Wk.16 - Another Swiss Miss? (and other Fed Cup Afterthoughts)

A few random spins on things following a weekend of Fed Cup action:

...Lindsay Davenport says she'll make sure that Venus and Serena Williams play FC for the U.S. the rest of the season. This is funny for two reasons. One, because we all know that if the Sisters play FC again in '05 it'll be because they want to, and will have absolutely nothing to do with what Davenport asks of them. And, two, because before this past weekend, Davenport herself hadn't played FC for the American team since 2002.
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...Raise your hand if you'd heard of Johanna Larsson before this weekend. Raise your hand if you STILL haven't heard of her. If you're in the latter group, see below.
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...Anastasia Myskina could have used Russia's 1st Round defense of it's 2004 Fed Cup title as a launch pad for re-starting her disappointing season. It didn't happen, though, since an injury from Charleston forced her to pull out of the tie with Italy over the weekend (she was replaced by Dinara Safina). It's pretty typical of how her season has gone. Ultimately, the Czarina's absence didn't hurt the Russian team, as Elena Dementieva assumed the role of team leader and carried the Horde through to the SF to face the U.S. for the first time since '99.
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...Hey, who needs Amelie Mauresmo when you have Virginie Razzano, right? Right?
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...The last time a 15-year old Swiss Miss got this much attention her name was Martina. This time, it's Timea (once again, see below).
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...Hmmm... if Sanja Ancic can begin to win outside of Croatia, we might have something here.
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...Fed Cup Group I winning team MVPs: Russia: Elena Dementieva USA: Lindsay Davenport Spain: Nuria Llagostera-Vives France: Virginie Razzano
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...Fed Cup Group II winning team MVPs: Switzerland: Timea Bacsinszky Germany: Anna-Lena Groenefeld Croatia: Jelena Kostanic Czech Republic: Kveta Peschke
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...Oh, to be in Warsaw this week. These are all potential matchups: Kuznetsova/Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne/Mauresmo and...
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...Henin-Hardenne/Clijsters! Can you feel it?
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==FED CUP 1st Round==
==GROUP I==
Russia def. Italy 4-1
USA def. Belgium 5-0
Spain def. Argentina 3-2
France def. Austria 4-1
==GROUP II==
Switzerland def. Slovak Republic 3-2
Germany def. Indonesia 4-1
Croatia def. Thailand 3-2
Czech Republic def. Japan 3-2

==SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS (July)==
Russia vs. USA, Spain vs. France

==PLAYER AWARDS==
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Dementieva
...Punch-Sober stepped in for the injured Czarina as team member Numero Uno, and proceeded to climb out of a four matchpoint-down hole against Francesca Schiavone. A loss would have meant the defending champs trailed the Italians 2-1. As things turned out, Russia won 4-1. A new leader is born.
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RISERS: Virginie Razzano & Jelena Kostanic
...without Mauresmo or Golovin, the French faced the Austrians and saw Nathalie Dechy upset by Yvonne Meusburger to start things off. Panic could have set in, but Razzano calmed the storms with back-to-back singles victories as the Pastries sailed to a 4-1 win. Kostanic put the Croat team on her shoulders, taking part in all three victories (including a three-setter over Suchanan Viratprasert) in the tight 3-2 win over Thailand.
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SURPRISE: Johanna Larsson
...the 16-year old Swede went 3-0 in Europe/Africa Zone play, including a win over veteran Anne Kremer, who outranked her by nearly 800 places on the WTA computer.
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VETERANS: Lindsay Davenport & Maggie Maleeva
...Davenport, in her first FC action since '02, went 2-0 against the remains of the JHH/Kim-less Belgian team, running her Fed Cup winning streak to 23 matches. In Europe/Africa Zone action, Maleeva went 3-0 (including a big three-setter over Michaela Krajicek) along with teenager Sesil Karatancheva (also 3-0) as Bulgaria advanced to the World Group II playoffs in July.
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FRESH FACES: Timea Bacsinszky & Viktoria Azarenka
...15-year old Bacsinszky was the star in Switzerland's come-from-behind win over the Slovaks. With the team down 1-2, with only the teen's win over Martina Sucha in hand, Bacsinszky took out Lubomira Kurhajcova and then teamed with Myriam Casanova in the deciding doubles match to carry the Swiss into 2006's Group I. 15-year old Azarenka, the Belarussian Australian Open Jr. singles AND doubles winner from January, went 3-0 in Zone play (with wins over Shahar Peer, Tina Pisnik & Katerina Bondarenko), but it went for naught as her country failed to advance.
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DOWN: Anastasia Myskina & Francesca Schiavone
...the Russians still won without Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Zvonareva or Petrova in action. But a collapse was closer to reality than the 4-1 final score would seem to profess. Now, the Czarina will be pressed to follow though (or not) on her threat to walk out on the team should the Supernova come aboard in the SF in July. Schiavone had Dementieva down 4 MPs, any one of which could have put the defending champs' backs to the wall. But she failed to convert, then lost the 3rd set at love. Ouch.

