Wk.38-Tales of Two Russians

Quick! Who's the oldest of the two Russian Marias, Sharapova or Kirilenko?

If you said Sharapova, you'd be dead wrong. Kirilenko's the senior Hordette, by about three months... though you'd never know it by reputation, not to mention accomplishment. So far, at least.

While the Supernova has risen to heights of universal proportions, her Russian friend (one of the few, considering the Spartaks' less-than-conciliatory comments of last season?) has seemed stuck in proverbial neutral, carrying with her the label of "great promise" but not quite being able to make a mark substantial enough to stake a legitimate claim for position in the Horde's wild title rush of the past two seasons. In Beijing last week, with the "help" of Sharapova, the would-be Supernovette finally strung together enough victories to rise to the surface of the deep pool of Russian talent.

As it turned out, the "other" Maria was the winner of the "it-had-to-be-someone" contest that took place in the shadow of the Forbidden City, where at times it seemed that the biggest battle of the week was for the title of the quickest to beat a hasty retreat out of town. Lindsay Davenport skipped the festivities altogether with her "injured" back after winning in Bali, while Serena Williams (a 2nd Round loss, while still struggling with that knee), Venus (pulled out of her QF match with her own hurt knee) and Sharapova (who retired in the 2nd set of her SF match with Kirilenko because of her lingering chest injury) all ducked out early while setting up appointments with their trainers.

In the final, the final two players left standing were Kirilenko and Backspin's Girl Friday Anna-Lena Groenefeld, facing off with the winner set to claim her first career WTA title. With ease, it was Kirilenko who won the right to raise her initial tour-sponsored trophy.

And so begins the rest of her career.

**WEEK 38 CHAMPIONS**
============================
BEIJING, CHINA (II-HO)
S: Maria Kirilenko d. Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3/6-4
D: Llagostera-Vives/Vento-Kabchi d. Yan/Zheng
============================
KOLKATA, INDIA (III-GSI)
S: Anastasia Myskina d. Karolina Sprem 6-2/6-2
D: Likhovtseva/Myskina d. N.Uberoi/S.Uberoi
============================
PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA (IV-HO)
S: Klara Koukalova d. Katarina Srebotnik 6-2/4-6/6-3
D: Medina-Garrigues/Vinci d. Kostanic/Srebotnik
============================


**PLAYER AWARDS**

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Anastasia Myskina
...for once, Maria Kirilenko wasn't the "other" Russian in question (or maybe she was, since the Czarina is the POW for Week 38). In the land of Mirza... err, I mean Kolkata, India... Myskina pulled a rare feat -- she made the fact that a former grand slam champion won a Tier III title a moment to rejoice. Geez, it's been a long year for Myskina. From her mother's illness, that lawsuit and her own inability to focus on the court in the face of it all, 2005 has seemed to be a never-ending nightmare. But something happened after she failed to defend her Roland Garros title. After standing at 9-10 in WTA matches after Paris, it's been as if a whole new Czarina has come out on the other end of the darkness. The numbers don't lie. She's 18-5 on tour since the end of the clay season, was part of the Russians' Fed Cup defense (she didn't exactly cover herself in glory there, but she surely filled her roll of "moral support provider"), and then this weekend swept the singles & doubles to win her first title since taking Moscow last October. She's back within shouting distance of the Top 10 (she's still #12, but is now capable of leapfrogging Schnyder & Serena soon), and her tenth career title ties her with Sharapova for the most ever by a Russian woman. Hmmm, says here that Moscow will be coming up again soon... along with the chance to turn her '05 nightmare into a story with a happy ending. So far, so good.
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RISERS: Klara Koukalova & Anna-Lena Groenefeld
...Czech Maiden Koukalova won in Portoroz, Slovenia, taking out Slovenia's own Katarina Srebbotnik in the final to claim her second title this season. ALG moved into Davenport's spot in the Beijing draw and made the most of it, defeating Shuai Peng, Ai Sugiyama & Marta Domachowska before finally falling to Kirilenko in the final. She's now up to a career-high #23.
============================
SURPRISES: Karolina Sprem & Vanessa Henke
...Croatia's Sprem is still just 20 years old, though her upset of Venus at Wimbledon the year before Williams won the title there this past July seems like a lifetime ago by now. Sprem had fallen all the way to #81 before finally reaching the Kolkata final this weekend, her first since Strasbourg in '03. She didn't put up much of a fight against Myskina, but why quibble with a good week? Henke, 24, started the week by upsetting #1-seed Silvia Farina Elia in Portoroz and carred the momentum all the way the first career WTA SF for the world-#172 German.
============================
VETERAN: Elena Likhovtseva
...Likhovtseva might have lost to Sprem in the Kolkata SF, but she went on to take the doubles with Myskina. It was the 30-year old's fifth doubles title of the year, tying her for the most on tour in '05.
============================
FRESH FACES: Maria Kirilenko & Tiantian Sun
...like Sharapova (Tokyo '03), Kirilenko claimed her first career title in Asia. The now #28-ranked 18-year old is a ways from following in the Supernova's other footsteps, though. Sun has been getting some nice victories lately, but none come close to matching her win in the Beijing QF over Serena. Even if Serena is a shadow of her former self at the moment, it's still something to build on.
============================
DOWN: Serena & Venus Williams
...knees! Serena's is still hurt, as she went down in her first Beijing match to Sun. Venus' is newly injured, forcing her to withdraw from her QF match with Domachowska in the same event. Even with her Australian Open title in her column, Serena's lack of action since actually caused her to fall out of the Top 10 on Monday.
============================

**MATCHES**

1.Beij F - Kirilenko d. Groenefeld
...6-3/6-4. ALG is just about ready to claim the title of "best player without a singles title"... once Petrova finally wins one, that is.
----------------------------
2.Port F - Koukalova d. Srebotnik
...6-2/4-6/6-3. Srebotnik had a break lead in the 3rd, but she wasn't able to get that home cooking in Slovenia and walk away with her third 2005 title.
----------------------------
3.Kol F - Myskina d. Sprem
...6-2/6-2. Welcome back, Czarina.
----------------------------
4.Beij 2r - T.Sun d. S.Williams
...6-2/7-6. Serena's "defeated by" list is becoming quite the "international who's who" this season, isn't it? I mean, how often are Jill Craybas and Tiantian Sun mentioned in the same sentence?
----------------------------
5.Beij SF - Kirilenko d. Sharapova
...6-4/2-1 ret. It just wouldn't have been right for Maria not to defeat Maria en route to her first WTA title.
----------------------------
6.Beij 1st - Diaz-Oliva d. Molik
...7-6/6-7/6-4. The wins still aren't coming all too frequently for the Steamer, but at least the matches are getting closer.
----------------------------
7.Kol 2nd - Czink d. Mirza
...0-6/6-4/6-4. Maybe showing outright disrespect for that fatwah against you for wearing "inappropriate" on-court attire isn't the most prudent way to go, Sania. Just a thought.
----------------------------
8.Port 1st - Bremond d. Kostanic
...7-6/7-6. Was anyone else confused when you read "Bremond" in the WTA results last week? Who? That's what I wondered. Well, have no fear -- it was just Severine Beltrame, using her new married name (she got hitched to her coach). It seems to have done wonders for her game, at least. The 26-year old Pastry with a law degree also knocked off Kveta Peschke (formerly Hrdlickova, who's also reached new heights since going with her married name) en route to the QF.
----------------------------

**WTA LISTS**

**MOST RUSSIAN TITLES - CAREER**
10...Maria Sharapova
10...Anastasia Myskina
9....Olga Morozova

**MOST RUSSIAN TITLES - 2005**
3...Maria Sharapova
2...Dinara Safina
1...Anastasia Myskina
1...Vera Zvonareva
1...Maria Kirilenko

**2005 YOUNGEST WTA CHAMPIONS**
17...Ana Ivanovic (1 title)
17...Maria Sharapova (2 titles)
18...Maria Sharapova (1 title)
18...Sania Mirza (1 title)
18...Lucie Safarova (2 titles)
18...Maria Kirilenko (1 title)
18...Dinara Safina (1 title)
19...Dinara Safina (1 title)

**2005 SINGLES/DOUBLES WTA SWEEPS**
Katarina Srebotnik (Auckland)
Jie Zheng (Hobart)
Katarina Srebotnik (Stockholm)
Anastasia Myskina (Kolkata)

**2005 FIRST-TIME WTA CHAMPIONS**
Jie Zheng (January-Hobart)
Ana Ivanovic (January-Canberra)
Sania Mirza (February-Hyderabad)
Lucie Safarova (April-Estoril)
Nuria Llagostera-Vives (May-Rabat)
Klara Koukalova (June-Netherlands)
Maria Kirilenko (September-Beijing)

**MULTIPLE 2005 FINALS LOSSES, NO WINS**
0-2...Samantha Stosur
0-2...Jelena Jankovic
0-2...Anna-Lena Groenefeld

**2005 WTA CHAMPIONS BY COUNTRY**
11...Belgium
8....Russia
7....USA
4....Czech Republic
4....Spain

============================
============================

**DEADLOCKED!!**

...I'm feeling a tad anti-Srebotnik (or is it anti-Koukalova?) at the moment, since if she'd won in Portoroz on Sunday I'd have a 2-0 lead over Cantin in champions picked in "Royale 3," and be 5-for-6 in the 4Q. But, alas, now we're tied (5 SF/2 F/1 W) after one week of action. As for Week 39...

KOCKELSCHEUER, LUXEMBOURG (II-Hard Indoor)
04 F: Molik d. Safina
05 TOP: Clijsters/Petrova
----------------------------
SF: Clijsters d. Chakvetadze; Safina d. Groenefeld
FINAL: Clijsters d. Safina

...Killer Kim's back (just $9000 light in her duffel bag, too -- who says coaching matters, huh?), and it's hard to go against that 23-1 hardcourt record.

GUANGZHOU, CHINA (III-Hard Outdoor)
04 F: N.Li d. Sucha
05 TOP: Zvonareva/Peng
----------------------------
SF: Kirilenko d. T.Sun; N.Li d. Peng
FINAL: N.Li d. Kirilenko

...can Kirilenko win again? Fortune Cookie Li says, "Probably not."

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (IV-Hard Outdoor)
04 F: Sharapova d. Domachowska
05 TOP: Jankovic/Vaidisova
----------------------------
SF: Jankovic d. Sugiyama; Vaidisova d. Dulko
FINAL: Vaidisova d. Jankovic

...if not, all you courtside observers had better look out! You might just get a "free" Vaidisova racquet. Maybe you could sell it on eBay, though, to help pay the hospital bill for treating that nasty gash on the side of your skull that you suffered during the "transaction" with Nicole. Maybe you could just root for her instead. Otherwise... duck!

As for Pierre...

============================

Luxembourg:
SF: Clijsters def. Chakvetadze; Schnyder def. Petrova
FINAL: Clijsters def. Schnyder

Guangzhou:
SF: Kirilenko def. Jidkova; Li def. Peng
FINAL: Kirilenko def. Li

Seoul:
SF: Jankovic def. Golovin; Vaidisova def. Dulko
FINAL: Vaidisova def. Jankovic

============================

Next week: Tennisrulz Awards nominees.

All for now.

Read more...

Wk.37-Twice as Nice

What do you get a horde of Russians who have everything, including a Fed Cup title? How about a second consecutive Fed Cup title?

Thanks in large part to Elena Dementieva, that's precisely what the Horde got this weekend.

