Wk.33- A Horde o' Plenty

Who needs Maria when you've got Elena, Dinara, Vera, Nadia and that other Maria?


HOW MUCH DO BROOMS COST IN BEIJING? REUTERS/Toby Melville

While the American and Chinese athletic superpowers were left to mostly lick their Olympic tennis medal-winning wounds last week, settling for doubles honors to avoid going home empty-handed, the Russian Horde (the females-in-Beijing brand, not the males-crossing-borders-in-Georgia variety) invaded the Green Tennis Center and fully occupied the medal stand.

Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina were left to battle for the singles Gold, eight years after Punch-Sober settled for the Silver in Sydney and after being mostly ignored heading into Beijing in spite of the quietly very good, though title-stingy (only winning Dubai back on March 1), '08 campaign she's put together. Not that Safina was an interloper. In fact, she's been the Player of the Summer so far, having made herself a Player of the YEAR contender, if not a major title WINNER... not yet, at least. Two Tier I wins, a Roland Garros RU and U.S. Open Series championship would seem to have been a nice primer for Golden Olympic success. But it didn't come for Safina.

Instead, things went just as Dementieva wished. She fell behind early, dropping the 1st set (as is usually her pattern preceding her biggest victories) before loosening up and winning a tight 2nd stanza as Safina's frustration mounted (but didn't, thankfully, overwhelm her). In the 3rd, Dementieva grabbed the advantage and didn't let go, winning 3-6/7-5/6-3.

Not to be outdone no matter the result of the final, fellow Hordette Vera Zvonareva, who only made the trip to Beijing because of the late diagnosis of Maria Sharapova's rotator cuff injury, had already claimed the Bronze with a win over China's Li Na. It's the first sweep of the tennis medal stand in Olympic history.

But the Russian tennis hegemony in Week 33 didn't end there. In North America, Nadia Petrova's slowly-building season received a tangible reward in Cincinnati after her game's gradual progress the last few months following a coaching change. She won her first title of the season, swept the doubles with fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, and returned to the Top 20 in the new rankings, and is possibly hoping for a nice run in New York against a field filled with question marks, injured contenders and many "favorites" physically dragging butt after a summer full of matches and/or a long trip back from China.

Ever since the big slam breakthroughs of 2004, the Russians have been the WTA's dominant national force, but the numbers that the Horde have put up so far in a not-yet-three-quarters-finished 2008 season are quite impressive, and might become stunning by November: twenty-six finals, thirteen titles by seven different women, four all-Russian singles finals and three Summer Olympics medals.

**RUSSIANS - MOST CAREER TITLES**
19...Maria Sharapova, 2003-08
10...ELENA DEMENTIEVA, 2003-08
10...Anastasia Myskina, 1999-05
9...Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2002-07
9...Olga Morozova, 1969-75
8...Dinara Safina, 2002-08
8...NADIA PETROVA, 2005-08

**ALL-RUSSIAN FINALS**
=by year=
2003: 1
2004: 5
2005: 0
2006; 4
2007: 1
2008: 4
=2008=
Doha - Sharapova def. Zvonareva
Dubai - Dementieva def. Kuznetsova
Berlin - Safina d. Dementieva
Beijing - Dementieva d. Safina
=W/L IN ALL-RUSSIAN FINALS=
8...ELENA DEMENTIEVA (3-5)
4...Anastasia Myskina (4-0)
4...Maria Sharapova (3-1)
4...Svetlana Kuznetsova (2-2)
2...Anna Chakvetadze (2-0)
2...DINARA SAFINA (1-1)
2...Nadia Petrova (0-2)
-
0-1 - Bardina, Bovina, Likhovtseva, Zvonareva

**MOST DIFFERENT 2008 CHAMPIONS**
7...RUSSIA #
3...United States (Davenport/Williams/Williams)
2...France (Cornet/Parmentier)
2...Italy (Errani/Pennetta)
2...Serbia (Ivanovic/Jankovic)
2...Spain (Llagostera-Vives/Medina-Garrigues)
1..(9 nations)
-
#- Chakvetadze, Dementieva, Kirilenko, Petrova, Safina, Sharapova, Zvonareva

**MOST 2008 FINALS - BY NATION**
26...RUSSIA (13 wins)
8...United States (6)
7...France (2)
6...Italy (4)
5...Serbia (3)
5...Spain (2)

New world #5 Dementieva exits Beijing ahead of #6 Sharapova on the computer and breathing down the neck of world #3 Kuznetsova (yeah, she WAS in China too... not that anyone really noticed), with #7 Safina right behind and #9 Zvonareva having just entered the Top 10 after a few lean months following her quick start to the season. That's five of the world's top ten players, and six of eleven, hailing from The Justice League of Mother Russia.

