Day 6: Is That What You're Wearing? (Wimbledon Edition)

As noted before, when the rain takes over, everyone becomes a fashion critic. So...



Hmmm, it looked like Venus' alarm clock didn't go off this morning and she decided to come to the court wearing whatever she wore to bed last night, didn't it? Of course, what she wore against Akiko Morigami on Saturday was the same thing she wore in her Doubles match with Serena on Friday... so I guess it's no big deal, huh?

Oh, well. At least it filled a few paragraphs on a day where very little happened.

And so ends Day 6's fashion report, which is just about all there is to report considering only two women's singles matches (plus one Mixed Doubles match) were actually completed on Saturday.

(2009...2009...2009...)

With the traditional quiet middle Sunday scheduled for tomorrow, it's a very uneventful weekend at Wimbledon... and, considering all the other things going on in Britain at the moment, maybe not nhaving to deal with thousands of spectators and additional security isn't such a bad thing when you think about it.

Oh, but there WAS enough action today to scratch out a...


Love-Love... Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova completed staight set 3rd Round wins over Mara Santangelo and Ai Sugiyama, respectively. Plus, with the impending weather bearing down, all the other women's singles matches were scheduled early and were able to get a large chunk of action completed. At the moment:

#6 Ivanovic is up a set on Rezai
#11 Petrova is up a set & 3-1 on Ruano-Pascual
#14 Vaidisova is up a set & 3-2 on Azarenka
#5 Kuznetsova is up a set & 4-3 on A.Radwanska
#12 Dementieva is up a set on Paszek
#23 V.Williams is up a set on Morigami, but is down 1-4 in the 2nd

Venus' match is scheduled to resume Monday on... yes, Court 2. So the ol' "Graveyard Court" will get another crack at her.
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15-Love... the only other match completed on Day 6 featured one all-British team (James Auckland & Claire Curran) defeating another (Lee Childs & Katie O'Brien) in straight sets.

Perhaps the most interesting interrupted scoreline on Day 6 was in a 2nd Round Men's Doubles match, where Amer Delic(USA)/Bobby Reynolds(USA) are knotted with #10 Arnaud Clement(ESP)/Michael Llodra(FRA) 3-6,4-6,7-6(5),7-6(9),9-9.
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30-Love... here are the stats on the completed top half of the Women's & Men's Round of 16:

*WOMEN'S FINAL 16 - TOP HALF*
[by nation]
2...United States (Granville, S.Williams)
1...Belgium (Henin)
1...France (Bartoli)
1...Netherlands (Krajicek)
1...Serbia (Jankovic)
1...Slovakia (Hantuchova)
1...Switzerland (Schnyder)
[by age]
18...Michaella Krajicek
22...Jelena Jankovic
22...Marion Bartoli
24...Daniela Hantuchova
25...Justine Henin
25...Serena Williams
26...Laura Granville
28...Patty Schnyder
[by rank]
#1....Justine Henin
#3....Jelena Jankovic
#8....Serena Williams
#12...Daniela Hantuchova
#15...Patty Schnyder
#19...Marion Bartoli
#45...Michaella Krajicek
#77...Laura Granville

*MEN'S FINAL 16 - TOP HALF*
[by nation]
3...France (Gasquet, Mathieu, Tsonga)
1...Germany (Haas)
1...Serbia (Tipsarevic)
1...Spain (Ferrero)
1...Switzerland (Federer)
1...United States (Roddick)

=============================
40-Love...

*WOMEN's ROUND OF 16 PREDICTIONS*
[TOP HALF]
#1 Henin d. #15 Schnyder
...Patty's luck has to end soon.
#7 S.Williams d. #10 Hantuchova
...just biding time until Justine vs. Serena.
#3 Jankovic d. #18 Bartoli
...a hunch, though Bartoli has looked very good on grass the past few weeks.
Granville d. #31 Krajicek
...I can't go with chalk on EVERY pick, though it's hard to call a #31 seed winning "chalk," whether or not her brother won the '96 Wimbledon title or not.

*MEN's ROUND OF 16 PREDICTIONS*
[TOP HALF]
#1 Federer d. #13 Haas
...Haas won't be intimidated, but it won't matter.
Tipsarevic d. #20 Ferrero
...#4.
#3 Roddick d. Mathieu
...Paul-Henri isn't Roger.
Tsonga d. #12 Gasquet
...Gasquet usually disappoints at some point, why not just get it out of the way?
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MATCH, "Sunday was supposed to be a much-deserved day of rest for the Daily Backspin, as well"... but since today pretty much served as that, I guess I'll just have to wish for that time machine to take us to 2009 instead. By the way, it's raining then, too... but it doesn't matter.





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE & Olga Govortsova/BLR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
TOP MID-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova/RUS (1r-E.Vesnina/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: French (Bartoli & Rezai to 3rd Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Olga Govortsova/BLR, Nika Ozegovic/CRO, Tatiana Perebiynis/UKR, Hana Sromova/CZE & Agnes Szavay/HUN (2nd Rd.)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 6.

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Day 5: To Tiptoe Along the White Mile

Patty Schnyder had better keep an eye out for falling anvils and/or pianos when she's walking around the Wimbledon grounds this weekend, for surely she's due for some bad luck to head her way.



On Day 5, for the second time in three matches at this tournament, Schnyder overcame an opponent who seemed to have a match tucked safely away in her tennis bag and walked off with an 8-6 win in the 3rd set. After surviving match point against Camille Pin in the 1st Round, this time the #15 seed sneaked past #24 Alona Bondarenko 6-4/3-6/8-6 despite the Ukrainian having held a 4-1 lead in the decisive set.

Sneaky Patty has to be operating on severely borrowed time now, right? This Round of 16 berth is her best Wimbledon showing after having reached at least the quarterfinals at all the other slams, and she's on the verge of possibly claiming her second consecutive Backspin Slam "Comeback" award after having reversed her Roland Garros fortune against Maria Sharapova by putting up two remarkable SW19 shouldn't-have-been wins after that shouldn't-have-been-a-loss match in Paris against the Supernova.

Of course, now Schnyder faces Justine Henin, who's yet to drop a set... well, not only at Wimbledon, but at any grand slam since last year's U.S. Open. Surely, Patty will get what's coming to her THIS TIME, right?

That is, unless she made some sort of deal with the devil during her stroll down "the White Mile", which, as Patty has told us, "can be very long... especially if it is white."


Love-Love... with Marion Bartoli (who's French, by the way, in case you hadn't heard) advancing to her second straight grand slam Round of 16 by way of her Day 5 win over Shahar Peer, she sealed up the "Revelation Ladies" award for the Pastries. And Aravane Rezai still has to play her own 3rd Round match against Ana Ivanovic.

**REVELATION LADIES - 2007**
Australian: Belarussians
Roland Garros: Italians
Wimbledon: French

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Love-15... the "Upset Queens" crown rests on the shoulders of Victoria Azarenka (BLR) and Tamira Paszek (AUT). If both lose their 3rd Round matches, the French will sweep both this and the "Revelation" Award. But if one of the two teenagers manages to pull off yet another upset -- Azarenka faces #14 Nicole Vaidisova, while Paszek squares off with #12 Elena Dementieva -- then they'll clinch the title for their countrywomen. What if both win? Of if they both win, AND Rezai knocks off AnaIvo? Well, we'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.
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15-15...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's Doubles 1st Rd. - Bethanie Mattek/Bryanne Stewart (USA/AUS) d. Martina Muller/Gabriela Navratilova (GER/CZE) - 7-6/7-5.
...the doubles team of "Martina & Navratilova." Get it?

