tape yet, I'm pretty sure that what's on it doesn't much resemble.

[ March 28, 2002: Message edited by: BoSoxRudy ]