Rafael Nadal tested in opening round US Open encounter

Rafael Nadal was given quite a workout by Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev on Tuesday night to the surprise of onlookers.

Golubev has barely won a match all year but he rose to the challenge of taking on Nadal in the night session and gave the defending champion a few scares before he came through 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.

Nadal would have noted Golubev’s 18 match losing streak on the tour this year and probably thought he was in for a quick night’s work as he swept through the opener.

Golubev was not fazed though and he was the one with all the chances in set two, ultimately blowing a 5-2 lead and five set points. He continued to go for broke in the third and he looked destined to extend Nadal to a fourth set as he grabbed two quick breaks. The Spaniard fought back again but his rivals will have noted the chinks of vulnerability.

"For sure I was nervous,” Nadal said. “That's normal. It's normal to start the tournament like this with some nerves. And what happened today, he didn't help because he played very fast all the time. All the shots, he was trying to hit a winner on almost every shot. So it was difficult for me to find the rhythm. But it's a positive start winning in straight sets, even if it was unbelievable that I won in straight sets. But it is a victory in straight sets.”

Novak Djokovic enjoys simple start to US Open 2011

Novak Djokovic enjoyed the easiest of starts to the 2011 US Open after Conor Niland retired with food poisoning.

It was disastrous for the Irish player who had come through three qualifying rounds last week to earn him moment in the spotlight, Arthur Ashe stadium against the world number one but he was barely able to compete without throwing up and called it a day trailing 6-0, 5-1.  

The opening few rounds are all about conserving as much energy, even more so at the US Open, the most physically demanding of the slams so Djokovic will have been delighted to get off court so quickly.

“I don't think I'm lacking any time on the court or matches” Djokovic told the press. “This year has been a very long year.  So I really don't mind that I spend less time on the court. I think I've played well for these 45, 50 minutes that we had on the court.  It's unfortunate for my opponent, obviously.  He had food poisoning he told me after the match. But I felt great on the court, and that's something that's really important for the start of the tournament.”

“Im not really tired, you know, because I switched to the mode of Grand Slam focus.  Not really caring about what happens, it's just I'm trying to be in the present, trying to prepare well, and be 100% mentally and physically fit for the matches that are about to come here.”

Djokovic will be back in action on Thursday against Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq.

US Open 2011 live preview

Rafael Nadal prepares to defend his title at the US Open which begins on the 29th August.


History will be made yet again at Flushing Meadows as more than 700,000 fans pour through the gates to watch the finest players in the sport battle it out for the year's final Grand Slam.

The man to beat is without doubt Novak Djokovic. After seven months of the season Djokovic had lost just a single match, a barely believable feat in today's era of high intensity, high octane tennis which drains more from the athletes than ever before. Djokovic is a two-time finalist at Flushing Meadows, losing to Federer as a raw 20 year old back in 2007 and again to Nadal last year. But after five wins over the Spaniard on some of the biggest stages in Europe and the States, there is little doubt than Djokovic has worked his great rival out, for the time being.

Can Nadal respond ? It could be the start of a fantastic rivalry but he has some thinking to do after several fairly one-sided losses. Hard courts are also his weakest surface.

However it's more than just the Novak and Rafa show in New York. Juan Martin Del Potro won his first Grand Slam title here two years ago and now fully fit, there are hopes that the Argentine can make the Big Four, a Big Five. He tested Nadal at Wimbledon and should they meet here, it will be a contest to savour.

After a final in Australia and semi-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, it has been Andy Murray's best year so far on the tour but that elusive major win remains as far away as ever. Murray knows he's competing in the toughest era ever and he will need to find something special to beat the top three at the business end of a slam. However the US Open represents his best chance.

And we must not forget five time champion Roger Federer who utterly dominated this tournament between 2004 and 2008. Currently stuck on 16 Grand Slam titles, there are growing doubts on Federer's ability to add to his tally. At his best the Swiss would never have come close to losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon from two sets up but you write off Federer at your peril. As he showed against Djokovic in Paris, he is still capable of turning on the magic on the big occasions.

