Venus feels the NY love after loss

Andrew Lawrence of SI.com describes the love New York gave Venus Williams after what felt like her final U.S. Open singles match:

They won’t find Venus Williams in the singles draw here anymore. She lost in the second round to Angelique Kerber of Germany 2-6, 7-5, 5-7 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night. Her defeat wasn’t the surprise. (Kerber is seeded sixth in the tournament; Williams was not seeded.) No, the surprise is that, until last night, Williams had no idea there was so much love for her in New York. “Today I felt American, you know, for the first time at the U.S. Open,” she said. “I’ve waited my whole career to have this moment.”

Azarenka, Sharapova and Serena Williams were relentless in their marches into week two, but England’s Laura Robson provided a glimpse of the future in her victory over Li Na. Simon Briggs of the London Telegraph tells the story:

 In an era when success is coming later and later, in both men’s and women’s tennis, Robson is something of a throwback to the time when the likes of Martina Hingis and — more recently — Maria Sharapova were winning Grand Slams as teenagers. Yet it is easy to forget that – in her words — she is “still the baby of the locker-room” because she seems to have been on the scene for an age.

American wild-card amateur Mallory Burdette’s dream run to the third round ended with authority in a quick loss to Maria Sharapova, but University of Georgia player enjoyed the ride. Kate Fagan of ESPN.com delivers a great piece from behind the scenes:

You know what is totally uncool? Catching a stomach virus the night before you’re scheduled to play Maria Sharapova on center court in the third round of the U.S. Open. Such was the fate of Mallory Burdette, a wild-card entry at this year’s tournament who surprised in Rounds 1 and 2, earning herself a Friday afternoon date with Sharapova, the No. 3 player in the world. Apparently there’s a bit of a bug going around Flushing Meadows, at least that’s what a trainer told Burdette, who spent Thursday evening throwing up instead of eating, shaking her head at the irony of it all — her body depleting itself of energy just when she needed it most.

Sam Tanenhaus of NYTimes.com touches women’s tennis’ third rail. Is strategy dying out in favor of boring slugging from the baseline?:

 I was on a mission — to test a hypothesis. The hypothesis isn’t my own. It comes from a pro I happened to spend some hours with last weekend. He is not in the draw at this year’s Open and perhaps never will be. He competes instead on the Futures circuit, an entry point for aspiring professionals. In the course of a long discussion about the current state of pro tennis, my friend described a curious distinction between the men’s game and the women’s, curious because it is counterintuitive, to borrow my friend’s adjective.  The distinction is this: For all of its fabled physicality and intimidating speed and power, the men’s game is actually built on variety and finesse, with the pace of shots changing constantly, and each player deploying different spins and splices. The women’s game, by contrast, is a study in brute force, with the players exchanging flat, punishing ground strokes, forehand and backhand alike, point after point, set upon set. “They all hit the ball the same way,” my friend said, “and the bigger player usually wins.”

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