Wk.11/12- .now for All (The 4th Annual Backwards Backspin)

[Helpful Hint: It might be easier to read this week's edition of Backspin from the bottom up]

All for now.

Ivanovic d. Henin
=FINAL=
Ivanovic d. Dementieva
Henin d. V.Williams
=SF=
Ivanovic d. Vaidisova
Dementieva d. Jankovic
V.Williams d. Kuznetsova
Henin d. S.Williams
=QF=
Ivanovic d. Safina
Vaidisova d. Hantuchova
Jankovic d. Mauresmo
Dementieva d. Chakvetadze
V.Williams d. Wozniacki
Kuznetsova d. A.Radwanska
S.Williams d. Schnyder
Henin d. Harkleroad
=4th Round=


...Jankovic is ONCE AGAIN in the draw. No surprise there. After last season's painfully learned series of lessons, I'll have a difficult time picking against Henin this season unless it's at Wimbledon or maybe the US Open if certain players are healthy and in form. That being said, Ivanovic could very well win this event for back-to-back Tier I titles. But I'll stick with the thought that she's not QUITE ready for that AND defeating the likes of Henin in a final (but that both Williams sisters are in La Petit Taureau's half of the draw surely works in AnaIvo's favor).

Henin d. Ivanovic
=FINAL=
Ivanovic d. Chakvetadze
Henin d. Kuznetsova
=SF=
Ivanovic d. Zvonareva
Chakvetadze d. Jankovic
Kuznetsova d. Wozniacki
Henin d. S.Williams
=QF=
Ivanovic d. Safina
Zvonareva d. Hantuchova
Jankovic d. Mauresmo
Chakvetadze d. Schiavone
Wozniacki d. V.Williams (probably a stupid pick)
Kuznetsova d. A.Radwanska
S.Williams d. Schnyder
Henin d. Harkleroad
=4th Round=


=============================
08 TOP SEEDS: Henin/Ivanovic
07 FINAL: S.Williams d. Henin
MIAMI, FLORIDA USA (I-Hard Outdoor)






WK.12 - BARBORA ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA/CZE (2)
Wk.11 - Ekaterina Dzehalevich/BLR
Wk.10 - Camille Pin/FRA
Wk.9 - Barbora Zahlavova Strycova/CZE
Wk.8 - Regina Kulikova/RUS
Wk.7 - Johanna Larsson/SWE
Wk.6 - Laura Granville/USA
Wk.5 - Sesil Karatantcheva/BUL (2)
Wk.4 - Elena Kulikova/RUS
Wk.3 - Sesil Karatantcheva/BUL
Wk.2 - Anastasia Pivovarova/RUS
Wk.1 - -
**2008 BACKSPIN ITF P.O.W.**

INDIAN WELLS (I) - DINARA SAFINA/ELENA VESNINA
Doha (I) - Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs
Australian Open (M) - Sun Tiantian/Nenad Zimonjic
Australian Open - Alona Bondarenko/Kateryna Bondarenko
**2008 MAJOR DOUBLES TITLISTS**

08 INDIAN WELLS SF - IVANOVIC 7-6/6-3
07 Los Angeles SF - Ivanovic 4-6/6-3/7-5
07 Amelia Island QF - Ivanovic 7-5/6-3
07 Tokyo QF - Ivanovic 3-6/6-4/6-2
06 Montreal 3rd - Ivanovic walkover
06 Los Angeles QF - Jankovic 6-4/7-6
05 Zurich 3rd - Ivanovic 6-2/6-1
**IVANOVIC vs. JANKOVIC**

3...JELENA JANKOVIC (0-3 + x)
3...Li Na (1-2 + 1-0)
3...Flavia Pennetta (2-1 + 2-0)
3...MARIA SHARAPOVA (2-1 + 2-0)
3...ANA IVANOVIC (2-1 + 1-1)
3...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (3-0 + 0-3)
**2008 WTA SF + FINALS W/L**

4...Jelena Jankovic (4/0)
4...Lindsay Davenport (2/2)
4...ANA IVANOVIC (3/1)
5...Anna Chakvetadze (4/1)
12...Justine Henin (10/2)
**SINGLES TITLES - 2007/08**

3...ANA IVANOVIC
5...Mary Pierce
6...Maria Sharapova
6...Venus Williams
6...Amelie Mauresmo
8...Serena Williams
10...Justine Henin
11...Lindsay Davenport
**CAREER TIER I TITLES - ACTIVE**