But first, it's time to kick-off the "Push for the P.O.Y." Yes, as the 4th Quarter is now officially underway, the nominees for Backspin's Player of the Year are set to battle it out down the stretch. For 2005, there are six players in the running... all of which have either held the #1 ranking or won grand slams this season.

The contenders, in current order, and the up-to-date "pros" for and "cons" against their candidacy:

1.KIM CLIJSTERS
...Killer Kim leads the tour in the majority of the top categories: titles (7), wins (58), Tier I crowns (3) and record in finals (7-0). The U.S. Open champ leads the 2005 Points Race, and has put together two separate 17-match winning streaks (the second of which is still alive). In the "Big 6" -- the Belgians, Williams sisters, Davenport and Sharapova -- "round robin" of matches in '05 she holds a 5-3 record. She's "only" #3 in the current rankings (but with no 4Q points to defend she'll be challenging for #1 by the end of the year), and failed to reach the QF at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. But, let's be serious, the POY is her's to lose at this point.
----------------------------
2.JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE
...the Roland Garros champ has returned to the Top 5, won two Tier I titles, put up a 34-4 record (including a season-best 24-match winning streak) and holds a 3-2 "Big 6" mark. But she was dumped out of Wimbledon in the 1st Round, and the U.S. in the 4th. She's played just ten matches (going 7-3) since Paris, and hasn't had much of a real presence on the tour for quite a few months now. She likely needs to win the WTA Championship to have a shot at POY.
----------------------------
3.VIRGINIA RUANO-PASCUAL
...okay, she doesn't REALLY have a shot at POY. But she'll be situated in the #3-#4 range once the dust settles. The doubles #1 has won a tour-best five titles in '05, including Roland Garros and three Tier I's. Not only that, in the season Points Race, she's not only a member of the #2 team (with Paola Suarez), but also the #4 pairing (with Conchita Martinez). First, though, she needs to hold off Cara Black in the battle for Doubles #1.
----------------------------
4.VENUS WILLIAMS
...the Wimbledon champ is 5-4 in "Big 6" competition, but she's just 33-9 in season action, didn't reach a slam QF outside of SW19 and has only won one other title on the season (a Tier III in Istanbul). Plus, her classless habit of excuse-making (such as losing because her opponent "played so bad") -- even after winning Wimbledon -- makes a POY honor hard to swallow. But if she wins the WTA Championship, she'll be knocking on the door simply because of the huge amount of the 2005 spotlight she will have managed to have shone on her.
----------------------------
5.MARIA SHARAPOVA
...despite becoming the first Russian #1, the Supernova's season has been one full of "near misses." She's 48-8 and won three titles, but after winning Wimbledon in '04 her three '05 slam SF appearances sort of make this year appear to be a transitionary one for her as she's sought to get used to her latest growth spurt. Her 4-5 record in SF, and 3-7 "Big 6" mark don't really measure up for the 2005 Backspin POY, either. Still, she has the best chance to put pressure on Clijsters in the race... though she'll need another Tier I and to defend her WTA Championship crown to do it. Don't put it past her.
----------------------------
6.LINDSAY DAVENPORT
...she's been #1 for most of the season, has four titles, two slam RU, an 8-0 SF record, and double-bagel win over Sharapova in her "plus" column. A 4-4 record in finals, and 4-5 "Big 6" mark in the "minus" one. Even if she regains the top ranking soon (it won't be next Monday, though, after withdrawing from Beijing), it's hard to do battle for POY when every other serious candidate has either a slam or Tier I crown to her credit, and you have zero of either.
----------------------------

Even though the "race" doesn't look particularly close in mid-September, it could heat up considerably very soon... say starting this week, when the possibility of a #1 vs. #2 battle looms in the Beijing final.


============================

**WEEK 37 CHAMPIONS**

BALI, INDONESIA (III-HO)
S: Lindsay Davenport d. Francesca Schiavone 6-2/6-4
D: Groenefeld/Shaughnessy d. Yan/Zheng
----------------------------
FED CUP FINAL
Russia def. France 3-2
----------------------------
WTT PLAYOFFS
SF: NY Sportimes d. Boston 25-7; Newport Beach d. Sacramento 22-14
FINAL: NY Sportimes d. Newport Beach 21-18
----------------------------

**PLAYER AWARDS**

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Dementieva
...in 2004, it was the Czarina who led the Russians to their first ever Fed Cup crown. All this season, it's been Punch-Sober who's led the way. She did it again in Paris in the Fed Cup final against France. She opened with a three-set win over Mary Pierce, some nice revenge for her U.S. Open SF loss. Then, after Myskina lost to Amelie Mauresmo, it was Dementieva to the rescue again. She downed Mauresmo in three sets, as well. After Myskina blew a 6-4/4-1 lead in what could have been the title-clinching match, Dementieva rose to the occasion one final time. With Dinara Safina, yet another three-set triumph over Mauresmo/Pierce closed out the Russians' title defense. All hail Team Russia. All hail Elena.
----------------------------
RISER: Francesca Schiavone
...the 25-year old Italian still hasn't won a WTA title (she's 0-3 in finals), but she got close once again in Bali. After defeating Flavia Pennetta, she outlasted Patty Schnyder (who retired with heat illness) in the SF before losing to Lindsay Davenport in the final.
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SURPRISES: The Bondarenko sisters
...well, two of them, at least. Alyona upset both Yoon-Jeong Cho and Alicia Molik in Bali; while Kateryna won her singles match over Nicole Vaidisova in the WTT SF to lead her Newport Beach club to an upset over Sacramento.
----------------------------
VETERANS: Lindsay Davenport & Martina Hingis
...Davenport's title in Bali was her fourth of the season, and 49th in her career. Hingis sailed through the WTT playoffs just as she did the regular season. Her pristine weekend record, 2-0 in singles and 4-0 in doubles sets, upped her 2005 WTT mark to a combined 25-1. After providing 15 of her champion Sportimes' 21 points in the final, she was fittingly named Playoff MVP.
----------------------------
FRESH FACE: Ekaterina Bychkova
...her U.S. Open upset of Svetlana Kuznetsova carried over to Bali, as Bychkova knocked off fellow Flushing Meadows headline-maker Sania Mirza in the 1st Round by a 6-3/6-2 score.
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DOWN: Sania Mirza
...sorry, Princess. But after her U.S. Open Round of 16 run, Mirza had to be disappointed to lose her first match in Bali. But have no fear. She has a chance to turn this occurrence right on its ear this week, as she'll no doubt be the raging crowd favorite in the WTA's inaugural tour stop in Kolkata, India. Could we be about to see a bit of "divine intervention?" My, fatwah or no fatwah, what would the clerics say about that?
----------------------------

**MATCHES**

1.Fed Cup F Match #5 - Dementieva/Safina d. Mauresmo/Pierce
...6-4/1-6/6-3. Russia wins 3-2, keeping the Russian Revolution going strong.
----------------------------
2.Bali F - Davenport d. Schiavone
...6-2/6-4. With Sharapova on the other side of the draw, and Venus in her half, Davenport had a chance to regain the #1 ranking this week in Beijing, but she withdrew with a "back strain" after four straight weeks of action. Don't you love it when the "truth" isn't really the truth? A smart move by Davenport, though.
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3.WTT SF - Hingis (NYS) d. Navratilova (Boston)
...5-2. The last time these two met in WTT action, Hingis won 5-0. Meanwhile, while Navratilova played here, Anna-Lena Groenefeld won a doubles title with Meghann Shaughnessy in Bali and moved into the doubles Top 10 for the first time.
----------------------------
4.Fed Cup F Match #1 - Dementieva d. Pierce
...7-6/2-6/6-1. Finally, Punch-Sober did what she should have done in New York -- rather than gripe about Pierce's injury time-out AFTER the match, she decided to take out her frustration DURING it... at Pierce's expense.
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5.Bali 1r -Molik d. Diaz Oliva
...7-6/6-3. Finally, The Steamer gets a win. She has a shot at another over MDO in the Beijing 1st Round.
----------------------------

**LISTS**

==MOST 2005 TITLES==
7...Clijsters
4...Davenport
4...Henin-Hardenne
3...Sharapova

==2005 WTA/FED CUP WINS==
57...Clijsters (57-6)
50...Davenport (50-8)
48...Sharapova (48-8)
48...Schnyder (48-17)
45...Mauresmo (45-13)

==MOST CAREER WTA TITLES==
167...Martina Navratilova
154...Chris Evert
107...Steffi Graf
92....Margaret Court
68....Evonne Goolagong
67....Billie Jean King
55....Virginia Wade
53....Monica Seles
49....LINDSAY DAVENPORT
40....Martina Hingis

==2005 WTA TITLES, BY COUNTRY==
11...Belgium
7....USA
6....Russia
4....Spain

==TEAM RUSSIA - FED CUP 2005==
1st Round - def. Italy 4-1
SF - def. USA 4-1
Final - def. France 3-2

==30th ANNIVERSARY ALL-WTT TEAM==
Martina Navratilova
Billie Jean King
Jimmy Connors
Brian MacPhie

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**LINK OF THE WEEK**

...go to TennisKatrina.com to bid on items donated by some of your favorite players, with the auction proceeds going to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

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**ROYALE, TAKE 3**

...well, the Backspin predictions had a great 3-for-3 weekend (thanks Martina, Lindsay & Elena!), running the season "champion total" to 15. With around 17 events left on the schedule, there's still a shot to reach the "magic" number of 20. It wouldn't be the 25 or 27 of the past two seasons, but after that horrific 1-for-15 start in the 1Q, it's not too bad.

Unfortunately, my great weekend won't count in the decisive Battle Royale 3 competition with Pierre Cantin. Hmmm... maybe he knew something? Anyway, the fight for "Backspin/Tennisrulz 2005 Champ" now enters its final phase...

BEIJING, CHINA (II-Hard Outdoor)
04 F: S.Williams d. Kuznetsova
05 TOP: Sharapova/Davenport(w/d)
---------------------------
SF: Sharapova d. S.Williams (for ALG, who moved to Davenport's spot in draw); V.Williams d. Groenefeld (moving from top half SF pick to bottom)
FINAL: Sharapova d. V.Williams

...the Supernova is great in Asia, having won four of her ten career titles there.

KOLKATA, INDIA (III-Greenset Indoor)
-NEW EVENT-
05 TOP: Myskina/Likhovtseva
---------------------------
SF: Myskina d. Camerin; Mirza d. Likhovtseva
FINAL: Myskina d. Mirza

...it'll be a tough turnaround for Myskina to go from the Fed Cup final in Paris to a Tier III in India, and Mirza will be sure to have a huge dose of fan support (she won in Hyderabad in February). Of course, all of this depends on both avoiding being bopped on the head by falling debris. Have you seen the reports about the site, here and here?


PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA (IV-Hard Outdoor)
-NEW EVENT-
05 TOP: Farina Elia/Medina Garrigues
--------------------------
SF: Benesova d. Mamic; Srebotnik d. Kostanic
FINAL: Srebotnik d. Benesova

...home (country) cooking for Srebotnik.

As for Pierre:

============================
Well everyone, I have to admit, I was not able to get my predictions to Todd in time for his last edition of Backspin, so my fault, sorry!! Anyway, I'm now ready to make a last run for the year, hopefully this post-US Open will bring me more luck:)

China:

SF: Sharapova def. S.Williams, V.Williams def. Molik (replacing Davenport)
F: Sharapova def. V.Williams

India:

SF: Myskina def. Ruano-Pascual, Likhovtseva def. Mirza
F: Likhovtseva def. Myskina

Slovenia:

SF: Koukalova def Farina-Elia, Medina-Garrigues def. Daniilidou
F: Koukalova def. Medina-Garrigues
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Look for the 3Q/Fed Cup Quiz to go up on The Backspin Quiz Page on Monday.

