I think I've seen enough. She can't win it and is spraying all over the board. Time for some shopping. Everyone have a great day. Congrats to the Vika fan. Sorry Temes.

Serena not playing her best will take something away from Vika's win if she wins, of course. Reminds me how important the role of opponent is in this game.

why is she challenging that shot....she's up 5-1 against a hobbled player
play on

Well this match has been somewhat painful to watch -- all credit to Vika, of whom I'm not really a fan, for really playing her game.

Okay, major boo to Hawkeye. How is the call unavailable?

It was the last bloody point. How could they not find it?

Thanks Elenas, I turned off the sound because Carillo gets on my nerves.

Primo choke time. C'mon Vika hold it together. Just keep the ball in play.

Boo challenge system! Vamos Rrrrrrrrrrafa!

Really, lira vega said everything I think about this match way back in the first set:

"Serena has trouble with footwork on BH, Vika's figured it out, drawing errors from that side. But, goodness, the serve is MIA"

Although I will add: I kind of like Aza's grunt now that tennis is on TV, because it reminds me when to look up from the computer.

Amy Lu, The same thing happened in Oz in the Fed-Berdych match. I guess the algorithm is probablistic, so if they find no sufficient evidence they'd let the original call stand. Either that or the image was obscured by something. In Fed-Bird, there was a shadow across the court. That doesn't seem to be the problem here. It could be glare.

dude. Vika. control your nerves.

jeez this ain't pretty

Aah the tension of the game,set and match point...in a deuce...exciting

15-0 Serena BH return long
15-15 Serena BH winner - Victoria challenges but HawkEye is not available so call stands
30-15 Serena BH long
30-30 Serena FH return winner
30-40 Victoria DF
40-40 Victoria BH passing shot winner as Serena came to net on FH approach
A-40 Serena FH return long
40-40 Victoria BH long
40-A Victoria running FH wide that was set up by FH return DTL
40-40 Serena nets BH return
A-40 Victoria Ace wide
40-40 Victoria DF
Is Victoria nervous?
Took Victoria 4 MP to close Svetlana Thursday
A-40 Serena FH return long
Victoria wins the match in 72 minutes as Serena BH sails long

Victoria Azarenka defeats Serena Williams 6-3,6-1 to win the Sony Ericsson title

Vika incredulous!

Loving the reaction.

does Serena throw her racquet usually?

She just did there....

lol, that was funny. you didn't win in the fashion parade.
Congrats, Vika! (and Biz and her other supporters)

Major props to Serena for fighting it out.

FD is going to explode.

yay

It's nice to see such unbridled joy! (my wife is from Belarus, so I had a particular rooting interest)

Azarenka wins, cries, hugs coach or whoever that man is. Well done to her! Love her attitude. Will be following her on tour...

Well, Vika acting like she's won a slam. Congrats to fellow fans. Commiserations to Serena fans. Obviously injured. Anyways, this will do wonders for Vika's confidence, and hopefully she can go far in a slam.

Sorry to ReRe fans. I hope she recovers soon from the (apparent) injury. but, boy what a resounding victory for Azarenka! She played excellent, but that grunt..;)

Congrats to Bizzer, GH and other Azarenks fans.

I really want to see these two play each other healthy...and soon.

Congrats to Vika, but I saw a player who had nothing in her game due to an injury. Her movement, serve and shots weren't there. I can't remember the last times I've seen her this passive, she usually gets mad and pumps herself up.

What? Serena threw her racquet too??

Um...not exactly barnburner I was hoping for, but I 'll take it. Vika's first Tier I (or whatever the hell they call them now) title. Woohoo!
Commiserations to Serena fans.

Poor Serena, really brave of her to keep playing through her injury. Happy for Vika though. Great win for her at 19.

am not a fan, Arun.

Azarenka the next Hantuchova

Serena smashing her racquet and totally didn't shake hands with the ump, just like in Doha! :mischievously spreading disinformation:

Not exactly the best advertisement for the WTA, but whatever. Tennis on my TV! :shrieks like Vika:

WLF she was so ValleyGirl in her oooooooooooooooooh myyyyyyyyyyyyyy Goooooooooooooooooooooooodddddddddddd. Especially liked the little trembley fingers

Pspace, I'm guessing you don't ave sound either?

