TENNIS in DEPTH.

The final grand slam of the year gets under way in New York on August 30.

Who will win among the Women may be even more unpredictable than the men. With the withdrawl of Serena, and the likelehood than Venus, who hasn’t played for so long that I’m forgetting what she looks like, will not be fully recovered, it makes the field wide open.

Just yesterday Kim Clijsters injured her thigh against Zvonareva, and even though she says it’s not too serious, there must be a cause of some concern to her coach. And of course Justine Henin is certainly out.

Jelena Jankovic is nursing a sore leg that has hampered her for two tournaments, and Caroline Wozniacki is not back to her earlier form. Victoria Azarenka’s game goes up and down like a toilet seat, one week she wins and looks so good and then follows it up with a poor showing. Sam Stosur, the ultimate choker, has the game to win, but she is also just coming back from injury.

So who remains? Maria Sharapova will win if she can control her serve for two weeks…..highly unlikely. Svetlana Kuznetsova is coming around to her old form and has the experience….a strong possiblity. Dinara Safina….no way. Elena Dementieva may want it more than anyone else as this could be her last chance…..don’t overlook her.

And then there are whole bunch of players who could pull off a major upset just as Schiavonne did in Paris.

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The final grand slam of the year gets under way in New York on August 30.

Andy Murray insists he is ready for the US Open despite struggling in the heat as he lost to Mardy Fish in the quarter-final of the Cincinnati Masters on Friday.

“I’ve put in a lot work off the court,” said Murray, who won the ATP Rogers Cup in Toronto before heading to Cincinnati.

“I’ve worked as hard as I can to get in really good shape. I just tried to fight as much as I could, and nearly won. I’ve had more than enough matches before the US Open, I think.”

Rafael Nadal has been beaten in Toronto and Cincinnati, and he had to struggle to get into the quarter final. He is like a fish (no pun intended) out of water on hard courts, and even though he will be seeded #1 in New York, he may find winning his first US Open is just too much for his tender knees and clay court style.

Novak Djokovic is living up to his reputation as the joker, and cannot be considered as a serious contender in New York. Whether it is his allergies, or the weather, or a problem deep within his camp, he does not demonstrate the desire or the motivation to compete at a level we all know that he is capable of.

If Federer wins the title in Cinci (which he should), then he must be considered as the favourite to win another US Open. He always saves his best for the Grand Slam events, and I often wonder if his defeats on the way to the Slams are part of his grand overall plan.

Is this the year for an outsider to win? Roddick, Nalbandian, Berdych, Soderling………no way!

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Kim Clijsters left with a heavily bandaged left leg following a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 quarter-final loss to Vera Zvonareva.

After dominating the opening set, Clijsters felt her hip tighten in the second. She took a medical break to have her upper left leg taped before the third set, but her movement was clearly restricted as Zvonareva advanced to the semifinals with an easy win.

Some wondered why Clijsters didn’t retire from the match and go for full treatment, but the former world No. 1 from Belgium said that was out of the question.

“I don’t like to give up,” she said. “(Maybe) if something really bad happens, if you twist your ankle, but I was still able to move, still able to hit the ball, so I don’t believe in giving up.”

Clijsters was quick to assert that the injury will not prevent her from defending her U.S. Open title in New York beginning Aug. 31, but said she will need a more clear diagnosis and some therapy to get it under control. She hopes to be back hitting balls in practice by Wednesday.

“It’s the hip,” she said. “I was trying to get an MRI this weekend but the hospitals here are full, so I’m going to get it done at the beginning of the next week in New Jersey.

“I saw the doctor and he did the test but I need an MRI or a scan.”

The US$2-million tournament was already thin on star power with the absence of world No. 1 Serena Williams and Justine Henin due to long-term injuries, and with Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams pulling out at the last minute.

Then top-seeded Jelena Jankovic, also nursing a minor injury, lost her first match.

Organizers say ticket sales are down only slightly from previous years, but there are some empty seats and scalpers outside the stadium are asking half price for good seats.

Zvonareva will be joined in the semifinals on Saturday by fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over unseeded Zheng Jie of China.

Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark downed French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-3, 6-2.

Wozniacki will face Kuznetsova in the semifinals. They have played one another four times and each won twice, with Wozniacki taking their most recent encounter at last year’s U.S. Open.

Zvonareva will be up against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who defeated Marion Bartoli 6-2, 7-6 late Friday night.

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Rafael Nadal produced another unconvincing display ahead of the US Open as he bowed out of the Cincinnati Masters to unseeded Marcos Baghdatis at the quarter-final stage.

The Spaniard had only reached the last-eight after fending off match points against Julien Benneteau in the previous round and looked out-of-sorts against world number 20 Baghdatis.

