Serena Strong in Powering to Match-Up with Capriati at US Open

Posted on September 6, 2004

Serena Williams, hoping her surgically-repaired knee holds out in her quest to capture a third US Open title, pounded No. 15 seed Patty Schnyder in straight sets Sunday to advance into the quarterfinals for a match-up with countrywoman Jennifer Capriati.

"We always play each other," Serena said of Capriati. "I'm sure the next tournament I'm in, I'll play her again."

Schnyder said the Serena serve was the deal-breaker in their match-up.

"It was a little frustrating how she was serving," Schnyder said. "It was never possible (to get into rallies) the way she served."

Serena says the knee is fine (as she always does), and that she is not trying to play shorter points or change her game to accommodate the injury that forced her to miss the Athens Olympics.

"I really should be coming into the net a little bit more," Serena said. "My knee is doing pretty good right now. I haven't had any worries."

The No. 8-seeded Capriati beat No. 12 Ai Sugiyama of Japan in straight sets to set up another Serena meeting.

"From now on I don't believe what anyones says," Capriati said on Serena's having or not having knee problems. "I just expect them to be 100 percent at their game. Because I really don't think anybody would be playing if they really were injured."

Other seeded winners on the day were No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo (d. No. 16 Schiavone), and No. 6 seed Elena Dementieva (d. countrywoman No. 10 Zvonareva).

"I think my game is a little different from what we're used to seeing on the women's tour, like big hitters," said Mauresmo, who can overtake Justine Henin-Hardenne to become No. 1 for the first time during the US Open. "I'm capable of varying a little bit more and come in sometimes, serve and volley."

The emotional Zvonareva broke into tears and abused her racquet throughout her three-set loss, and after the match had a complete meltdown in the stadium tunnel, sitting on the floor crying into a towel and slamming her racquet repeatedly against the floor.

"You wouldn't see any fourth round matches of a grand slam not emotional," said a red-eyed Zvonareva in her post-match conference. "So I think everybody have emotions and everybody try their best."

On tap for Monday are (5)Davenport vs. (11)Venus (head-to-head tied 12-12), in the evening session (1)Henin-Hardenne vs. (14)Petrova (H-H leads 5-0), (29)Daniilidou vs. Asagoe (Greek leads 2-0), and (9)Kuznetsova vs. (27)Pierce (first meeting).

Former No. 1s Roddick, Hewitt Headline Winners at US Open

The US Open keeps setting them us, and defending champion Andy Roddick keeps knocking them down, Sunday powering past No. 29 seed Guillermo Canas 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 to move into the fourth round.

It was the third consecutive match that Roddick fed his opponent a bagel or a 6-1 set, throwing down 21 aces to the Argentine's three.

"I'm doing nothing different than what I normally do," said Roddick on his fast start, winning his first nine sets. "I think it's just maybe the hype of the Open and being back here."

Also looking frighteningly on-task is former No. 1 and No. 4 seed Lleyton "C'mon!" Hewitt, who picked apart an out-gunned No. 30 seed Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez in straight sets.

Other seeded winners were No. 18 Tommy Robredo (d. Peya), and No. 28 Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson (d. Koubek in four).

Winners in all-unseeded match-ups were Slovak Karol Beck (d. Davydenko in five), former No. 2 Tommy Haas (d. Richardo Mello "Yellow"), Olympic Federer-killer Tomas Berdych (d. Youzhny 6-1 in the fifth), and France's Michael Llodra (d. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer).

"I think I only got broken once in the beginning of the third set," said Haas, who looked to be increasing his forays to the net. "Throughout the whole match I think I served pretty well. I think it was 11 aces, very few double faults."

In doubles, top-seeded Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge were upset 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 by No. 13 Leander Paes and David Rikl.

"We let one slip away there," Woodbridge said.

On court Monday are (5)Henman vs. (19)Kiefer, (6)Agassi vs. Sargsian, and (22)Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. Olivier "Cochroachus" Rochus.

