Wow.

I don’t know if there is a better way to describe what happened on Sunday at the Olympic Club.

Webb Simpson shot a 2 under par, 68 to squeeze out a one shot victory over Michael Thompson, Jim Furyk, and Graeme McDowell.

Webb started the day at tied for 8^th at 3 over par. He managed the first six holes 1 over, bogeys on 2 and 5 followed up with a birdie on 6. He also birdied 7, 8 and 10 before parring out the rest of the holes.

While Webb was lighting up the scoreboard, Tiger Woods had already played the first six holes, 6 over par. His round was over before it ever started. He finished 2 under on the back 9, 3 over par for the day and 8 over par for the tournament in a tie for 21^st.

“There are a lot of positives from this week, a lot of positives. Now I just have to apply them,” he said in an interview after his round.

Furyk played incredibly well on the front 9 only bogeying hole 6 before struggling on the par 5, 16^th hole. He duck hooked his tee shot into the trees and had to chip out. His fourth shot was his approach shot which took a bad bounce off the green. He had to chip on and then one putt for a bogey.

On 18, with the tournament on the line, he hit his approach shot long and left into the bunker. From that bunker he thinned his shot into the bunker at the front of the green. He was able to put it close on his fourth shot and made his bogey putt.

McDowell played his way back into the tournament after shooting 4 over par on the front 9. He birdied 11 and 12 before bogeying 13 and 14. He made a 15 footer on 17 for birdie to give himself a chance to tie Simpson on the 18^th hole. He missed his 25 foot birdie putt from above the hole on 18 to finish in second shooting 3 over par, 73 and 2 over for the tournament.

Ernie Els also had a good day. He started the day in 9^th place and eagled 7 to give the crowd something to cheer for. He followed that eagle up with consecutive bogeys—his tee shot on the par 3, 8^th hole was 40 yards short! He finished with a 2 over 72 and in a tie for 4^th place at 4 over par.

“Alternate.”

When you think of that word, you really don’t think you have a chance. You haven’t been picked. You’re just waiting for your turn.

Well, Monday Brandt Snedeker withdrew from the U.S. Open which begins on Thursday. Fourteen year old Andy Zhang of Florida moved up one spot on the alternate list.

Still waiting in the wings but one step closer.

Monday evening, Paul Casey withdrew with an injury and all of a sudden the ”alternate” in front of his name was swapped with “participant”.

Zhang will be the youngest player to ever play in the U.S. Open when he tees of on Thursday. He just finished 8th grade and attends the prestigious IMG Leadbetter Academy. Leadbetter as in the famous golf coach, David Leadbetter.

Last week he lost in a playoff at a U.S. Open Qualifier in Florida after shooting rounds of 70-72.

Good luck, Andy!

This years U.S. Open will be played at the Olympic Club in California. It is the second  major of the year and #2 player in the world, Rory McIlroy, will be looking to defend his title.

NEW YORK — Honestly, I was not too excited about this match. We’ve seen them go at it before. I wasn’t particularly enamored with either player. That has all changed.

Novak Djokovic has won the 2011 US Open.

The match started out all Djokovic.  After Nadal broke him early, the Serb broke back and actually won the first set 6-2 winning SIX straight games.   But that makes it too pat. These points. These points were epic.  They took forever. An honest, but slightly embarrassing example: I switched over for a bit. I actually watched almost an ENTIRE episode of Law & Order, SVU (cutting all commercials) and the game that had started was just finishing when I switched back.  Do you hear me people? There were 20-minute games. There were 27-stroke points.

Similar play in the second set. Nadal up early, but can’t hold it. Djokovic eventually breaks and wins 6-4. After, oh, two and a half hours or so of match time.  There was a nine deuce game. It was crazy that Nadal couldn’t pull it out. The chat rooms, the Twitter streams—everyone was sad.  Nadal was pushing. He couldn’t figure Djokovic out. Everyone worried that CBS would drop coverage at the end of the 7pm window.

Somehow, some way, Nadal figured out something. Djokovic was serving for the set, 6-5, and Nadal broke. Nadal convincingly took the tiebreak for the third set. He was growling (for real). He was back.  Djokovic looked fairly broken and called for the trainer.