=============================
One year down, four to go before Wonder Girl's next Indian Wells title. Or am I thinking about the last time she was defending champion?. .7-6/6-1...
Sharapova d. Hantuchova - IW QF .10
=============================
Sesil is finally being granted wild cards into tour qualifying draws, but her good results are shrinking the higher up the event totem pole she goes. As usual, make your own joke there. (Oh, all right, I'll go first: Maybe she should consider going down on that totem pole instead. I know, I know... I should be ashamed of myself for that one. Hey, everybody loves Sesil. Some more than others, quite literally, of course. There, now I've officially caught up on my Sesil joke quota after having a Backspin Monday off last week.) .7-5/6-2...
Rodina d. Karatantcheva - IW Q1 .9
=============================
C-Woz didn't allow Kirilenko to carve out even a single measly break point in this one. .6-2/6-0...
Wozniacki d. Kirilenko - IW 2nd .8
=============================
Has Dinara finally found her career niche? .6-1/1-6/10-8...
Safina/Vesnina d. Yan/Zheng - IW Doub.Final .7
=============================
AnaIvo's struggles against the Romanians continue, but so do her ultimate victories over them. .6-1/5-7/6-0...
Ivanovic d. Olaru - IW 2nd .6
=============================
This was Vaidisova's first action since Oz, but her season has taken on a very odd feel, hasn't it? All those TV commercials she's been in recently are nice, though. Hmmm... coincidence? .6-1/3-6/6-4...
Dellacqua d. Vaidisova - IW 2nd .5
=============================
Jankovic has lost five of six career meetings against her fellow Serbian Siren. So far in 2008, she's already totaled 27 matches counting Hopman and Fed Cup play. .7-6/6-3...
Ivanovic d. Jankovic - IW SF .4
=============================
Lindsay's bad back ended this one early, as the ironic tendency for the Marathon Whewman's opponents to drop at her feet like flies remarkably continued. .6-2, ret...
Jankovic d. Davenport - IW QF .3
=============================
The Contessova is 1-8 in her last nine finals. 0-3 this season. (Shakes head and rolls eyes.) .6-4/6-3...
Ivanovic d. Kuznetsova - IW Final .2
=============================
Leave it to Kuznetsova to turn a week where she ended Sharapova's 18-match winning streak, and notched wins over the Cibulkova-Wozniacki-A.Radwanska trio, into another she-can't-win-in-finals discussion. .6-3/5-7/6-2...
Kuznetsova d. Sharapova - IW SF .1


=============================
The last two weeks saw two Brits (Borwell & South), three Poles (Brozda, Piter & Korzeniak), two Slovaks (Rybarikova & Jurikova, the latter of which won twice), a Russian (Chalova) and a Chinese player (Zhou) win titles on the ITF circuit, but I'll go with the pair of 21-year olds. Belarus' Dzehalevich won a $50K in New Delhi with wins over Yanina Wickmayer, Sunitha Rao & Mathilde Johansson a week ago. This weekend, Czech Maiden Strycova claimed the $25K in Redding, California after defeating Petra Cetkovska and then Aleksandra Wozniack in the final...
Ekaterina Dzehalevich & Barbora Zahlavova Strycova :ITF PLAYERS
=============================
Kirilenko was dumped out of Indian Wells after winning just two games, while Bammer's 2nd Round exit at the hands of Chan Yung-Jan knocked her out of the Top 20...
Maria Kirilenko & Sybille Bammer :DOWN
=============================
Dellacqua's Melbourne exploits continue to spur her on. In Indian Wells she went out in the 4th Round to Vera Zvonareva, but not until after she'd defeated the likes of Olga Poutchkova and Nicole Vaidisova and saw Tamira Paszek retire from their 3rd Round match. Meanwhile, Hordette Rodina qualified (getting wins over Sesil Karatantcheva & Rossana de los Rios) and upset both Anastasia Pivovarova and Virginie Razzano in the main draw...

Casey Dellacqua & Elena Rodina :FRESH FACES
=============================
Obziler won this award during last year's Backwards Backspin week and she does so again thanks to Davenport's earlier than desired exit in Indian Wells. This time, the 34-year old Israeli gets it for claiming the $25K Tenerife event with wins over Carla Suarez-Navarro, Kristina Barrois and Virginie Pichet...
Tzipora Obziler :VETERAN
=============================
19-year old Dutch girl Ewijk proved that you don't have to be a Krajicek to be a champion from the Netherlands. A week ago, she won the $25K in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with nice wins over Kirsten Flipkens, Nika Ozegovic and Yulia Beygelzimer. Slovak Rybarikova, 19, claimed a $25K title in St.Petersburg-Vsevolozhsk after victories over Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anna Lapushchenkova...
Chayenne Ewijk & Magdalena Rybarikova :SURPRISES
=============================
Harkleroad's Fed Cup heroics seem to be carrying over. In Indian Wells, she notched wins over Lucie Safarova and Dinara Safina, then pushed A-Rad to three sets in the 4th Round. Safina rebounded, though, to win the doubles with Vesnina. The Russian duo knocked off four of the top eight seeds along the way...
Ashley Harkleroad & Dinara Safina/Elena Vesnina :RISERS
=============================
While Jankovic continues to risk effectively "stripping her threads" by screwing herself into the ground with her never-ending schedule, Ivanovic seems content to wisely pick her spots. Indian Wells provided AnaIvo with her third career Tier I title (and her sixth career tour crown), and her wins over the likes of Schiavone, Zvonareva, Jankovic and Kuznetsova only further solidified the hold on the #2 ranking behind Henin that she's managed to wrestle away from her final two foes in California. As it turned out, Ivanovic shared the spotlight in I.W. with the men's champion, fellow Serb Novak Djokovic. The two narrowly missed out on sweeping the Australian Open, but would anyone blink an eye if before the end of 2008 they both ended up splitting the spoils -- Indian Wells-style -- in either Beijing or New York, as well?...