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Men's Doubles 1st - Robert Lindstedt/Jarkko Nieminen (SWE/FIN) d. #2 Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi (SWE/BLR) - 2-6/7-6/7-5/6-3.
...with success comes sacrifice. As has been the case over the past year as veteran Bjorkman has had unexpected singles success at the slams ('06 Wimbledon SF, '07 RG 4th Rd.), his usual wealth of doubles success has hit skid row. Well, he's still alive in the 3rd Round of singles (he'll face Wayne Arthurs), while his Doubles participation lasted a total of four sets.
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15-30... has the fourth member of the would-be "Fantastovic Four" been found? At Roland Garros, it was wondered aloud in this space whether Janko Tipsarevic might be the Serb who'd join the trio of Djokovic, Jankovic and Ivanovic in the tennis comics pages (as well as the rarified ground found deep into grand slam draws). Well, on Day 5, he upset #5-seed Fernando Gonzalez, surviving match point against, to advance to the Round of 16 with an 8-6 in the 5th victory. Maybe someone should put the fourth version of that nifty superhero suit on order, just in case.
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15-40... Court 2, thanks to its buddy Court 18, had the last laugh on Day 5 as #9-seed Martina Hingis' zombie-like existence on the All-England Club grounds was ended by unseeded American Laura Granville, 26. Granville matched her best-ever slam result (2002 Wimbledon 4th Round) with a quick elimination of the Swiss Miss, 6-4/6-2. The win, combined with #31 Michaella Krajicek's upset of #8 Anna Chakvetadze, sets up a Round of 16 match with all sorts of Backspin Slam Award implications. Surely, with the winner of the Granville/Krajicek reaching the QF, at least one (and maybe both) will be dubbed the winner of either the "It Girl" or "Miss Opportunity" awards for SW19 '07.
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30-40... please, will someone tell Mary Carillo that Daniela Hantuchova is from Slovakia and not the Czech Republic. Now, since I'm not one to criticize someone for mixing up a player's nation (not after "Marion Bartoli from Italy, and Tathiana Garbin from France"), but after Carillo made the same mistake three times over the course of an hour on Friday, you'd think that someone at ESPN2 might have politely questioned whether or not she realized she was inadvertantly confusing herself during her commentary about the tennis fortunes of the former Czechoslovakia and current Czech Republic (and, accidentally, Slovakia) during the Safarova/Jankovic match, thus bestowing the Maidens with an additional top player at the moment. No one saw fit to protect her from her own error? Not Chris Fowler? Darren Cahill? Patrick McEnroe? No one? Oh, well, at least I'm sure that all the Bartoli fans back in Rome were happy about HER victory today. Hmmm? What's that? Oh, crap.
=============================
MATCH, "Serena Williams def. Milagros Sequera 6-1/6-0"... uh-oh.





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE & Olga Govortsova/BLR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
TOP MID-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova/RUS (1r-E.Vesnina/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: French (Bartoli & Rezai to 3rd Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Olga Govortsova/BLR, Nika Ozegovic/CRO, Tatiana Perebiynis/UKR, Hana Sromova/CZE & Agnes Szavay/HUN (2nd Rd.)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 5.

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Day 4: Red Knickers and an Austrian Boot

When a tournament experiences no big upsets, fashion often takes center stage. While Maria Sharapova's "Swan Lake" dress is too classy-looking to cause a stir, Tatiana Golovin's choice to wear red knickers in what appeared to be a violation of the predominantly-white attire rules (apparently, it wasn't) became one of the boomlet stories of Wimbledon 2007.



Golovin, as is her way, seemed to bask in the spotlight her clothes inspired (hey, she's been here before, right?). But, on Day 4, the story shifted from what she was wearing to what happened on the court as the #17-seed became one of the highest-seeded woman to fall so far. Considering the Austrian teenager she lost to, THIS is the more important story.



16-year old Tamira Paszek, currently ranked #54, continued her upward climb with her 6-2/4-6/6-1 win over the Frussian Pastry. It won't be the last time the girl with the exciting forehand and emotional nature will steal the headline from one of her bigger-named opponents.

Tutored by Gustavo Kuerten's former coach, Paszek already has a fine list of accomplishments to her credit. She was the runner-up in both the 2005 Wimbledon (to Agnieszka Radwanska) and 2006 U.S. Open (to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) junior competitions. Late last season in Portoroz, the then-15 year old became the seventh youngest, and third lowest-ranked (#259) singles champion in WTA history... and she did it in just the third main draw of her pro career.

Earlier this season, she took Justine Henin to three sets, then did the same thing against Maria Sharapova two weeks ago in Birmingham. In between, she turned a 5-0 1st set deficit against Henin at Roland Garros into a tight 5-5 battle (Henin won 7-5) that pegged her, more so than even the promising Pavlyuchenkova at the moment, as a player capable of keeping up with the top talents in the game.

With Golovin dispatched, #12 Elena Dementieva comes up next. A win there would mean a Round of 16 match with either Svetlana Kuznetsova or "old" nemesis A-Rad. After that? Maybe Sharapova again.

Making her way through so many roadblocks isn't likely for a 16-year old newcomer... but at least it seems a safe bet that she'll finally get that bio in the 2008 WTA Guide that somehow eluded her this year.

Hey, small steps lead to bigger ones, right?


Love-Love... Well, he did it again. No one holds people's attention and stokes their hopes for nothing better than Tim Henman at Wimbledon. Against Feliciano Lopez, the Englishman lost two tie-break sets and was down 2-0 in the 3rd set. Prospects looked bleak... until Henman suddenly caught fire and won two sets to knot the match and send it to his second 5th set of this tournament. Just as the fans thought he might pull off a stunner, he was barely there the rest of the way. Lopez won the set 6-1, losing only one point on his serve throughout.
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15-Love... all the remaining women's qualifiers, lucky losers and wild cards lost on Day 4. After qualifier Severine Bremond (who also lost today, 6-0/6-3 to Maria Sharapova) reached the QF a year ago, the quintet of Olga Govortsova, Nika Ozegovic, Tatiana Perebiynis, Hana Sromova and Agnes Szavay all dropped out in the 2nd Round at this Wimbledon.

On the men's side, qualifiers Wayne Arthurs and Edouard Roger-Vasselin both advanced to the final 32.

As far as the Wimbledon "Upset Queens" and "Revelation Ladies," the final vote counts won't be official until after the 3rd Round, as some potential "tie-breakers" there could tip the decision one way or another. The "Upset Queens" contenders:

French: Alize Cornet (def. Kirilenko), Aravane Rezai (def. Perry & Schiavone)
Austrians: Yvonne Meusburger (def. Razzano), Tamira Paszek (def. Zahlavova-Strycova & Golovin)
Belarussians: Victoria Azarenka (def. Kostanic-Tosic & Garbin), Olga Govortsova (def. Arn), Tathiana Poutchek (def. Kutuzova)

As for the "Revelation Ladies":

French: Marion Bartoli & Aravane Rezai join Amelie Mauresmo in the Final 32
Czechs: Lucie Safarova & Nicole Vaidisova, though no real "revelations," could follow in the footsteps of the Fantastovics and place two in the Round of 16

Of course, there's also the possibility that the French could end up with Backspin's first ever sweep of the two awards, as well.
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30-Love... rarely has a slam ever held this true to form. With both Final 32's set, only two of the Top 16 seeds on both sides (#13 Dinara Safina & #11 Tommy Robredo) have failed to advance to the 3rd Round.

