Mic Check

Today I came home from class, sat around for a little bit and since then, I've been watching the US Open. With Cinderella story Melanie Oudin facing off against one of my new favorite tennis players Caroline Wozniacki (see previous post) in the first match and Roger Federer playing Robin Soderling in the main event, this seemed like a pretty good plan. And it was.

But this was really the first extended stretch of the US Open I've watched and one thing that jumped out to me was courtside reporter Pam Shriver.

Shriver was one of the best American women to play tennis and (formerly?) married to ex-Bond George Lazenby.

Before the Oudin/Wozniacki match started, she was interviewing Oudin's sisters, her twin and their 9 year old sister. Oudin's crew were wearing shirts with "Believe" on the front. At the end of the interview after talking to Melanie's twin, Shriver abruptly cups her hand over their younger sister's eyes and says, "Now spell 'believe.'" Perhaps feeling the heat of the moment or maybe just because she's 9, she didn't spell it correctly.

Perhaps Shriver was sensing the "wtf" factor of what she just had that girl do and tried to explain it away saying, "I'm not a great speller either." Uh, still, wtf just happened.

After the match was over, Shriver tried to convince Oudin, who had just lost, for an interview. Remember, the girl's 17, just made (and lost) her first appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, a hard-fought match that was much closer than its 6-2, 6-2 score. Still, Oudin, though she looked to be putting on a strong front, agreed to it.

Shriver opens with this gem, "Usually we don't interview the loser." Are you kidding me? Of course she followed it up commenting that Oudin wasn't really the loser tonight, but the fact of the matter was, she just came out and won just 4 games in her first quarterfinal, her first night match in the cavernous Arthur Ashe stadium. Is that really what she wants to hear?

After that classic, she walked across to interview the winner Wozniacki. When talking about her next match, Shriver used a mocking and sarcastic tone when talking about Wozniacki's next opponent, Yanina Wickmayer, telling her she'd be a huge favorite. At this, there were (rightly) some boos from the crowd, prompting Shriver to ask, "What did I say?"

It wasn't that she suggested that Wozniacki, a top 10 player, is a big favorite going into the semis. But she needs to show some respect for Wickmayer, a teenage Belgian who's quietly worked her way into her first Slam semifinal. Of course, she didn't rack up the impressive hit list Oudin did on her run, but she is ranked a full 20 spots higher and certainly will rise more after the US Open.

I don't really know what Shriver was thinking tonight nor do I know if this is something that's become the norm throughout this tournament. But I sincerely hope that someone talks to her about respecting these players and people.

On a side note related to yesterday's post, how cute and gracious was Wozniacki in victory? She actually apologized to the New York crowd afterwards, saying she knows many of them wanted Melanie to win but also saying she hoped she won over some hearts with her performance. I think that's beyond question at this point.

The Next Sharapova?

In 2003 as a 16 year old, Maria Sharapova spent her first full season on the WTA Tour and did very well for herself, collecting wins over several highly ranked players as well as her first singles titles. However it wasn't until 2004 when she won Wimbledon and finished in the top 5 in the year end rankings that she really burst on the scene, attracting as much attention for her looks as for her game.

Many hailed her as the next Anna Kournikova, due to being a hot young Russian tennis player, although most noted that Maria won singles tournaments while Anna never did.

Now Maria's had a rough road recently with injury problems, falling out of the top 10 and not having won any tournaments this year.


But now at the US Open, we might be seeing the emergence of a successor to Maria in Caroline Wozniacki.Wozniacki is a 19 year old player born in Denmark and living in Monaco and she's been making a splash on the WTA for about a year or so, winning her first tour wins last year. It's clear that 2009 has been her true breakout season though as she's entered the top 10, won three singles and one doubles titles (both of which doubled her career totals) and, as of yesterday, reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal beating Svetlana Kuznetsova at the U.S. Open.

She's facing fellow teenager Melanie Oudin, a 17 year old from Murietta, GA, in her next match and it should be an entertaining battle between the two young players.

Wozniacki definitely has the talent to make it far on the tour, which she's already shown. In my opinion she's also got the looks and personality to make a cultural splash as well.

She already loves New York from the time she's spent there and has been talking about getting an apartment there.

Wozniacki's also spent time at Yale during the Pilot Pen and said she'd love to take classes there because she's fascinated by the American college experience.


Who knows what will happen. It's very possible she suffers a career ending injury or has some kind of implosion and we never hear from her again. But that's pretty doubtful, and having seen her play, it really would be a shame to lose one of the up and comers who, along with Oudin, Victoria Azerenka, and other young players currently lurking outside the top 10, will be sure to lead the new guard when players like the Williamses and Kim Clijsters decide to call it a career.