Q. Can you just talk about the bout of nerves when you served for the match twice in that second set?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think I got a little uptight, which probably wasn't the best thing at that moment. I started to try to I wasn't playing very smart tennis then, so I just had to relax and not do that again. But I did it again. I don't know.
Q. Beginning of the tournament, any pressure on you to defend your title?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, there's always pressure to defend your title. I didn't feel a lot of pressure, but I knew I wanted to win. But I think, you know, losing a match before I got to the Open actually took a little bit of the pressure that was on me off of me, so it made it a little better.
SERENA, RICKY MARTIN AND EVA LONGORIA
Q. It's obvious that winning Grand Slams, they're all special experiences. But to win it having to sort of face that adversity that you did in the second set, overcome whatever hiccups were there and come back and win dominantly like that in the third, do you relish it all the more to have done it that way?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think at that point just getting the win under your belt is awesome. I obviously would have preferred to close it out in straight sets. But going against a great opponent like Victoria, you have to be able to realize that that can happen, and, you know, you have to keep fighting for everything.
SERENA AND RICKY MARTIN IN NEW YORK 2013
Q. What are your thoughts on the milestones that are ahead of you in terms of majors, including Steffi Graf's 22, given that you're only almost 32 years old?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I don't think about it. I always said recently like age for me is I feel great. I have never felt better. I feel really fit. I can play a tournament like this, singles, doubles, with tough, tough schedules. For the most part, I felt really good. You know, I haven't felt like this in a number of years. I'm excited about the possibilities. I don't know what can happen. I just keep playing and do the best that I can.
Q. How does the way you're playing right now compare with any other time in your career?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I think I played pretty solid in the tournament. You know, today wasn't probably my best tennis of the tournament, but it was a lot of things going on going against a good player. But it was good just to get through that.
Q. You have been so dominant this year. Did you feel like you kind of needed a second Grand Slam title?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Absolutely. I felt almost disappointed with my year, to be honest. I felt like, yeah, I won the French Open, but I wasn't happy with my performances in the other two slams, and, you know, not even making it to the quarterfinals of one. So I definitely feel a lot better with at least a second Grand Slam under my belt this year.
Q. Earlier this week Victoria was talking about her X Factor. Help us out. What's Serena's X Factor? What makes you so special as a champion on court?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know. I can't talk about that myself. I think that's a better question for someone else to answer. I don't know what makes me special. I consider myself just like everyone else. I just play.
Q. What was it like to meet President Clinton?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I have met him several times. Kind of we reminisced about when I was a teenager and how he first saw me then coming to the White House and several times at the US Open. So it was interesting, because we actually have a history. That's kind of unique to have a history with a former president of the United States of America.
WILLIAMS_AZARENKA 75 67 61
Serena Williams y Victoria Azarenka no decepcionaron a sus fans con un emocionante encuentro.
La numero uno ganó su quinto US Open al imponerse a tres mangas y revalidó el título.
Este es el título 17º de Grand Slam para la norteamericana. Al otro lado de la red le esperaba la bielorrusa Azarenka y segunda del mundo, era un rival conocido ya que ambas se midieron el año pasado en la final.
Azarenka estaba combativa y con ansias de revancha pero poco puedo hacer frente a una imponente Serena.
Con esta victoria la hermana menor Williams se llevaba 2,6 millones de dólares en premios y además uno adicional al ser la ganadora de la serie US Open, el Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge.
El partido duró dos horas y 45 minutos, uno de los más largos en la reciente historia de finales femeninas en Nueva York. La bielorrusa había asegurado días antes que llegaba habiendo mejorado como tenista en comparación al partido de 2012.
Y agradeció también la increíble oportunidad de jugar en Arthur Ashe una final del US Open ante la mejor jugadora del mundo.
Serena llegaba al US Open como la gran favorita y supo estar a la altura. En el camino a la final le ganó a la italiana Francesca Schiavone (6-0, 6-1, primera ronda), en segunda ronda a Galina Voskoboeva (6-3, 6-0, segunda ronda), en tercera a Yaroslava Shvedova (6-3, 6-1, tercera ronda), a la también estadounidense Sloane Stephens en octavos (6-4, 6-1,), a la española Carla Suárez Navarro en cuartos (6-0, 6-0) y a la tenista china Na Li en semifinales (6-0, 6-3).
Todo esto lo hizo perdiendo solo 16 juegos en todo el torneo.