*WOMEN'S FINAL 32 - BY NATION
6...Russia (Chakvetadze, Dementieve, Kuznetsova, Petrova, Sharapova, Vesnina)
3...France (Bartoli, Mauresmo, Rezai)
3...USA (Granville, S.Williams, V.Williams)
2...Czech Republic (Safarova, Vaidisova)
2...Japan (Morigami, Sugiyama)
2...Serbia (Ivanovic, Jankovic)
2...Switzerland (Hingis, Schnyder)
1...Austria (Paszek)
1...Belarus (Azarenka)
1...Belgium (Henin)
1...Israel (Peer)
1...Italy (Santangelo)
1...Netherlands (Krajicek)
1...Poland (A.Radwanska)
1...Slovakia (Hantuchova)
1...Slovenia (Srebotnik)
1...Spain (Ruano-Pascual)
1...Ukraine (A.Bondarenko)
1...Venezuela (Sequera)

*MEN'S FINAL 32 - BY NATION
5...France (Gasquet, Mathieu, Monfils, Roger-Vasselin, Tsonga)
4...Russia (Davydenko, Safin, Tursunov, Youzhny)
4...Spain (Ferrero, Lopez, Nadal, Verdasco)
2...Argentina (Canas, Nalbandian)
2...Australia (Arthurs, Hewitt)
2...Germany (Haas, Kiefer)
2...Serbia (Djokovic, Tipsarevic)
2...Sweden (Bjorkman, Soderling)
2...USA (Blake, Roddick)
1...Chile (Gonzalez)
1...Croatia (Ljubicic)
1...Cyprus (Baghdatis)
1...Czech Republic (Berdych)
1...Finland (Nieminen)
1...Korea (Lee)
1...Switzerland (Federer)

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30-15...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's Doubles 1st - #3 Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE/TPE) d. Daniela Hantuchova/Ana Ivanovic (SVK/SRB) - 7-6/6-4.
...in order to maintain their grass court winning streak, the Taiwanese pair will likely have to take out even bigger names than the star-studded duo of Wonder Girl & AnaIvo.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's Doubles 1st - Alona Bonadarenko/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR/UKR) d. Stephanie Cohen Aloro/Virginie Razzano (FRA/FRA) - 6-1/6-2.
...the Radwanskas aren't in the Doubles draw, but the Polish duo's Ukrainian equivalent is alive and well.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Women's Doubles 1st - Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA/USA) d. Claire Curran/Anne Keothavong (GBR/GBR) - 6-1/6-3.
...speaking of sisters. Nothing like a six-time slam and Olympic Gold Medal-winning doubles team that isn't seeded, huh?

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #4: Men's Doubles 1st - #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA) d. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez/Fernando Verdasco (ESP/ESP) - 6-1/6-3/6-3.
...well, since I'm mentioning all-sibling doubles teams.
=============================
40-15...

=EARLY ROUND (1st-2nd) AWARDS=
TOP PLAYER: Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
RISERS: Nadia Petrova/RUS & Elena Vesnina/RUS
SURPRISES: Milagros Sequera/VEN & Laura Granville/USA
VETERANS: Patty Schnyder/SUI & Akiko Morigami/JPN
FRESH FACES Tamira Paszek/AUT & Aravane Rezai/FRA
DOWN: Olga Poutchkova/RUS & Anna Smashnova/ISR
COMEBACK: Virginia Ruano-Pascual/ESP
MATCH: 1st Round - Schnyder d. Pin 6-1/4-6/8-6.
...They couldn't beat Sharapova in a slam, but they could slap together a nice little match against each other.
BEST SAVE: 1st Round - Hingis d. Cavaday 6-7/7-5/6-0.
...the British teen held two match points, but the Swiss Miss held on to avoid adding another 1st Round SW19 bad memory to her resume.
NEAR DISASTER: 1st Round - V.Williams d. Kudryavtseva 2-6/6-3/6-0.
...if Venus goes on to win this tournament, or even simply knocks out someone else who could, the Russian will be forced to wonder just how history would have changed had she been able to close out this match on the "Graveyard of Champions."
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MATCH, "And congratulations to Lindsay Davenport on her new baby boy"... the three-time grand slam champion will also apparently be playing World Team Tennis this summer. Hmmm, might there be another tennis-related announcement coming in her future?





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE & Olga Govortsova/BLR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
TOP MID-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova/RUS (1r-E.Vesnina/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: (vacant)
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Olga Govortsova/BLR, Nika Ozegovic/CRO, Tatiana Perebiynis/UKR, Hana Sromova/CZE & Agnes Szavay/HUN (2nd Rd.)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 4.

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Day 3: Familiarity Breeds Fear

I do believe we've seen this before.



Serena Williams, still trying to play herself into form, is challenged in the early rounds of a slam but lives to fight another day. It happened in Melbourne just five months ago, when both Shahar Peer and Nadia Petrova served for the match against Williams before going down in three sets. Back then, Serena was just trying to play herself into shape. She ended up winning the tournament.

At Wimbledon, she's faced down a 4-5 1st set deficit against Lourdes Dominguez-Lino in the 1st Round, and then today overcame a 4-1 opening set hole against Alicia Molik (who also led 4-2 in the tie-break) to complete her second straight sets win of this tournament. This time, unless that hamstring that Richard Williams mentioned the other day becomes an issue, Serena doesn't have to worry about anything physical. After not playing any grass court tune-ups (something that nearly proved fatal to Venus against Alla Kudryavtseva yesterday), she's just trying to get her match toughness up to snuff at SW19. It explains the slow starts, as well as the blazing finishes.

Should Justine Henin be worried?

Well, of course. Because Serena is dead-on right when she says no one can beat her when she's in top form. It's how the "Serena Slam" came to be, after all. And while Henin has won her two matches handily, dropping just seven games and putting up two love sets, she can't expect the same listless and unfocused Williams she faced off with in Paris to again be on the other side of the net if (but really when) the two meet in the quarterfinals.

Henin can't expect anyone to knock off Serena for her. Not Milagros Sequera, her 3rd Round opponent, nor one of the other players (including Wonder Girl) who could face Williams before Le Petit Taureau.

The QF in Paris wasn't the be-all, end-all that so many wanted to make it out to be. The Henin-Jankovic SF meeting was that match for Roland Garros. That's not the case with Wimbledon. Justine vs. Serena could take place several days before the final Saturday, but it will likely be the most important match of this tournament.

Let the countdown begin.


Love-Love... even with a large portion of the day rendered unusable due to the rain (2009...2009...2009), the women did manage to complete the 1st Round and nine of the sixteen top half 2nd Round matches, while the men finished off just five 2nd Rounders. Tim Henman, in his quest to play EVERY day for as long as he's in this tournament, completed just two games against Feliciano Lopez before play was halted.
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15-Love... in the women's final 64, thirty of the thirty-two seeds advanced (only Olga Poutchkova and Anabel-Medina Garrigues failed to get out of the 1st Round). In the few 2nd Rounders that were completed, two more seeds (Sybille Bammer & Samantha Stosur) were immediately dispatched.

Tatiana Perebiynis was the fifth women's qualifier to win her 1st Round match, while Caroline Wozniacki was the second wild card to do so. 1st Round winner Olga Govortsova lost her 2nd Round match to #18 Marion Bartoli, droping the ranks of remaining women's qualifiers to four.
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30-Love...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's 1st Rd. - #17 Tatiana Golovin(FRA) d. (Q)Su-Wei Hsieh(TPE) - 5-7/6-3/8-6.
...Tatiana returns. Scratch that, I mean the GOOD Tatiana returns. Long enough to win a tight one and avoid an upset, at least.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's 1st Rd. - Virginia Ruano-Pascual(ESP) d. #22 Anabel Medina-Garrigues(ESP) 6-3/2-6/6-2.
...and now the two try to wipe their game faces off and play doubles together. Now, Virginia -- on smiling.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Women's 2nd Rd. - Elena Vesnina d. Emilie Loit 6-2/6-2.
...the '06 Australian Open Round of 16er, and the conqueror of the first women's seed to fall at this year's AO and SW19, Vesnina next sets her sights on Queen Justine.
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MATCH SUSPENDED DUE TO RAIN, "Hey, why not go out in grand slam style? And by that, I mean Smashnova Grand Slam Style, which is quite different from the norm"... as this very well might be Anna Smashnova's final grand slam appearance, let this potentially be the final time Backspin makes note that she could be the worst grand slam player in women's tennis history. Today, for the 28th time in her 48 slam appearances, the veteran lost in the 1st Round. It was her seventh consecutive opening round loss at Wimbledon, and the eleventh in her last twelve trips to the All-England Club. If this is the end, then she'll leave maintaining her rather dubious distinction of being the only woman to win at least ten (twelve, actually... with a 12-1 record in finals) WTA singles titles but never reach the QF of a grand slam. Oh, and I mentioned the "Smashnova Grand Slam Style" exit? Yeah, she lost 6-0/6-0 to Martina Muller in 41 minutes. Hey, at least she outlasted Pavlyuchenkova by a cool 60 seconds.





