RG.9- The Big Fizzle

Pffffffttttthhhh!!! That sound you hear is the air being let out of this Roland Garros.

Well, not really, but the stakes surely DO seem to have changed dramatically after today.

Coming into Day 9's "Intermediate Bang" match-up between Justine Henin and Samantha Stosur in the Round of 16, it was hard to ecsape the lingering belief that the Aussie might be the overlooked potential obstacle in the draw of a tournament that began with Henin and Serena Williams as the "1a" and "1b" favorites to take the title. After all, if she'd only played a better 3rd set in the final in Stuttgart against the Belgian, Stosur would have come to Paris as the unquestioned queen of the EuroClay season. She was the only player to reach two finals this quarter (on either green or red clay), but Henin's first 2.0 title that afternoon in Germany served to prop up the belief that SHE might be able to recapture her past clay court dominance, even if every big moment she's had in 2010 had seemingly come with an accompanying eyebrow-raising one that served as an unwanted, Barbie doll-like accessory. Slingin' Sammy was sort of lost in the haze of the discussion.

Not after today, though.

Oh, it sure didn't look like that was going to be the case in the early going in this match. Stosur double-faulted in the opening game to give Henin a break point, which the four-time champ glady grabbed and ran away with the 1st set at 6-2. But, as has so often been the case over the past few months, the question with Henin was whether or not she could keep up her sterling, flashback dominance for a FULL match. And, again, the answer was discouraging.

Stosur got an early break and took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd set, her powerful forehand grabbing control of the rallies and her wide-and-high-bouncing deuce court kick-serve often putting Henin on defense and scrambling from the first ball struck in so many of Stosur's service points. The Aussie took the set at 6-1.

The 3rd set featured more great play from Stosur, but it'll be difficult to remember it for much more than Henin's lost opportunities. In the second game, she got a break point and had a chance to take a quick 2-0 lead. But an in-point, tactical lapse precipitated her centering a shot down the middle of the court, right in the wheelhouse of Stosur's big lethal forehand, rather than continuing to keep the ball on the edges and taking advantage of the Aussie's less-effective backhand and on-the-run groundstrokes. With that one shot, Henin conceded control of the break point rally to Stosur, who quickly saved it by running Henin wide with an inside-out forehand and followed it up with a put-away volley. She held serve for 1-1.

Three games later, Henin double-faulted on break point and fell behind 2-3. But Stosur opened the door yet again, double-faulting herself on back-to-back points to fall behind 15/30. On her second break point of the game, Henin's big second serve return forced an error and knotted the final set's score again. After Henin held for a 4-3 lead, the match turned on Stosur's serve.

Perhaps feeling the pressure of the moment, back-to-back Stosur errors caused her to fall behind love/30. With the Aussie her own worst enemy at that moment, Henin probably should have simply allowed her to hang her own game. But, instead, she decided to try to take control by force rather than have it ceded to her. Trying to get to triple break point, she tried to go WAY big on a service return, but the ultra-aggressive shot forcefully slammed into the net.

Henin winced, and Stosur got back into the game.

The Aussie ended up holding for 4-4, and then it was Henin who saw her game fail in the biggest moment of the match. Two errant shots later, the Belgian was down love/30 on her serve. She got back to 30/30, but then another double-fault gave Stosur a break chance. Henin hit a backhand wide. Stosur led 5-4, and served for the match.

From there, Henin's famed backhand completed her late collapse.

On the first point of the tenth game of the set, Henin was a half-step slow in getting to what should have been an easy down the line backhand into an open court past a scrambling-at-the-net Stosur, but she had to reach too far to get to the oddly-bouncing ball and weakly put it into the net. Another backhand error gave Stosur a 30/love lead. After a successful (desperate?) drop shot, another backhand miss made it 40/15. The sometimes-able-to-be-rattled-by-her-own-hand Aussie wavered just a bit, double-faulting on her first match point, but then returned to her Day 9 bread-and-butter on the second. Her deuce court serve kicked wide and forced Henin off the court and she was able to only get the shot back with a high, defensive backhand. With the planned setup having perfectly played out, Stosur easily put away the overhead and Henin's 24-match Roland Garros winning streak was over.

Stosur def. Henin 2-6/6-1/6-4.

(Congrats, Sam. But, really, "thanks" for making all my effort to talk this tournament into revolving around a Big Bang moment one big waste of time. I sort of want a few of those hours back. Seven of eight matches down... time for Justine to go.)

Having taken out half of the Big Bang, Stosur now gets the chance to take out the other -- Serena herself -- in the quarterfinals in an attempt to reach her second straight RG semi.

In the end, just as was the notion that was hinted at in the weeks and months leading into Roland Garros, and which was so often attempted to be forgetten or reasons found to disregard because of her history at this particular tournament, this version of Henin is clearly not the same Henin that last played in Paris in 2007. Not yet, at least, and maybe never. Over the five straight days she was forced to play due to weather and darkness, her two-steps-forward, one back back dance was bound to trap her in a corner from which she would have a difficult time escaping. She managed to do so against Maria Sharapova, but ultimately couldn't against Stosur. Right when she seemed to feel it was her moment to seize control of the match for good in the eighth game of the final set, she overstepped and tried TOO hard. Then, her backhand continually let her down in the match's final moments, while the Aussie showed just how much she's learned over the past year about holding her nerves and putting away opponents.

Not a good combination.

It's possible that Henin would have been able to finally put together a consistent, full match against Serena in the now-debunked Big Bang Theory clash of this tournament... though all evidence points to the opposite being the case if the match-up had actually occurred, even in Paris.

As she's acknowledged multiple times this week when asked about her in-match lapses, Henin says that she's always understood that this season was going to be about re-learning how to maintain her level of play through an entire match. She says she knew there'd be (re-) growing pains... or at least that's her story now that they've become so apparent over the first five months of the season. It could be that she'll be proven right, and by this time in 2011 she'll truly resemble the LPT of old on a consistent basis, rather than just enough to make her 2.0 career as ultimately frustrating as it has often been of late.

It's difficult to begrudge you-know-who's success last summer, but maybe if her Belgian counterpart hadn't won in New York there wouldn't have been so many immediate expectations for Henin's slam results so early in her comeback. Ah, another thing to hold against Jada's Mama.

(You grab hold of whatever you can, I guess.)

Okay, time to find a new focus for this Roland Garros, huh?



=DAY 9 NOTES=
...at least Serena held up her end of the Big Bang deal, defeating Shahar Peer (who actually served for the match against Williams in Melbourne a few years back during one of her title runs) with relative ease.

Peer won the first seven points of the match, but then Williams took the next nine and never looked back, winning 6-2/6-2 to advance to her thirtieth career slam QF (one behind Venus amongst active players). Now, with Henin out, the tournament becomes Serena's to lose.

The remainder of this Roland Garros could pivot around the discussion of whether Serena might be in the middle of the Greatest Season Ever in women's tennis. Yeah, Steffi Graf's Golden Slam in 1988 was wonderful and unique, but if Williams can salt away the most difficult slam for her to win to become the first woman to win the first two legs of the Grand Slam since Jennifer Capriati in 2001, who's going to say she's not THE favorite to play this season out and win all four? Her sister would be the biggest threat to upset the run in London, but if Serena were to exit SW19 with three slams in hand there is NO WAY she doesn't win in New York to seal the deal. The same goes for the Sisters in Doubles. RG is their most difficult get. By the end of this weekend, Serena would be four-for-four in slam titles in 2010, and the SuperSlam would be half-way to completion. No man or woman has ever swept the singles AND doubles at all four slams in a single season.

Now there's a story that even NBC could get behind (or maybe not, since CBS would be the network airing the U.S. Open).

But what if Serena, too, were to stumble along the way? Well, then this tournament becomes yet another Paris free-for-all where a first-time slam champion is destined to be crowned. Without Serena, the proceedings would take on more of an anticlimactic feel than they already do with Henin's absence in this second week, but what would remain could still provide some memorable moments in Paris. The history-making possibilities? The first Aussie woman to win a slam in thirty years. The first Dane ever. The first representative of Kazakhstan (by way of Russia). The first Italian ever. A longest-wait ever slam titlist in event #46. Nadia. Queen Chaos. Nadia VERSUS QC in the final.

Whoa, my head is spinning about that last one. Oh, but it would be fun, wouldn't it? I wonder if they'd have to implode the stadium after it was all over? That WOULD sort of take care of all those discussions about whether this tournament might be leaving its current site in Paris for bigger and better facilities, though. They can't play on rubble, after all... and by the time Nadia and Jelena got done with things, that might be all that there was left.

In other words, Serena is holding this thing together with twine and rubberbands, preventing the 2010 RG from becoming a clay court game of Pick-Up-Sticks (which, to be honest, WOULD be sort of wild to watch). Of course, who wants to bet that Williams has a little tube of Krazy Glue hidden in her shoe, ready to put everything together so well that no one will be able to tear it apart?

...one of the leading pre-tournament contenders for the Doubles title was sent packing today in the QF when #5-seeded Dulko & Pennetta were taken out by #3 Huber & Medina-Garrigues. They'll next face top-seeded Venus and Serena. Huber will be playing defense for her #1 doubles rankings, as she'll lose it to the Sisters if they reach the final.

In junior play, Sloane Stephens (a semifinalist at this event last year) defeated '09 U.S. Open junior runner-up Yana Buchina, while Silvia Njiric upset '09 RG Girls runner-up Daria Gavrilova

...Georgia Bulldog sophomore Chelsey Gullickson (U.S. Open Mixed doubles champion Carly's sister) defeated Cal Bear Jana Juricova 6-3/7-6 to take the NCAA women's singles championship in Athens, Georgia. Stanford's Hilary Barte and Lindsey Burdette won the doubles title.

