Wk.6- German Blitzkrieg Overwhelms Paris

A year after "Kvitova Kicks Kim's Keister," the headline in Paris has changed. Though SOME things sure looked familiar.

After Week 6 began with the likes of Sabine Lisicki (illness), Jelena Jankovic (leg) and Kaia Kanepi (shoulder) pulling out of tournaments, then Li Na (back) and Vera Zvonareva (hip) retiring during matches, it looked like 2012's first post-Fed Cup week wasn't going to be very noteworthy. But then Angelique Kerber stepped into the breach.

She's been doing as much for a while now, but probably hasn't gotten as much credit for it as she should have. Last September, as the world #92, Kerber defeated an error-plagued Flavia Pennetta to reach the U.S. Open semifinals, the first German to do so since 1996. She was actually the second woman from her country to reach a slam Final Four that summer, as Lisicki had done so at Wimbledon two months earlier. Coming into last week's Paris Indoors, Kerber had proven to be no fluke. Having risen into the Top 30, she'd already reached two 2012 semifinals and posted wins over Lisicki, Julia Goerges (yet another German) and AO quarterfinalist Sara Errani. She'd climbed out of the pool of players largely disregarded as potential title-winners, but her title run in Paris takes her yet another level higher on the WTA scale. In winning her first career tour crown, she put up wins over the likes of top-seeded Maria Sharapova, Yanina Wickmayer and #2-seed Marion Bartoli, the latter in front of a partisan French crowd riding the wave of a La Trufflette comeback that had turned what appeared to be a "routine" straight sets win into something potentially far more.

While Petra Kvitova has so far failed to assume the #1 ranking (and actually slipped a notch this week), her gradual-then-sudden rise over the last two seasons continues to linger over the rest of the players on tour. Who is the NEXT Kvitova? Who is following in her footsteps? Earlier this season, it seemed as if it might be Kanepi. She, as Kvitova did in '10, finished '11 at #34 in the rankings. Both opened the next season by winning titles in Brisbane. The Czech followed up that win with an impressive storming to the Paris title last February. Kanepi was originally in the draw for the event (Carl even picked her to win) last week, but withdrew with a shoulder injury.

Enter Kerber, in very Kvitova-esque garb.

This weekend, it was the German who followed up Kvitova's Paris title with one of her own. Kerber, like the Czech before her, had reached a surprise slam semifinal the season before her February championship run under the roof. In the final against Bartoli, she even experienced a very Kvitova-esque ebb-and-flow stretch in her game. She led Bartoli 7-6/5-2, serving for the match at 5-3, before the French woman caught fire. Kerber dropped thirteen consecutive points, was broken three straight times and lost the final five games of the 2nd as she was forced into a 3rd set. As Kvitova often does, though, the German rebounded. She got an early break to gain control, going up 4-0. Then, after having a difficult time closing things out (Bartoli saved a handul of match points), she finally prevailed in a 6-3 set.

Kerber will soon be a Top 20 player. After that, she can set her sights on trying to catch Lisicki and the currently-injured Andrea Petkovic to become the highest-ranked German woman. Come fall, when she'll arrive in NewYork to defend her '11 Open semi, one has to wonder what other players directly above her in the rankings will have cause to worry.

Surely, quite a few more than anyone would have ever guessed twelve months earlier.



*WEEK 6 CHAMPIONS*
PARIS, FRANCE (Premier $637K/HI)
S: Angelique Kerber/GER def. Marion Bartoli/FRA 7-6/5-7/6-3
D: Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) d. Groenefeld/Martic (GER/CRO)
PATTAYA, THAILAND (Int'l $220K/HO)
S: Daniela Hantuchova/SVK def. Maria Kirilenko/RUS 6-7/6-3/6-3
D: Mirza/Rodionova (IND/AUS) d. Chan/Chan (TPE/TPE)


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Angelique Kerber/GER

...well, while the trophy she got to hold up didn't look as nice as the diamond-encrusted one that current Paris tournament director Amelie Mauresmo was given after she won one of her many Antwerp crowns a few years ago, Kerber surely isn't feeling "slighted" after her week in France. Obviously, her semifinal run at Flushing Meadows last September was more of a foreshadowing event than one closer to a fluke. She's already reached four additional semifinals since her U.S. Open Final Four result. Her final last week, though, was her first since she reached the decider in Bogota in 2010. In taking out the #1 (Sharapova) and #2 (Bartoli) seeds in the Paris Indoors, the 24-year old not only grabbed her first career title but also pushed her ranking to a new high. She's nearly in the Top 20 and, don't look now, but she's in Doha this week with a chance to fire another shot across the bow of German tennis -- she'll face Sabine Lisicki in the 1st Round. She could meet Bartoli again in the 3rd Round.
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RISERS: Marion Bartoli/FRA & Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
...Bartoli was the Pastry-Who-(Almost)-Could in Paris last week. The tournament's comeback queen, she reversed a 6-4/4-1 deficit, as well as 5-2 hole in the 3rd set, against Roberta Vinci in the QF, then, after taking out Klara Zakopalova in the semis, pushed Kerber to three sets in the final after falling behind 7-6/5-2, breaking the German three straight times. It wasn't enough to take the title, but Bartoli does seem to be slowly-but-slowly rounding into better and better form as the season progresses. For a player like Bartoli, too much of a veteran to be a "rising star" (her inclusion in the "Riser" category notwithstanding), but not old enough to be thinking along the lines of "I've-got-to-win-a-slam-now-or-I-never-will," it's all about trying to work her schedule so that she's peaking around the time she'll travel to Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the sites of her best chances to "slip" into the slam winner's circle. While she didn't have it in the winter, she's still got a shot to have Paris in the springtime. Also in the season's first indoor event, Wickmayer continued to add weight to her "comeback" season after falling outside the Top 25 last year. After being the best player on the court in Belgium's Fed Cup loss to Serbia in Week 6, she was one of the few FC stars to carry over their momentum to Week 7. She reached the SF in Paris, taking out Christina McHale and Mona Barthel.
=============================
SURPRISES: Sania Mirza/IND & Chan Hao-Ching/Chan Yung-Jan (TPE/TPE)
...Mirza has shined as a doubles star (she's currently #7) in recent seasons, but she nicely pulled double-duty last week in Pattaya. In singles, she reached the QF with wins over Ayumi Morita and Anne Keothavong, then won the doubles title with Anastasia Rodionova. It's the Indian Princess' (whew! I haven't used that nickname for a long time) thirteenth career tour doubles crown, and she's collected them with ten different woman. With this win while partnering with the Aussie, her last ten WTA doubles titles have come with nine players. And she won a Mixed slam title with Mahesh Bhupathi, too. In the final, Mirza & Rodionova defeated the Chan sisters, 22-year old Yung-Jan and 18-year old Hao-Ching, who thus become the latest entry in the tour's ever-expanding pool of tennis-playing siblings.
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VETERANS: Daniela Hantuchova/SVK & Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond (USA/USA)

