Day 3: The Little Black Dress

If they awarded grand slam titles after one match, then Maria Sharapova would have her first U.S. Open championship all but wrapped up.

It should really come as no surprise. After all, she was nothing if not dressed for success on Wednesday night.



Her classic little black dress was as elegant as Serena's infamous catsuit was... um... let's just say "interesting." But Sharapova didn't destroy Michaella Krajicek 6-3/6-0 in what was supposed to be a tough match because the Dutch teenager was mesmerized by Maria's fashion sense. The Supernova's game was simply as stylish as her ensemble. There was no Mashona Washington-inspired scare that required some pesky pigeons for her to escape with a victory this time around.

On Day 3, it was the rest of the field that might have reason to worry. The Lady in Black has arrived in New York, and she doesn't look as if she wants to go home empty-handed.



Love-Love... thank goodness for the Supernova for, even with so many top players in action on Day 3 because of the backlog of matches after Tuesday's rainout, very little of actual note seemed to happen Wednesday.
=============================
15-Love... the day began with Rafael Nadal pulling a reverse Tiger Woods -- wearing a black-and-red combo in the 1st Round, rather than in the last -- and then proceeded to produce a dull humm during what was left of the daylight.
=============================
30-Love... Amelie Mauresmo, with a night to get herself right while Kristina Barrois tied herself up in knots, began the resumption of her 1st Round match today down 2-5 in the 2nd set. Five games later, she'd won the set 7-5 to close out the match. Ho-hum. James Blake had difficulty closing out Juan Monaco, failing on five match points and looking like he might be starting to cramp up... but there was no remarkable flame-out in store, for the top-ranked American won the match on his sixth MP to at least temporarily stop his late summer slide since he won a title in Indianapolis. Double ho-hum.
============================
40-Love... U.S. Open Series champion Ana Ivanovic was pushed by Vera Dushevina, but still managed to pull out the match 6-3/5-7/6-4 to avoid the first truly big women's upset of the Open (Anastasia Myskina going down to Victoria Azarenka today wasn't really tremendously unexpected). Not much there, either.
============================
40-15... at least Nadia Petrova got her first win since May, easily wiping away qualifer Clarisa Fernandez 6-2/6-1. But, still, it was a frustratingly (though happily so) routine day for Scarlett after a tough few months.
============================
40-30... hey, speaking of qualifiers. Five of the women who reached the main draw the hard way have survived to play again in the 2nd Round:

Eva Birnerova
Youlia Fedossova
Kirsten Flipkens
Varvara Lepchenko
Agnieszka Radwanska

Lucky loser Nicole Pratt also won her 1st Round match.
=============================
DEUCE... the early line of the Open's "Upset Queens" is focusing on the Pastries, as Fedossova (def. #25 Anabel Medina-Garrigues) and Aravane Rezai (#15 Anna-Lena Groenefeld) both knocked out seeded players in the 1st Round.
=============================
AD... Vania King will indeed have a nighttime presence on Arthur Ashe Stadium tomorrow, but it won't be for her 2nd Round match against Justine Henin-Hardenne. That'll take place during the day. At night, she'll be singing the national anthem before the night session. Way to go, Vania.
=============================
GAME, "BUT, THANKFULLY, WE HAD THE SUPERNOVA"

...as soon as Sharapova slipped off her wrap, Day 3 finally had a plotline nearly as sleek as that little black dress. If not for it, today's Daily Backspin might as well been called "Matches Galore, but Not Much More." Thank you, Maria. It's the little things that count.
=============================



All for Day 3.

Read more...

Day 2: The Rains of August

On Day 1, Alicia Molik lost her 1st Round match to Vania King and complained about hearing loud music, generators and blow dryers from nearby courts, planes, and the cheers emanating from a particularly loud clinic. Oh, and she also could smell burning hot dogs from a vendor on the tournament grounds.

"You feel like you're in the middle of a circus," said the ticked off Aussie.

Boy, it's a good thing she wasn't scheduled to play on Day 2.

Oh, for the tournament to be held hostage by Mother Nature. That's where Melbourne (and, soon, Wimbledon) have the advantage of forward thinking over the Open... they spent/will spend their money not on a cavernous stadium, but on a retractable roof.

Yes, Tuesday was the helpless victim of one of those weather days that back up the schedule (bad news for Serena), frustrate the television networks and cause tapes of old matches to be pulled off the shelf while everyone twiddles their thumbs and waits. And, this year, there's no Kim Clijsters around to run through the puddles and fulfill her need to be considered "the light-hearted one."

As it was, no matches were completed. Amelie Mauresmo is the only top player facing any sort of interesting dilemma after the abbreviated period of action today. She won the 1st set earlier in the day, only to fall behind 2-5 in the 2nd to pesky qualifier Kristina Barrois before the rain returned. To Barrois' lasting detriment, the night to think about things will probably provide a great assist to Mauresmo's attempt to rally when (if?) play resumes tomorrow.

So, with a bit of dead air to fill, what better time to take care of a little housekeeping and get the August Awards (minus the Open, which will be included in the 3Q Awards, as well as September's totals) out of the way? So...

==AUGUST AWARDS (WEEK 31-34)==

*PLAYERS OF THE MONTH*
1.Maria Sharapova

2.Ana Ivanovic
3.Elena Dementieva
4.Justine Henin-Hardenne
5.Jelena Jankovic

RISER: Ana Ivanovic
SURPRISE: Stephanie Dubois
VETERAN: Martina Navratilova
FRESH FACE: Anna Chakvetadze
DOWN: Nadia Petrova
DOUBLES TEAM: Zi Yan & Jie Zheng

*TOP PERFORMANCE*
...Maria Sharapova wins San Diego, defeating Kim Clijsters 7-5/7-5 in the final to get her first win in five tries against the wristy Belgian

*MATCH OF THE MONTH*
Forest Hills Final - Meghann Shaughnessy d. Anna Smashnova
...1-6/6-0/6-4. For the first in thirteen career WTA singles finals, Smashnova finally loses. It was Shaughnessy's second title of the year, the only two by an American woman in '06. Afterward, Smashnova lost in the opening round of the U.S. Open, the 26th 1st Round slam exit in her career.

*BREAKOUTS OF THE MONTH*
...it was a big month for the Serbs, as Ana Ivanovic won the U.S. Open Series after destroying Martina Hingis in the Tier I Montreal final., while Jelena Jankovic reached the final in Los Angeles.

*UPSET OF THE MONTH*
Montreal 2nd - Stephanie Dubois d. Kim Clijsters
...1-6/3-2 ret. Sure, it was because of Clijsters' wrist injury, but it'd be difficult to find a more unlikely "winner" in August.

*BIGGEST WIN*
Montreal Doubles Final - Navratilova/Petrova d. Black/Groenefeld
...6-1/6-2. Maybe not the "biggest," per se, but if it turns out to be the final title of Navratilova's career then it'll forever be the answer to a trivia question.

*WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? (oh, yeah -- she wasn't)*
....in the match against Dubois, Clijsters could have retired from the match at 2-1 in the 2nd set when she first met with a trainer about her troublesome wrist. She didn't, played two games, then saw the trainer again. She didn't quit then, either. Instead, she went out and fell on her wrist while lunging for a shot. So long U.S. Open title defense. So long Fed Cup final.

*THE "ALMOST GIRLS"*
...in San Diego in August, Nicole Vaidisova lost her second 3Q SF to Kim Clijsters, while Jelena Jankovic dropped her second three-setter of the quarter to the Belgian. Still, Vaidisova recently reached the Top 10 for the first time and Jankovic put behind her that horrific 1-10 start to her 2006 season.