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh & Olga Govortsova
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): (vacant)
TOP MID-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova (1r-E.Vesnina)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: (vacant)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: (vacant)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 3.

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Day 2: Zombies!?!?

Maybe Court 2, the "Graveyard of Champions," has lost it's dark magic. Either that, or the grounds of the All-England Club are currently "home turf" to a handful of zombies named Martina, Serena and Venus.

Over the years, the "hallowed" site has built its reputation on its odd prime-for-distraction placement, which simultaneously unnerves top players and energizes underdogs enough for them to pull off huge upsets. But after two days of Wimbledon '07, several "big fish" have wiggled off the hook.

On Monday, Martina Hingis saved two match points against Naomi Cavaday. Then, soon afterward, Serena Williams turned a tight 1st set against Lourdes Dominguez-Lino into a 2nd set blowout. On Day 2, it happened again as Venus Williams battled a game Alla Kudrayavtseva and lived to tell about it.



The Russian teen, another powerful blonde bomber currently residing in Florida, was controlling the action... until Williams desperately needed to get her you-what-together or else make Richard Williams' declaration that she'd win her fourth Wimbledon title this year look like one of my pre-season Top 10 predictions. The emotional Kudryavtseva led 6-2/2-0, but let the lead slip away. She was up 3-1 in the 3rd set, too, and even held a break point on Venus' serve at 4-4. Still, Williams held on to win 2-6/6-3/6-4.

Court 2... a failure yet again. And after being so dependable for all these years, too. Hmmm, I wonder if the ol' place can sense that its days are numbered? The ongoing renovation of the grounds will soon turn the "Graveyard" into a figment of Wimbledon history, as it's scheduled to be rebuilt in the location that currently holds Court 13. The chances that lightning will strike twice are rather remote, and the notion of the All-England Club without it's "Graveyard" is a sad turnabout, for sure. But maybe not -- not if Court 2 has lost all the evil mojo that's made it the bane of a least one top player's existence at this time most every year.

Well, unless Martina, Serena and Venus are really just "the walking dead" -- zombies -- whose trips to the boneyard are simply being delayed until a more appropriately devastating demise can be made into SW19 reality. Hmmm...


Love-Love... Well, for once, Tim Henman didn't save the worst for last. Resuming his match with Carlos Moya at 5-5 in the 5th set, he steadily held serve until the score was 11-11 as the overflow of attendees on Henman Hill wondered when he'd implode. He nearly did, but saved a break point with a first serve ace... then another on a kicker ace on a second serve. It was easy to sense that Henman didn't have many more saves left in him, and the man himself must have realized that his moment to seize victory -- or fumble it away -- had arrived. On Moya's serve, Henman failed to covert match points #5 and #6, but saw the Spaniard double-fault on #7 to give the Brit a 13-11 final set victory. Hey, if you can't take it yourself, it's just as nice to receive a gift such as that, huh? Whew!



Tuesday might have been the last day in office for Tony Blair, but it wasn't the last for Tim Henman. Of course, there's always tomorrow.
=============================
Love-15... it seemed to take forever, what with Court 2 failing to hold up its end of the deal, and Camille Pin seizing up at the worst moment, but the first women's seed was finally bounced from the tournament -- #30 Olga Poutchkova. The Russian lost to her countrywoman, Elena Vesnina, 6-1/6-3. It's the second time in '07 that Vesnina has been the mastermind behind the elimination of the first seed in a slam.

**2007 FIRST SEEDS OUT**
Australian: #25 Medina-Garrigues (Vesnina)
Roland Garros: #31 Bremond (Krajicek)
Wimbledon: #30 Poutchkova (Vesnina)

=============================
Love-30... The men's 1st Round was completed on Day 2 (seriously, does any slam make up for lost time better than Wimbledon?), and eight of the sixteen qualifiers are still alive, along with "lucky loser" Frank Dancevic (the Canadian defeated Stefan Koubek). So far, four women's qualifiers, one wild card and one "lucky loser" (Alize Cornet, who upset Maria Kirilenko) have advanced with twenty-one 1st Round matches still to play. The women who have advanced:

Alize Cornet, FRA (LL)
Olga Govortsova, BLR (Q)
Katie O'Brien, GBR (WC)
Nika Ozegovic, CRO (Q)
Hana Sromova, CZE (Q)
Agnes Szavay, HUN (Q)
=============================
15-40...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's 1st Rd. - #11 Nadia Petrova(RUS) def. Vania King(USA) - 6-0/6-1.

...Backspin won't get too excited about one match, but it's nice to see Nadia finally put together a solid match that maybe she can use to build up her confidence. With Ivanovic having lost to Hantuchova last week, there's an opening for Petrova to reach the QF in her section. If her body holds up, that is. See, like I said, this is a definite wait-and-see situation.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's 1st Rd. - Bethanie Mattek(USA) def. Vasilisa Bardina(RUS) - 6-1/6-0.

...after poking the often fashion-unconscious Mattek for sometimes making more news for what she wears than what she does on the court, she deserves a mention for a thoroughly dominating performance (she committed just 3 unforced errors to 15 winners) in a slam.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Women's 1st Rd. - #5 Svetlana Kuznetsova(RUS) def. Julia Vakulenko(UKR) - 4-6/6-4/6-3.

...Vakulenko has spent most of her time in Europe the last few months knocking off big name players, then retiring from tournaments with injuries. For a while, after taking the 1st set and battling the Contessova to a draw deep into the 2nd, it looked like she might be setting herself up for another star-crossed week. Kuznetsova took care of that for her.
=============================
MATCH, "Some day her day will arrive... but not today"... Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 15, has had one of the most notable junior careers in memory, but she's still a literal neophyte on the WTA tour. She made her grand slam main draw debut today in a 1st Round match against Daniela Hantuchova. An intriguing matchup, for sure. Some, such as SI's Jon Wertheim, even predicted the Russian would win the match. But, sometimes, talent and moments don't match up. Hantuchova won 6-0/6-1 in 40 minutes. One day, Pavlyuchenkova will have her moment in the grand slam sun... but it wasn't today. But, before today, the teenager had only played one main draw tour match in her career (a 1st Round loss to Nicole Vaidisova last year in Moscow). Call it a learning experience, little Hordette, and move on... after all, your sweet 16th isn't until next week.





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh & Olga Govortsova
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): (vacant)
TOP MID-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova (1r-E.Vesnina)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: (vacant)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: (vacant)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 2.

Read more...

Day 1: Dancing on the Head of a (Camille) Pin

Even with the Supernova out of sight, she wasn't out of mind... for her memory was surely invoked on Day 1 at Wimbledon.

You see, today the two players who blew golden opportunities to defeat Maria Sharapova at this season's previous grand slam events met in a "Supernovic Rubber Match"...or something like that. And, wouldn't you know it, Patty Schnyder and Camille Pin managed to participate in another wild one.

First off, a quick bit of history to jog the memory. In Melbourne, Pin served for the match in the 1st Round against Sharapova, but ended up losing a 9-7 3rd set under Extreme Heat Conditions. In Paris, Schnyder served for the match three times, and held two match points, in her 4th Round matchup with the Russian. She lost a 9-7 3rd set.