All for now.

Read more...

Wk.35/36-Three Quarters Full

As the U.S. Open came to a close on Sunday with Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur claiming the Women's Doubles title, the WTA's 3rd Quarter officially came to its end. So, as is the ritual around these parts, it's time for Backspin to dole out some awards.

But, first, here's a quick look back at the 2005 U.S. Open champions:

=SINGLES=
Kim Clijsters def. Mary Pierce 6-3/6-1
=DOUBLES=
Raymond/Stosur def. Dementieva/Pennetta
=MIXED=
Hantuchova/Bhupathi def. Srebotnik/Zimonjic
=GIRLS SINGLES=
Viktoria Azarenka def. Alexa Glatch 6-3/6-4
=GIRLS DOUBLES=
Frankova/Kleybanova def. Glatch/King

And now for the tops of the 3rd Quarter (Wk.27-36), keeping in mind the words of Nicole Vaidisova, that "people who never care that they lose have never won so much." Apparently, Killer Kim must have finally started to "care"... guess having your career flash before your eyes has a way of inspiring just a bit more greatness:

=PLAYERS OF THE QUARTER=
1.Kim Clijsters
2.Mary Pierce
3.Lindsay Davenport
4.Patty Schnyder
5.Amelie Mauresmo
6.Justine Henin-Hardenne
7.Elena Dementieva
8.Anastasia Myskina
9.Maria Sharapova
10.Anna Smashnova

=RISERS=
1.Anna-Lena Groenefeld
2.Nadia Petrova
3.Daniela Hantuchova
4.Shuai Peng
5.Katarina Srebotnik
6.Anabel Medina-Garrigues
7.Na Li
8.Akiko Morigami
9.Ashley Harkleroad
10.Jie Zheng

=FRESH FACES=
1.Anna Chakvetadze
2.Sania Mirza
3.Nicole Vaidisova
4.Lucie Safarova
5.Sesil Karatantcheva
6.Agnes Szavay
7.Viktoria Azarenka
8.Alexa Glatch
9.Aiko Nakamura
10.Ekaterina Bychkova

=SURPRISES=
1.Maria Vento-Kabchi
2.Bethanie Mattek
3.Samantha Stosur
4.Tiantian Sun
5.Vania King

=VETERANS=
1.Mary Pierce
2.Lindsay Davenport
3.Anna Smashnova
4.Martina Navratilova
5.Lisa Raymond

=DOWN=
1.Svetlana Kuznetsova
2.Venus Williams
3.Serena Williams

=BEST PERFORMANCE=
Kim Clijsters on North American hardcourts...23-1, four titles and her first grand slam championship

=BEST MATCH=
US Open SF - Clijsters d. Sharapova 6-2/6-7/6-3... Killer Kim Clijsters overcomes Nice Kim's demons after blowing five match points, and the rest is history

=BEST COMEBACK=
US Open QF - Clijsters d. V.Williams 4-6/7-5/6-1... Venus led 6-4/4-2, but then Clijsters played just too "bad" for Ferris to muster up the ability to win the match.

=WORST CHOKE=
Kuznetsova's U.S. Open defense... a year after winning seven straight to take her first grand slam title, the Contessova went 2-4 throughout the entire hardcourt season.

=BIGGEST UPSET=
San Diego QF - Peng d. Clijsters 6-4/6-4... the only loss Clijsters endured during the entire quarter.

=LEAST SURPRISING BIG UPSET=
U.S. Open 1st Rd. - Bychkova d. Kuznetsova 6-4/6-2... Kuznetsova became the first defending champ to go out in the 1st Round. Bychkova opened this week by upsetting Sania Mirza in Bali, by the way.

=BIGGEST BUST=
U.S. Open 4th Rd. - Venus d. Serena 7-6/6-2... another lackluster match knotted their career series at 7-7. Hmmm... just like the fans watching -- no one ever really wins when these two meet on the court.

=SERIES UPDATE=
Clijsters vs. Sharapova... the Supernova has more than met her match in Clijsters. She's 0-4 against her.

=ITF PLAYER OF THE 3Q=
Ashley Harkleroad

=WTT PLAYER OF THE 3Q=
Martina Hingis

=ODDS & ENDS=
...Daniela Hantuchova completed a career Mixed Doubles Slam
...Sania Mirza went farther in the draw (Round of 16) than any Indian before her
...Maria Sharapova gained, lost, then gained the #1 ranking once again as the 3Q ended
...Martina Navratilova, 48, broke her own record for oldest WTA titlist (winning Toronto w/ Anna-Lena Groenefeld)
...Steffi Graf returned to play WTT tennis for Houston

===========================

==WTA LISTS==

**MOST 2005 SINGLES TITLES**
7...Clijsters
4...Henin-Hardenne
3...Sharapova
3...Davenport

**MOST 2004-05 SINGLES TITLES**
10...Davenport (7/3)
9....Clijsters (2/7)
9....Henin-Hardenne (5/4)
8....Sharapova (5/3)
7....Mauresmo (5/2)

**WEEKS IN 2005 SINGLES TOP 10**
[of 36 wks.; CAPS=IN CURRENT TOP 10]
36...SHARAPOVA
36...DAVENPORT
36...MAURESMO
36...DEMENTIEVA
36...S.WILLIAMS
35...Kuznetsova
29...Myskina
27...V.WILLIAMS
22...Molik
19...PETROVA
18...HENIN-HARDENNE
13...Capriati
7....CLIJSTERS
6....Zvonareva
3....Schnyder
1....PIERCE

**2005 TOP 10ers in 3rd Quarter**
23-1...Clijsters (2-0 Fed Cup)
13-3...Schnyder
10-3...Mauresmo (2-0 Fed Cup)
10-1...Pierce (1-0 Fed Cup)
9-3.....Myskina (2-0 Fed Cup)
9-4.....Dementieva (1-1 Fed Cup)
8-2.....Davenport
8-4.....Petrova
7-1.....Sharapova
7-2.....Henin-Hardenne
7-2.....V.Williams (1-1 Fed Cup)
4-1.....S.Williams
2-3.....Zvonareva
2-4.....Kuznetsova
0-2.....Molik
0-0.....Capriati

**TOP 10ers - 2005 WTA W/L**
55-6.....Clijsters
48-8.....Sharapova
46-16..Schnyder
44-8.....Davenport
41-12..Mauresmo
40-16..Petrova
34-4.....Henin-Hardenne
33-9.....V.Williams
33-13..Dementieva
32-11..Pierce
27-15..Kuznetsova
22-15..Myskina
21-6.....S.Williams
19-15..Zvonareva
16-9.....Molik
0-0.......Capriati

**2005 DOUBLES TITLES**
[doubles/mixed]
5...Ruano-Pascual [5/0]
5...Stosur [4/1]
4...Likhovtseva [4/0]
4...Black [4/0]
4...Loit [4/0]

**BACKSPIN SLAM AWARDS**
==MISS OPPORTUNITY==
A: #19 Nathalie Dechy (SF)
R: #21 Mary Pierce (RU)
W: #14 Venus Williams (W)
U: #6 Elena Dementieva (SF)
==UPSET QUEENS==
A: Russians
R: French
W: Americans
U: Americans
==IT GIRL==
U: Sania Mirza

**2005 SLAM - FIRST SEEDS OUT**
A: #16 Sugiyama (lost to Sucha)
R: #25 Safina (lost to Razzano)
W: #10 Schnyder (lost to Ant.Serra-Zanetti)
U: #28 Pennetta (lost to Schruff)

**2005 SLAM JR. FINALS**
A: Viktoria Azarenka d. Agnes Szavay
R: Agnes Szavay d. Raluca-Ioana Olaru
W: Agnieszka Radwanska d. Tamira Paszak
U: Viktoria Azaranka d. Alexa Glatch

===========================

===BATTLE ROYALE 2==
...well, BR2 was a pretty tight affair. But congrats to Pierre for racking up enough correct SF predictions to keep it from being a remarkable tie:

Semifinalists: Pierre Cantin 27-21
Finalists: tied 10-10
Champions: tied 3-3

...there's only one official WTA tournament this week, in Bali (though the presence of Davenport makes it more important than it might be otherwise).

**BALI, INDONESIA (III-HO)**
04 F: Kuznetsova d. S.Williams
05 TOP: Davenport/Schnyder
==========================
SF: Davenport d. Li; Schnyder d. Zheng
FINAL: Davenport d. Schnyder

...though it wouldn't be a surprise to see Sneaky Patty dumped out early here.

There are also some intriguing team events this weekend, as the Fed Cup champion will be decided at this new earlier-in-the-season date, and the WTT's 30th Anniversary playoffs will be held (with the SF giving us another Martina vs. Martina matchup):

FED CUP FINAL (Red Clay)
[Paris, France]
04 Final: Russia d. France
==========================
FINAL: Russia d. France 3-2

...yeah, the Pastries have the home court advantage, but the Russians are pretty adept on red clay themselves. I'll say the singles matches will be split, with the doubles match deciding the championship.

WORLD TEAM TENNIS
=================
SF: NY Sportimes d. Boston; Newport Beach d. Sacramento
FINAL: NY Sportimes d. Newport Beach

...Martina (H.) rules supreme.

Check out the "Links of the Week" for the official Fed Cup and WTT sites.

Also, the 3rd Quarter ATP Awards are up on ATP Backspin, and the 3Q WTA Quiz will be up on The Backspin Quiz Page before the end of the week. Next week, the Backspin Player-of-the-Year Watch officially begins.

All for now.

Read more...

US Open Day 13: Killer Kim Slays Her Albatross

al*ba*tross \al-buh-tros\ n. 1: any of various large web-footed seabirds; 2a: something that causes persistent deep concern or anxiety; 2b: something that greatly hinders accomplishment; 3: the avian creature former #1 Kim Clijsters has been allowing to live on her shoulder for the past four years.

Bloods and guts were sloppily spilled on the freshly painted court of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday night... and for once they didn't belong to Kim Clijsters. They didn't belong to Mary Pierce, either, though you'd have a hard time proving it after the Canadian-born, America-residing, French-representing 30-year old put forth her second feeble effort in a grand slam final in a matter of three short months. No, the carcass that was flopping on the ground a little before 10pm New York time was that of the albatross that's been Clijsters' constant companion ever since she failed to put away Jennifer Capriati in the Roland Garros final's 12-10 final set back in 2001. It took over four years, but on her fifth try "Nice Kim" transformed enough into "Killer Kim" to finally sew up the gaping hole in her career resume. The U.S. Open title is her's... and she has avian blood on her racquet to prove it.

"Albie" is dead. Long live "Albie."

Now we'll finally get to see what would have happened had Clijsters been able to fight off Capriati in Paris all those years ago, as she'll no longer be encumbered by undelivered-upon expectations. Her tennis legacy, aside from squeegeeing courts and running through puddles during recent rain delays, had threatened to become cemented by her inability to win "the big one." If her personality hadn't led so many to kiss her butt for so long, ignoring that major flaw in a one-time world #1, it would have come to define her long ago. If she hadn't walked away with her first slam title at this year's Flushing Meadows event, though, even her ardent supporters in the big-time media would have finally gotten to a point where even they could no longer avoid the obvious.