==MATCHES==
1.Group I 1r -- Dementieva d. Schiavone
...4-6/7-6/6-0. A 2:35 match that could determine the '05 Fed Cup Championship, considering the Russian team should be fully-loaded come the SF... and maybe crown a new Horde team leader?
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2.Dothan (ITF) 1r -- Harkleroad d. Reeves
...6-3/6-4. American Splendor's first victory since August, in just her second event of '05. She lost in the 2nd Round to Edina Gallovits, but the important thing is that she's started down the long road back.
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3.Eur/Afr I -- Johanna Larsson d. Anne Kremer
...7-5/3-6/6-3. How Swede it is.
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4.Group II 1r -- Benesova/Peschke d. Morigami/Obata
...4-6/6-3/6-0. This decided the tie, as the Czech Maidens advanced by a 3-2 score to the the '06 Group I. Japan led 2-1 before Peschke defeated Rika Fujiwara in singles, and then claimed this win with Benesova.
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5.Bol (ITF) F -- Sanja Ancic d. Ivana Lisjak
...7-5/6-4. Mario's 16-year old sis has now won three straight titles, all in her native Croatia, and 15 consecutive matches.
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==LISTS==
**2006 FED CUP GROUP I**
Russia
USA
Spain
France
Switzerland
Germany
Croatia
Czech Republic

**2005 ITF TITLE LEADERS**
4...Kristina Barrois (GER, 23 yrs.old)
4...Romina Oprandi (ITA, 19)
3...Sanja Ancic (CRO, 16)
3...Madalina Gojnea (ROM, 17)
3...Mervana Jugic-Salkic (BIH, 25)

==WEEK 17 PERSISTENT SMILE?==
...so far, I've been keeping the return of Cantin at bay. After getting JHH's victory in Charleston under by predicting belt, I went 7-1 with my Fed Cup picks last week (including five times with the correct score -- missing two more by the hair of a Meusburger upset, and a deciding Swiss/Slovak doubles match). So, I'm crossing my fingers that I can continue the trend and be in good shape to send the Holy Webmaster home with his "predicting head" in his hands after we face off on a more "even" playing field, for once.

WARSAW, POLAND (II-Red Clay)
04 F: V.Williams d. Kuznetsova
05 TOP: Mauresmo/Kuznetsova
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FINAL: Henin-Hardenne d. Clijsters

...just like old times? Of note, if these two meet in the final they'll be carrying a combined 28-match winning streak (18 for Clijsters, 10 for JHH) into the clash.

ESTORIL, PORTUGAL (IV-Red Clay)
04 F: Loit d. Benesova
05 TOP: Pennetta/Safina
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FINAL: Pennetta d. Safina

...if the injury that kept her out of FC play this weekend isn't still bothering her. Dark horse: Alyona Bondarenko, who went 3-1 in FC play last week and opened up Monday by beating back Jelena Dokic in three sets. Next week: April awards. All for now.

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Wk.15 - Le Petit Taureau est de Retour

The Little Bull has returned. For a moment in time this weekend, it was 2003 again.

Well, not exactly. Justine Henin-Hardenne isn't quite in the form she was when she won three grand slam titles in an eight-month span, nor the form she'll need to reclaim her preeminent position in the game at Roland Garros in about five weeks time. Pesky errors (mostly on the forehand side) and first serve inconsistencies in Charleston mean the current world #22 can still improve on the game that was required to put away Elena Dementieva in the final and claim her 20th career singles title.

The fight is back, though. The nerves of steel. The ability of Henin-Hardenne to hold on in seemingly dire circumstances long enough to raise the level of her game while simultaneously outlasting and ultimately outplaying her opponent. Actually, maybe it NEVER went away (remember that improbable Athens Gold?), and all JHH needed to dominate again was a few healthy months under her belt. That realization means the image of her athletic, less than 5-foot-6 (1.67m) body, stalking the opposing baseline might soon be just as imposing as it was when she overcame being physically dwarfed by so many to almost spitefully rise to #1. That is, if Sunday's win hasn't already fully restored her luster. For, make no mistake, what JHH did at the Tier I in South Carolina was not for the faint of heart.

After not having advanced to a WTA final in over a year (thirteen months, to be exact). After missing scads of time, first with cytomegalovirus and then a fractured knee. After seeing her top ranking drop to #43. After all that, in just her second event back in her '05 comeback bid, she was faced with a string of long, tough matches prior to her tight two-set triumph over Dementieva. She went three sets against Jelena Jankovic in the 1st Round, and won. She went three sets against Shuai Peng in the 2nd, and won again. She breezed past Iveta Benesova, conqueror of #10 Vera Zvonareva, in the 3rd. But that wasn't the end of her re-affirming week. She outlasted #1 Lindsay Davenport in the QF, coming back from a set down to knot the match before the American retired a game into the 3rd. The SF saw a game Tatiana Golovin battle for two close sets and, after all that, JHH still had to fight off a Dementieva who wanted to push the should've-been-tiring Belgian into yet another set. What a week.

Aside from maybe the galactic exuberance inherent in the Supernova's bright lights show, my most enjoyable subject in this column's almost 150 editions has likely been Queen Justine. In my humble opinion, next to the mastery of Roger Federer, the best thing to watch in tennis, circa 2005, is Henin-Hardenne's gorgeously varied game -- sometimes dominated by touch and craftiness, sometimes by an always-surprising burst of power that belies her slight stature. Whichever style comes to the forefront, it takes a seat right next to the gritty, against-the-grain pugnacity that almost always rises to the top at the biggest moments in her biggest matches... in sharp contrast to her Belgian counterpart Kim Clijsters.

