2010 Intriguing Questions

The new year has arrived. What better time to look at 100 of the upcoming season's most intriguing questions (not to mention make a few predictions, region-by-region)?

*NORTH AMERICA*
1. Serena Williams, USA: seriously, when was the last time a player with her legacy and dominance could honestly say she was entering a season needing to "redeem" her reputation (not in her eyes, nor Backspin's... but in the opinion of a suspiciously high number of others)?
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2. Venus Williams, USA: has it really been seven years since she reached a slam singles final somewhere other than SW19?
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3. Melanie Oudin, USA: a year ago, I wondered if she was "about to become the first Top 100 U.S. teen who truly bears watching since the Sisters." Since she was just that a season ago (and then some, finishing in the Top 50), it's natural that the new version of the question is this: Can she can avoid all the "year after" pitfalls and become the first Top 20 American teen since Serena?
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4. Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN: who wants even more of those "more fun than a barrel of monkeys" A-Woz vs. C-Woz matches?
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5. Mary Joe Fernandez & the USA Fed Cup Team: all right, MJF, what do you do for an encore? First up, the Amelie-less French. As Bullwinkle J. Moose used to say, "Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat." Followed by Rocky the Flying Squirrel retorting, "Again?"
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6. Lindsay Davenport, USA: all right, it IS finally over now, right? I mean, you're not going to be texting and emailing Kim Clijsters for advice during the season are you? Maybe we should ask the soon-to-be-ex-Mrs. Woods if you're practicing more than usual?
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7. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA: is her "honeymoon hangover" a thing of the past? Maybe she should go back to trying to get attention with her thrift-shop on-court attire?
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8. Lisa Raymond, USA: with Rennae Stubbs back at her side, is she poised to add a few more major titles to the tail end of her most underrated career?
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9. Christina McHale, USA: has she learned to hydrate? Maybe Oudin can get her a pair of shoes with "h-y-d-r-a-t-e" on the sides.
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10. Ashley Harkleroad, USA: will she ever make news with her clothes on again?
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11. Sloane Stephens, USA: is she just the first potentially major player in a long line of African-American girls inspired to pick up a racket by Venus and Serena?
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12. Madison Keys, USA: how big could her serve be a few years from now?
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13. Williams/Williams, USA: how much of a chance is there that they might add the "Premier 9" events to their schedule and, along with the majors, use their doubles dominance to get Serena into the simultaneous #1 ranking in both singles and doubles by the end of the year?
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14. Serena's website prose: is she going to just skip the middleman (and woman) this year and continue to rankle feathers without bothering to shake a racket and offer up a tasty fuzz-covered meal to a guest in front of a few thousands of her "closest friends?" Really, could the WTA's first big Twitter controversy (Twitterercy?) be just around the corner?
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15. The U.S. Girls' Talent Pool: the talk about the lack of new talent has died down a bit, hasn't it?
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16. FIRST TITLE?: Sloane Stephens/USA (ITF & Jr. Slam), Madison Keys/USA (ITF), Christina McHale/USA (ITF)
17. FIRST FINAL?: Melanie Oudin/USA
18. FIRST SEMIFINAL?: Melanie Oudin/USA, Alexa Glatch/USA, Beatrice Capra/USA (Jr. Slam)
19. FIRST QUARTERFINAL?: Gabriela Dabrowski/CAN (Jr. Slam)

*SOUTH AMERICA*
20. Rossana de los Rios, PAR: is the almost 35-year old the next veteran to have a late-career surge?
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21. Gisela Dulko, ARG: hmmm, was that really the career-long Argentine tease showing some honest-to-Betsy (whoever she is) consistency last season, good enough for her best year-end ranking since '05?
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22. Veronica Cepede Royg, PAR & Bianco Botto, PER & Camila Silva, CHI & Gabriela Paz, VEN: is this the best group of young South American girls in a handful of generations?
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23. FIRST TITLE?: Rossana de los Rios/PAR
24. FIRST SINGLES/DOUBLES TITLE SWEEP?: Gisela Dulko/ARG

*EUROPE*
25. Justine Henin, BEL: can you see my smile? Well, can ya? She thinks she can be BETTER in LPT II? Seriously, how great is that? You gotta love it when a player doesn't go the "I just hope I can compete" route?
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26. Jelena Jankovic, SRB: she didn't go to Mexico again, did she? Whew. Ummm... does she know Justine is back? Uh-oh.
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27. Kim Clijsters, BEL: defeating Venus in an exhibition in Antwerp was "more exciting" than winning the U.S. Open? Really? And here there was the thought that maybe her kissing-the-crowd's-collective-butt-for-approval days were left behind in KC 1. Will she even be an active part of the WTA storyline by this time next year?
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28. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN: sometime in 2010, will we be looking back at the 2009 SEC and saying that THAT was when everything changed for C-Woz?
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29. Ana Ivanovic, SRB: "overtraining" is why she's fallen off the table? Really?
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30. Sven Groenefeld: can he play the role of Larisa Savchenko to AnaIvo's Kuznetsova in 2010?
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31. Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP: all right, CSN. After some hemming-and-hawing in '09, it's time to take the next step, don't you think?
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32. Victoria Azarenka, BLR: she DOES know what she's doing, right?
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33. Tamira Paszek, AUT: do you think she's glad she's not Belgian? Go talk to Wickmayer about it.
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34. Nicole Vaidisova, CZE: remember her? At least SHE finally seems to, hence the long-overdue step down to the ITF level to get her career together after waking up one day in a little town called Oblivion. Hopefully, she's finally decided that it isn't a town she can never leave.
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35. Dominika Cibulkova, SVK: how many remember that she actually reached a slam semifinal last season? Ah, just as I thought.
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36. Agnes Szavay, HUN: will the real Szavay please stand up? No, not you, Blanka.
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37. Flavia Pennetta, ITA: can she possibly improve upon a season in which she reached the Top 10, maybe had her best slam moment in that U.S. Open comeback against Zvonareva and then capped the year by winning the Fed Cup?
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38. Anne Keothavong, GBR: can a happier Keothavong be an even better Keothavong than the one she was rounding into before her injury last season? Of course, when it comes to this Brit, "happier" is probably a relative term.
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39. The Radwanskas, POL: how close will Urszula be to Agnieszka in the rankings at this time next year? Surely, at least A-Rad's Top 10 days are numbered.
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40. Amelie Mauresmo, FRA: how hopeless will the grace vacuum be now that she's gone?
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41. Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR: when will the tipping point come when her ability outweighs the noise pollution factor when it comes to media coverage?
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42. Tatiana Golovin, FRA: it's really over, isn't it? Crap.
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43. Sabine Lisicki, GER: can she? You know what I'm talking about, but I don't want to say it out loud so that the Tennis Gods can hear. I mean, it would be so great if she could, you know?
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44. The Brit Question: who's going to have the better career? Laura Robson or Heather Watson? And how weird is it to even have two young British girls good enough to make the question legit?
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45. Those Ukrainian Twins: how many times will the Kichenoks meet up in singles finals in 2010? Are they the anti-Battlin' Bondarenkos?
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46. Sorana Cirstea, ROU: I wonder if C-Woz will throw some of her McCartney cast-offs her way?
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47. The Next Boomlet: will it be the Belarusians or the Ukrainians who produce the next mini-revolution within the heart of Europe?
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48. Katarina Srebotnik, SLO: is there any potential comeback of note being ignored more than her's?
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49. Patty Schnyder, SUI: are we a season away from asking, "Remember her?"
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50. Alize Cornet, FRA: 2009 was just a hiccup, right?
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51. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, ESP: hmmm, I wonder if that lineswoman from the U.S. Open will suggest that MJMS try to hit Serena in the arm (or maybe aim a little higher) with a ball the next time they meet?
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52. Marion Bartoli & Virginie Razzano, FRA: I wonder if they've finished that "interrupted" handshake?
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53. Kristina Mladenovic, FRA: the next Pastry hope to do in Paris what Mauresmo never could?
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54. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL: hmmm, am I ready to adopt another Belgian who wants to stick real and perceived slights right back in the eyes of the people they came from?
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55. FIRST TITLE?: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK, Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP, Anne Keothavong/GBR, Olgo Govortsova/BLR, Kaia Kanepi/EST, Victoriya Kutuzova/UKR
56. FIRST FINAL?: Anne Keothavong/GBR, Urszula Radwanska/POL, Stefanie Voegele/SUI, Jana Cepalova/SVK (Jr. Slam)
57. FIRST SEMIFINAL?: Urszula Radwanska/POL, Petra Martic/CRO, Arantxa Rus/NED, Lenka Wienerova/SVK, Anastasiya Sevastova/LAT, Sabine Lisicki/GER (Slam), Maryna Zanevska/UKR (Jr. Slam)
58. FIRST QUARTERFINAL?: Lenka Wienerova/SVK, Kristina Mladenovic/FRA
59. ALSO?: Anabel Medina-Garrigues/ESP will win her tenth career singles title, but not reach a slam singles QF, making her just the second player in WTA history (Anna Smashnova) with double-digit tour singles crowns but no slam QF results.

*AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST*
60. Shahar Peer, ISR: Dubai, anyone?
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61. Chanel Simmonds, RSA: just seeing her name in a draw makes you think back to little Amanda Coetzer, the South African who rode her mighy mite status all the way to a few slam semifinals back in the day, doesn't it? Maybe it's just me.
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62. Cara Black, ZIM: if she passes Navratilova's records for most consecutive weeks at #1 (she's a year away) and overall career weeks atop the rankings (she needs about eighty more weeks or so), how good will her case be for being in the discussion for all-time best doubles player?
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FIRST SINGLES MATCH WIN IN DUBAI: Shahar Peer/ISR
AT LEAST TWO SLAM DOUBLES TITLES: Cara Black/ZIM (Doubles & Mixed)
63. FIRST SEMIFINAL?: Chanel Simmonds/RSA (Jr. Slam)

*ASIA/PACIFIC*
64. Jelena Dokic, AUS: what will she do for an encore?
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65. Sania Mirza, IND: has marriage and the appearance of a new tennis-playing Indian teen (Poojashree Venkatesha) taken away some of the pressure?
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66. Samantha Stosur, AUS: does her new status as a slam semifinalist, WTA singles titlist and big-time confidence spewer mean she's finally capable of backing up her promise and becoming the first Top 10 Aussie since Alicia Molik?
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67. Alicia Molik, AUS: speaking of... her late-season Down Under comeback was fairly under-the-radar, but does her immediate success means she's going to evolve into at least a Top 20 threat again?
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68. Li Na, CHN: in ice hockey parlance, Li's career +/- numbers wouldn't be all that great when it comes to weighing talent against actual accomplishments, you know?
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69. Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN: last year, I asked how much a 38-year old tennis player could accomplish? Quite a bit more than anticipated, as it turned out. So, can a 39-year old tennis player not named Jimmy Connors do even better one year later?
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70. Casey Dellacqua, AUS: after a year of trial, will she finally make her grandma smile in Melbourne again? Winning the Australian Open Wild Card Playoff tournament was certainly a good start.
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71. Chinese Fed Cup Team: hmm, vs. the Slovaks in the opening Fed Cup weekend... could Daniela Hantuchova kick off yet another disappointing FC season for the Chinese?
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72. Peng Shuai, CHN: well, I guess it's nice that she at least seems to have found her niche as a doubles achiever, right?
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73. Marina Erakovic, NZL: so, how long before she knocks Sacha Jones off and reclaims her spot on the pedastal as the top-ranked Kiwi?
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74. Jarmila Groth & Anastasia Rodionova, AUS: which newly-minted Sheila will feel the Aussie love first?
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75. Olivia Rogowska, AUS: is she the next Australian teenager who'll set hearts afire Down Under?
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76. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA: what will the big tour experience be like for the former #1 junior?
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77. Sesil Karatantcheva, KAZ: remember her?
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78. FIRST TITLE?: Casey Dellacqua/AUS
79. FIRST FINAL?: Jelena Dokic/AUS (since 2003), Chang Kai-Chen/TPE, Casey Dellacqua/AUS, Miyabi Inoue/JPN (Jr. Slam)
80. FIRST SEMIFINAL?: Casey Dellacqua/AUS, Olivia Rogowska/AUS, Chang Kai-Chen/TPE
81. FIRST QUARTERFINAL?: Sacha Jones/NZL, Olivia Rogowska/AUS
82. ALSO?: Jelena Dokic will reach the Wimbledon Round of 16 for the first time since 2002

*RUSSIA*
83. Dinara Safina, RUS: is she the new AnaIvo (the post-'08 Roland Garos version)?
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84. Maria Sharapova, RUS: is the long Supernovic nightmare over?
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85. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS: with another slam in hand, are we going to see the same Kuznetsova in '10 that we saw in '05?
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86. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS: do those two wins over Venus mean she's close?
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87. Elena Dementieva, RUS: did her slam title window slam closed when she failed to convert match point against Serena at Wimbledon? If she goes slam title-less through four slams in '10, she'll have played forty-eight slams without winning one, and no women's slam singles champ has ever taken more than forty-five attempts (Jana Novotna in slam #45 at Wimbledon '98, with Amelie Mauresmo's win in #31 second) to raise a trophy.
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88. Anna Chakvetadze, RUS: remember her?
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89. Vera Zvonareva, RUS: she didn't have Sharapova's old set of doctors guiding her rehab, did she? Or Jankovic's trainers? Whew. There's still hope.
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90. Elena Vesnina, RUS: is she the "craziest" Hordette in tight on-court moments? (Of course, to even consider that to be so you'd have to erase from your mind the image of Zvonareva attacking the tape on her knees at last year's U.S. Open after squandering more than half a dozen match points against Pennetta.)
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91. Nadia Petrova, RUS: does she have one more slam run in her? Alas, probably not. Oh, Nadia.
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92. Russian Fed Cup Team: things will HAVE to turn out better in 2010, right?
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93. Ekaterina Makarova, RUS: the next Hordette to make a mark? She reached back-to-back tour finals in '09, but lost both.
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94. The Next Wave: a year ago, Sports Illustrated was wondering whether the Russian Revolution's tide had receded. Is the question still being asked after a season in which one Hordette won a junior slam, two more reached junior slam finals and five girls finished in the year-end Girls Top 25?
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95. Alla Kudryavtseva, RUS: I'm guessing she probably knew better than to say anything about Madison Keys' outfit after she lost to her in Ponte Vedra Beach, right?
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96. FIRST TITLE?: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Alisa Kleybanova, Ekaterina Makarova, Yulia Putintseva (Jr. Slam), Daria Gavrilova (Jr. Slam)
97. FIRST FINAL?: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
98. FIRST SEMIFINAL?: Evgeniya Rodina
99. FIRST QUARTERFINAL?: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Slam)
100. ALSO?: Pavlyuchenkova will finish 2010 ranked in the Top 20

*AND FIVE MORE, JUST BECAUSE*
100a. Pam Shriver, ESPN2: will someone at ESPN realize that maybe Shriver should just stay in the booth and/or studio at the 2010 U.S. Open?
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100b. The 2010 Official Guide to Professional Tennis... NOT: who's bright idea was it to decide the WTA wouldn't produce a tour guide this season? If it was a case of it being too expensive, then there's yet another reason to have levied an even larger fine on Dubai.
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100c. The "Tournament of Champions" and the "Season-Ending Championships?: who decided to play the TOC AFTER the SEC anyway? It's like holding a conference tournament after a national championship.
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100d. AP Female Athlete of the Year: it's nice that Serena won the award, but I think that Clijsters finished third says a great deal about how lacking the accomplishments were in other women's sports in '09, as a year without the Olympics providing a slew of new faces and no LPGA golfer having a season worthy of consideration pretty much left tennis (and maybe basketball) as the only sports to choose from. Of course, that Zenyatta, a horse that didn't win a Triple Crown face, finished ahead of the Belgian did sort of bring a smile to my face. Bazinga!
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100e. USA TODAY: who's running the shop at USA TODAY when it comes to sorting through tennis news and results? In recent weeks, the newspaper called Wickmayer a "he" (sure, it could be just a typo -- but part of me thinks someone just didn't know the difference between her and Xavier Malisse in a note about their ban), listed Martina Hingis' "fall from grace" as one of the ten biggest sports letdowns of the decade (considering the hinkyness of her ban, especially after the Gasquet and Agassi news this past year, it was hardly worthy of a listing), chose the Federer/Roddick '09 Wimbledon final as the only tennis entry in the ten greatest sports moments/feats of the 2000's (but didn't mention the Nadal/Federer "Greatest Match Ever Playerd" from a year earlier) and failed to list the "Serena Slam" at all. As they say on "Modern Family" -- "WTF? Why the face?"
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All for now.