Headlines - Sunday August 27, 2011

Fish likes position as highest-ranked American

Mardy Fish says that coming into the U.S. Open as the highest seeded American for the first time is significantly different for him. The No. 7 seed will open play on Monday against German Tobias Kamke.

"This is probably one of the biggest events that I'll ever play, just being in this position right now and coming in playing extremely well," Fish told reporters. "Winning the U.S. Open Series and just coming in on a high and playing great the last two events [at Montreal and Cincinnati]. It's one of those where a lot of times you kinda want to work your way into the tournament. I want to play Monday. I want to get out there and start, because it's exciting for me…[There is a] slight bit more pressure. Certainly different pressure than I've ever felt. But a great feeling. It's just one of those experiences that not everybody can go through. I can understand just a little of what Andy [Roddick] has gone through and respect the job that he's done with it and how well he's handled the expectations with his play."

Murray: May not be my best chance to win Slam
Andy Murray does not agree with John McEnroe’s assessment that the U.S. Open is his best chance to win a major. The world No. 4 has reached three Grand Slam finals and was unable to win a set in any of them. Murray just coming off a title run in Cincinnati.

"It's a silly thing to say, because it's not one tournament," Murray told reporters. "It will be Federer is not playing well and Rafa is struggling and Djokovic's shoulder is sore. But I know come Monday they'll all be fine. I have a chance of winning for sure. Whether it's my best chance or not, no one has a clue like that. And someone like John who has played thousands of matches probably knows that one bad day and you can put yourself out of the tournament. And especially towards the latter stages when you're playing against three of maybe the three greatest players ever. You're going to have to play an incredible event to win. So I feel like I'm ready to do that. But to say it's my best chance, no one knows."

Wozniacki beats rain, Cetkovska for New Haven title
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP)—No one has ever beaten Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven, and Hurricane Irene couldn’t do it either.
The world’s top-ranked player stayed ahead of the storm Saturday and won her fourth consecutive New Haven title, defeating Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 6-1 in the finals.
Wozniacki, the top seed at next week’s U.S. Open, improved to 17-0 at Yale.
“I just have a good momentum every time I play here,” she said. “The balls are good. The tournament is nice. You always play better when you like to be around a tournament. I’m really pleased to be in this situation—win four straight times in a row, it’s really unbelievable.”
Cetkovska, who is ranked 40th, had won seven consecutive matches since the start of qualifying. She beat fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, fourth-seeded Marion Bartoli and second-seeded Li Na. But she couldn’t stop Wozniacki, who also is the top seed at the U.S. Open.
“I’m really happy to be here, to go so long, so far in the tournament,” Cetkovska said. “Now when we are in the final, we want to always go further. So obviously I wanted to try to win, to do even better. But today it was just a little bit too much. Caroline, she’s just playing great.”
The match, moved to 1 p.m. from 5 p.m. to avoid Irene, was played outdoors at the Connecticut Tennis Center. It included a 1 hour, 40 minute rain delay in the first set.
After that band of rain moved through the area, officials said they believed they would have a window of about 1 1/2 hours for tennis, but had made contingency plans to move the match into the nearby Cullman-Heyman indoor tennis center, just in case.
The match lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes.
“I was like, ‘OK it looks like it’s going to start raining, let’s go indoors so we can go to New York,”’ Wozniacki said. “We got a window and were able to finish. It was nice to play outside, in front of the crowd.”
It began raining again just after the awards ceremony concluded.
Wozniacki’s four consecutive championships ties the New Haven record set by Venus Williams from 1999 to 2002. This year, the tournament changed its name from the Pilot Pen and became a WTA-only event.
Wozniacki broke Cetkovska six times, including in the final game of the first set, and three times in the second set. It was the Danish star’s sixth tournament title this year, but the first since winning in Copenhagen in June. The 26-year-old Cetkovska was playing in her first WTA final.
“It was important for me to start well in the second set, just to get a little bit of a lead,” Wozniacki said. “Then I just kept my focus, didn’t let her back in.”
Wozniacki’s boyfriend, Rory McIlroy, spent the week with her on the Yale campus and the U.S. Open golf champion watched the match from the player’s box.
“When you have that little bit of confidence, that little bit of belief in yourself, it can take you a long way,” he said after the match. “It looked like Caroline found that belief and confidence this week and it obviously is great prep going into the Open next week.
The Danish star played with her right thigh wrapped, after feeling a twinge during Friday’s semifinals. She said it would not affect her play at the Open, which is scheduled to start Monday.
Tournament officials prepared for high winds by brining in cranes overnight to remove the two-ton scoreboards from the top of the stadium and replaced them with two smaller scoreboards courtside.
Tournament director Anne Worcester said if play had been stopped one more time, they would have moved indoors.

