Live text – US Open – Tennis NEWS

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic is in action on day two of the US Open ahead of a night session involving Andy Murray, after wins for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Dinara Safina.

From tenniscrazy09 via text on 81111: “Re 1926: Is it just me or is Rafa’s cut really similar to Fed’s?”Is is me, or are you lot more interested in Rafa’s haircut than the potential demise of the women’s world number one?1931: Wailing – but as yet no weeping on Arthur Ashe – as Dinara Safina throws in another couple of tame double faults. Olivia Rogowska has a break point for a 2-0 lead. The Aussie strokes a backhand down the line, which is called out, but HawkEye comes to her rescue. It caught the sideline.

Rafa’s new haircut

1926: Those of you eagerly awaiting pictorial evidence of Rafa’s new do (see 1841) – and yes, I do mean you,

fedjon13 on 606

- here it is. Could this ease the pressure on those dodgy knees?1918: A roar of delight/anger/relief/frustration from Dinara Safina, who does indeed force the deciding third set against Olivia Rogowska. You’ve got to favour the world number one now. Over on Grandstand, Marin Cilic is just starting his opening match against Ryan Sweeting. The Croat is a potential fourth-round opponent for world number two Andy Murray.1912: Guessing the magic of Fernando Verdasco is yet to reach New York. The Spaniard, seeded 10th, is busy belting balls out on Court 13. He leads Benjamin ‘No relation’ Becker 7-5 4-4. Things looking a lot brighter for Dinara Safina, all of a sudden 5-2 up against Olivia Rogowska as she looks to take it into a decider.1901: Another double fault from Dinara Safina, and we’re back on serve. We could be here for some time, folks. Elsewhere, veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen is through to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Patty Schnyder, the 19th seed, comes back from a set down to beat Lucia Safarova. 1855: Pictures of Rafa’s new hair as soon as they are available, I promise. In fact, my colleague Chris Bevan is already planning a photo gallery. Dinara Safina breaks to lead 2-1 in the second set. She still doesn’t look entirely happy with life though.1852:

BBC Sport’s Piers Newbery

has just tweeted. No surprise that he’s awoken after his night shift. Gisela Dulko is in action over on Court 10, the Argentine leading Ekaterina Makerova by a set but struggling in the second. Dulko beat Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon, you’ll remember.

From anon via text on 81111: “Re 1841: No, not the hair Rafa. Excuse me I have got to go and mourn.”1846: If I had a ‘goodness me, we could have a shock on our hands here’ graphic, I would definitely be dusting it off. World number 167 Olivia Rogowska takes the first set against world number one Dinara Safina on a tie-break, after the Russian double-faults.

5livetennis on Twitter:

“Rafa’s arrived for practice. Mobbed by fans and while we’re on the subject of hair, his is shorter than ever.”1841: BREAKING NEWS Rafa Nadal is reported to have had a haircut. And Olivia Rogowska leads the tie-break against top seed Dinara Safina 5-4. 1831: Another epic game on Arthur Ashe. Dinara Safina has a third set point at 6-5 – but frames an awful backhand return about six foot over the baseline. She then gets a fourth, but Olivia Rogowska rifles a forehand onto the baseline. Tie-break time!1826: Bad news, I’m afraid, Grainne (see below). The V-Dawg crashed out in the first round of qualifying. “Big apple bottoms,” was his rather curious verdict via his

Twitter feed.

Still, let’s

remember the better times, shall we?

From Grainne, Aberdeen, via text on 81111: “We all know when Murray is scheduled to play, what I want to know is when Vinny Spadea begins his campaign!”1816: Long delay there for an epic game. Dinara Safina takes what seems like a decisive 5-3 lead in the first set, but Olivia Rogowska is Aussie by nationality and Aussie by nature. She breaks back to trail 5-4, but she’ll still have to serve to stay in it.1805: Aah, the familiar sound of a Safin family member screaming something, almost certainly uncomplimentary, in Russian. Still, it seems to give her the required kick up the backside, and she leads 4-3 against the 18-year-old Aussie.1757: Now while I was copying and pasting from the ATP website, it seems Olivia Rogowska was taking advantage of a very slow start by top seed Dinara Safina, who double-faults to be broken for the second time. Rogowska leads 3-2.

1746: Jesse Witten, 26, had never won an ATP Tour level match… until today. The American qualifier, who is 5ft 10ins tall and weighs 82kg, beats 29th seed Igor Andreev 6-4 6-0 6-2. His nickname is Hoss or J-Dub.