AP PHOTO/Mark J. Terrill

Ana Ivanovic :PLAYER OF THE WEEK


=============================
D: Safina/Vesnina d. Yan/Zheng
S: Ana Ivanovic def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4/6-3
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA USA (I-HO)

*WEEK 11/12 CHAMPIONS*

ANSWER: Well, partially because the "brilliant" decision to air the tournament on Fox Sports Net (or in the case of the Washington D.C. area, the Comcast SportsNet affiliate) meant that the event might as well have been invisible during the past two weeks of "national" coverage. Sure, many events aren't televised. Nothing new there. But sometimes it's just difficult to totally brush aside the angry boredom about a big tournament that can't be seen, even if such oddities as a Maria Sharapova loss and a retirement by a Jelena Jankovic OPPONENT take place. Call it a passive aggressive act of defiance. Ahh, but Svetlana Kuznetsova DID lose in the final, didn't she? So, in the end... the WTA earth has indeed been re-set upon its proper axis, if only for a few days.

QUESTION: Why would the gimmicky "Backwards" trick be used on the edition of Backspin that covers the Tier I Indian Wells event, rather than during a "soft" week after WTA tournaments in Portoroz or Bangalore or some such place, as is usually the case each year?

Wk.11/12- .now for All (The 4th Annual Backwards Backspin)
MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008

Read more...

Wk.10- A Tree Falls in India

If they held a tennis tournament on "the other side of the world" while many of the rest of the people on the planet were sleeping did it really happen?

For Bangalore champion Serena Williams, of course it did... not that too many people seemed to notice.


(AFP)

Even what was arguably the most competitive Williams-Williams match in a series that has mostly been known for the lackluster performances of the two sisters when on opposite sides of the net wasn't enough to make the WTA's Bangalore event a "big deal." Far more attention will surely be showered on the exhibition match between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras tonight at Madison Square Garden.

As in real estate, it's all about location, location, location.

Yet, somehow... it wasn't far enough away to prevent Jelena Jankovic from showing up. Imagine that.

She just loves her frequent flier miles, doesn't she?

*WEEK 10 CHAMPIONS*

BANGALORE, INDIA (II-Hard Outdoor)
S: Serena Williams def. Patty Schnyder 7-5/6-3
D: Peng/Sun d. Chan/Chaung


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Serena Williams
............. at the very least, a springtime surge from Serena could be very good news for the US Fed Cup team, with the SF coming up at the end of next month (before she -- and Venus, for that matter -- will have been stretched to the limit by Roland Garros and Wimbledon). Career title #29 came in Bangalore, but it was her first since overcoming two match points to knock off Henin in Miami nearly a year ago.
=============================
RISER: Yan Zi

............. Yan qualified in Bangalore singles. After she and Zheng Jie were dumped out of the doubles in the early going, she used her extra time to upset the likes of Maria Kirilenko and Jelena Jankovic to reach the SF.
=============================
SURPRISE: Peng Shuai/Sun Tiantian & Akgul Amanmuradova
............. the all-Cookie team of Peng/Sun won the Bangalore doubles, knocking off both Williams/Williams and Chan/Chuang along the way. It's Sun's second doubles title of the year to go along with her Oz Mixed Doubles trophy with Nenad Zimonjic. Amanmuradova occasionally jumps up to have a very nice week. Last week was one of those. She lost in the Bangalore QF to eventual RU Patty Schnyder, but only after she'd eliminated defending champ Yaroslava Shvedova and Agnes Szavay (and teamed with Olga Savchuk in the doubles upset of Yan/Zheng).
=============================
VETERANS: Patty Schnyder & Venus Williams
............. Venus rebounded well from her recent disappointments, getting wins over Peng and Vera Zvonareva. But then she met her sister in the SF, and lost a 3rd set tie-break. It's a good start to a better spring/summer, though. Schnyder's path to the Bangalore final wasn't as littered with top seeds as one might expect thanks to her fortunate draw, but wins over Nakamura, Amanmuradova and Yan are fine and good if it means a place in the final. Unfortunately for Sneaky, her title drought since Cincinnati '05 continues.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & Asia Muhammad