Robin Haase v Julien Benneteau ATP Winston-Salem

Live Tennis Staff - 26 Aug 2011
Robin Haase is in semi-final action against Julien Benneteau in Friday's night session in Winston-Salem.

Haase is enjoying a superb month after winning the Kitzbuhel title a few weeks ago to reach a new career high of 42 in the rankings and that's continued this week. He took out third seed Alex Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-4 in the night session on Thursday 

While Haase is still yet to drop a set it's been a very long week for Benneteau who had to come through the qualifying rounds at the weekend so he's already played seven matches so far. The 29 year old saw off ninth seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-2 in the quarters, saving two match points in the second set tiebreak.

Of course, the Frenchman has been ranked much higher in the past and he's only found himself as a qualifier in these events due to a wrist injury he sustained at last year's US Open which saw him topple down the rankings.

   

"I had a really bad injury last year in the US Open and it took me a long time to recover," he told the press. "Now I’m recovered 100 percent. It was a bad moment for me because I was playing maybe the best tennis of my career. But if I could do it last year, I can do it this year. Now I am fit and I don’t have any problems, so it’s just a matter of winning matches and getting back in the rankings to be able to play the 250 and 500 tournaments, to be maybe seeded in the 250, because it’s tough if you don’t."

Haase says he certainly won't be underestimating his opponent today. "I don’t see him as a qualifier," he said. "He has been 35 in the world or 40 in the world and he’s a really great player. That’s why I’m looking forward to it. He played some tough matches and I hope that’s a small advantage for me, but also he played a lot of matches on hard court and I have only three. So I hope I win but it will be a tough match."

Na Li v Petra Cetkovska WTA New Haven Open live stream preview

Cetkovska is searching for her first ever WTA title.(credit: Wikimedia)
Live Tennis Staff - 26 Aug 2011

A place in the final of the WTA New Haven Open will be up for grabs tonight when Na Li takes on Petra Cetkovska


You can watch & bet on the action from the WTA New Haven Open at bet365

Na Li produced a determined display on Thursday night at the WTA New Haven Open, and managed to overcome eighth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a crowd pleasing three-setter (6-4, 3-6, 6-2). The second seed had appeared to be in trouble at certain times, and she’ll be glad to have left the court with a victory having only won four more points throughout the match than her Russian opponent.

Li is now set to face Petra Cetkovska tonight for a place in the final. Cetkovska managed to extend her head to head lead over Marion Bartoli to 2-0 in the last eight, following a gutsy 7-5, 7-5 success. Cetkovska has racked up plenty of wins this season, and she’ll be eager to close in on what would be her first ever WTA title.

The only previous matchup between Li and Cetkovska took place in Monterrey in 2009, where Li claimed a fairly comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory. Li is expected to get the better of Cetkovska again tonight, but she’s by no means guaranteed to win. This could be a very close contest.

Nadia Petrova v Polona Hercog WTA New Haven

Nadia Petrova will face the challenge of Polona Herog in the first round of the WTA New Haven Open

Nadia Petrova is ranked outside of the top twenty, but her recent form marks her out as a potential challenger in this year’s WTA New Haven Open. The 29 year-old won a WTA title in Washington D.C recently, and she’ll be aiming to build upon this with a run of good results this week.