...Hantuchova had never managed to defend a singles title before she did so this weekend in Pattaya. Reaching her second 2012 final (only Azarenka can say the same), Hantuchova claimed her fifth career crown with wins over Urszula Radwanska, Vania King, Hsieh Su-Wei and Maria Kirilenko in the three-set final. The 28-year old is (so far) the oldest singles champion on tour this season, just edging out Zheng Jie. In Paris, Huber (35) and Raymond (38) teamed up to claim their fifth title as a duo, all since last summer, and all Premier-level or better. Raymond has now grabbed 75 titles in her career, one fewer than Hall of Famer Jana Novotna (76) on the all-time WTA list and just five away from HOFer Natasha Zvereva's 80 (fifth-best in tour history). Teaming with Huber all season, it seems hard to believe that Raymond won't pass up both before the end of '12.
=============================
COMEBACK: Hsieh Su-Wei/TPE
...the Taiwanese vet turned back the clock in Pattaya City. In 2001, as a 15-year old, she qualified at a tour event in Bali and reached the SF. Last week, nearly eleven years later, the 26-year old world #159 finally reached her second career tour-level singles semi. Again, she did it the hard way, making it through qualifying and reaching the Final Four with impressive wins over Zheng Jie, Kimiko Date-Krumm and Sania Mirza.
=============================
FRESH FACE: Mona Barthel/GER
...from the looks of things, Barthel won't be having to go through qualifying for much longer. The Hobart champ (the OTHER German first-time singles champion of this young season) was at it again last week in Paris, qualifying with wins over the likes of Alize Cornet and Varvara Lepchenko, then reaching the QF after taking out Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova and Pauline Parmentier. The wins weren't as impressive as some of those during her early-season run, but the fact remains that the German's only '12 losses have come to players named Azarenka, Lisicki, Jankovic and Wickmayer, all of whom have previously reached slam a SF or better. After defeating Caroline Garcia today, Barthel will get a second shot at Azarenka, who beat her in the 3rd Round in Melbourne (it was the match in which the eventual champ had to fend off allowing her anger to get the best of her late in the 2nd set after a series of poor line calls, eliciting what was probably the most widespread anti-Vika crowd reaction during the two weeks), in a 2nd Round rematch in Doha in what will be the Belarusian's first post-AO title outing.
=============================
DOWN: Maria Sharapova/RUS & Vera Zvonareva/RUS
...it wasn't a good week for top-seeded Russians. Sharapova, coming off the "cold" that took her out of her second day of Fed Cup play last weekend, lasted only two matches in Paris, losing in straight sets to eventual champion Kerber. Still, with '11 champ Kvitova idle, Sharapova moved past the Czech and into the #2 ranking behind Victoria Azarenka today. Meanwhile, in Pattaya City, '09 and '10 champ Zvonareva retired against Sorana Cirstea in the QF after suffering a hip injury early in her two-and-a-half set match with the Romanian. While this was actually Zvonareva's best result in three events this season, I'm still thinking that that preseason notion that the Russian was going to suffer a significant slide in 2012 might not have been far off at all.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Alexandra Dulgheru/ROU & Olga Govortsova/BLR
...there were two $100K challengers held last week, and Dulgheru (Cali, Colombia) and Govortsova (Midland, Michigan) took the crowns. Following up her countrywoman Irina-Camelia Begu's title there last year, Dulgheru notched wins over Sharon Fichman, Alexandra Cadantu, Lourdes Dominguez-Lino (who'll try to defend her Bogota '11 title this week) and Mandy Minella. Govortsova, sticking around in the States after her FC participation in Massachusetts (and maybe proving that just losing close to Serena is enough to boost one's confidence), traveled a bit west and got her title with wins over Ashley Weinhold, Anna Tatishvili, Jamie Hampton and Magdalena Rybarikova.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Yulia Putintseva/RUS
...the junior #6, and Australian Open Girls runner-up last month, is still Down Under. Last week, she rebounded from her more-than-petulant reaction to her Melbourne loss to Taylor Townsend (here's how Diane saw it on "Women Who Serve"), winning a $25K challenger in Launceton with victories over Melanie South, Olivia Rogowska, Anna Schmiedlova and Lesley Kerkhove in the final.
=============================


1. Paris Final - Kerber d. Bartoli
...7-6/5-7/6-3. With the win, Kerber reached one of those weird little milestones in her career -- her ranking is less than her age for the first time. The 24-year old moved up to #22 today.
=============================
2. Patt Final - Hantuchova d. Kirilenko
...6-7/6-3/6-3. Hantuchova is the third #3-seed to win a singles title in the WTA's seven 2012 events, but she's the first #3-seed not named Victoria to do it. Meanwhile, Kirilenko drops to 5-5 in career tour finals, but once again played well in Asia (six of her appearances in finals have come on the continent).
=============================
3. Paris QF - Kerber d. Sharapova
...6-4/6-4. A few weeks ago in the Australian Open 3rd Round, Sharapova took out Kerber in straight sets. Throw in the German playing better, mixed with the Russian not playing at as high a level as she was in the Melbourne early-going, and you get the script being flipped quite nicely.
=============================
4. Paris 1st Rd - Pironkova d. Li
...7-6/3-2 ret. Li was coming off a three-match bit of work in Fed Cup when retired with a back injury in her first match in Paris.
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5. Doha Q1 - Keothavong d. Robson 6-2/6-1
Doha Q2 - Keothavong d. Watson 6-4/6-4
...a week ago, Keothavong was Robson and Watson's supportive Fed Cup teammate. This past weekend, she slapped them down and showed them who's boss. At least for a little while longer.
=============================
6. Doha Q1 - U.Radwanska d. Tsurenko
...6-2/1-0 ret. Speaking of FC. In Week 6, U-Rad's untimely losses prevented Poland from advancing out of Zone play. Meanwhile, in the 1st Round, Tsurenko went 2-0 and very nearly led a huge Ukrainian upset of Italy. None of that mattered in Doha qualifying.
=============================
7. $100K Midland Doubles Final - Hlavackova/Hradecka d. Dolonts/Foretz-Gacon
...7-6/6-2. Hradecka has a pretty nice relationship going with this Michigan tournament. Coming into this year, she'd reached the singles final three straight years, winning in '09 and '11. As the #1 seed, she lost in the QF this year. But, as she did in '10 when she failed to win the singles title, she managed to go home with some hardware by taking the doubles crown instead.
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8. Doha 1st Rd - Pervak d. Pavlyuchenkova
...1-6/6-2/6-3. While two Germans have won titles so far in 2012, no Russians have jumped into the singles winning circle. After a week in which Sharapova and Zvonareva stumbled, Pavlyuchenkova continued her early season spinout. The #10-seed opened up 1st Round play in Doha today by losing to Hordette-turned-Kazakh Pervak, fading after taking a set lead.
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HM- Doha Doubles 1st Rd - Dushevina/Peer d. Pennetta/Schiavone
...6-2/5-7/10-7. The would-be Italian doubles pairing gets off on a bad foot (or back, in Pennetta's case?) in Doha. The Russian-Israeli pair won't be playing in the London Olympics, though.
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1. Pattaya Doubles Final - Mirza/Rodionova d. Chan/Chan
...3-6/6-1/10-8. At least one tennis sibling sister was simply destined to win in Pattaya, as one half of the Rodionova sisters helped defeat the Chan clan.
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2. Pattaya Doubles 1st Rd - Kichenok/Kichenok d. Gajdosova/Mattek-Sands
...6-2/6-2. They would soon lose to eventual runners-up Groenefeld & Martic, but Ukraine's Kichenok twins did manage a rather impressive 1st Round doubles win in Thailand before they left town.
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**2012 FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS**
Hobart - Mona Barthel, GER (21, #64)
Paris - Angelique Kerber, GER (24, #27)

**MOST CAREER WTA WEEKS AT DOUBLES #1**
237...Martina Navratilova
170...LIEZEL HUBER *
163...Cara Black *
124...Natasha Zvereva
117...Lisa Raymond *
111...Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
87...Paola Suarez *
-
* - active

**CAREER DOUBLES TITLES - ACTIVE**
75...LISA RAYMOND, USA
54...Cara Black, ZIM
49...LIEZEL HUBER, USA
44...Paola Suarez, ARG
30...Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
-
NOTE: Rennae Stubbs (60)

**TOUR DOUBLES TITLES WITH SANIA MIRZA**
3 - Liezel Huber
2 - Elena Vesnina
1 - Chuang Chia-Jing
1 - Edina Gallovits-Hall
1 - Vania King
1 - Bethanie Mattek-Sands
1 - Shahar Peer
1 - ANASTASIA RODIONOVA
1 - Mara Santangelo
1 - Yaroslava Shvedova
-
NOTE: Mahesh Bhupathi (1 Mixed)

**2012 SINGLES CHAMPIONS BY SEED**
#3 - 3 (Azarenka,Azarenka,Hantuchova)
#9 - 1 (Kerber)
Unseeded - 2 (Kanepi,Zheng)
Qualifier - 1 (Barthel)





DOHA, QATAR (Premier $2.168m/hardcourt outdoor)
11 Final: Zvonareva d. Wozniacki
11 Doubles Champions: Peschke/Srebotnik
12 Top Seeds: Azarenka/Wozniacki
=============================
=QF=
#1 Azarenka d. Wickmayer
#4 A.Radwanska d. Peer
#13 Ivanovic d. Pennetta
Kerber d. #2 Wozniacki
=SF=
#1 Azarenka d. #4 A.Radwanska
#13 Ivanovic d. Kerber
=FINAL=
#1 Azarenka d. #13 Ivanovic

...Azarenka returns. So does a Sanchez-less Wozniacki, who reached the final a year ago. Stosur might get a rematch with AO conqueror Cirstea in the 2nd Round, while Kerber/Bartoli II could be on tap for the 3rd Round. A truly intriguing Azarenka/Wozniacki final is possible, but too far out in the draw to focus on at this point.


BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
11 Final: Dominguez-Lino d. Johansson
11 Doubles Champions: Gallovits-Hall/Medina-Garrigues (Gallovits-Hall 2010-11)
12 Top Seeds: Erakovic/Dulgheru
=============================
=SF=
Voegele d. #4 Dokic
#2 Dulgheru d. #3 Oprandi
=FINAL=
#2 Dulgheru d. Voegele

...I'm tempted to pick Dokic, but I'll go with the more in-good-singles-form Dulgheru. Voegele has been playing well, of late, as well. Although she might have to face both the #1 seed (Erakovic... is this really a tour-level event?) and the defending champ (LDL) just to reach the semis.