There's just something supremely comforting about watching a 4-1 JHH lead slip away, with the score tied at 4-4 and her opponent serving up 40-15 -- as happened Sunday against Dementieva, a talented player suddenly even more lethal when she's in come-from-behind mode -- and feeling in your bones that somehow, some way, the Queen will find a way to stem the tide and emerge on top. Against Dementieva, just as she always used to, Henin-Hardenne did it again. Afterward, the Russian said, "Justine, she plays even better than she was before her illness." Ahh, music to the ears. So, while this space has been a good soldier and whistled Clijsters' tune in recent weeks, my "favorite" Belgian is back. You can have Nice Kim... I'll take the Queen.
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*CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA USA (I-HC)*
S: Justine Henin-H. d. Elena Dementieva 7-5/6-4
D: Martinez/Ruano-Pascual d. Benesova/Peschke


==PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...Charleston, her 20th, was JHH's first WTA title since Indian Wells in April '04 (though she did win the Gold in Athens in September). She's 34-1, with six titles, in her last seven Tier I's. ============================
RISERS: Elena Dementieva & Tatiana Golovin
...Dementieva is looking far more likely to put together a run at Roland Garros than her counterpart in the final there last year, Anastasia Myskina. And since Amelie Mauresmo's chances of claiming her home country's slam are even shakier than the Czarina's (not based on form... but just because she's STILL Amelie), maybe it's the 17-year old Frussian Pastry who'll be carrying the hopes of a country come next month. ============================
SURPRISE: Nuria Llagostera-Vives
...the 24-year old Spaniard is always good for an occasional upset. Last week it was Mary Pierce. ============================
VETERANS: Conchita Martinez & Virginia Ruano-Pascual
...neither of these two burned things up in the singles, losing in the 1st Round to Barbora Strycova and Samantha Stosur, respectively. But they rebounded by forming an all-Spanish doubles title-winning duo. It was doubles #1 VRP's third title of the season, and second Tier I of '05. ============================
FRESH FACES: Nicole Vaidisova & Viktoriya Kutuzova
...less than a week from her Sweet 16 birthday, Nicky V cut down two of the tour's better-playing ladies, Shahar Peer and Shinobu Asagoe, and another of it's most-slumping, Anastasia Myskina en route to the QF. Meanwhile, the 16-year old Ukrainian Kutuzova, after knocking off Flavia Pennetta and Amy Frazier a few weeks ago, followed up with a nice win over Fabiola Zuluaga. ============================
DOWN: Anastasia Myskina
...the '04 Roland Garros champ continued her '05 swoon in Charleston, dropping her only match to Vaidisova and falling to 9-8 on the year. Maybe playing Fed Cup this week will kick up her competitive fires and relieve her of her recent "boredom."

==LINK OF THE WEEK==

...everything's comin' up Justine this week. Here's the Queen's official site.

==MATCHES==
1.Final - JHH d. Dementieva
...7-5/6-4. Along with Clijsters' two Tier I wins last month, this makes it three straight unseeded Tier I champions. ============================
2.3rd - Golovin d. V.Williams
...7-5/6-4. Did Venus have an excuse? Judge for yourself. Here's what she said after the match: "I'm just having a mental letdown from all the tennis I've been playing in the last four weeks." Hmmm, Venus didn't mention her reality show prep. Oh, and Tatiana played well, too, right? For the record, Venus has played ten matches in the last four weeks. To win a slam, she'd have to play seven matches in two weeks. You do the math. ============================
3.3rd - Vaidisova d. Asagoe
..3-6/6-4/7-6. A win over one of the tour's hotter players.
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4.2nd - Vaidisova d. Myskina
...6-3/5-7/6-4. And one over one of the coldest. ============================
5.2nd - Benesova d. Zvonareva
...6-4/4-6/7-5. Maybe Memphis was an aberration. ============================
6.QF - JHH d. Davenport
...3-6/6-3/1-0 ret. A pulled hip flexor put Davenport out, but JHH might have done it anyway.
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7.SF - JHH d. Golovin
...7-6/7-5. Other than Le Petit Taureau, no one left Charleston with a sunnier outlook than the Frussian Pastry. ============================
8.1st - JHH d. Jankovic
...5-7/7-6/6-2. If that 2nd set TB hadn't gone her way...
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9.2nd - JHH d. Peng
...the Queen wouldn't have made her second escape of the week an afterthought, considering what happened the rest of the tournament. 6-2/4-6/6-4.
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10.Hvar Final (ITF) - Sanja Ancic d. Zec-Peskiric
...4-6/6-2/6-4. Back-to-back titles for Mario's little sister.

==LISTS==

**TIER I TITLES - ACTIVE**
10...Davenport
9....Martinez
7....S.Williams
7....Henin-Hardenne
6....V.Williams
5....Mauresmo
4....Clijsters

**MOST SINGLES TITLES - 2004-05**
9...Davenport (7/2)
7...Sharapova (5/2)
6...Henin-Hardenne (5/1)
6...Mauresmo (5/1)

**2005 FINALISTS BY COUNTRY** 8...USA (3 titles)
6...Russia (4)
4...Australia (1)
3...Belgium (3)
3...Italy (2)

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==WEEK 16 THOUGHTS==

...no "official" picks (but some predictions, though) this time around with Fed Cup play at the end of the week. But it's all the better for me, since I'll get an extra week to revel in my first truly good pick of the season. Yep, that's right -- I picked the Queen over Punch-Sober final in Charleston last time out. Maybe there was something to going with the player I'd LIKE to see win. Hmmm... would it be fair to start saying I've gone 3-for-7 in picks in recent weeks? It sounds so much better than the 1-for-15 run that preceded it, and at least gives me a little hope that this section of Backspin can experience something of a successful rebirth over the balance of the 30 weeks that remain in the season.