...with so many options for so many of the Roland Garros Awards, I guess I should at least make a quick list of so-far nominees. So, here it goes:

*MADAMOISELLE OPPORTUNITY*
Elena Dementieva (in her 46th slam)
Jelena Jankovic
Nadia Petrova
Francesca Schiavone
Yaroslava Shvedova
Samantha Stosur

*IT GIRL*
Yaroslava Shvedova
Caroline Wozniacki
A Junior

*COMEBACK PLAYER*
Kimiko Date-Krumm (if no better winner becomes apparent)
Nadia Petrova

*ZOMBIE QUEEN*
Nadia Petrova (with Henin's exit, Nadia's probably got this one, barring some miraculous comeback elsewhere)

*DOUBLES STAR*
Agkul Amanmuradova (Mixed QF?)
Nuria Llagostera-Vives (alive in Doubles & Mixed QF)
Kveta Peschke (Doubles QF)
Yaroslava Shvedova (Mixed QF)
Katarina Srebotnik (alive in Doubles & Mixed QF)
Any Surprise Unseeded Champion

Plus, the "Junior Breakout" will be decided later, as well.

...and, finally, the Middle-Round Awards (including those few 2nd Rounders that were carried over an extra day) arrive tomorrow.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES QF*
#1 Serena Williams/USA vs. #7 Samantha Stosur/AUS
#4 Jelena Jankovic/SRB vs. Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ
#17 Francesca Schiavone/ITA vs. #3 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
#5 Elena Dementieva/RUS vs. #19 Nadia Petrova/RUS

*MEN'S SINGLES QF*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #5 Robin Soderling/SWE
#15 Tomas Berdych/CZE vs. #11 Mikhail Youzhny/RUS
#22 Jurgen Melzer/AUT vs. #3 Novak Djokovic/SRB
#19 Nicolas Almagro/ESP vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#1 Williams/Williams (USA/USA) def. #11 Kirilenko/A.Radwanska (RUS/POL)
#3 Huber/Medina-Garrigues (USA/ESP) def. #5 Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA)
#12 Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) vs. Bondarenko/Bondarenko (UKR/UKR)
Niculescu/Peer (ROU/ISR) vs. #2 Llagostera-Vives/Martinez-Sanchez (ESP/ESP)

*MEN'S DOUBLES QF*
Melo/Soares (BRA/BRA) vs. #10 Knowle/A.Ram (AUT/ISR)
#3 Dlouhy/Paes (CZE/IND) vs. #8 Fyrstenberg/Matkowski (POL/POL)
M.Lopez/Riba (ESP/ESP) vs. #4 Moodie/Norman (RSA/BEL)
#6 Kubot/Marach (POL/AUT) vs. #2 Nestor/Zimonjic (CAN/SRB)

*MIXED DOUBLES QF*
Vedy/Llodra (FRA/FRA) vs. #6 Srebotnik/Zimonjic (SLO/SRB)
#3 Llagostera-Vives/Marach (ESP/AUT) vs. #5 Kleybanova/Mirnyi (RUS/BLR)
King/Kas (USA/GER) or Amanmuradova/Qureshi (UZB/PAK) vs. Garbin/Matkowski (ITA/POL)
Shvedova/Knowle (KAZ/AUT) vs. #2 Black/Paes (ZIM/IND)




*ROLAND GARROS WOMEN's FINAL 8*
=By Age=
19...Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
22...Yaroslava Shvedova, KAZ
25...Jelena Jankovic, SRB
26...Samantha Stosur, AUS
27...Nadia Petrova, RUS
28...Elena Dementieva, RUS
28...Serena Williams, USA
29...Francesca Schiavone, ITA
=By Rank=
#1 Serena Williams
#3 Caroline Wozniacki
#4 Jelena Jankovic
#5 Elena Dementieva
#7 Samantha Stosur
#17 Francesca Schiavone
#20 Nadia Petrova
#36 Yaroslava Shvedova
=By Slam QF Results=
30...Serena Williams
12...Elena Dementieva
9...Nadia Petrova
7...Jelena Jankovic
4...Francesca Schiavone
2...Samantha Stosur
2...Caroline Wozniacki
1...Yaroslava Shvedova

*2010 SLAM QF - BY NATION*
[women/men]
6...Russia (4/2)
4...United States (3/1)
3...Serbia (1/2)
3...Spain (0/3)
2...China (2/0)
2...Switzerland (0/2)
1...Australia (1/0)
1...Austria (0/1)
1...Belarus (1/0)
1...Belgium (1/0)
1...Croatia (0/1)
1...Czech Republic (0/1)
1...Denmark (1/0)
1...France (0/1)
1...Great Britain (0/1)
1...Italy (1/0)
1...Kazakhstan (1/0)
1...Sweden (0/1)

*CAREER SLAM QF RESULTS - ACTIVE*
31...Venus Williams
30...SERENA WILLIAMS
19...Justine Henin
15...Belgian Barbie
13...Maria Sharapova
12...ELENA DEMENTIEVA
11...Svetlana Kuznetsova
9...NADIA PETROVA
7...JELENA JANKOVIC, Dinara Safina, Patty Schnyder
6...Kimiko Date-Krumm
5...Ana Ivanovic
4...Jelena Dokic, Daniela Hantuchova, FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE
3...Victoria Azarenka, Anna Chakvetadze, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska
ALSO:
=2=
Marion Bartoli, Shahar Peer, Flavia Pennetta, Lisa Raymond, SAMANTHA STOSUR, Carla Suarez-Navarro, CAROLINE WOZNIACKI, Zheng Jie, Vera Zvonareva
=1=
Sybille Bammer, Kateryna Bondarenko, Elena Bovina, Severine Bremond-Beltrame, Dominika Cibulkova, Sorana Cirstea, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Kaia Kanepi, Maria Kirilenko, Michaella Krajicek, Sabine Lisicki, Mirjana Lucic, Alicia Molik, Melanie Oudin, Lucie Safarova, Meghann Shaughnessy, YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA, Karolina Sprem, Alexandra Stevenson, Agnes Szavay, Tamarine Tanasugarn, Yanina Wickmayer





TOP QUALIFIER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Venus Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Kurumi Nara/JPN d. Monica Niculescu/ROU 4-6/7-6/10-8
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd: #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS d. Andrea Petkovic/GER 4-6/7-5/6-4
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST WIN: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK (1st Rd. - def. Ekaterina Ivanova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (1st Rd. - lost to Dulko/ARG)
UPSET QUEENS: The Australians
REVELATION LADIES: The Germans
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Chanelle Scheepers/RSA (4th Rd.)
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: #9 Dinara Safina/RUS, 2008-09 Runner-Up (1st Rd. - lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN)
ZOMBIE QUEEN:
*Nominee*
Petrova/RUS down 3 MP vs. Rezai/FRA (3rd Rd)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: Marion Bartoli/FRA & Aravane Rezai/FRA (3rd Rd.)
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx




All for Day 9. More tomorrow.

Read more...

RG.8- Welcome Back to Paris, LPT

After having been so rudely interrupted by darkness yesterday, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova made overnight plans about how to best complete their 3rd Round encounter on Sunday. Would La Petit Taureau make a welcome return to the Roland Garros stage, or would the Supernova be reborn... on red clay, of all things?

Ummm, I think everyone probably figured they knew the answer. But it wasn't exactly an open-and-shut case, neither before nor during the deciding 3rd set of action.

Coming into this final set after having seen her record forty-set Roland Garros winning streak end yesterday, Henin and all the LPT backers should have been bolstered by the fact that she hadn't lost a 3rd set in Paris since she lost there to Aniko Kapros in 2002. But, then again, that was the last time she'd been bageled in a 3rd set before she lost 0-6 to Aravane Rezai in Madrid a few weeks ago, too.

Yeah... that's not exactly as heart-warming a stat as it SHOULD have been. Still, Henin played ill in both those losses. She seemed to be in good health on Day 8.

Nonetheless, Henin's game was the one that was sluggish at that start. She double-faulted to give Sharapova two break points in the opening game, as the Russian continued the 2nd set tactics (applying pressure, stepping inside the baseline) that allowed her to knot the match yesterday. When Henin sailed a forehand long, the battle was afoot. Down 2-0, another Henin double-fault to begin the game proceeded to big a hole that, it was very apparent, could end her dreams of a fifth Roland Garros crown. Soon, Sharapova held triple break point.

It was time for La Petit Taureau to show up. And she did. Fashionably late, but not TOO late. Henin saved four break points in the game, avoiding a dangerous 3-0 deficit and allowing her remaining time in Paris to potentially have a "Zombie"-like edge.

From that point, Henin returned to the clay court brand of tennis that has made her a surface legend. She started moving Sharapova around the court again, breaking the Russian at love, then holding her own serve to take a 3-2 lead. In the sixth game, Henin continued to play good defense and send her groundstrokes deep in the backcourt to keep Sharapova from moving forward as she so wanted to continue to do. A long Sharapova forehand gave Henin her fourth straight game.

If Henin goes on to win this title, her run, for all intents and purposes, will have started here. From 0-2, love/40 down to 4-2, she once again, as she did so often in Melbourne in January, proved herself capable of reaching down (and back in time) for that old LPT boldness in the face of pressure on the biggest stages that the game presents.

Of course, it still wasn't going to be a stroll to the Round of 16. Henin had to endure one more tight spot.

An Henin error gave Sharapova a break point, and a double-fault brought the score back on serve at 4-3. But Sharapova's moment of reprieve didn't last long. When a shot from the Russian bounced off the top of the net and back onto her side of the court, Henin's appetite was whetted with a quick opportunity to break back. Sharapova saved the break point with a wonderful inside out forehand up the line, but Henin carved out another when the long rally her great defense initiated finally coaxed an error off Sharapova's racket to end a seventeen-shot rally. Henin then rifled back a 2nd serve return at the feet of the Russian, whose reply set up an easy backhand down the line winner to give the Belgian a 5-3 advantage.

Serving for the match, Henin opened with two big serves up the "T," producing a service winner and an ace. After passing Sharapova on a short ball off a drop volley, Henin had triple match point. After tossing in an "excuse me" double-fault to delay her happiness, Henin ran Sharapova wide on the next point, and the Russian's return shot sailed out.

Henin def. Sharapova 6-2/3-6/6-3. Whew! I knew it all along. (Ummm, I think.)

Some of the final numbers were telling.

