Wk.30- The Princess and... Patty's Husband?

You might want to be wary of the White Mile, Sania... so don't say you weren't properly warned.

Well, it looks like Sania Mirza's hangover has finally been remedied. After producing the tour's biggest breakthrough season in 2005, the Indian Princess' "year after" wasn't nearly as successful. After having won a WTA singles title, just one of her numerous "first Indian woman to do" feats that season, she failed to get a second, reached only one semifinal, and won just two grand slam singles matches a year ago. It was easy to wonder if the then 19-year old might be destined to be the star of "Dokic II," minus the off-the-court meltdowns, and forever remain a one-dimensional player who was never able to recapture her once-great promise.

But 2007 is turning out to be quite a rehabilitative year for Mirza. After reaching SF in Hobart and Pattaya early in the season, Mirza's progress suffered a setback with a knee operation in March. She slogged through the clay and grass seasons with little to show for it in terms of victories, but it's now obvious that she was really just preparing for her favored hard court season in North America.



Just a few weeks into the 3rd Quarter, Mirza is sporting a decidedly fitter look to go along with that lethal forehand, winning smile and large dose of personality that garnered her so much attention two years ago. At 20, her forward progress is back on track. A SF in Cincinnati was followed up by her first final in nearly two years in Stanford. But maybe the most interesting development of last week involving Mirza might have been her request for a little coaching assistance from Rainer Hofmann, husband of Patty Schnyder.

Oh, there's nothing salacious there, but considering the sometimes-loopy past and present of Schnyder, combined with Mirza's former courtship of cheeky controversy, it's certainly a pairing that just begs for bizarre speculation... you know, like whether or not Patty and Sania might go on a t-shirt shopping spree.

Well, check that. Since Sania actually took out Schnyder in straight sets in the QF (with Rainer's "help"... boy, I wonder if he apologized to Sneaky after the match?), they probably won't be traveling the White Mile together anytime soon.

Oh, well. No matter. It's just nice to be able to talk of Sania's flights of fancy again, and to see her exciting crowds like she did in Stanford last week. The WTA tour is a more fun place with Mirza in the mix. Apparenty, one billion Indian fans WEREN'T wrong, after all. Whew!

But, really, could the tour even ever hope to survive the explosive potential of a Sania-Patty-Rainer smackdown? Probably not. Good thing Sania's as smart as she is clever.

Hey, at least if Patty ever decides to seek a little revenge, the Princess will be able to work on her reflexes... she only has to remember to duck.

*WEEK 30 CHAMPIONS*

STANFORD, CALIFORNIA USA (II-Hard)
S: Anna Chakvetadze d. Sania Mirza 6-3/6-2
D: Mirza/Peer d. Azarenka/Chakvetadze

BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIA (III-Red Clay)
S: Francesca Schiavone d. Yvonne Meusburger 6-1/6-4
D: Hradecka/Voracova d. Szavay/Uhlirova

WORLD TEAM TENNIS FINAL
Sacramento Capitals d. New York Buzz 24-20


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Anna Chakvetadze
...the Doll's fourth title on the season in Stanford means that, at 6-0 in career WTA singles finals, she's half-way to the other Anna's -- Smashnova, not Kournikova -- 12-0 record in her first twelve tour finals. Even while extending her winning streak to ten matches, the Russian was uncharacteristically inconsistent, as her serve put her into holes from which she was forced to successfully escape. Of course, she can get away with such things against the likes of Daniilidou, Srebotnik, Hantuchova and Mirza. In order to earn her way past her current career-high rank of #6, she's going to have to find a way to put together a better record than the 2-11 one she has against four of the five women (she's 5-2 against #3 Jelena Jankovic) currently ranked ahead of her on the WTA computer.
=============================
RISERS: Sania Mirza & Daniela Hantuchova
...before her run to the final in Stanford, Mirza hadn't gone as deep in a tournament in almost two years ('05 Forest Hills). Alongside her singles wins over Morigami, Golovin, Schnyder & Bammer was a third doubles title of the season, which she won with Shahar Peer. While Wonder Girl's advancements often come with even more questions, as was the case with a SF result in Stanford that was slightly muted by her failure to hold a lead against Chakvetadze, in the end, Hantuchova is back in the Top 10... and that can't be seen as anything but progress.
=============================
SURPRISES: Yvonne Meusburger & Yanina Wickmayer

...with nine career circuit titles. 23-year old Austrian Meusburger has been successful on the ITF tour, but only recently has her success translated to WTA tour eyebrow-raisers. That's surely what happened in Bad Gastein, as she reached her first tour singles final and picked up victories over Loit, Birnerova, Dominguez-Lino and Knapp. A few weeks ago, 17-year old Belgian Wickmayer provided her country's only Fed Cup point against China with a win over Zi Yan. This week, she won an ITF title (the fourth of her career) by taking the $25K in Les Contamines with a win over Julie Coin. She also claimed the doubles crown with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
=============================
VETERANS: Francesca Schiavone & Elena Likhovtseva

...if only Schiavone could bottle the adrenaline she gets from her Fed Cup participation, she'd have a nice little product to sell in between practice sessions. Just two weeks after guiding Italy into another FC final with wins over Mauresmo and Golovin, she FINALLY claimed her first tour singles title at age 27, winning the Bad Gastein Tier IV final over Meusburger. Hmmm, with her name now crossed off the list, NOW who's the best/most accomplished WTA player who's never won a singles title? Meanwhile, Likhovtseva was the Most Valuable Russian -- not Kournikova -- on the Sacramento Capital roster as she led the team to a World Team Tennis championship over the weekend.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Olga Govortsova & Stephanie Dubois

...Belarus' Govortsova, 18, has been a mover-and-shaker in terms of slam qualifying this season, and last week in Stanford she showed her knack for successful qualifying runs again. In the main draw, she knocked off Catalina Castano and, in her first win over a top 20 player, Shahar Peer en route to her maiden tour QF. As the anniversary of her Montreal retirement win over Kim Clijsters approaches, the 20-year old Dubois is "feeling it" again. In the $50K in Lexington, she won her second straight ITF title (over Anne Keothavong), and picked up nice wins over Della'Acqua and Jidkova, too.
=============================
DOWN: Patty Schnyder
...only Sneaky Patty would find herself in a situation where her husband is coaching her opponent, right? But it turned out to be the case when '06 Stanford runner-up Schnyder met Mirza in the Stanford QF, with husband Rainer Hofmann occupying the odd seat in the crowd. Since Patty lost in straight sets, it must have made or some interesting Team Schnyder pillow talk.
=============================


1. Stan Final - Chakvetadze d. Mirza
...6-3/6-2. As usual, Chakvetadze was somewhat overshadowed in this match by crowd favorite Mirza, but the fact remains that no one has more hard court wins this season than the Russian Doll.
=============================
2. BG Final - Schiavone d. Meusburger
...6-1/6-4. Schiavone avoids going 0-for-9 in career finals.
=============================
3. BG 1st - Groenefeld d. Vinci
...6-4/2-6/6-0. Could it be that her Wimbledon post-match bloodletting was her first step back to better mental health? This nice win over the #3 seed, including a love set in the 3rd, will certainly give her something to feel good about. She lost her next match, but it went to a 3rd set tie-break. After so many down moments in' 07, even that is something she might be able to see the bright side of now that maybe her darkest moments have passed.
=============================
4. Stan 2nd - Osterloh d. Bartoli
...5-7/6-4/6-3. At Wimbledon, Bartoli upset the world #1. In her first action since SW19, she fell to a player with a three-digit ranking. No one said this was going to be easy for La Trufflette.
=============================
5. Stan QF - Mirza d. Schnyder
...7-6/6-1. Forget the White Mile, Rainer's penance might include the Green Mile.
=============================
HM- Stan Doub.F - Mirza/Peer d. Azarenka/Chakvetadze
...6-4/7-6. The last time players met in both the singles and doubles final of the same event was Davenport and Clijsters in 2003.
=============================


**2007 SINGLES FINALS**
6...Justine Henin (5-1)
6...Jelena Jankovic (4-2)
4...ANNA CHAKVETADZE (4-0)
4...Amelie Mauresmo (1-3)
4...Svetlana Kuznetsova (0-4)
3...Ana Ivanovic (1-2)

**CONSECUTIVE 2007 TITLES**
Feb/Mar - Justine Henin (Dubai/Doha)
Jan/Mar - Serena Williams (Aust./Miami)
June - Justine Henin (R.Garros/Eastbourne)
JULY - ANNA CHAKVETADZE (CINCY/STANFORD)

**OLDEST FIRST-TIME 2007 CHAMPS**
28...Greta Arn, GER/Estoril
27...FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE, ITA/BAD GASTEIN
27...Akiko Morigami, JPN/Prague
26...Sybille Bammer, AUT/Pattaya
26...Milagros Sequera, VEN/Fes

**CAREER TITLES - RUSSIANS**
15..Maria Sharapova, 2003-06
10..Anastasia Myskina, 1999-05
9...Olga Morozova, 1969-75
8...Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2002-06
7...Nadia Petrova, 2005-07 (1)
7...Elena Dementieva, 2003-07 (1)
6...ANNA CHAKVETADZE, 2006-07 (4)



==JULY AWARD WINNERS - WEEK 28-30==

*PLAYERS OF THE MONTH*
1. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS -

The Russian Doll went 10-0 on the American hard courts while most of the rest of the Top 10 were on the sidelines.
=============================
2. Francesca Schiavone, ITA - clearly in her element, Schiavone starred in the Noodles' Fed Cup SF win, then finally won her first career title two weeks later.
=============================
3. Venus Williams, USA - in a losing American effort in the Fed Cup SF, Venus was the clear victor against Top 10ers Petrova and Chakvetadze in singles.
=============================
4. Sania Mirza, IND - with a SF and Final, the exciting game of the Indian Princess is back in the conversation.
=============================
5. Agnes Szavay, HUN - the teenager won her first career title in Palermo.
=============================

*RISERS*
1. Anna Chakvetadze/RUS
2. Sania Mirza/IND
3. Daniela Hantuchova/SVK
4. Anabel Medina-Garrigues/ESP
5. Shahar Peer/ISR
6. Martina Muller/GER
7. Kaia Kanepi/EST
8. Alona Bondarenko/UKR
9. Maria-Emilia Salerni/ARG
10. Yaroslava Shvedova/RUS
HM- Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez/ESP

*FRESH FACES*
1. Agnes Szavay/HUN
2. Petra Cetkovska/CZE
3. Olga Govortsova/BLR
4. Agnieszka Radwanska/POL
5. Karin Knapp/ITA
6. Stephanie Dubois/CAN
7. Ayumi Morita/JPN
8. Dominika Cibulkova/SVK
9. Alexa Glatch/USA
10. Edina Gallovits/ROU
HM- Kimberly Couts/USA

*SURPRISES*
1. Nika Ozegovic/CRO
2. Tatjana Malek/GER
3. Yvonne Meusburger/AUT
4. Lilia Osterloh/USA
5. Akgul Amanmuradova/UZB
6. Sara Errani/ITA
7. Andreja Klepac/SLO
8. Eva Birnerova/CZE
9. Yanina Wickmeyer/BEL
10. Ana Vrljic/CRO
HM- Julia Goerges/GER

*VETERANS*
1. Francesca Schiavone/ITA
2. Venus Williams/USA
3. Akiko Morigami/JPN
4. Elena Likhovtseva/RUS (WTT)
5. Sybille Bammer/AUT
HM- Katarina Srebotnik/SLO

*DOWN*
1t. Amelie Mauresmo/FRA & Tatiana Golovin/FRA
3. Anastassia Rodionova/RUS
HM- Marion Bartoli/FRA

*COMEBACK*
1. Francesca Schiavone/ITA
2. Sania Mirza/IND
3. Sharon Fichman/CAN
HM- Anna-Lena Groenefeld/GER

*ITF PLAYERS*
1. Petra Cetkovska/CZE
2. Stephanie Gehrlein/GER
3. Andrea Petkovic/GER
4. Stephanie Dubois/CAN
5. Alize Cornet/FRA

TOP PERFORMANCE: Italy defeats France 3-2 in the Fed Cup SF, earning a chance to defend 2006's title

*MATCH OF THE MONTH*
FC (ITA/FRA) - Schiavone d. Golovin
...6-4/2-6/7-5. Golovin led 5-2 in the 3rd, needing just one more game to send the Pastries to the final. But the crowd unnerved her, Schiavone's sails were powered by the home support... and the rest was Fed Cup history.

COMEBACK OF THE MONTH: Just weeks after giving birth to her first son, Lindsay Davenport announced plans for a return from her abbreviated "retirement."

INGLORIOUS MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Anastassia Rodionova was DQ'd from her 1st Round match against Angelique Kerber in Cincinnati when she was deemed to have hit a ball in anger at/or in the direction of courtside fans who were cheering for Kerber. The Russian has denied the intent, but the DQ will remain.




SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA USA (I-HCO)
2006 FINAL: Sharapova d. Clijsters
2007 TOP: Sharapova/Jankovic
=============================


=Rd. of 16=
Sharapova d. Golovin
Peer d. Safina
Chakvetadze d. Bammer
V.Williams d. Hantuchova
Schnyder d. Hingis
Petrova d. Srebotnik
Dementieva d. Bartoli
Jankovic d. Safarova
=QF=
Sharapova d. Peer
V.Williams d. Chakvetadze
Petrova d. Schnyder
Jankovic d. Dementieva
=SF=
V.Williams d. Sharapova
Jankovic d. Petrova
=FINAL=
V.Williams d. Jankovic

...the Supernova is the defending champion here, as her San Diego title provided a nice warm-up for her win in New York a few weeks later. With all her issues in '07, a superior result here would surely be a welcome occurrence with such a big title defense coming up (and with Sharapova still looking for her first title this season). But Venus would seem to be coming to town in fine form and health, and based on the past month I'll go with her.


=Rd. of 16=
Sharapova d. Golovin
Peer d. Safina
Chakvetadze d. Sugiyama
V.Williams d. Azarenka
Hingis d. Schnyder
Petrova d. A.Bondarenko
Dementieva d. Bartoli
Jankovic d. Safarova
=QF=
Sharapova d. Peer
V.Williams d. Chakvetadze
Hingis d. Petrova
Jankovic d. Dementieva
=SF=
V.Williams d. Sharapova
Hingis d. Jankovic
=FINAL=
Hingis d. V.Williams


STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (IV-HCO)
2006 FINAL: Zheng d. Myskina
2007 TOP: Medina-Garrigues/A.Radwanska
=============================


=QF=
Medina-Garrigues d. Birnerova
Zakopalova d. Loit
Kanepi d. Groenefeld
A.Radwanska d. Wozniacki
=SF=
Medina-Garrigues d. Zakopalova
A.Radwanska d. Kanepi
=FINAL=
Medina-Garrigues d. A.Radwanska

...AMG didn't attempt to extend her three-year title run in Palermo when it came up just a week after Fed Cup, so here's her chance to replace the points.