On to the Fed Cup 1st Round predictions:

[Group I]
Russia d. Italy (red clay) 4-1
USA d. Belgium (hard) 5-0
Spain d. Argentina (red clay) 3-2
France d. Austria (red clay) 5-0

...major powers advance as expected, but watch the Russia/Italy tie since Italy is loaded with good claycourters and the Sharapova-less Russians will depend on Myskina righting herself before her RG build-up as the Horde's '04 Fed Cup title defense begins.

[Group II]
Slovak Republic d. Switzerland (hard) 3-2
Germany d. Indonesia (red clay) 4-1
Croatia d. Thailand (hard) 4-1
Czech Republic d. Japan (red clay) 3-2

...the matchup of the Czech Maidens and the Rising Sunners should be the most interesting one here.


All for now.

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Wk.14 - Steady is How She Goes

Tennisrulz.com WTA BACKSPIN April 11, 2005 STEADY IS HOW SHE GOES by Todd Spiker I never sing a rhapsodic melody around here about the exploits of a Mrs. Lindsay Davenport, so some good words (and a longer piece devoted to her) are long overdue, I suppose. Fact is, as admirable as her general attitude and actions have been throughout her career, when I've watched Davenport play, I've always found it to be, well, quite frankly, rather boring most of the time. Big serve, concussive groundstrokes (she's one of the pioneers of "big babe tennis," after all)... but hardly the grace of a ballerina. Years ago, when conditioning eluded her, she actually looked downright clumsy at times. While I never have actively rooted AGAINST her, I can't really ever remember a time when I've ever heartily rooted FOR her, either. Maybe it's because Davenport's never had the "it" factor in her favor. She doesn't have the "spectacular gene" in her molecular makeup. She IS an American, and so am I... but that's never really mattered much to me as a tennis fan (sorry, ESPN -- I know that sort of thinking runs counter to the network's tennis programming "mission statement"). Throw in the fact that it's been five long years since Davenport won a slam singles crown (Australian '00), and there's never been anything truly huge to hang a hat on in recent years. Yes, I know she dominated the American hardcourt scene last summer... but what did Davenport do at Flushing Meadows? Exactly. For a "true" top player, grand slam titles are the currency that bankrolls anything resembling a legacy, baby. A career resume will rise or fall on them. Just ask Jana Novotna, who'd had no chance of making the Hall of Fame without her single Wimbledon title... or, in a few years, Kim Clijsters, if she never does find a way to win one. At the moment, there's more "tingle factor" in the notion that Maria Sharapova seems destined to swipe the #1 ranking from Davenport by the end of the spring (the Russian rose to #2 on Monday, closing the gap to 292 points despite Davenport's defense of her Amelia Island title) than whether or not the American will be able to claim that "career-topping" final grand slam title in 2005. Come August and the U.S. Open, which could be Davenport's final major, who doesn't think there'll be more buzz about Jennifer Capriati's expected return from shoulder surgery? It's simply par for the course of Davenport's career (hey, Tiger Woods was great this weekend -- a golf term is a prerequisite for this week, right?), really. At the moment, she's still #1, is tied for the tour lead with two titles, has more match wins than anyone (24, two more than Sharapova, who she bageled in a match a few weeks ago), and has now won four straight matches over Venus Williams (yeah, that's not as big a deal as it used to be, but still)... but Davenport has not, and won't be, the top story on tour at any time this season. She's not even the top story amongst the Americans, as she's always been outshined by the Williams sisters, out-dramaticized by Capriati -- before and after the mugshot -- and out-adored by naturalized American Monica Seles. These days, she's got "Amerussian" Sharapova to contend with. Not that Davenport likely cares too much. She's always held her life together far better than the likes of Capriati, didn't suffer the horrific luck of the once-great Seles, and has never stirred the good/bad media pot like the Williams. She's always played things fairly straight, right down the middle of the fairway (okay, that golf reference was a bit gratuitous). Her numbers speak for themselves. She doesn't have to. She's finished a season #1 three times since 1998. Serena's only done it once, and Venus and Capriati never have. At 28 (29 in June), she's far healthier than either of the younger Williamses (Serena retired AGAIN last week, her third health-related exit from her five '05 tournaments), and seems more likely to have more big wins as the season moves along, too. Still, even on an off day, Serena is more interesting. Again, Davenport likely couldn't care less. Save for a knee injury in 2002, she's been remarkably resilient. Her 47 career singles titles (just ten less than Serena and Venus combined) rank ninth on the all-time WTA list, and she's closing in on becoming the eighth player to notch 700 career match wins. She's at 657 and, if she were to decide to play in '06, she'd be a lock to reach the milestone (hey, remember, 2004 was SUPPOSED to be the end of the line, too). Her three grand slams seem a bit few for a player of her stature (about five would have been a more preferable number), but it was no mere chip shot (golf #3) for her to achieve such an accomplishment. When Davenport's gone, her professionalism will be sorely missed. She, for sure, will leave the game having never been accused of losing interest or allowing her off-court ventures and commitments to overshadow her tennis (as a result, even when it's warrented, one can't help but feel a bit guilty when simply gently chiding her too-easy tendency to get down on herself and wilt in big matches on occasion). Davenport's still out there plugging away, though. She's never been a media darling, a marketing icon or the sport's latest pin-up or fashionplate. She's been something maybe more import -- a true professional in every sense of the word. And that's not to be overlooked in an age when most of her American counterparts are either idling, whining, excusing, withdrawing or some combination