*NOT THIS TIME, LITTLE MISS*
...earlier this year in Warsaw, Anastasia Myskina lost to Polish teen Agnieszka Radwanska in one of the bigger upsets of 2006. This month in Stockholm, Myskina faced Aggie's little sister Urzsula. After winning the 1st set in a tie-break, the Czarina put away Radwanska to prevent the long-distance phone call between the two that no doubt would have resulted in many giggles had the pair suddenly had something more in common than a bloodline.

*THE FORGOTTEN COOKIE*
...though she's generally overlooked in favor of Na Li and (sometimes) Shuai Peng, Jie Zheng continues to impress. She's half (with Zi Yan) of what might be the best doubles team in the world in '06, and her August singles title in Stockholm gives her three for her career -- more than all the other Chinese women combined.

*RUMORS, RUMORS*
...Maria and Roddick? Roddick and Maria? Does one of them have to win the Open for the "truth" to come out? And what of the whispers sparked by Martina Hingis that Anna Kournikova might be contemplating a return to the tour in doubles? Hmmm...

*WHAT, NO MORE ESPN-BASHING?*
...The Tennis Channel won the U.S. cable rights to Roland Garros starting in 2007. Oh, well... I'm sure the "Grand Slam Network" can find a way to screw up coverage of the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

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

In the words of some guy in the stands on Monday night when Andrei Pavel kicked a ball over the net, "This isn't the World Cup, buddy!"

True... but when it rains during a soccer match, the whole thing isn't called off. Something to think about.



All for Day 2.

Read more...

Day 1: Kings for a Night

All good things must come to an end... but not yet. Not on Day 1 of the U.S. Open.



In an emotional seesaw of a match, imminent retiree Andre Agassi survived to fight (at least) another day in Flushing Meadows with a hard fought 6-7/7-6/7-6/6-2 win over Andrei Pavel. The key moment of the match might have come when Agassi, down 0-4 in the 3rd set, began playing with a stack of newly-tightly-strung rackets. At that point, he found his groundstroke groove and gradually pulled himself back into the set, then put away the tiring Romanian, who valiantly battled the future Hall of Famer and 22,000 of his closest friends at Arthur Ashe Stadium until 12:30am.

Agassi will next face Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis in what will surely be another encounter under the stars which will end in exhileration, or resigned heartbreak over the fact that the Agassi Era will have come to an official end.

But that's then, and this is now. After Day 1, he lives.


Love-Love... you know the U.S. Open has arrived when you see the courts being squeegeed at 11am. But, amazingly, Kim Clijsters was no where to be seen to offer her usual help. Yes, this is indeed a very different Open.
==============================

15-Love... before Night 1 belonged to Agassi, it was Billie Jean King's moment to bathe in some long overdue adulation as the USTA National Tennis Center was renamed in her honor. There to honor King in person were American tennis luminaries Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Venus Williams (well, she'll one day be considered a "luminary"... right now, she's just an injured player with some free time) and, in the stands, Martina Navratilova.
==============================
15-15... speaking of Jimbo, Connors pupil Andy Roddick certainly seems to be taking rather well to the brash one's pointers. After winning the Cincinnati title a week ago, he's carrying himself like a top player once again. On Day 1, he completely destroyed Florent Serra a year after being dumped out of the Open in the opening round by Gilles Muller. Could Roddick now be pointing toward a possible semifinal matchup with Rafael Nadal?
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15-30... Svetlana Kuznetsova wishes she had as easy a day as Roddick, as she instead played one of those 1st Round hand-wringers against Sandra Kloesel. Kloesel was up a break in the 3rd set on the '04 Open champ, but Kuznetsova managed to pull out a 6-2/2-6/6-3 victory.
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30-30... the first winner of the tournament: Ai Sugiyama, over Zuzana Ondraskova. As for the men, it was Novak Djokovic with a win over Donald Young. The young American actually managed to take the first set from Djokovic, before falling away with increasing ease (0-6/1-6 in the 3rd and 4th sets).
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30-40... First Seed Out: #15 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, whose summer of hard court discontent mercifully ended with a loss to Aravane Rezai. (The first men's seed to go was #19 Dominik Hrbaty, to Mikhail Youzhny).
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DEUCE...

**2006 FIRST SLAM SEEDS OUT**
Australian Open: #9 Dementieva (Schruff)
Roland Garros: #18 Likhovtseva (Sprem)
Wimbledon: #28 Arvidsson (Birnerova)
U.S. Open: #15 Groenefeld (Rezai)

==============================
AD... and, no, I won't be discouraged by the fact that two of the few differences between Pierre's picks and mine both went his way on Day 1 as Lucie Safarova knocked out Samantha Stosur (figures, since Stosur seemed to be playing the better of the two coming in), and Severine Bremond saved Quebec from total annihilation by ending the run of Canadian qualifier Stephanie Dubois (but I only picked that one to potentially get over on Monsieur Cantin in case his fellow native actually did manage to win).
==============================
DEUCE... plus, Justine looked mighty good today against Maria Elena Camerin, so I'm feeling pretty good on that front. And speaking of the New Haven final, isn't it remarkable what a little rest did for Lindsay Davenport? Now she'll get two more days off, so maybe all will be well with her (until she might meet JHH in the QF, that is)... which would take back at least a little of Pierre's advantage since he picked her out early on the assumption that she might not even be able to play at all. Stay healthy, Lindsay... at least for about another week.
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AD... hmmm, 16-year old American wild card Lauren Albanese might not be a wolf in sheep's clothing, but she isn't a sheep, either. She knocked out Olga Savchuk on Monday. Now she gets to face Kuznetsova.
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GAME, "You just couldn't do this two months ago, now could you?" ...before Wimbledon, I picked Feliciano Lopez to surprisingly reach the SF. But it all hinged on him upsetting Ivan Ljubicic in the 1st Round. He ended up losing on an eighth match point, 11-9 in the 5th set. On Monday, Lopez finally defeated #3-seed Ljubicic in a grand slam, and he did it in straight sets. Better late than never, I guess. Or not.
==============================

Tomorrow, the Supernova appears under the stars...


All for Day 1.

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U.S. Open Preview: She is History

"Now it's a closed chapter. I have one more to write, and then it will be done."

That was Martina Navratilova a week ago, after defending her half of the Montreal Tier I doubles title, erasing her name from the WTA record book... only to have it replaced with her own as, two months shy of her 50th birthday, she once again became the oldest WTA champion in history.

How fitting, since she IS history. Not just because she's about to close out her career at the U.S. Open, but because once upon a time she forever changed the face of her sport. After Martina broke the mold of what is "expected" in society, a strong female athlete wasn't an oxymoron.

No one has ever dominated tennis the way Navratilova did in the early 1980's, and no one managed to overcome quite so many obstacles to become a beloved legend, either. Born in Communist Czechoslovakia, with her family potentially endangered should she not follow her federation's strict rules. Gay. An early underachiever. A woman who quite literally feared for her life in New York City after announcing she had defected. "Too masculine." Not Chris Evert. Too outspoken. Too honest. And, later, too old.

In the end, Navratilova outlasted all her critics, as well as all her opponents. She's been held in awe for a quarter of a century now, and it'd be difficult to find too many who've learned -- through much trial and error -- to wear it quite as well as she.

It's perfect timing that Martina's "final chapter" will occur at the newly-named Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, for it was King who took a young Navratilova under her wing oh so many years ago. King, too, was no stranger to controversy and overcoming obstacles, having essentially created through her own guile, sweat and tears what we now identify as the WTA Tour.



Both King and Navratilova will be honored this week in Flushing, and when it happens it will remind everyone that they're the two most important figures in women's tennis in the last fifty years, and maybe ever. One helped create the sport as we know it today, while the other revolutionized it.

