Tennis Forum banner

Nutty meets nutty JJ.. my "JJ in Cincy" thread

17K views 122 replies 31 participants last post by  ms_nut 
#1 · (Edited)
:) So after i patched up with Ros, i decided to make a JJ voodoo doll instead, but then i decided to give JJ another chance and made a "JJ t-shirt..".Maybe she would surprise me in Cincy and make it to the QF. Nah, to hell with it.. i decided to go to her 2nd rd match, 'cos i wasn't very confident if i would ever see her again in Cincy this year.

I wanted to make a really cool T-shirt, but realized that making it at the last minute was a pain.. i ended up using this pic on my t-shirt,:




Next, i managed to get out of the hospital for the rest of the day...I rushed home and went with a friend up to Mason. The tournament is actually held in Mason, Ohio, not Cincy which is in a different county.:tape::lol:.

This is the skyline of Cincinnati:





Anyway, the tournament is held close to "King's island" which is one of the biggest amusement parks in the US.

We parked on a grass field and walked up to the ticket counter.. on the way i saw someone practicing on a outside court,.. Oh, it was just Venus.. since i couldn't be bothered with her, i ran up and frantically asked the lady at the counter " are there any tickets available for today's match?" Yes,plenty .. any seat of choice that you want, she said.... And here i was worried that tickets would be sold out...:rolleyes:



Since box seats were $60 a piece.., we decided to get some mid level seats and entered the stadium...There was JJ in all her glory struggling against Maria K.. the score was 5-5 in the first set...:) JJ made a correct challenge just as i entered the stadium.. but eventually lost the game..I expected a very low turnout, but was pleasantly surprised to see that there were at least a 1000 people in the stadium...



(Who's head is that, and why is it blocking JJ's view....:mad:)

Match #1: CC : JJ vs Maria K



Anyway, my friend started taking JJ's pics, while i started biting my nails in earnest..
JJ forced a TB, but then commited some horrible UEs to go down a break .. down 3-4, she played some superb defense to win the point.. but then hit some crap shots to go down 4-6... The JJ of '08 returned just in time to hit a FH CC winner and force an error from Maria K, along with an Ajde to set up SP.. she won the 1st set, and from there, she never looked to be in trouble. She may have been hitting a lot of 2nd serves, but at least she was going for it on her 1st serves..:). Not too bad, not too sloppy, she was solid and her BH was firing on and off as she raced to a 5-3 lead in set 2. She then served something like 2 aces in that last game to shut out Kirilenko...:drool:. I was surpised to see so many people out there calling out her name..:hearts:.. she is a popular champion wherever she goes, it seems.



(sorry, my camcorder pics didn't come out very well,,:eek:)

JJ was asked during the interview how she felt playing her first match here, and she said " Well, i had to get up a 7:00 am today.." :lol:

The crowd absolutely loved her and tons of kids swarmed around her for an autograph... there was no way i could get an autograph now.. right? wrong...:p






JJ was so gracious, she was standing for quite a while, signing autographs...i snuck in behind her... i meekly yelled "JJ".. but got so tongue-tied.My friend then yelled "JJ sign my T-shirt".. JJ looked up and smiled at me when she saw her pretty face on my t-shirt staring back at her..OMG, she is simply gorgeous in person, she had so many "freckles". She signed my t-shirt and put a little heart ♥ at the end..



 
See less See more
7
#92 ·
:rolls:What a GOAT match from anklena

I'm not going to blog anything down at 1:00 am, i'm going to bed. Coming soon:

1. Apparently, I'm not JJ's #1 fan, :sad: Someone else is walking the grounds masquerading as me...:cool: (j/k)
2. JJ's practice at 6:00 pm on Stadium court instead of Court 10 (just before the Sharpy match)
3.:yawn: The yawnfest featuring two ball bashing russians.
4. JJ in action, in all her glory..:lol::hearts::fiery:
5. Bugs, insects and lights irritating JJ (of course, her opponent had no say in the match)

6.Getting to see JJ close up at 9:45 pm ,when most of the crowd had left..:rolleyes:
7. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Sneki is just as bad at challenging line calls as Jeja..:angel:
8. JJ cursing so much during the match...:happy: (so much so that the Serb sitting ahead of me told someone next to us when asked what JJ was saying in Serbian, "If this were a men's match, I'd tell you what she said":tape::lol:
9. :sobbing: Sitting a few feet away from Sneki. She refused to sign an autograph for me.. (Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, no big loss except for my bruised ego..:sad::p)
10. JJ's amazing GOAT stats for the match...
 
