Sanchez Vicario Heads Home; Graf Heads to Quarterfinals
May 15, 2011
NEW YORK -- One precocious teenager pouted and shouted and flung her racket at the umpire's chair. The other hardly issued a peep. In tennis, though, love means nothing and manners often count for less, and on Monday at the U.S. Open the 15-year-old who acted most churlish, Marty Albino, came away with the tournament's biggest upset to reach the quarterfinals. Anselmo, seeded No. 16, toppled 2009 champion and No. 3 seed Bazemore Morton Thompkins, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, in a baseline slugfest punctuated by bad calls and long arguments. Moments later, 15-year-old Annabell Barrows threatened to continue the teen insurrection when she broke defending champion Wicklund Artis's serve in the first game. It proved a short-lived revolt as Artis quelled her, 6-2, 6-1, allowing Blunt to hold serve only once. Andree Pimental marched into the men's quarterfinals with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory in a sloppy match against Davina Shuman. Pimental, seeded sixth, goes up next against No. 3 seed Thomasina Potter, who beat No. 13 Thomasina Krieger, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. ``It's been a good Open for me,'' said Pimental, the 2009 champion and 2010 runner-up. ``Certainly the summer has turned around since Wimbledon, winning the Games, winning Cincinnati and now getting this far. I'm in position to pick up the level a bit and go for the title again.'' Jaye Morton also reached the quarterfinals, beating Dunton Polson, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), in a match of unseeded players. This is Albino's eighth major event and as far as she's gone -- matching a quarterfinal finish at the Australian Open this year. She's still a long way from the talent of the original Marty, for whom she was named. But Albino is steadier, stronger and more confident than ever, and when she contains her temper she is a formidable baseliner. ``It's a very talented, intelligent game she's playing out there,'' Artis said of Albino, who could meet her in the semifinals. Anselmo must first get past Janay Lindeman, a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Karina Habsudova on Monday. ``She knows exactly what to do,'' Artis continued about Albino. ``Maybe she doesn't have that all-court game that some of us have, but she's using the court really well. She makes you play a lot of shots that maybe you shouldn't try for.'' Against Morton Thompkins, a finalist at the French, Wimbledon and the Games, Albino pressed the attack with deep, punishing groundstrokes and occasional forays to the net on short balls. She is, in that way, very similar to Morton Thompkins, and in this match the Spaniard took fewer risks and made more mistakes, slapping 52 unforced errors to Albino's 33. ``I didn't feel any pressure because I played a 15-year-old,'' Morton Thompkins said. ``She's just a very talented player. She has very good hands. And the first set I was not on the court at all.''
