Miami Musings: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Jelena (and Dinara and Ana and...)

It hasn't quite been like Indian Wells, but Miami's first four rounds have been another case of many best laid plans going awry.

With the happenings in Miami moving along at a brisk pace (the QF are already set, with the semifinalists scheduled to be determined tomorrow), this is an ultra-abbreviated edition of Backspin. Of course, it's probably for the best, considering it's once again getting pretty lonely at the top in South Florida,

Another week, another string of high-seed upsets (some, like that of Vera Zvonareva, forgivable... others not so much), bring to mind so many thoughts that have been uttered, considered or assured in recent days, weeks and months that have turned out to not even be worth a fraction of the brain power it took to devise them in the first place. Such as...

-- how Jelena Jankovic was going to improve her stamina and become the #1 player she wanted to be, thanks to her offseason training in Mexico. Umm, check that. Another early round loss in Miami -- to Gisela Dulko in the 2nd -- just continued 2009's downtown. But Queen Chaos did get off a very Jankovician line the other day, saying, "For three months I haven't been doing very well at all, and I hope to begin my season sometime soon." Maybe there's a light at the end of the tunnel... April Fool's Day is almost here.

-- how, at least in Lindsay Davenport's perspective, Ana Ivanovic was going to get a big confidence boost from her run to the final in Indian Wells. Hmmm... after losing in the 3rd to Agnes Szavay in Miami, not exactly a picture of good on-court mental health herself over the last year, the facts say otherwise.

-- how Kim Clijsters was going to settle into marriage and motherhood and stay retired, while Justine Henin's competitive juices would more than likely mean she'd be the Waffle to return to the WTA. So far... nope. But give it a little time.

-- how Larry Scott was going to get to "redeem" himself in 2010 for his massive Dubai miscalculation, stand firm and put his foot down for the rights of all the women he's been representi- ...umm, scratch that.

-- and how Dinara Safina was ready to assume the mantle of a top-flight player and challenge for #1. Ugh, I guess that "a" at the end of her name fooled everyone, huh?

Oh, well. Since Miami has essentially been presenting all the tournament's participants with a "Williams Family Fun Pack" goody-bag for the better part of the last almost a dozen years, it might be smart for the field to simply step aside and let nature take it's course, anyway. Either Venus or Serena has won the Miami title in eight of the last eleven years, with Serena taking the title in 2007-08, and they seem on a collision course for a semifinal meeting once again this time around. I guess with the elbow room the Indian Wells boycott gives the field, the yin/yang principle says they all must be elbowed in the side soon afterward.




ITF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kristie Haerim Ahn/USA
...the 16-year old American won the $25K in Hammond, Louisiana to claim the biggest title yet in her career (she won two $10K events in '08). She defeated Sophie Ferguson in the final, 0-6/6-4/6-4, after having already secured earlier victories over the likes of Lindsay Lee-Waters, Jorgelina Cravero, Gabriela Paz and Renata Voracova.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Polina Leykina/RUS
...Leykinva, 14, won the first G1 title of her career in the Mitsubishi Lancer International Junior Championships in Manila, Philippines. She upset #1-seed Timea Babos in the 1st Round, then eventually took out fellow Hordette Ekaterina Nikitina in the final.
=============================


1. Mia 2nd - V.Williams d. Peer
...6-3/6-3. I wonder if Venus thought Shahar's play was "brave?"
=============================
2. Mia 2nd - Dulko d. Jankovic
...6-4/7-6. She's still crazy, but she's doing something about it now.
=============================
3. Mia 3rd - Stosur d. Safina
...6-1/6-4. Family bloodlines run deep.
=============================
4. Mia 3rd - Szavay d. Ivanovic
...6-4/4-6/6-1. Well, at least Davenport was right about Clijsters coming back. By the way, she said she expects Henin to return, as well. As for Szavay, who also put together a win after being a set down to Francesca Schiavone, things have really started to look better for her lately.
=============================
5. Mia 3rd - Wozniacki d. Dokic
...6-3/5-7/6-2. C-Woz wins the '09 rubber match in her series (so far) with Dokic.
=============================
6. Mia 2nd - Vaidisova d. A.Bondarenko
...6-1/6-0. Whoa, Nicole. Whoa, Alona. Whoa, Vaidisova still ended up losing to Kuznetsova in her next match. So much for that.
=============================
7. Mia Q1 - Rezai d. Larcher de Brito
...6-1/6-2. The Kid can at least take heart in the fact that Pavlyuchenkova was having a hard time of things on tour at this time last year.
=============================
8. Mia Q1 - Craybas d. Karatantcheva
...7-5/2-6/6-4. In case you were wondering what she's been up to lately (insert own Sesil pregnancy joke here).
=============================
9. Mia 2nd - Azarenka d. Pavlyuchenkova
...6-2/6-2. Coming "soon" to a big-time final near you?
=============================
10. Mia 4th - Wozniacki d. Dementieva
...7-5/6-4. C-Woz is getting jealous of all of Azarenka's gains, maybe? Oh, and at least Dementieva managed to stick around for a few rounds this time out.
=============================


**RECENT MIAMI FINALS**
1998 Venus Williams d. Anna Kournikova
1999 Venus Williams d. Serena Williams
2000 Martina Hingis d. Lindsay Davenport
2001 Venus Williams d. Jennifer Capriati
2002 Serena Williams d. Jennifer Capriati
2003 Serena Williams d. Jennifer Capriati
2004 Serena Williams d. Elena Dementieva
2005 Kim Clijsters d. Maria Sharapova
2006 Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Maria Sharapova
2007 Serena Williams d. Justine Henin
2008 Serena Williams d. Jelena Jankovic

**MOST MIAMI TITLES**
5 - SteffI Graf (1987-88, 1994-96)
5 - Serena Williams (2002-04, 07-08)

YOUNGEST CHAMP: Monica Seles (1990) - 16 years, 3 months
OLDEST CHAMP: Chris Evert (1986) - 31 years, 2 months
LOWEST-RANKED CHAMP: Kim Clijsters (2005) - #38


All for now. (1Q Awards & "Odds & Ends Between Miami & Paris" coming next week)

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MY-ami or YOUR-ami? That is the question.

She's baaaaaaack!!!!!

(No, not Kim Clijsters -- not yet, anyway. I mean Serena, of course.)

While the expected "official" announcement in Belgium that Clijsters will return to the WTA tour sometime in 2009 should occur shortly, the top ON-court story this week will feature the return to action of world #1 and defending Miami champion Serena Williams. She could have lost her top ranking last week, but will begin play in Florida still sitting atop the women's tennis hierarchy thanks to Dinara Safina's inability to seize the moment in Indian Wells and join brother Marat as a #1-ranked player.

Take Two.

As for Clijsters' return, it's both a surprise and a shock. Back when she retired a couple of years ago, most seemed to figure that she'd stay away and settle into family life. But maybe the passing of her father, who lived to see the birth of his granddaughter Jada, and Lindsay Davenport's immediate post-pregnancy success changed all that. While Cljisters claimed it was her worn body that precipitated her departure, her father's declining health was likely just as big, if not a bigger, factor. As for Davenport's "role," well, she showed that being a working mom on the WTA tour could be pulled off not only logistically, but in record time. Over the last few weeks and months, the chances of Clijsters' return have gone from unlikely to pretty much expected... especially after Davenport let slip last week that she'd received an email from Clijsters asking about traveling with a child on tour.

Whenever it is that Clijsters finally does step back onto the court (will it be before Maria Sharapova's continually-pushed-back return?), maybe her presence will satisfy those people complaining so much about a perceived lack of star power on the tour these days. Clijsters II will be fascinating to see play out, though I'm sure I'll find a few instances worthy of poking with a stick... come on, we are talking about Clijsters, and I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't scrape and claw to find something she'll eventually do to roll my eyes at just for old times sake. But, as of today, her slate is clean.