=QF=
Dusehvina d. Medina-Garrigues
Loit d. Zakopalova
Kanepi d. Pironkova
A.Radwanska d. Vesnina
=SF=
Dushevina d. Loit
A.Radwanska d. Kanepi
=FINAL=
A.Radwanska d. Dushevina



All for now.

Read more...

Wk.29- In the Doll's House

2007 has been a weird year for the Russian Horde.

Anastasia Myskina has barely played at all. Maria Sharapova has reached a slam final and semifinal, but zero titles and shoulder issues can't shake the "disappointment" tag from her season. Svetlana Kuznetsova has reached four finals, but hasn't won ANY of them. Elena Dementieva has been mostly M.I.A., but she still has more '07 titles to her name than the Supernova. Maria Kirilenko is proving to be more "Anna 2" than "Maria 2.0". And while Nadia Petrova isn't living up to her potential, she's won a singles title, the Hopman Cup and led Team Russia back to the Fed Cup final.

But inside the Doll's house, almost unnoticed, Anna Chakvetadze is having a GREAT year.



Even with her superb late '06 run, Chakvetadze can't help but be overshadowed by bigger (both physically so, but in terms of star-power, too) Hordettes and non-Hordettes alike. She isn't the most noteworthy racket-wielding Russian named Anna, and is often compared to Martina Hingis... without the slam titles and one-time #1 ranking to her credit, which sort of gives her SECOND billing in the story.

But Chakvetadze's title this weekend in Cincinnati gives her three on the season. The top two ranked Russians -- Sharapova and Kuznetsova -- are a combined 0-6 in finals in' 07, and the eight WTA finalist Hordettes this season not named Anna are 4-10. Chakvetadze? She's 3-0. In fact, she's never lost a WTA singles final in her five attempts since last October.

Always underestimated, but always determined. Hmmm... I wonder if there's a connection?

Could the consistent Chakvetadze even make a run at being the TOP-ranked Russian by the end of this season? If Sharapova's season doesn't reverse course, why not? The Doll is already up to a career-best #7, and has won more titles than ANY of the Russians over the past twelve months.

Sure, you have to still wonder if she has enough power (she likes to remind everyone that she has more than the linked-together-in-style Hingis... but, considering the Swiss Soon-to-be-Mrs.'s inability to regularly tame the Big Babes, that's not really a huge check in Anna's column) to consistently compete with the game's big hitters. But the Russian doll with the big dreams and small frame has already managed to defy expectations for a while now, and since Chakvetadze's WTA bio says her goal is to reach the Top 5 could it be that she's even capable of surpassing HER OWN by the end of this season? Possibly.

I mean, who's to say what's NOT possible in a game where a 5-feet-5 Belgian is far and away the #1-ranked player in the world?

*WEEK 29 CHAMPIONS*

CINCINNATI, OHIO USA (III-Hard)
S: Anna Chakvetadze d. Akiko Morigami 6-1/6-3
D: Mattek/Mirza d. Jidkova/Poutchek

PALERMO, ITALY (IV-Red Clay)
S: Agnes Szavay d. Martina Muller 6-0/6-1
D: Koryttseva/Kustava d. Canepa/Knapp


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Anna Chakvetadze
...thankfully for Chakvetadze, Venus was no where to be found in Cincinnati. Instead, she got to handle the likes of Elena Vesnina, Sania Mirza and Akiko Morigami en route to her fifth title since October '06. At 5-0 in career WTA singles finals... "look out, Anna Smashnova!" One more and another Anna will be half-way to your record (the 12-0 mark in your first twelve finals one, not the one about having 10+ titles but no slam QF).
=============================
RISERS: Martina Muller & Sania Mirza
...in Palermo, 24-year old German Muller, after having so much recent success on the ITF circuit, reached her first WTA tour singles final since Budapest '02. Meanwhile, Mirza's Cincinnati SF result was just her fourth on tour in the two seasons since her breakthrough year in 2005. She pushed Chakvetadze to three sets, and won the doubles title with Bethanie Mattek.
=============================
SURPRISES: Sara Errani & Akgul Amanmuradova
...Italy's Errani, 20, reached her first career tour SF in Palermo, getting wins over Razzano, Birnerova and Dominguez-Lino. Uzbeki qualifier Amanmuradova got main draw wins over Mattek and Osterloh on her way to a SF result in Cincinnati.
=============================
VETERAN: Akiko Morigami
...highlighted last week by a Cincinnati win over Patty Schnyder, Morigami's recent stretch of good results on clay, grass and hard courts is getting her some well-earned name recognition. At 27, she's already holding her best-ever doubles ranking (#65), but also is just three spots away from matching her career-high singles rank of #41, as well.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Agnes Szavay & Petra Cetkovska
...18-year old Szavay put up an impressive string of wins over fellow up-and-coming stars in winning her first career WTA singles title in Palermo. Olaru, Bychkova, A-Rad and Errani served as mere appetizers for the Hungarian, who then crushed Muller 6-0/6-1 in the final. Czech Maiden Cetkovska, 22, won her second straight ITF crown (and tenth straight match) in Zwevegen, giving her three circuit titles in '07.
=============================
DOWN: Anastassia Rodionova & Lindsay Davenport's "retirement"
...it's not often you see a match scoreline with a "DQ - unsportsmanlike conduct" denotion, but that's exactly how Russia's Rodionova was sent packing from her Cincinnati 1st Round match against Angelique Kerber after she hit a ball at some fans in the stands who were cheering for her opponent. Hmmm... I don't know whether to call the Rodster a poor sport, or give her a pat on the back for providing such a neat little item destined for the season-ending "WTA Yearbook." Of course, there's no question about the positive reception offered the "official" announcement of the end of 31-year old Lindsay Davenport's pesky "retirement." She won't be playing singles at the Open, but after some WTT action she WILL be in the New Haven doubles the week before play begins at the final slam of '07. Just weeks after giving birth to a son, she's already talking about hoping to be back playing on tour in the future. Obviously, the desire to compete is difficult to extinguish... well, at least in the hearts of SOME recently retired grand slam winners.
=============================


1. Cin Final - Chakvetadze d. Morigami
...6-1/6-3. If only Morigami had been able to serve out that match up 5-3 at the All-England Club, the last six weeks would have seen her win a clay court title (the first of any kind on tour in her career), defeat Venus on grass at Wimbledon and reach a hard court final. Oh, well.
=============================
2. Pal Final - Szavay d. Muller

...6-0/6-1. Not only is Szavay the youngest singles champ on the WTA tour in 2007, she's also the only one to have won an ITF singles title this season, as well.
=============================
3. Cin SF - Chakvetadze d. Mirza
...6-2/5-7/6-3. Is the Indian Princess gearing up for another North American star turn?
=============================
4. Hamilton $25K F - Stephanie Dubois d. Sharon Fichman
...6-2/6-2. Hey, they held a "Best Canadian Female Player" contest and no one invited Aleksandra Wozniak? At least it appears that maybe Fichman has decided that a tennis career might be something worth considering, after seeking to re-evaluate the situation a while back. Dubois, by the way, also won in doubles... maybe it's the excitement of the upcoming one-year anniversary of her retirement win over Clijsters at work.
=============================
5. Kurume #25K F - Ayumi Morita d. Erika Takao

...6-1/3-1 ret. The 17-year old Japanese riser won her third career ITF title, but her first in 2007.
=============================
HM- Dnepropetrovsk $50K F - Alize Cornet d. Stephanie Voegele
...6-4/6-3. In Ukraine, Alize reigns supreme.
=============================


**2007 SINGLES TITLES**
5...Justine Henin
4...Jelena Jankovic
3...ANNA CHAKVETADZE
2...Serena Williams
2...Venus Williams

**2007 FINAL WINNING PCT. (2+)**
100%...ANNA CHAKVETADZE (3-0)
100%...Serena Williams (2-0)
100%...Venus Williams (2-0)
83.3%..Justine Henin (5-1)
66.7%..Jelena Jankovic (4-2)

**YOUNGEST FIRST-TIME 2007 CHAMPS**
18...AGNES SZAVAY, HUN/PALERMO
19...Tatiana Golovin, FRA/A.Island
19...Yaroslava Shvedova, RUS/Bangalore
22...Gisela Dulko, ARG/Budapest

**WTA SINGLES TITLES - 2006-07**
11..Justine Henin [6/5]
6...Nadia Petrova [5/1]
5...ANNA CHAKVETADZE [2/3]
5...Amelie Mauresmo [4/1]
5...Maria Sharapova [5/0]

**WON WTA/ITF SINGLES TITLES - 2003-07**
2003: 2
2004: 4
2005: 2
2006: 2
2007: 1*
--
*-Szavay (Palermo IV, Zagreb $75K)




BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIA (III-RCO)
=new event=
2007 TOP: Schiavone/Loit
=============================
SF: Zakopalova d. Szavay; Knapp d. Loit
FINAL: Knapp d. Zakopalova


STANFORD, CALIFORNIA USA (II-HCO)
2006 FINAL: Clijsters d. Schnyder
2007 TOP: Chakvetadze/Bartoli
=============================


=QF=
Chakvetadze d. Kirilenko
Hantuchova d. Peer
Schnyder d. Mirza
Bartoli d. Sugiyama
=SF=
Chakvetadze d. Hantuchova
Schnyder d. Bartoli
=FINAL=
Schnyder d. Chakvetadze


=QF=
Chakvetadze d. Azarenka
Peer d. Hantuchova
Golovin d. Schnyder
Bartoli d. Bammer
=SF=
Chakvetadze d. Peer
Golovin d. Bartoli
=FINAL=
Chakvetadze d. Golovin


All for now.

Read more...

BV: The Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat-load of New-and-Improved Predictions, Pt.II

The merry world traveler, Tennisrulz.com's Pierre Cantin, has managed to find a convenient alcove from which to relay his new predictions about the WTA landscape. So, without further ado..


==THE YEAR-END RANKINGS PREDICTIONS==
==Take 3==
(January prediction/pre-2Q prediction)

#1-15.
1. Justine Henin (2/1)
...seems clearer every time she steps on court, she is the only and I really mean only, top player who is consistent throughout tournaments AND surfaces
2. Maria Sharapova (1/2)
...a distant 2nd, but she'll make it thanks to a strong US Open Series run
3. Jelena Jankovic (7/8)
...not that many points to defend really, she'll be back for the hard court series and will no doubt qualify for YEC this year
4. Serena Williams (-/6)
...a guess perhaps, and it sure depends on her health situation, but hopefully for tennis she can make a run in NYC
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova (3/3)
...continues to fly under the radar.
6. Ana Ivanovic (8/-)
...a Tier 1 title to defend but she'll make a strong finish
7. Amelie Mauresmo (5/4)
...when is the last time we saw her ranked so low?
8. Nicole Vaidisova (6/5)
...bound to get her act together sooner or later...I know, I know... been saying that for a while
9. Marion Bartoli (-/-)
...could new confidence help her break into the top 10?
10. Anna Chakvetadze (-/-)
...still going strong but is having trouble gaining that extra gear.
11. Nadia Petrova (10/9)
...Nadia outside of the top 10... Todd?? Hello??? Helllllllloooo? Ok, I know I'm right, sorry.
12. Martina Hingis (4/7)
...not playing consistently and struggling a bit with injuries...seems deja vu somehow
13. Daniela Hantuchova (-/12)
...what a collapse she had in Wimbledon, can she recover?
14. Venus Williams (-/-)
...wish I could put her higher up, but you know the story.
15. Dinara Safina (-/-)
...been very quiet this year, can she get back in contention for the top 10?



==NORTH AMERICAN HARD COURT SEASON==

NORTH AMERICAN SUCCESS IS MOST IMPORTANT TO: Maria Sharapova
...though not great yet, doubts about Maria are slowly growing and she will want to put those to rest right away and especially regain her confidence after many injury problems...

NORTH AMERICAN SUCCESS IS LEAST IMPORTANT TO: Justine Henin
...she seems destined to finish #1 no matter what happens...

MOST LIKELY POISED FOR GREATNESS?: Nicole Vaidisova
...just needs a bit of confidence and poise (very important)

MOST LIKELY LURCHING TOWARD DISASTER?: Nadia Petrova
...ok, I am perhaps slightly exagerating but think of it, some people saw her as the #3 player in the world and she now more looks like an average top 20 player.



All right, a few highlights from this most recent Volley: we're in agreement on Justine (we've been pretty consistent on that) and the Dynamova (Pierre's new ranking brings him in line with me now), but he's sticking with Jankovic over Ivanovic, while I'm currently going the opposite way. Unless Sharapova, our dual #1 pick at the start of the season, defends her U.S. Open title it looks like the "Kuznetsova Curse" has struck yet again. Oh, and of course, Backspin is still sticking with Nadia for a Top 10 finish, even if she has been sliding down the prediction scale as the year has gone along.


All for now.

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

ALSO: Backspin Volley: Todd's take

Read more...

Wk.28- Winners, Losers... and Venus

After the previous Fed Cup weekend produced a string of 5-0 blowouts, competitiveness returned this time around as both semifinals (RUS/USA, ITA/FRA) came down to the deciding doubles matches.

When the dust settled, every French player not named Marion had followed up her country's successful Wimbledon campaign by taking turns crumbling under pressure. Italy, the surprise '06 Fed Cup champ, will now get a shot at winning what would be an even more surprising second consecutive championship.



Meanwhile, Russia, with its top two players pulling out before play began, still managed to return to the nation's third FC final in the last four years, overcoming a MVP-for-an-ultimately-losing-team performance from Venus Williams, who proved that she may not be satisfied with resting on the laurels of her SW19 title.

*WEEK 28*

=SEMIFINALS=
Russia def. USA 3-2
Italy def. France 3-2
=WORLD GROUP I PLAYOFFS=
Israel def. Austria 4-1
China def. Belgium 4-1
Germany def. Japan 3-2
Spain def. Czech Republic 3-2
=WORLD GROUP II PLAYOFFS=
Ukraine def. Australia 4-1
Argentina def. Canada 4-1
Croatia def. Taiwan 3-2
Slovakia def. Serbia 4-1


=FED CUP MVPs=
(SEMIFINALS)
Francesca Schiavone (ITA): The Italian vet, quite frankly, had had a pretty poor season up until this weekend. She was 12-15. But, playing for her country, she managed to recapture the magic that helped her lead the Noodles to the 2006 Fed Cup title. She knocked off both Amelie Mauresmo and Tatiana Golovin (after being down 5-2 in the 3rd), then teamed with Roberta Vinci to grab the team's other point in a 3-2 victory.
Venus Williams (USA): With apologies to Nadia Petrova, there are occasionally times when the losing team nonetheless produces the MVP. Venus in Vermont was one of those rare cases this weekend, as she knocked off both Top 10 Russians -- coming back from a break down twice against Petrova, then taking Anna Chakvetadze to the woodshed -- in the USA's 3-2 loss to the Hordettes. She was then forced into extra duty in the doubles match, which was won by Petrova/Vesnina to send Russia to the final. Williams attempted to take up the slack for the entire American team (and was very nearly successful in doing so, too) and was by far the best player between the two nations... win or lose.

