Wk.16- The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same (Pt.II)

After the first weekend of 2010 Fed Cup action saw the same four nations that reached the semifinals in 2009 do so again this season, the results of the second FC weekend of the year means we'll soon have a rematch of last November's final, as well.

A quick rundown of some things gleaned from the weekend:

*SIX THINGS THAT ARE CLEAR*
1. Icelandic volcano ash and Russian tennis federations don't mix. Hmmm, considering the Chinese were late to their tie, maybe it's a Communism thing.
2. Win or lose, Melanie Oudin is a big match, big event player... but we already knew that
3. Elena Dementieva always gives it her all, but, Gold Medal aside, she usually ends up with one of those "All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt" type of feelings in the end. I guess when she began the week having to use her hockey-playing boyfriend as a hitting partner she should have known things wouldn't end well on Sunday.
4. After she got hurt in her last FC appearance and swore off participating thereafter, it's apparent that Justine Henin and the FC Injury Gods STILL aren't on speaking terms... she broke a finger in PRACTICE this time around
5. Peng Shuai saved the Chinese team from continued FC embarrassment with her remarkable, sweep-preventing come-from-behind win, even if the elation was short-lived and the team STILL hasn't won a tie since appearing in the semifinals in 2008
6. Considering Russia's reaction to its Winter Olympic disappointment, the FC crew (even the ones who never made it to Birmingham) might want to watch their backs

*TWO THAT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED*
1. The Italians will likely be favored against Mary Joe Fernandez's Bannerettes in the Final in November. But, then again, MJF's crews have overcome long odds before (and will play on home turf). Hard courts will help the American cause, but Pennetta & Co. aren't exactly shabby in important non-clay contests, either (just ask Vera Zvonareva).
2. The Bannerettes seem to gain strength from the absence of the Sisters, using their further-heightened underdog status as a rallying cry, but someone should mention to them that veiled references to absent American stars doesn't lead anyone to believe that Ashley Harkleroad is being subtly dissed. One day, Venus or Serena might want/be able to play, and it's not smart to be striking so many matches around wooden bridges.

*and ONE THAT I CAN'T "TAKE CREDIT" FOR, EVEN THOUGH THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE ODD, TO SAY THE LEAST*
Jada's Muscle-Tearing Mom just had her name essentially erased from the Roland Garros contenders list since her weekend foot injury will likely keep her out up to six weeks (hmm, in a comment at the end of a recent post the other day I mentioned how a broken foot once put me in a cast for six weeks... coincidence?), and maybe prevent her from playing in Paris. But, considering her last clay event result, and her scarcity of matches on the surface going back to 2006, not showing up is probably the easiest way out for her in the next slam anyway. Over the years, she's seemed to come to the realization (more like a "belief," though) that she couldn't ever see herself winning RG, and her actions, results and fate seem to have decided to play along with the Belgian who came within a champagne cork of winning the title in Paris back in 2001.

One down, a handful more to go. Barbie is probably out, while Justine just lost to an Estonian in a potentially tie-clinching match. Serena remains a question mark. And '09 EuroClay superstars Kuznetsova and Safina are just returning from injury layoffs this week. Meanwhile, virtually everyone else who'll be in the RG draw will be either unreliable slam contenders or would be considered "unexpected" champions were they to win it all.

Yep, Paris might just be quite interesting.

*WEEK 16 - FED CUP*

SEMIFINALS
Italy(H) def. Czech Republic 5-0
United States(H) def. Russia 3-2
=WORLD GROUP PLAYOFFS=
Belgium(H) def. Estonia 3-2
Australia def. Ukraine(H) 5-0
France def. Germany(H) 3-2
Slovak Republic def. Serbia(H) 3-2
=GROUP II PLAYOFFS=
Spain def. Poland(H) 4-1
Canada(H) def. Argentina 5-0
Slovenia(H) def. Japan 4-1
Sweden(H) def. China 3-2


[Semifinal MVPs]
Bethanie Mattek-Sands/USA (overall Player of the Week)
...Mattek-Sands, as expected, lost to Dementieva in the tie's second match, knotting the score at 1-1. But when everything was on the line, she outlasted Ekaterina Makarova when the Russian was playing to clinch a spot in the Final, then teamed with Liezel Huber to take out Dementieva and Alla Kudryavtseva in straight sets in the deciding doubles match to send the Bannerettes to an unexpected second consecutive appearance in the FC championship. Barring the arrival of a Williams come November, Mattek-Sands will have to pull such successful double-duty again in the fall if the U.S. is to have a shot at its first FC title in a decade.
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Flavia Pennetta/ITA
...it's hard to pick an MVP when the Italians wipe out an opponent 5-0, sweeping all ten sets in the tie, as the defending champs did against the Czechs. Still, you can never go wrong sticking with Madame Butterfly, who took down both Lucie Hradecka and Petra Kvitova.
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[WG PLAYOFFS MVPs]
Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
...once again, the Belgian team was lucky to have Wickmayer. Henin was injured before play began and was scheduled to only play doubles, but when the Squeegee Queen injured her foot she was called into singles duty... and promptly lost a marathon match. Providing a steady presence, Wickmayer won both her singles matches against Kaia Kanepi and Maret Ani in a pair of three-setters to lead her nation back to the 2011 World Group... where she'll likely have to grab the reigns all by herself yet again since the Big Two probably won't risk injury by playing next February.
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Samantha Stosur/AUS
...Slingin' Sammy extended her Charleston momentum, going 2-0 in Australia's by-the-book sweep of Ukraine. With the right matchups in 2011, the resurgent Australian women's tennis contingent might have an outside shot at reaching the nation's first FC final since 1993.
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Pauline Parmentier/FRA
...France was looking for new FC stars, and quite a few stepped up against Germany. Aravane Rezai knotted the score at 1-1 with a win over Tatjana Malek, and Alize Cornet & Julie Coin put away the tie in the deciding doubles match. But it was Parmentier's win over Julia Goerges with the tie on Deutschland's racket in Match #4 that kept the Pastries alive long enough to dream of a return to the World Group. As it turned out, the dream came true.
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Daniela Hantuchova/SVK
...Hantuchova continued to add depth to her 2010 Comeback Player campaign by winning her rematch with Jelena Jankovic, and then successfully teaming with Magdalena Rybarikova to defeat Jankovic and Bopana Jovanovski in the deciding doubles match.
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[Group II Playoffs MVPs]
Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP
...proving her ability to shine on all surfaces, MJMS swept her two carpet matches in Poland against Agnieszka Radwanska and Marta Domachowska as the Spaniards won three straight singles rubbers to offset A-Rad's opening match win over Carla Suarez-Navarro and claim the tie.
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Johanna Larsson/SWE
...cleaning up the potential mess that Sofia Arvidsson nearly made of the Sweden/China tie, Larsson's second win (which came today, after the lingering volcanic ash had prevented the Chinese team from arriving in Sweden for the scheduled start of play on Saturday and made this a Sunday/Monday affair) finaly got Sweden the victory. Larsson, who also starred in FC action when Arvidsson faltered in February, knocked off Peng in Match #1, then clinched things with a victory over Zhang Shuai in #4.
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Aleksandra Wozniak/CAN
...A-Woz's 2010 tour results have been spotty, but she was on point for Canada against the Dulko-less Argentines. Her two straight sets wins over Paula Ormaechea and Jorgelina Cravero provided the foundation for her nation's 5-0 sweep.
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Katarina Srebotnik/SLO
...after going 3-0 in February in her first FC action since 2005, Srebotnik went 2-0 this time, taking out Japan's top two players -- Kimiko Date-Krumm & Ayumi Morita -- in straight sets to power Slovenia to the win.



RISERS: Kaia Kanepi/EST & Anastasia Rodionova/AUS
...Estonia didn't pull the upset of the Belgians, but the enigmatic Kanepi's 2:30 win over Henin surely made things more interesting than anyone had the right to expect them to be. Meanwhile, newly-minted Aussie Rodionova opened up Australia's tie with Ukraine by losing the 1st set at love to Alona Bondarenko... then proceeded to win the next two sets to set off the Sheilas on their winning weekend.
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SURPRISES: Julie Coin/Alize Cornet, FRA & Valerie Tetreault/CAN
...never seeing the court in the tie's four singles matches didn't prevent Coin and Cornet from thriving in the pressurized deciding doubles match against Germany's Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic. The Pastry pair won 6-3/6-1. After seeing how Coin's career (which once seemed on the verge of ending prematurely) has been changed by her '08 U.S. Open win over Ana Ivanvoic, maybe this win will get Cornet, who came into the weekend on the heels of a 1st Round defeat in Charleston, headed in the right direction after more than a year of disappointing results, too. For Canada, Tetrealt provided nice second string support for Wozniak, knocking off the same pair of Argentines (Ormaechea & Cravero) as her countrywoman in singles action.
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VETERANS: Liezel Huber/USA & Francesca Schiavone/ITA
...it's remarkable how many times the U.S.'s Fed Cup ties have come down to the doubles match since Huber was able to be added to the roster. In many ways, her dominating team leader & doubles presence has eliminated a great deal of the backlash that might have been pointed in the Sisters' direction had MJF's 2009-10 teams fallen flat rather than soared to unexpected heights. Make no mistake about it, the former South African has been the Bannerettes' overall MVP since she stepped onto the court under an American flag. Huber & Mattek-Sands provided the winning margin against Russia, and it wouldn't be shocking if Huber is called in for an eleventh hour save again come November, as well. Schiavone often gets somewhat shunted aside in favor of Pennetta when it comes to Itay's FC success, but for years it was on that team stage that she had her greatest career achievements. Against the Czechs, she continued to shine with a 6-0/6-2 win over Lucie Safarova and a share of the victory in the doubles tie.
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FRESH FACES: Melanie Oudin/USA & Polona Hercog/SLO
...Oudin's star continues to rise as she shines on American soil. She followed up her Charleston QF with a win over Alla Kudryavtseva (she came back from early deficits in both sets to get her first win over a Hordette since her U.S. Open run), and pushed Dementieva to three sets in a contest that possibly tired out the Russian just enough to make her somewhat less effective in the doubles decider later in the day. Meanwhile, Hercog's important three-set win over Morita in the second match of the Slovenia/Japan tie gave her country the 2-0 bulge on the scoreboard from which the Japanese could never recover.
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DOWN: The Belgian "Big Two"
...Belgium defeated Estonia, but it came with a price. Two, actually. Henin broke her left picky in practice before play began, then lost a three-setter against Kanepi (not exactly a boost to the notion that she'll pick up where she left off in Paris next month). Of course, she was only playing that match because the foot injury that Barbie suffered in her opening match win over Ani turned out to be far worse than anticipated -- a muscle tear that will likely keep her off tour for six weeks, meaning if she shows up in Roland Garros she'll have had ZERO tune-up events on clay. PREDICTION: Jada will get some extra time with mom in late May and early June, then will get to frolick on the grass a little earlier than expected.