So credit Clijsters for a great last minute save, not to mention a hell of a North American hardcourt season. Four titles. A 22-1 WTA record, the last sixteen wins all in a row. A 2-0 Fed Cup record. A U.S. Open crown... and the slaying of a wing-ed creature.

Sigh... "Albie" was such a nice bird, too. Thankfully, the powers-that-be managed to FedEx one of his little chicks over to Amelie Maursesmo's address. He might be able to find a nice, comfy -- and possibly permanent -- home over there.

As for Kim, Backspin admits to being at least a little disappointed at the U.S. Open's final result. Nothing against her, but sometimes it's more fun to take a contrarian viewpoint, such as rooting against the so-called "good guy" to win out in the end. Sigh... but the Open ended up giving us a slightly cliched Hollywood ending with the "heroine" triumphing in the final act. Oh, well... on to the next easy target, I guess. Amelie (or is it "Albie?")... is that you?

Now, the big question regarding Clijsters changes from being about whether she'll ever win a slam to whether or not "Killer Kim" will soon become a "serial offender." Ah... I can already see the 2006 #1 Intriguing Question coming into focus.

==DAY 13 MATCHES==

Women's Final - #4 Kim Clijsters def. #12 Mary Pierce
...6-3/6-1. This time, Pierce was the squeegee. After getting whipped by Henin-Hardenne in just 1:02 in the Roland Garros final, Pierce "pushed" Clijsters to 1:05 here. In fact, the toughest, most precarious, moment for "Killer Kim" on Saturday night came during her climb up and across the Ashe Stadium railings en route to the Friends Box. For a moment there, I had visions of a very strange headline on Sunday... something like, "Clijsters Wins Open, Breaks Leg in Fall During Celebration."
----------------------------
Girls Semifinals - #1 Viktoria Azarenka d. #14 Mihaela Buzarnescu 3-6/6-2/6-2; #7 Alexa Glatch d. Nina Henkel 6-1/7-5
...the match-up that's seemingly been fated all along in the junior final will indeed take place, as the #1-seeded Belarussian will face the rising 15-year old American on Sunday.
----------------------------
Girls Doubles Final - #7 Nikola Frankova/Alisa Kleybanova d. #2 Alexa Glatch/Vania King
...7-5/7-6(3). Glatch didn't manage to keep alive her chances of a singles & doubles sweep, though.
----------------------------

==DAY 13 ODDS & ENDS==

**2005 SLAM FINALS**
Australian - S.Williams d. Davenport
Roland Garros - Henin-Hardenne d. Pierce
Wimbledon - V.Williams d. Davenport
U.S. - Clijsters d. Pierce

**U.S. OPEN NIGHTTIME WOMEN'S FINALS**
2001 V.Williams d. S.Williams
2002 S.Williams d. V.Williams
2003 Henin-Hardenne d. Clijsters
2004 Kuznetsova d. Dementieva
2005 Clijsters d. Pierce

**R.I.P.**
...the streaks of women's slam champions surviving match points during the tournament, as well as coming from outside the Top 4 seeds.


...well, that does it for the Open's series of "Daily Backspin" columns. There will be a regular column on Monday, though, wrapping up the year's final grand slam and doling out 3rd Quarter awards. Also, the 3Q Quiz will be posted on the Backspin Quiz Page, the ATP 3Q Awards will be posted on ATP Backspin, and the most recent developments with "Killer Kim" will lead to a few changes on the Backspin Nickname Page.

Next week, the Russians will seek some redemption in the Fed Cup final, and there's a little tournament in Bali, as well.

All for now.

Read more...

US Open Day 12: The Edge of Night

In the dual "Battle of the Blondes" matches to determine the U.S. Open finalists on Friday, all four competitors were pushed to the edge of the day. But only two -- Kim Clijsters & Mary Pierce -- now move on to dance on the edge of night on Saturday.

==DAY 12 PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Kim Clijsters
...on that edge of night, Clijsters' future will be decided. We saw both sides of her against Maria Sharapova. Entering the match with a 3-0 career mark against the Supernova, Clijsters handled her in the opening set after exchanging breaks the first four games. In the 2nd, she ran out to a 6-5 lead and was up triple match point, 40-0 on Sharapova's serve. Then the old "Kim C. Clijsters" appeared. Five blown match points and a tie-break later, Sharapova was alive and well and into a 3rd set. Then the visage of the former #1 re-appeared, and it was suddenly 4-0 Clijsters. But wait! Just as quickly, Clijsters wavered again as Sharapova fought back, breaking to close within 4-2 and 5-3... before Clijsters finally got a final break of serve to win 6-3, and breathe a sigh of relief. Sharapova wasn't quite up to par in this match, but wouldn't go down without a struggle. Clijsters was all over the board, winning out against her worse tendencies in the end. But as Saturday night edges on, which side of Clijsters will prove to be more dominant? The one who's 6-0 in singles finals in 2005, or the one who's 0-4 in slam finals during her career? She's one win away from redemption... or one more loss away from threatening to become the best women's player to never win a slam.
============================
RISERS: Alexa Glatch & Vania King
...the American team of Glatch, 15, and King, 16, advanced to the Girls Doubles final on Friday. Glatch, who knocked off #3-seed Dominika Cibulkova (6-0/6-4) in the QF on Friday, is still alive in the singles -- the only player capable of pulling off a junior title sweep in either the Girls or Boys draws.
============================
SURPRISE: Mihaela Buzarnescu
...the 17-year old Romanian, the Girls #14 seed, advanced to the Girls SF, where she'll meet #1-seed Viktoria Azarenka.
============================
VETERAN: Mary Pierce
...Pierce, too, found herself balancing on the edge on Friday. After dropping the 1st set in the SF to Elena Dementieva (with a dobule fault on set point, no less), Pierce decided to put a stop to the proceedings... temporarily, at least. She had her thigh wrapped. She had her back stretched, too. After the twelve minute delay, she came back out and pretty much broke down Punch-Sober in two quick sets. Were the injuries real, or was the delay a bit of gamesmanship? It doesn't really matter, since it was allowed by the rules. Did Dementieva lose her momentum? Sure. But to try to blame the loss -- as some commentators did -- on the delay is a bit simplistic. Come now, Dementieva had two full sets to get her mojo back... this wasn't the mid-5th set, mid-game power play ala Novak Djokovic's actions against Gael Monfils last week that rankled everyone. Was the stoppage convenient for Pierce? Of course. But it's also pretty common. Heck, even Dementieva tried to do it with a "bathroom break" after the 2nd set was over... but it didn't work quite so well for her, though. All week, the 30-year old Pierce has marveled at the fact that it's nice to still be able to have "career firsts," such as winning her first American hard court title (San Diego), and this appearance in the final at the Open being her best result in Flushing. But there's more here for Pierce than even a third slam title on the edge of Saturday night... she's going for her third different slam championship. A year ago, her Hall of Fame credentials were good, but not "striking." But with an Australian (1995), Roland Garros (2000) and U.S. title trio on her resume her career standing could take on quite different proportions with one more victory.
============================
FRESH FACE: Viktoria Azarenka
...the #1 seed from Belarus defeated Marina Erakovic (who retired at 5-2 in the 1st set) in the QF, and is the only of the Girls' top six seeds to reach the SF. She'll face Mihaela Buzarnescu, with the winner facing the survivor of the Alexa Glatch/Nina Henkel SF match-up.
============================
DOWN: Maria Sharapova
...for most anyone else, three grand slam SF appearances in one season would be something to rejoice about. But this is the Supernova we're talking about here, and slam titles are what she wants to be her on-court stock and trade. Thing is, winning Wimbledon at 17 has ramped up expectations for a player who hasn't really even grown into her still-growing body just yet. Remember, Serena won an early U.S. Open title in 1999 at age 17, then didn't win her second slam crown until 2002. Somehow, it's hard to see it taking that long for Sharapova to secure her slam follow-up.
============================

==DAY 12 MATCHES==

1.SF - #4 Kim Clijsters def. #1 Maria Sharapova
...6-2/6-7(4)/6-3. Nice Kim is now 4-0 against Sharapova. But she still has one more shot to choke.
----------------------------
2.SF - #12 Mary Pierce def. #6 Elena Dementieva
...3-6/6-2/6-2. Last year, it was Dementieva who pulled off the Roland Garros/U.S. Open final appearances combo.
----------------------------
HM- Girls QF - Nina Henkel d. Elizabeth Plotkin
...7-5/7-5. The 18-year old German is the only unseeded player to reach the Girls SF.
----------------------------

==DAY 12 ODDS & ENDS==

**LONG 2005 WTA WIN STREAKS**
24...Henin-Hardenne (April-June)
17...Clijsters (March-April)
16...CLIJSTERS (August-CURRENT)#
12...PIERCE (July-CURRENT)#
12...Sharapova (February-March)

**LAST 6 SLAM CHAMPIONS - BY SEED**
#6 Myskina (2004 Roland Garros)
#7 S.Williams (2005 Australian)
#9 Kuznetsova (2004 U.S. Open)
#10 Henin-Hardenne (2004 Roland Garros)
#13 Sharapova (2004 Wimbledon)
#14 V.Williams (2005 Wimbledon)
--
#4 Clijsters vs. #12 Pierce (2005 U.S.)

**W/L IN CAREER SLAM FINALS**
=KIM CLIJSTERS=
2001 Roland Garros (lost to Capriati)
2003 Roland Garros (lost to JHH)
2003 U.S. Open (lost to JHH)
2004 Australian (lost to JHH)
----------------------------
=MARY PIERCE=
1994 Roland Garros (lost to Sanchez-V.)
1995 Australian (def.Sanchez-V.)
1997 Australian (lost to Hingis)
2000 Roland Garros (def.Martinez)
2005 Roland Garros (lost to JHH)
----------------------------

**RECORDS IN 2005 FINALS**
=KIM CLIJSTERS=
6-0...outdoors
5-0...hardcourt
1-0...grassourt
----------------------------
=MARY PIERCE=
1-1...outdoors
1-0...hardcourt
0-1...red clay
----------------------------

**CLIJSTERS vs. PIERCE**
2003 Filderstadt SF (Hardcourt) - Clijsters 7-6(2)/6-0
----------------------------
2004 Paris F (Carpet) - Clijsters 6-2/6-2
----------------------------

**2005 RUSSIAN SLAM BESTS**
Australian - Sharapova (SF)
Roland Garros - Petrova/Likhovtseva (SF)
Wimbledon - Sharapova (SF)
U.S. Open - Sharapova/Dementieva (SF)


...no matter who wins on Saturday night, some interesting history will be made. If it's Clijsters, she'll leave Amelie Mauresmo all by her lonesome as the only #1-ranked player to never win a slam title. If it's Pierce, she'll maintain her slam-title-every-five years pace and carve out a nice little corner for herself in the tennis history books by being 3/4 of the way to a career slam (but don't expect her to hold her breath about getting that elusive Wimbledon title in'06).

==FINAL PICK==

#12 Pierce def. #4 Clijsters
...Pierce maintains the anyone-but-a-top-4-seed slam champion run, and Clijsters is left to wonder if she'll ever get that pesky albatross off her shoulder.

All for now.

Read more...

US Open Day 11: Wonder Doubles

Daniela Hantuchova's career has experienced a series of trips down the rabbit hole over the last few years. Ever since winning her first (and, so far, only) WTA singles title back in 2002, and rising to a ranking of #5 the following January, her weight, emotions and game have been called into question.