In the beginning of the fourth set, Djokovic called the trainer again for a full medical timeout. The two had been on the court four hours. He asked for more painkillers and the trainer ministered to his back.  Um…I need that trainer. He must have worked magic. Djokovic broke Nadal early and before you knew it, he was up 3-0. 3-1, 4-1. 5-1. Suddenly, all the tension was gone, and Djokovic was serving for the match.  Even John McEnroe said Nadal just had nothing left. It was match point, and Djokovic made the sign of the cross. Ajde! Congrats, dude. Congrats.

Well….only 125 days until the 2012 Australian Open.

NEW YORK — We’re nearing the finish line, folks. Here we go:

Samantha Stosur wins the 2011 US Open

She Did It!:  Congratulations are in order for Samantha Stosur, winner of the 2011 US Open.  Stosur, the 9^th seed, played under the radar the entire tournament.  Before this US Open, she had only won two titles in her career.  Then she played the longest tiebreak in a women’s match in US Open history. And the longest women’s match, in minutes, in US Open history.  And never once played on Ashe. The Australian now is the first major winner from her country since 1980.  The win also tops off a strange but cool year for the WTA, when three first-time slam winners all won in the same year.

Unfortunately, there was some drama on the court.  During break point, Williams yelled out, “Come on!” while the play was still occurring.  Similar to an earlier match between Marion Bartoli and Christina McHale, the “screamer” lost the point due to a Hindrance rule. Apparently, Williams was not aware of the rule and had an altercation with the chair umpire, and yelled that the umpire “was the one that screwed [her] over last time,” which was inappropriate on a few fronts. One, it was not the same chair umpire that presided during the Clijsters match when Williams defaulted for the “foot fault” drama. And two, her comments suggested that she felt that she “got screwed” in that match—which is completely opposite of her comments a few days after the incident in which she took responsibility for her behavior.  I do not discount all that Serena has been through in her career.  I emphatically admire her strength and ability. And I certainly do not have a different expectation of her, as a black woman myself, than I do of other male players or white players. But I just think she could be calmer and more professional, even in times of strife.

In the end, however, it was nice to see both players sitting together smiling, and Serena was classy in her post-match comments. The most important story, the tennis on the court, was what really mattered.

Day 15 Preview: Bonus tennis! The Men’s Final, between #1 Novak Djokovic and #2 Rafael Nadal, will commence. What else is there to say?

Image flickr/Xavier H. Gonzalez

American Serena Williams powered her way into the final by defeating #1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals

NEW YORK — For my money, the best day of tennis all year.  Men’s Semifinals AND Women’s Semifinals all on one day? Here we go:

THE MEN

Djokovic/Federer: What an awesome display of tennis. Wow. At the start of the match, it was all Federer. He won the first set in a tiebreak. He broke Djokovic the second set and took it.  It seemed, for a moment, like it was over. The crowd loved it.  Then….Djokovic woke up. He started playing serious tennis and dominated Federer the next two sets. The crowd got a bit nervous, and started cheering so hard for Federer that Djokovic, irritated, threw his hands up and asked the crowd for love. The fifth set was even, until Federer got a break.  He even had two match points before Djokovic broke back, eventually winning the match 7-5 in the fifth, making this the first year since 2003 that Federer will not win a major.  Djokovic called the match “one of the best wins of my career.” He then planned to “sit back and watch their (Murray/Nadal) match” and “hope they go as long as we did.” During the post-match on-court interview, he requested music and danced with the crowd. It was a bit awkward-white-guy-overbite, but entertaining nonetheless.

Murray/Nadal: Admittedly, after all the drama of Djokovic/Federer, the energy seemed to sap out of the place.  At least, maybe that was the experience of Andy Murray, who quickly dropped a break to Rafael Nadal.  And then the set. And then another set. Murray, who stopped cursing at himself and reciting (painful yet entertaining) monologues long enough to play some tennis, came to life briefly, winning the third set.  But the fourth set was again Nadal’s, and the Spaniard moved on to attempt to defend his 2010 US Open title 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

So….: I have to admit, it was a bad day for me. As a Federer fan and a Murray fan, I spent most of the day pulling my hair out.  Crushing. But, alas–it should be a monster final.

THE WOMEN

Stosur/Kerber: The stepchild-match of the day, that had to be watched online, was a good one. Samantha Stosur advanced to the US Open Final by defeating the unseeded German Angelique Kerber 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Stosur took the first set, and, like the men’s match earlier today, it seemed like it might be over.  But Kerber had other ideas, and broke the Aussie early on her way to winning the second set.  Stosur found her groove, however, and took the third set, punching her ticket to the finals—her second attempt at a major championship.  She is also the first Australian woman to reach the US Open final since 1977.  And in my book, she wins the Best Dress Award in the tournament—if only there were a prize.

