Wimbledon Wrap-Up: From Start to Finish

I'm back! And what a couple of weeks of tennis I missed, right? While the two champions at Wimbledon were just crowned over the weekend, plenty of others also showed us what they're made over over the past fortnight. We saw new stars emerge, a couple reaffirm their place in the elite, and -- not surprisingly -- a few stumble along the way. And while I can't hope to cover everything in this post, hopefully I'll be able to hit the highlights.

But since I've been gone a while, there's a lot to cover. So let's get right into it.

Early Upsets

Over the last couple years Wimbledon has become even more of a graveyard than Roland Garros, with even the super favorites being dealt amazing defeats way earlier than expected. And 2015 was no exception.

Now technically John Isner didn't suffer an upset at the All England Club -- ranked #17 in the world heading to London, his third round showing was just as well as he was expected to do -- still the top American may have squandered a big opportunity. After making a solid run to the quarterfinals at Queen's Club, he had a promising start to the event, winning his first two matches in straight sets -- breaks and everything. And though the first seed he faced was defending U.S. Open champ Marin Cilic, a man he'd lost to in all four of their previous meetings, he really had a chance to take advantage of the Croat's recent struggles. Clearly a fan of long matches, Isner fought back after losing the first and third sets and, in an eighty-three minute, twenty-two game decider, still managed to fire off fifteen aces and keep a seventy-plus first serve percentage. He did ultimately lose, of course, cutting short his hopes of reaching the second week of a Slam yet again, but perhaps he will be able to recover as he heads to home territory.

Feliciano Lopez's performance at Wimbledon may have been a bit more surprising. The traditionally strong grass court player was twice a quarterfinalist here and last year, on the heels of a final at the Aegon Championships and a title in Eastbourne, he managed to make his way to the fourth round and climb to a career-high ranking at thirty-two years of age. This year, though, he couldn't quite keep momentum going -- he only won two matches at lead-up lawn events and, despite pulling off a win over one-time giant-killer Steve Darcis in his opener, ran into a bit of trouble against unknown qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round. The eastern European Georgian, ranked #153 at the time and playing his first ever Major main draw, took the first set off the veteran Spaniard and kept his cool after being pushed to a fifth. Lopez, despite thirty-two aces, a blistering first serve percentage and, actually, more total points won, couldn't close out the match and put his chances of holing onto a spot in the sport's elite a little more at risk.

It might be a little too early to write off Rafael Nadal in the same way, but there can be no doubt the long-time world #1 has had some trouble playing at his best this season. Two times a champion at the All England Club, the Spaniard's showing here recently has been marked more by early exits than by big triumphs. And after losing his grip on the tournament he's owned for the past decade, you had to think -- even with a nice little title in Stuttgart to kick off the grass season -- it would be hard for him to make a big dent here. And the draw did not shake out in his favor -- while David Ferrer pulled out of the event with an elbow injury and third seed Andy Murray wouldn't loom until the quarterfinals, his biggest threat actually came much earlier than that. German qualifier Dustin Brown, who'd trounced Nadal last year in Halle, had little more trouble this time around, dropping a set, but still breaking four times for his second straight win. Heading into the summer hardcourt season, Rafa is just barely holding on to a top ten ranking, but if he doesn't get his game together soon, he may see an even bigger drop from here.

Maybe not too surprisingly the women's draw saw a few more higher-profile losses in the early days of the tournament. Simona Halep was one of my picks to take the whole event, and with five wins over top ten players in the last year it wasn't really a big ask for her do it. But the world #3 hasn't quite had the same momentum she did last summer -- after falling well short of last year's French Open performance, the 2015 Wimbledon semifinalist was stunned again in Birmingham by underrated Kristina Mladenovic. And she didn't seem to regroup in time for her next Slam campaign -- after taking a tight first set of Slovakia's Jana Cepelova, ranked in triple digits but certainly a capable, Halep couldn't quite hold on. In a match that consisted of fifteen service breaks, she made seven double faults, won just thirty percent of her second serves and committed thirty-four unforced errors. It was the young Romanian's first opening round loss at a Major in over two years, and while she certainly has plenty of time to recover over the coming weeks, pressure will certainly be on for her to repeat some of the stellar results we know she's capable of.

