I was fortunate enough to be able to see the evening session semifinal matches of Ana Ivanovic vs. Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer vs. Milos Raonic.  Here were some impressions and things I noticed.

1. If Ana Ivanovic is 6’1″, Maria Sharapova is far taller than her listed height of 6’2″.
2. Sharapova’s grunting gets louder on big points.
3. I saw writers for major media outlets taking photos with their phones from the photographer area when undoubtedly their publications had professional photographers taking pictures as well.
4. Maria Sharapova played with little spark for the first half of the match, Ana Ivanovic lost focus after jumping out to a 6-2, 4-0 lead, and then Maria Sharapova’s serve abandoned her when trying to close out Ivanovic.
5. Maria Sharapova catches her toss more often than any player I have ever seen.
6. Maria Sharapova and Ivanovic shared what could be politely described as a brief handshake after the match ended.
7. Roger Federer received rock star treatment from the Cincinnati crowd when he was introduced.
8. I have seen Ivanisevic, Karlovic, Rusedski,Roddick and Isner serve live.  Milos Raonic serves consistently harder than all of them.  His first serve clocks in at 134 mph or higher unless he throws a change-up crazy kicker.  I’d still say Goran’s was the most effective serve I have ever seen.
9. When Milos Raonic’s serve hits the net it sounds like he might snap the let cord.
10. Roger Federer’s combination of balance and ball striking is something to see live as often as possible.  I’ve seen him practice and play on multiple occasions and was still struck by just how well he does everything on court.
11. Federer’s sneak attacks at the net make him far more dangerous than his pre-Edberg 2013 form.
12. Federer won all 16 points on his serve in the 1st set, but struggled more on his serve in the second than Milos did … until he broke Milos to take a 5-3 lead.
13. Milos’ consistency in Masters 1000 events is to be commended and is a big reason he is on the cusp of being ranked in the top 5.
14. Roger Federer reaching 4 Masters 1000 final rounds at 32/33 years of age is impressive.
15. May we all age as well as Stefan Edberg and Mary Jo Fernandez have.