Even with so many young athletes to choose from, China will have a hard time coming close to matching anything resembling what the Russians have managed to put together.

Of course, the Great Wall wasn't built in day, now was it?

*WEEK 33 CHAMPIONS*

BEIJING, CHINA (O-HCO)
GOLD: Elena Dementieva def. Dinara Safina 3-6/7-5/6-3
BRONZE: Vera Zvonareva def. Li Na 6-0/7-5
-
GOLD: Williams/Williams d. Medina-Garrigues/Ruano-Pascual
BRONZE: Yan/Zheng d. Bondarenko/Bondarenko

CINCINNATI, OHIO USA (III-HCO)
S: Nadia Petrova def. Nathalie Dechy 6-2/6-1
D: Kirilenko/Petrova d. Hsieh/Shvedova


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Dementieva, RUS
...in 2000, Punch-Drunk wouldn't have won that Gold Medal Match. In 2008, Punch-Sober did. But Dementieva's Beijing success didn't begin and end with the win over Safina, as she got three total wins over current Top 10ers (Serena & Zvonareva), plus victories over Caroline Wozniacki and Kateryna Bondarenko, as well.
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RISERS: Dinara Safina, RUS & Vera Zvonareva, RUS
...Silver Medalist Safina didn't win the Gold, but she knocked off one #1-ranked player (Jankovic) and two Chinese (Li and Zheng) along the way to reaching the sixth final in her last seven tournaments. Apparently, she not only ended Henin's career, but she bodysnatched her consistency, too. Maybe Bronze Medalist Zvonareva should send a thank-you bouquet of flowers (or maybe an e-card will do?) to Sharapova's doctors, since their mistake allowed her to get potentially season re-igniting wins over the likes Shahar Peer, Francesca Schiavone, Sybille Bammer and Li Na.
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SURPRISES: Nathalie Dechy, FRA & Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
...since last week was about a series of "Alls," who can overlook the unexpected run by both Pastry vets to a SF matchup in Cincinnati that resulted in Dechy's first tour final since 2004? After nearly upsetting Ivanovic at Wimbledon, world #92 Dechy finally garnered some more headlines (after possibly improving her player-to-net cord relationship skills?) with wins over Katarina Srebotnik, Aleksandra Wozniak and Mauresmo before losing to Petrova in the final. Meanwhile, Mauresmo's run to the semis (her best result in '08) was maybe even more surprising, and quite a nice statement after her initial removal from the French Olympic team, in a roundabout way, sort of led to her being in Ohio rather than China.
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VETERANS: Nadia Petrova, RUS & Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA
...not going to China turned out pretty well for Nadia, especially if some return on her hard work of late means she'll carry some confidence into the remainder of the season. Petrova was the sixth woman this season to sweep the singles and doubles title in an event, one of which was doubles partner (and singles SF victim) Maria Kirilenko earlier this season in Estoril. Beijing provided Venus and Serena with their second doubles Gold, and made Venus the first three-time Gold Medal winner in Olympic tennis history.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Ksenia Pervak, RUS & Mallory Cecil, USA
...Pervak, 17, continued the Russian theme of the past week with a win in the $50K event in Penza, her second career ITF title. Pervak is now a career-best #191 in the rankings. American Cecil, 18, was given a wild card into the New Haven qualifying (with her ranking in the 600's) and responded with wins over the likes of Alexa Glatch and Sara Errani to reach her first WTA maid draw match... where she drew lucky loser Errani for a second consecutive match. Wouldn't you know it, Errani won the "do-over" today in a 3rd set tie-break. Pardon Mallory if she's feeling a little like Alicia Sacramone tonight.
=============================
DOWN: Serena Williams, USA & Venus Williams, USA & the Chinese Olympic tennis "dream"
...the doubles Gold soothed some bad singles feelings (did anyone see the look on the sisters' faces when one of the first questions they were asked in their just off-court interview after they'd won the Gold began with a mention of their singles losses? Priceless.), but the Olympics still surely didn't provide the momentum for the Open that they might have been hoping for. Of course, since when did either Venus or Serena need any pre-event momentum to do well at a slam? Meanwhile, although the team's overall performance was quite good, China put a great deal of time, money and effort into the development of tennis talent largely because of the Beijing showcase, so a medal step-back from the federation's '04 haul (an Athens doubles Gold, but only a Bronze four years later... and Li's inability to claim the singles Bronze after an otherwise great tournament showing) can't be having anyone jumping for joy.
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ITF PLAYER: Elena Bovina, RUS
...amazingly, the Russian theme continues. It looks like Elena Bovina's comeback from that nearly career-destroying shoulder injury in 2005 might just have some teeth, after all. She won a $50K event in the Bronx over the weekend, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the final, nearly four years after her last singles title in New Haven in 2004. As the season nears its final quarter, the three-headed ITF-level comeback of Bovina, Groenefeld AND Jelena Dokic has become one of the more intriguing under-the-radar stories of the year (and that's not even when including Kimiko Date-Krumm's Japanese adventures, either), especially since I always used to say that Groenefeld somewhat physically resembled an odd combination of Bovina and Dokic... maybe there IS something that links them together.
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1. Beij Gold Match - Dementieva d. Safina
...3-6/7-5/6-3. What does this do to the order of the list of "favorites" in New York?
=============================
2. Cin Final - Petrova d. Dechy
...6-2/6-1. Finally, something for Nadia to smile about again.
=============================
3. Beij Doubles Gold Match - Williams/Williams d. Medina-Garrigues/Ruano-Pascual
...6-2/6-0. He was incorrect, but I'm sure VRP doesn't mind it that Barry MacKay said that she was 24 years old during USA Network's coverage of the final.
=============================
4. Beij QF - Dementieva d. S.Williams
3-6/6-4/6-3.
Beij QF - Li d. V.Williams
...7-5/7-5. Serena doesn't join Agassi & Graf with all four slams and a singles Gold. Venus doesn't become the first two-time Gold singles champion. They seemed pretty happy about how things turned out in the end, though.