#96 ·
9. :sobbing: Sitting a few feet away from Sneki. She refused to sign an autograph for me.. (Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, no big loss except for my bruised ego..:sad::p)
:awww: But you have to forgive her, she had to put up with Her Majesty's bad mood, it can't be easy.
 
#93 ·
11.
:lol: I also forgot to mention how hot and humid it was today. They enforced the 10 minute heat rule at 11:00 pm at night..:lol::lol:. JJ was so not happy... she was bitching like crazy at her mom as she was leaving, for a second there I thought she was retiring and leaving the court cos she was pissed.:lol:
 
#97 ·
I knew it was going to be an awfully hot day. It was sweltering in the car, even with the A/C on full blast I was sweating..:eek:

We got tickets to the box seats from someone selling them cheaper outside the stadium. I was scared the tickets would be fake and not work. No worries though, they scanned just fine and we got in..:)

As always, I first run to the practice courts. Sharapova and Caro were practicing at the same time. :eek: Caro's practice side was just swamped with fans...(more than Sharapova's, i thought)

It was hard to make out sunshine in all the sunshine:p




As i walked to stand outside the player lounge, who should i see, but someone wearing a T-shirt saying they were JJ's #1 fan. :eek: . I spoke to him and it is JJcrew#1 from the tennis forum. He and his sister are both JJ fans and they had driven down from Cleveland to watch JJ. I invited them to come over to the JJ forum sometime.



(Face withheld to protect fan privacy..:p)

And then I got to see the biggest diva of all..............I'm talking Alex (not Dalex, though he's quite one too) Stevenson



Poor Stevenson, the guy at the entrance did not know who she was and stopped her. She was forced to show ID to enter the lounge. No one around me so much as stirred when she made her entrance.

Talking to JJ's #1 fan, she was supposed to practice shortly.. at 6:00 pm precisely on Court #10. I don't know how JJ finagled her way onto Stadium court instead. I walked into the stadium as well. 5 minutes later, unhappy tournament ticket checkers did not kick us out, but didn't allow anyone else in...:shrug:. She asked me for my ticket hoping to kick me out, but i showed her my box ticket...:nerner: and she walked away disappointed.










 
#98 ·
By coincidence JJ found herself on the shady part and her hitting partner was on the sunny side of the court.

She was still complaining about the weather though. "It's so hot today".

A lady sitting next to us commented " She complaining about the weather now. She should be thankful she didn't have to play this morning".
Me: She's in the shade as well.:lol:






While JJ went to cool off, shower or whatever, I decided to stay and watch the first night match on Stadium. Supposedly 2 ballbashing russians were playing and it was supposed to be a good match. Current World #14 vs World #15 in Rd 1...:eek:

Of course, the crowd was a little biased towards Sharapova. :yawn: Without JJ in action there IS NO drama.

To quickly sum up the match, lots of errors from both players. Set 1 had like 3 winners and 14 UE from Sveta..:eek::tape: (Caro like stat). Sharpie had 13 W/15 UE. Sharpie was definitely going for her serves, serving better than last year. She would hit some stunning return winners and then some crappy netted returns. I was hoping the match would end sooner, but Sharpie started making more UEs and Kuzzie's solid serving helped her quickly win set 2. They came back after a 10 min heat delay and Sharpie raced to a 3-0 lead. Kuzzie took a med time out, I thought she might retire mid-way but she hung on to lose. Sharpie ended with some stunning CC BH winners.






Seriusly, you think that teeny fan is going to keep every inch of you cool?




Schiavone sneaking in to see her soul mate Sveta in action.

 
#99 ·
Judging by those pics, JJlena was cranky even before the match started. :scared:
Has Svetsex lost some weight? She looks fitter.