So's Larry Scott's, but for a different reason. You've got to hand it to the guy -- he knows when to abandon ship (and unless the USC Trojans begin a home-and-home series with the Dubai... uh "Oilers," he'll never have to deal with those phonies again, either).

Hmmm, this all means we'll only be one Waffle short of a full plate before the end of '09, huh? Interesting.



MIAMI, FLORIDA USA (Premier $4.5m-Hard Outdoor)
08 Final: S.Williams def. Jankovic
09 Top Seeds: S.Williams/Safina
=============================
=Round of 16=
S.Williams d. Zheng
Zvonareva d. Sugiyama
Cibulkova d. Jankovic
V.Williams d. Kanepi
Bartoli d. A.Bondarenko
Wozniacki d. Dementieva
Azarenka d. Ivanovic
Safina d. Mauresmo
=QF=
S.Williams d. Zvonareva
V.Williams d. Cibulkova
Bartoli d. Wozniacki
Azarenka d. Safina
=SF=
S.Williams d. V.Williams
Azarenka d. Bartoli
=FINAL=
S.Williams d. Azarenka

...of course, maybe not wilting in the heat this time around would mean that Azarenka might actually pull off that upset of Serena that she seemed well on her way to getting in Melbourne in January.

*ATP*
=QF=
Nadal d. del Potro
Murray d. Gonzalez
Blake d. Tsonga
Federer d. Roddick
=SF=
Nadal d. Murray
Federer d. Blake
=FINAL=
Nadal d. Federer

...it says something that Federer would likely feel better seeing Nadal in the final than he would Murray.



=Round of 16=
S.Williams d. Zheng
Zvonareva d. Sugiyama
Jankovic d. Cibulkova
V.Williams d. A.Radwanska
Bartoli d. Kuznetsova
Dementieva d. Dokic
Azarenka d. Ivanovic
Safina d. Pennetta
=QF=
S.Williams d. Zvonareva
Jankovic d. V.Williams
Dementieva d. Bartoli
Safina d. Azarenka
=SF=
S.Williams d. Jankovic
Safina d. Dementieva
=FINAL=
S.Williams d. Safina

*ATP*
=QF=
Nadal d. del Potro
Murray d. Verdasco
Djokovic d. Tsonga
Federer d. Roddick
=SF=
Nadal d. Murray
Federer d. Djokovic
=FINAL=
Nadal d. Federer


All for now.

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Wk.11- Diplomatic Maturity?

In most areas of life, nothing is a better teacher than experience. In tennis, the same notion holds true. Winning begets winning, which fosters confidence which -- you guessed it -- leads to more winning.

Case in point... Vera Zvonareva.


Photo by Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

Not that long ago, the would-be future Russian diplomat was known for her on-court emotional meltdowns and as a career underachiever. But that's starting to change. Maybe big time, after Zvonareva cleared yet another career high bar with her 7-6/6-2 win in the Indian Wells final over defending champion Ana Ivanovic on Sunday.

Ever since Zvonareva won a Bronze Medal at the Beijing Olympics late last summer, she's been a different player. Maybe it was a change that was already in the making, hence the Medal in the first place after a long hard battle to wrestle control of her in-match emotions, but surely the Russian's confidence-building Chinese excursion provided a welcome and proud moment of self-congratulation for the now 24-year old.

It's working, she must have realized. If the epiphany could have occurred a few years ago, Zvonareva surely would have reached this high point in her career earlier... but every player progresses at her own pace, and this has turned out to be the Diplomat's. And at the moment, her pace could very well be leading her into something resembling the brilliant spring/summer that her countrywoman Dinara Safina experienced a year ago.

After the Olympics, Zvonareva reached finals in Moscow, Linz and the season-ending championship (giving her eight final appearances in '08) to finish the year at a career-best #7 in the rankings. In January, I listed her as one of the players for whom the 1st Quarter of '09 would be most important, for she didn't want to squander the momentum she built at the end of the previous season. Good for her, because she hasn't done anything of the sort.

After having only reached a single slam quarterfinal in her career ('03 Roland Garros), she reached her first slam SF at the Australian Open in January and jumped into the Top 5 for the first time. She won a title in Pattaya, and has now added the Indian Wells crown to tie her for the tour's season lead eleven weeks into the campaign. So far, her match record is 18-2, giving her the second-highest win total on tour (20-Dementieva).

Naturally, her not-so-distant past still makes every moment on court an anxious one. For example, when Zvonareva furiously smashed her racket after having her service broken by Ivanovic in the final -- in just the SECOND GAME OF THE MATCH! -- who didn't think the long slide on a windy Sunday afternoon had already begun? Maybe it would have, had AnaIvo been able to convert one of three set points on Zvonareva's serve at 6-5 in the 1st. But she didn't. Zvonareva won the ensuing tie-break, and the rest was Indian Wells history.

Imagine, though, just for a moment, if you will. What if Zvonareva has discovered a way to use her anger and emotion IN HER FAVOR after all these years. She surely played better after her outburst on this day, not that two games was really enough to establish a pattern that needed to be broken by totally sending an entire dinner set crashing into the wall and starting all over again from scratch. But still. This time it seemed to work, and it could portend some great things before the 2009 season is complete.

Of course, the plate-clearing method probably wouldn't be the best course of action if Zvonareva really does live out her dream and become a diplomat one day (she's attending the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with her eyes set on working within the United Nations). International relations and flying porcelain plates and silverware don't generally mix all that well, you know.

In a year when the upcoming Roland Garros event, which world #1 Serena Williams has won just once (2002), could very well arrive with the field as even as ever (maybe even more so than a year ago, when Justine Henin's retirement made the entire thing a crapshoot)... why couldn't Zvonareva become the next Russian slam champ? Not long ago, it'd be too easy to believe that Zvonareva wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of such a big stage.

That may no longer be the case.

 Who's the early favorite to win Roland Garros?

• 
  
  Serena Williams


• 
  
  Dinara Safina


• 
  
  Jelena Jankovic


• 
  
  Elena Dementieva


• 
  
  Venus Williams


• 
  
  Vera Zvonareva


• 
  
  Ana Ivanovic


• 
  
  Victoria Azarenka


• 
  
  someone else

view results
Free vote poll

*WEEK 11 CHAMPIONS*

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA USA (Premier $4.5m/HO)
S: Vera Zvonareva def. Ana Ivanovic 7-6/6-2
D: Azarenka/Zvonareva d. Dulko/Peer