Sharapova or no Sharapova, these two just must have this sort of thing in their blood this season. This time around, Pin held the 3rd set lead, served for the match, held match point... you know the drill. After a rain delay with Pin up 5-4, Schnyder came back to win the match 8-6 in the deciding set. Some people learn. Some people don't.

At least the match didn't end with another 9-7 score... so maybe SOME progress has been made.


Love-Love... You know it's raining at Wimbledon when ESPN2 pulls out the old Borg vs. McEnroe marathon tie-break footage from 1980. Hmmm, once the roof is in place, will such "tradition" be lost forever?
=============================
15-Love... the revolutionary antidote necessary to avoid so many rain-delayed hours with ZERO tennis at the All-England Club won't arrive until the retractable roof is ready to go in 2009, but the initially shocking appearance of Centre Court for the 2007 Championships will be difficult to forget. And it's likely a matter of opinion whether or not that's a good thing.



At first glance, it's hard to believe it's actually Centre Court at all, seeing it has no overhanging roof. The immediate image of comparable "desolation" to that of the empty "temporary" Centre Court is that of a lunar windswept moonscape, SW19 style. But, after a while, the beauty of the stripped-down most-famous-court-in-tennis is impossible to destroy. In fact, it's quite obvious to the naked eye. In some ways, you could even make a case that it's still-stately openness is the equal in beauty to the uniquely intimate appearance the court has had, for the most part, since 1922. But, of course, that might be a matter of opinion.
=============================
30-Love... well, no matter how anyone feels about Centre Court's look this year, it's easy to declare that Roger Federer managed to top his cream-colored blazer look of a season ago. This time, in a nod to the style of the champions of old, he walked onto the court for Day 1's opening match with a white blazer... along with matching vest and pants. Classic, as always.


=============================
40-Love...in news non-Wimbledon, Prince William and that Kate Middleton girl are back together. And in the NON-earth shattering information department, it should be noted that Lisa Raymond reclaimed the #1 doubles ranking on Monday from Cara Black after she and Sam Stosur won the Eastbourne title. Meanwhile, in the Davos $10K event, 17-year old Stephanie Vogt won her first career ITF singles title with a win in the final over Australia's Jessica Moore. I mention the world #1025's triumph because she's from Liechtenstein (LIE... as abbreviated by the WTA), and who knows when the next time will be come for Liechtenstein to be mentioned in Backspin?
=============================
40-15...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's 1st Rd. - #9 Martina Hingis (SUI) d. Naomi Cavaday (GBR) 6-7/7-5/6-0.

...with nary a women's seed having fallen (and only #27 Philip Kohlschreiber on the men's side), it looked like the back-from-an-injury-layoff Hingis was going to be the first. British teen Cavaday even had two match points in the 2nd set, but then crumbled after failing to convert. No Jelena Dokic, circa 1999, Cavaday will have to live with her "what if" moment of Day 1. Meanwhile, Radek Stepanak will deal with the "Martina Curse," since as his fiancee survived, the men's '06 Wimbledon quarterfinalist was knocked out on Day 1 by Paul-Henri Mathieu.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's 1st Rd. - #7 Serena Williams (USA) d. Lourdes Dominguez-Lino (ESP) 7-5/6-0.

...for a moment, it looked like Serena might be in for a fight. But... ummm, no.
=============================
40-30... TRIVIA NOTE: The first replay challenge on Centre Court? By Teimuraz Gabashvili in his three-set loss to Roger Federer. The Russian lost the challenge, giving Federer no reason to express any negative opinion about the use of replay.
=============================
Deuce... B.Becker will be leading Juan Ignacio Chela two sets to one, 3-3 in the 4th, when they resume play on Day 2. Of course, it's Benjamin and not Boris... but it's never a bad thing to remember the redheaded German bounding around Centre Court when he first burst onto the scene as a teenager in the mid-to-late 1980's. Hey, he's Backspin's favorite male player... let me have my memories.

=============================
Ad... QUESTION: when you have to qualify a "record," say by noting that Federer's quest to match Bjorn Borg's "record" of five straight Wimbledon titles would make him only the second man in "the last 100 years" to do so, is it still a record? Considering, in the Club's "ancient times," only two other men ran off a similar string of titles -- William Renshaw (1881-86) won six straight and Laurence Doherty (1902-06) five -- should they be forgotten and ignored? Five in a row would be an increcible accomplishment, but it's not a record. Not yet.
=============================
MATCH, "Leave it to 'Their Tim' to maintain his melodramatic SW19 history"...with Andy Murray out of the draw with a wrist injury, it was just like the old days as all the British men's tennis pressure fell onto the shoulders of 32-year old Tim Henman. He didn't disappoint... well, at least until the end, which is generally how things have gone throughout his Wimbledon career. Down two sets to one, he battled back to the take match to a fifth set. He fell down a break, and nearly a second, but held on and soon found himself up 5-4 on Moya's serve as the clock hovered around 9:15pm and play was about to be called. He saw four match points offered up to him, but he failed to convert any of them. At 5-5, play was suspended until Day 2. Dare the English fans even begin to harbor thoughts that another round of disappointment is NOT about to be plopped into their laps tomorrow? Hey, at least Henman has never been boring on Centre Court, right?
=============================





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh & Olga Govortsova
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): (vacant)
TOP MID-ROUND (3r-QF): (vacant)
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: (vacant)
UPSET QUEENS: (vacant)
REVELATION LADIES: (vacant)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: (vacant)
IT GIRL: (vacant)
MISS OPPORTUNITY: (vacant)
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 1.

Read more...

SW19 Preview: Reasons Why, Reasons Why Not

Justine Henin and the All-England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club... it doesn't appear to be a match made in tennis heaven.

The Club hosts a tournament on a surface that's not supposed to fit her game like a glove. She's not big, and she doesn't possess one of those SuperServes that have enabled Big Babes to win the title with regularity. Le Petit Taureau doesn't exactly fit the classic model of what a Wimbledon champion is supposed to look like.

But when has that ever stopped her before?



After emerging from Roland Garros with her family by her side and expressing her belief that she's "at peace," has Henin ever entered a slam on more of a high than she enters the 2007 Wimbledon? On Saturday, she even put up a result, outlasting Amelie Mauresmo in the Eastbourne final, that can only stoke her belief even more that this could be her year to hold up the big plate. A season ago, after all, it was Mauresmo who defeated Henin on the final Saturday in London SW19.

Queen Justine comes to Wimbledon having reached at least the final of the last five grand slams she's played. Her first career slam final was in 2001... at SW19, where she pushed an in-her-prime Venus Williams to three sets. Two semifinals and last year's RU result (after another three-setter) later, Henin sports a 40-9 career mark on grass and begins this tournament not only being able to clearly see the reasons why she can finally win it, but also why so many of the other contenders might have a tougher time of it than herself.

Are the Williams sisters ready for a big result here, having not been at their best for weeks or months? Okay, so that one's a little suspect... of course they could be, but they'll still have to raise their games from recent efforts to do so. Is Maria Sharapova's serve steady or her confidence strong enough to survive a monster draw? Could Svetlana Kuznetsova, 0-4 in '07 finals but the last player to beat Henin, actually get herself together for a title run NOW, of all times? Did Mauresmo's late-match semi-meltdown signal that she's already nervous about defending her title? And what about the Serbs? Jelena Jankovic tends to peak right BEFORE the slams, and has never beaten Henin; while Ana Ivanovic was taken out by Daniela Hantuchova in a QF match in the Netherlands last week in her only grass court tune-up.

