BATTLE OF THE CREW (CUTS): If the Djokovic–Youzhny match was a battle between two players with world-class crew cuts, the Serena Williams vs. Li Na semi matched a player who cannot take any oncourt advice from her romantic partner—Li Na bristles when her husband and former coach Jiang “Dennis” Shan offers her any pointers—against a player, Serena Williams, whose career has surged over the last 15 months after taking on Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou as her coach and love interest.
ALWAYS THE GUY’S FAULT: After her 6-0, 6-3 loss to Serena Williams, Inside Tennis had this curious exchange with Na Li:
INSIDE TENNIS: I want to ask sort of a fun question after a tough loss.
NA LI: Okay. I like that [smiling].
IT: We know you said that Carlos [Rodriguez, Li’s coach] saved your marriage. Now, Serena is being coached by her boyfriend, Patrick. Since you have been through all this turmoil with “Dennis,” what advice you would give to Serena in relation to Patrick coaching her?
NA LI: Don’t be married, okay? Yeah [laughter].
How you say, if Dennis is not my husband I was feeling we[‘d be] still working [well together], you know. But after marriage is different, totally different, because men totally change [laughter].
IT: So it’s the guy’s fault?
NA LI: Yeah. The woman is never [at] fault,
JUST WONDERING: Serena needed 7 match points to beat Na Li, and experience that took her to the brink of her current composure, in the city where she’s notoriously lost it. When was the last time she needed that many match points to finish off an opponent?
MISTAKEN IDENTITY: During the Serena–Na Li match today, isolated cries of “Li Na” seemed to be drowned by mass cheers for “Serena.”
SIBLINGS SURRENDER: The Bryan brothers and Williams sisters lost on back-to-back days at the Open.
MIX MASTER TO THE MAX: Max Mirnyi has won four different US Open mixed doubles titles with three different partners, including Victoria Azarenka.
GEEZ, WHY DOES THE DYLAN LYRIC COME TO MIND—SHE BREAKS SERVE JUST LIKE A WOMAN: In one of the more provocative gender-related comments of the year, Belarus’ mixed doubles champ Max Mirnyi said of his Czech partner Andrea Hlavackova, “She’s a … pretty girl, smiles a lot, but she thinks like a man on court. She looks for ways to win. She’s very positive. Even though we lost first round at Wimbledon, I was eager to play again.” BTW: Hlavacokova is also in the finals of the women’s doubles, after she and Lucie Hradecka defeated Venus and Serena 6-4, 6-2.
YOUZHNY ATTACKS DJOKOVIC FOR LACK OF GENEROSITY: Mikhail Youzhny said he lost to Djokovic because Novak “never gives you some presents. Okay, maybe one or two…”
FOREVER YOUNG, NOT: While watching the battle between thirtysomething elders Serena Williams and Li Na, Mary Carillo said, “Teenagers can’t play on this level any more.”
DOMINANT NUMBERS: Going into today, when they were bounced by a pair of Czechs, Serena and Venus were 81-9 in doubles.
REFUSING TO BE A SLAVE TO THE [COMPUTER] SCREEN: Djokovic said he was not going to study his epic Australian Open match versus Stan Wawrinka because it would mean he would be in front of the computer all day.
A STREAK OF HIS OWN: Novak Djokovic has reached 14 straight Grand Slam semis.
THE BLACK POWER ANSWER IS BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND—WHOOPS, MAKE THAT THE TORNADO: With so many young African-American woman emerging—think Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Taylor Townsend, Victoria Duval, Sascha Vickery—one might venture that the rising 15-year old African-American Tornado Alicia Black, who is into the junior quarterfinals, has one of the coolest names in tennis history.
A TALE OF TWO ELDERS: The career of Roger Federer, 32, is flatlining. Conventional wisdom tells us that his winning a major championship would be rather extraordinary. The career of Serena Williams, 31, is in dandy shape. If anything, it is trending upward, and as much as ever, she is the dominant force in the women’s game.
HOW ABSURD CAN YOU GET?: Once again, Venus and Serena Williams were not seeded in the women’s doubles at this year’s Open.
NOT EXACTLY OPTIMISTIC: In an interview before his semifinal against Rafa Nadal, Richard Gasquet remarked—joked?—that he’d have a better chance beating Nadal on PlayStation. BTW: Nadal has won 82 consecutive service games.
NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF COURT: A Dec. 17 trial date has been set for a stalking and battery case involving Jennifer Capriati and her ex-boyfriend.