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Vera Zvonareva/RUS
...it's difficult to get much better than the destined Diplomat winning the first Tier I... err, I mean "Premier Mandatory" (catchy, huh?) event of her career without dropping a set against the likes of Ivanovic, Azarenka, Wozniacki, Li and Kvitova. Not to mention winning the doubles, too. Oh, and regaining her career-high #5 ranking with her ninth career title (which ties her with Kuznetsova, Safina, Petrova and Morozova on the all-time Russian list). That Olympic Bronze seems to have really secured a foundation of confidence for Zvonareva to build upon, hasn't it?
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RISER: Agnieszka Radwanska/POL
...sure, A-Rad's QF run in Indian Wells ended earlier than she might have hoped. But for a player who just lost her Top 10 ranking and entered the event under .500 for the season (and after three wins is still barely over .500), such a result in a big event is just the type of affirming outing she's been looking for for months.
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SURPRISES: Elena Bovina/RUS & Violette Huck/FRA
...you've got to hand it to Bovina. She's been trying to forge a post-shoulder injury comeback for a few seasons now without any concrete consistency to help her along, but she hasn't given up. Right before last year's U.S. Open she won a challenger in the Bronx, her first singles title of any kind since she won in New Haven in 2004 and the road ahead seemed to run parallel with a rainbow leading to a pot of gold (all right, so maybe I went a little far with the analogy -- but she DID seem destined for greater things in that moment that's now nearly five years in the past). This weekend in Tenerife, Spain she won her second comeback title in a $25K challenger. Ranked #180, she was forced to qualify first, then knock off Simona Halep before finally taking out Rebecca Marino in the final. Maybe all hope isn't lost, after all? Meanwhile, 21-year old Huck won her second consecutive challenger by knocking off fellow Pastry Audrey Bergot in the 10K in Amiens, France.
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VETERANS: Sybille Bammer/AUT & Laura Granville/USA
...before her ailing shoulder forced her to forego her QF meeting with Ana Ivanovic in Indian Wells, Bammer had broken out of her recent quiet spell by stringing together wins over Roberta Vinci, Vera Dushevina and two-time I.W. champ Daniela Hantuchova. Before heading to Redding, California to play a $25K challenger, Granville hadn't played a match since she won a Midland challenger last February and suffered a wrist injury soon afterward. She made her return a memorable one, winning the Redding title with wins over Alberta Brianti, Madison Brengle and Rika Fujiwara in a 6-2/2-6/6-4 final.
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FRESH FACES: Victoria Azarenka/BLR & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
...when Pierre Cantin and I made our preseason Top 10 picks, I literally tossed a bunch of names into a hat and picked them out in order to see if "The Hat" could be a better prognosticator than either of us. "The Hat" chose Azarenka as 2009's #1 player. While that might be overshooting things a tad, she's certainly not embarrassing herself (or "The Hat"). Her run to the I.W. SF with wins over Shvedova, Vesnina, Peer and Safina ran her '09 singles record to 17-2 and has finally pushed her ranking into the Top 10. Her I.W. doubles title with Zvonareva also moved her into the doubles Top 10, making her the only player in the Top 10 in both rankings. Pavlyuchenkova, 17, continued her I.W. first week success in week two, reaching her first career tour SF. Already the youngest player in the Top 50, she's now the youngest in the Top 30 (thanks to her new career-high rank of #27). With some improved fitness, a Top 20 (she's only 537 points behind #20 Mauresmo) or Top 15 (Schnyder, 1279 points up) year-end finish is certainly possible.
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DOWN: Dinara Safina/RUS
...with Serena not touching Indian Wells with a ten-foot (to be conservative) pole, Safina actually had a chance to grab the #1 ranking this past week. Hmm, I wonder if she HAD whether or not she'd been barraged with derisive comments about getting there without winning a slam, as SOMEONE ELSE was a while back? Just wondering out loud. Of course, since she crashed out ala the "old Dinara" in the QF against Azarenka, we'll have to wait until next time to find out... if there is a next time, that is. One never knows.
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ITF PLAYER: Darya Kustova/BLR
...the 22-year old from Belarus defeated Anna Korzeniak in the Rome-Pomezia $10K to claim her second ITF title of the season. Ranked just inside the Top 300 (#283), Kustova isn't another Azarenka. But she's proof that Belarus is developing some nice depth (there's also Olga Govortsova, Anastasiya Yakimova, Ekaterina Dzehalevich, Tatiana Poutchek, Ksenia Milevskaya & Anna Orlik) from which to pull together a decent Fed Cup team the next few years.
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JUNIOR STAR: Camila Silva/CHI
...the 16-year old Chilean won the Banana Bowl in Florianapolis, Brazil, defeating Kristina Mladenovic 6-4/1-6/6-2 in the final. She's now reached four consecutive junior finals, winning three with the last two (along with her Asuncion Bowl win in Paraguay a week ago) being title runs in G1 level events.
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1. IW QF - Azarenka d. Safina
...6-7/6-1/6-3. A set and a victory away from the #1 ranking, Safina imploded in a 56-error crash that looks even worse now in comparison to Zvonareva's mostly-incomparable play in California.
=============================
2. IW Final - Zvonareva d. Ivanovic
...7-6/6-2. Will AnaIvo gain confidence from her first appearance in a final this season, as Lindsay Davenport insisted during Sunday's TV coverage? Or will she instead hang onto the memory of her three blown set points in the opening stanza? The last nine months or so says it might turn out to be the latter. Hey, both of this season's "Premier-Plus" ($2 million or more) events -- along with Venus' win in Dubai -- were claimed by players who were ranked #6 going into the tournament. By the way, Venus is again #6 heading into Miami.
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3. IW Doubles Final - Azarenka/Zvonareva d. Dulko/Peer
...6-4/3-6/10-5 As good as Azarenka's singles record is in 2009, she's UNDEFEATED (12-0) in doubles.
=============================
4. IW QF - Pavlyuchenkova d. A.Radwanska
...7-6/6-4. What are the odds that #27 Pavlyuchenkova passes #11 A-Rad in the rankings before the season is over?
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5. IW 4th Rd. - A.Radwanska d. Szavay
...6-0/5-7/6-3. Still, ever since she got that "lucky loser" pass into the Acapulco draw, Szavay has actually seemed to rediscover her (good) consistency of results.
=============================
HM- Lima $10K Final - Maria-Emilia Salerni d. Lucia Jara-Lozano
...6-2/6-1. Thirteen months ago in Bogota, Salerni was appearing in the first WTA singles final of her career. Last week she was in Peru.
=============================


**2009 WTA SINGLES TITLES**
2...Elena Dementieva (Auckland/Sydney)
2...VERA ZVONAREVA (Pattaya/Indian Wells)
2...Venus Williams (Dubai/Acapulco)
2...Victoria Azarenka (Brisbane/Memphis)

**2009 SINGLES/DOUBLES SWEEPS**
Australian Open - Serena Williams
Memphis - Victoria Azarenka
Bogota - Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez
INDIAN WELLS - VERA ZVONAREVA

**MOST WTA TITLES - last 2 seasons**
5...Elena Dementieva, RUS (3/2)
5...Venus Williams, USA (3/2)
5...Serena Williams, USA (4/1)
4...VERA ZVONAREVA, RUS (2/2)
4...Dinara Safina, RUS (4/0)
4...Jelena Jankovic, SRB (4/0)

**MOST CAREER TITLES - RUSSIANS**
19...Maria Sharapova, 2003-08
13...Elena Dementieva, 2003-09
10...Anastasia Myskina, 1999-05
9...VERA ZVONAREVA, 2003-09
9...Dinara Safina, 2002-08
9...Nadia Petrova, 2005-08
9...Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2002-07
9...Olga Morozova, 1969-75
7...Anna Chakvetadze, 2006-08

**2009 TOP 10 PLAYERS - WTA MATCH WINS**
20...Elena Dementieva
18...VERA ZVONAREVA
17...Victoria Azarenka
16...Serena Williams
13...Dinara Safina
11...Venus Williams
10...Ana Ivanovic
7...Jelena Jankovic
7...Agnieszka Radwanska
6...Svetlana Kuznetsova
3...Nadia Petrova
0...Maria Sharapova





MIAMI, FLORIDA USA (Premier $4.5m/Hard Outdoor)
08 Final: S.Williams def. Jankovic
09 Top Seeds: S.Williams/Safina
=============================

...finally, the ENTIRE band is back together under the Florida sun, as the Sisters return (with Serena still holding onto her #1 ranking, thanks to Dinara's Cali collapse). Pierre and I will be making picks -- hopefully better than those "predictions" for Indian Wells -- when the draw is released later this week.


All for now.

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Wk.10- Trees Fall in Indian Wells... but did they make a sound?

The WTA's "Roadmap" can lead the players to water, but it can't make them drink.

The tour's new schedule cuts both ways, as the first week of play at Indian Wells showed. While the newly-instituted rules can demand the presence of top players (well, at least unless their names are Williams, that is) at one of the season's four biggest non-slam/SEC tournaments, there is nothing that says that they have to simultaneously be there in both mind AND body. In the past, many players often chose to play just one of the back-to-back events in Indian Wells and Miami, but now all the top players are automatically entered and expected to participate, barring injury (again, unless their names are Williams, that is). After a tough opening two months to the season, quite a few players are tired and in need of a "reboot" right about now. In 2009, the tour decided it didn't matter.

