Faulkner

One hopes FAA has a Shapovalov-like run in him. The draw’s not great. Medvedev is a winnable match next up, but a potential third-round matchup with Sascha doesn’t look that promising for him. Perhaps it could be a fun match? They’ve never played before.

FAA has been buzzed about for a little while now, so it’s good that he’s getting solid wins over quality opponents. Although Pouille, after his strong start this year, has really underwhelmed most of the season. A win is a win, but Novak looked shaky today against Basic. His stats were great, but he just wasn’t as clutch as we’d seen at Wimbledon. Maybe it’s just opening round nerves. Wawrinka got past Kyrgios after a rough first set.

Naomi Osaka just lost to CSN. She’s really having a tough go of it since winning Indian Wells.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, folks. I felt bad for Donna for imploding after holding four match points, but Sveta has had a rough year with the wrist injury. Question: why do the women’s champions at the Citi Open get this little metal drinks’ tray while the men’s champs get this massive sculpture of a trophy? Lame.

Ah, embedding is working for you. Edit: Buzarnescu beat Sakkari 6-1, 6-0 in the San Jose final.

Ugh. I can’t embed social media or images on the site today. But someone on Twitter said the folks in San Jose put together such a great field. But with Madison, CoCo, and Garbiñe all withdrawing; Serena’s early loss; Venus’s defeat in the QFs; and Vika’s injury, they have a lackluster Sakkari/Buzarnescu final. My gosh, people hate Danielle Collins on Twitter. America’s sweetheart she is not. De Minaur showed a lot of heart last night, but he’s not seasoned enough to have an impact on someone like Sascha on a big stage. I see a lot of promise, though. He’s only 19 at the end of the day. He could play another 20-25 years the way sports medicine is advancing.

The commentators are often very inconsistent. I’ve heard Kuznetsova pronounced “kooz-NET-suh-vuh” more commonly but also “kooz-net-SOH-vuh.” They often referred to Polona Hercog as “hur-COG” when it’s apparently more like Werner Herzog “hurt-ZOG.” I heard a lot of “moo-goo-ROOZ-uh” before “moo-goo-RUTH-uh” became the standard.

That De Minaur/Rublev match was incredible. De Minaur has so much chutzpah to come through that and save four match points in the second set TB. I’m impressed.

Wow, who saw the Sveta train coming? Never underestimate these wily veteran former champions.

Tsitsipas channels Youzhny and slaps himself hard in the face during a changeover. Already getting a beatdown by Sascha.

Serena has pulled out of Rogers Cup for “personal reasons” and Tatjana Maria takes her spot.

Serena’s R1 in Rogers Cup is... Alizé Cornet. Winner of that match plays... Angelique Kerber. Tough draw.

Now Vika has retired from her match with Danielle Collins in San Jose. Collins will play either Sakkari or Venus (in a rematch of their Miami QF).

Andy has pulled out of his match against De Minaur. Oh and thank you, Elise Mertens.

Wawrinka gets Murray’s WC and... Yikes. Plus:

They both did so well at last year’s USO, but I wonder if they’ll even be there this year.

😂