Genie Bouchard must be feeling even more pressure. The Canadian breakout star was riding high at this time last year, coming off her first Grand Slam final and a meteoric rise to #6 in the world. But she's struggled even more than Halep to keep her momentum going. A semifinalist at the first three Majors of 2014, she's gotten no more than one win at all but two of the events she's played this season. She came to Wimbledon on precarious ground, no doubt, but nevertheless few would have expected the showing we got. Against qualifier Ying-ying Duan, who'd never won a main draw match on a big stage before, Bouchard struggled on serve, barely getting half of her first attempts in and double faulting ten times. It was the ninth time this year she couldn't pull off a single win during a week, and at the tournament where she's seen her biggest successes, it might be a little more than problematic. Now out of the top twenty, she'll need to pull herself together quick if she's going to prove last season's results were no fluke.

Petra Kvitova's situation isn't quite so dire, but that doesn't make the exit of last year's ladies' champ any less surprising. The #2 seed is the only player all year to beat Serena Williams and, despite skipping the warm-up grass court season, had high hopes to win her third Wimbledon crown. And she looked good early too, losing just three games in her first two matches against tough players like Kurumi Nara and Kiki Bertens. Against a largely under-the-radar Jelena Jankovic in the third round, then, she should have had little problem -- the long-ago world #1 had gone three sets in both her matches so far at the All England Club, and without a single win over a top-ten player in over a year, should have posed little threat. But the Czech was caught a little off guard -- after rolling through the first set in under a half-hour, she started to falter. Jankovic cleaned up her game, making just two errors in the second and scoring the only break in the decisive third for her biggest win in quite some time. Kvitova's loss marked the third of last year's semifinalists to fall in the first week -- the only other one, French Open runner-up Lucie Safarfova, would go just one round later -- and while she's sure to come out swinging again on the hardcourts, you can't help but notice how much things have changed in the last year.

Week-Two Standouts

Of course it wasn't all bad news for the seeds at Wimbledon this year, and even those who didn't ultimately walk away with the trophies stirred things up pretty good after middle Sunday.

Kevin Anderson has long been part of the sport's upper tiers, but he's always seemed to struggle on the big stages. In the top forty for four years and possessing one of the biggest serves on Tour, it's been a couple years since his last title and has never made it out of a Major fourth round in twenty-five previous tries. But he's gotten some big wins in his career -- he's won his last four meetings against surprise Roland Garros champ Stan Wawrinka -- and certainly has the talent to get a few more. The South African had a relatively easy draw early at the All England Club, facing off against twenty-fourth seed Leonardo Mayer in the third round. But a match later was when he really was able to shine -- against world #1 Novak Djokovic to start the second week, he grabbed the first two sets in tiebreaks, but it wasn't until the heavy favorite pushed him to a decider that he finally scored his first and only break of the match. Like Isner, Anderson would not be able to pull off the upset, but getting as close as he's ever been to making a Slam quarter -- and facing off against the best player in the sport to do it -- he might just have set himself up for a few more surprises down the road.

Coco Vandeweghe took a little longer to realize her potential than I thought it would, but the twenty-three year old American may finally be ready for her breakthrough. Just a shade out of seeding territory at the French Open, she lost a bit of ground heading into Wimbledon after failing to defend title points from Den Bosch, but seemed unfazed when she hit the grass in 2015 -- she opened with a straight-set win over always tough Anna Schmiedlova and then stunned eleventh seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round. The upsets didn't stop there -- Coco lost just two games former Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur and then stopped last year's Cinderella Lucie Safarova a couple rounds short of her dream run from last year. In her first ever Major quarterfinal, Vandeweghe even took a set off Maria Sharapova before finally falling in the nearly three-hour match. The streak was enough to bring her back to her career high ranking of #32, but if she takes the momentum with her into the late summer season, there's no reason to believe she can't finish the year much higher still.

France's Richard Gasquet, on the other hand, was only trying to claw his way back into the sport's elite. The former world #7 has quietly been putting together a pretty successful season, picking up titles in Montpellier and Estoril and climbing back into the top twenty at the start of this tournament. Still it had been quite a while since his last deep run at the All England Club -- though he did make the semis at the U.S. Open a few years back, his last trip to the Final Four in London came way back in 2007. But he didn't let that get in the way of his performance this year -- after easily dismissing one-time wunderkind Grigor Dimitrov in the third round, he took out 2014 standout Nick Kyrgios and then pushed Roland Garros winner Stan Wawrinka to twenty games in their final set before eking out the win. After that battle he might not have had a lot of gas left against Novak Djokovic in the semis -- he lost in straight sets in a barely two hour match -- but with those couple upsets Gasquet certainly showed us he's still more than relevant at the Slams and might just be able to refuel in time for the next one.

