First!!!!

I know y'all are watching Fed/Nole............good luck with that. I hope Serena spanks Little Miss Sunshine's you know what...................she invited hereself into my black book by doing that stupid mimicking of Rafa's cramping episode......

Caroline CANNOT call herself a legit #1 until she snags a slam. We all know how the rankings work but that is not the point. Every tennis officionado knows what garners respect....................SLAMS.

I have a feeling Serena will want to slam that point home tonight.............

Allez!!!!!!!!!!!!

That one was for you RITB! :)

I would be shocked if Serena were to lose tonight.

cheryl,

This was really a lovely thing for you to do! Great analysis of these two women and the challenge presented in this match tonight. I agree with everything you said about Caro. She has to step up and win a big match like this and that she is deservedly the #1 player in the world. If she doesn't, then it will remind everyone that Serena, whether or not she actually has the ranking, is the true#1. And I believe that Serena will win this match and do just that.

I think Serena is going to want to prove that very thing tonight, NNY. The crowd will be a factor too.

Thank you cheryl :) You are the best tennis journo. :)

surely my eyes are deceiving me

Excellent article with sound points. Nothing wrong with articles on the women's game on tennis talk.

Yes Wozinacki gets a lot of criticism, some of which is unfair, as there are more than just the grand slam tournaments on the tour and in terms of match wins and accumulating ranking points, she has proved the most consistent.

You just can't deny the fact that prior to her injury Serena was by far the best player in the world, and whoever has that status in any sport, needs to win at least one major title to justify that distinction. For example the No1 position in golf holds less value as players who take that position haven't won a major. It 's what makes the current international football rankings such a joke, that Holland are ranked above Spain despite the fact Spain have won both the European Championships and World Cup back to back.

Now if Wozinacki had won 2 slams beating Serena at her peak, ala Nadal with Federer in 2008 and Djokovic with Nadal in 2011, then she would command a lot more respect and a lot more adulation. So any negativity against her is not really because people don't like her personally.

Even if she does win - and I don't think she will - she needs to win the final first and then consolidate with another slam to then cement her status as top player.

I fully expect Serena to power her way through and go back to bringing proper order to the top of the women's game.

Now Ricky, there's nothing wrong with an article here or there on the women's game.

Hkmmmm...anyone here remember Jelena Jankovic ( just joking ).... she was NO1...but without slam title. She was officially No1 at the end of the year.
In that same year, for short time Ana Ivanovic was N01...maybe two...three months...
but Ana has GS...RG... and there she is... Queen of Paris
There is still very burning and active fight on Serbian sites....Who is the best Serbian WTA player! Very often much more serious than Fed fans/Rafa fans/Nole fans discussions on TT :)
After RG Ana sliped dawn to 60. place on ranking list... or 70. Jelena is top ten player for 4 years already... but she don't have GS! So Ana even on 60. place is still ex Garros champ... ( and not to mention that she is GORGEOUS )
Same goes for Caro... sorry girl :( but Serena is.... I don't know how to explain... I think even on ATP she would be Top Ten!
Sometimes very contraversional ... but still UNDISPUTED QUEEN OF TENNIS!
EVEN IF SHE DROPS OUT FROM TOP 100.

zare, I'm familiar with the "who's the best Serbian WTA player" fights. I think it's pretty obvious that JJ is the better player over all, but as you say, Ana has the Slam title.

And now that you mention it, JJ wasn't as controversial as Woz either.

I still see Serena as a man with breasts since she is so much more powerful than all of the other women. It's like Manny Pacquiao going up against Mike Tyson. Serena would beat more than half of the top 100 of the ATP....maybe more.

Serena is a superb athlete. Caro cannot handle her serve.

2 games into the second set and Caro hasn't a single winner yet.

@Numero
Apparently she played someone in the top 1000 with a hangover,
Male that is, and he thumped her and Venus as well,
Women's tennis is something else,
Can't be compared exactly.

I dislike Wozniacki with a passion. She is so desperate to be seen as interesting and try too hard to get attention and validation from the masses that her public personality seems very fake, put on and very annoying. The silly things she does during press makes her look like a little kid doing anything to get attention. Instead of wasting so much energy trying to make herself seems interesting etc, she would be better spending them trying to improve her on court game..and yes, win1 slam at least. I don't see Sharapova, Clister, Serena, Venus, Schiavonne even Ivanovic pulling the same antics are Wozniacki. In fact I have not seen any other women players that are so desperate to be liked as much as her.
I am so pleased that Serena had put Wozniacki in her place. An ass whopping by a true champ!!