............. slowly but surely, 16-year old Hordette Pavlyuchenkova is making progress. She won the $25K challenger in Minsk with a dominating 6-0/6-1 win in the final over Nikola Frankova. She defeated top-seeded fellow Russian Anna Lapushchenkova in the SF. Vegas native Muhammad, the 16-year old with the Agassi/Graf ties, reached the $50K Las Vegas final after putting together a string of impressive wins over Brengle, Bychkova, Malek and Czink.
=============================
DOWN: Jelena Jankovic
............. Jelena keeps going, but the returns are beginning to slightly diminish. She's reached three straight QF since reaching the Australian Open SF, which speaks to a nice consistency to her madness. But after being put out by Yan in Bangalore, where she was the #1-seed, it's fairly certain that a week off would have done her far more good than a trip to India.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Camille Pin
............. the Pastry defeated Muhammad in the Las Vegas final, lining up the win over the American next to ones over Yuan, Goerges and Ani.
=============================


1. Bang SF - S.Williams d. V.Williams
.............6-3/3-6/7-6. How times have changed, considering these Venus vs. Serena meetings used to be groundbreaking moments on the tennis calendar. Yet the first such match in 30 months, largely because of where it took place, barely seemed to register at all on the American sports landscape on what was already a pretty slow weekend. For what it's worth, this might have been the most competitive of the fifteen matches between the sisters, and was the first to go to a 3rd set tie-break.
=============================
2. Bang F - S.Williams d. Schnyder
.......7-5/6-3. If this match had taken place on a hockey rink, would Patty have been given an "assist" in Serena's win? A case could surely be made for it. Of course, if this one had taken place on the ice it'd surely be the NUMBER ONE match of the week, huh?
=============================
3. Bang Doub 2nd - Peng/Sun d. Williams/Williams
.............5-7/6-2/11-9. A rare in-season, non-slam appearance from the sisterly doubles team.
=============================
4. Bang QF - Yan d. Jankovic
.............6-3/3-6/6-3. And, yes, Jankovic is in the draw for Indian Wells, too.
=============================
5t. Las Vegas $50K Q3 - Karatantcheva d. Bovina
.............6-1/4-6/7-5. It's just nice to see Bovina's name on the scoreboard. And in a competitive match, too.
=============================
5t. Las Vegas $50K 1st - Brengle d. Karatantcheva
.............7-6/2-6/6-2. Sesil was granted a wild card into the Indian Wells qualifying, so this week she COULD play her first main draw tour match since her suspension.
=============================
HM- Bang 2nd - Amanmuradova d.. Szavay
.............4-6/7-6/6-4. Szavay was up a set and a break here, but even with another early loss her ranking rose to #17. With few results to defend between now and the North American hard court season, just marginal progress over the next few months will likely get her a Top 16 seed at the European slams this summer.
=============================


*VENUS vs. SERENA*
[Serena leads 8-7; 1 walkover]
98 Aust.Open 2nd - Venus 7-6,6-1
98 Rome QF - Venus 6-4,6-2
99 Miami F - Venus 6-1,4-6,6-4
99 Grand Slam Cup F - Serena 6-1,3-6,6-4
00 Wimbledon SF - Venus 6-2,7-6
01 Ind.Wells SF - Serena walkover
01 US Open F - Venus 6-2,6-4
02 Miami SF - Serena 6-2,6-2
02 R.Garros F - Serena 7-5,6-3
02 Wimbledon F - Serena 7-6,6-3
02 US Open F - Serena 6-3,6-4
03 Aust.Open F - Serena 7-6,3-6,6-4
03 Wimbledon F - Serena 4-6,6-4,6-2
05 Miami QF - Venus 6-1,7-6
05 US Open 4th - Venus 7-6,6-2
08 BANGALORE SF - SERENA 6-3,3-6,7-6

*2008 DOUBLES TITLES*
[women's/mixed]
2...Cara Black, ZIM [2/0]
2...Alona Bondarenko, UKR [2/0]
2...Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR [2/0]
2...Liezel Huber, USA [2/0]
2...Sun Tiantian, CHN [1/1]

*CAREER SINGLES TITLES - ACTIVE*
[most recent]
55...Lindsay Davenport, USA [08: 2]
41...Justine Henin, BEL [08: 2]
36...Venus Williams, USA [07]
29...SERENA WILLIAMS, USA [08: 1]
24...Amelie Mauresmo, FRA [07]
18...Maria Sharapova, RUS [08: 2]
18...Mary Pierce, FRA [05]
10...Anastasia Myskina, RUS [05]
10...Patty Schnyder, SUI [05]





INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA USA (I-Hard Outdoor)
07 FINAL: Hantuchova d. Kuznetsova
08 TOP: Ivanovic/Kuznetsova
=============================


