Saturday, August 30, 2008

WTA Update: Davenport, Kuznetsova out of US Open

Day five of the US Open saw another upset occur.

Svetlana Kuznetsova was ousted in three sets to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia. Kuznetsova won the second set tiebreaker to keep the match alive, but ultimately lost the third round.

Lindsay Davenport was also ousted when she lost to no.-12 seeded Marion Bartoli of France. Bartoli won the match in straight sets 6-1 and 7-6 (7-3).

I'll keep up the updates going on through the weekend, so stay tuned.

Friday, August 29, 2008

WTA Update: Ivanovic out at US Open


The biggest upset of the US Open has officially arrived. Top seed Ana Ivanovic was knocked out in the second round of the US Open. The no.-1 player in the world lost to Julie Coin of France.

Coin struck first in the match when she won the first set, 6-3. Being under pressure of losing, Ivanovic won the second set, 6-4. Coin won the deciding set, 6-3.

The loss was a huge blow, but didn't seem to be a surprise. Ivanovic had zero aces for the match, while Coin had five. Ivanovic had eight double faults and 34 unforced errors.

Ivanovic struggled to win her first round match, needing three sets to defeat Vera Dushevina. Ivanovic was also eliminated early from Wimbledon, thus ending her season in the grand slams.

Who knows what upsets we'll see yet! Anything is possible.

Photo Credit: Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Thursday, August 28, 2008

WTA Update: Day three results at US Open


Another day has come and gone at the one and only Flushing Meadows in New York.

No.-2 seed Jelena Jankovic needed three sets to win her second round match on Wednesday. Jankovic defeated Sofia Arviddson by a score of 6-3, 6-7 (7-5) and 7-5. Jankovic had three aces, but nine double faults in the match.

Svetlana Kuznetsova won her second round match on Wednesday, defeating Sorana Cirstea. Kuznetsova won the match 7-6 (7-3) and 6-1.

Elena Dementieva also advanced to the third round after her victory on Wednesday over Pauline Parmentier.

Lindsay Davenport also won her match on Wednesday. Davenport defeated Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets, 7-5 and 6-3, to advance to the third round.

The biggest upset of the day came when no.-8 seeded Vera Zvonareva lost to Tatiana Perebiynis in straight sets. Perebiynis won the match, 6-3 and 6-3.

Keep it tuned for here for a recap of day four, tomorrow!

Photo Credit: USOpen.org

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

WTA Update: Ivanovic advances

Day two has now left Flushing Meadows and there was a couple of surprises after the second day.

Ana Ivanovic survived a second set scare to win her first round match on Tuesday. The Serbian defeated Vera Dushevina of Russia. Ivanovic is coming off an injury that forced her to miss the Beijing Olympics, a couple of weeks ago.

The biggest upset of the day happened at the Grandstand courts when no.-11 seed Daniela Hantuchova lost to Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany in straight sets. Groenefeld defeated Hantuchova 6-4 and 6-2.

The Williams sisters had much better success on Tuesday. Both Venus and Serena won their matches in straight sets.

Among the winners Tuesday include Dinara Safina, Nadia Petrova, Bethanie Mattek, Agnes Szavay and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Keep it tuned here for more coverage of the US Open.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

WTA Update: Day 1 finished at US Open

Day 1 of the US Open has come and gone in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. It's the first time many of these athletes have competed since the Olympics in Beijing.

No.-2 seed Jelena Jankovic won in straight sets last night in her first round match. Jankovic defeated American, Coco Vandeweghe, 6-3 and 6-1.

No.-3 seed Svetslana Kuznetsova won her first round match on Monday afternoon. She defeated Shuai Zhang of China in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-2.

Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva also won her first round match on Monday when she defeated Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets, 6-4 and 7-5.

Other winners on Monday include Lindsay Davenport, Caroline Wozniacki, Jie Zheng, Marion Bartoli and Patty Schnyder.

No.-10 seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia was knocked out of the first round on Monday. The 21-year-old lost to Ekaterina Makarova in three sets. The scores were 1-6, 6-2 and 6-3.

Keep it tuned here for more US Open tennis coverage and make sure to enjoy the coverage for day two.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Olympic Update: Don't settle things with tiebreakers, let's go to OT


I've had some rough experiences in my life, but I wouldn't trade places with Nastia Liukin on Monday night for all the X-Box 360's in the world.

The US Gymnast and All-Around gold medalist came up short on Monday night in the finals of the Uneven Parallel bars event. Liukin finished the event with a silver medal, her fourth medal of these Olympics.

Liukin lost to gold medalist He Kexin, who had the same score as Liukin.

With tiebreakers in place, it was He getting the gold and Liukin getting the silver.

I don't know much about gymnastics. I admit ignorance on my part. I'm the first to admit that and I probably always will. Maybe it's my American bias, but even I thought the judging is a little messed up.

I understand that they've modified the scoring, but I'm still confused. I feel as though it lacks clarity. I mean come on, the announcers aren't always the brightest, but even the NBC crew had a tough time and needed the score sheets for both women. I wouldn't try and read it, unless you do understand, then please try to explain it to me, preferably in some sort of a diagram.

