Wk.30- Somewhat Broken, Occasionally Bowed and Still Not #1

?#*:)!

Wherever Jelena Jankovic goes, intrigue is sure to follow. And on a WTA tour where the U.S. Open Series is touted as an "important" late summer happening even as most of the top players are either too injured, protective of their pre-Olympic health, preoccupied or otherwise barely bothered enough to put in more than a cameo appearance in North American events, I suppose the walking and talking Serbian question mark/exclamation point/asterisk/medical oddity/smiley face should be seen as the invaluable asset that she is, huh?

The world #2 is the most entertaining player on tour for all the right, and some of the wrong, reasons.

Jankovic is not the BEST player, even if she has been sniffing around the edges of the #1 ranking for almost two months and may one day actually manage to claim the position (though it might come with one of those "invisible asterisks" attached). Like Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo, who before her became debatable #1's on the computer before they justified their standing by winning a slam title, the slam-deficient Jankovic is trying to slip through the back door of the most exclusive night club in the city without having to pay a cover charge or pass muster at the front door. Of course, bless her, would there be any more Jankovician way to reach the #1 ranking than by traveling around the bend, under a bridge, through the chicken coop, across a lily pad-strewn pond and over a sky full of puffy clouds? Not in a million years (or free helicopter rides to the court), I'd say.

That's why it's just so w-r-o-n-g that she couldn't pull off the feat in Los Angeles last week, which she would have done had she won the title rather than have been sent packing by eventual champ Dinara Safina in the semifinals. As it was, L.A. proved to be par for the Jelena course for the WTA's unquestioned "almost but not quite" Queen of Predictably Unpredictable Predictability.

Thing is, Jankovic has been the most consistent highly-ranked player on tour for about two years now, even going so far as to equal or improve upon her slam results in fifteen of her sixteen return trips to the season's four biggest events throughout her career. Then again, she's also the top player who's been most unable to close out "the big deal" despite having multiple opportunities to do so, too.

Just this season, she wasn't able to win Roland Garros without the presence of nemesis Justine Henin, and failed to win the all-Serbian SF match for the #1 ranking against Ana Ivanovic (holding true to JJ's luck, AnaIvo not only gained the top spot but also won her first slam one round later). She wasn't able to improve upon her past results at Wimbledon, either, even with Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport exiting early. Last week, with the likes of Ivanovic, Sharapova, Davenport, Svetlana Kuznetsova and the Williams sisters (three U.S. Open Series champs and five U.S. Open winners) out, she didn't win L.A. and push AnaIvo out of the #1 slot.

Of course, Jankovic DID play last week with a meniscus tear in her knee, so she gets something of a "pass" for that one. Then again, she probably shouldn't have been playing at all. Doctors told her to take 1-2 months off. The "new" Jelena heeded their advice... for a little over a week, then returned to the court. The good news is that the "old" risk-taking Jelena probably would have damned the torpedoes, not missed a single tournament, and already gone down in spine-tingling flames by now.

Baby steps.

At 23 and improving most aspects of her game every season, Jankovic has the potential to have a career trajectory much like Mauresmo's. Not that of a "great" player who wins 4-5 slams, but a "very good" one who blooms late and wins one or two from age 25-28. Few players would be more in their element than Jankovic driving forward for a late-in-the-game major title that would validate her entire career in one instant, especially so soon after she supposedly considered quitting the sport after dropping ten straight matches early in 2006 (a story likely exaggerated for effect, considering Jelena's natural inclination to be as immensely dramatic with her pronouncements as possible).

Bless her.

For a time last week I was thinking that L.A. might be Jankovic's moment of truth, the place where she'd prove (or disprove) once and for all whether or not she'd ever have the goods to be able to gather herself enough to become a world #1 and/or slam champion. The knee, though, sort of put the kibosh on that. But the fact remains that she's going to need to fully grasp one of these golden opportunities -- seeing it in front of her, feeling the pressure but still pulling through without melting down mentally or breaking down physically -- if she's ever going to REALLY leave the sport having become anything near the player she could and should be.

Come to think of it, Jankovic becoming #1 by winning Los Angeles without facing any of the other contenders for the top spot might have been a tad on the dull side, and maybe even a touch "boring." It wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic (or even odd) enough to meet Jelena's standards, even with the proximity to Hollywood. There has to be a "better"' way... so don't be surprised if she finds it down the road, even if we might have to cover our eyes at the audacity of it all when she does.

(Of course, whether pushing her body, ignoring medical advice and blindly moving forward because of some unspoken early morning epiphany is something that a player could ever hope to survive long enough to fulfill her athletic potential is another discussion entirely, isn't it?)

As the years go by, Jankovic's quest will no doubt be fascinating and theatrical... not to mention exasperating, irritating, humorous, infuriating, wonderful, horrible, fun and, possibly even one day, emotionally fulfilling. Maybe. I mean, as long as Jelena doesn't do something perilous and/or stupid and mess things up.

Uh-oh.

*WEEK 30 CHAMPIONS*

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA USA (II-HCO)
S: Dinara Safina def. Flavia Pennetta 6-4/6-2
D: Chan/Chuang d. Hrdinova/Uhlirova

PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA (IV-HCO)
S: Sara Errani def. Anabel Medina-Garrigues 6-3/6-3
D: Medina-Garrigues/Ruano-Pascual d. Dushevina/Makarova


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Dinara Safina, RUS

HEY, BUD... I WON ANOTHER TITLE BUT STILL DIDN'T GET THE TOP-OF-BACKSPIN WRITE-UP. THAT MAKES ME ANGRY! AP PHOTO/Mark J. Terrill

...the Russian Cat lives! Safina has patented a formula for winning on the WTA that most players simply couldn't stomach: play poorly enough to find yourself match point down, hold on by your fingernails, then smite your stunned opponent to gain the victory. Yep, she did it again in Los Angeles, coming back from being MP down against Alla Kudryavtseva in the 3rd Round to knock off, in order, Victoria Azarenka, Jankovic and Flavia Pennetta to win her second title of 2008.
=============================
RISERS: Bethanie Mattek, USA & Chan Yung-Jan/Chuang Chia-Jung, TPE/TPE

...Mattek, who has a career in TV down the road if she wants it based on her on-set interviews with ESPN over the weekend, didn't quite pull off "an A-Woz" in L.A., but she got close. An early-round win over Nicole Vaidisova helped fuel a SF run that ended with a three-set loss to Pennetta, but solidified her standing as a player who wants to improve, is committed enough to make it happen, and smart enough to do it on her own terms (currently without a coach, she scouts her opponents via YouTube). Perhaps gearing up for a medal run in Beijing, the Taiwanese pair of Chan & Chuang won Los Angeles to raise their 2008 title total to three. They won in both the SF (vs. Raymond/Stosur) and final (Hrdinova/Uhlirova) via 3rd set super tie-breaks.
=============================
SURPRISES: Yuan Meng, CHN & Elena Bovina, RUS
...Yuan gained her first career tour QF in L.A. with wins over Kateryna Bondarenko, Sania Mirza and a surprising-in-her-own-right Melanie South. Elsewhere, Bovina continued her comeback with her first tour QF since Rome in May '05 after qualifying and getting main draw victories over Tatiana Perebiynis and Camille Pin in Portoroz.
=============================
VETERANS: Flavia Pennetta, ITA & Anabel Medina-Garrigues/Virginia Ruano-Pascual, ESP/ESP
...after being so good in the lower-tiered events during her career, Pennetta reached her first Tier II final in Los Angeles. It was quite a week for the Noodle, as she started the week by wiping out A-Woz (more on that in a moment), then got wins over Tamira Paszek, Ai Sugiyama, Sybille Bammer and Mattek before losing to Safina in the final. It was her third final this season. AMG & VRP are proving to be quite a lethal doubles team. Their Portoroz title was their third this year. Medina-Garrigues had a good week in singles, too, reaching the final.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Sara Errani, ITA & Julia Goerges, GER

...suddenly, Errani can't lose. (Figures, since she'd always lose to Llagostera-Vives when I was picking her to win titles earlier this season.) She ran her winning streak to ten matches as she won her second straight tournament in Portoroz. She defeated Mara Santangelo, Maria Kirilenko, Caroline Wozniacki and Medina-Garrigues, and is now ranked a career-best #43. 19-year old German Goerges reached her second career SF in Portoroz, once again giving Katarina Srebotnik nightmares (after that 16-14 3rd set at Wimbledon) along the way.
=============================
DOWN: Nicole Vaidisova, CZE & Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
...THAT Vaidisova showed up again in Los Angeles as she lost in the 2nd Round to Mattek. It's not that the Czech lost that's the problem, it's that once again she went out with a love set in the 6-4/6-0 defeat. The last Top 10 talent who put up so many bagels in defeats in recent years was probably Jelena Dokic... before the free fall that she's only now coming out of some 4-5 years later. Still traveling a rough road back from injury, Hantuchova was bounced in the 2nd Round in L.A. by Olga Govortsova, and is now just 7-8 since reaching the SF at the Australian Open.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Melanie Oudin, USA
...the 16-year old "next great American hope" won her first career ITF title in a $50K in Lexington, Kentucky with a win in the final over Carly Gullickson.
=============================