2010 Preview Series Link: Wozniacki: Charm, with a Side of Harm, ATP Top 10 Predictions, Prediction Blowout
NEXT: "Player v. Player" & Dorothy Tour/1st Quarter Preview

Read more...

2010 Blowout: Imperfect 10's

Just how different will the WTA landscape appear one year from now?

However the 2010 women's year-end Top 10 shakes out, it promises to be a fascinating tale getting there. Considering the list of who's currently NOT in the Top 10 includes the names of players like Henin, Clijsters and Sharapova, it's safe to assume that after only two of the Top 10 faces changed between the end of '08 and the close of the '09 season (when Wozniacki and Azarenka replaced Sharapova and Ivanovic), we're going to be seeing quite a bit more change over the next eleven months of action.

Here's an early prediction for the ten best players of 2010 (with '09 rank in parenthesis). You'll notice I didn't say "Top 10 Predictions," since I'm not actually ranking them #1-10 this year. After Maria Sharapova became the latest victim of the ol' "Kuznetsova Curse" after being predicted #1 a year ago, I'm "pulling a Waffle" and "retiring" the official Top 10 predictions for now. I figure I can't put a hex on ALL TEN women, right? Of course, as is the case with any retiring Waffle, this isn't likely a final goodbye to the Top 10 picks... it's just a brief sabbatical.

Hmmm, since there's no actual #1 pick for the women, I wonder if that means I've doomed Juan Martin del Potro to a season's worth of trouble?

Anyway (in alphabetical order), with Top 10 Repeats & Top 10 Climbers highlighted accordingly:

Victoria Azarenka, BLR (7): it could be the Belarusian who slips off this list in '10, considering her results slid a bit as the '09 season wore on, and she recently split with her coach. My two lasting images of Azarenka from last year are the maniacal look on her face as she charged back to defeat Carla Suarez-Navarro at Roland Garros, and then her frustration after blowing that SEC match against Wozniacki. There's a lot of desire there, but so much pressure to succeed could prove to be counterproductive if she doesn't make quick progress this season. Azarenka won't be boring. That could mean she follows C-Woz into a slam final, or tumbles down to #20 or so as she struggles to keep her head screwed on straight.
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Kim Clijsters, BEL (18): yeah, yeah, yeah. I DID contemplate not putting Clijsters on this list, thinking that MAYBE she'll be bothered by injuries once she tries to play a full schedule, or that MAYBE the old underachieving Clijsters will return with Henin having rejoined the mix, etc. But, I figured, I have to establish a base line on which to judge KC this season, and assuming she'll be back in the Top 10 is a good place to start. Plus, it'll be easier to toss darts at her party balloons later if I give her credit now.
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Elena Dementieva, RUS (5): every season you think this might be the year that Punch-Sober finally starts to slip down the rankings. But there she was a season ago, starting her season Down Under liker her hair was on fire and beating everyone in her path. She didn't really get much traction in the slams, then fumbled away that SF at Wimbledon, but she still finished the year in the Top 5. Outside of the Sisters, she's the oldest player in the Top 10 and will likely see her fortunes turn for the worse soon. I'm guessing it won't be this year, though.
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Justine Henin, BEL (NR): hasn't everyone already penciled in La Petit Taureau II for the Top 10? Top 5? Top 2, maybe? Probably so. The real question is whether she'll be able to regain her slam prowess in a WTA that is dominated by the force that is Serena, not whether she'll outclass Clijsters & Co. over the course of a full season.
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Jelena Jankovic, SRB (8): will the whirl return to Queen Chaos' dervish? Hopefully, a more thoughtful offseason conditioning program will allow JJ to start the season as herself rather than whoever that was who began '09. Jankovic edged out Kuznetsova for this list of ten players largely because even though she didn't have a great season last time out, she STILL managed to finish in the Top 10. So, assuming she'll be better off in '10, I'll leave her there.
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Maria Sharapova, RUS (14): if her shoulder is healthy and her serve back to its old self, might she be ready to pick up where she left off early in '08? Remember, she easily took out Henin in the Australian Open final almost two years ago and looked like she was ready to take flight and fully live up to the promise of the young Supernova who knocked off Serena at Wimbledon in '04. Of course, now Serena is playing like the Serena of old and Henin says she wants to be even better than before. There will be no easy paths on the WTA in 2010.
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Samantha Stosur, AUS (13): Slingin' Sammy's improvement has been increasing seemingly exponentially every few months over the last year or so, and after reaching a slam SF in Paris and winning her first career title in '09, she's carrying a whole new brand of confidence into 2010. Success in Melbourne could act as rocket fuel for her season.
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Serena Williams, USA (1): all Serena did last season was win two slams and finish the season at #1, but those thirty seconds on Ashe continue to dog her all these months later. Of course, refusing to play along with the prevailing "pure as the driven snow is the only way to go" sentiment (hereby known as doing the "Clijsters Tango"), by ranting in website prose about how much she ISN'T all that sorry about the incident only stirs the pot. Not that it should bother her much. When Serena gets ticked off, it's usually the rest of the WTA that pays the price.
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Venus Williams, USA (6): truthfully, what she does at Wimbledon is all that really matters when it comes to her continuing legacy in the sport, but since her career continues to be an open-ended affair that, judging from her recent comments, could continue on for quite a few more seasons, one would like to see her make a slam mark again somewhere other than just in London.
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Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (4): I fear she might take a step back in '10 as she adjusts to playing a (hopefully) less heavy schedule and maybe tries to add a few important facets (second serve, a bit more pop) to her game over the course of the season. But I don't have the heart to leave Princess Charming off this list.
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*FOUR MORE TO PONDER*
Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (3): the jury is still out about whether Kuznetsova's Roland Garros title without Henin in the field REALLY changed her career, or whether is was just another tease.
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Dinara Safina, RUS (2): hmmm, a year that came crashing down around her. A back injury that ended her season, and could linger into 2010. A psyche that can't be helped by a returning Henin, full-season Clijsters, healthy Sharapova, peeved Serena and not-overtrained Jankovic (or Ivanovic, if we're to believe her recent comments that that might have been the cause of her fall... hmmm, can you "overtrain" your brain?) makes one worry a bit for the Russian.
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Yanina Wickmayer, BEL (16): things could go either way with her this season. But, I must say, I like her chances of continuing her upward mobility more after her comments the other day slamming the Belgian officials who tried to have her banned (saying she passed drug tests during the time frame in question, wasn't informed of the severity of her infractions until it was too late, and was participating in a televised event if the panel was wondering about her "whereabouts" when she failed to check in). She's been known to have a temper in the past. If she can focus it, she might just be able to work this whole thing to her advantage. I guess I just have a terminal case of "soft spot" for any Belgian with an "in your eye" attitude.
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Vera Zvonareva, RUS (9): I SO WANTED to put Zvoanreva in the Top 10, as she's seemed on the verge of something great in recent seasons, only to be felled by either injury (see Charleston) or her own emotions (see the U.S. Open). If she could just put everything together, she could very well end the year as the top-ranked Russian.
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*10 for '10*
Who's the teenager ranked outside the Top 25 who's most likely to finish there in 2010? Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Who are three slam contenders who definitely won't win a slam title in '10? Dinara Safina, Kim Clijsters & Jelena Jankovic

