Sports Blog

Nathalie Dechy and Dinara Safina won the U.S. Open women’s doubles title in their first tournament together, beating Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung of Taiwan 6-4, 6-2 in Sunday’s final.

Dechy also won last year’s doubles championship at Flushing Meadows, but with Vera Zvonareva as her partner — and Safina was the runner-up, pairing with Katarina Srebotnik.

They have not yet talked about playing together in the future but Safina said she hoped they would play together again in the future.

Justine Henin of Belgium wins second US Open title by defeating Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3

 Henin also earned the distinction of becoming the only player to have beaten both Venus and Serena Williams in the same Grand Slam event and gone on to win the title. 

It was her second big win of the year after the French Open in June and the seventh Grand Slam title of her career. She now ranks second among active women with seven careers Grand Slam

Justine Henin beat Venus Williams yesterday 7-6 (2), 6-4 at the U.S. Open.

She eliminated Serena in the quarterfinals and only other player who defeated both Venus and Serena at a single major tournament was Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open.

On Saturday night, Henin will try for her seventh Slam title when she takes on No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus won the U.S. Open mixed doubles championship. They beat Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States and Leander Paes of India 6-4, 7-6 (6). 

Paes and Shaughnessy held five set points in the second set but Mirnyi and Azarenka wins the tiebreak 8-6.  

It’s the first Grand Slam title won together by Azarenka and Mirnyi. They are going to split $150,000 for the win.

Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Julian Knowle of Austria captured their first Grand Slam title Friday, beating Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner at the US Open.

It is the first time either player has won a Grand Slam title. They won $400,000 for taking the title.

I couldn’t believe what I’ve seen, Maria Sharapove lost again.

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland pulled off the stunning upset, beating the defending U.S. Open champion 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in a third-round match that took a startling turn Saturday.

Sharapova seemed to take control by winning eight games in a row, giving her a 2-0 lead in the final set. Then, she fell apart and never won again.

James Blake captured his 10th career singles title on Saturday with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Mardy Fish in the final of the Pilot Pen tournament.

James and Mardy are good friends off the court, there was little love lost during their first meeting in a final as they battled for 78 minutes until the latter sent a shot beyond the baseline to give Blake his second win at the event in three years.

 This is the second time two Americans have gone for a title this year. Andy Roddick beat John Isner in the other, three weeks ago in Washington.

Svetlana Kuznetsova won her first title this season when qualifier Agnes Szavay retired with a back injury Saturday while leading 6-4, 0-3 at the Pilot Pen.

Szavay led 5-3 in the first set when Kuznetsova hit a crosscourt shot. Running for backhand, the Hungarian reached back to return the shot and immediately grabbed her back.

She took a medical timeout during the next changeover, and received more treatment between sets. But it became clear after three games of the second set that she could not continue.

British tennis star, Tim Henman will play his final Grand Slam at the U.S. Open and then retire in September after the Davis Cup playoff at the All England Club.

He is 32 and reached four Wimbledon semifinals and never won a Grand Slam title in his 14-year career, cited a sore back and bad knee Thursday for his decision call it quits.

Injuries have caught up with the 92nd-ranked Henman, who won 11 singles titles in his career and was ranked as high as No. 4 in 2002. He was sidelined three months at the start of the season with a knee injury and is 5-11 in singles matches.

Next week Maria Sharapova will defend her U.S. Open title, she’ll be wearing tennis dresses decorated with graphic interpretations of the cityscape on the chest.She will have one outfit dedicated for day play and another for night matches.

The color is in honor of the Big Apple.The dress is a sleek garment made of a breathable wicking jersey and constructed with a no-sew technique with seams bonded with heat and silicone instead of thread.

There are more than 600 Swarovski crystals incorporated into the design, adding a little flash to the outfit, but Sharapova said it’s simple and classy, which suits her taste.

For the daytime, the look is similar but in black and white — and without the crystals. It has a scoop-back design that facilitates movement, according to Sandieson.