1. LA 3rd - Safina d. Kudryavtseva
...7-6/0-6/7-6. Safina isn't exactly using a reliable template for some of her wins, but it's working for her so who's to argue? Of course, if she'd failed to save all those match points over the last two months the buzz on her would be positively deadly rather than divine.
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2. LA Final - Safina d. Pennetta
...6-4/6-2. Tag, Marat. You're it.
=============================
3. Port Final - Errani d. Medina-Garrigues
...6-3/6-3. Without Henin to distort the numbers, Errani is now just one title away from tying for the tour lead for this season.
=============================
4. L.A. 1st - Stosur d. Peer
...6-1/6-1. The Corporal has just one QF-or-better result since February, and has been dumped out in her opening match five times in her last seven events.
=============================
5. LA 1st - Pennetta d. Wozniak
6-1/6-0.
LA 1st - Dubois d. Harkleroad
...6-2/6-3. Wozniak withdrew from L.A. after winning in Stanford... but apparently decided to play a match anyway. At least Dubois stood up for Canadian honor, making the score Quebec 1, Playboy Models 0.
=============================
6. Mtl Q1 - Black d. Karatantcheva
7-6/7-5.
Mtl Q2 - Black d. Puchkova
...6-3/1-0 ret. Maybe Cara should act like the Olympics are coming up every year and play a bit more singles?
=============================
HM- Mtl 1st - Larcher de Brito d. King
...2-6/6-3/6-3. The Kid just keeps on coming on stronger and stronger and stronger.
=============================


**2008 WTA FINALS**
4...Serena Williams (3-1)
4...DINARA SAFINA (2-2)
4...Vera Zvonareva (1-2 + L)

**UNDEFEATED IN 2008 FINALS - MULTIPLE EVENTS**
3-0...Maria Sharapova
3-0...Agnieszka Radwanska
2-0...Maria Kirilenko
2-0...SARA ERRANI
2-0...Lindsay Davenport
2-0...Justine Henin

**MOST CAREER TITLES - RUSSIANS**
19...Maria Sharapova, 2003-08
10...Anastasia Myskina, 1999-05
9...Elena Dementieva, 2003-08
9...Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2002-07
9...Olga Morozova, 1969-75
7...DINARA SAFINA, 2002-08
7...Nadia Petrova, 2005-07
7...Anna Chakvetadze, 2006-08

**LONG 2008 WTA/FC WIN STREAKS**
18...Maria Sharapova (January-March)
17...Serena Williams (March-May)
12...Dinara Safina (May-June)
11...Tamarine Tanasugarn (June)
10...SARA ERRANI (JULY-current)

**2008 TITLES - DOUBLES TEAMS**
6...Cara Black & Liezel Huber
3...ANABEL MEDINA-GARRIGUES & VIRGINIA RUANO-PASCUAL
3...CHAN YUNG-JAN & CHUANG CHIA-JUNG
2...Alona & Kateryna Bondarenko
2...Katarina Srebotnik & Ai Sugiyama

**2008 TITLES ON DIFFERENT SURFACES**
3...Agnieszka Radwanska (hard/red clay/grass)
2...Ana Ivanovic (hard/red clay)
2...Maria Sharapova (hard/green clay)
2...Serena Williams (hard/green clay)
2...DINARA SAFINA (red clay/hard)
2...SARA ERRANI (red clay/hard)
2...Justine Henin (hard/deco turf)





MONTREAL, QUEBEC CAN (I-Hard Outdoor)(USO Series)
07 FINAL: Henin d. Jankovic
08 TOP: Ivanovic/Jankovic
=============================
=QF=
Ivanovic d. Azarenka
Safina d. Kuznetsova
Sharapova d. Chakvetadze
Jankovic d. Petrova
=SF=
Safina d. Ivanovic
Sharapova d. Jankovic
=FINAL=
Safina d. Sharapova

...I was going to go with Petrova knocking off Jankovic in the QF, but Jelena being Jelena I changed it to her winning there. Of course, Jelena being Jelena, she'll probably end up winning the tournament. Safina has been able to carry over momentum on whatever surface she wishes the last two months, so why not figure it'll continue? If it does, I guess the 2008 U.S. Open Series champion will then become a foregone conclusion.


STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (IV-Hard Outdoor)
07 FINAL: A.Radwanska d. Dushevina
08 TOP: A.Radwanska/Szavay
=============================
=SF=
A.Radwanska d. Wozniacki
Srebotnik d. Szavay
=FINAL=
A.Radwanska d. Srebotnik

...come on, A-Rad. Do it one more time for Your Friendly Neighborhood Backspinner.



MONTREAL
=QF=
Ivanovic def Zvonareva
Safina def Kuznetsova
Sharapova def Bartoli
Jankovic def Dementieva
=SF=
Ivanovic def Safina
Sharapova def Jankovic
=FINAL
Sharapova def Ivanovic

STOCKHOLM
=SF=
Radwanska def Wozniacki
Erakovic def Szavay
=FINAL=
Radwanska def Erakovic


All for now.

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Wk.29- California Dreamin' with Aleksandra Wozniak and other random musings

On and off court, it was a week of highs, lows, first-ever's, same-old stories and Ashley Harkleroad's birthday suit.

First up, Aleksandra Wozniak's wild ride:


ALEKSANDRA SMILES AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Sara Wolfram

Completely flipping any prospective script in Stanford, the 20-year old Canadian became the legitimate big story of the week as she traveled an odd road to her first career title with a 7-5/6-3 win over Marion Bartoli in the final. I guess no one will be able to express as much surprise about the Quebec native winning a big match from here on out.

Her career just changed.

In March 2007, A-Woz stunned many with a trip to her first career tour final on the clay in Fes. But that was a Tier IV event, while Stanford was a Tier II that featured the likes of Serena Williams and was the opening event in the U.S. Open Series. Wozniak had been pretty quiet since that runner-up in Fes, but her modest recent success at Roland Garros (3rd Round) and Wimbledon (2nd) hinted that her game and confidence might be beginning to spark. Surely no one much considered her trip to California would turn out to be much more than a short working vacation, but with her excellent groundstrokes firing and her even more impressive natural calm preventing her from being overwhelmed by each new experience she encountered, we witnessed a Canadian become a big Series story (following Stephanie Dubois in '06 and Frank Dancevic in '07) for the third straight season.

Coming into the week ranked #85, Wozniak first had to make it through qualifying, defeating Samantha Stosur to reach the main draw. There, she upset former or current Top 20 players Francesca Schiavone and Sybille Bammer to set up a why-aren't-you-dead-yet? rematch with "lucky loser" Stosur in the QF after the Aussie had been given a reprieve when Lindsay Davenport's knee precipitated her withdrawal from the tournament. It would have surprised no one to see Wozniak's run end there, but it didn't. She outlasted Stosur in three sets, then advanced past Williams when the American retired with a knee injury in the SF. She topped off her improbable career week by taking out Bartoli, who was herself suffering from a bad hip, by rising to the occasion to break La Trufflettes's serve three straight times to take the 1st set and prevent her French opponent from serving out the stanza to claim it as her own. From there, it was... gulp... almost "easy."

We'll soon see how Wozniak handles the sudden rise in the expectation level for her career, but one would think that her admitted lack of visible on-court emotion might serve her well as she traverses the potentially newly fertile land that lies ahead.

A few other musings:

...hey, you know, I DID say in my 3Q preview that the young player who might be ready to turn heads would probably have a "Z" in her name. Yeah, of course, I didn't ACTUALLY include Wozniak in the group of potential new stars at the time. But at least I was close, right? Right? Well, it was worth a try.

...after watching the hard-to-read Wozniak, I wonder if you could watch a Wozniak-Agnieszka Radwanska match with the sound turned down and the television score box covered up and be able to decipher which player was winning? With their tendency to sometimes appear to be emotional blank slates on the court at times, it would be an interesting experiment should the opportunity ever arise.

...I know it's become a tired refrain, but what's up with ESPN? It's a dangerous thing to do, but I'm going to have to assume that the network didn't have access to video of any of last week's early matches in Stanford (like, say, the Bartoli/Chakvetadze QF that aired the previous night on Tennis Channel, or the would-have-loved-to-see-it S.Williams/Michelle Larcher de Brito three-setter from the 2nd Round) to fill the void left on Saturday when Serena's SF retirement left quite a bit of time to fill in the broadcast. Because SURELY the network couldn't have decided that the best move would be to run a three-year old Stanford final between Venus Williams and a now-retired Kim Clijsters in the heart of the 2008 U.S. Open Series, one year before ESPN takes over coverage of the 2009 U.S. Open, meaning it would probably behoove the network to take the opportunity to expose some fans to a few new faces.

Then again, would anyone really be surprised if the thinking in the production center went something along the lines of, "Well, they tuned in to see Serena, so we'll show them Venus. And they liked that Belgian gal, right? Is she the one who just retired a few weeks ago? Oh, well. What's it matter? They probably won't know the difference." As I said before, ESPN taking over the U.S. Open will either be the best or the worst thing to ever happen to the coverage of the event in America.

...speaking of exposure, since Ashley Harkleroad has put everything on the table (quite literally), now what?



Whether someone agrees or disagrees with Harkleroad's decision to become the first professional tennis player to pose nude for Playboy, it was her decision to make... and no one else's business to question, as far as this corner of the world is concerned. No big deal.

...hmmm, Serena retires with a knee injury. Davenport pulls out with a knee. Venus delays her return to the tour due to knee tendonitis. Hold on, are we REALLY sure these three are going to fill the top three singles slots for Team USA in Beijing?

...and finally, we learned on Sunday that you can put Chris Evert in the mix but you can't make a leopard (err, maybe I should say a Shark?) change his spots, as Evert's new husband Greg Norman squandered a final day lead and a shot at making history as a 53-year old major title winner.