Who'll win a junior Girls slam championship? Sloane Stephens & Yulia Putintseva

Which nation will win the Fed Cup? Russia

Who'll be the Most Surprising Players? Olga Govortsova & Chang Kai-Chen (veteran: Anne Keothavong)

Who'll be the Most Improved Players? Urszula Radwanska & Ekaterina Makarova (veteran: Jelena Dokic)

Who'll be the Comeback Players of the Year? Justine Henin (naturally) & Alize Cornet

Who'll be the highest-ranked players without a career tour singles title? Melanie Oudin & Elena Vesnina

Who'll be the two youngest players in the Top 100? Kristina Mladenovic (May 14, 1993) & Michelle Larcher de Brito (January 29, 1993)

In what 5-position range will Dinara Safina's year-end ranking fall? #11-15



=EARLY SLAM OUTLOOKS=
AO: S.Williams d. Henin (SF's???: Wozniacki, Stosur, Azarenka, Sharapova)
...Serena has owned the field in Melbourne, but after continuing to be the focus of time-filling criticism about whether or not she should have collected all the "Athlete of the Year" and Best of the 2000's honors that she has in recent weeks the defending champion actually has something to prove. At least in her mind. That's probably not good news for everyone else. I was going to put C-Woz, inspired by the SEC performance, in her second straight slam final, but Justine sounds very focused in her pre-season comments and might just "pull a Clijsters" and win another slam before the flowers in any of her "welcome back" bouquets start to wilt.

RG: Henin d. Zvonareva (SF???: Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Wozniacki, Ivanovic)
...Queen Justine returns, and all the "Mademoiselle Opportunity" moments probably go out the window. If Zvonareva can just stay healthy, she's poised to be the next mainstream breakout Hordette. It's a big "if," though. Maybe if Safina slips, ala AnaIvo, then the Serb will pop up a bit at the one slam she's won. Again, that's a big "if," though.

W: Williams d. Williams (SF???: Henin, Stosur, Lisicki, Wickmayer)
...which Williams defeats which Williams here likely depends on whether or not Venus is healthy, and whether Serena gets some revenge against her nay-sayers by winning Melbourne. If she doesn't, she'll turn her laser focus on London. Henin wants to win SW19 very badly, but as long as the Sisters are in the draw they're going to be the odds-on favorites here.

US: Henin d. Clijsters (SF???: S.Williams, Sharapova, Wozniacki, V.Williams)
...the odds are that Venus is going to reach a final here sometime soon, considering she almost always ends up losing to the eventual champion. But the field, barring injury, is going to be pretty packed come later summer. After ignoring Clijsters so far, I'll insert her into the field of potential champions here. She surely COULD reach the SF of a slam at least once before NYC, but, hey, I'm not going to out on a limb trying to predict it.


All for now.



2010 Preview Series Links: Wozniacki: Charm, with a Side of Harm, ATP Top 10 Predictions
TOMORROW: The Intriguing 100 (with '10 first-timer predictions)
...yep, with the season-opening matches having sort of crept up on me (by Sunday night, the opening round salvos will have been fired), I'm delaying the "What If?" until next week so that the preview series is completed in time.

Read more...

Dead Canary in a Cage?: 2010 ATP Top 10 Predictions

Was the 2009 season the men's tennis version of the canary in the coal mine?

While this past year saw some semblence of a "return to order," as Roger Federer reclaimed the #1 ranking and a bit of his old aura during the European summer, it also was loaded with the sort of signposts that point to major change on the horizon. After a slow start, then strong middle, Federer's (once again) leading role on the tour was pretty much left vacant by the Swiss Mister/New Pop & Hubby, as he pointed to exhaustion being the culprit in his criminally-absent lack of a strong finish. Meanwhile, though Rafael Nadal helped Spain win another Davis Cup in December, his influence on the regular tour waned considerably after his knees forced his exit from Wimbledon following his failure to defend his Roland Garros crown, as the general wear and tear on his body as a result of his ultra-physical game once again made him a 4th Quarter shadow of the player who opened the season by winning his first hard court slam in Melbourne.

While both Nadal and Federer will still be considered the dominant forces on clay and grass leading up to the slams in Paris and London in 2010, might we be facing a very near future in which we could see one -- or even both?) -- overtaken over the course of the season by one of the younger, healthier upstarts who have been gathering titles and confidence over the past twelve months (often by defeating one or both of the Big Two along the way)?

Juan Martin del Potro won the U.S. Open in '09, defeating Nadal and Federer in consecutive days. Novak Djokovic knocked off both during his sterling last quarter of the season, too. Robin Soderling proved to be a big event star, ending Nadal's run in Paris and showing great promise at Wimbledon immediately afterward. Even Andy Roddick nearly mustered a title at SW19 with Federer on the other side of the net. Throw in that slight dip in the big stage prominance of Andy Murray, who led the tour in titles (six) but failed to make a dent in the slams (only advancing to one SF) as he fell behind Djokovic in the season-ending rankings, and the environment would seem to be ripe for a major shake-up at the top of the ATP rankings in 2010.

2004 was the last season that the Federer-Nadal combo didn't fill both the top two spots in men's tennis at year's end. Since the '04 Wimbledon, they've won eighteen of twenty-one slams, and seventeen of nineteen since Roland Garros '05. They could finish on top and divy up the slams once again in 2010, but for the first time in ages a great argument can be made that they could be "had" this season.

At the very least, the canary that is the Federer/Nadal dominance is looking a pit peaked as the calendar is flipped over. The question is whether or not the yellow birdie just ate a bad bag of seed, or if everything REALLY IS about to change.

Here's an early prediction for the year-end 2010 Top 10 (with '09 rank in parenthesis):

10. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA (10): injuries have been keeping the 2008 Australian Open runner-up down, but he still managed to go 3-0 in finals and finish in the Top 10 in '09.
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9. Andy Roddick, USA (7): was last season's Wimbledon final his last best chance to win another slam? Close losses to Federer and del Potro last summer might have dented his big match confidence enough to take away whatever good he accomplished with his new physique and more varied game.
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8. Marin Cilic, CRO (14): the Croat defeated Nadal in Beijing, but he's yet to have a great slam run (a QF at the U.S. Open was his best in '09). The Croatian men have tended to rise in London, though, so he might be worth watching there this summer.
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7. Nikolay Davydenko, RUS (6): was his Masters Cup title a prelude to him finally being a major player in the slams? Yeah, probably not. Still, his 5-0 finals record and wins over Federer and del Potro en route to the MC title was mightily impressive for a player who'll likely never get his due unless he pulls a slam out of his bag.
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6. Robin Soderling, SWE (8): he was at his best in the slams, especially when he ended Nadal's 31-match RG win streak in Paris. He'll have much to live up to in 2010.
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5. Andy Murray, GBR (4): his six titles speak to his in-season consistency, but is it possible that he might have missed out on a small window during which he SHOULD have ended all that "no British man has won a slam since Fred Perry" talk? He lost in his final two meetings with Federer in '09, and was surpassed by del Potro and Djokovic down the stretch. The trip up Murray Mount to a slam title surely looks steeper now than it did a season ago.
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4. Novak Djokovic, SRB (3): he's yet to live up to his '08 Oz title promise again in a slam, but as the Big Two's stranglehold lessened in '09 he got stronger in the season's closing months. Djokovic defeated Federer three times last season, and took out Nadal three consecutive times in straight sets during the back half of the year. His time could come again in Melbourne.
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3. Roger Federer, SUI (1): a horrid start, a grand middle and a nonexistent end made for a very uneven '09 campaign for the old/new #1 in men's tennis, who pretty much put a period at the end of his career legacy with his Roland Garros/Wimbledon two-fer last summer. Federer's still capable of winning a slam or two, but the season-long dominance of old looks to be gone for good (which might mean he fails to catch Pete Sampras' record of 286 weeks in the top spot, as he'll be twenty-two weeks from matching it as play begins in Week 1. Anyone can beat him on a bad day now. Much like with the late-career Venus Williams, his SW19 performance will tell the tale of whether or not his '10 is successful.
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2. Rafael Nadal, ESP (2): even with his triumph in Australia, 2009 was a trying year for Nadal both on (thanks to his knees) and off (largely due to his parents' divorce) court. Maybe the Davis Cup title sent him into the offseason ready to bust heads and take names again in '10, but maybe the grinder of old will never be again. Could Nadal maintain his place at the top of the sport by changing his game enough to ensure that his career won't flame out far too early because the physical nature of his game prevents his body from lasting long enough to have a long career? Maybe. But there IS a question, and that might be enough to open the door for doubt... about him in the mind of his opponents, and himself. Still, I think it's more likely that Rafa will return to #1 than Federer will be able to hold onto it in 2010.
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1. Juan Martin del Potro, ARG (5): hey, why not? I was going to pick Nadal #1 and del Potro #2, but I figured, "Why not just let the canary die in 2010?" So, there it is. Surely, his defeat of both Nadal and Federer en route to his U.S. Open title speaks well for what the Argentine is capable of accomplishing this season. He became the world's best hard courter in '09, and the high-level version of his game would seem to be able to be transferred to other surfaces, as well. At 21, he hasn't yet reached his prime. If he does in '10, he might just rise above everyone.
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*6 MORE TO WATCH*
Sam Querrey, USA (25): 1-4 in finals last season, if he could just turn around a few of those results he'll be closing in on the Top 10.
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Gael Monfils, FRA (13): really, who knows what to expect from Monfils? But you'd never dare ignore him.
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Fernando Verdasco, ESP (9): he's not likely to top his career year of '09 in 2010.
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Richard Gasquet, FRA (52): cocaine kisses for everyone! The Frenchman's talent is much like that Miami club incident -- the evidence says he might be legit, but something keeps you from fully committing to the notion of it all.
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Gilles Simon, FRA (15): he took a mini-step back in 2009.
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Jeremy Chardy, FRA (32): after grabbing his first title in '09, the youngest of the Frenchies is ready to rise.



