Thursday, September 5, 2013

Defending champions out of U.S. Open

Defending champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci made their exit from the U.S. Open today when they lost their quarterfinal match to Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters--who won 6-3, 6-1--were truly on their game. Venus was especially impressive, between her serving and her volleying. They never let the Italians in at all.

Next up for the Williams sisters are Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Whoever wins will face Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in the final. This is the third major final the Australian team has reached this year, and they'll be looking for their first major victory.

Tomorrow, Serena plays Li Na in the semifinals, and Flavia Pennetta plays Victoria Azarenka. I'm really pleased with the final four, and especially pleased to see Pennetta reach the semifinals (and at a time when observers probably thought that she couldn't). And while a Williams-Azarenka final is predicted, anything could happen. All four women have very impressive hard court skills.

Women's wheelchair top seed Sabine Ellerbrock will play her first match tomorrow.

One final note on today's action: Monica Seles is officially a skeleton. Scary.

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