Ahhhhhhhhh Roger doing the splits

And Stan, you bring those shots when you are 6-1 down? Oops, i'm not doing very well in my "let's cheer for Fed" efforts:)

Oh c'mon, Rog, cut Stan some slack!

Challenge when leading 6-1?

Tfactor : No doubt Murray is the big favourite. But Davydenko is on a bit of a winning streak of his own.

Okay,the fact you had 5 match points doesn't mean you can just give the first 4 away lol!

Wow, did Serena just try to hit Bammer with the ball? This is becoming a recurrent scene.

I just had a feeling that was coming.

Yikes not over yet folks

omg come on stan!!!!!!!!!!!! >_<

And he's squandered the 2 MPS on his serve with 2 ridiculous UFE's...huh??

And now Fed misses 2 consecutive FHs to get to 6-5. I still dont think it will happen, but he sure is making it look interesting.

LOL. Well done Stan. 4 MPs saved. Loss of focus from Fed...but great play nevertheless from Stanley.

carnap, that distinction (always right), I hear, belongs to someone else on this board. sorry, u r too late!

Congrats to Jo Will, so sorry, Jackie.

Well, well.

Amazing get by Roger there

ugh poor stan..oh well

My stream's been down since 6-1. I bet Roger put Stan out of his misery?

And Jo did the same to Simon?

all the top 8 seeds are into the quarterfinals!

And he wins with great defense and a little bit of luck...Allez!!

Well done, Fed. Commiserations to Stan Fans.

Fed wins (not without making it interesting after being 6-2 up in the TB)

All the top guys are through.
Wondering what surprises will tomorrow bring.

Cincinnati
Pennetta over V Williams 7-6(2),6-4
Hantuchova over Zvonareva 7-6(8),0-6,7-6(5)
Clijsters over Kuznetsova 6-4,4-6,6-2
Wozniacki over Czink 3-0(ret.)
Dementieva over Cirstea 6-4,6-4
Bammer over S Williams 7-5,6-4
Jankovic over Azarenka 7-5,7-6(4)
Safina over Peng 6-3,6-4

Montreal
Djokovic over Youzhny 6-3,6-4
Del Potro over Hanescu 3-6,6-3,6-4
Roddick over Verdasco 7-6(2),4-6,7-6(5)
Murray over Ferrero 6-1,6-3
Davydenko over Gonzalez 7-6(2),7-5
Nadal over Petzschner 6-3,6-2
Federer over Wawrinka 6-3,7-5(5)
Tsonga over Simon 6-3,6-3

Oh Stan. After all that work. But, well played any way.

Congrats to fellow Fed fans. Commiserations to Stan fans. Good scrap. Given his performances at Wimbledon and here...I'm wondering if Stan is playing at a higher level than his ranking suggests. Would've been nice to see him trade blows with an in form Stepanek.

Yikes. Way to.... make us sweat, Mr Federer. Commiserations to Wawrinka fans. Federer wins 81/71, or 53% to 47%. Clean kill, I think.

More later. Still at work!

Congrats Roger.

Bad luck Stan.

Phew Safina marches on.

Very nice... the top 8 men are in the quarterfinals. As it should be.

Sorry Stan ... you still have concubine, well done Rog.

Awesome matchups tomorrow. Hoping there are streams for all of them.

A good day in the office for Rog.

Sorry Stan, you know we still heart you, right?

Poor Stan.

Well, surprise, surprise, Fed won in straight sets. In spite of the prophets of doom here he played very well, as did Stan, and as Doug and Robbie said, he played to Stan's strength and broke it down. That was one of the best aspects. He naturally still looks a bit less than his best, but given Stan's play, especially his serving, he did pretty well.

hi guys...

get to know what nole has in store for us....

see this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1e_LfYkkgU

Robbie soo excited

Tennis history has been made,the first time ever all top seeds are in the q/finals.

hi guys...

get to know what nole has in store for us....