Now that was a funny comment from numero! A man with breasts! It's true that she is very muscular and conditioned, but I don't know about beating more than half of the top 100 of the ATP.

I am just happy to see her roll over Wozniacki tonight. Totally outclassed the current #1 ranked player in the world and did it with ease.

We know who the real #1 woman player is and before long, Serena will have the ranking to make it official!

...and to get there (by official rankings ) will be just a formality :)
I saw a interview long ago Serena and Rodick... she said they played match when they were 18 and she won! Andy confirmed it ... but wasn't to happy about Serena brought that in interview ... lol...
Not only physical power... mental also... she would consider her No1 even she is out of top 100...
For me Caro is....well... little fake... and, yes, she is overdoing these PR stufs...and it only has contra effect...
Cheryl... by all stats Jelena is better... but the lack of GS... her character is not so easy to swallow... Ana on the other side... well camera just love her... her face and grimacing... take look at photos... it seems that she is smiling during the strokes...

Ana is the most gracious WTA player... But her GS destroyed her. Jelena couldn't survive 1st place, but she was similar in terms of Caro tactics. She won lot of other tournaments, and not just small ones. Fact is that she stepped step to far, as she was entering too much tournaments, playing more matches than anyone.

Difference is that Jelena could match Serena game, winning against Williams sisters or loosing by close. And I was thinking she deserves no.1 w/o GS. I don't think that GS win is more important that fact that you are the best on tour...

But with Caro, when there are players who can trash you on each occasion... than is questionable to be no.1... as that for me means best player.

Serena is much stronger genetically than any other payer. Jelena Jankovic after ending year at no.1 wanted to boost her muscles, gain weight and more closely match Williams sisters... And she felt apart, as she was not feeling like it was her body.

Having such strong muscles comes with the cost, as there has to be enormous work to be invested to bring that muscles in position to work for you, not against you.

I really despise Serena, just because personality and attitude. But I know that she is great fighter, and hard worker. There are no much players who can fight her with her own weapons, but there are ways to pass beside her. Henin was absolute physical contrast to Serena, but managed to cope with her...

Result was never in doubt. Serena simply steamrolled over Caroline and to thin she was maikng a turck load of unforced errors as well. Had the error count been halved this match would've barley lasted an hour. Any casual viewer that watched this must have felt that Wozniacki was the 28 seed and Serena was no1, that's what the match felt like msot of the time.

Yet this could be a good thing for Wozniacki. A result of this manner showed her that she has to inject more power to her game. You can have all the fitness and mobility in the world, but to just keep putting the ball back with no strength or venom, leaves you open to being blasted off the court. This match will force her to asses her game and realise to win slams you need to take he ball on early and go for winners. Maybe her and Andy Murray need to get together for extra tutorials on aggressive tennis.

Serena just underlined who the real no1 of tennis is. Admittedly there are players ranked below Wozniacki that would've provided greater resistance (Schiavone, Sharapova, Kunetsova) but I think whwen she's at her peak, there is no equal, even including Clijsters.

One would think that Serena's muscular weight would work against her especially as she get older, but let's face it in most of her matches, it's her opponents who are doing all the running.

Stosur will make the final more of a match, as she will go for her shots - she did beat Serena recently at the French. So we may get a closer first set but once Serena gets into her groove and cuts down the errors, she will have too much for Samantha.

Like her or not, Serena is truly one of the all time greats of the women's game

Thank you Cheryl! This is why I love TT.......................they listen.

I do not dislike Caroline, I just wish she would grow up some.................she compounds her slamlessness by childishly seeking attention...............this is what grates. And to compound it all, she lacks the effortless wit of a Na Li for example......

She needs to just let it go, nuckle down to her day job......................the slam will come

Serena? WOW.................!

Serena wow is right. Just when people started to forgive and forget her incident from 2 years ago the real Serena resurfaces. Once everything was going well she was cool. As soon as Samantha starts kicking her ass, she decides to blow up on the chair umpire.