DOHA
=SF=
#1 azarenka d. #4 a.radwanska
#2 wozniacki d. #3 stosur
=FINAL=
#2 wozniacki d. #1 azarenka

...Carl get more champion picks right than Todd (two in row with Hantuchova, since Kanepi pick last week "no count" since she pull out). Think CARL should get first pick. Would go with Vika, just like Carl did in Melbourne. But since Todd obviously trying to sabotage (thanks, Carla) Carl much-more-accurate picks, Carl outsmart him. Go against puny public's opinion and say Caroline. Like when Carl speak loudly at store as he trying to buy one of Carla's "female products" as she asked to do, then cashier ask for price check over loudspeaker and made Carl feel weird and make him want to smash and run out store because he no like way little woman with blue streaks in hair looking at Carl... umm, where was Carl? Oh. Like when Carl speak loudly, Caro win would both shut people up AND make them talk about him when he leave room.

BOGOTA
=SF=
#7 dominguez-lino d. #4 dokic
#5 dulko d. #2 dulgheru
=FINAL=
#5 dulko d. #7 dominguez-lino

...Carl pick Hantuchova/Kirilenko final right last week. Todd do not. Should listen to Carl when comes to picks. Carl so confused by this draw, though. Hard to pick winner from group of players like this. Should pick Dokic just to rub in Todd face if she win. In fact, Carl WILL do that.

=NEW SF=
#4 dokic d. #7 dominguez-lino
#5 dulko d. #2 dulgheru
=NEW FINAL=
#4 dokic d. #5 dulko


All for now.

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Wk.5- The Usual Suspects

It was a Fed Cup weekend characterized by teams being propped up and led by "the usual suspects." Some were the same "old reliables" that, as they have for years, came to the rescue during this weekend's most tense moments, while a few of the others were relatively-new leaders who managed once again to pad their early-career FC resumes, allowing them to dream of being "team legends" somewhere down the line.

A quick rundown of some stand-outs from 2012's first weekend of FC action:

*EIGHT THINGS THAT WERE GOOD*
1. Or is it "familiar?" For the fourth straight year, Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic have advanced and will do battle in the semifinals. For the Hordettes, this weekend's actions earned them a sixth straight Final Four berth.

2. Svetlana Kuznetsova... showing that she CAN pull her head out of you-know-where at FC time, at least. Although, she ALMOST got stuck in there yet again.

3. The U.S. getting Venus Williams onto the court in a "meaningless" WG II doubles match (with Liezel Huber, not Serena), while ultimately feeling better about NextGen Bannerette Christina McHale's FC weekend than the sketchy one of Venus' sibling.

4. The defending champion Czech team, on the road again (after winning three road ties en route to the title in '11), coming back from a set down three straight times in singles against Sabine Lisicki and Julia Goerges, not-so-arguably the two best players who lost FC singles matches over the weekend.

5. Team Australia managing not to choke against Switzerland in WG II play. Naturally, since the tie was played on the road, Sam Stosur starred.

6. After not fairing well without their help late in '11, Team Italia being led back to the SF by the likes of Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta & Roberta Vinci in '12.

7. One year after successfully going it alone for Team Serbia last February, Bojana Jovanovski, after managing to get to the arena on time and in one piece, doing it again on Day 2 in Belgium.

8. China moving up to the World Group II Playoffs, advancing for the first time in FC play since February '08 (won 1st Rd.). Since reaching the SF four years ago, China had gone 0-5 in FC ties, then failed to advance out of Zone play in '11. Last week, the Chinese, led by the likes of Li Na, Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai, went 8-0 overall in Asia/Oceania pool and promotional playoff action.

*THREE THINGS THAT WEREN'T*

1. Serena Williams' feet. Sure, she didn't play all that well in Massachusetts. But... I guess that she chose to play at all should be commended. Especially considering...

2. The other stars' health. Serena and Venus managed to play, but the likes of Victoria Azarenka (lower back), Jelena Jankovic (leg) and Maria Sharapova (pulled out with a cold two hours before her second match on Day 2) were absent from action either all or part of the weekend. Maybe this week-after-a-slam schedule for FC action is a bit flawed.

3. Kateryna Bondarenko... oh, vey. How does it feel to be the latest victim of Francesca Mania?

*ONE THAT RAISES A FEW QUESTIONS*
That the MVP in the United States' win over Belarus in World Group II play might have been... Victoria Azarenka. The AO champ's withdrawal from action became official an hour before the start of play on Saturday, and Christina McHale notched her first career FC win shortly afterward against "replacement" Anastasiya Yakimova. With Serena Williams then struggling at times in her two matches against Yakimova and Olga Govortsova over the two days of play, it's easy to think that Azarenka might have gone 2-0 in singles had she played, putting much pressure on FC newbie McHale to get her first win on Day 2 to avoid having Mary Joe Fernandez's team fall still farther down the FC ladder, even with the Williams Sisters on the team fulfilling their Olympics-eligibility requirements. That sigh we heard coming from Massachusetts this weekend wasn't coming from frustrated New England Patriots fans... it was a very thankful MJF, who maybe came within an eyelash of being at the wheel when the American FC team's cruise ship ran aground.

*AND ANOTHER THAT I'LL CONTINUE TO HARP ON*
Just think how dramatic, if only for a few hours, some of this weekend's ties might have been if the Fed Cup best-of-five format played the doubles match in the #3 slot (as the Davis Cup does) rather than #5. Rather than often be a throw-away match as it was in six of the weekend's high-level ties, it'd have been a viable match in ALL eight (and had the potential to be the clinching point in four), not to mention allowing all team members to contribute in a "live" match and brought about some interesting coaching decisions since top singles players would be potentially-necessary doubles team choices while still possibly having to play an additional singles match later. Doubles matches that decide ties -- as was the case with SRB/BEL and ITA/UKR -- are nice, but imagine if it was a head-to-head SINGLES match between top players that decided which team advanced. THAT would provide good (and sometimes even better) theater.

*WEEK 5*

=1st Round=
Russia(H) def. Spain 3-2
Serbia def. Belgium(H) 3-2
Italy(H) def. Ukraine 3-2
Czech Republic def. Germany(H) 4-1
=World Group II=
United States(H) def. Belarus 5-0
Japan(H) def. Slovenia 5-0
Slovak Republic(H) def. France 3-2
Australia def. Switzerland(H) 4-1
=Zone Promotion Finals=
[Europe/Africa]: Great Britain def. Austria 2-0
[Europe/Africa]: Sweden def. Poland 2-1
[America's]: Argentina def. Colombia 2-0
[Asia/Oceania]: China def. Kazakhstan 2-0


[1st Rd. MVPs]
Petra Kvitova/CZE (overall P.O.W.)
...Kvitova led the defending champion Maidens back to the semifinals, but it was anything but easy. On the road in Germany, against both Sabine Lisicki and Julia Goerges, Kvitova dropped the 1st set and had to scramble back to get wins. The second, the tie-clincher against Goerges, came via a 10-8 3rd set in a match in which the German twice came within two points of victory. Kvitova held serve three straight times to finally secure the victory, her 23rd straight wins indoors (and 27th, counting January's Hopman Cup).
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Flavia Pennetta & Roberta Vinci, ITA
...Pennetta has been making an opening FC weekend practice of picking up the Italian team for the last three years. In 2010 and '11, she helped Team Italia rebound after Francesca Schiavone had lost opening day singles matches, getting a pair of singles wins over Ukraine (both Bondarenkos) and Australia (Stosur & Gajdosova). This year, Schiavone lost again on Day 1. Then, when Sara Errani had to retire from her Day 2 singles match, the tie went to the doubles match. With Vinci's regular doubles partner Errani out, the still-nursing-injury Pennetta stepped in to play with her countrywoman for the first time since 2003. They won a three-setter over Lesia Tsurenko & Olga Savchuk, 7-5/0-6/6-1 to get back to the SF. Vinci, by the way, remains undefeated for her career in FC doubles play.
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Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS
...the Russian's longtime Fed Cup success will have as much to do with her eventual Hall of Fame induction as her pair of two-weeks-of-bliss-surrounded-by-months-of-inconsistency slam titles. Again this weekend, she was Team Russia's rock. After a straight sets win on Saturday over Carla Suarez-Navarro, she followed up the potential chaos created by Sharapova's last-minute withdrawal from Match #3 (an unprepared Nadia Petrova was steamrolled by CSN), by securing the clinching point in the tie with a win over Silvia Soler-Espinosa. Of course, being Sveta, she didn't make things easy for herself. She led SSE 6-2/4-1 before going into one of her funks, which she eventually crawled out of to win 6-2/4-6/6-3.
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Bojana Jovanovski/SRB
...one year ago in opening FC weekend WG II action, with Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic out, BoJo put the Serbian team on her back against Canada, having a hand in all three of the winning points. JJ was in Belgium this time around, but a leg injury took her out of play after she got a win in Match #1. After Yanina Wickmayer notched back-to-back singles wins (one over BoJo), Jovanovski was put in the position of needing to lead Serbia out of the 2-1 hole and into the SF. She got a singles win over Kirsten Flipkens, then teamed with Aleksandra Krunic to defeat Wickmayer and Alison van Uytvanck in doubles to secure the victory and Serbia's first berth in the FC semis.
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[WG II MVPs]
Christina McHale/USA
...still just 19 and without a career FC victory, McHale was put in the early line of fire by MJF, set to face Victoria Azarenka to lead off Day 1 action against Belarus on Saturday. Azarenka's withdrawal from the match-up took a little bit of the pressure off, but it didn't mean the moment might not get to the American. It didn't. She went up 6-0/4-0 on Yakimova, then survived her only (short) case of nerves to win 6-0/6-4. On Sunday, with the tie clinched, she defeated Darya Kustova 6-0/6-1.
=============================
Ayuma Morita/JPN
...the Japanese team had a relatively easy time of it against Slovenia on the scoreboard, sweeping the tie 5-0. But they had to scrape and claw for those wins. Kimiko Date-Krumm opened the tie with a win come-from-behind, three set win over Polona Hercog, only to see her lose-the-1st, win-the-next-two pattern (as happenened with CZE vs. GER) carry over to Morita's back-to-back singles matches over the two days. Morita, 21, came back from a set down in her victories over Nastja Kolar and Hercog, the latter of which clinched Japan's advancement to the World Group Playoffs.
=============================
Daniela Hantuchova/SVK
...the Slovak team was armed with both Hantuchova and Cibulkova for the WG II tie with the Bartoli-less French team. And, even without La Trufflette, the team NEEDED them both. Hantuchova opened play by taking out Pauline Parmentier in a 9-7 3rd set, then saw Cibulkova split her two matches. Avoiding sending things to the doubles, Hantuchova clinched the win with a 6-3/6-4 win over Alize Cornet in Match #4.
=============================
Samantha Stosur/AUS
...Sammy, and all of Team Australia, should just petition to NEVER have to play Down Under. In 2011, the Aussies lost two home ties in FC play, with Stosur crumbling against Italy in the 1st Round, then Anastasia Rodionova doing the same against Ukraine in the WG Playoffs. Down in Group II, and on the road in Switzerland, Rodionova wasn't in action this time. But Stosur was, along with the we-brought-all-the-troops lineup of Jarmila Gajdosova, Jelena Dokic and Casey Dellacqua. While Gajdosova split a pair of long marathons -- losing 8-6 in the 3rd to Stefanie Voegele on Day 1, then winning 8-6 over Amra Sadikovic on Day 2 -- Stosur was picture perfect, winning straight sets matches over Timea Bacsinszky and Voegele. With everyone getting in on the act, Dellacqua & Dokic contributed a doubles point in Australia's 4-1 win.
=============================