Wonder Girl looked lost and, for a while, it was an open question whether or not she'd ever find her way back.

But despite at one point falling outside the Top 50, Hantuchova never gave up and, finally, she's seeing the light at the end of what once was a very long tunnel. The Slovak who was bathed in high praise by no less than the likes of Martina Navratilova recently reached a major hardcourt final in L.A., then returned to the singles Top 20. On Thursday, she accomplished a very rare, not to mention Navratilovian, feat -- she won the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles crown with Mahesh Bhupathi, completing a career grand slam with Mixed Doubles titles at all four championships.

2001 Wimbledon (w/ Leos Friedl)
2002 Australian (w/ Kevin Ullyett)
2005 Roland Garros (w/ Fabrice Santoro)
2005 U.S. Open (w/ Mahesh Bhupathi)

In what's become something of the "season of the comeback," add Hantuchova's name to the list of the "resurrected."

==DAY 11 PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Daniela Hantuchova
...on a day where the "Final 4" were at rest, and most of the action involved the "next generation" of tour stars participating in the juniors, Hantuchova gave a subtle reminder to us all that she's still out there fighting... and might just yet one day reach her vaunted potential.
============================
RISERS: Elena Dementieva & Flavia Pennetta
...everything Punch-Drunk touches is turning to gold in Flusing Meadows. Her Midas touch extended to the doubles on Thursday, as she and Pennetta excused Groenefeld/Navratilova in the Doubles SF.
============================
SURPRISE: Nina Henkel
...the 18-year old German junior knocked out #11 Girls seed Wen-Hsun Hsu to advance to the Quarterfinals. She'll next face the equally surprising American Elizabeth Plotkin.
============================
VETERAN: Lisa Raymond
...Raymond & Samantha Stosur outlasted Conchita Martinez & Virginia Ruano-Pascual in a 3rd set TB to advance to the Doubles final.
============================
FRESH FACE: Alexa Glatch
...the 15-year old American is looking like she may just have "the goods." On Thursday, she defeated #9-seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. Next up in the Girls QF is Slovakian-born #3-seed Dominika Cibulkova. Meanwhile, Glatch & Vania King also reached the Girls Doubles SF.
============================
DOWN: Anna-Lena Groenefeld & Martina Navratilova
...don't worry, she got a long time left in her career to win a grand slam title. And Groenefeld has a long a career in front of her, too.
============================

==DAY 11 MATCHES==

1.Mixed F - Hantuchova/Bhupathi def. Srebotnik/Zimonjic
..6-4/6-2. Well, Wonder Girl's got the Mixed Doubles down perfectly. Now, onto the singles?
----------------------------
2.Doubles SF - #14 Dementieva/Pennetta def. #7 Groenefeld/Navratilova
...6-2/6-4. Pennetta is now officially along for Punch-Sober's magical Big Apple ride.
----------------------------
3.Girls 3r - #1 Viktoria Azarenka def. Renee Reinhard
...6-0/6-0. There's a reason the 16-year old from Belarus is the #1 seed.
----------------------------
HM- Girls 3r - #6 Marina Erakovic def. #10 Vania King
..6-3/3-6/7-6(2). The New Zealand teen now gets #1-seed Azarenka.
----------------------------

==DAY 11 ODDS & ENDS==

**YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING, BUT...**
...who'd have thought Venus could come up with yet another new and exciting excuse for her QF loss? Get ready, now. The reason Venus gave for losing to Kim Clijsters was... (drumroll, please)... the Belgian just played "too bad" for Venus to beat her. Huh? Well, in Ferris' own words, "She started playing really bad, and it totally threw me off. She started hitting these really weird shots and short balls and, like, just weird stuff. Next thing I knew I was playing as bad as she was." Okaaaayyy. Oh, and just for good measure, in case you didn't buy her other explanation, Venus said she had a sore right hip hampering her, too. Nice to see winning Wimbledon hasn't changed her, isn't it?

**CLOSEST MATCH**
Doubles SF - #6 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur def. #3 Conchita Martinez/Virginia Ruano-Pascual
...7-5/4-6/7-6(4). Now, Raymond/Stosur will have to take on Dementieva's seemingly supernatural aura of "inevitability" in the final.

**SEMIFINALISTS - 2005 WTA W/L**
55-6...Kim Clijsters
48-7...Maria Sharapova
33-12..Elena Dementieva
32-10..Mary Pierce

**2005 SLAM MIXED CHAMPIONS**
Australian - Samantha Stosur/Scott Draper
Roland Garros - Daniela Hantuchova/Fabrice Santoro
Wimbledon - Mary Pierce/Mahesh Bhupathi
U.S. Open - Daniela Hantuchova/Mahesh Bhupathi

**2005 SLAM SF - SEEDS**
Australian...#1, #4, #7, #19
Roland Garros...#7, #10, #16, #21
Wimbledon...#1, #2, #3, #14
U.S.Open...#1, #4, #6, #12


...tomorrow, the Russian Revolution could overtake the women's tour once again as two members of the Horde try to reach the U.S. Open women's final. After winning the final three slams of 2004, the Russians have yet to reach a slam final in 2005 (though more of this year's slam semifinalists have hailed from Mother Russia than any other nation). But all that could change in a big way on Friday.

With all of Flushing Meadows feeling like it might be ready to open its arms to a certain 30-year old Frenchwoman (rather than the bound-to-break-hearts Nice Kim... who might just never win a slam if she doesn't win this one), here are the picks:

#1 Sharapova def. #4 Clijsters
#12 Pierce def. #6 Dementieva

All for now.

Read more...

US Open Day 10: The Wonderful, Horrible Serve of Elena Dementieva

I love her game. I hate her serve. Though I really do love her game. But, then again, I hate her serve... but I kind of like it, too.

Ah, what can you really say about Elena Dementieva... other than she saved a match point against Lindsay Davenport on Wednesday night and won the three-set long battle anyway? And in the wacky world that is women's grand slam tennis in 2005, it might just mean that she's about the become the U.S. Open champion.

Remember, every women's slam champion this year has survived a match point at some time during the tournament and, so far, Dementieva's the only one of the four semifinalists to have done it. The other champions-who-almost-weren't:

Australian: Serena Williams vs. Sharapova (SF)
Roland Garros: Justine Henin-Hardenne vs. Kuznetsova (4th)
Wimbledon: Venus Williams vs. Davenport (F)

If by some remarkable turn, ol' Punch-Sober's name is added to that list on Saturday night, tennis historians will be hard pressed to find another slam champion quite like Dementieva. Groundstrokes to die for. Wheels that can run all day. Nerves well-conditioned by years of failing to win the big ones, then learning (and retaining) how it's done once she finally did break through.

Oh, and then there's the serve. Yes, that serve. It should be her Achilles heel, but she somehow finds a way to overcome it. It should allow her opponents to feast on her slow-paced sitting ducks. And sometimes they do, but then at others she'll smash a 100 mph ace or spin in a lopsided ugly duckling that catches her opponent offguard and/or flat-footed and Dementieva actually benefits from the most disarmingly odd -- in both horrible and wonderful ways -- shot in the game today.

Say what you will about her modus operandi, it works for Dementieva... at least to a point. She's made two grand slam finals in the past fifteen months, and will play for a third appearance on Friday. She lost the '04 Roland Garros and U.S. Open finals to fellow Russians, and if she defeats Mary Pierce in the SF she might find Maria Sharapova waiting for her on Saturday night.

She couldn't possibly win it though... right? I mean, a grand slam champion's serve couldn't possibly look like a clip from a blooper reel every other point... right?

I love her game. I hate her serve. But I really do love her game. But I hate her serve. At least I think I do.

Oh, Elena. You're such an enigma.


==DAY 10 PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Elena Dementieva
...there were many reasons for Dementieva's old "Punch-Drunk" nickname. She's forever "Punch-Sober" now, but her service games do resemble a drunken college philosophy student partying on a Saturday night -- replete with occasional pearls of wisdom, but also face-first splats down the dormatory steps. But it doesn't matter a whit. She's a U.S. Open finalist for the third time ('00 & '04) in her career.
============================
RISERS: Anna-Lena Groenefeld & Martina Navratilova
...they knocked off the doubles #2 seeds Kuznetsova/Molik in the QF. Later in the day, Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur knocked out the #1-seeded team of Black/Stubbs. Martina & Girl Friday might just be the favorites now, sentimental or otherwise (though Virginia Ruano-Pascual & Conchita Martinez could have something to say about that).
============================
SURPRISES: Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur
...the pair will now face Martinez/Ruano-Pascual for a chance to go to the final, where Stosur would be playing for her second slam title of the year (she won the Oz Mixed with Scott Draper).
============================
vETERAN: Mary Pierce
...hail Mary, full of grace. 20-2 since the start of her run to the Roland Garros final, the 30-year old is looking for all the world like she's going to get another '05 shot at her first slam crown since 2000. She's 10-for-10 in sets at this year's Open (already her career's best) after handily brushing aside Amelie Mauresmo in 1:05, ending her four-match losing streak to her countrywoman. Here's some bad news for Dementieva: Pierce is 5-0 in career slam SF. In other words, when she's on, she's really on. And she is most definitely "on" this year in Flushing.
============================
FRESH FACE: Victoria Azarenka
...the Girls' #1 seed wiped out Czech Katerina Kramperova 6-1/6-2 in junior action on Wednesday. The 16-year old from Belarus won the Australian Open junior title in January.
============================
DOWN: Lindsay Davenport
...she falls short in a slam yet again. It should be noted that Davenport has lost to the eventual champion in five of the last seven slams going back to Oz '04.
============================


==DAY 10 MATCHES==

1.QF - #7 Andre Agassi def. James Blake
...3-6/3-6/6-3/6-3/7-6(6). Yeah, I know this is WTA Backspin. But the match of the tournament deserves to be highlighted. You never know when you're going to get an "instant classic," but you know one when you see it... even if you have to wait until 1:15am for it to end.
----------------------------
2.QF - #6 Elena Dementieva def. #2 Lindsay Davenport
...6-1/3-6/7-6(6). An even stranger stat than Dementieva's 19 doubles faults against Chakvetadze was that she had zero in the 1st set here. Of course, she made up for it with a DF on break point while serving at 6-5 in the 3rd. But yet another 3rd set tie-break win -- after similar victories in the '04 U.S. QF & SF -- makes all of Dementieva's little "quirks" endearing, not devastating. For now, at least.
----------------------------
3.QF - #12 Mary Pierce def. #3 Amelie Mauresmo
...6-4/6-1. After breaking Pierce's serve for 4-5 in the 1st set, Mauresmo proceeded to serve up two double faults in the next game to be broken right back. That was about all she wrote in this one.
----------------------------
4.Doubles QF - #7 Groenefeld/Navratilova def. #2 Kuznetsova/Molik
...6-7/7-5/7-5. Martina turns 49 next month. Kuznetsova & Molik are a combined age of 44.
----------------------------
5.Mixed SF - Hantuchova/Bhupathi def. #6 Morariu/M.Bryan
...7-6/7-5. Wonder Girl won the Roland Garros Mixed title with Fabrice Santoro.
----------------------------

==DAY 10 ODDS & ENDS==

**CLIJSTERS vs. SHARAPOVA**
2003 LA 3r - Clijsters 6-4/1-6/6-1
2003 Lux.SF - Clijsters 6-0/6-3
2005 Miami F - Clijsters 6-3/7-5
2005 US Open SF - ??