Perhaps the most affecting passage in "The Rivals," the book that chronicles the careers, rivalry and friendship of Navratilova and Evert is one that centers on a young Czech player named Marketa Kochta. In 1993, she entered the qualifying event of a tournament in Oakland with the seemingly far-fetched hope of playing her lifelong heroine/inspiration Navratilova. Kochta did qualify and, through the luck of the draw, met Navratilova in the 1st Round.

Kochta lost in three sets, but the real story was what happened at the net. She fulfilled her dream when she got to tell Navratilova, "You are my hero." Afterward, when asked by the press what she felt Navratilova meant to tennis, she said, "Why, she is history. She made things possible, you see?"

And she still does today. Without Martina, there would be no Maidens.

Boy, it would surely be a sweet moment if Martina could hold up a major trophy one more time before she goes, wouldn't it?

Ahh, but that's probably just a dream... but, then again, so was Kochta's wish.



**U.S. OPEN QUALIFYING AWARDS**
QUALIFIER OF THE WEEK: Yung-Jan Chan
...oh, to be 17 and in the U.S. Open
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RISER: Kirsten Flipkens
...ready for her close-up, as she prepares to fill in for Clijsters in the Fed Cup final
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SURPRISE: Stephanie Dubois
...along with Aleksandra Wozniak, Dubois is reviving Canada's tennis fortunes
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VETERAN: Clarisa Fernandez
...the surprise '02 Roland Garros semifinalist is still plugging away in slam qualifying
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FRESH FACES: Agnieszka Radwanska & Vasilisa Bardina
...both 17, after Chan, they're the next two youngest qualifiers
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DOWN: Tamarine Tanasugarn & Alexandra Stevenson
...opening qualifying round losers
------------------------------

**YOUNGEST QUALIFIERS**
17...Yung-Jan Chan, TPE
17...Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
17...Vasilisa Bardina, RUS
18...Youlia Fedossova, FRA
18...Olga Poutchkova, RUS
19...Stephanie Dubois, CAN

**OLDEST QUALIFIERS**
27...Sandra Kloesel, GER
27...Tatiana Poutchek, BLR
26...Lioudmila Skavronskaia, RUS
>>LUCKY LOSER: 33...Nicole Pratt, AUS<<

**U.S. OPEN #1 SEEDS - LAST 10 YEARS**
1997...Martina Hingis (W)
1998...Martina Hingis (RU)
1999...Martina Hingis (RU)
2000...Martina Hingis (SF)
2001...Martina Hingis (SF)
2002...Serena Williams (W)
2003...Kim Clijsters (RU)
2004...Justine Henin-Hardenne (4r)
2005...Maria Sharapova (SF)
2006...Amelie Mauresmo

**1st SEEDS OUT?**
#5 Petrova (vs. Fernandez)
#10 Davenport (vs. Zakopalova)
#11 Myskina (vs. Azarenka)
#17 Hantuchova (vs. Mattek)
#18 Pennetta (vs. Kutuzova)
#23 Chakvetadze (vs. Sucha)
#24 Li (vs. Sanchez-Lorenzo)
#32 Likhovtseva (vs. Sun)

**1st SEED OUT? (but don't whisper it too loudly)**
#3 Sharapova (vs. Krajicek)

**LAST QUALIFIER STANDING??**
Agnieszka Radwanska


2005 FINAL: Clijsters d. Pierce
2006 TOP: Mauresmo/Henin-Hardenne

==SECTION 1==
FAVORITE: Amelie Mauresmo
...but Serena or Ivanovic might have something to say about that in the Round of 16
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DARK HORSE: Serena Williams
...is she fit and/or healthy enough to win seven matches? Good weather will help, since it'd mean she wouldn't have to play back-to-back days. If she gets past Hantuchova in the 2nd Round, then Ivanovic in the 3rd... watch out. Remember Melbourne '05?
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TEEN TO WATCH: Ana Ivanovic
...she won the U.S. Open Series, but may have to go through Serena, Mauresmo and Hingis to reach SF.
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POTENTIAL SPOILER: Martina Hingis
...will probably reach Round of 16, then cross her fingers. It's worked so far, since she'll avoid the Mauresmo/Serena/AnaIvo trioka survivor until the QF.
----------------------------
DISAPPOINTMENT: Dinara Safina
...like brother Marat, she could last deep into the second week or be out before the Round of 16.
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AMERICAN HOPE: (other than Serena) Bethanie Mattek
...she could battle Hantuchova for fashion supremacy in Round 1, then Serena in Round 2.
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==SECTION 2==
FAVORITE: Maria Sharapova
...after the Krajicek bid in the 1st Round, she couldn't ask for a draw more conducive to a run to the final.
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DARK HORSE: Anna Chakvetadze
...if she's healthy, that is. The same goes for Na Li.
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TEEN TO WATCH: Agnieszka Radwanska
...she might not be ready, but there's reason to believe that section mates Golovin, Petrova and Chakvetadze all could crash and burn in the early going.
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POTENTIAL SPOILER: Mary Pierce
...the '05 RU, but she's barely played this year. Still, if her body is right, she's got just as good a chance an anyone.
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DISAPPOINTMENT: Nadia Petrova
...barely nudging out Anastasia Myskina, thanks mainly to her five-match losing streak that extends all the way back to May.
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AMERICAN HOPE: Jamea Jackson
...she's beaten top players on several occasions this year, but has little momentum right now. Amy Frazier, in her 20th straight Open, could last a few rounds, too.
----------------------------

==SECTION 3==
CO-FAVORITES: The Gang of 3
...this section is loaded with potential finalists, as Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nicole Vaidisova are bunched tightly together.
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DARK HORSES: Jelena Jankovic & Vera Zvonareva
...but Jankovic might face Vaidisova in Round 3, while Zvonareva could battle Dementieva.
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TEEN TO WATCH: Nicole Vaidisova
...the almost-finalist in Paris gets one final slam shot for '06.
----------------------------
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Samantha Stosur
...her singles have picked up again on the hard courts (just ask Davenport).
----------------------------
DISAPPOINTMENT: Anna-Lena Groenefeld
...for a player who's been struggling on hard courts all year, the draw did her no favors. She could exit as early as the 2nd Round against the Stosur/Safarova winner.
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AMERICAN HOPE: Jill Craybas
...really, there is no hope for the home nation in this section... unless Miss Albanese is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
----------------------------

==SECTION 4==
FAVORITE: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...New Haven has put her in prime position, but it should be noted that she won events preceding Oz (Sydney) and SW19 (Eastbourne), only to lose in the slam finals to Mauresmo. She lost to Petrova in the Berlin final, then won Roland Garros.
----------------------------
DARK HORSE: Shahar Peer
...if she gets past Schiavone in the 3rd Round, she'll try to take down Justine in the Round of 16.
----------------------------
TEEN TO WATCH: Sania Mirza
...Sania became a New York star a year ago, but will be swallowing hard just to survive Round 1 against Sprem.
----------------------------
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Lindsay Davenport
...but after her New Haven shoulder injury, who knows if she'll even play at all. If not, move Katarina Srebotnik into this slot.
----------------------------
DISAPPOINTMENT: Patty Schnyder
...it's a slam, so it goes with the territory.
----------------------------
AMERICAN HOPE: Vania King
...after Davenport being healthy enough to compete, of course. If the intriguing King gets past Molik in the 1st Round, she'd seem to be a perfect Ashe at Night opponent for JHH in the 2nd.
----------------------------


...coming off clocking two correct champion predictions in Week 34, I'm ready to battle the Head Honcho again. To see's Monsieur Cantin's predictions, take a hop, click and a jump over to .

As for (the unabridged) me...