Henin had just a 46% 1st serve percentage for the match, but she won 78% of the 1st serves she DID get in. Both players won just 42% of their 2nd serves. And Sharapova, while she had her chances, ended up just 3-for-15 in break point attempts. In other words, when it REALLY mattered, Henin rose to the occasion in this match, finding a way to win her twenty-fourth straight match at Roland Garros (third-most by a woman, just five behind Chris Evert's record). Still, after not being bothered in Paris by the overwhelming service shenanigans that have hounded her for more than a year now, and with her confidence seemingly intact, Sharapova looks like she could be in for a pretty nice summer run on the grass and hard courts.

Henin, though, still has some work to do in Paris.

With the Little Bang now behind her, and the Big Bang with Serena Williams still a match win away, "all" Henin has to do next is defeat Samantha Stosur, who before the Belgian defeated her in the Stuttgart final a few weeks ago was the hottest clay court player of the spring. Uhh... okay. One step at a time. It's all a scientific process, after all.

Bring on the Intermediate Bang.



=DAY 8 NOTES=
...after today's results, the face of the bottom half the draw changed dramatically.

For one, Venus Williams is now gone. Hmmm, could her Paris mojo have been lost when the chilly weather led her to cover up her much-talked-about dress with a long-sleeved black top, or is that just a coincidence? Whatever the "true" reason, after looking like a true possibility to reach the final over the past week, her old Roland Garros demons reached up from below the clay and dragged her down once again on Day 8.

Well, it was that and a very different Nadia Petrova from the one we've often seen at this stage of a grand slam in the past.

Did Petrova's "Zombie-fied" escape from her 3rd Round match with Aravane Rezai do precisely for her what Svetlana Kuznetsova's 2nd Round nailbiter against Andrea Petrovic SHOULD have done for the defending champ, but didn't? Is Petrova suddenly immune to big stage collapses in this tournament now that she's "playing with house money" and has nothing to lose after very nearly being out of this Roland Garros two days ago?

Maybe. At the very least, she did a masterful impersonation of that person against Williams today.

After winning the 1st set at 6-4, Petrova got a break point on Venus' serve at 3-3 in the 2nd. A Williams error gave the Russian an advantage that clearly opened a path to her second slam QF result of 2010. After going up 30/love on her own serve, though, she was presented with an opportunity to throw it all away. In the past, it was a 50/50 proposition (and that's being generous in her favor) that Petrova would do just that and end up lamenting yet another lost opportunity to move closer to that elusive first career slam final.

30/love turned into 30/15, then a double-fault made it 30/30. Visions of a Venus comeback/Petrova collapse danced in everyone's head. But, apparently, not Nadia's. Even after a line call error caused her to repeat her first serve on a shot that it could have been argued that Williams could not have properly returned even if the linesperson hadn't wrongly called it out, Petrova didn't blink. She surely could have. Instead, she put away a clean volley, then hit an ace to go up 5-3. Within mintues, she'd won 6-4/6-3 and will now face Elena Dementieva for shot at her third career RG semifinal appearance and a (last best?) chance to right what have been so many wrongs in Paris during her often frustrating career. At the moment, she's playing better than the women who stand in the way of her first final, and (yikes!!) she's every HEALTHIER than the two most notable opponents. When's the last time that was the case? After all these years, have the stars suddenly aligned in Petrova's favor in Paris?

Oh, Nadia.

...with Petrova playing her countrywoman in the QF, we're assured of having a Russian in the Roland Garros semifinals for the eighth straight year. There's been at least one in the Final Four in twenty-two of the last twenty-five slams, but this ends the recent aberration which saw zero Hordettes reach the SF at the last two slams.

...meanwhile, Flavia Pennetta is probably experiencing the sort of restless sleep that Petrova avoided tonight. In her three-hour battle of attrition with Caroline Wozniacki, the Italian vet had her chances to push the Dane's back to the wall and force her to step outside of her preferred defensive, wear-down-her-opponent style of play, but she just couldn't quite bring herself to get it done.

These two entered the match having unexpectedly being the two players who'd lost the fewest number of games on the women's side through the first three rounds of play. In the 1st set, Pennetta held a set point at 5-4, but she seemed to pull back her aggression, allowing C-Woz to victimize her with a defensive lob that produced an awkward Pennetta overhead that weakly bounced in the middle of the court before being quickly put away for a winner by Wozniacki. The Dane ended up claiming the set.

After failing to put away set points at 5-4 and 6-5 in the 2nd, then double-faulting while up 5-3 in the deciding tie-break, Pennetta finally knotted the match by winning the final two points of the breaker. If she'd been able to do the same thing in the 1st set, she'd have already been in the QF. But, instead, she was heading to a 3rd set with Wozniacki, and that's rarely been a good thing for opponents over the last year. It wasn't this time, either.

Wozniacki quickly went up 2-0, lost her advantage, but got it back with another break for a 4-2 lead. She won 6-2 and continued on her way in this slam with little fanfare. Pennetta, though, will remember this match... even if she wishes she wouldn't.

...it was announced the other day that six days after Wimbledon an exhibition will be held at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. Called the "Cowboys Tennis Slam," it will feature a pair of three-set matches -- Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova, and Andy Roddick vs. John Isner.

...somehow, my RG Women's champion pick Henin is still alive, but the juniors took the ol' Backspinner Hex hard today, as BOTH of the Pliskova sisters, who'd been playing so well on the challenger level in recent weeks (though those tournaments WERE on hard court and carpet), were knocked out of the 1st Round today. #2-seed Karolina lost to Pastry Morgane Pons, while #8 Kristyna fell to Danka Kovinic (MNE... that's Montenegro, by the way).

Boys' #1 seed Daniel Berta was upset by American Junior Ore.

...Coco Vandewegh gets the Week 21 "ITF Player of the Week" award after knocking off fellow American Kristie Haerim Ahn in the final of the $50K challenger in Carson, California.

A few other ITF champions of note: Anna Tatishvili (GEO) - $25K Grado, Tamira Paszek (AUT) - $25K Izmir, Alexandra Cadantu (ROU) - $10K Craiova, and Channel Simmonds (RSA) - $10K Durban.

...the "Junior Star" honors is a three-part affair for Week 21. Freshman Mallory Burdette got the first part for her role in leading Stanford to the NCAA team championship. Hordette Irina Khromacheva gets part two for winning the Grade 1 event in Charleroi, Belgium (def. Waffle An-Sophie Mestach in the final). The third part will go to the NCAA singles champion, who'll be crowned this week.

...and, finally, leave it to NBC to perpetuate the notion that since Venus won't be in the Roland Garros singles final (she hasn't been since '02) the ultimate finalist will turn out to be a player whose inclusion in the championship match will be some tennis version of "shock and awe." What is it about the networks that cover tennis that TPTB think that anyone taking the time to watch the sport on an American holiday weekend is "surely" only familiar with players named Williams or Sharapova, or ones from Belgium (unless they're named Yanina, as Pam Shriver proved last year)? Sure, the four remaining players in the bottom half have yet to win a slam crown, but two of them have reached slam finals (Wozniacki and Dementieva, the latter at THIS event), another has been a semifinalist at this very tournament (Petrova), while another (Francesca Schiavone) is a veteran whose best surface has always been clay. Schiavone might not be as known a quantity as the other three to casual fans, but any one of the Russo-Danish trio being in the final wouldn't be a knock-me-over-with-a-feather situation. Dementieva is generally acknowledged as one of, if not THE best player without a slam. Wozniacki was the #2-ranked player in the world a few weeks ago. And Petrova has been possibly the most star-crossed top player on tour in slams (well, other than maybe Safina) over the past decade.

After the tape-delayed airing of the Venus/Petrova match that set the bottom half's final four, though, judging by the surprised tone in Ted Robinson's voice, you'd have thought that the players remaining were named Scheepers, Rezai and Dulgheru rather than the familiar three players who actually defeated those women earlier this week en route to the quarterfinals. Before the tournament, I said that there was a possibility for a "shocker" finalist, but with most of the top players down there actually raising their game at this slam, that's not really the case anymore since this group has made it through (again, though, Schiavone in the final would be a eyebrow-raiser).

It'll be a great opportunity for someone... no matter which player they'll be playing in the final.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Serena Williams/USA vs. #18 Shahar Peer/ISR
#22 Justine Henin/BEL vs. #7 Samantha Stosur/AUS
#4 Jelena Jankovic/SRB vs. #23 Daniela Hantuchova/SVK
(WC)Jarmila Groth/AUS vs. Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ
#17 Francesca Schiavone/ITA def. #30 Maria Kirilenko/RUS
#3 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN def. #14 Flavia Pennetta/ITA
#5 Elena Dementieva/RUS def. (Q)Chanelle Scheepers/RSA
#19 Nadia Petrova/RUS def. #2 Venus Williams/USA

*MEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI def. #20 Stanislas Wawrinka/SUI
#5 Robin Soderling/SWE def. #10 Marin Cilic/CRO
#15 Tomas Berdych/CZE def. #4 Andy Murray/GBR
#11 Mikhail Youzhny/RUS def. #8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA
(Q)Teimuraz Gabashvili/RUS vs. #22 Jurgen Melzer/AUT
Robby Ginepri/USA vs. #3 Novak Djokovic/SRB
#7 Fernando Verdasco/ESP vs. #19 Nicolas Almagro/ESP
#24 Thomaz Bellucci/BRA vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QF*
#1 Williams/Williams (USA/USA) vs. #11 Kirilenko/A.Radwanska (RUS/POL)
#3 Huber/Medina-Garrigues (USA/ESP) vs. #5 Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA)
#12 Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) vs. TBD
TBD vs. #2 Llagostera-Vives/Martinez-Sanchez (ESP/ESP)

*MEN'S DOUBLES QF*
Melo/Soarez (BRA/BRA) vs. #10 Knowle/A.Ram (AUT/ISR)
#3 Dlouhy/Paes (CZE/IND) vs. TBD
M.Lopez/Riba (ESP/ESP) vs. TBD
TBD vs. #2 Nestor/Zimonjic (CAN/SRB)

*MIXED DOUBLES QF*
TBD vs. #6 Srebotnik/Zimonjic (SLO/SRB)
#3 Llagostera-Vives/Marach (ESP/AUT) vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD
Shvedova/Knowle (KAZ/AUT) vs. TBD