ITF PLAYER: Edina Gallovits/ROU
...in the Dothan $50K challenger, Gallovits won her second challenger event of the season, taking out Anastasiya Yakimova in straight sets in the final. She notched additional wins over Evgeniya Rodina and Laura Robson (love & two in the SF).
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ITF FRESH FACES: Monica Puig/PUR & Sachie Ishizu/JPN
...Puerto Rico's Puig, the 16-year old #2-ranked junior in the world, qualified and won her first pro title in the $10K challenger in Torrent, Spain, defeating top-seeded Nanuli Pipiya of Russia in the final. This was just Puig's second appearance in the main draw of a pro event, and just last month she claimed her first career Grade 1 in the Copa Gerdau junior event while carrying around a racket emblazoned with an "I Believe" motto. Oudin's legacy continues to evolve. Elsewhere, in the $10K challenger in Mie, Japan, world junior #7 Ishizu claimed her second consecutive pro title. The 17-year old defeated countrywoman Yumi Nakano in the final.
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JUNIOR STAR: Sophia Kovalets/UKR
...the 15-year old Ukrainian followed up her recent Grade 2 Girls title with her first career Grade 1 championship in the junior event in Beaulieu Sur Mer, France. She defeated Yulia Putintseva 7-5/5-7/6-3 in the final.
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1. Group II PO - SWE/CHN #3: Peng d. Arvidsson
...6-7/6-1/8-6. Facing the prospect of being eliminated with three straight losses to Sweden, Peng came off the mat to extend China's 2010 FC participation. Arvidsson twice served for the match and held eight (count 'em, EIGHT) match points.
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2. FC SF - USA/RUS #4: Mattek-Sands d. Makarova
...6-4/2-6/6-3. In her Fed Cup debut, Makarova had the chance to put Russia back into the final. It wasn't meant to be. You know, sort of like how Bethanie's fashion sense will never make knee-high tube socks an everyday sight again on the world's sports stages.
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3. FC WG PO - BEL/EST #1: Brian's Wife d. Ani 6-4/6-2
FC WG PO - BEL/EST #3: Kanepi d. Henin 6-7/6-4/6-3
...a break, a tear and a loss. How much did the personality of the remaining three-quarters of the season change with these two matches?
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4. FC SF - USA/RUS #3: Dementieva d. Oudin
...7-6/0-6/6-3. In their second intense-but not-exactly-sterling meeting of 2010, the pair teamed up to total ten (count 'em, TEN) breaks of serve in the game's first ten games in a 1:06 opening set that ended with Oudin's trilogy-plus-one of errors erasing her 4-3 lead in the tie-break.
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5. FC WG PO - BEL/EST #4: Wickmayer d. Ani
...2-6/6-1/6-1. If Wickmayer had dropped this one, Estonia might have made a shocking appearance in the World Group 1st Round next February.
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6. FC WG PO - SVK/SRB #3: Hantuchova d. Jankovic
...7-6/7-6. JJ got a chance to reverse that three-set Charleston loss to Hantuchova. In front of a Serbian crowd, she lost in straight sets.
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7. $50K Dothan 1st Rd - Jamie Hampton d. Alexandra Stevenson
...6-0/3-6/6-0. Not-so-strangely enough, with Stevenson, a scoreline like this isn't that odd at all.
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8. $25K Bari Final - Z.Kucova d. Z.Ondraskova
...6-4/6-2. The Slovak beats the Czech in "The Battle of the Zuzanas."
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9. $25K Poza Rica Final - Lauren Albanese d. Julia Cohen
...6-4/6-1. Remember Albanese? Now 21, the American swept the singles and doubles in this Mexican challenger event that proved to be quite an oasis in the tennis desert for the former junior star. Her 5-0 singles record for the week must have come as quite a shock to her, considering she'd slumped into the event on a ten-match losing streak that extended back to November of last year.
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10. Fes Q's - Soler-Espinoza d. Paszek
...6-3/7-5. At this point, Henin's comment from a few years back about Paszek possibly being a Top 5 player one day isn't looking very accurate.
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**RECENT FED CUP FINALS**
2004 Russia def. France
2005 Russia def. France
2006 ITALY def. Belgium
2007 Russia def. ITALY
2008 Russia def. Spain
2009 ITALY def. UNITED STATES
2010 ITALY at UNITED STATES

=2011 World Group=
Australia
Belgium
Czech Republic
France
Italy
Russia
Slovak Republic
United States
=2011 Group II=
Canada
Estonia
Germany
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Ukraine





STUTTGART, GERMANY (Premier $700K/red clay indoor/outdoor)
09 Final: Kuzentsova d. Safina
10 Top Seeds: Wozniacki/Safina
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=SF=
Stosur d. Wozniacki
Henin d. A.Radwanska
=FINAL=
Stosur d. Henin

...it looks like Wozniacki is going to play (hope she doesn't live to regret it and wish she'd given her ankle injury another week to rest). Stuttgart is where the '09 trilogy of Kuznetsova vs. Safina finals began, and again this event marks the beginning of something for the two Russians, as both are returning from injuries (a shoulder and back, respectively) that have put their EuroClay effectiveness and Paris chances in jeopardy. Conceivably, the two could meet in the final again, but that's probably not likely. Still, it's one of a slew of matches in Stuttgart that might raise a few eyebrows and begin to tell the story of this year's clay season. How about 1st Round meetings of Pennetta/Azarenka, Kuznetsova/Srebotnik, Bartoli/Stosur, Wickmayer/Schiavone and A-Rad/AnaIvo? Not enough? Well, the 2nd Round could produce Kuznetsova/Li and/or Henin/Wickmayer. Hold on for more. The QF might include Wozniacki/Pennetta, Kuznetsova/Stosur, A-Rad/Safina and, here it comes, Henin/Jankovic. And THIS is the remaining draw after several big names pulled out with injuries? Sheesh, talk about an embarassment of riches. If the likes of Wozniacki, Kuznetsova, Stosur, Jankovic, Safina or someone else wins this one, they're suddenly in the opening day discussion for Paris, if they weren't already. If Henin wins, maybe all the fretting about her chances at RG in this spot have been much ado about nothing. If she doesn't, well... you know. I'll go the blasphemous route and pick Stosur, but secretly hope that Justine has been hiding Rafa-like in the weeds waiting to remind everyone again what Paris used to be like in the springtime.


FES, MOROCCO (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
09 Final: Medina-Garrigues d. Makarova
10 Top Seeds: Suarez-Navarro/Schnyder
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=SF=
Suarez-Navarro d. Benesova
Schnyder d. Parmentier
=FINAL=
Suarez-Navarro d. Schnyder

...not as many mouth-watering potential matchups to consider here, though anytime Schnyder hits the court something inspiring COULD happen. Maybe even a title? Urrr, I just can't go there, even though she did look pretty good at times in Charleston. So, in the continuing quest to ONE DAY get a first-ever title pick from CSN correct, I'll step into those murky waters yet again.


All for now.

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Wk.15- Shake It Up (Scrambled Backspin... with eggs and toast)

Ah, the annual rites of spring. Birds return. Flowers bloom. And Backspin is scrambled (this year with eggs and toast).




1. Chas Final - Stosur d. Zvonareva
...6-0/6-3. Dominance, thy name was Samantha. Stosur had a 14-1 edge in winners over Zvonareva in the 1st set, en route to a 6-0/3-0 lead before the Russian took out her frustration on her racket and then at least made the 2nd set respectable. In the end, Stosur had 36 winners and 11 unforced errors.
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2. Chas 1st Rd - McHale d. Kudryavtseva
...3-6/7-6/6-3. Down 6-3/5-2, McHale overcame two match points and bounded back to take out the Russian. Maybe she can remind Oudin what's that like, since she might need to remember her U.S. Open past next weekend in the Fed Cup semifinals.
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3. Chas 1st Rd - Dushevina d. Govortsova 6-0/2-0 ret. (knee tendinitis)
Chas 2nd Rd - McHale d. Azarenka 6-2/2-2 ret. (hamstring)
Chas 2nd Rd - Peng d. Bartoli 2-6/7-6/4-3 ret. (dizziness)
Chas SF - Zvonareva d. Wozniacki 5-2 ret. (ankle)
... Long before C-Woz went down in a heap in the final, Charleston looked like a battlefield with players' limbs, psyches and insides strewn all over the court. Maybe '09 champ/'10 early withdrawer Sabine "Boo-Boo" Lisicki knew something we didn't?
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4. Barc Final - Schiavone d. Vinci
...6-1/6-1. Now Francesca can compare notes with fellow '10 clay court tournament champion Flavia Pennetta before the gang sends the Czechs home, or wherever the Iceland volcano(es?) sends everyone scurrying by the end of the weekend.
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5. Chas QF - Hantuchova d. Jankovic
...1-6/6-3/6-4. JJ will get a quick shot at revenge this weekend in the Fed Cup World Group Playoffs.
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6. Chas SF - Zvonareva d. Wozniacki (take two)
...5-2 ret.. Proving that the Tennis Gods' lightning doesn't strike the EXACT same place twice, Zvonareva moves on, while C-Woz should take the hint and take a couple of weeks off since she seems to have escaped any long-term problems after turning her ankle at 4-2 in the 1st set.
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7. $25K Osprey 1st Rd - Olga Puchkova d. Mirjana Lucic
...6-4/0-6/6-3. Perhaps, Lucic was still overexcited about her comeback ITF title from a few days earlier?
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8. $25K Cairo Final - Renata Voracova d. Audrey Bergot
...6-3/6-4. Voracova, who also won the doubles, won a second straight challenger title, winning five complete matches en route. Hey, she needed the work after getting two walkovers and a retirement during her run to the Civitavecchia crown the previous weekend.
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09 SF: ITA d. RUS 4-1, USA d. CZE 3-2
SEMIFINALS
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Italy(H) d. Czech Republic 4-1
Russia d. United States(H) 4-1

...the same four teams that battled to reach the FC semis meet up again in '10, only against different opponents. The same two teams (ITA/USA) could reach the final again, but it's hard to see it happening unless that spot that Mary Joe Fernandez is (hoping-against-hope) holding open in case one of the Sisters decides to show up is actually filled by either Venus or Serena. As far as Team Italia goes, the gang's all here -- Pennetta, Schiavone, Errani & Vinci, winners of two tour singles titles and two doubles titles over the past couple of weeks. I'll go with Italy by a 4-1 score, but it could be a sweep if the Czechs' big match willies pop up again. Dementieva is leading the Hordettes, who won't have to deal with any volcano-inpaired travel issues if they managed to arrive in the States early (or never left after playing the tour events held here the last few weeks). Barring an unlikely eleventh-hour arrival of a Williams, Oudin will be the lead Bannerette. Since her 4-0 record against Russians in New York last summer, she's gone 0-5 this season. I'll take the Russians to win on the road, but if Venus or Serena show up I suppose I'll flip it to the U.S. 3-2 (with the tie coming down to the doubles match).

