Serena Williams reached the semifinals on Wednesday with a tough 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (9-7) victory over older sister Venus Williams.
The reasons for Venus' lost could be fatigue and lack of sleep.
Oh gosh, Venus, you really need some sleep.
Earlier this week, Venus Williams was seen with her hitting partner and her boyfriend, pseudo-golfer Hank Kuehne during court practice.
Serena Williams too has her faithful manservant Common, the rapper and her boyfriend at the court practice.
So, is Serena Williams going to win at this Grand Slam?
Statistics wise, Serena has the extra edge over the other 3 semifinalists Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina. Serena not only has won the U.S. Open but a total of eight Grand Slam singles titles. The others never have won one.
My pick? I would say Dementieva for she deserves a Grand Slam after a magnificent run since winning the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. She has been working very hard all these years (turned pro in 1998). Perhaps recent glory moments will delay her retirement a bit.
Andy Murray broke Juan Martin Del Potro's 23-match win streak to win 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 in the men's singles quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open.
"We did good match. The people enjoy the match. He's more happy than me, but I'm not sad, you know," said the 6'6" Del Potro at the press conference.
However, when he was speaking to the Spanish media, the lanky tennis player broke down and was unable to continue with the conference. Poor thing. It must be a heavy burden to keep that winning streak.
In another quarterfinal match, Novak Djokovic left the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court to jeers and catcalls after his U.S. Open quarterfinal victory over Andy Roddick.
The Flushing Meadows crowd was enraged by comments the Serbian made in his post-match interview in which he criticised home idol Roddick in no uncertain terms.
Djokovic had been overreacted and angered by apparently light-hearted remarks made by Roddick in which he accused the world number three of faking injuries.
Nole shows he's the man.
"That's not nice, anyhow, to say in front of this crowd that I have 16 injuries and that I'm faking," Djokovic blurted out after his four-set victory.
"They're already against me, because they think I'm faking everything."
In Djokovic's last 16 match, a tough five-setter against Tommy Robredo, the reigning Australian Open champion called for the trainer several times as he dealt with hip, ankle, stomach and breathing issues.
Asked then about Djokovic's problems, Roddick joked whether the list shouldn't also include bird flu, anthrax, SARS and a common cold and said:
"He's either quick to call a trainer or he's the most courageous guy of all time."
What most irritated Djokovic was what Roddick said in an on-court interview on Tuesday:
"I've got to feel good. He's got about 16 injuries right now."
The remarks certainly acted as motivation, but Djokovic owed his 6-2 6-3 3-6 7-6 victory to uncharacteristic serving errors by Roddick.
Roddick was also asked about his verbal squabble with Djokovic and immediately apologized.
"It was completely meant in jest," Roddick said, pausing to choose the right words.
"I should know better. But listen, I joke all the time. I don't think anyone in their right mind takes me serious."
Both men spoke in private after the incident and Djokovic was also contrite in his post-match press conference.
"He made a joke and it was a misunderstanding, so I don't blame it on him," Djokovic said.
"Maybe I exaggerated and reacted bad in that moment. I apologize."
Djokovic advances into the semifinals and will meet Roger Federer, a rematch of last year's U.S. Open final, which Federer won for his fourth consecutive title at Flushing Meadows.
Leander Paes, fresh from winning the U.S. Open, looks fresh as if he's just out from the shower.
Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Leander Paes of India won their first U.S. Open mixed doubles title by beating Liezel Huber of the United States and Jamie Murray of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the final yesterday.
Paes has won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, and Black has won three— but this was the first for each at Flushing Meadows and the first for them as a team.
They were seeded fifth at the U.S. Open. Huber and Murray were unseeded.
With 75% (18 out of 24) of the jurors' votes, Rafael Nadal was unveiled as the winner of this year's Prince of Asturias sports prize in Oviedo earlier this morning.It is another milestone in what is turning out to be quite a year for the new world number one, who, apart from successfully defending his French Open title for the third time in a row, is also the new Wimbledon and Olympic champion.
In a statement, the jury praised the 22-year-old for his "commitment to the most noble sports values both in and outside of the court" and his development and charity work in favour of the underprivileged.
Rafael Nadal, the Spanish football team, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Yelena Isinbayeva are the five finalists for this year's Prince of Asturias prize, that will be announced tomorrow in Oviedo.
Among the candidates that failed to make the final shortlist are: Roger Federer, Olympic cycling veteran, Joan Llaneras, Gemma Mengual and the rest of the Spanish synochronised swim team, Pele, Alfredo di Stefano, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ethiopian athlete, Haile Gebrelassie, Pau Gasol and Ciudad Real handball team.
Previous winners: 1987 Sebastian Coe 1988 Juan Antonio Samaranch 1989 Severiano Ballesteros 1990 Sito Pons 1991 Sergei Bubka 1992 Miguel Indurain 1993 Javier Sotomayor 1994 Martina Navratilova 1995 Hassiba Boulmerka 1996 Carl Lewis 1997 The Spanish marathon team 1998 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 1999 Steffi Graf 2000 Lance Armstrong 2001 Manuel Estiarte 2002 The Brazilian football team 2003 The Tour de France 2004 Hicham El Guerrouj 2005 Fernando Alonso 2006 The Spanish basketball team 2007 Michael Schumacher
In the meanwhile, Nadal has made it through to the semifinals at the U.S. Open and will meet bicep-popping Andy Murray this Saturday.
Oh gosh, Venus, you really need some sleep.
Earlier this week, Venus Williams was seen with her hitting partner and her boyfriend,
Serena Williams too has her faithful manservant Common, the rapper and her boyfriend