*1st Round*
#1 Mauresmo d. Barrois
Shaughnessy d. Vinci
Raymond d. Santangelo
#31 Dechy d. Bammer
#17 Hantuchova d. Mattek

S.Williams d. Dominguez-Lino (might Serena be the most dangerous unseeded floater in the history of 32-seed slams?)

Nakamura d. Czink
#16 Ivanovic d. Dushevina
#13 Safina d. (Q)Beygelzimer
(Q)Poutchek d. Fedak
Gajdosova d. Glatch
Kutuzova d. #18 Pennetta
#25 Medina-Garrigues d. (Q)Fedossova
Kanepi d. Foretz
Razzano d. Ani
#8 Hingis d. Peng
#3 Sharapova d. Krajicek
Pin d. Loit
(LL)Pratt d. (Q)Sequera
#32 Likhovtseva d. Sun
#24 Li d. Sanchez-Lorenzo
Perry d. Daniilidou
Voskoboeva d. (Q)Birnerova
#13 Pierce d. Vesnina

Azarenka d. #11 Myskina (poor Czarina)
Jackson d. Pironkova (hmmm... Pironkova is '06 slam Upset Queen)

A.Bondarenko d. Rolle
#23 Chakvetadze d. Sucha
#27 Golovin d. Harkleroad
(Q)A.Radwanska d. Yan
Frazier d. Ruano-Pascual

#5 Petrova d. (Q)Fernandez (Nadia can't go 0-6... right?)

#6 Kuznetsova d. (Q)Kloesel
Savchuk d. Albanese
Rodionova d. Sromova
#29 Zheng d. Peschke
#19 Jankovic d. Dulko
(Q)Flipkens d. (Q)Chan
Jidkova d. Kirkland
#9 Vaidisova d. Rubin
#15 Groenefeld d. Rezai
Stosur d. Safarova

(Q)Dubois d. Bremond (just so Pierre can miss it and me get it right... assuming Dubois actually wins, that is)
#20 Kirilenko d. Schruff

#33 Zvonareva d. Domachowska (#33 because of Venus' withdrawal, no doubt payback from the tennis gods for Williams ridiculously stressing "trip" rather than "road" in those U.S. Open Series commercials)

Craybas d. Benesova
Laine d. Tu
#4 Dementieva d. Granville
#7 Schnyder d. Smashnova (what a matchup of slam "titans")

Arvidsson d. Martinez-Granados
(Q)Lepchenko d. Castano
#26 Bartoli d. (Q)Poutchkova
#22 Srebotnik d. Morigami
Bychkova d. (Q)Skavronskaia
#10 Davenport d. Zakopalova
#14 Schiavone d. Oprandi
Mirza d. Sprem
Yakimova d. Muller
#21 Peer d. (Q)Bardina
#28 Sugiyama d. Ondraskova
Yuan d. Garbin
King d. Molik
#2 Henin-Hardenne d. Camerin
=============================
*2nd Round*
#1 Mauresmo d. Shaughnessy
Raymond d. #31 Dechy
S.Williams d. #17 Hantuchova
#16 Ivanovic d. Nakamura
#12 Safina d. (Q)Poutchek
Kutuzova d. Gajdosova
#25 Medina-Garrigues d. Kanepi
#8 Hingis d. Razzano
#3 Sharapova d. Pin
#32 Likhovtseva d. (LL)Pratt
#24 Li d. Perry
#13 Pierce d. Voskoboeva
Jackson d. Azarenka
#23 Chakvetadze d. A.Bondarenko

(Q)A.Radwanska d. #27 Golovin (someone has to be the big surprise, so I'll go with Aggie)

Frazier d. #5 Petrova
#6 Kuznetsova d. Savchuk
#29 Zheng d. Rodionova
#19 Jankovic d. (Q)Flipkens
#9 Vaidisova d. Jidkova
Stosur d. #15 Groenefeld

#20 Kirilenko d. (Q)Dubois (Quebec is safe again)

#33 Zvonareva d. Craybas
#4 Dementieva d. Laine
#7 Schnyder d. Arvidsson
#26 Bartoli d. (Q)Lepchenko
#22 Srebotnik d. Bychkova
#10 Davenport d. Asagoe
#14 Schiavone d. Mirza
#21 Peer d. Yakimova
#28 Sugiyama d. Yuan
#2 Henin-Hardenne d. King
=============================
*3rd Round*
#1 Mauresmo d. Raymond
#16 Ivanovic d. S.Williams (moment of truth)

#12 Safina d. Kutuzova
#8 Hingis d. Medina-Garrigues
#3 Sharapova d. #32 Likhovtseva
#24 Li d. #13 Pierce
#23 Chakvetadze d. Jackson
(Q)A.Radwanska d. Frazier (last qualifier standing)

#6 Kuznetsova d. #29 Zheng
#9 Vaidisova d. #19 Jankovic
Stosur d. #20 Kirilenko
#4 Dementieva d. #33 Zvonareva

#7 Schnyder d. #26 Bartoli (I should pick Bartoli here)

#10 Davenport d. #22 Srebotnik
#21 Peer d. #14 Schiavone
#2 Henin-Hardenne d. #28 Sugiyama
=============================
*ROUND OF 16*
#16 Ivanovic d. #1 Mauresmo (down goes Amelie)
#8 Hingis d. #12 Safina

#3 Sharapova d. #24 Li

...no real reason to put this picture here. I just wanted an excuse to use it.

#23 Chakvetadze d. (Q)A.Radwanska
#9 Vaidisova d. #6 Kuznetova (grand slam revenge is sweet)

#4 Dementieva d. Stosur
#10 Davenport d. #7 Schnyder
#2 Henin-Hardenne d. #21 Peer
=============================
*QF*
#16 Ivanovic d. #8 Hingis
#3 Sharapova d. #23 Chakvetadze
#9 Vaidisova d. #4 Dementieva
#2 Henin-Hardenne d. #10 Davenport
=============================
*SF*
...youngsters abound, and Vaidisova has another shot at her first slam final. But against Justine? Ivanovic might have a better shot against Sharapova.

#3 Sharapova d. #16 Ivanovic
#2 Henin-Hardenne d. #9 Vaidisova
=============================
*FINAL*
...Sharapova would be about a year ahead of the Scenario's schedule with a win here, which would be nothing new for her. It could happen, too. But I'm not going to let go of Le Petit Taureau. Not this time. I've learned my lesson.

#2 Henin-Hardenne d. #3 Sharapova




Picks for the men are on ATP Backspin. All for now.

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

The Daily Backspin starts on Monday, with occasional extra editions covering the night action on Arthur Ashe.

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Wk.34- There IS an "i" in Justine... thankfully

Say what her critics will about her "selfishness" and interpersonal (un-Kim like) deficiencies, but Justine Henin-Hardenne is almost always "as advertised"... doing just what you expect, but somehow more than you presume.

I'm sure someone will crack wise that while Justine did manage to offer a comforting hand to Lindsay Davenport after she was forced to retire from their matchup in the final of New Haven, she did so while patting the American's sore shoulder.



It's a good thing Lindsay didn't wince when she did it, because you could envision all the headlines the HeninHaters would have come up with in an attempt to make her Public Enemy #1 going into the Open next week.

As it is, she'll head warrent poster-less to Flushing seeking to reach her fourth slam final of '06 and stake a claim to the #1 ranking for the season. Rested, apparently healthy (not that she'd say if she wasn't... which any intelligent competitor would avoid if possible, but for which JHH gets singled out for being "insidiously" secretive) and content with her new shoulder-saving service motion, Henin-Hardenne's form and mindset last week might have managed to cast her in the role of favorite in the wide open scrum that is this year's U.S. Open. After all the tumult of Melbourne, time will soon tell whether or not Le Petit Taureau will have the last laugh.

