• US Open, Day Three

Plays of the Day: Love tips for Wozniacki

The Louk Sorensen hotdog needs work © PA Photos

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A double take
For a multi-tasking journalist, one of the most frustrating things is for players to be wearing similar outfits. But what makes you break into a cold sweat is when two players step onto court wearing the same outfit. Stand up Laura Robson and Anabel Medina Garrigues. The pair were decked out in matching pink outfits, giving yours truly a real headache. ESPN can only thank Robson for being a left hander.

Look out Rory
After spending a loved-up couple of weeks with his new girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, Rory McIlroy returned to Europe this week for the European Masters. He's likely to have a spring in his step in Switzerland, to be honest we all would, but he may be well advised to shoot an anxious glance back over the Atlantic. Wozniacki is a big fan of social networks and revealed she has been given words of advice by the Williams sisters. "In the lockerroom getting relationship advice from Serena and Venus. = #trouble."

No luck for the Irish
Food poisoning did for Conor Niland against Novak Djokovic on Tuesday and injury did for his compatriot Louk Sorensen 24 hours later. It seemed as if luck was on Sorensen's side when his scheduled opponent, sixth seed Robin Soderling, pulled out on the morning of the match on account of illness. He was matched with Rogerio Dutra da Silva and after losing the first set to love, he rallied superbly to level. The contest was even in the third, with Sorensen playing some inspired tennis on occasions, but he started to cramp in his hand and leg and after losing the third set he was unable to carry on.

Doing the hurl
This could be a title for a new dance craze, but sadly not this time. Whether it was the frustration of seeing her opponent wheel out in the same outfit or her own patchy performance is not clear, but Laura Robson took her frustrations out on her racket. A mishit smash gifted Anabel Medina Garrigues a second break of serve in the opening set, prompting Robson to slam her racket into the concrete. The petulant act led to a scowl of disapproval from umpire Lynn Welch but she escaped a warning.

A cold hotdog
Roger Federer is the king of the hotdog, while other players such as Andy Murray have proved themselves pretty adept at their own versions. Irish qualifier Louk Sorensen has obviously spent a bit of time watching the stars make it look easy so he decided to have a go himself. There are probably times and places to give it a shot, but set point down in the third is probably not one of them. Still, the luck of the Irish and all that. A lob went up from Rogerio Dutra da Silva, Sorensen scampered back and checked his memory bank before shaping for the move and… barely getting the ball more than a couple of inches off the ground.

Sole destroying
Andy Roddick appeared to be cruising through his match against compatriot Michael Russell, but inexplicably lost the third set and, along with it, his confidence. The reason? Damp feet. The free-sweating American was positively dripping after two hours on court, and had to call for replacement inner soles for his shoes to replace the sodden, torn relics he'd been slipping around in. Normal service resumed in the fourth, but you have to wonder how his pores would flow during the heat of the day as opposed to an evening match like this.

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