Serena Williams Continues Quest For Grand Slam; Nadal Slam-less For First Time Since 2004 - Mondays with Bob Greene

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US Open (First Week)

Benoit Paire beat fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-4 3-6 4-6 7-6 (6) 6-4

Petra Cetkovska beat fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 5-7 7-6 (1)

Lesia Tsurenko beat sixth-seeded Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-1

Jeremy Chardy beat seventh-seeded David Ferrer 7-6 (6) 4-6 6-3 6-1

Dominika Cibulkova beat seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic 6-3 3-6 6-3

Fabio Fognini beat eighth-seeded Rafael Nadal 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4

Anna Tatishvili beat eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-2 6-1

Johanna Konta beat ninth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza 7-6 (4) 6-7 (4) 6-2

Denise Allertova beat 10^th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 7-6 (5)

Feliciano Lopez beat 10^th-seeded Milos Raonic 6-2 7-6 (4) 6-3

SAYING

“A very special win.” – Fabio Fognini, after upsetting Rafael Nadal.

“I realize it’s impossible to win every match, but I’m going to walk out there as if I can. And if I fall short, then I’m going to find a way to come out stronger the next time. Defeat is only when you accept it; it’s not when you actually lose.” – Venus Williams.

“Don’t forget that for everybody (there) is a start, and for everybody (there) is an end. We’re still here, but tomorrow we’re not going to be here. Sampras was here. He’s not here anymore. Connors, McEnroe. Everybody passes on. The sport continues.” – Rafael Nadal.

“With a dominant win … it adds to your confidence, your self-belief. But it’s also making a statement for everybody that is out there watching. We are all watching each other’s matches. We are all seeing how each other progresses. It’s important that you’re out on the court with the right intensity and you’re sending a good message, and I’ve done so.” – Novak Djokovic, following his dominant first-round victory.

“I haven’t been in a final in this tournament of late. I came close, but close is not good enough.” – Roger Federer, a five-time US Open champion who has been a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows three of the last five years.

“I actually take it day-by-day, really, not even match-by-match. Really day-by-day, and in the match point-by-point. I can sound cheesy and stuff, but that’s the best possible way for me right now. I kind of put myself in this mindset where time doesn’t really exist that much. There is no past or future. I just try to stay really in the present and find the way to enjoy that moment and improve in that particular moment.” – Victoria Azarenka.

“I worked as hard as I could. That was all I had.” – Mardy Fish, after winding up his career with a 2-6 6-3 1-6 7-5 6-3 second-round loss to 18^th-seeded Feliciano Lopez.

“We’re all perfectionists in a way. We see certain things we could have done better. But, again, a win is a win.” – Novak Djokovic, after a 6-3 7-5 7-5 third-round victory over Andreas Seppi.

“I heard about the results. I mean, all the players who lost yesterday. I think they had a great year at the beginning of the year, so it’s tough to stay focused and to stay like 100 percent all the year. I think it’s normal.” – Simona Halep, when asked about the number of early upsets in the women’s singles.

“I think the difference between the really top players and the players who are a little bit lower ranked that that ability to stay balanced and stay hungry to win or hate to lose that bad that you’re willing to do whatever it takes. I believe it’s that open mind, that no matter what the score is, you still believe that you can get out of any situation possible.” – Victoria Azarenka.

“I’m just very competitive. I pride myself on getting the most out of myself.” – Lleyton Hewitt, after playing in his final US Open match, a 6-3 6-2 3-6 5-7 7-5 loss to fellow Australian Bernard Tomic.

“I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn’t a prodigy. I’m a late-bloomer. Whatever happens, I’m proud of what I’ve done.” – John Isner, after winning his second-round match.

“I’m more focused, but I’m balanced. You need that balance. I mean, tennis is a very demanding sport. You need something that is going to keep you intact.” – Novak Djokovic, when asked if being a husband and father has changed him.

“It’s not something I think about every day. Wake up, brush my teeth, look in the mirror, like, ‘What has my impact been?’” – Venus Williams, when asked to assess the impact she and sister Serena have had on tennis.

“You just want to go out fighting, win or lose. That’s the mentality I think a lot of players have … You see it a lot: players come back from two-sets-to-love. The mentality is simple. Keep fighting; don’t give in.” – John Isner.