[Zone Play MVPs]
Sofia Arvidsson/SWE
...Sweden, with Arvidsson and Johanna Larsson filling their customary leadership positions, advanced to the WG II Playoffs by winning one half of the Europe/Africa zone. In pool and promotional playoff action, Arvidsson went 3-0 in singles, and 3-0 in doubles with Larsson.
=============================
Elena Baltacha/GBR
...while Anne Keothavong (3-1) and the doubles team of Laura Robson/Heather Watson (3-0) all performed well in the other half of Europe/Africa zone play, it was Elena Baltacha who was entrusted with taking out the best players from the other teams. And she went 4-0 in those matches, getting wins over Shahar Peer, Michaella Krajicek, Michelle Larcher de Brito and Tamira Paszak.
=============================
Paula Ormaechea/ARG
...along with Florencia Molinero, 19-year old Ormaechea led the Dulko-less Argentine team through America's zone play. Both went 3-0 in singles play, but Ormaechea opening three ties with a win (including victories over Aleksandra Wozniak and Catalina Castano) in Match #1 gets her the MVP nod. Overall, Argentina went 11-0 in matches in pool and promotional playoff action.
=============================
Li Na/CHN
...most of China's recent FC troubles, aside from poor management at the top, has come because of the absence of the nation's best players from team play. Well, Li, Zheng and Peng all showed up this time, and China avoided yet another disaster by finally escaping Zone play after failing to do so in '11. Li was the only player who played a singles match in all three ties. She went 3-0, getting victories over Chang Kai-Chen and Galina Voskoboeva.
=============================

[RISERS]
Agnieszka Radwanska/POL
...A-Rad couldn't push Poland back into World Group II play, but she did just about all that she could. 4-0 in singles, she dropped just nine total games against the likes of Irina-Camelia Begu, Petra Martic, Johanna Larsson and Anne Kremer. She also teamed with sister Urszula for a doubles win over Begu & Simona Halep, dropping the 1st set before back-to-back bageling the Swarmettes in a 4-6/6-0/6-0 win.
=============================
Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
...Jovanovski ultimately proved to be THE star of the Serbia/Belgium 1st Round tie, but Wickmayer was the best singles player on the court. She took out BoJo 6-4/6-4, then nearly double-bageled Krunic.
=============================

[FRESH FACES]
Lesia Tsurenko/UKR
...ever since she played a huge part in taking down Rodionova and Australia in last year's WG Playoffs, Tsurenko has been putting up better and better results across the board. In the 1st Round against Italy, the 22-year old, world #121 nearly single-handedly pulled off one of the bigger FC upsets in recent years. On Day 1, she crushed Schiavone 6-1/6-2, then handled a retiring Errani 6-1/3-0 in Match #4 to send things to the doubles. With Savchuk by her side, the Ukrainians bageled the veteran Italian pair of Pennetta/Vinci in the 2nd set to take things to an all-or-nothing 3rd set. As SHOULD have happened, the experienced Italians pulled ahead at that point. But Tsurenko seems willing and able to help get Team Ukraine back to this stage again soon.
=============================
Aleksandra Krunic/SRB
...the 18-year old has become something of a FC Girl Wonder in doubles over the past year. In three straight ties, she's successfully teamed with a bigger Serbian star -- once JJ, twice Bojo -- in the deciding doubles match. This weeekend's win over Belgium push the women's FC team into the semifinals in the wake of the Serbian men claiming the Davis Cup at the end of the '10 season.
=============================

[SURPRISES]
Stefanie Voegele/SUI
...Voegele, 21, has been making some noise in this early season. Before this weekend, she'd already qualified at the Australian Open and notched wins over Shahar Peer and Bojana Jovanovski. In Melbourne, she led Lisicki 4-2 in the 3rd set in their 1st Round match. Against Australia in WG II play, she outlasted Jarmila Gajdosova in a 6-0/6-7(8)/8-6 Day 1 match.
=============================
Florencia Molinero/ARG
...teamed with Ormaechea, the 23-year old, 3-0 in Zone play with wins over Stephanie Dubois and Mariana Duque-Marino, is giving the Argentine team a floor to stand on, with or without Gisela Dulko.
=============================

[VETERANS]
Iveta Benesova/CZE
...understandably, Kvitova gets more attention for HER wins from a set down against Lisicki and Goerges, but Benesova, too, won a come-from-behind thriller. In Match #1 of the CZE/GER tie, Benesova fell behind 6-2/2-1, 15/40 on Lisicki's serve before fighting back for a 2-6/6-4/6-2 win that proved to be FAR more important than it might have seemed at the time.
=============================
Francesca Schiavone/ITA
...oh, Francesca. As soon as you're counted out, you come back with a vengeance. Schiavone's penchant for losing opening day, opening weekend FC matches proved true once again, as she won just three games against Tsurenko on Day 1. Things didn't look good on Day 2, either. She trailed Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6/5-1in Match #3. I guess she had the Ukrainian right where she wanted her. Dropping just one point in the next three games, Schiavone turned the match in her favor -- turning on the crowd -- and took the 2:50 match 6-7/7-5/6-4 to prevent Italy from falling into a 2-1 hole. In the end, her "save" allowed Pennetta & Vinci to sent Team Italia to the SF with a doubles win.
=============================
Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN
...the 41-year old only played one match in Japan's WG II tie with Slovenia, but her come-from-behind 2-6/6-4/6-2 win over just-turned-21 Polona Hercog set the fight-until-the-end tone for Japan's 5-0 victory. Polona must now know to respect her elders.
=============================

[COMEBACKS]
Serena Williams/USA & Venus Williams/USA
...Serena wasn't exactly impressive -- sweating out a 7-5 1st set against Govortsova, and dropping the opening set to Yakimova -- but she DID go 2-0 in singles play in the tie against Belarus. Meanwhile, with the tie secure with a 4-0 score, Venus took to the court in doubles with Liezel Huber. They won 6-1/6-2 over Kustova & Yakimova in Venus' first official competitive match since she pulled out of the U.S. Open along with the announcement of her ongoing health concerns.
=============================

[DOWN]
Kateryna Bondarenko/UKR
...a year ago, K-Bond successfully put the Ukrainian team on her shoulders without her sister Alona to help out. This time, her shoulders didn't support the weight. Serving at 7-6/5-1 against Schiavone, with a shot to put UKR up 2-1 with the hot-as-fire Tsurenko ready to close out the upset one match later, Bondarenko collapsed to the tune of only winning one point over a three-game stretch, and then losing in three sets.
=============================
Maria Sharapova/RUS... almost
...maybe she should leave a thank-you note on Sveta's locker at the next tournament, for if not for Kuznetsova, then Sharapova's late withdrawal from play on Day 2 with "a cold" might have been something that would have "grown prickly hair" had the Russians gone on to drop a tie that probably should never even have come close to being tight... which is surely did late in Match #4.
=============================

ITF PLAYER: Sofia Kvatsabaia/GEO
...we're only five weeks into the 2012 season, but the Georgian has already won three ITF singles titles. #3 came this weekend in a $10K challenger in Mallorca, where she defeated Spain's Ivonne Cavalle-Reimers in the final.