of two or more of the options on this list. No matter how important it may be in the tennis world in 2005, a flashy (and/or fleshy) image truly isn't everything. Sometimes, a "boring" one isn't so bad. ====================================== *AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA USA (II-GCO)* S: Lindsay Davenport d. Silvia Farina Elia 7-5/7-5 D: Stewart/Stosur d. Peschke/Schnyder ==PLAYER AWARDS== PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Lindsay Davenport ...title #47 came in her fifth final of the season (she's 2-3), as she defended her '04 A.I. crown and continued to hold off #2 Sharapova. It isn't every day that a player has a parade thrown in her honor BEFORE the event... but that's just what happened to Davenport last week. Winning again was the least she could do, right? ====================================== RISERS: Shinobu Asagoe & Nadia Petrova ...Asagoe's win over Anastasia Myskina at the start of the clay season only cemented the 28-year old's late-career strength. In a season where so many non-Supernova Russians have yet to find their footing, at least Petrova is starting to find her game. Last week, she knocked off Jelena Jankovic, Maggie Maleeva and the aforementioned Asagoe before going down to Davenport in the SF. ====================================== SURPRISE: Virginie Razzano ...Amelia Island wasn't the 21-year old Frenchie's best WTA result (that'd be Tashkent RU '04), but knocking off two Top 10 players (Molik & Zvonareva) and one ex-Top 10er (Sugiyama) en route to the SF might mean last week was Razzano's best extended run of fine results ever. ====================================== VETERANS: Davenport & Silvia Farina Elia ...on her way to her second 2005 title, Davenport's victim list included Venus, Petrova and SFE. Speaking of which, the nearly 33-year old, and perpetually undervalued, Italian defeated Serena Williams (who retired after two sets) and added her unlikely name to a very short list of players who've managed to defeat both Williams sisters in the same season (having knocked off Venus in Dubai in the infamous "palm blister" match). ====================================== FRESH FACES: Shahar Peer & Sanja Ancic ...the 17-year old Israeli Peer gave Serena fits in Miami, then did the same to a "bored" (more on that later) Myskina last week. She didn't win either match, but she might soon. Ancic, 17 and from Split, is officially adding her name to the list of Croatian champions. Her ITF title win in Makarska was her first of '05 (and third in her career). And, yes, she's Mario's sister. ====================================== DOWN: Alicia Molik & Anastasia Myskina ...Molik fell victim to Razzano in the 2nd Round. The Steamer is 2-4 in her last six matches. Myskina nearly lost to Peer, but didn't escape Japan's Asagoe in the 3rd Round. She's 9-7 on the year. With the red clay season coming, the Czarina's chances of reaching her goal of becoming the first Russian #1 look to have pretty much evaporated. ==LINK OF THE WEEK== ...okay, so this is a little self-serving. But, it's my column -- so sue me. The "Link of the Week" is to the Backspin Quiz for the 1st Quarter, which can be found HERE. ==THE MIND OF MYSKINA== ..."I played really well that 1st set, but then I got a little bored. I was thinking, 'When is this match going to finish?,' and the next thing I knew I was down 4-love." (Myskina, after defeating Peer despite dropping the 2nd set 3-6) ==MATCHES== 1.QF - Davenport d. V.Williams ...1-6/6-3/6-4. Williams blew, oh, about a million chances to break in the 2nd set and put this match away (how many times can you go up 40-15 and NOT win a game?). For once, though, she didn't rack her brain coming up with an excuse, though she had a ready one handy if she'd needed it, considering she had to finish a 3rd Round match against Marta Domachowska earlier in the morning. ====================================== 2.QF - Farina Elia d. S.Williams ...5-7/7-6 ret. Serena led 7-5/5-4 before spraining her ankle. Still, she held a handful of MP at 6-3 in the TB, but SFE pulled through and Williams retired yet again. Give her credit, though, unlike her sister, who lost to SFE in Dubai, Serena praised SFE's play. ====================================== 3.Final - Davenport d. Farina Elia ...7-5/7-5. Average age: 30 years, 9 months. ====================================== 4.2nd - Myskina d. Peer ...6-2/3-6/6-3. Venus was "bored." Oops, I mean Anastasia. ====================================== 5.3rd - Asagoe d. Myskina ...7-6/7-6. She wasn't bored here, though. ====================================== HM- 1st - Peer d. Stosur ...6-1/6-3. January was such a long time ago. Stosur was 6-3 then, and has gone 4-6 since. ====================================== ==LISTS== **DEFEATED VENUS/SERENA IN SAME YEAR** [2000-05] 2000- Davenport 2001- Hingis 2002- Clijsters 2003- Mauresmo 2004- Davenport, Sharapova 2005- Farina Elia **MOST WTA FINALS** 5...Davenport (2-3) 3...Sharapova (2-1) **DEFENDED TITLES IN 2005** Vera Zvonareva - Memphis Lindsay Davenport - Amelia Island **OLDEST 2005 CHAMPIONS** 32y9m3w...C.Martinez (Pattaya) 28y10m....L.Davenport (A.Island) 28y9m.....L.Davenport (Dubai) **MOST TITLES - DOUBLES TEAMS** 2...Ruano Pascual/Suarez 2...Kuznetsova/Molik 2...Yan/Zheng 2...Stewart/Stosur ====================================== ====================================== *WEEK 15 LONGSHOT* ...of course, I picked Venus & Serena to meet in the final last week. What was I thinking? Venus blows a 6-1/3-3 with break points lead. Serena blows 3 match points and retires. The players that beat them then meet in the final... hmmm, sounds about on par with my picks all season, doesn't it? So, if I'm going to miss on these predictions every week, I figure I might as well be a bit more creative with them, or at least support who I'd be MOST HAPPY to see win. So... CHARLESTON, SC USA (I-GreenClay) 04 F: Venus d. Martinez 05 TOP: Davenport/Dementieva ================================ FINAL: Henin-Hardenne d. Dementieva ...I'm really craving for a Queen Justine-related Backspin column next Monday, so I'll wrap my arms around JHH this week. Of course, in doing so I realize this means that Lindsay will win again. Or Venus. Or Elena. Or Anastasia. Or... well, you get the picture. All for now.