TENNIS DISCUSSIONS
See what all the chatter is about, the talk, the walk, on the latest issues in pro tennis at http://www.tennis-x.com/discussions.php

FREE DAILY TENNIS-X NEWSLETTER
Our free gift to you. Make it a gift to yourself. Go to www.Tennis-X.com. Sign up today and we'll attach the Anna Kournikova virus, free of charge.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Lots of booing Sunday at the US Open when a packed Armstrong Stadium was told their upcoming Jennifer Capriati match they had been waiting for was being moved to Arthur Ashe Stadium and being replaced by Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova playing mixed doubles. At the same time, Andy Roddick was playing on Ashe, only in the beginning of his third set against Guillermo Canas, quite a gamble by the USTA that A-Rod would clinch in three, meanwhile leaving the packed house of Jenny fans out in the cold...Mardy Fish's younger sister Meredith was seen at the US Open working for The Tennis Channel...Serena on model Naomi Campbell watching her match: "She's a really good friend of myself and my sisters. One time we would go out in L.A. a lot. She'd always tell me what I should wear."...Maria "Shriek-o-licious" Sharapova on whether she'll ever develop a slice or approach shot to compliment her one-gear baseline-bashing: "Yeah, but that's not going to happen overnight. It's a long-time process, and that's one of the things I have to work on. I wouldn't say I'm going to all of a sudden become a chip-and-slice person."...For American junior "The" Donald Young it was "You're fired!" Sunday when the 15-year-old lost in the first round of the US Open juniors to No. 7 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine. That kid needs more time in the oven. Scoville Jenkins, who lost to Andy Roddick in the first round of men's play, is seeded No. 10 in the junior draw, while the top seed is Gael Monfils of France who is shooting for the junior Grand Slam this year after winning the Australian, French and Wimbledon...CBS analyst Mary Carillo on Serena: "Consistency is driven by fitness. I just don't think she's anywhere near as fit as she used to be."...Todd Martin was honored at the US Open Sunday night between the night sessions. Martin announced his retirement earlier in the week after losing to Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro (who also showed at his retirement party). TM looked quite spiffy in the suit, accompanied by his wife and child to the roar of Arthur Ashe Stadium...Two Goodyear blimps are covering the Open this year from the skies, the Florida-based "Stars & Stripes" and the Ohio-based "Spirit of Goodyear" This was also the first year for the Tennis-X blimp, which burst into flames soon after takeoff earlier in the week, taking out three of the food concession stands...Hey CBS analyst Jim Courier, nice catch the other day after Al "What Sport is This Again?" Trautwig stoned by introducing the wrong Williams sister...The US Open will honor Althea Gibson on Tuesday night with a special tribute on the 46th anniversary of her second U.S. Championship...Venus Williams had a book signing of her children's tome "How to Play Tennis," co-authored with sister Serena, Sunday at the US Open bookstore. Chapter 1: Just hit every ball with topspin as hard as you can. Chapter 2: The End...After the Todd Woodbridge vs. Leander Paes mixed doubles match Monday at the US Open, a fight broke out between an Aussie fan and an Indian fan, with fists flying. No word on who came out on top. Hey fellas, it's not Davis Cup, it's mixed doubles...Amelie Mauresmo can still become No. 1 for the first time during the US Open, overtaking Justine Henin-Hardenne, but the WTA Rankings system is so convoluted that the WTA still have yet to produce an official announcement, and are waiting until the latter rounds until things become clearer. Not a great look...What Tennis-X has been working on at the US Open, soon coming to a computer monitor near you: interviews with Tennis Channel CEO Steve Bellamy, USA Network commentator and former No. 1 Jim Courier, and too many players to mention including Andy Roddick, Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and all-time doubles title winner Todd Woodbridge. Haven't left the women out, or, as Jim Courier said "Hey, I love the women!" after getting some good-natured ribbing after his on-air suggestion that Russian sob-story Vera Zvonareva needs to learn to keep the crying in until she gets to the locker room...We're still working on fan-favorite Tennis-X poll winner Elena Dementieva, who will be easier to get to once her opponents stop going meltdown racquet-destroying berserk after losing...Andy Roddick hits 71 percent first serves with 21 aces over three sets Sunday? That's sick. Scoville Jenkins and Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal are still jerking up in bed at three in the morning screaming "Aaahhhgggg!" before realizing it was just another nightmare...John McEnroe writing for The Age: "The worst of it is when you see a great talent like Marat Safin going to waste early in a slam. After all his efforts to get competitive in Australia last January, it really is a shame he hasn't been able to build on that. The sport needs players like him because he is a genuine slam contender. Another is Mark Philippoussis, whose father rang me last week to ask if there was anything I could do to help his son raise his game. Like Safin, for whatever reason, the big fella just hasn't been able to carry on his success of last summer at Wimbledon."