Of course, if she does, she'll probably be told to "shush" and "act like a champion."

C'est la vie.


NEW HAVEN, CT USA (II-HO)
S: Justine Henin-H. d. Lindsay Davenport 6-0/1-0 ret.
D: Yan/Zheng d. Raymond/Stosur

FOREST HILLS, NY USA (IV-HO)
S: Meghann Shaughnessy d. Anna Smashnova 1-6/6-0/6-4

U.S. OPEN QUALIFIERS
#80 Vasilisa Bardina (RUS)
#97 Yulia Beygelzimer (UKR)
#100 Eva Birnerova (CZE)
#104 Olga Poutchkova (RUS)
#117 Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)
#118 Varvara Lepchenko (UZB)
#122 Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
#124 Stephanie Dubois (CAN)
#127 Milagros Sequera (VEN)
#129 Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
#130 Sandra Kloesel (GER)
#131 Kristina Barrois (GER)
#133 Lioudmila Skavronskaia (RUS)
#136 Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
#152 Clarisa Fernandez (ARG)
#263 Youlia Fedossova (FRA)
-LUCKY LOSER-
#79 Nicole Pratt (AUS)


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...season title #5 (in her fifth straight final) has given Justine that ready-for-primetime look. As in, the Open final two weeks from now. It's hard to argue against her 21-1 record since the beginning of play in Roland Garros.
=============================
RISERS: Zi Yan/Jie Zheng
...the rankings say that Yan & Zheng are the #3 and #4-ranked doubles players, respectively. But another trumping of co-#1's Raymond & Stosur in New Haven means a title in Flushing could force a legitimate reassessment.
=============================
SURPRISES: Samantha Stosur & Stephanie Dubois
...Stosur's run to the New Haven SF, and near second upset of Davenport in a matter of weeks wasn't so much of a surprise. But that she pulled it off after entering the draw as a lucky loser (when Shahar Peer withdrew), then defeating Nathalie Dechy when the Pastry retired, makes her week's work in singles rather fortunate. Meanwhile, 19-year old Canadian Dubois continued her Montreal mo' by qualifying for the U.S. Open last week.
=============================
VETERANS: Meghann Shaughnessy & Clarisa Fernandez
...the 25-year old Shaughnessy got wins over Marta Domachowska, Elena Vesina, Lourdes Dominguez-Lino and, finally, Anna Smashnova in Forest Hills to claim her second title (sure, it's a tiny one... but ask Francesca Schiavone if she'd take it and run) of 2006. Oddly enough (or maybe not), they're the only two WTA singles titles won by an American this season. In U.S. Open qualifying, Argentina's Fernandez (#152) reached the main draw of a slam the hard way for the third time in 2006, having also successfully qualified for Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Yung-Jan Chan & Agnieszka Radwanska

...both 17, these are the two youngest U.S. Open qualifiers. Taiwan's Chan, ranked #136 and a Roland Garros Girls semifinalist this year, is the youngest qualifier, having just turned 17 two weeks ago. Poland's Radwanska (#129) won the Roland Garros Girls title. She finds herself in the Petrova/Chakvetadze/Golovin section of the draw, and might benefit if those three continue their slumps (or, in Chakvetadze's case, her recent injury-related string of retirements).
=============================
DOWN: Anna Chakvetadze
...did someone say Anna? After a breakthrough summer that's included two wins over Petrova, Chakvetadze has now retired from two straight matches and is something of a question mark in NY. She has a draw that could result in a QF run, but her injury timing couldn't be worse (unless her name was Lindsay, I mean).
=============================


1.F.Hills F - Shaughnessy d. Smashnova
...1-6/6-0/6-4. In her thirteenth career final, Anna is finally assailable. Who knew she suffered from triskaidekaphobia?
=============================
2.N.Haven F - JHH d. Davenport

...6-0/1-0 ret. A good week for Davenport ended with a worrisome shoulder issue that's now set to accompany her to the Open.
=============================
3.N.Haven Doubles F - Yan/Zheng d. Raymond/Stosur
...6-4/6-2. Now who's the best doubles team in the world? Wait... not so fast, Lisa & Sam.
=============================
4.N.Haven QF - Davenport d. Mauresmo
..6-4/7-5. Last year, Davenport defeated Mauresmo here in the final, too.
=============================
5.N.Haven 2nd - Bartoli d. Petrova
...4-6/6-4/7-6. It's now five winless matches (and counting) for Nadia since she won Berlin and then got injured during practice for Roland Garros. She'll meet qualifier Clarisa Fernandez in the 1st Round in NY.
=============================
6.N.Haven SF - Davenport d. Stosur
...7-6/7-6. Slingin' Sammy almost got her second win over Davenport this month. At the very least, she made Davenport play longer than she wanted (it took her six match points to put the match away) and maybe gets an unofficial "assist" in Justine's win on Saturday.
=============================
7.US Open Q3 - Chan d. Pratt
...6-1/6-2. Sixteen years Pratt's junior, Chan bounced the 33-year old rather harshly. But the veteran gets the last laugh, since with Venus' withdrawal Pratt gets into the draw as a lucky loser anyway.
=============================
8.N.Haven 2nd - Dementieva d. Hantuchova
...6-2/5-7/6-0. Wonder Girl pulled a Dokic-esque disappearing act in the 3rd set in a winnable match.
=============================
9.N.Haven 1st - Voskoboeva d. Chakvetadze
...6-3/6-5 ret. But, wouldn't you know it, a Russian STILL advanced.
=============================
10.US Open Q3 - Dubois d. Knapp
...6-4/6-1. Dubois is still winning, and Quebec hasn't yet been swallowed whole by the earth. So far, so good. If she beats Bremond in the 1st Round, though, let's hope that Pierre's made sure to take his belongings to higher ground.
=============================
HM- N.Haven 1st - Sun d. Schnyder
...6-1/6-3. Not exactly the best Open tuneup for Patty. But, then again, she is Sneaky.
=============================


**MOST 2006 WTA TITLES**
5...Justine Henin-Hardenne
4...Amelie Mauresmo
4...Nadia Petrova
3...Shahar Peer

All for now.

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Wk.33- The Shell Game

Maybe this year's U.S. Open should be subtitled, "The WTA's Version of a Shell Game."



In many respects, it seems that any attempt to forecast what will happen at the fourth and final grand slam of 2006 is nothing but a perfectly frustrating trap. No matter under which shell anyone thinks the eventual winner is hiding, the ultimate reveal appears likely to prove the notion wrong... and, with an unseen slight of hand, maybe impossible. In truth, this year's U.S. Open champion isn't under any of the shells. She'll simply be the one left standing on the court after all the others have either crashed, burned or been helped onto a trainer's table.

Last week (and Monday) in Montreal didn't clear up this picture one bit, either. In fact, in a test run for the upcoming action at the newly-named Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the Open waters became even murkier. The tournament began with withdrawals (Sharapova, Henin-Hardenne and Venus), moved forward with upsets (Myskina & Petrova), retirements (Clijsters & Chakvetadze) and walkovers (Vaidisova & Jankovic), then ended with a rain-delayed day of finals on Monday that saw Martina Navratilova walk off with a title, but not Martina Hingis.

A week away from the start of 1st Round play on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the list of prospective Open winners is long, confusing, and filled with holes.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters is out, victim of the chronic wrist injury that threatens to end her already disappointing season (and maybe career?). 2005 runner-up Mary Pierce has played just three matches since mid-February. Lindsay Davenport enters this week in New Haven having not won a match since March. Venus hasn't played at all since Wimbledon, and while Serena has looked good in her American hard court return (reaching two SF) there's a question about whether she's fit enough at this point to make it through a two-week long slam.

What about the Russians? Well...