But perhaps the player who gained the most these past two weeks was one who was nearly counted out entirely. Former Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska rose to a career-high #2 in the world after her performance here three years ago, but seemed to be struggling mightily in 2015. With early exits at Indian Wells and Roland Garros and a surprising defeat at the hands of young Belinda Bencic in the Eastbourne final just ahead of this tournament, she'd dropped out of the top ten for the first time in years. She did recover ground though -- with defending champion Petra Kvitova taken out of her section of the draw she didn't face a higher ranked player during her run. With a semifinal encounter against twentieth-seed Garbiñe Muguruza, she should have been the favorite to set a rematch of the 2012 final, but while she did notch her third straight loss to the talented Spaniard in three sets, she should take comfort in the fight she did display. Now back at #7, Aga will need to be careful not to lose her momentum -- but hopefully she was able to scrounge up a bit of confidence to pull her through the rest of the year.

The Finals

And while all of these athletes put on some impressive shows for us over the last fortnight, ultimately it all comes down to the two champions crowned this weekend. And while maybe we shouldn't be surprised by the results, what each of these titleists accomplished may be even more important than the new hardware they gained.

The top two men in the world both know what it's like to win at the All England Club, and in their fortieth career meeting both showed they were more than hungry to return to the Winner's Circle. Defending champ Novak Djokovic and seven-time titleist Roger Federer had both been challenged during the fortnight -- Nole coming back from a two-set deficit in his two-day fourth round against Kevin Anderson and Fed having a minor hiccup against a monstrous Sam Groth in his third -- but by the time they both made it to the final, you knew we were in for another great battle. The pair had traded wins over most of the last two years, but with wins in the Indian Wells and Rome Masters championships, the Serb had pulled within one victory of tying their all-time head-to-head record. And after a heartbreaking loss in the French Open final last month, he might have had a little extra motivation driving him on Sunday -- after getting down the first break in the opening set, Djokovic quickly regrouped and stormed through the tiebreak. He narrowly lost the second but seemed little perturbed, either by his opponent or by a crowd rooting loudly against him, and rebounded to take the next two sets in just about an hour. The win gave Novak his third Wimbledon trophy and his ninth Grand Slam, breaking the six-way tie he'd been in for eighth on the all-time list. He may still lag a couple of his contemporaries, but showing no signs of slowing down, the unquestioned #1 may have a lot more left in him.

The same might be said for Serena Williams, who made her own history at Wimbledon on Saturday. Coming straight off a surprisingly tricky win at Roland Garros, the top seed had a chance to win the first three Majors of a season for the first time in her storied career. And she was tested more than a few times during her campaign -- young Brit Heather Watson managed to push her to a decider and long-time rival Victoria Azarenka yet again took the opener before finally falling in three. Serena's opponent in the final was considerably less comfortable on the big stages -- twenty-two year old Garbiñe Muguruza, who'd shocked the world #1 last year at Roland Garros, was one of the breakthrough stars of 2014, but had only won one match before in her short Wimbledon career. Still she'd been more than impressive in her first final run at a Slam -- she took out Timea Bacsinszky, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, all ranked higher than her, before upsetting Aga Radwanska in the semis. She even got the first break on Serena in the championship match and rallied from a 1-5 deficit in the second. But experience won out in the end -- after two sets it was Serena holding the crown -- her twenty-first career Major, just one short of Steffi Graf's Open Era record. The win also makes her the current holder of all four Slams, and gives her the chance to capture all of them in one calendar year for the first time since Graf did it in 1988. That might mean even more pressure than usual when she heads to New York, but something tells me she might be able to handle it.

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Of course there was a lot more action over the past two weeks which I just couldn't get to here. But rest assured that, whether the current top dogs continue their reigns or some new talent breaks out on the scene, there will be more than enough to talk about in the coming months.

And if the show we got at Wimbledon is any indication, it's going to be an exciting end of the season.

Where's the Follow Through?

Here in the U.S., with veteran champions like the Williams sisters and Andy Roddick crossing, or about to cross, the thirty-year mark, and transition players like John Isner and Sam Querrey having their biggest successes so far at the mid-tier tournaments, we've been aching to identify our next generation of big tennis stars. We get some glimpses of hope here and there, but have yet to find the next athlete who promises to deliver again and again.