From anon via text on 81111: “Re 1725: The best thing he’s done this year is qualify in Washington? Highest ever ranking was 171st three years ago? Hope he wins, I love an underdog, although the way he’s playing it’s not exactly fair to call him one!”1735: World number one and top seed Dinara Safina warming up on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Olivia Rogowska of Australia. Will Safina do her usual and wallop everyone in sight until crumbling at the sight of a half-decent player? Or can she finally win that elusive major? She’s got Jelena Jankovic in the quarters, then Kuznetsova or Dementieva in the semis…

1729: Results coming thick and fast now. Ninth seed and everyone’s favourite Dane Caroline Wozniacki cruises past Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva 6-4 6-0. Wozzy is a potential fourth-round opponent for Svetlana Kuznetsova.1725: And sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova wallops Julia Goerges 6-3 6-2. Really struggling with Jesse Witten info. Seems like he’s a bit of a man of mystery. He wears an earring. I know that.

1720: Just an hour and 18 minutes later, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga waltzes into the second round with a 6-0 6-2 6-1 win over poor old Chase Buchanan. I will now turn my attentions to facts about Jesse Witten, and I’ve already done him a disservice. He’s not a wildcard, he’s a qualifier. And he’s teaching 29th seed Igor Andreev a tennis lesson on Court Seven.

From lemish32 on Twitter:

“Can I have a mention because I was eating a bagel when you put the bagel sign up?”Yes. Yes you can.

5livetennis on Twitter:

“Word from the locker room is that Tsonga is leaner than ever. He also appears to be cultivating a Marouane Fellaini hair-do.”

1711: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has got a decent draw this year. Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round should be one for the purists, then possibly Rafa in the quarters. He’s going to need better match practice than he’s getting today though. Canada’s Stephanie Dubois wraps up a 6-0 6-4 win over French debutant Kristina Mladenovic and is joined in round two by Peng Shuai.

To get involved text us on 81111 with TENNIS before your message. (Not all contributions can be used; UK mobiles only; network rates apply)

By Chris Bevan

2240: And there’s no stopping Elena Dementieva either, by the looks of things. She’s nailed the first set 6-1 against Camille Pin and is a break up in the second too, leading 2-1. Looks like she’s got Pin’s number.

2236: Fernando Gonzalez is through to round two. If I had a ‘Chile Up/Down’ graphic I would use it here, as he has beaten compatriot Nicolas Massu 6-3 6-3 6-3. Gonzo plays Josselin Ouanna next, after the Frenchman beat Rajeev Ram 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 3-6 6-3.From Richard in York, via text on 81111: “I’m meant to be up at six for work, but there is a little bit of me that is tempted to stay up and watch the Murray game, even though I’ll get back from work at sevenish tomorrow night!”2230: Andy Murray on his first-round match with Ernests Gulbis: “He’s a tough player. He’s one year younger than me, but he’s got a big game. He’s had some good results here. I think he made the quarters here a couple of years ago and had a really tight match with Andy Roddick in the second round last year. I’m going to have to be on my game and focus hard.”2225: Oh dear. It seems my writing has disintegrated in the same fashion as Dinara Safina’s serve did earlier. I got the score wrong in the Djoko AND Gonzo matches below. All corrected now, if you give this page a manual refresh of course.2222: In the meantime, let’s get up to date with what’s happening around the courts. Gonzo is now well on top in his all-Chile clash with Nicolas Massu, leading 6-3 6-3 4-1. And 2004 runner-up Elena Dementieva is looking very sharp early on against France’s Camille Pin. The fourth seed currently leads 4-1 in the first set but we all know that her bubble can burst at any time, so worth keeping an eye on that one.2216: Hopefully you lot are aware by now that Andy Murray will start his US Open campaign with a first-round match against Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis at around 0130 BST (after the Maria Sharapova-Tsvetana Pironkova match). The Scot has just arrived at Flushing Meadows, no doubt after a couple of games of foot-tennis earlier today. You will be able to follow that match in full here and on BBC Radio 5 live, so make sure you stay awake. I’ll be checking to make sure you do.

2212: And, quick as you like, Novak Djokovic wraps up an extremely one-sided win – appropriately enough, given his dominance on serve, with an ace. the fourth seed beats Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-1 6-3 and will play Juan Pablo Brzezicki or Carsten Ball in round two.2210: Djoko rubs it in a bit by breaking again in the next game. He will serve for the match next.