=EARLY SLAM OUTLOOKS=
AO: Djokovic d. del Potro (Alternates: Nadal, Soderling, Federer)
...the Serb was on fire late in the season, and has won in Oz before. del Potro knows how to win a slam now, though... and he won't have to worry about Dick Enberg trying to keep the microphone to himself again.

RG: Nadal d. Federer (Alt: Soderling, Davydenko, Djokovic)
...was '09 just an aberration, or the beginning of the end of Nadal's Paris hegemony? Sometimes it happens that fast.

W: Federer d. Nadal (Alt.: Roddick, del Potro, Cilic)
...as it should be? Still, Roddick's near-win in '09 means that a first-time SW19 champion could be crowned at the All-England Club in '10.

US: del Potro d. Nadal (Alt.: Murray, Federer, Djokovic)
...only the strong survive and thrive and NYC. Of course, Nadal getting even this close would likely have to be the result of some re-thinking of his usually-grueling pre-North American schedule which usually leaves him a longshot at the Open.

All for now.

Read more...

ITF Backspin (Wk.50)- Casey at the Baseline & Kim Being Kim?

One final goodbye to the 2009 season.


ITF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Regina Kulikova/RUS
...Shahar Peer wasn't there, but that didn't stop the final "big event" of the '09 season from going forward in Dubai -- not that that made it any different than the WTA tour's stop in the U.A.E. earlier this year. The season-concluding $75K challenger was won by Kulikova, 20, who notched wins over Anna Lapushchenkova, Kaia Kanepi, Evgeniya Rodina, Bojana Jovanovski and Sandra Zahlavova in a 7-6/6-3 final.
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RISER: Casey Dellacqua/AUS
...a couple of seasons ago, Dellacqua became an Australian Open star, making her grandmother cry (in a good way) in front of a proud nation-full of Aussies. She missed most of the '09 season, though, when she finally decided to undergo surgery to fix her troubled shoulder. Last week, in her first event back, she won Tennis Australia's playoff tournament for a wild card berth into next month's Oz draw. In the final, she knocked off top-seeded Olivia Rogowska in three sets. The last two years, it was Jelena Dokic who came out on top in this playoff.
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SURPRISE: Garbine Muguruza Blanco/ESP
...the 16-year old Spaniard won the $10K in Vinaros, Spain to claim her first career pro singles title with a victory over a retiring Ema Burgic 6-2/3-0. It was her second career final, after having lost, at just 15, to Brit Amanda Carreras in her initial ITF final in May.
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VETERAN: Mashona Washington/USA
...the 33-year old American vet lost in the 1st Round to the eventual singles champion Chieh-Yu Hsu in the $10K in Veracruz, Mexico. But she "sort of" made up for it by taking the doubles title with Dominika Dieskova, defeating Nika Kukharchuk and, you guesse dit, the teenaged Hsu in the final. Oh, and Washington didn't tear up any hotel rooms before leaving town. Okay, everyone bow their head as we honor this ongoing '09 joke, which is now fitfully sent to its final resting place.
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FRESH FACES: Chieh-Yu Hsu/USA & Andrea Gamiz/VEN
...Taiwan-born American Hsu, 17, won that Veracruz $10K singles title, her first career ITF singles crown. She defeated Vivian Segnini 7-5/6-4 in the final. 17-year Gamiz of Venezuela also won her first career pro singles title over the weekend, taking the $10K Quito, Ecuador event with a straight sets win over favorite Ecuadorian daughter Marie Elise Casares.
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DOWN: Nicole Vaidisova/CZE
...on the bright side, Vaidisova now realizes she's going to need to rebuild her game (and her confidence, and I guess you could throw in her desire, too) on the challenger level if she's ever going to become relevant in a good way again in tennis. Of course, the bad news was that she failed to advance past the QF of the Dubai $75K, losing in the final eight to eventual runner-up Zahlavova by a hardly-close 6-3/6-2 score. Hey, not that long ago, Dokic was suffering even worse indignities in the qualifying rounds of $10K events... so I guess a start is a start is a start.
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JUNIOR STAR: Marianne Jodoin/CAN
...the 16-year old Canadian swept the singles and doubles crowns at the Grade 4 Prince Cup in Miami, taking out 15-year old American Julia Elbaba 5-7/6-3/6-3 in the final.
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?????: Kim Clijsters/BEL
...the calendar still says 2009, but consider this the first shot across the Clijsters bow for 2010. Last week, I mentioned how the U.S. Open champ won an exhibition match over Venus Williams in Antwerp, Belgium. The post-match quote from KC that I hadn't heard then struck me like a thunderbolt when I read it this week, though, so I just have to mention it. Apparently, she said that winning this "practice" match in front of her countrymen/countrywomen was "more exciting" for her than winning the Open a few months ago. Really? You didn't actually say that, did you, Kim? I mean, you're almost making this TOO easy. Winning an offseason exhibition match is more exciting than winning a grand slam after being away from the sport for two years? Should I go ahead and make the prediction now that she'll NEVER win that third slam?
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1. Australian Open Wild Card Playoff Final (Australia) - Dellacqua d. Rogowska
...1-6/7-6/6-3. The Aussie hadn't played an event since her February '09 shoulder surgery.
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2. Australian Open Wild Card Playoff QF - Jessice Moore d. Alicia Molik
...6-2/4-6/6-4. Still, the comeback has been very fruitful for the Steamer.
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3. Athens, Georgia Exhibition - Melanie Oudin d. Serena Williams
...7-5. Yeah, this one means absolutely nothing. Hmmm, but SOMEONE might say it was "more exciting" than Little MO's U.S. Open QF run.
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4. Brisbane 1st Rd. - Wickmayer vs. ???
...???. Hey, whoever she plays, the good news is that with the ITF lifting her "whereabouts" suspension it means she gets to plays SOMEONE. No, not THAT someone. Someone else. Of course, there are enough "someone's" scheduled to play in that tournament, including a particular LPT, that she might very well meet some a well-known SOMEONE in Week 1. All right, I'm finished now.
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5. USA TODAY's (lack of) Sports Section Editors
...or maybe the paper's news about the court injunction against Wickmayer's suspension was supposed to read "Wickmayer hopes the injunction will make him eligible to play as soon as possible. No, that's not a typo. Again, I say Pam Shriver is somehow behind this.
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HM- $75K Dubai 1st Rd. - Vaidisova d. Marosi
...2-6/6-4/6-4. A decent come-from-behind win. Ah, but was it "more exciting" than a night on the town with Radek?
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**2009 ITF TITLES - AMERICANS**
2...Irina Falconi
2...Laura Granville
2...Melanie Oudin
2...Shenay Perry
2...Abigail Spears
1...Kristie Haerim Ahn
1...Jacqueline Cako
1...Beatrice Capra
1...Julia Cohen
1...Alexa Glatch
1...Jamie Hampton
1...Macall Harkins
1...Chieh-Yu Hsu
1...Lindsay Lee-Waters
1...Varvara Lepchenko
1...Elizabeth Lumpkin
1...Alexandra Mueller
1...Alison Riske

All for now.