The worst thing about it is that she didn't even know the hindrance rule. Then she accused the chair umpire of being the same one who screwed her over last time when it was another umpire. Then she insults her during the changeover calling her "unattractive inside". She should take a look at herself inside and out. She tols her not to even look at her and if she sees her in the hall stay away from her and look the other way. Could that be perceived as a threat?

Once again she has disgraced herself, her family and her country. I don't care how many GS titles she wins. She is classless. She doesn't know the meaning of sportsmanship. She didn't even shake the chair umpire's hand at the end of the match.....even though she made the right call.

Great upset by Stosur. What a great underdog story. I think her physique may have had something to do with the fact that she wasn't intimidated while the skinnier girls seemed intimidated and down a set and a break before walking on court. Maybe Cheryl should write a blog on Serena's behavior.

@Numero,
She got hold of herself and was gracious to Stosur at the end.
We should cut her a bit of slack for that @ least.
Love underdogs, so was pleased for Stosur.

The issue was never Stosur, nor was it Kim last time. It's her treatment to lines people and chair umpires. Even after learning of the hindrance rule she probably won't apologize to the chair umpire (unless public pressure dictates it like last time) and she claimed in his presser that she didn't remember what she said to her. Totally unsporting and just a fake overall.

@Numero,
I've heard that it's Venus that's the 'nice' one..........

Yes Venus has always been nice.

Unbelievable that Stosur won. And refreshing too, she's such a great player to watch and carries herself very gracefully too. Well deserved and hopefully she'll win a few more. She proved that she can from the way she played yesterday, and I'd rather have players like her and Kvitova winning than Serena, Sharapova or Wozniacki.

I thought that Serena would complete her comeback with a memorable win in the final. However, Stosur came out playing some incredible tennis. Serena didn't seem to be herself right from the beginning. Her serving was off, only 38% first serve. Not like her at all. Stosur had an answer for everything Serena threw at her and got her to overhit some shots and start pressing.

That disputed call was the low point of the match. It did bring back unpleasant memories of Serena's last blowup with a linesperson two years ago. I didn't know about any hindrance rule, but I understand what happened. You can't shout out before your opponent has the chance to hit the ball. It's the same as someone in the stands calling "out" or yelling to a player. The fans in the stands can't be penalized, but a player can.

That was bizarre to hear Serena do that. Then there was so much controversy and arguing. The fans were on Serena's side and that seemed to disrupt Stosur for a bit. JMac made it even more confusing by saying initially that it should be a let and play the point again. Then they clarified that the umpire's ruling of a point penalty was correct. Serena lost the game over it, but that wasn't what was giving her problems. It was Stosur's great play. Fortunately, order was restored and Stosur kept her cool. Serena's comments to the umpire on the changeovers, were not a pretty thing to hear. This is the side of her that has always bothered me. I love her tennis, but this behavior I truly dislike.

Congratulations to Stosur on her first slam win, a well deserved one! Serena did well to get to the final and can build on it. I dearly wish she would lose that big mouth and the attitude, but it seems to be a part of who she is.

Yes.... great victory for Sam. and one more yes... we saw real Serena... after she was all milk and honey with Sam, but it was too late...
So basically we have Stosur...Na Li...Kvitova...Clijsters....
Wait a sec.... where is No1?

I have been a fan of the Williams sisetrs ever since they burst onto the tennis scene but I am so tired now..................tired of Venus's attention seeking on-court dresses, tired of Serena's antics and rudeness........

That's it for me.........................they should just retire.

Congratulations to Sam......................deserved the win.

Woooow ...I was not aware of this:

"Williams has been serving a two-year Grand Slam probation for the outburst at the U.S. Open in 2009. Part of the probation was not having another "major offense" at a major tournament."

"Any impact this code violation might have on Serena Williams' Grand Slam probation would require the incident being ruled a major event," said a statement from the United States Tennis Association."

She will be finned but would that bee all?

...and ofc... she don't remember what she has said:

"Williams was heard to say, "What a loser," "You're a hater," "A code violation because I expressed who I am? Really. Don't even look at me. I promise you, don't look at me.? Don't look my way," and, in a comment that could be interpreted as threatening, "If you ever see me walking down the hall, walk the other way."

oh, Gosh, that is a terrible thing to say...Serena's personality will cost her a lot...

http://newzvideo99.com/2011/09/07/caroline-wozniacki-imitates-rafael-n adals-cramps-full-video/
Caroline... what have you taken that day... something strong???
What a retard :))

I hate to admit it but the USTA will look the other way here because she is an American and after Donald Young blasted them, they are terrified that they could be perceived as racists.