At last week's U.S. events, a couple American youngsters got a chance to shine. College stars like Nicole Gibbs and Mallory Brudette got their first Tour wins in Stanford and young Coco Vandeweghe chopped her ranking nearly in half by making the final. In Newport, 2009 champion Rajeev Ram put together his most successful singles run in a while on his way to the semis, and soon-to-be Olympian Ryan Harrison put up a solid fight himself in the final four. But all these guys fell in their first rounds this week, understandable given their efforts, but disheartening for those hoping to see them back up their recent success.

That's not to say all hope is lost. The draw in Carlsbad features plenty of Americans, many wildcards, and more than a couple have so far survived early rounds. Christina McHale, long touted as the premier talent in the generation has lived up to her seeding and Melanie Oudin, finally backing up her 2009 U.S. Open run with a title in Birmingham last month, pulled off a solid win over fellow(-ish) up-and-comer Sloane Stephens in her first round. But perhaps the most potential lies with twenty-six year old Varvara Lepchenko. The surprise fourth-rounder in Paris has only lost a handful of games so far this week. With a quarterfinal meeting against often-spotty Nadia Petrova next, she has the real potential to pull off another upset, and that could bode well for her even beyond this tournament -- a first-time Olympian in a few weeks, there might not be a better time for her to prove how well she can fight for her country.

There's no Olympic gold on the line for some of the standouts in Atlanta, but that's no excuse for them to not put up a fight. While veterans like Roddick and top seeded John Isner, twice a runner-up here, are getting in some good practice for London, those a little further down the rankings may be the ones to watch this week. Wildcard Steve Johnson had only played one Tour-level match this year, but he hung tough against one-time U.S. Open Cinderella Donald Young in his first round. He'll meet another young star in Jack Sock next -- the 2010 U.S. Open Juniors champ defeated seventh-seeded Alex Bogomolov in his opener and could put on an entertaining show for a spot in the semis. For the man who survives, it could be a great opportunity to make a real splash on a Tour-level stage.

It's going to be difficult for any of these guys to make a real and immediate impact at a Slam -- with the top players in the sport right now proving they're not going anywhere soon, they might have to slog it out for several more months or years. But it's important that they bring the momentum they capture from wins this week into their next few events -- if they can prove themselves to be constant threats in the draws, it might not be long until they're no longer considered the underdog.

Putting Up a Fight

The calendar sure seems pretty full for the week after a Grand Slam -- six Tour level events were scheduled from Croatia to Rhode Island, Sweden to California, with some top-notch players contesting the titles. It makes some sense -- athletes, especially those who were ousted early at the All England Club, are eager to prep for the upcoming Olympics. But these tournaments might hold even more opportunity for the players who haven't quite reached Summer Game status yet, and so far they're more than holding their own against the big guns.

The top two seeds in Umag will represent their countries later this month in London, as will players like rising Argentine star Carlos Berlocq and unseeded Fabio Fognini. But the one to watch here might be American Wayne Odesnik. The twenty-six year old hadn't won a Tour-level match since pleading guilty to bringing steroids to Australia in 2010, but despite having earned the rancor of fans, players and pundits alike, he's turned that around this week. He pulled off an impressive win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin in his first round and yesterday earned a quarterfinal berth against world #15 Marin Cilic. He hasn't beaten a player ranked that high ever in his career, but if he wants to put the ugly stories of his past behind him, this would be a good way to do it.

Two Spanish heavy-hitters -- one fresh off a quarterfinal showing at Wimbledon -- lead the field in Bastad before they make their way back to the All England Club, but it's one of their countrymen making a statement on the red clay of Sweden. Ten-time titleist Tommy Robredo hasn't won a lot on Tour since a leg injury forced him to retire last year in Monte Carlo. But after winning two challenger events in June it looks like his comeback is well on track. A wildcard this week, he opened by ousting eighth seeded Adrian Ungur and fired off seven aces against Brazil's Joao Souza on Wednesday. He'll have his work cut out for him against David Ferrer next, but he has beaten him on this surface before. And since it's become clear that 30 is the new 20 these days, there's no reason to believe he's too big an underdog this time around.