If there's a tie, then let's call it a tie. Otherwise, we have some sort of an OT showdown. We can do it kind of like a walk-off, minus David Bowie. Something simple! We have the technology people! Let's make use of it!

Granted, things won't be perfect, but we can at least try to put together a scoring system that even an idiot like myself can understand.

Photo Credit: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

Monday, August 18, 2008

Olympic Update: US women in soccer gold medal final


The US Women's soccer team find themselves in familiar territory here at the Olympics. The US Team is in the gold medal finals once again after defeating Japan today, 4-2.

Angela Hucles two goals made the difference for the US. Hucles scored her first goal late in the first half to tie up the match at 1-1. Lori Chalupny put the US ahead for good when she scored in the 44th minute. Heather O'Reilly also contributed a goal, but this one came in the 70th minute of the match. Hucles second goal came during the 80th minute, which was more than enough to put away Japan.

The US will be facing Brazil in the finals. Brazil defeated Germany earlier today by a score of 4-1.

The US has a chance to win their third gold medal ever in women's soccer. They've had much success here in the Olympics, only losing one gold medal final. The US has a chance to show their soccer dominance to the rest of the world, once again.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Olympic Update: Torres wins Silver in 50 M

US swimmer Dara Torres picked up a silver medal on Sunday in the 50 meter freestyle at the Beijing Olympics.

The 41-year-old lost by .01 seconds to Britta Steffen of Germany. Cate Campbell of Australia finished in third place.

Torres has her third medal of these Olympics. Her other two medals are also silver. Torres now has 11 career Olympic medals.

Meanwhile, the US in the women's 4x100 medley relay, which Torres was apart of, won the silver. They lost to the Australians, who in the process broke a world record.

The US team consisted of Torres, Natalie Coughlin, Christine Magnuson and Rebecca Soni. The team lost by less than a second. China picked up the bronze medal.

Finally, in the women's marathon event, Constantina Tomescu Dita won the gold medal. The Romanian defeated Wincatherine Nyambura Ndereba of Kenya by over a minute. Chunxiu Zhou of China picked up the bronze medal. Dita finished the marathon in two hours, 26 minutes and 44 seconds.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Olympics Update: 1-2 US finish in women's all-around gymnastics


The United States picked up a couple more medals last night (or today, I'm not very sure). US gymnast Nastia Liukin won the gold medal in the women's all-around final. Liukin scored a 63.325, narrowly holding off runner-up Shawn Johnson.

Johnson, the silver medalist for the event, scord a 62.725. She earned her second silver medal of these 2008 Olympics.

Liukin also has a second medal of these Olympics.

Yang Yilin of China picked up the Bronze medal in the event.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Olympic Update: US Women get Silver medal in team event


The US women's gymnastics team had plenty of opportunities to win the gold medal in the team event, but mistakes from some of their athlete's in last night's event fell short. Therefore, China won the gold medal, the US won the Silver and Romania won the Bronze.

China finished the event with 188.9 points. The US finished about 2.5 points behind, a total of 186.525. While the US barely outscored China in the Vault and the Beam, they were outscored in the Floor routine and the Uneven bars.

Next up will be the Women's Individual All-Around event final, which takes place on Friday morning.

Photo Courtesy: AFP/Getty Images

Friday, August 8, 2008

Olympics: It's on!

By the time you have read this, the opening ceremonies will have already been completed. They're 13 hours ahead of us (depending on which time zone you live in). Things will get kicked off right away on Saturday for the women's sports.

The US Women's volleyball team will square off against Japan at 10 am (all times here on in Eastern).

The Women's soccer team will play at 2 am. They will face Japan. Meanwhile, Canada will face China at the same time.

The US Women's basketball team is also playing their first game on Saturday. They face the Czech Republic at 2 am.

There are also several gold medal finals going on for Saturday. In Women's weightlifting, we will see the Flyweight gold medal final. That will be on at 2 am and you can see it on USA or USA HD.

The Air Rifle gold medal final in Women's shooting is also slated for Saturday. Finally, in Women's Fencing, the Individual Sabre gold medal final is also on tap for Saturday.

Enjoy the ceremonies.

Monday, August 4, 2008

LPGA Update: Shin wins Open

Ji-Yai Shin shot a 6-under for the final round on Sunday to win the Ricoh's British Open. Shin, who finished all four rounds with a 18-under, won the Open by three shots. Yani Tseung also shot a 6-under to finish in second. Her four round total was 15-under.

Eun-Hee Ji and Yuri Fudoh finished in third when they finished the tournament at 14-under. Ai Miyazato finished the tournament in fifth place. She shot 13-under for the tournament after shooting 2-under on Sunday.

Defending champion Lorena Ochoa finished in a tie for seventh place. She was 11-under for the tournament..

Paula Creamer and Karrie Webb finished in a tie for ninth.

In her final major, Annika Sorenstam finished in a tie four 24th. She went 6-under for the tournament.