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Wk.12/13 - The Backspin Awards, 1Q Edition

Tennisrulz.com WTA BACKSPIN April 4, 2005 THE BACKSPIN AWARDS (1st Quarter Edition) by Todd Spiker It's that time of the year again -- time to single out the most outstanding performers of the first quarter of the WTA season: ==PLAYERS OF THE QUARTER== 1.Serena Williams...only one great event to her credit, but it WAS a grand slam. Without it, she wouldn't have done enough to even rank into the 1st quarter's Top 10. Other than Melbourne, she's failed to complete two tournaments due to illness/injury and lost to her sister for the first time in over three years. ====================================== 2.Maria Sharapova...one's tempted to think the Supernova hasn't had a great quarter, but that's only because expecations are so very high. In reality, she's won two titles (one her first career Tier I), gone 22-3, made a slam SF and had another Tier I RU. Not bad, and Wimbledon is still over two months away. She'll likely become the first Russian #1-ranked woman before SW19 gets here. ====================================== 3.Kim Clijsters...hard to believe that a month ago there was still a lingering question about whether the Belgian could reclaim her position at the top of the sport's rankings. But that was when she was #133. Two Tier I titles later, she's #17 and has no less than the likes of Martina Hingis predicting that she'll be ranked #1 at the end of the season. Ah, but will the "new" Kim finally get that grand slam title albatross off her back this summer? ====================================== 4.Alicia Molik...the Aussie steamer started the season on a hot string Down Under, and she ends the quarter in the Top 10 in both singles and doubles. Her results have slipped a little lately, but maybe this will finally be the year she comes through on the stage where her game's always seemed well-built to strive -- the grass of the All-England Club. ====================================== 5.Lindsay Davenport...the American is still holding onto #1 (mainly because Amelie Mauresmo seems to be allergic to reclaiming it no matter how many chances she gets) and she DID win one title (Tier II Dubai) this quarter, but it's the image of her final losses to Serena and Sharapova that lingers the longest. ====================================== THE REST: 6.Flavia Pennetta...two titles 7.Amelie Mauresmo...the "anti-#1" 8.Ana Ivanovic...the best Serbian? 9.Dinara Safina...big bro won Oz, she won Paris 10.Conchita Martinez...one final summer of love? ==RISING PLAYERS== 1.Alicia Molik 2.Flavia Pennetta 3.Dinara Safina 4.Nathalie Dechy 5.Shinobu Asagoe 6.Jelena Jankovic 7.Anna-Lena Groenefeld 8.Tatiana Golovin 9.Patty Schnyder 10.Jie Zheng ==FRESH FACES== 1.Ana Ivanovic 2.Evgenia Linetskaya 3.Sania Mirza 4.Maria Kirilenko 5.Nicole Vaidisova 6.Shahar Peer 7.Shuai Peng 8.Vera Douchevina 9.Sesil Karatantcheva 10.Anna Chakvetadze ==SURPRISES== 1.Samantha Stosur 2.Alyona Bondarenko 3.Lourdes Dominquez-Lino 4.Abigail Spears 5.Yuliana Fedak ==VETERANS== 1.Lindsay Davenport 2.Conchita Martinez 3.Virginia Ruano-Pascual 4.Silvia Farina Elia 5.Dally Randriantefy ==DOWNERS== 1.Karolina Sprem 2.Svetlana Kuznetsova 3.Anastasia Myskina 4.Jelena Dokic 5.Na Li ==1st QUARTER'S TOP...== PERFORMANCE: Clijsters sweeps the Tier I's in Indian Wells and Miami, becoming only the second female player to ever do so (Steffi Graf in 1994 & '96). Her fourteen straight wins included six victories over Top 10 players. ====================================== MATCH: Australian Open SF - S.Williams def. Sharapova 2-6/7-5/8-6. Sharapova held three MP, but Serena's triumphant return to the grand slam championship platform could not be stopped. ====================================== UPSET: Bogota SF - Dominguez-Lino d. Zuluaga 7-6/7-6. The three-time defending hometown champ went down to the world #193, in her first trip past the QF in a WTA event. ====================================== CHOKE/COMEBACK: Australian Open 1r - Douchevina d. Craybas 3-6/7-6/6-4. Craybas led 6-3/5-1 and held two MP before the Hordette stormed back. ==1st QUARTER SPECIALS== 2005 TOP SERIES (UPDATE): The Davenport vs. Sharapova series, which began with the Supernova comeback win in the Wimbledon SF last year, produced two more memorable moments. One, Sharapova's victory in the Tokyo final (her first Tier I crown)... and the other the inexplicable 6-0/6-0 thrashing Davenport put on her in the Indian Wells SF a few weeks ago. ====================================== EPIC SERIES (UPDATE): Serena vs. the Supernova III came off in Melbourne, as Serena finally got her revenge for Sharapova's victories at Wimbledon and the year-end Championships. To