JUNIOR STAR: Irina Khromacheva/RUS
...the world's #1-ranked junior, a Girls singles quarterfinalist and doubles runner-up at the AO, had a nice run in the $25K challenger in Burnie, Australia. The 16-year old got wins over Cagla Buyukakcay, Yurika Sema and Eugenie Bouchard en route to reaching the final, where she lost to Olivia Rogowska.


1. FC 1st Rd - ITA/UKR - Schiavone d. K.Bondarenko
...6-7/7-5/6-4. 2:50. Back from a set and 5-1. Okay, I see. Francesca didn't give us one of her great slam dramas because she was holding it for this match. Sneaky thing, she is.
=============================
2. FC 1st Rd - CZE/GER - Kvitova d. Goerges
...3-6/6-3/10-8. Petra will eventually be had in an indoor match, but it didn't happen here. Goerges, by the way, was one of the last players to defeat Kvitova indoors, having done so in October '10 in Linz.
=============================
3. Asia/Oceania Final - CHN/KAZ
Peng def. Shvedova 6-3/3-6/6-1
Li def. Voskoboeva 6-1/3-6/6-1
...close, but no cigar. The Kazakhs will have to wait to make their FC mark. But with Ms. Pervak waiting in the wings, it's hard to believe that they won't be doing it soon.
=============================
4. FC 1st Rd - RUS/ESP - Suarez-Navarro d. Petrova
...6-0/6-3. Oh, Nadia. But I know you drew the short straw and had to replace Sharapova at the last moment, so you get a free pass.
=============================
5. FC WG II - AUS/SUI
Voegele d. Gajdosova 6-0/6-7(8)/8-6
Gajdosova d. Sadikovic 6-3/3-6/8-6
...after her 1st Round loss in Melbourne, I guess Jarmila needed the match play.
=============================


$25K Grenoble Final - Karolina Pliskova/CZE d. Kristyna Pliskova/CZE
...7-6(11)/7-6(6). The Pliskova Twins rule... the ITF circuit. Well, at least they have the last two weeks. For the second straight week, the 19-year old Czechs swept the singles and doubles titles at a challenger. A week ago, Kristyna defeated Karolina in a QF match, then took the title. This week, Karolina got her back in the final (winning her fifth in eight meetings with her sister, and evening up their ITF match-ups in finals). It's their first such title-determining match in an event since 2010. In addition to her win over her sibling, Karolina also knocked off the likes of Julie Coin and Elena Bovina (who, amazingly, is STILL out their plugging away).
=============================


**OVERALL FED CUP TITLES**
17...United States
6...Australia
5...Czechoslovakia
5...Spain
4...Russia
3...Italy
2...France
2...West Germany/Germany
1...Belgium
1...Czech Republic
1...Slovak Republic
1...South Africa
[1960's]
4...United States
3...Australia
[1970's]
4...Australia
4...United States
1...Czechoslovakia
1...South Africa
[1980's]
5...United States
4...Czechoslovakia
1...West Germany
[1990's]
5...Spain
3...United States
1...France
1...Germany
[2000's]
4...Russia
2...Italy
1...Belgium
1...France
1...Slovak Republic
1...United States
[2010's]
1...Czech Republic
1...Italy

=2012 Semifinalists=
Czech Republic
Italy
Russia
Serbia
=World Group I Playoffs=
Australia
Belgium
Germany
Japan
Slovak Republic
Spain
Ukarine
United States
=World Group II Playoffs=
Argentina
Belarus
China
France
Great Britain
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland





PARIS, FRANCE (Premier $637K/hard indoors)
11 Final: Kvitova d. Clijsters
12 Top Seeds: Sharapova/Bartoli
=============================
=SF=
#1 Sharapova d. Kanepi
#6 Goerges d. #2 Bartoli
=FINAL=
#1 Sharapova d. #6 Goerges

...hmmm, I wonder if Wozniacki played in Weeks 1 & 2, then reached the AO SF and participated in tough Week 5 Fed Cup action, if SHE would have chosen to not defend her Paris Indoors title (and points), as Kvitova has? Yeah, I know, stupid question. Instructive, though.


PATTAYA CITY, THAILAND (Int'l $220K/hard court outdoors)
11 Final: Hantuchova d. Errani
12 Top Seeds: Zvonareva/Cibulkova
=============================
=SF=
#1 Zvonareva d. #6 Voskoboeva
#3 Hantuchova d. #5 Zheng
=FINAL=
#1 Zvonareva d. #3 Hantuchova

...many of the prospective champions in this tournament were involved in FC action over the weekend and could come to Thailand a little tired or unprepared. Vera had the week off, as well as the week before (except for her AO Doubles title run). So, I'll go with her to reclaim the title she won in 2009-10.




PARIS
=SF=
kanepi d. sharapova
li d. kerber
=FINAL=
kan d. li

PATTAYA
=SF=
kirilenko d. zvonareva
hantuchova d. cibulkova
=FINAL=
hantuchova d. kirilenko

...Carl have nothing to say, other than that Carl picked Vika to win AO and Todd did not. As Carl always way, Carl smart. Todd not Carl.


All for now.

Read more...

2012 Dorothy Tour Awards: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to Perfection

Thank you... Francesca?

All right, so the Italian vet isn't the literal bell-ringer for the current "good spot" that the WTA tour suddenly seems to find itself in in these early stages of the 2012 season. Or is she? Schiavone, in winning her 2010 Roland Garros title, DID sort of kick off the recent if-you-believe-it-you-can-do-it era of women's tennis. Once Francesca won in Paris, it was obvious that aggressively pursuing a title leading up to and in the final match at a slam was the way into the winner's circle. She's been followed by a whole host of hungry would-be champions. After "old hat" Serena Williams powered her way to another Wimbledon title that summer, Kim Clijsters, the 2.0 version, who'd come out of retirement a year earlier and won the U.S. Open, came back without all the adrenaline-fueled fanfare and defended it. It wasn't her first slam championship, but she felt something like a "new" champion after she bounded into Melbourne and won there the next season, too. The "old" Kim would never have pulled all that off. Since then, arriving on the scene and DEMANDING attention at slam time has become a common occurrence on tour. Li Na won in Paris, Petra Kvitova in London, Samantha Stosur in New York, and then Victoria Azarenka this past weekend in Melbourne, giving us a fourth straight first-time slam champ, and the fifth in the last eight majors.

Francesca showed everyone else how to do it, and those players who were truly serious about their grand slam desires have followed in her footsteps.

Going over all the old Backspin Time Capsule slam final recaps in recent years, I've been reminded of how things USED to be. A generation (or two) of players ago, slam titles were ripped away from opponents and cherished. Not, as has been the case with some recent finalists, expected to be given to them by their opponents mistakes, or too heavy a burden for a player to accept, either before they played their ultimate match in a slam (Dinara, Vera), or after they'd actually managed to win it (AnaIvo). Maybe, as more players have tasted the grand slam win as the Wiliams/La Petit Taureau major title monopoly first began to erode, things have finally begun to turn. After wondering whether players REALLY wanted to win for a few years, we're left with no doubt which ones truly do now. And it's not just the NextGen players like Kvitova and Azarenka, either. Schiavone and Li aren't newcomers. Stosur's been a bit of a late bloomer. Throw in the still post-surgery slam-less Maria Sharapova, and the notion that the slams of 2012 (and beyond) might be pre-tournament toss-ups won't be because so many players have been unimpressive and/or untested in the spotlight, but because so many of them are or have been. Six players came into Melbourne with the chance to leave Australia as the #1 ranked player. Such a thing might not happen again, but the list of potential legit, they-want-to-and-CAN-lift-the-trophy threats at the next handful of slams might be that long, or even longer.

As the now former #1 can see, nothing is for sure... especially year-long new coaching commitments that last, umm, two months, apparently. Time ticks down for everyone (not just Ricardo Sanchez), even barely-into-their-twenties tennis stars who think that they'll win the big prize just because they've always done so since they were a kid. It doesn't work that way. Azarenka's path to becoming a slam champion, for sure, began with natural talent. But it only became a reality when she identified the aspects of her game and herself that were preventing her from being the best she could be. Control emotions and anger. Check. Build up body. Check. Build up game. Check. Build up confidence. Check. Become a real champion. Check. It's a systematic process where everything (eventually) works together, no matter in what order the items on the list are checked off. Things rarely go perfectly, but when they finally do, it's all worth it.