Maria Sharapova looked great in winning in San Diego, then ran out of gas a week later in L.A. Elena Dementieva won L.A., but even with all her strong points can her serve manage to not kill her chances just once over a seven-match stretch? Nadia Petrova hasn't tasted singles victory since May, and Svetlana Kuznetsova was a disappointment last week in Montreal. And while Vera Zvonareva and Anna Chakvetadze have been impressive on the hard courts, neither has any sort of slam success to build on in New York.

Patty Schnyder actually has more North American wins (9) this quarter than any other player who's spent time in the Top 10 in 2006, but she's rarely on her game in the slams and heads into New York having lost to qualifier Tiantian Sun in the 1st Round of New Haven on Monday.

Martina Hingis reached her second Tier I final of the season in Montreal, and even got a Top 10 win over Kuznetsova to usher in her own return to that hallowed ranking ground for the first time in her comeback. But her failure to put down Ana Ivanovic in the final speaks to her inability to knock out three to four major foes in back-to-back matches, something she'd likely need to do to win her sixth slam crown.

And what of Ivanovic?

Ana Ivanovic has managed some big stage upsets in the past, and is coming off her first Tier I title on Monday in Montreal, but is she really ready for a big Open run? She need only ask Nicole Vaidisova about the potholes of completing what she starts in the second week of a slam. Vaidisova is probably a more likely contender than AnaIvo at the Open, if for nothing else than the fact that she's already proven this year that she's close (but still yet so far from) reaching her first career grand slam final... and that Clijsters, the only person to beat her during the U.S. Open Series (twice in SF), won't be around to act like a brick wall against the Dynamova's ambitions.

Maybe Justine Henin-Hardenne or Amelie Mauresmo will provide a little clarity by winning this week in New Haven... but neither has set foot on a court in North America this summer as play begins in the final Open tune-up. At the very least, JHH shouldn't be in danger of playing herself out as she did leading into the Wimbledon final... and even if a rusty Mauresmo were to lose early in Connecticut, she could take solace in the fact that she did the same in Sydney before taking the Australian Open. But what are the odds of JHH reaching all four of this year's slam finals, or of Mauresmo winning three of them? They'll be the Open's top two seeds, and they've already met twice in 2006 slam finals. Could New York host a third encounter?

In an era where "wide open" draws have become the norm for the women, this year's U.S. Open will be no different.

Who'll win? Take your pick -- it'll just as likely be right (or wrong) as the next one. Believe me, I know... I'm already preparing myself for being wrong yet again.


**WEEK 32**

MONTREAL, QUE CANADA (I-HO)
S: Ana Ivanovic d. Martina Hingis 6-2/6-3
D: M.Navratilova/Petrova d. Black/Groenefeld 6-1/6-2


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ana Ivanovic

...Ivanovic has been somewhat overshadowed this season. First, by all the other teenagers making breakthroughs (hello, Nicole, Michaella & Shahar), but also just the other week by her fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who reached the Los Angeles final. Last week in Montreal, it was Ivanovic's turn to shine. The 18-year old looker was the Vaidisova of 2005 (she even upset Mauresmo at Roland Garros a year ago, just like the Czech Top 10er did in '06), the "next Sharapova" who'd combine great skill with marketing ability. But something happened on the way to the bank. After winning a title in January '05 in Canberra, it's taken nineteen months for this first truly big Tier I title to finally come her way. Sure, it was a title that no one seemed to want, judging from all the withdrawals and retirements, and the weather didn't want to finish (the final was delayed until Monday because of rain), but it'll do. In fact, wins over Tatiana Golovin, Jie Zheng, Katarina Srebotnik, Dinara Safina and Martina Hingis could end up being the prelude to a star-making turn in New York City. The door is open for someone, why can't it be AnaIvo?
-----------------------------
RISERS: Ivanovic & Dinara Safina
...the Safin family's rollercoaster summer continued as Marat was involved in a traffic accident in Cincinnati (he suffered a concussion and a stiff neck), while Dinara reached the SF in Montreal.
-----------------------------
SURPRISES: Stephanie Dubois & Marie-Eve Pelletier

...the unexpected rise of Canadian tennis continued in Montreal, as two homegrown products made waves. Pelletier, 24, did it all on her own, upsetting Na Li in the 1st Round to kick things off for what would be a very strange week. Later, 19-year old Dubois (#153) followed up a win over Tathiana Garbin by slipping past a 2nd Round match with Kim Clijsters when the world #2 injured that troublesome wrist again, then fell on it after reaching for a Dubois passing shot and was forced to retire from the match (not to mention skip her defense of her U.S. Open title).
-----------------------------
VETERANS: Martina Hingis & Martina Navratilova
...Martina the Younger outgutted Daniela Hantuchova, outdueled Svetlana Kuznetova and outlasted Anna Chakvetadze. But she couldn't outrun the rain, or Ana Ivanovic. After waiting a day to play the Montreal final on Monday, she was handled by the teenager. Still, her consolation prize is a return to the Top 10. Meanwhile, Martina the Elder, just two months from 50 and with her latest retirement maybe even closer, found the time to grab yet another (final?) moment of glory on the court. Teamed with Nadia Petrova in Montreal, Navratilova won the 176th doubles title (or 177th, as her official WTA bio sports conflicting numbers) of her career, winning the Tier I after knocking off #1-seeded Zi Yan/Jie Zheng in the QF, then Cara Black/Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the final. It's her second doubles titles of the season, having also won in Strasbourg with Liezel Huber. Combined with her other WTA tour level singles and mixed titles, this was Martina's 352nd (or 353rd) career crown. Unreal.
-----------------------------
FRESH FACES: Anna Chakvetadze & Shahar Peer
...Chakvetadze's winning summer on the hard courts continued in Montreal with a second U.S. Open Series win over Nadia Petrova, plus wins over Vera Dushevina and Nathalie Dechy en route to the SF (where she retired with a forearm injury against Hingis). Anna C also beat Peer last week in the QF, but the Israeli's wins over Anastasia Myskina and Marion Bartoli were enough to qualify her here on her own merit.
-----------------------------
DOWN: Kim Clijsters & Anna-Lena Groenefeld
...Petrova escaped a second week here in the basement by winning the doubles title with Navratilova, but as things turned out there were more than enough players qualified for the dubious honor. Groenefeld's 2nd Round Montreal exit at the hands of Shenay Perry continued her hard court swoon, but nothing tops Clijsters' week. After battling back from a 2004 wrist injury to her off hand, she injured it again in her 2nd Round match against Dubois. After calling for a trainer twice after injuring her wrist at 2-1 in the 2nd set, she continued to play rather than be cautious with what's become a chronic injury... then two games after she should have considered calling it a night, se fell on the wrist and possibly made matters far worse. Needless to say, her U.S. Open title defense is kaput, as is her participation in the Fed Cup final for Belgium (guess Justine will be pressured to play now, no matter what happens in NYC) as she's likely out at least two months.
-----------------------------


