Chardy-Gulbis tie-break. 4-1 Jeremy and one set already in the bag. Allez, Jeremy.

6-2, 7-6 for Chardy. Excellent, Jeremy. Keep going.

WTF Ernie!!!!!!!!!!!

that would be a good win for Jeremy C
hope he can pull off the upset
(sorry Ernie fans )

and JJ is gonna have to play three in the heat
more towel dabbing will be necessary

Ernie looks so over it.

Pete Thanks.I enjoyed Braking Back.It really gave me a better insight into James struggles etc.I admire him soo much.At present I feel he is like a "broken man"

I hope the fans in his home town New York can lift him.I feel he has a lot of deep thinking regarding his career.Hopefully he can make the right choice.

Jelena serving to begin the decider 6-4,4-6

Come on, Svetochka!!

Commies just said that if Ernie loses today, it'll be his third 1st round loss in a Slam this year? Really? Wow.

Kimiko breaks as she hit CC FH winner. Kimiko to serve 2-6,6-4,1-2

Young Ernie can be a "head case" at times

Allez Chardy also a great looking guy

Thanks, Pete, much appreciated. :)

Hope Chardy can keep the level up.

And, oh, JJ - really. What are you doing?! This is a good opportunity for you and if you could at least make a decent run it would make me very happy!

Pfft. See you Ernie. Sveta needs me more. *switches to Sveta's court and loves on usopen.org streaming some more*

Sblily,
Remember, I do not think Ernests played Wimbledon.

Who is the Giraldo chap playing F-Lo? Seems I've seen his name mentioned around here before.

And Marcos is up 2-1 sets and playing great! Going ahead of myself, but if he gets past Fish in the 3d round, he may get Novak on a day match in 90 degrees and who knows what happens then...

8-16 Jelena 10-15 Simona W/UFEs in set 2

Sherlock,
Giraldo lost in the final to Albert Montañés at the Estoril Open. He is a very good clay court player.

sokol That chocolate of yours seems to be working

0-40 for Svetlana as Kimiko FH sails wide

Meanwhile, Simona broke to start the 3rd

Svetlana breaks as she hit FH winner coming forward behind BH

Svetlana to serve 6-2,4-6,3-1

Kuzzy 3-1 serving 3rd set

Navritilova getting on Johnny Mac's case about the women's game and fitness / withdrawals

and Jankovic is really struggling with her serve here

jankovic is struggling so bad lately! what happened to her, she had such a great spring....

Yeah, kicking somebody who is already down is a great way to promote your book and to stay classy! Then again I shouldn't have to expect anything from someone who has no qualms calling someone fat right? Disappointing.

Are Sveta, Ernie and Glitter Queen really all going down? No way (she says hopefully..)

Sherlock,
Forget what I posted. That was Federico Gil. Santiago Giraldo is from Colombia and also a clay court specialist. He played very well at Rome winning against Lapenti, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Llodra.

"That chocolate of yours seems to be working"

lol, AM
Maybe I should switch to chocolate for the next 2 weeks :-) I'm sure I will regret it later :-)

Kuzzy you still need to lose some weight

That outfit you have on isnt flattering at all

Though its soo much better than your fellow Russian Elena D

30-40 for Jelena as she hit FH swinging volley winner coming forward behind service return
Jelena breaks as Simona BH sails long

Jelena to serve 6-4,4-6,1-all

and the break fest continues on Ashe
meh
show us something else please

MA - Yep. He missed the W. I thought Ernie'd done better this year -- must be the halo from having beaten Fed.

If Sveta could hold here...

Svetlana consolidates as she hit S&V winner. Kimiko to serve 2-6,6-4,1-4

I don't understand why Jeremy decides now to grow a beard with those temperatures.
Anyway, so far so good. Allez, Jeremy. Hold your serve.

Clement breaks in the 4th!

Thanks, Zenggi!! :)

Gulbis is one of those players who can be so entertaining and play so brilliantly in spells, but also flame out on the big stages. I have a soft spot for Chardy, but think of Ernie as someone to enjoy in the future. Jeremy probably won't play for too many more years.

Oh man, JJ came back in that second set, but now broken again to start the 3rd? I'm already hearing the phrase "hott mess" on here. Hope she pulls this out. I know one Serbian player has to lose today, but I wasn't expecting it to be JJ.

amazing - a hold !!
who knew ?

"Svetlana consolidates as she hit S&V winner"

already??
my SB is stuck at 2-1

Tina - so true about Ernie - he is very hot and cold
and frankly , his lackadaisical attitude rubs me the wrong way
I have seen him play live a few times - at least in theory he was "live "

but why would Jeremy be quitting soon - He is just now 24 , many of the french players seem to hang on well into their 30's . He is the same age as Gasquet, Tsonga , Monfils - I would see Tsonga and his various injuries driving him out of the game long before Jeremy retires

I hope Blake stays around and does well at the Open, never believed he was very good, but got a lot of attention because of the weak American field particularly for the men.

Marcos is back to his first set form- Miserable looking- Hope this does nto go to the 5th

Watching Krum is like being in a "tennis time tunnel" lol!

OT alert:

I'm really looking forward to ESPN's September 14 documentary on the lasting friendship between Martina and Chris.

Jeremy is 23 years old. I hope he plays for another 10 years at least. And he turned pro in 2005. Mileage in under control.
On serve 2-3 third set. Jeremy to serve.

