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BRING ON THE US OPEN!
What a couple of weeks it will be! The US OPEN, America’s premiere tennis event from New York City, approaches. And it promises to be one of the best ever.
On the men’s side, ANDRE AGASSI and PETE SAMPRAS continue to prove they are still on top. SAMPRAS looks to add grand slams to his record number, and AGASSI isn’t far behind. Both men met in the finals of the Mercedes Benz Cup in Los Angeles, getting through some of the games hottest and up and coming names. PATRICK RAFTER has been hot. After losing to INVANISEVIC in the WIMBLETON FINAL, he has been in 2 other finals, winning
Sunday at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, when world number 1 CUSTAVO KUERTON had to withdraw with a rib injury. Earlier in the day RAFTER had to beat IVANISECVIC 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, to gain the final.
Others on the men’s side who have showed promise in recent weeks are TAYLOR DENT, JAN MICHAEL GAMBIL and ANDY RODDICK, who all have names to be made for themselves in this year’s closing major tournament. And the injury to KUERTON shouldn’t keep the Brazilian from stirring up the fans in New York.
But the real excitement is on the women’s side of the tour. MARTINA HINGIS is still number 1 as a result of the most consistent play on the women’s tour. But the walls are crumbling; the stadiums around her are tumbling down. HINGIS’ doesn’t have the power serve which is becoming more and more a staple of the women’s game. The WILLIAMS sisters have the fastest serves, but LINDSAY DAVENPORT, and others are not far behind. Even MONICA SELES, the grand dame of the circuit, has been working on upping her service speed and power. It is exciting to see that HINGIS has broken through to beat some of the top women in recent weeks (HINGIS twice, SERENA WILLAMS, and JENNIFER CAPRIATI), making her a serious contender for the title. JENNIFER CAPRIATI has cooled somewhat, from her blistering start of this season’s matches, but with 2 grand slams already on her trophy shelf this year; she is in the hunt for the title. Defending champion VENUS WILLIAMS served notice that she is ready to defend her title, by winning WIMBLETON. Her sister SERENA has perhaps an even better power game than VENUS does. DAVENPORT has tasted victory here, and has the power to win. And then there are those knocking on the door of the top players in the world. KIM CLIJSTERS is ready to step up to the grand slam title level, as is JUSTINE HENIN, fresh off her stinging loss to VENUS WILLIAMS in the Wimbledon final.
It looks to be a fantastic 2 weeks at the US OPEN!
TENNIS SEASON HEATS UP
The top men and women in tennis have been playing hard on their way to the final major of the tennis season, the US OPEN, which will be held in New York, August 27th – September 2nd. Long-time rivals, ANDRE AGASSI and PETE SAMPRAS met in the finals of the MERCEDES-BENZ CUP in Los Angeles. Agassi defeated top-seeded GUSTAVO KUERTEN in the semis and SAMPRAS beat XAVIER MALISSE of Belgium on their way to their 15th finals match up. Despite a superb beginning by Sampras, Agassi composed himself and won his fourth title of the year.
In women’s te nnis, 6th seed MONICA SELES got a couple of monkeys off her back by defeating SERENA WILLIAMS in the quarters and MONICA HINGIS in the semis at the ESTYLE.COM CLASSIC in Manhattan Beach, California. After coming into tournaments out of shape, Seles returned to form and upset last year’s tournament winner, Williams. Then, she trounced Hingis only to lose to second seed and hometown crowd favorite, LINDSAY DAVENPORT. Davenport won 9 out of the last 11 meetings between the two tennis players.
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