Comparisons between Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters have often been made over the years, along with talk of how their respective tours were different before they arrived and will be different after they're gone. In golf's British Open, we were reminded of what THAT sport was like BEFORE Woods -- when the #1 player in the world (Norman, before Tiger) would take the lead in a major event and then choke away a title on the final day. Dramatic, yes. But cringe-inducing and, ultimately, sad. Multiple marriages and a few decades didn't change a thing for the Aussie billionaire.

It'll be a while before we see what the WTA tour will be like without the possibility that a Williams sister might suddenly rise up and smite the field at a slam. But, then again, with Serena once again being hampered by the same knee that altered the upward trajectory of her career a few years ago we might not be as far away as we'd wish from having only one of the sisters around. Unfortunate, but true.

Absences and "hibernations" aside, the sisters have usually been at their best in big moments (as long as one wasn't there with the other, that is). And isn't that what real champions are supposed to be about?

...this week, Jelena Jankovic returns. So hold onto your seat... this past week's events might look positively tame seven days from now.

*WEEK 29 CHAMPIONS*

STANFORD, CALIFORNIA USA (II-HCO)
S: Aleksandra Wozniak def. Marion Bartoli 7-5/6-3
D: Black/Huber d. Vesnina/Zvonareva

BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIA (III-RCO)
S: Pauline Parmentier def. Lucie Hradecka 6-4/6-4
D: Hlavackova/Hradecka d. Karatantcheva/Zoric


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
...Wozniak is the first Canadian singles champion on the WTA tour since Helen Kelesi (Taranto, ITA) in April '88, and only the third in A-Woz's own lifetime (joining Jill Hetherington's Wellington, NZL win in February '88). So, the last time a woman from her country did what Aleksandra just did she was literally in diapers, having just been hatched in September '87.
=============================
RISERS: Pauline Parmentier, FRA & Marion Bartoli, FRA

...I wonder how many people realize that Parmentier is one of the sixteen players who've managed to claim titles in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons? She got her first title last October in Tashkent (defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final), and grabbed her second this weekend in Bad Gastein with a win over qualifier Lucie Hradecka. Victories over Tathiana Garbin, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Yvonne Meusburger preceded the final win, but they won't likely be remembered. Then, again, I could see a time a year from now when the Pastry might win a third title with the relative silence of barn house mouse, as well. Hmmm, how long will it be before an ESPN tennis commentator sees her name in a draw and says, "Who's she? I've never heard of her?" Bartoli didn't win a title in Stanford, but her SF run made some noise. The '07 Wimbledon finalist seems to finally have emerged from her post-SW19 funk, notching wins last week over Anna Chakvetadze and Ai Sugiyama. Now, about that hip injury.
=============================
SURPRISES: Lucie Hradecka, CZE & Anne Keothavong, GBR
...if not for Wozniak, Czech Maiden Hradecka's story would have been the remarkable one of the week. Ranked #237, the 23-year old qualified in Bad Gastein then got main draw wins over the likes of Timea Bacsinszky and Mariya Koryttseva to reach her first tour singles final. She lost it to Parmentier, but she did win the doubles with Andrea Hlavackova. Keothavong's Wimbledon success carried over to Stanford, as the Brit qualified and upset '07 finalist Sania Mirza in the 1st Round. She was up 4-1 in the 3rd set against Bartoli in the 2nd Round, too, before the Pastry came back to win and advance. The good mojo didn't last, though, as Keothavong has already lost in Los Angeles.
=============================
VETERANS: Ai Sugiyama, JPN & Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
...Sugiyama is still around and her best results have always come on hard courts. That was once again the case in Stanford, where she notched wins over Daniela Hantuchova and survived being match point down against Dominika Cibulkova to reach the SF. Black & Huber won their sixth title of 2008 in Stanford. No other team has won more than two this season.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Dominika Cibulkova, SVK & Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR
...sure, Cibulkova ended up blowing a match point against Sugiyama in the Stanford QF and then going down in flames due to cramping. But her wins over Nadia Petrova and Kateryna Bondarenko once again showed her to be a young player with the ability to raise her game in big tournaments (well, except for Wimbledon). Larcher de Brito, 15, was another young player who made headlines last week. She qualified in Stanford, getting a win over Marta Domachowska, and then upset Gisela Dulko in the 1st Round. She even pushed Serena Williams to three sets in their 2nd Round meeting. No question, "The Kid" is going to be good.
=============================
DOWN: Serena Williams, USA & Sania Mirza, IND
...trouble with de Brito and a retirement against Wozniak do not a first stage in a march on New York make for Serena. Meanwhile, Mirza went from being a Stanford RU a year ago to a 1st Round victim of Keothavong this time around.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Ioana Raluca Olaru, ROU

...in a week where there were several intriguing ITF champions -- Jelena Dokic, Kimiko Date-Krumm and Ksenia Milevskaya -- I'll go with the Romanian. The 19-year old won a $50K in Contrexeville, France, defeating Stephanie Foretz in the final.
=============================


1. Stan QF - Sugiyama d. Cibulkova
...6-7/7-6/5-3 ret. Cibulkova led 5-2 in the 2nd set, and even held a match point. But the Japanese vet survived and battled to a 5-3 40/love lead before the teenager finally retired due to severe cramping.
=============================
2. Stan SF - Wozniak d. S.Williams
...6-2/3-1 ret. Serena is passing it off, and even scheduled to play this week in LA. But just how much danger is her Olympic and Open participation REALLY in doubt because of that trick knee?
=============================
3. Stan Q3 - Wozniak d. Stosur
6-4/6-2.
Stan QF - Wozniak d. Stosur
...6-2/5-7/6-4. Apparently, Aleksandra finally found a stick sharp enough to finally go ALL THE WAY through Sam's heart. Hmmm... "Aleksandra the Vampire Slayer?" "Buffy," maybe?
=============================
4. Stan F - Wozniak d. Bartoli
...7-5/6-3. Lindsay Davenport. Kim Clijsters. Ana Ivanovic. Maria Sharapova. Aleksandra Wozniak? Well, she might not join the list of past champions, but for one week A-Woz IS the U.S. Open Series leader.
=============================
5. BG F - Parmentier d. Hradecka
...6-4/6-4. It didn't happen after last season, so one must now wonder if TWO titles will be enough to get Parmentier's bio into next year's WTA Guide.
=============================
6. BG 1st - De Los Rios d. Cornet
...2-6/6-3/3-2 ret. The winds were against Alize last week, as she retired due to illness just days after claiming the Budapest crown. "Weird" how things like this always seem to happen to young players after they win their first title, huh?
=============================
7. Stan 1st - K.Bondarenko d. Harkleroad
...7-5/6-2. Not surprisingly, we didn't get the "interesting" happening of Ashley taking the court after her Playboy issue had hit the newsstands. That won't happen until this week.
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8. BG Doub 1st - Karatantcheva/Zoric d. Haidner/Velieva
...6-0/6-0. Serbian teenager Zoric defeated Sesil in Budapest qualifying the other week, then the very next time out they were playing doubles together in Austria. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess. It worked out pretty well for Sesil, considering they ended up reaching the final.
=============================
9. Zwevegem $25K F - Milevskaya d. Rus
...6-4/3-6/7-6 Two impressive youngsters. One winner. This time.
=============================
10. Darmstedt $25K F - Dokic d. Gerards
...6-0/6-0. With a 32-7 record, Dokic has now snared three ITF titles this season. She began the year without a computer ranking and didn't play an event in which she had a discernible one until May (#429). At the moment, she's within shouting distance (no, that's not a reference to you-know-who) of the Top 200, six years after she first reached #4 in the rankings.
=============================
HM- Portoroz Q3 - Bovina d. Martinez-Sanchez
...7-5/6-4. Dokic is making a comeback. Groenefeld, too. So why not Bovina? Hey, at least she's back in a main draw this week.
=============================


**2008 FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS**
Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR/age 21 (Birmingham)
Alize Cornet, FRA/age 18 (Budapest)
Sara Errani, ITA/age 21 (Palermo)
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK, CAN/AGE 20 (STANFORD)

**2008 FINALS - NORTH AMERICANS**
4...Serena Williams, USA (3-1)
2...Lindsay Davenport, USA (2-0)
1...Venus Williams, USA (1-0)
1...ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK, CAN (1-0)
1...Jill Craybas, USA (0-1)

**QUALIFIERS IN SINGLES FINAL**
Bogota - Nuria Llagostera-Vives (#114) - W
Rome - Alize Cornet (#34) - L
's-Hertogenbosch - Tamarine Tanasugarn (#85) - W
BAD GASTEIN - LUCIE HRADECKA (#237) - L
STANFORD - ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK (#85) - W

**LOW-RANKED FINALISTS- 2005-08**
#325 Sorana Cirstea, 2007 Budapest (L)
#259 Tamira Paszek, 2006 Portoroz (W)
#257 Akgul Amanmuradova, 2005 Tashkent (L)
#237 LUCIE HRADECKA, 2008 BAD GASTEIN (L)
#234 Lindsay Davenport, 2007 Bali (W)
#221 Iroda Tulyaganova, 2006 Tashkent (L)

**LOW-RANKED 2008 CHAMPIONS**
#114 Nuria Llagostera-Vives, ESP (Bogota)
#85 ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK, CAN (STANFORD)
#85 Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA ('s-Hertogenbosch)
#72 Lindsay Davenport, USA (Auckland)

**SINGLES/DOUBLES FINAL IN SAME EVENT**
Hobart - Eleni Daniilidou, GRE (W/L)
Memphis - Lindsay Davenport, USA (W/W)
Estoril - Maria Kirilenko, RUS (W/W)
Barcelona - Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP (W/L)
Wimbledon - Venus Williams, USA (W/W)
Wimbledon - Serena Williams, USA (L/W)
Budapest - Alize Cornet, FRA (W/W)
Palermo - Sara Errani, ITA (W/W)
BAD GASTEIN - LUCIE HRADECKA, CZE (L/L)

**DEFEATED #1 SEED, WON TOURNAMENT**
Gold Coast - Li Na (QF-Vaidisova)
Australian Open - Maria Sharapova (SF-Henin)
Miami - Serena Williams (QF-Henin)
Fes - Gisela Dulko (F-Medina Garrigues)
Berlin - Dinara Safina (3rd-Henin)
Istanbul - Agnieszka Radwanska (F-Dementieva)
Palermo - Sara Errani (SF-Pennetta)
BAD GASTEIN - PAULINE PARMENTIER (SF-SZAVAY)
STANFORD - ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK (SF-S.WILLIAMS ret.)





LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA USA (II-Hard Outdoor)(USO Series)
07 FINAL: Ivanovic d. Petrova
08 TOP: Jankovic/S.Williams
=============================
=QF=
Jankovic d. Petrova
Azarenka d. Safina
Chakvetadze d. Sugiyama
Hantuchova d. S.Williams
=SF=
Jankovic d. Azarenka
Chakvetadze d. Hantuchova
=FINAL=
Jankovic d. Chakvetadze

...largely because I wonder what the odds are that Serena will be phyically able to make it through the week without pulling out due to injury. And because a young player (A-Woz could be slotted into Sugiyama's QF spot) often follows up her first title with a lackluster week after result.


PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA (IV-Hard Outdoor)
07 FINAL: Golovin d. Srebotnik
08 TOP: Kirilenko/Srebotnik
=============================
=SF=
Kirilenko d. Wozniacki
Srebotnik d. Medina-Garrigues
=FINAL=
Kirilenko d. Srebotnik

...Maria, once again showing everyone that she's focusing on doing well in the slams. Before Wimbledon, she played on clay. Now, before the U.S.. Open, she's playing... umm, on clay. Oh, no. It's actually hard court. I guess I just expect the worst from Maria sometimes. Hopefully, she won't hold it against me and will win this title. I need the Picks victory.


All for now.

Read more...

Wk.28- Inheriting the Earth... for a week

Cockroaches and other insects are set to one day inherit the earth from the human race, but such is not the case when the top players are "resting up" following the conclusion of a long grand slam fortnight.

A week after Wimbledon, it was time for the up-and-comers on tour to stand up and make their intentions for the second half of 2008 crystal clear (Ms. Szavay, not so fast). As it turned out, the finals in the two clay events in Budapest and Palermo included four players looking to grab a first career WTA singles title. In fact, three of them were first-time finalists.

Nope. No cockroaches in sight.

Of course, more attention was probably garnered (at least in the U.S.) by World Team Tennis action featuring, amongst others, both Williams sisters. Though, for the Backspinning life of me, I'm not sure why. Or maybe it's just me who's come to believe the idea of the WTT is far, far more intriguing than the product that actually hits the court.

Every time I catch some WTT action on television, I think, "Ooh." Then, ten minutes later, I'm usually watching something else rather than whatever's taking place on a playing surface that's the tennis equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting, with less apparent intent. Quite possibly there's more inherent entertainment value to the enterprise when it's taken in in person. But as a television event, World Team Tennis makes Arena Football almost seem like a real live serious "sport."

Meanwhile, in the matches that counted, 18-year old Pastry Alize Cornet continued to solidify her new status as France's best player in Budapest, winning both her first career singles and doubles titles. Not to be outdone, Italy's Sara Errani pulled the exact same dual-first titles feat in Palermo.

As far as the weekend results of the Washington Kastles or Boston Lobsters? Ummm, I don't really know.

*WEEK 28 CHAMPIONS*

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (III-RCO)
S: Alize Cornet def. Andreja Klepac 7-6/6-3
D: Cornet/Husarova d. Henke/Olaru

PALERMO, ITALY (IV-RCO)
S: Sara Errani def. Mariya Koryttseva 6-2/6-3
D: Errani/Llagostera-Vives d. Kudryavtseva/Pavlyuchenkova


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alize Cornet, FRA

AP PHOTO/MTI, Tamas Kovacs
...it took Cornet three tries in '08 singles finals to get things right, but she finally did it in Budapest, ending the surprising run of Andreja Klepac in the final. With her first career singles and doubles titles under her belt, the Pastry with the lovely-sounding name shot to a career-best #18 ranking. She's just the second teenager (with Agnieszka Radwanska) to win a singles title this season and, at 18 years and five months, she's the youngest so far.
=============================
RISERS: Mariya Koryttseva, UKR & Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
...23-year old Koryttseva was one of the three first-time finalists this weekend, falling in the Palermo decider after having notched wins over youngster Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and veteran Anabel Medina-Garrigues. Groenefeld reached the QF in Budapest, her best tour result since reaching the Stanford QF in 2006. She warmed up for her return WTA breakthrough by winning three ITF events in recent weeks.
=============================
SURPRISES: Andreja Klepac, SLO & Karolina Sprem, CRO
...Klepac was the surprise of the week, upsetting top-seeded Agnes Szavay and Petra Kvitova en route to her first career final in Budapest. The 22-year old Slovenian, ranked #135 coming into the event, had reached two previous tour QF in 2008. She's now #99. Meanwhile, Sprem's return to something resembling past form was a nice thing to see. She returned to the court in March, ten months after undergoing elbow surgery, and her SF in Hungary was her best tour result since she reached the Kolkata final in 2005.
=============================
VETERANS: Greta Arn, HUN & Margalita Chaknashvili, GEO
...veteran Hungarian Arn sparked much better in her home country than Szavay did, defeating Iveta Benesova and Klara Zakopalova to reach the QF. Chaknashvili, a 26-year old Georgian who has mostly made a living on the ITF circuit (winning seven titles), reached her first tour-level QF in Palermo. Ranked #208, she qualified and got a win over Yanina Wickmayer.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Sara Errani, ITA & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS

...after trying to pinpoint the week that Errani was going to win her first title earlier this season (after a couple of failed Backspin Picks, I shut down the enterprise), she finally pulled it off in a week in which I didn't pick her. Naturally, I shifted my will-to-a-title action to Carla Suarez-Navarro... who, perhaps not so ironically, retired from her QF match with Errani due to a finger injury last week. Oh, well. Errani's singles/doubles sweep in Palermo nearly pushed her into the Top 50 as she posted some nice wins over Hsieh Su-Wei, Julia Vakulenko, Flavia Pennetta and Mariya Koryttseva. (It pays to not have to face Nuria Llagostera-Vives, I guess --Errani's 0-3 against HER this season.) Meanwhile, Pavlyuchenkova took a week that looked like chicken you-know-what and turned it into some tasty chicken salad. After losing in Palermo qualifying, she entered the draw as a Lucky Loser. She defeated vets Roberta Vinci and Rossana de los Rios to reach her first tour QF, then topped things off by reaching the doubles final with Alla Kudryavtseva, who likel gave her fellow Russian fashion tips on what NOT to wear next year at Wimbledon.
=============================
DOWN: Agnes Szavay, HUN
...Agnes' homecoming wasn't exactly a successful one. A year ago, she opened up her 3rd Quarter schedule by winning the Palermo title. This time around, she suffered a loss in her first match in Budapest. Hopefully, this isn't the return of the early-season Szavay who found new and exciting players to lose to each and every week. That it was Klepac, who ended up having a career week, who defeated her is probably a good sign. I guess we'll see this week in Bad Gastein.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Petra Martic, CRO
...following in the wake of Kvitova and Cetkovska, there's another Petra to keep an eye on. This one -- Petra Martic -- is a 17-year old Croatian who won her first ITF title over the weekend in the $75K event in Zagreb. Along the way, she defeated Kirsten Flipkens, Anastasia Pivovarova and Yvonne Meusburger. In May, she knocked off Evgeniya Rodina in a $50K event. This week, her ranking jumped from #371 to #236.
=============================


1. Bud F - Cornet d. Klepac
...7-6/6-3. Ah-li-zeh COR-neh, Ah-li-zeh COR-neh, Ah-li-zeh COR-neh. How can you not enjoy saying it out loud?
=============================
2. Pal F - Errani d. Koryttseva
...6-2/6-3. It was the second time this season that two first-time finalists met to decide a tournament champion.
=============================
3. Bud 2nd - Klepac d. Szavay
...6-2/6-3. Bad 1st Quarter flashback, man. Baaaaad.
=============================
4. Bud SF - Klepac d. Sprem
...6-2/4-6/6-4. Ranked #329, if Sprem had made the final she'd have had a shot to become the second lowest-ranked tour champion ever, behind only #579 Angelique Widjaja in Bali in 2001.
=============================
5. Bud Q3 - Zoric d. Karatantcheva
...6-3/6-3. Zoric is an 18-year old Serb who was ranked #462.
Bad Gastein Q2 - Zahlavova d. Karatantcheva
...6-2/6-3. Obviously, it wasn't a very good week for the Sesil-meister.
=============================
HM- Stan Q1 - Stevenson d. Black
...7-5/6-2. A rare singles appearance from Black, a former junior #1 who won the Wimbledon & U.S. Open Girls titles (and was RU at Roland Garros) in 1997.
=============================
HM- Stan Q3 - Wozniak d. Stosur
...6-4/6-2. The U.S. Open Series has begun, so is it time for another Canadian to surprise? First it was Dubois, then Dancevic. Could A-Woz be next?


