MARIA SHARAPOVA PLAYS ON TV / MY CAT HIDES UNDER THE BED / TOO MUCH HIGH PITCHED NOISE

Written by: Staff on 30th August 2014

MARIA SHARAPOVA PLAYS ON TV / MY CAT HIDES UNDER THE BED / TOO MUCH HIGH PITCHED NOISE

epa04374931 Maria Sharapova of Russia hits a return to Sabine Lisicki of Germany during the fifth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 29 August 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

Call Her Sharapova , Sugarpova , Shoutapova , Shriekapova

It was Friday night in NYC after a long beautiful day @ the US Open . We got tired and headed home. Turned on the TV & loved the Federer match against the Auzzie who everytime he went to serve and had to re-toss the ball. He yelled out “sorry mate ” to Roger Federer. Who does that ? ( Pat Rafter ?)

Next came this awesome match between these two great ladies players. And next thing we know “pokey ” the cat dove under the bed.

We think the world of Maria’s Play and talent and guts and determination. She is a great champion. But she is just too loud. Just saying.

Singles – Third Round: (5) Maria Sharapova der. (26) Sabine Lisicki 6-2 6-4

Maria Sharapova of Russia hits a return to Sabine Lisicki of Germany during the fifth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 29 August 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

This started quite late, but it ended quickly enough that no one lost much sleep. For Sabine Lisicki, that means she won’t rise above her current #28 ranking; there is a very good chance she will fall. For Maria Sharapova, this represents pure opportunity. #6 coming in, she has already clinched the #5 ranking, and she is likely to rise to #4 (the next active player, Eugenie Bouchard, needs a final to pass her, and if Sharapova wins her next match, then Bouchard needs a title). And Sharapova is the highest seed left in the bottom half — indeed, she is the only Top Eight seed left in the bottom half! Sharapova can’t quite reach #1 here, but she could easily make it to #3 — or even #2.

Singles – Third Round: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni def. (2) Simona Halep 7-6(8-6) 6-2

Has the bottom half of the Open draw been taken over by aliens or something? First Agnieszka Radwanska, now this. Admittedly Simona Halep gives the impression of being primarily a traditional-surface player. But Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has always preferred clay and grass, too — and she just barely beat Shahar Peer. And then she beat Halep? She increases her points by almost half, and should rise to about #80. No more Challengers for a while! She is in her first Slam fourth round since Wimbledon 1999 — talk about a long time between big results. She called it “the best day of my life.”

Simona Halep is still #2 in safe points, but she obviously loses her shot at #1 — and she is less than 250 points ahead of Petra Kvitova. If Kvitova can make the quarterfinal, she’ll pass Halep. And Maria Sharapova is also within reach of Halep.

Singles – Third Round: Belinda Bencic def. (6) Angelique Kerber 6-1 7-5

Here’s a funny thing: We’ve now lost the #2, #4, #6, and #8 seeds. It’s as if even numbers are jinxed. Especially in the bottom half, since #2, #4, and #6 were all in that half. All right, with that numeric oddity out of our way… what an event! This is clearly a big chance for somebody. Maybe even Belinda Bencic. After all, this win puts her just below the Top Forty. She’ll obviously be at a career high. Angelique Kerber falls from #7 to #8, which almost certainly means that Eugenie Bouchard will return to #7. (Probably not higher; she needs a final to pass #6 Li Na.)

Singles – Third Round: (9) Jelena Jankovic def. Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-0

More food for thought for Sloane Stephens, who lost to Johanna Larsson the previous round. Just how bad was Stephens’s form?

Jelena Jankovic has now matched last year’s result, but needs two more wins to overtake Ana Ivanovic and again become Serbia’s #1 player. The good news is that Jankovic is in the quarter of the draw vacated by Agnieszka Radwanska .and Angelique Kerber, so she has a genuine shot at making it.

Singles – Third Round: (10) Caroline Wozniacki def. (18) Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-2

Andrea Petkovic still has an outside chance to make the Top Fifteen, but we’d guess this means she won’t make it. Caroline Wozniacki keeps alive her chance to return to the Top Ten, but she still has a long way to go.

Singles – Third Round: (13) Sara Errani def. (19) Venus Williams 6-0 0-6 7-6(7-5)

If they gave an award for Screwiest Scoreline, this would have to be at least tied for first place. Venus Williams was wildly erratic in the first set. Then she settled down — but clutched up at bad moments. She served for the match in the third set and was broken. In the tiebreak, she went down 5-2, got it back to 5-5 — and lost it on an amazing set of angles from Sara Errani. Even so, Venus seems almost sure to stay Top Twenty. Errani, because this lets her overtake Dominika Cibulkova, will very likely gain at least one place above her current #14.

Singles – Third Round: (14) Lucie Safarova def. (22) Alice Cornet 6-3 6-7(3-7) 6-4

Lucie Safarova keeps alive her hopes for a career high, but it isn’t certain yet — and she faces Peng the Giant-Killer next. Alize Cornet loses her chance to reach the Top Twenty; she’s currently #21 in safe points.

Singles – Third Round: Peng Shuai def. (28) Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-3

Given the way Roberta Vinci has been playing, it’s no surprise that she lost this. The surprise is that she managed to win two rounds! Unfortunately for her ranking, she won four rounds last year, so this will hit her hard; she will fall from #30 to no better than #43. She may have an interesting choice on her hands: She’s #1 in doubles, and can get into anything. Based on her current ranking, she won’t be able to get direct entry into singles at some Premium events. Will she play qualifying? Play more small events and cut back on doubles? Something else? We probably won’t find out until next year; the drop in her ranking won’t really affect her this year, because the entry deadlines are mostly past.

Peng Shuai has now beaten two seeds, and her reward is to rise from #39 to around #32.

