Well, I had a hunch yesterday about both Sam Querrey and Tommy Haas pulling off upsets in day one and it's refreshing to see that something went right for me, especially after the fiasco that was my golf game yesterday afternoon.

     Querrey needed a mere 87 minutes to dispatch of Tomas Berdych in straight sets while Haas was taken the distance by 12th seed Richard Gasquet before emerging the victor. Querrey faces  Frenchman Nicolas Devilder in the second round while Haas will have to contend with Gilles Muller.

     In other upset news (upsetting news?) Women's 11 seed Daniela Hantuchova lost in straight sets to Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-4 6-2. The resurgent Nicolas Kiefer exits a bit early at the hands of Ivo Minar.

Other notable men's winners from day 2:

Marat Safin
Roger Federer
Mardy Fish
Tommy Robredo
Ivo Karlovic
Fernando Verdasco

And for the Ladies:

Ana Ivanovic
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Dinara Safina
Amelie Mauresmo
Nadia Petrova
Nicole Vaidisova
 
Complete results available here

On tap for today:

Men

Novak Djokovic looks to finish just one day better than he did last year, but has to get through Arnaud Clement first.
Nikolay Davydenko takes on Dudi Sela at 11:00 while 2005 King of Indianapolis Tennis Robby Ginepri and Amer Delic take court a little later on today. Nicholas Amalgro faces off with 2006 Indy Championships Finalist Frank Dancevic on court six.

And once again for the Ladies:

5th seed Elena Dementieva squares off against Pauline Permentier. 2nd seeded Jelena Jankovic, Patty Schnyder, and Svetlana Kuznetzova all see action today as well.

Tonight's primetime entertainment:

Lindsay Davenport vs. Alisa Kleybanova- Hopefully Davenport's knee hold up as she begins what is likely her final run in new York.

Andy Roddick vs. Fabrice Santoro- Roddick begins his trek through a difficult quarter of the draw against The Magician, who will throw everything, including the kitchen sink, in Andy's direction in hopes of upsetting the 8 seed.

That's all for now..have a happy wednesday

The guys are in New Haven as we speak and are currently playing the final stop on the 2008 Olympus US Open Series to be capped off next week at the start of the 2008 US Open. The summer series has provided tennis fans with some of the best mens tennis I have had the opportunity to witness. Whether you look at Gilles Simon taking home the crown in Indy and defeating Roger Federer in Canada or Nadal climbing to the top to become the world #1 or watching Juan Martin Del Potro capture the countrywide classic in LA and following it up with the title in Washington at the Legg Mason Classic. Mens professional tennis has experienced incredible growth this summer it was broadcast on ESPN2 at every tournament stop. The USTA continues to promote the game of tennis at a grassroots level and will continue to be a driving force for the succeess of tennis within the states. We look forward to growing our partnership with the USTA through a number of tennis related activities most notably this fall at the Healthy Active Lifestyles convocation at a TBD location in Indiana.

                         TENNIS   .    COMMUNITY   .    CHARITY

An Olympic Gold Medal and a #1 ranking on the world...not a bad week at all.

Way to go Rafa...You're King of the World!

Final results from Beijing:

 Men's Tennis Singles
 
Gold Medal match
Nadal (ESP) def. Gonzalez (CHI) 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3

Bronze Medal match
Djokovic (SRB) def. Blake (USA) 6-3 7-6(4)

 Men's Tennis Doubles

Gold medal match
Federer/Wawrinka (SUI)   6 6 6(4) 6
Aspelin/Johannson(SWE) 3 4 7    3

Bronze medal match
Bryan/Bryan (USA)    3 6 6
Clement/Llodra (FRA) 6 3 4

 Women's Tennis Singles

Gold medal match
Dementieva (RUS) def. Safina (RUS) 3-9 7-5 6-3

Bronze medal match
Zvonareva (RUS) def. Na (CHN) 6-0 7-5

 Women's Tennis Doubles

Gold medal match
Williams/Williams (USA)  6 6
Garrigues/Virginia (ESP)  2 0

Bronze medal match
Zi/Jie (CHN)                              6 6
Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR)  2 2

And there you have it...Congratulations to the winners for doing their Countries proud.

In other tennis news:

 Juan Martin Del Potro makes it four for the year as he takes the title at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington DC. His win over Viktor Troicki gives him some serious momentum heading into New York.Del Potro also moved into the #15 spot in the ATP Men's rankings.

 Pilot Pen Tennis takes center stage in New Haven this week.The final stop before New York for the Olympus US Open Series always puts on a great show with some of the best in both Men's and Women's pro tennis.

 
And on deck....The US Open.We at The Juice are getting geared up for our favorite of all the Grand Slams as we speak.Can Federer make it five? Can Nadal or Djokovic make it one? Will Jerry Seinfeld be there? Man, I hope so...he's funny.

Congratulations Rafa!