There are Olympians all over the draw in Stuttgart Germany, and while some have advanced easily -- Janko Tipsarevic, Juan Monaco -- others have stumbled. Bernard Tomic, who dropped seventeen ranking spots after failing to defend Wimbledon points, lost again today to unseeded Thomaz Bellucci. Meanwhile Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the twelfth-ranked Spanish player at #87 in the world, seems to be in decent shape in Germany. He survived a tight second round against compatriot and doubles partner Pablo Andujar Wednesday, and with a quarterfinal set against wildcard Dustin Brown next, he might be in a good position to make an even deeper run

On the other side of the pond in Newport -- ironically the only grass court event between Wimbledon and the Summer Games -- a couple first-time Olympic athletes are testing the waters. John Isner and Ryan Harrison have both lived up to their rankings so far, though Milos Raonic's two-set loss earlier today didn't bode too well for our neighbors to the north. But 2009 champion Rajeev Ram, ranked out of the top hundred and well out of eligibility range, has been playing solid ball again. Having not dropped a set yet, he might be able to put up a fight this afternoon against Kei Nishikori who, despite a top-twenty ranking, has still not put together a winning record on grass.

The ladies are just as busy this week. In Palermo hometown favorites Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci are getting in a few extra hits on clay before going back to the lawns of London, and Julia Goerges, representing her country for the first time at the Games have all done well in early matches. But it might also be worth watching Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, kept off the Czech team thanks to a slate full of singles and doubles champs. She's struggled in her matches so far in Italy, eking out a win after nearly three hours against Silvia Soler-Espinosa and today coming back from a set down against world #140 Julia Cohen. She's only won one title by herself -- last year in Quebec -- but if she can rally from here, it might bode well for her the rest of the week.

The stakes are even higher on the hardcourts of Stanford where perennial powerhouses Serena Williams and 2009 champ Marion Bartoli headline a pretty stacked field. But in a bracket rife with American qualifiers and wildcards, it might finally be young Coco Vandeweghe's time to shine. The 2008 girls' champion at the U.S. Open hasn't lived up to expectations on the main Tour yet, but after defeating former #1 Jelena Jankovic that looks to be changing. She'll meet the winner of this afternoon's Marina Erakovic/Urzsula Radwanska match for a spot in the semis, and if she plays to potential she could finally see her star set on a steady rise.

There's no telling whether this week's early standouts will keep their luck up through the weekend and it'll be tough for any, much less all, of them to ultimately hoist the trophies at the end of the day. But it's a great opportunity to put up some big performances against the big names in the sport. And if they win as some already have, it could put the rest of their years on a wholly different track.

Young -- and Not-So-Young -- Americans

It's been a frequent topic of discussion the last couple years, that the state of U.S. tennis has deteriorated -- or at least found itself among some much stronger competition. Other than the Williams sisters, only one still-active player has won a Grand Slam this decade. And as the triumvirate are getting up there in age -- tennis-wise, only, of course -- the questions arise as to who will take over the mantle.

But Wimbledon, for whatever reason, has always been a place where Americans thrive. As we've been frequently reminded this year, Serena and Venus have combined to win nine of the last eleven women's titles, and the nineties were all but ruled by Pete Sampras on the men's side. Go back a bit further and you get legendary champions like Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova -- admittedly a Czech by birth, but now quite American in practice. Something about the lawn sport certainly does seem to suit these players' game -- and the early matches this year at the All England Club have certainly proven that.

The veterans did their part to remind us of their prowess here. Venus made a successful return to the grass, winning her opener in just an hour, and though Serena was pushed a bit, she rolled through the third set to take out Aravane Rezai in an emotional victory Tuesday morning. Three-time finalist Andy Roddick, meanwhile, seemed to be back in form after an injury-laden spring, firing off thirty aces in his victory over world #156 Andreas Beck. Even Mardy Fish, who's only just come into his own this past year, pulled off a relatively easy win.

But the more impressive wins came from players still largely off the radar.

Houston champion Ryan Sweeting broke into the top hundred earlier this year, but since 2006 he's only won two matches at the Majors. After giving up a break lead in his first two sets against Spain's Pablo Andujar on Monday, it looked like he was in for another early exit. But he finally managed to hold onto a lead in the third and forced a decider by winning a fourth set tiebreak. After nearly four hours of play, the twenty-four year old walked away with the win. As a reward, he's earned a rematch against world #1 Rafael Nadal, who beat him handily in Melbourne. Still, pulling off the win bodes well for his future.