*LONG ROLAND GARROS WIN STREAKS - WOMEN*
29...Chris Evert
25...Monica Seles
24...JUSTINE HENIN

*ROUND OF 16 RESULTS - BOTH 2010 AO/RG*
Justine Henin, BEL
Maria Kirilenko, RUS
Nadia Petrova, RUS
Francesca Schiavone, ITA
Samantha Stosur, AUS
Serena Williams, USA
Venus Williams, USA
Caroline Wozniacki, DEN

*RECENT ROLAND GARROS QF*
=2007=
Anna Chakvetadze, RUS
Justine Henin, BEL
Ana Ivanovic, SRB
Jelena Jankovic, SRB
Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
Maria Sharapova, RUS
Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
Serena Williams, USA
=2008=
Elena Dementieva, RUS
Ana Ivanovic, SRB
Jelena Jankovic, SRB
Kaia Kanepi, EST
Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
Dinara Safina, RUS
Patty Schnyder, SUI
Carla Suarez-Navarro, ESP
=2009=
Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Dominika Cibulkova, SVK
Sorana Cirstea, ROU
Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
Dinara Safina, RUS
Maria Sharapova, RUS
Samantha Stosur, AUS
Serena Williams, USA
-
green- still alive at 2010 RG





TOP QUALIFIER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Venus Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Kurumi Nara/JPN d. Monica Niculescu/ROU 4-6/7-6/10-8
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd: #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS d. Andrea Petkovic/GER 4-6/7-5/6-4
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST WIN: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK (1st Rd. - def. Ekaterina Ivanova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (1st Rd. - lost to Dulko/ARG)
UPSET QUEENS: The Australians
REVELATION LADIES: The Germans
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Chanelle Scheepers/RSA (4th Rd.)
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: #9 Dinara Safina/RUS, 2008-09 Runner-Up (1st Rd. - lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN)
ZOMBIE QUEEN:
*Nominees*
Petrova/RUS down 3 MP vs. Rezai/FRA (3rd Rd)
Henin/BEL down 0-2, love/40 in 3rd set vs. Sharapova/RUS (3rd Rd)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: Marion Bartoli/FRA & Aravane Rezai/FRA (3rd Rd.)
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx




All for Day 8. More tomorrow.

Read more...

RG.7- Little Bangus Interruptus

There was every reason to believe that Justine Henin could outclass Maria Sharapova on the Belgian's favored clay surface in Paris today. Even after winning her first red clay event last week, Sharapova will never be mistaken for being the best claycourter in women's tennis over the last quarter-century. That woman would be Henin. And for a while, it looked as if the pair's 3rd Round meeting might be the type of open-and-shut case that some thought it could possibly be.

But, hold on.

Things didn't start out well for Sharapova with the heavy court conditions of Day 7 acting like a weight tied to her ankle. In the first game of the match, she double-faulted on break point and Henin went up 1-0. Henin pulled off a winner on a drop shot to go up 2-0, and soon after it was 3-0 as she moved the Russian around the court, countering her big shots with better tactics and shot placement.

This all looked very familiar... Justine at Roland Garros. But could Henin keep it up without one of the lapses that have hounded her comeback threatening to make this more of a match than it was in the early going?

That was the lingering question... and then it was answered.

Sharapova carved out break points in the fourth game, but Henin managed to hold for 4-0. She won the 1st set at 6-2, but the slight slippage in her game coincided with Sharapova's improvement to produce what turned out to be a record-ending 2nd set. In the second game, two Henin double-faults gave Sharapova a break point. She failed to convert, running her break chance numbers to 0-for-6. After getting another break look in Game 6, she was 0-for-7. But the score was 3-3, and Sharapova was chipping away at Henin's previous advantage.

Henin Watchers couldn't like the looks of this.

Still, in Game #7, a Sharapova double-fault gave Henin two break chances. She fought them both off, then a third, as well, in what very well might have been the most important moment in the match on Day 7. Henin blinked, and it changed everything. Up 4-3, Sharapova finally got a break of the Belgian's serve in the next game, then promptly took her first advantage in the match and ran with it. She served out a final game to win the set at 6-3, knot the match at one set each and somewhat unassumingly end one of Henin's dominating Paris streaks. Just like that (with nary a mention of the significance of the set from anyone on NBC), Henin's Open Era record of winning forty straight sets at Roland Garros ended. It was at this point, though, that play was suspended due to darkness.

Michael Joyce seemed to be pushing Sharapova from the stands to demand the match be suspended, but one wonders if she'd been better served to play a few more games in the hopes that she'd be able to ride her 2nd set momentum to an early break in the 3rd in order to have an advantage to work with when play resumes tomorrow. Somehow, after a night to think about things, it would seem that Henin would have the advantage in the final set. It took Sharapova a while to get herself into the match today, and she won't have such a luxury on Day 8.

So, the interrupted "Little Bang" continues... but will it end up pulling the rug out from under its scheduled "Big" follow-up for next week? It's hard to believe that she will under these circumstances, but if Sharapova were to pull off an upset of Henin at Roland Garros, the "Supernova" would officially be re-born.

Needless to say, now is the time for "La Petit Taureau" to step onto the Paris stage.



=DAY 7 NOTES=
...on the type of windy, cool, overcast day that tends to cause big hitters to be thwarted on the red clay, Serena Williams had a bit more dramatic day... because of dizziness.

After running through Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the 1st set, winning 6-1 in :26 and commiting just two unforced errors, Williams suddenly was laboring throughout the 2nd. The Russian went up 5-0, and Serena was treated for dizziness and, I guess, a general "not feeling well" situation. Whatever the pills were that she was given by the trainer, they apparently worked. Slowly but surely, she seemed to feel better and her game improved. Pavlyuchenkova won the 2nd set 6-1, but Serena was ready to play again in the 3rd.

Attacking Pavlyuchenkova's second serve and hitting the ball harder than she had in the previous set, Williams held four break points in the second game of the 3rd. The Russian ultimately held in the five-deuce, ten-minute game to get to 1-1, but Williams' heart and body were back in the match. In the next game, Pavlyuchenkova held three break points (Serena slammed an ace on the third) in a four-deuce game, but Williams held and never really looked back.

She pulverized a Pavlyuchenkova second serve to break, after having been down 15/40, and go up 3-1 en route to claiming the deciding set at 6-2.

Five and a half matches down, two and a half to go.

...while #1-ranked Serena avoided an upset bid, the same couldn't be said for two other #1 seeds. The Bryan brothers were ousted by Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares in Men's Doubles, while Liezel Huber & Mahesh Bhupathi were knocked out of the Mixed Doubles by Chan Yung-Jan & Eric Butorac. #2 Cara Black & Leander Paes won, though, so that pair is still alive in the race to follow up their Oz title with one in Paris. Huber won the RG Mixed with Bob Bryan last year.

...the Tennis Channel announcers noted in early coverage today how there was "all kinds of drama" late last night in Paris, surely causing many of the people who had to watch everything on ESPN2 yesterday to say out loud, "Yeah, it'd been nice to be able to see some of it." As it turns out, in the Aravane Rezai/Nadia Petrova match, Rezai had three match points of her own, while Petrova held two before play was stopped at 7-7 in the 3rd. Yeah, that's not something anyone watching tennis on ESPN2 would ever want to be able to see.

Anyway, the match resumed today, and it was Petrova who was the steadier presence. The first two games featured breaks of serve, but Petrova's good defense and penetrating shots seemed to be giving her an advantage that Rezai couldn't continue to overturn. A Rezai double-fault at 8-8 gave Petrova a love/30 lead, and she soon had triple break point. She got the break (the eleventh of the set) and once again served for the match. She went up 40/love, and finally won on her third match point of the contest, taking the set 10-8. Rezai finished 7-of-23 on break point attempts.

So, is Nadia the true "Zombie Queen?" We'll see. She faces Venus next. As for Rezai, her end in this RG once again was reminiscent of a slam exit by Jelena Dokic eight or nine years ago. The Pasty's tennis is exciting and she's a great ball striker, but her game's faults will always prevent her from being as consistently good as she SOMETIMES is (say, as she was in Madrid). Service sputterings, badly-timed unforced errors (often when she went for too much on shots) and a lack of a Plan B when hitting out wasn't enough to put away an opponent were always the obstacles that thwarted Dokic, and they seem to be the things that prevent Rezai from climbing higher than a certain point, as well. Players like Serena can win matches when things aren't going well, but the Rezais of the tennis world usually don't.

...Sam Stosur defeated Anastasia Pivovarova, officially making South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers the "Last Qualifier Standing" at this Roland Garros. Wild Card Jarmila Groth is the other pre-tournament addition to the draw who's still alive in the Round of 16. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) is the only other unseeded woman remaining, and at least one will reach the QF as Shvedova will play Groth next.

...with Marion Bartoli losing today to Peer, she and Rezai tie for "Last Pastry Standing." It's the second straight year that Rezai has held a portion of that honor in Paris.

...poor Tennis Channel. After being burned by promoting ESPN2's "live" coverage yesterday, the network simply promoted NBC's upcoming Saturday block as "continuing coverage" today. Wouldn't you know it, the timing proved perfect for NBC and the chimps in the control room never had an opportunity to hit the "playback" button this afternoon. Coverage began with a live airing of the Nadal/Hewitt match, then the two live sets of action from the Henin/Sharapova suspended 3rd Rounder. Of course, with the schedule for Day 8 out, it looks like that match will resume during Tennis Channel's time period on Sunday. It'd be no surprise if NBC prevents TC from airing it live, preferring to save the 3rd set to air hours later when the peacock-feathered chimps are in control.

...and, finally, speaking of Tennis Channel, if anyone didn't get to see the segment devoted to Shahar Peer on Saturday they should try to find a way to catch it. The network has been airing intriguing clips of its June 7 special about Serena's trip to Africa to start a school there, and the Peer piece was great, too. It focused at times on her family life, the Dubai debacle and the Auckland protests against her from earlier this year. Also, it showed footage of the trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp earlier this year by Peer, along with her mother and grandmother. Grandmother Yuliana spent six months there when she was 14 during World War II, losing both her parents, and two siblings. She told the story of when the family was first sent to the camp, and how Josef Mengele pulled her out and asked her her age. She said 16 (she said she still doesn't know why she lied), and was quickly thrown to the right side of a line of people. Her younger brother and sister were thrown to the left, and went directly to the gas chamber.