Not that that stopped many of the top players from making their California sojourn little more than an overnight trip this past week. The first half of the two-week tournament was "highlighted" by the early-round flame-outs of most of the top seeds (in both singles AND doubles). Not that any of the early exits were entirely the result of any passive aggressive fits directed toward an event that a few players didn't really feel ready to play or might have resented being "forced" to enter... but it wouldn't take much effort to go through the motions of showing up, losing and getting an extra week and a half of rest, either.

I'm just saying.

The tall trees that fell in the Indian Wells forest last week were many:

--Svetlana Kuznetsova, the RU the last two years, crashed out against a wild card in her opening match

--Jelena Jankovic, #1 barely a month ago and just days after going public with what anyone who's seen her play in '09 already knew -- that her offseason training in Mexico put on muscle at the expense of the movement and quickness that got her to the top ranking in the first place -- went down in straight sets in HER first match against Russian teenager-on-the-come Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

--Elena Dementieva, meanwhile, lost HER first match to Petra Cetkovska, then spent her post-match press conference being disinterested and ticked off about how she shouldn't even have been playing in Indian Wells in the first place and how she wanted to rest up after her heavy early-season workload

It didn't end there, either. Dominika Cibulkova, Marion Bartoli and Alize Cornet led the charge of the other well-regarded players catching rides off the grounds before the tournament had barely even begun. Maria Sharapova DID show up, though. In doubles. She lost her first match with Elena Vesnina, too, and says she still doesn't think she can make it through a full week event as a singles player.

All this IS good new for a few people, though. Ana Ivanovic has a shot to defend her title. Top-seeded Dinara Safina might finally finish FIRST in something. Daniela Hantuchova might make I.W. the site of her coming out party for a THIRD time. Victoria Azarenka or Caroline Wozniacki could grab their biggest title yet. Or maybe something totally shocking might occur (like forcing the world to learn to pronounce and spell "Pavlyuchenkova" next weekend).

Of course, not that too many people noticed all the goings-on in Indian Wells. For a tournament that used to get a great deal of attention in the U.S., it's now buried under the weight of March Madness, spring training, the World Baseball Classic and NFL free agency in the sports coverage. Add to that the minimal TV coverage of the event in America (after years of being on ESPN), and you'd have a hard time even finding evidence that the tournament is taking place at all if you were a casual fan.

Considering Indian Wells (with Miami) is one of the two biggest non-U.S. Open tennis events that take place on American soil in a given year, one would think the WTA would be concerned about the general invisibility of this event. Apparently, the only thing that was considered important, though, was that the tournament organizers could promote an event with "all the top players" (unless their names are Williams, that is), even if most of those players weren't likely or willing to be at their best.

Of course, after what we've seen from the WTA so far in '09, this is just par for the course.

Hmmm, speaking of golf, how's Tiger Woods' game looking in his comeback? I know I'm much more interested in that than whatever happened at Indian Wells. "Thanks," WTA.


ITF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Galina Fokina/RUS
...the 25-year old Hordette won her ninth career ITF title in the $10K in Giza, Egypt. She defeated Georgian (the ex-Soviet state, not the American one) Oksana Kalashnikova, who'd won another $10K in Giza a week ago, in the final.
=============================
RISERS: Shahar Peer/ISR & Alla Kudryavtseva/Anastasia Rodionova (RUS/AUS)
...after a one week downward blip on her radar, the post-Dubai Peer has picked up right where she left off before she was so rudely interrupted. So far in I.W., she's knocked off Kateryna Bondarenko, Marion Bartoli and Anna Chakvetadze to reach the Round of 16. Meanwhile, Kudryavtseva/Rodionova have already knocked out Hantuchova/Sugiyama and the Sisters Bondarenko in 3rd set super tie-breaks in doubles.
=============================
SURPRISES: Angela Haynes/USA & Alexa Glatch/USA
...some nice results from a pair of Americans trying to reclaim their former positions as players-to-watch. Haynes, 25, qualified for the I.W. draw and has so far gotten main draw wins over 15-year old Croat Ajla Tomljanovic and veteran Ai Sugiyama. Glatch, 19, was given a wild card into the main draw and made good on it by upsetting Stephanie Dubois and Carla Suarez-Navarro before losing to fellow W.C. Urszula Radwanska in the 3rd Round.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Urszula Radwanska/POL & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
...these two have been amongst the most successful junior stars in recent seasons, so it's no surprise that big wins are starting to come their way in '09 on the women's tour. Wild card U-Rad started off her week by outlasting fellow "bright lighter" Michelle Larcher de Brito, then took down two-time running I.W. finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets. Her win on Sunday over fellow W.C. Glatch puts her into the Round of 16, where she'll face Caroline Wozniacki. All Pavlyuchenkova did was knock off the sluggish Jelena Jankovic in straight sets in the 2nd Round... and is currently staring at a draw that gives her a good shot to reach a HUGE semifinal in her young career.
=============================
VETERAN: Jill Craybas/USA
...always overlooked, Craybas just keeps on going. Few would have likely picked her to reach the Round of 16 in Indian Wells, but that's precisely where the almost 35-year old finds herself after reeling off wins over Jelena Dokic, Anabel Medina-Garrigues and Nicole Vaidisova.
=============================
DOWN: Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS & Jelena Jankovic/SRB
...the Contessova's results are going in the wrong direction. Maybe Olga Morozova will eventually get her game (and head) straight, but it hasn't worked out to this point. After reaching the I.W. final the last two years, she lost in her first match against U-Rad this time around. Queen Chaos has been fairly calm so far in '09, and that's not good for the WTA. At least she's now admitted the obvious about bulking up a bit too much in the offseason. Maybe by the time Roland Garros rolls around, she'll once again resemble the lovable Jankobot she used to be.
=============================


1. IW 2nd Rd - Pavlyuchenkova d. Jankovic
...6-4/6-4. Hey, the first step in solving the problem is admitting that it exists, right?
=============================
2. IW 2nd Rd - U.Radwanska d. Kuznetsova
...6-2/4-6/6-3. A-Rad doesn't have time to be jealous... she's still alive in the draw, too.
=============================
3. IW 2nd Rd - Cetkovska d. Dementieva
...7-6/2-6/6-1. Maybe Elena will actually WANT to be in Miami?
=============================
4. IW Doub 1st - Makarova/Poutchek d. Sharapova/Vesnina
...6-1/4-6/10-7. While she's not exactly swooping in to rescue the tour from its doldrums, at least the Supernova is within sight.
=============================
5. IW 1st Rd - U.Radwanska d. Larcher de Brito
...4-6/6-2/6-4. Potential wins out over potential.
=============================
HM- IW 1st Rd - Vaidisova d. Krajicek
...6-3/6-4. Vaidisova eventually went out in the 3rd Round to Craybas, but not until after she followed up this win with a victory over Alona Bondarenko to provide the first hope in quite a while that there might be light at the end of the tunnel, after all.
=============================
HM- IW Doub 2nd - Kleybanova/Niculescu d. Black/Huber
...7-5/7-6. Even THEY weren't immune.
=============================


**RECENT INDIAN WELLS FINALS**
1999 Serena Williams def. Steffi Graf
2000 Lindsay Davenport def. Martina Hingis
2001 Serena Williams def. Kim Clijsters
2002 Daniela Hantuchova def. Martina Hingis
2003 Kim Clijsters def. Lindsay Davenport
2004 Justine Henin def. Lindsay Davenport
2005 Kim Clijsters def. Lindsay Davenport
2006 Maria Sharapova def. Elena Dementieva
2007 Daniela Hantuchova def. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2008 Ana Ivanovic def. Svetlana Kuznetsova

**MOST INDIAN WELLS TITLES**
2 - Kim Clijsters (2003,2005)
2 - Lindsay Davenport (1997, 2000)
2 - Mary Joe Fernandez (1993, 1995)
2 - Steffi Graf (1994, 1996)
2 - Daniela Hantuchova (2002, 2007)
2 - Martina Navratilova (1990, 1991)
2 - Serena Williams (1999, 2001)

YOUNGEST CHAMP: Martina Hingis (1998) - 17 years, 5 months
OLDEST CHAMP: Martina Navratilova (1991) - 34 years, 4 months
LOWEST-RANKED CHAMP: Kim Clijsters (2005) - #133


All for now.