1.Mtl 2nd - Dubois d. Clijsters

...1-6/3-2 ret. Well, at least that prediction that Clijsters wouldn't win a slam in 2006 is going to come true. One can't help but wonder if something like this might hasten Clijsters' retirement, as well.
-----------------------------
2.Mtl Doub. Final - Navratilova/Petrova d. Black/Groenefeld
...6-1/6-2. Petrova is 0-4 in singles since she defeated JHH in the Berlin final in May. Maybe this will spur her past the problems that she readily admits are mental ones... or maybe that's wishful thinking?
-----------------------------
3.Mtl Final - Ivanovic d. Hingis
...6-2/6-3. Finally, a 2006 Tier I singles final without a Russian... and further proof that Hingis is not likely going to be a threat at the Open after the QF no matter how depleated and/or questionable the field.
-----------------------------
4.Mtl 2nd - Chakvetadze d. Petrova
...6-1/6-4. It's bad enough for Petrova that Chakvetadze has now beaten her twice in a row in recent weeks, but Nadia had a 3-1 lead in the 2nd and still couldn't even put away a single set.
-----------------------------
5.Mtl Doub. QF - Navratilova/Petrova d. Yan/Zheng
...6-4/3-6/6-4. Navratilova & Nadia will be teaming up at the Open, so maybe Navratilova can go out in grand (slam) style.
-----------------------------
6.Mtl 3rd - Hingis d. Hantuchova
...7-5/6-4. Hantuchova led 5-4, 40-0 on Hingis' serve in the 1st set. In a blink of an eye, she was down 0-4 in the 2nd set after losing seven straight games. There are more steps backward than forward for Wonder Girl these days.
-----------------------------
7.Mtl 2nd - Vaidisova d. Safarova
...3-6/7-5/6-1. The Dynamova got the best of her fellow Maiden, then beat a hasty retreat from Quebec without playing her 3rd Round match.
-----------------------------
8.Mtl 2nd - Perry d. Groenefeld
...7-6/6-2. Wake up Anna-Lena when the North American hardcourt season is over. At this rate, that date will be sometime early next week.
-----------------------------


**YOUNGEST 2006 CHAMPIONS**
17...Michaella Krajicek (JAN-Hobart)
17...Nicole Vaidisova (MAY-Strasbourg)
17...Michaella Krajicek (JUN-Netherlands)
18...Shahar Peer (FEB-Pattaya)
18...ANA IVANOVIC (AUG-MONTREAL)
18...Lucie Safarova (JAN-Gold Coast)
18...Maria Sharapova (MAR-Indian Wells)

**2006 OLDEST DOUBLES CHAMPION**
49...MARTINA NAVRATILOVA (AUG-MONTREAL)
49...Martina Navratilova (MAY-Strasbourg)
34...Rennae Stubbs (JAN-Sydney)

**2006 SEMIFINALISTS - NATIONS**
42...RUSSIA
17...Belgium
13...France
11...SWITZERLAND


...two events (one big, one tiny) this week, plus U.S. Open qualifying.


NEW HAVEN, CT USA (II-HO)
05 FINAL: Davenport d. Mauresmo
06 TOP: Mauresmo/Henin-Hardenne
===============================
SF: Davenport d. Petrova; JHH d. Kuznetsova
FINAL: JHH d. Davenport

...maybe Mauresmo will be a little rusty? An early loss in Sydney didn't hurt her in Melbourne (not that I'm about to pick Mauresmo to win a third slam in '06).


FOREST HILLS, NY USA (IV-HO)
05 FINAL: Safarova d. Mirza
06 TOP: Safarova/Arvidsson
=============================
SF: Shaughnessy d. Mirza; Arvidsson d. Smashnova
FINAL: Shaughnessy d. Arvidsson

...in a draw of sixteen, anything could happen. It'd be nice to see Mirza get back into the mix.


U.S. OPEN QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT


All for now.

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

THIS WEEKEND: U.S. Open Predictions (for what they're worth)

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Wk.32- Soberly Punching Away

What year is it again? I know it's not 2004, but it's been easy to be fooled the past few weeks. Somewhat quietly, the Russians are rising... again.

No member of the Horde has won a slam title since '04, but this week four Russians reside in the Top 7, and five are in the Top 11. So far this year, there have been eleven singles titles won by Russians (the same number as Belguim & France combined), twenty-two Russian singles finalists (more than Belgium & France combined), and six of the seven Tier I champions heading into Montreal have been Hordettes, as well.



The trend has continued in the 3rd Quarter, it's continued. Anastasia Myskina reached the Stockholm final, and Anna Chakvetadze's game has made noticable progress. Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova won early singles titles, and this weekend in Los Angeles, Elena Dementieva pushed the number of Russian champs on the North American hard courts to three.

Sometimes Dementieva is a little lost in the Russian mix. She made two slam finals in '04, but lost them both to her countrywoman (Myskina & Svetlana Kuznetsova). Thus, in 2006, with the likes of Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters having recently won slam crowns, Dementieva is quite possibly the best player around (well, until Nicole Vaidisova stitches up a few of her game's remining seams... which could happen at any moment) without a major title.

Dementieva's doings in L.A. provided a perfect vision of what she's become over the years: a player with sometimes brilliant groundstrokes, and one who's found a way to overcome a serve that should be a consistently severe liability... but isn't. Embodying the "Punch-Sober" moniker that replaced her no-longer-necessary "Punch-Drunk" one a while back, Dementieva has learned to gird herself against any letdowns her serve might inspire (when you expect nothing, it's difficult to be disappointed if you manage to keep your double-faults under ten per match, right?).

Along with Dementieva's ability to immediately forget mistakes has also come a toughened interior and exterior. Last year at the U.S. Open, she publicly complained about Mary Pierce's bending of the time-out rules to carve out pockets of non-action during which Pierce essentially reinvigorated herself. A year later, Dementieva is routinely breaking between sets to change outfits, giving herself an additional rest period safely away from the sweltering summer heat. It's not likely a coincidence that in Sunday's final, while Dementieva was off court, Jelena Jankovic remained in the energy-sapping conditions... then proceeded to lose the first five games of the deciding 3rd set. Ultimately, Jankovic had to call for a trainer to apply ice and give her legs a rubdown (attempting to counter the additional time on the hot court that Dementieva had smartly avoided). Rather than fight 'em, Dementieva has joined 'em... and she reaped the dividends last week.

A few years ago, after blowing a set lead, then a 5-0 bulge in the 3rd set over Jankovic, Dementieva probably wouldn't have won the match, which she did on her third match point in L.A. when she broke Jankovic's serve after having seen the score tighten to 5-4. Years of weathering the storm of her own serve, and overcoming her difficulty in actually winning a singles title (she didn't get her first until she was 21), have made Punch-Sober a stronger player, both inside and out.

With the Open getting closer, and with Dementieva experiencing a belt of success along the road to New York, maybe Vaidisova will be able to unequivocally take over the "best never to win" title because Elena will no longer have the need for it.

Another Russian slam champ? Boy, then it really WOULD seem like 2004 all over again.


**WEEK 32 CHAMPIONS**

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA USA (II-HO)
S: Elena Dementieva d. Jelena Jankovic 6-3/4-6/6-4
D: Ruano-Pascual/Suarez d Hantuchova/Sugiyama

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (IV-HO/Final HI)
S: Jie Zheng d. Anastasia Myskina 6-4/6-1
D: Birnerova/Gajdosova d. Yan/Zheng


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Dementieva
...Punch-Sober's sixth singles title ties her with Svetlana Kuznetsova, leaving her behind only Maria Sharapova (12) and Anastasia Myskina (10) in career wins amongst the active Hordettes.
=============================
RISERS: Jie Zheng & Jelena Jankovic

...even while winning the Stockholm title, Zheng continued in her role as the most overlooked of the Cookies. It figures that in the same week that Zheng won her third career title (more than all other Chinese women combined) Na Li became the first Chinese woman to break into the Top 20. Zheng's already a part of the best Chinese doubles team (with Zi Yan, she was a RU in the Stockholm doubles), but she's the most successful in singles, too. After an 0-5 start this season, she's now bagged two singles titles and five in doubles. Jankovic knows all about slow starts. She began '06 in a 1-10 free fall after changing coaches, but has since rebounded with a 24-10 run that's included two SF, one Final, wins over both Williams sisters (the last to do that was Silvia Farina Elia last year), two three-setters against Kim Clijsters in North America and a week to remember in L.A., even though she didn't win the title. Wins over Serena, Sania Mirza, Lucie Safarova, Samantha Stosur and Ana Ivanovic once again showed just how much talent the 20-year old Serb has. Now, if only she could display it with greater consistency she'd have more than one singles title to her credit.
=============================
SURPRISES: Bethanie Mattek & Kelly Liggan

