The semifinals — ATP during the afternoon, WTA at night under the lights — has an electric feel. On the men’s side, we’ve been following American Mardy Fish, and his match-up against Brit Andy Murray stirs the crowds. Murray won here in 2008, and Fish was a finalist last year (losing to Roger Federer), so each knows the glory (and the likely battle against the dominant Djokovic) awaiting.

Read More

Only one opportunity to catch a match live, and thanks to a hook-up from the scheduling gods, it was Mardy Fish vs. Rafael Nadal. Yet another look at Fish, the men’s player with the most upside entering the U.S. Open, while Nadal seems to be caught in a slight free fall, so maybe this would serve as a course correction for him.

Read More

The heart of the tournament sets up a day made for the remote control, but out on the grounds of the Lindner Family Tennis Center, you can only hope that your feet won’t fail you because who knows what you might miss as you’re dashing between courts to catch all that you can of the human highlights. And today would definitely offer its share of highs.

Read More

A sparse crowd arrives early on Center Court for the first match of Day Three (Aug. 16), which features one of the more intriguing players on the WTA roster thus far in 2011: Li Na, who reached the finals of the Australian Open and became the first native-born Asian player to capture a Grand Slam title when she won the French Open. Kicking things off here, the tournament was proud to recognize a group of young girls from the Mountain Flowers Chinese Youth Tennis Academy in attendance. Although light, the crowd warmly greeted Li during the player introductions; a sign that the dedicated fans of the game wanted an up close look at her.

Read More

Although I missed the morning and afternoon session of Day Three, Brian Taylor snagged a few key photo opportunities. From Center Court, there are shots of the match between Svetlana Kuznetsova versus American qualifier Jill Craybas. The results, with Kuznetsova cruising 6-3, 6-4 into the second round, speak to the stout power of the talented Russian, who happens to be one of the more formidable hitters on the women’s side. Off court, Taylor captured Rafael Nadal during his press conference, where he likely faced questions about the ongoing meteoric rise of Novak Djokovic who is in the midst of a phenomenal run, the likes of which the game hasn’t seen, possibly ever. Will it continue here, or will Rafa or reigning champion Roger Federer (the only player to have beaten Djokovic so far this year) or someone else slow him down before the U.S. Open?

Read More

The Western & Southern Open kicked off in grand fashion Aug 13, spotlighting the renovations to the Lindner Family Tennis Center that now allow it to accommodate both men’s and women’s action simultaneously. More importantly, the immediate impact hit when the news arrived (at day’s end) that Saturday drew an all-time record for attendance with 13,204 tennis fans taking in the new digs, a strong line-up of qualifying matches as well as opportunities to catch top names tuning up on the practice courts and the undeniable fun of Kids Day activities.

Read More