2206: It’s not only me who is struggling with technology tonight then. Ljubicic tries to challenge a winner by Djoko that would put the Serb 4-3 up but is then told Hawkeye isn’t working. Moaning at the umpire doesn’t work so he tries standing disconsolately and staring at him for a few seconds instead. That doesn’t work either so he eventually goes to his seat for the changeover. Do you ever have that feeling that it isn’t your day?2159: Things are still going well for Gonzo – he is a break up in the second set too against Massu. Meanwhile, Ljubicic has responded to me writing him off by producing his best spell of the match. He still hasn’t gotten to within a sniff of a break but he has at least held serve in this third set, which is level at 3-3.2155: Yep, Jankovic seals it when Vinci wildly thrashes another forehand long – a 6-2 6-3 win is in the bag for the Serbian. She gives the crowd a nice big wave, and an even bigger smile. A decent start for the former world number one, and let’s hope we see more of that big backhand over the next couple of weeks.2150: Jelena Jankovic is about to seal her progress too. The fifth seed is 6-2 5-2 up against Roberta Vinci, who looks set to extend her miserable record at Flushing Meadows – mainly because she can’t seem to get a first serve in to save her life.

2147: One Croatian has made it through to round two though…Marin Cilic has just beaten America’s Ryan Sweeting 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 7-6 (7-4).2144: It’s less than three-and-a-half years since Ivan Ljubicic was ranked number three in the world but he is very much yesterday’s man on this evidence. He has still not got near Djoko’s serve and is struggling to hold every time on his own delivery – this one could be over very quickly indeed…From SamBazz, via text on 81111: “Re 1926: Is it weird that Rafa has gone from being my least favourite player to my second favourite after seeing his new do?”2134: Hmmm, whatever you think about Djoko’s fashion sense, it certainly isn’t affecting his tennis. He’s just broken Ljubicic again to take the second set 6-1. He’s only dropped seven points on serve in the first two sets and is looking very good for a place in round two.2131: While I was away, Jelena Jankovic tidied up the first set of her match with Roberta Vinci, taking it 6-2. Cheesy and I are just debating the colour of Djokovic’s shirt – is it mustard or custard? We decided it was more the former but could be the latter if you were using that powdered stuff your mum probably used to buy.2128: Technical problems, don’t you just love them? No, as it happens. I was just about to tell you that Gonzo has taken the first set against Massu when my computer decided it wanted to play some games. It won. Still, I’m back now. By the way, Gonzo has won four out of five meetings with his compatriot, including their only encounter on a hard-court.

From newprinceOfWales on 606:

“Re newprinceOfWales at 2052: If you’re not sure why Safina is being criticised then you obviously didn’t see the match and how close she came to being the first number one seed out in the first round at the US Open. She didn’t get outplayed by the Australian, she just played that badly that anyone was in with a shout of beating her.”2118: Dinara Safina on the positives of her unconvincing first-round win over Olivia Rogowska: “I didn’t break any rackets and didn’t get any warnings.”2116: Djokovic is still bossing this one big time – he’s gone a break up at the start of the second set too and has not put a foot wrong so far. As for Jankovic? She has now won five games in a row and is serving for the first set – clearly I was right about the problems she was having at the start of her match!2112: Seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after his straightforward win over unseeded American Chase Buchanan: “I didn’t know what to expect of him and I was wary as I remember when I was younger and had his ranking I was convinced I could beat anyone, anytime.”2108: Djoko wraps up the first set 6-3. He’s serving very well right now – and also made only one unforced error in the whole set. That’s the big difference between the two players at the moment, as Ljubicic made 10.

BBC Radio 5 live’s David Law tweeting from Flushing Meadows:

“Spoke to Bob Brett (coach of Marin Cilic who could face Andy Murray in fourth round). He says Cilic is getting better all the time. Sadly, the word on Marin’s Croatian compatriot Mario Ancic is less optimistic. Apparently he can’t train for more than 20 minutes without suffering.”2104: That all-Chile clash between Gonzo and Massu is still going with serve at 3-2 in the first set too – looks like those paramedics did a good job.