I wonder if Schuettler can make a comeback? He just took the third set, anyway.

any updates on Sveta's match would be appreciated. Come on, people, I can't even SB

Good hands at the net

Kuzzy

30-40 for Svetlana as Kimiko BH sails long
40-40 Kimiko FH winner behind Svetlana
40-A Kimiko DF
Grandstand has a good crowd
40-40 Kimiko FH winner
40-A Svetlana volley winner cutting off Kimiko scoop DTL after getting to first volley
Svetlana breaks as she hit FH return winner

Svetlana serving for match 6-2,4-6,5-1

Kuzzy will serve for the match as she breaks

Kuzzy 5-1

beth - my bad: I erroneously thought Chardy was older than 24, oops!

thank you, MA and AM :-)

I'm hoping this is just a brief letdown for Baggy -- He could still easily be out of there in under 3 hrs. --which isn't terrible. It is hot as hail, though.

Serve it ou, Sveta! Davai!

what a weird match between Baghs and Clement
talk about hot and cold
both players are so streaky

Amusing fluff piece on Gimelstob (I know, right?) in today's NYT: http://nyti.ms/9w9HHZ

Yay Kuzzy

Sokol You can put down the chocolate for now

15-0 ???
30-0 Kimiko nets volley after Svetlana got previous volley - Kimiko chipped and charged on return
40-0 Kimiko service return wide
Svetlana wins the match as she hit swinging volley winner after good serve wide

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Kimiko Date Krumm 6-2,4-6,6-1

Rezai must love t/breaks

Into a 2nd set t/break now

Come on, Petzschner!

no problem , Tina
He was just sort of under the radar when the other bigger names from France burst on the scene
but he is their contemporary and friend

Congrats to Sveta ... commies to Kimiko.

can't wait for Rafa later!!!!! ....and Maria too!

Whohoo! Thank you, Svetochka! See you in the next round against Sevastova (sounds like more chocolate to me :-))

Rezai up 5-0 in the 2nd t/break

sokol, chocolate is always a good plan

What is the current temp pls does anyone know?

Sblily, thanks for that article! Justin might not be soooooo bad afterall..

Gimelstob is an idiot. (I say this with affection) (sort of). He has absolutely no idea what he's gotten himself into.

Kuzzy definitely tightened up her game in third set.

Kimiko hurt by rust from sitting out and early losses due to leg problems, which still affected her today.

Kimiko, if she could get healthy and stay motivated, could probably break into top 30 or 40.

Wonder how much longer she'll stay on the tour after this year.

She's historically had her best results in Asia during the fall. Hopefully, that trend will continue this year.

marcos was throwing aces all over in the 3d set, and now his first serves are 2 meters out

Sveta served it out, drama-free??? There is a G-d.

Rezai 5-4 after having a 5-0 lead in the 2nd t/break

don't mention Petzscner
he was my suicide pick for today
only - i lost yesterday

so humiliating

now , I could sit here and watch tennis and chat all day , but I really do need to get off my butt and get things accomplished here.
I will keep watching though
and be back throughout the day
enjoy !

Thanks for a thoughtful post, Pete, one that's probably tough to write *and* maintain any connection to the person who's the subject, regardless of who that is for any one articl.

I think about how Blake approached his tennis and compare that with Steve Tignor's commentary (and the comments) about Monfils, and then wonder what regrets lie in wait for these players once their careers are over. You have to wonder if Blake's "What If" won't be the greater of the two; not because he had more tools, but because his chosen path kept him so further from his potential.

I hope he does well.

30-40 for Jelena as Simona FH sails long
40-40 Jelena FH return long
40-A Simona nets FH
Jelena 6/10 BP
40-40 Jelena BH return long as Simona served to body
A-40 Jelena nets BH
Simona holds as Jelena BH return sails long

Jelena to serve 6-4,4-6,3-all

Rezai now staring at a game point??

She squandered a 5-0 lead??

6 all now

Sorry: "kept him further from his potential."

And Jeremy breaks 4-3. Yay!! Jeremy to serve.

JJ looks vey bad out there, terrible errors and playing slobby against a player she should have taken out in two routine sets. She's a hott mess today.

I love the Date Krumm story, but would have been heartbroken to see Sveta go out.

Again, I have no idea why I thought Chardy was older, and I too hope he plays another ten years. :))

Who is Capra? Never heard of her and I thought Sprem would be good pick against a girl I've never heard of. Almost picked her

Rezai has match point

Rezai wins 7-6,7-6

omg so scared about the heat for Nole. its extremely hot and humid out there. *frazzled*

Clement just played an amazing point at the net (Marcos played well too BTW). His double credentials are obvious

I must say I love JJ's dress if that means anything

35-41 Aravane 31-43 Magdalena W/UFEs where Aravane won in 2 TBs

lollipop I did ask what the temp is do you know?

I came on late today.After yesterday I needed more sleep lol!

Jankovic needs to step it up right here. Lets have the seeds go 32-0 in their first rounds. No upset this tournament!! =)

Chardy - Gulbis isn't particularly close on the stats - 97/77 Chardy at the moment. IS Ernests playing badly, Jeremy playing very well, or a combination of the two?

Baggy and Clement match is a roller coaster affair

Allez Chardy!

AM - it's about 93F. Low humidity but very strong sun.

lollipop - It's hot, but again not the normal humidity for the first week in Flushing. And I sometimes think Viki plays "minion" to Nole.

Jankovic is very sloppy off the ground and that long rally may have done in Jankovic.

Andrew,
Chardy played very well. This last set his first serve % isn't very good. Gulbis hasn't played up to his potential today. Blame it on the heat.

Andrew I wish I could watch the match I am just SB

Halep isn't exactly a pushover. I think she'll be a player to watch in the near future.

Holy breast reduction, what a point.

Simona Halep is adorable.

time to break Baggy! Come on!

Tina Thanks.Well at least the humdity is low.

I'm hoping for the upset with Groth, hoping she can take Maria out.