Golden Jubilee! REUTERS/Nir Elias
=============================
5. Beij Doubles Bronze Match - Yan/Zheng d. Bondarenko/Bondarenko
6-2/6-2.

WHEW! Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images

Beij Singles Bronze Match - Zvonareva d. Li
...6-0/7-5. Yan & Zheng at least saved some face for the Chinese tennis federation. Li -- even after wins over Kuznetsova, Morita, Kanepi & Venus had made her the Last Cookie Standing -- must have been trapped between pressure and a disappointed hard place during the 1st set after having lost out on a chance to play for the Gold a day earlier.
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HM- Cin 1st - Jackson d. Bartoli
...7-6/2-2 ret. This was the Georgia Peach's first main draw WTA win since October '06 in Bangkok.
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HM- Beij QF - Safina d. Jankovic
...6-2/5-7/6-3. And Jelena lost her #1 ranking after just a single week, not to mention the top seed at the U.S. Open, too. The Whirling Dervish spins the OTHER way. Now what comes next?
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**OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL MATCHES - 1988-08**
1988 Steffi Graf d. Gabriela Sabatini
1992 Jennifer Capriati d. Steffi Graf
1996 Lindsay Davenport d. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
2000 Venus Williams d. Elena Dementieva
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne d. Amelie Mauresmo
2008 Elena Dementieva d. Dinara Safina

**OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDAL MATCHES**
1996 Jana Novotna d. Mary Joe Fernandez
2000 Monica Seles d. Jelena Dokic
2004 Alicia Molik d. Anastasia Myskina
2008 Vera Zvonareva d. Li Na

**MOST OLYMPIC MEDALS - since 1988**
[#-active]
4...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
3...Mary Joe Fernandez, USA
3...FERNANDO GONZALEZ, CHI#
3...Conchita Martinez, ESP
3...Jana Novotna, CZE
3...VENUS WILLIAMS, USA#
2...ELENA DEMENTIEVA, RUS
2...Steffi Graf, FRG/GER
2...Gigi Fernandez, USA
2...Goran Ivanisevic, CRO
2...Nicolas Massu, CHI#
2...Miloslav Mecir, TCH
2...ANABEL MEDINA-GARRIGUES, ESP#
2...VIRGINIA RUANO-PASCUAL, ESP#
2...Helena Sukova, CZE
2...SERENA WILLIAMS, USA#
2...Todd Woodbridge, AUS
2...Mark Woodforde, AUS