see this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1e_LfYkkgU

And there it is. Stan is no Fed with the half-volleys. Federer beats Wawrinka, 6-3,7-6, and will meet Tsonga next. I dont think he will have much trouble, unless Tsonga catches fire somehow. It seems that Fed has a tendency of not going into the court to salute to the crowd after the matches here. He's in a hurry to go check on the girls:)
I think Fed played a good first set, but in the second it was more up and down for him, with less consistency. I think what he did well in the 1st, and he did less and not so succesfully in the 2nd was chrge the net. Still an improvement from his first match. The serve went a little down from the level of the first day, but i wouldnt say it was bad. Not at all. It's just that it was outstanding in his first match. The fact is, the guy has so many weapons, that he always finds one that's working.
So anyway, congratulations to Federer, to Mirka, Myla, Charlene, and (more importantly) the millions...AND MILLIONS of Fed's fans.
Also, conmiserations to Stan's fans (and to his concubine). He played better than Fed in the 2nd set in my opinion (served great), but couldnt convert on his chances and was unable to play his best in the key points, which is what makes the difference between a solid Top 20 player like him and a Roger Federer.

New definition of erratic: Daddy Fed. Must be the sleep deprivation. Some absolute TMF moments mixed in with Fed/Ferd, and rolph. Of course I am going by the stream, whose quality was problematic at best - sort of like Fed.

Ya know, Rafa's situation is very straight forward. He will play and either his knees will hold up or they won't. So far it looks like they will. But Fed is going through a period of adjustment as well...if a more subtle kind. How WILL having babies on board play out...in his mind and on the court. How will the stresses, (and I wasn't kidding about sleep deprivation, among others), effect his game and his focus? Stay tuned.

Tsonga is a more agreeable match-up for Fed than Simon. Let's hope Davydenko has garlic prawns before meeting Lestat, who appears to be playing his A+ game.

Amazing first having the top 8 all through; contrast with the women's game couldn't be starker.

Pspace - great thought about a Stan/Steps match-up. that would be a corker if both played well. Maybe the USO...5 sets of volleys and target practice. Cool.

AM, the Tournament Director clearly deserves a bonus. I bet he is a very happy man right now.
Toonie, you used Appleton to make pina coladas - oh the travesty. Next time you are in my neck of the woods I will give you a taste of my Master Blend vintage. It is 3 different Appletons blended together and oak aged for 25 years. If you have ever gone to a fancy place for dinner and had a good brandy and a cigar, then this is the rum for you. You need no ice, no water, no chasers, nothing. Just a nice brandy snifter, put the rum in the bowl, swirl and sip. Absolutely delicious, especially when drunk with a nice stogie

Cincinnati Order of Play:
Caroline Wozniacki vs Elena Dementieva at Noon
Dinara Safina vs Kim Clijsters at 2:15 PM
Flavia Pennetta vs Daniela Hantuchova
Jelena Jankovic vs Sybille Bammer at 7 PM

ESPN2 will have delayed coverage from 5-7 PM
Tennis Channel will have delayed coverage from 9 PM to 1 AM

Montreal Order of Play:
Andy Murray vs Nikolay Davydenko at 1 PM on ESPN2
Roger Federer vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on ESPN2
Andy Roddick vs Novak Djokovic at 7 PM on ESPN2
Juan Martin Del Potro vs Rafael Nadal

Well, i see the Top 8 seeds are through to tomorrow's QF. I got my predictions almost right, as i has Gonzo instead of Kolya. Maybe i'll get the energy to go check how i'm doing in the ATP challenge, after the sucking enormously in the first two rounds.
I'll stick with my predictions from the start of the tournament for tomorrow's matches, and that would be:
Federer
Murray
Roddick
Del Potro

hi guys...

world no.4 striptease here...

nole once again did the *expected...

making fun of himself? or his newly tanned skin with jelena????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1e_LfYkkgU

""I dont know if you saw Lestat's match today, but if he plays like that, i doubt that Kolya (or anyone
else, for that matter) will be able to take him out. ""

Murray wasn't serving well today. Yet he didn't face a single break pt in the entire match. He's slowly getting into his groove on this surface. I would be very surprised if he's not the last man standing on Sunday.