A very sobering piece of footage that once again served to spotlight just how different Peer's life and mindset is from so many of the other players on tour.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Serena Williams/USA vs. #18 Shahar Peer/ISR
#12 Maria Sharapova/RUS or #22 Justine Henin/BEL vs. #7 Samantha Stosur/AUS
#4 Jelena Jankovic/SRB vs. #23 Daniela Hantuchova/SVK
(WC)Jarmila Groth/AUS vs. Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ
#30 Maria Kirilenko/RUS vs. #17 Francesca Schiavone/ITA
#14 Flavia Pennetta/ITA vs. #3 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
#5 Elena Dementieva/RUS vs. (Q)Chanelle Scheepers/RSA
#19 Nadia Petrova/RUS vs. #2 Venus Williams/USA

*MEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #20 Stanislas Wawrinka/SUI
#10 Marin Cilic/CRO vs. #5 Robin Soderling/SWE
#4 Andy Murray/GBR vs. #15 Tomas Berdych/CZE
#11 Mikhail Youzhny/RUS vs. #8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA
(Q)Teimuraz Gabashvili/RUS vs. #22 Jurgen Melzer/AUT
Robby Ginepri/USA vs. #3 Novak Djokovic/SRB
#7 Fernando Verdasco/ESP vs. #19 Nicolas Almagro/ESP
#24 Thomaz Bellucci/BRA vs. #2 Rafael Nadal/ESP



The junior draws have been made.

*GIRLS TOP 10 SEEDS*
1. Monica Puig, PUR
2. Karolina Pliskkova, CZE
3. Irina Khromacheva, RUS
4. Nastja Kolar, SLO
5. Timea Babos, HUN
6. Gabriela Dabrowski, CAN
7. Daria Gavrilova, RUS
8. Kristyna Pliskova, CZE
9. Beatrice Capra, USA
10. Lauren Davis, USA

*BOYS TOP 10 SEEDS*
1. Daniel Berta, SWE
2. Jason Murray Kubler, AUS
3. Gianni Mina, FRA
4. Jiri Vesely, CZE
5. Tiago Fernandes, BRA
6. Denis Kudla, USA
7. Kevin Krawietz, GER
8. Dominic Thiem, AUT
9. Duilio Beretta, PER
10. Mate Zsiga, HUN


=QF=
#7 Gavrilova/RUS d. #1 Puig/PUR
#8 Kr.Pliskova/CZE d. #4 Kolar/SLO
#14 Cepede Royg/PER d. #5 Babos/HUN
#2 Ka.Pliskova/CZE d. Dinu/ROU

=SF=
#8 Kr.Pliskova/CZE d. #7 Gavrilova/RUS
#2 Ka.Pliskova/CZE d. #14 Cepede Royg/PER

=FINAL=
#2 Ka.Pliskova/CZE d. #8 Kr.Pliskova/CZE

...the Czech Maiden Twins battle it out for the title. Karolina won the Australian Open Girls title, as well. Kristyna was in the SF.




*RECENT RG "LAST QUALIFIER STANDING" WINNERS*
2006 Aravane Rezai/FRA, Julia Vakulenko/UKR (to 3rd Rd.)
2007 Dominika Cibulkova/SVK, Alla Kudryavtseva/RUS, Ioana-Raluca Olaru/ROU (to 3rd Rd.)
2008 Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP (to QF)
2009 Michelle Larcher de Brito/POR, Yaroslava Shvedova/KAZ (to 3rd Rd.)
2010 Chanelle Scheepers/RSA (in 4th Rd.)

*RECENT BEST SLAM RESULTS - WILD CARDS*
W - Belgian Barbie/BEL (2009 U.S. Open)
RU - Justine Henin/BEL (2010 Australian Open)
SF - Zheng Jie/CHN (2008 Wimbledon)
QF - Jelena Dokic/AUS (2009 Australian Open)
4th Rd. - Severine Bremond/FRA (2008 U.S. Open)
4th Rd. - Jarmila Groth/AUS (2010 Roland Garros)

*RECENT LAST HOME NATION PLAYERS IN SLAMS*
=2008=
AO: Casey Dellacqua/AUS (4th Rd.)
RG: Alize Cornet/FRA, Emilie Loit/FRA (3rd Rd.)
WI: Elena Baltacha/GBR, Anne Keothavong/GBR (2nd Rd.)
US: Serena William/USA (W)
=2009=
AO: Jelena Dokic/AUS (QF)
RG: Virginie Razzano/FRA, Aravane Rezai/FRA (4th Rd.)
WI: Elena Baltacha/GBR (2nd Rd.)
US: Serena Williams/USA (SF)
=2010=
AO: Samantha Stosur/AUS (4th Rd.)
RG: Marion Bartoli/FRA, Aravane Rezai/FRA (3rd Rd.)

*FINAL 16's - BY NATION*
5...Russia (Dementieva/Gabashvili/Kirilenko/Petrova/Youzhny)
3...Spain (Almagro/Nadal/Verdasco)
3...United States (Ginepri/S.Williams/V.Williams)
2...Australia (Groth/Stosur)
2...Italy (Pennetta/Schiavone)
2...Serbia (Djokovic/Jankovic)
2...Switzerland (Federer/Wawrinka)
1...Austria (Melzer)
1...Brazil (Bellucci)
1...Croatia (Cilic)
1...Czech Republic (Berdych)
1...Denmark (Wozniacki)
1...France (Tsonga)
1...Great Britain (Murray)
1...Israel (Peer)
1...Kazakhstan (Shvedova)
1...Slovak Republic (Hantuchova)
1...South Africa (Scheepers)
1...Sweden (Soderling)
--
ALSO: Henin/BEL vs. Sharapova/RUS winner





TOP QUALIFIER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Venus Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Kurumi Nara/JPN d. Monica Niculescu/ROU 4-6/7-6/10-8
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd: #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS d. Andrea Petkovic/GER 4-6/7-5/6-4
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST WIN: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK (1st Rd. - def. Ekaterina Ivanova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (1st Rd. - lost to Dulko/ARG)
UPSET QUEENS: The Australians
REVELATION LADIES: The Germans
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Chanelle Scheepers/RSA (in 4th Rd.)
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: #9 Dinara Safina/RUS, 2008-09 Runner-Up (1st Rd. - lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN)
ZOMBIE QUEEN:
*Nominees*
Kuznetsova/RUS down 4 MP vs. Petkovic/GER (2nd Rd.) - lost 3rd Rd.
Petrova/RUS down 3 MP vs. Rezai/FRA (3rd Rd)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: Marion Bartoli/FRA & Aravane Rezai/FRA (3rd Rd.)
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx




All for Day 7. More tomorrow.

Read more...

RG.6- The Core Four

Day 6 was a rare day indeed. In fact, it might have produced a true "first." Thanks to all of yesterday's rain, today's schedule was so star-packed that it was enough to make even the most jaded a bit jazzy.

A few weeks ago, Sports Ilustrated ran a cover story on the "Core Four" of the New York Yankees -- Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. They're the four veteran players who rose to fame at the same time, and have experienced the team's recent World Series runs over the past fifteen years. Well, women's tennis has it's "Core Four," too.



While one could argue about their order of ranking, there is no question which four players have been THE top four stars of women's tennis over the past decade-plus -- Serena & Venus Williams, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova. For maybe the first time ever in a slam (surely this early in a slam, at least), they were all in action on the same day on Friday. So were the top four players in men's tennis -- Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray -- making THAT a combined has-to-be-the-first-time occurrence in the first week of a slam.

The four women hold the top four positions on the active slam singles title list, are four of the top five active players in career tour titles, and hold three of the top five spots on the active career match win list. Serena and Venus were once consistent opponents in slam finals and, as they're likely positioned at opposite ends of the draw over the next few months, might be again this spring and/or summer. Venus defeated Henin in the Belgian's first career slam final in '01. Sharapova burst onto the scene in '04 by defeating Serena in the Wimbledon Ladies' championship. And, this past January, the one major head-to-head hole in the "Core Four's" resume, though they'd surely met in slams before, was finally filled when Serena faced off and defeated Henin in Melbourne in the pair's first meeting in a slam singles final.

Still, even with the foursome's tour-dominanting careers over the past decade, due to various injuries and the ebb-and-flow of their careers, they've never all reached the semifinals of the SAME grand slam (so they didn't all play on the same day under THOSE circumstances). They won't at this one, either. But by the time the final is played on the last Saturday of this Roland Garros, we might have witnessed a "Six Degrees of Separation" through-line that links the four future Hall-of-Famers in this draw.

As far as I can tell, I believe that would be a grand slam first, too. The Henin/Sharapova winner could face Serena in the quarterfinals, then the winner there might see Venus in the final. Also, while certainly no player has ever swept through the FULL Core Four en route to a slam title (though a few have taken out two in the seven matches), I couldn't find a slam champ who's even taken out THREE in the same event, either. It could happen in Paris, if the winner of the Henin/Sharapova 3rd Rounder knocks out both Serena and Venus, as well. It would be fitting that it'd be one of the Core Four who'd be the first to climb over three of these superstars, and it would make the champion of this Roland Garros the survivor of quite possibly the most star-studded individual woman's slam draw in more than a few decades.

As far as what actually happened when the Core Four hit the court on Day 6, things pretty much went totally their way. After saying she wasn't pleased by any part of her game after her 1st Round match with Stefanie Voegele, Serena made sure that Julia Goerges didn't have as much court time with her as the young Swiss player had. Serena won 6-1/6-1 (she still only gave herself a grade of "B"), running her 2010 slam mark to 9-0 and looking like she's rounding into fine Big Bang form.

But will Henin be there in the quarterfinals to face her?

