Back Porch Tennis

Anna Kournikova isn't great at tennis. She was very good at being very attractive and thus very good at garnering attention from the media and endorsers, but never very good at tennis. Unfortunately for Jimmy Fallon, she's pretty decent at beer pong, as he found out last night. Or at least better than Fallon anyway. If it were anyone else, I would bite on "sandbagging," but not with Fallon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my 400-count sheets (pantsless, natch) waiting for Conan to come back.

Two sets are complete in the men's U.S. Open final and Roger Federer has taken both from Andy Murray in New York.

No. 2 Federer dominated the first set 6-2, with Murray showing his inexperience and a little frustration. Murray appeared to be outplaying Federer in the second set but the Great Swish Hero hung around and broke Andy in the last game to win the second 7-5. The 21-year-old Murray kept grabbing at his knee in the second set, and that wasn't the only negative variable.

The bad break for Murray came at 2-2 with Federer serving at 15-40. Roger hit a cut that appeared to be long, but with the no call Murray continued to play the point. The review process forces you to stop the point if you believe it to be out and after he lost the point, the review showed it was indeed out. Federer ended up winning the game in deuce to much chagrin from the outspoken Scot.

If Federer can hang on it will be his 13th grand slam title, just one back of the great Pete Sampras for most all-time. If Murray can somehow pull this out he will be the first tennis player from the UK to win a grand slam since Fred Perry in 1936.

If you are stuck at work, you can catch the solid live action here at USOpen.org. Also, just like the U.S. Open in golf, anytime a sports final wants to end on a Monday, I'm all for it.

Rafael Nadal has won the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympic gold medal this year, and in the process he looked absolutely unbeatable.

At least, he looked unbeatable until today at the U.S. Open, when someone beat him.

That someone was Britain's Andy Murray, who made his first Grand Slam final by beating Nadal 6-2, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, starting the upset yesterday and then finishing Nadal off today after the rain finally stopped. By beating Nadal, Murray pulled off the year's biggest upset in men's tennis.

Tomorrow Murray will face Roger Federer, who suddenly isn't looking quite as washed up as everyone was saying he was, in the final. That they're still playing tennis and Nadal isn't part of it is a shock.

Last night's U.S. Open quarterfinal match between two of the better professional tennis players was one-sided nearly the entire time. And then after the match ended, the victor decided to continue his assault on his opponent.

Third-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated the last American standing, Andy Roddick, despite Djokovic suffering from a few choice injuries. Or 16. You know, depending on who you talk to.

Roddick was asked on Tuesday about Djokovic's injuries and had some sarcastic, mocking comments towards the Serbian's ailments that included "a back, a hip, a cramp, Bird flu, Anthrax, SARS, the common cough and a cold." After the fourth set giveaway by Roddick last night, Djokovic pounded his chest and pointed to his shoulders (?) and then had this to say to USA Network reporter Michael Barkann. Via the always great Awful Announcing ...

No matter what you think about Andy Roddick, the one thing everyone can agree on is his amazing ability to deliver a soundbite.

After his complete dominance of Fernando Gonzalez yesterday to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, Roddick was asked about his next opponent, Novak Djokovic. The third-ranked player in the world, Djokovic, is suffering from ankle and hip problems, and has sighed and winced his way through the first four rounds of this championship. Roddick, in a way only Andy can do it, cut the reporter off as the question was being pitched to him.

Roddick: Isn't it both of them? And a back and a hip?

Reporter: And when he said there are too many to count ...

Roddick: And a cramp.

Reporter: Do you get a sense right now that he is ...

Roddick: Bird flu.

Reporter: A lot of things. Beijing hangover. He's got a pretty long list of illness.

Roddick: Anthrax. SARS. Common cough and cold.

This is the kind of trash-talking we need more in sports. A tennis player known for his antics is doing the same song and dance and someone finally calls him on it. I have actually tried to play tennis before with the Bird Flu and serving the ball is somewhat managable, but boy does it get to you around the net.

An interesting video of Kelly Bruno, a woman who has a prosthetic leg and has earned the designation of the first amputee to be a U.S. Open ball girl:

Bruno, whose leg was amputated when she was six months old, does some incredible things. Her web site says she has completed two Ironman triathlons, so although this achievement is a noteworthy first, it's easy compared to her other athletic accomplishments. If Kramer can do it, Kelly Bruno obviously can.

Ana Ivanovic, the No. 1 player in the world, is out of the U.S. Open before the first weekend.

The 25-year-old Coin is ranked 188th in the world and has never played in a Grand Slam before, and this is already being called the biggest upset in U.S. Open history. Coin broke Ivanovic three times in a match that lasted nearly two hours, finally winning 6-3 4-6 6-3.

The Serbian Ivanovic looked like the next big thing in tennis when she won the French Open this year, but she has been disappointing since. She lost in the third round at Wimbledon, withdrew from the Olympics with a thumb injury and had a mediocre showing in a three-set win over Vera Dushevina on Tuesday. Now she's out of the U.S. Open.

Coin, who is from France but played NCAA tennis at Clemson, will play Amelie Mauresmo in the third round.

Andy Roddick's U.S. Open win over Fabrice Santoro last night came to a strange ending, when on the next-to-last point, Roddick's serve almost hit Santoro. Santoro said it was intentional, and a dirty play. You be the judge:

Santoro was so upset that he refused to play the final point, and he had harsh words for Roddick after the match.

Tennis star James Blake describes himself as "getting old" and being "a veteran on the tour," but as proven by his recent victory over Roger Federer in the Olympics, he's still got plenty of game left. So how does he feel about this year's U.S. Open? Who does he think is better, Federer or Nadal? And what are his thoughts on all the partying that went down in the Olympic Village? FanHouse talked to the native New Yorker about all this and more between matches at this year's Open. (For more from Blake, check out American Express' special Open coverage.)

Randy Kim: "So what are your expectations for this year's U.S. Open?"
James Blake: "Well, I just come in and try to prepare the best I can and be ready for anything, because I never try to set expectations in terms of getting to a certain round because I feel like sometimes that's out of my control. If a guy comes out and plays the best match of his life, you know, there's not much you can do. So I try to do my best and be ready for anything that comes my way."

Kim: "How are you feeling personally, though? Are you at the top of your game? Healthy, everything?"
Blake: "Yeah, I feel confident. I'm trying to take some positives out of the Olympics and the fact that I beat Roger Federer for the first time and won a few other pretty close matches, so I'm excited about that and I've definitely had some success this summer, so I'm definitely looking forward to this U.S. Open. Every time I get to the Open, it's a whole new shot of adrenaline for me, and the excitement of having my home fans here is just great."

It appears that one of the most eligible bachelors on the professional tennis tour (something I never thought I'd type) will be off the market come spring.

Andy Roddick and recently 21-year-old Brooklyn Decker are planning to spit out those wonderful "i dos" this spring in Texas, a place Roddick says they spend most of their time. According to Andy, the wedding will be a very small affair.

Roddick insists he's keen to keep the nuptials as intimate as possible: "It'll be very small, probably about 20 or 30 people.."

I'm a huge Roddick fan, but this thing just doesn't seem like it will last. The nearly 26-year-old Roddick has dated movie stars, fellow tennis players and has only been with Decker since 2007. Even the lovely Anna Kournikova seems a little skeptical of the decision.

"They're really young, but I hope it works out."

Whatever. The guy is a stud, and even though his tennis has fallen off the last few years, he seems to be happy with everything else and as he faces Fabrice Santoro tonight in his first round match at the U.S. Open, we can all agree there are worse things than having to marry a supermodel. I mean, he could have to marry just a regular model.