The world No. 27 will begin her campaign in  New Haven against Polona Hercog of Slovenia. Hercog won her first career WTA title earlier this year, but she’s not quite managed to make the most of this momentum just yet. Even so, Hercog should be considered as a very capable opponent. She has the ability to go far in this event.

Petrova is the favourite here, and she’s expected to pull through if she plays as well as she can. Despite this, Hercog has already demonstrated this season that she can cut it at the highest level. This should be one of the first round’s most exciting contests.

Caroline Wozniacki leads a strong field of players at the New Haven Open

Caroline Wozniacki leads a strong field of players at the New Haven Open, all seeking extra matches ahead of the US Open.

It's been a dire summer so far for Wozniacki who suffered straight sets defeats in her opening matches at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati. Even more embarrassingly for the world number one, she was outplayed in Cincinnati by a teenage wildcard, Christina McHale.  

She's seeking her fourth New Haven title but don't bank on the Dane even getting past the early stages this week. She could face the dangerous Nadia Petrova in round two.

French Open champion Na Li gave the organisers a boost by taking a wildcard and she's seeded second. The Chinese star may be poised to overtake Maria Sharapova as the world's highest earning sportswoman but she's struggled to deal with the on-court affairs since triumphing in Paris although there were some promising signs last week.

The eventual winner is much more likely to come from the remainder of the seeding list. Former world number one Jelena Jankovic has disappeared into the shadows over the past couple of seasons but the Serb re-emerged with aplomb in Cincinnati where she's competing in the final as we write.

Fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska has also enjoyed a superb hard-court season, beating Vera Zvonareva to win the Carlsbad title earlier this month and making the semis in Toronto.

Marion Bartoli is also always a threat on hard courts. She looked poised to end Serena Williams' run in the Stanford final last month but lost her way. The Frenchwoman has been out of action with injury over the last few weeks and she's looking to regain her touch ahead of the important stuff to come in New York. 

No major food rules for hungry Nadal

While Novak Djokovic credits his gluten-free regime for at least part of his runaway success this ATP season, Rafael Nadal has no time in interest in diets and strict food rules.

In fact the Spaniard takes pleasure in the table, saying that when it comes to chowing down, he's all over it. "I eat normal  food, but not too much," said the second seed at Cincinnati, who needed some fast turnaround time and refuelling after playing a three-and-a-half-hour third-round match and then an early quarter-final a day later.

"I have nothing of diet. When I go to the menu, I will see something that I would like to eat, and that's what I going to eat."

Nadal allows himself this small pleasure amid a highly structured life which took him into the tennis elite. "It's not going to affect a match much. The important thing is have a good rest, do the right things, drink a lot, and rest.

"But for sure I don't eat, like crazy, because I have to go on court. I would have loved to play later, but that's what happens when you play doubles also (he lost with Marc Lopez in that
event)."

Federer shocked but fascinated by US politics

Roger Federer is watching the untidy upcoming US elections with the fascination of a man observing a slow-motion train wreck.

With the brawling, slash-and-burn US style well removed from any reality - especially Swiss reality - the US process makes for light entertainment for the 16-time Grand Slam winner.

With 15 months to go before presidential vote, the mud is already being slung in a country sinking into economic irrelevance. And Federer can't help but watch it as he puts in time at Masters events before the US Open.

"I somewhat couldn't believe the length of it and the brutality of it (campaigns)," said the Swiss. whose strong-currency safe-haven country is an economic anchor amid the fiscal crisis in the US and Eurozone. "Every president should be extremely tired (after being elected), this is actually when the job starts.

"So it's pretty fascinating to watch, I'm definitely going to follow it the next time around the same thing again."

Federer says he took an interest in the 2008 elections and will continue to do so. "Obviously I did follow the presidential race with Obama quite closely. I thought I was old enough and interested enough."

Novak Djokovic quits vs. Andy Murray

MASON, Ohio -- Novak Djokovic's remarkable winning streak ended with a grimace, one that puts a new spin on the U.S. Open.