Arun, lol. Oh, that grunt. :)

" (my wife is from Belarus, so I had a particular rooting interest)"

j6, that is awesome! Big congrats.

Condolences to Serena fans. Actually, to them and neutral fans like me. I just wanted to see a good match. Major boooo to the match we didn't get to see, unfortunately.

Well Done to Vika. Poor Serena, but she did herself proud by continuing to play despite being injured.

Hope the men's final tomorrow proves a more interesting affair.

lira, nope.

WLF, I think I saw her throw water bottles at the ballkids too. :)

She kicked Andrews cat!!!!!

Well, Serena was hurt, but ... Azarenka played better than Serena did all tournament, really, and the last time the two played Azarenka was winning even while sick, until she was just too sick. There is nothing to take away from Azarenka. And Serena did not.

Richa: she threw it gently....nothing like the Federer.

dude can't afford a suit he doesn't need to patch up?

Mary Jo: Make excuses! Make excuses!
Serena: No!

Long article about Serena's troubles to follow...Bodo will make sure that we all focus on Serena, and ignore the new player on the block. Now, Bodo, is it about the racquet Serena broke, or is it her injury, or did the umpire cause the whole mess?

Yes, seven pages on Serena will do, thanks Bodo. You know the drill.

aw, teary eyed kid. See? you can be adorable.

BellowRooster all sweet and overcome.

nice speech by Vika and nice dimples

Can I just say I hate this yankee interviewing thing. Just let people have their say.

And a swarm of blue locusts descends.

fugly trophy.

arbiter
when do the invitations to your pity party go out

Oh, get off Serena's back. She graciously gave Vika credit and made no excuses about an injury.

Arbiter,
Pete said that he will write about Victoria in his opening thread as Serena did not do anything special. I am looking forward to this article.

Bismarck,
One title for you this weekend. Will Novak complete the weekend?

Master Ace: Maybe this can make uup for your prediction of Vika to win IW that did not come true. :) I can't remember who took her out there, but she certainly played well in Miami.

Pspace: It probably feels like a Slam to Vika, and don't they call this the "5th Slam"?

Crap. I changed channels. They interviewed the players rather than letting them talk?

I love Vika, there's something striking about her, but that shriek is HORRIBLE, the high-pitchness of it. Yikes.

Loved the reaction though, one for the history books. They didn't care for it in Eurosport, given how injured Serena was. Was there a hand shake? Not sure I've seen one.

Ah, Serena - that wasn't a decent smash, go call Fed to show you how it's done! For someone who doesn't practice the racquet smash, he has a great technique on it.

Oh God - CBS is reshowing Fed/Djoko. *bails*

Or, Serena can definitely smash rackets -- she absolutely bludgeoned one against Mauresmo in Wimbledon one year, when she was down a break in the third, if I remember correctly.

My heart is softening a bit toward Vika -- that was really touching to see how emotional she was.

And, Ruth, I think Vera beat Vika in IW in the semis?

Ruth, yeah. I meant that affectionately rather than sarcastically.

Once again ... WTA Final, and we're still trashing Fed. :/

So ... I didn't see the match. Was it an injury? ... illness? ... bird flu? (just kidding)

Was she nursing an injury the entire tournament? ... or did she aggravate a recurring injury?

Ruth,
One tournament too late:) Vera Zvonareva defeated Victoria Azarenka in Indian Wells.

CBS showing Fed-Nole.

I was going shopping, but now CBS is showing Roger and I want to see him crack that racket. Does anybody know when the racket smashing occurs? Is it in the second or third set?

Madam Samantha Elin
I think it's the 3rd set

Imagine a match between Shriekeypova and Bellorenka. eek.

who are these trainers who fail to nip this madness in the bud; as well as certain other unspeakable habits visible on the men's side.

Anyone know what the WTA top ten will look like on Monday?