=WORLD GROUP PLAYOFFS=
Belgium(H) d. Estonia 5-0
Australia d. Ukraine(H) 3-2
Germany(H) d. France 3-2
Slovak Republic d. Serbia(H) 3-2

...Justine and Queen Squeegee hugging and giving each other high-fives? Eek, maybe the volcano had the right idea. A win here gets the team back into the World Group 1st Round for '11. Assuming at least one of Belgium's Big Two plays FC with Wickmayer next season, might the Waffles be the favorite to take the title? With no second Bondarenko to pair with Alona, I'll take the Aussies to win with the Stosur/Stubbs doubles team sealing the deal. Germany vs. France is maybe the most difficult to call of all the ties this weekend. I'll stick with the Germans, even though on-the-roster Lisicki is a HUGE question mark to play or last long, just because the Amelie-less French team has far less flavor these days. JJ has the chance to be THE star here, but the Slovaks have at least one too many options in the home FC tie that AnaIvo deemed to be too pressure-packed to risk testing her fragile nerves.

=GROUP II PLAYOFFS=
Spain d. Poland(H) 3-2
Sweden(H) d. China 4-1
Canada(H) d. Argentina 4-1
Japan d. Slovenia(H) 3-2

...playing on carpet rather than clay probably gives Poland something of an advantage over the Spaniards, but I'll go with MJMS carrying Espana to the win (even if she drops a match to A-Rad). If Domachowska plays well, though, this could go the other way. China was in the 2008 Fed Cup SF, but hasn't won a single tie since. On the road against Sweden, with neither Li nor Zheng in tow (Peng, Zhang and Zhou are at least a step up over recent Chinese rosters, though), there's no real reason to think that losing streak will end now. Arvidsson and Larsson have been good FC players in the past, so I'll stick with the Swedes. No Dulko means Argentina has no chance in Canada. I'm pinning much hope on Date-Krumm's thirtysomething shoulders against Slovenia, as she'll likely have to go 2-0 in singles for the Japanese team to have a shot on the road against a Slovenian team that sports both Hercog and Srebotnik.



Samantha Stosur has always had it in her. It was just a matter of finding it and allowing it to blossom.

The 26-year old Australian's process of learning how to and believing she can win has been in high gear now for a little over a year, and every few months she seems to provide more evidence that it's working. Just in the past twelve months, a doubles success-heavy career bio that included quite a few entries relating to blown singles leads against top-tier players and grand slam disappointments has been propped up by highlights such as "Roland Garros semifinalist," "WTA singles champion in Osaka" and "Top 10 player." With "Charleston champ" now being included on the list after Stosur's thoroughly dominating performance in the final against Vera Zvonareva on Sunday -- she swept the first nine games and pulled every shot imaginable out of her racket bag -- the Aussie has officially thrown her name in the hat for one of the lead "understudy" roles for that big tournament that begins in Paris next month.

If Serena Williams isn't physically ready to slog through a two-week, seven-match (plus doubles) clay event, Justine Henin unwittingly pulls "a Jankovic" (changing her game in an attempt to raise the stakes, but inadvertantly taking away one of her biggest assets -- her point-by-point reliability -- in the process) and removes herself from her previous role as odds-on Roland Garros favorite, the Belgian Barbie continues to harbor inner doubt that she can't win in Paris, and the currently-injured Svetlana Kuznetsova furthers resembles the 2010 model rather than the 2009 one, SOMEONE will have to emerge from the pack and possibly claim a maiden grand slam title.

In recent weeks, Caroline Wozniacki's name at least entered that conversation. After last week, maybe Zvonareva's does, too. Elena Dementieva's will always be included until she calls it a career. Maybe Jankovic, as well. With this title, it looks like Stosur is working her way into the mix. Certainly the striking image of the cut Aussie (seriously, maybe it was highlighted greatly by some mix of sweat and sunscreen, but she looked like she could get into and win a bicep flexing contest with Serena) pounding serves, gliding across the court, pinning Zvonareva well behind the baseline with high-bouncing crosscourt forehands into the deep corner, and using her doubles prowess to claim the net when necessary one could squint and see this week being the start of something special for Slingin' Sammy.

With the words "attitude" and "composure" literally written on the tape on her wrist (what has Melanie Oudin's "Believe" wrought?) to remind her to not let her questioning demons get in the way of her success like they did for so long, Stosur surely seems like she finally not only knows where she's going, but HOW TO GET THERE, too. Sometimes, it's as "simple" as that. All the coaching, equipment and training technique aside, quite often the most important tool in a tennis champion's box is the six inch wide one between her ears.

Australia has been waiting thirty years for a true female champion to emerge again in the post-Goolagong era. Could it be that one has been under the nation's collective nose all along? All it might take are a few stumbles by the sport's leading ladies this summer to give Stosur the chance to see if it could be her.




PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Samantha Stosur/AUS
...the Road to Osaka includes an offramp to Charleston. After an Indian Wells semifinal result in recent weeks, Stosur's subsequent trip to South Carolina included career title #2 and wins over Magdalena Rybarikova, Vera Dushevina, Peng Shuai, Daniela Hantuchvoa and Zvonareva. Not only that, but it allowed her to return to the Top 10, knocking Jada's Idle Mom back to #11.
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RISERS: Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci, ITA & Vera Zvonareva/RUS
...a week after winning in Marbella, Errani and Vinci grabbed the Barcelona doubles title, too. For her part, Vinci reached the singles final, losing to Francesca Schiavone, while attempting to defend her '09 Barcelona crown. Meanwhile, a year after tearing ligaments in her ankle in Charleston and causing herself myriad difficulties ever since, Zvonareva nearly totally turned the tables by taking the title a season later. Stosur made sure that inspiring story wasn't written, though. Still, wins over Alona Bondarenko, Melanie Oudin and Caroline Wozniacki (who, ironically, had to retire from her SF match with Zvonareva after sliding and turning over HER ankle -- though not nearly as nastily as Zvonareva did last year -- while running for a drop shot at the end of a long rally) put her back in the Top 20 and allows her to start to attempt to pick up where she left off when the injury stopped cold what had possibly been the best few months of her career. Note: Zvonareva also contributed to her growing reel of entertaining on-court outbursts in the final, breaking her racket with three crushing slams to the ground, throwing it at her chair, and kicking it for good measure... and then going out and winning four straight points with a new wand after having fallen behind 6-0/3-0.
=============================
SURPRISES: Vania King/Michaella Krajicek, USA/NED & Dijana Banovec/CRO
...King and Krajicek hooked up as a doubles team for the first time earlier this year and ended up winning the Memphis title. They teamed again in Charleston, and they bumped off Raymond/Stubbs on the way to an appearance in the final. Croatia's Banovec, 17, went 9-0 in total while winning her first career ITF crown in the $10K in Bol. After winning four matches to qualify, she defeated junior star Silvia Njiric and took down Cindy Chala in the final.
=============================
COMEBACK: Daniela Hantuchova/SVK
...Hantuchova still doesn't have that crucial trait that allows her to put away big wins (see the Venus loss a few weeks ago) or claim many titles (if you'd been told in 2002, when she was on her way to reaching #5 in the rankings, that she'd still only have three career titles eight years later, you'd have thought the mystic who told you was insane in the membrane), but she's managed to "move the needle" a little bit once again in recent outings. In Charleston, wins over Ayumi Morita, Angelique Kerber and Jelena Jankovic in a three-setter put her into the SF and within shouting distance of the Top 20.
=============================
VETERANS: Francesca Schiavone/ITA & Liezel Huber/Nadia Petrova, USA/RUS
...Schiavone, 29, became the oldest tour singles champion this season (edging out Venus by mere weeks) in taking the Barcelona title, her third career crown since 2007 after going title-less despite appearing in eight finals from 2000-06. In Spain, she knocked off Alberta Brianti, Tathiana Garbin, Carla Suarez-Navarro, Yaroslava Shvedova and defending champion Robert Vinci in the final. Meanwhile, with Liezel Huber's usual partner Cara Black no where to be found, and Nadia Petrova's regular teammate (Stosur) deciding to skip the doubles competition, Huber's husband Tony recruited the Russian to join Liezel for the week. The repercussions turned out to be massive. Presenting one of the more physically imposing non-Williams doubles teams on tour, Huber and Petrova (the latter of which won the Charleston title a year ago with Bethanie Mattek-Sands) rolled to the title without dropping a set. It was Huber's 42nd career title, with now ten different partners, but it more importantly served to shake up the WTA Doubles Rankings... this time for real, unlike the error that appeared for a few weeks on the tour's website a couple of months ago. Huber's win broke her free from her #1-ranking tie with Black, ending her partner's 33-month reign atop the doubles heap (and possibly putting in jeopardy her chances of ever catching Martina Navratilova's career mark for total weeks in the spot, barring Black playing some additional Huber-less events over the next year). After holding a share of the #1 ranking for the past twenty-nine months, Huber now stands alone (and, interestingly, didn't rule out playing with Petrova again in the future).
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FRESH FACES: Melanie Oudin/USA & Christina McHale/USA
...Oudin ended up putting McHale out of Charleston by a 6-4/6-0 score in the QF, but both were young bright spots for American tennis last week. Oudin, just before she's set (for now, at least) to take the lead American role in the Fed Cup semifinals, reached her fourth 2010 quarterfinal in South Carolina, pulling into a tie with Venus for the most by an American this season. Meanwhile, McHale made it through qualifying, overcame two match points to defeat Alla Kudryavtseva, and advanced past an injured Victoria Azarenka to get to the final eight, her first career tour QF.
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DOWN: Alize Cornet/FRA
...for a while, it looked like Cornet was going to be a fiesty player who'd find a way to continue to rise. That changed last season, and the fact that the former Top 20er was forced to qualify in Charleston says all you need to know about the Pastry's last year of results. She DID make it through qualifying, but then went out quickly in the 1st Round at the hands of Timea Bacsinszky.
=============================
ITF PLAYER: Nina Bratchikova/RUS
...the 24-year old Russian, who's been hanging around #200 in the rankings for quite a while now, won the $100K challenger in Johannesburg, defeating veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-5/7-6 in the final. She also notched wins over Jarmila Groth, Elena Baltacha and Katie O'Brien.
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JUNIOR STAR: Krista Hardebeck/USA
...for the second straight week, it's Hardebeck. Immediately after winning the USTA International Spring Championships, the 15-year old claimed the Easter Bowl event in Rancho Mirage, California. She defeated top-seeded Lauren Davis 7-5/6-3 in the final.
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*WEEK 15 CHAMPIONS*

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA USA (Premier $700K/green clay outdoor)
S: Samantha Stosur def. Vera Zvonareva 6-0/6-3
D: Huber/Petrova d. King/Krajicek

BARCELONA, SPAIN (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
S: Francesca Schiavone def. Roberta Vinci 6-1/6-1
D: Errani/Vinci d. Bacsinszky/Garbin