**RECORD IN 2005 SF**
6-1...Kim Clijsters
4-4...Maria Sharapova
2-0...Mary Pierce
1-3...Elena Dementieva

**CAREER RECORD IN SLAM SF**
5-0...Mary Pierce (2005: 1-0)
4-3...Kim Clijsters
2-1...Elena Dementieva
1-2...Maria Sharapova (2005: 0-2)

**2005 SLAM SEMIFINALISTS**
[by nation]
6...Russia
4...USA
4...France
2...Belgium

**2005 NIGHT SESSION W/L**
2-0...Maria Sharapova
2-0...Kim Clijsters
2-1...Lindsay Davenport
1-0...Mary Pierce
1-0...Elena Dementieva
1-0...Amelie Mauresmo
1-0...Serena Williams
1-1...Venus Williams
0-1...Justine Henin-Hardenne
0-1...Nadia Petrova
0-1...Daniela Hantuchova
0-1...Anabel Medina-Garrigues
0-1...Na Li
0-1...Maria Vento-Kabchi
0-1...Sesil Karatantcheva
0-1...Eleni Daniilidou
0-1...Catalina Castano


...well, Davenport's exit takes out Pierre Cantin's women's pick. So, the only remaining "champion pick" for either of us is my prediction of Roger Federer to win it all. I'm still feeling pretty good about that one, to say the least.

The elimination of #2-seed Davenport and #3-seed Mauresmo also wipes out two of the top four seeds. The SF match-up of #1 Sharapova and #4 Clijsters will take out another, so the continuation of the streak of anyone-but-the-top-four-seeds at grand slams is still a possibility, with either #12 Pierce or #6 Dementieva shouldering the burden in the final.

Hmmm, so Dementieva has survived a match point and is seeded below #4. If she defeats Pierce, she'll have all the odds in her favor then, right? Stranger things have happened. But not too many.

All for now.

Read more...

US Open Day 9: Ms. Mojo Rising

Thanks to Andy Roddick's swan dive off the upper deck of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Day 2, the snide talk about everyone's "mojo" has been the en vogue insult/compliment for this year's U.S. Open. Even Maria Sharapova was getting into the act on Tuesday night, talking after her quarterfinal win over Nadia Petrova about "finding her mojo" once she returned from taking a bathroom break after dropping the second set.

But the Supernova wasn't the only one who picked up her mojo in the "lost and found" bin under the lights at Flushing Meadows. She was joined in the rescue operation by... (drumroll, please)... Nice Kim Clijsters.

Now, what will ultimately be made of Clijsters' come-from-behind win (she trailed 4-6/2-4 and looked ready to join Roddick in taking a header from the upper rim of the stadium) will be determined by what happens next -- against Sharapova, and then yet another opponent-to-be-determined, should she reach the final -- but, for at least tonight, Nice Kim picked up her grand slam guts from the shiny new blue court and was able to walk away with her head held high. She played the big points better, pulled herself back from the brink, and remains alive to play another day.

Of course, this win does nothing to remove the rather large albatross that's been resting on her shoulder for a few years now. Kim's fine-feathered friend is nicknamed "Grand Slam-less," and he's still alive and flapping. Defeating Venus wasn't the "win of her career," an idea some TV commentators wanted to push immediately after the match. A former #1 doesn't notch her "biggest ever" victory in the quarterfinals. If there's anything we've learned over the years it's that a little grand slam success doesn't signal that a bigger win is just around the corner for Clijsters. She still has a great deal to prove.

And who better to do it against than Sharapova? If Clijsters knocks off the Supernova in the SF, it'd be difficult to pick against her in the Open final. But, since she's still "the same old Kim" until further notice, I'd still find a way to do it anyway.

But at least Tuesday night showed there might be a real live champion's heart beating in there somewhere. If Clijsters can find it again on Thursday and keeps her mojo rising, then she'll only be one more step away from wiping the slate clean and becoming the player her talent says she should be.


==DAY 9 PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Kim Clijsters
...now, all she has to do is beat the #1 seed, then probably defeat the #1-ranked player in the world in the final. Piece of cake... right?
============================
RISER: Katarina Srebotnik
...after surviving match points in the Mixed Doubles 3rd Round vs. Navratilova/Paes, the 24-year old Slovenian (and Nenad Zimonjic, of course) defeated Dinara Safina & Andy Ram to advance to the final.
============================
SURPRISE: Elizabeth Plotkin
...if you're American player (unless you're named Harkleroad or Roddick, that is), you've probably had a pretty good tournament. The 17-year old with a whopping $100 in earnings in 2005 was the latest, as in Tuesday's Girls 2nd Round play she upset #2-seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the Wimbledon junior champion.
============================
VETERAN: Corina Morariu
...the 27-year old (yes, you guessed it) American teamed with Mike Bryan to defeat #2 Mixed Doubles seeds Rennae Stubbs & Mike's brother Bob to advance to the SF. Thus, Morariu's really had a better U.S. Open than beau Justin Gimelstob.
============================
FRESH FACE: Alexa Glatch
...might the 15-year old be the next (and maybe only) American hope for great success on the women's tour? The early reports are good (a faster-than-lightning tour SF in Forest Hills doesn't hurt, either). Today, the #7 Girls seed won her 2nd Round match over Canada's Valerie Tetreault 6-2/6-1. She also won a Girls Doubles match with partner Vania King, who's also had a pretty good few weeks in Flushing.
============================
DOWN: Venus Williams
...the Summer of Venus is (prematurely?) over. Possibly it could be traced to the one-event-in-seven-weeks schedule that Williams used as "preparation" for the Open, a less-than-strenuous "grind" that left her winded and playing like a ghostly apparition of her Wimbledon self in the 3rd set against Clijsters (which she lost 6-1 while offering up little in the form of opposition). Oops, there I go giving Williams an excuse for her latest loss... I'm sure Ferris could have thought up one all by her lonesome.
============================

==DAY 9 MATCHES==

1.QF - #4 Kim Clijsters def. #10 Venus Williams
...4-6/7-5/6-1. Clijsters converted 8 of 12 break point chances. But if she "plays dead," as she did in the 2nd set, again against Sharapova it's hard to believe the Supernova won't close the door shut with a slam... something that Venus simply couldn't muster the will to do.
============================
2.QF - #1 Maria Sharapova def. #9 Nadia Petrova
...7-5/4-6/6-4. If Petrova could ever harness her ability (and head) long enough to truly take advantage of it, we could soon see her hoisting a slam trophy Kuznetsova-style (in other words, by seemingly "coming out of nowhere" one fine fortnight). She's not there yet, but she never gave up (breaking Sharapova as the Supernova served for the match at 5-3 in the 3rd) and was simply bested by a better player in this 2:30 match. Sharapova's now advanced to the SF at the Australian, Wimbledon and U.S. Open this season. But she wants a title.
============================
3.Girls 2r - Nina Henkel def. Alisa Kleybanova
...6-3/6-4. One Russian goes down, at the hands of a German.
============================
HM- Girls 2r - Jamie Hampton def. #4 Caroline Wozniacki
...6-2/2-6/6-4. Meanwhile, another 15-year old American rises over a Dane.
============================

==DAY 9 ODDS & ENDS==

**SHARAPOVA 1... PETROVA 1**
...during their Quarterfinal match, one fan shouted out a marriage proposal to Sharapova. A point later, making sure Petrova didn't feel left out, another fan asked "the other Russian" to marry him, too. As far as can be determined, neither proposal was put forth by "Andy's Mojo" (speaking of, why can't that guy in those ever-present ads take a leap off the upper deck?).


**10+ MATCH WIN STREAKS IN 2005==
24...Henin-Hardenne (April-June)
17...Clijsters (March-April)
15...CLIJSTERS (August-current)#
12...Sharapova (February-March)
10...Sharapova (June)
10...Pennetta (February)
10...Ivanovic (January)
10...V.Williams (June-July)
10...PIERCE (July-current)#
-
#-active streaks

**2005 SLAM SEMIFINALISTS**
=Australian Open=
Serena Williams (W)
Lindsay Davenport (RU)
Maria Sharapova
Nathalie Dechy
------------------------
=Roland Garros=
Justine Henin-Hardenne (W)
Mary Pierce (RU)
Nadia Petrova
Elena Likhovtseva
------------------------
=Wimbledon=
Venus Williams (W)
Lindsay Davenport (RU)
Maria Sharapova
Amelie Mauresmo
------------------------
=U.S. Open=
Maria Sharapova
Kim Clijsters
(Davenport or Dementieva)
(Mauresmo or Pierce)
------------------------


...on Wednesday, Day 10 starts off with Martina Navratilova and Anna-Lena Groenefeld meeting Svetlana Kuznetsova & Alicia Molik in the Doubles QF, then ends with the potentially scintillating Agassi-Blake match. In between, the final two women's semifinalists will be determined. I'll go with:

#2 Davenport d. #6 Dementieva
#12 Pierce d. #3 Mauresmo

All for now.

Read more...

US Open Day 8: Lapsing the Field

You'll have to forgive the somewhat downcast mood that might creep into Day 8's edition of "The Daily Backspin," for things are a little sad around here tonight.

For the Queen is gone... long live the Queen.

A piece of Backspin's heart always tends to leave with Justine Henin-Hardenne when she bows out of a grand slam (and not just because her loss to Mary Pierce pretty much cripples any chance I have of defeating Pierre Cantin in the "Battle Royale 2," either -- the best I can hope for now is a draw). As long as she's around, no lead is safe, and no "brink of defeat" moment is etched in stone.

Come now, who didn't believe -- at least for a few moments -- that when JHH ticked off three straight games after falling behind Mary Pierce 0-5 in the 1st set that she'd end up winning the thing? Or that when she turned back three Pierce match points while down 3-5 in the 2nd that she was simply setting the stage to be the latest slam champion to come back from being match point down to take the title?

This time, though, it didn't happen. Thing is, this was an utterly predictable result if Henin-Hardenne's off-and-on lapses weren't eradicated. They weren't. In fact, things got even worse and they virtually took over her entire mental outlook for long stretches of action against Pierce. Her "ice cold" start on Monday night was only a symptom of what's been bothering her since her return to action a few weeks ago. Framing balls... throwing in uncharacteristic double faults (10 vs. Pierce)... allowing "beaten" opponents a breath of life rather than putting them out of their misery. This just isn't Le Petit Taureau that Backspin's come to know and love. On this night, Henin-Hardenne was the one in misery.

Pierce, on the other hand, was in ecstasy... or as close as she can get to it on a tennis court, in polite company. She'll now face fellow Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals, with the winner most likely taking on Lindsay Davenport. As #12, Pierce is the lowest-seeded woman remaining, and one of four women who can continue the anything-but-a-#4 seed-or-higher slam champion run dating back to last year's Roland Garros.

#6 Elena Dementieva, #9 Nadia Petrova & #10 Venus Williams will all be underdogs in their quarterfinal matches... but Pierce might just arguably be considered the favorite in her's. So why can't she continue this remarkable run of unlikely women's champions, hmmm?

Why not, Mary?