Meanwhile, Henin has won eleven straight matches, and eighteen of her last nineteen overall. She's confident after Eastbourne, and reached the Wimbledon final a year ago. Plus, she's sniffing around the career slam, as well, as she's one SW19 title away from becoming the tenth woman to win all four titles.

*WOMEN'S CAREER SLAMS*
[AO-RG-W-US... completed slam/age]
Doris Hart [1-2-1-2]...1949 AO / 24
Mo Connolly [1-2-3-3]...1953 AO / 20
Shirley Fry [1-1-1-1]...1957 AO / 30
Margaret Smith-Court [11-5-3-5]...1963 Wimb / 20
Billie Jean King [1-1-6-4]...1972 RG / 28
Chris Evert [2-7-3-6]...1982 AO / 27
Martina Navratilova [3-2-9-4]...1983 US / 26
Steffi Graf [4-6-7-5]...1988 US / 19
Serena Williams [3-1-2-2]...2003 AO / 21
Justine Henin? [1-4-0-1]...2007 Wimb? / 25

Of course, there's that potential QF meeting with Serena Williams that looms on the horizon, and this isn't the same clay court the two met on in Paris a few weeks ago. But if Henin survives that match, she's suddenly the unquestioned favorite even with the possibility of mutliple former Wimbledon champs still in the draw at that point.

**RG/WIMB BACK-TO-BACK SWEEPS - OPEN ERA**
1970 Margaret Smith-Court
1971 Evonne Goolagong
1972 Billie Jean King
1982 Martina Navratilova
1984 Martina Navratilova
1988 Steffi Graf
1993 Steffi Graf
1995 Steffi Graf
1996 Steffi Graf
2002 Serena Williams
2007 Justine Henin??

There's a great deal to play for, and a "peaceful" Queen might just be up to the task. Hmmm, the Queen winning in England... concidence? Hey, maybe there's something going on here, after all.






=QUALIFYING ROUNDS=
TOP PLAYERS: Su-Wei Hsieh & Olga Govortsova
RISERS: Jorgelina Cravero & Zi Yan
SURPRISES: Nika Ozegovic & Casey Dellacqua
VETERANS: Kristina Brandi & Hana Sromova
FRESH FACES Agnes Szavay & Ayumi Morita
DOWN: Brenda Schultz-McCarthy
COMEBACK: Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova & Tatiana Perebiynis

=MATCHES=
Q1: Anda Perianu d. #2 Dominika Cibulkova 7-6/1-6/10-8
Q2: Nika Ozegovic d. #4 Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1/1-6/8-6
Q3: Jorgelina Cravero d. Klara Zakopalova 5-7/7-5/7-5


=THE QUALIFIERS=

*BY AGE*
17...Ayumi Morita (JPN)
18...Olga Govortsova (BLR)
18...Agnes Szavay (HUN)
21...Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)
21...Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
22...Nika Ozegovic (CRO)
22...Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
22...Zi Yan (CHN)
24...Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR)
25...Jorgelina Cravero (ARG)
29...Hana Sromova (CZE)
30...Kristina Brandi (PUR)
(lucky loser)
17...Alize Cornet (FRA)

*BY RANKING*
#70....Agnes Szavay
#113...Casey Dellacqua
#119...Jorgelina Cravero
#127...Su-Wei Hsieh
#145...Barbora Zahlavova Strycova
#154...Olga Govortsova
#169...Hana Sromova
#174...Ayumi Morita
#189...Nika Ozegovic
#192...Zi Yan
#202...Tatiana Perebiynis
#206...Kristina Brandi
(lucky loser)
#140...Alize Cornet

*MOST 2007 SLAM QUALIFIERS*
[players]
2...Jorgelina Cravero (AO/W)
2...Su-Wei Hsieh (RG/W)
2...Agnes Szavay (RG/W)
[nations]
6...Czech Republic
4...Ukraine

*WIMBLEDON SINGLES FINALS*
2000 Venus Williams d. Lindsay Davenport
2001 Venus Williams d. Justine Henin
2002 Serena Williams d. Venus Williams
2003 Serena Williams d. Venus Williams
2004 Maria Sharapoav d. Serena Williams
2005 Venus Williams d. Lindsay Davenport
2006 Amelie Mauresmo d. Justine Henin-Hardenne

*WIMBLEDON JUNIOR FINALS*
2002 Vera Dushevina d. Maria Sharapova
2003 Kirsten Flipkens d. Anna Chakvetadze
2004 Kateryna Bondarenko d. Ana Ivanovic
2005 Agnieszka Radwanska d. Tamira Paszek
2006 Caroline Wozniacki d. Magdalena Rybarikova

*WIMBLEDON TITLES - ACTIVE*
3...Venus Williams (2000-01,05)
2...Serena Williams (2002-03)
1...Maria Sharapova (2004)
1...Amelie Mauresmo (2006)
1...Martina Hingis (1997)


Love-Love... Wimbledon won't be the same come 2009, which will be the first year Centre Court will have a retractable roof that'll end those rainy, match-less days for all eternity. But, as a result of the construction, Centre Court won't be quite the same in 2007, either. See, for the first time since 1922, play there this year will take place without any roof at all. It'll return in 2008, but this time around the roof that usually covers much of the attending crowd, and gives the court its uniquely intimate feel, won't be there. Windy conditions could truly serve up an interesting concoction on the already sometimes-unpredicable grass court surface. Yes, winning Wimbledon this season will take a little extra doing... and even the arrival of the Hawk-Eye replay system won't provide a place to hide.
=============================
Love-15... in the final round of qualifying on Thursday, Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh put in extra duty, not only reaching the main draw in singles, but doing so in doubles, as well, by qualifying with partner Alla Kudryavtseva.
=============================
Love-30...potential first seeds out? How about:

=A REAL SHOT=
#22 Medina-Garrigues (vs. Ruano-Pascual)
#29 Schiavone (vs. Kremer)
#32 Poutchkova (vs. Vesnina)
=WOULDN'T BE SHOCKING=
#11 Petrova (vs. King)
#12 Dementieva (vs. Dechy)
#16 Peer (vs. Tanasugarn)
#17 Golovin (vs. Hsieh)
#24 A.Bondarenko (vs. Craybas)
#31 Krajicek (vs. Obziler)
=WORTH WATCHING=
#10 Hantuchova (vs. Pavlyuchenkova)
#13 Safina (vs. K.Bondarenko)
#21 Garbin (vs. Yan)
#26 Sugiyama (vs. South)
#28 Santangelo (vs. Morigami)
=THE LONG SHOTS... or are they?=
#2 Sharapova (vs. Chan)
#4 Mauresmo (vs. Jackson)
#5 Kuznetsova (vs. Vakulenko)
#8 Chakvetadze (vs. Kerber)
#9 Hingis (vs. Cavady)

=============================
15-30...potential last qualifer standing? In order...

Agnes Szavay, HUN
Tatiana Perebiynis, UKR
Nika Ozegovic, CRO

As for the wild card's:

Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
Katie O'Brien, GBR

=============================
15-40... what about the men's side? Well, here's the ATP Backspin take.
=============================
MATCH, "just like old times... and they could actually meet in the final, too"...Venus and Serena are set to become the center of attention again at SW19. They'll play doubles there for the first time since 2003, and they'll debut special gold rackets with inlaid jewels, too. Wonder if Roger Federer will be able to top that one year after his rather sharp cream-colored blazer immediately made it's mark in grand (slam) entrance history?=============================



=ROUND OF 16=
#1 Henin d. (Q)Szavay
#7 S.Williams d. #10 Hantuchova
#3 Jankovic d. #16 Peer
#8 Chakvetadze d. #20 Bammer
#6 Ivanovic d. (Q)Perebiynis
#4 Mauresmo d. #14 Vaidisova
#5 Kuznetsova d. Paszek
#23 V.Williams d. #2 Sharapova

...someone is likely going to be left bloodied and beaten after this round, for BOTH Venus and Maria cannot advance into the QF.

