Mornin' and happy August, everyone. The fog was dense and chilly this morning in Andes, but it's burned off and it should hit the low eighties here today. The dog days of high humidity have been notably few so far in New York City as well as our home upstate, but they're coming, that's for sure. Yet by the time the first ball is hit at the U.S. Open - which starts at the latest possible date this year, thanks to the vagaries of the calendar - change will be in the air and we'll all be wondering, Where did the summer go?
The big news this morning is out of Stanford - Sam Stosur and Rolli Polli Marion Bartoli knocked off two titans, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic (respectively), both three-set matches. You might have seen Stosurs's win coming; she's always been a mercurial talent, with good attacking skills. And she's been playing well this spring and summer. Her problems have been largely "mental", if that's the right word to describe her swings of confidence and consistency. Bartolil, on the other hand, has become one of those players whose only predictable quality is her unpredictability. She can look downright awful at times, and make you wonder who she survives as a main draw player. Then, she'll catch fire and employ her deadly, unconventional game in an astonishingly effective manner. A female Fabrice Santoro, anyone?
So the disarray and unpredictability of the WTA tour these days rolls on, unabated. You never know what to expect when you open up the results page anymore.
BTW, we'll have a special preview in the coming days of the WTA Cincinnati event, from a new contributor who's been a long-time reader and poster. I'd rather surprise you all, but feel free to guess who it is (hint: it's not a man, although you wouldn't know that from her screen name). I know that the WTA gets short shrift at TennisWorld, because of my own preferences (or is it my gender?). The difference hardly matters, the basic fact is that we have two flourishing, successful, pro branches of tennis, and giving them equal time is a big ask. Maybe we can redress that, at least to some degree. So watch this space next week.
Anyway, y'all know what to do - have a good weekend and carry on the tennis and off-topic discussions below.
-- Pete