=======
US OPEN (Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, Decoturf, Grand Slam)
=======

Photos - a nice new outfit for Daniela:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=hantuchova
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=188795

-----------
First round
-----------

+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [20] d. Camille Pin, 6-3 6-1

Same opponent, same round, same court (11) as last year's US Open,
where Daniela had struggled to a 1-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (11/9) victory
after surviving her opponent serving for the match (for once in
Daniela's career), and saving two match-points in the final-set
tiebreak.

What a difference a year makes.

Today's final scoreline conceals a very tight first set with only
one break-point: it was for Daniela and she took it! :-) Daniela was
pegged back from game-points up on her own serve several times in
the first set, but came through all her service-games unbroken.

The bubble burst for Pin when, serving at 3-6 1-1, she lost a 40/15
lead.


The match started at 13:26 EDT, and I followed live scores at
www.usopen.org. Here are my comments as I wrote them at the time:

First Set
---------
HAN * * *@* * 6
PIN _* *___*_ 3

Daniela serving 0-0: 40/0 -> 40/40, ad D, held.

Phew! A bout of Alexandra Stevenson's syndrome (getting broken from
40/0 up) is not the way to start a Grand Slam campaign!

Pin serving 0-1: 0/15, 30/15, 40/30, held.
Daniela serving 1-1: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad D, held.

So far so good, but I hope this isn't going to be one of Daniela's
trademark days of missed opportunities that have earned her the
nickname "Choketuchová" in General Messages at WTAworld.com. :-o
I thought she had got over that in recent weeks.

You can buy God, it's Monday
You slither down the greasy pipe
So far so good, no one saw you
Hobble over any freeway
You will be like your dreams tonight
[David Bowie, "Joe The Lion"]

Pin serving 1-2: 15/0, 15/30, 40/30, held.
Daniela serving 2-2: 30/0 -> 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad D, held.

And still the pattern of Daniela being pegged back on serve
continues. This does not bode well for what might happen in a tight
situation, e.g. if this match goes to 4-4 in the third.

W:UE ratios so far: Daniela 6:12, Pin 0:6.
Daniela has served two double faults already.

Pin serving 2-3: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad P, Deuce #2,
ad D (BP), Deuce #3, ad D (BP #2), broken!
Daniela serving 4-2: held to love.

That's more like it! A confidence-surge for Daniela.
And Pin now has a W:UE ratio of 0:10.

Pin serving to stay in the first set at 2-5: held to love.
Daniela serving for the first set at 5-3: 40/0 (3 SPs), 40/15,
Daniela won the first set 6-3 at 14:00.

Phew! The scoreboard was stuck on 40/15 for four minutes!

W:UE ratios for the first set: Daniela 12:19, Pin 1:10.


Second Set
----------
HAN _*@*@*@ 6
PIN *______ 1

Pin serving 0-0: scoreboard froze... held.
Daniela serving 0-1: 15/15, 40/15, 40/30, held.
Pin serving 1-1: 15/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad D (BP), Deuce #2, ad D,
broken!

Now it's Pin getting pegged back on serve, and unlike Daniela in the
first set, she has to pay for it! So Daniela is now winning not only
the tennis-match, but also the mental battle. I can't see Daniela
losing this match now.

Daniela serving 2-1: 0/15, 40/15, held.
Pin serving 1-3: 15/0, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad D (BP), Deuce #2,
ad P, Deuce #3, ad D (BP #2), broken.

Yep. She's gone. I have no doubt that I'll be eating my dinner, with
a big smile on my face, in ten minutes from now (14:24 EDT).

Daniela serving 4-1: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held.
Pin serving to stay in the match at 1-5: 30/0, 40/30, 40/40,
ad D (MP), Daniela won 6-3 6-1 at 14:28.

Well, I /would/ be, if the scoreboard had not jammed on match-point
at 14:30! But I see from the IBM NetCam that Young and Galimberti
are already on Court 11, so Daniela must have either won or retired
by now! (14:37)


Statistics
----------

Pin was very accurate with her first serve, getting 80% in, but she
was not very successful, winning only 58% of the points when she did
so, and 50% on second serve. The corresponding statistics for
Daniela were much healthier (66%, 79% and 64%).

There were five aces in the match - all from Daniela! They served
three double faults each (all of Daniela's in the first set, all of
Pin's in the second). Daniela's serve was much faster than Pin's
(fastest 109 - 88mph, average first serve 104 - 79mph, average
second serve 80 - 73mph).

Daniela had a W:UE ratio of 23:36, while Pin's was a pathetic 2:18.
With all due respect to Pin, Daniela's going to have to cut down the
unforced errors if she's going to reach her first Grand Slam fourth
round since the Australian Open 2003.

Daniela dominated Pin from the net, winning 13 of 15 points there,
while Pin only went to the net once in the match, giving herself a
completely meaningless 100% of points won at the net.

If you look at the statistics for each set individually, there's not
much difference except that Daniela was even more dominant with her
first serve in the second set, but most of her net-play occurred in
the first set. Also, Daniela's percentage of points won on second
serve dropped to 40% in the second set, despite all her double
faults coming in the first set - so I guess she ought to go for
bigger second serves.

Daniela had four break-points in the match and converted every
single one, without facing a single break-point against her own
serve! She beat Pin by 61 points to 45.

It's clear from the statistics that Daniela completely dominated the
match - Pin only won 9 points that weren't unforced errors by
Daniela!

-----------------
Second-round draw
-----------------

Daniela's 2r opponent:
+ María Emilia Salerni [Q] d. Jessica Kirkland [WC],
6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/0)

I'm pleased about this. I saw María Emilia play Arantxa Sánchez
Vicario at Wimbledon 2001, and I found her to be quite a cute and
flairsome player. She may not have a pretty face, but the sexiest
legs in tennis! ;-)


Daniela's US Open profile:
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/bios/ws/wtah394.html

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/hantu/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danielahantuchova/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/