**LIEZEL HUBER TITLE-WINNING DOUBLES PARTNERS**
[42 titles]
29...Cara Black, ZIM (2001-10)
3...Sania Mirza, IND (2004-06)
2...Maggie Maleeva, BUL (2003)
2...Martina Navratilova, USA (2003-06)
1...Nicole Arendt, USA (2002)
1...Jill Craybas, USA (2003)
1...Rachel McQuillan, USA (2001)
1...Lenka Nemeckova, CZE (2001)
1...NADIA PETROVA, RUS (2010)
1...Ai Sugiyama, JPN (2003)

**MOST WEEKS AS DOUBLES #1**
237...Martina Navratilova
163...Cara Black*
128...LIEZEL HUBER* (current #1)
124...Natasha Zvereva
117...Lisa Raymond
111...Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario

**LONGEST CONSECUTIVE STRETCH AS DOUBLES #1**
[approximate months]
41 months - Martina Navratilova (August 18, 1986 - February 4, 1990)
33 months - Cara Black (July 9, 2007 - April 18, 2010)
29 MONTHS - LIEZEL HUBER (NOVEMBER 12, 2007 - CURRENT)
17 months - Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (November 13, 1995 - April 6, 1997)
16 months - Virginia Ruano Pascual (July 26, 2004 - October 17, 2005)

**2010 SEMIFINALISTS BY NATION**
9...ITALY
9...RUSSIA
6...Belgium
6...United States
5...Spain
4...SLOVAK REPUBLIC

**SINGLES/DOUBLES FINAL IN SAME EVENT**
January - Serena Williams, Australian Open (W/W)
February - Tamarine Tanasugarn, Pattaya (L/W)
February - Polona Hercog, Acapulco (L/W)
APRIL - ROBERTA VINCI, BARCELONA (L/W)

**2010 ALL-NATION SINGLES FINALS**
Belgium - Barbiella def. Justine Henin (Brisbane)
ITALY - SCHIAVONE def. VINCI (BARCELONA)
Russia - Kleybanova def. Dementieva (Kuala Lumpur)

**OLDEST 2010 CHAMPIONS**
FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE, ITA - BARCELONA (29y,9m,3w)
Venus Williams, USA - Acapulco (29y,8m,2w) & Dubai (29y,8m,1w)
Serena Williams, USA - Australian Open (28y,4m,1w)
Elena Dementieva, RUS - Paris (28y,4m) & Sydney (28y,3m)
Flavia Pennetta, ITA - Marbella (28y,1m,2w)

**2010 DOUBLES TITLES - TEAMS**
2...Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE (Paris/Monterrey)
2...Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA (Auckland/Sydney)
2...SARA ERRANI/ROBERTA VINCI, ITA (MARBELLA/BARCELONA)

**THREE CAREER TITLES**
[active, year of last title]
Victoria Azarenka, BLR (2009)
Elena Bovina, RUS (2004)
Gisela Dulko, ARG (2008)
Daniela Hantuchova, SVK (2007)
Michaella Krajicek, NED (2006)
Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP (2003)
FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE, ITA (2010)
Agnes Szavay, HUN (2009)
Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA (2009)
Yanina Wickmayer, BEL (2010)
Zheng Jie, CHN (2006)



All for now.

Read more...

Wk.14- Caroline, uh, On My Mind

With every big result Caroline Wozniacki posts, you can see a real, flesh-and-blood champion being built from the ground up.

Kinda, sort of.

A winner during her junior days, the 19-year old Dane has kept up the habit as a pro. She won three titles in 2008, then three more in '09. Her Ponte Vedra Beach title defense this weekend put her on course to match or exceed her previous three-times-a-lady runs in 2010, too. Unlike so many of her young counterparts on tour whose first notion is to simply aim and hit, Wozniacki knows what she's doing out there on the court (sometimes, even before her dad immigrates from the stands for a mini coaching session, too), even while it's still apparent that her game is a work in progress as she manages to continue to climb up the WTA ladder while trying to figure out how to get everything out of her talent.

Wozniacki's matches often have a certain "sameness" to them, and that's a testament to her. Never allowing herself to get too high or too low emotionally, no lead or deficit is ever "unworkable." Bad starts are almost always turned back in her favor, but easy 1st sets don't necesarily mean a quick straight sets victory is a given, either. Wozniacki's pet tactic of extending rallies with superb defense, even while usually eschewing the more dangerous aggression that comes so naturally to other teens who've risen up the rankings as quickly as C-Woz, usually means you're going to get your money's worth as a viewer or fan when it comes to match length. Ultimately, Wozniacki's gameplan means she'll play far longer matches on occasion that she probably should, but it also means she's usually going to win.

Largely because she sets up her opponents to defeat themselves, giving them just enough rope to hang their own chances, Wozniacki is the most consistent performer on tour. A true workhorse, she rarely ever loses to players she shouldn't. Forcing opponents to hit a sixth, seventh or eighth competent shot in a single point quite literally "separates the wheat from the chaff," as the vast majority of the WTA field isn't up to pulling off such a feat on an every-point, every-game, every-set basis when each shot begins to hold such meaning. Wozniacki's tenaciousness and level-headed mindset feast on any of her opponents' lingering doubts, shot-for-shot lack of uniformity/creativity and/or match-closing know-how (see Elena Vesnina and Olga Govortsova this weekend in PVB).

Consistency kills... but is it enough for her take the next step? And for the #2-ranked player in the world and one-time slam finalist, that step can be summed up with just one phrase: "grand slam champion."

Wozniacki's current gameplan works well enough. She's risen up the ranks with steady (and sometimes better) speed. Ponte Vedra Beach was her seventh career title, and her second successful title defense in the last nine months. Last season, she was only player to reach finals on four different surfaces (PVB was her first-ever clay final), and her green clay decider on Sunday ups her surface final total to two already in '10. But when Wozniacki goes up against the more seasoned champions on tour -- the Serena Williamses, Justine Henins and even Belgian Barbies, as last year's U.S. Open final showed -- her opponents have a better understanding of how to play those long, tension-filled points better, and they make a point to turn up their aggression and beat C-Woz to the punch in those long rallies where the teenager finds her comfort zone.

There's no need to totally change her game. Ask Jelena Jankovic, a similar type of defensive stalwart, how that sort of thing works out. But that doesn't mean that she can't learn how to pick her spots better when it comes to being more aggressive in her own right. Again, as JJ showed was possible in Indian Wells. One would like to see her try to do so more often against the players she's supposed to defeat, and hope that the muscle/mental memory will serve her well when she's up against the sport's elite stars, a group in which Wozniacki herself is trying to justify her inclusion. Would it be potentially dangerous to experiment more often? Sure, but the potential dividends would seem to be worth it. Look at Henin, who's trying to alter her game to fit her second career. Sometimes her less-familiar gameplan trips her up, as it's not her natural inclination to move forward, cut shots off and play the role of bull in a china shop. But she wants to win Wimbledon, and she believes that's how she has to do it... so she's willing to take the chance.

If Wozniacki wants to become a grand slam champion, not just a very good player who racks up titles everywhere but in the majors, she might have to take more chances, too. She's already shown a willingness to bend to that reality, visibly trying to take the offensive initiative at times, and the nerve she showed at last year's WTA Championships speaks well for her desire to be all that she can be. As she tries to bring that hybrid aspect to her game, there's no reason to think that her progress won't continue in 2010.

In fact, with Serena's schedule and knee somewhat iffy between now and Roland Garros, Wozniacki might have a shot at the #1 ranking this spring, though you sort of hope it doesn't happen before she can better prove herself worthy of such an honor. We've had enough Jankovic, Ivanovic and Safina-esque moments the last few years to openly hedge against, if not oppose, the elevation of ANY player, even one who SEEMS capable of handling the inherent pressures of such an accomplishment, into such a heightened arena of expectation and nitpicking before she's developed the armor, both on-court and off, to brush it aside and continue to want to get better. Really, other than the Williams Sisters, only Maria Sharapova has emerged in recent years with the fortitude and backbone to make such a situation work (and then her shoulder became the body part that stuck a wrench in the gears of Supernovic progress, so you NEVER know what'll happen).

"Problem" is, it's always hard to tell what Williams will do in Paris. Plus, Henin's game and match consistency might mean she won't automatically reassume her Roland Garros throne this June. The Other Belgian Not Named Yanina or Kirsten and clay courts don't necessarily always mesh, and the remaining potential contenders at the next slam are all either dealing with injuries, downturns in their results or precisely the type of emotional components that set Wozniacki apart because of her ability to NOT be brought down by them. C-Woz might just emerge from the pack in Paris, as she did in New York, and stake a legit claim for one of the four biggest prizes of the season.

But for all the accomplishments in her career, one that Wozniacki has yet to pull off is to win a title on RED clay (she reached two finals in '09). After playing this week on green clay in Charleston, she'll have until late May to attempt to remove that hole in her resume before play begins in Roland Garros. If she can fill it and check it off her career "To Do" list, she might head to the French as a co-favorite in the minds of some.

Maybe even mine.

"Caroline in the City... of Lights?" It could prove to be a story arc that proves triumphant in Paris. But no matter what the computer says, it's too soon to tell or fully believe in that potential reality.

Of course, that could change.

*WEEK 14 CHAMPIONS*

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA USA (Int'l $220K/green clay outdoor)
S: Caroline Wozniacki def. Olga Govortsova 6-2/7-5
D: Mattek-Sands/Yan d. Chuang/Peng

MARBELLA, SPAIN (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
S: Flavia Pennetta def. Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-2/4-6/6-3
D: Errani/Vinci d. Kondratieva/Shvedova