Read more...

All's Well that's Indian Wells... or is it?

Ah, the Indian Wells draw. Hmmm... are the Williams sisters there? No, they're still boycotting the tournament, though California won't be forcing any planes carrying them to turn around (unlike some countries with some players, both of whom shall remain namless) How about Maria Sharapova? Umm, yeah... but only in doubles (w/ Elena Vesnina), as the Supernova's singles return is still a few weeks away.

As for the everyone else...



INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA USA (Premiere $4.5m-Hard Outdoor)
08 Final: Ivanovic d. Kuznetsova
09 Top Seeds: Safina/Jankovic
=============================
=Round of 16=
Safina d. Dokic
Azarenka d. Dechy
Mauresmo d. Zvonareva
Wozniacki d. Kuznetsova
Ivanovic d. Sugiyama
Dementieva d. Zheng
Cornet d. Schiavone
Jankovic d. Cibulkova
=QF=
Azarenka d. Safina
Mauresmo d. Wozniacki
Dementieva d. Ivanovic
Jankovic d. Cornet
=SF=
Azarenka d. Mauresmo
Dementieva d. Jankovic
=FINAL=
Dementieva d. Azarenka

...when she hasn't been dizzy, Azarenka's record has been pretty spotless so far this season. But Dementieva has finally had a little time to rest, so I'll go with her.



=Round of 16=
Safina d. Medina-Garrigues
Azarenka d. Bartoli
Mauresmo d. Zvonareva
Kuznetsova d. Wozniacki
Ivanovic d. Pennetta
Dementieva d. Zheng
A.Radwanska d. Cornet
Cibulkova d. Jankovic
=QF=
Azarenka d. Safina
Kuznetsova d. Mauresmo
Dementieva d. Ivanovic
Cibulkova d. A.Radwanska
=SF=
Azarenka d. Kuznetsova
Dementieva d. Cibulkova
=FINAL=
Azarenka d. Dementieva

All for now.

Read more...

Wk.9- .now for All (The 5th Annual Backwards Backspin)

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





All for now.


The draw comes out later this week, so I'll make picks then...

=============================
09 TOP SEEDS: Safina/Jankovic
08 FINAL: Ivanovic def. Kuznetsova
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA USA (Premiere $4.5m-Hard Outdoor)






2...Zhou Yi-Miao, CHN
2...Abigail Spears, USA
2...Gabriela Paz, VEN
2...Lucie Hradecka, CZE
2...Sarah Gronert, GER
**2009 ITF SINGLES TITLES**

2...Llagostera-Vives/Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
2...DECHY/SANTANGELO, FRA/ITA
2...Black/Huber, ZIM/USA
**2009 DOUBLES TITLES - TEAMS**

16 months - LIEZEL HUBER (Nov. 12, 2007-CURRENT)
16 months - Virginia Ruano-Pascual (July 26, 2004 - Oct. 17, 2005)
17 months - Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Nov. 13, 1995 - April 6, 1997)
20 months - CARA BLACK (July 9, 2007 - CURRENT)
41 months - Martina Navratilova (Aug. 18, 1986 - Feb. 4, 1990)
**LONGEST STRETCH AS DOUBLES #1, since 1984**

2...United States (S.Williams/V.Williams)
2...Russia (Dementieva/Zvonareva)
2...FRANCE (BARTOLI/Mauresmo)
**2009 MULTIPLE CHAMPIONS - BY NATION**

3...IVETA BENESOVA (1-2)
4...Serena Williams (1-2 +L)
4...Elena Dementieva (2-1 +W)
**2009 WTA SF**

2...Dinara Safina (0-2)
2...MARION BARTOLI (1-1)
2...Venus Williams (2-0)
2...Victoria Azarenka (2-0)
3...Elena Dementieva (2-1)
**2009 WTA FINALS**


=============================
Well, on the bright side, at least Urszula seems to be making progress this season. .7-6/4-6/6-0...
Li d. A.Radwanska - 1st Mont -HM
=============================
ALG seems to be sputtering a bit. She had a big lead in the 3rd in this one. .6-2/2-6/7-6...
Strycova d. Groenefeld - 1st Mont .5
=============================
Based on their talent, both of these players probably should have won more singles titles than they have to this point. .6-4/6-3...
Bartoli d. Li - Final Mont .4
=============================
Sure, Szavay eventually lost in three sets to Vania King in the 2nd Round, but it's just nice to see her have a 1st Round victory over a legit opponent in a rather, dare I say, "routine" match. It's been awhile. .6-2/6-2...
Szavay d. Parmentier - 1st Mont .3
=============================
Peer lost in the 1st Round in doubles, too. But she gets a pass for a little while. Hopefully, her results won't now take a Mirza-in-2008 type of turn the rest of the way. .6-4/6-2...
Benesova d. Peer - 1st Mont .2
=============================
Serena said she wants to play at MSG again next year, too... though she might want to consult BJK & Co. about them announcing the $50,000 being given to charity AFTER telling the crowd that Williams herself jus received $400,000 for winning the event. (Talk about an inadvertent eye-rolling moment.) .6-4/6-3...
S.Williams d. V.Williams - Final MSG .1


=============================
Lertcheewakarn, the #1-ranked junior in the world, got a spot in the draw in the $25K in Sydney and knocked off #1-seed Kumiko Iijima in straight sets in the 1st Round...
Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/THA :JUNIOR STAR
=============================
Paz, 17, claimed her second ITF title of the season in the $25K in Fort Walton Beach. Wins over Aiko Nakamura, Abigail Spears and Ekaterina Dzehalevich, 1-6/6-4/7-5 in the final, did the trick...
Gabriela Paz/VEN :ITF PLAYER
=============================
While Agnes Szavay seems to have tentatively begun to turn things around, the same can't be said for Paszek. Her qualifying loss last week in Monterrey to Betina Jozami continued a recent trend that has her match record below-.500 for the 2009 season. A-Rad is still in the Top 10, but not for long. In Monterrey, losing in the 1st Round to Li isn't something to feel TOO bad about, but going down in a love set in the 3rd might be. She's now 4-5 on the season in WTA matches...
Tamira Paszek/AUT & Agnieszka Radwanska/POL :DOWN
=============================
Neither Li nor Zheng won titles this weekend, but 18-year old Zhou did in the $25K challenger in Sydney. It's her second ITF title of the season. Of note, Zhou wasn't the only Chinese title-winner this weekend, as Zhang Shuai won the $10K in Lyon, France, as well...
Zhou Yi-Miao/CHN :FRESH FACE
=============================
They held an exhibition at Madison Square Garden, and wouldn't you know it that Serena hogged the spotlight. In taking the Billie Jean Cup, Serena took out Ana Ivanovic in the one-set SF and then a probably-tired Venus in the best-of-three final 6-4/6-3. In Monterrey, Benesova reached her second of back-to-back SF with wins over Shahar Peer, Roberta Vinci and Strycova (with whom she teamed to reach the doubles final). It's the Czech's third SF of the year, behind only Serena and Elena Dementieva...
Serena Williams/USA & Iveta Benesova/CZE :VETERANS
=============================
A few years ago, Vania King became the first American teen to win a tour singles crown since Serena did so back in 1999. While King hasn't completely dropped off the WTA map, having some modest doubles success and a few appearances in Fed Cup action, she hasn't exactly progressed to another level since her big moment. She had a nice week in Monterrey, though, qualifying and knocking off Klara Zakopalova and Agnes Szavay to reach the QF (as well as the doubles SF w/ Zheng). Zahlavova-Strycova continued her upward mobility, getting some nice wins over Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Flavia Pennetta in Mexico, as well as being the doubles RU with Iveta Benesova...
Vania King/USA & Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova/CZE :SURPRISES
=============================
For a brief moment, it looked like we might see an all-Cookie final in Monterrey, but it turned out that only Li held up her end of the improbable deal. Still, the finally healthy (abeit probably only temporarily) Li reached her first tour singles final since she won Gold Coast in Week 1 of '08. She notched victories over Petra Cetkovska, Lucie Safarova and Iveta Benesova. Meanwhile, Zheng's post-Wimbledon SF '08 climb continues as the now world-#17 defeated the likes of Urszula Radwanska, Melinda Czink and Gisela Dulko en route to the SF. She also reached the doubles SF with Vania King...
Li Na/CHN & Zheng Jie/CHN :RISERS
=============================
One might have been hard-pressed to pull the fact out of the thin air going into Monterrey, but Bartoli's title this weekend was her first tour singles title since she made that surprise run to the Wimbledon final back in 2007. Actually, her fourth career title comes two and a half years since her third, in Quebec City in 2006. Along the way, she took out the two-headed Chinese monster of Zheng Jie and Li Na in the SF and Final, respectively...
Marion Bartoli/FRA :PLAYER OF THE WEEK