**2008 SINGLES FINALS**
4...Serena Williams (3-1)
4...Vera Zvonareva (1-2 + L)
3...Maria Sharapova (3-0)
3...Agnieszka Radwanska (3-0)
3...Ana Ivanovic (2-1)
3...Elena Dementieva (1-2)
3...Dinara Safina (1-2)
3...ALIZE CORNET (1-2)
3...Svetlana Kuznetsova (0-3)

**2008 WTA SEMIFINALISTS BY NATION**
31...Russia
13...United States
11...FRANCE
11..Serbia
7...ITALY
7...SPAIN

**SINGLES/DOUBLES CHAMP IN SAME EVENT**
FEB - Memphis - Lindsay Davenport
APR - Estoril - Maria Kirilenko
JUL - Wimbledon - Venus Williams
JUL - BUDAPEST - ALIZE CORNET
JUL - PALERMO - SARA ERRANI

**2008 TWO FIRST-TIME FINALISTS**
JUN - Birmingham - K.Bondarenko d. Wickmayer
JUL - PALERMO - ERRANI d. KORYTTSEVA

**LOW-RANKED 2008 FINALISTS**
#140 M.J. Martinez-Sanchez (Birmingham-L)
#135 ANDREJA KLEPAC (BUDAPEST-L)
#132 Iveta Benesova (Estoril-L)
#114 Nuria Llagostera-Vives (Bogota-W)

**2008 BACKSPIN PLAYERS OF THE MONTH/QUARTER**
JANUARY: Maria Sharapova, RUS
FEBRUARY: Maria Sharapova, RUS
MARCH/APRIL 1Q: Serena Williams, USA
Q1 - MARIA SHARAPOVA, RUS
APRIL 2Q: Serena Williams, USA
MAY/pre-RG: Dinara Safina, RUS
Q2/CLAY - ANA IVANOVIC, SRB
JUNE/pre-Wimb: Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
Q2/GRASS - VENUS WILLIAMS, USA


**TOP 3 BY SEASON**
2004: Davenport-Mauresmo-Likhovtseva
2005: CLIJSTERS-Pierce-Mauresmo
2006: Ivanovic-SHARAPOVA-Clijsters
2007: Sharapova-Jankovic-HENIN
--
CAPS: won U.S. Open





STANFORD, CALIFORNIA USA (II-Hard Outdoor)(USO Series)
07 FINAL: Chakvetadze d. Mirza
08 TOP: S.Williams/Chakvetadze
=============================
=SF=
S.Williams d. Zvonareva
Peer d. Sugiyama
=FINAL=
S.Williams d. Peer

...does the assault on New York begin in California?


BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIA (III-Red Clay)
07 FINAL: Schiavone d. Meusburger
08 TOP: Szavay/Cornet
=============================
=SF=
Szavay d. Meusburger
Cornet d. Llagostera-Vives
=FINAL=
Cornet d. Szavay

...maybe Szavay has less pressure to succeed in Austria than she did back home in Hungary. Maybe Cornet has finally got the formula memorized, and is raring to show the world.


All for now.

Read more...

Grass Court Awards

I would have written some sort of an ode to grass court tennis, but after two weeks of Wimbledon that'd be too much work, I'm afraid.

So, I figured I'd just give out a few awards instead:

**Grass Court (Week 24-27) Awards*
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Venus Williams/USA
...one more and she's breathing down Martina's neck.
2. Serena Williams/USA
...second-best is never enough for Serena.
3. Zheng Jie/CHN
...what dreams are made of.
4. Agnieszka Radwanska/POL
...look out, New York City. A-Rad's coming to town.
5. Tamarine Tanasugarn/THA
...just like Venus, if she were shorter, older and from Thailand.
HM SINGLES: Elena Dementieva/RUS, Nadia Petrova/RUS & Kateryna Bondarenko/UKR
...it was a good month for Nadia, even if she WILL have a hard time forgetting that Dementieva match.
HM DOUBLES: Black/Huber (ZIM/USA), Williams/Williams (USA/USA), Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS)
...it was a good month for Cara & Liezel, even if they WILL most likely rather forget about Wimbledon.

**RISERS**
1. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2. Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR
3. Dinara Safina, RUS
4. Bethanie Mattek, USA
5. Shahar Peer, ISR
HM- Agnes Szavay, HUN

**FRESH FACES**
1. Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS
2. Marina Erakovic, NZL
3. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
4. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
5. Evgeniya Rodina, RUS
6. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
7. Casey Dellacqua, AUS
8. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
9. Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
10. Mathilde Johansson, FRA
HM- Elena Makarova, RUS
[Juniors]
1. Laura Robson, GBR
2. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA
3. Arantxa Rus, NED
4. Tamaryn Hendler, BEL
5. Romana Tabakova, SVK
HM- Naomi Brody, GBR
HM- Bojana Jovanovski, SRB
HM- Polona Hercog, SLO

**SURPRISES**
1. Zheng Jie, CHN
2. Bethanie Mattek, USA
3. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
4. Eva Hrdinova, CZE
5. Anne Keothavong, GBR
HM- Nathalie Dechy/Casey Dellacqua, FRA/AUS
HM- Naomi Cavaday, GBR
HM- Melanie South, GBR

**VETERANS**
1. Venus Williams, USA
2. Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
3. Elena Dementieva, RUS
4. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
5. Nadia Petrova. RUS
HM- Lisa Raymond, USA
HM- Nathalie Dechy, FRA
HM- Ai Sugiyama, JPN

**COMEBACKS**
1. Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
2. Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur, USA/AUS
3. Nadia Petrova. RUS
4. Samantha Stosur, AUS
5. Nicole Vaidisova, CZE (to a point)
HM- Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER (ITF, non-grass)

**DOWN**
1. Maria Sharapova, RUS
2. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
3. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
4. Lindsay Davenport's body, USA
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
HM- Michaella Krajicek, NED
HM- Tamira Paszek, AUT
Doubles- Chan Yung-Jan/Chuang Chia-Jung, TPE/TPE
Doubles- Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs, CZE/AUS

**ITF PLAYERS**
[Week 24-27]
1. Marina Erakovic, NZL
2. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
3. Nina Bratchikova, RUS
4. Tathiana Garbin, ITA
5. Klaudia Boczova, SVK
6. Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
7. Simona Halep, ROU
8. Melanie Gloria, CAN
9. Anna Tatishvili, GEO
10. Stephanie Gehrlein, GER
HM- Pemra Ozgen, TUR
HM- Ekaterina Dzehalevich, BLR

**TOP PERFORMANCES**
Venus Williams wins fifth Wimbledon title without dropping a set (or experiencing any edge-of-your-seat moments of near-despair, unlike a year ago)
Zheng Jie becomes the first Chinese player to reach a grand slam SF, but she leaves her "best" performance for off-the-court when she donates her recent winnings to earthquake relief in her home province
British women's tennis. Anne Keothavong is the first Brit to gain direct entry into the Wimbledon draw since 1999 (she won a match and played admirably against Venus), while Laura Robson becomes the first British girl since 1984 to claim the SW19 junior title.
At Eastbourne, Agnieszka Radwanska wins her third title of the season on a third different surface. She moved into the Top 10 for the first time after Wimbledon.

**TOP MATCHES**
Wimbledon 2nd Rd. - Ivanovic def. Dechy 6-7/7-6/10-8
...the "Kiss of Life" match when a net cord saved the #1-seed's hide on Dechy's second match point.
Eastbourne Final - A.Radwanska def. Petrova 6-4/6-7/6-4
...on her fifth match point, A-Rad wins her first grass title after having come to town thinking she'd play one match and head off to the All-England Club.

"Women in general, we like fashion. It's a huge industry for the athletic companies... in the past, Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals, they wore wonderful things that brought a lot of attention to women's tennis, and that's what they needed at that time. I don't think in any way that it subtracts from the competition level or how well we're playing. The fact of the matter is someone has got to win and someone has got to lose." - Venus Williams

=TO LOOK GOOD IS TO FEEL GOOD.. or not?=
1) Maria Sharapova's white tuxedo-inspired outfit
2) Serena Williams' semi-trench coat (close doesn't count)
=TO LOOK "BORING" IS TO FEEL BETTER?=
Bethanie Mattek toned down her usual grand slam attire, toning up her game and pulling off her career's best slam result

*PROFESSOR BACKSPINNER'S QUESTION OF THE DAY*
"Do you want it or not? If not, why are you here?" Umm... Ms. Vaidisova, let's say you take that one, seeing that you need to get your semester class participation grade up to snuff. Ms. Vaidisova?

=WAS IT SOMETHING IN THE WATER?=
...not only did the Nadal/Federer match rank as the longest men's final in Wimbledon history, but three women's matches during the fortnight ranked in the top four longest Ladies' matches in the tournament's history: Julia Goerges def. Katarina Srebotnik (1st Rd., 3:40 - 2nd all-time), Shahar Peer def. Dinara Safina (3rd Rd., 3:25 - 3rd all-time), and Ivanovic def. Dechy (2nd Rd., 3:24 - 4th all-time)

"I don't like her outfit." - Alla Kudryavtseva, on Sharapova's "tuxedo"

=WAS IT SOMETHING IN THE WATER?, Part 2=
...after Safina came back from match points down to reach the Roland Garros final, it was as if everyone was trying to duplicate the feat at Wimbledon. Notable match points overcome: Anna Chakvetadze (3 MP in 1st Rd. vs. Stephanie Dubois), Ivanovic (2 MP in 2nd Rd. vs. Dechy), Anabel Medina-Garrigues (2 MP in 2nd Rd. vs. Francesca Schiavone) and Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez (4 MP in 2nd Rd. vs. Sania Mirza).