Despite playing below his best Nadal had tenaciously hung in the contest until he uncharacteristically double faulted at 4-4 in the deciding set to be broken and allow Baghdatis to serve out the match.

The Cypriot’s 6-4 4-6 6-4 win denied the Cincinnati fans a dream semi-final after Roger Federer had been lying in wait following his 6-4 7-5 win over Nikolay Davydenko.

Federer was the only top-four player to advance to the semi-finals after Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray lost to Americans Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish respectively.

But it was Nadal’s exit that was the most unlikely after former Australian Open finalist Baghdatis bullied him on his service while also firing down 18 aces.

“I was serving very well and I got a lot of free points on my serve. That was the key to the match – I didn’t give Rafa any rhythm. “It’s a great victory for me today. I’ll go back to my hotel room and talk with my coach and think of the match with Roger tomorrow.”

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Roger Federer was a straight-set quarterfinal winner Friday at the $3 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, a U.S. Open Series event.

The third-seeded Federer got past sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-5 on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The Swiss native improved to 7-2 in quarterfinal matches this season and 14-2 against Davydenko.

The 16-time major titlist and former world No. 1 Federer has won three of the last five titles in Cincy (2005, 2007, 2009), including a victory over Serb Novak Djokovic in last year’s finale.

Federer’s semifinal opponent will be the winner of the evening session between Rafael Nadal and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. The reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal is seeking his first trip to the final at this Cincy Masters event.

Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick and a hot Mardy Fish will meet in an all- American semifinal on Saturday.

The ninth-seeded Roddick handled Djokovic, this week’s second seed, 6-4, 7-5 on Day 6 here. The big-serving American popped eight aces and cruised in 1 hour, 23 minutes.

Djokovic broke Roddick when the American was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Roddick broke right back and then held to close out the bout.

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Serena Williams pulled out of the U.S. Open on Friday, saying she still is recovering from surgery to repair cuts on her right foot.

The top-ranked Williams has won three titles at Flushing Meadows, part of her 13 Grand Slam singles championships. Last year, she lost in the semifinals after a tirade at a line judge over a foot-fault call.

“It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the U.S. Open,” Williams said in a statement released by her publicist.

Williams went to add: “My doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal.”

She called missing the tournament “one of the most devastating moments of my career.”

The 28-year-old American was hurt while she was in Munich last month – shortly after winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title on July 3, and before playing in an exhibition match against Kim Clijsters that drew a tennis-record crowd of 35,681 in Brussels on July 8.

Williams had surgery in Los Angeles on July 15. She already had pulled out of three hard-court tournaments she was scheduled to enter in preparation for the U.S. Open.

Williams has participated in the last 16 majors; the last one she missed was Wimbledon in 2006.

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Andy Murray struggled in the heat as he lost to Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters on Friday.

The Scot was visibly suffering in the second set, and also received treatment on an apparent knee problem, as Fish came through an energy-sapping contest 6-7 (7/9) 6-1 7-6 (7/5) in two hours 56 minutes.

Murray looked out on his feet at times between points in the third set but did not hold back during them before finally bowing out of the tournament.

It took until 5-5 in the first set for the first break points of the match to arrive, and they fell to Murray.

Fish saved them both as the set went into a tie-break, the Scot saving two set points before finally clinching it.

The world number four, though, looked a different player in the second set as injury and the heat of the day appeared to take their toll.

The American raced into a 4-0 lead, Murray feeling his knee in the second game and then apparently complaining of dizziness at the change of ends after the third game.

The 23-year-old got on the board in the set to make it 4-1, an ice pack being applied to his leg after the game.

Fish rattled through the next two games to level the match.

Murray, though, was in no mood to throw in the towel in the deciding set, saving two break points to prevent Fish taking a 2-0 lead.

He then forced a host of deuces on the Fish serve before the American managed to move 3-2 in front, with no breaks taking the decider into another tie-break.

Murray moved 4-2 ahead but a successful challenge gave Fish the advantage at 5-4 and the American closed out the match.

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Dinara Safina and Americans Taylor Dent and Donald Young have been granted wildcards into Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale, an Olympus US Open Series event on the ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, to be held August 20-28 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, it was announced today by Anne Worcester, tournament director. 

 “Adding Dinara Safina means that our women’s field is incredibly strong with four of the top eight ranked players in the world, two former World No. 1 players, and a slew of other international stars,” said Worcester. “With Taylor Dent and Donald Young joining our men’s draw, we now have four American stars, including James Blake and Mardy Fish. The Pilot Pen gets underway tomorrow.

American Sam Querrey has withdrawn from the tournament.

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