Doubles – Second Round: (4) Makarova/Vesnina def. Cetkovska/Piter 6-4 6-1

Ekaterina Makarova’s Top Ten ranking remains in some doubt, but it’s likely to be a non-issue if she and Elena Vesnina keep playing this well.

Doubles – Second Round: (5) Peschke/Srebotnik def. Lepchenko/S Zheng 6-4 6-4

With about an 800 point lead on the next active player, it really looks as if Kveta Peschke will be returning to the Top Ten. We currently show the Top Twelve as follows:

1..(1) ERRANI ……….. 10050*

1..(1) VINCI ………….10050*

3..(3) PENG ……………7785*

4..(4) HSIEH …………. 7635*

5..(5) MIRZA …………. 5375*

5..(6) BLACK …………. 5375*

7..(7) SREBOTNIK ……… 4595*

8..(8) VESNINA ……….. 4430*

9..(9) MAKAROVA ………..4410*

10.(11) PESCHKE ……….. 4345*

11.(14) KOPS-JONES ………4150

12.(14) SPEARS ………….4150

Doubles – Second Round: (8) Hlavackova/J Zheng def Riske/Vandeweghe 6-7(2-7) 6-3 6-3

Defending champion Andrea Hlavackova is still far below the Top Twenty in safe points, so this is probably not a good sign.

Doubles – Second Round: (12) Muguruza/Suarez Navarro def. Erakovic/Parra Santonja 6-7(5-7) 6-3 6-3

Doubles – Second Round: Date-Krumm/Zahlavova Strycova def. (14) Chan/Chan 6-3 6-2

Doubles – Second Round: Diyas/Xu def. Davis/Voracova 6-3 7-6(8-6)

Doubles – Second Round: King/Raymond def. McHale/Schmiedlova 6-0 6-2

King/Raymond had a tough opening match, but here, obviously, their edge in experience paid off handsomely.

Doubles – Second Round: Williams/Williams def. Kalashnikova/Savchuk 6-2 6-1

The Sisters struggled in their first first doubles match, but it seems clear they have things straightened out. Which is obviously not good news for the rest of the field.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (2) Hlavackova/Peya def. Parra Santonja/Marrero 6-3 5-7 11-9

Mixed rankings would have demoted Hlavackova/Peya to unseeded, so perhaps it’s not surprising that they struggled. Or maybe it’s just that Andrea Hlavackova hasn’t done much in any sort of doubles since winning the U. S. Open last year.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: H Chan/Mirnyi def. (5) Hradecka/Tecau 6-3 6-3

Mixed rankings would have promoted Chan/Mirnyi to a seed — but would have promoted Hradecka/Tecau to the #3 seeds. So this is perhaps a wash for Mixed rankings.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: An. Rodionova/Farah def. (8) Kops-Jones/Cabal 4-6 6-3 10-5

Finally a result that clearly supports the Mixed rankings, which would have demoted Kops-Jones/Cabal to unseeded.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Barty/Peers def. Muhammed/Fritz 6-2 6-2

Barty and Peers both lost early in the regular doubles. Maybe that explains how the Americans managed to win four games. Otherwise, we’d have expected a score closer to 6-1 6-0.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Medina Garrigues/Klaasen def. Krajicek/Draganja 7-6(7-1) 6-2

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Townsend/Young def. Cako/Kielbowicz 7-5 6-3

Cako/Kielbowicz were the Mixed Doubles Playoff winners. So they had the thrill of being able to play in a Slam. But they obviously couldn’t do much with their Big Chance.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Spears/S Gonzalez def. Babos/Butorac 7-6(8-6) 1-6 10-5

Spears/Gonzalez fell just one spot short of seeding under Mixed rankings, so perhaps this is a slight bit of support for Mixed — but only very slight.

Estimated WTA Rankings As of August 28, 2014

Rank &

Prior

Rank …Name …………. Points

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 7560*

2..(2) HALEP …………. 6160

3..(4) KVITOVA ……….. 5926*

4..(6) SHARAPOVA ……… 5575*

5..(5) ARADWANSKA ………5380

6..(3) Li ……………..5270

7..(8) BOUCHARD ………..4435*

8..(7) KERBER ………….4400

9..(9) IVANOVIC ………..3855

10.(10) JANKOVIC ………..3655*

11.(11) WOZNIACKI ……… 3245*

12.(14) ERRANI ………….3025*

13.(13) CIBULKOVA ……… 3007

14.(15) SAFAROVA ………..2965*

15.(19) PETKOVIC ………..2525

16.(16) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2420*

17.(20) VWILLIAMS ……… 2370

18.(12) PENNETTA ………..2351*

19.(18) MAKAROVA ………..2195*

20.(21) STOSUR ………….2110

21.(23) CORNET ………….1900

22.(22) KUZNETSOVA ………1860

23.(25) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1775

24.(26) MUGURUZA ………..1743

25.(24) STEPHENS ………..1690

26.(27) KEYS ……………1670

27.(29) ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA .1601*

28.(28) LISICKI ……….. 1546

29.(17) AZARENKA ………..1513*

30.(32) DELLACQUA ……… 1511*

Topics: Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, Sabine Lisicki, Tennis, Tennis Results, US Open

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10sBalls_com says:

August 30, 2014 at 11:17 am

@MariaSharapova PLAYS ON TV / MY CAT HIDES UNDER THE BED / TOO MUCH HIGH PITCHED NOISE http://t.co/e44o0W52Zn #Sharapova #USOpen2014 #tennis
KatValentini says:

August 30, 2014 at 11:21 am

RT @10sBalls_com: @MariaSharapova PLAYS ON TV / MY CAT HIDES UNDER THE BED / TOO MUCH HIGH PITCHED NOISE http://t.co/e44o0W52Zn #Sharapova …