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...here's where I note some of the players that C-Woz defeated en route to her first Player of the Week crown of 2010... on the anniversary of her first '09 POW acknowledgement after winning Ponte Vedre Beach (the week of the "famed" first-ever Double Headline Backspin). The likes of players named Schnyder, Arvidsson and Pavlyuchenkova were swept aside, while Vesnina (up 4-2 in the 3rd, one year after holding four MP in PVB before losing to C-Woz) and Govortosva (up 4-1 in the 2nd) took a bit more work. There, now that's done. What I really wanted to note here was what has sort of become known as Wozniacki's seemingly natural on-court calmness. This weekend, that notion was proven to NOT be totally natural at all. During a couple bad stretches in the SF and Final, Wozniacki was seen to throw her racket at the ground once, and attack the net with a few aggressive strokes after missing an easy shot. Of course, in C-Woz's case, she got her frustration out of her system, put it in a mental lockbox and went on to win both matches. In a way, it's a realization such as this that makes the world #2's ability to find her way through sometimes-murky match waters all the more impressive. Contrast that with what a player such Victoria Azarenka often does -- let her anger fester until it becomes volcanic, then often go down in flames. It's interesting that both were #1 seeds last week. While Wozniacki defended her PVB title, Azarenka retired in the QF in Marbella. (Yep, I'm going to try to link these two in the ongoing WTA plotline even if it kills me.)
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RISERS: Olga Govortsova/BLR & Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP
...armed with a serve that has the ability to provide her some very nice future results, Govortsova nonetheless failed to get her first tour title (she's now 0-3 in WTA finals) in Ponte Vedra Beach. She was unable to push the final against Wozniacki to a 3rd set despite being up 4-1 in the 2nd. Still, wins over '09 PVB runner-up Alona Bondarenko and Dominika Cibulkova (who nearly came back ala C-Woz from a big deficit) are enough to make her a player who's progress needs to be watched, assuming she can eliminate her nasty habit of squandering big advantages. CSN, too, is still looking for her first tour singles title (for the record, I'd picked both Suarez-Navarro and Govortsova to become first-time champs in '10 in my preseason predictions -- so while I wholeheartedly endorse both of this week's titlists, I still have to consider Week 14 something of a double near-miss). With wins over Roberta Vinci, Polona Hercog, Tatjana Malek and Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, the Spaniard managed to match her result from a year ago this weekend. In 2009, she lost the Marbella final to Jelena Jankovic, and her three-set loss on Sunday to Flavia Pennetta leaves her 0-2 in career tour finals.
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SURPRISES: Beatriz Garcia-Vidagany/ESP & Anna Tatishvili/GEO
...raise your hand if you knew anything about Garcia-Vidagany before last week? (Her name was vaguely familiar to me from winning a few ITF titles last season, but I couldn't help but say "who the crap is 'Garcia'" when I saw that she'd knocked off the Belgian Barbie in the 2nd Round in Marbella last week). I mean, the 21-year old was the #12-ranked SPANIARD on the computer when play began. BGV DID manage to get on the radar a few days earlier, though, when her qualifying run included a nice win over Alicia Molik, but one wonders just how much Last Week's Miami Champion knew about her. Garcia-Vidagany, the world #258, also got a 1st Round win over Kristina Barrois before eventually losing to Sara Errani in the QF, but her big week will surely be brought up again when all the "Upset of the (whatever time period it happens to be)" talk in stirred up the rest of this season. Three or four years ago, Tatishvili was considered a young player to watch. Her progress has been slow, though. But she reached a career-high ranking of #150 in March, and the 20-year old Georgian (as in the former Soviet republic, not the Peach State) has recently had some results that make one want to take notice again. In PV Beach, she qualified with wins over Michelle Larcher de Brito and Michaella Krajicek, then got a main draw victory over Magdalena Rybarikova. Govortsova eventually knocked her out in the 2nd Round.
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COMEBACKS: Elena Vesnina/RUS & Mirjana Lucic/CRO
...a year ago, Vesnina held four match points against Wozniacki in the PVB semifinals, only to lose the match and watch C-Woz take the title. This time around, she led the Dane 4-2 in the SF in PVB, only to lose and watch C-Woz take the title again. Hey, aren't you "John Locke"... or is it Titus Welliver? (And if you get that one, then you know I had to get it in before next month for it to be a relevant reference, and I just did.) The Russian, who reached two finals in '09, retired from a match in Tokyo against Jelena Jankovic last October. Counting that loss, she'd gone just 4-9 in main draw tour matches since. Maybe this PVB result, in which she notched three victories alone, will turn things back in her favor. At least she didn't stomp around the court like a Shakespearean character in need of a soliloquy like she did in PVB last year. That's a start. The REAL comeback star of Week 14, however, was Lucic. You remember her, right? Back in 1997, the Croat was one of now just six players (including names like Austin, Henin and Srebotnik) who became champions in their WTA singles debut, winning at home in Bol, Croatia at barely 15 years old (still in the Top 5 for youngest-ever champs). She won a small ITF event in Croatia, then defended that Bol title a year later. In May '98, she was the #32-ranked player in the world. In 1999, she ended the season in the Top 50 on the strength of her stunning semifinal run at Wimbledon (along with qualifier Alexandra Stevenson, who defeated qualifier Jelena Dokic in the QF in definitively the craziest SW19 ever). Since then, she's been a poster child for what's often wrong with tennis and parenting, but also how a series of bad breaks don't mean that a player need give up (maybe, the soon-to-be-Mrs. Stepanek should realize that). From 2002-09, Lucic's year-end ranking never inched into the Top 200. With one slam main draw win since 2001, Lucic made Dokic's "slide" since her shocking introduction to much of the tennis world seen like a picnic. But, after a few years of bouncing around the ITF challenger circuit with only modest success to spur her on, Lucic came (back) into her own this weekend in the $25K event in Jackson, Mississippi. The now 28-year old, #240-ranked player defeated Jamie Hampton 7-5/6-3 in the final to earn her first singles title of any kind since 1998, and her first ever outside the borders of Croatia.
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VETERANS: Flavia Pennetta/ITA & Renata Voracova/CZE
...a week after winning the Miami doubles title with Gisela Dulko, the 28-year old Pennetta got her recently-flagging singles game back in form in Marbella. With wins over Yaroslava Shvedova, Laura Pous Tio, Simona Halep, Sara Errani and Suarez-Navarro, she upped her career tour singles title total to nine (tying her on the active list with the likes of Nadia Petrova and Anabel Medina-Garrigues). In the $25K challenger in Civitavecchia, Italy, 26-year old Czech Voracova grabbed a title after manuevering her way past Julia Schruff, Zuzana Ondraskova and Anna Floris in the final.
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FRESH FACES: Varvara Lepchenko/USA & Tian Ran/CHN
...the Uzbekistan-born American Lepchenko, 23, entered the PV Beach draw as a Lucky Loser after losing to Bethanie Mattek-Sands in qualifying. But she made the most of her opportunity, defeating Mariana Duque-Marino and Angelique Kerber to reach her first career tour QF. Tian, 16, most recently was mentioned here after the Girls #85 lost in back-to-back junior events to Girls #3 Irina Khromacheva. But with the Russian nowhere to be found in the $10K pro challanger event in Ningbo, China, Tian won her first pro title, defeating countrywoman Zheng Saisai 6-2/6-3 in the final.
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DOWN: Jada's Traditionally Clay Court-Resistant Mom/BEL & Sabine Lisicki/GER
...the Champagne Gifter came into Marbella having not played a match on clay since her last outing before her retirement in Warsaw during the spring of '07. In fact, going into last week, that loss to Julia Vakulenko was her only clay match since she lost the 2006 Roland Garros semifinal to Justine Henin. She got her first clay win in almost four years, but went down in three sets in the 2nd Round to Spain's Beatriz Garcia-Vidagany, the #258th-ranked player in the world. Meanwhile, Lisicki didn't play last week. That's not exactly news, but the announcement that her ankle is still too injured to even allow her to attempt to defend her Charleston title this week is more than a crushing blow to the belief that her battles with her health are anywhere near reaching a conclusion.
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ITF PLAYER: Mona Barthel/GER
...the German, 19, qualified for and won the $50K challenger in Torhout, Belgium. Her list of vanquished foes included Bojana Jovanovski, Kathrin Woerle, Stephanie Dubois, Yulia Fedossova and Rebecca Marino in the final. It's Barthel's second ITF title this season.
=============================
JUNIOR STAR: Krista Hardebeck/USA
...the 15-year old American won the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, California. After defeated top-seeded Katarena Paliivets of Canada, Hardebeck defeated Sachia Vickery 0-6/6-3/6-2 in the final.
=============================


1. Marb 2nd Rd - Garcia-Vidagany d. The Only Belgian Whose '10 Results are More Rollercoaster-y Than Justine's
...7-5/4-6/6-4. See, I knew the Siren's call to pick you-know-who to win in Marbella was a trap, a blatant should-have-known-better path to destruction (note to self). Seriously, though, as sometimes-rough as Henin's path has been on occasion this season, her countrywoman's has been positively crazy. She's gone from Brisbane champ to Melbourne bust to MSG/Indian Wells choker to Miami champ to being being bounced by the #258 player in the world who was an even more obscure conquerer than her ranking would insist. Brian's Wife showed some service cracks against Henin in Miami, and they showed up again here. She tossed in eight double-faults in the match. As of now, though, she didn't react to this clay loss the same way she did her last -- which was to immediately retire from the sport.
=============================
2. PVB SF - Wozniacki d. Vesnina
...1-6/7-6/6-4. This one, a rematch of last year's PVB SF, was simply "Classically Caroline." At first, she looked out of it in the 1st. In the 2nd, she gradually worked her way into the match, edging out the Russian in the 2nd set by taking the tie-break. Watching this match live on Saturday afternoon, it was at this point that I said that this is the sort of match that usually ends with Wozniacki winning a tight 6-4 set. True to form, she fell behind 4-2 (not as dangerous as those four match points Vesnina had in '09, but still), never let up, allowed Vesnina to make just enough mistakes to lose by making her hit a few extra shots each point, and won the deciding set by a 6-4 score. Oh, if only the Belgians could be so predictable.
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3. PVB Final - Wozniacki d. Govortsova
...6-2/7-5. This was Wozniacki's fourteenth career final (already, and she's still not yet 20). In the 2nd set, C-Woz fell behind 4-1 as she was being out-served by the more aggressive Govortsova. Then, as the 2nd set progressed, the Dane worked her way into this one the same way she always does -- by extending rallies and making the Belarusian hit two or three extra shots to win a point (that's that not-so-bad "sameness" I was talking about earlier). After tightening things up on the scoreboard with a break, every point became ultra-important, so C-Woz turned the screws on Govortsova's psyche, with everything coming to a head in the tenth game of the set. Serving for the set at 5-4, Govortsova used her serve (especially a stinging wide shot to the Ad court that continually got Wozniacki off balance and allowed Govortsova to gain control of the point) to great effect. She had two set points. But Wozniacki's tactics brought out whatever tension existed in her opponent's game, and those few extra shots each point continued to frustrate Govortosova, who'd manage to miss one of the them and push the game to deuce yet again. In all, there were eight deuce points in the game, and Wozniacki put away the break on her seventh break chance of the game when Govortsova's serve finally cracked under the pressure and she threw in a double-fault on BP. With her opponent unable to escape her disappointment, the last two games went pretty quickly for C-Woz. Another Govortsova DF gave her a match point, and a weak Govortsova error ended things a few moments later. Wozniacki's seventh career title ties her with Anna Chakvetadze on the active list... which sort of tells you that nothing is definitive, even after a young player notches one more than half a dozen titles. In other words, C-Woz's work must continue unabated.
=============================
4. Marb Final - Pennetta d. Suarez-Navarro
...6-2/4-6/6-3. Just when you think you can disregard Pennetta as a potential champion, Madame Butterfly takes flight. Even in what would be considered an "off" season so far for the veteran, she's been a Fed Cup star and reached two tour finals.
=============================
5. Marb 1st Rd - Citizen's Latest Watch Saleswoman d. Dulgheru
...6-4/6-7/6-2. This was her first clay court win since 2006, but the tightness of the score should have been a sign of what came next.
=============================
6. PVB QF - Vesnina d. Oudin
...6-2/6-1. Oudin went 4-0 versus Hordettes during her QF run at the U.S. Open last summer. So far in 2010, she's sporting a 0-4 mark against Russians. Payback can be a b-... eautifully symmetrical thing.
=============================
7. Marb QF - Martinez-Sanchez d. Azarenka
...4-0 ret. Thigh strain. Has Azarenka's season jerked into an irreversible U-turn over the last month? Charleston might be suddenly very important for her.
=============================
8. Charleston Q1 - Ziyas d. Karatantcheva
...7-6/7-5. Home-grown Kazakh defeats Imported/Borrowed/Layaway Plan Kazakh.
=============================
9. Charleston Q1 - Ivanova d. Stevenson
...6-0/6-0. As noted before, the Tennis Gods DO have a sense a humor. How else to you explain that on the same weekend that surprise '99 Wimbledon semifinalist Lucic wins her first title in a dozen years in Mississippi, surprise '99 Wimbledon semifinalist Alexandra Stevenson was double-bageled just a few states away in South Carolina?
=============================