2102: Meanwhile, Djoko is still a break up on Arthur Ashe and now leads Ljubicic 5-2. Have we mentioned the weather yet today? It looks very hot in New York.2100: Erm, Jankovic breaks back straight away, thanks to some lovely groundstrokes – in particular one pounding backhand return which was straight out of the top drawer. No problems for Jankovic any more.2058: Problems for Jankovic? She’s just been broken in the first game and looked very edgy indeed. Still, it’s early days…

From newprinceOfWales on 606:

“I don’t understand why Safina is being criticized. What about World No.3 Venus Williams’ performance yesterday? Is that because Venus had an apparent injury? How convenient!”2052: And last year’s runner-up Jelena Jankovic has just started on the Louis Armstrong Court. The Serbian is up against Roberta Vinci, an Italian who doesn’t like New York too much – she has only won one singles match in the US Open in six previous visits to Flushing Meadows.2048: Tomas Berdych is through to round two, after beating Wayne Odesnik 7-5 6-4 6-4. Oh, and Marin Cilic has just taken the second set 6-4 against Ryan Sweeting.2045: Hmmm. I presume Nicolas Massu is all right (see below) I’ve not got pictures of Court 11 but he seems to be serving well enough according to the live score updates I can see in front of me.From Andy, via text on 81111: “What’s happened to Massu? He went over the advertising hoarding and there are paramedics on the scene.”2040: It’s a bit Chile out on Court 11 at the moment. Only because Fernando Gonzalez is taking on compatriot Nicolas Massu – that one has just started. Back on Arthur Ashe, and Djoko is a break up already, leading 3-0.2035: Novak Djokovic has just started out on the Arthur Ashe Court against former world number three Ivan Ljubicic. I wonder if we will see as many breaks of serve as we witnessed in the Safina-Rogowska match… somehow I doubt it!2032: Top seed and world number one Dinara Safina on her narrow first-round win over Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska: “I am definitely relieved. She played some unbelievable tennis and I just had to keep fighting on.”2030: Blimey, those of you who pour scorn on Safina’s world number one ranking are hardly likely to have changed your minds on the back of that performance. She was awful. Still, she won in the end.

By Caroline Cheese

2027: Right, I’m just nipping off for a quick break. I’ll leave you with the effervescent Chris Bevan.2022: Novak Djokovic and Ivan Ljubicic will be making their way to the Arthur Ashe Stadium right about now. Over on Louis Armstrong, Tomas Berdych looks to be on his way to the second round, leading by two sets against Wayne Odesnik. Marin Cilic leads by a set and a break against another American, Ryan Sweeting.

From Im_partial on 606:

“Last game an anti-climax, and Safina is through after a very tough match. She needs to get it together if she wants to go deep in this tournament!”

2015: Two hours and 35 minutes later, top seed Dinara Safina completes a hugely unconvincing 6-7 6-2 6-4 win over Aussie 18-year-old Olivia Rogowska. Urszula Radwanska or Kristina Barrois up next for the Russian. Junior event up next for Rogowska.2012: I’m not sure how, but Dinara Safina leads 5-4 and will serve for the match. Facing a fifth break point, Olivia Rogowska goes long with a forehand. Don’t hold your breath though.2010: If I’m Olivia Rogowska’s coach, I’m noting down ‘work on volleying’ at this point. At deuce, she has three chances to put the ball away at the net – but opts for placing the ball in the middle of the court for Safina to gobble up, which she does eventually. Brave stuff from the 18-year-old though. She has saved three break points so far… Still 4-4.American Jesse Witten after beating Igor Andreev: “It’s my first ATP victory – it’s been a lot of years. The last couple of weeks I’ve been playing well and I am not even sure why, but I am just going to roll with it. I played three qualifiers and I feel comfortable on the outside courts here. I wasn’t nervous and that helped me get off to a quick start.”1959: It really is gripping… the battle of double-faults between these two. Rogowska levels it at 11-11 and she now leads 4-3. Over on Grandstand, Marin Cilic has been taken to a tie-break in the first set against Ryan Sweeting.1954: As Dinara Safina flops an 11th double fault into the net, John Lloyd decides to brings up the subject of Anna Kournikova. Bit harsh. Rogowska breaks again and she leads 4-2. This ain’t over. No no no.1950: Ah. Olivia Rogowska double-faults to hand the break to Dinara Safina. As the young Aussie trudges to the chair, the Arthur Ashe DJ plonks on Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. That’s bound to cheer her up. Although she’s probably never heard of Van Morrison.1947: Strewth. Rogowska has a point for a 4-0 lead – but Safina comes up with a brave crosscourt winner off the backhand, and it’s now 3-1. 1940: I wonder if Rafa went into the barbers with a picture of Fed and said ‘One of those, por favor’. Dinara Safina squanders FOUR break points in that game and Olivia Rogowska now leads 3-0.