You definitely need to wear a JJ shirt, she seems to need some motivation to not get thrashed by Ammmnmnmnmnuradova/Shvedova/Ancibabe/OtherGOAT. And why was she ballbashing like mad??
 
#102 ·
JJ vs Moon face:



So here I was eagerly awaiting the most important match of the day, while some people had started to leave already..:rolleyes: (can't blame them, it's a working night, people don't need JJ drama so late at night).





JJ seemed happy at the start. She was chatting with the "winners of the coin toss" (Apparently, you sign up every day and one lucky person gets to toss the coin at the match). Sneki had already started her customary sips.










JJ started well. Had an early BP, didn't convert. At 1-2 down, some lady in the crowd was asking "Is she going to tank the match?". The older more knowledgable granny replied "No, she had an injury last week. She'll keep fighting, she's a fighter"

The conversation freaked me out, i was like oh oh, is she going to lose today like last week.

She started her service game down 1-2 poorly. 0-15 and then stopped play to challenge a call.:unsure:



Luckily it was out and she won the challenge and the game.

JJ broke for 3-2 with some superb return winners. Hit an ace to go up 30-0 and then went on her mini picnic and lost the game. She broke right back though. She was moving ok, not her very best, but was hitting her BHs well and was definitely the aggressor. I didn't feel like she was ball bashing. Absolutely loved her first serve :hearts:. She was going for it all the time. Consistently at 100-107 MPH. Spinning her second serves in, but Vera was looking to attack them. She broke again for 4-3 and then closed out the set 6-4.






Apparently sipping water during points is contagious as evidenced in this pic as a Serbian fan sips away...







I was surprised by the stats in set 1. It seemed like she had played better than the stats indicated. Oh well, bottom line was she had set 1 in the bag.Onto Set 2 then...


Set 2 started with a break for JJ 1-0 then..

The next game was a marathon as JJ struggled mightily in an attempt to hold serve. This was a crazy game.:silly:. JJ DF like 5 times but hit 5 aces as well. It went to several Deuces. JJ was moving much better and defending beautifully until Vera finally wore her down. I knew then that this was a pivotal game. A break back here and Vera was right back in the match...

Now everything started annoying JJ. The lights were getting in her eyes, the insects were forever milling around...her pesky opponent was refusing to bow down to the empress as is customary for every qualifier....





Shoo, you little insect or i'll crush you like a bug!!!...oh wait you are a bug, i'll just crush you then..








She finally got broken at 3-4 down . She started ball bashing in that final game of set 2... and promptly lost that game and set 2.




She was cussing throughout the last few games. It must have been bad, because Sneki and her hitting partner were stone cold silent. Someone asked the Serbian fan what she was saying. He kept quiet and just shrugged his shoulder. "If this were a men's match, i would tell you what was being said".:tape: So much for JJ being lady like. Sneki kept saying "C'mon JJ C'mon"...

:lol: During set 2, JJ challenged a line call . It was an incorrect challenge , Sneki was like "That's the wrong ball, that hawk eye is not correct" Also, during set 2 , for a ball that was in she was saying "that's definitely out". JJ's hitting partner shook his head and said, "no, that was good". It's obvious where JJ gets her immaculate bat-like vision from.

They called a 10 minute heat break at 11:00 pm.. That's how humid it was. JJ was furious, she was bleating away complaining to Sneki as she walked away...
 
#103 ·
:) Onto set 3 then....

JJ came back determined. She served an ace, and some solid serves that helped her hold. Vera seemed to start getting a little nervous. She was helping out with a few UEs as well. The first service game of Vera's was crucial. For the first point she hit a big serve and JJ start running like the energizer bunny defending well. (Ankle injury? what injury? IDK what you're talking about). Vera finally missed the 2nd overhead and gave JJ the first point. Then she hit a big serve again and came to net only to have JJ hit a passing shot winner BH DTL. She DF/ another UE and JJ had the break. She served well again and consolidated. She just eased away and at 5-1 was serving for the match. She DF and gave Vera a 15-40 lead. (She started moaning/groaning again). She then hit two aces in a row..:eek:. and finally put away Vera 6-4,3-6,6-1. for such GOAT serving , i wondered why she won the toss and elected to receive. The stats were mostly her aces/ service winners. She did have some good BH winners though. I didn't get the feeling she was ball bashing for much of the match. She was being more aggressive and going for her shots. (Maybe she felt she couldn't run as well and needed the extra aggression).