Williams/Wozniacki: After all the scheduling snafus, the long matches and whatnot, the last semifinal match finally got started about 10pm. Despite a bum toe that, when shown to the trainer, was wrapped like a mummy, Serena Williams took out the top seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4.  After all she has been through this past year, Dick Enberg said it best: “She’s back!”

Day 14 Preview: Tomorrow afternoon features the Women’s Final, pitting 9^th seed Samantha Stosur against American Serena Williams. I know it’s Sunday—so set your fantasy football rosters, get your split screens ready, and then settle in for some great tennis.

Image flickr/Ian Gampon.

#4 Andy Murray has now reached the semifinals of every major tournament in 2011, with his win today over American John Isner

NEW YORK — The 2011 US Open is quickly on its way to conclusion.  Here are the highlights (and lowlights):

They all made it: All four men’s top seeds have advanced to the Semifinals of the US Open, and the draw is now identical to this year’s French Open.  Fourth seed Andy Murray faced a tough opponent in the not-vertically-challenged John Isner in the Quarterfinals today.  Isner’s serve was a laser (as usual), but the American just had no answer for Murray’s speed and powerful passing shots.  The Scot eventually pulled out the match in four sets, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).  Murray will now face Rafael Nadal, who took out American Andy Roddick in straight sets 6-2,  6-1, 6-3.

And…they did it!: The young American team of Melanie Oudin and Jack Sock did the unthinkable today—they won the 2011 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship.  They defeated the #8 team of Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank in three sets, 7-6(4), 4-6, 1-0(8).  Congrats!

Shame on you: With the rain that created minor havoc in the schedule, a seemingly glaring slight has occurred with the Women’s Semifinals scheduling.  The tournament’s broadcast partner, CBS, was originally scheduled to air the Women’s Final Saturday night at 8pm.  With the weather-related pushback, the Women’s Semifinal matches now need to be played during that time.  The understandable top draw—featuring Serena Williams and top seed Caroline Wozniacki—will start at about 8pm on Ashe stadium (the top show court).  It would only make sense, then, that the other match—featuring Australian #9 Samantha Stosur and unseeded German Angelique Kerber—would occur either right after that match.  In a low class move, the USTA has scheduled the Stosur/Kerber match for 6pm on the Grandstand court—the #3 show court on the grounds—while the Men’s Doubles Final will follow on the main stage.  On top of that, the Stosur/Kerber match will not even be televised. Personally, I find it embarrassing that the USTA made such a move which appears to marginalize an important match that does not feature an American or a top seed.  Let’s hope the USTA realizes how bad this looks.

Day 12 Preview: As my mini-rant suggests, both Women’s Semifinal matches will occur in the evening.  The day session features two amazing Men’s Semifinal matches—Novak Djokovic versus Roger Federer up first at noon, followed by Rafael Nadal versus Andy Murray.  

Image flickr/Jennifer Liquido.

5th seed David Ferrer faced a tough opponent today in Andy Roddick. Roddick moved on and will face Nadal tomorrow in the Quarterfinals

NEW YORK — So the weather forecast was a 90% chance of rain, all day.  So of course—there was blue sky and sun today. The highlights:

Schedule Shakeup: Just a note—because of the rain that wreaked havoc on the schedule, the Women’s Final is now scheduled for Sunday and the Men’s Final will happen on Monday. Adjust your football viewing accordingly.

Day 10 was….Interesting-ish: Sorry for the lack of update for Day 10, but there was really nothing to report.  It rained. And then rained some more.  There were a few moments of tension, however, when all the men’s Round of 16 matches started on different courts under cloudy and damp skies.  The matches were all halted after, at most, 15 minutes of play.  Rafael Nadal then complained to the tournament referee about even being sent out under misty skies in the first place, suggesting that they were being forced to play in unsafe conditions because of the money involved during the tournament.  Three of the players—Nadal, Andy Murray, and Andy Roddick, then went to speak to the Brian Earley, the referee, in his office.  This action led to an EPIC rant by John McEnroe about all the issues in the sport.  Seriously, I usually tune out during tennis rain delays (which can be extended)—but I was riveted and had to pay attention. Maybe the US Open did too. For their part, tournament officials seemed to take the players’ concerns in stride, and appeared to be more measured about making decisions about play.  They later suspended all the matches, including the women’s matches that evening.