==DAY 8 PLAYER AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Mary Pierce
...the 30-year old's Round of 16 win matches her career-best U.S. Open QF result of 1994 & '99. Last year, she knocked off Sharapova at Flushing Meadows. Like a fine French wine, Pierce is getting better with age.
============================
RISER: Elena Dementieva
...others fall, but Punch-Sober perserveres. Today, she took out Patty Schnyder -- and she only had 8 double faults (as opposed to the 19 she had against Chakvetadze). Her serve isn't really much better than it was a year ago. But, apparently, since she expects the shot to be horrific, she simply doesn't bother herself being disappointed by it. What is it that they say about ignorance being bliss?
============================
SURPRISES: Elena Dementieva & Flavia Pennetta
...as I said, Dementieva just won't go away. In 3rd Round doubles action, she and Pennetta upset #4-seeded Petrova/Shaughnessy.
============================
VETERAN: Martina Navratilova
...on the 30th anniversary of her defection from Czechoslovakia to the U.S., Martina and latest pupil Anna-Lena Groenefeld defeated Ting Li/Tiantian Sun to advance to the quarterfinals, where they'll meet Alicia Molik and Martina's former pupil, Svetlana Kuznetsova.
============================
FRESH FACE: Vania King
...the 16-year old American who qualified for the Women's Main Draw (and upset Klara Koukalova), opened up play as the #10-seed in the Girls Singles on Monday. She wiped out Canada's Jillian O'Neill 6-0/6-0.
============================
DOWN: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...goodbye. Farewell. Until we meet again.
============================

==DAY 8 MATCHES==

1.4th - #12 Mary Pierce def. # Justine Henin-Hardenne
...6-3/6-4. Pierce had never beaten JHH before Monday. Mauresmo is next -- Pierce is 2-4 against her, with a four-match losing streak. I like her odds.
----------------------------
2.4th - #6 Elena Dementieva def. #11 Patty Schnyder
...6-4/6-3. When it comes to serving, Dementieva is Miss Oblivious. Most top players would be disappointed with eight double faults, but Elena says, "Yeeeesssss! Single digits!!!!"
----------------------------
3.4th - #2 Lindsay Davenport def. #15 Nathalie Dechy
...6-0/6-3. I'm surprised this "classic" wasn't chosen as a night match. Davenport is looking scary good.
----------------------------
HM- Doubles 3rd - Zi Yan/Jie Zheng def. #5 Daniela Hantuchova/Ai Sugiyama
...6-3/3-6/7-5. When two Cookies team up, watch out.
----------------------------

==DAY 8 ODDS & ENDS==

**CLOSEST MATCH**
Mixed Doubles QF - Katarina Srebotnik/Nenad Zimonjic def. #7 Martina Navratilova/Leander Paes
...7-6(2)/5-7/7-6(11-9 STB). Martina's success on Monday was mixed (no pun intended) with a little failure, too. In the deciding Super Tie-Break, she and Paes held two match points but ultimately lost the lead, and then the match on a Paes double fault.

**FINAL 8 BY NATION**
3...Russia (Sharapova/Dementieva/Petrova)
2...USA (Davenport/V.Williams)
2...France (Mauresmo/Pierce)
1...Belgium (Clijsters)


**GRIPE OF THE NIGHT**
...and people wonder why so few American sports fans know any of the top men's tennis players. Well, Monday night was a good reason: USA Network, generally good about such things in the past, dumped out of the Ginepri-Gasquet match in the 3rd set, tied one set each, to show a re-run of "Law & Order: SVU" because their coverage "time window" closed. If an American having the slam of his career playing one of the top up-and-coming teenagers in the sport isn't enough to delay the latest adventures of Benson & Stabler then all hope might just be lost.

============================

**EARLY ROUND (1r-4r) AWARDS**

TOP PLAYER: Maria Sharapova
RISER: Elena Dementieva
SURPRISE: Maria Vento-Kabchi
VETERAN: Lindsay Davenport
FRESH FACE: Sania Mirza
DOWN: Svetlana Kuznetsova

MOST MEMORABLE MATCH:
1st Rd - Karatantcheva def. Shaughnessy ...2-6/7-5/7-5. Shaughnessy led 6-2/5-3 and held two match points. A set and a half and a slew of moonballs later, the Bulgarian teen was on her back raising her fists in celebration after a 2:24 match.

LEAST MEMORABLE MATCH:
4th Rd - V.Williams def. S.Williams
...7-6(5)/6-2. Yawwwwnnnn.

STRANGEST STAT:
Elena Dementieva served 19 double faults against Anna Chakvetadze in the 3rd Round, and still won the match.

MISS OPPORTUNITY:
Elena Dementieva gets the nod for finding a way to win no matter how hard her own serve works against it. For the entire tournament, Pierce & Petrova (& maybe even Venus) are still in contention for the nod.

U.S. OPEN "IT" GIRL:
Here ye, here ye. A new Backspin slam award has been born. The "It" Girl Trophy will go to the young player without whom the tournament would not have been nearly as enjoyable. The inaugural winner: the Indian Princess herself, Sania Mirza.

UPSET QUEENS: The Americans

============================

Tomorrow night, the women take center stage at Arthur Ashe. Hopefully, USA Network will see fit to show both matchs in full.

*PICKS*
#1 Sharapova def. #9 Petrova
#4 Clijsters def. #10 V.Williams

All for now.

Read more...

US Open Day 7: Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing, Baby

In the Motown classic, Marvin Gaye melodically sang the praises of "the real thing." If he were alive today and at the National Tennis Center on Sunday, he might have been singing about Maria Sharapova.

Sania Mirza... the "Indian Princess," "The Indian Supernova"... at times hit harder than Sharapova in their Round of 16 match-up. She seemed downright calm, and faced down an early 1st set break by breaking the Russian's serve in the next game. Then, after falling down a break yet again, went up 40-0 on Sharapova's serve. But Sharapova survived that game, seized control of the match and ended one of this year's U.S. Open novellas by putting an unceremonious end to the barrier-breaking Indian's run in less than an hour. Fifty-nine mintues, to be exact.

6-2/6-1. Goodbye Sania. Who's next?

Mirza has talent to burn (even if she is missing a second serve), and personality to spare. But she's not yet on Sharapova's level. There is still only one Supernova. The one and only.

Ain't nothin' like the real thing.


==DAY 7 PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Maria Sharapova
...as per usual when she sniffs a huge opportunity, the Supernova is driving hard. Just like the quality of her opponents, she's getting better and better with each round.
============================
RISER: Nadia Petrova
...after a close win over Nicole Vaidisova today, the Scarlett Empress gets the "honor" of being the next to try her hand at derailing the Supernova Express. Possibly the most versatile of all the Russians, Petrova will be trying to reach her first U.S. Open semi after previous QF runs at both the Open (2004) & Wimbledon (2005) and two Roland Garros SF (2003 & 2005). But she's still looking for her first WTA singles title. Doesn't really sound like she's "the real thing," does it? She might be one win away from qualifying for consideration, though.
============================
SURPRISE: Svetlana Kuznetsova & Alicia Molik
...the singles games of these two, for all kinds of different reasons, aren't up to snuff at the moment. But they're not letting their 1st Round losses get them down. Instead, they're teaming up in doubles. Today in the 3rd Round, the "all-upset" duo defeated Silvia Farina Elia & Roberta Vinci to set up a possilbe QF meeting with Groenefeld/Navratilova.
============================
VETERANS: Cara Black & Rennae Stubbs
...the #1 doubles seeds knocked out the Fujiwara/N.Li team, giving Black some measure of relief after being dumped out of the Mixed draw as the #1-seed along with her brother Wayne. Wayne, by the way, won his doubles match with partner Kevin Ullyett, too. Cheers all around the Black family compound.
============================
FRESH FACE: Alisa Kleybanova
...the 16-year old Russian, ranked #530, won an ITF event as preparation for her participation in the U.S. Open Girls singles. On Sunday, she opened up play with a 1st Round upset of #5-seed Alexandra Dulgheru, 4-6/7-6/6-4.
============================
DOWN: Serena Williams
...after opening the slam season by winning the Australian, Serena's missed Roland Garros, lost at Wimbledon in the 3rd Round, and then was defeated in the Round of 16 on Sunday by Venus. There's nothing more unnerving than watching a great champion playing at less-than-optimal health and, after being "unbeatable" not so long ago, look at times as if she's physically unable to even put up a true fight.
============================

==DAY 7 MATCHES==

1.#10 Venus Williams def. #8 Serena Williams
...7-6(5)/6-2. Even though the 1st set was close, it wasn't great tennis. As is often the case, even when they're both healthy, the 2nd set eventually degenerated into the type of listless contest that we'll ultimately forget about the next time the sisters meet. Thing is, all of their matches have this same general feel... we just choose to believe that this time -- no matter when it is -- will be the time that Venus & Serena play a "classic." Hmmm... maybe next time (there I go again).
----------------------------
2.4th - #1 Maria Sharapova def. Sania Mirza
...6-2/6-1. But now everyone knows her name... let me count the billions. 1, 2, 3, 4...
----------------------------
3.4th - #9 Nadia Petrova def. #26 Nicole Vaidisova
...7-6(4)/7-5. Vaidisova still can't take that next big step against a Top 10 player. A few weeks ago, she lost a similarly-close match like this to Henin-Hardenne in Toronto.
----------------------------
4.4th - #4 Kim Clijsters def. Maria Vento-Kabchi
...6-1/6-0. I said this one would take less than :45. It took :42. Wonder if the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd felt like they got their money's worth? That is, if any of them even saw this match. If anyone went to a concession stand to get a drink, they returned to find Roger Federer already on court for Match #2. "Honey, did Kim get hurt or something?" "No, dear... the USTA just decided to say 'screw it' to the Day 7 nigth session."
----------------------------
5.Doubles 3rd - #7 Groenefeld/Navratilova def. Rolle/N.Uberoi
...6-1/6-0. The beat goes on.
----------------------------
HM- Girls 1st - #7 Alexa Glatch def. Olivia Lukaszewicz
,..6-3/6-1. The little 15-year old engine that could... did again.
----------------------------

==DAY 7 ODDS & ENDS==

**CLOSEST MATCH**
#9 Nadia Petrova def. #26 Nicole Vaidisova 7-6(4)/7-5. A nice tight win by Petrova, even it was against a 16-year old. She'll need all she used here -- and more -- against the 18-year old she'll meet next, though. She's got the talent to win it... but does she have the nerve?

**VENUS vs. SERENA - BY-THE-NUMBERS**
7-7...career head-to-head
5-1...Venus, 1998-01
6-0...Serena, 2002-03
2-0...Venus, 2005
5-4...Serena, vs. Venus at Slams
2-1...Venus, vs. Serena at U.S. Open
3-0...Venus, vs. Serena in Slam 2r-SF
5-1...Serena, vs. Venus in Slam Finals
13-1..record of winner of 1st set
10....straight sets wins in 14 matches


**MONDAY 4th Round PICKS**
#7 JHH def. #12 Pierce
...no lapses, Justine!
-------------------------
#3 Mauresmo def. #19 Likhovtseva
...Amelie's about to hit her grand slam wall
-------------------------
#11 Schnyder def. #6 Dementieva
...only Clijsters had more hardcourt wins than Patty this summer
-------------------------
#2 Davenport def. #15 Dechy
...likely, only JHH can prevent Davenport from making the final
-------------------------


...ah, a night session that includes Henin-Hardenne vs. Pierce (and Gasquet vs. Ginepri). Now we're talking. Way to get your head out of your you-know-what, USTA!

All for now.

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US Open Day 6: Got Mirza?

One of the t-shirts worn by Sania Mirza this week read, "Well behaved women rarely make history."