"It's a dream come true. I have been dreaming and working so hard to win a grand slam, and being #1 is a pretty good bonus. Just the perfect ending and the perfect position to be in." - Victoria Azarenka

Now, just who will Azarenka's triumph motivate and inspire to something even better? Petra? Maria? Serena? Someone else?

2012 could be pretty fun as we look to find out.

*"Dorothy Tour" Awards - Wk.1-4*
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Victoria Azarenka, BLR: handling off-season preparation for greater success better than Wozniacki, and in-match swings with more steadiness than Kvitova, Azarenka shot through the open door and climbed over BOTH into the #1 ranking

2. Maria Sharapova, RUS: she came up a match short (again) of being Supernovic, but she's back in the slam/#1 ranking mix
3. Petra Kvitova, CZE: Petra is still a work in progress with a few things to work on... just like she's been telling everyone since last summer
4. Li Na, CHN: the circus having finally left town, Li got back to tennis business Down Under
5. Zheng Jie, CHN: usually "forgotten," and oft-injured, Zheng won her first tour singles title in almost six years in Auckland, then reached the AO Round of 16
6. Kim Clijsters, BEL: if this AO was her last, it came and went with less fanfare than expected (well, except for the 4 MP saved against Li)
7. Kaia Kanepi, EST: the Estonian finished '11 at #34, then won Brisbane in Week 1... just like Kvitova did a year ago
8. Mona Barthel, GER: the hottest young prospect on tour in the opening weeks, she won a title as a qualifier and was able to string together nine straight wins

**RISERS**
1. Kaia Kanepi, EST
2. Sabine Lisicki, GER
3. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
4. Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
5. Julia Goerges, GER
6. Marion Bartoli, FRA
7. Andrea Hlavackova & Lucie Hradecka, CZE/CZE
8. Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci, ITA/ITA
9. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
10. Sania Mirza & Elena Vesnina, IND/RUS
HM- Vania King, USA

"Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper 'I love you'
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me."
- Vania King, honoring Pam Shriver's courtside request to sing after her upset win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Australin Open 2nd Round

**FRESH FACES**
1. Mona Barthel, GER
2. Christina McHale, USA
3. Monica Niculescu, ROU
4. Irina-Camelia Begu, ROU
5. Alexandra Dulgheru, ROU
6. Lesia Tsurenko, UKR
7. Ashleigh Barty, AUS
8. Alison Riske, USA
9. Jamie Hampton, USA
10. Laura Robson, GBR
HM- Simona Halep, ROU

**JUNIORS**
1. Taylor Townsend, USA
2. Krista Hardebeck, USA
3. Yulia Putintseva, RUS
4. Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
5. Irina Khromacheva, RUS
6. Sachia Vickery, USA
7. Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
8. Daria Salnikova, RUS
9. Sabina Sharipova, UZB
10. Anna Danilina, KAZ
HM- Elena-Theodora Cadar, ROU & Risa Ozaki, JPN

**SURPRISES**
1. Sara Errani, ITA
2. Angelique Kerber, GER
3. Nina Bratchikova, RUS
4. Rachael Kops-Jones & Abigail Spears, USA/USA
5. Romina Oprandi, ITA
6. Paula Ormaechea, ARG
7. Valeria Savinykh, RUS
8. Maria Joao Koehler, POR
9. Stefanie Voegele, SUI
10. Irena Pavlovic, FRA
HM- Varvara Lepchenko, USA

**VETERANS**
1. Li Na, CHN
2. Zheng Jie, CHN
3. Kim Clijsters, BEL
4. Roberta Vinci, ITA
5. Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik, CZE/SLO
6. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
7. Iveta Benesova, CZE
8. Greta Arn, HUN
9. Liezel Huber & Lisa Raymond, USA/USA
10. Nuria Llagostera-Vives & Arantxa Parra-Santonja, ESP/ESP
HM- Flavia Pennetta, ITA

"I'm 24 years old, almost 25. I love this sport as much as I loved it, you know, when I was at that age (when she won Wimbledon at 17). I've also been through a lot of tough times. I've also said that the success that I can achieve, the fact that I got myself back to being Top 5 in the world, playing tennis again, playing at a high level, competing at this level is pretty remarkable from where I was on a surgery table, not knowing if I'd ever be able to hit a serve again." - Maria Sharapova

**COMEBACKS**
1. Maria Sharapova, RUS
2. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
3. Sorana Cirstea, ROU
4. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
5. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
HM- Svetlana Kuznetsova & Vera Zvonareva, RUS/RUS

"I'm probably close to crying." - Samantha Stosur, after her 1st Round Australian Open loss to Sorana Cirstea

**DOWN**
1. Samantha Stosur, AUS
2. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
3. Andrea Petkovic, GER
4. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
5. Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA
HM- Serena Williams, USA

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
2. Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
3. Alison van Uytvanck, BEL
4. Sofia Kvatsabaia, GEO
5. Grace Min, USA
HM- Lauren Davis, USA

"She did everything better than I did today. I had a good first couple games, and that was about it. Then she was the one that was taking the first ball and hitting it deep and aggressive. I was always the one running around like a rabbit, you know, trying to play catch-up all the time." - Maria Sharapova, on Azarenka's performance in the AO final

**TOP PERFORMANCES**
[Overall]
Victoria Azarenka goes 12-0 in Australia, winning her first slam at the Australian Open to become the new #1-ranked player... and doing so in the face of all the "Whack-a-Vika" sentiment that carried through the we-must-have-silence, but-we're-not-really-sure-why-we're-suddenly-so-adamant-about-it two weeks in Melbourne
[Junior]
With whispers of "you'll inherit Serena's American tennis throne some day" being sounded in her ear, Taylor Townsend simply went to the Australian Open and swept the Girls singles and doubles titles. Maybe SHE has all the earplugs that no one was wearing in Melbourne?
[Overlooked]
Germany's Mona Barthel qualifies in Hobart, then defeats the defending champion and #1 seed en route to taking her first tour singles title
[By a Tennis Family]
In the latest Backspin Sister Update, on the same weekend that Azarenka staged her WTA coup, the Pliskova sisters took over a challenger event in Andrezieux-Boutheon, France. After Kristyna met and defeated (higher-ranked) Karolina in the QF, then went on to claim the title, the Czech siblings joined together to win the doubles crown.

*MATCHES*
["The New WTA"]
Australian Open SF - Sharapova d. Kvitova
...6-2/3-6/6-4. For once, the hype lived up to the reality, as the Wimbledon '11 final rematch showed just what it might take to win slams in '12. In the end, Sharapova was the best on the big points, going 5-for-5 on break point attempts and surging past the Czech in the final games after an important replay reversal helped her avoid diaster when down 4-3 in the 3rd.
[Francesca's "Slam Drama" Comes Early]
Brisbane QF - Schiavone d. Jankovic
...5-7/7-6/6-3. The Italian didn't give us her usual slam memory-making match, but she did prevail a couple of weeks earlier, saving two match points against JJ in this 2:56 thriller.
[I Bet Berdych Would Have Wimped Out]
AO Doubles QF - Mirza/Vesnina d. Huber/Raymond
...6-3/5-7 (10-6). One team celebrates a thought-converted match point after an unseen-by-the-umpire double-bounce that the "losing" team wouldn't admit to happening, leading to a few in-your-face shouting matches, one oops-did-I-almost-bean-you-with-the-ball? moment, and a converted MP on attempt #8. Just your typical high-stakes doubles match on the WTA tour.

"We won the match, like, twice!" - an angry Elena Vesnina, after she and Mirza defeated Huber/Raymond

*BIGGEST UPSET*
Australian Open 4th Rd. - Makarova d. S.Williams
...6-2/6-3. The #56-ranked 23-year old has shown game in the past, but Williams had surely shown more game on even a bad day than she did on this one. The loss tied her career-low mark for fewest games won in a slam match.

"I don't love tennis... but I can't live without it yet." - Serena Williams

*BIGGEST COMEBACKS/CHOKES*
Australian Open 4th Rd. - Clijsters d. Li
...4-6/7-6/6-4. For a bit, it seemed like Clijsters might be destined to defend her AO title. After coming back to win after falling behind Li 6-4/3-1, then being down quadruple match point (at 6-2) in the 2nd set tie-break, it was an easy assumption. Of course, had Li gone down the line with a drop shot retrieval up 6-5 in the TB rather than right to Clijsters, who promptly lobbed over the Chinese vet to save her fourth straight MP, the storyline -- for BOTH players -- in Melbourne might have played out very differently.
Sydney SF - Li d. Kvitova
...1-6/7-5/6-2. Dredging up memories of her blown lead to Li at Roland Garros (a loss that essentially prevented the Czech from finishing '11 at #1), Kvitova goes off the rails after taking a 6-1/3-1 lead, then sees Li take control again. If Kvitova had won the title in Sydney, she'd moved into the #1 spot. After coming up short of grabbing #1 again in the AO, Kvitova's wait continues.
Australian Open 1st Rd. - Lisicki d. Voegele 6-2/4-6/6-4
Australian Open 3rd Rd. - Lisicki d. Kuznetsova 2-6/6-4/6-2
...Lisicki creates some slam drama without having to be wheeled off the court afterward. Against Voegele, the German, battling heat-related headaches, came back from a 4-2 deficit in the 3rd. Then, against Kuznetsova, she prevailed after the Russian had one of her does-she-know-she-should-be-better-than-this? meltdowns after going up 6-2/3-1.