=============================
Serena Williams def. Venus Williams 6-4/6-3
BILLIE JEAN KING CUP (Exhibition - Madison Square Garden, NYC)

=============================
D: Dechy/Santangelo d. Benesova/Zahalvova-Strycova
S: Marion Bartoli def. Li Na 6-4/6-3
MONTERREY, MEXICO (Int'l $220K-Red Clay)

*WEEK 9 CHAMPIONS*

ANSWER: True. Color me guilty. One of the side benefits of the "Backwards Backspin" is that it's something of a time-saver, as well. Yep, a time-saving, space-saving gimmick... that some might argue takes more "effort" to put together than a normal edition of Backspin. But, of course, I try not to think about that.

Oh, and my apologies to Marion. Maybe next time?

QUESTION: Still, you don't seem to be giving Marion a full opening segment of the column like you normally would. I repeat, why not? You could still talk more about her in this spot.

ANSWER: Good point, nameless Backspin reader most definitely not also named Todd. Of course, I have nothing against La Trufflette. This gimmick edition of Backspin, as you so rightly dubbed it, was scheduled before Bartoli won in Monterrey. It would have taken a monumentally odd/brilliant/mesmerizing/worrisome result at the tournament to scuttle plans for this fifth annual attempt to bridge the gap between Mondays during one of the tour's slow, "dead zone" periods, which usually come in late February/early March, then again in April (look out, here comes another edition of "Scrambled Backspin,' with or without eggs and/or bacon in a few weeks).

QUESTION: So, Todd, why are you once again using the gimmicky "Backwards Backspin" trick? It seems as if you're not giving this week's one tour singles champion -- Marion Bartoli -- equal credit compared to the "Players of the Week" the rest of the season.

Wk.9- .now for All (The 5th Annual Backwards Backspin)
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009

Read more...

Wk.8- 28 Days

There were only twenty-eight days in February, but who'd have thought that SO MUCH could have been crammed into those short four weeks?

**February Awards - Weeks 5-8*
**TOP PLAYERS**
1. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
...she'll always have Paris. Not the French Open, mind you, but the '09 Open GDF SUEZ that propelled her back into the WTA spotlight after it had appeared that her playing days might nearly be numbered.
=============================
2. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
...the most dominant force is tennis is this team, lifetimes ahead of their peers on the computer and already holding two titles in 2009. Black has been the doubles #1 for 87 straight weeks, joined by Huber for the past 69. For her part, Huber added "U.S. Fed Cup heroine" to her resume, as well, in February after leading the American team to a stirring win over Argentina.
=============================
3. Italian Fed Cup team
...Italians don't like Pastries. At least not in Fed Cup play.
=============================
4. Venus Williams, USA
...her "leadership" might have been wanting in Dubai, but her playing ability wasn't. After sweeping through the biggest non-slam event so far in '09 in the Peer-less U.A.E. hardcourter, she did a quick turnaround and won a clay event in Mexico a week later.
=============================
5. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
...at 26, she finally won her first WTA singles title in Bogota, and added back-to-back doubles titles to provide some nice balance on her trophy mantle.
=============================
HM- Victoria Azarenka, BLR
...so far, Azarenka has been THE young player to watch in '09. Title #2 came in Memphis, and now there's even more intriguing "What If?" questions about that match against Serena she had to retire from in the Melbourne heat.
=============================
HM- Flavia Pennetta, ITA
...she led Team Italia's Fed Cup bloodbath victory over the French to start the month, then reached her sixth straight Acapulco final to end it.
=============================

**RISERS**
1. Kaia Kanepi, EST
2. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
3. Elena Vesnina, RUS
4. Virginie Razzano, FRA
5. Shahar Peer, ISR
6. Anne Keothavong, GBR
7. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
8. Sania Mirza, IND
9. Gisela Dulko, ARG
10. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, GER
HM- Petra Kvitova, CZE & Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova/CZE

**FRESH FACES**
1. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2. Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK
3. Melanie Oudin, USA
4. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
5. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
6. Sabine Lisicki, GER
7. Urszula Radwanska, POL
8. Patricia Mayr, AUT
9. Mathilde Johansson, FRA
10. Ioana-Raluca Olaru, ROU
HM- Tatjana Malek, GER & Ksenia Pervak, RUS

**SURPRISES**
1. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
2. Anne Keothavong, GBR
3. Patricia Mayr, AUT
4. Julie Ditty, USA
5. Masa Zec-Peskiric, SVK
6. Mervana Jugic-Salkic, BIH
7. Greta Arn, HUN
8. Vitalia Diatchenko, RUS
9. Emilie Loit, FRA
10. Katalin Marosi, HUN
HM- Chanelle Scheepers, RSA & Maret Ani, EST

**VETERANS**
1. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2. Cara Black & Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
3. Venus Williams, USA
4. Liezel Huber, USA
5. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
6. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
7. Nuria Llagostera-Vives/MJ Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
8. Elena Dementieva, RUS
9. Natalie Dechy, FRA
10. Julie Ditty, USA
HM- Francesca Schiavone, ITA & Iveta Benesova, CZE

**COMEBACKS**
1. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
2. Julia Vakulenko, UKR
3. Sania Mirza, IND
4. Jelena Dokic, AUS
5. Michaella Krajicek, NED
HM- Karolina Sprem, CRO & Julia Schruff, GER

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Lucie Hradecka, CZE
2. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
3. Julia Vakulenko, UKR
4. Abigail Spears, USA
5. Katie O'Brien, GBR
6. Tatjana Malek, GER
7. Karolina Sprem, CRO
8. Anastasiya Yakimova, BLR
9. Zhou Yi-Miao, CHN
10. Julie Coin, FRA
HM- Sandra Soler-Sola, ESP

**FED CUP MVPs**
1. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2. Liezel Huber, USA
3. Petra Kvitova, CZE
4. Melanie Oudin, USA
5. Alona & Kateryna Bondarenko, UKR

**JUNIOR/NCAA STARS**
1. Chelsey Gullickson, USA (Univ. of Georgia)
2. Paola Cos, USA
3. Elena Bogdan, ROU
HM- Blanka Szavay, HUN

**TOP PERFORMANCES**
[1]
Amelie Mauresmo gets three Top 10 wins (including vs. #3 & #4) en route to winning Paris, her first title in two years
[2]
Italy defeats France 5-0 in Fed Cup 1st Round action, with Flavia Pennetta defeating Team France's top two players, Mauresmo and Alize Cornet
[3]
Team USA erases 1-2 deficit to defeat Argentina in the Fed Cup 1st Round with a come-from-behind win by Melanie Oudin and doubles victory by the team of Huber/Ditty in Mary Joe Fernandez's debut as head coach
[4]
Venus Williams wins back-to-back titles on hard court (Dubai) and red clay (Acapulco) as she returns to the Top 5
[5]
Victoria Azarenka (Memphis) and Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez (Bogota) sweep singles and doubles titles in a single event

*TOP MATCHES*
[The Best of Times...]
Paris Final - Amelie Mauresmo d. Elena Dementieva
...7-6/2-6/6-4. Mauresmo blows a match point, but doesn't let the entire ball of wax slip away.
[The Worst of Times...]
Fed Cup 1st Rd - Pennetta (ITA) d. Mauresmo (FRA)
...2-6/7-6/6-4. Mauresmo blows a set and a break lead, Pennetta is fined for an obscene gesture and France's hopes fall to pieces.
[The Sign o' the Times...]
Dubai SF - Venus Williams d. Serena Williams
...6-1/2-6/7-6. It'll end up being the most ignored, least "important" should-have-been-big match of the year for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with tennis (or, at least, shouldn't).