Similarly impressive in her Wimbledon debut was nineteen-year-old Christina McHale. Her name's been bandied about for several years as the next big thing in American women's tennis, but her coming out party was overshadowed by another U.S. upstart. But this year she's caused some trouble for her much-favored opponents -- the New Jersey native beat Daniela Hantuchova and Alisa Kleybanova in Charleston and stunned Svetlana Kuznetsova at Indian Wells. After losing her first set to rising star Ekaterina Makarova yesterday, she evened the score in just twenty-five minutes before grinding out a 8-6 win in the decider. She actually has a couple manageable rounds ahead of her, and if she stays tough McHale might be ready to breakthrough here -- albeit two years after we expected it from her.

Ryan Harrison was also making his Wimbledon debut, though he first started to get everyone's attention at last year's U.S. Open when he downed Ivan Ljubicic and came THISCLOSE to beating Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round. He's been hanging out on the Challenger's Tour this year, but might be about to break into the big leagues. Against one of my sleeper favorites, Ivan Dodig, he held serve to a first-set tiebreak and steamrolled his opponent in the second. Nearing quitting time in London, the pair exchanged breaks in the third before Harrison consolidated his lead and took the match -- his first straight-set victory yet at a Slam. It gets harder from here, of course, with a second round date with David Ferrer -- but this nineteen-year-old is also playing with confidence that belies his age.

John Isner can't exactly claim to be a stranger to the spotlight -- his epic match last year against Nicolas Mahut set more records than I knew existed in tennis. But the three-day, eleven-hour slugfest seemed to wear him out for the rest of the year. He didn't seem to put up much of a fight in subsequent tournaments and, unable to defend points in the first half of this year, he dropped well out of seeding territory this year. When the draw revealed he was in for a rematch of last year's marathon, I worried nerves might get the best of him. But the big guy was calm and collected this year, relying on more than just his ability to ace to battle through. After just two hours -- less than twenty percent of his opener last year -- he came away an easy victor this time. There will of course be struggles ahead, but the maturity she showed today gives me hope he still has a shot at making my early prediction come true.

It's not all good news for the Americans, of course. Coco Vandeweghe, another lady carrying high hopes fell in straight sets to Eleni Daniilidou while Alison Riske wasn't able to convert after pushing last year's runner-up Vera Zvonareva to a third set. And my dear James Blake was able to come back from two sets down to Marcos Baghdatis, but surrendered a break lead in the fifth before succumbing.

Still the resilience of the Americans on foreign soil is certainly encouraging -- and as we look to the sport's future in this country, I'm finally excited to say it sure seems bright.

Memphis Belles

There's an interesting phenomenon that occurs at tournaments where the top seed is ranked outside the top fifty -- with even the most favored players so spotty in their day-to-day performances, virtually anyone can turn her run into a Cinderella story.

And that's exactly what's been happening this week at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, where neither of the two top seeds, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova or Sofia Arvidsson, made it out of the first round. That leaves one-time U.S. Open darling Melanie Oudin as the top-ranked player and while it certainly does give her a monster opportunity to shine, the bigger imact might be felt by those even more under-the-radar.

Qualifier Alexa Glatch has a handful of ITF titles to her name, but has only made a minor dent on Tour. She made the quarters in Quebec City last year, but maybe more impressively defeated both Iveta Benesova and a just-emerging Petra Kvitova in Fed Cup back in 2009. But this week she barreled through Beatrice Capra in her opener, and survived a close call against Michaella Krajicek. With no seeds left in her half of the draw, it might be smooth sailing for the twenty-one year old to finally break through.

Another player to watch is former Junior champ Coco Vandeweghe, one of the ladies I had my eye on back at her first U.S. Open in 2008. She's played well against in the big leagues before, beating Vera Zvonareva last year in San Diego, but now just a smidge off a double-digit ranking, this could be her best chance. Coco notched a solid win over Alexandra Stevenson on Wednesday, avenging a first round loss to the one-time Wimbledon semifinalist from just last week. With some streaky players in her path, she could make a good case for changing the meaning of "Team Coco".

Of course no one can rise to the top of the sport without consistently beating the best players out there. But with the path in Memphis relatively clear for these potential Cinderellas, it looks like they have a good chance to dance at the ball when all is done.