**2010 WTA FINALS**
3...Elena Dementieva, RUS (2-1)
3...Venus Williams, USA (2-1)
2...Justine's Countrywoman, BEL (2-0)
2...FLAVIA PENNETTA, ITA (1-1)
2...Serena Williams, USA (1-1)
2...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN (1-1)
2...Justine Henin, BEL (0-2)

**TEENAGE CHAMPIONS**
[by recent season]
2005: 14 (RUS-6, CZE-5, IND-1, NED-1, SRB-1)
2006: 17 (RUS-7, ISR-3, CZE-2, NED-2, AUT-1, SRB-1, USA-1)
2007: 10 (SRB-3, FRA-2, HUN-2, RUS-2, POL-1)
2008: 8 (DEN-3, POL-3, FRA-1, ROU-1)
2009: 11 (BLR-3, DEN-3, BEL-2, CZE-1, GER-1, ROU-1)
[2010]
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS - 18y,8m (Monterrey)
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN - 19y,9m (PONTE VEDRE BEACH)

**2010 FINALS - MOST SURFACES**
2...FLAVIA PENNETTA (hard/red clay)
2...Venus Williams (hard/red clay)
2...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (hard/green clay)

**MOST DEFENDED WTA TITLES, 2008-10**
3...Venus Williams, USA
2...Serena Williams, USA
2...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, DEN
1...Elena Dementieva, RUS
1...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
1...Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
1...Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
1...Vera Zvonareva, RUS

**CONSECUTIVE SEASONS WITH A TOUR TITLE**
[extended with 2010 title]
8 years - Maria Sharapova, 2003-10
5 years - Elena Dementieva, 2006-10
4 years - Jelena Jankovic, 2007-10
4 years - FLAVIA PENNETTA, 2007-10
4 years - Serena Williams, 2007-10
4 years - Venus Williams, 2007-10
3 years - Vera Zvonareva, 2008-10
3 years - CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, 2008-10
[streaks not yet extended with 2010 title]
6 years - Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP (2004-09)
3 years - Dinara Safina, RUS (2007-09)





CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA USA (Premier $700K/green clay outdoor)
09 Final: Lisicki d. Wozniacki
10 Top Seeds: Wozniacki/Jankovic
=============================
=QF=
Wozniacki d. Petrova
Zvonareva d. Azarenka
Bartoli d. Stosur
Jankovic d. Hantuchova
=SF=
Wozniacki d. Zvonareva
Bartoli d. Jankovic
=FINAL=
Wozniacki d. Bartoli

...even though this one's on green clay rather than red, this might be a real litmus test for a slew of "second-choices" for potential Roland Garros champion in a few months. Neither Serena nor Justine is here, nor is Dementieva, but most of the rest of the potential Paris breakthrough players are. C-Woz is the most in-form player, but three finals in her last three events might be one too many for even the tour's most workhorse player. JJ won on hard courts, but can she move her resurgence to the clay? Zvonareva has a lot of demons to contend with one year after the ankle injury that occurred in Charleston. Last week, Caroline got the Backspin Picks segment back on track after its unscheduled "sabbatical" in March, so I'll go with her again.


BARCELONA, SPAIN (Int'l $220K/red clay outdoor)
09 Final: Vinci d. Kirilenko
10 Top Seeds: Schiavone/Rezai
=============================
=SF=
Kirilenko d. Suarez-Navarro
Errani d. Safarova
=FINAL=
Kirilenko d. Errani

...these small clay tournaments can be so unpredictable. Kirilenko reached the final a year ago, so maybe she'll go one more this time around. But any draw with the which-side-of-the-bed-did-she-wake-up-on-this-morning? Safarova in it could be flipped on its ear at any given moment.

Next: It's time for an accounting, as "The Taxman Cometh" on ATP Backspin next -- with a "Player of the Year (so far)" update.

All for now.

Read more...

1Q BSA's: Passionate Prologue

This was supposed to be "the greatest season ever." It still might be.

When 2010 began, the WTA tour was buzzing about the possibilities for a season that finally offered the chance to have all the game's major female players in action, in top form or finally reaching their potential within the same calendar year. The Williams Sisters were healthy and focused. The Belgians were back. Maria Sharapova was ready to attempt to return the the spotlight. The latest generation of young stars, most notably Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka, were ready to make their moves. Heck, even past #1's who fell on hard times in '09 were prepared to face up against their season of judgment. As it is, one quarter of the way into this season, updates have been added to all of those stories... but intriguing new chapters have yet to be written, and few conclusions can be made about where the plotines are headed.

Serena won the Australian Open, pulling yet another slam crown from the jaws of middle-round defeat, but she hasn't played a point since. Venus looked awful in Melbourne, but great in Dubai and Acapulco, and then hit the physical wall yet again in exiting Miami (and may or may not be up to helping Mary Joe Fernandez's charges in the Fed Cup SF). Ah, but a potential Serena Grand Slam is still in play, as is a possible "Sisters Slam" in doubles.
The All-Belgian/All-Comeback final in Brisbane in Week 1 whetted the appetite for an ongoing attempt to turn Part II of their rivalry into the classic series it never managed to be the first time around, but when the pair of old not-quite-enemies-but-hardly-BFF's met up again twelve weeks later the overwhelming notion that was born was that both had taken at least a temporary a step back in drama and effectiveness since January. Still, two 8-6 3rd set tie-breaks speak well for the chance for more compelling narrative to come.
Sharapova was dumped in the 1st Round in Melbourne by a fellow Russian, but rebounded to win a title in Memphis, only to be felled once again by injury. This time it's a bum elbow... perhaps the latest byproduct of the shoulder injury and service issues that have put any talk of a slam-ready Supernova on hold for more than a year now. Sharapova will continue to be a star, but will she ever again be able to back up her off-court renown with on-court dominance? If not, she could always be a stand-in/understudy for Anna Torv, the actress from "Fringe" who I've always thought bears a striking resemblence to a certain Siberian-born twentysomething.
Wozniacki rose to #2 in the rankings, but her game continued to be a work in progress, capable of holding up against and conquer the vast majority of her opponents, but often found to be lacking in "the right stuff" against the very best (hey, I hear Buzz Aldrin has some free time again, so many he can help). Azarenka looked like she'd finally conquered the emotional/anger issues that threatened to hold her back last year, but a poor March caused the Belarusian to throw her development ever so slightly in reverse... and without the help of a hot tub time machine, too.
Former #1 Dinara Safina came back earlier than she should have from the back injury that cut short her '09 season. The result: an Australian Open retirement and even more time off tour. Meanwhile, fellow former #1 Ana Ivanovic blamed her fall on "overtraining," then switched coaches... but the results remained the same. Not so for her Serbian countrywoman (and another ex-#1) Jelena Jankovic, who broke off her long-time connection with Ricardo Sanchez in favor of a why-not-try-it? period with Chip Brooks. The result: a title in Indian Wells and a glimpse of the wonderful chaos she used to bring to the tour on a regular basis not that long ago. AnaIvo DID appear in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, like #1's Serena, Sharapova and Steffi Graf before her, though. So at least she's got a second career waiting for her... you know, just in case.

Of course, all these loose ends and hangnails mean the rest of 2010 will continue to hold the promise of great expectations... at least until further notice.



Note: Since this is what I consider a "for the record" edition of Backspin, I'll suspend the Barbie-inspired moratorium on the use a particular player's name for today. But, have no fear, the self-imposed restriction will be reinstated immediately afterward and will remain until the "ban's" next temporary suspension during Roland Garros.

*1Q Backspin Awards - Wk.1-13*
**PLAYERS OF THE QUARTER**
1. Serena Williams, USA

...without the monstrous comeback against Azarenka in Melbourne that ultimately led to slam title #12, Serena would have been a 1Q nonentity. As it is, she's THE star of the quarter even though she hasn't played for more than two months. Of course, that's been the S.O.P. for Serena's career for most of the last decade... so the outlook for the rest of '10 is encouraging. What was it again that happened at the U.S. Open last year? By the time September gets here, it might REALLY be like it never happened (sort of like the WTA's version of one of those "sideways" realities on "Lost").
=============================
2. Venus Williams, USA
...who'd have thought she'd end up here at the end the quarter after the way she went out in the QF at the Australian? Three finals and two titles (four and three, counting an NYC exhibition) later, her "win, win, win, win, win, win, win" goals for 2010 don't sound so far fetched... especially when you consider that those seven "wins" would sync up quite nicely with the number of victories she'd need to pull off to snare that sixth career Wimbledon plate.
=============================
3. Kim Clijsters, BEL
...what's more important? That she won a pair of singles title around her 6-0/6-1 wipeout defeat in the Australian Open, or that KC 2.0 successfully went through Justine Henin 2.0 to win both of them? Ahh, but is either doll-worthy?
=============================
4. Williams/Williams, USA
...their quest to become the unquestioned best women's doubles team ever continues. Next slam stop: Paris. A win there and a Sisters Slam, barring injury, would almost be a certainty in '10.
=============================
5. Elena Dementieva, RUS
...even though she's had the handicap of carrying that Henin magnet in her tennis bag all season, she's still managed to win two titles when Justine wasn't around.
=============================
6. Li Na & Zheng Jie, CHN
...the so-dubbed "Golden Flowers" both reached the SF at the Australian, a first for Chinese players. Li became the first Top 10 player in her country's history, while Zheng continues to be the most oft-overlooked difficult out on tour. Neither may ever match their Melbourne heights, but they've set down a path for future Chinese generations. And generations. And generations.
=============================
7. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
...she emerged from the chaos of Indian Wells with a new lease on her career, then couldn't lift the champion's trophy. Ahhh, it's so nice to have HER back. And Jelena, too. JJ will probably never challenge for #1 again, and winning a slam will be a difficult (but not impossible, given the right circumstances) task, but her being "back in the game" means the game is better for it. Hmmm, given those parameters, she favorably compares in many ways to Andy Roddick on the ATP tour... minus the S.I. swimsuit cover model wife, that is.
=============================
8. Justine Henin, BEL
...after a 20-month retirement, she's had more memorable matches than anyone else in '10. She won a few of them, but lost some, too. Until -- or unless -- she finds more consistency in her serve and sometimes-drifting tactical gameplan, she'll continue to fill both sides of the LPT 2.0 success scale. It's hard to believe she won't work hard enough to eventually find it. That brilliantly-played 3rd set against Wozniacki in the Miami QF should be a template for the future.
=============================
9. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
...she obviously was playing on some added adrenaline at the start of the season (uh-oh, hopefully the WADA won't get any wrong ideas about THAT), winning a title, reeling off eleven straight wins and reaching the AO Round of 16 in the immediate afterglow of her reinstatement. But make no mistake, the talent is there for there to be THREE Belgians challenging for Top 10 status by season's end.
=============================
10. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
...she's been close to a breakthrough since early last year, and it finally happened in the 1Q with a big comeback win over Clijsters and her first tour singles title. With some fine-tuning and a little bit better fitness, especially considering all the issues her countrywomen are dealing with, Kleybanova could have a shot at being the top-ranked Hordette one year from now.
=============================
HM- Italian Fed Cup Team
...one round down, thanks to Madame Butterfly Flavia Pennetta, and two to go to become the first non-Russian Fed Cup repeat champion since 2000.
=============================