On the eve of a very big day for the women's draw, and at the risk of turning "The Daily Backspin" into the "Sania Chronicles," it should be noted that the result of Sunday's Maria Sharapova vs. Sania Mirza Round of 16 match might be taken note of by more people than any in the history of tennis. What with the Supernova's worldwide following, and the billion-plus population of India, there aren't too many pockets of the world that won't have an interest in what happens on Arthur Ashe Stadium tomorrow afternoon. In it's own "little" way, Sharapova-Mirza perfectly trumps the Williams-Williams match that will follow it under the sun.

Hmmm... "under the sun?" Both matches? You mean, neither of those matches will take place at night? Difficult as it is to believe... no. Even with the presence of Roger Federer in the late match, there might not be a bigger dog of a ticket tomorrow evening than the one cooked up by the USTA. Federer/Rochus, preceded by Clijsters/Vento-Kabchi? Well, at least the fans who attend won't miss any late dinner reservations. I mean, I realize Clijsters needs to get a night match, and hasn't played one yet -- but how, oh how, does the holiday Labor Day weekend not include a "primo" primetime match on a day that'll see Williams-Williams, Sharapova-Mirza and the potentially intriguing Petrova-Vaidisova? Clijsters-MVK is the worst women's match of the day. Not very smart.

Another of Mirza's t-shirts read, "You can either agree with me, or be wrong." Precisely.

We'll see tomorrow afternoon about the "making history" thing. But if Mirza does indeed win tomorrow, she'll be able to behave as badly as she wants without anyone giving her much hassle about it.

==DAY 6 PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Amelie Mauresmo
...she could have had trouble with Anna-Lena Groenefeld in their 3rd Round match. For a bit, as ALG served to send the 1st set into a tie-break, it appeared that she would, too. But the German slipped, Mauresmo stepped up... and now Girl Friday will now have to focus on her doubles in Flushing.
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RISER: Elena Dementieva
...last year's RU is quietly sneaking through the draw again. She weathered an early storm against Safarova in the 1st Round, and on Saturday she turned back fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze in a 3rd set tie-break.
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SURPRISE: Elena Likhovtseva
...the 29-year old Russian opened the day by losing the 1st set at love to Anastasia Myskina, then gradually got her bearings and eventually outlasted the Czarina in another all-Russian 3rd set tie-break.
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VETERAN: Mary Pierce
...Pierce took care of Jelena Jankovic in straight sets, and now faces a Justine Henin-Hardenne who's been experiencing some lapses against lesser opponants the last two rounds. If Pierce takes advantage, she could end up finding herself still alive in the final next Saturday.
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FRESH FACE: Alexa Glatch
...really no one to go with here for Saturday, so I'll give it to the 15-year old American for keeping up her busy schedule. Just getting started on the WTA tour, she reached the Forest Hills SF last week. In Flushing Meadows, she got a wild card and won a 1st Round main draw match. On Sunday, she'll also play her first match in the Girls singles draw.
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DOWN: Anna Chakvetadze
...oh so close. After a slow start, Chakvetadze seized control of her match with Elena Dementieva. She led 3-0 in the 3rd set, then 3-1 and 4-2 in the 3rd set tie-break. But she still lost a year after making her grand slam debut at last year's Open (where she knocked off Myskina).
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==DAY 6 MATCHES==

1.#7 Justine Henin-Hardenne def. Yoon Jeong Cho
...6-0/7-5(4). JHH led this match 6-0/3-0, but after edging toward ten double-faults she let Cho back into the match (much as she did Sanchez Lorenzo the previous round). If the Queen has lapses like this against Pierce she might not survive them.
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2.#6 Elena Dementieva def. #29 Anna Chakvetadze
...6-1/4-6/7-6(5). Anna's going to be Top 20 soon, but she's still going to have a hard time forgetting letting this one slip away.
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3.#19 Elena Likhovtseva def. #13 Anastasia Myskina
...0-6/6-3/7-6(6). Amidst all the talk of "mojo" this week, Likhovtseva found her's.
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4.#3 Amelie Mauresmo def. #31 Anna-Lena Groenefeld
...7-5/6-3. ALG had two points -- on her tremendous serve -- to send the 1st set into a tie-break. Essentially, she gave away the game... and she knew it, too.
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5.Mixed 2r - #7 Navratilova/Paes def. Ruano-Pascual/Huss
...6-4/6-1. What is it about Indians winning matches at this Open?
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HM- #15 Nathalie Dechy def. #23 Tatiana Golovin
...7-5/2-6/6-2. It was still a resurgent Open for the Frussian Pastry.
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==DAY 6 ODDS & ENDS==

**FINAL 16 BY NATION**
4...Russia (Sharapova/Dementieva/Petrova/Likhovtseva)
3...USA (Davenport/Williams/Williams)
3...France (Mauresmo/Pierce/Dechy)
2...Belgium (Clijsters/Henin-Hardenne)
1...Czech Republic (Vaidisova)
1...India (Mirza)
1...Switzerland (Schnyder)
1...Venezuela (Vento-Kabchi)

**CLOSEST MATCHES**
Dementieva def. Chakvetadze and Likhovtseva def. Myskina
...both the all-Russian 3rd Round matches ended with 3rd set tie-breaks.

**MOST OVERLOOKED UPSET OF DAY**
Mixed 2nd Rd - Dinara Safina/Andy Ram def. #1 Cara Black/Wayne Black
...6-3/6-4. Finally, the Safin family has a result to be proud of at this tournament, and it happens at the expense of the Blacks. Go figure.

**VENUS vs. SERENA**
Played in QF or earlier...Venus leads 3-0
Played in SF or Final...Serena leads 7-3


==PICKS FOR TOMORROW==
#1 Sharapova def. Mirza (in 3 sets, though)
#26 Vaidisova def. #9 Petrova
#4 Clijsters def. Vento-Kabchi (in under :45)
#10 V.Williams def. #8 S.Williams (see above stat)

All for now.

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US Open Day 5: 1,000,000,000 Indian Fans Can't Be Wrong

Back in her home country, the Indian Princess needs to be flanked by bodyguards to avoid being swamped. In New York, though, Sania Mirza could walk through Central Park and be mistaken for your average, multi-pierced 18-year old with a penchant for wearing t-shirts that announce her daily mood (or just serve to get people talking). No, she's not your average Muslim teeanger... and it's not just because she's now ventured deeper into a grand slam draw than any Indian-born woman before her, either.

We'll see if Mirza enjoys the same Big Apple anonymity after she's met up with Maria Sharapova on Sunday afternoon. If she thinks she caused a stir by winning in Hyderabad, imagine what would occur if she sent the Supernova back to the hotel to pack up her Canons.

If she shakes up the world in her next match, Mirza won't need to wear blue suede shoes (or a Presley-esque leather or gold lame suit, for that matter) to get people of all different sorts of nationalities to shout her name. There are over one billion people in India, and that many potential Mirza fans can't be wrong... especially not with their legions suddenly so close to growing expotentially overnight if "the unthinkable" happens this weekend.

Could you imagine it? Sania might be able to. But will that be enough?


==DAY 5 PLAYER AWARDS==

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Venus Williams
...after Serena had finished off Francesca Schiavone to hold up her end of the deal, it was up to Venus on Friday night to secure the much-anticipiated Round of 16 date with her sister. She hardly allowed any suspense, leaving Daniela Hantuchova in her wake and setting up only the second match-up of the sisters before the quarterfinals of a WTA event.
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RISER: Nadia Petrova
...the Empress, an easy 3rd Round winner over Laura Granville, would be the beneficiary of a Mirza shocker against Sharapova. Hey, #9-seed Petrova's the highest-ranked player left in the draw who's yet to win a WTA singles title -- she has to look for a little help anywhere she can find it.
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SURPRISE: Maria Vento-Kabchi
...the 31-year old Venezuelan outlasted Shahar Peer in three sets, setting up an it's-been-good-knowing-ya Round of 16 meeting with Kim Clijsters. Oh, well. At least she'll be able to leave New York knowing she matched her best-ever grand slam result, a 4th Round run at Wimbledon in 1997.
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VETERAN: Martina Navratilova
...the Elder's grand slam quest in back on. On Thursday, she opened her pursuit of the Mixed Doubles crown with a win with partner Leander Paes. On Friday, Martina and Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Toronto champions their last time out, got an opening round win in the doubles. Navratilova turns 49 next month. Hopefully, ALG got her a present... and, in turn, Martina gave her some pointers on how to upset Amelie Mauresmo on Saturday.
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FRESH FACE: Sania Mirza
...occasionally, Mirza smacks a ball down the line so hard that you'd swear that it must have made a disparaging remark about her nose ring. On Friday, more than once, Marion Bartoli threatened to make a move to derail the Sharapova/Mirza matchup that Backspin was so looking forward to. Thankfully, Sania never let Bartoli's idea get beyond the planning stage. No Indian woman has ever been to the U.S. Open 4th Round before... but you get the feeling that Mirza would love to try to see if she can bite off more than she can chew against the Sharapova and take a shot at lasting even longer in this tournament.
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DOWN: Daniela Hantuchova
...Wonder Girl has fought her way back to a major final in Los Angeles, then back to the Top 20. But she's still looking for the formula to handle the likes of Venus Williams under the lights at Arthur Ashe as easily as she did Martina Hingis at Indian Wells back in 2002. She hasn't found it yet.
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==DAY 5 MATCHES==

1.Sania Mirza def. Marion Bartoli
...7-6/6-4. Think Mirza would be hailed all the same if she were to lose to Sharapova by this identical scoreline? Probably. But still...
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2.#8 Serena Williams def. #25 Francesca Schiavone
...6-3/6-4. New York isn't Rome. And this Serena wasn't quite the same Serena that the Italian defeated back in May, either. This Serena is (at least a little bit) healthier. Bring on Venus.
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3.#10 Venus Williams def. #20 Daniela Hantuchova
...6-3/6-3. Wonder Girl is now 0-8 lifetime vs. Venus. Venus is currently 6-7 lifetime vs. Serena.
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HM--#26 Vaidisova def. Ivana Lisjak
...6-1/7-6. Darth Vaidisova now looks at Petrova as (probably) her final roadblock before a meeting with the Supernova in the QF.
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==DAY 5 ODDS & ENDS==

**CLOSEST MATCH OF THE DAY**
Maria Vento-Kabchi def. Shahar Peer
...7-6/4-6/6-3. It was the only top half 3rd Round match that went three sets on Friday.

**GOOD NEWS...BAD NEWS**
...Ashley Harkleroad retired from her 1st Round match earlier in the week, raising all sorts of red flags. But she returned to play doubles with Lindsay Lee-Waters on Friday. That "the good." The "bad?" The pair faced Groenefeld/Navratilova, and lost 6-2/6-2. At least a long recovery period doesn't look it'll be in order yet again.

**YOUNGEST 2005 WTA CHAMPIONS**
Ana Ivanovic - 17 yrs/2 mo/1 wk (Canberra)
MARIA SHARAPOVA - 17 yrs/9 mo/3 wk (Tokyo)
MARIA SHARAPOVA -17 yrs/10 mo/2 wk (Doha)
MARIA SHARAPVOA - 18 yrs/1 mo/3 wk (Birm.)
SANIA MIRZA - 18 yrs/3 mo (Hyderabad)

...just thought I'd get a head start on Sunday.


On Saturday, a pair of all-Russian match-ups (Myskina/Likhovtseva & Dementieva/Chakvetadze) -- no matter who wins -- assure that 25% of the Sweet Sixteen will be members of the Horde. But the match of the day might be Groenefeld vs. Mauresmo. It could be a revelatory moment, for this is Girl Friday's chance to shine.

That's it for the "Daily Backspin." All for now.

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