Hello Tennis Buddies Kids & Parents!

Tennis Buddies will be starting up again in September 2010.  The registration for Fall 2010 is now open.  Please get signed up immediately!

We will not be sending out returning player letters via US Mail.  Instead they will be delivered to you via your email address.  If your email address has changed, please be sure to send your new one to my wife Laila and she will send one over to you.  Her email address is LailaAnn@gmail(dot)com.

Parents, one last thing, you will find that you can also order extra t-shirts and/or sweatshirts for yourself or your child.  If you decide to order extra shirts, please be sure to include the cost of those extra shirts/sweatshirts with the registration fee.

See you all very soon!
Coach Patrick

Venus Williams brought the glitter. Rafael Nadal brought the grit. On a Friday night that felt like bonus tennis at the U.S. Open, Williams and Nadal performed like players on a mission -- maybe trying to outhustle a hurricane that never showed, or maybe, in Williams' case, trying to finish in time to catch the end of cocktail hour.

Even Rafael Nadal felt compelled to applaud when his second-round opponent at the U.S. Open hit a spectacular, full-sprint winner and was left doing the splits at the net. The shot put Denis Istomin within two points of tying the match at a set apiece. He couldn't manage to close the deal, though -- a recurring theme for Nadal's game-but-outclassed foil in the No.

Because of a sprained left kneecap, Venus Williams took a lot more time off before the U.S. Open than originally planned. Those two months away from competition sure haven't presented any problems so far. Her play sparkling as much as her sequined dress, Williams easily eliminated 185th-ranked qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-1 on Friday night to reach the U.S.

Teenagers aren't exactly known for their sense of big-picture perspective. Eighteen-year-old Ryan Harrison managed to offer some up -- minutes after wasting three match points in the fifth-set tiebreaker at a Grand Slam event. "My ranking is still not even top 100 even if I win the match," Harrison said Friday after losing in the second round of the U.S.

Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic is back in the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time since 2007, and she'll take on defending champion Kim Clijsters next. Serbia's Ivanovic easily eliminated 157th-ranked wild card Virginie Razzano of France 7-5, 6-0 in the third round at Flushing Meadows on Friday.

French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat 29th-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-1, 7-5 Friday in the U.S. Open's third round. The sixth-seeded Schiavone compiled a 29-13 edge in winners. It's the fifth time Schiavone has reached the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows. Next up for Schiavone is a match against 20th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, who eliminated Gisela...

Britain's Andy Murray has defeated Jamaica's Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 to move into the third round of the U.S. Open. The fourth-seeded Murray is seeking to make his second U.S. Open final in three years. He won this year's U.S. Open Series title, which means he could earn up to an extra $1 million in prize money if he wins the tournament.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters has moved to the round of 16 at the U.S. Open by winning the final 12 games in her 6-3, 6-0 victory over No. 27 Petra Kvitova. No. 2 Clijsters dropped two service games to fall behind 3-0 early Friday in Arthur Ashe Stadium, then ran off 12 straight against her opponent from the Czech Republic.

Twelfth-seeded Elena Dementieva beat 24th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-2 Friday in the third round of the U.S. Open. Dementieva, the 2004 runner-up at Flushing Meadows, has reached the semifinals three times but lost in the second round last year. The Russian missed Wimbledon with a left calf injury and has fallen out of the top 10 in the rankings for the first time in more than three years.

French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur extended her longest run at the U.S. Open, beating Sara Errani 6-2, 6-3 in the third round Friday. The fifth-seeded Australian had never gotten past the second round at Flushing Meadows in six previous tries. But the 26-year-old is in the midst of a career year and has reached the quarterfinals or better in nine of her last 10 events.

Novak Djokovic reached the third round at the U.S. Open with a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over 52nd-ranked Philipp Petzschner of Germany on Thursday. Play was delayed in the eighth game while police escorted away three fans after a fight in the upper deck in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The No. 3-seeded Djokovic has made it at least this far all six times he's played at Flushing Meadows.

A year ago at the U.S. Open, American teenager Melanie Oudin told the world to "BELIEVE," with her sneakers and her play. Among those she motivated: Beatrice Capra, an 18-year-old from Ellicott City, Md., and a wild-card entry who is following in Oudin's footsteps at Flushing Meadows, albeit without any mottos on her shoes.

Maria Sharapova has advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open with a stress-free 6-1, 6-2 victory over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic. The 14th-seeded Sharapova had as much trouble with the wind at Arthur Ashe Stadium as with her 68th-ranked opponent Thursday night. Sharapova is looking for her second U.S.