=QUARTERFINALS=
#1 Henin d. #7 S.Williams
#3 Jankovic d. #8 Chakvetadze
#4 Mauresmo d. #6 Ivanovic
#23 V.Williams d. #5 Kuznetsova

...Henin vs. Serena, a rematch of the Roland Garros QF, might be as close to a pre-weekend final as you'll likely to find in any slam.

=SEMIFINALS=
#1 Henin d. #3 Jankovic
#4 Mauresmo d. #23 V.Williams

...Ahab is hoping the White Whale doesn't make it this far. Of course, if it doesn't, then the peg-legged one would likely face Serena. Neither scenario is what dreams are made of for the Serb.

=FINAL=
#1 Henin d. #4 Mauresmo

...if Amelie had won in Eastbourne, I very well might have gone the other way here. But, instead, the Queen reigns at the All-England Club.




For a second opinion, from Tennisrulz Head Honcho Pierre Cantin, read his Wimbledon preview blog.






All for now.

Read more...

Wk.25- Bare Bones Backspin II

Hmmm, let's see... how to wrap up Week 25 succinctly, but also quickly enough to allow the immediate shifting of focus to Wimbledon? Okay, here it goes:

"Jelena Jankovic isn't a machine, but Justine Henin might be at the moment... Anna Chakvetadze might not be able to beat Maria Sharapova, but she can beat the people who beat Maria Sharapova... Amelie Mauresmo, in a matter of minutes, went from a potential Wimbledon favorite to defend her title to a big question mark when the pressure is turned up... and, um, Backspin is glad about that because Le Petit Taureau's title in Eastbourne allowed the upcoming Wimbledon preview article to retain it's intended resonance. Whew!"

All right, that should do it. Now it's time to cross some t's and dot some i's.

*WEEK 25 CHAMPIONS*

EASTBOURNE, ENGLAND (II-Grass)
S: Justine Henin d. Amelie Mauresmo 7-5/6-7/7-6
D: Raymond/Stosur d. Peschke/Stubbs

's-HERTOGENBOSCH, NETHERLANDS (III-Grass)
S: Anna Chakvetadze d. Jelena Jankovic 7-6/3-6/6-3
D: Chan/Chuang d. Medina-Garrigues/Ruano-Pascual


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Justine Henin
... Four times women have defended their 2006 tour titles this season, and Henin has accounted for three of them. This time she repeated as Eastbourne champion, matching her 3rd set tie-break win from a year ago over Anastasia Myskina, only this time accomplishing it against '06 Wimbledon champ Amelie Mauresmo. The Queen's fifth title on the season makes her 40-9 on grass in her career.
=============================
RISERS: Anna Chakvetadze & Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang
... Marion Bartoli reached her second straight grasscourt SF in Eastbourne, but this award goes to the title winners this week. Chakvetadze played the Henin role against Jelena Jankovic in 's-Hertogenbosch, winning a three-set final to claim her first grass court title. Meanwhile, Chan/Chuang made their grass tune-up schedule a two-for-two affair as they followed up their Birmingham win with a title in the Netherlands, too.
=============================
SURPRISES: Katie O'Brien & Melanie South
... Wimbledon is nearly here, so it's time for the Brits to actually put up a few results. In Eastbourne, O'Brien qualified and defeated Vasilisa Bardina in the 1st Round, while wild card South (who upset Francesca Schiavone at Wimbledon last year) outlasted Alicia Molik in a 3rd set tie-break to take her 1st Round match.
=============================
VETERANS: Amelie Mauresmo & Lisa Raymond
... Sure, Mauresmo was gobbled up by the moment in the closing games of the Eastbourne final, but her wins over Santangelo, Peer and Petrova, as well as her seeming command of the Henin match before she served at 5-4 in the 3rd set should have at least prepared her well for her attempt to defend at the All-England Club. Meanwhile, Raymond & Samantha Stosur won a tour-leading fifth doubles title of the season in Eastbourne. The battle for doubles #1 is likely to be a season-long push-and-pull event.
=============================
FRESH FACE: Angelique Kerber
... The German teenager continued to produce some good big tour results after so much ITF success. In 's-Hertogenbosch, she knocked off Yung-Jan Chan and Elena Vesnina en route to the QF. She'll face Chakvetadze in the 1st Round of Wimbledon.
=============================
DOWN: Vera Zvonareva & Severine Bremond
... Zvonareva's wrist injury, which put her out of Roland Garros, will keep her away from SW19, as well. Meanwhile, a year ago, qualifier Bremond was a surprise quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. So far, her 2007 grasscourt results have yet to produce a win after she lost a second straight 1st Rounder, to Eleni Daniilidou (after falling to Molik in Birmingham) in the Netherlands.
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1. East F - Henin d. Mauresmo
...7-5/6-7/7-6. Henin remains unbeaten at Eastbourne... and the All-England Club could do far worse than have this match-up at the end of the upcoming fortnight. Henin was up a break in the 2nd, but Mauresmo battled back. Mauresmo was up a break in the 3rd, and served at 5-4. But Henin, more and more comfortable on grass all the time, ended up taking the match as her game held steady while Mauresmo's lost it's edge in crunch time. But can the defending SW19 champion rediscover her '06 magic once she sets foot on the grounds at Wimbledon?
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2. Neth F - Chakvetadze d. Jankovic
...7-6/3-6/6-3. Chakvetadze lost a 5-1 1st set lead, but was saved from the slide by a rain delay at 5-4. She came back to win the set in a tie-break in what proved to be the key moment of the match.
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3. East QF - Henin d. Vaidisova
...6-2/6-2. It's nearly July, and neither the Dynamova nor the Supernova have claimed a title yet.
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4. Neth 2nd - Safina d. Krajicek
...6-4/3-6/6-4. Marat's sister gets her revenge on Richard's sister for beating her in the final in 's-Hertogenbosch a year ago.
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5. Neth QF - Hantuchova d. Ivanovic
...6-3/6-1. Wonder Girl DOES list grass as her favorite surface.
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HM- East QF - Petrova d. Bammer
...6-7/7-5/6-4. Petrova talks about her questionable motivation at the moment, but one wonders if she were in better shape and healthier (hmmm, could there be a connection?), as she was at the start and end of '06, if the likely higher victory total might alter her thinking a little. Even in this match, she went through multiple medical time-outs before finally prevailing, only to retire after a set with a shoulder problem in the SF against Mauresmo.
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HM- East QF - Mauresmo d. Peer
...6-3/6-4. Ummm, maybe the Tennis Channel should re-think how it abbreviates Peer's name in the corner-of-the-screen scorebox. "PEE" is just, well, it's just not right. Or at least it SHOULDN'T be.
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**2007 WTA TITLES**
5...JUSTINE HENIN
4...Jelena Jankovic
2...Serena Williams
2...ANNA CHAKVETADZE

**BEST 2007 FINAL WIN PCT. - MULTIPLE FINALS**
100% - Serena Williams (2-0)
100% - ANNA CHAKVETADZE (2-0)
83% - JUSTINE HENIN (5-1)
67% - JELENA JANKOVIC (4-2)

**MOST SINGLES TITLES - 2006/07**
11..JUSTINE HENIN (6/5)
6...Nadia Petrova (5/1)
5...Maria Sharapova (5/0)
5...Amelie Mauresmo (4/1)
4...Jelena Jankovic (0/4)
4...ANNA CHAKVETADZE (2/2)
4...Kim Clijsters (3/1)

**2007 TITLES -- RUSSIANS**
2...ANNA CHAKVETADZE (HOBART,'s-HERT.)
1...Elena Dementieva (Strasbourg)
1...Nadia Petrova (Paris)
1...Dinara Safina (Gold Coast)
1...Yaroslava Shvedova (Bangalore)

**DEFENDED TITLES IN 2007**
Feb - Amelie Mauresmo (Antwerp, 2005-07)
Feb - Justine Henin (Dubai, 2006-07)
Jun - Justine Henin (Roland Garros, 2005-07)
Jun - JUSTINE HENIN (EASTBOURNE, 2006-07)

**2007 DOUBLES TITLES - TEAMS**
5...LISA RAYMOND/SAMANTHA STOSUR
4...Cara Black/Liezel Huber
3...YUNG-JAN CHAN/CHIA-JUNG CHUANG
2...Zi Yan/Jie Zheng


All for now.