Beckham: Did you see the racket smash by Serena toward the end of Set 1? Second only to Safin! LOL

They began to show it again-- in slow motion, Leif said, jokingly -- but all we saw was Ree walking to her chair because the cameraman went back to the match depriving us of the climactic smash.

Whitney,

I think ESPN/2 is howing most all the matches tomorrow afternoon.

1:00 pm - 5:00 pm Montreal (M): Quarterfinals ESPN2 - LIVE
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Cincinnati (W): Quarterfinals ESPN2 - LIVE
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Montreal (M): Quarterfinals ESPN2 - LIVE

CL, if it were the babies that were affecting him, how on earth did he manage to play the first set like that?

If he played bad from beginning to end of match, its understandable, its day form.

Stan gifted the second set to Fred. Easy escape. Won't be so easy later.

MA: Thank you. Making a mental note to take a cab directly from the dentist's office to home.

Mr. X, I have the same QF and SF matchups as you do...wrong on Gonzo and right on the rest for the QFs.

Shhh...Don't jinx Lestat.

Anyways, I think Ferrero is a very good match-up for him. He's a steady attacker, and gets irritated by voodoo. Kolya will prolly also go the same way...unless he plays like it's Miami '08. Federer...no problemo. Now that Elf Potro guy...he worries me a little.

Cayman Karen: *hanging head in shame* but they were wicked good!
Can't smoke in restaurants in Canada but I could hang out outside on the street and inhale second hand smoke but then I couldn't have the drink as it's illegal to drink in the streets here too!!

Thanks for the OOP for tomorrow, Master Ace.
Go the Hott Woz and Kim, although they both have very tough matches. Maybe this could finally be JJ's tournament? It seems that the draw has opened up for her.
CL,
I would take the subtle adjutment situation over the straight forward situation any day. Not knowing how long the knees are gonna last is kind of nerve-cracking. But you are right, Fed is going through some changes. The difference is, his are good news, and he already has the famous 15, so he is in that mega-relaxed situation.

Mr.X. Montreal: 59 pts - 10659th out of 14781.
Well, as with Nadal, that's a slight improvement. Things were compltely screwed up after the first rounds, so i cant really expect much more.

Thanks Master Ace and Jake for the ESPN2 schedule. I got home from work today in time to see the broken string and third set tiebreak from the Roddick/Verdasco match. But I don't have to work tomorrow so looks like I'll be glued to the tv.

I'm excited to see Murray play - haven't seen him since Wimbledon. Feels like a long time ago. :)

Oh well Safina looks to be stopped tomorrow by Kim

I am ranked 80th out of 14781...that's the closest i have ever been...

now tomorrow, if Federer, Murray, Roddick and Nadal don't win...the fall is going to be steep and painful :-(

Bammer's daughter walked her off the court...sweet.

Good for you, Whitney. Off tomorrow to enjoy TOP tennis action.

Will see if I can finiggle some time out myself and enjoy some of it!

ladyjulia: I think it would be easier on their fans if they all lost than if just one did!

My picks for tomorrow - men
Tsonga
Murray
Nadal
Roddick
Winner of the Tournament: Roddick
Women:
Clijsters (the train rolls on)
Dementieva (doubt she will lose 3 in a row)
Pennetta
Jankovic

Not so sure about that, AM. I think Safina will rise to the occasion.

Hey, ladyjulia, i saw you are leading the TW group in the ATP challenge so far. Me, i'm still in the back group, but ahead of some follower of the vampire around here:)
Speaking of whom, Pspace, i think Lestat would take the blood out of Delpo's legs. The guy would be hitting slice after slice, and then all of the sudden, a deep BH. Delpo would need to serve truly huge to stop him. Still, that's way too far ahead, and maybe the Fed will find the slayer inside him. I hope so.

toonie...true..but that scenario will turn men's tennis into what women;s tennis is these days..

Muzza is on his favourite surface - I think he will get a win.

Ladies matches over yet? Or Serena/Bammer still playing?

Jake: It was played earlier, today. TC was showing a tape delay.