=4th Round=
Ivanovic d. Schiavone
Paszek d. Zvonareva
Jankovic d. Razzano
Davenport d. Bartoli
Hantuchova d. Peer
Sharapova d. Mauresmo
A.Radwanska d. Safarova
Kuznetsova d. Li
=QF=
Ivanovic d. Paszek
Davenport d. Jankovic
Sharapova d. Hantuchova
Kuznetsova d. A.Radwanska
=SF=
Davenport d. Ivanovic
Sharapova d. Kuznetsova
=FINAL=
Sharapova d. Davenport


=4th Round=
Ivanovic d. Pennetta
Vaidisova d. Zvonareva
Jankovic d. Pivovarova
Davenport d. Bartoli
Hantuchova d. Peer
Sharapova d. Mauresmo
A.Radwanska d. Safina
Kuznetsova d. Li
=QF=
Ivanovic d. Vaidisova
Davenport d. Jankovic
Sharapova d. Hantuchova
A.Radwanska d. Kuznetsova
=SF=
Ivanovic d. Davenport
Sharapova d. A.Radwanska
=FINAL=
Sharapova d. Ivanovic


All for now.

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Wk.9- S.R.O. on the S.E.T.

A little over two months into the 2008 season, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is proving to be a crowded joint.

Justine Henin is the unchallenged #1 on the computer, but in terms of '08 stories La Petit Taureau barely registers, even with two titles under her belt. So far, this has been a season with more than enough glory to go around.

Week 9 was the perfect example.


(AP PHOTO/NOUSHA SALIMI)

The latest list of champions includes Elena Dementieva (Dubai), Lindsay Davenport (Memphis) and Flavia Pennetta (Acapulco)... proving that everything "old" can indeed be new again.

Dementieva's career was thought to have crested and was slip-sliding down the back side of the mountain until she pulled off a surprise title in Moscow last October. On Saturday, her ninth career title proved to be enough to boost her back into the Top 10, knocking Serena Williams down a notch to #11. Davenport literally retired, but her most recent title gives her four since the beginning of her comeback last September. She's up to #36 in the rankings with just ten tournaments to her credit. Meanwhile, Pennetta, even with her tendency to record wildly inconsistent results on a week-to-week basis, has now managed to bank two titles over the past month both before and after she turned 26.

Before the three latest champions were crowed, the chink in Henin's armor was more apparent than ever in Dubai as her serve made her vulnerable to players she'd normally be expected to dispatch more handily. After falling in the QF in Oz and her just-enough-to-get-by Antwerp win, her three-hour struggle against Katarina Srebotnik (complete with 8 Henin double-faults) and eventual QF loss to Francesca Schiavone in two tie-break sets gives reason for players to hope she might come back to the field over the course of the season.

Venus Williams didn't exactly shower herself in glory, either. She came into Memphis as the defending champ and #1 seed, but left with a second straight loss to a young European (Dominika Cibulkova in Doha, Petra Kvitova in Tennessee), further solidifying the notion that her season will pretty much begin when the grass season starts and end when the proceedings are closed out at the All-England Club (with the possible exception that Beijing will inspire her to successfully strive for another Olympic Gold). Venus could win or come close to winning SW19 titles into her early thirties, but the rest of her season is now pretty much about staying in shape for a potential month of great results rather than recapturing even a piece of her past dominance.

Since reaching the Australian Open final, Ana Ivanovic has struggled a bit in Fed Cup play, retired from one tournament and gone 1-2 in WTA contests (she lost in the QF in Dubai). Fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic is still playing... and playing... and playing. She's only taken two weeks off in 2008, yet still managed to utter a so-very-Jankovician "For some reason, I feel tired" comment last week during her SF run in Dubai. By her "standards," she notes that she hasn't been playing that many matches... though the globe-trotter has still played more often than any other Top 10 player, with her Hopman and Fed Cup play factored in.

And then there's the curious case of Svetlana Kuznetsova. She was in another final this weekend in Dubai... and she lost yet again. No surprise there. If you're counting, that makes her 0-2 in 2008. 1-7 over the past two seasons, with her only win coming when Agnes Szavay retired from a match she'd turned in her favor in New Haven. The last time Kuznetsova won a singles final outright? Try her back-to-back wins in Bali and Beijing in September '06.

Maria Sharapova bowed out of the Dubai event days after winning in Doha, citing illness. But even while the Supernova's absence prevented many major tennis headlines from becoming reality last week (the most covered item ended up probably being Kim Clijsters having a baby), but that didn't stop the drumbeat of '08 plotlines from moving forward in an ever-intriguing fashion.

And to think Serena hasn't even been a blip on the radar screen since being bounced out of Melbourne... ahh, but there's always this week for that plot point to be addressed, isn't there?