Draw for Marbella is out. Mauresmo pulled out, Jelena's got (also slumping) Fran in the first round

(1)Serena Williams v Klara Zakopalova
Renata Voracova v Pauline Parmentier
Q v Q
Maret Ani v (5)Carla Suarez Navarro

(3/wc)Kaia Kanepi v Rossana De Los Rios
(wc)Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor v Q
Andreja Klepac v Severine Bremond
Ioana Raluca Olaru v (7)Sorana Cirstea

(6)Sara Errani v Julia Schruff
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro v Lourdes Dominguez Lino
Virginia Ruano Pascual v Tathiana Garbin
Anastasiya Yakimova v (4)Anabel Medina Garrigues

(8)Tsvetana Pironkova v Roberta Vinci
Angelique Kerber v Nicole Vaidisova
Q v (wc)Estrella Cabeza Candela
Francesca Schiavone v (2)Jelena Jankovic

Samantha, Fed smashes his racket down 0-2 in the third set. I think it's on YouTube.

This final was terrible. I'm glad Serena didn't retire, but a part of me wishes she did. It's hard to see #1 in the world lose in such a lopsided way. Plus it was just not fun to watch.

Syd, yeah, I'm all for banning shrieking if it most fans find it disturbing. For me, it's variable. Cranky is ok, Shrieky is intolerable. Some have noted that Cranky is much worse live. I remember a year or so ago, there was a huge controversy, when a junior kid was banned for shreiking. She said Masha was her idol. I dunno. At this point, the players union wouldn't allow it 'cos all the top players do it. They should've made the rule when Seles came on the scene, but after that it was too late.

Serena can definitely break rackets. This time last year against JJ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4IzPcGfSng
gosh, that match was comedy gold

Master Ace,
am I right in thinking Dubai, IW, Miami, Madrid and Beijing are 5 mandatories?

I know it is looked on very graciously in tennis to not mention injury/really bad play/conditions in a loss. You should always give the other player ALL the credit. But that argument never really has any credence in my books. How many of us actually believe that women's final was all Victoria and the injury had nothing to do with it? I'm not saying Serena should have said, "I lost because I was injured" but surely that factor has to be considered. IDK, I just prefer it when the players are honest about how they feel rather than blankly give their opponent credit when everyone knows it's not sincere.

Pspace: True—maybe it's too late. Elena's piercing shriek drives me crazy, can't stand watching her.

Lira vega. . . just about to post that!!!!!LOL

YAYNESS for VIKA!!!!!!!LOL . . . . .. .prooved herself as the best of the younguns this year!!!!!!!LOL . . . .. . . .

ugh. . . . trust JJ to get a claycourter for her first match on clay when she's not playing well!!!!!!!LOL

Now, with Victoria Azarenka winning today, question is how will she perform during clay season that starts Monday.

I'm tolerant to the grunts/shrieks of only one player - Monica Seles.

Arun, but she was the progenitor of all shrieks, no? ;-) Frankly, I was so happy that someone was stickin' it to Steffi, that I rooted for Seles. But, it was a godawful shriek in retrospect.

In my books the shrieks rank as follows:

1) Serena Williams (at least it's deep thus less piercing)
2) Ana Ivanovic (not too loud)
3) Elena D (With that serve, she deserves a pass)
4) Victoria (I'm not yet used to it so it ranks higher)
5) Venus (hers is too high and sounds a lot like...)
6) Maria (she's still the worst because it intermittently gets louder when she's not doing well).

P.S. Am I the only one who thinks CBS is showing this Men's semi in particular because they want to show the racquet smash. They skipped so much just to get closer to that time. He he he.

Thanks for the heads-up on the CBS repeat.

Carillo wasn't commentating yesterday, or was she?

Lira Vega,
Dubai is not mandatory.