At 5-0 in the 3rd set, i worked up the courage to ask Sneki for her autograph. She was surprised to hear me call her by her first name (Was that rude??). She said something like " I'm sorry, i just don't do that sort of thing".







While JJ was giving away signed tennis balls, JJ's #1 fan (!@#%!) (JJ crew#1) actually caught the ball and ended up with a cool souvenir, congrats!!!

All in all, a long night, but worth it, cos JJ won..:bounce::bounce:
 
#104 ·
So here I was eagerly awaiting the most important match of the day, while some people had started to leave already..:rolleyes: (can't blame them, it's a working night, people don't need JJ drama so late at night).

...

:lol: During set 2, JJ challenged a line call . It was an incorrect challenge , Sneki was like "That's the wrong ball, that hawk eye is not correct"
Oh. My. God.

Literally dying of laughter here.

1.) People don't need JJ drama late at night....or ever. I think we're masochists, or something.
2.) Snezana is hilarious. She needs to get her own talk show or something.

Thanks for all the updates! :lick:
 
#106 ·
:rolls: Thanks oodles, NuttyGOAT! :worship:
A cranky-grumpy-swearing JJ isn't exactly a pleasure to watch (or listen to), but at least it sounds as if she played decently enough which is a relief. I asked about the ballbashing because of the stats - 37 UEs is quite much for her, but I see she made 16 of them in the first set, so I guess the third one was better. :scratch:
Nevermind, after such a long pause it was bound to be difficult. I hope she gets her grip in the matches to follow and doesn't lose to some mug. But with her lucky charm present I suppose she's unbeatable, no?
And I'm still a bit disappointed with Sneki refusing you an autograph, but she must have been in a really foul mood. :tape:
 
#108 ·
Awww noes Nutty - of all the people you deserve an autograph.
Maybe Mama-JJ was appalled at her daughter's potty mouth... :hug:
 
#111 ·
:) So I was in Cincinnati again, watching JJ win her match...

;) I'm sure I'm still her good luck charm because I've yet to see her lose a match:angel:

Unfortunately JJ is not relevant anymore, so they put her matches next to the parking lot even in Cincinnati.

I did get lots of pictures and will blog about her match against Sabine shortly.

:bounce: I will be going to see her win again today. :eek: Tickets for the end of the week have already sold out, so unless she plays on Grandstand (if she wins her R3, I may not get to see her in the later rounds)
 
#112 ·
Brief match highlights: JJ's serve sucked at the beginning of the match, (6 DF) but her first serve (when it went in was winning her points).

She stepped her game up towards the end of the first set to win it, including an amazing drop shot winner at 4-4 in the TB after a long 20+ stroke rally.

She played solid tennis to serve for the match, went up 30-0, hit a nice serve out wide and missed an easy FH winner that clipped the net...lost set 2, but came back to take quick lead in set 3, (helped by Sabine, but also with some gutsy BH winners).

They had some long games, and a 3-1, JJ hit about 5 winners to break Sabine including 3 volley winners...:eek:. She hit two consecutive passing shot winners to break again for 5-2, won a big point down 0-15, with another passing shot winner and some big first serves to close out Sabine.

Still to come: JJ cussing:eek:, talking to the crowd, smiling and telling us that she was happy her volley finally went in, someone telling JJ they love her, JJ sitting on the court, asking the umpire to come down and look at a mark on a hard court, :help::lol:
 
#116 ·
JJ vs Lisicki:

First off, it's always exciting to come back to Cincy and see that JJ is a permanent part of it's tennis history



So I wasn't really planning on going to the tournament, given that JJ has been in a mini slump, but then remembered that JJ plays well in Cincy only during the odd years and 2013, is well.... an odd year.

:hearts: I always get excited when I see JJ live, in action. It's as though she will never lose when I'm watching her.



JJ came into the event with this taping on her Left leg. It reminds me of the Tetris game, with the block falling into place..:lol:



.