Serena dejó claro en todo momento su gran estado de forma que un año más la ha colocado en el pódium. A sus 31 años de edad es una de las campeonas más veteranas del US Open desde 1950.
los números del partido..
interesantes..
by Por Silvia Barnett. us open official.
LA HORA DE VIKA EN NEW YORK 2013..
Ya falta poco para la final en NEw York, y lo hará no antes de las 22,30 hora de Madrid.
Azarenka no parte como favorita en éste partido, pero en el último y reciente enfrentamiento entre ambas en Cicinnati, fue la bielorrusa quien sacó la garra en la muerte súbita de la última manga..
Repetirá Vika?
TOURNAMENT INFO
Tier: International
Prize Money: $235,000
Surface: Hard
Director: S. Uthrapathy
Rich in museums and Soviet-era monuments, Tashkent is one of central Asia's oldest cities. The capital of Uzbekistan welcomed a WTA stop in 1999 with the debut of the Tashkent Open.
The tournament has featured a different singles champion every year since its inception, the locals especially delighting in Tashkent native and resident Iroda Tulyaganova's triumph in 2000. Belarusian Tatiana Poutchek has dominated in doubles, netting five titles - each with a different partner.
Stars to have graced the courts at the Tashkent Open include Victoria Azarenka, Marion Bartoli, Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina, Li Na, Dinara Safina and Francesca Schiavone.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Tier: International
Prize Money: $235,000
Surface: Carpet
Director: Jacques Herisset
The Challenge Bell was created in 1993 as a result of a Tennis Canada Initiative aimed at offering a high-quality international sporting event. The tournament has since become one of the most prestigious events in Québec and even all of Canada. In fact, it has been honored as the WTA's International Tournament Of The Year a record eight times, including every year from 1995 to 2000.
Past champions include WTA greats Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova.
Capital of the Canadian province of Québec, Québec City is famous for its historic sites, art galleries, museums, carnivals and festivals. It also hosts a variety of sports teams and events.
HLAVACKOVA/HRADEKA_WILLIAMS/WILLIAMS 64 62
Beating one Williams sister is difficult enough, but No. 5 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic have pulled off an upset in defeating both of them. Playing their best women’s doubles match of the tournament this week, Hlavackova-Hradecka broke the serve of Venus and Serena Williams five times in recording a stunning 6-4, 6-2 semifinal win, advancing into the finals tomorrow.
The Czech pair lost to the Williams sisters in straight sets in their only other two previous meetings, which took place last year in the finals of Wimbledon and the London Olympics, but they were determined to come through with a win this time.
"We're so excited," said Hlavackova.
"They're a great time and we knew we had to play every point as though it was important, so we're very happy to be in the finals."
The first set was a series of missed opportunities for the Williams sisters. The two-time US Open women’s doubles champions had game points in all of the first five games, but were broken three times to trail 1-4. Meanwhile, Hlavackova was still carrying the red-hot form that led her to the US Open Mixed Doubles title earlier in the day with Max Mirnyi. Striking her ground strokes with authority, she ripped numerous return winners throughout the set to keep her team in the lead.
Venus finally held serve for the first time in the match at 3-5, but Hradecka responded by doing the same thing. Taking advantage of some uncharacteristically sloppy net play from the Americans, the Czech team clinched the set after Serena fired a volley far beyond the baseline.
Things didn’t get much better for the Williams sister at the start of the second set, with Serena throwing in a double fault down break point to drop their opening service game. Going for broke on their ground strokes and staying on top of the net, Hlavackova and Hradecka's high-risk brand of tennis helped in taking a commanding 4-1 lead.
Perhaps already thinking about her women’s singles final on Sunday, the form Serena showed in her singles semifinal win was nowhere to be found in this doubles match as she continued to miss routine shots at the net.
The Williams sisters kept on fighting, erasing a match point on Venus' serve at 1-5 to stay alive, but it wasn't enough to pull through. Hradecka easily served out the match in the next game and the Czech pair jubiliantly celebrated their first win over the Williams sisters.
WILLIAMS_LI NA 60 63
Serena Williams served well, moved well, was clutch on big points and dominated in almost every way in her semifinal match against Li Na, winning 6-0, 6-3, to advance to the 2013 US Open final against Victoria Azarenka.
Williams, the world No. 1, will now be looking to win her fifth US Open and 17th overall major title in a rematch of last year finale, which Williams won in three sets over Azarenka.