Having to complete her 2nd Round match with Klara Zakopalova that she led 6-3/3-2 after Day 5, the Belgian managed to open play with an immediate break. Problem is, then the Czech broke her back. Then Justine broke HER back -- at love.. Serving at 5-3, some sanity seemed to have returned to the match when Henin went up 40/love and held triple match point. But... nope. Soon, Zakopalova had put together a four-point streak and held a break point. Henin still ended up serving it out for a 6-3/6-3 win, but with a "Little Bang" meeting with Sharapova (who won all four games versus Kirsten Flipkens to complete yesterday's rain-interrupted match, 6-2/6-3) up next, then maybe another with Sam Stosur before any possible meeting with Serena, HER road to the BB looks a good bit more daunting than that of Williams. Still, she's 8-1 in slam matches this season.

As for Venus. Well, all she did was take out '09 RG semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova by an easy 6-3/6-3 score. Maybe at some point her tennis will become the top story about her during this tournament, but I won't hold my breath.

And so ended a very interesting, and quite possibly historic, morning and afternoon in Paris. No matter what happens the rest of this tournament, we'll at least have had Day 6, when everyone came to the party.

Long live the "Core Four."



=DAY 6 NOTES=
...after the red dust had settled on this busy day, there were two qualifiers still standing. Chanelle Scheepers knocked off Akgul Amanmuradova to reach the Round of 16, while Anastasia Pivovarova took out Zheng Jie in their rain-delayed 2nd Round encounter.

With Olivia Sanchez losing to countrywoman Marion Bartoli, the final wild card remaining in the draw is Jarmila Groth. Meanwhile, Bartoli and Aravane Rezai are still to in the race for "Last Pastry Standing."

...Ana Ivanovic is maintaining an optimistic attitude about her tennis (and new coach-pupil relationship with Heinz Gunthardt). Not that that mindset necessarily means that things are hunky-doory with ALL of her tennis relationships. When questioned about Jelena Jankovic, who mimicked AnaIvo's fist pump a few weeks ago (and whose mother lashed out at Ivanovic when she decided not to play Fed Cup for Serbia), Ivanovic said, "Sport doesn't build character. It shows it."

OH, no she DIDN'T! Ouch.

...and, finally, oh, if the Tennis Channel Powers That Be only knew how funny some of TC's on-screen graphics are. During the morning coverage on Day 6, the network ran a viewer reminder about ESPN2's "continuous live coverage" picking up at Noon on the East Coast. Oh, those (unintentionally) funny tricksters.

As if ESPN2 would think of having any live coverage when there was oodles and oodles of dated, already-been-aired-on-TC match video of the likes of Serena, Venus, Justine, Maria, Roger and Rafa playing six or seven hours before the network came on air. As it turned out, ESPN2 ran zero live coverage during its programming block on Day 6.

So, while U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki was somehow showing that all her pre-RG injury/poor play drama was apparently something of a mirage, taking out Alexandra Dulgheru 6-3/6-4 in the 3rd Round, ESPN2 showed Serena and Nadal matches (and remarked how odd it was to see Rafa playing "so early in the morning," since he'd been in the first scheduled match of the day, somewhere around 5am "real people's time" in the U.S., and at ESPN HQ, by the way). While two-time slam finalist Elena Dementieva was outlasting Aleksandra Wozniak in three sets, and defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was showing that her "near-death" experience in the 2nd Round really wasn't going to spark her to something great (as predicted, it was more an AnaIvo "Kiss of Life" stay of execution than Serena "Soul Survivor" resurrection), as she lost in three sets to Maria Kirilenko, ESPN2 was showing Roger Federer beat up on some guy as the commentators talked about how much of a testamen it was to Federer that so many people came out to watch a match they knew wouldn't be much of a contest. And while Nadia Petrova and potential-Pastry-star-of-this-tournament Rezai were engaging in a knock-down, drag out battle in the final match of the day, ESPN2 was showing Venus going against Cibulkova... in the middle of the 1st set.

As it turned out, serving up 6-7/6-4/7-6, Petrova got to match point on the Frenchwoman, but failed to convert. She was soon broken for 7-7, and play was suspended due to darkness. Could the latest "Zombie Queen" be in the process of being born? Maybe. Not that ESPN2's normal viewers would ever have know about the drama going on under the network's star-distracted nose this afternoon. With a coverage window that stretched from 12-6:30pm, one would think that the "big name" matches would have been held for the "SportsCenter" hours when more eyeballs would have been watching, while live coverage of tight, three-setters with recent slam winners and/or finalists would have been allowed to be spotlighted. But no. Even the scores of the ignored matches were intentionally withheld from the bottom-of-the-screen sports ticker.

Oddly enough, Tennis Channel contiuned to provide more up-to-date coverage during all of this by at least running a Roland Garros results ticker at the bottom of the screen... while showing a replay of a Chris Evert/Evonne Goolagong match from 1976 (with Billie Jean King and her mile high hair doing a post-match interview with Evert and her father Jimmy).

So, a tip of the hat to ESPN2 for once again showing that the network really has little regard for the sport, no matter how many millions of dollars are spent to attain the rights to these grand slam events.

The crazy thing is that this sort of uninspired "coverage" will probably be more than trumped (in a bad way) at some point by NBC's coverage of the tournament, which will set its first all-taped-delayed foot on the scene for the first time this weekend. Yes, the "NBC Zone" is back, ready to create more mayhem.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD
#30 Maria Kirilenko/RUS vs. #17 Francesca Schiavone/ITA
#14 Flavia Pennetta/ITA vs. #3 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
#5 Elena Dementieva/RUS vs. (Q)Chanelle Scheepers/RSA
#15 Aravane Rezai/FRA or #19 Nadia Petrova/RUS vs. #2 Venus Williams/USA

*MEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Roger Federer/SUI vs. #20 Stanislas Wawrinka/SUI
#10 Marin Cilic/CRO vs. #5 Robin Soderling/SWE
#4 Andy Murray/GBR vs. #15 Tomas Berdych/CZE
#11 Mikhail Youzhny/RUS or Viktor Troicki/SRB vs. #8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD




*ACTIVE WTA LEADERS*
[slam titles]
12...SERENA WILLIAMS
7...JUSTINE HENIN
7...VENUS WILLIAMS
3...MARIA SHARAPOVA
[career titles]
43...VENUS WILLIAMS
42...JUSTINE HENIN
37...Belgian Barbie
36...SERENA WILLIAMS
22...MARIA SHARAPOVA
[match wins]
1. VENUS WILLIAMS
2. Elena Dementieva
3. Patty Schnyder
4. JUSTINE HENIN
5. SERENA WILLIAMS





TOP QUALIFIER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Venus Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Kurumi Nara/JPN d. Monica Niculescu/ROU 4-6/7-6/10-8
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd: #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS d. Andrea Petkovic/GER 4-6/7-5/6-4
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST WIN: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK (1st Rd. - def. Ekaterina Ivanova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (1st Rd. - lost to Dulko/ARG)
UPSET QUEENS: The Australians
REVELATION LADIES: The Germans
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: xxx
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: #9 Dinara Safina/RUS, 2008-09 Runner-Up (1st Rd. - lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN)
ZOMBIE QUEEN:
*Nominees*
Kuznetsova/RUS down 4 MP vs. Petkovic/GER (2nd Rd.)
Rezai/FRA down MP vs. Petrova/RUS (3rd Rd)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: xxx
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx




All for Day 6. More tomorrow.

Read more...

RG.5- I Won't Blame It On the Rain (yes, I'm actually resorting to referencing a Milli Vanilli tune)

Rain, rain. It didn't seem to want to go away, and it ended up delaying or suspending nine women's 2nd Round matches for another day.

But that doesn't mean that I have to get behind, too. Onward Backspinning Soldier, I say.

Thus, I'm going to do the Early-Round Awards anyway. Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah. I'll just count the remaining 2nd Round matches in the "Middle-Round" Awards a few days from now.


=EARLY ROUND AWARDS - 1st/2nd Rounds (Days 1-5)=
TOP PLAYER: Venus Williams/USA
...she's made the most headlines. Oh, and she's played pretty well, too. (RU: Elena Dementieva/RUS... surprise, surprise -- she's the only remaining seed in her quarter of the draw as she's working on avoiding her 46th career slam appearance without a title)
RISERS: Aravane Rezai/FRA & Caroline Wozniacki/DEN
...Rezai was on a roll heading into Paris, but C-Woz surely wasn't. Rezai will be tested by Nadia Petrova next, while Wozniacki will face Alexandra Dulgheru as she attempts to put up her fourth consecutive 4th Round-or-better slam result (she's already reached her tenth straight 3rd Rd.). (RU: Alisa Kleybanova/RUS... no seeds stand in the way of her reaching the QF, but two ex-Russians might)
SURPRISES: Anastasia Rodionova/AUS & Jarmila Groth/AUS
...one of those former Hordettes is Rodionova, who will meet ex-Slovak Groth (who got a wild card into the draw) in a match that will put one of the transplated Aussies into the Round of 16. (RU: Akgul Amanmuradova/UZB & Chanelle Scheepers/RSA... one will reach the 4th Round)
VETERANS: Li Na/CHN & Nadia Petrova/RUS
...Oz semifinalist Li has very quietly move through to the 3rd Round with ease, as had Petrova, who's still engaged in her always-starcrossed quest to reach her first slam final. With a path that is littered with the likes of Rezai, Venus and Dementieva just to get to the semis, it'd be surprising if Nadia reached that mountaintop in 2010. (RU: Flavia Pennetta/ITA... she didn't have a good clay season after Fed Cup, but here she is)
FRESH FACES Alexandra Dulgheru/ROU & Polona Hercog/SLO
...Dulgheru's fine clay campaign continues. She faces Wozniacki in a match that could host her next official career Great Leap Forward. Hercog has already reached her first tour singles final and won her first WTA doubles crown in 2010. Now she's achieved her first slam 3rd Round result, as well. (RU: Anastasia Pivovarova/RUS... the qualifier is the latest Hordette to make a move in a slam. She's still yet to finish her 2nd Round match with Zheng Jie.)
COMEBACKS: Justine Henin/BEL & Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN
...half-way through her 2nd Round match against Klara Zakopalova, Henin has so far extended her Paris winning streaks to twenty-two matches and thirty-eight sets. A hobbled 39-year old Date-Krumm became the second-oldest RG match winner ever when she knocked off Dinara Safina in the 1st Round for her first main draw slam win since 1996. (RU: Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS... the defending champ, but also RG's soon-to-be Zombie Queen?)
DOWN: Dinara Safina/RUS & Victoria Azarenka/BLR
...Safina was in the final the last two years, but couldn't take out an injured nearly-40 year old veteran who'd spotted her a 4-1 3rd set lead and hadn't won a slam match since the Russian was 10. Not ranked #10... ten years old. Azarenka had better look out, or she's going to be following in Safina's uneven footsteps over the next twelve months. Did she REALLY almost take out Serena at the last two Australian Opens? (RU: Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez/ESP & Ana Ivanovic/SRB... one exited Paris with a pain in the neck, while the other is one)

*BEST "RISING FROM THE ASHES" MOMENT*
2nd Rd. - Kuznetsova d. Petkovic 4-6/7-5/6-4
...eight match points in, four for both players, the Contessova finally lived to see another day after experiencing "a whole life in a day" in this one.
*WORST "SINKING INTO THE PIT OF DESPAIR" MOMENT*
1st Rd. - Date-Krumm d. Safina 3-6/6-4/7-5
...a year ago, Safina was the hottest player on tour. Today it's not a stretch to question her future. Oh, those Safins... they should have their own reality TV show.