*HIGH & LOWS*
[UPSET]
Dubai 2nd Rd. - Virginie Razzano d. Dinara Safina
...6-4/6-2. Razzano does this occasionally. Safina was due. The scoreline was an eyebrow-raiser, though.
[COMEBACK]
Asia/Oceania Fed Cup Round Robin - Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)
...4-6/7-5/6-0. Turning around her recent history, STOSUR was the one who reeled off the final twelve games to win the match. For once, she learned how the other, more affluent half lives.
[BREAKOUT]
Fed Cup 1st Rd. - Melanie Oudin (USA) d. Betina Jozami (ARG)
...2-6/6-1/6-2. Down a set, then a break in the 3rd, the 17-year old making her FC debut got the U.S. to the deciding doubles match (and, ultimately, a SF meeting with the Czechs this spring).

=FINALLY!=
In Pattaya City, Sania Mirza reached her first WTA singles final since 2007
=============================
Julia Vakulenko won the Rancho Mirage $25K title and reached another final the following week (lets just try to forget that she had to retire from the second one... again).
=============================
The Wimbledon Centre Court roof is scheduled to be tested for the first time in May... and Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters will be there to see if everything is up to snuff.
=============================
Amelie Mauresmo won her first title since she claimed that diamond-encrusted racket in Antwerp in 2007
=============================
Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, 26, won her first WTA singles title EVER
=============================
Jelena Dokic played Fed Cup for Australia for the first time since 2000. She went 3-0 in the #2 singles slot.
=============================
Both Clijsters and Justine Henin announced separate plans to take part in exhibitions later in the year
=============================
Anne Keothavong became the first Top 50 British woman since 1993
=============================

*LA PETIT TAUREAU: AMERICAN CHAMPION-BUILDER?*
Henin and Carlos Rodriguez are starting up a tennis academy in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida

*BOBBY FISCHER AWARD*
Mary Joe Fernandez's chess moves proved to be the cure for the U.S.'s Fed Cup woes. Faced with another "B" team situation, she added up-and-comer Melanie Oudin to the team. Oudin got the key singles victory when the American team was staring down elimination. Then, charged with replacing an injured Bethanie Mattek, MJF added veteran (but FC newbie) Julie Ditty to the roster, hurting the team's singles prospects if another injury were to occur, but providing Liezel Huber with a great doubles partner. In the end. the Huber/Ditty team closed out the tie with Argentina with a win that completed a 3-2 victory.

=OF REVELATIONS & DISAPPOINTMENTS, A STEP BY STEP PROCESS=
1. The U.A.E. does not grant Israeli Shahar Peer a visa for the tournament in Dubai
=============================
2. The WTA goes on with the tournament, acting as if the situation caught everyone by total surprise and nothing could be done
=============================
3. The WTA players fail to back a boycott, or even a strong statement of support for Peer or any other player who might one day find herself in a similar situation. Venus Williams says the players could not back out of the tournament because it would harm the sponsors.
=============================
4. Israeli doubles specialist Andy Ram is granted a visa to participate in the ATP Dubai event taking place the following week.
=============================
5. The WTA fines the Dubai event a record $300K and awards Peer (and doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld) prize money and ranking points, and stresses that the tournament COULD be scratched from the schedule in 2010 if "assurances" aren't met that would prevent a similar situation from occurring again. The moves fails to move the tour into the "vertebrate" classification on the evolutionary chart.
=============================
6. Andy Roddick pulls out of the ATP event in protest of the denial of Peer an entry visa. Roddick would have been the tournament's defending champion. ATP "leaders" Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are mum, pulling out of Dubai with legitimate injuries.
=============================
7. Venus Williams wins the tournament, and mentions the "brave" Peer in the post-match ceremony, saying how she wished she had been there. She notes that she had to mention it because she wishes to stand up for what is "right."
=============================
8. ATP player Dudi Sela blames Peer partly for the controversy, saying that she applied for her visa too late.
=============================
9. Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska's father complains that his daughters weren't treated by the Dubai organizers as well as the likes of Venus Williams had been.
=============================
10. With the curtain having been pulled back to reveal the tour's lack of forethought and/or backbone and the players' disinterest in the plight of one of their own (just weeks after so many complained loudly about the new schedule not allowing them to enter some of the tournaments they wished to play), the WTA crosses its fingers and hopes that it never has to discuss this topic ever, ever, ever again.
=============================

Sometimes you're better off not knowing the truth, I guess. Imagine what we'd have learned if February had been TWENTY-NINE days long.

Small favors, huh?



*WEEK 8 CHAMPIONS*

ACAPULCO, MEXICO (Int'l $220K/RC)
S: Venus Williams def. Flavia Pennetta 6-1/6-2
D: Llagostera-Vives/Martinez-Sanchez d. Dominguez-Lino/Parra-Santonja


