Ivanovic Gets Flipped by Coin at US Open

by Sean Randall | August 28th, 2008, 6:54 pm
  • 22 Comments

I really am starting to love women’s tennis, it’s such a mess! Minutes ago some gal named Julie Coin just beat the current WTA world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round at the US Open. ADHEREL

From what I heard, the 188th-ranked Coin is the lowest ranked player to beat a No. 1 in a Slam. Coin, who qualified, was playing in her first career Grand Slam. She was a Clemson graduate.

Amazing. Actually I was rooting hard for Coin – always go for the underdog especially when the favorite keeps doing that annoying fist pump!


That leaves the WTA No. 1 ranking and title up for grabs among just about everyone in the Top 10 (okay, not everyone but it just seems that way, Coin probably has a chance!).

The win by Coin was the first real upset of the US Open, which has gone pretty much to form thus far with not that much else to talk about. And tonight’s matches with Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal figure to be one-sided affairs, at least Nadal’s should be, Serena who knows but I think she’ll win.

Through the 1.5 rounds the top men’s players have all played relatively well. Roger Federer had an easy time, Rafael didn’t look his best but got through and Novak Djokovic played well despite an ankle tweak which thankfully doesn’t seem to be an issue. Nothing of concern for any of the big three at least in the second round.

There’s been much talk about Andy Roddick. The 2003 US Open champion played his best match of the summer against Fabrice Santoro, thumping the Frenchman 2,2,2 last night. Roddick’s brutal draw gets decidedly tougher now with Ernests Gulbis Friday night.

I picked Gulbis to win that match and I admit after what I saw last night it’s hard to stay with Ernests, but I won’t do a 180. Santoro is a completely different player than Gulbis and I think the Latvian gets through. Big serve, big forehand, big backhand can easily spell trouble for Roddick.

And regarding the incident at the end of the match with Roddick nearly taking Santoro’s head off on the second-to-last point, who cares? Fabrice should use his racquet next time and get that serve back if he doesn’t want to get hit. He’s holding the racquet for a reason, use it. He knows that.

Moving on…

David Nalbandian has been a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think much of this week but he’s won back-to-back straight setters. Meanwhile, James Blake, who could meet Nalbandian in the fourth round, has not looked very good in a five set win over Donald Young and even today when he got a retirement from Steve Darcis.

I also like how the younger guys are playing, like my man Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon, Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Murray. This may not their time in Flushing (both Monfils and Del Potro are in dogfights as I write), but it will come soon enough.


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22 Comments for Ivanovic Gets Flipped by Coin at US Open

;o Says:

Hey. Only 5 other players have a chance of being number 1!

Some people hate it, but I absolutely love it.


jane Says:

Funny title Sean…

Ivanovic deserved to lose; it was painful to watch her make forehand error after error. Coin played the better match.


JCF Says:

Justine has GOT to be kicking herself right now. This wouldn’t be the first time either.

If Justine were to return now as an unranked player, throwing away all her ranking points she had, I believe she could return to the top spot by February, with this kind of field. The WTA ought to be a bit red faced right now. Ivanovic and Jankovic owe a lot to Justine.

I feel bad for Ivanovic getting bounced early twice in slams since winning the French. But she’s still easy on the eyes, so it’s all okay.

It’s got to be worse for Zvonereva who was a first round casualty, and she is blogging at the US Open! Hopefully she entered a doubles event.


Mary Says:

Who would have thought that French, Scottish, and splendid would be in the same sentence?!
I really enjoyed Murray’s match today. Llodra played well until, as usual, France surrendered– but later France won.
Is Ivanovic’s thumb still giving her issues?

Fat “Can I haz a cheesburger” Dave may be able to win the US Open by gravitational pull alone.

How far in the tourny would Serena and Kuznetsova have to get to be number one? I love the idea of Serena being at the top of the heap!


Tennis Fan Says:

Does any one have any live streaming url for todays match ?
I would be very thankful.


Tennis Fan Says:

Thanks


Mary Says:

Madison Square Park is showing the afternoon and evening session starting tomorrow. It’s usually a pretty cool crowd and you can buy expensive alcohol on the grounds or roll like I do by hitting a bodega on the way.

I only went once last year, but in a prior year, BJK and James Blake stopped by b/c they were amazed there was a crowd to watch the sport. BJK took questions and was pretty blown away it was a crowd that knew the sport.

The only downside is they turn the matches off at 11 pm- which can be a problem if there is a long match and that may happen sometime in 2008.
http://tiny.cc/USOMSP


Latent Talent Says:

Karlovic hit 42 aces in 15 service games and a 7-5 tie-break today. That is almost 5 aces in every 2 service games. It will be fun to see nadal handle this guy, when he is in such great serving form.


Mary Says:

Latent: Wow and I don’t see Karlovic being awed playing Nadal on Ashe, especially since he beat Federer, dealing him the deathblow as No.1


;o Says:

Mary:

Im pretty sure that if Serena or Jelena win the title, they will automatically be number 1.