*WEEK 9 CHAMPIONS*

DUBAI, UAE (II-Hard Outdoor)
S: Elena Dementieva def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6/6-3/6-2
D: Black/Huber d. Yan/Zheng

ACAPULCO, MEXICO (III-RCO)
S: Flavia Pennetta def. Alize Cornet 6-0/4-6/6-1
D: Llagostera-Vives/Martinez Sanchez d. Benesova/Cetkovska

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE USA (III-Hard Indoor)
S: Lindsay Davenport def. Olga Govortsova 6-2/6-1
D: Davenport/Raymond d. Haynes/Washington


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Dementieva
... Dementieva tied Kuznetsova with nine career titles with a superb week that included wins over Schnyder, A.Bondarenko, Ivanovic, Schiavone and Kuznetsova herself. She's the first player to crack the Top 10 in 2008 who wasn't there when 2007 ended.
=============================
RISERS: Flavia Pennetta & Olga Govortsova

... veteran Italian Pennetta, 26, won her second title in a month and the sixth of her career (five of them on clay) with Acapulco wins over Bychkova, Gallovits, Kanepi and Cornet. Belarus' Govortsova, 19, reached her first career final in Memphis. Before being run over by Davenport in the final, her biggest moment was her upset of '07 RU Shahar Peer in the SF.
=============================
SURPRISE: Petra Kvitova
... the 17-year old Czech's opening round Memphis win over Venus Williams was the most house of cards-collapsing result of the week. So what if HER glory was short-lived, as she was bounced by Alla Kudryavtseva in the 2nd Round -- the experience still made for a nice week-before-her-18th-birthday present. And, yes, that's the same Kudryavtseva who missed out on HER chance to upset Venus at Wimbledon last year. Hmmm, I wonder if she appreciated the irony?
=============================
VETERANS: Lindsay Davenport & Francesca Schiavone

(AP PHOTO/MARK HUMPHREY)
... Davenport's list of Memphis victims was on the young side -- Lisicki (speaking of irony), Rodina, Wozniacki, Erakovic, Govortsova -- but career title #55 tied her with Virginia Wade for 7th on the all-time list. She swept the doubles with Lisa Raymond (whose 66th career win tied her with Larisa Neiland for 10th all-time), too. Schiavone's Dubai run was cut short in the SF by Dementieva, but it couldn't remove the shine from the QF upset of Henin that the Italian declared the best win of her career.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Alize Cornet & Marina Erakovic
... 18-year old Pastry Cornet reached her first career final in Acapulco, notching wins over Kostanic-Tosic, Koryttseva and Craybas. Kiwi qualifier Erakovic reached the Memphis SF (after a win over Kudryavtseva), her second tour SF of the season.
=============================
DOWN: Venus Williams & Agnes Szavay
... what hath the Curse wrought? Two of the players who received pre-season Backspin kisses both fell flat on their faces in Week 9. Venus followed up the straight sets loss to Cibulkova with a three-set defeat by Kvitova. Meanwhile, Szavay's loss to Akiko Morigami in Dubai gives her two 1st Round losses to Lucky Losers already this season.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Barbora Strycova-Zahlavova, CZE
... in a week where Spaniard Sara Del Barrio-Aragon and Ukraine's Anastasia Kharchenko won their second ITF titles of the season (and even Kirsten Flipkens crawled out of the woodwork to win a tournament), Strycova gets the nod with her Ft.Walton Beach $25K win in the final over up-and-coming American Melanie Oudin, 6-3/5-7/7-6.
=============================


1. Dub 2nd - Henin d. Srebotnik
...7-5/6-7/6-3. The evidence that Henin was ready to be toppled was apparent in her 17th consecutive win in Dubai. Her 13 ace, 8 double fault performance got her through this three-hour match...
=============================
2. Dub QF - Schiavone d. Henin - 7-6/7-6.
...but her luck didn't hold up for much longer.
=============================
3. Dub Final - Dementieva d. Kuznetsova
...4-6/6-3/6-2. This was the 13th all-Russian final in WTA history, but even Kuznetsova's earlier wins over Mauresmo and Jankovic can't take the spotlight off her now seemingly-inevitable crashes when the points mean the most.
=============================
4. Memph 1st - Kvitova d. V.Williams
...2-6/6-4/6-3. Venus was up an early break in the 3rd.
=============================
5. Acap Final - Pennetta d. Cornet
...6-0/4-6/6-1. Aha! I finally solved the Riddle of Pennetta. After her back-to-back champion and 1st Round exit results, I finally played the cards right and correctly picked her to win a title. Satisfaction.
=============================
6. Memph Final - Davenport d. Govortsova
...6-2/6-1. Only Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court, Goolagong and King have won more career singles titles than Davenport's 55.
=============================
7. Memph 1st - Davenport d. Lisicki
...7-5/6-3. You get the feeling that Sabine is going to get a queasy feeling every time Davenport shows up on the other side of the net now? Veterans have such long memories.
=============================
8. Dub QF - Jankovic d. Chakvetadze
...6-1 ret. Imagine Jelena's realization that she was in better physical condition than an opponent. Surely, it COULDN'T be a reality. Problem is, this might actually end up encouraging her -- even if she IS currently saying all the right things about her suicidal schedule this week in Bangalore. (Of note: Chakvetadze commented on the Moscow home invasion, saying, "I never thought something like this would happen to me. It was like something I had seen during the movies.")
=============================
9. Memph 1st - Mattek d. Golovin
...6-4/6-4. Hey, whenever Mattek makes headlines for her tennis rather than her attire it's worth a mention.
=============================
10. Dub 1st - Morigami (LL) d. Szavay
...6-1/6-4. The good news? Well, Szavay DID manage to avoid pulling off a 2008 1Q Unholy Trifecta when she defeated Shikha Uberoi in the 1st Round in Bangalore today. Another early defeat would have given her losses to two lucky losers, a qualifier AND a #989-ranked wild card in the season's first ten weeks. Whew!
=============================