Rafael Nadal is on top of mens professional tennis as the #1 ranked player in the world

Here are your Beijing Day 7 Results

    Women's Tennis Singles
 Safina (RUS) def. Jankovic (SRB) 6-2 5-7 6-3
 
    Men's Tennis Singles
 Nadal (ESP) def. Djokovic (SRB) 6-4 1-6 6-4
 Gonzalez (CHI) def. Blake (USA) 4-6 7-5 11-9

 
     A great week of tennis is set to conclude this weekend in Beijing with both the men's and women's gold medal matches. As is true for both the ATP and WTA tours, the Olympics has seen the most consistent and disciplined players advance through the event. 
     Rafael Nadal and Dinara Safina serve as prime examples of this this. While both are highly emotional and energetic players, they're also extrmemely consistent in their approach to each and every match. Neither player gives much, if anything, away to their opponents. Rafael is playing the best tennis of his young career and is the posterboy for proper fitness and mental toughness. Safina is quickly positioning herself for a run at #1 in the WTA rankings with her unique blend of athleticism and mental savvy. 
 
     It was sad, at least for us here at The Juice, to see Roger Federer lose in his bid for his maiden olympic Medal. However, his loss paved the way for the most pleasant of suprises, that being James Blake's journey into the medal round. Blake fell in three sets to Fernando Gonzalez today in semifinal action, but his Beijing performance just might be the perfect boost of confidence that James needs to turn his season around.  

 Unfortunately, the Olympics wouldn't be the Olympics without a little controversy. For Blake, such controversy appeared in the form of a ball that was called out, but apparently knicked Gonzalez' racquet first.

From nbcolympics.com:

 "The incident that upset Blake occurred with Gonzalez serving at 8-9 in the final set. On the first point, Blake hit a backhand passing shot long but contended the ball ticked Gonzalez's racket before landing, as TV replays confirmed.

 Blake appealed in vain to the chair umpire, and said Gonzalez should have conceded the point. Blake went on to lose the game to make it 9-all.

 "Playing in the Olympics, in what's supposed to be considered a gentleman's sport, that's a time to call it on yourself," Blake said. "Fernando looked me square in the eye and didn't call it."

 Gonzalez said he was uncertain whether the ball hit his racket.
 
 "I didn't feel anything," Gonzalez said. "I mean, it's just one point. There is an umpire. If I'm 100 percent sure about it, I mean, I will give it. But I'm not sure."

     It's an unfortunate end to a great run for James, although he had failed to capitalize on three match point chances at the time of the botched call. However..I'm dissapointed by Gonzalez' statement that "..it's just one point". For Blake, that one point was match point. 
     
    Funny how the weight of a single point is so skewed depending on which side of the net you're standing.
     
    Anyway, I can't wait to see how James fares at the US Open. I've seen James do some pretty amazing things on a tennis court (Ed. note: see 2006 final vs. Roddick in Indianapolis. One of the best professional tennis matches I've ever seen). He's an amazing athlete. Hopefully, he can leave this incident behind him in Beijing.

    

In quarterfinal action today in Beijing, James Blake (6-4 7-6(2)) shocked the world by defeating Roger Federer and himself to advance to the Olympic Men's semifinals. Blake committed 56 unforced errors, but still managed to emerge victorious. Blake moves on to face the winner of the Mathieu/Gonzalez match scheduled for later today.

Still on tap for the Men today:

Paul-Henri mathieu (FRA) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) (as mentioned a mere 2 sentences earlier)

Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Gael Monfils (FRA)

Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs. Rafael Nadal (ESP)

B. Bryan/ M. Bryan (USA) vs. Hewitt/Guccione (AUS)

Blake, The Bryans and Venus stand as the lone remaining Americans after Serena's defeat at the hands of Elena Dementieva in the women's quarterfinals.Speaking of Venus, she's in the middle of a real battle with Na Li of China right now. It's 5-4 Venus on the first set. Venus has double-faulted 8, count 'em 8 times.

What's happening in DC,you say? Well, since you asked...

Tommy Haas advanced to the quarterfinals with a stright sets victory over Nicolas Mahut. Next up for Haas is Alejandro Falla, who fefeated Florent Serra 7-6(2) 7-6(11).

In a battle of young, American stars, John Isner towered (because he's tall) over Donald Young 6-4 7-6(4). Isner will meet 2nd-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro, who's on a gravy train with biscuit wheels as he rides a 16 match win streak in the quarters with a win over Dudi Sela in straight sets.

On deck for today..

Andy Roddick Vs. Eduardo Schwank

Robert Kendrick vs. S. Devvarman

Igor Kunitsyn vs. Fabio Fognini

V. Troicki vs. Bobby Reynolds

    Today marks the beginning of the main draw in Washington D.C., home of The Legg Mason Classic. Considering the impact that the Olympics has had on summer player commitments in men's tennis,  The Legg Mason event boasts a fantastic player field. Andy Roddick enters the event as the #1 seed, but will have his hands full thanks to the likes of Marat Safin, Feliciano Lopez,Tommy Haas, and Juan Martin Del Potro. Del Potro defeated Roddick yesterday to take the title of the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles. I noticed he cut his hair. Maybe that had something to do with it.

I smell a rematch....but both sides of the draw are filled with plenty of challenges along the way.