(WORLD GROUP I PLAYOFFFS)
Shahar Peer (ISR): Sure, things were a bit easier with Sybille Bammer never taking the court in the ISR/AUT clash. Still, the Corporal had a hand in three of Israel's four points as the team advanced to Group I for the first time.
Tiantian Sun (CHN): After China's Fed Cup debacle the last time out, the pressure was on against a Belgian team without, well, pretty much ANY players anyone had ever heard much about. And after Zi Yan lost in the second match to Yanina Wickmayer (yeah, see what I mean?), it was easy to expect the worst. But Sun settled the team's fortunes, knocking off Wickmayer on Day 2 and enabling the Cookies to coast back into Group I for 2008.

Tatjana Malek (GER): With Anna-Lena Groenefeld dealing with other issues (though ALG did play doubles), the 19-year old Malek took the reigns of the German team. Involved in all three of the team's points, she rescued the win from the edge of disaster after Angelique Kerber's back-to-back singles losses had given Japan a 2-1 lead.
Anabel Medina-Garrigues (ESP): Without Nicole Vaidisova to mess with, the Spaniard's task wasn't as difficult as it might have been in leading her nation to a 3-2 win over the Czech Maidens, but singles wins over Iveta Benesova and (especially) Lucie Safarova weren't necessarily givens even with AMG's good Fed Cup history.

(WORLD GROUP II PLAYOFFS)
Alona Bondarenko (UKR): The Bondarenko sisters combined to score all four points in Ukraine's 4-1 win over Australia. Alona notched singles wins over Alicia Molik and Nicole Pratt.
Maria-Emilia Salerni (ARG): With Gisela Dulko again riding her usual inconsistency rollercoaster, Salerni won both her singles matches over Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak and Stephanie Dubois to power the Argentines.
Nika Ozegovic (CRO): The 22-year old has been making a name for herself in recent weeks, and her Fed Cup performance will only continue the trend. Her wins over Yung-Jan Chan and Su-Wei Hsieh were the cornerstones of Croatia's 3-2 win over Taiwan.
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK): Last, but not least, Wonder Girl turned out to be the star in Slovakia's matchup with Serbia. AnaIvo wasn't there. Jelena Jankovic played just one match. But Hantuchova went 2-0 as the Slovaks, 2002 FC champs, began their trek back to Group I.

(FRESH FACES)

Kateryna Bondarenko, 20 (UKR): Whipped Nicole Pratt 6-0/6-1, and assisted in a doubles win (but not with her sister).
Dominika Cibulkova, 18 (SVK): Battled Jankovic to a 9-7 3rd set, then clinched Slovakia's win with a singles victory in Match #4.
Casey Dell'Acqua, 22 (AU): Her win over Yuliana Fedak provided Australia with its only point.
Ayumi Morita, 17, (JPN): The Rising Sunners' NextGen star got a hard-won three-set victory over Angelique Kerber.

Ana Vrljic, 22 (CRO): Her win over Chin-Wei Chan assisted Ozegovic's cause.
Yanina Wickmayer, 17 (BEL): The world #392's win over Zi Yan, however briefly, put great pressure on the Chinese effort.

(DOWN)
Amelie Mauresmo & Tatiana Golovin (FRA): Mauresmo led Schiavone 5-3 in the 1st set of Match #2, then wilted noticably and fell in straight sets. After blowing a 5-2 1st set tie-break lead against Mara Santangelo in Match #3, though, Mauresmo at least managed to stop the tide of her recent slide by coming back to win in three sets. Problem is, she then set the stage for Golovin to inherit her nerves. Up 5-2 in the 3rd set against Schiavone, needing to win just one more game to send France to the FC final, Golovin succumbed to the pressure and a raucous Italian crowd. Unnerved, she dropped the final five games of the match and looked like she just wanted to get off the court as quickly as possible.
=============================


1. SF (ITA/FRA) Schiavone d. Golovin
...6-4/2-6/7-5. Home court advantage hasn't been better utilized since the great Russian Winter vs. the Nazis clash of wills back in World World II.
=============================
2. SF (RUS/USA) V.Williams d. Petrova
...7-6/0-6/6-4. You can take Venus out of Wimbledon, but you can't take Wimbledon COMPLETELY out of Venus. Sorry, Hank. Venus overcame a 5-2 1st set deficit in which Petrova held three set points, then battled back from being a break down twice in the 3rd set to win it.
=============================
3. SF (ITA/FRA) Schiavone/Vinci d. Bremond/Dechy
...4-6/6-1/6-2. Could Schiavone have turned around her season in two days?
=============================
4. Biella $100K F - Agnieszka Radwanska d. Karin Knapp
...6-3/6-3. A-Rad does not rest during Fed Cup week. She also got wins over Flavia Pennetta, Sara Errani, Galina Voskoboeva and Rosanna De Los Rios.
=============================
5. SF (RUS/USA) Petrova/Vesnina d. V.Williams/Raymond
...7-5/7-6. Russia has depth. The U.S. team has very little.
=============================
HM- South Lake $25K F - Alexa Glatch d. Sunitha Rao
...6-2/7-5. "Surfer Girl" reigns supreme.
=============================
HM- Darmstadt $25K - Stephanie Gehrlein d. Julia Goerges
...6-0/7-5. The 25-year old, #548-ranked German has now won back-to-back ITF titles.
=============================


**2007 FED CUP FINAL**
Italy at Russia

**2008 GROUP I**
China
France
Germany
Israel
Italy
Russia
Spain
United States

**2008 GROUP II**
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Czech Republic
Japan
Slovakia
Ukraine

**FED CUP FINALS - 2000-present**
2000 USA def. Spain 5-0
2001 Belgium def. Russia 2-1
2002 Slovakia def. Spain 3-1
2003 France def. USA 4-1
2004 Russia def. France 3-2
2005 Russia def. France 3-2
2006 Italy def. Belgium 3-2
2007 ITALY vs. RUSSIA



CINCINNATI, OH USA (III-HCO)
2006 FINAL: Zvonareva d. Srebotnik
2007 TOP: Chakvetadze/Schnyder
=============================
SF: Chakvetadze d. Govortsova; Schnyder d. Mattek
FINAL: Chakvetadze d. Schnyder

...does the White Mile lead to Cincinnati, or will Anna continue the Russian success inside American borders?


PALERMO, ITALY (IV-RCO)
2006 FINAL: Medina-Garrigues d. Garbin
2007 TOP: Krajicek/Muller
=============================
SF: A.Radwanska d. Razzano; Loit d. Gallovits
FINAL: A.Radwanska d. Loit

...A-Rad would become the first player this season to win titles on both the ITF and WTA tours.


All for now.

Read more...

BV: The Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat-load of New-and-Improved Predictions, Pt.I

With Tennisrulz.com's merry world traveler, more commonly known as Pierre Cantin, continent-jumping once again, "Backspin Volley" takes a slightly different form this time around. Rather than one come-one-come-all potpourri of opinions, Monsieur Cantin and myself will offer dueling prediction columns. First, your's truly...


==THE YEAR-END RANKINGS PREDICTIONS==
==Take 3==
(January prediction/pre-2Q prediction)

#11-15.
11. Venus Williams (-/-)
12. Shahar Peer (-/9)
13. Marion Bartoli (-/-)
14. Martina Hingis (6/7)
15. Tatiana Golovin (8/-)

...are we going to see a still-reinvigorated Venus, or is Wimbledon going to be her last big result until a future date TBD? It'll be interesting to see how "La Trufflette" responds to her first exposure to the WTA Big Time. Remember, her three career titles have all come on hard courts.

#6-10.
6. Svetlana Kuznetsova (7/4)
7. Amelie Mauresmo (5/5)
8. Nicole Vaidisova (9/8)
9. Nadia Petrova (3/6)
10. Anna Chakvetadze (-/11)

...Chakvetadze has a tone of points to defend in the 4Q. Petrova didn't have a great 2Q, but it wasn't an abject disaster and her good grass court results helped her regain her Top 10 ranking. With few 3Q points to defend, Petrova might be able to outpace her new #9 prediction if she can carry over her "mini-surge."

#1-5.
1. Justine Henin (2/1)
2. Serena Williams (-/2)
3. Ana Ivanovic (-/-)
4. Maria Sharapova (2/3)
5. Jelena Jankovic (-/5)

...Henin is still the most consistent player on tour, and it'll take a dropoff/injury PLUS a healthy Serena or a streaking Supernova (you know what I mean) for her to lose the #1 ranking. Jankovic says she'll play a bit less the rest of the season (I'll believe it when I see it...but she's not in Cincy this week, and that's a start), but she might need all those results to maintain her ranking since she'll be defending that US Open SF in a year when (supposedly) both Williams sisters could be forces in the draw. AnaIvo has found the consistency she didn't have in '06, which is good since she's defending her US Open Series (and Rogers Cup) crown during the 3Q. If you're looking for a player who might make the TRUE step up to the big time this quarter (and, remember, this is a player who's already reached a slam final and SF this summer), it's her.



==NORTH AMERICAN HARD COURT SEASON==

NORTH AMERICAN SUCCESS IS MOST IMPORTANT TO: Maria Sharapova
...the Supernova still hasn't won a title in '07, is still having shoulder issues and, even with two slam SF-or-better results under her stylish belt, might need a major result (RU or better) in New York to "save" a season with very high expectations, for '07 is in danger of being written off as a "lost/transitional" year.

NORTH AMERICAN SUCCESS IS LEAST IMPORTANT TO: Venus Williams
...she already has her title. And, anyway, things are different for Venus at Wimbledon than anywhere else. Even though she has two US Open titles, and made her first major final there in 1997, her career legacy has and will not be built upon her NYC exploits. If she wins one or more additional slams in her career, they'll probably all come at the All-England Club. In other words, if she has a successful N.A. campaign, good for her... but if she doesn't, it doesn't really matter too much. That being said, Venus' MVP-in-an-ultimately-losing-effort weekend in Fed Cup play DOES offer a hint that she might not be finished making headlines in 2007.

MOST LIKELY POISED FOR GREATNESS?: Ana Ivanovic
...AnaIvo won the US Open Series and Rogers Cup Tier I in '06. It was her only SF result all season. In 2007, she's already had five SF-or-better results (two of them at slams). The serene Serb might be ready to become the first of the Fantastovic Serbs to win a slam.

MOST LIKELY LURCHING TOWARD DISASTER?: Martina Hingis
...the Year After for Hingis is turning into a deja vu nightmare reminiscent of why she left the game in the first place. Injuries and being blown off the court by more powerful players has a way of making a player wonder if it's worth the effort. One former US Open champ has already walked away from the tour on the eve of her marriage -- should we keep a watchful eye on the Swiss Soon-to-be-Mrs.?


All for now.

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

COMING SOON: Pierre's take

Read more...

WTA Backspin Grass Court Awards

In the first week of July in 2002, "Backspin" essentially began its run by presenting the first of what would become annual Grass Court Awards. Five years later... the beat goes on.

*TOP GRASS COURT PLAYERS*
1. Venus Williams/USA


...sorry, Hank. But Venus is engaged to the All-England Club.
=============================
2. Justine Henin/BEL
...still looking for that career slam. Hmmm, if history holds to the norm, Venus and Serena will be in bad form at the even-numbered 2008 Wimbledon. It might be La Petit Taureau's best shot. (Of Note: While "Le Petit Taureau" is actually grammatically correct, I've pulled a "Douchevina to Dushevina" move and amended my favorite Backspin nickname to "La Petit Taureau" for aesthetic purposes. Plus, maybe an alteration was in order considering the new "peaceful" Justine who's made her debut this season, right?)
=============================
3. Marion Bartoli/FRA
...may she never be confused for a Noodle again.
=============================
4. Jelena Jankovic/SRB
...a disappointing Wimbledon (remember, she lost to "La Trufflette," too), but Birmingham gave her titles on four different surfaces in 2007.
=============================
5. Ana Ivanovic/SRB
...the coolest Serb on the court. Well, at least the one who's not named Novak.
=============================
HM- Cara Black/ZIM & Liezel Huber/RSA
...move over, Lisa & Sam.
=============================

*RISERS*
1. Marion Bartoli/FRA
2. Jelena Jankovic/SRB
3. Ana Ivanovic/SRB
4. Yung-Jan Chan/TPE & Chia-Jung Chuang/TPE
5. Anna Chakvetadze/RUS
6. Nadia Petrova/RUS
7. Elena Vesnina/RUS
8. Angelique Kerber/GER
9. Mara Santangelo/ITA
10. Katarina Srebotnik/SLO
HM- Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE

*FRESH FACES*
1. Tamira Paszek/AUT
2. Michaella Krajicek/NED
3. Alla Kudryavtseva/RUS
4. Urszula Radwanska/POL
5. Olga Govortsova/BLR
6. Aravane Rezai/FRA
7. Agnes Szavay/HUN
8. Madison Brengle/USA
9. Ayumi Morita/JPN
10. Casey Dell'Acqua/AUS
HM- Evgeniya Rodina/RUS

*SURPRISES*
1. Laura Granville/USA
2. Nika Ozegovic/CRO
3. Naomi Cavaday/GBR
4t. Katarzyna Piter/POL
4t. Anna Fitzpatrick/GBR
6. Bojana Jovonovski/SRB
7. Melanie South/GBR
8. Yvonne Meusburger/AUT
9. Katie O'Brien/GBR
10. Gail Brodsky/USA
HM- Stephanie Vogt/LIE

*VETERANS*
1. Venus Williams/USA
2. Cara Black/ZIM & Liezel Huber/RSA
3. Patty Schnyder/SUI
4. Lisa Raymond/USA
5. Milagros Sequera/VEN
6. Ai Sugiyama/JPN
7. Elena Likhovtseva/RUS
8. Virginia Ruano-Pascual/ESP
9. Akiko Morigami/JPN
10. Hana Sromova/CZE
HM- Kristina Brandi/PUR

*COMEBACK PLAYERS*
1. Venus Williams/USA
2. Patty Schnyder/SUI
3. Alicia Molik/AUS
4. Virginia Ruano-Pascual/ESP
5. Elena Likhovtseva/RUS

*DOWN*
1. Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
2. Martina Hingis/SUI
3. Severine Bremond/FRA
4. Jamea Jackson/USA
5. Nicole Vaidisova/CZE
HM- Anastasia Myskina/RUS & Vera Zvonareva/RUS
(Hall of Fame: Anna Smashnova)

MOST SCINTILLATING PERFORMANCE: Sure, Venus Williams winning her fourth Wimbledon title was the BIGGEST ultimate result of the grass court season, but it was her 6-1/6-3 Round of 16 destruction of Maria Sharapova -- in which she never faced a break point on serve -- on Centre Court that was the moment when Venus went from a barely-alive zombie moving at a snail's pace to one of those "28 Days (or whatever) Later" types who could outrun the entire tournament field.

MOST FANTASTIC (albeit somewhat biased) PREDICTION: Before play began at Wimbledon, Richard Williams actually announced to everyone who wanted to listen that Venus was going to win the tournament. Funny thing is, he's pulled this sort of Nostradamus act before.