The Men: World #1 Novak Djokovic moved on to the Semifinals against his fellow Serbian, #20 Janko Tipsarevic.  Tipsarevic actually retired in the fourth set after losing the third set 6-0. #2 Rafael Nadal also came through fairly easily against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6(1), 6-1, 6-2. #4 Andy Murray also cruised to victory against 22-year-old American Donald Young 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. #5 David Ferrer, however, was not so lucky.  American #21 Andy Roddick started out up a break from the previous day and kept on going.  After some water problems were still found on Louis Armstrong stadium (the #2 show court), the match was moved way out to Court 13, and the American prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to move on to the Quarterfinals.  Finally, another American, John Isner, provided a relative upset today, defeating France’s Gilles Simon, the 12^th seed, in a tight contest (7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4)).  In the other Quarterfinal today, #3 Roger Federer was simply too much for the Frenchman #11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, winning the match 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

The Women: The ever-dominating Serena Williams continued her march today toward yet another US Open title.  The 17^th seed, Russian up-and-comer Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova gave Serena some initial trouble, but Williams emerged victorious 7-5, 6-1.  Probably the semi-shocker of the day was 9^th seed Samantha Stosur’s seeming dismantling of the #2 seed Vera Zvonareva.  The Sunglassed One has beaten the higher seed Zvonareva an amazing seven times in a row before today—with this victory putting her in the Semifinals. This tournament’s giant-killer, Italy’s Flavia Panetta, finally went down today, losing to Germany’s Angelique Kerber in three sets. (Remember a few days ago I told you about some possible unknowns making the Semis? Here it is.) Top seed Caroline Wozniacki also won her match today against another German, Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-6(5).

Other Notes:  In an unexpected twist, the young American Mixed Doubles team of Melanie Oudin and Jack Sock won their Semifinal match today.  Well….not really.  The team’s opponent, the 7^th seed pair of Elena Vesnina and Leander Paes, withdrew from the tournament.  This puts Oudin and Sock in the Mixed Doubles Championship match against the 8^th seeded Argentine team of Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank.

Day 12 Preview: A great (but short) day of tennis is on tap for tomorrow, as the last two Men’s Quarterfinal matches will take place.  Andy Murray will first take on American John Isner, with Andy Roddick versus Rafael Nadal to follow.  The final match of the day on Ashe will be the Mixed Doubles Final.

Photo courtesy of onthegotennis.com

Rain washed out both sessions today at the US Open.

NEW YORK — Rain was steady all day in New York City, washing out all play at the US Open in Day 9.  Organizers hoped to have about an hour or two of a window to play tennis, but ultimately had to cancel both the day and night session.  It is (seriously) still raining as we speak, but the rain is supposed to start to taper in the afternoon of Day 10, so we will keep you posted.  For my leaky ceiling’s sake, I hope the experts are right.

By the way…..: Had to check out before that Federer/Monaco match got started at midnight last night, but I seriously could have stayed up.  Federer was either unhappy about the late start or had a strong desire to get off the court as soon as possible, because he absolutely annihilated Juan Monacao in straight sets in only 1 hour and 22 minutes.

Day 10 Preview:  Basically every match yet to be played is scheduled for tomorrow.  Given the continued forecast of rain, it is doubtful that all will finish.  However, rain sets up those wonderful days in which great matches are scheduled again on the outer courts to make up time.  So if you have time to hang around in the sprinkles, by all means lie to your boss, play sick, and pick up a grounds pass for the day.

Photo flickr/amandabhslater

NEW YORK — There is rain coming tomorrow…..but there was great tennis today. And hey—no one withdrew or retired! The highlights:

Out!: The day started with the end of the tournament for 2010 French Open Champion and 7^th seed Francesca Schiavone. Russian youngster Antastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated the Italian 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.  Her prize for ousting a former slam winner? Serena Williams.  Ouch.  #1 Caroline Wozniacki also outlasted former US Open Champion and 15^th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in three long sets, pushing back the Roger Federer/Juan Monaco match to a start time of almost midnight(!), and past the bedtime of this author. I tried, but couldn’t make it. Sorry.