.



.



Clearly, the Empress-Lisicki match was the feature match and the court was packed in anticipation.:cool:. Seriously, most of the people were sitting along the other 3 sides of the court and as the match progressed, the court filled up.
 
#117 · (Edited)
Set 1:



JJ started set 1 by getting broken and was shaky during her first few service games, as she served about 2 DFs per service game. She was starting to get really cranky and started taking it out on her poor brother



One thing I've noticed is that when JJ is not playing well, but really wants to win, she starts cussing and screaming etc. She did fight really hard though, saving two set points with some incredible rallies and hanging on to force a TB. Lisicki was annoying her with her dropshots and JJ kept missing all the drop shots that Lisicki hit in set 1. There was a 20+ point rally at 4-4 in the tiebreak that ended with an incredible drop shot winner by JJ:hearts:. Lisicki then went on to hit a swing volley winner, but could not hang on in the rally in the next two points and dropped the set. :rolleyes: As luck would have it, I was sitting next to a lady who was cheering Sabine on really loudly, screaming "ah wow, oh wow Sabina, Sabina"



Some things I noticed about JJ's game after set 1:
Her volleys look really solid, even her FH volleys
:mad: She has replaced her BH swing volley with the traditional knifing volleys, which made her lose some points at the net
She has starting running around her BH and hitting the inside out FH shot which was actually really effective against Lisicki

:rolleyes: Set 2 was quite a flop. She was down 1-4 and then played an impressive game to break serve and served for the match at 5-4. She was up 30-0 and hit a wide serve and got a short reply to the FH, which she missed (clipped the net). I expected her to give up and fall apart, but she was fighting throughout the match, which was so impressive.:hearts:

She was cussing and screaming in Serbian and throwing a hissy fit after nearly every point, even when she won the point..:tape::lol:. Some one in the crowd was like "translation please".

Set 3:
Sabine gifted her the opening break, but after that JJ really stepped up her game. Up 2-0 she was fighting for the second break of serve. Lisicki hit a shot that JJ thought was out at BP for 3-0. Since there is no hawk-eye, JJ started complaining and asked the umpire to come down and look at the mark on the hardcourt. She just sat down on the court.

JJ quote of the day
Arguing with chair umpire about the line call while sitting on the court " his (linesman) cap is too long and is blocking his vision, or his glasses are too dark and he can't see properly.:lol::lol:

The game at 1-3 was incredible, she hit 5 winners, including 3 volley winner and a FH volley to break serve. After her first sing volley winner, someone in the crowd told her "nice to finally see you smiling" to which she replied "yes, at last I hit the ball back into court on the volley".:D. She did get broken at 4-2, but bounced back breaking for 5-2. She served out the match really well, a BH passing shot winner, some first serve winners and the match was hers. She was really happy to get through the match.

By the end of the match, she had figured out Sabine's dropshots, hitting a winner off a drop shot to break for 5-2. She was initially getting intimidated on her serve by Lisicki, who was cracking the second serves for winners, but towards the end started getting more first serves in.



.



.



.



.
 
#118 ·
Practice session on Day #4 prior to Rd 3 vs Stephens:

JJ vs Murray

Since both Murray and JJ were playing their matches on Grandstand court, the were practicing earlier in the day. Murray started at 10:00 am and JJ was due on court @ 10:20 am. However, when JJ came on court, Murray was still there. Needless to say, our Empress was not the least bit pleased.



.



.




.



.

After waiting for about 30 seconds, once the clock struck 10:20, JJ walked onto court. Murray's hitting partner then talked to JJ and asked if it would be ok for Murray to practice for 5 more minutes. JJ said ok, and they both started practicing together at the same time..:lol:



.



.



.



.



.
 
#119 ·
JJ's practice session was pretty good. She was on court for at least 25 minutes. She had 2 hitting partners and her brother on court. She was hitting the ball better than her hitting partner. He then started serving to her. She started complaining that he wasn't serving well and not hard enough. She also was complaining that he was not hitting the ball right to her and so she was not getting a good swing at the ball....:lol:



.



.



.



.



.



.



.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top