BEST JUDGE OF TALENT BY A RUSSIAN NAMED OLGA: Last year, after a 6-0/6-0 skunking by Marion Bartoli in Quebec City, Olga Poutchkova was the subject of world wide tennis fan guffaws when she said that she was surprised that the Frenchwoman hadn't already won a grand slam. Less than a year later, Bartoli upset the world #1 and #3 and reached the Wimbledon final. Not a grand slam title run, mind you, but vindication for the eye for talent sported by the Russian teenager.

SPEAKING OF EYES FOR TALENT: Earlier this year, Justine Henin was pushed to three sets by young Austrian shotmaker Tamira Paszek. Afterward, she said she thought the teenager would be a Top 5 player some day. After the 16-year old currently ranked #35 upset Tatiana Golovin and Elena Dementieva to reach the 4th Round at Wimbledon, Justine's talent eye isn't looking too shabby, either.

*BEST MATCH*
Eastbourne F - Henin d. Mauresmo
...7-5/6-7/7-6. Henin was up a break in the 2nd, but Mauresmo battled back to take the set. Mauresmo was up a break in the 3rd and served at 5-4, but lost her edge in crunch time in this grass court rematch of the '06 Wimbledon final.

*THE BIGGEST UPSET...until the next one*
Wimbledon SF - Bartoli d. Henin
...1-6/7-5/6-1. Bartoli was a Top 20 player, and a semifinalist at two grass tune-up events, so maybe this one wasn't as monumental an upset-for-the-ages as some tennis commentators would have everyone believe. But, still, unless you were named Olga or Bartoli, you probably would have had no reason to think the #18-seed was going to take out the world #1 on the biggest stage in the sport.

DEJA VU: In 2005, Serena Williams "shocked" the tennis world with a triumphant return to the WTA spotlight when she won the Australian Open. Five months later, sister Venus did the same thing at Wimbledon. Two years later, the exact same story developed. See you in 2009?

DEJA VU, DEJA VU: In 2005, Venus Williams claimed the Wimbledon Ladies title, while a Radwanska (Agnieszka) won the Girls crown. This year, Venus won again... and was joined in the winner's circle by another Girls title-winning Radwanska sister, this time A-Rad's little sis Urszula.

*BIGGEST LOSS THAT RESEMBLED A CHOKE*
Wimbledon 4th Rd. - Vaidisova d. Mauresmo
...7-6/4-6/6-1. A year after winning SW19 and erasing so many doubts, Mauresmo returned from her appendectomy surgery to collapse at the All-England Club. She blew a 5-3, then 6-3 lead in the tie-break, advantage in the 1st set. Then, with the match knotted at two sets, the defending champion put on a listless final set performance where her only moment to remember came when she uncharacteristically fired a ball into the stands in anger.

*AND IF IT WASN'T A CHOKE, THEN WHY WAS IT CONTAGIOUS?*
Wimbledon QF - Ivanovic d. Vaidisova
..4-6/6-2/7-5. After getting a "free ride" from Mauresmo, Vaidisova squandered it just one round later. Up 5-3 in the deciding set, she held three match points on Ivanovic's serve -- including a short court setter that she dumped into the net with a nervous forehand -- before collapsing at an even more disadvantageous moment than Mauresmo had. In the end, Vaidisova double-faulted on Ivanovic's second match point.

*BIZARRO MATCH OF A MATCH-UP OF PAST 2007 BIZARRO MATCH VICTIMS*
Wimbledon 1st Rd. - Schnyder d. Pin
...6-1/4-6/8-6. In Melbourne, Camille Pin lost to Maria Sharapova in the 1st Round in the Aussie Extreme Heat, 9-7 in the 3rd. In Paris, Patty Schnyder lost to Sharapova in an 8-6 3rd set after having held two match points. At Wimbledon, Sharapova's '07 slam victims met... and Pin blew a match point, freeing up Schnyder for what would eventually be her best SW19 result (4th Rd.).

WELL, THAT EXPLAINS A LOT: Anna-Lena Groenefeld's free-fall from Top 20 player-on-the-rise to out-of-the- Top-100 vexing afterthought was at least given some context after she lost at Wimbledon. After her exit, she talked about her troubles with ex-manager/coach Rafael Font De Mora, who she said has taunted her during matches, given away tips on how to beat her to her opponents and generally messed with her head and confidence. Apparently, the two are now engaged in legal action each other.

"WAKE HER UP WHEN IT'S OVER... OOPS, THAT WAS AN AWFULLY QUICK CAT NAP, WASN'T IT?": 15-year old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, another talented Russian whose had a brilliant junior career, made her grand slam main draw debut at Wimbledon amidst talk that she might be able to challenge Daniela Hantuchova in their 1st Round meeting. Hantuchova won 6-0/6-1 in 40 minutes. The jump from junior to the "big time" rarely has looked so daunting... and made Tamira Paszek's immediate success appear more impressive.

**VOGUE**
...on the days when rain was the main story at Wimbledon, fashion became the big issue. No one had a problem with Maria Sharapova's classic "Swan Lake" inspired dress.


While nearly everyone had to scratch their head about how Tatiana Golovin managed to get her bright red knickers past the Wimbledon fashion police's dress code.


HISTORY CHANGER: In the 1st Round of Wimbledon, Alla Kudryavtseva had Venus Williams teetering on the edge of oblivion, getting to within two points of knocking her out of SW19 barely before the tournament had begun. Of course, Venus won.

HISTORY CHANGER: THE SEQUEL: In the 3rd Round, Akiko Morigami served at 5-3 in the 3rd set against Venus. Venus won the final four games of the match.

HISTORY CHANGER: THE TRILOGY: No, this one didn't include Venus. But in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon, Jelena Jankovic led her opponent 3-2 in the 3rd set when rain interrupted the match. Once play resumed, Jankovic failed to win another game. Her opponent? Marion Bartoli, who went on to upset Justine Henin and reach her first slam final.

*MOST DRAMATIC MOMENT*


Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - S.Williams d. Hantuchova
...6-2/2-6/7-6. Like a racehorse limping down the back stretch with the track ambulance in hot pursuit, Serena Williams looked like a goner against Wonder Girl after plopping down onto the grass in pain. But the rains came, and the rest was history. Well, for a couple more days, at least. Still, few will remember that Serena lost her next match.

**BARTOLI NEVER DIES**
...of course, the most fun story to come out of the grass court season was Marion Bartoli saying that seeing the "beautiful" Pierce Brosnan in the stands after she lost the 1st set to Henin inspired her to victory, for she didn't want to look bad in front of one of her favorite actors. Hmmm, this all leads one to wonder what would have happened had she seen any of the other 007's in attendence during the match. Would Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton (yeah, as if Dalton's Bond could inspire anything other than an early bedtime)or Daniel Craig have resulted in a La Petit Taureau win rather than one by La Trufflette? Maybe next time they meet, Justine should ask Pam Shriver, wife of Lazenby, if he'd like a seat in the Friends Box. You know, just in case.





*2007 WEEKS AT #1*
[SINGLES]
20..JUSTINE HENIN/BEL
7...Maria Sharapova/RUS
[DOUBLES]
13..L.Raymond/USA & S.Stosur/AUS (co-#1)
11..Lisa Raymond/USA
3...CARA BLACK/ZIM

*2007 WEEKS IN TOP 10*
[out of 27 weeks]
27...JUSTINE HENIN/BEL
27...MARIA SHARAPOVA/RUS
27...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA/RUS
27...AMELIE MAURESMO/FRA
24...Martina Hingis/SUI
23...JELENA JANKOVIC/SRB
22...NADIA PETROVA/RUS
22...NICOLE VAIDISOVA/CZE
18...Kim Clijsters/BEL
12...ANNA CHAKVETADZE/RUS
12...Elena Dementieva/RUS
9....ANA IVANOVIC/SRB
8....SERENA WILLIAMS/USA
8....Dinara Safina/RUS
3....Patty Schnyder/SUI
1....Daniela Hantuchova/SVK

*MOST 2007 SURFACE TITLES*
4...Jelena Jankovic [HARD/G-CLAY/R-CLAY/GRASS]
3...Justine Henin [2 HARD/2 R-CLAY/GRASS]
2...Anna Chakvetadze [HARD/GRASS]
2...Venus Williams [HARD/GRASS]

*2007 TOP 10ers - Won/Lost*
54-13...Jelena Jankovic
38-4....Justine Henin
36-10...Anna Chakvetadze
36-12...Ana Ivanovic
36-12...Svetlana Kuznetsova
32-16...Daniela Hantuchova
31-13...Dinara Safina
27-9....Nicole Vaidisova
26-5....Serena Williams
26-8....Maria Sharapova
26-12...Nadia Petrova
25-10...Amelie Mauresmo
24-13...Patty Schnyder
21-10...Elena Dementieva
20-9....Martina Hingis
14-4....Kim Clijsters

*JUNIOR TOP 10*
[as of July 9]
1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
2. Urszula Radwanska/POL
3. Anastasia Pivovarova/RUS
4. Ksenia Milevskaya/BLR
5. Madison Brengle/USA
6. Nikola Hofmanova/AUT
7. Julia Cohen/USA
8. Alize Cornet/FRA
9. Ksenia Pervak/RUS
10. Ksenia Lykina/RUS




Backspin's Prediction;
Pierre Cantin's Prediction

*SEMIFINALS*
RUSSIA at UNITED STATES
...a tough task for the Russians just became a whole lot better looking with Serena dropping out, Russia wins 3-2!...I'll stick with Venus finding a way to win both her singles matches, which would mean the Serena-less team only has to win one of three matches. USA 3-2
FRANCE at ITALY
...home crowd advantage for Italy won't be enough, France wins 3-2...Schiavone's had very little to smile about since she spear-headed Italy's Fed Cup title last year. I'll go with Mauresmo leading the way away from the French clay. FRA 3-2.

*WORLD GROUP I PLAYOFFS*
ISRAEL at AUSTRIA...Israel 4-1; Austria 3-2
CHINA at BELGIUM...China 3-2; China 5-0
GERMANY at JAPAN...Germany 3-2; Germany 4-1
CZECH REPUBLIC at SPAIN...Czech Rep. 3-2; Czech Rep. 3-2

*WORLD GROUP II PLAYOFFS*
UKRAINE at AUSTRALIA...Ukraine 3-2; Ukraine 3-2
CANADA at ARGENTINA...Argentina 3-2; Argentina 5-0
TAIWAN at CROATIA...Croatia 3-2; Taiwan 3-2
SERBIA at SLOVAKIA...Serbia 3-2; Serbia 4-1


All for now.

Read more...

Sweat and Tears

For one of the few times, if not the first, Roger Federer was made to actually sweat a little in order to truly earn his tears after winning yet another Wimbledon title.



In their second consecutive meeting in the All-England Club's Gentlemen's final, Rafael Nadal battled Federer like no one has on King Roger's most favored ground since he assumed the mantle as the best player in the world. The Spaniard's grass court learning curve has shortened quite a bit since his surprise run to the 2006 final, so much so that his 2007 exploits feel like the early stages of an inevitable march toward him becoming the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana (1966) to win the Wimbledon title.

Until that day, though, this is still Federer's title to win or lose, and in a case of a hoped-for classic slam final actually becoming reality on the sport's most fabled stage, the two best tennis players in the world split the first two sets. But even as he threatened to physically overshadow Federer, maybe Nadal's most important moment in the match may have been one point that he DIDN'T win in the 3rd set.

At 6-5, up 30-15 on Federer's serve, Nadal had a bevy of advantageous options on a mid-court ball that could have given him set points for a two sets to one edge, but an attempt at a crosscourt forehand crashed into the net. Federer held serve to force a tie-break, which he won to maintain an edge at a point in the match when Nadal might have been able to assert his will on the four-time defending champion by forcing him to play from behind for the first time in his Wimbledon championship career.

Nadal rebounded in the 4th set, pressuring Federer with two early breaks. For a few moments, the world #1 even looked rattled, so much so that he began to edgily try to convince the chair umpire to turn off the Hawk-Eye replay system after he disagreed with a call it had reversed in Nadal's favor. Of course, Federer has pull... but not THAT much pull. Nadal pushed the match to five sets, making it the first time Federer had gone the distance at Wimbledon since he defeated Pete Sampras in the Round of 16 in 2001 (furthermore, it was just the fourth five-set men's final at SW19 in the last sixteen years, and the first in the span that didn't include Goran Ivanisevic).

In the championship set, following four sets in which Nadal had converted 4-of-7 break points to Federer being successful on just 1-of-4, the moments of truth would rightly arrive for both men. And, as had been the case with Nadal in Paris, Federer's champion's mettle emerged.

In the Roland Garros final last month, Federer had early opportunities to grab control of the match, but he was shutout by Nadal on ten break point chances in the opening set. Eventually, Nadal's physical play wore down Federer and ended his quest for the RogerSlam. After Sunday, Nadal will be thinking about his own what-could-have-beens until next year.

Twice Nadal was up 40-15 on Federer's serve in the final set, at 1-1 and 2-2. In both games, Federer pulled out big serves and stepped up his aggressive tactics in order to survive. With his opponent having gone 0-for-4 in break chances, Federer quickly seized upon his as he smelled another title. After having narrowly avoided being broken himself, Federer broke Nadal's serve on his second BP for a 4-2 lead. He won twelve of thirteen points in the middle of the set then, when Nadal looked about to hold serve to force Federer to serve out the match, the world #1 turned around the game and made such an action unnecessary.

With his 7-6/4-6/7-6/2-6/6-2 victory, Federer proved once again why he's held in such awe by so many of the all-time greats of the sport. Of course, Nadal is pretty awe-inspiring in his own right, and his play during this fortnight makes one wonder if it's only a matter of time before he finally manages to trip up his rival on this very court. But Nadal couldn't manage it in 2007, leading to Federer's 34th straight SW19 victory, and 54th consecutive grass court win. He's the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1980, and only the second in the past 100 years, to win a 5th Wimbledon title in a row.

Thus, sport's most dependable rivalry carries on (the pair have combined to win the last ten slam singles titles), and just keeps getting better. Where it goes next, nobody knows... but we sure can hope. NYC, anyone? As Nadal said after his incredible two-week performance had come up one set short... "Well, anyway."

That's Rafa-ese for "to be continued until 2008."



In stark contrast to being seen with noticeable sweat and stress on his brow during the final, Federer was back to being his normal crisp self during the post match ceremony. Blazer and slacks? Check. Humble sincerity, with a dash of grandeur? Check. In other words, he looked for all the world like the living all-time legend that he is.

But, off to the side, Nadal was watching with his trademark intense stare. Biding his time. Waiting for his moment to arrive on Centre Court Wimbledon.

On July 8, it was a case of "long live the King." But for how much longer?


Love-Love... The stage has been set, now let's see what happens. It's difficult not to have a sense of deja vu about this year's men's final... there's a definite Borg vs. McEnroe '80 undercurrent to everything. Not only were both of the Wimbledon finalists from 27 years ago at Centre Court for Federer vs. Nadal (Borg in the Royal Box, Mac in the TV booth), but the sense of a player nipping at the heels of a five-time defending champion was evident, as well.

In 1980, McEnroe pushed Borg to the limit in the match that included the historic 18-16 tie-break. The Swede won his fifth straight SW19 title, but he could feel the hot breath of the future American champion breathing down his neck. In 1981, the two met again in the final. Borg didn't get his sixth Wimbledon title.