From tenniscrazy09 via text on 81111: “Re 1926: Is it just me or is Rafa’s cut really similar to Fed’s?”Is is me, or are you lot more interested in Rafa’s haircut than the potential demise of the women’s world number one?1931: Wailing – but as yet no weeping on Arthur Ashe – as Dinara Safina throws in another couple of tame double faults. Olivia Rogowska has a break point for a 2-0 lead. The Aussie strokes a backhand down the line, which is called out, but HawkEye comes to her rescue. It caught the sideline.

Rafa’s new haircut

1926: Those of you eagerly awaiting pictorial evidence of Rafa’s new do (see 1841) – and yes, I do mean you,

fedjon13 on 606

- here it is. Could this ease the pressure on those dodgy knees?1918: A roar of delight/anger/relief/frustration from Dinara Safina, who does indeed force the deciding third set against Olivia Rogowska. You’ve got to favour the world number one now. Over on Grandstand, Marin Cilic is just starting his opening match against Ryan Sweeting. The Croat is a potential fourth-round opponent for world number two Andy Murray.1912: Guessing the magic of Fernando Verdasco is yet to reach New York. The Spaniard, seeded 10th, is busy belting balls out on Court 13. He leads Benjamin ‘No relation’ Becker 7-5 4-4. Things looking a lot brighter for Dinara Safina, all of a sudden 5-2 up against Olivia Rogowska as she looks to take it into a decider.1901: Another double fault from Dinara Safina, and we’re back on serve. We could be here for some time, folks. Elsewhere, veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen is through to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Patty Schnyder, the 19th seed, comes back from a set down to beat Lucia Safarova. 1855: Pictures of Rafa’s new hair as soon as they are available, I promise. In fact, my colleague Chris Bevan is already planning a photo gallery. Dinara Safina breaks to lead 2-1 in the second set. She still doesn’t look entirely happy with life though.1852:

BBC Sport’s Piers Newbery

has just tweeted. No surprise that he’s awoken after his night shift. Gisela Dulko is in action over on Court 10, the Argentine leading Ekaterina Makerova by a set but struggling in the second. Dulko beat Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon, you’ll remember.

From anon via text on 81111: “Re 1841: No, not the hair Rafa. Excuse me I have got to go and mourn.”1846: If I had a ‘goodness me, we could have a shock on our hands here’ graphic, I would definitely be dusting it off. World number 167 Olivia Rogowska takes the first set against world number one Dinara Safina on a tie-break, after the Russian double-faults.

5livetennis on Twitter:

“Rafa’s arrived for practice. Mobbed by fans and while we’re on the subject of hair, his is shorter than ever.”1841: BREAKING NEWS Rafa Nadal is reported to have had a haircut. And Olivia Rogowska leads the tie-break against top seed Dinara Safina 5-4. 1831: Another epic game on Arthur Ashe. Dinara Safina has a third set point at 6-5 – but frames an awful backhand return about six foot over the baseline. She then gets a fourth, but Olivia Rogowska rifles a forehand onto the baseline. Tie-break time!1826: Bad news, I’m afraid, Grainne (see below). The V-Dawg crashed out in the first round of qualifying. “Big apple bottoms,” was his rather curious verdict via his

Twitter feed.

Still, let’s

remember the better times, shall we?

From Grainne, Aberdeen, via text on 81111: “We all know when Murray is scheduled to play, what I want to know is when Vinny Spadea begins his campaign!”1816: Long delay there for an epic game. Dinara Safina takes what seems like a decisive 5-3 lead in the first set, but Olivia Rogowska is Aussie by nationality and Aussie by nature. She breaks back to trail 5-4, but she’ll still have to serve to stay in it.1805: Aah, the familiar sound of a Safin family member screaming something, almost certainly uncomplimentary, in Russian. Still, it seems to give her the required kick up the backside, and she leads 4-3 against the 18-year-old Aussie.1757: Now while I was copying and pasting from the ATP website, it seems Olivia Rogowska was taking advantage of a very slow start by top seed Dinara Safina, who double-faults to be broken for the second time. Rogowska leads 3-2.

1746: Jesse Witten, 26, had never won an ATP Tour level match… until today. The American qualifier, who is 5ft 10ins tall and weighs 82kg, beats 29th seed Igor Andreev 6-4 6-0 6-2. His nickname is Hoss or J-Dub.