...you remember Mattek. She was the 21-year old American sporting the soccer/1970's boardwalk rollerskater look at Wimbledon against Venus Williams. Well, in L.A., her play actually made the headlines as wins over Kveta Peschke, Flavia Pennetta and Alona Bondarenko got the world #130 into the QF, where she lost a three-setter to Dementieva. Meanwhile, Ireland's Liggan, 27, completed back-to-back ITF $25K title wins in Vigo and Coimbra and pushed her ranking into the Top 200.
=============================
VETERANS: Virginia Ruano-Pascual/Paola Suarez
...VRP's upset of Nadia Petrova in L.A. might have qualified her here all by herself, but she brought Suarez along with her when the formerly top-ranked pair won their first title together since Indian Wells seventeen months ago.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Caroline Wozniacki & Tszvetana Pironkova
...in Stockholm, the Danish teen (and SW19 Jr. champ) upset vets Iveta Benesova & Eleni Daniilidou en route to the QF. Also in Sweden, Bulgarian slam upset Queen Pironkova (she defeated Venus in Oz, then Groenefeld in Paris) knocked off Catalina Castano and Na Li in reaching her first SF of 2006.
=============================
DOWN: Nadia Petrova
...oh, Nadia. This time, it was a 2nd Round loss to VRP in Los Angeles. Whew! That clay court run feels so long ago, doesn't it? Amazing how an injury can change the course of a season... but a great week in Montreal could turn it back the other way, too.
=============================


1.LA Final - Dementieva d. Jankovic
...6-3/4-6/6-4. It's easy to believe that Jankovic won herself a load of new fans with her easy going on-court style, as well as her off-court level-headedness in L.A. (not to mention the very un-tennis parent interviews her mom gave to ESPN) Of course, while Jankovic was having fun watching the scoreboard "Kiss Me Cam" between the 2nd and 3rd sets, Dementieva's refreshing of herself in the cool indoors helped create the 5-0 hole that, though she almost pulled it off, was just too deep for Jankovic to escape.
-----------------------------
2.Stock Final - Zheng d. Myskina
...6-4/6-1. Not exactly the result the Czarina was looking for a year after another RU result in Stockholm. This makes her 0-3 in '06 finals, but she's mere points from returning to the Top 10 (she's #11, 13 points behind #10 Davenport)... and now has the chance to help her coach star in an episode of "Anastasia and Me" if she calls him to the court in Montreal this week during one of those experimental mid-match coaching sessions the WTA is allowing over the next two weeks.
-----------------------------
3.LA 2nd - Stosur d. Davenport
...6-7/6-4/6-3. Not exactly stunning, considering Stosur's singles rise this year and Davenport's lack of match readiness after such a long layoff.
-----------------------------
4.LA SF - Dementieva d. Sharapova
...7-5/6-2. The Supernova's tiredness is pretty much going to cede the U.S. Open Series title to Clijsters. Still, she was energetic enough to fight off six match points here before finally succumbing on #7.
-----------------------------
5.LA 3rd - S.Williams d. Hantuchova
...1-6/6-3/6-3. This comeback, coupled with another victory from a set down against Meghann Shaughnessy, eventually came back to haunt Serena in her SF match-up with Jankovic. Too much tennis, too soon in her latest comeback... but she's making progress as the Open nears.
-----------------------------
6.LA 2nd - Ruano-Pascual d. Petrova
...6-3/6-2. Still finding your way back from your Roland Garros injury? VRP essentially told Scarlett that, frankly, she didn't give a damn, and beat Petrova anyway. Thus, Nadia is still looking for her first win since Wimbledon after this third straight loss.
-----------------------------
7.Stock 2nd - Myskina d. Urszula Radwanska
...7-6/6-3. A few weeks ago in Warsaw, Myskina lost to Agnieszka, the OTHER Radwanska sister. She avoided an unwanted Polish sweep by Aggie & Uzi last week.
-----------------------------
8.LA QF - Dementieva d. Mattek
...4-6/6-1/6-1. Mattek didn't need to make a fashion scene to get some press last week in California. Wonder if she's played her way into a night match on Arthur Ashe (assuming she draws Serena or Venus, that is)?
-----------------------------
9.LA 3rd - Ivanovic d. Groenefeld
...6-1/6-4. ALG still hasn't found her way on hard courts in '06. She's having flashbacks to her awful start Down Under.
-----------------------------
10.LA 2st - Peer d. Peng
...6-1/6-0. Wasn't it about a year ago that Peng actually upset Clijsters in San Diego?
-----------------------------


**2006 RUSSIAN FINALISTS**
4...Nadia Petrova (4-0)
4...Maria Sharapova (2-2)
3...ELENA DEMENTIEVA (2-1)
3...Vera Zvonareva (2-1)
3...Svetlana Kuznetsova (1-2)
3...ANASTASIA MYSKINA (0-3)
2...Dinara Safina (0-2)

**CAREER TITLES - CHINESE**
3...JIE ZHENG (2005: 1, 2006: 2)
1...Na Li (2004)
1...Zi Yan (2005)

**UNDEFEATED IN 2006 FINALS (2+)**
4-0...Nadia Petrova
3-0...Shahar Peer
2-0...JIE ZHENG
2-0...Anabel Medina-Garrigues
2-0...Michaella Krajicek

**WINLESS IN 2006 FINALS (2+)**
0-3...ANASTASIA MYSKINA
0-3...Flavia Pennetta
0-2...Jelena Kostanic
0-2...Dinara Safina
0-2...Francesca Schiavone
0-2...Patty Schnyder

**2006 WINS OVER TOURNAMENT #1 SEEDS**
3...Justine Henin-Hardenne
2...ELENA DEMENTIEVA
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova
2...JIE ZHENG


...well, back to normal last week. Picked a Russian to win L.A. ... but the champion turned out to be the wrong Russian. My Stockholm pick made the final, then lost.

**ROYALE STATS**
ROUND OF 16: Pierre leads 51-46
QF: Backspin leads 44-39
SF: Pierre leads 31-27
F: Backspin leads 11-10
Champions: Pierre leads 2-0 (ouch)


MONTREAL, QUE CANADA (I-HO)
05 FINAL: Clijsters d. JHH (Toronto)
06 TOP: Clijsters/Petrova
=============================


=ROUND OF 16=
Clijsters d. Srebotnik
Ivanovic d. Jankovic
Vaidisova d. Li
Groenefeld d. Safina (Backspin death by Girl Friday... again?)
Hantuchova d. Hingis
Kuznetsova d. Sugiyama
Myskina d. Pennetta
Petrova d. Kirilenko
=QF=
Clijsters d. Ivanovic
Vaidisova d. Groenefeld
Kuznetsova d. Hantuchova
Myskina d. Petrova
=SF=
Clijsters d. Vaidisova (again)
Myskina d. Kuznetsova
=F=
Clijsters d. Myskina


*3rd Round*
Clijsters def Mirza
Ivanovic def Jankovic
Vaidisova def Li Na
Groenefeld def Safina
Hingis def Hantuchova
Kuznetsova def Sugiyama
Myskina def Bartoli
Kirilenko def Chakvetadze
*Quarters*
Clijsters def Ivanovic
Vaidisova def Groenefeld
Kuznetsova def Hingis
Myskina def Kirilenko
*Semis*
Clijsters def Vaidisova
Kuznetsova def Myskina
*Final*
Kuznetsova def Clijsters!


All for now.

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