NEXT: What If Parody: In Search of "Citizen Anna" (and this time, I mean it -- blame the digging out from nineteen-and-a-half inches of snow this weekend for the latest delay) and the ATP 2010 Top 10 preview

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On the Baseline: "Charm, with a Side of Harm"

This isn't the first edition of the "official" Backspin 2010 preview, but I have once again contributed to On the Baseline's "Players to Watch" pre-season series. The subject? Why, Caroline Wozniacki, of course. Here's the link:



She fights. She smiles. She laughs. She has a seemingly breezy personality. Just call her Princess Charming, with the heart of a lioness.

For sure, Caroline Wozniacki is a player who's going places. Of course, with her game's superb movement and great defense, she's already got an impressively-full travel resume after a 2009 season that included all sorts of signposts that spotlighted her upward mobility on the WTA tour. The Dane tied for the tour lead with three titles, was the only player to reach finals on four different surfaces (winning on three), reached her first grand slam final at the U.S. Open, and had a year-end ranking of #4. But it was a tournament that Wozniacki didn't win, or even reach the final of, that might have been her most important of all.

Already possessed with a knack for participating in contests with edge-of-your-seat excitement, largely due to an impressive steadiness while managing to slowly reel back a match that seems lost, Wozniacki topped herself in the Season-Ending Championships in Doha. While she didn't win the SEC, she was the most impressive player there all week long. Coming in with a hamstring injury at the end of a very long (and hopefully the last of it's kind when it comes to her future schedules) season, and forced to play in the excessive desert heat that managed to wilt several other competitors, C-Woz gave it her all, and then some.

Of course, the thing that'll be ingrained in everyone's mind will be the memory of a severely cramping Wozniacki crumpling to the court in the final game, up 5-4 30/30, of her Round Robin match against Vera Zvonareva. There she was, flat on her back just beyond the service box, flopping around like a carp at the bottom of a boat as she cried and wondered if she was going to have to be carried off the court. Out of injury timeouts, she managed to climb to her feet and win the final few points of the game to take the match. Literally staggering into the winner's circle, she walked to the net, a sobbing Danish mess trying to fight off yet another full-body attack of cramps. As painful as the moment was, it was also just as triumphant.

It's an image that will live in a mind's eye forever, and serve as a prelude to whatever comes next for C-Woz.

Thing is, that moment was just one of many for Wozniacki in Doha that speaks volumes about what she's capable of achieving if she can just guard against wearing herself out and develop her second serve into something less cotton-candified than its current state. In her first RR match, she overcame a match point to defeat Victoria Azarenka in a 2:58 match. Against Zvonareva, she wasn't derailed by blowing a 6-0/5-2 lead with two match points (one of which she won, only to see it overturned via replay), then won the final three games while violently cramping despite having fallen behind 4-3 in that 3rd set. C-Woz pretty much ran out of gas after that, losing in straight sets to Jelena Jankovic and retiring in the 2nd set of the semifinals against Serena Williams.

But it didn't matter. Over those few days in Doha, we -- and she -- learned everything we need to know about the Dane.

It's a player's heart and desire that must be strong for a contender to be able to morph into a champion. Often times, such champions are forged in the heat of adversity, when that heart and desire are sometimes the ONLY things that enable her to pull herself through a match. Many times, after that single moment, everything changes. Justine Henin was such a champion. After arriving on tour with lingering issues of worthiness, it was her efforts at the 2003 Australian Open that the Belgian has often credited with instilling her with the confidence that paid off in two grand slam titles by the end of that season. That year in Melbourne, Henin found herself devastated by cramping in the intense Aussie heat in her 4th Round match with Lindsay Davenport, only to come from flat on her back (literally... sound familiar?), and 4-1 down in the 3rd, to win the match in a 9-7 final set. She would eventually lose in the semifinals, but the seed that would blossom into a champion had been planted.

Sure, Wozniacki's passport was stamped a few many times in 2009, but that overloaded schedule will be cut back in 2010. She needs to add a bit more pop to her groundstrokes (if nothing else, to cut down the length of some of the points in her sometimes-grueling matches, which tend of hurt her ability to push her way through all the tough opponents she must defeat in a major event) and build up her serve, too. But after what transpired in Doha, there should never be any question about what's inside C-Woz. When next season's obstables present themselves, one would think they might seem "smaller" to her then than they might have appeared before her trip to the desert. And for a player who managed to climb into the Top 5 BEFORE such an on-court epiphany, that could be the boost that makes Wozniacki more than a player on the move, and instead a player on top at some of the most important stops on the WTA schedule in the very near future.

The Princess of Charm has a bit of "Princess of Harm" in her. And that's something from which a true champion can be born.

All for now.

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ITF Backspin (Wk.49)- A Brit, Two Belgians & Another Hemming-and-Hawing Russian

The 2010 season is suddenly visible just around the corner, and some early-season topics of conversation are coming into view, too.