*2008 WTA FINALS*
2-0...Justine Henin
2-0...Maria Sharapova
2-0...LINDSAY DAVENPORT
2-0...FLAVIA PENNETTA
0-2...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
0-2...Vera Zvonareva (1 w/o)

*ALL-RUSSIAN WTA FINALS*
2003 Doha - Myskina d. Likhovtseva
2004 Doha - Myskina d. Kuznetsova
2004 Roland Garros - Myskina d. Kuznetsova
2004 US Open - Kuznetsova d. Dementieva
2004 Hasselt - Dementieva d. Bovina
2004 Moscow - Myskina d. Dementieva
2006 Indian Wells - Sharapova d. Dementieva
2006 Miami - Kuznetsova d. Sharapova
2006 Moscow - Chakvetadze d. Petrova
2006 Linz - Sharapova d. Petrova
2007 Hobart - Chakvetadze d. Bardina
2008 Doha - Sharapova d. Zvonareva
2008 DUBAI - DEMENTIEVA DEF. KUZNETSOVA

*DEFENDING 2007 CHAMPS IN 2008*
Wk.1 - Gold Coast - Dinara Safina (QF-Peer)
Aust.Open - Serena Williams (QF-Jankovic)
Wk.6 - Paris - Nadia Petrova (1st-K.Bondarenko)
Wk.9 - Dubai - Justine Henin (QF-Schiavone)
Wk.9 - Memphis - Venus Williams (1st-Kvitova)
Wk.10 - Bangalore - Yaroslava Shvedova (1st-Amanmuradova)

*MOST WTA TITLES - LAST 2 SEASONS*
12...Justine Henin (10/2)
5...Anna Chakvetadze (4/1)
4...LINDSAY DAVENPORT (2/2)
4...Jelena Jankovic (4/0)

*SEASON TITLE STREAKS EXTENDED IN 2008*
8 years - Justine Henin, 2001-08
6 years - Maria Sharapova, 2003-08
3 years - Anna Chakvetadze, 2006-08
3 years - ELENA DEMENTIEVA, 2006-08

*MOST ALL-TIME CAREER MATCH WINS*
1442...Martina Navratilova
1304...Chris Evert
900...Steffi Graf
839...Virginia Wade
759...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
741...LINDSAY DAVENPORT
739...Conchita Martinez
704...Evonne Goolagong-Cawley

*EXACTLY SIX CAREER TITLES - ACTIVE*
[last title]
FLAVIA PENNETTA, ITA [2008]
Meghann Shaughnessy, USA [2007]
Ai Sugiyama, JPN [2004]
Nicole Vaidisova, CZE [2006]

*2008 SINGLES TITLES - BY NATION*
4...RUSSIA
2...Belgium, ITALY, UNITED STATES
1...China, Greece, Poland, Spain



*FEBRUARY AWARDS - WEEK 5-9*
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Maria Sharapova, RUS
...look out, Justine. Here she comes.
2. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
...can she carry over her every-other-week momentum into the pre-Roland Garros clay season?
3. Elena Dementieva, RUS
...Punch-Sober has always been most dangerous when everyone thinks she's had "a little too much."
4. Justine Henin, BEL
...she 12-2! But Sharapova is 12-0.
5. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
...events have conspired to make it difficult for people to NOT root for her to achieve.
HM- Cara Black & Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
...they're not ready to give up their throne as the best doubles team in the world, but Beijing Gold won't be in the cards, of course.