The Local Flavor: Two Americans were in action today in singles, with differing results. First Serena Williams dominated Serbian Ana Ivanovic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.  Starting off the match with an ace, Serena was in control the entire contest.  Truthfully, it seemed like Serena was in control before the match, because when asked about her upcoming match with Williams in the previous round, Ivanovic just laughed nervously.  But hey—I would too. It seems that no one has had a chance at all against Williams this tournament.

#11 Jo Wilfred Tsonga wins a tight five set affair against American Mardy Fish

Top American and 8^th seed Mardy Fish had a more disappointing day, as he lost to the showy Frenchman Jo Wilfred Tsonga in a five-set grinding match.  Tsonga took the first set before seeming to go away for two sets.  It looked like the match would be over quickly, but the 11^th seed pulled out the fourth set and seemed to dominate the fifth set, despite some jawing back and forth between the players about each other’s supporters in their boxes.  In the end though, they both stayed classy after the match—and appeared to kiss and make up at the net. The French are lovers after all, yes?

On the doubles front, the young American team of Melanie Oudin and Jack Sock continue to roll through the tournament.  After taking out the top seeded team, the wildcards were victorious again, and have moved to the Mixed Doubles Semifinals.

The Usual Suspects: #1 Novak Djokovic’s toughest set of the tournament came today, in the beginning of his match with Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine.  The set went into a tiebreak that was the longest of this year’s tournament.  Dolgopolov put in a ton of effort, but lost the first set to the Serb (16-14), and then could not seem to find his mojo.  Djokovic pretty much rolled over the ponytailed one after the breaker, moving on now to the Quarterfinals 7-6(14), 6-4, 6-2.  On the women’s side, Germany’s Andrea Petkovic danced her way to the Quarters as well, easily getting past Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-4.

Day 9 Preview: The day session tomorrow features Rafael Nadal against Gilles Muller, after #4 Andy Murray takes the court against American Donald Young.  Andy Roddick again plays at night, facing #5 David Ferrer.   Another exciting match should be #2 Vera Zvonareva versus #9 Samantha Stosur.  And the tallest American by far, #28 John Isner, will face off against Gilles Simon. Even with a 90% chance of precipitation, let’s hope the rain holds off for another day.

Photo courtesy of flickr/chascow, whose stream can be found here.

NEW YORK — Just a quick check in, people.  I’ll be a bit brief tonight:

Out!: In a minor upset, Italian 26^th seed Flavia Panetta again took out a higher ranked opponent, as she dismissed #13 Peng Shuai.  Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro also lost a heartbreaker today to #12 Gilles Simon.

The Local Flavor: Four American men have now made it into the second week of the US Open. Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick are expected to fall in that category.  John Isner made it through as well, after taking out fellow American Alex Bogolomov, Jr. The story of the day, however, was the final man in this grouping.  Donald Young, fresh off the best win of his career against 14^th seed Stanilas Wawrinka, was victorious today against Juan Ignacio Chela.  Young has a very tough round coming up, as the 22-year-old will next face Andy Murray.

Match of the Night: We didn’t have a AUOTD, but Match of the Night has to go to the Sam Stosur and Maria Kirilenko. Stosur took the first set 6-1, and it looked like the match would be quick.  But the Russian veteran began coming to net and the second set went into an epic tiebreak. There was much drama, as Kirilenko successfully challenged line calls three times, twice on match point.  The 25^th seed then went on to win the 2^nd set, 17-15 in the tiebreak, the longest for a women’s match in a major tournament in history. Stosur came back to win the third set, and the match, her second match in a row to go the distance.

The Usual Suspects: #2 Rafael Nadal, #2 Vera Zvonareva, #4 Andy Murray and #21 Andy Roddick made it through their matches fairly easily today.

Not a retirement, but…: After his easy-ish win over David Nalbandian, Rafael Nadal suffered some fairly intense cramping during his Spanish press conference.  It looked a bit scary on video, as Nadal stiffened up in pain and slid to the floor.  He was a bit sheepish after he was stretched out, and finished his presser standing up.

Day 8 Preview: The Labor Day schedule is definitely compelling.  The two must-see matches of the day have to be Ana Ivanovic versus Serena Williams and Mardy Fish versus Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, with #7 Francesca Schiavone, Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, and Roger Federer also in action.

#9 Samantha Stosur wins an epic match against #25 Maria Kirilenko, featuring the longest tiebreak in women's grand slam history

Photo courtesy of Xavier H. Gonzalez. Find his flickr stream here.