The Daily Backspin: 2006 WTA Clay Court Awards

**CHAMPIONS OF ROLAND GARROS**
WS: Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL)
MS: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
WD: Lisa Raymond(USA)/Samantha Stosur(AUS)
MD: Jonas Bjorkman(SWE)/Max Mirnyi(BLR)
MIX: Katarina Srebotnik(SLO)/Nenad Zimonjic(SCG)
GS: Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
BS: Martin Klizan (SVK)
GD: Sharon Fichman(CAN)/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(RUS)
BD: Emiliano Massa(ARG)/Kei Nishikori(JAP)


...this year's Roland Garros action wrapped up with Rafael Nadal completing his "60, not 4" win over Roger Federer (running his career record against him to 6-1, including a 4-0 mark in 2006). Lisa Raymond (her ninth slam doubles title) and Samantha Stosur (her third) picked up the slam Doubles title that they missed out on in Melbourne, putting an even tighter stanglehold on their position as the best team in the world.

In the juniors, Agnieszka Radwanska knocked off Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Girls final. The Polish teen previously won the Wimbledon Girls crown in 2005. And Martin Klizan defeated Philip Bester in the all-unseeded Boys final.
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**RG CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND AWARDS**
PLAYER: Justine Henin-Hardenne
RISERS: Samantha Stosur & Katarina Srebotnik
SURPRISE: Sharon Fichman
VETERAN: Lisa Raymond
FRESH FACES: Agnieszka Radwanska & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
DOWN: Kim Clijsters

**CAREER SLAM TITLES - ACTIVE**
[singles-doubles-mixed]
58...Martina Navratilova (18-31-9)
15...Serena Williams (7-6-2)
15...Martina Hingis (5-9-1)
13...Venus Williams (5-6-2)
9....Lisa Raymond (0-5-4)
9....Virginia Ruano-Pascual (0-8-1)

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**2006 WTA 2Q CLAY COURT AWARDS**
[Weeks 14-23]

=TOP PLAYERS=
1.Justine Henin-Hardenne...Queen of Roland Garros (and the pigeons) once again. And don't forget, she saved Belgium's proverbial bacon in Fed Cup play, too, as the Waffles knocked out defending champ Russia. Interestingly, she hasn't won a match at Wimbledon since 2003.
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2.Nadia Petrova...the injury and early bouncing in Paris can't take away her clay dominance this quarter. Can she make up for Roland Garros at SW19, where she made the QF in '05?
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3.Svetlana Kuznetsova...still the bridesmaid at Roland Garros, but now everyone knows that to win in Paris (as has been the case now for three years running) you HAVE to go through the Contessova.
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4.Martina Hingis...once again done in by the Top 10er in Paris -- but she DID win Rome, where she didn't have to face any (though non-Top 10ers Venus, Vaidisova and Safina proved to be pretty tough at RG, didn't they?).
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5.Nicole Vaidisova...the Dynamova was moving along quietly, until she landed on French soil. A Strasbourg title and RG semi later, and she'll be everyone's dark horse at Wimbledon.
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6.Shahar Peer...mature by necessity, the Israeli teen proved to be quite the revelation on the clay, winning two titles and nearly upsetting Hingis in Paris.
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7.Francesca Schiavone...her leading role in knocking off 2003-05 finalist France in Fed Cup play began her clay season, and pretty much everything after that was overshadowed by it.
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8.Dinara Safina...three Top 10 wins in Rome, then her shocking come-from-behind win over Sharapova at RG made everyone begin to wonder whether her career is about to surpass that of her (lately very quiet) big brother.
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9.Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur...it's been a rare big event title that hasn't been won by this duo in '06.
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10.Kim Clijsters...despite her Fed Cup stumble, and whiff in the Roland Garros SF, she DID win in Warsaw on the surface she refuses to believe she's very good on.
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=RISERS=
1.Nadia Petrova
2.Dinara Safina
3.Anna-Lena Groenefeld
4.Jie Zheng
5.Na Li
6.Daniela Hantuchova
7.Shuai Peng
8.Zi Yan
9.Anabel Medina-Garrigues
10.Flavia Pennetta
HM-Ting Li (Sr.) & Tiantian Sun