“I was a little nervous but I was able to close it out finally,” Williams said. “I’ve been really focused in all my practices. I look forward to it (the final).
It’s great to be back in another final. Victoria is a great player and lifts her game when it counts.”
Williams entered the match with a 8-1 record against No. 5 seed Li, but the two battled for two tight sets in Cincinnati just a few weeks ago, before Williams prevailed. Friday’s semifinal was nothing similar. Williams won the opening set in just 29 minutes as Li struggled with errors, hitting 12 unforced for the set, especially on her forehand side, and just one winner.
Li was disappointed in her level of tennis, knowing that her 24 unforced errors and four doubles faults were costly.
"I mean, should not be nervous because it is not my first time to play semis," said the 2011 French Open champion and three-time Grand Slam finalist, alluding to her big-match experience. "But when I walk to the court I was feeling the court so big. Even the first set or beginning of the second set I was feeling, it's not about the technique. It's about the problem about myself."
Li, one of the few women on tour who can match Williams off the ground, was in the rallies but was the one making more mistakes. Playing in her first career US Open semifinal, she was back in the match briefly in the second set, when Williams played a rare error-strewn game and was broken for just the second time the entire tournament, as Li took a 2-1 lead when Williams netted a forehand.
The lead was short-lived. Williams rallied from down 0-40 to break back in the next game as Li’s backhand went astray, with six errors. The defending champion broke again for 4-2 and had six match points on Li’s serve at 5-2 in a 13-minute battle before Li managed to hold and force her to serve out the match.
She did just that.
On her seventh match point, Williams converted when Li hit a forehand return into the net and advanced to her 21st career Grand Slam final. Williams did not have her biggest serving day, with just four aces, but she outplayed Li in almost every category, with 19 winners to 8 and won 76 percent of first serves to just 50 for Li.
AZARENKA_PENNETTA 64 62
No. 2 Victoria Azarenka is again on the threshold of US Open glory after an erratic, but successful semifinal performance, reaching her second women’s singles final in as many years with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italy’s Flavia Pennetta.
As was the case in 2012, she will again meet Serena Williams in the final.
"It's an amazing opportunity, something that every player dreams of, to be in the final of the US Open and play against the best player in the world," said Azarenka.
"It's something that I'm so excited about, and I can't wait to go out and play."
Both Azarenka and Pennetta fought through inconsistent performances during the 52-minute opening stanza.
Seven breaks of serve occurred in the first nine games, as the harder-hitting Azarenka failed to find her touch early. Despite 18 unforced errors to just eight winners, the 24-year-old Belarusian cashed in on her sixth set point with an unreturnable serve from the ad court to take the first set 6-4. In the set, Pennetta was a perfect 3-for-3 on break point opportunities, but held her own serve just once.
The second set featured another three breaks to start, Azarenka ending the odd give-and-take with a hold, then a sweep of points at love to break and seize a formidable 4-1 lead. Pennetta would force Azarenka into a pair of mishits to convert her fifth break point of the match and get the second-set score to 4-2, but in the next game, the Italian would guide two consecutive makeable approach shots into the tape, losing her serve yet again.
Azarenka would serve the set out and punctuate the win with a crushing forehand winner. In all, Azarenka was broken five times, Pennetta lost her serve eight times in the one hour, 34 minute match.
"It was a little bit tricky," said Azarenka of her uneven play. "You know, just one shot wasn't working and threw my rhythm a little bit off-blanace. I felt like I was rushing too much."
LAS HERMANAS WILLIAMS YA ESTÁN EN SEMIFINALES DE DOBLES EN EL US OPEN 2013..
Tal vez Venus flojea en individuales, pero Serena le arrastra al triunfo en los dobles, donde ayer se deshizieron de errani y vinci y ahora les esperan hlavackova y hradezka.
El reto es apasioanate, y los dobles del Us Open promenten emociones...
Podrán las Williams?
AZARENKA_HANTUCHOVA 62 63
La juez de silla en la sesión nocturna era Marija Cicak, la croata que no tuvo problemas en su arbitraje.
Os dejo el resumen oficial del partido, interesante y atractivo...
The rematch of the 2012 US Open women's singles final is still on. Victoria Azarenka kept her part of the bargain alive, advancing to the semifinals with an almost entirely emphatic 6-2, 6-3 win over Daniela Hantuchova. Dressed in her black shoes and pink and gray dress, Azarenka had her no-nonsense face on, determined to avoid a repeat of the way she was pushed by Ana Ivanovic in the round of 16.