What did Donald Young do? This has nothing to do with racism anyway, Serena was told off for something she shouldn't have done. She didn't take it well. End of.

Trust you to bring race into this, numero...........................has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with Serena's poor sportsmanship......................and ill-manners. And please do not bring where she grew up (Compton) into this................lots of kids from sh%$ty neighbourhoods with good manners.............

mriiidula,

This is the tweet from Donald Young after the USTA did not automatically give him a wildcard into the FO. They held a wildcard playoff (which they always do) which he lost :

F**k USTA!! Their full of s**t! They have screwed me for the last time! #enoughsaid
- Donald Young at 5:01:14 pm ET Apr 22nd

I censored it to make it a little bit more TT-friendly. He didn't.

ritb,

Serena and her dad have always brought race into it ever since the incident at IW. Serena thinks she was screwed at USO before with the line calls against Capriati and the foot fault against Kim.

All I'm saying is that if the USTA takes actions against her trust and believe Al Sharpton and the NAACP will be all over them. If you know anything about the USA you know I'm right.

I forgot about the probation for Serena's outburst two years ago. She could be in some real trouble again. I don't understand why Serena wasn't just able to let it go. She went on and on during the changeover and the comments towards the chair umpire were quite disgraceful. There doesn't have to be profanity for it to be a serious offense. She said some things that could be considered threatening to the chair umpire.

A player has to take responsibility for their actions. If she didn't know the rule, well now she knows. She was wrong and the chair umpire ruled correctly. Serena was mad because she wasn't playing well and Stosur was blowing her off the court. She is testing the USTA with yet another public display of poor sportsmanship and ugly words.

The USTA should do what is required. This is not about racism. Everyone knows what happened with Serena two years ago and the penalty could have been even more severe back then. Serena could have been suspended and not allowed to play in a slam. They gave her a break.

numero: i still dont see what race has to do with it. it just sounds like a normal outburst. but yea, lets see what awaits serena.

mriiidula,

I agree completely it's not about race. It's about her poor behavior. Nonetheless, there are those in the media and Serena's dad for sure that will use the 'race card' here. It's like a 'get out of jail free card' in the States.

As far as not suspending her before or now, it's about her being American and being a big draw aka 'cash cow' for the WTA so unless she kills somebody nothing's going to happen to her imo.

I have read somewhere that decision will be reached today... any news from our US posters? ...numero??

^^ A measly $2000 fine is all she got. Mary Carillo said it was a disgrace that she only got that little fine.

LOL... they gave her 800k and finned her with 2k... LOL
Obviously you were right in your earlier posts.

Actually she got 900K for being the finalist and 500K bonus for winning USO summer series. Similarly Nole got 1.8 mil for being champ and 500K bonus for being second to Fish in USO summer series.

no freaking way, $2000? that's barely gonna get to her. quite ridiculous i must say.

ritb,

Serena and her dad have always brought race into it ever since the incident at IW. Serena thinks she was screwed at USO before with the line calls against Capriati and the foot fault against Kim.

numero
, 9/12/11 5:58 PM

That is the point, numero.........................just because Serena and her Dad say and think everything is about race does not mean it is, and more importantly, that you have to say and think so!

And by the way, I am half American so I know and understand plenty about the USA......................and you're still wrong to bring race into this!

ritb,

Another example for you : Troy Davis , an African-American is up for execution in Georgia and race has been made to be a huge factor in all of the controversy. However 76% of those executed in Georgia have been Caucasian. It's all too common to bring race into everything even when it's irrelevant.

"Her nickname is Miss Sunshine for crying out loud."

I thought she was known these days as the "golden retriever" :&)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/25/caroline-wozniacki-wta-mar ia-sharapova

I am at a loss for words.........................is Woz genetically wired for controversy? But then again, it seems that's all the current crop of WTA "stars" can do these days (I'm looking at you, Serena!), divert attention from the business at hand (winning matches, slams etc).....and what better way to do it than throw a few shots at fellow players?

tsk, tsk, tsk,...................................