From anon via text on 81111: “Re 1725: The best thing he’s done this year is qualify in Washington? Highest ever ranking was 171st three years ago? Hope he wins, I love an underdog, although the way he’s playing it’s not exactly fair to call him one!”1735: World number one and top seed Dinara Safina warming up on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Olivia Rogowska of Australia. Will Safina do her usual and wallop everyone in sight until crumbling at the sight of a half-decent player? Or can she finally win that elusive major? She’s got Jelena Jankovic in the quarters, then Kuznetsova or Dementieva in the semis…

1729: Results coming thick and fast now. Ninth seed and everyone’s favourite Dane Caroline Wozniacki cruises past Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva 6-4 6-0. Wozzy is a potential fourth-round opponent for Svetlana Kuznetsova.1725: And sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova wallops Julia Goerges 6-3 6-2. Really struggling with Jesse Witten info. Seems like he’s a bit of a man of mystery. He wears an earring. I know that.

1720: Just an hour and 18 minutes later, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga waltzes into the second round with a 6-0 6-2 6-1 win over poor old Chase Buchanan. I will now turn my attentions to facts about Jesse Witten, and I’ve already done him a disservice. He’s not a wildcard, he’s a qualifier. And he’s teaching 29th seed Igor Andreev a tennis lesson on Court Seven.

From lemish32 on Twitter:

“Can I have a mention because I was eating a bagel when you put the bagel sign up?”Yes. Yes you can.

5livetennis on Twitter:

“Word from the locker room is that Tsonga is leaner than ever. He also appears to be cultivating a Marouane Fellaini hair-do.”

1711: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has got a decent draw this year. Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round should be one for the purists, then possibly Rafa in the quarters. He’s going to need better match practice than he’s getting today though. Canada’s Stephanie Dubois wraps up a 6-0 6-4 win over French debutant Kristina Mladenovic and is joined in round two by Peng Shuai.1706: Chase Buchanan will win US$19,000 for losing in the first round here, more than he has earned in his entire career so far. And he will lose. Jo-Willy Tsonga leads 6-0 6-2 2-0.

From mengo09 on 606:

“Re 1632: I went to school with someone called Trent Taylor, I think that’s verrrrrry Ameican.”

From Rob, north London, via text on 81111: “Re 1632: I went to school with a guy called Kit Hogan. Think that trumps your Chase Buchanan.”1653: Elsewhere, Svetlana Kuznetsova is well on her way to round two, leading 6-3 against Julia Goerges. Patty Schynder – who is somehow seeded 19th – is down a set against Lucie Safarova. And some good news for the US as wildcard Jesse Witten leads Igor Andreev by a set and a break.1648: Chase Buchanan was once given a medallion by his coach with the inscription: “Who do I want to be in this exact moment? In this moment lies my attitude”. I imagine that in this exact moment, he wants to be Roger Federer. He trails 6-0 4-2. It’s not pretty.

1638: Hungry yet? How about a couple of bagels? The first goes to Stephanie Dubois against French youngster Kristina Mladenovic. The second is for Italy’s Sara Errani, who is thrashing Arantxa Rus.1634: Hang on… Tsonga double-faults and Buchanan leads by a break at 2-1 in the second set. Awesome!

1632: Massive cheer on Grandstand as Chase Buchanan wins a game. Way to go! Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was looking the other way at the time. Is there a more American name than Chase Buchanan?1628: Better news for underdog fans from Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Julia Goerges has broken back to trail Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-1. On Louis Armstrong, ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki is on serve against Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva.1623: Chase Buchanan was named Most Inspirational Warrior when he attended a Marine boot camp along with some other promising American players. He has just lost the first set 6-0 after 23 minutes against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

1620: Desperately trying to find some information about Chase Buchanan before he loses… He was the US junior champion last year, which meant he was an automatic wildcard pick (that’s some American for you). He’s 18. He says his favourite shot is a backhand down the line. He’s 5-0 down against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.1612: If you wish to see your name up in lights – or indeed on this live text – you’d better drop me a text on 81111, get involved on

606,

or on

Twitter.

1607: Former champ Svetlana Kuznetsova has the honour of opening play on Arthur Ashe Stadium today. She’s up against Germany’s Julia Goerges. Over on Grandstand, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be entertaining the crowd against a fella called Chase Buchanan. He’s American, I don’t need to tell you.1600: Hello there. In about nine hours, Andy Murray will kick off his 2009 US Open campaign. You’re not going anywhere ’til then though, right?

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