*LONG TIME, NO SEE*
Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur finally returned to form after a year's worth of illness and injury, reaching the Wimbledon Doubles final. Stosur won the Mixed title with Bob Bryan, and also came within a point of going up 3-6/6-0/4-0 over Nicole Vaidiso... hmmm, maybe Sam would rather forget about that last one.

"I just love coats, and I don't know why. Because I live in Florida, so it doesn't really add up... It's definitely not athletic attire. But it's ladylike, and I'm very ladylike... it's just delectable." - Serena Williams. on her semi-trench coat

KISS OF LIFE: getting a net cord on match point and keeping your Wimbledon hopes alive
KISS OF DEATH: one match later, playing like you shouldn't still be in the tournament rather than with the belief that luck is on your side
HAVING A FELLOW SERBIAN MALE PLAYER MAKE DEROGATORY COMMENTS ABOUT WOMEN'S TENNIS, AND SAYING YOU HIT "LIKE A TRUCK ON STEROIDS": Priceless... or classless. Take your pick.

=BIGGEST UPSETS=
Wimbledon 2nd Rd. - Kudryavtseva def. Sharapova 6-2/6-4
...until this match, Sharapova had only lost at Wimbledon to the players who went on to win the tournament since she claimed the 2004 title for herself. With there always seeming to be a better grass court player in her path, and with the rest of the WTA field getting better and better, one wonders if that SW19 title from four years ago will turn out to be something of an oddity in a career filled with quite a few hard court slam crowns. It was Sharapova's earliest loss at a slam since the '03 U.S. Open, and Kudryavtseva is the lowest-ranked player to ever beat her.
Wimbledon 3rd Rd. - Zheng def.. Ivanovic 6-1/6-4
...the All-England Club's decision to grant #133 Zheng a wild card entry into the draw turned out to be well-founded decision, as she knocked off the first seed of the tournament (#30 Dominika Cibulkova), world #1 Ivanovic and became the first WC to ever reach the women's semifinals.

HERE WE GO AGAIN?:
Lindsay Davenport's biggest tennis obstacle is maintaining her own health while trying to perform the supremely unhealthy task of competing on the WTA tour
An irritated and injured Jelena Jankovic complains about having to play on an outside court, and loses in the 4th Round. It was fun while it lasted... maybe she'll get an ad for a helicopter company out of it all?
Still managing to peak during the grand slams, Chris Evert married former golf star Greg Norman during Wimbledon. Norman is Australian, while her two former husbands were British and American. So, should Gerard Depardieu be expecting a call from Chrissie in about 5-7 years?


"My game seems to just get better when I'm here." - Venus Williams


All for now.

Read more...

Odds & Ends Between London and New York

It's time to take care of a few post-Wimbledon/pre-3Q loose ends. Say, a "Ms. Backspin" Player-of-the-Year update, a (mostly) North American hard court season and Olympics preview, and a few other odds and ends:

**Ms. BACKSPIN '08 UPDATE*
1 (tie). Ana Ivanovic, SRB & Maria Sharapova/RUS
...they met in the Australian Open final, which Sharapova won during her dominant 1Q stretch. Ivanovic won Roland Garros, then bombed out at Wimbledon, while Sharapova didn't reach the QF at either of the last two slams. They've both held the #1 ranking since Justine Henin's retirement, and one or the other will likely be the year-end #1. As of now, though, it's difficult to separate their seasons and say which one's has so far been the "best" -- though since AnaIvo has notched two slam finals and is the current #1, it's safe to say that she's serving for the set at mid-season.
3. Serena Williams, USA
..still absent from the slam champion's winning circle since the 2007 Australian, she's got some frustration buildng up after losing the Wimbledon final to Venus. Is it too early to mark her as the early favorite to win the U.S. Open?
4. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
...if there was an "Entertainer of the Year" category, JJ would win it hands-down. "Last Comic Standing." "Pimp Her Helicopter Ride." "Survivor: Belgrade." She's a reality show all to herself. But she's the #2 Serb, the#2-ranked player in the world and the only woman ranked in the Top 7 who has never reached a grand slam final. She has two more chances in Beijing and New York to supercharge her season, rather than having to rely on the oddities of the WTA rankings system to dub her a rather dubious top-ranked player.
5. Venus Williams, USA
...Venus' season is now complete. See you next June, V. Oh, wait. There is that little event in China that might get your attention, though. If she can pull off another Medal run, there's a slight chance we might see the first Summer of Venus since 2001.
6. Dinara Safina, RUS
...hmmm, is there a British junior who wants HER to take HIM to the Champions Ball? Oh, well. Dinara's Wimbledon ended in pain and frustration, but she leaves the grass season having proven that her recent heroics need not be reserved for the clay courts.
7. Elena Dementieva, RUS
..."lost in translation" comments or not, Punch-Sober is having a great season. Even her serve isn't quite as embarrassing as it used to be. Well, either that or we've come to expect far less than we should.
8. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
...the best part of A-Rad's year may be yet to come, and she's already won three titles and earned a Top 10 ranking. She showed she could compete with even Serena at Wimbledon, and might be ready to play the young-star-with-a-shot-at-the-title role at the Open.
9. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
...the world's best doubles team cleaned up on the grass before Wimbledon, then fell to the resurgent (and healthy) Raymond/Stosur duo in the SF at SW19. Still, none of the top doubles teams have been all that consistent this season.
10. Nuria Llagosterra-Vives, ESP
...still THE Fed Cup heroine of '08 to this point. But the Russians await in the final.
=SINGLES HM=
Flavia Pennetta/ITA, Maria Kirilenko/RUS & Lindsay Davenport/USA
...all the other players with two titles, except for a certain Belgian.
Vera Zvonareva
...she's tied with Serena with four finals, the most on tour this season.
=DOUBLES HM=
Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR), Medina-Garrigues/Ruano-Pascual (ESP/ESP)
...the '08 slam champions, not counting the cameo by the sisters at Wimbledon.



=3Q PREVIEW=

*(Mostly) HARD COURTS*
...in the final year before the U.S. Open is ESPN-ized, which will either be the best or the worst thing to ever happen to the American coverage of the event (there will be no in between come 2009), the U.S. Open Series will be ignored more than usual, considering there's this little sporting event in China smack dab in the middle of the North American circuit.

MOST IMPORTANT: Maria Sharapova/USA & Ana Ivanovic/SRB
...of course, who won't be looking at the 3Q as the section of the '08 schedule where her season will take a turn for either the better or the worse? Such is life on the WTA tour without Justine Henin, where everything is STILL up for grabs. The most interesting question that'll be answered during the upcoming quarter, though, will be which of the many versions of Maria and Ana we've seen this season is the REAL Sharapova and/or Ivanovic? The hard courts level the playing field for most of the tour players, as the finer points of grass and clay court tennis that are lost on certain players are thrown out the window. Luckily for the Supernova and AnaIvo, though, their games should be raised by the switch to hard courts. But both will have to solve the serve (Sharapova) and head (both) problems that prematurely ended their Wimbledon '08 experiences. It's a real question whether or not the hubbub that surrounds the Open will suit Ivanovic, but she's a former U.S. Open Series champ. Sharapova, though, is right at home in the Big Apple. She'll have a good shot to make her season a "slam sandwich" with two slices of Melbourne and NYC surrounding a fairly lean middle.

ALSO: Serena Williams -- again, is it too early to call Serena the favorite to take out her frustrations on the field at the U.S. Open? Seven weeks is such a long time from now, though... so much can happen in the Land of Williams between now and then.
-------------------------------------
LEAST IMPORTANT: Venus Williams/USA
...she's already accomplished her 2008 mission. That doesn't mean she won't have a Second Act to her summer, though, especially with Beijing and an Henin-less U.S. Open on the schedule. But if the remainder of her season produces little of "value" it won't be a surprise, or a disappointment.

ALSO: Tamarine Tanasugarn -- when does the grass court season start again? Tammy's ready. Let's play.
-------------------------------------
POISED FOR GREATNESS?: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL
....she's a far better player than she was when she won a title in Stockholm and upset Sharapova at the Open last year. Now, the other players will see her coming, though. Of course, that didn't stop her from knocking off Kuznetsova at Wimbledon or giving Serena a nice run, either.

ALSO: Jelena Jankovic -- hey, there's always a shot. Of course, how much of Jelena's body and emotions will still be functional after Beijing will determine whether or not she's a factor in New York.
-------------------------------------
READY TO TURN HEADS: The Next Young Star to Watch
...last 3Q, Agnes Szavay burst onto the scene and marked herself as a player to watch during the Szummer of Szavay. One will likely do so again this time around, both before and after the Olympics. Maybe Victoria Azarenka? Caroline Wozniacki? Tamira Paszek, if she can rediscover the magic she had in her racket in '07. In other words, look out for any player with a "z" in her name.