THE PERILS OF POTENTIAL: Gisela Dulko knocked off the first seed to fall in this tournament, then got wiped out herself in her next match. Anabel Medina-Garrigues lost in the 2nd Round, maintaining her spotless record of having never reached a slam QF (she's still one tour singles title away from becoming only the second player in WTA history with ten tour singles titles to be able to say that). Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez's great EuroClay momentum was quickly thwarted by a neck injury in her 1st Round match. And Jelena Dokic's 1st Round loss gives her five consecutive slam defeats, the worst consecutive slam stretch of her career, dating back to her retirement in the 2nd Round of last year's Roland Garros after being injured while she was easily handling Elena Dementieva. (She's lost five straight main draw slam matches before, but they were stretched out over her "lost years" from 2003-06.)
THE POTENTIAL FOR PERIL: Venus Williams thought she'd designed a cleverly cheeky corset-inspired dress for Roland Garros that simultaneously gave a wink to Paris' "Moulin Rouge"/can-can culture, while continuing her "illusion of nudity" theme that began with her flesh-colored undergarments at the Australian Open. Who knew the outfit would become the most controversial topic of the first week? Oh, well. Aren't the most elaborately talented artists usually the most misunderstood, too?

FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Victoria Azarenka (lost to Gisela Dulko)
UPSET QUEENS: The Australians
REVELATION LADIES: The Germans (even though they blew their 2nd Round matches in the end)
ZOMBIE QUEEN?? (1r-2r): Svetlana Kuznetsova was down 6-4/5-4 40/love on Andrea Petkovic's serve, and the German held four match points. Might this moment end up being the most important at this tournament?
CRASH & BURNER (1r-2r): Dinara Safina. Her slide is starting to resemble the beginning (or would it be middle?) of the end. Hopefully it's just a Safin Family Lull situation.
FIRST VICTORY: '09 semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova raced past qualifier Ekaterina Ivanova mere minutes before '09 champ Svetlana Kuznetsova did in Sorana Cirstea on Day 1
LAST PASTRIES STANDING: Aravane Rezai is in the 3rd Round, while Marion Bartoli and Olivia Sanchez are facing off in the 2nd Round to become the second Pastry still standing
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: Chanelle Scheepers is in the 3rd Round, while Anastasia Pivovarona has yet to finish her 2nd Round match

Meanwhile, the Big Bang still looms around the corner. Some great matches should be coming soon.



=DAY 5 NOTES=
...with so many matches cancelled or suspended, there aren't a lot of interesting things to ponder here today. Here's the best I can do, though:

...AnaIvo's charade in Rome has been fully exposed. The Italian Open semifinalist lost today to Alisa Kleybanova 6-3/6-0. Nice knowin' ya?

...the nadir of Safina's loss to Date-Krumm the other day was played out in the Japanese vet's 2nd Round match today against Jarmila Groth. After coming back to defeat the 2008-09 finalist, KDK lost 6-0/6-3. I sort of hope Dinara doesn't even know about this match, you know?

...after coming back from two sets down to win in the 1st Round, usual early Paris loser Andy Roddick advanced to the 3rd Round won today despite having his serve broken SEVEN times. Some women's players might look at that as a good day, but that's more like a bad TOURNAMENT total for the American.

...Gael Monfils became the second Frenchman to blow a two sets to none leads and ultimately lose the match as he was finally bounced by Fabio Fognini in the battle that was resumed after being stopped due to darkness last night around 10:00pm Paris time. The Italian closed out the 5th set at 9-7.

...and, finally, the "Upset Queens" and "Revelation Ladies" awards were close contests, but the winners have been chosen.

The Aussies are the "UQ's," as Anastasia Rodionova (def. her former countrywomen Makarova & Zvonareva) and Jarmila Groth (def. Chan & Date-Krumm) moved into the 3rd Round. Sophie Ferguson got a 1st Round win over Petra Kvitova, too. The runners-up here were the ex-Russians, led again by Rodionova, along with Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ), who has so far defeated Sara Errani and Agnieszka Radwanska.

With the Aussies getting that one, the Germans get the "Revelation Ladies" honor. Yeah, Andrea Petkovic lost that big lead against Kuznetsova, Angelique Kerber dropped a three-setter to Aravane Rezai and Julia Goerges is still to play Serena in their 2nd Round match, but that they were in the running at all without the nation's top player -- Sabine Lisicki -- in this tournament shows that Germany DOES finally have a better depth of talent than the nation's had in quite a long time. Although, I should note that if the 2nd Round had been finished today, and Olivia Sanchez had knocked off fellow Pastry Marion Bartoli (she's currently up in the 1st set), the French women would have been in contention for this.

Too little too late, I guess.




*ROLAND GARROS "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS - BY NATION*
2004 Ukraine
2005 France
2006 United States
2007 Romania
2008 Czech Republic
2009 Kazakhstan (ex-Russians)
2010 Australia

*ROLAND GARROS "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS - BY NATION*
2006 France
2007 Italy
2008 Czech Republic
2009 Australia
2010 Germany

*2010 WINS OVER ACTIVE FORMER/CURRENT #1's*
[wins over Barbie, Henin, Ivanovic, Jankovic, Safina, Sharapova, S.Williams or V.Williams]
3...Belgian Barbie (def. Henin-2,V.Williams)
3...Jelena Jankovic (def. Ivanovic,S.Williams,V.Williams)
3...Alisa Kleybanova (def. Barbie,Ivanovic-2)
3...Aravane Rezai (def. Henin,Jankovic,V.Williams)





TOP QUALIFIER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): Venus Williams/USA
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Kurumi Nara/JPN d. Monica Niculescu/ROU 4-6/7-6/10-8
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd: #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS d. Andrea Petkovic/GER 4-6/7-5/6-4
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST WIN: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK (1st Rd. - def. Ekaterina Ivanova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (1st Rd. - lost to Dulko/ARG)
UPSET QUEENS: The Australians
REVELATION LADIES: The Germans
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: xxx
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: #9 Dinara Safina/RUS, 2008-09 Runner-Up (1st Rd. - lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN)
ZOMBIE QUEEN:
Nominee: Kuznetsova/RUS down 4 MP vs. Petkovic/GER (2nd Rd.)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: xxx
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx




All for Day 5. More tomorrow.

Read more...

RG.4- The Late-Bloomer?

Can a seven-time slam winner, former #1-ranked player and one of the most successful, well-rounded athletes of her generation be a... late-bloomer?

Venus Williams won in straight sets over Arantxa Parra-Santonja on Day 4 to advance to the 3rd Round, once again routinely displaying the superb tennis form that has unexpectedly come to be expected from her over the course of the clay season this spring. But, unsurprisingly, there was and will continue to be more talk about what she was wearing than how she's actually playing.

Once again, she was wearing her much-discussed corset-inspired dress with flesh-toned undergarments, an outfit that is the very definition of "cheeky," literally and figuratively. It was fully in the "illusionary" style that Williams has made her '10 designing hallmark, from the "faux" going-commando look to the hilariously "wink-wink" (I think, at least) cut-out pattern seamlessly embedded on the dress surface that makes it appear that you can see her not-really-there thong underneath. You know, the same dress about which an opinion-leading 44% of the respondents in a recent USA Today poll selected "They should have made her change," while another 17% chose "Save the sexy stuff for after the match," while they were perusing the internet the other day.

Hmmm, I wonder if anyone gave a thought to asking people whether they thought Williams had a chance to win the title, or whether they thought she was playing better now that she did in her "glory days?" Yeah, I know. Dumb question. No one would have had any opinions on that. It's easier to make a quick, negative judgment based on a single photo on a website. I wonder how many who voted in that poll actually even saw that, and instead drew all their conclusions based upon the generally-inaccurate, intentionally-misleading descriptions I've read of the outfit the last couple of days?

It's all a temporary distraction, though. If enough people watch Venus play who've avoided doing so for much of this season (and she keeps her game together, which hasn't always been a sure-thing at this tournament through the years), maybe the discussion will eventually shift from the cheap headline-grabbing stuff to the fact that she's arguably been the best player on tour this season. Obviously, the Venus who faltered down the stretch against Li Na in Melbourne was an aberration, not the sign of bad things to come that I wondered if it might be back in January. At the moment, she's in top form, seems super fit and finally healthy, has a potential bonanza of a draw (though not without its pitfalls, such as a meeting with the Rezai/Petrova winner in the Round of 16) and could be playing in the "money rounds" of this tournament a week from now. Much of the talk of the Williams Sisters' resurgence has rightly focused on top-ranked slam-collector Serena, but world #2 (and maybe the soon to be co-#1 ranked doubles player in the world, which would be a new career-high) Venus has more than held up her end of the deal.