Kuznetsova has no chance as she was last years finalist, and can only gain 300 more points (I believe).

Safina and Dementieva need Jelena and Serena to lose soon for them to have a chance


;o Says:

Hm here you go:

http://www.onthebaseline.com/2008/08/28/ana-ivanovic-serena-williams-lead-race-for-no-1-ranking-at-us-open/

It looks like serena and Jelena must reach the finals, or the semifinals if Dementieva and Safina dont make it to the semifinals to give those two a match.

If Jelena reaches the semifinal, if seeds hold against Dementieva, Safina will not be #1. Dementieva must win.

Okay basically
Serena and Jelena: Reaching Final is automatic #1, unless they both make it to the final. Reaching the semis and not having to face Safina or Dementieva means number 1.

Safina must reach the final (meaning Serena does not) AND have Jankovic not reach the semifinal to be number 1.

And now Dementieva must either reach the final (denying Jelena the final) to be number one, or win if Serena is in the final with her.

I think thats right


Dan Martin Says:

Ivo and Nadal had a nice match at Queens. Women’s tennis … seems like the WTA is broken. Safina might raise the bar. The Williams Sisters can still play really well at times, but health issues and a light schedule are not going to lead either of them to carry the tour. I thought Ivanovic played well in Paris and maybe she is still coming down to earth a bit, but come on… Jelena reaching #1 before ever reaching a GS final round let alone winning one of the big prizes is embarrassing. I am replacing “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?” with “Where have you gone, Steffi Graf?” Tennis nations turn their lonely eyes to the past if they want to see consistently good tennis from the WTA.


JCF Says:

A match between Ivo and Nadal could go five sets. If they split the tie breakers two each, it’s going to be a physical test for both. And if each of those five sets goes 7-6, it could be a really long five setter.

But it could also be over in three for either player. Even then it will be a long match.

He is such a wild card, Ivo. The disappointing thing is that he can’t make good on those big early upsets because his luck will eventually run out.


Von Says:

Serena definitely wants to get back to being No. 1. In the past, she’s stated she loves being No. 1.

_______________
JCF:
A new word was made up in OZ recently. It’s “VISUACY”, meaning visual literacy. Now you can be the whiz kid and test it out on your friends. :D


Bob Lewis Says:

<>

Her body would never hold up. She’s too big. A light schedule is all she can do. It shows up in her mental outlook. It’s nice to be a celebrity and love all the attention off court, but the performance isn’t there. Five years ago was five years ago.


Jay Says:

Enough with the “coin” puns – they are painfully obvious.


JCF Says:

‘Visual literacy’, that’s interesting. What’s it mean exactly?


Von Says:

Sean Randall:

I wrote the following on Vach’s thread, but I realized I should have done so on your thread, so here goes:

Fed is playing rather poorly today. He’s fortunate to be playing only a qualifier instead of maybe Murray, Davydenko or one of the younger players, or else he would definitely have lost.
________________
Sean Randall:

From your articles I know you are a huge Monfils fan. I’ve always pictured you one of those Ivey league types, very intense, bookish type, without a sense of humor, but I’d have to say, I most probably am wrong, because no one without a sense of humor could like Monfils. That said, how did you like his celebratory jig and acrobatics after he won his 2nd round match? I sure got a kick out of that. He is the epitome` of charisma, has one of the most engaging personalites on the tour, and his tennis, when he’s on song, is absolutely a delight to watch. I suppose I’m going to have to change my mental profile of you now. Was I even close though?

Posted August 29th, 2008 at 3:15 pm


Von Says:

JCF:

“‘Visual literacy’, that’s interesting. What’s it mean exactly?”

I hope the following helps — Look up the word on the internet as new Aussie word ‘visuacy’ and you’ll find a few articles from several Aussie newpapers. I came across it by accident while I was checking for entertainment and arts on a British site. I think the Brits still love you and miss guys. :D

The following from the “Angry Penguin”:

“Where do teachers get off, making up words?
They’d mark students down for making up a word and yet here they are, introducing “visuacy” not only as a word, but as a whole educational concept. It’s a travesty, or should I say “travestuacy”.

“The teachers are reported in The Australian to be creating this word to encompass a broadening span of education in the arts. It opens students to further possibilities in visual arts education – the possibility that they should see fashion models as art. This, of course, may extend to seeing Paris Hilton as art, for she is her own work of art, as we all know. Next students will be able to do PhD theses on Paris Hilton as an art object. Why not?

“Already they study Buffy, the Vampire Slayer as part of the university English curriculum.
She, apparently, is preferable to the onerous erudition of those hideous “dead white men” responsible for that vast body of English literature.

“So, we have the dumbed-down contempory teachers adapting education to what interests them, what they are able to deal with without the requirements of too much education of their own.”


JCF Says:

Err.. I still don’t understand.

There are lots of words I have read definitions of but still don’t understand. A more popular one would be ’emo’. No matter how many people explain that to me, I just don’t get it.

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