Could Nadal '08 be the new version of McEnroe '81? Of course, there's little chance that Federer would choose to never play at the All-England Club again after he'd finally been caught from behind, as was the case with Borg, who retired at the end of the season at age 25.
=============================
15-Love... A record by any other name. Next year, Roger Federer will be attempting to tie the TRUE Wimbledon mark of six straight titles. Hmmm, I wonder if the networks covering the action will even mention it, considering they deemed Federer's tying of Borg's five-straight mark a "record," even though two other players won five and six straight titles in the early decades of the tournament? After ESPN2 began the fortnight by qualifying the "record" as being contained to the last 100 years, by the end of the tournament it was a "record" without question or explanation.

*CONSECUTIVE WIMBLEDON TITLES*
6...William Renshaw, 1881-86
5...Roger Federer, 2003-07
5...Bjorn Borg, 1976-80
5...Laurence Doherty, 1902-06

=============================
15-15... Nadal might be hot on Federer's heels, but Federer is looking over Pete Sampras' shoulder, as well. As it stands, Federer's 11th slam title leaves him just three behind Sampras' all-time record of 14. He'll be the favorite at both the upcoming U.S. Open and Australian Open, so next spring and summer could be the time of "true" records being broken.

*ALL-TIME MEN'S SLAM TITLES*
14...Pete Sampras
12...Roy Emerson
11...Roger Federer
11...Bjorn Borg
11...Rod Laver

Federer could very well go to Paris with the chance to match Sampras' mark and then break it at Wimbledon, or tie it at Wimbledon and break it in New York, with Sampras himself likely sitting in the Borg seat, watching from afar... unless, of course, Sampras' WTT participation and talk of a "curiosity" about Wimbledon are hints that he might desire to show up at the All-England Club as more than a spectator should Federer arrive in England with his record in his sights. Not likely... but a highly interesting thought to consider.
=============================
30-15...

WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL: #2 Cara Black/Liezel Huber (ZIM/RSA) d. #4 Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama (SLO/JPN) - 3-6/6-3/6-2.
....Black/Huber win their second slam title of the season, while Srebotnik falls to 0-3 in slam Doubles/Mixed slam finals in '07.

MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL: #10 Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra (FRA/FRA) d. #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA) - 6-7/6-3/6-4/6-4.
....Bryan & Bryan fail to defend their '06 crown, and the French finally win a Wimbledon title in a tournament in which they were at the center of so many big stories.

MIXED DOUBLES FINAL: Jelena Jankovic/Jamie Murray (SRB/GBR) d. #5 Alicia Molik/Jonas Bjorkman (AUS/SWE) - 6-4/3-6/6-1.
....Jelena gets her first career slam title, and the Brits get one, too.

GIRLS SINGLES FINAL: #6 Urszula Radwanska/POL d. Madison Brengle/USA - 2-6/6-3/6-0.
....U-Rad can now compare her Wimbledon Girls trophy with A-Rad's from 2005, and...

GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL: #1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Urszula Radwanska (RUS/POL) d. Misaki Doi/Kurumi Nara (JPN/JPN) - 6-4/2-6/[10-7].
....she's got a doubles trophy bookend for good measure, too.

BOYS SINGLES FINAL: #3 Donald Young/USA d. #1 Vladimir Ignatic/RUS - 7-5/6-1.
....Young ends his junior career with flair. Now comes the hard part.

BOYS DOUBLES FINAL: #7 Daniel Lopez/Matteo Trevisan (ITA/ITA) d. Roman Jebavy/Martin Klizan (CZE/SVK) - 7-6/4-6/[10-8].
....umm, not sure what to say here. How about, "Where's Kellen Damico?"

=============================
30-30... Cara Black's sixth career slam crown (and a QF result in Mixed) and third Doubles title at SW19 in the last four years (2004-05 & '07) wraps up the "Doubles Star" award, as she edges out Alicia Molik in the end.

*"DOUBLES STAR" WINNERS*
2006 AO: Zi Yan/Jie Zheng (CHN/CHN)
2006 RG: Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur (USA/AUS)
2006 W: Zi Yan/Jie Zheng (CHN/CHN)
2006 US: Martina Navratilova (USA)
2007 AO: Liezel Huber (RSA)
2007 RG: Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)
2007 W: Cara Black (ZIM)

U-Rad's sweep of the Girls singles and doubles grabs the "Junior Breakout" honor:

*2007 SLAM "JR. BREAKOUTS"*
AO: (16) Madison Brengle/USA (RU)
RG: (un) Mariana Duque Marino/COL (RU)
W: (6) Urszula Radwanska/POL (W)

Oh, and Venus Williams is the inaugural winner of the new Backspin Slam award of "Zombie Queen," in honor of being the player who appeared ready for the bone yard early in the tournament only to survive and live to tell great tales about it all.
=============================
40-30...

=LATE ROUND (SF-F) AWARDS=
TOP PLAYER: Venus Williams/USA
RISERS: Marion Bartoli/FRA & Alicia Molik/AUS
SURPRISES: Katarzyna Piter/POL & Anna Fitzpatrick/GBR
VETERAN: Venus Williams/USA & Cara Black & Liezel Huber (ZIM/RSA)
FRESH FACES Urszula Radwanska/POL & Madison Brengle/USA
DOWN: Justine Henin/BEL & Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur (USA/AUS)
MATCH: Singles SF - Bartoli d. Henin - 1-6/7-5/6-1..
....La Trufflette is born.
=============================
Deuce...

**ROGER vs. RAFA**
2004 Miami 3rd - Nadal (2 sets to 0)
2005 Miami Final - Federer (3-2)
2005 Roland Garros SF - Nadal (3-1)
2006 Dubai Final - Nadal (2-1)
2006 Monte Carlo Final - Nadal (3-1)
2006 Rome Final - Nadal (3-2)
2006 Roland Garros Final - Nadal (3-1)
2006 Wimbledon Final - Federer (3-1)
2006 Masters Cup SF - Federer (2-0)
2007 Monte Carlo Final - Nadal (2-0)
2007 Hamburg Final - Federer (2-1)
2007 Roland Garros Final - Nadal (3-1)
2007 Wimbledon Final - Federer (3-2)

=============================
Ad...


ROUND OF 16: tied 95-95
QUARTERFINALS: Pierre 55-49
SEMIFINALS: Backspin 49-48
FINALISTS: Backspin 21-18
CHAMPIONS: Backspin 7-5

=============================
MATCH, "Someone put this man back on TV"... if you blinked, you probably missed Bud Collins' inexcusable-but-hardly-unexpected don't-let-the-door-hit-you-on-the-way-out sendoff by NBC on Sunday. After time killer extraordinaire Jimmy Roberts spent two minutes talking about all the great things that Collins brought to tennis fans across the USA over the decades, the man himself got to speak about three sentences before he was given a pat on the back and plane ticket home.

Even on his final day with the network, the indignities continued. His post-match interviews of Federer & Nadal, which in the pre-Sue Barker on-court interview days, were the FIRST given by the finalists after they left the court, weren't shown by NBC until two hours after the match had been completed. Of course, Collins, being the tennis historian that he is, finally brought up the fact to Federer that someone other than he and/or Borg had actually won SIX Wimbledon titles in a row way back when. Way to go, Bud.

Even when some railed against Collins' match commentary for being shrill and loud, I know I always loved it. I grew up on the sport with it, and the penchant for Backspin nicknames was probably germinated in those years by Collins' flair for a unique moniker, from "Fraulein Forehand" for Steffi Graf and "Boom Boom" for Boris Becker. NBC's coverage has never been the same since his voice was marginalized. Now, with his ties to NBC mercifully severed by the network's choice, one hopes that from the myriad American outfits that provide grand slam coverage -- ESPN2, CBS, The Tennis Channel, and even NBC-owned USA -- at least one will see fit to give Collins the stage he still deserves, for however long he wishes to appear on it. His wit, wisdom and odd nuggets of history have been missed on American television, and even a small dose of them would be appreciated.

Funny, if NBC really thinks that Collins is the most important tennis journalist/personality in American media history, as Roberts said, then why has the network hidden him like a crazy aunt in the attic for the past few years? And even worse, doing so while at the same time hoisting Roberts' "grand wisdom" on viewers seemingly because Bob Costas -- the only player on the network's roster who might be able to pull off the self-important, resident sage role, which fits Roberts like a man's suit on a 10-year old, without failing miserably -- is too busy to spend two weeks in London during baseball season.

One can only wonder. Collins deserved better.





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE & Olga Govortsova/BLR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Justine Henin/BEL
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): Venus Williams/USA
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova/RUS (1r-E.Vesnina/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: Austrians (Paszek & Meusburger)
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: Ana Ivanovic/SRB
MISS OPPORTUNITY: Marion Bartoli/FRA
COMEBACK PLAYER: Venus Williams/USA
DOUBLES STAR: Cara Black/ZIM
ZOMBIE QUEEN: Venus Williams/USA
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: Urszula Radwanska/POL




All for now.

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

COMING SOON: Grasscourt Awards & Backspin Volley

Read more...

Home is Where the Heart Is

In the 2000's, Venus Williams and Centre Court have become intricately intertwined like few athletes and venues in any sport.



Justine Henin and Roland Garros will walk hand-in-hand through the history books, but no one will ever be inspired to write poetry about Court Chatrier. Centre Court Wimbledon, though, even without the customary intimacy providing by the currently-M.I.A. overhanging roof, is the subject of crushes and curtsies the sport over. Just stepping onto it can bring a tennis immortal to tears at the memories it invokes, and weaken the knees of a newbie... and, sometimes, once in a generation or so, it can make the "special ones," the ones who know how to whisper ever-so-softly into Centre Court's ear in the middle of the night, play at a level that makes them untouchable.

Martina. Pete. Roger. And now Venus can add her name to the list, if it wasn't there already.

Even though she's lost twice there to her sister, Wimbledon is Venus' "home," not Serena's. With four titles (and counting) this decade, the relationship between the 27-year old from Compton and the ages-old-but-forever-ageless court will likely be the longest-lasting one in her life... it'll last long past the day that Venus is no more. For this alliance, much like that of the two sisters, will never cease to breathe. Even as the All-England Club's nasty cousins -- Court 2, take that -- were pushing little Venus around for a week and a half, Centre Court was always there waiting for the opportunity to offer a supportive shoulder. All Venus had to do was stick around long enough for the rendezvous to take place. Once it did on the second day of her Round of 16 meeting with Maria Sharapova, Venus found her center and never looked back.

Forgive it for being so for Marion Bartoli, but Saturday's final felt like a mere formality going in, and it turned out to be just that. The 22-year old Frenchwoman played well, but it didn't matter against the woman she dubbed the "world's #1 on grass." The 6-4/6-1 final scoreline was respectable, and with Venus' game in the zone it'd been in for the last half-week, that was really all that Bartoli could have realistically hoped for.



Of course, Bartoli's first-ever appearance on Centre Court was her upset of Henin in the semifinals. Not a bad introduction, even if the pair's "second date" didn't have the ending she'd wished. If she never returns there for another big occasion during her career, she will have left an indelible impression... and not just with that one huge win, either.



After SOME people (whistle... and walk on by) had a difficult time differentiating her from the women's field as recently as a few weeks ago, "La Trufflette" will have no such stigma from here on out. From the Selesian groundstrokes and jitterbugging pre-point hops to the father perched in the Friends Box like a bird on a limb, keeping close watch over its fledgling as it takes its first flight. From the tales of odd training techniques (tennis balls taped to the bottom of her shoes?) and promises of candy rewards for good shots in practice to her good-natured participation in the "wave" going around Centre Court even as her dream of a Wimbledon title was likely slipping away. From the sweet personality she displayed side-by-side with a tenacious desire to succeed in these final days of Wimbledon '07, Bartoli has earned her place on the WTA landscape. (And Backspin's, too.)

She may not yet be a "Bond Girl," but she's at lesat got Pierce Brosnan's eye. Now she'll have to work on getting the attention of Daniel Craig, huh?

Who knows if Venus would recognize the latest 007 is she saw him in the stands, but what does it matter now? You don't need "Q" or anyone else when you've got Serena to spur you on, Oracene to keep you grounded, and Richard the Greek -- yes, he picked Venus and not Serena to win this title at the beginning of the fortnight -- to cover the rest of the bases. Especially not when, for two weeks every year, you've got Centre Court on your side. Serena will end up with the flashier career, but Venus may have the longer one. Serena might win more slam titles, but Venus will always have Wimbledon. Even her little sister's many accomplishments and far-reaching aura can't take that away.

In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first African-American to win a grand slam title at Wimbledon. Fifty years later, Venus and the All-England Club's most famous patch of grass are bonded together like a bride and groom. I hear they'll be picking out floral arrangements soon.

Ah, there's no place like home... especially when it's Centre Court Wimbledon.


Love-Love... Williams wobble, but they don't fall down. Well, of course they do... sometimes, as Serena showed in the Round of 16, they do so quite literally, actually. But if they hover on the edge of oblivion but live to tell about it? Well, then everyone had better look out. In recent years, Venus has gone out early at Wimbleton to Karolina Sprem and Jelena Jankovic, but remember when Lindsay Davenport had a match point against her in the 2005 final? Davenport didn't put her away, and Venus ended up being the first SW19 champion since 1933 to come back from match point to win the title. In Melbourne in January, Serena saw both Nadia Petrova and Shahar Peer serve for the match. We know what happened after they failed to win when they had the chance.

At this Wimbledon, Venus was two points from a 1st Round defeat against Alla Kudryavtseva. She pulled it out. In the 3rd Round, Akiko Morigami served for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set. Venus got herself together, and on Saturday we found out how big her survival there turned out to be. Morigami was not going to win Wimbledon, so who WOULD have been in the final and/or holding up the big plate? Maria Sharapova? Svetlana Kuznetsova? Ana Ivanovic? Maybe Marion Bartoli?

Hey, zombies CAN win grand slams. But it helps if their names are Venus or Serena.
=============================
15-Love...

