US OPEN 2010: Berdych(7), Roddick(9), Azarenka(10) Out

Two big seeds on the Men's side were eliminated from the draw when Andy Roddick and Tomas Berdych lost to Janko Tipsarevic  and Michael Llodra, in 4 and 3 sets, respectively.

On the women's side Victoria Azarenka collapsed after trailing 1-5 in the first set against Gisela Dulko. Apparently, she had suffered a fall and hit her head before the match started and felt worse as the match progressed. She left the court in a wheelchair.

Melanie Oudin also lost.

Venus Williams is through to the 3rd Round, where she caught a break when Wimbledon semifinalist Tsvetlana Pironkova lost to unknown Mandy Mienella of Luxembourg.

US OPEN 2009: Women's Final Preview

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (9) vs. Kim Clijsters BEL. Unseeded Kim Clijsters should win easily over the ninth-ranked teenager from Denmark playing in her first major final while the young mother of 18-month old Jada is playing in her sixth (one win, four losses).

I suppose the less said about the unfortunate result that lead Clijsters into this final. However, this should lead the Tour(s) to consider video replay, not just electronic line calling that players can resort to when bad calls are made. As I've noted before, it's very curious that these unfortunate incidents only seem to happen to Black players in a predominantly White sport. It was an egregious line call that went against Serena Williams in a quarterfinal match against Jennifer Capriati in 2004 that eventually led to the current electronic line calling that everyone agrees has been a resounding success. I hope that something good can come out of last night's incident that can improve the game again.

Wozniacki is not out of her depth; she absorbed the formidable power of Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinal, eventually earning the right to (easily) dismiss "America's new sweetheart," the diminutive Melanie Oudin and another Belgian Yanina Wickmayer to reach this final.

However, it is hard to find another person who has been as severe an underdog in a recent Women's US Open final as Wozniacki is against Clijsters tonight. Maybe she'll use this opportunity to play out of her head, with no pressure, but even doing that, this Belgian will be able to turn defense into offense so quickly the result will not be in doubt. Clijsters will become the first mother to win a major tennis title since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.

MadProfessah's pick: Clijsters in 2 sets.

US OPEN 2009: Kuznetsova Blows Lead Against Wozniacki

2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova blasted 59 winners in 3 sets of play against 16 winners by 19-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and lost 2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3) in the fourth round in New York City last night. Unfortunately, the Russian had 63 unforced errors to the Dane's 25.

Clearly, the result of the match was on Kuznetsova's racquet; in fact she was up an early break in the third set but managed to lose that advantage and did well to save several match points and force a deciding set tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker Kuznetsova was very streaky again. She lost the first three points, then won the next three points and then lost the last four points and the match.

Kuznetsova was blasting the ball on both sides in the first set, completely overpowering Wozniacki. Starting in the second set she would blast the ball occasionally but when she started missing she curtailed this strategy, which was working for her. Wozniacki did well to stay focussed and defended well to maker her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she will face Melanie Oudin, the youngest American quarterfinalist since Serena Williams in 1999.

US OPEN 2009: Blake, Roddick, Safina, Sharapova GONE!

Maria Sharapova. Andy Roddick. Dinara Safina. James Blake. All these seeded players lost on Saturday at the US Open. Former champions Sharapova (2006) and Roddick (2003) both lost to up and coming Americans who hail from Georgia. Sharapova lost to 17-year-old Melanie Oudin from Marietta, who had beaten MadProfessah-pick Elena Dementieva in the round before (and first came to attention earlier this summer for beating former World #1 Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon). The 6'3" Sharapova served up a bucketful of double faults and lost 3-6 6-4 7-5 to the 5'6 Oudin.

Roddick lost to 6'9" John Isner from Athens, Georgia despite only losing his serve once in a tough 5-set match 7-6 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5). Roddick played well (only 20 unforced errors to 51 winners, compared to 90 winners to 52 errors for Isner, including 38 aces for the taller American).

Safina lost (finally) to Petra Kvitova while James Blake lost to Tommy Robredo.

Meanwhile Serena Williams is already in the quarterfinals and her sister Venus plays Kim Clijsters for a quarterfinal berth later today.