Despite the pair entering this match with a 2-2 head-to-head record, there were few who envisioned anything but a repeat of their most recent encounter, a win for the world No. 2 at Wimbledon in 2012. Hantuchova perhaps had that last performance on her mind in the opening game, as she immediately fell three break points behind, handing over her serve within the first five minutes. But the Slovakian has shown some punch in her first US Open quarterfinal in 11 years, breaking Azarenka back immediately.
The breaks of serve ping-ponged to 3-2, when Azarenka finally consolidated to take hold of the set. There was the odd glare at her racquet, glance to the heavens, and stare toward her box, but despite a double fault or two, from then on Azarenka was peerless, winning her serve, breaking at love, and then serving out at love, flicking a forehand out of Hantuchova's reach in response to not the best of drop shots.
The 30-year-old Hantuchova, one of five members of the last eight at 30 or over, began the second set in much better spirits, breaking her opponent immediatedly, clearly intent on giving the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd something to stick around for. But Azarenka broke straight back as the Slovak made a mess of her service game, plummeting a forehand into the tramlines to hand back the advantage.
On her next service game, she proceeded to lose four points in a row, two of them double faults, in a row, to give Azarenka an unreachable advantage.
Despite facing a break point as she aimed to consolidate, last year's finalist whipped a cross-court forehand to earn yet another break, serving for the match up 6-2, 5-2. The script went slightly off-kilter as Hantuchova broke from nowhere. But the flicker of light disappeared almost as soon as she had lit it, conceding two match points on her serve, and Azarenka advancing 6-2, 6-3 in 76 minutes.
One more victory and she could again meet Serena Williams for the women's singles title.
PENNETTA_VINCI 64 61
Ha sido en poco mas de una hora y por la via rápida y más cómoda donde el duelo de italianas se ha decantado del lado de Flavia.
Mejor posicionada en la pista y sin dar muchas opciones a su rival, sólo encontró algo de resistencia en la 1 manga del partido
los números
pennetta avanza a las semifinales del Us Open 2013...
HANTUCHOVA_RISKE 63 57 62
Partidazo a tres mangas, muy disputado y de emociones contenidas, donde en la jornada lluviosa de New York, la eslovaca trazó un tiralíneas cuan delineante en la pista y puso a Riske fuera de competción, eso sí, tras un disputado partido.
Daniela empezó bien, pero la norteamericana le contraatacó mucho y le puso contra las cuerdas en la 2 manga, pero la eslovaca sacó el golpe d efecto...
Os dejo las cifras, por si os sirven de algo...
SHARAPOVA SE RETIRÓ DEL US OPEN POR BURSITIS, ROMPIÓ CON CONNORS Y YA LO HIZO CON HOGSTEDT RECIENTEMENTE..
María no estuvo en condiciones de competir en el Abierto de EE.UU. este año debido a una bursitis en el hombro derecho y se ha retiró del torneo, según confirmó días antes el director David Brewer.
Agregó que le desean un "pronta recuperación" y que esperan su "regreso" a Nueva York el próximo año.
Sharapova, actual número tres del mundo y campeona del certamen en 2006, desde que perdió la final del Roland Garros ante Serena Williams a principios de junio no ha ganado un partido en dos torneos.
Perdió en la segunda ronda de Wimbledon ante la portuguesa Michelle Larcher De Brito y tras varias semanas sin jugar cayó en su primer encuentro en el torneo de Cincinnati ante la estadounidense Sloane Stephens.
La semana pasada la tenista, ganadora de cuatro ',Grand Slam' anunció su ruptura profesional con el entrenador Jimmy Connors, después de sólo un mes de trabajo.
En julio había hecho lo mismo con Thomas Hogstedt, su entrenador desde 2010.
MARÍA EN CRISIS?
VAMOS MARÍA!!
RADWANSKA, ADEMÁS DE BELLA Y ATRACTIVA, DEJA EN LA PISTA SU TENNIS CONTROL...
Se acerca la hora d ela verdad y el cuadro final del us open 2013 ya se cierra y entramos en la fase defintiva.
Radwanska inicia el asalto hoy a los cuartos de final y es la favorita, como lo es para llevarse el torneo, pero para ello debe dejarnos sus puntos de bella ejecución, sus boleas de infarto, su servicio ajustado y sus dejadas mortales..
Podrá Agnieszka?