*2007 WTA SINGLES TITLES*
5...Justine Henin
4...Jelena Jankovic
2...Serena Williams
2...Anna Chakvetadze
2...VENUS WILLIAMS

*CAREER SLAM SINGLES TITLES - ACTIVE*
8...Serena Williams
6...Justine Henin
6...VENUS WILLIAMS
5...Martina Hingis
2...Maria Sharapova
2...Amelie Mauresmo
2...Mary Pierce
1...Svetlana Kuznetsova
1...Anastasia Myskina

*CAREER SLAM FINALS - ACTIVE*
12..VENUS WILLIAMS (6-6)
12..Martina Hingis (5-7)
10..Serena Williams (8-2)
10..Justine Henin (6-4)
6...Mary Pierce (2-4)
3...Maria Sharapova (2-1)
3...Amelie Mauresmo (2-1)
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova (1-1)
2...Elena Dementieva (0-2)
1...Anastasia Myskina (1-0)
1...Ana Ivanovic (0-1)
1...Marion Bartoli (0-1)

*CAREER SLAM TITLES - ACTIVE*
[singles/doubles]
16..Serena Williams [8/8]
15..Martina Hingis [5/10]
14..VENUS WILLIAMS [6/8]
9....Lisa Raymond [0/9]
9....Virginia Ruano-Pascual [0/9]

*WIMBLEDON SINGLES TITLES - ACTIVE*
4...VENUS WILLIAMS (2000-01,05,07)
2...Serena Williams (2002-03)
1...Amelie Mauresmo (2006)
1...Maria Sharapova (2004)
1...Martina Hingis (1997)

*ALL-TIME WIMBLEDON SINGLES TITLES*
[title span]
9...Martina Navratilova [1978-90]
8...Helen Wills-Moodey [1927-38]
7...Steffi Graf [1988-96]
7...Dorothea Douglass-Lambert Chambers [1903-14]
6...Blanche Bingley-Hillyard [1886-00]
6...Billie Jean King [1966-75]
5...Suzanne Lenglen [1919-25]
5...Charlotte Cooper-Sterry [1895-08]
5...Lottie Dodd [1887-93]
4...Louise Brough [1948-55]
4...VENUS WILLIAMS [2000-07]

=============================
15-15...

*2007 SLAM SINGLES FINALS*
AO: Serena Williams/USA d. Maria Sharapova/RUS
RG: Justine Henin/BEL d. Ana Ivanovic/SRB
W: Venus Williams/USA d. Marion Bartoli/FRA

Notice anything interesting. Yep, after three slams there have been six different finalists. You know, Tennisrulz Head Honcho Pierre Cantin predicted LAST YEAR that there'd be eight different slam singles finalists... then Justine Henin went and reached all four of them. Whoops. Maybe he was just a year off? The last time there were no repeat finalists at any slam in a calendar year was 1977, when there were ten different finalists (ten, not eight, because that year there was an Australian Open played in both January '77 and December '77).
=============================
30-15...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Girls Singles SF - #7 Madison Brengle/USA d. Katarzyna Piter/POL - 7-5/7-6.
...could the USA actually win BOTH the Ladies' and Girls' singles titles? As it is, Brenglefly is the only junior to reach the final of more than one slam singles tournament this season, having been RU in Melbourne.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Boys Junior SF - #3 Donald Young/USA d. #6 Greg Jones/AUS - 6-4/7-5.
...could the USA actually win BOTH the Ladies' and Girls' titles, PLUS the Boys' singles title, too? 2005 Oz Junior champ Young next faces Vladimir Ignatic, who just won the Roland Garros Junior title last month.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Girls Singles SF - #3 Urszula Radwanska/POL d. Anna Fitzpatrick/GBR - 7-6/6-3.
...Agnieszka, U-Rad's big sis, won the Wimbledon Girls title in 2005. Hmmm, Venus in '05... a Radwanska in '05? Sensing a pattern?

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #4: Women's Doubles SF - #4 Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama (SLO/JPN) d. #1 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur (USA/AUS) - 1-6/6-3/6-2.
...Srebotnik was 0-2 at Roland Garros in Doubles and Mixed finals. She gets a shot to get one to make up (a little) for that shutout in Paris.
=============================
30-30...

*MEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA) vs. #10 Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra (FRA/FRA)

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#4 Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama (SLO/JPN) vs. #2 Cara Black/Liezel Huber (ZIM/RSA)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
Jamie Murray/Jelena Jankovic (GBR/SRB) vs. #5 Alicia Molik/Jonas Bjorkman (AUS/SWE) or Fabrice Santoro/Severine Bremond (FRA/FRA)

=============================
40-30...

*GIRLS SINGLES FINAL*
#6 Urszula Radwanska/POL vs. #7 Madison Brengle/USA

*BOYS SINGLES SF*
#1 Vladimir Ignatic/BLR vs. #3 Donald Young/USA

*JUNIOR DOUBLES FINAL*
[GIRLS]
Misaki Doi/Kurumi Nara (JPN/JPN) vs. TBD
[BOYS]
Roman Jebavy/Martin Klizan (CZE/SVK) vs. TBD

=============================
Deuce... so, Mr.Fantastic isn't Superman... but one has to wonder what Novak Djokovic would have done if he was STILL able to take the 1st set off Rafael Nadal, who was fresh off the six greatest grass court sets of his life, even with his body falling apart after nine hours of tennis in the previous two days. In the end, the Serb finally retired in the 3rd set.

Oh, but he'll be back. Thing is, while Roger Federer has that 53-match grass court winning streak going, Nadal is a "modest" 12-1 at SW19 the last two years in his own right. Djokovic is going to have to act like water and find a way through stone... only he'll have to do it MUCH quicker. He doesn't have a million years to wait around for erosion to finally remove Roger and Rafa from the scene.
=============================
Ad... Roger vs. Rafa. Rafa vs. Roger. This is becoming the most dependable rivalry in sports, isn't it? While everyone is talking about Federer's ninth straight appearance in a slam final, and his bid for a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title -- still not a record, but a "first since" situation that goes back to Bjorn Borg from 1976-80, what sort of marks is Rafa chasing? Well, just like last year, he's trying to become the first player since Borg (who'll be watching from the Royal Box) to sweep both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season since the Swede completed his three-years-running combo from 1978-80.

So, I guess no matter what happens Borg will be on the wrong end of an accomplishment, huh? Oh, and speaking of guests in the Royal Box, was that REALLY Margaret Thatcher there on Saturday or one of those wax statues from the museum? After all these years, it's hard to tell, you know?

=============================
MATCH, "Look out, Martina & Chrissie, Roger & Rafa are breathing down your necks"... with Federer and Nadal facing off in yet another slam final, that assures that they'll share their tenth straight slam title. Navratilova and Evert divided up fifteen straight slams from 1981-85. They also won 19 of 20. Roger and Rafa will have won 12 of 13. Yeah, Djokovic really has his work cut out for him.





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE & Olga Govortsova/BLR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Justine Henin/BEL
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): Venus Williams/USA
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova/RUS (1r-E.Vesnina/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: Austrians (Paszek & Meusburger)
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: Ana Ivanovic/SRB
MISS OPPORTUNITY: Marion Bartoli/FRA
COMEBACK PLAYER: Venus Williams/USA
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 12.

Read more...

Day 11: Things That Go Bartoli in the Night

All right, everyone who had Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon final raise your hand.

Yes, yes... Miss Poutchkova, we all know about your brilliant assessment of Mademoiselle Bartoli's game. Now, run along and work on your website.



I guess we were all guilty on this one, weren't we? We all automatically put Justine Henin in the Wimbledon final after her quarterfinal win over Serena Williams. And after her 22-minute 1st set victory today against the 22-year old Frenchwoman, it appeared to be a safe bet. At 4-3 in the 2nd set, Henin was cruising toward a rematch of her 2001 grand slam final debut against Venus Williams at the All-England Club. But then the Agent 007-loving Pastry found her groove in the wind of Centre Court, and the rest was history.

1-6/7-5/6-1... Bartoli. And Queen Justine is still missing that SW19 title. With a game sculpted by her doctor father, and modeled after the two-fisted, angle-creating, no-ball-is-too-early-to-take groundstroking game of Monica Seles, Bartoli rocked the tennis world on Day 11.

(I'm thinking I won't be confusing Bartoli's French nationality with an Italian one anymore now. Funny how things work out that way, huh? After thinking she needed to do something important to make her a bigger part of Backspin's world, she takes out Le Petit Taureau in rather brutal fashion. And after saying she might need a nickname in order to imprint her a little better into your friendly neighborhood Backspinner's mind, she goes and starts talking about Pierce Brosnan and her father using the promise of candy to get her to hit accurate shots in practice. My, now I don't even know which direction to go with Marion... she's gone from a bare cupboard to a virtual cornucopia of nickname possibilities in the span of a few hours. Amazing.)

Now, she can't possibly WIN Wimbledon, right? Surely she won't prevent Venus Williams from claiming her fourth SW19 title on the 50th anniversary of Althea Gibson becoming the first African-American slam winner at Wimbledon in 1957. Right? I mean, a Bartoli title would snuggle up next to Iva Majoli's shockingly aberrant Roland Garros crown in 1997 quite well, wouldn't it? And what are the odds of that? I mean, Monica Seles never won Wimbledon, but Bartoli is going to do it?

But is this really a TOTAL shock? Remember, Bartoli DID reach the SF of both Birmingham and Eastbourne (where she lost to Henin, 6-1/6-3) leading into Wimbledon, so she's pretty much peaking right on time. And the thing is, according to the seeding committee, the #18-seeded Pastry is SUPPOSED to be the favorite over the #23-seeded Williams sister.

Of course, we all know differently... but, then again, we thought that today, too, didn't we?


Love-Love... apparently, there was something in the air on Day 11. Some years, usually early in the tournament, a strange wind blows over the grounds leaving a string of upsets in its wake on a single day. It took almost until the second weekend for it to happen, but the Henin upset was soon followed by Andy Roddick's blowing of a two sets and 4-2 lead against Richard Gasquet, who'd never overcome anything of the kind in a match until today. Of course, now he faces Roger Federer... and it'll end right there. Right? Hmmm.
=============================
15-Love...

*VENUS WILLIAMS AT WIMBLEDON*
1997 1st (lost to Magdalena Grzybowska)
1998 QF (lost to Jana Novotna)
1999 QF (lost to Steffi Graf)
2000 WON (def. Lindsay Davenport)
2001 WON (def. Justine Henin)
2002 RU (lost to Serena Williams)
2003 RU (lost to Serena Williams)
2004 2nd (lost to Karolina Sprem)
2005 WON (def. Lindsay Davenport)
2006 3rd (lost to Jelena Jankovic)
2007 FINAL vs. MARION BARTOLI
--
TOTAL WIMBLEDON WON/LOST: 50-7

=============================
30-Love...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Girls Singles QF - #6 Urszula Radwanksa/POL d. #1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS - 7-5/6-1.
...are the Russian's junior rivals suddenly catching up with her, or does she herself realize she's already outgrown this stage of her career?

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Girls Singles 3rd Rd. - #15 Bojana Jovanovski/SRB d. #2 Anastasia Pivovarova/RUS - 6-4/6-3.
...Jovanovski lost in the QF to Madison Brengle, but maybe JJ and AnaIvo have a "little sister" coming up behind them, after all.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Girls Singles QF - Katarzyna Piter/POL d. #3 Evgeniya Rodina/RUS - 6-3/6-1.
...speaking of sisters, apparently there's another young Pole to watch who ISN'T named Radwanska.
=============================
40-Love... my goodness. Why don't we just put those last two games that Roger Federer won in his QF matchup with Juan Carlos Ferrero into a time capsule for safe keeping, just in case future generations begin to wonder why so many in this day and age speculate that he might be the most talented player to ever step between the lines. Seriously, he hit just about every shot in the book in those few minutes, didn't he?
=============================
40-15...

*MEN'S SINGLES SF*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #12 Richard Gasquet/FRA
#4 Novak Djokovic/SRB vs.#2 Rafael Nadal/ESP

*MEN'S DOUBLES SF*
#1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA) v. #4 Fabrice Santoro/Nenad Zimonjic (FRA/SRB)
Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa (BRA/BRA) v. #10 Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra (FRA/FRA)

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF*
#1 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur (USA/AUS) v. #4 Katarina Srebotnik/Ai Sugiyama (SLO/JPN)
#6 Alicia Molik/Mara Santangelo (AUS/ITA) v. #2 Cara Black/Liezel Huber (ZIM/RSA)

*MIXED DOUBLES QF*
Alex Bogdanovic/Melanie South (GBR/GBR) v. #11 Daniel Nestor/Elena Likhovtseva (CAN/RUS)
Jamie Murray/Jelena Jankovic (GBR/SRB) v. #9 Marcin Matkowski/Cara Black (POL/ZIM)
TBD v. Jordan Kerr/Kateryna Bondarenko (AUS/UKR)
#8 Leander Paes/Meghann Shaughnessy (IND/USA) v. Fabrice Santoro/Severine Bremond (FRA/FRA)

*GIRLS SINGLES SF*
#6 Urszula Radwanska/POL vs. Anna Fitzpatrick/GBR
Katarzyna Piter/POL vs. #7 Madison Brengle/USA

*BOYS SINGLES SF*
#1 Vladimir Ignatic/BLR vs. Ricardis Barankis/LTU
#3 Donald Young/USA vs. #6 Greg Jones/AUS

=============================
40-30... the contenders are emerging for the remaining Backspin Slam Awards. In the "Doubles Star" category, Cara Black and Alicia Molik are still alive in both Doubles and Mixed... but if Melanie South were to continue to ride a string of upsets with partner Alex Boganovich to a Mixed title she might be difficult to outpace for the honor.

As far as the "Junior Breakout," with the Girls SF set it's down to two. Since Madison Brengle (USA) won the award in Melbourne with her improbable run to the final, she's eliminated from consideration. But her surprising SF opponent, Katarzyna Piter (POL)), is a possibility, as well is Britain's Anna Fitzpatrick. Although, if U-Rad matches her sister A-Rad's accomplishment of winning a Wimbledon Girls title...
=============================
MATCH, "Does 'Mr.Fantastic" have greatness written all over him or what?"... watching Novak Djokovic fight his way through consecutive five-set marathons against Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, reaching into his bag of tricks for another dose of brilliance and/or heart every time things appeared to be slipping through his fingers either due to potential injury or an opponent with just as little quit in him as the Serbian ringleader, it's impossible to not realize how good this kid could eventually become. He's REALLY only 20? You see it occasionally when he flashes anger after a bad shot in an important rally, but he so quickly puts it behind him that you'd think he'd been doing this for quite a bit longer than he has. In a sport currently defined by Roger Federer's serene brilliance and Rafael Nadal's intense on-court nature and physical brand of play, Djokovic fits rather snugly into the fold. Ah, but that's the problem. When the accident of birth places you smack dab in the middle of the Roger-and-Rafa Era, "greatness" might have a far different meaning than in past and future generations, mightn't it? I mean, after back-to-back matches of 4:12 and 4:59, how can Djokovic's next opponent -- Rafa himself -- NOT be smiling like a Cheshire cat, licking his chops over his opportunity to advance to his second straight Wimbledon final? This time, though it seemed like a good potential SW19 matchup for him after losing to Nadal on the clay in Paris, the Serb may have bitten off more than he can possibly chew. Of course, he seems to like to take very big bites... so who knows?





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE & Olga Govortsova/BLR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Justine Henin/BEL
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova/RUS (1r-E.Vesnina/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: Austrians (Paszek & Meusburger)
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: Ana Ivanovic/SRB
MISS OPPORTUNITY: Marion Bartoli/FRA
COMEBACK PLAYER: Venus Williams/USA
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 11.

Read more...

Day 10: Short in the Box, and Into the Net

The tennis gods giveth... but they also taketh away. And they don't need the sort of help to do the latter that Nicole Vaidisova gave them on Day 10.



In the Round of 16, the 18-year old Czech was the beneficiery of Amelie Mauresmo's final set meltdown. As today's QF matchup with Ana Ivanovic was seemingly entering its final stages, it looked like the Dynamova was going to ride her good fortune into a SF berth in her third different grand slam event.