**RISERS**
1. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
3. Alona Bondarenko/Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR
4. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
5. Li Na, CHN
6. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
7. Chan Yung-Jan/Chuang Chia-Jung, TPE
8. Karin Knapp, ITA
9. Olga Govortsova, BLR
10. Ashley Harkleroad, USA
HM- Sofia Arvidsson, SWE

**SURPRISES**
1. Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
2. Petra Kvitova, CZE
3. Maria-Emilia Salerni, ARG
4. Mariya Koryttseva, UKR
5. Kaia Kanepi, EST
6. Jorgelina Cravero, ARG
7. Betina Jozami, ARG
8. Julia Goerges, GER
9. Pauline Parmentier FRA
10. Vesna Manasieva, RUS
HM- Andreja Klepac, SLO

**VETERANS**
1. Elena Dementieva, RUS
2. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
3. Lindsay Davenport, USA
4. Nuria Llagostera-Vives, ESP
5. Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs, CZE/AUS
6. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
7. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
8. Klara Zakopalova, CZE
9. Ai Sugiyama, JPN
10. Jill Craybas, USA
HM- Akiko Morigami, JPN

**FRESH FACES**
1. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
3. Marina Erakovic, NZL
4. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
5. Alize Cornet, FRA
6. Timea Bacsinszky, SUI
7. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
8. Sabine Lisicki, GER
9. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
10. Sorana Cirstea, ROU
11. Mariana Duque-Marino, COL
12. Monica Niculescu, ROU
HM- Arantxa Rus, NED

**FED CUP STARS**
1. Ashley Harkleroad, USA
2. Yan Zi/Zheng Jie, CHN
HM- Alona Bondarenko/Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR

**DOWN**
1. Nadia Petrova, RUS
2. Agnes Szavay, HUN
3. Venus Williams, USA
4. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
5. Peng Shuai, CHN
HM- Marion Bartoli, FRA

**COMEBACKS**
1. Nuria Llagostera-Vives, ESP
2. Klara Zakopalova, CZE
3. Sesil Karatantcheva, BUL
4. Iveta Benesova, CZE
5. Julia Schruff, GER

**ITF PLAYERS OF THE MONTH**
1. Johanna Larsson, SWE
2. Polona Hercog, SLO
3. Laura Granville, USA
4. Anastasia Kharchenko, UKR
5. Sara Del Barrio-Aragon, ESP
6. Sesil Karatantcheva, BUL
7. Marina Erakovic, NZL
8. Regina Kulikova, RUS
9. Barbora Strycova-Zahlavova, CZE
10. Anne Keothavong, GBR
11. Elena Chalova, RUS
12. Nicole Kriz, AUS

**TOP PERFORMANCE**
...Maria Sharapova runs her 2008 record to 12-0 by winning Doha Tier I

**FEBRUARY BESTS**
=MATCH OF THE MONTH=
Dubai 2nd - Henin def. Srebotnik - 7-5/6-7/6-3.
...in three hours, Henin pulled through. But questions remain. Luckily for her, the clay court season is nearly here.
=FED CUP DECIDING MATCH=
SRB/ROU - Ivanovic/Jankovic def. Cirstea/Niculescu - 2-6/7-6/7-6.
...the Serbs barely survived the upset bid by the Romanian upstarts.
=COMEBACK MOMENT=
Chakvetadze wins in Paris, running her career record in finals to 7-0
=BIGGEST UPSETS=
FC USA/GER - Lisicki d. Davenport - 6-1/7-5.
...already avenged.
Doha 3rd - Cibulkova d. V.Williams - 6-3/6-3.
...the biggest tour upset of the month.
Dubai 1st - Kvitova d. V.Williams - 2-6/6-4/6-3.
...well, unless you count this one.
=BEST REVENGE WIN=
Doha SF - Sharapova d. A.Radwanska - 6-4/6-3.
...though it surely doesn't make up for the Open.
=BEST CLUTCH PERFORMANCE=
...Ashley Harkleroad makes her Fed Cup debut for the USA, and promptly picks up the pieces left by Davenport's early loss to Lisicki. The rest is history.
=GOODBYE/HELLO=
...Monica Seles finally retired, but then was announced as a participant in "Dancing with the Stars."
=NEWEST MINI-KIMSTER=

...Jada, the latest, littlest Clijsters.





BANGALORE, INDIA (II-Hard Outdoor)
07 FINAL: Shvedova d. Santangelo
08 TOP: Jankovic/V.Williams
=============================
SF: Jankovic d. Schnyder; Zvonareva d. S.Williams
FINAL: Jankovic d. Zvonareva

...as "difficult" as it may be to believe (or not), Jankovic is playing here. (Ahh, she's the most unintentionally hilarious player on tour, isn't she? Ha.) The Williams sisters are in attendance, too (they're even in the doubles draw!). Sania Mirza, though, is choosing to avoid her home nation event (upped from a Tier III to a II) with all her off-season difficulties. Too bad. Still, with Jankovic and the sisters around, this could turn out to be the "wildest" tournament all season. So, how could I NOT pick Jelena to win?

All for now.

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