Mandatory - Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Madrid, Beijing
Premier 5 - Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto, Tokyo

Master Ace. . .. .i dnt tink the clay will be a problem for Vika. . . .she's proven herself as an all surface player. . . . .she's made two finals on clay. . . . and last years semi's at berlin.........4th round at RG .. .. and won last years french open mixed (w/bob bryan)!!!!!!!!!!!LOL

Skw
jeez if Serena is honest:"I made too many errors, didn't play my best" she is criticized
and if she is gracious "all credit to Victoria" she is being disingenuous

Fed/Nole - now there's a match not worthy to grace anyone tape.

I gotta say, if it had to happen, better that it happened against Nole in the Semi, and not against Murray in the final. Not just because it would be against Murray, but because there's a ceremony and a speech afterwards.

Yellow Fuzzy:

Oh no, no no. I wasn't trying to criticise Serena. In fact, I am criticising the status quo that she should always just give her opponent the credit. It sounded like hog wash to me to just blankly give credit to a player when quite obviously an injury played into it. I much rather prefer when she says she handed the opponent the match.

I think that Serena is on a downcycle from her "nutritional supplements" and I'm not surprised she lost. Compare pics from earlier this year (check my blog site):
http://www.tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/

I'm also a little surprised that people are taking Serena's "injury" at face value, although I was not able to watch the match this A.M.

did anyone notice after Roger destroyed the racket, while he was sitting on the change-over, he was just tossing his water bottles over his shoulder

pspace: the grunts and shrieks drove me away from the women's game completely. don't they know how ridiculous they sound? on EVERY stroke? it's one thing if it's occasionally but i find the whole concept bizarre.

There went the racquet. That bit gets me every time.

Yea Roger, he really cracked it good. Ok, now I can go. Have a great day everyone. One note to the Serena fans, I wouldn't worry to much about Vika, Serena has a way of coming back and getting revenge off those who beat her.

YF: Yes, I've seen him do that before, but not with the same force.:)

CBS is about to show Roger's press conference after they showed the racquet smash. Too bad that Victoria win has to be overshadowed by Roger's match yesterday.

Agh, Typepad is messing with me big time...Let's try again

Thanks Master Ace, I guess that's marginally better for JJ's ranking in next 12 months

FWIW, I don't mind girls grunting/screaming/shrieking, it's Guga/Tipsy kind of grunting that grates on me

Some interesting conspiracy theories you have there tennis roids. Funny how you can distinctly tell who is on steroids by examining pictures, but the testing agencies fail to do so with numerous testing. You must be a genius!

Annie, it actually might be worth asking Pete to address this shrieking issue. I'm not sure where the brass and players stand on this. I mean the best sound of tennis is racquet striking ball, and if it is obscured by shrieks, it diminishes the tennis experience. Entertainment aspect of sport has to be considered at some point.

Yup, Rog's crying. He is VERY emotional!

tennis roids
I'll just catch your infomercial
are you still offering the free 'Snuggie' with every purchase

Now seeing the presser replayed, it didn't seem near as bad as it was made out to be here. He chuckled when he made the comment about the hardcourt season being over. We seem to overstate things a bit here sometimes. :)

Right Tennis roids.(roll eyes at the nonsense) She was limping at the end of the Venus match, so she started her faking two days ago and to complete the fraud she put on the brace. Makes sense to me. I think you got it all figured out Tennisroid. Ahh, right!

"I'll just catch your infomercial
are you still offering the free 'Snuggie' with every purchase"

Lol, Fuzzy! So tennis roids is the Shamwow guy??? :)

yeah watching nole vs. Roger on CBS. all i can say is wow. Didnt get to watch it yesterday, but now i pretty much understand that this was no high quality match. Errors, everywhere. The racket smash was interesting, but Mary Carillo's reaction was the best. "He pretty much retired that stefan edberg sportsmanship award there"

that presser from roger was sad. Looked like he's been crying.

Got to run out for a while but will be back later to discuss Victoria win and Novak/Andy final tomorrow

hey how come they aren't showing Vika/Serena's presser?
Or will they?

Seriously, crying crying? I mean, in the Swiss press conference, he looked okay. I saw that one.

Neil Herman also implied there were tears during the conference, Pete didn't, so I thought Herman might have over-stated things.

Sigh - He has to find a way to start dealing better, right now, his emotions are all over the place.