**PLAYED FOR SINGLES MEDAL IN HOME NATION**
1996 Lindsay Davenport, USA (Atlanta/won Gold)
1996 Mary Joe Fernandez, USA (Atlanta/lost Bronze)
2000 Jelena Dokic, AUS (Sydney/lost Bronze)
2008 LI NA, CHN (BEIJING/LOST BRONZE)

**2008 WINS OVER #1-RANKED PLAYER**
JAN - Australian QF - #5 Sharapova d. Henin
FEB - Dubai QF - #24 Schiavone d. Henin
APR - Miami QF - #8 S.Williams d. Henin
MAY - Berlin 3rd - #17 Safina d. Henin
JUN - R.Garros 4th - #14 Safina d. Sharapova
JUN - Wimbledon 3rd - #133 Zheng d. Ivanovic
JUL - Montreal 3rd - #94 Paszek d. Ivanovic
AUG - Olympics QF - #6 Safina d. Jankovic

**MOST 2008 SINGLES FINALS**
6...DINARA SAFINA (3-3)
4...Serena Williams (3-1)
4...ELENA DEMENTIEVA (2-2)
4...Vera Zvonareva (1-2 +L)

**SWEPT SINGLES/DOUBLES TITLES**
FEB - Memphis - Lindsay Davenport
APR - Estoril - Maria Kirilenko
JUL - Wimbledon - Venus Williams
JUL - Budapest - Alize Cornet
JUL - Palermo - Sara Errani
AUG - CINCINNATI - NADIA PETROVA

**2008 LONG WIN STREAKS**
[timespan/ended by]
18...Maria Sharapova (Jan-Mar/Kuznetsova)
17...Serena Williams (Mar-May/Safina)
15...DINARA SAFINA (Jul-Aug/Dementieva)
12...Dinara Safina (May-Jun/Ivanovic)
11...Tamarine Tanasugarn (Jun/V.Williams)
10...Sara Errani (Jul-Aug/Stosur)
10...Venus Williams (Jun-Aug/N.Li)

**CONSECUTIVE SEASONS w/ TWO+ TITLES**
8...Justine Henin, 2001-08
3...ELENA DEMENTIEVA, 2006-08
2...Lindsay Davenport, 2007-08
2...Ana Ivanovic, 2007-08
2...Serena Williams, 2007-08
-
(Anna Chakvetadze - 2...2006-07)

**2008 WEEKS IN TOP 10**
[of 33]
33...ANA IVANOVIC
33...JELENA JANKOVIC
33...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
33...MARIA SHARAPOVA
33...VENUS WILLIAMS
32...SERENA WILLIAMS
32...Anna Chakvetadze
23...Daniela Hantuchova
21...ELENA DEMENTIEVA
19...Justine Henin
17...Marion Bartoli
11...DINARA SAFINA
7...AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA
1...VERA ZVONAREVA





NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT USA (II-Hard Outdoor)(USO Series)
07 FINAL: Kuznetsova d. Szavay
08 TOP: Chakvetadze/Hantuchova
=============================
=SF=
Mauresmo d. Chakvetadze
Cornet d. Wozniacki
=FINAL=
Cornet d. Mauresmo

...the urge would have been to go with Cibulkova, but her 1st Round retirement (heat illness) against Wozniacki put the kibosh on that one. So, I'll go with an all-Pastry final a week after Cornet nearly pushed Serena out of the Olympic singles even earlier than she ultimately bowed out.


FOREST HILLS, NEW YORK USA (IV-Hard Outdoor)
07 FINAL: Dulko d. Razzano
08 TOP: Parmentier/Erakovic
=============================
=SF=
Dushevina d. Bacsinszky
Benesova d. Safarova
=FINAL=
Dushevina d. Benesova

...this tournament is so teeny-tiny ($75,000), and the 16-player field is actually even more difficult to predict than one with over 100 in competition. Safarova actually won this tournament in '05, but when in doubt I figure the safest bet would be to go with the nearest available Russian. Hence, Dushevina (not also-present Elena Vesnina) to became the eighth Hordette to walk away victorious on the season.

ALSO:

US OPEN QUALIFYING


All for now.



UPCOMING: Bare Bones Backspin, U.S. Open Preview & Backspin Time Capsule