“I love pressure. It makes me better. I don’t wish to have pressure, but it’s something that, I don’t know, I think I love to rise to the occasion. It’s challenging and motivating for me.” – Victoria Azarenka, asked about a player’s mentality of going into a match.

“Once you’ve been in a place, you know what it feels like. Once you know what it feels like, you can repeat it.” – Donald Young, when asked about how Serena Williams rallies from behind to win matches.

SLIPPED

Eugenie Bouchard’s freak locker-room accident has resulted in Italy’s Roberta Vinci gaining a spot in the women’s quarterfinals. Bouchard won two matches – her singles over Dominika Cibulkova and a mixed doubles match with Nick Kyrgios –on Friday before the accident, which resulted in a concussion. Following her matches, she “slipped and fell in the locker room and sustained a head injury,” US Open tournament director David Brewer said in a statement. Bouchard pulled out of Saturday’s women’s doubles and mixed doubles matches. Her withdrawal from her Sunday’s fourth-round singles match against Vinci was announced Sunday afternoon. Bouchard zoomed up the rankings last year – only her second on the WTA tour – when she reached the final at Wimbledon following semifinal appearances at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Following a string of first-round losses this year, she came into the US Open seeded 25^th.

SENT PACKING

For the first time since 2004, Rafael Nadal won’t add to his Grand Slam tournament title total. The Spanish left-hander was knocked out of the US Open in the third round by Italian Fabio Fognini 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4, halting his record run at 10 consecutive years. The final set produced spectacular rallies and winners that had the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd on their feet up to the 1:26 a.m. finish as the two traded seven consecutive service breaks before Fognini held to end the three-hour, 46-minute battle. It was Nadal’s first Grand Slam tournament loss after winning the first two sets of a match. “He played great,” said Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam tournament winner. “I’m not happy he played better than me, but that’s what happened.” It was Fognini’s third win over Nadal in four meetings this year, but the other two came on clay.

STRETCHING IT OUT

Great Britain’s Johanna Konta worked overtime to win her second-round US Open match – the longest women’s singles match at America’s premier tennis tournament since the tiebreak was instituted. Konta stretched her winning streak to 15 matches by knocking off Wimbledon finalist and ninth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza 7-6 (4) 6-7 (4) 6-2 in three hours and 22 minutes, breaking the old mark by two minutes. “I’m very tired right now, but it’s a good tired because it just shows that I left everything out there,” Konta said. “My mental strength pleased me more than anything. I was very happy with how I was able to stay tough when I needed to and stay calm when I needed to.” Konta came to New York after winning two Challenger tournaments in Canada, then three qualifying matches to reach the main draw at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. “I had beaten Garbiñe before,” Konta said. “But when you step out on the court for a new match, it has nothing to do with it. It’s a new day, different surface, different menu, different country. I’m very happy with how I was able to deal with every situation. I felt I had a very clear idea of how I wanted to be out there.”

SUCH A WINDFALL

The US Open proved to be a financial windfall for Daria Kasatkina. The 18-year-old Russian lost in the final round of qualifying, but gained a spot in the women’s singles main draw when third-seeded Maria Sharapova withdrew with an injury. Kasatkina made the most of her break, beating Daria Gavrilova of Australia and Croatia’s Ana Konjuh before losing to Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-2 6-3. By reaching the third round, Kasatkina pocketed USD $120,200 – far more than the USD $15,000 earned by players who lose in the final round of qualifying.

Fellow Russian Elizaveta Kulichkova, who beat Kasatkina 6-2 6-4 in the final round of qualifying, earned USD $39,500 by losing her first-round main draw match to 17^th-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-4.

SURPRISED

What a revolting development this year has been for the world’s best men’s doubles team. American twins Bob and Mike Bryan were upset in the opening round at the US Open, meaning they will finish the season without a Grand Slam doubles title for the first time in a decade. “It was bound to happy at some point,” Bob Bryan said. The Bryans won at least one major title every year from 2005 to 2014 and have a record total of 16. “For those guys, not winning a Slam might be a down year, but they’re still number one in the world,” said Steve Johnson, who teamed with Sam Querrey to beat the Bryans 7-6 (4) 5-7 6-3. “They’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

SICK BAY

A record 12 players – 10 men and two women – retired from their first-round matches at the US Open because of illness or injuries. The previous Grand Slam tournament record for withdrawals during the first round was nine, set at the 2011 US Open.