"Today you just can't let yourself get pushed back. She (Wozniacki) has to try to move in, step forward, otherwise there is always going to be somebody coming on top of her at a grand slam. She's a great player. I wish I would see her come in a little bit more." - Martina Hingis, on Caroline Wozniacki

**By the Numbers...**
3... number of times Alexandra Dulgheru and Sofia Arvidsson met on the court in Sydney. Arvidsson defeated Dulgheru in qualifying, then met the Lucky Loser Romanian again in the 1st Round. Dulgheru got her revenge there. They also met in the doubles, with Arvidsson & Jelena Dokic triumphing over Dulgheru & Michaella Krajicek.
=============================
4... number of consecutive tour singles finals Victoria Azarrenka has reached dating back to the end of the '11 season
=============================
6... Agnieszka Radwanska's new singles ranking, a career-high
=============================
8... the number of years (2004) it's been since a WTA player who won a singles title the week before the start of a slam also went on to become that slam's singles champion, as Azarenka did by sweeping both Sydney and the AO in January
=============================
9 & 12... the 2012 season's longest winning streaks so far. Mona Barthel's nine-match run through qualifying and the main draw in Hobart, as well as at the AO, was ultimately ended by Azarenka, who went on to extend her still-alive streak to twelve straight victories
=============================
20... years it's been since Bannerettes claimed back-to-back Girls slam titles. Grace Min ('11 U.S.) and Taylor Townsend's ('12 AO) wins are the first combo of their kind since Chanda Rubin ('92 Wimbledon) and Lindsay Davenport ('92 U.S.) won consecutive Girls crowns twenty years ago.
=============================
21... number of women, counting 22-year old Azarenka, who have now spent time in the WTA's #1 singles ranking. 21-year old Petra Kvitova, meanwhile, dreams of becoming #22.
=============================
25... counting her "unofficial" 4-0 mark at the Hopman Cup, Petra Kvitova's current indoor winning streak. In official WTA & Fed Cup matches, the Czech's run is a still-eye-popping 21.
=============================
25... number of slams it took for Azarenka to win her first, the 8th-longest all-time WTA lead-up to a major title. It's one fewer than seventh-most Lindsay Davenport's 26, and three more than Kim Clijsters' ninth-most 22.
=============================
30... Kim Clijsters' new singles ranking, after replacing her '11 AO championship points with those for reaching the SF
=============================
67... Caroline Wozniacki's weeks spent at #1 (over a 68-week stretch) before being unceremoniously pushed down to #4 following the Australian Open
=============================
125... number of women's main draw AO matches played between Azarenka becoming the first woman to win a 1st Round match in Melbourne, and then the last one to do so two weeks later
=============================
500... the career match-win milestone Serena Williams surpassed in an otherwise forgettable trip Down Under
=============================

"I gave it (a baby kangaroo) some milk, and it just spit it all over me. I was like, is this a thank you for just being nice and petting the kangaroo? I got milk all over myself. I guess I deserved that from the story last year." - Caroline Wozniacki, with a real-life kangaroo story following her press conference tall tale about being scratched by one last year

**MOST 12+ MATCH WIN STREAKS, since 2006**
4 - Justine Henin, BEL (retired)
3 - Dinara Safina, RUS
3 - Serena Williams, USA
3 - Venus Williams, USA
2 - VICTORIA AZARENKA, BEL
2 - Maria Sharapova, RUS

"I think it's just too loud. I don't think it's very necessary to scream that loud. So if they (WTA) want to do something, why not?" - Agnieszka Radwanska, on the on-court grunting/shrieking issue
"About Maria, I mean, what can I say? For sure that is pretty annoying and just too loud." - Radwanska, on Sharapova
"Isn't she back in Poland already?" - Maria Sharapova, before the women's final, on quarterfinalist Radwanska's comments

FED CUP 1st Round & WG II
=============================
=1st Round=
RUS(H) def. ESP 5-0... Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Petrova & Makarova should be enough
SRB def. BEL(H) 3-2... #29 Wickmayer might now be ranked higher than #3- KC, but she's not her
ITA(H) def. UKR 4-1... the old gang -- Flavia, Francesca, Sara & Roberta -- gets back together
CZE def. GER(H) 3-2... Kvitova indoors, but it might come down to the doubles again for CZE

...in other wonders, I wonder if the JJ and Ricardo Sanchez relationship can be patched up... yet again. One jilted soul deserves another, right? And, in this case, they're probably best suited to each other. What was Ricardo thinking, anyway? He never seemed fated to mix well with Caro & Piotr. Maybe if he gets down on one knee and offers JJ his loyalty?

=World Group II=
USA(H) def. BLR 3-2... even if Azarenka goes 2-0
JPN def. SLO(H) 3-2... once again, Date-Krumm is (literally) worth about two players from the other side
SVK(H) def. FRA 4-1... no Marion, and probably little chance to win
AUS def. SUI(H) 5-0... Sam, Jarmila, Casey & Jelena try to put AUS's recent FC woes to bed

...yep, the '12 season continues to pay off. A week after the Aussie Open, new #1 Azarenka faces off with Serena in Massacusetts. Maybe Venus, too. The Australians had BETTER win this one. It's on the road, so Sammy probably won't tie herself into knots... making good things likely.


All for now.

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5:53 to History

Maybe Robert Downey Jr. should play Novak Djokovic in the movie. They could call it "Iron Man Does Melbourne."

For all world #1 Djokovic had accomplished over the past eighteen months -- the 43-match winning streak, Davis Cup title, 9-1 record against Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer and three slam titles -- he didn't have one of THOSE. You know, the sort of epic match that marks a player's career forever, standing as a testament to his abilities and heart. Against Nadal in the singles final of the 100th Australian Open, the Serb, with a whole lot of help from Rafa, more than took care of that.

Coming into the match with one less day to rest after his semifinal match -- a 4:50 marathon against Andy Murray -- than Nadal had to recover from his own four-set win over Federer, AO defending champion Djokovic seemed to be set up to have his back placed firmly against the wall from the outset. But as the two met in an Open era record third straight slam final, the fact that Djokovic compiled a 6-0 (all in finals) record against Rafa in '11, and sported a 9-2 mark against him since the summer of '09, lingered. The opportunity seemed to be there for Nadal, in the 30th meeting between the two, to finally turn the tide of the sport's current top rivalry back in his favor. If he couldn't do it under these circumstances, it seemed, then when would he?

In the early-going, Djokovic didn't seem quite himself, either. His game was spotty and, after winning the opening game of the match, he saw Nadal take four of the next five. Djokovic, his game slowly improving, got his lost break back, but Nadal swept the final three games to take the 1st set. Nadal's 133-1 record in slam matches after winning the opening set stood as another bit of history to contend with.

But Djokovic's ability to outhit and outmanuever Nadal soon proved too much. The Serb grabbed the next two sets 6-4 and 6-2, as no matter how well Rafa played, it didn't seem as if it would be enough to make a dent in Djokovic's ever better game. In the 4th set, as Djokovic went up 4-3, 40/love on Nadal's serve, the match seemed to be on the verge of ending. Only Nadal surged back and turned the match into one for the ages. After holding serve for 4-4, the coming rains caused a short delay as the roof on Rod Laver Arena had to be closed and the court dried. With the match suddenly moving inside for an air-conditioned and less humid atmosphere, the balls began to bounce just a bit higher than before, giving a reinvigorated Rafael an edge as the Aussie crowd spurred him on, wanting to see a five-set final. The set went to a tie-break, and Djokovic again seemed on the way to victory, leading 5-3 and having one serve remaining on his turn in the rotation. But Nadal got the mini-break, preventing Djokovic from reaching match point, then held his own two serves. One point from forcing a 5th, Nadal got another mini-break to take the tie-break at 7-5.

In the deciding set of the first 5th set the two have ever played against each other, Nadal's momentum continued as he took a 4-2, 30/15 lead against the seemingly tiring Serb. At that point, Rafa ran toward the net to reach a short ball and fired a backhand down the line into the open half of the court... and missed. Rather than have two game points for a 5-2 lead, it was 30/30 and Djokovic had been given the gift of life. He didn't turn it down. In fact, one point later it was apparent that his groundstrokes had suddenly regained their previous sting. The Serb's new life would prove deadly for the Spaniard, who was broken to get the set back on serve at 4-3. From there, Djokovic did what he did so often in '11, upping his game in a match's latter stages and taking home the victory. After three consecutive holds by the two, Djokovic got another break to go up 6-5. Serving for the match, he missed an overhead as he tried to quickly slip it into the open court past a charging-from-the-opposite-doubles-alley Nadal. But the momentum would not be turned again. Djokovic held, winning 5-7/6-4/6-2/6-7/7-5 to defend his AO title, collapsing onto his back when it was finally over.