be continued. ====================================== NEWS: Sania Mirza becomes first Indian champion...Jie Zheng becomes second Chinese champion...Martina Hingis returns (briefly) in Pattaya...Steffi Graf will return to play Team Tennis...Justine Henin-Hardenne (finally) returns in Miami...Jennifer Capriati has shoulder surgery...Monica Seles (still) hasn't announced her retirement...A positive drug test in Belgium...and, last but not least, Venus defeats Serena. And it's only April. ====================================== ====================================== ====================================== ==WEEK 12/13== MIAMI, FLORIDA USA (I-HO) S: Kim Clijsters d. Maria Sharapova 6-3/7-5 D: Kuznetsova/Molik d. Raymond/Stubbs ==PLAYER AWARDS== PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kim Clijsters ...FilaKim strikes again, harder than ever. Career title #23 included wins over Top 10ers Myskina, Dementieva, Mauresmo and Sharapova. She never lost a set (14/14) in Florida -- she's won 34 of 37 sets on the season -- as she extended her season-best WTA winning streak to fourteen matches. ====================================== RISER: Shinobu Asagoe ...the 28-year old Japanese vet continued her under-the-radar 2005 rise, climbing to #26 (one shy of her career-high #25) after a 4th Round run in Miami that included a win over Francesca Schiavone. ====================================== SURPRISES: Catalina Castano & Shahar Peer ...Spaniard Castano upset Paola Suarez and Patty Schnyder (and pushed Venus Williams to three sets) en route to the 4th Round. Qualifier Peer, 17, knocked off Marion Bartoli and got Serena's attention (eliciting a few staredowns and clenched fists in her direction) in the 3rd Round. ====================================== VETERANS: Lisa Raymond & Rennae Stubbs ...Elena Likhovtseva made a little noise in the singles draw, but I'll give the nod to the everything old is new again doubles team of Raymond/Stubbs. "New" because they used to partner all the time, got tired of each other, and now find themselves reconnecting more often all over again. "Old" because Raymond and Stubbs are 31 and 34, respectively -- older than most of their competition, unless she's named Martina. They were RU in Miami, raising Stubbs' doubles ranking to #3, while Raymond edged up to #10. ====================================== FRESH FACES: Ana Ivanovic & Lucie Safarova ...in Miami, Ivanovic, 17, added Nadia Petrova, Nicole Vaidisova and Svetlana Kuznetsova to her growing list of upset victims. Meanwhile, 18-year old Czech Maiden Safarova, from Brno (hometown of recent Hall of Fame electee Jana Novotna, Backspin's all-time favorite player, by the way -- so here's a chance to offer a belated congratulations to the '98 Wimbledon champ on her enshrinement in Newport), added her name to the list of young players to keep an eye on when she won her second ITF crown of the season in Redding. ====================================== DOWN: Vera Zvonareva & Svetlana Kuznetsova ...at least Zvonareva has the Memphis title to soothe her this quarter, but on the whole, the leading edge of the Russian Brigade has been lagging a bit in '05. The Contessova (and the Czarina, too) has often seemed more akin to Vera the Almost this year than the grand slam champ she is, making just one SF on the season. Zvonareva went out in the 2r in Miami in her first action since Memphis, while Kuznetsova went down to another youngster (Ivanovic) in the 4r... though she did rebound with a doubles title. ==LINK OF THE WEEK== ...I talked about the (lack of) young U.S. hopefuls in the Intriguing Question columns back in January. Here's a recent article that touches on the same subject: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2005-03-30-tennis-women_x.htm ==MATCHES== 1r-3r 1.2r - Llagostera-Vives d. Zvonareva ...3-6/6-3/6-1. Maybe Vera will never join her countrywomen in the "big time." On a brighter note, Capriati's extended absence finally bumped Zvonareva up to #10 on Monday. ====================================== 2.2r - Sharapova d. Daniilidou ...6-0/6-4. The Supernova's immediate response to her double-bagel loss in Indian Wells? A 6-0 1st set string that extended into the first few games of the 2nd set. ====================================== 3.1r - Kirilenko d. Chakvetadze ...7-5/6-3. Hordette vs. Hordette, with the Supernovette rising above the fray. ====================================== 4.2r - Henin-Hardenne d. Spears ...6-4/6-3. Queen Justine's first match since the US Open. ====================================== 5.2r - Cohen-Aloro d. Hantuchova ...7-6/6-2. Is Wonder Girl officially in another slump? ====================================== 6.2r - Vaidisova d. Jankovic ...6-2/7-6. Jankovic has lost three straight matches since reaching the Dubai final. ====================================== 7.2r - Ivanovic d. Petrova ...6-4/7-5. Impressive. ====================================== 8.3r - S.Williams d. Peer ...6-3/6-3. It was a straight sets match, but it took 1:30 to play. And Serena was slightly ticked at the thought that Peer might have tried to smack her with a crosscourt forehand shot at the net, too. ====================================== 9.St.Petersberg ITF F - Bychkova d. Laine ...6-1/6-2. The Russian with the dangerous name became the first Hordette to win an ITF title in 2005. 