=FRESH FACES=
1.Nicole Vaidisova
2.Shahar Peer
3.Ana Ivanovic
4.Agnieszka Radwanska
5.Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
6.Romina Oprandi
7.Viktoriya Kutuzova
8.Michaella Krajicek
9.Victoria Azarenka
10.Aiko Nakamura
HM-Virginie Pichet, Alize Cornet & Aravane Rezai

=SURPRISES=
1.Jamea Jackson
2.Jelena Jankovic (after 0-10 streak)
3.Shenay Perry
4.Agnieszka Radwanska
5.Catalina Castano (def. Vaidisova in Charleston)
6.Mashona Washington (almost)
7.Ivana Lisjak
8.Kaia Kanepi
9.Magdalena Rybarikova
10.Anna Tatishvili
HM-Alicia Molik (the comeback begins)

=VETERANS=
1.Martina Hingis
2.Francesca Schiavone
3.Venus Williams
4.Martina Navratilova
5.Meghann Shaughnessy
HM-Lisa Raymond & Jill Craybas

=DOWN=
1.Amelie Mauresmo
2.Elena Dementieva
3.Patty Schnyder
4.Virginia Ruano-Pascual/Paola Suarez (had won RG 4-of-5 years)
5.Nadia Petrova (in Paris)
HM-Mary Pierce (missing-in-action)

=ITF STARS=
Romina Oprandi & Vasilisa Bardina

=PERFORMANCE OF THE MONTH=
Nadia Petrova sweeps Amelia Island & Charleston titles, the first to do so since '95, and wins 15 straight matches en route to three titles

=BEST (NON-TITLE WINNING) PERFORMANCE=
Dinara Safina in Rome

=BEST (NAME-MAKING) PERFORMANCE=
Nicole Vaidisova is a dynamo at Roland Garros

=BEST EXTENDED PERFORMANCE=
Justine Henin-Hardenne extended her Roland Garros record to 22-1 over the past four years in winning her third title in Paris, this time without dropping a set.

=MATCH OF THE MONTH=
Berlin Final - Nadia Petrova d. Justine Henin-Hardenne
...4-6/6-4/7-5. The long, tough match that JHH never had to win at Roland Garros.

=(MARTINA) COMEBACK MOMENTS=
Martina Navratilova returns to Czech Republic for first time in 20 years, then wins yet another doubles title in Strasbourg... Martina Hingis wins Rome, her first singles title during her comeback.

=BEST (PIGEON-ASSISTED) COMEBACK=
Roland Garros 1st - Maria Sharapova d. Mashona Washington
...6-2/5-7/7-5. Sharapova overcomes a 5-2 deficit in the 3rd, and match points that went her way after a few birds "visited" the court.

=WORST POST-SLAM CHOKE=
Amelie Mauresmo... in Fed Cup, and at Roland Garros (take your pick)

=WORST SLAM CHOKE=
Roland Garros 4th - Dinara Safina d. Maria Sharapova
...7-5/2-6/7-5. The Supernova blows a 5-1 lead in the 3rd.

=BEST DECISION=
Zina Garrison put together a "B" Fed Cup team of Jamea Jackson, Jill Craybas, Shenay Perry and Vania King... and upset Germany in the 1st Round.

=WORST DECISION=
Roland Garros SF - Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Nicole Vaidisova
...5-7/7-6/6-2. Vaidisova lost her nerve while serving up 7-5/5-3, but could have saved herself in the 2nd set TB. At 5-5, rather than go for the sure winner down the line to set up a match point she tried to go cross court behind her opponent. The ball sailed wide, Kuznetsova tied the match on the next point... and Vaidisova never recovered.