Afterward, the Serbian "Iron Man" ripped off her shirt and howled toward the crowd, transforming from one superhero into another -- "The Incredible Hulk," only without the green body paint (though, I guess there's always one of his post-slam celebratory parties for that later). In the unending (2am was quickly approaching in Melbourne) post-match ceremony, as both players leaned against the net for support, looking as if they were ready to collapse (some kind soul finally gave them chairs and bottles of water), master of ceremonies Sandy Roberts called Djokovic a "man of steel." Keeping in line with the theme, I suppose Superman works just as well, also. But, of course, if Djokovic's performance is akin to a caped superhero, what should be said of Nadal's?

The fact is, Nadal literally willed this match into what it ultimately became, the longest (5:53) slam final in Open era history, as well as the latest (1:37am) to finish. It never really should have gone beyond four sets, and seemed fated to be seen as simply the latest example of Djokovic's mastery over the former #1. In the end, Djokovic DID win his fifth career slam, but the final will now go down as one of those matches where both players, in the eyes of the public, won on some level... even if the reality of the result will cut deeply for Nadal, who must now fully realize how Federer felt when he triumphed over his Swiss rival in "The Greatest Match Ever Played" at Wimbledon in 2008. While the Spaniard has managed to string together four consecutive appearances in slam finals, the current storyline on the ATP Tour revolves around the fact that he's now 0-3 in the last three against Djokovic.

Welcome to the new world where the Serbian former "prince" is threatening to become an all-time king. He'll head to Paris with a chance to make due on his one undelivered '11 promise and win at Roland Garros. It'd complete a Career Slam, string together a non-calender year "NoDjokoSlam" (hey, I keep tryin') and maybe make a TRUE season Grand Slam a possibility.

A month ago, it seemed pretty obvious that Djokovic could never top his ridiculously great '11 season with something even better in '12. I mean, HOW COULD HE? But, umm, well, maybe we should hold off on that sort of talk, huh?



=DAY 14 NOTES=
...Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Horia Tecau won the Mixed Doubles title, taking down Elena Vesnina & Leander Paes (robbing the Indian of a two-title grab at this AO) in a match-deciding super-tiebreak. Thus, first-time slam winner BMS wins Backspin's "Doubles Star" award, as well.

...DAY 14 LIKES:

1) Vika in the stands for the Men's Final

2) Djokovic's long-time girlfriend, living and dying on every single solitary blessed point during the entire 5:53 affair. Of course, since the camera decided to key in on this particular trait of her's on seemingly every third point or so, by the end of the match, I was a bit less enamored with her actions than I had been about five hours earlier.

...and, finally, look for the complete wrap up of the season's first month next in the "Dorothy Tour Awards," along with picks for this coming weekend's start of Fed Cup competition.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#3 Victoria Azarenka/BLR def. #4 Maria Sharapova/RUS 6-3/6-0

*MEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Novak Djokovic/SRB vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP 5-7/6-4/6-2/6-7/7-5

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
Kuznetsova/Zvonareva (RUS/RUS) def. #11 Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) 5-7/6-4/6-4

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
Paes/Stepanek (IND/CZE) def. #1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) 7-6/6-2

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
#8 Mattek-Sands/Tecau (USA/ROU) def. #5 Vesnina/Paes (RUS/IND) 6-3/5-7 [10-3]

*GIRLS SINGLES FINAL*
#14 Taylor Townsend/USA def. #4 Yulia Putintseva/RUS 6-1/3-6/6-3

*BOYS SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Luke Saville/AUS def. Filip Peliwo/CAN 6-3/5-7/6-4

*GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL*
Andrews/Townsend (USA/USA) def. #1 Khromacheva/Kovinic (RUS/MNE) 5-7/7-5 (10-6)

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
#6 Broady/Ward-Hibbert (GBR/GBR) def. Pavlasek/Veger (CZE/CRO) 6-3/6-2

*WHEELCHAIR SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Esther Vergeer/NED vs. #2 Aniek van Koot/NED 6-0/6-0

*WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Vergeer/Walraven (NED/NED) def. #2 Buis/van Koot (NED/NED) 4-6/6-2/6-4



**AO "DOUBLES STAR" WINNERS**
2006 Yan Zi & Zheng Jie, CHN/CHN
2007 Liezel Huber, USA
2008 Alona & Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR/UKR
2009 Sania Mirza, IND
2010 Cara Black, ZIM
2011 Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA
2012 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA

**AO MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONS - since 2002**
2002 Daniela Hantuchova & Kevin Ullyett
2003 Martina Navratilova & Leander Paes
2004 Elena Bovina & Nenad Zimonjic
2005 Samantha Stosur & Scott Draper
2006 Martina Hingis & Mahesh Bhupathi
2007 Elena Likhovtseva & Daniel Nestor
2008 Sun Tiantian & Nenad Zimonjic
2009 Sania Mirza & Mahesh Bhupathi
2010 Cara Black & Mahesh Bhupathi
2011 Katarina Srebotnik & Daniel Nestor
2012 Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Horia Tecau

**WON THREE CONSECUTIVE SLAMS - MEN**
[men]
1969 - Rod Laver, AUS (4 con.)
1993-94 - Pete Sampras, USA
2005-06 - Roger Federer, SUI
2006-07 - Roger Federer, SUI
2010 - Rafael Nadal, ESP
2011-12 - NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SRB

**CAREER SLAM FINALS - ACTIVE MEN**
23...Roger Federer (16-7)
15...RAFAEL NADAL (10-5)
7...NOVAK DJOKOVIC (5-2)
5...Andy Roddick (1-4)
4...Lleyton Hewitt (2-2)
3...Juan Carlos Ferrero (1-2)
3...Andy Murray (0-3)
2...Robin Soderling (0-2)

**DJOKOVIC vs. NADAL IN SLAM FINALS**
2010 US Open - Nadal 6-4/5-7/6-4/6-2
2011 Wmbledon - Djokovic 6-4/6-1/1-6/6-3
2011 US Open - Djokovic 6-2/6-4/6-7/6-1
2012 Australian Open - Djokovic 5-7/6-4/6-2/6-7/7-5

**AO MEN'S TITLES*
[Open era]
4...Andre Agassi
4...Roger Federer
3...NOVAK DJOKOVIC
3...Mats Wilander
2...Boris Becker
2..Jim Courier
2...Stefan Edberg
2...Johan Kriek
2...Ivan Lendl
2...John Newcombe
2...Pete Sampras
2...Guillermo Vilas
[all-time]
6...Roy Emerson
4...Andre Agassi
4...Jack Crawford
4...Roger Federer
4...Ken Rosewall
4...Pat Wood
3...NOVAK DJOKOVIC
3...Rod Laver
3...Adrian Quist
3...Mats Wilander




TOP QUALIFIER: Paula Ormaechea/ARG
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #3 Victoria Azarenka/BLR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #4 Maria Sharapova/RUS
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): #3 Victoria Azarenka/BLR
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: Bibiane Schoofs/NED d. Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ 6-4/3-6/11-9
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - Greta Arn/HUN d. #17 Dominika Cibulkova/SVK 6-2/3-6/10-8
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 4th Rd. - #11 Kim Clijsters/BEL d. #5 Li Na/CHN 4-6/7-6/6-4 (saved 4 MP)
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): SF - #4 Maria Sharapova/RUS d. #2 Petra Kvitova/CZE 6-2/3-6/6-4
TOP LAVER NIGHT MATCH: 4th Rd - #4 Maria Sharapova/RUS d. #15 Sabine Lisicki/GER 3-6/6-2/6-3
=============================
FIRST WINNER: #3 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (def. Heather Watson/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #19 Flavia Pennetta/ITA (1st Rd.- lost to Nina Bratchikova/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: Russians
REVELATION LADIES: Germans
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Great Britain (0-4 in 1st Round, all on Day 1)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Nina Bratchikova/RUS (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARDS STANDING: Casey Dellacqua/AUS & Olivia Rogowska/AUS (2nd Rd.)
LAST AUSSIES STANDING: Casey Dellacqua, Jelena Dokic & Olivia Rogowska (2nd Rd.)
IT: Ekaterina Makarova/RUS
MS. OPPORTUNITY: Sara Errani/ITA
COMEBACK PLAYER: #4 Maria Sharapova/RUS
CRASH & BURN: #5 Samantha Stosur/AUS (lost 1st Rd. to Sorana Cirstea/ROU)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: #11 Kim Clijsters/BEL (down 6-4/3-1, 5-1 in 2nd set tie-break and 4 MP vs. Li, 4th Rd.)
LADY OF THE EVENING: #3 Victoria Azarenka/BLR
DOUBLES STAR Bethanie Mattek-Sands/USA
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Taylor Townsend/USA




All for now.

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