Pete Bodo is away until the 12th August. You'll continue to have daily posts in his absence.
Hi everyone. Ready for today's finals? Sam Stosur and Flavia Pennetta clash in the championship match in Los Angeles, while defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro will face Andy Roddick in Washington. Perhaps surprisingly, Stosur and Pennetta have never played each other before. Meanwhile one of Del Potro's first big wins came this time last year against Roddick, in the ATP final in L.A. Today's match should be an interesting test of where both players are at; both men have noticeably evolved since last year.
The qualification tournament continues in Montreal, in preparation for the Masters Series event proper that commences tomorrow. Among others Ernests Gulbis and Juan Carlos Ferrero are looking to book places in the main draw in this manner. From tomorrow onwards TW will be in full Crisis Center mode again, so today is your last opportunity for some serious off-topic chat in amongst the tennis-related discussions.
As always, enjoy today's tennis.
-- Rosangel Valenti