A New Era

A quick look at the record books in Fed Cup history shows a slew of American power. The U.S. leads all in number of titles (seventeen), most consecutive titles (seven, from 1976 to 1982), tie wins, rubber wins, and on and on. But if you look at what's happened the past couple years, things are a little different.

Italy has played in the championships for five straight years and won three of those titles, including successfully defending this past weekend in the finals held in San Diego. The ladies from Europe took on the United States for a second year in a row and, though they ceded one rubber this time, they came away victorious yet again.

Of course you could argue that the Americans didn't send their A-team to California -- both Serena and Venus Williams had to bow out and Melanie Oudin, once considered the country's greatest prospect for the future, has since fallen out of the top fifty and wasn't even the highest ranked singles player on this year's squad.

But you still can't ignore how much the Italians have improved. Francesca Schiavone made a huge mark for the country, of course, when she became the first woman from the peninsula to not only make a Grand Slam final, but to also win one back in Paris. And though Flavia Pennetta beat her countrywoman into the top ten of the sport last year, her bigger accomplishment might have been her ascent to become half of the top-ranked doubles team in the world -- she and Argentine Gisela Dulko have won seven titles this year, including the year-end championships in Doha. Flavia and Francesca each took wins in their first two singles rubbers this past weekend, and Pennetta sealed the victory when she defeated CoCo Vandeweghe in the fourth. With a 3-1 lead -- Oudin was able to defeat Schiavone on Sunday -- the doubles round was skipped, and the Italian ladies hoisted the Fed Cup trophy again.



It might be hard to count the four women who played this weekend -- Schiavone and Pennetta were joined by Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci -- as the most consistent threats on Tour, but with the highest ranks of women's tennis so diverse it's hard to pick any other country that could possibly have won this prize. And though we may not have officially entered a period of total Italian domination on the tennis courts, it sure looks like the tide is turning in that direction.

And as for any country that wants to beat them next year, well she'll really have to bring her best to the table.

An Embarrassment of Riches

It may not be a Grand Slam, but the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo sure has the ability to attract some real talent in the women's game. With seven of the top ten in the draw and the lowest seed ranked just at twenty, from the start there was the potential for some big-time clashes even in the early rounds.

And the ladies did not disappoint.

Bad Gastein champion Julia Goerges and former world #1 Dinara Safina, both unseeded, met in the first round, as did Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Maria Kirilenko, ranked twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth respectively. And it wasn't just a matter of an unjust draw forcing out some stars early -- just shy of her fortieth birthday, Kimiko Date Krumm ousted Maria Sharapova while teen qualifier Coco Vandeweghe dealt Aravane Rezai another early blow. So now with the quarterfinal matches set in Tokyo, the eight women left certainly deserve to be there.

Top seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who secured her spot in the year-end Doha Championships with her win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, has only dropped seven games on her way to the quarters. There she'll meet Aggie Radwanska, who beat a tough-as-nails Andrea Petkovic in the third round.

Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva rebounded nicely from her heart-breaking loss in New York with a solid win over Sara Errani and followed it up by bagelling Roberta Vinci in the second set to reach the final eight. Her next opponent Elena Dementieva, just back in the top ten, survived four breaks of serve in her first two matches, but was impressive getting past world #22 Flavia Pennetta.

The bigger surprises have been in the other quarters, though. While French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Victoria Azarenka, who exited in Flushing Meadows far too early, have both advanced with little drama, but they both have dates with some unexpected contenders.

Vandeweghe, a former junior champion in New York, battled through the qualifying rounds in Japan -- her first appearance in an overseas tournament's main draw -- and defeated Goerges in under an hour for the right to meet Vika tomorrow. And Kaia Kanepi, who made the quarters at both the All England Club and the U.S. Open, notched her second straight win over Jelena Jankovic -- that after already defeating thirteenth seed Shahar Peer and America's one-time darling Melanie Oudin. She hasn't beaten Schiavone since 2006, but I wouldn't be shocked if she got the upset.

With so much talent in the field at the Pan Pacific, it's no wonder that only the strongest survived. It's a shame anyone has to lose, especially after all the work they've put in to get this far, but such is life on the pro Tour.

But isn't it so much better to watch the best compete?

A Few of My Favorites

I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. feeling particularly inspired and so decided, on this last scheduled day of the 2008 U.S. Open, I would start a blog. Admittedly I wish I'd come up with the idea a few weeks (or months) ago, but hey -- better late than never, right?