The world's top-ranked player was forced to retire in the second set Sunday because of a sore right shoulder, giving Andy Murray the championship at the Western & Southern Open.

It was the Serb's first bad moment in his 57-2 season. Djokovic had won 16 consecutive matches since his only previous loss of the season in the semifinals against Roger Federer on June 3 at Roland Garros. The winning streak has taken a toll.

“I'm confident I can recover and be ready for the U.S. Open.”-- Novak Djokovic

Djokovic talked about feeling exhausted in Cincinnati, coming off his record fifth Masters series title in Montreal last week. He said his serving shoulder had bothered him for about the last 10 days, but he'd been able to manage the soreness and keep winning.

On Sunday, he couldn't go on.

"There is no good loss, that's for sure," Djokovic. "The good thing is there's a week, eight days to the start of the Open.

"I'm confident I can recover and be ready for the U.S. Open."

He was completely off his game against the fourth-seeded Murray, who won the first set 6-4 and was ahead 3-0 in the second when Djokovic decided just before the rain came that he couldn't continue. Djokovic got his shoulder treated after he lost the first set, grimacing at one point.

With his serve registering only in double-digits and his forehand limited by the pain, Djokovic realized he couldn't compete. He said he would have retired even if the rain had temporarily stopped the match.

Novak Djokovic was forced to retire in the second set due to a sore shoulder, dropping his 2011 record to 57-2.
"I could have maybe played another couple of games, but what for?" he said. "I cannot beat a player like Murray today with one stroke."

It was Murray's second title this season. The 24-year-old Scotsman also won at the Queen's Club. He lost his other final match to Djokovic at the Australian Open.

Djokovic felt worn-down heading into the final, the strain of all those recent matches catching up with him. He said his loathing for losing was pulling him through matches and took to Twitter to apologize for having to withdraw.

"Dear friends and fans,i want to apologise to all of you who expected a better and longer match today," Djokovic said. "Shoulder could not take it anymore,and it didn't make sense to continue. Congratulation to Andy Murray for successful week."

Djokovic was off his game at the outset, repeatedly hitting forehands, backhands and volleys everywhere but in the court. Murray broke his serve to open the match and won 10 of the first 12 points.

Could Djokovic win another one while running on fumes and playing with a bum shoulder?

By the end of the first set, he knew the answer.

"I was generally exhausted playing many matches, but the exhaustion is not the reason," Djokovic said. "The reason is shoulder pain. I just could not serve."

Murray was more rested, though not by choice. He lost in the opening round at Montreal a week ago, giving him unwanted time to relax and work on his game. The break seemed to help -- he didn't lose a set all week in Cincinnati.

"I had five or six days to get ready here," said Murray, who won his first Masters series championship in Cincinnati in 2008. "I've always played well on this court."

With the crowd behind him, Djokovic got back into the match by breaking Murray to tie the first set at 3. Murray broke him right back, ending a long baseline rally by coming to the net for a put-away volley. Djokovic walked around the court with a blank expression, his mouth open.

His demeanor said he was in trouble.

Djokovic made 20 unforced errors in the first set, which ended when he dumped a routine forehand into the net. Djokovic squatted in disappointment, then went to his chair and took a timeout to have a trainer stretch his right arm and shoulder.

When the trainer pushed on the side of his rotator cuff with his thumb, Djokovic grimaced.

Complete results
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Murray broke him again to start the second set, an indication the shoulder wasn't going to get better. Djokovic started protecting the shoulder on his follow through.

When Murray left him with an easy volley into an open court, Djokovic couldn't get anything on his overhead return, smacking it weakly toward the net. That point gave Murray a 3-0 lead and forced Djokovic to accept that he wasn't going to get a chance to keep his winning streak going.

The health of his shoulder will become an overriding question heading into the U.S. Open, which starts on Aug. 29. Rafael Nadal is the defending champion, and he's also got some physical issues -- burned fingertips on his right hand that bothered him in Cincinnati.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.