ITF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Naomi Broady/GBR
...for the third straight week, Broady won an ITF event. This time, for the second straight week, it was a $10K in La Habana, Cuba. She defeated Pastry Valentine Confalonieri in a 6-2/6-2 final. Broady has four challenger titles on the season.
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RISER: Julia Cohen/USA
...the 20-year old American claimed a $10K challenger in Xalapa, Mexico with a 5-7/6-2/7-5 win over countrywoman Gira Schofield.
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SURPRISE: Ana-Clara Duarte/BRA
...keeping things continental, the Brazilian won the $10K in Santiago, Chile with a 6-2/6-0 win over Argentine Carla Lucero in the final. She also won the doubles with Veronica Spiegel, defeating Lucero and countrywoman Julieta Soledad Rodriguez in yet another final.
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VETERAN: Laura Pous Tio/ESP
...in a season of comebacks, here is yet another to ponder. The 25-year old Spaniard was banned for two years back in '07 after failing a drug test at Wimbledon after she admittedly carelessly took medication that included a banned substance. This weekend in a $10K in Benicarlo, Spain, Pous Tio won her second challenger since her mid-2009 return to professional tennis. With a singles final win over Leticia Costas-Moreira (and doubles title with Romina Oprandi), the former world #74 (in '05) now has nine career ITF crowns as she struggles to push her ranking back into the Top 600 (she's now #644). Hopefully, we won't have to have a similar "comeback" conversation about Yanina Wickmayer in a year or so.
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FRESH FACE: Coco Vandeweghe/USA
...the '08 U.S. Open Girls champ won the American battle for a wild card into the Australian Open. After knocking off Asia Muhammad and Julia Boserup in the playoff event, she took down Christina McHale (who won this W.C. playoff a year ago, then had that dramatic, wobbly 1st Round meeting with Jessica Moore in Melbourne) in the final by a 7-6/0-6/6-3 score.
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DOWN: Dinara Safina/RUS
...hmmm. Let's see, Safina ended her '09 season with a potential '10 season-scrambling (in a worst case scenario) back injury, but stated a hope that she'd be ready for the Australian Open. She was entered in the Week 1 Brisbane event. Until last week, that is, when she officially pulled out... while still being signed up for Sydney, and stating lingering hope that she'll be ready for Melbourne. Didn't we go through this push-and-pull with another Russian at about this time a year ago? You remember, when Maria Sharapova seemed to be angling to start her '09 season Down Under. Didn't happen. In fact, she ended up not being able to begin her comeback from shoulder surgery until well into the season. Could a similar pattern be just starting to play out with world #2 Safina? It's worth keeping an eye on, considering how back injuries can play havoc with any athlete's expected schedule. With many points to defend, and Sharapova and the Belgians back for full-season stints, the Russian's ranking might be about to tumble.
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JUNIOR STAR: Gabriela Dabrowski/CAN
...17-year old Ottawa native Dabrowski, who last week lost in the Eddie Herr SF to eventual champ Daria Gavrilova, made the leap in the Orange Bowl, taking the title with a 6-3/2-6/7-5 victory over world junior #1 Kristina Mladenovic. The Canadian's jump up to #13 in the junior rankings came after she also notched wins over Beatrice Capra, Polina Leykina and Nastja Kolar.
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1. Cairo Exhibition - Henin d. Petrova 7-6/6-2
Antwerp Exhibition - Clijsters d. V.Williams 6-1/7-5
... Their results will be compared throughout the 2010 season, so it figures that they'd both be playing in an exhibition match -- just not against each other -- during the same week of their "offseason." Naturally, they both won, too. After additional earlier wins over Kirsten Flipkens and Flavia Pennetta in Belgium, Henin is rounding into form for her comeback next month in Australia. No one really thought she wouldn't be ready, did they? One new thing that we DID learn about Henin last week, though, was that she's got a new travel companion. She affectionately calls him Deuce... and he's rumored to do tricks on her command. Ah, finally someone I can relate to.
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2. Australian Open Wild Card Playoff Final (USA) - Vandeweghe d. McHale
...7-6/0-6/6-3. McHale's Down Under Drama 2010 will have to include a few qualifying wins in the Aussie heat. I hope she remembers to hydrate this time.
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3. Orange Bowl 3rd Rd. - Ajla Tomljanovic d. Yulia Putintseva 5-7/6-0/6-1
Orange Bowl QF - Ajla Tomljanovic d. Heather Watson 6-2/6-3
... Even without grabbing a major title, the 16-year old Croat, the #9-ranked junior, continues to impress.
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4. Orange Bowl 3rd Rd. - Madison Keys d. Daria Gavrilova 6-3/4-6/6-3
Orange Bowl QF - Kristina Mladenovic d. Madison Keys 6-7/7-5/6-1
... Still facing off against "old" teens -- at least compared to her -- Keys continues to hint at bigger and better things down the road. She defeated Gavrilova, fresh off the #5-ranked girl's Eddie Herr championship, then pushed Mladenovic, who's only the #1-ranked junior in the world, to three sets.
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5. $10K Santiago SF - Ana-Clara Duarte d. Chanel Simmonds
...2-6/6-3/6-2. It's becoming clear that teen Simmonds might be the best South African player since little Amanda Coetzer.
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HM- Aussies in the News
... No Australian players won titles last week, but that didn't mean the Shielas weren't in the news. Alicia Molik, on the heels of her great ITF circuit comeback run, announced her engagement, while Anastasia Rodionova (just a few weeks after Jarmila Groth did the same) finally received her Aussie citizenship and the right to represent her new country throughout the 2010 season.
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**TOP 20 JUNIOR GIRLS**
1.Kristina Mladenovic, FRA
2.Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, THA
3.Timea Babos, HUN
4.Heather Watson, GBR
5.Daria Gavrilova, RUS
6.Miyabi Inoue, JPN
7.Ksenia Pervak, RUS
8.Silvia Njiric, CRO
9.Ajla Tomljanovic, CRO
10.Camila Silva, CHI
11.Sloane Stephens, USA
12.Nastja Kolar, SLO
13.Gabriela Dabrowski, CAN
14.Yana Buchina, RUS
15.Maryna Zanevska, UKR
16.Yulia Putintseva, RUS
17.Richel Hogenkamp, NED
18.Valeria Solovieva, RUS
19.Zsofia Susanyi, HUN
20.Jana Cepalova, SVK

**2009 ITF TITLES - BRITS**
4...Naomi Broady
2...Elena Baltacha
2...Amanda Carreras
2...Katie O'Brien
2...Emily Webley-Smith
1...Jocelyn Rae
1...Anna Smith
1...Georgie Stoop
1...Heather Watson
1...Jade Windley


With one final week of '09 ITF action remaining, all for now.



THIS WEEK: What If Parody: In Search of "Citizen Anna"

Read more...

ITF Backspin (Wk.48)- A Steamer, Two Paraguayan Champions & Justine Making a Statement

The ITF produced a few familiar champions, but the most intriguing match of the week may have been the one that took place on Sunday in Charleroi, Belgium.


ITF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alicia Molik/AUS
...the Aussie Steamer completed back-to-back ITF singles title runs with her victory in the $25K Bendigo challenger in Australia. After wins over Richel Hogenkamp, Monica Wejnert and Marina Erakovic, she took out a new final opponent in Pastry Irena Pavlovic. It's Molik's third ITF title in her comeback.
=============================
RISER: Paula Ormaechea/ARG
...the 17-year old Argentine came into last week as one of the ITF's hottest late-season players (she was the ITF website's spotlighted player for November), and she didn't disappoint in Buenos Aires. She failed to win her third challenger of the season, but she did reach her fourth final in her last five events, losing to Rosanna de los Rios 7-5/6-1.
=============================
SURPRISES: Claire Feuerstein/FRA & Naomi Broady/GBR
...Feuerstein claimed her second challenger title of '09 with her win in the $25K in Prerov, Czech Republic as she knocked off Russian teen Ksenia Lykina in three sets in the final. Meanwhile, Brit Broady won her second consecutive circuit event (and third this season) with a championship in the $10K in La Habana, Cuba. She defeated another Hordette, Yana Koroleva, 6-2/6-0 in the final.
=============================
VETERAN: Rosanna de los Rios/PAR
...the 34-year old vet from Paraguay claimed her third ITF title of the season, winning the Buenos Aires $25K with a win over Julia Cohen before taking out Ormaechea in the final.
=============================
FRESH FACES: Veronica Cepede Royg/PAR
...another Paraguayan champion, this one exactly half the age of de los Rios. Cepede Royg, 17, won the $10K La Serena (no, not THAT Serena) in Chile with a straights sets win over Argentina's Barbara Rush. It was Cepede Royg's second straight ITF final, and her third challenger title this season. She also won the doubles.
=============================
DOWN: Amelie Mauresmo/FRA
...not "down," but certainly "out." Mauresmo's not-surprising retirement announcement this week, in one moment, removed a large chunk of the game's potential day-to-day beauty and grace. Said Amelie, "I don't want to train anymore. I had to make a decision, which became evident in the last few weeks and months. When you grow older, it's more difficult to stay at the top." Au revoir.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Daria Gavrilova/RUS
...the 15-year old Muscovite won the Eddie Herr Championships, defeating China's Zhao Di in a 6-2/4-6/6-3 final. She also reached the doubles final.
=============================


1. Charleroi Exhibition - Henin def. Pennetta
...6-4/6-4. Though "unofficially," La Petit Taureau is back! Her straight sets win over Pennetta in an exhibition in Belgium (where she also defeated Kirsten Flipkens) can't be overlooked, though Henin is currently saying that she's not going to head into the Australian Open with overwhelming expectations for that particular tournament. Still, her statement that "it is another Justine Henin who will try to go out there and achieve her dream of finally winning Wimbledon" is a hint that she's going to be no less bold in her goals for Henin II than she was the first time around. She'll next face Nadia Petrova in an exhibition in Cairo on December 12.
=============================
2. Eddie Herr QF - Zhao Di def. Madison Keys
...3-6/7-6/6-4. Before reaching the final, 16-year old Zhao took out the hard-serving American.
=============================
3. Eddie Herr 3rd Rd. - Polina Lykina def. Heather Watson
...7-6/6-4. The #13-seed, yet another Hordette-on-the-Rise, takes out the #1-seed.
=============================