As my friend at From The Other Side of The Net mentioned today, this week marks the return of Taylor Dent, who has been absent from the tour for two years. Taylor was as high as #30 in the men's rankings in 2005 and was a finalist in Indianapolis that same year.

Mardy Fish also continues his road to recovery from an injury-plagued 2007 as the #5 seed. It's good to see Mardy playing well again. He brings charisma and a good energy to every event he plays.

We're going to attempt two posts on The Juice today, so stay tuned.

Also, best wishes for a great week to Jeff, Dan, Keith, Keely, Victoria, and the rest of the team in D.C.!

If you were to google digital cameras right now, how many results do you think you would pull up? If you guessed 83,500,000 then you were exactly right. I am sure you are curious as to why this has anything to do with a world class mens professional tennis tournament and I plan to explain that one to you.

Lets start with Olympus first of all, Olympus has started their first year as the title sponsor of the US Open Series and they have kicked this partnership off with a bang! Touring the US with a mobile marketing campaign and a 60' bus that folds out into an interactive tennis court and photo opportunity to demostrate their product. This is how you activate a sponsorship.

My question is this: What are you doing to keep your brand in front of your consumers, even when the economy is on a downturn? You must stay in front of your consumers year round. The opportunity to physically put your product in the hands of your consumers and create an intimate experience is a highly valuable goal of many companies.

Many organizations are often confused during tight economical times and begin to pull the reigns back, this is precisely the opposite of what they should be doing when things get turbulent. When everyone else is pulling back their spend, why not keep yours the same or step it up 5-10%? Your impact and reach are that much greater due to the lack of products and promotions in the marketplace. Align with a world class product: i.e. mens professional tennis? the USTA? the Olympus US Open Series? or heck why not event the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presetned by Lilly?

Ok, so your demographic isn't exactly that of a pro tennis tournament in the midwest, that is fine, we understand that we cannot be all things to all people but I would argue that you can find an event, property, team or athlete that will help you stay relavent and most importantly, provide you with memorable experiences and lasting impressions on your consumers!

Impacting one fan at a time...

 The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
 
- Bob Dylan,"The Times They Are A Changin'"

 

    Behold the changing of the guard in the men's tennis world?. Starting with the most obvious example in Rafael Nadal, who at the tender age of 22, will inherit the throne from King Roger on the 18th of this month when the 52-week rankings are released. The soon-to be-crowned Boy King recovered from a slow start to the year in truly remarkable fashion. He rode a 32-match winning streak into Cincinnati before the wheels fell off at the hands of Djokovic in the semi-finals. I'll credit that hiccup to fatigue more than anything (although Djokovic played well). Nadal's unique blend of speed, athleticism, intensity and on-court savvy make him a real gift to the tennis world.

 While Federer's 2008 has been a year filled with inconsistency and a palpable frustration with his game, remember that he was still good enough to finish Runner-Up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon...which weren't no easy thing.
 
 Slumps are inherent to all the great ones across the sports spectrum. Tennis is no different and remember this- In 2002, Pete Sampras won the US Open at age 31 after having not won a singles title in 22 months.By the time he reached New York that year, Sampras hadn't advanced past the 4th round of a slam since the year before and hadn't won since Wimbledon in 2000. In 1997, Andre Agassi was ranked #141 in the world and was playing Challenger events before reaching #1 two years later. My point is this....don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion. I don't think Roger's done just yet.

 And for the first time in a long while, we'll have the pleasure of watching a real story develop within the top 10 of men's tennis. Andy Roddick and James Blake currently occupy the 8 and 9 spots, but neither are very far from being back in the top 5. If either is going to make a late season push, New York is the place to do it.

More imprtantly, aside from Nadal, is anyone playing better tennis right now than Andy Murray? We're starting to see real flashes of brilliance in his play that we haven't seen before. Andy enters this week at #6 in the rankings and it's painfully obvious that he's going to make some noise in Beijing and at the US Open if he stays healthy and focused. Can he continue his solid play? Will he play well enough to creep up to #4? Why am I asking you?

                                                                    


Today is "write about whatever you want to" day here at The Juice in celebration of our Nation's birthday. July 4th is the greatest of the summer holidays in my opinion. For one day it's perfectly okay to stand in the middle of your street in cut-off jean shorts and a Motley Crue tank top and detonate illegal fireworks. 

(Editor's note: We at the Juice actually began our celebration on July 2nd, when the Declaration of Independence was actually signed by its authors, which means we haven't worked since wednesday)
   
 First things first: I'm not sure what sort of cosmic anomaly is to blame for my Red Sox entering today 3 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, but hopefully things correct themselves here soon. However, it has been the most jubilant of times watching the grease fire that is the New York Yankees.

  By now you've heard about Brett Favre's rumored return to the NFL. All I have to say about this is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. 

   Gilbert Arenas gave $16 million back to the Wizards to stay in DC.Seriously. I'm not making that up.

   Joey Chestnut toppled Kobayashi in a 5-dog eatoff to win the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest. Read about it here. I shake my head at this.

More to come later as the Juice will have something to say about both Wimbledon finals. Enjoy the potato salad today.