And she might just be getting started.

Could it be that Venus is a "late-bloomer?" And is that even possible for a player who made the final in her first-ever U.S. Open appearance at age 17, won her first slam title at 20, and reached the #1 ranking eight years ago? Umm, it just might be. She has a shot to get to #1 after this tournament, is obviously pushing all the right buttons as a design artist (hey, any publicity is good publicity, right?) and seems to be coming into her own more and more with each passing year as a public figure, as well. After seeing Serena possess the more dominant, attention-grabbing personality (at least since all the hair beads controversy died down so many years ago) for so long, the generally more conservative, serene and understated older sister seems to be fully spreading her wings these days.

A few days ago, Jankovic said she feels like a butterfly on the court. But Venus seems to be following along in lock step with another famous quote. One originally uttered by Muhammad Ali.

I'm sure you've heard it before... "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."



=DAY 4 NOTES=
...on a day where rain delays popped up like strong opinions about things that look like something they're really not, this year's edition of Roland Garros continued to settle down on Day 4 and produce the sort of results we were expecting to see in Paris a few days ago.

For one, Chanelle Scheepers knocked off Gisela Dulko. The South African will next face Akgul Amanmuradova (one of them will likely become the most unexpected player to reach the Round of 16). Since things are starting to return to form around here, it should be noted how typical a result this was for Dulko, who'd opened the tournament on such a high note by taking down the first seed to exit from the women's field (#10 Victoria Azarenka). Every once in a while, the obvious talent that Dulko possesses highlights how good a player she CAN be, leading back to the question of why she's never really risen above a certain level. Well, today was an example of why. Interestingly, while a Tennis Channel commercial was airing today that featured the Argentine talking about how much she loves to play on clay, she was losing to a qualifier. She seems destined to be a career underachiever.

Speaking of "typical" results, after having such a great clay season, then starting off with an easy 1st Round win over Jelena Dokic, #24 Lucie Safarova was taken down hard today by Polona Hercog 6-1/6-2. Again, things are getting back to normal.

Aravane Rezai? Well, just like she did in Madrid, she won today, too. Her three-set victory over Angelique Kerber (who defeated the Pastry in the 2nd Round in Melbourne in January) gives her eight straight wins, and she'll be threatening to become an even bigger story by the end of the weekend if she manages to take out both Petrova and Venus and make herself a legitimate threat to reach the final from the iffy bottom half of the draw.

DEJA VU UPDATE: One thing I realized while watching Rezai play today was how much of a carbon copy her game is of Dokic's from almost a decade ago. When the Aussie was first coming onto the scene, her game was designed around her ability to hit stinging winners from all over the court. When she was on a roll, Dokic would routinely slap clean, "wow"-inducing forehand crosscourt winners that caused one to dream big dreams for her career. Her serve was potentially good, and she'd throw in a 100-mph ace on occasion. An ultimate "groove player," when she was on, she could beat virtually anyone, and she loved playing on a big stage. Her propensity for loose errors, though, sometimes did her in, as did her inability to ever make that "potential" serve anything more than a hope. Off the court, she was a magnet for controversy and often got into trouble when she opened her mouth and said what was on her mind rather than finding a way to politely skirt an issue.

Rezai's mouth, too, has shown an ability to raise the ire of some, and watching her against Kerber today was like I'd jumped into a non-hot tub time machine and was listening to someone call a Dokic match. She'd slap a big winner from the baseline that would inspire awe from Mary Carillo, then a few loose errors would put her life in this tournament in jeopardy. She'd toss in a big serve, and the discussion would turn to how good the shot COULD be. Even her fiery clenched fist resembled Dokic's. When Carillo talked about how some of Rezai's best results have come on clay, but that her game seemed better suited for faster surfaces, I thought, "Hmmm, just like..." well, you know. Dokic's biggest title was on the red clay in Rome in '01, but most people remember her for her slam results on grass (Wimbledon SF) and hard courts (Oz QF). The only real difference was that all that talk about Dokic came when she around age 18, while Rezai is already 23.

Somehow, I don't think Rezai is ever going to be able to play at a high level enough times over a twelve-month period to ever reach the Top 5 as Dokic did, though.

..now, what happened with Svetlana Kuznetsova today probably doesn't look like a continuation of this return-to-normal theme, but it COULD be.

For almost two sets, defending RG champ Kuznetsova looked like the player she's been for most of the year. Entering with a 9-9 record in 2010, she looked more than ready to exit Paris with a sub-.500 mark and see her ranking slip out of the Top 10. She was down 6-4/5-4 to Andrea Petkovic, and the German was serving up 40/love. It was OVER, right? Uhh, well. No. Not for Kuznetsova, anyway. It WAS over for Petkovic, though.

(SIDE NOTE: could anyone else not help themselves while listening to Petkovic's exhalations after each shot, and consistently say "loompa" after each one of her "oompah" sounds? Get it, "oompah-loompa?" Oompa Loompas. "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory?" Ah, there you go. Anyway, I had a lot of unexpected fun this afternoon. Ha.)



A string of errors wasted Petkovic's triple match point, then she failed to convert a fourth MP a few moments later. Kuznetsova grabbed the set 7-5, then went up 2-0 in the 3rd. The Russian soon served at 5-3 and held two match points, but couldn't put the match away. She was broken, but in the next game eventually converted on her own fourth match point attempt to win 4-6/7-5/6-4. Afterward, with as many rain delays as shifts in momentum in the match, the Contessova said she "lived a whole life in a day."

Consider Kuznetsova this slam's first "Zombie Queen" nominee.

This result is potentially compelling, and not just because of Kuznetsova's past failures in this event to convert match points against eventual RG champions (2004-05), or her inability to take out Serena last season in Melbourne when she served for the match in the QF, only to see Williams win and take the title two matches later. Remember, there is a long recent history of slam champs using an escape like this as a catalyst for a surge of confidence that ultimately leads to them lifting the championship trophy on the final weekend (see list below).

Might this comeback win spark Kuznetsova to something great, as well? Maybe, but since she didn't really do much to rescue her 2010 RG existence on her own, and was instead mostly gifted at least two more days of life courtesy of Petkovic, I wonder if today's win will have any lasting effect. I'm thinking it'll be more of an Ana "Kiss of Life" Ivanovic than Serena "Soul Survivor" Williams situation.

...a set of sisters were taken out of the doubles competition today. No, not THOSE sisters. I'm talking about the Rodionovas, Anastasia and Arina. They lost to Edina Gallovits & Melanie Oudin.

...you know, sometimes you should be careful, for you just might get what you asked for. Maybe.

In fading light (really, there seemed to be barely any light at all) at the end of play on Day 4, Italy's Fabio Fognini tried to convince the indecisive chair umpire to stop play due to darkness, as had been the case with all the other late matches going on at the time. He'd come back from two sets to none down against Frenchman Gael Monfils to knot the match, and it was 4-4 in the 5th set. A good stopping point, it would seem. The French crowd booed and pulled for the continuation of play, while Monfils stood in the backcourt, arms mockingly spread wide and egging on the crowd, waiting to play. For a little bit there, it looked like an English soccer match might break out. After six minutes of arguing, Fognini was given a point penalty for delay of game and the match went on. Fognini then proceded to go up 5-4 and hold match points against a cramping and seemingly-out-of-it Monfils. It appeared as if the French fans and Monfils were going to regret pushing for the match to be completed today.

As it turned out, though, the Frenchman somehow survived and got the score back to 5-5. At that point, play was suspended. The crowd murmurred, but everyone should have been wiping the sweat from their collective brow in relief that one of France's best chances to cause some damage in this tournament wasn't packing his bags after just two matches because everyone had lost their ever-lovin' minds and decided that it was all right to play grand slam tennis when one player could barely see the person on the other side of the net.

So, they're even again... no harm, no foul, right? Well, Fognini wouldn't say so. He was screaming at whoever would listen as he left the court. They'll resume the match on Day 5, but much of the drama of the moment will have been sapped from the whole near-fiasco by then.

...Stanford defeated Florida yesterday in the NCAA Women's Team championship. It's the Cardinal's sixteenth title in the twenty-nine year history of the event. Freshman Mallory Burdette wrapped things up with a victory over Marit Boonstra, leading her sister Lindsay (the #2 player on the Stanford squad) to hop a fence and tackle Burdette on the court in celebration.

The women's singles tournament will conclude early next week.

...and, finally, barring one of those rainy days that wipes out a full schedule of competition on Day 5, the Early-Round Awards will be served up here tomorrow.




*RECENT SLAM WINNERS - CLOSE CALLS*
=2003=
AO: Serena Williams down 2 MP vs. Belgian Barbie in SF
=2004=
RG: Anastasia Myskina down MP vs. Kuznetsova in 4th Rd.
=2005=
AO: Serena Williams down 3 MP vs. Sharapova in SF
RG: Justine Henin-Hardenne down MP vs. Kuznetsova in 4th Rd.
WI: Venus Wiliams down MP vs. Davenport in Final
=2007=
AO: Serena Williams - Petrova (3rd) & Peer (QF) served for match
WI: Venus Williams - Morigami (3rd) served for match
=2009=
AO: Serena Williams - Kuznetsova (QF) served for match
WI: Serena Williams down MP vs. Dementieva in SF
=2010=
AO: Serena Williams - Azarenka (QF) twice served for match (led 6-4/4-0)





TOP QUALIFIER: Kaia Kanepi/EST
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Kurumi Nara/JPN d. Monica Niculescu/ROU 4-6/7-6/10-8
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST WIN: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK (1st Rd. - def. Ekaterina Ivanova/RUS)
FIRST SEED OUT: #10 Victoria Azarenka/BLR (1st Rd. - lost to Dulko/ARG)
UPSET QUEENS: xxx
REVELATION LADIES: xxx
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: xxx
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: #9 Dinara Safina/RUS, 2008-09 Runner-Up (1st Rd. - lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN)
ZOMBIE QUEEN:
Nominee: Kuznetsova/RUS down 4 MP vs. Petkovic/GER (2nd Rd.)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: xxx
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx




All for Day 4. More tomorrow.

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