**MOST 2009 PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK WINS**
=WTA=
3...Serena Williams, USA (Wk.5/28/43)
3...Dinara Safina, RUS (Wk.18/19/29)
3...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS (Wk.17/23/40)
--
ALSO: 2-Flavia Pennetta, ITA (Wk.28/31, + Fed Cup 1st Rd./Final)
=ITF=
2...Maria Elena Camerin, ITA (Wk.17/22)
2...Jelena Dokic, AUS (Wk.39/43)
2...Gabriela Paz, VEN (Wk.2/9)
2...Karolina Sprem, CRO (Wk.14/37)
2...Julia Vakulenko, UKR (Wk.5/25)
=Junior=
3...Kristina Mladenovic, FRA (Wk.22/25/42)
3...Ksenia Pervak, RUS (Wk.4/31/32)
2...Timea Babos, HUN (Wk.13/17)
2...Elora Dabija, ROU (Wk.29/30)
2...Daria Gavrilova, RUS (Wk.16/48, + Wk.40 Jr. Fed Cup Final)
2...Noppawan Lertchwakarn, THA (Wk.9/26)
2...Yulia Putintseva, RUS (Wk.19/28)
2...Chanel Simmonds, RSA (Wk.34/43)
--
ALSO: 1-Ksenia Kirilova, RUS (Wk.2 + Wk.40 Jr. Fed Cup Final)


All for now.



NEXT: What If Parody: In Search of "Citizen Anna"

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BACKSPIN SPECIAL: The Best of Amelie

Hail, Amelie. Full of grace.



Two-time slam champion and former world #1 Amelie Mauresmo announced her retirement today. In a decade dominated by power-hitting and sometimes absent-minded tennis, the Frenchwoman was one of the rare exceptions. Her elegant game, filled with enough slice, touch, fluid athleticism and, especially, innate intelligence, to fill a book of poetry, was at once a joy to watch, as well as lament over the last couple of seasons as she noticably neared her career's end and it became apparent that we weren't likely to see many (if any) players with her particular sort of verve ever again.

For many years, it was easy to overlook the almost casually-looking brilliance of Mauresmo's game because of her inability to put it on full display at one of the four biggest events of any given season. Trust me, I know... because I often did choose to harp on what she hadn't accomplished rather than how beautifully she played the sport. I feel bad about that now.

That she became the second woman to ever reach the top of the women's rankings without having won a slam, rather than be the anchor around her career's neck that it appeared to be at the time, now reads like a prelude to the career she ultimately put together when all was said and done. Once she found a way to come out on top (twice, in fact) in a grand slam event in 2006, all the negative chatter was better left in the past. At that point, as she'd finally taken her proper place in the history of the game, it was time to fully appreciate her. I'd like to think that I've done that in recent seasons, including when I gave her what I sort of figured might be her career's last rites during the Decade's Best series, even if I was a bit "late" to the proceedings.

Diane Dees over at "Women Who Serve" wasn't, though. A career-long fan of Mauresmo, her elegy to Amelie's career is a sweet look back at a player whose flair was but a small part of the big picture. I suggest giving it a look-see.

Whether Mauresmo retired a year too late, or maybe a year too early, preventing a proper season-long send-off, will remain a question. But the joy of watching her at the top of her game will never be. Thank goodness for video... and memories.

As far as this space goes, here's a Backspin history of Amelie, first with a sampling of how I saw her in 2001-02 (since those old links have long since been lost to the internet gremlins), then with all the major appearances by Mauresmo in this space from 2003-09, in link form:



=December 21, 2001: 2002 Intriguing Question: Will Amelie Mauresmo finally have a grand slam to be proud of?=

9.Will Amelie Mauresmo finally have a grand slam to be proud of?
...Since bursting onto the scene with a RU performance at the 1999 Australian, Mauresmo has failed to put up a single great performance at another slam. Before 2001's QF at the US Open, she'd never advanced past another 4r at a major. Mauresmo's power game is certainly built to contend in the newly-powerful world of women's tennis, but it's her nerves that are usually her undoing on the big stage. Her hard court results have been disappointing, but Mauresmo's had great success on the clay (winning 4 events on the surface this past Spring). Thus, RG would seem to be her best chance to win a slam, but she's never been able to live up to the pressure of the expectant home French crowd... and generally goes down in flames quite early. She's never advanced past the 4r there, and bowed out in the 1r in '01 after such a great pre-RG run. With a chance to get things into gear in the season-closing Championships in Munich, she again was defeated in her first match (by fellow Frenchwoman Sandrine Testud, no less).
VERDICT: Mauresmo will always be preceived as a threat going into most slams, but that talk always comes equipped with a qualifying rider that goes something like "if she can ever get it together and win a big match." The choker label will continue to trail behind her like a homesick puppy, and she won't be able to shake it in 2002.

=August 19, 2002: Getting Ready=

WTA REPORT - WEEK 33
*CHAMPIONS*
MONTREAL, QUEBEC (Tier I - Hardcourt)
S: Amelie Mauresmo d. Jennifer Capriati
D: Ruano-Pascual/Suarez d. Fujiwara/Sugiyama

*AWARDS*
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Amelie Mauresmo
....No surprise here. Apparently, Wimbledon was Mauresmo's re-introduction to the big-time stage of women's tennis. If her head is now something other than a generally useless appendage to her game, she could make much noise down the stretch of 2002.

=December 23, 2002: Intriguing Question Recap=

IQ #9 - WILL AMELIE MAURESMO FINALLY HAVE A GRAND SLAM TO BE PROUD OF?
WHAT I SAID THEN: "Mauresmo will always be perceived as a threat going into most slams, but that talk always comes equipped with a qualifying rider that goes something like, 'if she can ever get it together and win a big match.' The choker label will continue to trail behind her like a homesick puppy, and she won't be able to shake it in 2002."
VERDICT: Miss
...Mauresmo, with a new coach who brought out the best in her, advanced to both the Wimbledon & US Open SF and won the Tier I in Montreal for her biggest title to date.



=2002=
December: 2003 Intriguing Question: Was Amelie Mauresmo's '02 big event success just another teasing flash in the pan?

=2003=
February 10: Round and Round, Round by Round
May 5: Amelie Day
November 24: The Russians Played Routlette, and Mauresmo was the Bullet

=2004=
May 17: Mademoiselle Opportunity?
August 9: Hail Maria, Still Full of Grace?
December 24: 2005 Intriguing Question: Will Amelie Mauresmo's "Grand Slam Gambit" Be a Success"

=2005=
February 21: Random Spins
October 20: 2005 Intriguing Answers: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way...
November 8: How Smart We Were/How Dumb We Were (+ SEC '05)

=2006=
January 22: Australian Open Day 7: Amelie & Nicole - For Which One Will It Be Apples?
January 28: Australian Oopen Day 13: Amelie Clicks Her Heels
January 29: 2006 Dorothy Tour Awards - On Ya, Mates
February 13: Amelie & the Belgian Offensive
February 20: Woman of a Thousand Faces
May 31: Roland Garros Day 4: No Pigeons, But a Healthy Helping of French Dressing
July 8: Wimbledon Day 12: She is Risen
July 10: 2006 Grass Court Awards
November 7: 2006 Intriguing Answers: A Tale of Two Champions
November 18: Ms.Backspin '06
November 25: 2006 WTA Yearbook

=2007=
January 10: Intriguing Questions '07: Will It Be Amelie vs. Justine, Part Deux?
February 20: now for All. (Antwerp)
July 3: Wimbledon Day 8: Here We Go Again

=2008=
May 27: Roland Garros Day 3: Amelie's Last Stand?

=2009=
February 16: The French Way
November 8: Decade's Best: Players #6-10


She will be missed. Unfortunately, all for now.

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