SAYS I DO

Like every other player, Andrei Daescu wants to win every time he steps onto a court. But his first-round mixed doubles loss at the US Open means he won’t be late for his own wedding. Persistent shoulder problems have kept Daescu off the tour, so the Romanian took a tennis instructor job at a club in Jupiter, Florida, USA. He asked fellow Romanian Anda Perianu to play with him in the open-to-all-comers national tournament that awards a wild-card entry to one mixed doubles pair. The two, who met when both played at the University of Oklahoma, kept winning – five matches at a regional tournament in Princeton, New Jersey, and four more in New Haven, Connecticut. That put them in the US Open, which started six days later this year than last. Daescu requested the earliest starting time possible so, if he did lose, he could travel to Romania to get married. He said his fiancée, his family members and friends, many flying to Bucharest from overseas for the ceremony, were willing to postpone the wedding if necessary. Instead, the pair lost to heavily favored Anastasia Rodionova and Max Mirnyi 6-2 6-4. The wedding was held last Saturday, as planned.

STOPPED BY CRAMPS

Considered one of America’s top hopes, Jack Sock’s US Open ended in cramps. The 22-year-old won the first two sets of his second-round match before losing the third. Then, while serving in the third game of the fourth set, he began cramping. They became so severe Sock stood in agony, unable to continue play and causing the umpire to assess the American first a time warning, then a point penalty. That gave Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans the service break, but because the game was over, Sock could receive aid from a trainer. A wheelchair was brought onto the court, but Sock refused to get in it and instead hobbled off the court while being held up on both sides.

SCARY MOMENT

A small drone swept across Louis Armstrong Stadium before crashing into the stands during a second-round match between Italy’s Flavia Pennetta and Monica Niculescu of Romania. “I was a little bit scared, I have to say,” Pennetta said after winning 6-1 6-4. “I mean, with all the things that happen now in the world, I’m imagining, ‘OK, it’s a bomb.’ That was my first reaction. I think it’s normal to think something like that.” A 26-year-old Brooklyn, New York, USA, teacher was arrested and faces charges of reckless endangerment and flying a drone outside of a legal area. Play was interrupted as police examined the black drone, which broke into pieces after crashing in an empty part of the stadium.

SCRIBE HONORED

Arthur Worth “Bud” Collins Jr. introduced television to tennis. He was the one who labeled Steffi Graf’s 1988 exploits a “Golden Slam” when she won all four Grand Slam singles titles as well as the Olympic gold medal. And he wrote the “Bud Collins Tennis Encyclopedia.” It seemed only appropriate, therefore, when the United States Tennis Association (USTA) named the press room at Arthur Ashe Stadium the Bud Collins US Open Media Center. Collins, in a wheelchair, attended the ceremony with his wife, photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen. The naming ceremony included tributes from Katrina Adams, a former player who is now USTA president; New York Times columnist George Vescey; Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon, and Hall of Famer Billie Jean King, Collins was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.

STICKING AROUND

Donald Young was playing professional tournaments when he was 14 years old, touted as being one of the future giants in tennis. Now 26, Young is in the fourth round at the US Open for only the second time. Coming into this year’s final Grand Slam tournament, Young had posted a 5-10 record, with three victories coming in 2011. Not only has he returned to the fourth round, he has won two matches after losing the first two sets. Young rallied to upset 11^th-seeded Gilles Simon in the opening round, 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4. After a four-set win over Aljaz Bedene, Young came from behind again to eliminate 22^nd-seeded Viktor Troicki 4-6 0-6 7-6 (3) 6-2 6-4. “The battle here, the crowd, it’s awesome,” Young said after his win over Troicki. “It’s actually quite fun. Not going down two sets to love, but showing you can fight and come back is a great feeling at the end of the day.”

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has been awarded a LEED (level of certification) Green Building Certification for its commitment to create a sustainable future through innovative ways to reduce the impact the US Open has on the environment. The certification was given for the Transportation Building. Since the inception of the program in 2008, the US Open has recycled more than 2.6 million plastic bottles and diverted more than 1,800 tons of US Open waste from going into landfills.

SURFING

New York: www.usopen.org/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

Genova: www.atpgenova.com/

Biarritz: www.tournoi.fft.fr/openbogdfsuez

Szczecin: www.pekaoszczecinopen.pl/

Quebec City: www.coupebanquenationale.ca/

Tokyo: www.jw-open.jp/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

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US Open, New York, New York, hard (second week)