Jada looks so much like Kim.
http://tinyurl.com/kqtsws

OK guys shutting down for the night.
Toonie you need to come to my neck of the woods. Laws were recently passed that no smoking in restaurants etc., but we have cigar bars here so you can do your stogie and Master Blend. I think drinking all that rum during Roger's match has made me a wee bit tipsy, so going to lay down for a bit. Good night all and may the best men win tomorrow

Thanks, carnap.

I picked like Pspace Murrays no 1 fan to win this tournament

After watching all the men so far

He is the one to beat.

Rafa's match will be the only one not televised.

PMac must be a relieved to not be forced to have to say anything positive about the Spainard.
And frankly, I'm relieved to not have to listen to him talk about how great Federer is during the Spainard's match.

win win...Vamos Rafa, I hope you have it in you to drop the hammer on The Pony tomorrow...GiddyUp!

Night, Karen.

Karen
Aren't you a Fed fan? I don't see him in your picks for tomorrow.

I couldn't pick against Rafa, even if coming from injury and time off.
I was just checking out who the leaders had picked and was surprised to see some have Nadal winning or reaching final. Mostly I was surprised to see there's not much confidence in JMDP.

Goodnight Karen

Liked the combination of Chris, Brad and Darren commenting on ESP2 today.

Wow, those sure are some risky picks, Karen. I hope you are right in Nadal, and wrong in Muzz:)
By the way, i think we should give some recognisement to TypePad, after all the criticism of the past. 15 pages and not a sign of pagination. There certainly has been a big improvement from the days of the overflows. Also, i'm sure it makes it easier for the volunteers like Andrew and Rosangel.
Well, it's very late, and i must go get some sleep.
Watching tomorrow's OOP, it's truly impressive, but it's gonna make me stay up really late for the Hispanic match. Thank God it will be Friday.
See you tomorrow, everyone.
Seee

Mr. X,

yeah, i don't think that will last long...i should have chosen the Muzz to win the tourney, instead i chose Rafa...i didn't see Rafa's match today, but reading here it seemed okay, but not enough to win over DelPo?

Still DelPo might have an injury...hopefully he won't retire midway..

With Fred on court and Roddick at the mercy of TBs, the Muzz seems to be the logical choice as the Montreal winner.

Pspace, don't know about "Federer ... no problemo". Don't know what is attitude is to winning the tournament, but I reckon he might be motivated to take this opportunity to assert some dominance over Murray. It would also be handy from a points POV.

I know you think Lestat knows how to play Roger, but he may not know how to play against his A+ game, if Federer remembers to bring it with him on the day.

All assumes that Tsonga and Kolya go down, which looks likely in both cases, though there may be some scares.

I'd agree with MA and Pspace that Murray is most likely winner of tournament.

The way Roger is playing thus far, I can't see how he gets past Murray. If he does, it'd certainly be a big morale booster for the his USO defence.

Roger getting a chance to beat Murray at least ONCE - either here or at Cinci next week - would be fantastic.

Wawrinka and Verdasco, the same, no CONFIDENCE. They have good service, good shots, running, right hand and left hand, but when they have the point in the hands to win, nothing, they loose

I've done my fair share of commentator complaining. But I have gotten to like Cahill (I've never had a problem with him though) and Brad as a color commentator. Brad in the booth is a little too much.

JohnC, Well, there is a level that Fed has that may be good enough to beat Lestat. I'd say the odds of him hitting that level is about 10%. Last I saw of Fed's A+ was Shanghai '07. He can play that way in patches, but can't sustain over the course of a match. Madrid '08 was, imv, a good level from both guys, and Muzz won that one. Anyways, Fed's only chance is if he serves crazy good. Otherwise, Muzz's superiority in the return game will be decisive.

Mr. x - oh I agree..until Rafa really has a sense of how those knees are going to hold up, he ...and Rafalites..must be quite stressed. And of course ONE of the worst things about tendinitis is that even after its better it can sometimes come back to bite. (Sort of like mono, ironically, enough...lol.)