"I feel better today than when I retired, that's for sure. Better emotionally, mentally. Better with myself, and that makes a big difference." - Justine Henin

**RISERS**
1.Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
2. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
3. Li Na & Zheng Jie, CHN
4. Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
5. Samantha Stosur, AUS
6. Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
7. Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta, ARG/ITA
8. Marion Bartoli, FRA
9. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
10. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
11. Vera Zvonareva, RUS
12. Maria Kirilenko, RUS
13. Shahar Peer, ISR
14. Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
15. Alona Bondarenko, UKR
16. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka, CZE
17. Lucie Safarova, CZE
18. Kaia Kanepi, EST
19. Petra Kvitova, CZE
20. Yaroslava Shvedova, KAZ
HM- Elena Baltacha, GBR & Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP

**FRESH FACES**
1. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, RUS
2. Mariana Duque-Marino, COL
3. Timea Bacsinszky, SUI
4. Polona Hercog, SLO
5. Melanie Oudin, USA
6. Regina Kulikova, RUS
7. Stefanie Voegele, SUI
8. Anastasiya Sevastova, LAT
9. Chang Kai-Chen, TPE
10. Channel Simmons, RSA
11. Laura Robson, GBR
12. Kristina Antoniychuk, UKR
13. Ayumi Morita, JPN
14. Tatjana Malek, GER
15. Sharon Fichman, CAN
HM- Varvara Lepchenko, USA & Arina Rodionova, RUS

**JUNIORS**
1. Karolina Pliskova, CZE
2. Sloane Stephens, USA
3. Heather Watson, GBR
4. Sachie Ishizu, JPN
5. Tang Hao-Chen, CHN
6. Jana Cepelova, SVK
7. Gabriela Dabrowski, CAN
8. Beatrice Capra, USA
9. Lenka Jurikova, SVK
10. Veronica Cepede Royg, PAR
11. Irina Khromacheva, RUS
12. Yulia Putintseva, RUS
13. Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
14. Timea Babos, HUN
15. Daria Gavrilova, RUS
16. An-Sophie Mestach, BEL
17. Silvia Njiric, CRO
18. Ester Goldfeld, USA
19. Caroline Garcia, FRA
20. Agustina Sol Eskenazi, ARG
HM- Grace Min, USA

**SURPRISES**
1. Anastasiya Sevastova, LAT
2. Angelique Kerber, GER
3. Lucie Hradecka, CZE
4. Han Xinyun, CHN
5. Andrea Petkovic, GER
6. Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
7. Valerie Tetreault, CAN
8. Vania King, USA
9. Anastasiya Yakimova, BLR
10. Mariya Koryttseva, UKR
HM- Shenay Perry, USA & Yurika Sema, JPN

**VETERANS**
1. Serena Williams, USA
2. Venus Williams, USA
3. Kim Clijsters, BEL
4. Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA
5. Elena Dementieva, RUS
6. Justine Henin, BEL
7. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
8. Samantha Stosur, AUS
9. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
10. Nadia Petrova, RUS
11. Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
12. Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebonik, CZE/SLO
13. Nuria Llagostera-Vives/Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
14. Cara Black/Liezel Huber, ZIM/USA
15. Nadia Petrova/Samantha Stosur, RUS/AUS
16. Roberta Vinci, ITA
17. Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs, USA/AUS
18. Francesca Schiavone, ITA
19. Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN
20. Edina Gallovits, ROU
HM- Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA

**COMEBACKS**
1. Justine Henin, BEL
2. Jelena Jankovic, SRB
3. Daniela Hantuchova, SVK
4. Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
5. Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs, USA/AUS
6. Agnes Szavay, HUN
7. Alicia Molik, AUS
8. Sesil Karatantcheva, KAZ
9. Sofia Arvidsson, SWE
10. Casey Dellacqua, AUS
11. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
12. Anne Keothavong, GBR
13. Arantxa Parra-Santonja, ESP
14. Laura Pous Tio, ESP
15. Alize Cornet, FRA
HM- Elena Bovina, RUS & Anna Tatishvili, GEO

**DOWN**
1. Dinara Safina, RUS
2. Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
3. Ana Ivanovic, SRB
4. Sabine Lisicki, GER
5. Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
6. Anabel Medina-Garrigues, ESP
7. Aleksandra Wozniak, CAN
8. Chinese Fed Cup Team
9. Jelena Dokic, AUS
10. Michelle Larcher de Brito, POR

**DOUBLES**
1. Williams/Williams, USA
2. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, CZE
3. Dulko/Pennetta, ARG/ITA
3. Peschke/Srebonik, CZE/SLO
4. Llagostera-Vives/Jose Martinez-Sanchez, ESP
5. Black/Huber, ZIM/USA
6. Petrova/Stosur, RUS/AUS
7. Iveta Benesova, CZE
8. Lisa Raymond, USA
9. Hlavackova/Hradecka, CZE
10. Chan/Zheng, TPE/CHN

**ITF PLAYERS**
1. Johanna Larsson, SWE
2. Anna Lapushchenkova, RUS
3. Evelyn Mayr, ITA
4. Olivia Sanchez, FRA
5. Zhou Yi-Miao, CHN
6. Chanelle Scheepers, RSA
7. Zhang Shuai, CHN
8. Natalie Piquion, FRA
9. Julia Mayr, ITA
10. Alize Lim, FRA
11. Ajla Tomljanovic, CRO
12. Andrea Hlavackova, CZE
13. Valentyna Ivakhnenko, UKR
14. Romina Oprandi, ITA
15. Giulia Gatto-Monticone, ITA
HM- Jarmila Groth, AUS & Abigail Spears, USA

**FED CUP**
1. Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2. Lucie Hradecka, CZE
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova/Alisa Kleybanova, RUS
4. Melanie Oudin, USA
5. Yanina Wickmayer, BEL
HM- Johanna Larsson, SWE & Kimiko Date-Krumm, JPN

"I'd say that was a real 'G Moment'." - Serena Williams, getting in a word for her sponsor Gatorade during the Australian Open post-match ceremony

**TOP PERFORMANCES**
Serena Williams wins her fifth Australian Open title, coming back from the brink of defeat to do it (again)
=============================
Venus Williams wins titles on two surfaces and two continents in back-to-back weeks in Dubai and Acapulco, claims the Madison Square Garden exhibition in New York a few days later, and then reaches the Miami final a few weeks after that.
=============================
Flavia Pennetta, rallying the team from an early deficit against Ukraine, keeps Team Italia on course for a Fed Cup repeat
=============================
The Williams Sisters win the Australian Open doubles, giving the pair four of the last five slam championships (and eleven overall)
=============================
Jelena Jankovic surges back at Indian Wells, employing her old defensive gameplan with some aggressive tactics throw in for added panache to grab her first title since the summer of last year

"As long as I'm playing great, I'm not putting a number on it yet." - Venus Williams, on how long she intends to remain on tour

**WORST PERFORMANCES**
Australian Open 3rd Rd - Petrova d. Clijsters
...6-0/6-1. In fifty-two minutes, the Belgian suffered the worst loss of her career. She had just five winners for the match.
=============================
Playing with just three players -- none of them named Zheng, Li or Peng -- China goes down to the Slovak Republic in the Fed Cup World Group II Playoffs one week after the nation placed two players in the Australian Open semfiinals.

"It sucks." - Kim Clijsters, on how it felt to notch just one game against Nadia Petrova in her shocking 3rd Round AO loss

*TOP MATCHES*
[LPT 2.0 X 2]
Brisbane Final - Clijsters d. Henin
...6-3/4-6/7-6(6). Right out of the box, the Belgians gave us something memorable. Clijsters raced to a 6-3/4-1 lead with near-brilliant shotmaking, only to see "Easy-Bake Kim" return as Henin won eight straight games and took a 3-0 lead in the 3rd. Henin served at 5-3 in the set, and held two match points at 5-4, but couldn't close things out. In the tie-break, Clijsters led 4-0 and 6-3, only to see Henin knot things at 6-6 (virtually the same thing happened in a 3rd set tie-break when the two met in the Miami SF three months later). Henin's eleventh double-fault of the match gave Clijsters her fourth match point, and moments later she drew first blood in this 2.0 rivalry. Then she pulled the grandstanding move of publicly donating all her prize money in the post-match ceremony... ironically upstaging herself even while she basked in the cheer-me-or-you're-all-heartless-swine approach to garnering adoration.
=============================
Australian Open 2nd Rd - Henin d. Dementieva
...7-5/7-6(6). Dementieva held set points in both sets, but the newly-aggressive Henin game overcame her bad 1st serve percentage as she put away the win with a serve-and-volley move on match point. The 1st set alone lasted 1:23 of the 2:50 two-setter. If it'd gone three sets, this might have turned out to be an early-round slam classic. It'll just have to settle for going down as one of the best early-round slam matchups in recent memory.

[For History's Sake]
Australian Open 1st Round - Zahlavova-Strycova d. Kulikova
...7-6/6-7/6-3. At 4:18, the longest women's match in AO history.
[For Queen Chaos' Sake...and our's]
Indian Wells 3rd Rd - Jankovic d. Errani
...2-6/7-6/6-4. Down 6-2/4-2 and love/40 on her own serve, JJ saved four break points and pushed the 2nd set to a tie-break. She blew a 5-1 lead there, but managed to knot the match by taking the set. After winning a close 3rd, she went on to win the biggest tournament crown of her career four matches later.