ALSO: Bethanie Mattek/USA -- it'd be nice if her success in Europe could be carried over back home in front of the American fans. I know I'd like to see her on Ashe in a night match, if the draw serves up a marquee player for Mattek to test herself against.
-------------------------------------
LURCHING TOWARD DISASTER?: Amelie Mauresmo/FRA & Anna Chakvetadze/RUS
...we couldn't be about to see Mauresmo's grand slam swan song at the end of this quarter, could we? As for Chakvetadze, her 3Q hard court results -- wins in Cincinnati and Stanford, and SF in San Diego and the US Open -- lent a great helping hand to her reaching the Top 5 late last summer, and since she won't be in Beijing she'll have a shot to set her season straight over the next two months. If she doesn't, she'll leave New York not being able to get to the end of the '08 season fast enough -- no player is more in need of the mental relief she'll get seeing the calendar turn over to 2009.

ALSO: Daniela Hantuchova/SVK & Tatiana Golovin/FRA -- even when these two start to turn the corner, they're soon struck down by injuries. Unfortunately, there isn't likely to be any season-altering moment this summer for either.


*BEIJING OLYMPICS*
...of course, the Olympics are most important for the Chinese, but what are their chances to medal?

Well, at least in Doubles, pretty good. Li Ting & Sun Tiantian won the Gold in Athens in '04, and the teams of Yan Zi/Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai/Sun (the latter going for a second Gold) might have an even better shot to medal, considering most regular tour duos are made up of players from different countries... other than a few pairs of sisters who'll be in action in Beijing, of course.

As for singles, well, maybe Zheng's Wimbledon SF run will spark something with either her or Li Na. Home crowd support could play a big part in a drive for a spot in the top three (remember, a young Jelena Dokic played in the Bronze Medal match in Sydney in '00, though Eleni Daniilidou wasn't much of a factor in Athens).

Now, as for everyone else:

MOST IMPORTANT: Lindsay Davenport/USA
...Davenport has stated that her comeback came about largely because she wanted to play at Wimbledon at the start of this summer, then the Olympics and the U.S. Open at the end. Well, Wimbledon turned out to be nothing to write home about. Beijing is up next. The '96 Gold Medalist is scheduled to play both singles and doubles. If she's healthy enough to play in either, her comeback will have been worth it.

ALSO: Venus Williams -- she won the Gold in Sydney, but fell to Mary Pierce in the Round of 16 in Athens. She could be the first to win double Gold in singles, but she might have a shot in 2012 to do that, too. In four years, the Olympics will be in London -- and the tennis will be played at the All-England Club.
-------------------------------------
LEAST IMPORTANT: Amelie Mauresmo/FRA & the "other" Russians
...of course, any player taking part in the Olympics would never say they aren't important, so the only people who might fit in this category are the players who were unceremoniously removed from their nation's teams. Like Mauresmo, who was oddly replaced by Mary "How's that Knee, Considering We Haven't Seen You in Ages?") Pierce, and the Russians (such as Chakvetadze and Nadia Petrova) who weren't able to secure a spot on the loaded-to-the-gills team of Hordettes being sent to China.
-------------------------------------
POISED FOR GREATNESS?: Jelena Jankovic/SRB
...Jankovic might just discover her Shangri-La at the Olympic Games. There, all her emotional decisions (her Hopman Cup ridiculousness would find an heroic home in Olympic competition) could work in her favor, and she might be able to ride a wave of success while representing Serbia that she might not to able to accomplish without self-destructing in a grand slam. Of course, by wringing herself out in China, she'd probably be worth little more than a wet rag in New York. But, hey, I'm sure she'd sacrifice the Open for a Gold, or even a medal of any color. At this one tournament, finishing second or third will still have its intense rewards for her. This could be fun, as usual.

ALSO: Serena & Venus Williams -- as they did at Wimbledon, they might just make the Doubles competition all about them. They won the Gold in 2000, so Venus might have a shot to pick up her THIRD and FOURTH Gold Medals.
-------------------------------------
READY TO TURN HEADS: Doubles Stars
...with rare exceptions, though many have tried to team up more often this season in preparation for Beijing, most of the best doubles teams in the world are made up of players from different countries. So the Women's Doubles competition could be wide open... at least as far as the races for the Silver & Bronze are concerned. Keep an eye on the Ukrainian Bondarenko sisters, Taiwan's Chan/Chuang (talk about ultimate spoilers in China) or the Huber/Davenport combo in the former South African Olympian's first Olympic stint as an American.
-------------------------------------
LURCHING TOWARD DISASTER?: Alicia Molik/AUS
...fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the Steamer got a wild card to enter the Beijing singles draw. The '04 Bronze Medalist seemed to be ready to make a bold move on tour four years ago, but things haven't worked out so swimmingly. She's glad to be back, saying the Olympics have been the highlight of her career, but the experience might turn out to be a painful reminder of what she lost and will probably never have the opportunity to regain.





BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (III-Red Clay)
07 FINAL: Dulko d. Cirstea
08 TOP: Szavay/Cornet
=============================
=SF=
Szavay d. Pironkova
Cornet d. Benesova
=FINAL=
Szavay d. Cornet
...this is the week the 3Q run by Szavay began last year (with a title in Palermo). Anyone up for an encore, starting back at home this time?


PALERMO, ITALY (IV-Red Clay)
07 FINAL: Szavay d. Muller
08 TOP: Pennetta/Medina-Garrigues
=============================
=SF=
Suarez-Navarro d. Pennetta
Medina-Garrigues d. Rezai
=FINAL=
Suarez-Navarro d. Medina-Garrigues
...Pennetta or AMG might be the smarter pick, but I've still got an itch to try to mentally will CSN to her first tour title. Now, everyone concentrate real hard on Carla this week and make it happen. If she doesn't win, it's all your fault.


All for now.



NEXT: Grass Court Awards

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A Call to Glory in the Fading Light

Something extraordinary has just happened. You can tell by the intensity and rapidity of the flashbulbs in the fading evening light. But what is it?

They are the center of adoring attention. A young Spanish sports warrior with the heart of a lion hoists a golden cup, while a Swiss gentleman with a champion's poise and an artist's skills stands vanquished, just a few few away. What has happened here?

Something remarkable. For on a day that will stand alone in tennis history and the memory of anyone who experienced it, in a match of which its like will never be seen again, Rafael Nadal became the best tennis player in the world.



By defeating five-time defending champion Roger Federer 6-4/6-4/6-7/6-7/9-7 in the longest Gentlemen's final in Wimbledon history, Nadal became the first man to sweep both this tournament and Roland Garros in the same season in twenty-eight years, and with a single win removed the name Federer -- who should soon go down as the winningest grand slam champ of all time -- from his long-held perch atop the subjective list of the best players in the game. The "Big Two" (or "Three," if you count Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic) are still the same, but today there's a new monarch in town. Even if the transition of power isn't "official," King Rafa's reign has most definitely begun.

It's been a remarkable journey over the last three years, as Nadal has gone from being a vision in Federer's rear-view mirror to his equal to his SW19 conqueror over the course of a trilogy of Wimbledon finals. Once considered a clay courter, first and foremost, his 2006 run to the Wimbledon final was startling. At the time, no one believed that he could ever win the title. In 2007, he reached another final, though it's likely that Federer himself entered that match not quite believing that the Spaniard could get the best of him at his most favored tournament. As it turned out, he almost did, coming within a pair of tie-breaks and break points in the 5th set from pulling a monster upset a year ago. By the time this year's Wimbledon rolled around, even if he wasn't the chosen pick of EVERYONE to become the latest champion, that Nadal was indeed working toward an eventual title at the All-England Club was no longer in question.

The final obstacle blocking Nadal's rise to power turned out to be hardly as easy to overcome as it appeared it might be early in the day, but by the time the sun had set on the London skyline, July 6th, 2008 had become a day that we'll longingly look back upon years from now, marveling at the suspense it provided as it slowly unraveled a dramatic tale of a successful quest, as well as set up an intriguing test for a revered and respected champion.

After having the match's start delayed by rain, the first two sets of the match turned on what will go down as the missed opportunities -- of which Nadal would offer few -- that Federer will never forget. In the opening set, he played one bad early game. It resulted in a break that he was never able to recoup, even after carving out a break chance with Nadal serving at 5-4. In the 2nd, Federer was serving at 4-2 after what turned out to be his only break of Nadal's serve, but he couldn't hold his advantage. Nadal hustled for back-to-back service breaks of his own to take a 5-4 lead, then hold off another Federer break opportunity to serve out the set. Down two sets to love, Federer had only his second meeting against Nadal in Miami in 2005 (where he'd come from 0-2 sets down to win in Nadal's first hint of what was yet to come) from which to draw encouragement, but it didn't seem to matter. Errors prevented him from converting break chances at 3-2 in the 3rd, and he barely scraped by by saving three break points on his own serve soon afterward. But then, at 5-4, the rain returned, and Nadal's silent palace coup became a bloody, epic struggle.

In a match with several distinct divisions, largely brought about because of rain delays that were as necessary for us to catch our breaths as they were for the players to reorganize their thoughts and right themselves in order to produce a legendary match, the one constant aspect of every moment was the history that dripped from each shot. Every break point felt monumental. Every held serve was a chance for the server's backers to breath a little easier for a minute or two. With Federer trying to outpace the in-attendance Bjorn Borg's shared mark of five straight Open era titles, and Nadal attempting to match the Swede's 1980 sweep of slam titles in Paris and London, the normal weight given to each important moment in a Wimbledon final was increased exponentially the deeper into the night the two men played. The possibility of an all-time great being replaced at the top of the sport by what could possibly be another all-time great in a discernible changing-of-the-guard moment has a way of producing such edge-of-your-seat tension.