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Venus Williams/USA

AP PHOTO / Alexandre Meneghini
...well, after being denied it last week, Venus ended up winning a P.O.W. award anyway. It wasn't easy getting that second straight title, though. Moving from hard courts to clay, she struggled through three-setters against defending champ Nuria Llagostera-Vives, Greta Arn and Agnes Szavay before finding her rhythm against Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova in the SF. She then wiped out her usual nemesis, Flavia Pennetta, in the final, allowing just three games to grab her 41st career title. Williams is now tied with Justine Henin on the all-time list, just two behind Martina Hingis.
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RISERS: Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova/CZE & Nuria Llagostera-Vives/Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP
...Strycova is one of the players leading the Vaidisova-less Czech Maiden surge in '09. In Acapulco, she reached the SF with wins over Andreja Klepac, Carla Suarez-Navarro and Maret Ani. Meanwhile, after Bogota champ MJMS lost in the 2nd Round to Petra Cetkovska in Acapulco, she rebounded to claim a second doubles title in two weeks with Llagostera-Vives (Black/Huber is the season's only other multiple title winning team).
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SURPRISE: Agnes Szavay/HUN
...it was quite a week for Szavay. After failing to make it through qualifying in Acapulco, her (temporary) tennis epitaph was likely being written in pencil in more than a few places and she was going to have to field suggestions about how to reverse this downturn that has now lasted more than a year. But then something surprising happened. She got into the main draw as a lucky loser and regained a bit of her formerly-magic touch. After a close one with youngster Anna Orlik, she defeated Roberta Vinci and took eventual champ Venus to three sets in the QF. After barely holding onto her Top 30 ranking and looking like a precipitous drop was imminent, Szavay is actually moving UP the rankings this week (yeah, it's only one spot, from #28 to #27, but it's SOMETHING to grab hold of). Finally, is there some light at the end of the tunnel?
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VETERANS: Flavia Pennetta/ITA & Iveta Benesova/CZE
...for the sixth straight year, Pennetta reached the Acapulco final. But she lost for the fourth time (after wins in '05 and '08). Victories over Mariya Koryttseva, Pauline Parmentier, Petra Cetkovska and Benesova finally got her on the board with some good non-Fed Cup results, even if her noncompetitive loss to Venus in the final had to leave a bad taste in her mouth. Benesova reached the SF after notching victories over Olga Savchuk, Klara Zakopalova and Mathilde Johansson.
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FRESH FACE: Mathilde Johansson/FRA
...two weeks ago, the 23-year old Pastry had never reached a tour QF in her career. Now she's reached two. After attaining her career-best result a week ago in Bogota, Johansson matched it in Acapulco by way of a win over veteran Rossana de los Rios and a walkover past Tathiana Garbin. She's now at a career-best #64.
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DOWN: Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP
...this was originally going to go to Szavay, but she pulled her own butt out of the fire and shoved CSN's into it. Things haven't been going so swimmingly for Suarez-Navarro since her star turn in Melbourne. She had a bad Fed Cup weekend, then retired from a match in Bogota with an elbow injury. In Acapulco, she was shoved out of the tournament in unceremonious straight-sets fashion by Strycova. Whether it's the injury or the typical inconsistency of a young player that's the issue will have to be determined later.
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ITF PLAYER: Julie Coin/FRA
...Coin's U.S. Open win over AnaIvo last year has "reimagined" her entire career. She just won her second ITF title since her moment in the sun, unfortunately when Yanina Wickmayer (who was going for a second straight challenger title) was defaulted from the Clearwater $50K final while leading the match (apparently, when ball and linesperson meet bad things happen, like losing all your potential points and prize money). Before that, Coin had gotten wins over Ekaterina Bychkova and Evgeniya Rodina to get there.
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JUNIOR (Exempt Project) STAR: Elena Bogdan/ROU
...the ITF's Junior Exempt Project allows year-end Top 10 Girls to gain main draw berths in challenger events, and 16-year old E-Bog took advantage of the program to get into the $50K Biberach event in Germany last week. She didn't get a win, but she did lose a close one to Karin Knapp (who was ranked as high as #35 a year ago) 6-4/7-6.
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1. Acap Q3 - Arn d. Szavay 1-6/7-5/6-2
Acap QF - V.Williams d. Szavay 6-2/5-7/6-1
... Oddly enough, the set scores in both of Szavay's Acapulco losses were the same, but in different orders. But while the loss to countrywoman Arn was a potential confidence-buster for the one-time world #13, the defeat at the hands of the current hottest player on tour in the QF might actually help to begin to lift the Hungarian out of her fourteen month-long doldrums.
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2. Acap Final - V.Williams d. Pennetta
...6-1/6-2. After three consecutive losses to Pennetta, Venus has now won two in a row to neutralize her once-vexing opponent and knot their series at 3-3. So far, the only player to beat Venus this year is Carla Suarez-Navarro.
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3. Acap 1st - V.Williams d. Llagostera-Vives 6-4/4-6/6-2
Acap 2nd - V.Williams d. Arn 6-3/6-7/6-4
... Never a "great" claycourter, it took Venus a few rounds to acclimate herself. But once she did, she swept through the SF and Final without dropping a set (and only a handful of games).
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4. Biberach, GER $50K Final - Sprem d. Flipkens 6-1/6-2
Clearwater, FLA $50K Final - Coin d. Wickmayer 3-6/1-1 defaulted.
... It might have been a rare two-title weekend for Belgium without either Henin or Clijsters being involved. As it turned out, the only celebratory waffles on Monday morning will be covered in syrup.
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5. Clearwater, FLA $50K 2nd - Date-Krumm d. Nakamura

Hey, they finally updated Kimiko's bio photo!
...6-3/6-2. Date-Krumm comes all the way to Florida and she STILL faces another Japanese player. The veteran defeated a player twenty-one years her junior -- a whole Ana Ivanovic lifespan -- in Lauren Embree in the 1st Round before losing to Bratislava-born, Melbourne-residing Jarmila Groth in a 3-6/7-5/7-5 contest in the QF. Date-Krumm's ranking is up to #155.
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HM- Monterrey Q2 - Jozami d. Paszek
...6-1/6-1. While Szavay's week rollercoastered down, then up. Paszek is riding the down trip this week after failing to qualify for Week 9's inaugural Monterrey event, getting wiped out by Betina Jozami, the same player that Melanie Oudin knocked off in that big Fed Cup match a few weeks back.
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**2009 WTA SINGLES TITLES**
2...Elena Dementieva (Auckland/Sydney)
2...VENUS WILLIAMS (DUBAI/ACAPULCO)
2...Victoria Azarenka (Brisbane/Memphis)

**2009 TOP 10ers - WON/LOST**
[WTA/Fed Cup matches]
21-3...Elena Dementieva
16-2...Serena Williams
12-2...Vera Zvonareva (+2-0 ex.)
11-1...Venus Williams (+2-0 ex.)
10-3...Dinara Safina (+3-1 ex.)
9-3...Jelena Jankovic (+0-1 ex.)
8-3...Ana Ivanovic
7-2...Svetlana Kuznetsova
7-5...Agnieszka Radwanska
3-2...Nadia Petrova
0-0...Maria Sharapova

**2009 WIN STREAKS**
15...Elena Dementieva, January
10...VENUS WILLIAMS, FEBRUARY-current
10...Serena Williams, January-February

**2009 WTA FINALS**
3...Elena Dementieva (2-1)
2...VICTORIA AZARENKA (2-0)
2...Dinara Safina (0-2)

**CONSECUTIVE YEARS w/ 2+ TITLES**
[longest current streaks, w/ '09 title]
4 years - Elena Dementieva (2006-09)
3 years - VENUS WILLIAMS (2007-09)

**2009 - '08 TITLE DEFENSE ATTEMPTS**
Dubai (Wk.7) - Elena Dementieva (QF-S.Williams)
Bogota (Wk.7) - Nuria Llagostera-Vives (2nd-P.Mayr)
Acapulco (Wk.8) - Flavia Pennetta (RU-V.Williams)

**2009 SEMIFINALISTS BY NATION**
9 - Russia
6 - France, United States
4 - Czech Republic
2 - Belarus, Great Britain, Italy, Slovak Republic

**2009 WTA CHAMPIONS BY SEED**
#1 seed - 3
#2 seed - 3
#3 seed - 1
#4 seed - 1
#6 seed - 1
#7 seed - 1
unseeded - 1

**BACKSPIN 2009 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - FEBRUARY**
[WTA]
Wk.5 - Flavia Pennetta, ITA
Wk.6 - Amelie Mauresmo, FRA
Wk.7 - vacant
Wk.8 - Venus Williams, USA
[ITF]
Wk.5 - Julia Vakulenko, UKR
Wk.6 - Lucie Hradecka, CZE
Wk.7 - Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
Wk.8 - Julie Coin, FRA
[Junior/NCAA]
Wk.5 - none
Wk.6 - Paola Cos, USA & Blanka Szavay, HUN
Wk.7 - Chelsey Gullickson, USA (Univ. of Georgia)
Wk.8 - Elena Bogdan, ROU





MONTERREY, MEXICO (Int'l $220K-Red Clay)
08 Final: (new event)
09 Top Seeds: A.Radwanska/Bartoli
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=SF=
Benesova d. Kirilenko
Dulko d. Bartoli
=FINAL=
Dulko d. Benesova

...Dulko is due for a good finish to a week, and she's coming off a short stint in Acapulco. So she should be well-rested.


BILLIE JEAN KING CUP (Exhibition)
Madison Square Garden, New York City
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=SF (1-set)=
V.Williams d. Jankovic
S.Williams d. Ivanovic
=FINAL (3-set)=
V.Williams d. S.Williams

...Venus is on a roll, and has mostly had Serena's number of late. Of course, this is New York City, where the stars come out to shine. And with Sharapova sidelined, there is no bigger STAR in tennis than Serena.


All for now.

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