Anyway, the women's final was postponed until today, thanks to some crazy rain yesterday, courtesy of Tropical Storm Hanna, and the second men's semi-final was stopped in the middle of the third set, with Britain's (or Scotland's) Andy Murray holding a surprising 2-set lead over Rafael Nadal.

But for now, I don't feel like predicting who the eventual singles champions will be. Since I've missed two weeks of what could have been interesting commentary, I'll instead reflect on some of the players that caught my eye.

After every major tennis tournament, I inevitably come away with a few new favorites, a couple guys and girls who did more than their part to entertain and battle on the court, and this year was no different.

On the men's side I have two picks, one who's been around a while and one who seemingly came out of nowhere.

I've always liked Mardy Fish, and quite literally found myself in the Fish Tank last month in New Haven when he played in the final at the Pilot Pen. He's cute, seems like a nice guy, and can smack the hell out of a serve. At this year's Open though, he committed a crime that could have doomed him in my eyes -- he beat James Blake. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Blake, and I thought their third round match-up would be a fun and lively exhibition. Two good friends would slug it out for a while, joke around a bit, but eventually the more experienced Blake would triumph. But a little past midnight, after three relatively short sets, it was Mardy that was walking away the victor.



I don't forgive people on the tennis court easily, and when you beat someone I love, you're persona non grata in my book (someday I'll share my thoughts on Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt and the like). As punishment, I sentenced Mardy to a fourth round loss to France's Gael Monfils, who turned twenty-two that day.

Mardy didn't obey.

But with a quarter-final meeting with world number one, Rafael Nadal, I figured he'd finally get his due. For the first time in recent memory, I was cheering against the American. The thing was that after having been at Flushing Meadows for ten hours already that day, I went straight home and at one-thirty in the morning found myself rooting for Fish again. He arguably played the best tennis of his life, and despite being the sore loser that I am, I wanted him to follow through with his first set win and pull out the upset.

He didn't, of course. Rafa's just amazing. But at nearly two-thirty, when the match finally ended, Mardy had made a legion of new fans.

Two-thirty. I think John McEnroe said that was the third latest finish for a match at the U.S. Open in history. Why so late? Partly due to my other new favorite player, Juan Martin Del Potro (and not Del Porto, or Del Portro, or De la Puerta, as the chair umpire seemed to think).



I'm embarrassed to say I'd never heard of Juan Martin until he beat Andy Roddick in L.A. a few weeks back. He's a kid too, gonna be 20 later this month, but he's got some serious game, came into the U.S. Open having won four straight tournaments, eighteen straight games, was seeded seventeenth at the Slam. He's got a long and unwieldy name, it's hard to cheer for him, as I found out during his nearly four-hour match with Andy Murray. But that didn't stop me from shamelessly screaming for "Juan!" or "Del Pot!" or whatever else I could come up with until my throat was dry. He's got a lot of tournament wins left in him though, I predict. I'm sure someone will think of some clever rally cry we'll be hearing soon.

On the women's side, sadly, I have to say I was less inspired. I'm a big Elena Dementieva fan, and I'm disappointed that she won't be playing in the finals. I also found myself rooting for Dinara Safina, despite my feelings for her brother, but her hope for the million-dollar U.S. Open Series prize money ended on Friday at the hands of Serena Williams. But they've both been around a while, won Olympic medals, earned their top-ten rankings.

There is one new girl I'll keep my eye on though, and I do mean girl. Coco Vandeweghe lost in the first round to Jelena Jankovic on opening night, but she's playing in juniors' final today. She's a sixteen-year-old, pretty California blonde, and she's got spunk. I saw her playing Kristie Ahn (who lost to Safina in the main draw) on Wednesday, and she definitely showed signs of promise. We'll see.



Before signing off on my first post, I want to congratulate the doubles champions that have been crowned so far. Bob and Mike Bryan won their sixth Grand Slam to regain their number one ranking, and Cara Black and Leander Paes teamed up to take the mixed title. Paes incidentally was also runner-up to the Bryan brothers in the men's doubles draw (which I love to see -- go India!) and Cara will pair with the US's Liezel Huber, who she defeated in the mixed championship, in the women's final. It is my firm belief that doubles matches don't get the attention they deserve -- some of the best points I've ever seen came from four players going nuts at the net. So, hats off to you guys!

And thanks to you for reading!

'Til next time, serve well and play hard!