Ummm... uh-uh.

Ivanovic served to stay in the match, down 5-3 in the 3rd set, and faced three Vaidisova match points. The Serbian 19-year old held on, and waited for the Czech to crack. She did. On the third MP, an AnaIvo second serve landed short in the service box, in perfect position for Vaidisova to polish off the match with a pulverizing forehand winner. Instead, she dumped the ball into the net.

She never again found herself as close to winning the match.

Perhaps vexed by her missed opportunity only moments before, the emotional Vaidisova never fully regained her composure. Ivanovic broke her for 5-5 in the next game, held her own serve and then took a 40-15 lead on the Czech's serve to reach her own match point. Two points later, Vaidisova double-faulted. Instead of Vaidisova heading to her third slam semifinal, it's Ivanovic who reached her second of back-to-back slam semifinals.

At Roland Garros last year, Vaidisova missed out on a trip to the final with her "down the line, and across the chops" moment. At SW19, she's not in the SF because of a "short in the box, and into the net" one. Obviously, she's still not quite ready -- or maybe it would be more accurate to say her emotions and nerves have not yet been adequately harnessed -- to live up to her talent on the biggest stages the sport provides.

But, oh, she's so close. It's the kind of close that either emboldens a young player to achieve eventual greatness, or hounds her forever. With her drive to succeed and a 2007 slam resume that reads "SF-QF-QF," it's easy to believe that the former will apply to this particular and latest blonde bomber.

Vaidisova is just one shot away... but it's going to take a hell of an effort to make it when it's right in front of her. Sometimes what should be the most elementary step takes the most attempts to get it right.

But with this one, it's only a matter of time.


Love-Love... Venus Williams' workwoman-like 6-4/6-3 putdown of Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach her sixth career Wimbledon SF wasn't as easy as her destruction of the other Russian, but it was enough to lock up the Backspin "Comeback" award for Wimbledon.

*2007 SLAM "COMEBACK" WINNERS*
AO: Serena Williams/USA (W)
RG: Patty Schnyder/SUI (4r)
W: Venus Williams/USA (SF?)

Meanwhile, Ivanovic's come-from-behind effort to clip Vaidisova off at her Maiden knees claimed her the "It Girl" award for the second consecutive slam:

*2007 SLAM "IT GIRL" WINNERS*
AO: Shahar Peer/ISR (QF)
RG: Ana Ivanovic/SRB (RU)
W: Ana Ivanovic/SRB (SF?)

=============================
15-Love...

*2007 WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS*
11..Jelena Jankovic (6-4 +L)
8...JUSTINE HENIN (6-1)
6...Svetlana Kuznetsova (4-2)
5...Amelie Mauresmo (4-1)
5...ANA IVANOVIC (3-1)
5...Maria Sharapova (2-3)
5...MARION BARTOLI (1-3)
--
3...VENUS WILLIAMS (1-1)

=============================
30-Love...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Mixed Doubles 3rd Rd. - Alex Bogdanovic/Melanie South (GBR/GBR) d. #13 Rogier Wassen/Yung-Jan Chan (NED/TPE) - 6-4/6-3..
...the English duo knocked off another seeded team, though not as highly-seed as #1 Raymond/M.Bryan were in the previous round.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Girls Singles 2nd Rd. - Katerina Vankova (CZE) d. #5 Nikola Hofmanova (AUT) - 6-1/6-7 [10-6].
...fret not, another Maiden is on the way.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Girls Singles 2nd Rd. - Anna Fitzpatrick (GBR) d. #4 Ksenia Milevskaya (BLR) - 6-4/6-4.
...hmmm, is it Backspin's imagination or are the Brits starting to crack the code and finding a way to put together a decent contingent of young female players-to-watch?
=============================
40-Love...

*MEN'S SINGLES QF*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #20 Juan Carlos Ferrero/ESP
#3 Andy Roddick/USA vs. #12 Richard Gasquet/FRA
#10 Marcos Baghdatis/CYP vs. #4 Novak Djokovic/SRB
#7 Tomas Berdych/CZE vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP

*MEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA) v. TBD
#4 Fabrice Santoro/Nenad Zimonjic (FRA/SRB) v. #5 Martin Damm/Leander Paes (CZE/IND)
Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa (BRA/BRA) v. #3 Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor (BAH/CAN)
TBD v. Harel Levy/Rajeev Ram (ISR/USA)

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#1 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur (USA/AUS) v. #5 Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs (CZE/AUS)
TBD v. #10 Elena Likhovtseva/Tiantian Sun (RUS/CHN)
#6 Alicia Molik/Mara Santangelo (AUS/ITA) v. Shuai Peng/Zi Yan (CHN/CHN)
TBD v. #2 Cara Black/Liezel Huber (ZIM/RSA)

=============================
40-15...

*2007 WOMEN'S SLAM SEMIFINALISTS*
=AUSTRALIAN OPEN=
#1 Maria Sharapova/RUS (RU)
#4 Kim Clijsters/BEL (SF)
#10 Nicole Vaidisova/CZE (SF)
(un) Serena Williams/USA (W)
ROLAND GARROS=
#1 Justine Henin/BEL (W)
#2 Maria Sharapova/RUS (SF)
#4 Jelena Jankovic/SRB (SF)
#7 Ana Ivanovic/SRB (RU)
=WIMBLEDON=
#1 Justine Henin/BEL
#6 Ana Ivanovic/SRB
#18 Marion Bartoli/FRA
#23 Venus Williams/USA

=============================
40-30...

=MIDDLE ROUND (3rd-QF) AWARDS=
TOP PLAYER: Justine Henin/BEL
RISERS: Ana Ivanovic/SRB & Marion Bartoli/FRA
SURPRISES: Laura Granville/USA & Melanie South/GBR (Mixed Doubles)
VETERAN: Venus Williams/USA
FRESH FACES Michaella Krajicek/NED & Tamira Paszek/AUT
DOWN: Amelie Mauresmo/FRA & Nicole Vaidisova/CZE
BEST PERFORMANCE: 4th Round - Venus Williams d. Maria Sharapova - 6-/6-3.
...now the question is whether anyone will be able to get Venus out of the groove her game so easily slipped into during this match.
BEST DRAMA: 3rd Round - Serena Williams d. Daniela Hantuchova - 6-2/6-7/6-2.
...some people thought Serena was playing up her injury. But, come on, any of us who've seen her acting chops knows she's not really good enough to sell something THAT well.


BEST COMEBACK/CHOKE: Quarterfinal - Ana Ivanovic d. Nicole Vaidisova - 4-6/6-2/7-5.
...AnaIvo makes her way through draws with such unassuming and silky ease sometimes. Even when she turns around what should have been a "dead" match and wins it in the end, it feels like the result when never is question when the Serb raises her fist in victory.
POTENTIALLY THE BIGGEST MOMENT...by the end of the weekend: 3rd Round - Venus Williams d. Akiko Morigami - 6-2/3-6/7-5.
...we'll know by the end of Saturday, weather permitting, just HOW BIG this near-upset ends up being.
=============================
MATCH, "What's that you say? You mean the network pays you for such brilliance?"... during NBC's coverage today, resident "chronicler" Jimmy Roberts (don't miss his overrated and pointless wrap-up comments during the network's Triple Crown coverage every year) was interviewing Venus Williams. During the course of the discussion, he off-handedly mentioned that she got off to "relatively slow" start at Wimbledon this year. Hmmm, let's see... she nearly lost to Alla Kudryavtseva in the 1st Round, then Akiko Morigami served for the match at 5-3 in the 3rd set two rounds later. If that's Jimbo's definition of a "relatively slow start," how does he describe the presidency of George W. Bush? "A minor hiccup in the American history of representative government beholden to the will of the people?" Hmmm, I think someone might qualify as a new speechwriter for dim-bulbed one.





TOP QUALIFIERS: Su-Wei Hsieh/TPE & Olga Govortsova/BLR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): Justine Henin/BEL
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): (vacant)
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #30 Olga Poutchkova/RUS (1r-E.Vesnina/RUS)
UPSET QUEENS: Austrians (Paszek & Meusburger)
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: Ana Ivanovic/SRB
MISS OPPORTUNITY: Marion Bartoli/FRA
COMEBACK PLAYER: Venus Williams/USA
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 10.

Read more...

Day 9: Home Sweet Home

I hope someone gave Maria Sharapova a seat cushion for her trip home from the All-England Club, because her butt has to be pretty sore after the kicking Venus Williams gave it during the three-time Wimbledon champ's 6-1/6-3 4th Round victory on Day 9.



Pushing the Supernova around has become something of a family project for the sisters, considering the embarrassing destruction that Serena also put on Sharapova in Melbourne a few months ago. Apparently, the lingering memory of Maria's thumping of Serena in the '04 Wimbledon final has made her the target of an extremely long-lasting can of whoop-ass produced and packaged by one of Richard's many business ventures. Or at least it seems that way, doesn't it? Just for the record, while Serena only gave up three games to Sharapova at the Australian Open to Venus' four today, it should be noted that the big sister didn't even face a break point on her serve. And that has to count for something at a future dinner round table, right?

Wow, after the Venus we saw almost get upset by Alla Kudryavtseva in the 1st Round, then Akiko Morigami in the 3rd, the transformation into the one we saw today was quite astouding. It wasn't really surprising, though. You see, Venus didn't have to play on Court 2 this time. She was finally allowed to grace Centre Court... and what a difference it makes to her, seeing that she hasn't lost there to anyone not also named Williams since she won her first SW19 title back in 2000.

Venus might not be the dominant force in the women's game that she used to be. She may not be up to putting together a two-week run that will get her another slam, either... well, nowhere but at Wimbledon, that is. She's at three Big W titles, just two years removed from her last, and suddenly is a very strong contender for a fourth.

Do you hear that Justine? I mean, I'm not sayin' nuthin'... but I'm just sayin'.


Love-Love... two days ago, Serena's drama relegated Venus' comeback win to the day's second tier of storylines. On Day 9, though, Venus did the same to Serena and Justine Henin.

Venus was just so damn spectacular that even though Henin's 6-4/3-6/6-3 win over Serena was the better match of the two it won't be what anyone remembers about today -- even as there was more tension during single rallies in the 3rd set as Serena tried to erase Henin's 5-1 advantage than was evident in the entire Venus/Maria match.

So be it.

This was Henin's first over Serena on a surface other than clay, and her second in back-to-back slam QF. It sets up a SF match in which she'll be heavily favored to win and advance to the sixth straight final in the last six slams in which she's played. It may be a while before we really and truly appreciate a 5-foot-5 player being able to accomplish such a feet when size and power are such assets in women's tennis.
=============================
15-Love... #18-seeded Pastry Marion Bartoli reached her first grand slam SF with a come-from-behind 3-6/6-3/6-2 win over Michaella Krajicek, whose brother's 1996 QF defeat of Pete Sampras pretty much single-handedly prevented the American from claiming eight straight Wimbledon titles that would have made all the current talk about Roger Federer striving to tie Bjorn Borg's "record" (which it STILL is not) a non-entity. Hmmm, could it be that Olga Poutchkova was onto something last year when she said that she was surprised that Bartoli had yet to win a grand slam? Of course, more "important" than her career-best result is that she claimed Backspin's "Miss Opportunity" Award on Day 9. Ha.

*PAST WIMBLEON "MISS OPPORTUNITY" WINNERS*
2004 #13 Maria Sharapova/RUS (W)
2005 #14 Venus Williams/USA (W)
2006 (Q) Severine Bremond/FRA (QF)
2007 #18 Marion Bartoli/FRA (SF?)

=============================
15-15... just to be crystal clear (again):

**CONSECUTIVE WIMBLEDON TITLES**
6...William Renshaw, 1881-86
5...Bjorn Borg, 1976-80
5...Laurence Doherty, 1902-06
4...Reggie Doherty, 1897-00
4...Roger Federer, 2003-current
4...Pete Sampras, 1997-00
4...Tony Wilding, 1910-13

=============================
15-30...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's Doubles 2nd Rd. - #8 Anabel Medina-Garrigues/Virginia Ruano-Pascual (ESP/ESP) walkover Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA/USA).
...all right, then. So much for that.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's Doubles 3rd Rd. - Shuai Peng/Zi Yan (CHN/CHN) d. #3 Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE/TPE) - 6-3/6-2.
...the grass court winning streak ends. Meanwhile, the Chinese Tennis Federation immediately declared Peng & Yan's opponents "illegitimate" and then publicly fretted that such a victory might put in jeopardy the participation of Cookies in the Olympics. (Hey, why NOT go for a cheap joke?)

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Girls 2nd Rd. - Oxana Kalashnikova (GEO) d. #9 Naomi Cavaday (GBR) - 6-3/6-4.
...that Hingis lady was nothing. Oxana is the real one to watch. Apparently, at least. Hey, that's Naomi's story and she's sticking to it.
=============================
30-30...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #4: Men's Doubles 3rd Rd. - #10 Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra (FRA/FRA) d. Thomas Johansson/Andrei Pavel (SWE/ROU) - 7-5/6-3/1-0 ret.
...hey, after that 14-12 set the other day, Clement/Llodra could use a break.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #5: Mixed Doubles 2nd Rd. - Alex Bogdanovic/Melanie South (GBR/GBR) d. #1 Mike Bryan/Lisa Raymond (USA/USA) - 6-4/3-6/6-3.
...and the first #1-seeds fall at Wimbledon '07.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #6: Men's Doubles 2nd Rd. - Marcelo Melo/Andre Sa (BRA/BRA) d. #6 Paul Hanley/Kevin Ullyett (AUS/ZIM) - 5-7/7-6/4-6/7-6/28-26.
...14-12! What lazy asses those guys were. 28-26 is a REAL MAN'S type of score. Hmmm, that's probably more games in a set than goals Team Brazil will score in Melo & Sa's lifetime, and their parent's lifetimes, and their grandparents'...
=============================
30-40...

*WOMEN'S SINGLES SF*
#1 Justine Henin/BEL v. #18 Marion Bartoli/FRA
#6 Ana Ivanovic/SRB or #14 Nicole Vaidisova/CZE vs. #5 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS or #23 Venus Williams/USA

*MEN'S SINGLES QF*
[TOP HALF]
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #20 Juan Carlos Ferrero/ESP
#3 Andy Roddick/USA vs. #12 Richard Gasquet/FRA

=============================
Deuce... the match almost started on Saturday. Rafael Nadal thought he'd converted a match point on Monday. He lost a two sets-to-none lead. He got into an intimidation contest with Robin Soderling. It took him six match points stretched out over the course of the contest, and the last was only officially converted after a replay challenge. 6-4/6-4/6-7/4-6/7-5... and then he got the limp-fish-and-look-away handshake from the Swede at the net. No matter, Rafa is still alive in the Round of 16.
=============================
Ad...

BLAST FROM THE PAST SCORELINE #1: Women's Doubles Invitational SF - Jana Novotna/Helena Sukova (CZE/CZE) d. Gretchen Magers/Conchita Martinez (USA/ESP) - 6-4/7-6.
...Backspin always smiles when Jana shows up at the All-England Club.