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Wk.24- A Rolling Jelena Gathers No Moss

Jelena Jankovic won on Sunday... again.



This time the victory earned her a title on the Birmingham, England grass. Over Maria Sharapova, no less... so it was surely impressive. But one has to wonder when the Energizer bunny of the 2007 season is going to run out of steam.

Not shy about stating her dislike for practice, Jankovic prefers to play matches that count during the week. She's been doing it for 22 of the season's 25 weeks, so far, and is set to play in the Netherlands this week. After that, it's off to the All-England Club. Her non-stop schedule has garnered four titles, tied for the tour's best, and a WTA-best 49 wins in 60 matches (and that's not counting her 4-0 Fed Cup record). In the 2nd Quarter alone, she's put up 28 victories -- twice the number of any other player (Justine Henin and Svetlana Kuznetsova's are next with 14) who's spent time in the Top 10 this year. After Wimbledon, she'll have traversed the monster 14-week 2Q, from green clay to red clay to grass, from the U.S. to Europe, with but one week off to ponder what she's accomplished in climbing to #3 in the rankings.

Up till now, her consistency has been a marvel. Only twice -- a QF in Tokyo, and a 3rd Round in Miami -- has she failed to win at least two matches in her fifteen tournaments. Her first career grass court title this weekend (at the same Edgbaston event where she lost the final to the Supernova in' 05) means that her four 2007 titles have all come on different surfaces:

Auckland - Hard Court
Charleston - Green Clay
Rome - Red Clay
Birmingham - Grass

So, she's a Renaissance lady. But one has to wonder what Jelena will do once the WTA season is over. How will she fill her day? Will she pull people off the street to participate in her own makeshift tournament? I guess that'll be okay... as long as Justine doesn't happen to be walking by at the time.

Until then, though, a rolling Jelena gathers no moss.

*WEEK 24 CHAMPIONS*

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (III-Grass)
S: Jelena Jankovic d. Maria Sharapova 4-6/6-3/7-5
D: Chan/Chuang d. T.Sun/Tu

BARCELONA SPAIN (IV-RCO)
S: Meghann Shaughnessy d. Edina Gallovits 6-3/6-2
D: Llagostera-Vives/Parra Santonja d. Dominguez-Lino/Pennetta


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jelena Jankovic
...Jankovic survived a 7-5 3rd set against Maria Kirilenko early in the tournament, then did the same against Sharapova in the final after both were forced to pile several matches on top of another over the weekend to make up for the rain delays during the week. But, other than you-know-who, nothing seems to bother Jelena this season.
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RISERS: Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang & Marion Bartoli
...the Taiwanese doubles pair won their second tour title of the season in Birmingham, as they both continue to shoot up the rankings. After being ranked #119 and #87 in doubles at the end of '06, Chan and Chuang are now at #10 and #11, respectively. Meanwhile, Pastry Bartoli knocked off Daniela Hantuchova at Edgbaston to reach her third SF of the season.
=============================
SURPRISE: Edina Gallovits
...the 22-year old Romanian, winner of 12 ITF titles in her career, had her best WTA result with a run to her first tour final in Barcelona with wins over Ruano-Pascual, Dominguez-Lino, Kanepi and Razzano. She's the second Romanian to reach a final in '07, and the third to get to at least a SF after none did so a season ago.
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VETERAN: Meghann Shaughnessy
...the 28-year old American vet added a sixth career title with her win in Barcelona. Quietly, it was her third tour title in the past fifteen months. Aside from the win the final over Gallovits, the Shillelagh also put up victories over Pous Tio, Szavay and Pennetta.
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FRESH FACES: Shuai Zhang & Ayumi Morita

...18-year old Zhang has makde a strong case to be the next Chinese player to watch, having won 20 straight ITF matches and four consecutive tournaments over the past few months. The latest came in a $50K in Guangzhou, with a win in the final over Russia's Regina Kulikova. Meanwhile, 17-year old Ayumi Morita looks to be the new promising Rising Sunner. In Birmingham, she qualified and then took out veterans Jill Craybas and countrywoman Ai Sugiyama in the main draw.
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DOWN: Michaella Krajicek & Anastasia Myskina
...a year ago this week, Krajicek defeated Dinara Safina to take the Netherlands crown (they could meet again there this week, but in the 2nd Round), but last week she lost her first grass court tune-up match to Yuliana Fedak in Birmingham. And the Czarina's disasterous '07 season continued to slip away, as she pulled out of Wimbledon.
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1. Birm Final - Jankovic d. Sharapova
...4-6/6-3/7-5. Sharapova is now 42-6 on grass in her career. As it turned out, this result was an improvement over last year, as she lost in the SF to Jamea Jackson in '06.
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2. Barc Final - Shaughnessy d. Gallovits
...6-3/6-2. The race is on to see who'll be the first of the new wave of Romanians to win a tour title. Raluca? Sorana? Edina? Simona? Not sure which is which? You might soon.
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3. Birm 2nd - King d. Molik
...7-6/6-4. King is the Steamer's personal version of Freddy Krueger. Although Molik opened with a good win over '06 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Severine Bremond, she lost yet another one to the American Idol to drop her career record against her to 1-3 since they first met at the U.S. Open last year.
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4. Birm 1st - Kerber d. Poutchkova
...6-0/6-0. German teenager Kerber has four ITF titles this season, and might be about to supplant Groenefeld and do battle with Petkovic for the Top German spot on tour.
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5. Birm 1st - King d. Schultz-McCarthy
...7-6/7-6. That King was able to withstand Schultz-McCarthy's serve and the 9-inch height difference could serve her well at SW19.
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HM- Birm 3rd - Santangelo d. Vakulenko
...1-3, ret.. Vakulenko's star-crossed European spring continues. This time, she lost even though she was in the lead when the match ended.
=============================


**2007 SINGLES TITLES**
4...Justine Henin
4...JELENA JANKOVIC
2...Serena Williams

**2007 WTA FINALS**
5...Justine Henin (4-1)
5...JELENA JANKOVIC (4-1)
4...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (0-4)
3...Ana Ivanovic (1-2)
3...Amelie Mauresmo (1-2)

**2007 FIRST-TIME FINALISTS - BY NATION**
2...ROMANIA (Cirstea-L/GALLOVITS-L)
2...Russia (Bardina-L/Shvedova-W)
1...Austria (Bammer-W)
1...Belarus (Azarenka-L)
1...Canada (Wozniak-L)
1...Germany (Arn-W)
1...Italy (Vinci-W)

**CAREER WTA SINGLES TITLES**
[active Americans]
34...Venus Williams (2007: 1)
28...Serena Williams (2007: 2)
7....Chanda Rubin (last 2003)
6....MEGHANN SHAUGHNESSY (2007: 1)
4....Lisa Raymond (last 2003)



...this week's "Battle Royale" picks are included with the Clay Court Awards, but here are the updated 2007 standings:


ROUND OF 16: Backspin 76-71
QUARTERFINALS: Pierre 46-38
SEMIFINALS: Pierre 41-38
FINALISTS: Backspin 17-15
CHAMPIONS: Backspin 5-4

ALSO THIS WEEK:
WIMBLEDON QUALIFYING



All for now.

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