=BIGGEST (non-WORLD CUP) TEAM UPSET=
Italy def. France 4-1 in Fed Cup

=BIGGEST FED CUP UPSET (MATCH)=
Jamea Jackson d. Anna-Lena Groenefeld
...6-2/3-6/7-5. Jackson makes her Fed Cup debut a memorable one. ALG recovers in time to make the RG quarters (defeating Jackson in their early round rematch).

=BIGGEST NAME-MAKING UPSET=
Warsaw 1st - Agnieszka Radwanska d. Anastasia Myskina
...6-4/4-6/6-4. The Polish teen went on to win the Roland Garros junior title a few weeks later.

=BIGGEST SLAM UPSET=
Roland Garros 4th - Nicole Vaidisova d. Amelie Mauresmo
...6-7/6-1/6-2. And away she goes?

=MARATHON=
Amelia Island Doubles 1st - Pratt/Stewart d. Stubbs/Morariu
...7-6(5)/7-6(20). The 22-20 tie-break was the longest in WTA history.

=HELLO/GOODBYE=
Conchita Martinez retired, while Alicia Molik returned early from her inner ear-related sabbatical.

=CRASHING OUT?=

Jelena Dokic was involved in a minor car accident in Croatia, and lost in the opening round of qualifying for a challenger event (to the world #709). Soon afterward, her own ranking had nearly dipped into the 700's. (However, it should be noted that she DID just qualify for a $25K challenger... but that that's her only good news of late says a great deal about how bad things have been for the one-time Wimbledon semifinalist.)

=OH, AND THEN THERE'S...=
Katerina Bohmova, who was arrested for shoplifting (she was fined $500)... Serena Williams, who appeared as a guest on "The Bernie Mac Show," but not on any tennis courts... Nadia Petrova, who became the #1-ranked Russian after her pre-Paris clay sweep... Indonesia, which balked at traveling to Israel for Fed Cup play because the Muslim country doesn't recognize the state... Venus & Martina Hingis split a pair of matches, their first since 2002... Henin-Hardenne won her Melbourne rematch with Mauresmo in Berlin

...and just a few weeks later became "The Pigeon Queen of Paris."

Ah, what a varied trip it's been.

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**CLAY COURT LISTS**

==MOST 2Q CLAY FINALS==
3...Nadia Petrova (3-0)
2...Shahar Peer (2-0)
2...Justine Henin-Hardenne (1-1)
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova (0-2)

==TOP 10 PLAYERS - 2Q CLAY WTA RECORDS==
19-6...Svetlana Kuznetsova
15-1...Nadia Petrova (0-1 FC)
14-2...Justine Henin-Hardenne (2-0 FC)
12-7...Patty Schnyder
10-2...Kim Clijsters (1-1 FC)
9-3....Venus Williams
6-2....Amelie Mauresmo (1-1 FC)
6-4....Elena Dementieva (1-1 FC)
3-1....Maria Sharapova
0-0....Lindsay Davenport
0-0....Mary Pierce
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**WEEK 24 PREDICTIONS**

...onward we go, as the "Battle Royale" arrives at it's grass court interlude. The 2006 stats so far:

Round of 16: Pierre leads 31-29
Final 8: Backspin leads 36-29
Final 4: Pierre leads 18-16
Finalists: Backspin leads 7-5
Champions: Pierre leads 1-0


BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (III-Grass)
05 F: Sharapova d. Jankovic
06 TOP: Sharapova/Schiavone
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-SF-
Sharapova d. Stosur
Chakvetadze d. Mirza
-FINAL-
Sharapova d. Chakvetadze

...it's back to the grass, so I'll play it safe and go with the Supernova to repeat. After not getting a single cotton-pickin' clay champion correct, it's not like I can do any worse, right?


**PIERRE's PICKS**
SEMIFINALS
Sharapova def Raymond
Zvonareva def Bartoli

FINAL
Sharapova def Zvonareva


All for now.

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ALSO THIS WEEK: 2006 ATP Clay Court Awards on ATP Backspin.