"You know that little voice we all have our heads? Mine was talking a lot that afternoon. It was telling me Roger winning the French was very special. But it so bothered me to see him win. It made me think how much I'd missed by not winning Wimbledon." - Justine Henin, talking about watching Roger Federer win his first Roland Garros title in 2009

*COMEBACKS*
Australian Open QF - S.Williams d. Azarenka
...4-6/7-6/6-2. A year after being felled by the Aussie heat while leading eventual champ Williams in Melbourne, Azarenka had another chance. She led 6-4/4-0 and served at 5-2 and 5-4. But Serena stormed back to take the 2nd set, then won sixteen of her twenty 3rd set serve points to take the match. The American defended her AO championship a few days later. Hmmm, maybe Azarenka wouldn't have won that '09 match, after all.
=============================
Australian Open 3rd Rd - Henin d. Kleybanova
...3-6/6-4/6-2. Henin trailed 6-3/3-1 and 15/40 on her own serve, but the heat and the pressure got to the Russian at the worst possible time. Henin held serve, then carved out her first break point chance of the match one game later. The rest was history.
=============================
Indian Wells 3rd Rd - Kleybanova d. Clijsters
...6-4/1-6/7-6. What Kleybanova had done to her by a Belgian in Oz, she did to another Belgian in California. Clijsters led 3-0 in the 3rd, then 4-0 in the deciding tie-break. But it was the Russian who moved on to the next round.
=============================
Sydney SF - S.Williams d. Rezai
...3-6/7-5/6-4. Despite losing a 6-3/5-2 lead, and failing to close out things when serving at 5-3, Rezai said she was "not impressed" by Serena. Two weeks later, Serena won the Australian Open. Sometimes it's best to just not say anything.
=============================
Australian Open 1st Rd - Kudryavtseva d. Oudin
...6-2/5-7/7-5. Beginning the string of revenge-minded Russians who've taken down Oudin in '10 after she took out so many of their countrywomen at last year's U.S. Open, Kudryavtseva came back from a 6-2/5-3 deficit and fought off three Oudin match points en route to victory.
=============================

*UPSETS*
Hammond $25K 1st Rd - Watson d. Vaidisova
...4-6/7-6(10)/7-6(4). The straw the broke Nicole's proverbial back? Soon after losing to the junior star who was barely holding onto a Top 500 WTA ranking, Vaidisova quit the game at age 20.
=============================
Indian Wells 2nd Rd - Dulko d. Henin
...6-2/1-6/6-4. One of those results that makes Dulko's less successful efforts all the more frustrating.
=============================
Australian Open 1st Rd - Kirilenko d. Sharapova
...7-6/3-6/6-4. In the 3:22 match, Sharapova led 4-2 and held a point for 5-2, in the 1st. She led 4-2 in the tie-break, too. She eventually regretted that failure to take advantage of her early lead, suffering her earliest slam loss since 2003. This was her first action in Melbourne since winning the title in 2008.
=============================
Monterrey 1st Rd - Sevastova d. Jankovic
...5-7/6-4/6-4. JJ rebounded quite nicely in Indian Wells, to say the least.
=============================
Dubai 3rd Rd - Kulikova d. Kuznetsova
...5-7/7-6/6-4. More early evidence that Kuznetsova's head just wasn't in the right place for '10... and now neither is her shoulder. Even the Russian Fed Cup coach can't guilt her into getting healthy.
=============================

"Well, like I said so many times before. If I would have gotten involved in what people said I would have never left the ghetto." - Venus Williams, on the hardly-secret whispers from many corners about how she might have "lost it"... before her back-to-back-to-back run of tour final appearances, that is

=WHAT THE TENNIS GODS GIVETH, THEY ALSO TAKETH AWAY... and vice versa=
Australian Open QF - Li d. V.Williams 2-6/7-6/7-5
Acapulco QF - V.Williams d. Pous Tio 4-6/6-3/7-5
...Venus lost a 6-2/5-3 lead and was two points from the AO SF, but lost. A month later, she climbed out of a 5-1 3rd set hole, hitting an ace on her own match point to send her off toward the second leg of her late winter back-to-back title twist.
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Australian Open 1st Rd - King d. Cibulkova 6-3/6-7/7-6
Indian Wells 2nd Round - Wozniacki d. King 5-7/6-2/6-4
...King won despite being down 5-1 in the 3rd against Cibulkova, then turned around and lost a 4-1 3rd set lead of her own against C-Woz.
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Australian Open 2nd Rd - Li d. Szavay 3-6/7-5/6-2
Indian Wells 2nd Rd - Baltacha d. Li 7-6/2-6/7-6
...Li saved two match points against Szavay en route to her semifinal in Oz, but blew three match points on HER racket against Baltacha.
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Australian Open 4th Rd - Azarenka d. Zvonareva 4-6/6-4/6-0
Miami 4th Rd - Clijsters d. Azarenka 6-4/6-0
...after garnering an obscenity warning against Zvonareva, Azarenka centered herself and pulled together a ten-game winnng streak that turned a 6-4/4-2 score in sure-fire loss into an example of what an emotional player can do when she channels her anger just right. But against Clijsters she reverted to old form, falling apart down the stretch and double-faulting on match point. On the bright side, she didn't resort to the tried-and-true Zvonareva tactic of hitting herself in the head with her racket when things went badly.
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Antwerp Exhibition - Clijsters d. V.Williams 6-1/7-5
MSG Exhibition - V.Williams d. Clijsters 6-4/3-6/75
Miami Final - Clijsters d. V.Williams 6-2/6-1
...the Belgian Barbie said that winning the exhibition in Belgium was "more exciting" than her U.S. Open win. Yeah. Sure, Kim... and you didn't say that because you knew the crowd would HAVE to cheer after you said it, too. Venus won at MSG, coming back from a 4-2 3rd set deficit and punctuating things with a from-the-rafter smash at the net... but she didn't say it was as good as winning Wimbledon. In Miami, Venus hit the physical wall and could offer up only token resistence as her fifteen-match winning streak sputtered to a close in the only of these three matches that ACTUALLY COUNTED. Who said the Tennis Gods don't have a sense of humor?
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Australian Open 3rd Rd - Petrova d. Clijsters 6-0/6-1
Miami 3rd Rd - Clijsters d. Peer 6-0/6-1
... Kim should have given Peer a share of her prize money.
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=WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?=
Tennis Australia decided against giving a wild card into the Australian Open main draw to Top 20 player Yanina Wickmayer because she failed to make the entry deadline when she was temporary suspended by the WADA for failing to report her whereabouts. No matter that the suspension was lifted... or, you know, that she was Top 20 player and semifinalist at the previous slam on the schedule. Thus, she had to make her way through qualifying, putting up four love sets against opponents in three matches. Once safely in the main draw, she upset #12-seeded Flavia Pennetta in the 2nd Round and reached the Round of 16 before losing to Henin.
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The WTA continued the practice of waiting until the annual Miami awards ceremony in late March to announce the winners of its 2009 season awards. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense to tell the world that Serena Williams is the Player of the Year for a season that ended four months earlier, nearly a quarter of the way into the next season. Here's a thought: announce the awards in November, then officially hand out the hardware in March, since changing the latter practice is obviously off the table. Soylent Green is still people, ladies and gentlemen.
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Of course, if the WTA's awards had been announced in November, it's highly unlikely that Wickmayer would have picked up that Most Improved Player honor she received in March. Even a one-legged Kate Gosselin would take a correct step on the dance floor occasionally, I guess.
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For two weeks, the WTA's official website listed Liezel Huber as the sole #1 doubles player in the world. In truth, Cara Black never gave up her share of the top spot... a fact which suddenly "materialized" once again without explanation one day on the "updated" rankings page.
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Dinara Safina should have known better than to believe the doctors who said that her back couldn't get any worse if she played Down Under. Ask Maria Sharapova about blindly following medical opinions. That's why there's such a thing as malpractice lawyers. I mean, doctors aren't infallible like the Pope. Of course, neither is the Pope. Which sort of proves my point all over again, huh?
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=WHAT TOOK SO LONG?=
The Australian Open final match-up between Serena Williams and Justine Henin was the first time they'd met in a slam final. Amazingly, after all the weeks both players have spent at #1, it didn't happen until the Belgian didn't even have an official WTA ranking at all (it was only her second event back, and three are needed to get a ranking). Serena wore the combat boots in this one, dominating with her serve and winning in three sets, 6-4/3-6/6-2, to grab her fourth slam title in the last six.

*THE START (or continuation?) OF SOMETHING BIG*
Martina Hingis will make a comeback in World Team Tennis
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Sesil Karatantcheva reached the semifinals at Pattaya City, her best-ever tour result
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a former Girls #1 and three-time junior slam champ, won her first tour singles title in Monterrey
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Katarina Srebotnik played her first Fed Cup match for Slovenia since 2005, while Kimiko Date-Krumm played her first for Japan since 1996
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Laura Pous Tio, back after a suspension for a banned substance in 2008-09, reached the Acapulco final eight, her first tour QF since 2006
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In Miami, Ashley Harkleroad returned from her pregnancy leave... but to far less fanfare than a certain Belgian mother did last summer
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*SIGNS THAT THE MAYANS WERE RIGHT*

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The WADA tried to get a TWO-year suspension for Yanina Wickmayer when she failed to report her whereabouts as required by the drug testing agency, even though she was very publicly playing in a tour event at the time.
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Sania Mirza's first marriage engagement brought all the loonies out of the woodwork
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In Auckland, protesters demonstrated against Shahar Peer because of the Israeli government's treatment of the Palestinians
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Ana Ivanovic's swimsuit modeling career took off even while her tennis endeavors continued to falter
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*SIGNS THAT THE MAYANS WERE WRONG*
A Belgian court issued an injunction that lifted Wickmayer's one-year ban and allowed her to return to the court
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Shahar Peer played in Dubai, reaching the semifinals one year after the Debacle. She upset Wickmayer, #1-seed Wozniacki, '09 runner-up Virginie Razzano and Australian Open semifinalist Li. And no hole opened up in the U.A.E. to swallow humanity, either.
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Sania Mirza's second marriage engagement brought out more protesters, leading one to simply throw up their hands and learn to live with the fact that some people are going to react disproportionately to any and every reality just because they have nothing else better to do. Apparently, it makes them feel more important if they do.
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Hey, so far there's been no Brian/Ken doll in basketball shorts rolling out of the Mattel doll factory. Of course, there's still more than eighteen months before 2012 rolls around.
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Queen Chaos reigned in the chaotic Indian Wells main draw. But, despite all evidence to the contrary here and elsewhere, sometimes the end of a calendar is just the end of THAT particular calender... if that wasn't the case, Jelena would have dropped that ginormous trophy and it would have fallen all the way through the earth until it came out of the ground in China and somehow injured Li Na. Oh, wait...
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*CONGRATULATIONS*
Gigi Fernandez & Natasha Zvereva, proving that two heads are indeed better than one... especially when it comes to Hall of Fame voters
*GOOD THOUGHTS AND GOOD HEALTH*

To Martina Navratilova

"It is another Justine Henin who will try and go out there and achieve her dream of finally winning Wimbledon." - Justine Henin, helping me end this BSA post the way I began it -- offering up the notion that the best is still yet to come in 2010

Thanks, Justine. All for now.



All right, the "suspension" is back on. You know, for ol' what's-her-name. All is right again in Backspinworld. Whew!

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