Sports Then and Now

Kim Clijsters won the U.S. Open just 18 months after having a baby and one month after returning from retirement.

The U.S. Open is over and the new women’s power rankings reflect the impact of that tournament, as some players are eliminated from the power rankings and others emerge…

1. Kim Clijsters

US Open [Winner] Toronto [R3], Cincinnati [Quarterfinals]. Total Points: 2087

Kim Clijsters made her way back to the top of the women’s game by capitalizing on her natural strengths and enhancing them with hard work and dedication.  Her years on tour have already given her steely resolve.  She knows exactly what she wants out of tennis and she is determined to make the most of the time she has left to play the game.

What made her great initially will keep her great today.  We suspect Clijsters will become a fixture at the top of the women’s game.

The unfortunate ending to her semifinal contest with Serena Williams did nothing to lessen her victory over teenager Caroline Wozniacki during the U.S. Open Final in 2009.

Last Power Ranking: Not Ranked.  ATP Ranking: 19

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Kim Clijsters has made a surprising run to the U.S. Open Finals.

Start spreading the news.  For the second year in a row the script for the finals at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York has to be re-written.  Oh, for the money to put a roof over our heads…it would seem reasonable insurance against pesky and obstinate mother nature.

Think of all the confusion and lost revenue caused by this year’s two-day rain delay.  It must drive the tournament organizers to abstraction.

Regardless – Sunday in New York promises to present some eye-popping, riveting men’s semifinal contests with number one Roger Federer vs. number four Novak Djokovic in one and Rafael, soon to be number 2 again, Nadal vs. number 5 Juan Martin del Potro in the other.

Add to that the final between surprising finalist Kim Clijsters and number nine seed Caroline Wozniacki and you have a smorgasbord of potential tennis classics ready for the big stage.
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Caroline Wozniacki is in the U.S. Open Semifinals for the first time in her career.

Caroline Wozniacki sent Cinderella packing without her glass slippers after smashing her magic pumpkin.  She not only dispatched the fairy-tale princess, Melanie Oudin, she did it without pity, smiling all the way to the semifinals of the U.S. Open.  And what a smile she has.

She will face another teenager, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, who, unseeded and at age 19, has made her way quietly through to the semifinals after taking out Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-5, 6-4.

Wozniacki, with quiet determination, upstaged the media darling, Oudin, taking the first set 6-2, followed by an identical 6-2 in the second set.  Oudin devastated previous competitors with a great inside-out forehand and the ability to run well.

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Serena Williams

JA’s Commentary about Women’s Tennis

You want to hear the truth, don’t you?  You don’t want somebody to pull the wool over your eyes or lead you down the garden path? So, that is what I am going to do—tell you the honest-to-God, unvarnished truth.

The bottom line is that often being a woman sucks—which is perhaps the most precise word to use in this circumstance even with its unfavorable historical connotations. Frankly, it emphasizes the cold hard realities of being a woman in this day and age—in any day and age.

Women scramble to reach this detrimental rung on the ladder of life, finding that inevitably they must take one step more or laugh one decibel louder or be a smidge brighter because being number two means you must try harder and bounce back faster—if you wish to compete and be taken seriously.

A case in point—this week the women’s matches at the U.S. Open have been, for the most part, totally more engaging than the men’s matches.  The women have generated more excitement and more controversy.  Because of this, the world has tuned in to watch them.

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Roger Federer hopes to kiss the U.S. Open trophy for a sixth straight year in 2009.

Introduction
From 2004-2008 Roger Federer won the U.S. Open in New York.  Within the confines of Arthur Ashe Stadium Federer has won his last 35 matches in a row during what many call the toughest tournament in tennis.

Once the US Open begins this year, Federer seeks to extend his record winning streak with a record sixth consecutive US Open title.

After winning the 2009 French Open and Wimbledon, the Swiss regained the top ranking.  Federer compiled a total of 15 grand slam  wins – more than any other male tennis player.

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Jimmy Connors was never one to hide his emotions.

James Scott Connors was a momma’s boy, and that became his strength as he battled his way to the top of men’s tennis.

As we settle in for another two-week extravaganza in New York, we must acknowledge the man who won the U.S. Open five times on three different surfaces.  Connors holds the record of having won 98 singles matches at the Open in New York.

With that outrageous attitude…cocky, self-assured, and in your face, Connors epitomized not only tenacious tennis, but New Yorker tennis.

The women in his life taught him to be strong, to stand on his own two feet, and fight for what was rightfully his.  His mother, a teaching pro, taught him how to play tennis.

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