4r-F 1.F - Clijsters d. Sharapova ...6-3/7-5. Tough? Clijsters is 3-0 vs. Sharapova for her career. ====================================== 2.QF - V.Williams d. S.Williams ...6-1/7-6. Venus ends her 6-match losing streak against her sister with her first win since the '01 US Open final (in their first matchup since the '03 Wimbledon final). Venus really needed this win. Let the conspriracy theories commence. ====================================== 3.QF - Sharapova d. JHH ...6-1/6-7/6-2. The Queen vs. The Supernova, Part I. Sharapova led 4-1 in the 2nd and served for the match with a 40-0 lead. The match still went three sets. Justine's heart is right where she left it. ====================================== 4.SF - Clijsters d. Mauresmo ...6-1/6-0. Mauresmo's response to being one win away from playing for the #1 ranking in a final against Sharapova. ====================================== 5.SF - Sharapova d. V.Williams ...6-4/6-3. You'd think Venus would finally admit she was outplayed here. She'd had a good week, and had no reason to be bitter, right? Fat chance. The doozy excuse she came up for this one was that it was fatigue that took her down in a 24-error loss. "Not only did I have to play against my opponent, but I also had to play against me," she said. "That's hard to do the whole match. You know, I have to be kinder to myself." ====================================== HM-4r - Ivanovic d. Kuznetsova ...6-3/3-6/7-5. Even more impressive for Ana Ivo. ====================================== ====================================== ====================================== ==WTA LISTS== **2005 SINGLES TITLES** 2...Maria Sharapova 2...Kim Clijsters 2...Flavia Pennetta **VENUS vs. SERENA** ...Serena leads 7-6 ...9 of 13 won in straight sets ...winner of 1st set is 12-1 ...Venus leads 3-2 in TB sets ...Venus leads 145-142 in total games ...Venus leads 4-3 on hardcourts ...2r-to-SF matches: Venus 4-1 ...Final matches: Serena 6-2 **SHARAPOVA vs. CLIJSTERS** 2003 LA 3rd Rd - Clijsters 6-4/1-6/6-1 2003 Lux. SF - Clijsters 6-0/6-3 2005 Miami F - Clijsters 6-3/7-5 **CAREER WTA TITLES - ACTIVE** 46...Lindsay Davenport 33...Conchita Martinez 31...Venus Williams 26...Serena Williams 23...Kim Clijsters --...[Seles has 53] **LOW-RANKED TIER I CHAMPIONS** #133 Kim Clijsters Indian Wells '05 #58 Iva Majoli Charleston '02 #54 Lisa Bonder Tokyo '83 #38 Kim Clijsters Miami '05 #26 Daniela Hantuchova Ind.Wells '02 **BACK-TO-BACK 2005 TITLES** Flavia Pennetta (Bogota & Acapulco) Kim Clijsters (Indian Wells & Miami) **LONG 2005 WTA WINNING STREAKS** 14...Kim Clijsters (*-current) 12...Maria Sharapova 10...Flavia Pennetta 10...Ana Ivanovic **WEEKS IN SINGLES TOP 10 in '05** [of 13 weeks] 13...Lindsay Davenport# 13...Amelie Mauresmo# 13...Maria Sharapova# 13...Serena Williams# 13...Anastasia Myskina# 13...Elena Dementieva# 13...Svetlana Kuznetsova# 13...Venus Williams# 12...Jennifer Capriati 10...Alicia Molik# 3....Justine Henin-Hardenne 1....Vera Zvonareva# - #-current Top 10 **1Q Won/Loss - 2005 Top 10** 22-3...Maria Sharapova 19-3...Lindsay Davenport 18-5...Amelie Mauresmo 16-5...Alicia Molik 13-2...Serena Williams 13-4...Elena Dementieva 11-5...Svetlana Kuznetsova 10-4...Venus Williams 8-4....Vera Zvonareva 8-6....Anastasia Myskina 3-1....Justine Henin-Hardenne 0-0....Jennifer Capriati ====================================== ====================================== *WEEK 14 PICK* ...Well, Cantin did better on his predictions for the Miami 4th/QF, we tied with SF picks and neither of us got a finalist correct. It's contagious, I guess. I'll go it alone this week, but get ready for Cantin's sure comeuppance when he'll be called upon to pick some of those unpredictable red clay, multi-event weeks coming up. AMELIA ISLAND, FLA USA (II-Green Clay) 04 F: Davenport d. Mauresmo 05 TOP: Davenport/S.Williams ============================ FINAL PICK: Serena def. Venus ...Venus won last time, so Serena should win this one, right? Let even more conspiracy theories be born. LATER THIS WEEK: The Backspin 1Q Quiz All for now.

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