BLAST FROM THE PAST SCORELINE #2: Women's Invitational Doubles - Liz Smylie/Nathalie Tauziat (AUS/FRA) d. Hana Mandlikova/Lori McNeil (AUS/USA) - 6-3/7-6.
...ah, all of Backspin's old faves are here. Although Hana still must have nightmares about playing during the Martina/Chrissie era, which prevented her from claiming a Wimbledon title -- the only slam she never won.

BLAST FROM THE PAST SCORELINE #3: Men's Invitational Doubles - Goran Ivanisevic/Cedric Pioline (CRO/FRA) d. Pat Cash/Richard Krajicek (AUS/NED) - 6-3/3-6 [10-8].
...all it all, it wasn't a good day for the Krajicek clan.
=============================
MATCH, "Was it just me, or did the sight of Justine's brother make you think for a moment"... that Vladimir Putin had decided to pop in for a guest appearance in the friends box during the Henin/Williams match? Just wondering.





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: Austrians (Paszek & Meusburger)
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: Marion Bartoli/FRA
COMEBACK PLAYER: (vacant)
DOUBLES STAR: (vacant)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: (vacant)




All for Day 9.

Read more...

Day 8: Here We Go Again

No, I'm not talking about the rain (though I surely could be). I'm referring to Amelie Mauresmo.



In her Round of 16 match against Nicole Vaidisova on Day 8, defending Wimbledon champion Mauresmo displayed all the time-worn characteristics of "the old Amelie." The one who seemed destined to blow every chance she'd ever have to win a grand slam title, until she finally broke through (twice) a season ago. On Tuesday, THAT Amelie was all over the place.

Mauresmo failed to close out the 1st set after leading 5-3, then punted away three set points after holding a 6-3 lead in the tie-break. After managing to fight through the rain delays and push the match to a 3rd set, she melted down in the final stanza, tossing in the last of her fourteen double-faults in a listless display whose one moment of "pop" came when she angrily fired a ball into the stands.

Vaidisova, 18, won 7-6/4-6/6-1.

In the end, after a strong early round effort, the Mauresmo we'll remember from Wimbledon '07 will bear no resemblence to the '06 Amelie who won the title with such grace and skill, but instead will be the one we briefly glimpsed in the final Wimbledon tuneup event in Eastbourne last month. There, Mauresmo squandered a should-have-been title by finding a way to lose deep in the 3rd set against Justine Henin.

We've seen such a Mauresmo before, but thought she might have been gone forever with the claiming of two grand slam titles.

Apparently, we were wrong.

Sure, this string of all-too-familiar losses could be lingering after-effects of her recent appendectomy... but you've got to wonder if maybe "the old Amelie," who turns 28 on Thursday, might soon be the "old" Amelie in the blink of an eye.


Love-Love... meanwhile, Roger Federer continues to rest. Justine Henin prepares. And Serena Williams heals. Not good news for the other 22 players who are still alive in singles, especially the ones on the men's side who are half-way through the second week of Wimbledon but still have yet to complete what should have been first week matches.
=============================
15-Love...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's Singles 4th Rd. - #5 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Tamira Paszek (AUT) - 6-3/6-2.
...the Contessova barely blinked, and is the biggest under-the-radar threat remaining in the draw. Meanwhile, the 16-year old Austrian may be gone... but she'll be back.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Women's Singles 4th Rd. - #18 Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. #3 Jelena Jankovic (SRB) - 3-6/7-5/6-3.
...Jankovic led 3-2 in the 3rd before the last rain delay of the match, then couldn't manuever her way to the finish line after the cover came off the court. She's experienced this sort of thing before, just as this also wasn't the first time that she likely peaked just BEFORE a slam. The only thing new is that Justine didn't have anything to do with her ouster this time.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Women's Singles 4th Rd. - #6 Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. #11 Nadia Petrova (RUS) - 6-1/2-6/6-4.
...again, AnaIvo outlasts Jankovic in a slam. This is starting to become a pattern. As for Nadia, who put together a pretty good run at SW19 considering her mindset coming in... she should at least gain a small dose of much-needed confidence from her work here.
=============================
30-Love...

*WOMEN'S SINGLES QF*
#1 Justine Henin(BEL) v. #7 Serena Williams(USA)
#18 Marion Bartoli(FRA) v. #31 Michaella Krajicek(NED)
#6 Ana Ivanovic(SRB) v. #14 Nicole Vaidisova(CZE)
#5 Svetlana Kuznetsova(RUS) v. #2 Maria Sharapova(RUS) or #23 Venus Williams(USA)

=============================
40-Love... not many matches are being completed, but those that are have managed to shrink the list of potential winners for some of the Backspin Slam Awards. A look at the current nominations:

*IT GIRL*
...the winner of the Ana Ivanovic/Nicole Vaidisova QF gets the honor. It would either give AnaIvo her second straight slam SF-or-better result, or the Dynamova her third slam SF berth.

*MISS OPPORTUNITY*
...Marion Bartoli and Michaella Krajicek will battle in the QF, with the winner gaining a surprise career-best slam SF appearance.

*COMEBACK*
...Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams are still in the running but, if neither pan out, there's always the possibility of Alicia Molik sneaking through with another big Doubles result to go along with her close fight with Serena in the 2nd Round of singles.
=============================
MATCH, "You know it's crunchtime for the All-England Club organizers when"... Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams have their Round of 16 match moved to Court 3 in the middle of the day. Not that the new master plan did much good, considering the weather allowed for only three points to be played before Tuesday's sixth rain interruption finally brought down the hammer of death on Day 8. For the record, Venus is serving with a 30/15 lead.





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: Austrians (Paszek & Meusburger)
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 8.

Read more...

Day 7: Blame it On the Rain? Hardly.

They shoot horses don't they?

Well, yeah... but they don't shoot tennis players. It's a good thing, too. Because, for a while there on Day 7, Serena Williams was doing a pretty good impression of an injured racehorse limping down the back stretch after breaking a leg... with the track ambulance in hot pursuit.



All that appeared to remain was the act of putting her out of her obvious misery. Luckily for Serena, Daniela Hantuchova was driving the vehicle that was supposed to serve up her undoing. Plus, the heavens were waiting to open at just the right time. Oh, and then there was that suspicious pigeon, too. (More on that later.) But DO NOT confuse Serena Williams with Barbaro. The latter is as good as glue, while the former is alive and kicking.

(Well, maybe not exactly KICKING... but resting up so she'll be able to kick if she HAS to in a few days. That is, if it ever stops raining long enough for the All-England Club to get this tournament back on schedule for the weekend's singles finals.)

After taking the 1st set from Hantuchova at 6-2, it looked as if the end result of this 3rd Round match was a foregone conclusion. Little did we know that as the Slovakian grabbed a 5-3 lead, then couldn't close out the 2nd set, that we were going to experience one of "those matches" that are used forever afterward to visually (and viscerally) define the heart of a champion.

At 5-5, Williams' calf seized. Or maybe it cramped. Whatever the exact malady, the fact was that Serena was curled up in a ball at the baseline, clutching her leg and heaving in agony. She managed to get up, then play on... without actually moving, mind you. She even held serve and forced a tie-break by just trying to win points with one swing of the racket, sort of like what she did after an abdominal injury in the WTA Championship final against Maria Sharapova in 2004.

But when she fell down 4-2 in the tie-break, it was apparent this was going to be a three-set match... and Williams might not be able to complete it. Then, voila! Just when she needed a break, the rains came right on cue. The suspension of play may have saved Serena on Day 7, and dealt Hantuchova a "dead man's hand."

By the time play resumed, Serena was ready to go. She wasn't 100%, of course. Hardly, actually... but well enough to move a little. Even after claiming the tie-break, though, one wonders why Hantuchova didn't try to drop shot her and move her around the court to take advantage of the lack of mobility. But, hey, that's why Wonder Girl goes five years between titles, I guess.

When a pigeon swooped down toward the court at 4-2 Williams, 30/30 on Hantuchova's serve, you just knew what was going to happen. The Slovak's game didn't immediately disappear as is the case when the avian interlopers interfere at Roland Garros. But, remember, this is Wimbledon. Things just advance at a tad slower pace there. The game lasted a few more additional points, but Hantuchova WAS broken... and then Williams served out a 6-2/6-7/6-2 dramatic win that will either set her on a course to another grand slam title, or be a lingering highlight that will be referenced for the remainder of her Hall of Fame career.



Hmmm, so maybe it was the rain. Maybe it was Wonder Girl's inability to win a match in which mental gymnastics and deductions were required. Maybe it was the infernal curse of the pigeons, apparently imported from Paris. But, really, all those theories are bunk. Serena won this match because she's Serena... and now she's Justine's problem in the QF matchup of the "Immovable Object vs. the Unstoppable Force."

Serena doesn't care about WHY everything played out in her favor today. Injury or no injury, she's got Le Petit Taureau -- and a little revenge for that QF loss in Paris -- on her mind. And so does everyone else.

May the best woman win... and probably take the whole thing in the end.


Love-Love...

Venus...2, Court 2...0.

It took her younger sister's dramatics to keep Venus from being the top story of Day 7. After Akiko Morigami took the 2nd set of their resumed 3rd Round match, then used a net cord to gain a break point on Williams' serve at 4-3 (Venus promptly double-faulted) before serving for the match at 5-3, it appeared as if Court 2 was finally going to get its revenge after Williams slipped from the "graveyard's" clutches in the 1st Round against Alla Kudryavtseva.

But Venus isn't a five-time grand slam champion by luck, and her ability to pull herself together while less-accomplished players crumble in the face of it all is precisely why, even as she teetered on the edge of experiencing her third loss in the SW19 3rd Round or earlier in the last four years, this match was hardly over. As it turned out, Venus had this one in the bag.

She broke the Japanese veteran at love, then proceeded to wrap up the final four games of the match, finishing things off just as rain and wind were threatening to stop play before she could gain the victory (hmmm, sort of the opposite of what happened to Serena... go ahead and read into that whatever you wish) to advance into a very interesting Round of 16 match against Maria Sharapova.

Of course, Venus will have to discover some of the consistency that hasn't been in evidence yet in this tournament if she's going to get past the Supernova. But, then again, Sharapova isn't going to be going up against a player she can expect to not have enough firepower to outhit her at crunch time, either. Justine vs. Serena will be the headliner QF match of the top half of the draw, but Maria vs. Venus in the 4th Round might just have just as much impact on the bottom half.
=============================
15-Love... well, after getting gyped out of the "Revelation Ladies" at Roland Garros, the Austrians picked up the "Upset Queens" award for Wimbledon when 16-year old Tamira Paszek continued her revelatory tournament with another upset of a seeded player by taking out #12 Elena Dementieva in three sets.

*PAST WIMBLEDON "UPSET QUEENS"*
2004: Brits
2005: Americans
2006: Brits
2007: Austrians

=============================
15-15...

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #1: Women's Singles 4th Rd. - #1 Justine Henin(BEL) d. #15 Patty Schnyder(SUI) - 6-2/6-2.
...and Sneaky has finally left the building.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #2: Men's Singles 4th Rd. - #1 Roger Federer(SUI) w/o #13 Tommy Haas(GER).
...yeah, as if Federer needs the extra advantage of having one fewer match to play while all the other men are going to have to play best-of-five matches almost every day to reach the weekend because of the schedule backlog.

SCORELINE-OF-NOTE #3: Men's Doubles 2nd Rd. - #10 Arnaud Clement/Michael Llodra (FRA/FRA) d. Amer Delic/Bobby Reynolds (USA/USA) - 6-3/6-4/6-7/6-7/14-12.
...Henman/Moya? Bah, that was nothing. That 5th set was ONLY 13-11.
=============================
15-30... the Girls Singles draw has been released, and it contains quite a few players who have made strides with ITF titles this season and/or have experienced past junior slam success.

*GIRLS TOP 8 SEEDS*
1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
2. Anastasia Pivovarova/RUS
3. Evgenia Rodina/RUS (yes, 3 more Russians!)
4. Ksenia Milevskaya/BLR
5. Nikola Hofmanova/AUT (young Austrian #1b)
6. Urszula Radwanska/POL
7. Madison Brengle/USA
8. Petra Kvitova/CZE

...and near-Hingis-conqueror Naomi Cavaday is the #9 seed, too. Also in the draw: Czech Maiden Katerina Vankova, ITF mover-and-shaker Simona Halep of Romania, RG runner-up Mariana Duque Marino and another British hope, Jade Curtis.
=============================
15-40... here are the stats on the completed bottom half of the Women's Round of 16:

*WOMEN'S FINAL 16 - BOTTOM HALF*
[by nation]
3...Russia (Kuznetsova, Petrova, Sharapova)
1...Austria (Paszek)
1...Czech Republic (Vaidisova)
1...France (Mauresmo)
1...Serbia (Ivanovic)
1...United States (V.Williams)
[by age]
27...Venus Williams
27...Amelie Mauresmo
25...Nadia Petrova
22...Svetlana Kuznetsova
20...Maria Sharapova
19...Ana Ivanovic
18...Nicole Vaidisova
16...Tamira Paszek
[by rank]
#2....Maria Sharapova
#4....Amelie Mauresmo
#5....Svetlana Kuznetsova
#6....Ana Ivanovic
#9....Nadia Petrova
#10...Nicole Vaidisova
#xx...Venus Williams
#54...Tamira Paszek

*WOMEN'S FINAL 16*
[by nation]
3...Russia
3...United States
2...France
2...Serbia
1...Austria
1...Belgium
1...Czech Republic
1...Netherlands
1...Slovakia
1...Switzerland

=============================
30-40...

*WOMEN's ROUND OF 16 PREDICTIONS*
[BOTTOM HALF]
#6 Ivanovic d. #11 Petrova
...I WANT to pick Nadia. I HOPE she'll take out AnaIvo. I BELIEVE that she can. But I don't want to jinx her.
#4 Mauresmo d. #14 Vaidisova
...the sisters make all the headlines. Everyone pays attention to Maria. Justine gets her pats on the back. Meanwhile the defending champion hasn't blinked. You sort of get the feeling that Amelie hopes it stays just like this.
Paszek d. #5 Kuznetsova
...hey, Dokic reached the QF as a 16-year old in 1999.
#23 V.Williams d. #2 Sharapova
...Venus won't have to bother with Court 2 anymore. This one could really go either way, depending on which of the four versions of these two players actually show up.
=============================
MATCH, "Make fun of Rafa's 'wedgie removal system' at your own risk"... Robin Soderling still might upset Rafael Nadal when their 3rd Round match resumes, but after his playful on-court "joking" about Nadal's penchant for, umm, "clearing the valley" with a quick pinch of the back of his pants -- come on, we've all noticed the habit... we just politely ignore it, since somtimes a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do when his clothing sponsor makes him wear long pants that are probably a little more snug in the seat than they probably need to be -- it should be noted that Nadal quickly broke his serve and will begin play with a 2-0 final set advantage. On a day when one Williams sister won just before the rains came down, while another was saved because the rains came when they did, karmic consequences are nothing to be taken lightly.





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: Austrians (Paszek & Meusburger)
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 7.

Read more...