But just for THIS tournament, I think Fed is still finding his feet, both after a relatively long lay off, the happy daze of RG and Wimby and the new burdens AND joys of Daddyhood.

Whitney: I enjoyed the TSN2 coverage with Peter and Vic not as insightful as Cahill but not bad and wonderful silence for most of the points.

toonie - yeah I've enjoyed the streams I've watched as well. Can't always remember who the commentators are (sometimes Robbie, Doug Adler, ect.) but there seems to be silence. haha

Pspace, you left Muzz's serve out of the equation. It's not looking too flash from where I'm sitting.

"JohnC, Well, there is a level that Fed has that may be good enough to beat Lestat. I'd say the odds of him hitting that level is about 10%. Last I saw of Fed's A+ was Shanghai '07. He can play that way in patches, but can't sustain over the course of a match. Madrid '08 was, imv, a good level from both guys, and Muzz won that one. Anyways, Fed's only chance is if he serves crazy good. Otherwise, Muzz's superiority in the return game will be decisive."

He he Pspace, you keep forgetting about a certain Slam meeting that I don't want to keep reminding you about... ;-)

Whitney: Can't remember who you favor? Did you have predictions for tomorrow?

I watched all the matches on delay without knowing the scores. Just a shocking day of tennis. Hot mess taking out Vika, now how did that happen? And the worse is Bammer with her 9 winners taking out the best player in the game. I just don't understand how Serena can be so good and play that bad. She couldn't keep a ball in the court, 44 UE. She's holding three slams against a player who went out of all the last three slams by the second round. Go figure, what a crazy day. BTW, I think Bammer will go out in easy straights sets to JJ who hasn't been playing well all year. This is JJ's first top ten win so congrats to her. And Venus shouldn't have gotten out of bed. Caro is my only reason left to watch, now that both Vee and Ree are gone. Kim, I'm happy for her, but I was never a big fan of hers. But good luck to her. Hot messy tennis out there today. I'm starting to seriously doubt all the hype around Vika.

JohnC, But Fed's return is pathetic. Muzz has been able to control his second serve points quite well against Fed. He can't hit a return winner with his bh. Hehe...anyways, not too serious about all of this. Just indulging in some smack talk. It will be close.

VC, well, you know my thoughts on USO '08 F. Some1 got 24hrs to recover while some1 else didn't. Anyways, Muzz is much better than that now...even the haircut is better ;-).

Of course, I'm pulling for Jo to take down Fed tomorrow. But, ummm...he likes him too much ;-)

Pspace LOL! Yes indeed the haircut is a telling factor.

came to check come score...
I see Dinara got through pretty comfortable, she's better get ready for Kim

toonie - actually a win out of any of these guys will be ok with me. But if I'm being forced to choose then I need Andy Roddick in a final, playing Murray or having some revenge on Fed. haha Nah - I'm a big Roddick, Fed, Tsonga, Murray fan. So tomorrow is a toss up for me.

Oh Pspace -yada yada...just 2 things...

USO 08. AND it took Muzzah ALL the energy he possessed to beat a badly injured Fed at the YC. to the point where Lestat collapsed the next round when the sun...and Djoker(?) came out.

The 3 set format TOTALLY works in Muzzah's favor because now Fed has bablyland as well as Mirkaland to wander off to in the middle of a match, so IF they both get that far Muzzah may well do well, but it will come down, as it so often does, to day form and not much more.

Oh Pspace -yada yada...just 2 things...

USO 08. AND it took Muzzah ALL the energy he possessed to beat a badly injured Fed at the YC. to the point where Lestat collapsed the next round when the sun...and Djoker(?) came out.

The 3 set format TOTALLY works in Muzzah's favor because now Fed has bablyland as well as Mirkaland to wander off to in the middle of a match, so IF they both get that far Muzzah may well do well, but it will come down, as it so often does, to day form and not much more.

and Serena crashed out? did Sybille played really well or Serena wasn't intereseted? no Williamsovas in Cinci...

Oh...and if Fed's return is pathetic, Muzzah's second serve is bathetic.

sokol I think us Safina fans better get ready for Kim.Ahhhhhh.