With Federer fighting to overcome the imps and naysayers that have dogged even the greatest in the history of the game (there's a reason no one has won six straight titles since Wimbledon champions ceased being automatically placed in the final the next year), the man who will likely one day soon be the sport's all-time slam champion would not go down without a fight -- the depth and size of which turned out to be even bigger than anyone had ever realized despite his longstanding brilliance, an understandable occurrence since there'd never really been reason for it be unveiled before this July day of his twenty-sixth year. Meanwhile, as Nadal stood on the brink of an accomplishment that would secure him a measure of tennis immortality at just age 22, the ghosts of Centre Court and Mother Nature seemed to be brainstorming for new ways to conspire against him.

But the Spaniard stared down them all.

After nearly ninety minutes of weather-related down time, Federer returned with a renewed focus and game plan. By moving forward into the court and ramping up his serve and forehand (especially the inside-out variety), Federer managed to keep pace with Nadal, who continued to run down seemingly impossible-to-reach balls and firing back shots with equal power from both wings. Federer won a 3rd set tie-break to stay alive, and forced another in the 4th after neither man could break the other's serve during the entire stanza. Up 5-2 in the tie-break, Nadal suddenly tightened up. He double-faulted and lost two points on serve, causing him to momentarily consider an uncharacteristic slamming of his racket on the ground. When Federer saved two championship points at 7-6 and 8-7, then forced a 5th set by winning 10-8, it looked as if he might be able to maintain his Wimbledon dominance, after all. He might have, too, had the rain not returned yet again.

After seizing control of the deciding set in the final a year ago, Federer could never do so this time around. A twenty-four minute rain delay at 2-2 seemed to re-focus Nadal on the task at hand. He prevented Federer from getting his second break of the match when he had a shot at 4-3, firing a 124 mph serve and smashing an overhead. As the clocked ticked to and past nine o'clock in the evening, Federer would serve first, barely holding with clutch serves and rescuing games in which Nadal took early leads (Nadal had two break points at 5-5, and led 30/0 at 6-6). The Spaniard never cracked, but Federer finally did under Nadal's intense pressure, which often caused the defending champion to hit two or three "winners" in a point in order to actually claim it.

At 7-7, after going down 15/40, Federer saved three break points but, when a forehand sailed long on the fourth, Nadal finally got the chance to serve for the match. This time, he didn't succumb to the pressure of the moment or Federer. After Federer saved a third match point, the relentless Nadal created yet another opportunity to claim the championship. When Federer hit a forehand return into the net, the match was finally over at 9:15 pm, more than six hours after it had been scheduled to begin, and after four hours and forty-eight minutes of action.

King Rafa had been born on Centre Court.


Nadal earned his ascension to the throne by dueling with Federer in the greatest, most important slam final in recent memory and smiting the graceful gentleman beast with a combination of grit, style and humility befitting a player capable of being compared in every way to the player who has won the awe-inspiring and complete respect of every living great who's ever seen him strike a ball within the confines of a tennis court.

Hmmm... now that I think about it, scratch what I said about looking back on this date and marveling. Who needs the future? We can marvel at this match right now.

It'd be hard to believe that anything that these two could ever produce together could duplicate what happened in this match. With so much at stake, under such unique and trying circumstances at what is rightfully seen as the most grand cathedral that the sport has to offer, what could possibly top it? What could happen between Federer and Nadal after today that would raise the stakes even more than they were at this moment in time?

Oh, pray we find out.


=SECOND THOUGHTS=
Even with all the memories this match provided, maybe the one I'll hold onto the longest is what happened after it was over. The flashing light that surrounded Nadal and Federer, reflecting dazzlingly off their well-earned hardware while the dark was beginning to envelop everything else on Centre Court, was a sight of great beauty.

And the fact is that we'll never see this sight again.

With the arrival of a retractable roof next year, never again will the weather wreak havoc on a Singles final like it did (ultimately) so wonderfully with this one. While the drama and length of this match may one day be met or exceeded (as difficult as it is for that to be believed right now), it'll never be drawn out over the course of an entire day, with momentum changing due to the whims of storm clouds and well-timed showers. Instead, it'll end on schedule, during the day.

It's actually sort of... sad. Or not.

The roof is a great thing, but for a brief moment it's easy to mourn the passing of the era in which something like the sight we witnessed today is possible.

But I'm sure the first rain delay at Wimbledon '09 will take care of that moment of insanity.

=WHAT NEXT?=
Of course, what this match and all the reverberations that ultimately ring out from it over the remainder of '08 and beyond, will mean will depend on what happens next. Already, Federer and Nadal have met in fourteen tournament finals (fifth all-time), and six times in the deciding matches of grand slams (more than any other duo). Their friendly but fierce rivalry has already produced an impressive collection of achievements that have been elusive for even the most compelling adversaries the men's game has been able to produce in it's long history.

But if we've learned anything over the years, it's that we should never just assume that great rivalries will continue to produce great moments. Sometimes, they simply fade away. For all kinds of reasons, it may never be as good as this again.

Borg's legend hung over this match like a specter, and he could surely appreciate the drama of it all from a different perspective, having lived through a similar experience from Federer's vantage point against a young John McEnroe in 1980, when he barely held off the charging American in the "other" epic Wimbledon final of the last thirty years, and 1981, when he was finally forced to bow to Johnny Mac's abilities. Borg walked away from the sport months later, an act which Federer isn't likely to replicate.

Whatever comes next, though, will forever be bound to what just happened at Centre Court. It will either signal the ultimate rise of Nadal the Great as he fully eclipses Federer, or it will kick-start the next great chapter of Federer's career, as he battles to discover a way to find an answer to the man who took everything King Roger had to offer on the playing field he holds most dear... and still managed to defeat him.

Federer, version 2.0, will no longer have the aura of invincibility that the original did. That era ended the moment that Nadal lay spread eagle on his back on the worn lawn behind the baseline today, celebrating his accomplishing of the unthinkable that two years ago seemed an impossibility but had since, with each passing month, started to resemble something of a fait accompli. Federer can become a great champion again, maybe even before the arrival of fall (he's the four-time defending champ at the U.S. Open, remember), and even the "greatest ever." But even as he would, the question, "What About Rafa?," would be part of the conversation.

While Nadal still has one more hurdle to clear by claiming a hard court slam in New York or Melbourne, Federer's next move might be even more intriguing. Everyone wondered how he'd respond to his thorough destruction in Paris. We found out -- he didn't back down from Nadal's challenge, even if he didn't prevail against it. But the lingering effect of giving his all on his favorite battleground, and it still not being enough, will be something to watch. He admitted after the final that this loss "hurt."

He's never been in this place before.

The post-Wimbledon '08 phase of Federer's career, when he is not just no longer the unquestioned #1 player but generally considered #2 (until further notice, at least), will allow him to recast himself in the role of an avenger. If this match is any indication of what lengths he's willing to go to to reclaim his throne, Federer likely has some more surprises up the sleeve of that cardigan he took to wearing when he walked onto the court at this Wimbledon.

We'll soon see what he's made of... again.

As for Rafa, we already know what he's made of: whatever magical combination is it that produces the best tennis player on the planet.


*WOMEN'S FINAL*
#7 Venus Williams/USA def. #6 Serena Williams 7-5/6-4

*MEN'S FINAL*
#2 Rafael Nadal/ESP def. #1 Roger Federer/SUI 6-4/6-4/6-7/6-7/9-7

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#11 Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA/USA) def. #16 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur (USA/AUS) 6-2/6-2

*MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL*
#2 Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic (CAN/SRB) def. #8 Jonas Bjorkman/Kevin Ullyett (SWE/ZIM) 7-6/6-7/6-3/6-3

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
Samantha Stosur/Bob Bryan (AUS/USA) def. #1 Katarina Srebotnik/Mike Bryan (SLO/USA) 7-5/6-4

*GIRLS FINAL*
Laura Robson/GBR def. #3 Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/THA 6-3/3-6/6-1

*BOYS FINAL*
#9 Grigor Dmitrov/BUL def. Henri Kontinen/FIN 7-5/6-3

*GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL*
#6 Polona Hercog/Jessica Moore (SLO/AUS) def. Isabella Holland/Sally Peers (AUS/AUS) 6-3/1-6/6-2

*BOYS DOUBLES FINAL*
Hsieh Cheng-Peng/Yang Tsung-Hua(TPE/TPE) def. #3 Matt Reid/Bernard Tomic (AUS/AUS) 6-4/2-6/12-10


*LONG WIMBLEDON FINALS*
4:48...Nadal def. Federer. 2008
4:16...Connors def. McEnroe, 1982
3:56...Borg def. McEnroe, 1980

*MOST GRAND SLAM FINAL MEETINGS - MEN*
6...Federer vs. Nadal
5...Agassi vs. Sampras
5...Lendl vs. Wilander
4...Borg vs. Connors
4...Borg vs. McEnroe

*LONG ATP GRASS WINNING STREAKS*
65...Roger Federer, 2003-08
41...Bjorn Borg, 1976-81
23...John McEnroe, 1980-82
23...Pete Sampras, 1994-96
23...Pete Sampras, 1998-00

*MOST ATP FINAL MEETINGS*
20...Lendl vs. McEnroe
16...Agassi vs. Sampras
16...Becker vs. Edberg
15...Connors vs. McEnroe
14...Federer vs. Nadal




All for now.



ON MONDAY: "Odds & Ends Between London and New York," with a 3Q Hard Court Season preview, Ms. Backspin update and Week 28 picks
ALSO THIS WEEK: Grass Court Awards

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